I use the following, just because it’s easier to work with and clean up, which is a big deal when your son has a fascination with eating toilet paper THAT’S BEEN DIPPED IN THE TOILET. *sigh*

Sensio 13330 Bella Cucina 12-Piece Rocket Blender Platinum Edition
Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker

I can vouch for these:
Norpro 431 4-Piece Silicone Ice Pop Maker Set

But I heard these are good too:
Kinderville Little Bites Silicone Ice Pop Molds (Set of 4)

I like these silicone molds because you can throw them in a bag or lunch and it helps keep it cool while making for an awesome snack. They are the only kind of popsicle you can take on the road. In order to make these recipes, though, all you really need is a blender and popsicle molds (recipe one), in addition to a pan and some sort of steamer (recipe two).

RECIPE 1

1 part yogurt (I prefer raw, whole, plain, organic, or any combination of the previous I can find, but any yogurt will do. I try to avoid too much flavored yogurt as it adds a ton of unnecessary sugar.)
1/2 part juice (I usually use some sort of berry juice, like goji or blueberry, or a half fruit/half vegetable juice)
1 part fruit (something strong flavored, like strawberries or bananas, is better than something light, like apples)
1 part vegetable (kale is an excellent choice as it actually adds flavor. Other good options are carrots, eggplants, spinach, potatoes…I like to steam tomatoes, puree them, freeze them in icecubes, and throw in a couple. You can’t taste them at all, and it’s a good substitute for ice.)

Put in blender.
BLEND!
Put in popsicle molds.
FREEZE!
(So easy!)

RECIPE 2

This is for a homemade applesauce that does *wonderful* if frozen. You can’t add as many veggies to this one because the apple is such a light flavor, but I find a few tomatoes or carrots work wonderfully and add color.

1 part apple (You don’t even need to peel it)
1 part flavor fruit (Most anything, really…peaches, strawberries, blueberries, mangoes.)
1/2 part vegetable

Put in steamer or babycook.
STEAM!
Put in blender (or keep in babycook)
BLEND!
Put in popsicle molds.
FREEZE!

My girl seriously cannot get enough of this stuff. She eats enough spinach and tomatoes to make a raw vegan crave steak, and it’s all beautifully masked behind a layer of healthy, sweet fruit!

Ari (shouting to me): “MOMMY! I have teeskums in my mouth!”

Me: “What’s a teeskum?”

Ari (walking into the kitchen and opening her mouth, revealing nothing): “This! I put it in my mouth!”

Me (definitely not panicking AT ALL at this point): “What did you put in your mouth?”

Ari: “Teeskums!”

Me: “Can you show me with your hand?”

Ari (stares at own hands)

Me: “Can you point to what you put in your mouth?”

Ari (points into own mouth)

Me (facepalm): “Is any of it left? Can you show me what you put in your mouth?”

Ari (looks around anxiously): “It’s a teeskum!”

Me: “I understand that. What’s a teeskum?”

Ari (points into own mouth): “This!”

I look around. I hadn’t missed anything when I cleaned the kitchen. There’s a stain on the floor, but that’s been there for ages. I scrubbed it yesterday. There’s the trashcan, which was recently emptied of everything but a few pistachio seeds that had fallen out of the bag into the can. The bag is now empty, but anyway, the can is too tall for her. There’s nothing else in the kitchen. Nothing on the table, on the floor, on the counter. What on earth could she have eaten??

I start to run through the word in my mind. Sometimes you can make sense of what she’s saying. She’s watching me intently as I move my lips.

Me: “You ate…teeskums…teeskum…tee….skum….skum…tees….kum….tee….!!!!!!!!!!!”

Me: “ARI! Do you have teeth and gums in your mouth?!”

Ari (grinning wildly): “YES!”

Me (melts into a puddle on the floor)

1. No eating New Hampshire.
2. Puppies can lick people, but people can’t lick puppies.
3. Pouring milk on yourself does not make you cleaner, it makes you messier.
4. Don’t show me your boogers.
5. Stop trying to lick my tongue, that’s just weird.
6. I don’t care what it was originally, if you got it from your diaper, it is no longer edible.
7. Yes, you can be an ambulance. Just be a quiet ambulance that’s very far away.
8. Don’t sit on your brother.
9. If you found it in the bathroom, chances are, you are not allowed to eat it.
10. That’s a toilet bowl brush, not a paint brush.
11. No sitting on the couch naked until you’re toilet trained.
12. Kisses don’t involve teeth.
13. Whatever you’re doing, stop it.

Today we were on our way back from dinner and were trying to decide if we needed to go to Fulton first, or if we could head straight to the basement to study. Suddenly I realized we hadn’t taken Ari to the bathroom after her meal, and I wanted to catch her before she went in her training pants. So we were standing outside the dorm as people were walking past, just having this casual conversation about toddler bathroom logistics and whether we should go to Fulton or Smith.

This would be a good place to explain to you that my daughter has a normal and toddler like slight speech impediment in which she approximates some sounds. For instance, word initial “st” because “t.” Also, word initial “sm” becomes “p” and “th” becomes “s”.

So I turned to Ari and say, “Baby, we need to go use the bathroom. Do you want to use the bathroom in Fulton or Smith?”

And Ari, always helpful and eager, turns with a bright smile and shouts at the top of her lungs, “YES, MOMMY! I WANT TO GO TO THE BATHROOM TO PISS!”

Right now, we are going through a picture book of the classic story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. If it’s been a while, let me sum things up for you.

A cute little girl walks into a house. She finds some yummy porridge, breaks a chair, falls asleep in a comfy bed, gets scared by some bears, and runs out of the house.

Here’s our basic story so far: A rabbit got high on some mushrooms and Goldilocks kicked him as she walked into the house. She tried the porridge, but a rat had been cooked into it and it made her vomit. Goldilocks’ sister has been kidnapped and stuffed into an upstairs footlocker, and in the rescue attempt, Goldilocks was startled by a large angry bear, jumped out of the window, broke her arm, was rendered immobile, and was eaten by the three bears. A large group of spiders attacked the three bears, but baby bear threw a lamp on the floor and lit the house on fire.

These people are ruining my childhood, y’all.

Me: “Firefly.”

Justin: “…to continue…”

Me: “Firefly.”

Justin: “…and retain all it’s former charm…”

Me: “Firefly.”

Justin: “…would you pick…”

Me: “Firefly.”

Justin: “…Firefly,…”

Me: “Firefly.”

Justin: “…Lost,…”

Me: “Firefly.”

Justin: “…or Harry Potter?”

Me: “Fire…oh, crap.”

(PS – Turns out? Still Firefly.)

All in all, it was a good day and I really hope to be able to get out there more often, it was a LOT of fun. But for those of you who have never rock climbed, here are a few lessons I learned from my almost-first time.

1. You will look like an idiot and make a fool of yourself. This was pretty easy for me to get over, since I’m used to looking like an idiot and making a fool of myself.
2. You will totally get schooled by a bunch of seven year old punks who will boulder around V5s** like they are trying simultaneously make you look like an idiot (see #1) and serve as proof that we really did evolve from monkeys.
3. PAIN.
4. It will take you eighteen times to get to the top of a V0** climb and those around you will watch in astonishment as you manage to fail this easy course yet again. It’s alright, you’ll get it eventually. And then keep doing it a million more times because it’s the only problem in the entire gym you can actually climb.
5. Climbing without a harness = AWESOME! Why have I never bouldered before?!
6. PAIN.
7. Climbing shoes don’t hurt nearly as much as everyone acted like they would.
8. Bring your own water. You’ll waste a lot of time walking back and forth to the fountain to replenish the liquid lost in the gallons of sweat jetting from every pore in your body.
9. Did I mention PAIN?

I’m so excited to go back and hope to visit 3 times a week. Maybe by this time next year it won’t take me 18 times to get up to the top of that dad gummed V0**.

(Anyone need a total n00b climbing partner?! )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Total Muscle Failure
**V0=noob, V12=certain death

“Now my butt has an owie!”

*pout* “Kiss it and make it better.”

“I give mommy ‘pankins on your butt. I kiss your butt make it better?”

“Don’t ‘pank my hand! ‘Pank my butt.”

(I just realized how obsessed my child is with the word “butt.”)

“Gimme a ‘pankin! Then next time I ‘member to obey.”

(after spanking her doll) “It’s okay, CiCi.” *hugs and kiss* “‘Member next time, we do better.”

“Don’t ‘pank me with that! Use a hand.”

Me: “Ariana, I need you to come here.”
Ari: “NO!”
Me: “Are you going to choose to obey me, or to disobey me?”
Ari: “DISOBEY ME!”
Me: “Alright, baby, that’s your choice, but if you choose to disobey me, I’m going to give you a spanking.”
Ari: (clasping her hands over her bottom and putting her back against the wall): “OK! YES, YES, YES! My obey you! Obey you!”

Wordless Wednesday hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom.