Tummy Trouble

OMG, its my 50th post-what a milestone. I feel so accomplished! I won't bore you with more of my son's antics and poop incidents, but I will let you in on a little secret for how to deal with stomach issues in children. Ultimately this post will involve poop talk as well, but my son's poop is not the focus.

Now first, you must recognize that there are lots of different kinds of stomach issues.

First, there is the basic tummy ache which can be a result of constipation or bloating. Believe it or not, kids can still poop everyday and still be considered constipated. To ease this type of tummy trouble try the following things:

1) Massage their belly to expel some of the gas and to move things around.

2) A hot water bottle wrapped in a blanket and placed on their belly helps relax those tight muscles. This will provide some comfort.

3) Give them a bath. This also helps relax their tight bellies and if there is a poop backup, the warm water will help move things along.

4) Also in the realm of moving things along are these two tricks. Take your child's temperature rectally. This can help them poop and is perfectly safe to do every once in a while. You can also fill a plastic water bottle with warm water and squirt it into your child's bottom.

Then there is the dreaded stomach flu or viral infection of some kind that causes explosive poop and/or vomiting. For this type of tummy trouble, try the following remedies:

1) The BRATT diet is the only way to go when you have a house of disease. The BRATT diet stands for Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Tea and Toast. Eating these food when you can't stop pooping will help stop you up and these foods are all very bland and easy to hold down so that you won't keep throwing up.

2) To prevent dehydration in children who are experiencing this type of tummy trouble, give them watered down apple juice, Gatorade, or you can give them the syrup from a can of pears of peaches. The sugar helps coat the stomach so the liquid will not just sit in your child's tummy the way water does and it will not churn up their tummy the way milk does. You can also warm up a packet of jello and let your child drink that. It's very easy on the tummy. Popsicles also work well.

3) Be sure to avoid DAIRY, especially milk. Dairy is very hard to digest and even more disgusting when your child vomits it up-trust me I know from experience.

Next time your little one is experiencing tummy issues find out why and try one of the solutions listed here.

Torpedo in the Tub and Other Toilet Antics

What is it with my son and bodily waste? Is it because he is a boy? The kid is absolutely fascinated by any type of dirty waste expelled from his little body.

His most recent bodily escapades involved a torpedo in the bath tub, urinating on his baby sister and stuffing things with his hands down Mommy and Daddy's toilet just because the opportunity presented itself.

After this trifecta of filth I finally realized that my not-yet two year-old son is probably ready to start potty training.

I will share the antics leading up to this conclusion with all of you though since it is quite humorous and good for a laugh.

The first was the bombing of the bath tub while we were in Florida on vacation. This one was pretty mainstream in terms of bath room issues so that's why I didn't think it was any indication that Bruno might want to poop in the potty. He had a big dinner and didn't take a post meal poop , which he doesn't always do, so I put him in the tub and continued along with his routine. Well mid-bath I get a whiff and realize that Bruno has pooped in the tub. Pretty obvious why-he had to go and the warm water in the tub just eased things along. Not pretty, but it could have been a lot worse and fortunately it wasn't my tub.

Now the second incident was a little more of a red flag in terms of wanting to potty train and now that I look back on it, this is the incident that should have made me stop and say-"let's break out the potty."

While we were in Florida our infant turned that corner (you know, the one where they start sleeping and eating more regularly because they have hit 12 weeks of age) and she and my son started going to sleep at the same time-6:30 pm. I was smart enough to pick up on her routine change so I began synchronizing their schedules. This meant feeding both kids dinner at 5 pm and then letting them play until almost 6 and then giving them a bath together so that they could both get jammies and bed thereafter. Bruno had been following Daddy around a lot on vacation and wanted to spend all his time with Daddy-even when Daddy was in the toilet. Obviously my husband stands up to pee and Bruno became quite the little voyeur. So I guess it shouldn't have surprised me when he stood up in the tub the other night before pissing all over his sister. He had the most accomplished look on his face as he screamed "Mommy, I did it" at the top of his lungs. Poor little serious Brooke just sat there ( I mean come one, she is only 14 weeks) with this perplexed look on her face while her big brother urinated all over her.

Clearly Bruno was picking up a few bathroom tricks from Daddy (not that my husband pisses on our baby, but you know what I mean) and was smart enough to realize that males stand to pee, which was a real testament to his smarts, but it didn't pan out well for his sister when executed.

Finally, to wrap up the bath room trifecta Bruno decided that when we got home he was going to take Mommy's toothbrush and an entire tube of toothpaste and empty them into the toilet. Now toothpaste does not dissolve well in toilet water, so he had to stick his hands in there to break up the gelatinous clumps of blue goo, which apparently didn't slow him down or deter him from his toilet festivities because the next step was to watch the toothbrush swim down the swirling drain as he repeatedly flushed the toilet for good measure-flushed it so many times that he left a reminder of his toilet tendencies because it keep running for hours-so awesome!

Not only did I have to reach into my toilet and pull out my toothbrush and toothpaste, but I had to sit and listen to it run for half the day until my husband was able to come home and fix that stupid pump part.

You are all probably sitting there thinking what a complete idiot I am, which maybe I am, but in my defense, these events all transpired over a few weeks time so it took me a while to add them all up and see what the sum of their parts was indicating. Math was never my strong suit.

Finally, it hit me-it's potty time.

We have now broken out the training toilets and we have two centrally located far away from the baby. Hopefully this will pique my son's interest and make him want to use the potty for his bodily functions instead of my floor or his crib or his sister.

Vacation Rules to Live By

My husband and I were in desperate need of a vacation-we were beyond the winter blues. He was overworked and stressed and I was sleep deprived and stuck inside with two small kiddies after the winter birth of our second child.

After talking and talking about it, we decided two things. First, that there seemed to be no good time to take a vacation-we had work and we didn't want to take our son out of school etc. etc., blah, blah, blah, the list goes on and on. Second, that we couldn't afford to NOT take a vacation-we were both on the brink of a meltdown and some R&R was not only well deserved, but pretty much necessary to break our winter blues and get us out of our work, caffeniate, care for babies routine.

Work was the big sticking point for my husband, but for me, it was the thought of driving from Virginia to Florida in the car with two kids under two and the family bulldog. For the three weeks prior to our vacation, I was secretly wishing that "something" would come up at work that would force us to stay home in the safety of our rut, but there was no earth shattering real estate catstrophe that warranted us canceling our vacation. The only thing that came close to detering us was the fact that I got so sick (flu and sinus infection, plus two ear infections-ALL at the same time) the week before we left that I thought that I wouldn't even be able to make it down to Florida for the vacation.

Ultimately, I survived-YEAH and was able to make the much dreaded car trip to Florida to the much needed vacation that I deserved and longed for in my spare time. I think getting sick right before my vacation actually changed my outlook on vacations in general, not to mention the fact that it postively affected my mood. Being SO sick-to the point where I laid in bed for the first 72 hours unable to move-literally, made me realize that I was in a rut and that my fear about traveling to my vacation destination was only a side effect of said winter rut. I knew that I wanted to be in Florida and I knew that I needed to be in Florida, but yet it was still so hard to just do it-it was easier to be complacent and push the vacation off-getting there was the hard part.

Regardless of the roadblocks that almost deterred our vaction, we made it here safe and sound and I was so happy that the trip down here had gone so much more smoothly than anticipated that I kept that attitude of gratitude from the begininng of my vacation and really embraced my vaction this time. Usually it takes me at least 4 or 5 days to unwind and by then it is almost time to go home-where is the time for enjoyment? Well this attitude of gratitude made me embrace the vacation enjoyment from the get-go and we have only been here for 6 days and already I feel like we have been here for weeks.

Here are my personal recommendations, a personal vacation mantra, if you will, for ways to really enjoy your vaction from the start by adopting an attitude of gratitude:

1. Let your kids throw caution to the wind and disregard their schedules as long as it is for something good like staying up past their bedtime to get ice cream or not getting dressed until the afternoon so that they can play outside in their PJ's. I let my son play outside every morning in his PJ's because he just can't wait to get his day started; he doesn't want to be slowed down by something as useless as changing his clothes. Who could blame him? He is just going to get his clean clothes instantly dirty, why not wear the dirty PJ'S and get them more dirty? Makes sense and is ultimately pretty practical if you think about it. I love how two year-olds think, it is so pure.

2. Exercise outside. Jog outside and enjoy the smell of different air or exercise outside of the box and try a new class like hot yoga, or skip exercise altogether. Just break up the routine of what you do at home. My body was used to running the hills in our neighborhood at home, so I took my jog to the beach. Not only did my body ache in places that I forgot that I had, but I got some sun and fresh air in the process-YEAH FOR MOMMY (YFM!)

3. Visit the attractions that the locals recommend, not the tourist attractions that are local to the area. Where do locals eat? Go there and order the chef's special or the daily special-you will be guaranteed a great meal. Be happy that you didn't have to shop for the food, prepare it or clean it up. I ate a Grouper Reuben (I know, it sounds pretty scary) the other day at Captain Al's seaside dinning and it was so delicious.

4. Disengage from your electronic devices. I know this a hard one for many people, but it is so worth it. I didn't check my email for the first few days of vacation and I felt totally liberated. If it is really that urgent people will call you, twice if necessary, but not being constantly attached to your phone or email really gives you time to think. You are not on work auto-pilot which is a good thing.

5. Do one thing that scares you, even if it is small and stupid. This will remind you of your capabilities and will give you a sense of adventure and freshness-you may surprise yourself or learn something new. For me on this vacation, this meant taking a boat ride. I hate boats and fear them because they make me puke all the time. Well, I tried it and for the first time ever I got on a boat, rode around for an hour, didn't puke and had fun-shit, maybe I outgrew my motion sickness after 31 years. The point is, I found enjoyment in something that used to always cause me pain.

6. Be thankful. Being here has made me realize how much Mommies have to do at home when they have little ones. When we are here, my mother-in-law gets up every morning and makes the coffee (not the way I do it, she doesn't measure anything, she just throws in some water and some coffee grinds. Some days it's stronger than others or weak and thin, but it's one less thing I have to do in the morning and it is ready when I am struggling to wake up. Again, YFM!). She also feeds the dog twice a day. Having extra adult hands on deck makes my life easier and more enjoyable because I am not frantically rushing to do everything for everyone else. I can actually go and take a shit without having two kids in the bathroom with me-AMAZING!

7. Stop multi-tasking. I realize now that part of the reason I failed to relax on past vacations is because I was still functioning in "at-home-mom-machine-work mode" which entails constant multi-tasking. On this vacation I have been really good about doing one thing at a time and ONLY one thing at a time. Playing at the beach with my kids, making the salad for dinner etc. These may sound like stupid mundane tasks, but at home I do these two tasks while breast feeding, folding laundry, exercising and doing our taxes. By taking time to consciously not multi-task I have found a lot more enjoyment in each individual task. Just because you can multi-task (come on, what woman can't and doesn't???) does not mean that you should.

8. Mix things up a little. If you never stop for lunch at home because you are too busy stuffing a granola bar into your mouth in the carpool lane, then take a day to eat lunch somewhere scenic and beautiful. Sit down and taste your food-eat because you enjoy food, not because you need it to survive through your next meeting. My husband and I went to a local part of town the other day and had a nice long lunch. I even went crazy and had a drink at lunch. We sat outside and watched the boats come in by the pier, at least I think they were boats, I was pretty buzzed off of my one drink (it was big and involved rum), but again, the point is I was enjoying myself and really relaxing. I felt like I was doing something I shouldn't, like I would be called into the Principal's office for leaving class without my hall pass. My husband and I had some nice alone time and we broke the mold of our daily grind.

9. If you are near a hot tub, heated pool or an ocean, go for a dip. There is definitely something healing and purifying and cleansing about water. I will not wax about the various religious, health or spiritual properties of swimming in the ocean, but I can attest to the fact that sitting in a hot tub after a long day in the Florida sun not only soothes your muscles, but it somehow releases the tension in your mind.

10. Put your toes in the sand. At Bruno's preschool they do a lot with the little kids and objects that have different textures and feels to them so that the kiddies can develop their senses. Walking barefoot in the sand is a big person exercise in sensory motor comprehension-again, there is something so simple and pleasurable about the feel of sand between your toes and beneath your feet that you forget your troubles.

These items are the ways I kept an attitude of gratitude the whole vacation and got more than I bargained for this time around. Who says you can't teach an old mommy new tricks?

Enjoy and pass it along. Or better yet, develop your own vacation mantra so that you too can enjoy your vacation from day one.

Don't Try This At Home

I should have known that it was Friday the 13th. I had a one day meeting assignment in Rockville so I lined up the babysitter for the day and got my house in order the day before, which usually entails laying out the kids' clothes, making sure that the fridge is stocked and that there are notes etc. out that give everyone their marching orders. Oh yes, and let's not forget that my going to work at this meeting involves me PUMPING since my daughter is only 10 weeks old and my boobs are still on the creamery schedule.

I got up at 5am and got ready for work which began bright and early at 7:30am-I was not too peeved about getting up so early because I was told this was a short assignment and that I would be done and on my way home by 2pm. I packed my portable pump and all its parts even though I was convinced I would be able to make it until I got home.

I should have known things were not going smoothly when it took everyone over an hour to organize before the meeting even began-not to mention the fact that the lady leading the meeting was in from the left coast where she had been fighting some nasty virus so she was all jacked up on cold meds and jet-lagged, which made her noticeably absent-minded, forgetful and a constant source of snot and germs.

As we got underway things began rolling and we accomplished a lot prior to lunch. With only one more chunk of material to review before calling it quits, I was hopeful that I would still be heading home by 2pm. As we got to the budget piece we hit a major snag-no one could agree on anything and the discussion flood gates were opened. I felt my neck tense up as my breasts began to harden. All I could think was "thank goodness I wore a dark suit with a dark shirt."

I quietly observed and tried to take my mind off of the searing pain in my boobs. Boobs that had become so engorged my nipples were at 90 degree angles. What could I do, turn to the chairwoman and ask her if I could please be excused to go to my car and pump?

Now at this point you are probably feeling a little bit of sympathy for me and my poor boobs-remembering a time when you used to breastfeed and you were in my situation-or maybe you are asking yourself, why is Daphne an idiot-why didn't she go out to her car and pump during lunch? Well, I thought about that, but because we were doing SO well time-wise before lunch, everyone agreed to take a 30 minute lunch in the cafeteria right across from our meeting room. To make matters worse, the building that we were meeting in was a government facility and "unimportant people like me without badges of their own had to have an escort through the insanely HUGE building just to get from the security front desk to the conference room," so I would have had to ask security to take me to my car and wait for me while I pumped.

Needless to say, going out to my car and pumping was not exactly an option and to be honest at lunchtime I didn't need to pump yet, and I didn't know the afternoon was going to head south so quickly.

The minutes dragged on and before long we had spent over two hours beating the crap out of some budget issues. The back and forth arguing was making my head spin and throb, which was a good thing because it took the focus away from my boob pain and the fact that my breasts had started to leak milk-yes, breast milk all over my nice cashmere sweater.

The day that was supposed to end at 2pm wrapped up at 5pm-thank goodness I bill hourly- and I packed up my stuff and walked as quickly and gently as possible out of the building, with my escort of course, to my car. At this point I could barely lift my arm and stick it out the window to hand the garage attendant my parking sticker. All I could think of when I got to my car was getting on the pump to stop the pain.

Enter problem two of the day. My car was parked in the middle of a government lot at 5pm on a Friday-people that I work for and with were passing my car on the way to their cars so that they could head home for the weekend-without proper cover I didn't want to whip my boobs out like it was Mardis Gras for all of them to see. I decided to just get home to my baby ASAP.

Enter phase three of breast hell. It's Friday the 13th at 5pm and everyone is trying to head home so the traffic SUCKS. At this point I am basically crying my boobs are so full of milk. I begin massaging my breasts to try to relieve some of the pressure, but that does nothing for me, but intrigues many people in nearby cars. I have spent half an hour going 2 miles-I cannot take it anymore.

I hook up the pump to the battery pack and stick it under my now drenched shirt and I begin to pump one handed while driving. Probably highly illegal and yes very dangerous, but I did what I had to do. I am pretty sure if a cop saw me and pulled me over I would have gotten a ticket or arrested, but at that point I didn't care about such things-saving my boobs was my only concern.

Ten minutes on each side and my boobs are back to normal and I am able to field my husband's calls from home: "What are these bumps on Bruno's butt, Where is the baby's extra milk, What's for dinner?"

While I don't recommend EVER putting your boobs in this type of situation, I do hope you at least chuckle knowing that it happened to my boobs and not yours.

Recommendation Wednesdays

The talk among many of my mom friends has recently been about kids and meals. Currently the hot topic is, how do you entertain your toddler or kids while you are trying to prep the adult meal for the evening?

This is a great question. It is really easy to "cook" dinner for the kids since it only takes about 5-10 minutes to make most of their food and pretty much everything can go into the microwave for a quick zapping.

How do you entertain little ones while you are trying to slice and dice up some adult food without tripping over them and making yourself crazy-well here are my suggestions:

1. If your kids have a designated nap time or are at school or daycare at a certain time each day, carve out a half hour or so to do as much dinner prep work as possible. Marinate meat or chop veggies and store them in Ziploc bags until dinner. You can even wash Romaine lettuce leaves and loosely wrap them in paper towels and store them in the lower veggie drawer of your refrigerator for 3-4 hours without them wilting or getting nasty.

2. Obviously option 1 is the way to go, but life is not always that neat, so if your kids are home and underfoot while you are prepping dinner try designating that half an hour that you need to prep as a special time for your kids. For example, tell them it is story time and let them sit on the couch at look at books of their choosing. Another suggestion is to tell them it is art time or craft time and let them color (make a welcome home card for Daddy or create a book of pictures and put 20 sheets in one book and let them fill up one page each night) or use play dough at the table while you work on dinner. If this is a nightly ritual that they get to look forward to, kids will learn to view that half hour of art or story time as a special time all their own.

3. Get a large basket or bin and fill it with special toys. Only allow your children to take that bin out for half an hour each night while you are making dinner. Again, this will give the kids something to look forward to and it will make that half hour seem really special for them instead of a time when "mommy is busy."

4. Get the kids involved. If they are old enough to help, put them to work. You will be teaching them valuable skills that are useful in the future as well as building their confidence about their capabilities. If they are too young to peel or chop for you, you can still get them involved by playing store or restaurant-bring in a play cash register or shopping cart for them to use as props and cultivate their imaginations.

Hope that these help ladies. Good luck and pass these along to friends and family.

Recommendation Wednesdays

I have been feeling the stress of two kids recently, which in turn has been making my toddler ramp up his temper tantrums, so after over-thinking things for days, I finally took some steps to de-stress my life and now I am going to share them with you.



1) I downloaded the Metallica Lullabys CD onto my son's ipod. It is Metallica songs, sans the words, and just nothing but soothing music-he listens to it every night as he is going to sleep and boy does he love it. It has started to grow on me as well, but in a good way-it definitely is great background music to sooth your senses.


2) I have been recording the Yoga For Life series off of the Veria Channel. It is an hour long intense yoga session with yoga master Kurt Johnsen. I do it during the day at home when the baby naps and it makes me feel calm and strong. The best part is that you don't have to drag the kids to the gym and put them in the germ filled daycare and you can do the workout at any hour of the day.


When you feel a little too stressed, try out ones of these de-stress tactics of mine and just breathe.

Groundhog Day

Happy Groundhog day to all-well, it is official- Phil, the famous groundhog, saw his shadow today so that means that we should plan for 6 more weeks of winter-UGH!

If you are feeling the winter blues, think about cleaning out your closets and purging your home of unnecessary stuff. A clean fresh house is just what you need to feel less stagnant during these cold winter months.

Another great way to perk up your home and environment is to think about repainting one or two of the rooms in your home. Not only is this a very cheap way to spruce things up, but the colors on your walls can affect your mood-who knew? So, don't wait until Spring to do some cleaning and sprucing-start now-here's how.

If you are thinking of refreshing your home and outlook with some fresh paint, check out what these colors can affect.

Red-This increases energy and creates excitement

Orange-This can be comforting and cheerful

Yellow-This has been known to increase positive thoughts

Green-This color is calming and can promote rest

Blue-This color can cool a room and even lower your blood pressure

Purple-This color can stimulate a person's creativity an imagination

Great food for thought! Happy Painting.