Oh Natural

On Labour Day, we drove out to a farm near Carleton Place to pick up a side of pork. Or, as we've been calling him, Our Happy Pig.

I didn't get any pictures of the fairly cute and gregarious Yorkshires, from which herd Our Happy Pig was culled. Nor did I get any pictures of the beef cattle roaming in the open fields behind the barn (whom we will revisit with less innocent intention next year.)

But we all enjoyed getting a tour of the farm, seeing the other animals, and chatting with Farmer Dave (who left Nortel half a dozen years ago to take up farming on his fantastic 150 year old farm.)

So the pork? Is amazing. We've only dug into a couple packages of loin chops, but they are just amazing. tender, juicy, flavourful. And guilt-free. This pig, it lived the way pigs are meant to. In a big open pen, running around in the mud and grass, being fed delicious real-food-slops.  

We'd been avoiding grocery store meat for some time, and even alternating meating-eating and vegetarian/vegan-eating dinners in order to minimize the amount of unhealthy (in the broadest sense). Now we have a freezer full of loin chops, smoked hams, sausages (the guy from the Sausage Kitchen makes the sausages!), bacon, and ground pork, which we can enjoy knowing we are supporting natural agriculture.

Next year, beef.

Also! I had my first taste of fresh, unpasteurized milk the other night. Not at the farm; at bookclub. (Bookclub is made up of many midwives - there was bound to be a granola or two in the bunch.) OMG, fresh milk tastes amazing, AND I got the contact info for the farmer who supplies it. We'll see where this leads...

From the list of "Don'ts"

Um, no Tim. That's NOT allowed.

I love naptime

One of the best things about staying home with my "baby" is getting to put him down for his naps. It used to be a dreaded time of the day: will he go down? How much will we fight? Will he stay asleep?

Since we consolidated into one nap a day (a year ago?), and in particular since we stopped nursing (March 18), afternoon naps have been predictable and the routine for going to sleep pretty straightforward -- though time consuming. The thing about it taking a long time is: is doesn't matter! We don't have anything else to do but wash hands, choose stories, read stories, one more story Mommy, cuddle up, chat, toss and turn, wata  [water] Mommy, again wata, cuddle up, toss a bit more, cuddle, Zzzzzz.... It can take an hour from the time we start up the stairs until I come back down to eat a quiet lunch by myself.

But whatever. It's so cozy, up there lying on the bed reading stories. Tim's starting to read along, filling in the words to his favourite stories, pointing out things in the pictures, telling me the ending. It's actually... fun.

And lately, when we've turned out the light and I lay down to cuddle up, Tim (sometimes after a bit of tossing and turning) squirms right into my chest, puts his cheek on my cheek, wraps both arms around my neck, sighs quietly and falls asleep like that. It's heaven.

Hack, hack

I've had a terrible cough for two weeks now. It's not so bad during the day, but has been keeping me up at night. I'm skeptical of cough medicine, but have been taking it before bed anyway. Still, the up-at-all-hours. I'm exhausted, and have given up exercise. (Coinciding with Tim's break from nursery school, at least.)

At least the kids are back to school: McPie enjoys mornings with them, so I've been sleeping in.

Since my cough started, Tim caught and recovered from croup. (Heck, he probably caught it from me.) In three days! Kid has a killer immune system.

Last night, in a last ditch effort, Sweetie McPie stayed up late to whip up a batch of homemade soup (carrot & fennel), and instructed me to drink it all day today. He insists it's the cure we've been waiting for.

At any rate, the soup is delicious.

Up and down the ladder

I have just had a random but sort of interesting realization.

Since becoming a parent (the timing could be a coincidence, but I think not), I have dropped a stage or two down on Maslow's hierachical pyramid of needs. Check it out.

I don't think I ever quite tipped into self-actualization mode, certainly not fully, but as most educated and socially and financially independent westerners, I was solidly working the esteem angle. Now, I'm all about love and belonging, and nothin' but. Screw achievement, just give me a little intimacy!

But the craziest thing is, I can't decide if this is an improvement or deterioration. Maybe both.

Curious to realize that the ladder doesn't just work the one way.

Freedom for all

We have recently re-discovered the bus. And guess who LOVES the bus? We all do!

Tim and I took our first ride together last week, destination Byward Market. He was very excited as we walked over to the bus stop; very patient as we waited for the bus; and thrilled to sit a seat beside the window looking at everything.

Lucky for me he loved it all -- as soon as we were too far from home to walk back, I realized I'd left my wallet at home. I had return fare in my pocket, but no wallet nixed any plans we had for treats and shopping. Since Tim seemed so content, we just stayed on the bus for the whole route (about 40 minutes) -- through downtown Ottawa and back to our house. We got off, I retrieved my wallet, and we went back to the bus and waited for another. Tim couldn't have been happier to get on ANOTHER bus! Once in the market, pizza for lunch and gelato for dessert was just icing on the cake.

The next week, Constance finished her exams and began contemplating the summer ahead of her. She takes public transit to school, and has taken it a few times to destinations nearby, and all her friends live around here. But every other week, she'll be in Aylmer -- seemingly far, far away from friends and accessible shopping while her mom is at work and unable to chauffeur. So, we hatched a plan to figure out how to bus it to Aylmer and back. I agreed to accompany her on a round trip to Les Mamans. It was perfect for all of us. Constance had the security of a parent, and I had an excuse for an morning activity, and Tim was about to enjoy Public Transit Nirvana: riding the bus with his beloved CoCo.

The adventure was an all-around success. The trip was easy, we were served coffee and snacks at the other end, and we made it back in one piece. Constance is now confident of her summer independence, and I know I can take Tim places like the market, the Children's Museum, or Maman's place without having to book a car and lug a car seat, while keeping the young fella entertained.

Enjoying some tasty juice:

This was Tim's expression for most of the trip. It belies his enthusiasm:

Nodding off a little:

Steelguts

So, I bought a package of dulse a few weeks ago, having heard about it's wondrous health properties and thinking that it might offer new and exciting snacking possibilities.

But dulse? Is disgusting. I am the furthest thing from a fussy eater, but my god is that stuff grody. I tried it out on the kids, and they were on board with the revulsion.

Except Tim. Dude will actually EAT that stuff! Okay, not many bites before saying "all done" (it's quite salty). But when offered on later occasions, he'll happily munch a few bites.

Given that he'll eat his bodyweight in smoked oysters or sundried black olives, I probably shouldn't be surprised.