Some Pictures taken at various Parks

Weather is mild and so, Megha spends a lot of time in the parks/ outdoors these days. Here are some of the recent pictures taken at various parks.

This was a few days ago at a park close to the daycare. She loves slides!

This one was when they had picnic at the daycare. They love picnics, who doesnt? They have every week. They even have the tent where they lounge around all morning!

This one was taken when Megha was trying to attempt somersault when she had seen an older kid do that :)
This was taken at the park across out home.

This was taken at a splash-pad near daycare. I though I had a few pictures of Megha at a splash-pad when Anand took her too but I cant find it.

Tired after the splash-pad. I was told she ate and drank really well that day!

This was taken on a rainy day. Hannah keeping the kids busy while they ride on her back saying Yeee-haaw!

This one is my most recent favorite :)

This one was taken at the daycare. They have nice spots for the kids to play!!  

Broccoli For Toddlers

Megha's favorite veggie of late is Broccoli. It doesn't matter how it is offered, she devours them and then she asks for more! Anand mixes it with pork and veggies and she likes broccoli the best out of all veggies.

Here is another favorite version:

Broccoli: Handful cut into bite size pieces
Butter: a touch
salt and pepper to taste
Veggie broth or water: 1/2 cup

Method:
Heat butter in a pan and stir-fry broccoli for about a minute. Add the broth and let it simmer until the broth is completely absorbed and broccoli is just starting to get very tender. A little bit of crispiness should be there.
Season with salt and pepper.

It is power packed with vitamins and minerals and here is a link if anyone wants to know more: http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=9

Here is a picture which was taken yesterday. I love this picture!!! This was taken at the daycare.

Low points

Today I feel like I hit a rock bottom. I am not a good mother I feel. Not good enough. I think Megha would have done better with someone else.

Helping Toddlers Brush their Teeth

We started brushing Megha's teeth quite literally at 6 weeks as she was born with 2 bottom milk teeth. They were extracted by a pediatric dentist as they were loose and were a choking hazard for Megha. At that time, he advised that we gently massage her gums using clean fingers or clean cotton cloth. 

However, we never used tooth paste before. We just brush her teeth in the morning and before bed-time using her brush and water. 

This evening I decided its about time I started tooth paste for her (we bought that paste a while ago). I was dreading because some of my girlfriends told me how hard it was to train their kids to spit out the paste. 

However, with Megha, it was a breeze! Literally! I applied past on her brush and she brushed (with my help) as usual. Then I took some water in my mouth and showed her a couple of time how to spit it out she caught it! No force, no please no nothing! Just laughs and giggles all the way! We both brushed and spit out the water for a long time :) She likes it!

And thats how she now knows how to properly brush her teeth :) I guess she was just ready to start doing this (Just like when she was ready to be bottle weaned and it was a breeze for me).

Here is her very first tooth paste :) She is now 2 and half years old. 

Baby Animals Continues!

Over the weekend, Megha and I said our animals over and over again. She loves the animals! Here are some of the things she learned while I tried to recollect the animals myself in at attempt to teach them:

Me: Whats a baby Dog called?
Megha: Baby dog is called a puppy.
Me: Whats a baby Cat called?
Megha: Baby cat is called a kitten.
Me: Whats a baby Horse called?
Megha: Baby horse is called a pony.
Me: Whats a baby Cow called?
Megha: Baby cow is called a calf. (This one Anand taught her amongst other things)
Me: Whats a baby duck called?
Megha: Baby duck is called a duckling (sometimes she forgets this).

We also said what a baby tree is called, baby car, baby bus, baby truck, baby bicycle, baby tree, baby grass etc :) If she doesnt recollect something, she either says its a baby grass or its a baby car :)

Here is a picture taken at the cottage. More pics coming up about cottage!

Here is how our baby animal episode started: http://aboutyouwithyou.blogspot.ca/2014/07/baby-animals.html

Carrot Sticks for Toddlers

I realized, I haven't been feeding Megha as healthy a food as I thought I was! Especially during weekends! She loves muffins/chips/fries etc. I cannot blame her, I love them too. This weekend when we went to the cottage, she pretty much survived on junk food (almost) as we are still re-setting the kitchen after renovation.

Anyway, back to healthy snacks now! Back to where we left off.

Carrot sticks:
I misled her and told her these are fries. But they do look like carrot fries don't they? I guess I was only partially misleading her. The trick worked!! She loves them!

Ingredients:
Carrot: 1 big, pealed and chopped just like French fries look
Butter: a touch
Salt and pepper to taste
Veggie broth (optional)

Method:
Heat butter in a pan and add the carrots. Roast for a few seconds and add broth just until the carrots are covered. You can also dry fry but I felt with broth/water, it will soften the carrots and it's easy for her to eat. When the broth evaporates, continue to fry until carrots are done but still firm; whole process takes about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste!

Megha's verdict: yummy fries!

Baby Animals

This evening something super nice happened. Megha and I were returning from her daycare and we were waiting for a lady and her puppy to cross the road. We were at the stop sign. Here is the conversation that followed.

Megha: Look momma a big doggy!
Me: Yes Megha, you are right its a dog. But since its a small baby dog, its called a puppy.

Megha: Whats a baby Horse called momma?

Me: A baby horse is called Pony.
Megha: Whats a Baby Bus called momma?
Me: Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr