Yeshua and The Stairs

About a two months ago, I was taking care of both Yeshua and another little boy. I was taking both kids upstairs because we had been playing outside and the little boy's knees and feet where dirty. 'This will be quick.' I thought. So as I reached the top of the stairs, I put Yeshua on the floor and escorted the little boy to the bathroom and towards the tub. 'Put your legs in buddy,' I said. And I began to wash his legs and feet. I suddenly wondered why it was so quiet. Why Yeshua had not complained that he wasn't being held, and why he hadn't come to to tug on my shirt. And then it hit me. I suddenly felt all the blood in my body rush to my head and my stomach churn. Now, as you know, if you have stairs in your home it would probably be your worst nightmare to se your kid tumbling down. But Hubby and I had covered that. We had gates both at the top and bottom of the stairs and the one at the top closed automatically. Unless of course it was propped open...which we often did...which is how I found it when I was hysterically looking for Yeshua that day. As my eyes saw the opened gate, I knew he was on his way down. And sure enough he was on the fourth step going down carefully. I freaked out and as he heard me he looked back, missed the step with his little hands, and began to tumble! I let out the most horrific scream and as he landed on the turn of the stairs (only 2) he began to cry his little head off.  I rushed down and picked him up checking every single little nook and cranny on his body. I cried and said sorry a gazillion times and by the time I looked at him again, he was already all smiles. 

I was fortunate. But many people loose their little babies just like that. I can't imagine what that parent has gone through. And I NEVER wanted to experience that feeling of helplessness again. 

So I decided to teach him the proper way to go up and down the stairs... Life is unpredictable and you never know when there will be an emergency, or when someone will accidentally leave a gate open as I did. It's so important for our toddlers to know what to do. 

I started with him going down stairs cause I knew it would probably be the harder of the two to learn. I sat him down at the top and demonstrated how to go down backwards. Within five minutes he followed suite. Since then, almost every morning as we are going down for breakfast he will squirm until I let him go down the stairs on his own. I never leave his side...I'm always spotting him...and he has yet to take another tumble. He's enjoys it. So much so that he flattens his body out and slides belly down like a little seal!

Of course going up is a favorite too. That one he learned on his own. 

If you decide that teaching your child to go up and down the stairs is important to you, then PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CHILD UNATTENDED! Yeshua goes up and down very well, but it doesn't mean he can do it alone. He could still take a tumble, slip, fall back, and get very hurt. We still double check the gates and make sure that someone is there right behind him when he is going up or down. We taught him this in case of an EMERGENCY. So please do not rely on this to allow your child to be alone on the stairs. There is still great danger!

I am ever grateful that he was ok. It was that experience that made me want to teach him and I'm glad I did. I would encourage you to do the same if you have an able toddler (or an older crawling infant) and have stairs in your home or frequent a place that has stairs. 

This ability could save your child's life.

If you try and your child continues to go down head first, continue to show them daily until they understand or discontinue lessons for a few weeks and try again.

Our next feat is swimming and survival if he ever fell in water. I'll be sure to post how those go!

Sending much love!

XoXo!

Janice

Two-In One Dinner: Whole Chicken & Crock Stock

Here is another one of my favorite sites 100 Days of Real Food that shares a ton of really great recipes. One of which I had about a week ago and it was AMAZING! The best part about this yummy recipe is that it not only tells you how to make a whole chicken in a crock pot, but it also tells you how to make a stock in the crock pot as well (In case you don't have the time to do it on the stove). WIN! WIN!

Recipe: The Best Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot

INGREDIENTS

• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 onion
• 1 large chicken

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine the dried spices in a small bowl.
2. Loosely chop the onion and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker.
3. Remove any giblets from the chicken and then rub the spice mixture all over. You can even put some of the spices inside the cavity and under the skin covering the breasts.
4. Put prepared chicken on top of the onions in the slow cooker, cover it, and turn it on to high. There is no need to add any liquid.
5. Cook for 4 – 5 hours on high (for a 3 or 4 pound chicken) or until the chicken is falling off the bone. Don’t forget to make your homemade stock with the leftover bones 

Overnight Chicken Stock in the Crock Pot

INGREDIENTS

• Leftover chicken bones or carcass roughly equivalent to one small or medium sized chicken
• 1 onion, peeled and loosely chopped
• 1 rib of celery, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped (no need to peel)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig fresh parsley
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• Salt, to taste
  Note: If you are missing any of these ingredients I wouldn’t let that stop you from making it anyway.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. After removing all edible meat from the chicken put/leave the bones, skin, cooking juices, etc. in the crock pot. If you are using the chicken carcass from the “The Best Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot” recipe just leave every single thing that’s leftover (except the good meat of course) in the crock pot including the original onion and spices you used when making the chicken.
2. Add the onion, celery, carrot and spices on top of the bones and fill the crock pot almost to the top with tap water (leaving about ½” at the top).
3. Turn the slow cooker onto “low” after dinner and cook all night long or alternatively you could start it in the morning and cook on “low” for 8 – 10 hours during the day.
4. After the stock is done cooking turn off the heat and, using a soup ladle, pass the stock through a fine sieve to remove all herbs/bones/etc.
5. Either refrigerate or freeze the stock for future use. I usually freeze some in both 1 and 2-cup portions, and I also sometimes freeze stock in ice cube trays just in case I just “need a little” for making sauce or rice. This stock is great in soups likechicken noodle soup and also in rice like risotto.
   Enjoy!

Strange But True: Breast Milk, Boogers, & Probiotics

A few months ago, Yeshua was crazy congested. Like, not 'Oh he's got some boogers'...No..Like, 'Holy moly. The dude has some serious boogers'. We usually use the saline spray and have to pin him down on the floor and hear him screaming and crying but I discovered something new! Instead of saline, which I know tastes terrible and may even be burning the inside of his nose...why not breast milk? For those of you who nurse... Have you ever been nursing and noticed milk dropping from your baby's nose accompanied with some mucus? (For those of you who are totally grossed out by this, it really isn't as bad as it sounds...I promise!) So as I was reading my new all time favorite book by Kate Tietje   "A Practical Guide to Children's Health", she explained that breast milk breaks down the mucus in a baby's nose! How cool is that?! It was one of those..I knew that! But I didn't really KNOW that, moments...


So how in the world would you get breast milk in a baby's nose you might ask? You would either have to have tremendosly good aim OR...Well, you will have to milk yourself. hahaha! Yes, seriously... (or use a breast pump)I use a small microwave safe saucer and before I use it I sanitize it in the microwave (place in the micro for about 2 min). Make sure the plate is completely cooled off. Then I get a syringe and suck up the expressed milk. You really don't need much cause baby's nose is still tiny. Squirt the milk up the baby's nose (do both sides) and with an aspirator, suck the milk and boogies out. It's that simple and works much better than the saline spray.
Something else that I like to do when he is experiencing heavy nasal congestion is to mix the breast milk with a children's probiotic that you can find at your local health food store. The probiotic will kill off the bad bacteria and promote the virus killing bacteria which in turn will shorten the cold. It is also recommended to give your child (and yourself) a daily dose of probiotics (preferably at night when your stomach can properly absorb the probiotic) to keep you healthy and cold free!


*Side note: Yeshua had major issues with the bulb aspirator. No matter how gentle I was with it, it would always make him bleed. So I looked into an alternative and found The Nose Frida! It doesn't go in the nose but rather stays just out side of the nose. He screams and cries just the same (we discovered that he hates the feeling of air coming out of his nose) but it is much gentler on his little nose and he doesn't bleed. And yes for some it may look or sound kinda gross to suck your kids boogers out. But your mouth goes no where near the boogers and it has a filter to catch bacteria! Win! Win!*

With flu season and cold season still in bloom, this idea may be a life saver...you may want to at least consider it and/or try it out and see what a HUGE difference it makes! 

XoXo!
Janice