Between Caleb's unusual crying spells, Becky's disgusting clear-the-room gas, Matt's invasion of my side of the bed, and my mind filling with thoughts of Caleb's birthday party (yes, I know it is 3 months away!), I am really not sleeping tonight. This is sad, because we have a big day tomorrow (well, later on today...) and I want to be alert and ready for some fun!
We are going to the pumpkin patch at Bowles' Farm. They have hay rides, barrel rides (a train made of barrels), a corn maze, a petting zoo, and a hay-jumping pit. We chose this day a while ago based on Matt's schedule, but it is a great day to go! They will be having an antique tractor pull, and we all know how much Caleb loves tractors!!! We also just found out last night that there is a BOGO pumpkin sale this weekend too!
If Caleb isn't completely worn out, we will also be stopping by the police barricks for their open house so that he can get a tour of the helicopter--another favorite! Matt and I have been looking forward to this day for quite a while. The pumpkin patch has always been something I've looked forward to doing with Caleb, and this is the first year he is old enough to know what is going on. I fully expect him to run up in excitement to every single one and yell "Pumpkin!" If he doesn't, I'll be disappointed! :)
I took him to the doctor yesterday because he can't seem to keep any milk down. It's not all dairy products---just milk. He's already on 2% because he can't do whole milk, so I was getting a little concerned and didn't want to wait until his 2 year old appointment to talk to the doctor. So, we visited our wonderful Dr. Singh, who Caleb adores. He decided to play the "no" game with Dr. Singh yesterday and was thrilled that he played along so well! Dr. Singh told me to stop the milk and make sure Caleb gets his calcium from cheese, yogurt, etc. He also suggested using rice milk and calcium fortified OJ and V8. Now, I'm pretty anal about the sugar in juice, and Caleb has really never had anything except water and milk...at least at my house! Unfortunately, I can't control the other places he visits, as much as I try. Some relatives aren't so cooperative!
Anyway, for the sake of Caleb's calcium intake, I decided to try small amounts of juice---calcium enriched only! Off to the grocery store I went on a quest for calcium-rich foods! I got tons of yogurt (which he likes, thank goodness) and those sticks of cheese that come individually packaged. I also got a bottle of V8 and OJ. Then I found some granola bars that have yogurt in them. One bar is 20% of your calcium, so I got a variety pack and figured I would try it as a breakfast choice. If he doesn't like them, I won't buy anymore! I even got some of the yogurt smoothies that you can drink. I had to do those when I was on a liquid diet before my jaw surgery, and they are actually pretty good (until you've had 5 in one day, of course!) I hope he likes them.
The rice milk didn't go over so well last night, and neither did the V8! He took a cautious sip of each (we offered them at different times) and then looked at us with this grimace as if to say, "Are you nuts? I'm not drinking this!" He did seem to like the OJ a little better, but was full from dinner and didn't finish it. I'm going to try that again tomorrow (today...) and see if he drinks it any better. I'm not giving up on the rice milk yet though. I'm going to experiment a little and see if a little drop of chocolate syrup might sweeten the deal. That's another thing I never do (I know, I'm mean!), but I need to do something to get him the calcium he needs.
While I was laying awake for the last hour, I pretty much planned all of Caleb's birthday party! He's having a construction party because he loves trucks. I found a great cake idea in Family Fun (if you don't get that, you should! It is awesome!!) using Twinkies and a pound cake to make a bull dozer. I'm going to experiment a bit with a trial run and then beg my sister (the cake expert!) to come help me if it looks more like a yellow blob.
I have gotten all of the party favors now: a small construction vehicle, a plate and matching water bottle with trucks on it, a Tonka coloring book, and a glow stick (a flare!!) Because of my anti-sugar issues and experience with less-than-quality party favors that just end up in my treasure box at school, I prefer to give party favors that can actually be used and that I think the kids will enjoy. They don't need the sugar found in all that candy that is usually dumped in the bags, and a few higher-quality items are better than a bunch of trinkets in my book!
The invitations are going to be done on thin scrap wood with pencil markings around the edges as if they were used on a construction site. I got this from Family Fun too. They have a party-of-the-month feature, and one time it was construction! I knew by this point that I would be doing a party with construction (Caleb is absolutely obsessed!), so I put the magazine in a safe place.
Who: Caleb's Construction Crew #2
What: A birthday party for the foreman of the crew
When: January 10, 2009
Where: At the Leach construction site
Why: To get a break from the job!
For a game, we are going to have a wrecking ball! I'm going to save up a variety of boxes of different sizes and shapes and let the kids build a tower with it. Then, the "wrecking ball" (a soft O-ball hanging by string from the fan!) will be swung to knock down the tower! All of the kids who will be there are 5 and under, so I think this will be a great activity for them. Of course, they will probably run into the tower and knock it down more than using the wrecking ball, but that's okay too! I will also have some coloring pages for them to do. I'm kind of limited since it will be January and the chance of snow on the ground is pretty great! If the weather is okay, I may try to plan a game outside as well. Maybe I'll do a construction relay or something...they can run down and put a piece of wood, a ruler, a (fake) hammer, etc. in a pile.
To eat: I'm going easy on myself this year! I think I'm just going to order a party sub from Subway, have the variety pack of individual bags of chips, and maybe have some pasta salad and fruit. I was considering packing the "construction crew" lunch in a brown bag like they would on a job site, but I thought that picky eaters might not like that....and we do have some picky eaters in our family (not to mention several food allergies, so I'd better not do it!) Last year I spent the whole first half of the party taking stuff out of the oven and I want to be able to enjoy the party this year!
Thoughts? Ideas? I do have a little bit of time :), so I guess it doesn't all have to be planned tonight!
Okay, I'm still really wide awake, and now I'm hungry. A yogurt bar, perhaps?! :)
We are going to the pumpkin patch at Bowles' Farm. They have hay rides, barrel rides (a train made of barrels), a corn maze, a petting zoo, and a hay-jumping pit. We chose this day a while ago based on Matt's schedule, but it is a great day to go! They will be having an antique tractor pull, and we all know how much Caleb loves tractors!!! We also just found out last night that there is a BOGO pumpkin sale this weekend too!
If Caleb isn't completely worn out, we will also be stopping by the police barricks for their open house so that he can get a tour of the helicopter--another favorite! Matt and I have been looking forward to this day for quite a while. The pumpkin patch has always been something I've looked forward to doing with Caleb, and this is the first year he is old enough to know what is going on. I fully expect him to run up in excitement to every single one and yell "Pumpkin!" If he doesn't, I'll be disappointed! :)
I took him to the doctor yesterday because he can't seem to keep any milk down. It's not all dairy products---just milk. He's already on 2% because he can't do whole milk, so I was getting a little concerned and didn't want to wait until his 2 year old appointment to talk to the doctor. So, we visited our wonderful Dr. Singh, who Caleb adores. He decided to play the "no" game with Dr. Singh yesterday and was thrilled that he played along so well! Dr. Singh told me to stop the milk and make sure Caleb gets his calcium from cheese, yogurt, etc. He also suggested using rice milk and calcium fortified OJ and V8. Now, I'm pretty anal about the sugar in juice, and Caleb has really never had anything except water and milk...at least at my house! Unfortunately, I can't control the other places he visits, as much as I try. Some relatives aren't so cooperative!
Anyway, for the sake of Caleb's calcium intake, I decided to try small amounts of juice---calcium enriched only! Off to the grocery store I went on a quest for calcium-rich foods! I got tons of yogurt (which he likes, thank goodness) and those sticks of cheese that come individually packaged. I also got a bottle of V8 and OJ. Then I found some granola bars that have yogurt in them. One bar is 20% of your calcium, so I got a variety pack and figured I would try it as a breakfast choice. If he doesn't like them, I won't buy anymore! I even got some of the yogurt smoothies that you can drink. I had to do those when I was on a liquid diet before my jaw surgery, and they are actually pretty good (until you've had 5 in one day, of course!) I hope he likes them.
The rice milk didn't go over so well last night, and neither did the V8! He took a cautious sip of each (we offered them at different times) and then looked at us with this grimace as if to say, "Are you nuts? I'm not drinking this!" He did seem to like the OJ a little better, but was full from dinner and didn't finish it. I'm going to try that again tomorrow (today...) and see if he drinks it any better. I'm not giving up on the rice milk yet though. I'm going to experiment a little and see if a little drop of chocolate syrup might sweeten the deal. That's another thing I never do (I know, I'm mean!), but I need to do something to get him the calcium he needs.
While I was laying awake for the last hour, I pretty much planned all of Caleb's birthday party! He's having a construction party because he loves trucks. I found a great cake idea in Family Fun (if you don't get that, you should! It is awesome!!) using Twinkies and a pound cake to make a bull dozer. I'm going to experiment a bit with a trial run and then beg my sister (the cake expert!) to come help me if it looks more like a yellow blob.
I have gotten all of the party favors now: a small construction vehicle, a plate and matching water bottle with trucks on it, a Tonka coloring book, and a glow stick (a flare!!) Because of my anti-sugar issues and experience with less-than-quality party favors that just end up in my treasure box at school, I prefer to give party favors that can actually be used and that I think the kids will enjoy. They don't need the sugar found in all that candy that is usually dumped in the bags, and a few higher-quality items are better than a bunch of trinkets in my book!
The invitations are going to be done on thin scrap wood with pencil markings around the edges as if they were used on a construction site. I got this from Family Fun too. They have a party-of-the-month feature, and one time it was construction! I knew by this point that I would be doing a party with construction (Caleb is absolutely obsessed!), so I put the magazine in a safe place.
Who: Caleb's Construction Crew #2
What: A birthday party for the foreman of the crew
When: January 10, 2009
Where: At the Leach construction site
Why: To get a break from the job!
For a game, we are going to have a wrecking ball! I'm going to save up a variety of boxes of different sizes and shapes and let the kids build a tower with it. Then, the "wrecking ball" (a soft O-ball hanging by string from the fan!) will be swung to knock down the tower! All of the kids who will be there are 5 and under, so I think this will be a great activity for them. Of course, they will probably run into the tower and knock it down more than using the wrecking ball, but that's okay too! I will also have some coloring pages for them to do. I'm kind of limited since it will be January and the chance of snow on the ground is pretty great! If the weather is okay, I may try to plan a game outside as well. Maybe I'll do a construction relay or something...they can run down and put a piece of wood, a ruler, a (fake) hammer, etc. in a pile.
To eat: I'm going easy on myself this year! I think I'm just going to order a party sub from Subway, have the variety pack of individual bags of chips, and maybe have some pasta salad and fruit. I was considering packing the "construction crew" lunch in a brown bag like they would on a job site, but I thought that picky eaters might not like that....and we do have some picky eaters in our family (not to mention several food allergies, so I'd better not do it!) Last year I spent the whole first half of the party taking stuff out of the oven and I want to be able to enjoy the party this year!
Thoughts? Ideas? I do have a little bit of time :), so I guess it doesn't all have to be planned tonight!
Okay, I'm still really wide awake, and now I'm hungry. A yogurt bar, perhaps?! :)
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