Calcium

Many people have asked me how I have added calcium to the kids diets since I cut Brogan off from milk products, I am going to assume it's out of curiosity and not a subtle hint that they think that I am not aware of the fact that children ... heck HUMANS need calcium. Do not be afraid, dear readers - I am infact aware of the importance of calcium for our skeletal systems and blood. I have done research on how much children in my kids age group need per day (800mg for those who are interested) and have strove to do my best to provide that for my kids. There is calcium in every possible thing my kids consume. I buy "diet" juices fortified with calcium, Sara Lee's Iron Kids bread, Spaghettio's with calcium ... For a while I tried to get Brogan to eat extra broccoli; that really didn't go over so well. He's a fairly picky eater. I am not a big fan of giving kids multi vitamins because they generally allow too much of a build up of unneeded supplements (if your kids are eating healthy, they shouldn't need them anyway), but I still needed an extra something. So I kept on searching. Then I found Viactiv. These tasty little "candies" are kid friendly with four different flavors and pack an impressive 500 mg of calcium per square. My kids love them. They think mom is giving them a special treat - so I feel like a fabulous mom ... and they get stronger bones in the process. Everyone wins!

He's Great

Sometimes, in moments of annoyance, I forget how great Brogan really is. It's odd, because his "naughty" behavior never really over shadows his generally great personality ... but sometimes I forget to mention it.
Brogan loves to help. He loves to be involved in everything you're doing. He's learning fairly quickly what order I like to have the dishes in the dishwasher, what baskets I want different color clothes to be in, how to help me rake up leaves (I bought him a little gardening set he absolutely LOVES) ...
On Saturday I attacked the back yard with a vengeance. I figured since Jerry was fixing my truck the least I could do was ease his yard work load. I started out mowing the lawn, which Brogan was more than eager to help me do. So I threw some pants and sunglasses (protective eye wear?) on him and let him walk beside me. Then we started in on the bushes. I stripped the branches off and he would then drag them over to the corner "burn" area. He actually came up with a very productive way to do that when he grabbed his wagon and started piling the branches on top of that, then pulling that over to off load. Smart kid.
He's also started to want to be around people more. Yesterday after lunch he choose to watch a movie. After he had it all set up he came running into the laundry room and asked, "Watch a movie, Krista?" (yeah, it's odd. He's always alternating between calling me mommy and Krista. Still not sure why.) I was a bit confused because he has been able to work the DVD/VHS by himself since he was like 2. I however let him take my hand and followed him into his room where the movie was already playing. He scrambled onto the bed, turned around beaming at me, then laughed, "Come sit with me mommy!" I sat down beside him, he automatically stuck his foot out so it was touching me (he does this when he's sleeping too. He has REALLY hot feet!) and went back to watching his show in blissful silence. Turns out he just wanted me there not two doors down.
Brogan loves contact. Most of the time he doesn't know how to initiate it, but with me ... he'll call from the front of the house where he's playing to where ever I am "Tickle me, mommy!" He's not just trying to get me to play with him, he really does want to be tickled. I don't think it's so much the attention that he loves as the pressure. Because there are times he will just fling himself down on top of me, wrap his arms around me and squeeze. When I squeeze back, he squeals with pleasure.