Morning Splash Pad Adventures

Today I took my 4 year old to a downtown splash pad park.  This park has climbers, a large splash area and lots of trees and grass.  I took a blanket and staked a claim in a nice shady area and unloaded our gear.  (I didn't take as much stuff as it sounds - just her towel and clothes, snacks, water and a book for me)

Little Miss walked all around the splash part - she watched the kids shrieking and playing and getting soaked, then she came back and told me she was going to the playground area.  Okay, whatever.  Play over there in your bathing suit.  Just don't get hurt.

I actually succeeded in reading some of my book.  I'm struggling with the joy that comes with that as I feel I've neglected to watch my kid while I was immersed in a book.  However, nothing untoward happened with all the other kids and parent and school groups around.

Little Miss did finally get almost wet, but she is so hesitant to play in the various streams of water.  She talked to some of the bigger kids, stuck her arm through a water jet, but would not really go in and play.

Little Miss in the Splash Pad

My miss is the one in the hat.  She got her feet wet, but that's about it.  And she was so excited this morning to go to the Splash Park!

Next time we go we will have to bring more kids along (including older Sis who is still in school until tomorrow.)  I suspect she's more likely to play in the water with someone she actually knows.  She loves the sprinker at home - how is this any different?!

I know it's the 4 year old mentality I've discussed in other posts, but it can be frustrating.  At least there were climbers for her to exhaust herself on as well.  We had a good morning anyway.

Toodles!

Pregnancies and Weight Stuggles

I was at my heaviest when I was pregnant with my first baby.  Makes sense, right?  Well yes, and no.  I went ahead and had a second baby and I did not gain any weight, except maybe 5 lbs at the very end.  In fact I started that pregnancy losing weight, which was somewhat of a concern to doctors, but not to me.  I topped out at almost 200 lbs right before I had my first child.  That was way too much for me.  I'm only 5'2 so I would go so far as to say I was fat.  I didn't lose any weight (at least that I remember) after Emma was born and I slept so little I may have even gained more.  For 2.5 years I was quite large.  Then I got pregnant with Rose.

For the first 2 months I lost maybe 10 lbs - not a concern to me, well except for the non-stop "morning" sickness which I had all day during both my pregnancies, since I was happy to see the scale going down, and then staying the same.  The doctor (and her student doctor) were surprised to see my uterus growing but my weight declining.  I did not gain anything during my pregnancy with Rose, and by the end (after birth) I think was down to 160 lbs.  After her birth I realized at once she was going to be an "easy" child (after my first hellion who only nursed or cried for her first 6 months of life, until she starting being more mobile but still nursed and cried a lot).  Rose was happy to sleep on her own (we co-slept with Emma for a year plus) and she only nursed when she was hungry, and I could put her down awake and she would stay asleep - all the most wonderous things a small baby can do to make a parent happy.

So I thought maybe I could try to get rid of a bit more of this extra weight, and I signed up with My Fitness Pal and tried tracking my calories.  I was already down to a size 12 from the 14s and 16s I was wearing before I got back into my maternity clothes, and I had to buy new clothes to go back to work after my maternity leave.  My Fitness Pal was actually great for allowing me to see where I was eating too many calories.  So I tried to just eat a "serving" of each food I was eating (unless it was vegetables) and made an effort to cut back on eating at night and having too much junk.  And you know what?  It worked!  I still eat everything I was eating before - just not as much - and I am (slightly) more active - I put on music and dance when I'm doing housework, and I've got a parking spot about 6 blocks from my workplace - and I'm happy with my weight right now.  My youngest is now 4, so after about 3 years I've lost almost 30 lbs.  Now my struggle is finding new clothes that fit.  I can't really wrap my mind around the idea that I'm a size 6 now!  That and I hate spending money on clothes when I have a whole closet full of stuff to wear, even though it doesn't fit!

Moral of the story - don't give up, and small changes really do add up.  I feel more comfortable in my own skin now, and I have more energy for playing with the girls.  Life is good.

Toodles!