a few of my favorite things.

not much going on today.

today is my second day after completing the Whole30, and i'm still trying to navigate how these changes affect our lives now. jer's jumping back into some of his pre-whole30 foods much more quickly than i am. i had a couple servings of gluten-type grains yesterday, and then today and tomorrow i will go back to whole30 eating, to see how my tummy reacts. so far, so good. but then i went and read this article, which pretty much messed my head up, and almost guaranteed an eternal state of guilt if i don't eat whole30 for the rest of my life.

i'm trying to find a balance.

i noticed a couple of things yesterday. i had some oatmeal for breakfast, which wasn't nearly as delicious as i had imagined it would be when i wasn't allowed to eat it before. i only ate half of the oatmeal, but made sure not to leave any of the blackberry or almond butter topping behind. yum! then, i left out the grains for lunch, to have a cookie for dessert. i can't tell you how long i had been looking forward to that! for about a month, i've had my eye on this breakfast cookie in the healthmarket section of our grocery store. and you guys, it was SO good. and i made sure to enjoy every bite. i even got a little annoyed when elli wanted bites of my cookie, instead of his own donut. the funny thing is, i'm pretty sure the taste of the cookie wouldn't have really impressed me prior to the whole30. but i can tell my tastes have changed a bit. i think that i was so bombarded with intense sweet or salty or sour flavors in most of the foods i was eating before, that my tastebuds would have gotten bored with something more mellow. but this cookie was SO GOOD. it was chocolatey and fudgy.

and i'll confess. i took a bite of elliot's donut. there, i said it.

but here's the thing. it wasn't that great. in fact, i wouldn't be sad if i never took a bite of that donut again. let's not get carried away though...because it was just a simple cake donut (elli doesn't like glazes or frosting on his treats yet....his hands get too sticky, and apparently that is not okay with him). normally, i'd prefer to have some kind of cream cheese covered cinnamon roll, or a frosted long john, or maybe one of those huge elephant ears! but in the past, if you would have put ANY kind of donut in front of me, i'd eat it. no questions asked. a sugary, cakey thing? are you kidding me?! get in my mouth! i wouldn't have even given it much thought as to whether i really enjoyed it or not. but like i said, elli's donut just wasn't that good. it definitely wasn't worth it. i'll be honest though. there was this weird part of my brain telling me i wanted to eat another bite. but i chose not to believe it.

i think i'm going to have to keep making choices like that. it won't be easy, but maybe it'll get easier with time?

so, that double chocolate chunk breakfast cookie is one of my new favorite things.

being off of the whole30 is also one of my new favorite things.

watching elliot watch sesame street song videos on the laptop is also one of my favorite things.

his favorite songs are "elmo's song," "a song about elmo" (that adam sandler sings), and "C is for cookie." this kid can't get enough!

my other favorite thing lately is how elli presses his little toes against his high chair tray whenever he eats.

                i don't know if he's bracing himself or what, but it just cracks me up. such a character.

we have a pretty low key day planned today. we're hoping the weather is nice enough to get out to the playground to burn off some energy. otherwise it's awfully quiet around here. hoping to use this to my advantage today. have a great day!