Expander and belly bands

 Milo's belly bands arrived on Saturday afternoon, and we couldn't wait to put one on him because as every day passed he was marking the territory more and more in our house. For example, on Saturday morning he attempted to spray Paul's work jacket that was hanging on a chair in the dining room. Thankfully Ian scooped him up as soon as he lifted his leg, but there were plenty of other times we had to clean up a mess. Since we started using the belly bands on Saturday, we've only had to clean two accidents in the house. He pooped in Ian's room once on Saturday. Thankfully it's very rare for him to poop in the house because the belly bands won't help with that one iota. On Sunday morning after he came inside the house he walked right over to the hamper as I was throwing in a load of laundry and lifted his leg and sprayed. He had been in the house less than 5 seconds so we hadn't put his diaper back on yet. Thankfully since Sunday morning he hasn't had any accidents in the house - at least none that escaped his "diaper" anyhow. We take off his diaper when he's in the crate or sitting on the couch as he is prone to trying to chew the diaper. He doesn't have accidents on the couch, in our arms, or in his crate so we primarily use the belly bands for when he's walking around the house. I hope that when he's neutered that will bring an end to this behavior and we can discontinue the belly bands, but for now they are a blessing. We have three of them, and I can launder them. 

Ian finally got his expander for his top jaw on Monday. I turned the key once yesterday. It brought back memories of the years (starting when I was in 4th grade) when I would put the key in my expander on a daily basis. Now there are things that Ian can't eat, and he's relearning how to enunciate words with that metal device in his mouth. I know he will adjust. It's a bit hard to understand what he's saying sometimes at the moment.

We've continued to try some new foods. Nadia usually doesn't like hot breakfast foods (aside from eggs, which she loves), but even Nadia really liked the Belgian waffles I made earlier this month. None of us were crazy about the pan de queijo (a gluten free Brazilian cheese bread), but I remember my brother talking about those when he lived in Brazil. The kids had never heard of a cold fruit soup before, but they enjoyed the strawberry soup I made them yesterday. Paul doesn't usually eat what I prepare when I make breakfast for dinner, but he actually ate some of the pannenkoek that I made on Saturday evening. The Dutch pancake was thicker than a crepe and thinner than an American pancake. I read that you could put either sweet or savory toppings inside it. I opted to put bacon and cheddar cheese inside them, which I think is partially why Paul was willing to give it a try. Oliver and I enjoyed the Spanish flan and also the pan de coco (Filipino bread recipe). The kids and I all really liked the challah. Of the new recipes we've tried so far this month, two of them will be added to our rotation - Belgian waffles and challah. Over the next ten days I'm planning on making acai bowls, strawberry crepes, honey kasutera, jaga bata, candy apples (ringo ame), Musaka, and hamantaschen for the first time.