Move it move it!

I'm back at dance class again. This year the format is a bit different on Tuesdays. We have a tap class from 6:30-7:30 and then (what has been) a 45 minute zumba class. I love zumba! It is so much fun, and really an amazing, sweat-inducing workout. I like that it is not a routine-learning/show-performing class. If I am particularly busy one night I can skip zumba and be home a bit earlier. Ballet is still on Thursdays from 6:30-8. It is (as always) a great, varied workout.

I made it back to the gym last week at work. We have a free gym to use; there are no trainers or classes, we simply sign a waiver that we won't sue them if we hurt ourselves and then we get an ID to let us in there. Usually I spend some time on the elliptical machine (I heart elliptical machines) and then I do some other stuff. Other stuff can be abs (mostly pilates based mat work) and arms w/ dumbells. I need to get some more exciting options and be more consistent about the other stuff.

We've been walking more as a family with Mina, as the fall weather is here. One of the things I love about where we live is the walking opportunities. We can walk to 'stuff' (stores, restaurants, etc). We can walk to visit friends. We can walk in nature (the Riverwalk around the Charles River is quite green, quiet and filled with wildlife). I loved our hood before we had Mina, but now that she is here I am so happy we have the resources around us that we do. Parks, pools, green space but also the bustle of the city surrounds us. We want our girl to have a nice balanced kind of upbringing.

She is moving like mad (surely she is her Mamma's daughter). She turned 8 months old on Monday, and is pulling herself to stand on everything she can get her hands on. Her poor forehead! She's fallen and bumped herself a few times. The pointy edges are soft now, but we can't babyproof every solid surface in our house. She fell at school yesterday into a (corner padded) bookshelf and got a bump and bruise on her forehead. They filled out an incident report and everything! First aid applied: washed with soap and water and put an ice pack on there. So far this is the hardest for us. We want her to explore and learn how her body and the world works, but we need to be OK with her falling sometimes. Brian wants to wrap her in bubble wrap.

We've got to get working on her halloween costume soon. The little bits of free time we have are fleeting, and we tend to be so glad to have the option of sitting when they come. Still, "the only way to do things is to do things".

I cannot believe it is fall equinox time already.

Fooducate

My boss has recently gone through a health transformation of sorts, and told us about a smart phone app from these folks http://www.fooducate.com/. Brian and I have been having fun using it at the supermarket on any processed foods we are considering buying.

Foods are rated A-F, with A being the best and F the worst. It helped us at BJs to find some good breakfast cereal options (yes processed isn't best, but sometimes you just don't have the time to cook some oatmeal or some eggs).

Today's realization: there aren't any good granola bars, least that I could find scanning for a bit at Stop and Shop this morning. The best I could find was a C rating (Cascadian Farms organic) which was at least better than most of the bars that were Ds and Fs. Time for better easy snack options. I think Brian will need to get used to eating pieces of fruit and that kind of thing. He had such unhealthy foods as a kid that just grabbing an apple or that kind of thing doesn't seem like "food" to him. :)