Discovering A Non-Vegan World…

Exactly 1 week before Astral & Defy turn 3! (2/24/13)

It sure has been a while, but we're back for another post! We refuse to give up this amazing platform that allows us the ability to share our experiences with veganism, raising vegan children and vegan pregnancy. Our analytics show that even though post frequency has declined, more people than ever are searching for vegan information and finding Our Vegan Pregnancy. We want to continue to be an example of how veganism is healthy and manageable during all stages of life. Astral and Defy are almost 3 years (plus gestation) of living proof!

Since my last post at the end of October the boys have been progressing rapidly per usual. I find it just too annoying to rehash every single milestone of their lives at this point. Every day something new and amazing happens (in our minds). So instead of the same old stuff, I’m just going to post a ridiculous amount of cute photos (of which there is no shortage) and hand it over to my absolute favorite vegan daddy to see what he has to say about Astral and Defy’s recent developments as vegan toddlers:

Astral and Defy are increasingly becoming aware of how non-vegan the world currently is outside of our "vegan bubble". They get that most of the items in grocery stores are derived from animals, but don't seem to have a problem with wanting any of them, even with all the bright, colorful packaging emblazoned with likable (by-design) cartoon characters. We just tell them that the items contain animal products and that's that, end of story. Like most kids their age (and probably most adults) they understand that it's wrong to intentionally harm animals when it's unnecessary to do so. They just have a different understanding of what necessity is because they know they don't need to eat animal bodies or animal secretions (or otherwise consume animal products) to be healthy and happy. 

This understanding of what's wrong with exploiting animals for "food", with the ubiquity of animal-derived "food", and with the non-necessity of consuming animal products has led to some interesting situations for us as vegan parents. Sometimes I take the boys into a coffee shop during the day. This coffee shop has a big picture of some milky liquid being poured into a coffee-like liquid, and every time the boys see it they loudly go on and on about how it's not vegan, it's cows' milk and it's for the baby cows, "they hurt the cows for that", it's "just not right", etc. Honestly, I love having the opportunity of openly agreeing with them (probably to the surprise of anyone listening). "Yea, I agree, fellas. It's not right. Cows' milk is for baby cows, not for us". I can assure you that if you're ever in this situation, you will draw plenty of attention from bystanders.

Then there are situations with relatives. Earlier this month while visiting grandparents and other relatives in the Midwest, Astral and Defy became suspicious of certain things they saw at grandma and grandpa's home and kept asking us which relatives eat animal products. For the first time we had to explain to them that nobody there is vegan, and DnA seemed a little confused and saddened by this idea. Unlike DnA, Kenya and I weren't always vegans, and we remember that at one time we too had no clue about the realities of animal use. We don't in any way want to condone any animal exploitation, but we also don't want the boys to think less of their otherwise incredibly thoughtful, kind, supportive, and loving family members. We told the boys that not everyone understands that animals are exploited and inevitably "hurt" to obtain animal products. This lack of understanding might be true in some cases, but it felt somewhat dishonest, and none of us seemed satisfied with that response. We just didn't know what else to say when put on the spot.

Although grandma ate vegan and made many delicious vegan meals throughout our entire stay (including a veganized version of a 100 year-old family pretzel recipe), not everyone else did. One morning grandpa was sitting at the dining room table, eating his very non-vegan breakfast and washing it down with a tall glass of cows' milk. Astral and Defy noticed, and one of them asked him if he was, in fact, drinking cows' milk. Grandpa said "yes", thinking nothing of it. The boys then began complaining and ultimately refused to sit at the table with him. Again, we didn't quite know how to deal with that kind of situation, so we just used the dining room table when he was finished. Grandpa sort of laughed it off and tried to tell the boys that he was simply drinking milk, just like them. Astral made a face, crossed his arms, said "no!" and he and D walked away. Fortunately, Astral and Defy still enjoyed spending time with grandpa after that, just not so much during meal time...

Please feel free to contact us at ourveganpregnancy@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @VeganTwins.  

A Cow Made It…

We are at the point where life with twin toddlers is getting easier and the benefit of having two children at the same exact age with the same exact needs actually assists in making life less hectic.  Astral and Defy have a built in playmate and it’s freaking fantastic when you just can’t build another amazing block tower only to have it destroyed yet again.

road trip entertainment

So at 26 months Astral and Defy went on a road trip after not having been on one since they were like 6 months old (it was awful back then so we vowed to not do it for a very long time).  Thankfully the boys behaved super well on the drive there and back.  They didn’t need a DVD player or a tablet to keep them happy in the car like many kids their age.  They read books, played with their toys and ate lots of yummy and healthy vegan snacks.  They were quite entertained by one another as well.  We did have a “crazy poop situation”, but otherwise the drives were pretty uneventful (in a good way).  We are off to the beach in July so hopefully our next trip will run just as smooth.

vegan toddler breakfast

 quinoa, tofu and stir-fried veggies

 strawberry and avacado pudding

chowing down on vegan blue tacos

While many families roll into popular fast food chains on road trips, our vegan family packs a small cooler and brings tons of great vegan treats for the road.  The boys enjoyed coconut milk, hummus, crackers, strawberries, blueberries, peanut butter sandwiches, dried mango, granola and many more yummy snacks on the road.  It isn’t a problem or inconvenient in any way, it just takes a little preparation and is so worth it!

The weather has really warmed up and outdoor water play-time is here.  The boys love splashing around in water.  This should be such a fun summer, they are super active and way more coordinated than last summer.  We expect a lot of pink cheeks, boo-boos and dirty little hands.  Astral and Defy have their first safety helmets and have been trying out a set of scooters a neighbor gave them that her twins outgrew.  They are such big and mature 2 year olds, I think they are ready to transition to bikes with training wheels and retire the tricycles.  We are really thrilled that they actually like wearing the helmets (they wore them inside for hours the day we bought them), we see skateboarding and other dangerous sports in their future so we wanted to get the safety thing squared away early on!

botanical garden fun

Although daddy and I are constantly telling the boys, in age appropriate ways, about the reality of how animals are exploited and treated by humans, they haven't seemed to comprehend it until recently. A flyer came in the mail for a new restaurant in our area that serves organic, free-range, happy, and certified-hugged-and-kissed-to-death animal bodies. On it there is a picture of cows grazing in an open field juxtaposed to a picture of a very non-vegan cheese burger. While I was at work, daddy explained to them that humans must hurt those cows to make that burger. Later, when I came home, Astral showed me the flyer, shook his head disapprovingly, and said, "A cow made dat. A cow made it".

Earlier this month, daddy was showing the boys a National Geographic magazine in which there was a picture of a very happy looking little girl at a 4-H event holding a rope that was around the neck of an ear-tagged cow. Once again, daddy explained that although the girl looks like she's having a good time, the cow is actually being used and hurt by humans and would eventually be killed. Defy looked at daddy with a sad expression on his face and then looked back at the picture and softly said, "Go away, cow. Go away", as if he didn't want the cow to be hurt. It was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

If you explain to a young child that hurting animals is wrong, they understand it and don't want it to happen! Imagine that...

 All photos in this post are of Astral and Defy at 26 months!