autumn waffles

Yeah - who can believe that it is October 1st!? We are already enjoying the shift into autumn.  I started stitching up Aiden's halloween costume today knowing this month will fly by... I'm taking what J called the "boxed brownie" approach to halloween costume-making this year. I'm not cooking it up from scratch, but instead I'm taking a hooded sweatsuit and converting it by adding layers and the all important head.  It will be just as good (or possibly better because it will have taken less time away from playtime/baby chasing games) as "brownies" from scratch but better than the store bought kind.  I had a very distinct idea of what I wanted for a costume and I looked at a bunch of different options, and finally decided that I had to do what I really wanted to do.  Special prize to the first person that posts a comment with the correct guess ;)

I already drank a whole two gallon jug of cider and Aiden had his first nibbles of pumpkin waffles. I found this light waffle recipe that is pretty low in sugar, and cooked up a bunch this weekend to have in the fridge all week - yum yum yum.  They are great reheated...so cook em up, and what you can't eat fresh, reheat all week!

Pumpkin Waffles!
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
splash of vanilla

1. Set up the waffle iron on a countertop or table within easy reach of the cook. Plug in the iron to preheat it. (Remind your child never to touch the surface of the iron; she should touch only the handle and always cook with adult supervision.)

2. In a medium-size mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter, and pumpkin. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and stir just until combined.

3. Coat the preheated waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour the waffle batter onto the center of each section of the iron. (You will need 1/4 to 3/4 cup of batter for each waffle.)

4. Cook the waffles for about 4 to 5 minutes or until they are crispy and light brown. (Read the manufacturer's directions for details about how long you should cook the waffles in your particular waffle iron.) Serve immediately with maple syrup and butter. Serves 4.

messy eater

Here's our little messy eater - gobble gobble.

He can drink from a big boy cup too - slurp slurp.

hippo friends!

Our hippo friend collection has grown, but it's hard to keep track of all of them. Some are in the car, some are hidden under his balls, some are even under the other bath toys in the boon frog... but I did manage to corral a bunch of them and get Baby AB to sit still with some intermittent daddy tickles. I have a feeling that it will be awhile until he will sit nicely perched like the first two six month photos. Most of my new photos have a blur or a flash ;)

drumming with daddy

Here's another retrospective with Aiden drumming with Daddy then and now...

Drumming with Daddy from LB on Vimeo.

poster child

My artsy graphic designer friend that works at a library (some of you AZ folks are day dreaming about how rocking cool that job sounds, eh?) asked if I had any photos of Aiden signing. Well, hmm, not exactly, but I sent along some shots of him playing with his hands. I almost didn't send this one because it has that low fstop blur, but I think she created the most artsy fun poster with it. That's a good eye for design to take a photo of my kid mesmerized by a ceiling fan and turn it into poster that attracts attention. I'm ready to hop on a plane to Chicago to join the class.

boogie then and now

This is our jungle boogie monkey that GranGran and PopPop brought with them from Ohio during their visit last February. We used to play this song on repeat and dance around with my cousins. Now that would be some funny video. But here are Aiden then and now videos...
Here is our giggle monkey just over seven months ago:

He went through a phase were he didn't want to have anything to do with the jungle boogie. But now look at Aiden grooving out - We love the raising the roof hand movements ;) Wow, seven months flies by...

baby mixing

We're still cooking up Aiden's food. He usually eats in increments of number of ice cubes. He has occasionally had a jar of food when we're on the go and it's difficult to carry ice cubes. He really seems to like the meat dinners from earth's best and the green veggie mixes from organic baby. I've tried to keep a good variety around, but it seems like he goes through some of his favorites faster than others. Right now he's loving spinach, squash, cantaloupe, plum, and blueberry. He also has some mama grain, carrot, quinoa, black bean, mango, and prune on the menu. I added a new three tray batch of pear and lentils recently.

His true favorite is banana (fresh mash easy!), but it seems that his least favorite is avocado (too bad because that would also be easy). He's also not too keen on strong flavored fruits which even includes apple (another that would be easy). J laughs that he will eat spinach mixed with prune, but aw applesauce is ick?! He does like his unique mixes. I'm glad that he managed to get dad's veggie lover gene.

He was a great tester for the Mixing Table's new petite baby mixes. This is the place I like to go with my friends to mix up freezer meals. They are now making fresh organic baby foods! They are making finger foods too, which are little balls of dried grains mixed with veggies and fruit. He was very good about helping test out the consistency as he nibbled, gnawed, and crumbled some of them. He wasn't as good about sitting in my lap and wanted to stand on the back of the chair - which then led to him stringing his little chubby thigh through the horizontal slats. Oh, good thing we got the test subject unstuck from the chair. At least if he was stuck there, they'd have plenty of wholesome treats for him.

mom check in

It seems like it's time for a mini mom check in. I write this blog mainly for Aiden and I bet he'd like to know how things are going for his parents every once in a while. School's back in session soon. daa daa da. J's class arranged for 15 students in a tiny seminar room exploded on the first day with over 100 students banging down the doors. We celebrated a major publication accepted and a full completed draft of his book in the same week. It's been nice to have excuses to go out for early dinners to celebrate! Baby AB loves his hanging chair so that he's right up in the action. But we have started the wheels churning on what we would like to do as a couple now that we have a dependable babysitter. It's harder than we would think to come up with something worth leaving Aiden. May sound crazy, but I think we are lucky that we get to eat lunch together on most days so we have our couple time then.

It's been sooo nice to work from home two days a week, and I truly feel that I've been twice as productive. I haven't been visiting Aiden at school yet because I know that they go out on their walks around lunch time and I didn't want to rob him of his favorite carriage rides. Now that I'm into a routine though, I do plan to try to head over during lunch. But I'm still a bit worried that if he eats with me while I visit I won't have enough milk pumped for the next day. Since whole milk is so close on the horizon, I'm really not too worried about my supply anymore. If anything, I'm worried about how uncomfortable weaning may be. I think that being able to visit him for relief when I stop pumping will be nice.

Twice I've spoiled Aiden's milk after leaving my cooler out of the fridge overnight. Thank goodness for my supply of freezer milk, which I filter in to the mix so that it never goes bad. Aiden drinks only milk from me, and that has been a lot of hard work. I believe that he has avoided many school illnesses because of all the antibodies (he was literally the only one to not get sick when school came back in session). I know all the good stuff and for the most part I've enjoyed breast feeding him, but I have to admit that I'm sooo ready to be done pumping at work. The custodian walked in on me again last week and I was ready to throw the pump out the window. I am so hopeful that he will like whole milk, and I'm really hoping that weaning will be smooth.

I have my days when I day dream of being a stay at home mom, but I feel lucky that we have a good balance for our family. But here is what I would do as a stay at home mom:
- Make my own peanut butter granola
- Plan good dinners
- Iron more (with something hot, not a spray)
- Take down the wallpaper in the office
- Embroider cute things for Aiden
- Join the quilt club
- Garden a little bit
- Enjoy leisurely trips to the grocery
- Wear casual scarves in my hair
- Drink more water
- Take and edit more photos
- Nap with the baby
- Make more lists
Now that I read through this I think I can accomplish all of these and work! It might just take me a little longer.

happy first day of fall

Aiden was particularly happy to see me as I walked in to get him from school today. He sat at the table that faces the window and he saw me coming. I couldn't get through the door fast enough and get my shoes off because I could hear him squealing - luckily with joy - as he bounced in his seat. Today was the first day without Miss Kim and it seemed to go smoothly. Everyone had smiles on and the other primary teacher was happy to say that he had a great day and that she was able to take over as his teacher. She didn't say it in a long term, this-is-the-plan sorta way, but I think that is in the works.

He was all gurgles and giggles on the car ride home. When we got home daddy was almost finished mowing the lawn. Oh boy, Aiden was so excited to see his daddy he just couldn't stop beaming. Daddy took him over to one of the trees we planted while I was pregnant (which has nearly doubled already!). He was patting the leaves with super duper excitement. I think he's ready for some colorful leaves pretty soon... Yeah for fall!

family friends

The past two weekends have been spent with other families. We hardly realized how many friends we have with young kids, until we were able to see just about everyone in the past two weeks. It's fun to get to know new people and we've realized that we are really being introduced through our kids. There are families that met through birth classes and school, and my preggers buddies that also work at Brown. It's amazing how easy it is to meet friends through friends that all have at least one similar interest - our kids!

Last weekend my friend was over with her husband (J's concert/music buddy) and two kids. I love to see how her three year old reacts to things because everytime I'm around a kid that age I learn something new. My favorite funny question: "Where are all the cool toys?" And to really make us laugh: I'd just given her a bowl of cheerios and her mom said, what do you say? And she replied, "that's not enough..." This little girl is a particular favorite of mine, and she realyl made me smile when she asked her mom if she could sit in my lap. I replied with oh sure, come on over, while Aiden played nicely on the floor. She hopped in my lap and Aiden just melted into a little ball of jealous sadness. Poor jealous baby got over it pretty quickly though when his piano started a new song and let me continue to hold her. He's continued his streak of whimpering jealousy when J and I happen to be holding other babies, but I think he's getting over it.

We went to a Rock Band 2 party which the boys were particularly excited about. They even had rock tshirts for the little kids. Aiden loved rocking right along with them, and since I was the band babysitter I got to dance (aka run after toddlers) for a couple hours. We then had a day that was more my speed cruising the awesome outlets not too far from here. We had three little ones that napped in different intervals in their strollers. We hopped between all the kiddy stores and had a pretty relaxing time all around.

My friend that made Aiden this adorable quilt invited us to their summer project quilt reveal. Aiden and I cruised there and he was not happy on the car ride. I was afraid that I wasn't goin to get a chance to see the quilts, but lucky for me, once we got in there he was happy as clam to smile at all the nice ladies and giggle with his little two year old friend. His favorite new thing is to put his chin really high in the air and wave with his arm extended way out like he's in a parade. As we left the quilt show, he was waving like that to all the funny ladies! It was such a great sense of community. I just wish I had an extra set of arms and eyes, so I could quilt and play with Aiden. Some day...

keeping it up

Our little toddler is keeping up with the toddling. But he isn't officially a toddler yet, right? He's just a wannabe toddler. I think the reason that he's walking is mainly to keep up with all the big kids at school. I watch them teach each other and he's our little sponge that soaks it all up. He's one of the original bunch that all started just a few months apart. Then there weren't any newbees for a while, so Aiden is the youngest of the bigger kids. Although if you looked at him in the room amongst them, you'd guess he's one of the older ones.

His teacher commented on Monday that he "seemed ready to walk" to gauge my reaction. When I explained how he'd been walking at home all weekend, my teacher smiled and said she was so relieved because he'd been walking back and forth all day and she didn't want me to be sad if those were his first steps. I am relieved that we did actually get to witness his first steps ;)

He is keeping up with the little walking game that he likes to play, and he's getting really good at starting and stopping now. So instead of just making a run for it and hoping that he stays balanced, he can stand up, balance, walk forward, stop, and then start walking again. He can even swipe a toy off the couch or even off the floor in between his toddles.

We finally managed to get some video because he was usually toddling back and forth between us but now we have the standup piano that he just loves (Thanks Lisa!) Here he is taking a few steps forward which sometimes resembles surfing (note the wagging tonque in the first shot - makes me giggle - We shed the big overalls and turned up the light for your viewing pleasure):

earning it

Daddy pointed out that this toy is the first thing that you earned... sorta on your own. You earned it from completing your swim class. You made it possible for us to show up on time each week, you didn't poo in your swim diaper so we didn't have to cut any classes short, and you were excited to kickkickkick and smile at your teacher. This toy came with a very official certificate.

signing more

We've been using baby signs off and on, but it seems like Aiden is really catching on and used the sign for "more" unprompted early today. I grabbed the camera and we managed to get him to use it again so he could get more cereal (which as you will see he just looooves - we're working on that specific sign too). I think that he's really at the prime age for signing. He really gets the hang of it by using it at school with the other kids around.

zebra tent

Here's little baby buddy and the new zebra tent. This tent will have many years of enjoyment at sleep over parties and maybe even on vacation. It was a gift from Great Aunt Hev (Thanks!) to continue a family tradition - She even sent a photo of little Auntie Liz with the Garfield tent in the background and their fun beach tent!
Here's a video of what happens if you put our mobile little guy in a tent:

first steps

They were in between lunges, squats, bobbles, toddles, and falls.
They were not at school, but in front of two happy parents that don't know what they are in for once he can really get around.
They were at 10 months, 1 week, and 3 days.

The first officially witnessed independent steps were away from his hippo towards his big ball pit. I figured balls would be his inspiration. Then he repeated the fun towards daddy with up to seven steps at a time. He would stand up straight against mommy, turn around, balance himself, and then run forward towards daddy with quick steps. Each time his arms were out waving around like little noodles. He really concentrated as he balanced himself and his little tongue stuck out for good measure. After daddy would scoop him into his arms his little legs would kick just to blow off some extra steam. They were ready for more.

my teachers!

She is brave enough to wear dangle earrings and teach you how to pat them nicely. She is smart enough to distract you when it's time to give back your toys at the end of the day. She is nice enough to rub your tummy when you are having trouble getting to sleep.  She always gives mommy a complete rundown of how you were feeling that day. You are excited to see her and you give her some really genuine snuggles. You may not notice when she has to go off to work somewhere else, but I will. She has an offer she can't refuse (working in insurance even though she has a degree and is a certified teacher in early childhood education), and we're happy for her. But I feel a sinking ick when I think of that time before they are able to hire someone new, and a super ick if you do notice that your favorite teacher is missing.

Aiden is really toddling now, and the bumps and bruises are part of the learning. But selfishly, I want her to stay because I trusted that she really cared about Aiden and wouldn't let him get lost in the shuffle. I know the other teachers are great, and thank goodness for his secondary teacher that has bonded with him too. I'm just hoping that they are able to get her to sign on for a longer day. In the meantime, I ride that fine line between worry and relief. I'm relieved that he gets so much good interaction with other kids and we learn how to balance our family life and work life. But I'm worried that Aiden is the type of kid that needs an attachment, someone consistent and not someone that is temporary or just filling in for the day. 

I guess we should focus on the fact that she offered to babysit any time, so J and I have a dependable trusted person to take care of Aiden after hours (which is really valuable!)  I'm sure we'll be able to keep in touch, and now we can get to know her even better because she can share her contact info.  She is even excited to come to Aiden's birthday party ;)

Miss Kim at the Heritage Potluck:

brusha brusha

It may seem crazy, but it is doctor recommended. Since Aiden's teeth are coming in in full force, she suggested that we start gently brushing with just water. I think that it's mostly practice and he actually really seems to like it. At first, he sorta sucked on the water on the brush, but he let me gently brush. He likes to drink water from the cups that we use, which he sometimes has no problem with but other times he dribbles everywhere. He does love pointing and bopping his Thomas tooth brush, and the teeth brushing may only be a side note.

workout

Aiden's teachers mentioned how much he likes pushing the car back and forth at school. I think last night he spent almost a half hour running back and forth razzing at us the whole time. He especially liked chomping up toys into his hippo. I think he got a good workout from all the running back and forth between mom and dad.

happy green bees

Some friends hooked us into doing this photo shoot for Happy Green Bee organic kid clothing. It was held at Whole Foods and it is essentially a brilliant marketing scheme for this company. They go around the country holding these photo shoots and open them to the public (giving you a free photo, organic hat, and story book), then you talk about their company and when they post the photos you're drawn to their website.

They sell their clothing at Whole Foods and if you've been there, you may have noticed it. It is all bright colored bold stripes. I had my eye on their "sweet blueberry and cloudless sky" stripes, but the infant large made Aiden look like a blueberry wrapped sausage. Ok, it really wasn't that bad, but the cardigan was a bit cropped and we'd forgotten his low rise diaper. jk. Our big guy ended up in a toddler small, so we had to jump over to the genderless colors. He ended up in butterscotch and chocolate. To quote my less than enthused husband, "The nice food color names are better than calling them the pee and poo colored stripes."

It was a good learning experience for me to see how they had the shoot arranged. Also, I think Aiden liked sliding around on the slick paper backdrop. He barely stood still and really, really wanted to grab the light cords.

They'll post the photos in a couple weeks. But in the mean time, my friend grabbed a few shots on the flip. You'll see them at the beginning with their calm, immobile seven month old. Here's our squirmy little happy bee:

Photoshoot from LB on Vimeo.
Or visit:http://vimeo.com/1686623

happy grandparents day!

Today is a favorite Hallmark holiday - A day to say thank you to grandparents and let them know how much you love them! We love you for all that you do!

GRANDPARENTS
Few can bring the warmth
We can find in their embrace,
And little more is needed to bring love.
Than the smile on their face.

They've a supply of precious stories,
Yet they've time to wipe a tear,
Or give us reasons to make us laugh,
They grow more precious through the years.

Author Unknown