Got Milk?

You do:


And you're addicted. Like, crack addict hooked. MOMS, ADVICE!!!

Homemade Play-Doh

You are a big fan of play-doh, but mostly just smushing it deep into the carpet. So what did I decide to do?? Make HOMEMADE play-doh so you could ruin even more of the house! But I don't mind, I love play-doh too. It smells like childhood and you can turn it into spaghetti with one of these. (Yes, that is mommy's cocktail hiding behind the tupperware...)

Homemade Play-Doh
(Makes approx. 2 cups)

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 T oil (I used vegetable)
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup water
Few drops food coloring

Place all ingredients in a pot...


Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly...


Let cool. It will appear lumpy and soft first, but once it cools it becomes playdoh-like consistency.


Store in covered containers!

Muck

Now, in addition to signing the word "milk," you've started to say it! Only, it sounds like you're saying "muck." It's adorable. Muck, muck, muck. Although it sort of makes me think you want a glass of this:


Google image, you are really incredible. "Glass of muck" actually yields results? Photo here.

16 month update

You have discovered how to climb stairs. We congratulate you when you do it at the playground. We say NO when you do it at home...

Your hair looks like this, curls or mullet?


Your new words are "golf ball" and "apple" and "car" and no, you still have not said "mama" - I'm starting to wonder who you think I am...

You love to eat these and Mommy (that's ME) wants to buy stock in the company (photo):


Last night you were up at 10:21pm, 12:08am, 1:00am and 4:37am. What's that about?

You know how to sign "milk" (photo):


You continue to be your Mommy and Daddy's best friend!

Itty Bitty Teeny Tiny Bites

I think I want these...


Why do I want them? Because, I'm going to cut up your food until you're 18 years old and you eventually leave me. Why am I going to do that? Because, I don't think I will ever, EVER get over my fear of you choking. I mean, it might help when you have more than 5 teeth. A little. Right now, I'll give you a small bite of chicken and I'm talking VERY SMALL. As your little fingers guide the chicken towards your mouth I panic and think, wait that wasn't small enough. Was it? No, look at it Siri, it's huge, IT'S HUGE! GRAB IT! GRAB IT! I will then grab it and break it up into minute pieces, almost to the point where it becomes invisible.

This is NOT helping you learn to eat. I need to take a chill pill. Yeah, I said that.

Thanks Style Cafe Moms for the info on the shears. You can buy them HERE.

Dear Cheerios,

There is a MAJOR market that you are missing out there, and that is the baby market. All my son will eat are Cheerios. And while that's fine and dandy, I would like him to eat other things too, like broccoli and carrots and meat and fish. So, favor... could you please make some spinach-flavored Cheerios? Salmon? Lean white meat? That would be so great, I would really appreciate it.

Your friendly consumer,
MOM

We all sing with the same voice!

This just made me seriously happy:



I was showing you Sesame Street videos on YouTube while you were in your highchair, trying to distract you enough to eat ANYTHING (you've been sick, you're no longer into food), and I came across this video. The song came flooding back to me almost immediately, and when the chorus started, I practically flew out of my chair in a joyous, melodic movement.

"AND WE SING IN HAR-MON-EEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Beautiful.

These kids must be like 50 now.

When life gives you lemons...

Yesterday, you sucked on a lemon and loved it. I refuse to turn that moment into a famous YouTube video, but I do not refuse to exploit others that have. Enjoy...

Choo Choo!

I procrastinate. A lot. Avoid, avoid, pretend something's not happening, avoid. Not my best quality. HOWEVER, it is now almost less than a month before your first birthday and I will NOT procrastinate here, NO, SIR.


Since your nickname is "Choo Choo" I would like to make you a train cake for your birthday. I've been inspired by some images online, like the one above and this one:


Anyone have any good ideas? I bet you do!! If not thanks for NOTHING.

Quinoa for Baby

I'm already finding myself in ruts where I feed you the same meals every day. BAD MAMA! So yesterday I tried something new, quinoa! Pronounced "keen-wah." Not "quinn-oh-ah." But call it what you want, it's good. You have 5 teeth now with more on the way, you're MORE than capable of feeding yourself and you're almost 1! All bets are off. No more meat paste. Praise the lord!


Quinoa and Veggie Salad

1/2 cup quinoa
2 T olive oil
1 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chopped yellow squash
1/2 cup chopped butternut squash
crumbled feta cheese

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in saucepan over medium high heat. Toss quinoa in olive oil for about 30 seconds.


Add vegetable stock and turn heat to high, bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.


In the meantime, chop veggies into teeny, tiny pieces. I actually put the butternut squash in a Cuisinart to chop. It's difficult to get into teeny tiny pieces with a knife because of its tough texture, and because I'm lazy.


Once quinoa is done, remove from saucepan. To save dishes, I used the same one for the veggies. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Saute vegetables for 10-15 minutes. Taste to make sure they're cooked through. Obviously, if you're making this for a small child, you want them to be well done, almost over done.


When veggies are cooked, combine with quinoa, crumbled feta and stir!


I mentioned this on my other blog, but for adults... add 1 clove of garlic to sauteed vegetables, season with salt and pepper and top with toasted pine nuts. A healthy side dish or lunch for big people and mini people!

birth days

Last week I turned 29. For some reason, I feel like I should be older? I guess that's what being a mommy does to you. While I absolutely feel young at heart, I think I should be at least 32. I mean, how can I still be in the same decade that began with Bacardi Limon and Pita Pit at three in the morning? At that time of night NOW I'm either feeding you or I've been in bed sleeping for 8 hours already. Anyway, enough about me, here are some updates about YOU...

You're climbing up stairs. Well, with our help. But it's still an incredible and frightening step. Get it, step.

You only like it when I talk all squeaky like Mike Tyson.

You're eating pasta, scrambled eggs, quinoa, little steak bites and cardboard books.

You speak German and Italian. At least that's what it sounds like to me.

Thank you for making my 29th birthday maybe the best one yet. Your big ONE is next... LDAKJDSKEOWIJAF! (That's excitement.)

Here son, a donut!

I've had this massive urge to bake triple chocolate brownies lately. So in order to curb that desire, I decided to bake YOU something instead! Why not, you're teething like crazy and you gnaw paint off of building blocks - better you put a homemade treat in your mouth instead!

I stumbled across this wonderful recipe HERE, via a great parenting blog called The Wonders Of, and I chronicled my attempt below:

Mix 1 cup flour, 1 cup oatmeal cereal, 2 tbsp canola oil (which I didn't have so I used vegetable), 1 tsp vanilla, and 1/2 mashed banana (mixed with water to resemble applesauce):


Pour in applesauce (I used the Gerber brand) until it forms a dough:


Roll out as you would sugar cookies. Cut into donut-like shapes. Leanna from The Wonders Of used a donut cutter, some fabulous piece of equipment that I do not own, so I used a measuring cup and a shot glass (and yes, those are guns on my coffee mug):


Place on cookie sheet, I also used my best friend parchment paper:


Bake at 375 for approx. 15 minutes and, voila!



Leanna is right, they smell just like fried dough. Thanks fellow mom blogger! Now, if someone could help curb my fear of you choking on my homemade donut...

please read

Sorry, son, but this has nothing to do with you...

Everyone else, check out my new blog, SIRIOUSLY DELICIOUS

I will try to post as many recipes as possible, so that one day I can write a bestselling cookbook and never work again. What? Who said that?

ME WANT MEAT

Well, we've done it. I made you meat paste and you ate it. Mixed it with some yams... meat and potatoes. Congratulations Jack, today, as your father said, you became a MAN.

Orrrrr, it's also possible you became a cat. It looked like cat food. Cooked ground turkey pureed until it resembled cement.

But, no matter! You enjoyed your healthy dose of protein! You smiled, smacked your lips, (gagged once or twice), and listened to me go on and on about getting tickets to your gun show.

MUSC-CLE MAN, YEAH, GRUNT, MEAT PASTE!!!

Thank you Tato!

So far you've had many different foods to eat: rice, oatmeal, bananas, avocados, apples, pears, peas, squash, sweet potato. What's next? Meat. Right. Cooked meat pureed into some sort of meat paste. This makes me feel ill for some reason, but buying it in a jar makes me feel worse. Can't I just cut up steak for you into teeny tiny miniscule pieces?? Oh well, meat paste will be good for you! You will enjoy it.

On a very unrelated note, "meat paste" made me think of this very funny SNL sketch. Ignore Topher Grace and his very obvious cue card reading... and laugh:

Visiting Art Dealers - The best video clips are right here

Happy Birthday!

Today, you are 7 months old! Time is a funny thing... the last 7 months have been the fastest and slowest months of my life. How does that happen? I saw a newborn the other day, and I couldn't believe you were ever that little. I was afraid to hold her! She looked so fragile! And that was you, just 7 months ago. What should I make your dad for dinner tonight? On your 5th and 6th month birthdays I made Boeuf Bourguignon and Coq au Vin, both Julia Child recipes. I'm thinking hot dogs soaked in beer tonight. Mmmm...

I just read a little update I get every week from Baby Center about 7 month-olds. Apparently I'm supposed to be brushing your teeth. Oops. Now I'll have to listen to a lecture from my dentist AND your dentist. Why can't dentists just leave everyone alone? Oh son, I kid around, brushing and flossing your teeth on a daily basis is a very important thing and dentists are our friends.

One more thing about 7 months... once you turn 1 years old, I refuse to say you are 15, 19, 22 months old. MAYBE to your doctor. But that's it. When people ask, I will say you turned 1 in March. Or you're 1 and a half. Or you're close to 2. When people tell me their child is 21 months old, I feel like asking them how many days that is. It just seems silly billy. By the way, I'm 345 months old.

*Update: I am going to make you these tonight...

It's becoming physically impossible for me to watch the Food Network without immediately making whatever it is they're making. I saw these cupcakes last night. I'm making them today. STOP ME SOMEONE.

Food, Glorious Food!

When you were around 6 months old, I started making you food. A big step! Big Boy Food, we call it. Although it looks more like it should be served at a nursing home or a zoo. We started with rice cereal, which you loved. (I bought this packaged - I'm not Supermom... unless you think I am in which case yes, I am Supermom.) Then came bananas, which I mashed and put in your cereal. This brought back bad memories for your Auntie Hannah. Once, when she was eating a banana as a little girl, I told her it was bird boogers, and she threw up. Anyway, you like them!

Next came the actual cooking and pureeing! Sweet potatoes, squash and apples so far. Here's the sweet potato, which you were down with:

Then came squash. I'm really glad I made so much and froze it in ice cube trays (below), because every time you took a bite of it you would close your eyes really tight, your body would shake slightly and you would make this awful gagging noise. Great!

Apples were next. I knew you'd love apples. Who doesn't love apples? They're American! They're pie! I was so excited to watch you love apples. You hate apples. Same eyes shut, shiver, gag reaction. Well, I'll tell you what, it's only day 2 of apples and I will pull my little "here comes the choo choo train" spoon trick until you're begging for more. So there! (I'm most likely going to move onto something else after day 3. What?! I'm restless...)

It's an empowering feeling, making your own baby food. Do I feel better than moms who buy jarred baby food? Yes. NO! That was a joke. I'll be buying you grey peas in 5 minutes... But for now, it makes me feel productive. It makes me feel like we're back in the olden days of yore, and I'm feeding you hearty, earthly goodness in a candle lit room because it's my only option.

Also, I love to cook. And I highly recommend this: Babycook!