Why Didn't I Think of That?

My daughter is 9 months old, eating like a champ, and I've finally gotten into the swing of making a lot of her food. I did end up doing a lot of jar food for a couple of months, but that's because sleep had gone bye-bye in our house and I was tired with a capital YAWN.

But, things are smoothing out now and I'm steaming peaches and sweet potatoes and mixing that with some veggies and even some chili powder and cilantro for some extra flavor. I have Dr. Susanna to thank for those flavor ideas! Here is one of her yummy jars of food:

But the thing I have just figured out (can you say "Light Bulb Moment"?), is that I should just make or buy soup and puree that.

Soup is so yummy, a complete meal in and of itself and if you make it, you can really control the salt and pick the best veggies.

Big ol' stockpot, here I come!

C'mon, Little Tomato!

One of my very best friends in the world is about to adopt a little baby and the birth mother is due soon. I'm getting so excited for that phone call (or text, or skywriting, or however else I get to find out).

Love you guys! xoxo


*"little tomato" is in loving reference to a favorite album by Pink Martini.

Amazing Gloria

For some reason, I chose tonight to start saying grace before our evening meal. I grew up in a house where we said grace before dinner and I've always liked the tradition.

My husband, my son and I sat down before the best tuna casserole in the land (thankyouverymuch), and without really thinking about it, I said, "Let's hold hands and say grace."

Two little eyebrows shot up.

"Bless us, oh Lord, and these they gifts which we are about to receive, through thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen."

A quizzical glance from my son, followed by a rare silence.

A few bites into the meal, he says, "Let's do more Gloria."
me: "you mean Grace?"
him: "yeah."

OK. "Dear Lord, thank you for my darling family, my husband, my son, my daughter. Amen."

Finally, a cute little, "Amen" to my right, followed by, "I said 'Amen.'"
me: "Good job." (it's always good to offer praise for learning a new skill.)

And, so, tonight's dinner was an entertaining feast, where we thanked the Lord for our milk, our favorite Woody & Buzz Lightyear cup, our dinner, my son (several times, at his request)... all followed by increasingly enthusiastic Amen's.

"Mom, I like Gloria."

Me too. Amen to that.

Beautiful Mistakes

I love it when kids get something just a little bit wrong. :)

While singing the ABC's - or the ABCD's, as my son calls them - there are 2 X's in my kid's rendition.

"A, B, C, D.... Q, R, X, T, U, V, W, X..."

I would never dream of correcting this beautiful and innocent mistake.

Conversations With a Toddler

I have loved witnessing the evolution of my son's language development. A year ago he was barely pronouncing single words like "ball" and "water" and "gat" (for cat). Single words only, no phrases, no context.

Then came strings of words together, with "want dat," or "no diaper."  Soon to follow were complete sentences.

Some days I swear he'd wake up in the morning and not only have new words in his vocabulary, but also a new way of forming sentences. I have to say it makes me a little envious how he can accomplish 'work' in his sleep, while my sleep is still very fragmented and not nearly as restorative. I usually wake up with one single thought: "Oh, crap, is it morning already?"

Tonight was another great example. Two examples, actually.

First was as he left the dinner table without asking to be excused (we're working on manners). Both my husband and I called out to him and asked him to come back, to which he replied, "I hear you," and kept on walking.

Then, when I was pretending I couldn't find his favorite Thomas the Train book, he says, "maybe we should ask Dad."

Blows my mind that he knows how to use 'maybe' in a sentence. Perhaps it's totally normal and on track, but it's my first kid so I get to be impressed and marvel at the breakneck speed of his ever changing self.

Bill Cosby Wisdom

Kid: "Dad, can I have a cookie?"
Dad: "No, son, you cannot have a cookie."

2 minutes later, Dad sees Kid reaching for the cookie jar.

Dad: "I thought I told you no cookie!"
Kid: "Well, I was just getting a cookie for you dad. Do you want a cookie?"

This last line is delivered with a sing-song pitch and an earnest, hopeful smile.

-----

Boy, do I get this now. Bill Cosby was right.

My toddler-soon-to-be-preschooler son has been using this enormously cute sing-songy voice with us for the past few months, and it's sooo hard to resist. His face is full of hope and belief that a smile will convince his parents that we should give him a cookie, or let him redecorate the kitchen with crayons, or hand over our checkbooks.

Where do they learn this? Did I unknowingly teach him when I attempted to sound over the moon with things like, "heeeey, let's try some broccoli. Mmm, yummy!"  Or do they just know?

Last night my son said to me, "Mom. Mom. Mom." (have I mentioned the hilarious repeats too? :) )

"Mom." [dramatic pause while I wait with bated breath] "Do you want to have ice cream?"

Where's my checkbook...

Proof of Dreaming - Part Two

One morning last weekend my son slept in until 8:45. He's 2 1/2 and usually wakes between 6:30 and 7:15, so this was a rare treat for mom and dad and, as it turns out, maybe a little time for him to extend his dreams.

When I went in to check on him, he was awake but lounging in his bed. I can only guess that he was still halfway in dreamland because he said to me:

"Mom, Smiley* was wearing a hat. And a mask. And glasses."

[pause]

"Tell her, 'no thank you.'"

He'd apparently had a dream about his little sister and in that dream she was dressed up in some kind of getup with a hat, a mask and glasses. I chuckled a bit at first, but then he got serious about not wanting her to continue with this charade.

"Tell her 'no thank you'," he insisted again. So I said, out loud, "No thank you, Smiley."

Since that morning, he's repeated his insistence of 'no masks, no glasses, no hat' and I have to wonder what kind of dream he had that keeps coming back to him.  Was it funny? Was it scary? Was it strange?

I got a little clue the very next morning when he talked about the dream again. The new clue?

This time he said, "gumdrop glasses."
To which I replied, "You mean like the Gingerbread Boy?"
"Yes." And he smiled.



*Names have been changed. Click here for details. :)