Skinned Knee

Joseph got his first skinned knee yesterday. He was very tough though, and barely cried.

He's getting much more steady on his feet and starting to take more chances... it's really fun to watch!

1 Year, 4 Months, 2 Weeks, and 4 Days

Mark the calendar. This is going to be a day that will be celebrated in my house for years to come.

July 27, 2010: The Day Joseph Slept Through the Night

He woke a few times before we went to bed, but when we slept, he slept.

I'm seriously considering busting out the champagne today.

Where did my baby go?

This is from early June - Who knew he was a teenager already!

Hello Ladies.

I guess he's always had that smooth look. Ha!

My luck continues!

Joseph learned to sweep today! He'll be washing my dishes in no time!

Aquarium Trip

We went to the aquarium today with our friends Celia and Kairavi. They had never been and it was really fun to see how much Kairavi enjoyed it. She waved bye-bye to all the animal exhibits, and everything she saw was "OH! OH!" with wide eyes. Adorable!

Joseph had fun, too, despite trying to escape from the mama-razzi.

Caddyshack

I have a feeling that I'm going to be living the high life in a couple of years when Joseph is old enough to golf with T.J.

The only kid who was ever happy to watch Golf on Sunday mornings.

**Disclaimer: Joseph only watches a limited amount of sporting events on TV. We don't blind fold him, but we try to keep TV time as close to zero as possible.

PS. Try not to judge us for letting him play with that empty bleach bottle. It was temporary, I swear!

New Ride

I picked up a "throw away" stroller at a consignment store last weekend. I've been needing something to take on airplanes with me that I won't be devastated about if I lose. This one fits the bill. It has a nice big basket underneath, cupholders for the adults, snack/cup tray for the kiddo, and seems to push nicely. I wish it folded in an umbrella style, but for $35 you make do. :) Originally $140, so I think I got a great deal!

Vroom Vroom - all ready for the Big Easy!

Joseph hiding the Pirate Parrot in the basket

The basket is at the perfect height for Joseph to help push!

Very Agreeable

Only T.J.'s child would learn to say "yeah" before saying "no".

I'm such a lucky girl!

Round and Round

Joseph and I hit the zoo last week with my friend Sara and her daughter Megan. We gave the carousel a try with the kids. I can't say they had "fun", but it was something new and interesting nonetheless.

Petrified Stare, Part 1

Petrified Stare, Part 2

Petrified Stare, Part 3

30 Seconds of petrified staring to round it out

The Incredible Pastured Egg

I'd been hunting for pastured (wanders in a pasture, not pasteurized) eggs for some time, and upped my search efforts after watching Food, Inc. I found them at Whole Foods, but at $6/doz, I was ready to give them up before paying that price!

Enter the wonderful Nature's Harmony Farms. I may have posted about them in the past, as we get our free range ground beef from them (and I got a stewing chicken). I also got pastured eggs from them for $4/doz!
Since I've been doing a lot of baking, I've really been going through eggs. I picked up a dozen of organic "free range" eggs from Trader Joe's to help round me out until I can get more eggs from the farmer's market. While making pudding the other day, I used 3 of the pastured, and one organic egg.

Can you tell which is which?


So what? You say?

At first, googling I found a story that made it seem like there was no real difference, but all you had to was click on a link in THAT article to get the real info.

From Mother Earth News (who lists several studies as well as their own), pastured eggs have:

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

Huh.

I might go buy a package of regular conventional eggs and try to compare all three. I think it'd be interesting.

Blueberry Picking, Part 1

Last week Joseph and I went blueberry picking at DJ's U-Pick Blueberry Farm. They were super friendly, had cute goats to feed, and lots of organic berries to pick! I managed to get a whole gallon before we both melted in the hot Georgia sun.

The reward: pie, scones, muffins, more muffins, and bread with blueberries, plus as much as you could want to eat fresh!

We head back tomorrow for a second attempt. I'm planning to freeze most of those for future eating endeavors. Maybe I'll make a cobbler or blueberry sauce to go over my homemade organic vanilla ice cream (yum!)

Checking each other out

Blueberry? What blueberry? I didn't see any blueberry here...

The herd closes in

Num num num

The Cow Says

The Cow Says: Eat More Chicken

A good use for cow-print diapers

Will Moo for Food

High-Cal Food Chronicles: Quick Snacks

Even super moms like me need some store-bought items to help them out periodically.

[note: that was sarcasm]

Anyway, I thought I'd put together a list of Joseph's favorite high-cal snacks to give you ideas that don't require the stove or oven. Most of these are great on-the-go snacks since they are or can be cut into toddler sized finger foods. They make getting out of the house a little easier.

• Trader Joe's Organic Mini Sandwiches (they come in peanut butter and cheese flavor) ~$2.50/box
  
• IKEA Swedish Meatballs ~$7/bag
  
• Trader Joe's This Fig Walks into a Bar (comes in many flavors) ~$1.49/box
  
• Full Circle Organic Graham Crackers ~$3/box
  
• Organic whole milk plain yogurt with mashed banana and avocado ~$2.99/quart @ Trader Joe's for the yogurt.
  
• Chick-Fil-A milkshakes (sometimes Mama shares) ~$3.49 at Chick-Fil-A
  
• Organic white colby cheese (Atlantans, you can find this at Dekalb FM for $5.99/lb!)
• Trader Joe's chicken sausage with apple and maple syrup ~$3.99/pkg
  

Joseph is Walking!

Apparently I forgot to put it on the blog. Joseph began walking "with purpose" on July 11 - Just after he turned 16mo! He's quite proficient at it already, and can bend down to pick thing up without falling. He still prefers crawling for getting around, but he is walking more and more, especially when he wants applause (which we are happy to provide).

You can see the video of him walking here.

Nursery Update!

Oh my, I love the most recent addition to Joseph's room makeover - a tree wall decal! I picked it up off of etsy figuring that it'd be easier and cheaper than actual paint. It went on very easily, and they sent me enough extra stuff to do that little area by the window!



I'm still planning to do a mobile and a new bedskirt (and add photographs, but it's mostly done!

Year By Year

While we were in PA, we stopped by to visit the family of one of T.J.'s friends who passed away. We try to head back and see them every year. Last year their daughter Ericka was there with her new baby, Colette, who is just a couple of months younger than Joseph. They were there this year, too! What a difference a year makes:

2009

2010

Rejection

Joseph apparently got used to a nice roomy bed while we were on vacation, because he wanted nothing to do with Mama and Daddy's bed last night. Of course, before we brought him there he wanted nothing to do with his, either.

I ended up bringing him back to his room and stuck him in his crib wide awake. He laid right down and watched while I made up my "bed" of couch cushions and throw blankets next to the crib. Then I laid down and went to sleep, without him making a peep. Success?

He still woke up at least every hour, but was good about laying back down quickly. By 5:30 he was over it and we got up. I guess it's back to working on night weaning/sleep training.

I miss vacation already!

FO: Cabled Hand Bag!

I've been meaning to do this one since January! It knit up in one night, and just needs to be lined and seamed up on the sides, and a ribbon trim added. Can't wait to use it this fall!

Christine Bag:

FO: Dominic's Hoodie!

Oh, it's so cute! I was sorely tempted to keep it for Joseph, but I'm sure Jim, Erin, and Baby Dominic will like it, too. I made it from the Easy Baby Cardigan pattern, but altered it by picking up the edging around the hood and placket at the end, and joining in the round and making it a pull-over instead of a cardigan.

The buttons give it a nice rustic touch to set off the modern gray, if you ask me. ;)

I love how it turned out!

Molars and Steps and Signs, Oh My!

We've been on the move the last couple of weeks. Joseph and I went to Minnesota for 5 days, returned home, grabbed T.J. and left for Pittsburgh the next day for another 6 days. We arrived home today from our long vacations. They were wonderful!

Joseph has had some amazing developmental leaps the last couple of weeks. He's gotten 3 new teeth (top molars and the 4th bottom tooth in front), taken his first unassisted steps, and FINALLY has begun signing a tiny bit! Mama is amazed and so proud of her little DomerBaby!

Here are a couple of photos of the last two weeks, but you should really hit the SmugMug website to see them all! If I get some gumption I'll do a whole bunch of posts on here... but don't hold your breath.

Joseph with his cousins and 2nd (?) cousins. He's on the bottom left.
The one next to him (my cousin Nicky's son) is about 6 weeks older. Oh my!

Mom, Mar, and Joseph buying everything at the outlets

Grandpa and Joseph learning about physics

Before we ditched Joseph for the Pirates game (sorry kid, at least you didn't miss much!)

Muscle Man pushing the chair around

Piano player piano player... piano
Grandpap and Joseph