I am a mean, mean mama. I know someday I'll laugh at this picture, but I feel just a wee bit sad from the event today. It took him almost 10 seconds to get that first scream out, he was so upset.
So sad. So classic.
Santa has a twinkle in his eye, though. Ha!
We had intended this weekend to be full of house projects, but since we did not close on time (grr) I turned my attention to more noble pursuits: finishing my baby-knit list.
Unless you are new to the blog or have short-term memory loss, you know that I had about 487 new babies to knit for this year. OK, slight exaggeration. But my excel spreadsheet (yes I know, nerd) shows 16 babies. Good grief!
I've spent nearly the entire year behind on baby knitting. Luckily I aim for larger sizes, so hopefully no one will receive a too-small item. (If you do, just jam it on them for 30 seconds and send me a photo! I'll never be the wiser!)
The good thing about these nature-imposed deadlines is that I really improved my knitting this year and had tons of fun with new friends. My knitting looks better than ever! The sad news is that I had to give it all away! So I'm declaring 2011 the year of knitting [mostly] for me (and my men)!
Without further adieu, here's all of my progress from this weekend!
Still need to sew on the flower...
Baby Tate's faux cable hat
In the works... an eyelet sweater for Emma
We're thankful for all of our family and friends, who are such an important part of our lives!
Everyone gets caught with their pants down, from time to time. It happens to poor Joseph more frequently than most, though, since he's got such a skinny bum!
I found him like this when I came in from another room. Being the incredibly mean mom that I am, instead of helping him I ran for the camera!
This was with a cloth diaper. Can you imagine if he wore disposables???
We've been having issues with Joseph's sleep since the time change. He typically goes to bed around 7-7:30 and has been waking up around 5am. According to things I've read, he should be sleeping in total about 13 hours a day at his age. His naps are not consistent, and range from 1.5-2.5 hours (1.5 being the norm and 2.5 being an awesome exception).
I think on average he's been getting about 12 hours of sleep every day. I'd like him to get more, but I'm not sure what to do. Currently we're doing some "controlled crying" in the morning, and I'm hoping that'll get him up to 11 hours overnight (and at least till 6am for mama and daddy's sakes!).
I'm considering moving his bedtime to 8pm, but he tends to wake up at the same time in the morning regardless of how late we push bedtime. On the other hand, I don't want to be unrealistic by thinking he can consistently sleep 11+ hours overnight (from 7:30-6:30 ideally).
Any ideas from the parents out there? He's 20.5 months old. Is his bedtime to early? Expectations too high? Is this just a phase we have to ride out? He crashes quickly at night at his current bedtime and is usually exhausted by nap time since he's up at 5am.
Joseph and I went out to breakfast on Friday to The Flying Biscuit. It's a GREAT place to bring kids. Food comes out fast, there is lots to look at, and they have crayons, of course.
We had a delicious breakfast, and Joseph did awesome. He played with the crayons, drove his cars around the table a bit, and had fun looking at all the big trucks zooming by outside. He used his manners and did not break any plates by banging his fork (which has happened at home). He even ate a fair amount of food! Success all around.
Joseph and I went down to the garden to clean it out some, and check out the carrots we planted in September. There were only a few survivors, and mostly they were just tops and roots - no carrot. We did get one, though!
Needless to say, I'm thankful for farmers markets and grocery stores.
We do have a TON of arugula, though!
If you're looking for a yummy fall meal, look no further! I made beef stew (based on my dad's "recipe" for venison stew) and it turned out AWESOME
Jen's Beef Stew-pendous!
1 lb stew meat
1/2c flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp thyme
1/2c canola oil
1/2c dry red wine (cabernet sauvignon)
32 oz beef broth
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 lb mushrooms
5 russet potatoes
2 roma tomatoes, peeled and diced
2 bay leaves
Heat oil in a big heavy pot over med/high heat. Combine flour, salt, pepper, and thyme in shallow dish. Dredge meat and put in hot oil. Sprinkle any additional flour in on top of the meat when you are finished dredging (helps build the rue). Brown meat on all sides, remove with a slotted spoon.
Deglaze the pot with the wine. Cook for about 30 seconds and add the beef broth. Add all the veggies, the bay leaves, and the beef into the pot, and bring to a simmer for 1 hour. If you are rushed for time, just cook till your potatoes are done. But it'll be better if you simmer longer.
Serve with some Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day!
Probably not, as everyone is now referring to him as the toddler terror. Ha!
Here are some adorable things he's been doing:
1) When he's nervous around other people, he'll squeeze his eyes shut so he can't see them (and presumably, they can't see him!)
2) He laughs when he burps (or farts) and has been trying to make himself burp
3) He's sitting in his crib right now having a conversation with his Seahorse. NOT crying. OMG.
4) He can touch his head, shoulders, knees, and toes (though not fast enough to go along with the song)
5) He loves giving his bears and babies hugs and kisses
6) Whenever he sees something exciting he says "Ooooh Wow!" That's about 10,468 times per day.
7) Helped pick up toys at storytime yesterday without making a new mess
8) Helps me do dishes (or at least, squish bubbles)
9) Helped clean up his [purposefully] spilled milk
10) Gives me kisses on request - always followed by an unsolicited hug!
One of my friends mentioned doctoring milk with a little bit of heavy cream. I've put cream in other things (like eggs), but this is super easy!
2T added to 8oz of milk adds 100 calories and 11 grams of fat! Of course, 3.5 of those are saturated. Hopefully I'm not setting Joseph up for early heart disease.
You never can win, can you?
I want to be just like my Daddy!
::cue music singing from the heavens::
Here are the details: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/DomerJen/cascade-christmas-stocking-w104-3
2,158 is the number of calories in the organic vanilla ice cream I made today. And 158 grams of fat.
It supposedly makes 5 cups, and serves 8.
We'll see. Ha!
Here's the recipe I used (modified from this Williams Sonoma recipe:
3c heavy cream
3/4c sugar
6 egg yolks
1.5 tsp vanilla
Heat cream until just before a simmer. Meanwhile, mix egg yolks and sugar until lightened. When cream is hot, temper by slowly pouring cream into sugar and yolk mixture while beating quickly. When about 1/2 is in there, pour the whole thing back into the pot. Reheat while constantly stirring until it coats the back of a spoon - about 5 minutes. Chill 3 hours. Pour into running ice cream machine and churn for 30 minutes. Try not to eat too much while you are putting it into a freezer safe container. Wait one hour. Consume.
Not crying, just waiting for parole.
Nobody knows my sorrows.
The other day, I channeled my inner pioneer. In the morning, I hosted a bread making playdate, and taught 9 of my mom friends how to make bread the easy way (google "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes per Day" if you are interested). I made the equivalent of 9 batches of dough the night before (which took 25 minutes to make - I said it was easy!) and spent the morning before they arrived baking. We had 2 loaves of wheat, 2 boules of white, a coronne of white, a loaf of french bread, and 2 focaccia. I sent the last piece of dough home with a friend to make a pizza.
Cole was stoked that he got to take the pizza dough home!
Joseph had been "taking a break" from words and sounds the last couple of months, but he's been making some strides the last couple of days. I guess he was just busy learning to run and misbehave. Ha!
He's been making a lot more different (unintelligible) sounds lately, and today he said "more" for the first time!
He also used his "all done" sign at the playground today when he was done swinging - the first time I've seen him use it in a non-highchair situation.
Very proud of my little bear!
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