thank you, and goodnight

yesterday, the 44th president of the united states of america was sworn into office. a black man. a momentous occasion. a big note in the history books; and, hopefully, a big chapter. i still choke up thinking about the change america wants, the choice her people made, and the hope we can have for the future. i have to remind myself to be patient, but i am very excited. i haven't been proud to be red, white, and blue in a very long time, but watching the inauguration and seeing all the american flags, i have never been more proud.

another momentous occasion, to me if no one else, is that i stopped breastfeeding last weekend. thursday, january 15th was the last night i nursed oliver. it being nearly 15 months (next week saturday), i decided it was time. it was no longer necessary nourishment for him; i was only nursing him before bed (he gets cow milk the rest of the day), and he wasn't getting that much anymore. it was more for comfort. and i knew the longer we performed that ritual, the more attached to the comfort he would be, and the harder it would be to wean him. so, starting last friday night, instead of nursing for 30 minutes before bed, i gave him some [cow's] milk in his sippy, rocked and read him a story, and placed him in his crib. he wasn't very happy, but he wasn't nearly as upset as i expected him to be. he talked, fussed, moaned, and cried for awhile (close to 45 minutes), but went to sleep just fine after a visit from bryan and the magic water cup. last night and tonight, he didn't even cry when i put him in bed (he didn't go to sleep immediately, but i think him allowing me to put him into bed without nursing or a meltdown is a pretty major achievement). what i didn't expect was how hard stopping would be on me. i was ready to have my body back, ready to have those 30 minutes back, ready for oliver to go to bed on his own. but i wasn't necessarily ready to give up the 30 minutes of my day where oliver lays calmly in my lap, cuddled up tight to me, dozing off; or when he is done nursing, and breathing quietly on my shoulder. it's another milestone, yet another step to him becoming a toddler. so it's definitely bittersweet for me.

we haven't been up to much interesting. it's been nice to take it easy. this past weekend, we did have fun grocery shopping: we hit trader joe's for our staples (such as beans, bread, frozen peas, etc.), since their organic stuff is generally cheaper than at the co op; then we headed to el rey, a local mexican market; and finished the day off at the outpost. it was our first visit to el rey, and we went mainly for meats (why is it skirt steak is $12.99/lb at the supermarket and $4.99/lb at the mexican markets?), and to pick up some lunch out of their hot case/deli (pork enchiladas, bean and pork tostada, and tamales). overall, we weren't too impressed. i'm sure we'll be back to explore the dry goods some more, and possibly to get some meats, and certainly for the manteca (they do have it in giant buckets, after all), but i don't think we'll make it a regular stop. the hot foods weren't all that impressive, and they sure were happy to completely ignore us waiting to order and help their spanish speaking customers first. maybe we were just spoiled by atlanta's buford farmer's market.

this past monday i had the day off for martin luther king day. i hadn't known i had a free day until the friday before, so it was a rather pleasant surprise. i still sent oliver off to day care, and spent the day doing things i wanted to do: i cleaned the house, went to macy's, took a long soak in the jacuzzi tub, and worked on hannah's scrapbook. a few more hours in the day would have been nice, but beggars can't be choosers.

but surely, you say, even in all that boringness, you ate something good jen? of course we did, my friends. of course we did.



wednesday, january 7th: teriyaki chicken legs with rice noodles and bok choy. oliver was an immense fan of the rice noodles with teriyaki sauce, and i admit, they were quite delicious.






friday, january 9th: spanish tortilla, boring ol' buttered cauliflower (one of my and oliver's favorite vegetables).






sunday, january 11th: ropa vieja with caperberries, saffron rice, and peas.






monday, january 12th: fish tacos with horseradish sour cream slaw and a remoulade inspired sauce; pinto beans. this is my new favorite preparation for fish tacos.



wednesday, january 14th: andouille sausage with the leftover horseradish sour cream slaw on sprouted wheat buns, homemade steak fries with a gremolata style dry herb spice.




friday, january 16th: rib eye steaks (holla!) with baked potatoes and braised fennel with whole mustard seeds.




sunday, january 18th: chicken and israeli couscous with tomato and lemon, sauteed zucchini and sunburst squash. the chicken and couscous recipe was from the martha stewart living magazine, and was scrumptious. oliver gobbled up plenty as his bedtime snack.


monday, january 19th: garlic stuffed pork roast with braised red cabbage and potato pancakes. oliver, true to his roots, stuffed some serious pork into his belly. and i can't say bryan and i didn't do the same. this meal was very, very good. the potato pancake recipe we use is from milwaukee's historic turner hall; the recipe was printed in a saveur featuring milwaukee fish fries. (for those of you who don't know, the friday fish fry is big in milwaukee. if you are a restaurant and don't do friday fish fry, you might not last.)

wednesday, january 21st: big boy burgers with pasta salad and chocolate shakes. we were out of potatoes (how did that happen?), so no fries as usual. instead, i made up a pasta salad with elbow macaroni, mayo, sour cream, peas, celery, red onion, and a few shakes of downer avenue seasoning from the spice house. it worked. oliver had *2* helpings along with his cheeseburger. no chocolate shake for him, though. yes, i am a mean, mean mommy.

tomorrow? i'm thinking brats on pretzel rolls with the leftover braised red cabbage. yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees?

and, not wanting to break a good tradition, here's your round of cute baby pics (a few more are in the january 2009 gallery):



fee fi fo fum, i smell the blood of an englishman (oliver sucking a chicken bone clean)







me llamo senor crankypants (oliver throws a fit)






now which alien movie was that again??








a series of baby blue eyes shots:







bathing booty








that's all from me, folks. i'm off to fall asleep in bed while watching this season's crappy top chef cheftestants put out uninspiring food that, at worst, i can make far better at home, and at best, i can make as well at home. is it so wrong to expect brilliance? i don't want to watch someone cook what i could cook better. le sigh. have a nice weekend!