slacker, i am

ok, not really. work has been INSANELY busy lately. we are pushing to meet a deadline, and on top of that we found some issue which need resolution asap - and brilliant me offered to do that. sometimes, being an overachiever really bites you in the ass.

monday, april 6th: penne with sausage, mushrooms, cognac, and spinach. this was quick and easy to make (always a plus for a weeknight meal in our home), and everyone loved it - so, double bonus.


wednesday, april 8th: mushroom moussaka and sauteed zucchini. i was really looking forward to this, and it did not disappoint. oliver, on the other hand, decided to throw a fit and not eat any of it (seems to be a common theme with 18 month olds - even when it's over something they actually like).

thursday, april 9th: coq au vin, green beans sauteed with almonds, marmalade glazed carrots, and wild rice. it was absolutely as good as it sounds. even oliver abandoned the idea of throwing a fit just for fun, as he couldn't resist eating lots of chicken.

friday, april 10th: meatloaf, smoked cheddar macaroni and cheese, and acorn squash with butter and maple. definite comfort food. oliver usually won't eat squash, but drowning in butter and maple, he was a big fan (so much like his mommy).

sunday, april 12th: easter! we had dinner at my uncle larry and aunt debbie's house, but we all bring a dish, and my contribution was homemade pierogies. having made my own pasta, including ravioli and tortellini, a number of times, i expected this to be more difficult than it was. it took about 2 hours to make about 50, from start (making the filling), to finish (boiling the pierogies). and they were good. i really ought to make a large batch and freeze some, so we have some on hand.

monday, april 13th: chicken paprikash with sour cream, wild rice blend, and sweet peas. the recipe is actually a crock pot recipe, but bryan made it in the cast iron on and in the stove instead. this was another well received meal. even though the sauce was slightly spicy from the hot paprika, oliver ate a good deal. the kid doesn't seem to mind things that are a little spicy. he must have that same spicy food gene his aunt katie does.

wednesday, april 15th: potato kurma and garlic ginger lamb burgers. another stab at an indian dish, since bryan wanted one with potatoes. i thought the kurma sounded simple and delicious (i was right), and thought lamb would pair nicely. bryan coated the lamb burgers with a ginger/garlic/tumeric paste and seared them. i wasn't sure how oliver would like the lamb, it being a stronger flavored meat, especially coated in ginger and garlic, but he loved it. he ate a bunch of lamb (far more than the potatoes). the kid never ceases to amaze me.

thursday, april 16th: jamaican jerk burgers with orange chipotle mayo on sprouted wheat buns. my oh my, this may be my new favorite burger. something a little different, and *two* sauces (i do like it saucy). i made oliver a bbq cheeseburger instead, as i thought the jerk sauce and chipotle mayo would be too spicy, and although he liked his bbq burger, i needn't have worried - he liked both sauces just fine as well.

friday, april 17th: curried beef potpie with mango chutney. the recipe calls for puff pastry, but bryan made pie dough; the recipe also calls for mixing the chutney into the pie, but we served it alongside. rather than use powdered yellow curry, we used some leftover masala curry. the indian dish we made earlier this month had plenty of sauce (and eggplant) leftover, so we froze it. this was the perfect application for the leftovers. shannon had made this before and we loved it. friday turned out to be a rather warm day, so not exactly pot pie weather, but it was good nonetheless.

saturday, april 18th: bacon wrapped scallops, grilled asparagus with olive oil, grilled radicchio with balsamic vinegar and fresh mozzarella, and grilled potatoes with butter and onions. spring, oh spring! the weather was perfectly gorgeous on saturday, and i was overcome with the urge to eat a bunch of delicious vegetables, and so i bought many while grocery shopping. the scallops were on sale and bryan and i had been wanting some, so i snatched them up. while we had planned a simple dinner of tacos, we decided the scallops and veggies would be better fresh that day. bryan broiled the scallops (which is the recommended cooking, versus grilling, to ensure cooking the bacon fully but keeping the scallops medium-rare). for the asparagus, i simply tossed them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and grilled. i had wanted to finish with some lemon zest, but we had no lemons. for the radicchio, i quartered one head, and drenched liberally with a marinade of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, thyme, and crushed red pepper, then grilled, finishing the grilling with a slice of fresh mozzarella atop each piece. the potatoes are something mom made often when we grilled out: a foil packet with sliced potatoes, onions, salt, pepper, and butter (or olive oil); i usually add garlic as well. the potatoes and onions get soft, and the ones on the bottom carmelize and crisp. it's literally the easiest side dish to serve with grilled food - stick everything in the foil, toss it on the top rack of the grill, and forget about it. 20 or 30 minutes later, you have potatoes. this was the perfect meal to welcome spring with.

WFD tonight: steak roulade (steak rolled with red and yellow peppers, onions, and parmesan cheese), grilled endive with balsamic vinegar, and artichokes (preparation yet unknown). we'll see if i can sweet talk bryan into making a homemade garlic aioli to dip the artichoke leaves into.

what else have we been up to? why, the usual of course (yes, we're pretty boring).

the saturday before easter, we headed way out to slinger to have dinner with a friend from work, kelli, and her family. they have two boys, aged 5 and 7, who were so excited to meet oliver. oliver was impressed with the large number of toys they have, and had such a blast playing with both the boys as well as kelli and steve, her husband. we had a lot of fun getting out of the house and having some adult conversation as well! i forgot the camera, though (oops!), so unfortunately no cute pics from that adventure.

easter sunday, we headed to mom and dad's house after church for brunch with gram and gramps. mom made a spring vegetable frittata, bacon, polish sausage, and i don't even recall what else - i think my memory is blotted out by the delicious sugar treats there as well: gram brought hot cross buns, and mom made a lamb cake. my grandma (dad's mom) used to make one each easter - white cake in the shape of a lamb, with coconut frosting, and jelly beans for the eyes and nose. it was pretty delightful having one for easter again. oliver had fun walking around the house, chasing the cats and dog, and generally being a goof and showing off for everyone.



easter dinner was at my uncle larry and aunt debbie's house. oliver had a royal blast running around the house like a madman with my cousin andy's 4 year old daughter jakita, and picking on (to my horror) his 18 month old son ryan. jakita seemed intent on getting him super riled up, and oliver was all too happy to oblige. all in all, they had a great time.

the kids, hanging out. oliver has stolen ryan's sippy cup, while also holding onto his own. (ryan later had oliver's, so i guess it all evened out in the end.)

jakita could not pose for enough pictures. oliver wanted to be right there too!

oliver and jakita invented a game wherein they would give each other a big hug, then yell as loud as they could and push each other down. nice, right? at least they both wanted to be doing it, and it seemed to be very fun (for them).

oliver did his first solo somersault! he and bryan play a game where oliver gets up into the tripod position and bryan will flip him over, and while we were sitting around on easter, oliver up and did one perfectly, all by himself. i guess that was the one good thing to come out of his craziness.

oliver and ryan sharing the couch (and, later, their bread).

oliver had fun being crazy, but after awhile we packed him up and took him home (which he was not thrilled about). the good news is he was pretty spent, and conked out very quickly that night.

this past weekend was as usual busy but good. i worked friday night and saturday morning, but was able to get all the critical stuff out of the way early saturday so we could enjoy our weekend. the weather was beyond perfect on saturday, though it was chilly rainy yesterday. we ran our usual errands - the outpost, the grocery store, target, home depot, and trader joe's. got some very delicious things to eat. have i ever mentioned how happy a well stocked fridge and pantry make me?? yesterday, after oliver's nap, we headed to my aunt maureen and uncle tom's house for my cousin jesse's birthday party. oliver was a little shy at first, but soon got over that when he realized that all the people there just made a larger audience. my cousin's child james, who is 3 years old but smaller than oliver (he had a heart defect as a baby), wanted very much to play with oliver and show him what to do. oliver, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with that. another cousin brought his 7 week old baby, who oliver was so cute with - gently giving him kisses and calling him baby.

oh yes - and remember the thing i mentioned last time about oliver being deathly terrified of baths? well, we seem to have resolved that - through the help of my 10 year old stepdaughter, no less. my mother (with 4 kids), her mother (with 12 kids), and even the child psychologist who lives next to my mother couldn't think of a solution, but leave it to hannah! we talked to her saturday and she suggested trying bubble bath. so we picked some up, and it intrigued oliver enough that he didn't have a complete meltdown when i put him in the tub. he still freaked out when i washed his hair (from the water in his face), but then he was so thrilled with the bubbles, he happily played just like old times (and kept joyously exclaiming "bubble! bubble!"). had hannah been there, i would have kissed her (then taken her out for ice cream).

and today i received the BEST NEWS EVER. my friend cat and her kids are coming to visit us this summer! she is booking the tickets today! i haven't seen her since february of last year, the last time we were in atlanta. we had planned on going down there again last fall (which didn't happen) and were hoping to this spring (which isn't going to happen), so i am SO EXCITED that they're coming to visit us!! they will be here while hannah is here, so she's pretty much going to pee her pants when she finds out.

this coming weekend, bryan is traveling to chicago with his friend dirk to see throbbing gristle. it's their first u.s. tour in something like close to 30 years, so they're both pretty excited. it not being exactly my type of music, i will be staying home with ollie. i am very much looking forward to an evening with a book, a glass of wine, and an early bedtime.

a few more random cute child pictures:



oliver practicing his manly recline (thursday, april 9th)

the face of a troublemaker (thursday, april 9th)

practicing his puzzle skillz (monday, april 13th)

on a walk with daddy (saturday, april 17th)

quite a few more pictures, especially from easter, in the gallery.

fried green tomatoes (and other southern specialities)

last we left our brave (and hungry) heroine, she was eating:

tuesday 9/9: grilled pork chops with whipped maple and thyme glaze; smoked cheddar orzo with chives; and broccoli. we picked up the whipped maple from a local maple farmer and the family farm weekend at the zoo, the previous weekend. the chives were from our garden, and the broccoli from the csa. oh, and did i mention the pork was local (from the outpost)?

wednesday 9/10: smoked pork ribs (again, local) with onion mop; corn, with plenty of butter; collard greens with bacon; biscuits. i slathered my ribs with sauce, since i like a saucy rib. it was so good i would have told myself to shut up, but my mouth was full of pork.

thursday 9/11 was csa day. bryan picked up our bounty, which included more tomatoes (which is fine until our estimated 975 tomatoes ripen), eggplant, lettuce, basil (which we really don't need, considering the 18 foot basil tree in our garden), beets (so many beets!), cauliflower, lettuce, swiss chard, garlic, and radishes (which are just calling out to be lightly warmed in butter).


friday 9/12: bryan picked some unripe and thus green tomatoes from our garden, dredged them in cornmeal and breadcrumbs, and fried them up. he also made cornmeal fried chicken, and linguine with basil pesto. he didn't hear me complaining. the fried green tomatoes were a new one for me, and were pretty tasty. i can see how they would be great with a pan gravy. or remoulade (and why not shrimp?). or in a toasted cheese and bacon sandwich. or in a salad with tender baby greens, toasted pecans, and a soft cheese (take that, alice waters). let's just say i see a few fried green tomatoes in my future.


and our pièce de résistance: last night's meal. grilled lamb chops (local), with a garlic and herb marinade, which doubled as the sauce. bryan also made a traditional greek tomato and cucumber salad, with feta, onions, and a red wine vinegar dressing. he made a chickpea rice, which may seem like an unnecessary amount of grains, but let me tell you, it's not. omfg. best. lamb. ever. the lamb was from the outpost and thus local. it was SO tender, and tasted nothing like what i have always thought lamb tastes like. i hate to admit it, but i think i love lamb. i just wanted to nibble it's tiny little bones clean. the marinade/sauce double agent was made of greek oregano (from our garden), mint, dill (also from our garden), garlic, spinach (the recipe called for watercress, which we weren't able to find), parsley, lemon, red wine vinegar, and, of course, olive oil. bryan used tomatoes from our csa bounty, as well as the black uglies from our garden, as a base for the salad. he included cucumber, onions, and i made sure to add plenty of feta cheese. the chickpea rice was moist and flavorful, with cassia, hot paprika (the recipe called for aleppo pepper), marjoram (the recipe called for bay, which we oddly didn't have); salt, stock, and plenty of onion. i can see how a little more time in the oven would create a lovely crust, the kind you pick off the pan at the table, even when you're full. oh, and warm pita bread, did i mention? perfect for making sure none of the sauce escaped. for dessert, i made a cornmeal cake, which we topped with quenelles of greek yogurt, mini kiwis, and drizzled with a raw, local honey. we win! i think next time i would add vanilla and cognac to the yogurt. just sayin'.

the mini kiwis were a great find. at the outpost yesterday morning, i noticed them but had no idea what they were - they looked like little, soft, sort of oblong green cherries. the produce hippie guy saw me pondering over them, and came running out, insisting that i try one right then and there. to my happy surprise, they were sweet little kiwis! they are not fuzzy like your normal kiwi, but have thin green skins you can eat. to our even greater delight, they are grown locally by a guy in mukwonago, wi (about 20 minutes from here). he has a very small farm, and the store gets maybe 60 pints in a year. we decided right then and there that they would made a perfect dessert, with greek yogurt and honey. i had wanted to make a ravani (greek semolina cake) to go with it, but forgot to pick up semolina, and hence the cornmeal cake. nobody was mad. ;)

and here ends my culinary tales (but not my culinary day dreams... we have so much rice left over, and i had noticed the other day just how many grape leaves dad has on the vine... and did you know that rice goes very well in a grape leaf? which i think sounds wonderful with the whole trout we have, perhaps grilled...).

friday, i worked from home, since i was feeling pretty lousy. half the people here at work are sick as well, so i figured i'd be better off resting at home. oliver still toddled off to day care, though, so i could get stuff done. his allergies/sinuses have been pretty bad off as well, and he seems to be teething.

the rest of the weekend was fairly normal. it was rainy all weekend, so we were stuck indoors. i think we watched the mechanics episode of blues clues ummmm 18 times. saturday morning we generally hung around the house. oliver was being a total ham and he and i were having fun playing hide and seek and "tickle me mommy!". he's started giving this super cheesy grin, where he shows all his teeth and squints his eyes closed. the picture does not do it justice.

he did manage to do pretty good with his naps, teething, stuffy nose, and all. which was good, because we had maggie's wedding saturday afternoon! mom came over and worked on school work while he napped, and bryan and i attended the ceremony (and forgot our camera, ack!). it was *beautiful*. maggie looked absolutely gorgeous. her colors were pink and orange, very festive. enrique, the groom, is mexican, so the programs were printed in both english and spanish, one reading was in english and the other in spanish, and the music was provided by an acoustic trio who sang in spanish. the music was amazing; bryan wants to hire them for his next birthday party so we can do a fieta authentica. after the ceremony, we zipped home to find oliver still napping, wonder of wonders. once he awoke, we all headed to the reception (and forgot our camera AGAIN, grr), held at the rotary building on the fox river. oliver charmed everyone he could, of course. the meal was catered by maggie & enrique's favorite mexican restuarant, casa del rio. mexican = bryan's favorite food, so he was trilled. we ate a *ton* - even oliver. we were home shortly after 7, boring married people with a kid that we are. it was a great time.

sunday, we did our outpost run, and bryan did some work around the kitchen, including prep'ing for that fab lamb dinner. ihad been hoping to start canning, but as the tomatoes are not ready and i wasn't about to attempt to do all the beets we have in 2 hours, i held off. oliver's godfather chris was in town, so he and his girl charity came over for dinner. oliver flirted mightily with charity, and was enthralled with chris' beard. i think that oliver very much enjoyed having someone else other than mom and dad to play with.

oliver's sleeping has been off, what with being sick and this teething business. i am very much looking forward to him feeling better, and me feeling better as well. fall seems to have arrived, and i really want to enjoy this gorgeous weather before we're knee deep in snow (evil, evil, evil). sigh.

WFD: pasta with chorizo and chipotle pesto cream sauce. and maybe something green, like swiss chard. that would work. and beer. doesn't beer sound good? ahh, if only i could quit my job and do FOOD all the time...

flippin' ridiculous

can i just say, it is 41°F (feels like 38°F), and that really stinks? like, seriously. it's april 29th. bryan thought i was joking when i told him i wouldn't feel safe warm weather wise until june, but i was serious.


oliver & his breakfast prunes. :)

friday night, oliver slept like an angel: down at 7pm, up around 12am to eat, and back down until 5:30am. flipping awesome. after his morning nap, we headed out to do some shopping for kitchen stuffs. we really have our hearts set on finding a recycled material countertop. seeing as how we couldn't find a dealer of icestone, our current favorite, we decided to check out some vetrazzo. we went to a nearby design center, where the sales guy did everything he could to sway us AWAY from vetrazzo, and instead go with one of their granite or quartz options... AND upsell us on their crappy cabinetry. we eventually convinced him to get us a quote on the vetrazzo, but even if we decide to go with it, we sure won't be buying from him. we had much better luck at the tile shop. we found some beautiful dark gray/black slate tiles that will work perfectly. just need to find a matching countertop. ;) we then headed up to lowe's, to compare their corian/granite/etc options to those of home depot (exactly the same, pretty much, just different names). we decided to go home and mull over what we had seen, and to let ollie nap. we tried going to milwaukee marble & granite to look for a marble remnant (which figures into our design) as well as the granite gallery, but both were closed. no such luck.

we stopped by our favorite grocery store to pick up some food for sunday dinner, including beets, which i was happy to find had full beet tops so i could finally make the beet green calzone i had been thinking about. they turned out really, really delicious. we added some sweet italian sausage, since we didn't have a ton of greens AND bryan needs protein. we used some of his famous homemade pizza dough. the filling was cider vinegar braised beet greens with sauteed onions and garlic, crumbled feta, and the sausage. they were really, really good. did i say that? ;) definitely a new favorite.

saturday night wasn't as good for oliver; he is getting 2 bottom teeth and he's feeling pretty miserable. i gave him lots of extra cuddles in the wee hours of sunday morning, and we skipped church so the two of us could nap. dad fired up the pit smoker that morning, and he and mom had us over for a smoked beef brisket dinner. i made a marinated beet salad and bryan made bread pudding (with apple brandy marinated raisins, and an apple brandy creme anglaise... bryan, ftw). le yum. ollie had fun hanging out with nana and grandpa, who i'm pretty sure he favors over us. ;)


yesterday, i spoke with a green design center in chicago that carries icestone, and they said they have recently started working with someone in the milwaukee area to install it here. WOOHOO! he said he would find the information and email me; no email yet but i will definitely be calling them later this afternoon. it's pretty important to us!

last night for dinner, i made a hammy mac n cheese with some of our leftover smoked ham. omg. i'm not gonna lie - it was good. made bryan all starry eyed. i still got it. ;) i made a cream sauce, using butter instead of oil as the base for my roux. i added onions and thyme, and once the cream was in, a healthy dose of white wine. i used both provolone and cheddar; half melted directly into the sauce and half stirred into the pasta. cubed the ham and tossed that in, then poured it into a casserole, topped with breadcrumbs and butter, and baked for a bit. i seared some yellow squash, and that was dinner. i am WAY looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

this evening, we have an appointment with our home depot designer to finalize the plans and order the cabinets. the clock will start ticking!! the contractor who does the cabinet installs came out for the final measurement, and we found some additional changes we need to make. we'll get those in tonight, verify everything, then push the button. i'm excited and nervous - we have a TON of work to do.

other than that, we're pretty boring. poor oliver has been feeling SO miserable with teething. and i noticed this morning it feels like he's got some coming in the top as well. i'd rather get it all out of the way at once, so that works for me, but i feel pretty bad for the little munchkin. we're having good success with the teething tablets, which are homeopathic (so we feel better giving that to him on a fairly regular basis), and we've resorted to tylenol a few times as well. he really likes chewing on wet washcloths... and pretty much anything else he can get into his mouth. :)

no fun plans for the week. this weekend, we'll try to go to those marble and granite places, and HOPEFULLY we'll get to check out the icestone as well. bryan and i are going on a saturday afternoon DATE to see iron man at the matinee at the super theater. i'm also going to clean the house, and nap. i hope.

HEY - whatchoo' looking at??


WFD: pork chops. probably greek style. maybe i'll make a little beet salad side with the leftover feta. and perhaps potatoes. or - ooo - potatoes with feta. and a salad. screw the beets. ;)

go, go, go

the weekend was good, busy as i thought it would be. saturday, we attended a funeral for my great aunt. she had been sick for some time, so her passing was not a surprise. after the service, we gathered for a lunch at her favorite polish restaurant, which was neat - something different. my aunt maureen and her kids, delany and jesse, came to watch the baby. when we got home oliver was just rousing from his nap, so we got him fed then headed off to do our target and grocery shopping (and he was sweet enough to nap, right on schedule, in the middle of it). his adhered to a perfect schedule all day, and i was able to make a delicious dinner of coffee rubbed flat iron steaks, twice baked sweet potatoes, and yellow squash. the potatoes are a new favorite of bryan's. they were quite delish. i'm glad i made all 3 instead of just 2. ;)

sunday morning, bryan drove out to madison to help his friend dirk with some computer stuff, and oliver and i hung out around the house. he was going NUTS bouncing him his jumper (some video of this is in the gallery)! :) CUTEST. THING. EVER. after his morning nap, we headed over to mom and dad's to hang out with mom for awhile. mom offered to watch him so i could head to the mall sans baby/carseat/stroller/diaper bag. which worked out extra good, seeing as how boston store was having their goodwill sale (20% coupon for every item you donate to goodwill) and it was a bit of a zoo. just as i arrived at the mall, bryan called to let me know he was nearly at the highway exit to my parents' house, so he came and met me at the mall. we picked out some new sheets for the bed, and a new quilt, and some king size pillows, all of which we got for quite a steal with the sale. we bought a cast iron 2 sided griddle, which i had been wanting for years, and i got 2 new pairs of shoes too, so i was pretty darn happy. :)


monday night for dinner, we FINALLY got around to cooking the T-bone steaks we had been wanting to grill. since the weather was still gross, we used the cast iron griddle, grill side UP, to "grill" them indoors. hello, delicious. bryan simply seasoned them with salt and pepper, and finished them with a pat (and a half) of butter. i made mac and cheese with some leftover boxes of pasta, a sharp cheddar cheese sauce with plenty of mustard, parsley, and a lovely crust of breadcrumbs with parmesan. this along with some simply steamed broccoli made a DELICIOUS dinner. the steaks looked so big on the plates, i didn't think i would be able to finish one, but i managed to. ;) hey, once you trimmed off the fat and got rid of the bone, they weren't AS big as they had seemed...

monday as well, we bought a new toy for oliver, one of those bridge like things they lay under with toys hanging over them. he has one at day care and LOVES it, so we found one on craigslist for $4. $4! totally beats the $50 or so for a new one! so bryan went and picked it up and boy does ollie love it! he was kicking and grabbing at the toys, pushing on the side ones to make them turn... and last night we put batteries in it so now it lights up and makes music. it's pretty funny watching oliver trying to follow the sequence of lights as they move quickly around the bridge. :) i know i'm a bit biased, but good lord he is a cute baby! ;)

hannah flies in on friday evening, to spend her spring break with us. we're all pretty excited! she can't wait to see her baby brother again. :) we are tentatively planning on traveling to minneapolis this weekend to visit shannon. we think hannah would really get a kick out of seeing shannon's apartment and school, plus shannon will be running in a track meet... and then the mall of america is there as well. i am very anxious about attempting a 5 - 6 hour drive with the baby however. we figure if we leave right after his 2/3am feeding, he'll fall right back asleep and sleep for the majority of the ride. hannah would as well. it's a big risk to take though. :) we'll also have to find someone to watch the dogs, as mom and dad are also tentatively planning on going as well. i think it would be a LOT of fun for us all to go, so i'm hoping we can work it out. we would head home sunday morning, and get home in time to host a birthday dinner for hannah sunday night (she wants breakfast for dinner, and i'm formulating a new cake recipe to make her a special, hannah only birthday cake).

WFD: smoked cornish hens. bryan put them in a brine yesterday and will smoke them today. no clue what we'll serve with them. been too excited thinking about the hens. :)

my big boy

oliver keeps growing and it is so bittersweet. he has completely lost that little baby face and is turning into a real boy. it's all downhill from here. :)

this weekend, we worked on turning his eating schedule around, which was actually much easier than we thought it would be. he adjusted without much of a fuss. we held him to a minimum of 3 hours between feedings during the day, letting him eat more in the evenings if he so desired, and tried to keep him to 4 hours at night (though if he woke up at 3 or 3 1/2, we fed him... can't go cold turkey on him :). he settled right in, though sunday and last nights he was a little more restless than normal. the doctor had said it is more important than ever to make sure he puts himself to sleep, since he is starting to feel separation anxiety, and if we rock him to sleep or come running every time he cries, he'll learn those behaviors and we'll never get a good night's sleep again. :) so we've been working harder on letting him cry some, and while it's hard, i am hoping it has the desired effect. i know he can put himself down when he wants to (if he's ready for a nap, you can put him in his bed wide awake and hear nary a peep), but if he wants his mom and dad, that boy is NOT going to sleep (no matter how tired he is). you can always tell, too. he'll scream like the world is ending for 10 minutes, and then as soon as you go in to check on him, he'll quiet down and start giggling. punk. sunday night, i went in there to calm him down, and he'd grab my hand, whimper and giggle, and if i'd lean over him, he'd reach up and rub my face. that boy as got my number, and he knows it.

katie's friend jessie came and babysat for him saturday, and he was of course the perfect baby. bryan, mom, and i drove around to shop for kitchen remodel stuff, and we have a few ideas. we need to nail down our new floor plan and pick cabinets, and the rest will follow. and my money right out the door with it. :) i'm really excited to get started, however!

one of the things oliver's new pediatrician told us to watch out for to know he was ready for solids was the desire to put everything in his mouth. he had really started doing so in the last week or 2; his rattles and animals inevitably ended up getting chewed on a bit. SO we bought some big boy feeding supplies, ready to start him on rice cereal. sunday night as we ate dinner, he sat with us as usual, and we gave him a spoon to get used to that idea (no food on it). it was so incredibly cute - bryan would pretend to feed him, and he would very seriously concentrate on pretending to eat (and did a very good job - he wasn't sucking on the spoon or spitting it out; it looked like he was eating), and then give us a big goofy grin as if to say, "did you see me? i ate like a big boy!" he did such a good job we decided to try the real thing last night, and he surprised both of us by actually eating. we had expected a messy baby, but he actually ATE! i was so proud! some of course ended up on his chin, and he didn't eat much, but he did so well. so he is officially on solids now. :) in another week or 2, we'll start him on fruits and veggies. he's hardly a baby anymore. his motor skills are so developed, he's eating solids, and while he can't roll over he can inchworm along the floor... he's figuring out the connection between his actions and their effects: how when he jumps and wiggles in his jumperoo, the lights and music starts; if he shakes a rattle it makes noise; if he grabs his bottle and pushes, it goes out of his mouth, and if he pulls it towards himself, he can feed himself (he takes great delight in removing the bottle from his mouth then putting it back over and over and over again). it's a slippery slope at this point... he'll start developing even more rapidly! and while i can't wait for all the joys of watching him grow up, a tiny part of me wishes he would stay tiny forever; that little bug that just wants to curl up on my chest and cuddle.

is it wrong to have mac n cheese for breakfast? i made some for dinner last night; creamy and gooey and plenty of left overs (gee, i wonder how that happened). i can't seem to stop thinking about it. we had that with marinated pork loin (vermouth, olive oil, crushed green peppercorns, dijon) and broccoli for dinner last night.



bryan made a ridiculously juicy pork loin friday as well. that along with some broccoli rabe. the loin (both nights) was from peapod and i must say - we were happy with it. same with the rabe.



WFD: adobe beef tacos with pickled red onions, or some version thereof. or perhaps pizza, homemade of course (with bryan's infamous dough recipe). holla! that is, of course, if i can hold off on eating it until dinner. it may become lunch.

some new pictures and video in the march 2008 gallery.