Sunday, April 13, 2008

Playing in the "sand"


We broke out the corn meal and all-purpose flour this afternoon in some pans out in the backyard. At first, Patrick was a little freaked that he was getting "dirty" but once he felt the cool flour out in the warm backyard, I think he changed his mind. He definitely preferred the flour over the corn meal...it's softer. He didn't get as dirty as I thought he was going to get, though his hair got a dusting reminiscent of those English Lawyer wigs. His bath was very important to get the "glue" of his hair and drooly face. We had a great time and I'm sure we'll be doing it again soon.

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Gastronomic Adventures

It has been so enjoyable to try out new foods with Patrick. Thus far, he's been pretty open to new foods and textures and flavors and tastes. This has made me so happy since I've had so much fun trying out new tastes myself. We have come to a screeching halt, it seems, on our journey. The one-time broccoli lover has now decided he will only eat things that are sweet or creamy or sweet and creamy, or crunchy.

Sean and I gave him his first bite of cream cheese yesterday and I swear his eyes rolled to the back of his head for a second. He must have thought he'd died and gone to heaven. Even better than cream cheese is sweetened Yo Baby yogurt. Any flavor, it doesn't matter. He especially likes the cream at the top of the package. This morning I alternated between the lentils and carrots I made last night and Sean and my oatmeal we'd made for ourselves and the yogurt. I alternated because he only wanted the yogurt. I keep thinking that he'll change his mind and love lentils, especially since I heated them up in butter. But no. Just yogurt. So, I gave him yogurt every three bites and that has seemed to work. I was thinking that I wouldn't have to break out the Deceptively Delicious cookbook for another several months. Looks like that won't be the case.

We went to the Town and Country Farmer's Market yesterday to stock up for the week and they had some awesome strawberries. They source them from somewhere in California and boy are they good. So good, in fact, that our cat Joule rubbed herself all over them between the time I brought them home and ate them after dinner. Gross. There was little white cat hair fuzz all over the top like it'd molded prematurely. Thank goodness that rinsing them off in cold water gets them bright and shiny again.

The tomatoes looked good on the outside but were a little mealy on the inside which tells me that it's not quite the season and they might have been a little old. Oh well.
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Sunday, April 6, 2008

Happy Birthday Wes and Ash!

Today was Wes Dinoffria's 2nd birthday party at the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. We just got home (Patrick is sleeping) and I wanted to make sure to get the cute pictures posted before I got busy doing other things.

It is also my friend Ashleigh's birthday today and I wanted to wish her a happy 30th. Wow, we're turning 30 this year!!

Here we are on the choo-choo train ride. If you can see, the engineer has a cute outfit with overalls and the hat.

Here is Patrick riding on the carousel. He really enjoyed riding on the horsey.


After the carousel, Patrick needed a good clothing and diaper change. So we parked ourselves under a big shady tree. I was thinking it'd be nice and calm and quiet but he was just so wiggly. Not upset, just wiggly. I gave up trying to change his clothes and gave him to Sean who wrestled with him to get his little white short-sleeved onesie on. As soon as I was going to take a picture of his hilarious Tasmanian Devilishness, Patrick flashed me this happy smile. I think he was showing me how much fun he was having with Daddy. He really liked being naked under that tree. He wanted to stay there and play - with the breeze on his tush. What a fun day!

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Friday, April 4, 2008

Community Supported Agriculture

Did you know I have an article published on the internet? I was just perusing information on the ol' farm, Crooked Sky Farms. I can't find much new but I did find that the article I wrote about Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) is still posted on the "Your Guide to Green" website. It's a website started by the same guy who has the Urban Farm here in North Central Phoenix.

If you're interested here is the article.

I am sad to say that I haven't been a part of the CSA since I left working there a year ago. A YEAR AGO? Wow, time flies when you're having fun. :)

He's finally discovered my moles


Patrick's friend Will used to try to pick off the mole (excuse me - "beauty mark") off my face when he was about 1 1/2 - 2 yrs old (he's turning 3 in May, wow, time flies). I figured it was just a matter of time that Patrick would try to "pick up/off" of Mommy's moles.

If you know me, I have several...everywhere. I have two, right at the crook of my shoulder and chest (just on the outside of my armpit) and Patrick spent about two minutes trying to scratch them off my skin yesterday. I tried to explain to him that I have lots and they are just a part of my skin. I don't think he understands it yet since he has such smooth, mole-free skin. He probably will not get it for a while. I just hope he doesn't change my name from Mama to Mole like Will did for a while :). Don't worry Will, I thought it was so cute!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

He did it!

9 mo check up notes


We went to the doctor Monday for Patrick's 9 month check up. All is well with him. He cried a little bit more than usual when Dr. Padrez (nicely) pokes and shines lights places. I think it has to do with separation anxiety. He was a champ though. Here are his newest measurements:

Weight: 17lb 8oz - (8% - Dr. says this is normal around this age, to dip a bit lower than his usual 25-50%)
Height: 28" long (40%)
Head circumference: 18.25" (80% - WOW! He's gonna be smart)

He's eating more yummy foods. He's into broccoli (well, it needs a tiny bit of cheese and breadcrumbs) and still loves his apples. We've been making this apple omelet with shredded apple, cinnamon and egg yolks in butter (sounds weird but it's actually very good).

He's started bouncing up and down while in the sitting position to show he's happy or just to have fun. He's still teething too and will get new teeth (again!) pretty soon probably. Crawling might not happen. I have been doing research and as long as the baby can get places (either by scooting on their behinds, pulling with their arms or rolling - that's what Patrick does - then they should be fine). He's trying a little bit to pull himself up - mainly when he's in the bathtub ducky. So, we'll probably have a walker in a few months. Yikes! :)

The flowers are sooo pretty right now. Here is another picture. This is from our front porch area.