Miss is stepping!! Little adorable steps, sometimes up to about 8 strung together, but the steps are so tiny she doesn’t usually move very far. I wouldn’t really say that she’s walking yet. She still prefers crawling and cruising the furniture, though her cruising has gotten more daring. Still it was so exciting to see those first steps the other night!!! And every time she takes more steps, she looks so excited and proud, I just love it. Also, tonight she stood up without pulling or pushing up on anything. She just popped right up and was standing in the middle of the floor with this big grin on her face. I can’t believe how quickly she’s learning new things. I know she’ll be running all over the place if I so much as blink!
Author: Amy
One week. . .
In one more week I will be on my way to Kaua’i. I think I am nearly ready. I have tried on and selected all my warm weather clothes that I will take with me. I purchased a new bathing suit cover and new flip flops. I have gotten plenty of new warm-weather clothes on clearance for Miss, since all of the clothes that she has in her current size are for cold weather. I’ve mostly upsized these so she’ll also be able to wear them this summer, and really didn’t need to get a whole lot, since the best item of baby clothing in warm weather is a cute cloth diaper, of which she already has plenty! I ordered two Snappy SwimEaze swim diapers from Vilate of Nifty Nappy. These are nearly the only thing that Vilate makes that I haven’t tried yet, and I can’t wait for them to get here!!! I’ve made a list of all the things I will need to take and have started getting a few small new toys for Miss to discover during the plane ride. I have opened the closet where my suitcases are located, though I have yet to actually get the suitcases out and start packing them (opening the closet is progress!!). I have purchased and pored over a fantastic travel book about Kaua’i and have a pretty good idea of the things we’ll do and places we’ll go while there.
What do I still need to do? Well, okay, I guess actually get out the suitcases and pack them of course. I need to call and make a few reservations for activities we plan to try. I need to get Miss some jammies that aren’t fleece. I need to get one or two movies for Miss to watch on the plane. She doesn’t normally get to watch any TV (except when I clip her fingernails, it’s the best way in the world to get her to sit perfectly still to let me do it!) but I figure an all-day plane ride is a good exception to make. I’m thinking of getting a Sesame Street video and maybe an old-school Disney cartoon like Cinderella. I don’t know for sure. Any suggestions? And I have to get a new camera. Speaking of which, that’s one of the things on my to-do list for today “Call local camera shop to find out if they have desired camera in stock.” So, better get on that!!
To he or Not To he?
And by he, I mean High efficiency, as in washing machine. I debated for quite a while whether I wanted to get an he washing machine. My husband kept saying we should get one, and I wanted to, for the water and energy saving and convenience of it. I have heard wonderful things about these washers. In online reviews people even say they make doing laundry fun! But I have not heard wonderful things about how these washing machines do on washing cloth diapers. Ironic, eh? Cloth diapers are environmentally friendly and so are he washing machines. But they’re not friendly with each other? That just didn’t seem right.
So I did some reading online about how to wash cloth diapers in an he washing machine. One problem that was noted is that, because the he washers use so little water and the diapers are so absorbent, the water all gets soaked up in the diapers and they end up just flopping around, wet, but not getting washed. Ew. One site suggested that to use cloth in an he machine you need to do a wet soak of your diapers first. Ew. I don’t know about you, but I’m really not interested in putting dirty diapers in a bucket of water and seeing what comes out of that. As it is now, one of the things I love about using the new generation of cloth is that I just put the dirty dipes in a regular diaper pail with a wetbag (washable bag that is waterproof) liner instead of a trash bag, then on laundry day I throw the whole thing in the wash, bag and all. Voila! No nasty soaking needed. I mean, what do you do with that water after you’re done?? Yucky. Fortunately, I also read that an easier alternative is to put a wet towel in with the dipes or just dump a bucket of water in there before starting the wash to solve that problem. How hard could it be right? I also confirmed that my favorite cloth diaper laundry detergent is he safe, and then read a lot about the various features of the he machine my hubby wanted to get. All the while he was saying how much we needed a new washer and dryer ASAP. Our dryer was on the fritz and was making the most horrid nails-on-a-chalkboard sound every time I used it, which could not be drowned out by closing the laundry room door or turning up the music or TV. When I looked at this washer he was suggesting, I saw things like “steam” for stain removal, “sanitize” with extra extra hot water, or even using cold water (!), “gets the stink out” (this came from a review and was in reference to sweat stink, but still…), etc. So I decided we should go for it and we did.
The new he washer and matching dryer were delivered to our house a few weeks ago and set up. The friendly people at Lowes even took away our old washer and dryer for free (and the guy wiped up my floor where they tracked dirt in). Unfortunately the new machines, though not wider than the old ones, are much deeper, so we can no longer close the laundry room door and ended up just taking it off the hinges and storing it in the basement. This issue never even occurred to us, but it really isn’t a big deal since the washer and dryer are both perfectly silent when running. The dryer might make a little noise if there’s something in it that is banging up against the side while it tumbles and the washer makes a slight humming noise when it spins, but really, they are super quiet. And they WORK!!! Oh my, I love the washer. I can put my husband’s stinky workout clothes in there (not only does he sweat a lot, but he has a tendency to leave his sweaty clothes in a heap somewhere, just to let the stink fester for a while before I find it and hang it up or throw it in the wash) and use the cold water sanitize cycle (it uses less energy than the hot water sanitize) and they come out smelling perfectly clean!! It was always hard to get the stink out before, in part because we have pretty hard water. But not anymore! I can also put my husband’s scrubs, which unfortunately get blood or other yuckiness on them from time to time, in the hot sanitize cycle and feel comfortable that they are coming out completely clean and yuck-free. And for the diapers? Here’s what I do with them:
I put them straight in the wash like always. No wet soaking here! Then I run them through a short wash cycle in cold water and have them spin only a medium amount (yes, you can control how much water gets spun out at the end of the cycle!). This way they are still fairly wet when I put them through the wash cycle, but they’re nicely rinsed. Sometimes I have added a bucket of water before I start this cycle, but this doesn’t really seem necessary. Then I put in my super small amount of detergent and wash the dipes on the hot water sanitize cycle with a second cold rinse. This uses extra hot water and really gets them clean. I take out my wetbag (which can tend to hold suds in it) and then run another rinse. The dipes come out looking and smelling so fresh and clean. They are much cleaner that they were in my other machine I think. Occasionally I use the steam feature to help get stains out, but I don’t use this all the time because I think it might be a bit hard on the dipes. The steam does seem to even be able to get out some stains that have been around a while (I’m living in the arctic tundra and we have very little sun for sunning the dipes right now). Then like always, I hang the covers and put the inserts in the dryer and I’m done! It’s wonderful. And of course I’m thrilled to be using less water and energy. So, if you’re considering going to the front-load he machine, I highly recommend it! Even if you use cloth dipes.
And the Nifty Nappy Gift Certificate Winner is….
#89 Team Pitney said… fan of Nifty Nappy on Facebook (email address)
Team Pitney has been contacted via email and has 48 hours to respond and claim her prize. If I don’t hear from Team Pitney in that time, I will select another winner. Thanks to Vilate at Nifty Nappy and to everyone for entering!!
#89 was selected at random using Random.org
Quote for the Day
“A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.”
— Agatha Christie
This quote brought to mind how much I am amazed every day at how fierce a mother’s love really is.
Two-Week Countdown
We leave for our trip to Hawaii in two weeks. Two weeks from today. Not next Saturday, but the following Saturday. Oh, I am so excited. We have had snow here for over a month. It’s cold. It’s gloomy most of the time. Winter lasts forever here. Pretty much October to April, at least. Last year was the first time Ben and I endured a northern winter in many years. We both grew up in the midwest, in snowy, cold states. But we also lived in sunny North Carolina for 5 years before moving here. Where winter is a about a second long and rarely gets colder than about 40 degrees. I was 8 months pregnant at this time last year, so we didn’t take a trip to anyplace sunny to get out of the cold. But we vowed that starting this year, we would leave the cold and go somewhere warm, sunny, and tropical every winter from here on out.
This year we chose Hawaii, the island of Kauai. We have rented a condo and will spend the week exploring, relaxing, and frolicking on the beach. Yes, I said “frolicking.” We will build sandcastles with Miss and dunk her little toes in the ocean and play in the waterfalls I have heard are present at some of the beaches. I am so excited to see the beauty of the island and explore the culture. Neither Ben nor I have ever been to Hawaii. This will be the 12th state Miss has traveled to or through. She is a good traveler, but I’m still a bit nervous about such a long flight and a major time change. I know it will be worth it though. Just two weeks away!
11-Month “Miss”-cellany
In one month my baby will be one year old. Holy moly. She just keeps growing and changing, and growing and changing. Where is the “pause” button???? Miss has all sorts of new things she’s doing nowadays. She’s cruising a lot and likes to walk behind her lion push toy that she got for Christmas. She can stand for quite a while on her own, and you can see her contemplating walking as she looks to where it is she wants to go and starts to move that way a bit, and then drops down to her knees to crawl there. She dances when she hears music come on. She loves to clap her hands and play “Pat-a-Cake.” She knows easily how to manipulate her toys to make them do what she wants, such as open/close, play music, turn pages, etc. In fact, one of her very favorite things right now is to “read” her books and turn the pages herself. She often doesn’t even want to wait for me to finish reading what’s on the page, she just loves to flip the pages over and see what’s next. She also has learned to”share” and “show” and loves to hand me almost anything she gets her hands on, including the tiniest fuzz or stray dog hair she can find on the floor. She loves to “help” in the kitchen, getting into the refrigerator, freezer, or dishwasher whenever she can.
Checking out my professional library – She does love books!
“Sharing”
“Watcha need Mom? I’ll get it!”
She has become more adventurous with her palate and has eaten, and seemingly enjoyed, things like chili, chicken marsala (mushrooms and all), and Mongolian grill food. She is also going much better with eating her vegetables and seems to quite love broccoli, green beans, carrots, and peas as long as she can pick them up and eat them herself. Gone are the days of pureed foods, and she eats grown-up oatmeal now (not instant) rather than the powdered baby oatmeal I used to add to her fruit. She will still let me feed her with a spoon things like vegetable soup, cottage cheese (of course), applesauce, and yogurt, though she does prefer to eat her yogurt on her toasted O’s. Her coordination has really improved and she is much better at getting the food from the tray into her mouth, without dropping much. This makes for much less messy meal times, except with the yogurt/O’s combo 🙂 She still nurses four times per day and has started tasting whole milk in a sippy cup with meals. She typically takes a sip of the milk and looks at me with a funny grin like she thinks I’m trying to pull a fast one on her. She seems to be acquiring a taste for it though, which is good as we move towards starting the gradual switch from breastmilk to cow’s milk completely in another month.
Yogurt and O’s
Miss is saying more words now, including Mama, Dada, dog, num-num (not really a word, I know, but this is how we say yummy), and baby. The only one she’s really consistent with is Mama, but the others are definitely there. She waves bye-bye and blows kisses by putting her flat palm up to her mouth. She does this every day when her daddy comes home from work as soon as she hears the door open. She consistently signs “milk” both when she it’s time for her to nurse and when she’s hungry in general. She also sometimes signs “more” and “all done” though these are less frequent. She is more and more vocal all the time and I love hearing the new noises she makes and listening to her chatter to herself while she plays. She has the most adorable little inflection while she jabbers. A new thing that makes me laugh is that she has a new “demon baby” voice that she does that seriously sounds like something from the Exorcist. She does it when she’s happy and playing, not when she’s upset. It’s a little scary, but cracks me up!
Hamming it up
Can’t resist that toothy grin
I have to say that I am so thankful that I get to be with her all day every day to see all the little changes she is making. I can never put into words how much it means to be able to watch her develop and grow and to have the privilege of being the one who always hears those first words and sounds and sees the first time she makes a new face or does a new behavior. This is truly the best job in the world!
Good Books
Miss is at a point right now where she wants me to read her books to her constantly. This is fabulous. Some of the books are not. I love reading to her, but man, some of the children’s books are just so painful to read over and over and over. And over. Many of the books she loves right now are just the pictures-with-words types of books. A. Airplane. Abacus. Apple. And so forth. These are great if a bit tedious at times. But some of the books are really just bad. Stupid rhymes. Awkward phrasing and tempo. I could go on. But instead, I thought I’d tell you about some of the children’s books I’ve found that are delightful. I love it when Miss picks these books for me to read to her.
The first is a book called “My First ABC” (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009). This book has a page for each letter with a word that starts with that letter and a work of art representing that word. “A” has a painting of apples, for example. It has works in it by artists such as Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, and Grant Wood (plus a lot of people I’ve never heard of, I don’t claim to be an art aficionado). Miss loves it and it is a beautiful book. I thoroughly enjoy going through this book with her each time.
Another book I love to read to Miss is “The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear” (Wood & Wood, 1998). This book is just such a cute little story, and I love the way it is written with the narrator having a “conversation” with the little Mouse. The writing is clever and fun and the illustrations are wonderful. The facial expressions depicted on the little Mouse are perfect.
The last book I have to mention is a new nap time staple at our house. It’s called “Baby Danced the Polka” (Beaumont & Plecas, 2004) It’s about a baby who should be napping but just wants to dance instead. This book has wonderful rhymes and the tempo and phrasing are just perfect. It’s the kind of book that repeats itself several times. Here is a snippet, “While Papa starched his long johns, and Mama stitched her coat, Baby boogie-woogied with the frisky little. . . Goat!” (pp. 7-8). Baby does different dances with several different animals and the book has flaps for Miss to open to see which animal Baby is dancing with each time. She loves to turn the pages and open the flaps. And I greatly enjoy reading this adorable book to her.
So there you have it. If you’re getting sick of the same old books or tired of reading poorly written books to your kids, I highly recommend these books to get a smile both from your baby and from you.
Beaumont, K. & Plecas, J. (illustrator). (2004). Baby Danced the Polka. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2009). My First ABC. New York: LB KIds.
Wood, D. & Wood, A. (1998). The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear (Board Book Edition). Swindon, England: Child’s Play (International) Ltd.
Wordless Wednesday – Favorite Spot
Culinary Adventures
One of my goals for the new year is to be a bit more adventurous in my cooking. To try out new recipes at least once a week, and at least every other week (approximately) to branch out and create my own recipes. The latter part is really the adventurous part for me. I already do a pretty good job of cooking new recipes fairly frequently. Sometimes they’re fantastic. Sometimes they totally flop. My hubby is always appreciative of the effort, and though he’s honest with his opinions, he doesn’t complain about whatever is placed in front of him. This is great because it allows me to have fun and try new things in the kitchen without worry.
So, tonight I had a few items in my fridge that I needed to use up, and I decided to just “wing it” for dinner. The ingredients were chicken thighs, with bone and skin, fresh green beans, and daikon radishes. I have never cooked with daikon radishes, or even tasted one before. And I’ve never been very successful with making fresh green beans tender and flavorful. So I thought those would be a bit challenging. I figured the chicken was a given. How hard is it to make chicken thighs taste good, right?
So, I put my fabulous new copper saute pan (Christmas gift from my hubby) on the stove and put some olive oil in. I seasoned the chicken with S&P, and once the oil started to smoke a bit, I put the chicken in, skin side down, to brown it up. So far so good, right? Right. I let it cook for five minutes or so and flipped it over to brown the other side. Again, letting it cook for several minutes. I thought the chicken was done, so I had the oven preheated to 200 and put the chicken on a platter in the over covered with tin foil, just to stay warm. Slam dunk.
I decided to deglaze the pan with some white wine and a bit of chicken broth, thinking I would make a nice sauce of some sort. But I forgot to drain much of the oil from cooking the chicken, so the oil/wine combo started popping and spitting EVERYWHERE!! Oh my, it made such a mess. Oops. Meanwhile I had trimmed the beans and chunked the radishes and blanched them. I decided instead of trying to make a sauce out of the crazy mess in my saute pan, I would put the blanched veggies in there to let them absorb some of the chicken flavor while sauteing them. Plus I figured having something in the pan to coat with the oil/wine/broth combo might calm that whole thing down. I added S&P and a bit more broth to the saute pan, covered it, and let the veggies cook. About 12 minutes later, the liquid had cooked down and the veggies were nice and browned and looked a bit caramelized. They were soft enough but not too soft, so I was quite pleased with how they turned out.
Then I took the chicken out of the oven to get ready to serve everything. It didn’t look quite done, so I cut into one of the pieces to check. Not done!!! How could I have undercooked the chicken? The easiest part!! So, I threw the chicken back in the saute pan and covered it for a few more minutes, threw it all on a plate to serve, and took it to the table. I was bummed because the chicken looked like it had dried out quite a bit the second time around in the pan. Unfortunately, when I cut into it to eat it, it still wasn’t done!!! Aaack. So, my hubby threw the thighs all in the microwave and really petrified them. They were awful. Even dark-meat chicken thighs can get dry if tortured like these were.
I was so disappointed in myself for messing up what I thought was a no-brainer. But, on a good note, the veggies were delicious!! They had great flavor and the perfect texture and my hubby gobbled them up and asked for more (right after saying that green beans are never really very enjoyable). I certainly learned a lot from this little culinary experiment, and it was fun too. My hubby even cleaned up the mess while I put Miss down for bed. Can’t beat that!