Here Comes Trouble

Cole kicked off the new year with a bit of a forward crawl... and the rest is history. He's becoming quite speedy already, and is especially fond of the tile floor, the TiVo, and any of Lauren's toys (which usually results in 'No, mine!').

Santa Sighting

We went to the 'Winter Wonderland' event at work this morning, and everyone had a blast. Lauren was a little reluctant to sit on Santa's lap, but Cole was just plain curious, and grabbed ahold of the beard to verify its authenticity. Lauren decorated a cookie, got her hand painted, and did several craft projects. Cole got a reindeer-antler balloon hat, that he wore proudly - at least for a few minutes. The highlight for Lauren was 'seeing Santa', although she still can't seem to figure out what she wants for Christmas....

Chocolatey Goodness

I found this recipe for Double Chocolate Cookies earlier this year, while searching for a chocolate cookie recipe to use for ice cream sandwiches. They are delicious - crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle, and not overly sweet. The only modification I made was to subsitute dark for milk chocolate (just what I had on hand) and to reduce the bake time to about 12 min (found they were a little too crispy at 15 min). The only drawback is they tend to dry out after 3 days or so (even when sealed in an airtight container), so you'll either need to eat them all up or share with a friend :)

Checking In

Cole went for his 6-month check-up last week - logging in at 16 lb 2 oz (10-25%) and 27 1/2 in (75-90%). He has a healthy appetite, and has sampled a few baby foods now; peas and sweet potatoes are his favorites, green beans, not so much. He loves to roll over, has been practicing sitting up, and likes to say 'ba, ba, ba'. He just got some pictures taken at JCPenney (shown here), giggling all the way. And Lauren likes to greet him in the morning with 'Good Morning Big Boy!'

Pumpkins and Puppies

Halloween 2009 was a lot of fun. Lauren picked out the cat pattern for our pumpkin carving. She wasn't too fond of scooping out the pumpking guts though - 'Oh, man!' she said as she helped empty out the inerts (albeit very slowly, one seed at a time). She was excited to wear her dalmation puppy costume for her party at daycare, and for trick-or-treating on Halloween. Cole and I handed out candy, while Lauren and Daddy hit the neighborhood to collect some Halloween loot. Even though she practiced saying 'trick or treat' at home a lot, turns out she preferred to do her trick-or-treating in silence... Ah, maybe next year :)

Incentive

Getting Lauren ready in the morning is a long process... There's a lot of stalling, indecisiveness, and 'no's. So we gave her a little incentive to keep her moving along - the promise of a sticker when she finishes all 5 of her morning tasks (potty, change clothes, breakfast, sunscreen, and brushing her hair). We still experience a lot of stall tactics, but she does look forward to that sticker - which she peels off and sticks on her shirt right away. And amazingly, it usually remains stuck on all day.

Just 3 months left....

till Christmas arrives; I'm not sure I am going to finish this project. I have all the 'ornaments' completed (still one more set to post), but the calendar looks like more work than I thought. Plus, I want to do a slight redesign which will add some 'additional' time - which I don't have much of these days :)

Double Digits

A few weeks ago, Cole discovered his toes. He hasn't tried to put them in his mouth yet, but he sure loves to grab them. He's still not very interested in rolling - has done it once or twice, but is otherwise pretty content to lay in one spot and touch those toes.

Berries for a Buck

Twice this summer I saw berries go on sale at the grocery store for only $0.99. This deal always seems too good to pass up - so I usually buy more than one pint. Oddly though, I usually don't end up eating too many just plain; I instead look for a recipe to bake. For the blueberries, muffins are always a good bet. Raspberries however, are a little trickier. I consulted my Everyday Food index and found this recipe for Raspberry Buckle - basically a yellow cake with berries baked into it. It was good, but didn't turn out anything like the picture, as all the raspberries sank. Nevertheless, who can beat berries for a buck.

Stir Crazy

Lauren spent several days at home last week, sick with the flu (which was being passed around at daycare), and then with an ear infection. Keeping her busy and out of trouble required a bit of creativity - so we decided to do a scavenger hunt. Lauren got really into it, and especially enjoyed 'crossing' the item off the list once she placed the item in her basket. Some of her 'finds' included her stuffed turtle, a pair of underwear, and a tea cup from her kitchen.