My Do It!

Lauren has certainly begun to assert her independence. She wants to do everything herself - get dressed, apply lotion, brush her hair - you name it. Of course we let her try these things for herself, and tell her to ask Mommy/Daddy for help if she needs it. But when it comes to changing her diapers, 'my do it' usually results in fair amount of diaper drama... Fortunately, she is mostly interested in putting on the clean diaper, as opposed to dealing with the dirty one :)

Bountiful Baskets

I've been wanting to try the local produce co-op 'Bountiful Baskets' for a while, and finally placed an order this week. For a 'contribution' of only $15, you get a share of a large group purchase of grocery store-quality produce, which you pick up at a park/location near you. I was surprised at the quantity - for this cycle we got: 8 bananas, 5 apples, 6 plumots, a bag of cherries, 1 lb of strawberries, 4 lb of grapes, 8 plum tomatoes, a (large!) bag of green beans, 2 bunches of celery, 2 zucchinis, and a head of cauliflower. It might be better to split it with someone, as there is so much! But it truly is a bargain and I'll probably try it again.

Monthly Mini Album

Got this idea from my mom - to make a mini-album of our monthly pictures of Lauren. It's fun to flip through it and see how she has grown. It is hard to believe she is already over two!


Lauren loves to look at the little album too - or really any video/photos for that matter. "Want to see pictures!" she says. And she refers to anything on TV as a 'movie'. Cracks me up.

All in the Family

Here's a side by side of Cole and Lauren, at 7 and 10 weeks respectively. As noted previously, I see a remarkably similar hair pattern...

Happy Father's Day!

Hope all the Daddys out there had a great day! We had a fun day here - sleeping in (some of us), a little afternoon swimming (again, some of us), and a steak dinner (all of us). Unfortunately Stew had to do the grilling (his specialty), but I chipped with the accompaniments - mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, and a New York style cheesecake (a reader recipe from the Sept '06 issue of Everyday Food).

Going Bananas

We had some bananas that were going bad, so what else to do but bake up some banana bread. My mom shared this recipe with me a while ago - it is from a Disney cookbook, and makes the most delicious rich and buttery banana bread. The recipe actually makes 2 loaves, but I usually halve it, and omit the walnuts too.

Smiles & Grins

Cole has dished out his first smiles. All it takes is a little song, or a few tickles. 'Pop Goes the Weasel' and 'Rubber Ducky' work well. He has 'cooed' once or twice so far, but nothing too consistent just yet.

Here he sports his flashy new grin, and a new pair of overalls too. And if you look really closely, you can see some new hair coming in on top of his head - woo hoo!

Summertime

I made some orange juice popsicles the other day and Lauren really enjoys this icy treat. She did a pretty good job eating dinner last night, so she got to have a popsicle for dessert. I asked her what they were made out of and she said 'yellow'. Not quite. So I told her orange juice, and she said 'same' and she held it up and pointed to Stew's glass of orange juice on the table. She recently learned the concepts of 'same' and 'both' - she likes to point out colors or objects that are the 'same', and when we give her a choice of something she often lets us know she doesn't want just one, she wants 'both!'

Pork Aplenty

Sandra Lee showed a cooking demonstration for Slow-Cooked Orange Margarita Tacos on the Today Show this week, to promote her new Money Saving Meals show. I'd never slow-cooked a pork roast, but have always wanted to (I love bbq pork sandwiches), so decided to give it a try. It called for a 10-lb bone-in pork shoulder picnic cut - and boy, was it large; barely fit in the crock pot. I substituted apricot preserves for the orange marmalade, but otherwise stuck to the recipe (finally, a use for the margarita mix that's been sitting in our fridge for quite some time). I cooked it with the skin on/fat intact, but next time I would probably remove the skin/fat, as 'pulling' the pork off post cooking kinda grossed me out... However, the meat was so tender and tasty! The first night we had pork soft tacos with avocado, and a corn/black bean salad. The second night we had bbq pork sandwiches - just top with some bbq sauce and serve up on a roll (Lauren enjoyed her own 1/8 of a sandwich too!) I froze the remainder of the pork, and will probably make some green salsa enchiladas at a later date. I'd definitely make this tasty (and economical!) recipe again, but will pick a smaller cut of meat and hold the skin/fat.

On the Up and Up

Cole went to his 1-month check-up yesterday. He is now 9 lb 3 oz (25-50%) and 22 1/2 in (75-90%). He had a good visit, and only cried briefly when he got his Hep B vaccination. The nurse commented on his new 'do' - as his top hair has disappeared! She actually chuckled (we won't tell him) at his newfound male pattern baldness :) Lauren sported the same hair-style for quite some time, but the difference is she didn't have any hair there to start with.