Adventures of Any/All Kinds

Adventure #1:
Bruce has mastered rice cereal and pureed carrots, and is now onto peas and butternut squash. I wasn't intending him to start the squash until next week, but Granny was watching him for the day and didn't know that... so he got an extra treat! We're trying to space the new foods out by 3 days at least, to see if he develops any kind of allergic reaction to the food... but, so far so good!

Adventure #2:
Bruce + cup + 1/2 ounce of water at a time x 4 = hilarity

Adventure #3:
I went to an Open Call for the Colleen Bell Agency, a Bellevue-based talent agency specializing in modeling, acting, and voice acting. I decided that there are some one-time dreams in life that are definitely fine to give up - my ambition to live in a house made entirely of pudding and Doritoes, for example - but then, even with all the pressures and responsibilities that I may have, there are some things that just shouldn't get pushed aside. I have a real knack for doing different voices, and it has always been a passion of mine. I'm hoping to hear back from the Bell Agency some time next week, but I'll also look into another Seattle-area agency that specializes solely in voice-over artists.

Adventure #4:
This one is kind of 'forced', since it's not an adventure I was hoping to have any time soon. My boss' boss, C.P., is a pretty horrible boss. Seriously, she just should not be in the position to manage anything other than her own checkbook. Anyway, she has been making work-life progressively harder over the last couple of months to the point that I am seriously rushing through my Medical Coding & Billing studies so I can get out of here. That, I guess, is what this 'adventure' involves; a whole lot of studying, praying, job-applying, and wishing that the economy didn't suck so very, very much.

Adventure #5:
I am way, way in love with Baby Legs. They're a-maz-ing; little leg and arm warmers for children (and adults), that come in adorable little patterns. They do, however, cost roughly $14.95 retail, or $12.00 online FOR ONE PAIR. GAH!!! That being said, I'm thinking about making some for Bruce on my own. There has to be a leg warmer pattern out there... and what better way to learn how to knit than start on this? *gulp* You can check-out Baby Legs here: www.babylegs.com

Adventures in "real food"

Ladies and gentlemen... my son, the (unwitting) spokesman!

As you can tell by the picture above, we've also started letting B.Max try his hand (literally) at drinking from a cup. He LOVES it! Sure... most of the water cascades down his chin after every enthusiastic gulp, but that's half the fun!

<-- Saturday marked the day Steve and I started trying Bruce out on rice cereal. Lauded for its gentle-on-the-stomach properties for "first foods", we figured it was a safe place to start. As the packaging recommends, we started with just a tablespoon of cereal (and added formula), which he seriously couldn't get enough of. I had found a great, low-cost, convertible booster seat at Babies-R-Us, and he seems to do really well with it.

We would be mid-scoop, getting more cereal on the spoon, and be met with a mixture of joy (see right), or ferocious yelling for what we assumed was more mush. Sweet boy... it's like we don't feed him or something!

This afternoon, I tried making the goop a bit thicker - instead of the runny, soupy mess we had started out with, I thought it would be fun to try him on something a little more substantial. Again - he loved it! It was all I could do to keep up with him... and pray that he didn't choke! My son can seriously wolf-down his chow!

The only down side to starting solids is that my father-in-law now thinks that Bruce is ready for sucking on watermelon and other "harmless" fruits. When I was at Bruce's 4-month checkup, our doctor recommended starting him on rice cereal, then moving on to oatmeal, then veggies and/or meat, and THEN fruits. I guess - and this makes sense, actually - that babies will start to just prefer the sweet taste of fruit and will reject or lose interest in things that don't taste as sweet!

My little man is growing up! Just 10 more days until he's 5 months old. I'm still amazed he's mine.

Recipe Madness Monday!

The joy...

Serrano Ham and Manchego Cheese Croquettas
(*What are these? Basically, you turn your leftover mashed potatoes into wonderfully cheesy, fried balls of heaven. Eat them. You will see.*)

Ingredients:
3 cups mashed potatoes, leftover or freshly made
1/4 pound manchego cheese, frozen 1 hour then finely chopped with a food processor (1 cup), plus shaved manchego cheese, for serving
6 ounces serrano ham, frozen 1 hour then finely chopped in a food processor (1 cup)
2 large eggs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups panko bread crumbs
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Romesco sauce for serving
Chopped chives, for serving

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl or in the food processor combine mashed potatoes, cheese, ham and eggs. Season with plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper. The mixture should still be wet enough so the bread crumbs stick to the croquettas. Form into croquettas (makes about 2 dozen, medium-sized) and dip into panko bread crumbs, seasoned with salt and pepper. Pat lightly so the crumbs stick. Lay out on a tray, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before frying.
To fry, heat 1-inch of vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or heavy bottomed pot, over medium heat to about 360 degrees F. Fry in small batches, turning once until evenly browned. Each batch should take approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Drain on paper towels and season with kosher salt. Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with chives and shaved manchego. Serve with Romesco Sauce.

Romesco Sauce:
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 poumd roasted red peppers, drained
*1 egg yolk
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon orange zest and 1/4 cup juice, from 1 orange
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Toast almonds in a skillet over medium heat until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer almonds to a blender. Add roasted red peppers, egg yolk, garlic, zest, and season with salt and pepper. Pulse a few times to combine the ingredients. With the blender on low speed drizzle in the olive oil. Once it begins to emulsify, stop the blender and add the orange juice, and sherry vinegar. Buzz once more to fully emulsify.

In honor of Mother's Day

Since this will be my first Mother's Day with my baby on the outside instead of in my uterus (yep; I was just four or five weeks pregnant this time last year - Eee!), I thought it would be fun to jot down all the things I love about being a Mom.

Of course, I expect that not all of this will apply in a year or two (especially anything having to do with drool, I'd assume)... so it's going to be exciting to see how things change!

I love...

seeing my son's eyes light up when he sees me cuddling with my baby how blowing raspberries on his tummy will make him laugh one day, but get no reaction the next hearing him breathe asking my son a question, and getting a glob of drool as an answer the fact that I have a son knowing that he likely got his eye color from me how adept at diaper changes I have (finally) become watching Steve and Bruce snuggle at the end of the day knowing that I can calm him down when no one else can the way he will give me "kisses" after I burp him taking him to visit "baby-in-the-mirror-friend" when random people stop me to tell me how gorgeous my son is when Bruce astonishes the doctor with how much he has grown knowing I made my mother-in-law a Grandmother ... that the best is yet to come.

Baby kisses

Bruce has started making up his own games, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

One such game involves him looking from whomever is holding him, waiting for a smile or some form of recognition, then looking at one other person (this is usually played with Grandma and Mommy) and - again - waiting for a smile or recognition, only to smile coyly and do it all again.

The other one (the one that has completely stolen my heart) is simple:
I kiss his cheek, he turns his head for another one.
I kiss his cheek again, and he 'kisses' my nose/mouth/nearest facial feature.
I melt.

On to less sappy notes, this weekend was spent in Forks, WA (yes, "Twilight Town"), visiting Steve's aunt, uncle, and cousins. Bruce did extremely well on the car ride, and seemed to enjoy his first exo-utero ferry ride from Edmonds to Kingston. We kept getting stopped by random people, telling us what an adorable boy we had! I couldn't agree more.

Time on the Baysinger homestead was great. They have mules, horses, ducks, dogs... not to mention a pretty fun bunch of family. Bruce was outside and enjoying the fresh air all day on Saturday, causing him to sleep extremely well that night! Only ONE middle-of-the-night wake-up, AND he talked himself back to sleep at one point!! I am a proud, proud Mama.

Finally, tomorrow is D-Day; the day Steve and I find out just what's wrong with my thyroid. My doctor's office called me on Friday to let me know that the preliminary test results show that I have "thyrotoxicosis", most likely from Graves Disease. Whatever, kids... I just need it fixed!

So, that's all for now. I'm thinking about posting another recipe... any ideas?

"My son is four months old. "

Now there is a phrase I never thought I'd say...!
At his 4-month Well Child appointment yesterday, Bruce stunned us all. Our little Bruiser weighed-in as follows...
Weight: 17 lbs, 3 oz.
Length: 27 in.
Head: 17.5 in.
Percentile: 97th

Dr. Constantin was thrilled with how well Bruce was doing, and said that everything seems to be developing the way it should... which was a huge relief for me. I'm sorry, but this is a mini-human! Have you ever stopped to think about just how much could go wrong?! She also gave us the 'go-ahead' for starting Bruce on rice cereal!!! SQUEEE!!! He has been so interested in food for the last two weeks... and since I'm no longer breastfeeding (due to a combination of him weaning himself and my thyroid), it comes at a perfect time.

I've decided that I need to get him out of the house more often (read: Mommy is going stir-crazy). Instead of this being one of those "I've decided..." moments that get placed on the back burner of my brain, I actually stuck with it! Case-in-point? This afternoon.

This afternoon, Bruce and I met my best friend, Mary (and her 3 dogs - Blue, Dante, and Mister) at Westcrest Dog Park, in West Seattle. It was awesome! Not only was the weather perfect, but Bruce got to be around over 25 different dogs, and take his first walk in the woods. If his bottle hadn't have leaked in the diaper bag, we might have stayed even longer! The sun was shining (74 degrees!), the dogs were friendly, Mary was amazing as always, and it felt so, so good to be out of the house. When I was pregnant, I was determined that my baby would be out experiencing the world (or at least our community)... and today was a great first step.

Here are some other ideas I have for places to take Bruce:
Woodland Park Zoo
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
Pike Place Market (he's already been, but still. Come on.)
Seattle Aquarium
Seattle Science Center
Marymoor Park
Lake Sammamish State Park
The Little Gym (starting at 6 months)
Reading Time - Libraries

I'm open to recommendations...!

How NOT to take care of your child

There are some topics that have, admittedly, become "sore spots" since having become a mother; topics that, beforehand, would have just made me shake my head, say "That's horrible", and go about my day relatively unaffected.

Not so with this one.

If you are a parent, this may be too much to handle.
On Monday of this week, a story aired about a 21 year-old mother in Lynnwood, WA leaving her infant son in her car for seven hours in 69-degree weather while she was at work. Her son, consequently, died from this... and I can't get it out of my head.

While I understand that there are relative factors that play into her decision-making (1 - her age/education/maturity, 2 - childcare availability, etc.) here, I'm flabbergasted. How could a mother do that to her baby? According to police reports, the woman didn't even walk out to the parking lot to check on him, not that the small act of checking on him would have made what she did any better, but still. I keep picturing what it must have been like for that poor little baby, and it breaks my heart; I can almost hear him crying for his mother, hungry and wet and overheated in that car.

This story has been heavy on my heart this week. I can only pray that that sweet boy didn't suffer, and that he is resting peacefully with the Father.

Sorry for the downer, everyone... but sometimes you just have to get it out.