One Year Old Party!

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On Sunday, I had an extra fun day!

First, I got to meet some firemen. See, Mommy had picked me up, and she and Daddy walked around the house saying “What’s that smell? Where is it?” and then Mommy stood outside with me waiting. After the firemen came and looked in the wall and took out the light switch, one of them gave me a big silver sticker that said “Junior Firefighter.”

But that was only the beginning of the fun! Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

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Everyone sat around and watched me play with toys. I was the center of the show! These loud people kept talking over me.

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Every once in a while there would be a lot of people singing. I liked the singing. I tried to sing, too. But people kept shhh-ing me.

Then we ate a very yummy dinner. Then I was ready for a nap. But Mommy wanted to give me more food and take my picture a lot and then cousin Daniel helped me open some presents. It was very tiring.

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Today is fun, too. People keep signing the same song to me. I like this attention!

Pumpkin Soup

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I actually cooked dinner for my family Sunday night. It was deliciously successful and the soup was super-easy, so I thought I’d share what I did. I’m not sure which parts were actually on the recipe I had, but here’s what I did.

  • In a medium-sized pot, saute 2 (small) onions in butter until soft
  • Add 1 15-oz can of (low sodium) chicken stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
  • Take off heat. Put in blender until smooth.
  • Put back on heat. Add 2 15-oz cans pureed pumpkin* and 2 more 15-oz cans of (low sodium) chicken stock. Throw in ground ginger (about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon), ground cinnamon (the lid fell off the container and I dumped probably half a tablespoon in and it was great), and black pepper to taste. You might need some salt, but taste it before adding any (the broth might be salty enough).
  • Simmer for 15 minutes or however long it takes you to prepare the rest of dinner, feed your baby, set the table, or do something else.
  • If you want, put it in the blender again to make sure it’s smooth. This may not be necessary. Bring it back to a simmer until warm.
  • Turn the heat very low and add 1/2-1 cup of cream or whole milk. Warm the soup, but DO NOT LET IT BOIL.
  • Take it off the heat and serve.

*If you bake and puree your own pumpkin, make sure you strain it really well, or it ends up all stringy. I learned this when I was in Australia dn they didn’t sell canned pumpkin.

Paul’s Secret Joke

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I was driving to the library (five minutes away) when I heard a noise from Paul’s car seat. Usually, his noises are screechy or whinny. This was different. This was giggles.

“What’s so funny, Paul?” I asked him.

He stopped for a moment and then started laughing, a deep, is-some-one-tickling-my-knee? laugh. He didn’t stop until we got to the library. He kept laughing as I got him out of the car.

It was the most delightful thing to hear a baby laugh.

QUOTE: Learning to Walk

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Remember, your artist is a child. Find and protect that child. Learning to let yourself create is like learning to walk. The artist child must begin by crawling. … Give yourself permission to be a beginner. By being willing to be a bad artist, you have a chance to be an artist, and perhaps, over time, a very good one.

Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way, page 29-30

The Little Things

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There are so many little things that I’m enjoying about being back in the USA. Living in the USA is so much more comfortable!

  • Turning on red lights
  • Baggers at the grocery store (although I wonder how much we pay for their services in additional grocery store prices)
  • Long conveyer belts at the grocery store (long enough to fit all my groceries so I can completely unload my shopping cart)
  • Empty parking spaces in the parking lots so I don’t have to drive around and around looking for a spot
  • A garbage disposal in the kitchen sink
  • Netflix! How I love this service…
  • A library where I don’t have to pay to put a book on hold and where I can get any book in Chicagoland for free.
  • Grandparents and cousins to call on the phone when my day is their day

There are also little things I actually miss about Australia that I didn’t realize I’d miss:

  • Long-life milk. Why isn’t this an option in the USA? I loved storing a two weeks’ supply of milk in our pantry! Our fridge is so small, there is no space for a week’s supply of milk; I’m going to have to go to the store more than once a week after all…
  • My husband not traveling. He goes to New York City starting next week. Over the past year, I really liked having him home. But he’s had more than a month of vacation, and while the job search is well underway, these things take time, of course. I guess I’d hoped the new job would jump out at him in that one month and I wouldn’t have to watch him get on a plane again….

Oh, wait. That husband thing isn’t a little thing: it’s a big thing.

Some Day I’ll Miss This

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Paul started drooling a few days ago. I followed him around with a rag and kept whiping his chin dry. Then, yesterday morning, he started spitting up.

Now, Paul spit up constantly for the first six months of life. But he’s been spit-up free since he started solids. This was unusual. He wouldn’t nap, even though he was obviously tired. Then he stopped eating his food at lunch and screamed most of the afternoon.

I figured he was working on the eighth tooth on the bottom, so I began liberally applying Bonjela to his gums. Poor boy! But even after a long afternoon, he’d not stopped crying, and the tooth didn’t feel any closer to the top.

But he has a molar! The top left has already popped through, and the bottom right is very close to the surface. Poor boy; I’ve been putting the Bonjela in the wrong place all this time! I thought molars didn’t come until 18 months, but I was wrong.

Then, last night, Paul wouldn’t sleep again. Baby Tylenol. Lots of crying. Daddy came to the rescue. Daddy cuddled the poor boy close for an hour in the middle of the night. Paul finally slept.

Some day, apparently, we’re going to miss this.

Paul in September, Age 11 Months

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September 18, 2008: Walking

I started walking! See this post.

But here’s a cute photo of me on the same day.

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September 23, 2008: Daddy and Me

I love my Daddy. Sometimes I cuddle with him when he’s working on his computer.

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September 24, 2008: Learning to Sign “Food”

I like to eat. Mommy’s teaching me how to say “food” using my hands.

September 25, 2008: Paul Playing

I like to play and to walk — even if I fall down!

I’ll have more for you soon!

Originally posted Oct 30, 2008.