Owen and Newton

Bye Bye Pacifier!

Owen and his pacifier...


After a lot of discussion, Pat and I agreed that putting Owen's pacifier in a Build-a-Bear (I found the idea on the internet) would be a good option to get him on board with the idea of giving it up! Owen was so great and actually put the pacifier in himself. You can see in the picture below that he was a bit nervous about it but I think he was more scared of the friendly lady than he was about saying goodbye to his pacifier. We've had two great nights and one iffy nap since but overall I think it's gone better than we could have imagined (*knock on wood*). I keep forgetting to get a picture of him with the bear we have since dubbed Newton. He isn't too fond of Newton yet, we think he might be a little miffed at him for taking his pacifier.

P.S. Just for the purposes of full disclosure...the large wet spot on Owen's shirt in the previous post is actually milk that he spilled. So I guess milk-monster or milk-meister might be more accurate:)

Happy Birthday Pat!

Yay for 28!

Black Bean Soup...

I thought it was serendipity that I came across this recipe for Black Bean soup right when I had some cilantro I wanted to use up and had just bought a bag of black beans because I wanted to see the difference between them and the canned kind. I happily assembled everything in the slow cooker and then about a half hour before it was ready to eat I realized that I was going to be eating a large bowl of beans for dinner. That's disgusting. I don't like beans enough to do that. Chili yes. Black Bean Soup...no. I asked Pat what he was thinking when he let me make this and he said, "Well, when you get these ideas in your head..." Fair enough. The good news is that I found the best corn bread recipe ever. It's right here.

Calzones!

Do you ever make something and it is so fantastically wonderful that you wonder how you could have gone so long without making them in the first place? Here they are. Calzones. I didn't have time to even try to get a pretty picture because I just wanted to eat them. We put out every kind of filling we had in the house, rolled out the dough (homemade even! we went all out!), filled and baked. I want one right now.

Big Weekend!

Everyone here got a haircut this weekend. Owen is getting better at the whole process and there was minimal crying and no sobbing. I think we've got it down to a science...Elmo video + sitting on Dad's lap + a cell phone to play with = a cooperative Owen.

Yay Spring!

That is all.

Poor Neglected Blog

It's been a week since I last posted! Oops! We've been spending as much time as possible outside and I've been ignoring my camera because being outside with Owen means you've got to be ready with both hands for anything that might happen. We do come inside for meals and naps though. Here's Owen looking longingly outside.

Bagpipes!?

We went and heard this man play bagpipes today. It was awesome. We also sang some songs, danced around and ran up and down a long ramp many times. It was awesome.

Um...Blah Blah Blah...Um...

Owen adopted his thermometer as his new cell phone.

More Book Reviews

In Defense of Food: an Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

This book had many points but is based around the idea to "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." I know that makes it sound like a book on how to lose weight but it definitely isn't. Most of the book is a discussion of basic tenets that people have centered their diets around such as only eating low fat food or buying packaged food that makes health claims. It's one of those books where you want to underline every other sentence (even though it's a library book and you can't) and find someone to read next to so you can tell them how interesting everything you're reading is (sorry Pat!). I like reading about studies and this book found all the interesting ones. And it throws in fun facts like how there was a decline in heart disease during World War II, most likely because of the scarcity of certain foods and the rationing of sugar and gasoline. And I like reading about food. So there you go.

East by Edith Pattou

This story is based on a Norwegian folk tale (one that I've never read but might search out now). The book is intended for young adults but that's why it's good, I'm not sure it would work as a book intended for adults since they would try to throw something in the story that doesn't belong. It's a long book and hard to summarize but it centers around a girl, Rose, and what happens when a polar bear takes her, willingly, from her family.

How to Compromise with a 2 year old...and My Eggplant

...agree that one sock is good enough.

This stuffed eggplant was so good that it deserves its own post. Unfortunately, no one in my household agrees. Already Owen will refuse to taste something if it doesn't look like something he wants and Pat does the same thing when he hears something is in food that he "knows" he doesn't like. To be fair, eggplant is not the tastiest thing I've ever had but you couldn't even taste it in this. And it took me a long time to make. And it had Bechamel sauce in it which I'd never made before. So in this case the total effort that went into making this made it even better tasting than it might have been if I was eating what someone else made. Regardless, I'm not going to stop making crazy things...but maybe I'll provide a backup for the picky eaters:)

Recipe here

Lake Erie Science Center

Today we took a field trip to the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center with Victor and Sarah! We participated in a show at the planetarium and Owen didn't enjoy it at all but he loved everything else!

Playing in the tree house!


This was a hollowed-out tree they had inside for the kids to crawl through.

Happy March!

Here are some pictures from February I never got around to posting!

The kids in Owen's playgroup were all waiting by the window for a dog to walk by...


Owen started swim lesssons! They actually just consist of us roaming around the pool and the instructor occasionally walking by and encouraging Owen to kick (which he'll only do when the instructor is not by him).


Owen and I had friends over for a pasta dinner since all of the dads/husbands were working late or out of town. It was a really fun time and all I had to do was make the pasta because everyone pitched in and brought something!