New Words

Just a quick one while V naps, and I get a little time to myself. Here are a few words or phrases I've heard V say in the past few weeks. The first "word" is how it sounds when he talks. The second is the actual word or phrase that he's trying to say.:

-"dink" or "gink" = "Drink!" or "I want a drink."
-"gaye" = "Game!" or "I want to play that game!" We've also heard through tears something that sounds very much like "I want game!"
-"stawbee" = "strawberry"
-"moo" = Can either be the sound a cow makes or "moon", depending on the context
-"key" = "kitty" or "key", depending on the context
-"Ganma" = "Grandma!"
-"Pa-paw" = "Grandpa!"
-"Nigh, nigh" = "Good night." or "I'm going to bed."
-"pay" = "play"
-"na-na" = "banana"
-"puppy" = "dog" or "puppy"
-"pappy" = "paci" or "pacifier"
-"way-way" = "raisin" or "raining", like in "It's raining. It's pouring..."
-"bape" = "grapes"
-"Bye, guy!" = "Goodbye!" or "Bye, guys!"
-"Hewoe, Mommy!" or "Hewoe, Daddy!" = "Hello, Mommy!" or "Hello, Daddy!"
-"dank" or "no, dank" = "Thanks!" or "No, Thanks!"
-"Boos Coos" or "Boo" = "Blues Clues"
-"Gabba!" = "Yo Gabba Gabba"
-"Duby" = "Max and Ruby"
-"tee" = "tree"
-"wah-wah" = "water"
-"bee" = "green beans" or any kind of bean
-"moh" = "more", and last night, we heard a lot of "Moh bee!" or "More green beans!"
-"out-thide" = "outside"
-"buhfy" or sometimes "buy" = "butterfly"
-"cake" = "Cake!" or "brownies"
-"eye keem" = "ice cream"
-"Kay!" = "crayons", only when he's pointing at them
-"ball" = "ball"
-"bowl" = "bowl"
-"pop" = "Pop!" when a bubble pops or "lollipop"
-"bubble" = "bubbles"
-"uhhh" = "up"
-"down" = "down"
-And as plain as day, he said "monkey" the other day while doing a puzzle!
He will also make animal sounds, and he'll growl when he sees a picture of a wild animal or even when he sees a car! He's still singing "Twinkle, Twinkle" and the "ABC Song", but he's now added "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" as well as the theme songs to "Blues Clues", "Yo Gabba Gabba" and "Max and Ruby". Most everything is still gibberish, but he pretty much has the tunes down and can say a few of the words. My favorite is when he sings "Kunkle, Kunkle, Wuttle Car" with such earnestness. It's just so cute!
Best to you all,
Amanda

Dumb Laws In Your State

While doing my regular blog reading for the morning, I came across the following website on Punky Monkey's blog. I thought it was hilarious and couldn't pass up the chance to share it here.

Dumb Laws: Find your state at the top of the page and discover what stupid laws may still be on the books. For example, here are a few things I found out about Indiana:

-If any person has a puppet show, wire dancing or tumbling act in the state of Indiana and receives money for it, they will be fined $3 under the Act to Prevent Certain Immoral Practices.

-Anyone 14 or older who profanely curses, damns or swears by the name of God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, shall be fined one to three dollars for each offense, with a maximum fine of ten dollars per day.

-A three dollar fine per pack will be imposed on anyone playing cards in Indiana under the Act for the Prevention of Gaming. (I doubt this one is still enforced with all of the casinos popping up everywhere, now.)

-The value of Pi is 3. (How can anyone put into law the actual value of a numerical unit? What, 3.14 was too much for someone to remember?)

-A person must get a referral from a licensed physician if he or she wishes to see a hypnotist unless the desired procedure is to quit smoking or lose weight.

-Baths may not be taken between the months of October and March. (Well, I guess I've been breaking the law most of my life.)

-You can get out of paying for a dependent’s medical care by praying for him/her. (I'm sure hospitals and physicians just LOVE this law. I wonder how Hubby feels about it? Actually, I know how he feels about it, and I'm sure he still gets paid along with every other physician in his practice.)

-No one may catch a fish with his bare hands. (If you read the full text supplied on the website, there are many other ways in which you're not allowed to catch fish, including by the use of a firearm, an electric current, a crossbow, or an explosive. Which just means that someone out there was dumb enough to try it, most likely.)

-State government officials who engage in private duels can be dismissed from their post. (I'd love to see that one put into practice today!)

-All males 18 to 50 years old must work six days a year on public roads. (Hey, maybe our roads wouldn't be so bad if the government still enforced this one.)

-Mustaches are illegal if the bearer has a tendency to habitually kiss other humans. (What makes this one even funnier is the fact that it specifies kissing HUMANS. Oh, and I think every man I've ever known (my dad, my husband, some of my uncles) would be behind bars right now if this law were still enforced.)

The website breaks down laws to states' cities as well. I think most of the laws listed are from a time when things were much simpler (and more conservative) in society. One of my absolute favorites is the law for Cleveland, Ohio, that states the following: Women are forbidden from wearing patent leather shoes, lest men see reflections of their underwear. When I read this one to my husband, he replied, "Well, that just assumes that the woman is wearing a skirt...and that she's wearing underwear."

Have a laugh on me, today!
Best to you all,
Amanda

Just Desserts

If you love to cook like I do and come from a mostly Midwestern family, then you've probably inherited or have been given lots of church cookbooks. You know, those cookbooks filled with casserole and dessert recipes written by grandmas who loved to cook with cream soups and lots of cheese? I absolutely love my church cookbooks. Most everything in them is fast, easy, and/or can be thrown into a casserole or slow cooker and just left alone for a while to cook on its own. Also, most of them utilize "convenience items" from the grocery store. Just open a bunch of boxes and/or cans, toss everything into a pot or pan, cook, and enjoy. My husband and I both grew up on meals like that, so I tend to cook that way myself, though I will go through stints where a meal full of fresh veggies and pasta sounds much better. This past week, we did a lot of entertaining, mostly for our two gaming groups. I made lasagna on Wednesday (inherited from my mother-in-law, another fast and easy casserole-like recipe), which received rave reviews from family and guests alike. Plus, I made a double batch and had enough left over to last us the rest of the week. Last night, Hubby tried out his new grill, so I didn't have to really cook at all. One thing I made sure we had at both get-togethers was my latest favorite quick dessert: Caramel Brownies. The recipe came from one of my church cookbooks, courtesy of my best friend and matron of honor. In fact, the very first meal I'd ever made for my husband came from that cookbook! I made one batch of brownies for Wednesday night's get-together, and they were pretty much gone before last night, so I just whipped up another batch. Here's the recipe in all it's glory and with a few modifications I've made along the way:

Caramel Brownies
Ingredients:
1 Bag Kraft Caramels*
1 small can (5 oz.) evaporated milk**
1 box German Chocolate super moist cake mix
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 a bag of milk chocolate chips
1 small pkg. of pecans (optional)***

Directions:
Mix together cake mix, butter, and 1/3 cup evaporated milk. It'll be thick, almost like cookie dough.
Spread 1/2 of cake mixture into a 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 6 minutes.
Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts over top of baked cake mixture. Melt caramels and 1/3 cup evaporated milk in microwave and pour over the chips and nuts.
Take the remainder of the cake mix and dot all over the top of the melted caramel.
Bake an additional 15 minutes.
Let cool before cutting.

*It can be hard to find caramels in the grocery store sometimes. Look for them in the bulk candy aisle. Now that it's fall, you can also find them amongst the Halloween candy or possibly near the apples in the produce section for making caramel apples. For my first batch, I couldn't find caramels, so I just substituted a 16 oz. tub of caramel apple dip and heated it in the microwave with the evaporated milk. It worked wonderfully! For my second batch, I actually found something called "caramel bits". Basically, they're tiny bits of solid caramel that melt very quickly in the microwave. No plastic wrappers to contend with means less time, less mess, and less waste. I bought three bags of those to keep on hand! ;)
**The original recipe calls for a small can of Milnot. I had no clue what that was when I first read it, so I looked up possible substitutions on-line, and found that it's basically just an older brand name of evaporated milk. My mom remembers her mother and grandmother using it back in the day. I'm sure it can be found somewhere out there, just not in my current grocery store.
***I've never added the pecans before. I'm sure they make the brownies taste even better, but with the multitude of nut allergies around today, you can never be too sure. Oh, and apologies to all of you with chocolate, milk, and other related allergies. These brownies are wonderful, but definitely not healthy. ;)

Have a great rest of the weekend!
Best,
Amanda

Do 2-year-olds Dream Of Baby Sheep?

It's been a busy week to say the least. I can't remember much of Monday, except that B was on call. He had a few patients in labor that evening, so V and I went to the hospital to have dinner with him. Apparently, the hospital's cafeteria closes around 7:00 pm, and we got there after that, so dinner ended up being McDonald's that V and I grabbed and brought back for B. Luckily, B was able to come home to sleep that evening, and he didn't have a very busy morning. With B home and post call on Tuesday, we decided to grab lunch to go from a local deli and took it to a park. V wanted to play rather than eat, which was fine because the park's playground was just spectacular. On Tuesday evening, I carpooled with some of the moms in my play group to another mom's house for a great homemade Greek dinner. We all had such a lovely evening, since it was the first time that many of us were able to talk to each other without having to chase after little ones, too! I got home around 10:30 pm, only to find that V was still awake. So, we both ended up going to bed late that night. I spent yesterday in a flurry trying to get the house in order and dinner ready for our weekly board gaming group. B decided it was the perfect time for us to start hosting everyone at our house. We have enough chairs with our new kitchenette set now, and we were able to get everyone (including V and our friends' two sons) around our dining room table. I made two lasagnas, garlic bread, salad (from a bag), and chocolate caramel brownies. Everything turned out great, and I'm so glad I made two lasagnas, because I think most people had seconds. There's enough left over for dinner tonight, so I don't have to cook again! Yay! Once dinner was over, everyone else started setting a board game up in the dining room, and I tried to get V settled and asleep. However, he was so interested in everyone being at our house, especially the two other boys, and he wanted to play the game soooo much, I had a hard time trying to get him sleepy. In fact, after everyone left around 11:30 pm or so, V was still awake. And, he was still awake after midnight. We have a queen-sized air mattress set up on the floor of V's bedroom because I've been trying to help him transition into his new room. Most nights, he starts out in his own bed, and I either sleep in my bed or on the air mattress. He usually wakes up in the middle of the night and tries to discover where I may be sleeping. If I'm in my bed, I take him back to his room, and we sleep on the air mattress. If I'm on the air mattress, he joins me. Last night, he fell asleep at one point, and I tried to put him in his bed, only to have him sit up wide awake and start screaming! So, we both ended up on the air mattress. I'm really getting tired of our whole sleep situation. It would be different if V would sleep through the night, even with someone else in bed with him. However, he doesn't, and I always wake up at some point in the early morning hours, either because of him running to our bed, or because of him rolling around on the air mattress, kicking me, rolling practically on top of me, or pretty much pushing me to the edge. Ever since we started this transition thing, it's been stressful for me. I'm ready for him to sleep on his own, and he really needs to start doing it because I don't plan on having him in bed with us when he starts Kindergarten in a few years. Also, when the next baby decides to come along, I really hope we can get him/her to sleep in the crib, so we don't start the cycle all over again. I don't have anything against co-sleeping. People do it all over the world, and it really helped when I was breastfeeding. However, now that V is bigger and stronger, and especially since he seems so restless while he sleeps, it's been a lot tougher for me to sleep as well. All week, it seems we've been getting up at 8:30 am or later. To me, that's really late, and I feel like our morning is half over by then. I think part of the problem is the fact that we really don't have a set bedtime routine. I pretty much rock V to sleep when he seems tired, and that's it. Maybe if we started something like a set bath time and story time before rocking, V's internal clock will set itself earlier and maybe he'll finally sleep on his own. I've been putting off a bedtime routine mostly because B's work schedule is so erratic, and I want him to be a part of the parenting stuff as much as possible. However, this may be another thing I'll have to start doing myself. I'm waiting for our insurance to kick in too, before talking to a pediatrician about V's sleep habits. I'm really more worried about the fact that he just doesn't sleep through the night, and I wonder if he has any allergies we could be missing that are causing him to wake up. Or, it could be new teeth coming in or his ears, which also should be looked at again soon. Really, it could be anything. I'm just hoping we discover the cause or come up with some kind of solution, so my baby can start getting some real sleep. And, so his momma can get some sleep, too!

Sarsaparilla Skirt & Vest GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Kathleen Dougherty, writer of the blog "Grosgrain" and sewer extraordinaire, makes cute children's clothing and then, gives it all away through her blog. To be a part of the contest, you just have to link back to her blog! I saw her little sarsaparilla skirt and vest giveaway this morning and just had to get in on the action. I may not have a daughter, but I have a little niece who'd look really cute in this. Cheers!

Sarsaparilla Skirt & Vest GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

D&D and Sushi? Yes, Please!

After we moved to our new town, B decided to start a 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons campaign. The newest edition of the game had just been released, and since we moved closer to friends who were interested in playing, B thought it would be a good time to try out his Dungeon Mastering skillz. Yesterday, we played our third session of our current campaign, which is set in the world of Eberron. I play an Eladrin cleric, the diplomatic healer of the group, or the "band aid", as B so eloquently puts it. B not only DM's, but he also plays a Dragonborn wizard, who is multi-classed to warlock. Our two friends who joined the group play a Kobold rogue and an Elven fighter. It's en eclectic group. I mean, who else would play an Eladrin cleric? And, yes, our figher is an Elf, but she can really kick butt! So can the wizard, for that matter. We started the campaign with a short combat encounter outside of a cave hidden by a waterfall against mostly minions with one hit point and a couple of more difficult baddies. Then, we took a break, so I could make dinner and one of the players could run an errand. After dinner, we had an even more difficult combat inside the cave against more minions and various other evil doers being led by a nasty hobgoblin. My cleric prayers really came in handy because much healing was needed by the rogue and fighter. B's wizard/warlock led off with a truly great spell that allowed him to unleash a movable fire ball. During the entire encounter, he could send the fire ball anywhere within the cave to destroy baddies. He just had to make sure it didn't get too close to his friends, as well. My favorite line of the entire evening came from this one spell. B's explanation of the fire ball: "Think of it as an ally...except it's on fire." I want that on a T-shirt! The encounter ended with us bloodying the hobgoblin and trying to get some much needed information out of him before he thrust himself on the Elf's dagger. We found a coded message on his body that we're all going to have to solve outside of the game for the next campaign session. It's a tough word puzzle, and numerous tries to uncover it's secrets failed before our friends left for the evening. It looks like I have some homework to do, courtesy of my husband.
So, for those of you who are now utterly bored and confused by my story above, I will now relate some of the more exciting aspects of the evening. If you remember an earlier post in which I related the story of how B and I won a gift certificate to make sushi at a local restaurant, I think I mentioned that we also won a make-your-own-sushi-at-home kit. B's been anxious to try it ever since he opened the kit and read the guide book, called Sushi with Style by Ellen Brown. The book is short, sweet, and to the point when it comes to making the sushi rice correctly and forming the sushi fingers and rolls. B thought it might be a good idea to try making sushi for dinner during our D&D campaign, since there was going to be a break anyway. So, I set out yesterday morning to find all of the needed ingredients and possible equipment, and I was delighted to be able to buy everything at my local large supermarket! It really helps living in a college town that's also very multicultural. The sushi rice was prepped and cooked in my slow cooker during the first combat encounter. During the break, I prepped some vegetables, and I put some shrimp on skewers for the tempura rolls. Oh, yes! There was going to be shrimp tempura rolls as well as California rolls for dinner. When our friend came back from her errand, I finished prep on the shrimp, fried them up, and then prepped the sushi rice, which had to be turned out of the cooker into a baking pan, sprinkled with a combination of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt, and turned over with a bamboo spoon multiple times while our friends fanned it with a couple of magazines. I also made a small batch of wasabi from a powder combined with water to be used in the rolls. Then, I formed the rolls, with a little help from my hubby after a while.

The directions in the guide book were pretty clear, and after a little trial and error on our part, we managed to make a few shrimp tempura rolls with some success. They were definitely not as elegant as anything you'd find in a sushi restaurant, but they were edible and very good!

The California rolls were made with the rice on the outside of the nori (seaweed wrap) with cucumber sticks, avocado slices, and imitation crab sticks for the filling. B and I both made one California roll each, and we sliced them into multiple pieces.


The results were actually very nice to behold, especially since they were made by a couple of amateurs.

Frozen egg rolls had been put in the oven at one point, and our friend had brought a couple of submarine sandwiches and several cookies to tied over the kids (and the adults). She had brought her two sons along with her for the day, who helped keep V fairly occupied, which in turn allowed me to actually play the game this time around. Dinner was devoured by everyone, and even the kids ate some sushi, though V only nibbled on one piece and decided he didn't want it after awhile.

It was all pretty delicious and filling and really helped me concentrate on the rest of the game afterward. We finished up everything some time after 11:00 last night, and I know I didn't get to bed until around midnight. It turned out to be a long day, but a very nice one indeed. While I write this, B is playing around on his lap top, and V is exploring and playing in the family room. None of us have bathed yet, and we ended up having a brunch of homemade biscuits and sausage gravy because V and I didn't get up until 9:30 this morning and B didn't get out of bed until 11:00 am! We'll have to get ourselves together soon because we're having our pictures taken by a professional photographer, who just happens to be a member of my new mommies group. I'm looking forward to it, as long as V behaves himself and allows his picture to be taken!
Updated To Add: We were all clean and fresh and ready to go to have our pictures taken, when Mother Nature decided to cut loose with thunder, lightening, and rain. Our pictures were supposed to be taken in a local park, so we're going to have to reschedule. That's okay. It gives me and the boys a chance to relax at home for the evening.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, too. Best to you all,
Amanda

Letting Go, Somewhat

I'll be the first to admit that I'm pretty overprotective of my son. We have specific barriers and safety precautions set up around the house, so that V can explore and play, and for the most part, we don't have to worry about hearing a crash and an "uh, oh" come from his room upstairs if we're nowhere near him. I've also tried to relax a little when it comes to things like V exploring in the kitchen cabinets and subsequently, making a drum set out of my wooden spoons and pot lids. However, it's easy to keep him safe in our own home, because we've made it that way. It's a lot harder when we're outside or at someone else's home, especially if there is no childproofing whatsoever. For instance, when we're at a friend's house who may not have children of his/her own, or whose kids are much older than V, I have a tendency to follow V around and make certain he isn't getting into something that might potentially break and/or harm him and/or other people. It's very hard for me to just let him go and be a 2-year-old and explore, even when I know he's in a very safe environment. When we're outside, I'm constantly on top of him to make certain he won't make a mad dash to the street (which he'll do), even on our very safe cul-de-sac that sees very little traffic. I haven't really let him play in our backyard much because there isn't anything spectacular about it, and my fear is that he'll run into the wild flowers, get stung, and possibly have inherited my bee allergy. I'm so thankful for the many parks in our city. We've tried out several, and there are two I particularly like. One of them is built specifically for kids his age, and though the playground equipment isn't very tall, I still have nasty visions of him falling while trying to climb down one of the many ladder-type things. Maybe my anxiety rubbed off on him, because it took him a very long time to want to play on slides and actually go down them by himself, even the very tiny slides. The other park that we've been enjoying is much closer to our house, but it has a much taller playground setup. It also has more areas on the sides to climb into and out of the play structure, and the drops are probably about six feet in height or higher. So, you can imagine my horror on Monday when V decided it was time to try to climb up into this thing all by himself. One of the ladder-like parts is almost like a climbing wall with foot and hand holds, though it's plastic, looks more like an erector set, and moves a little when someone is climbing on it. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to show you, so you'll just have to imagine it until I get comfortable enough with V climbing on it to use my camera, too. The first time I saw him go up, I panicked and wanted him to come back down. And then, I thought of something. I wondered if it would be more beneficial to just let him go and do his thing rather than give into my fears and bring him back down to earth. I mean, there were many other kids, some his own age, who were climbing all over the playground, and nothing was stopping them. Why couldn't I just relax and let him go? And, so, with flutters in my heart and a hand close to his little butt the whole way up, I watched as my toddler climbed up the shaky wall and into the playground's tower...only to keep climbing the stairs up to the tallest curly slide. So, did B and I stop him when he got to the slide? Well, I know I was pretty anxious about him being so high by himself, but the top of the slide is enclosed, it seemed fairly safe, the whole playground structure sits on squishy, rubbery material, and every other kid going down the slide was perfectly fine. I just kept my mouth shut and let him go down on his own, running over to the bottom of the slide fast enough to meet him when he got there. And, since he'd done it once and had an amazing time, he had to do it again...and again...and again. Each time, my anxiety lessened a little, though my heart still pounded every time he stood at the top of the slide all by himself. This morning, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go back to that park. V went down the huge slide a couple of times, but most of his focus was on that climbing wall thing. I spent much of my time standing by, giving him instruction when needed, and keeping my hands close to his butt, especially when he neared the top. I'll tell you, every time he went up, my heart skipped a beat, but every time he went up, I gave myself a mental hug for allowing him to take on a challenge and work through it on his own. It was hard not to step in and say, "No, V, that's too high for you to climb," and I still put my foot down when it came to him trying to climb up and down other parts of the structure. However, I keep discovering lately that I need to stop underestimating my little boy and his abilities. He's only 2 years old, but there's so much he's learned to do in those two years, and there's so much he needs to be able to do on his own if he's going to grow up into a successful, contributing member of society. I know it's my job to keep him safe, but I also know it's now my job to let him spread his wings sometimes and learn and grow and explore. Who would have thought a trip to the playground could teach me so much about my son and myself? I still have a lot to learn about raising V, especially when it comes to my own fears. I'm so glad that he hasn't demonstrated my excruciating fear of heights (yet). There are a lot of things I've refused to do in life because of it. However, I've found that by watching him and his fearlessness, I'm learning myself that it's okay to take risks. You never know what you're going to discover when you just try.