fettucine failure

Usually, when I put my mind to it, I'm a good cook. I've got lots of favorite cookbooks and AllRecipes.com so that's generally all I need to set me in the right direction.

But last night instead of making my "go-to" white sauce and adding parm to make fettuccine Alfredo, I thought I'd shake things up. Hold onto your hats, this is riveting... I found a couple of 4 star rated sauces online but I didn't have some of the ingredients. So, I kinda combined two of the recipes swapping out what was in my cupboard. Needless to say, things went south pretty quickly.

The Parmesan was clumped up in the middle of soupy milk, chunky cream cheese, and butter floating on the peripheral like the Horizon oil spill in my sauce pan. The fresh lemon juice and lemon basil from my yard were wasted on this pitiful attempt. For the first time in a LONG time, I actually threw out the batch and started from scratch. (And by this point my husband was hovering in the kitchen trying to pet my ego.) Flustered, attempt number two wasn't any better.

At least the bread was warm and the wine was cold.

Tonight will be a fresh start...but we are definitely NOT having pasta.

superman does tricks

While I could be referring to my husband or a fictional comic book character, I'm actually thinking about my toddler. He is developing his super-human powers of speech and Houdini-like skills. His vocabulary is growing as is his overall adorable, squirrely behavior.

Words that actually sound like words:
wolf, duck, mom, dad

Words he's working on:
guck = truck
esses = glasses
raff = giraffe
ugs = bugs
dis = this

Latest squirrely behavior? I was brushing my hair in the bathroom. I looked down only to discover E had unravelled an ENTIRE roll of toilet paper - silently - and it was gently swirled around him right next to me. Don't worry, I re-rolled it all back up. Still great for blowing noses...

I heard him trying to open the powder room cabinets so I peeked around the corner (yes, I forgot to close the door). His favorite toy giraffe was enjoying a swim in the toilet! Time to install that toilet lock...

He was having a little snack of those melt-in-your-mouth organic puffs, when he decided to help himself to some more. (He actually signs the word "please" now which is precious!) Anyhow, mommy was distracted in the kitchen and I looked over to discover he poured the whole package of puffs onto his tray. A mountain of puffs, in fact. SIGH. "Too much!" I chuckled to him. Too much.

And the baby wipes - I'm sure you see where this is going - any time he can get his little paws on them he happily plucks them out and tosses them onto the floor. I have restacked them countless times and I am slowly being trained to store them up high and out of reach. Is there such a place?

I have to laugh every time something like this happens, because as you'll notice, it's always MY FAULT! I'm always too busy multi-tasking and I can't watch him every single, solitary second that he's awake. So, I laugh with him and teach him that cleaning up can be fun, too.

Some days I feel like I'm living in a Saturday Night Live skit.

diaper optional?

Seems like we have better access this way, mom.

Today is off to a rocky start. My adorable, yet cranky, tot is irking my nerves! I feel guilty for even admitting that, but it's true!

Now that he has gained some independence, his personality is unfolding. Most of the time I am amazed by his genius, his tenderness, his focus, and his invention. But today I am amazed at his irritating acrobatics.

Add to the recent biting phenomena his strong-willed resistance to have a clean butt. I know it's a big world, baby! And you can't be held down by 'the man' (or in my case 'the woman'). But I REALLY don't like poo under my nails or on the bottom of your feet! There's no way that poo feels good in all your, um, creases, either.

Please, I beg you, PLEASE let me change you!

I've got lots of coping skills down. I belt out "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" like a cheesy dinner theatre singer. I shake rattles and tambourines with one hand while I try to maneuver around the poo with the other. I have even resorted to (gasp) giving him the telephone, remote control, or baby monitor to play with during changes. On many occasions, I call in the big guns: daddy. He provides comedic relief if nothing else.

Alas, the window of time he allows for changing is small and shrinking every day.

So today E won the battle, momentarily. "Freebird" as we often call him, got to fly commando for a few glorious, fleeting moments. Potty training? Sign me up.

kissable snot-nosed kid

He's as cute as a button, but today he is more accurately as cute as a jellyfish.

There are more squishy fluids on his kissable mug than ever before, given his first round with "the cold". I'm talking druel, snot, an ever-changing assortment of organic foods, and sometimes tears, smeared across his face and in those hard-to-reach crevices under his silky (slimy) chin.  He's congested and teething so the faucet-like nose and drippy mouth gushes on. Who knows for how long? I hope not all winter!

(Try to imagine sound effects here with his wet coughs, sneezes, and a raspy 14-month-old voice.)

Despite all the goo and slime, he's still as kissable as ever. I really can't resist the toothy grin or the "I'm not feeling well, mama!" pout. I'm covered in slime like Sooki Stackhouse on a bad day. But still, as kissable as ever.

Even MORE ooey-gooey sweet is the fact that he doesn't hesitate when it comes to kissing things. Here are a few things he's kissed today, snot and all:

-ME! Don't ask me to bake you anything today...
-our 11-year-old cat (he's a good sport)
-a crab puppet
-wooden puzzle piece of turtle
-blue stuffed elephant


Here is my child examining (and then kissing) a baby goat. AW!



-rocking horse

-super-long stuffed toy snake

-pictures in our books: a baby, cheetah, dinosaur, dolphin, tiger...you get the picture?





I'm glad to see he's in such a great mood even though he's not feeling his best. As I watch him innocently, freely share his kisses, I happily return each and every kiss.

That is...when I can find a dry spot!