mghe meets efg

Friday night we got to see our friends, Kris, Amy & Eloise from Ohio. G and E are only 3 months apart, but Eloise has been walking for many more months than g. Anyway, K, A & E flew in from Ohio yesterday, to do some site-seeing. We were lucky enough to be able to have dinner together and hang out for a while in their sweet downtown hotel.

We ate a quick dinner at the Palace Kitchen, where they were super kind to us. They even made us a plate of carrots for the kiddos (that's service)! Garrison loved that you could see in the kitchen and he kept fussing to go watch the chefs at work. One of the chefs waved and garrison pointed back, as if to say "hey, dude, you rocked the potato fritters!"

After dinner we went back to the hotel and let the kids have some play time. At first it was mostly just walking back and forth in front of one another. Then eventually it seemed like they were playing together. G was really tickled by E and did a lot of giggling. It was so fun to see G interacting with another little person. This was really my first time seeing him play for a long sustained period with someone. It was just fascinating to watch how they interacted and how they made toys of everything. As we were leaving they walked us down to the lobby so we could get a picture by the xmas tree. (taken on Kris' camera, so I'll have to get copies before I post.) We let the kids just walk around the HUGE lobby. They just had a ball walking around. E would walk up behind G like she was sneaking, it was soooo cute. It was way too short a visit for the grown ups, but I think the kids really could have played all night. G, however was ready for bed when we got home and didn't even want a bedtime story.

I took lots of cute pictures and several cute videos, which I'll try to post this weekend. So, here are some pictures of G playing with his first friend. Thanks for coming out to visit, I wish we could see you more often, and I know G wishes he could play with Eloise every day. Hopefully we'll see you all again soon!

shopping for a new car on saturday

As the title says, last saturday we went looking for a car--no, not for us, for G! Before we went to the toy store, we went out to the Cheesecake Factory for some belated Mother's Day cheesecake (too many people there on mother's day). Anyway we got a nice booth by the window, and they brought G out a baby plate (bread, bananas cut for little people).

Garrison enjoyed the booth, especially because he could look out the window.

After he tried a few bites of mommy's cheesecake we went to get G's new car. This is what we came home with.


I've got some decent video of him rolling around with it, if I ever move it from the video camera. It has noises on it, one is a truck starting noise, one is a horn, and one is a backing up noise. (the noises are a very nice volume!) you can make it into a dump truck or some sort of pulling thing (looks kind of strange like this). And it was "Made in the U.S.A." which is what sold us on this model. I think it's pretty fuel efficient too.

Oh, and here's one more silly bonus picture for you all. (can you believe he'll be 1 in a WEEK!? doesn't seem possible!)

the chi-town crew pay a visit

As I mentioned on Monday, Greg and Shelby came to visit for a long weekend. We had such a great time with them. It had been a while since they'd been out here, and Shelby didn't really get to see very much when she was here last time. So, we played tourists and ate at a lot of great places.

Sunday we ate at Ama Ama in West Seattle. We had great food. They have poutine!! YUM!

Monday we went to Oly, and that night Amos, Greg & Shelby went out to eat while I put G to bed (I put myself to bed shortly after!). They ate at a favorite of mine, Shadowlands.

On Tuesday A, G & S went to Alki and ate at Cactus for lunch, then we headed out Redhook Brewery for the tour. I've been on the tour 3 times, but this was the first I've been when they've been bottling. COOL! That night we got a bunch of food at the grocery and grilled. The Copper River salmon are in season, so we had some of that. My favorite were Greg's scallops and Shelby's potatoes--YUM!

Wednesday we took the water taxi to the city and walked to the market. We ate at a French place called le Pichet. Oh, it was soooo good. We had planned to go to the pink door, but it was too long of a wait for we hungry people. We hung out at Luna Park outside for happy hour. G napped in the stroller.

It was so much fun, and over too soon. Garrison really enjoyed hanging out with Greg and Shelby, and I think he had a bit of a crush on Shelby. Thanks for the visit. We miss you already.

garrison and the carrot

SPUD.

Last weekend we took lots of walks and we treated ourselves to a dinner out at Spud on Alki (if you don't know Spud, ask my dad. He's their biggest fan!) We sat upstairs by the windows, so G could see out. He sat on daddy's lap and had fries. (I love his mathy sweatshirt).

As we were getting ready to go another boy came upstairs. It turns out he and G are just 3 days apart. His name is Miles Danger. Amos and I thought that was the greatest name ever. For you simpsons fans out there, it's like Max Power, is it not!? Miles Danger was infinitely more fashionable than G whose approach to style is a little more about avoiding socks, not matching and is very pro-zipper. But G and MD hit it off right away (of course G wanted to touch him).

mmmm....tikka masala

Like I said, our boy is into food (except bananas which we tried again--no luck, he H-A-T-E-S them). Yesterday he was staring at my chicken tikka masala, mouth open, leaning toward my plate. Amos seemed to think he wanted my food. He did it both times I ate it. Finally we just decided to let him try a finger's worth. LOVED IT. We gave him a little more. He kept leaning closer and closer and opened his mouth wide in anticipation. If you're a mom or dad, when did you let your kid(s) have tomatoes? This whole when should you give a kid something is very frustrating. My most trusted source for most things medical, the Mayo Clinic website, said that the current research shows that waiting doesn't do much in the way of preventing allergies from developing. Anyway, I will go with that guideline and be cautious with stuff like nuts that would like be a deadly kind of allergy. (Are tomato allergies deadly?) So, here's a picture of a wide-eyed G waiting for that spoonful of rice & sauce.

g's inauguration day brunch

Garrison LOVES eating. We've started having two solid meals a day. For lunch he usually has some oatmeal (he's not a huge fan of rice cereal), a fruit and a vegetable. For fruit he still has favorites--pears and apples, but he also likes mango and plums. His vegetable selections are usually green beans, a winter squash or yams. He will have 2 ice cubes (I use ice cube trays to portion the food I freeze for him) of fruit and one of vegetable for lunch (plus the oatmeal). Sometimes we'll throw in a few cheerios for fun too (he is a big fan--do all kids love them? They seem like the universal take-along snack for the younger set.) If he finishes everything we'll usually have 1/2 a teething biscuit (he has never come close to finishing a whole one). For dinner he'll have 2 veggie cubes, 2 fruit, some cheerios, and if we're eating something he can have, he'll have a little of it. For desert it's the other half of the teething biscuit. I'm getting a little bored with the selection I have in the freezer, perhaps it's time to do another vegetable, I have been trying to use fresh stuff (preferably what is in season and local), but that's not always possible. I'm not sure what to try next--so many choices. We do still have to go back and try bananas again, I really do want him to like them. Anyway he's a joy to feed, a very neat eater (which to me means he keeps his hands out of his mouth when eating), and eats with gusto. Amos said, "maybe he'll be a chef."

Here's a photo of G enjoying a post-brunch cookie while watching Barack and Michelle walk down Pennsylvania Ave. (note the THREE empty bowls.)

seven months old today

Hard to believe G is 7 months old today! To celebrate we all went down to Alki to the Pepperdock. G had some fries, which he loves (like mother, like son). He squishes the insides of the fries out with this gums (like toothpaste, Amos says). We tried to go for a walk on the beach, but it was too cold to be enjoyable--sunny, but cold. There were lots of people out, and even some people who had built a fire on the beach. I forgot the camera, so we took a couple with A's iphone. I think he has some sort of lens protector on his that makes them look like stills from a Barbara Walter's special. Happy 7 months, G-man.

what's new in G-town--feeding himself (sometimes)

Last night after G ate big servings of both butternut squash and apples we gave him a barley teething biscuit (he hadn't tried barley ones yet). Anyway, it was a big hit. Normally when we've tried teething biscuits he makes us hold them for him, but last night he did it all by himself. I thought it was pretty cute.

OH-LEE-OH-LEE-OHS

That's what I used to call bananas when I was just a wee girl. Apparently I loved them. Now, I'm not a big fan, but Amos is and so I gave him the task of trying them out on G (didn't want to subconsciously influence the boy). You can see in the pictures below he was not a fan either. He had this look on his face that said, "why would you do this to me? do you hate me? why are you putting that nasty stuff in my mouth?" I thought he was going to cry. Like mother, like son, in this case, unfortunately. Oh, and the super cute computer keyboard bib is from our lovely friends, Brian & Christina (they got us 3 super cute handmade ones from etsy--such a great place for handmade gifts!)

how 'bout them apples?

I'm not the first parent I know who has tried making her own food. Sabrina did for Maddie, and she told me a lot about doing it. It's not a realistic thing if you're going to make food every day, but if you make a big batch and freeze it it's not too bad, in fact it's kind of fun. And, you can (a) make it with locally grown organic produce and (b) save $ over the cost of stuff you can buy in jars (especially when you compare the cost of the organic baby food at the grocery store, not the normal gerber stuff) and (c) have a little fun cooking stuff. My inner cheapskate is very happy about the whole thing.

As with most things I turned to the internet to get some instructions and tips for the whole process. There are lots of people who have written stuff about doing this, and one can buy books. I found the site wholesomebabyfood.com really informative.

My first attempt was to bake and puree one yam. It made a couple of servings for the frigand I was able to freeze 8 more servings in an ice cube tray. After they were frozen I popped them out of the tray and put them in a ziploc in the freezer. I just have to remember to take them out the night before I want to use them.

Today Amos went to the local food coop, the PCC, (Eddie Vedder is known to shop there from time to time) and picked up another batch of stuff for us to cook up for G. He got apples, butternut squash and more yams. Tonight I started on the apples, since the root vegetables should keep longer. I peeled and cut them up and put them in a steamer on the stove. I cooked them until they got soft and then pureed them smooth. 6 apples made 17 servings and cost $8.61, or about $.50/serving (Amos even bought expensive apples). We got 4 yams for $3.50, and I should get about 30 servings out of that or about $.12/serving. And the squash was $2.15, and I have no idea how much that will make. So for the apples and yams my average cost is .25/serving. Compare those costs to the cost of 6 jars of earth's best organic baby food, which online is $4.14 or $.69/serving.

sweet potatoes for the sweet

Apparently G thinks sweet potatoes are tasty--they're his first non-cereal food. He opens his mouth for the spoon. He gums them and moves them around a lot with his tongue and finally he'll swallow. Amos compared him to a dog who has been given peanut butter.

what's new in G-town--TRYING NEW FOOD

At G's 4 month appointment our doctor told us that we could start getting him to try some food. I have a list of stuff that we should start with, and one of the first things on my list was rice cereal. We haven't been rushing the whole food thing, but yesterday we decided to try some, kind of as dessert. We don't yet have a high chair (gotta get one of those), so I tried it while he was sitting in the activity center that cousin Lucy let us borrow. a book I have suggests that you try it and see if the baby spits it out or not. If he spits it out, he's not ready. Well, there was a little confusion, and a kind of bewildered look on his face when I put food in his mouth. Then he kind of let it drool out of his mouth. I guess we'll try next week.