Wordy Update Today

Chris and I are working valiantly to capture John walking on videotape. He has walked three times now! In the meanwhile, John is thinking of becoming a business analyst when he grows up! (He got his mitts of one of Chris' graphs and absolutely loved crumpling it up and racing around the room, flapping the paper in the air.)

I have many stories from today . . .

This morning, John and I went to the grocery store to buy ingredients to bake pound cake (more on that later). While there, we stopped by the greeting card aisle: John had the most fun as I showed him the many cards with pictures of kitty cats on them. John is delighted by kitties in real life, in books, and in photos. At one point today, we were looking at our pet cat Oliver and every time I would say "kitty!" John would reply deliberately "tss-tss."

I have it in my head to learn to bake cakes. I think it is an admirable and sweet tradition for the mama to know how to bake simple, homemade cakes for her family's birthdays. Plus I'd like to avoid the preservatives and additives in commercial baked goods. Homemade cakes are really quite tricky for an amateur like myself. Unlike cooking, baking is true chemistry (and I was an English major). I decided to use our upcoming parish bake sale to practice cake-baking. I decided upon a pound cake because it would not require frosting and could withstand being in an un-air conditioned gymnasium for the day.

While in the baking aisle buying ingredients, I struck up conversation with a woman there stocking the shelves (she was a vendor employee, not a grocery store employee). Providentially, the woman has been baking pound cakes for decades and they are her specialty! We spent 15 minutes chatting about pound cake baking-tips. She also told me that she makes her own vanilla extract, which now sounds like a delightful project I'd like to try. The woman said in hushed but enthusiastic tones, "You won't feel like you've baked your own cake until you make your own vanilla extract too!"

My pound cakes turned out pretty well. I made two batches which I divided into six small loaves. The flavor is excellent, but the texture is a bit too dry and the tops of each cake cracked. Any tips for more moisture and less cracking?

John is in such an endearing new phase now. His sense of humor is blossoming. He has become more calm and tender: this morning he sat in my lap while I read three books to him! Sometimes he even turns the pages for me. John certainly spends plenty of time alone and engrossed in toys and mysteries, but sometimes he likes me very nearby: he will sit in my lap while playing with his toys without my doing any more interacting than sitting there. This morning, John even fell asleep in my lap while Chris and I were working on financial decisions at the computer. Just a month ago, this boy wouldn't even sit in my lap because he always had to be moving. But this morning I was just sitting there when John insisted on sitting on my lap; soon I noticed John humming himself to sleep, then his head got heavy, then he was asleep! Getting a 10-month-old to fall asleep without any parental work might be old hat to many of you, but since I always nurse John to sleep, his falling asleep on his own in my lap was cause for rejoicing. I could almost hear choirs of angels singing, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" Motherhood is a wonderful vocation and I can hardly believe our little boy is blossoming into such personhood (if that's a word) after only ten months.

Because some of my friends who read my blog use the Maya Wrap, I'd like to draw your attention to a problem with the Maya. A ring broke on one sling so Maya has halted selling any more slings until the cause is discovered. (My wrap is one of the safe ones.) See here for a description.