Our Li'l Lumberjack

John is thinking of taking up work as a lumberjack to earn extra money for the family:
"Mama, why won't you ever let me go outside?"

Today I stopped by the consignment store Kid 2 Kid to buy some new (used) toys for John to have on our plane ride to California next month. I want him to have some novel toys to grab his attention. However, I first have to test the toys to make sure that John likes them, so I let him play with the toys but will "disappear" them for the remainder of the month. The pull toy with a string is the biggest hit of all.

What's Cookin'? I've made this recipe from the Joy of Cooking for months. It is so easy, made entirely with common pantry items, and cleans up in a snap. Because I'm only baking one chicken breast these days, I use the toaster oven.

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts Baked in Foil with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Olives

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Rinse and pat dry chicken breast. Season with salt and black pepper. Lay chicken breast on a square of foil and sprinkle on top: some sun dried tomatoes in oil, some chopped-up Kalamata olives, and some shredded basil or minced parsley. Fold up the foil into a loose square, bake for 20 minutes, remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Voila.

Pointing and Walking!

Can you count how many times John is pointing in these images?

John frequently tries to get to the standing lamp and its exciting electrical cord, which we have now barricaded behind pieces of furniture. Today John tried to crawl through his changing table to get to the lamp. When I caught him, he pointed at me.

Later we want on a walk in the beautiful, sunny fall weather.
John's new shoes arrived from JoShoes. Jody makes custom-order shoes down to the colors of leather, style, elastic tension, width, and inserts (waterproof layer, fleece, etc.) for the price between expensive Robeeze and cheap Target knock-offs. I don't like the red accent I chose too much, but I don't hate it. All in all, I think they're cute enough and will serve him well for the next six months.

Video from Sunday (before the haircut) of John using the cat post as a "walker":

Today I took a dozen snippets of video to try to capture John walking, which he is doing with increasing ease and frequency. Today he took six steps in a row! I got a lot of video of John falling:

Out of the dozen videos, I filmed two of John taking three steps each.

John's First Hair Trim

John's hair has been getting pretty scraggly over his ears and the nape of his neck, so we took the plunge and trimmed his hair for the first time. I did not do a full hair cut because he still has fine baby hair that we'd like to fill in. Because we were working with blunt tip scissors instead of a noisy clippers, John was none the wiser and didn't cry.

Before the haircut, a mullet developing:

Two videos of the hair trimming procedure:





The results: a fine young boy!




Afterward Chris said we did such a good job that we should trim John's eyelashes next. Hardee har har! (Chris is just envious because now there is somebody in the family--John--who also has long, beautiful eyelashes to give Chris some competition!)

Home Safe

This morning, the boys played a fun game: Chris sat John on an office chair and zoomed him around the hotel suite. Despite John's placid expression here, he was laughing and have fun.

We went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Chris' parents, Uncle Steve and Aunt Starr, and a family friend. It was smack in the middle of John's normal morning nap time, so he was very drowsy, as seen here when he rested his head quietly on Daddy's shoulder for a few minutes.



But Uncle Steve energized John with a very fun finger-pointing game. John just learned how to point, yet Uncle Steve can do the amazing trick of making his pointer go in circles!!!


John passed out cold for a good portion of the drive home, much to our relief.

In developing news: John took five confident, steady steps tonight while carrying his beloved remote control. He seems to walk best when he has forgotten he is doing it; when we try to coax him into walking, he drops to his knees and crawls.

Out of Town

We are currently out of town attending the military funeral of a dear friend of Chris' family who served in the Air Force with Chris' father. As soon as Chris and I arrived at our hotel on the military base, we turned our back for one second and we found John sitting on the ground holding the following handwritten "Do Not Remove" sticker from an unknown something. We never figured out from whence it came!

Here are my two handsome fellas on our way to the wake on Thursday night. (Note John pointing, which is his favorite new thing.)
Here are me and John on our way to the funeral Mass on Friday morning. (Yes, John owns not only these two argyle sweater vests, but a third one too!)

We ate breakfast at the aptly named Base Restaurant:

After the funeral Mass at the base chapel, we all drove to Andersonville National Cemetery for the interment. The cars queued up and stayed still for about 30 minutes, so we let John play in the back of the van, an adventure which he thoroughly enjoyed.
Daddy surprising John from the back window:
After the internment, Chris and I briefly toured the Andersonville historic prison before going to the reception at the home of our deceased friend's daughter. Here we are back at the hotel room giving John a bath in the sink.

My Li'l Cowboy

Happy Birthday to Chris!

John finally fits into the pair of overalls his Grandmom gave him a few months ago. He's my little cowboy!

What's Cookin'? Meatloaf, stuffing, and corn on the cob!

Miscellaneous on a Tuesday

Here we see John wearing his new American Apparel clothing. Some ladies went in on a wholesale order so I bought some items. I like the clothing because they are entirely without logos.

Sometimes John crawls into one of his toy baskets and plays there.

John was playing with his car in a very cute manner, so I grabbed the video camera. Of course, that's when he stopped and crawled away, chasing the cat (off screen).

This is typical of how John plays with kitchen implements while I cook. Here he is teething on one of my sieves. He got his fifth tooth today!




John has learned how to point with his pointy finger and he finds it very funny to point at things. When he points at me and I point back, then our pointy fingers touch, he laughs. He is also ever closing to saying "Daddy" properly. He can't make the long-E sound, so "Daddy" is currently "day" said with two syllables: "da-ay."

Celebrating Daddy's Birthday

John playing at home before Mass. Doesn't every young man need an argyle sweater vest?

This afternoon, Chris' family came over for a make-your-own-pizza party to celebrate his upcoming birthday. The girls absolutely fawned over Baby John and we all loved reading books to him.
Sophia (2), Anne (7), me (a lady doesn't tell), John (almost 11 months), and Ava (5).
John is not accustomed to being around other kids and, naturally, in the past he's been a bit overwhelmed when left to play on the ground with his cousins. But today he really seemed to like it! Only once did he become nervous and call for me. He spent much of the afternoon playing with his cousins. I had a glimpse into the future of having multiple older children to play with whomever is the current baby--God willing. John demands my attention so often during the day because it is darned boring to play alone! He just wants company. It was so relaxing to be able to sit and talk with the grown-ups for long stretches while John and the kids occupied themselves!

Photos from Last Weekend

Last Sunday we enjoyed brunch with Chris' parents and brother's family at the Evergreen in celebration of Chris' parents 44th wedding anniversary. These photos were taken by Pop-pops.

Cake Success (I Hope)

When I'm not sitting in it, John likes to abscond with my desk chair on wheels and use it as a walker on the wooden floors.


What's Cookin'? A birthday cake! In my effort to learn how to bake cakes, I baked a cake for Chris' upcoming birthday, which we are celebrating with family tomorrow. I made Absolutely the Best Yellow Cake from Great Cakes and Fluffy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting from The Cake Mix Doctor (cutting the cocoa powder about in half because Chris likes light chocolate). From sampling both the cake and the frosting, I think they don't out well! I present photographic evidence in case leprechauns make off with my cake overnight . . .

John Flapping His Lips

I caught video of John flapping his lips like I tried to describe in my last blog posting. It's that thing that characters in cartoons do to indicate that they are crazy.

In the first video you can hear me quietly making the sound in the background to inspire John.

The Stew Report

What's Cookin'? Well, my Fannie Farmer beef stew didn't turn out as well as hoped. I was unable to obtain bone-in stew meat because I was shopping at Kroger that day and my Kroger's butcher shop does not cut its own meat in-house. The bones, as I have learned, provide flavor from the marrow and thickness from the gelatin. I settled on a boneless chuck, in hopes that the fat would give more flavor.

I did a little trick told to me by my aunt: I put in the vegetables in large chunks for the first hour and a half. Then I fished them all because by then, the vegetables were "spent": flavorless and overcooked, having given up their flavor and nutrients to the broth. I put in new small chopped vegetables for the last 30 minutes or so.

After 90 minutes of simmering, the broth was still as thin as water, so I made a rue. I added only two to three tablespoons of the roux to the five to six cups of broth. At the time, the thickness seemed perfect. I left the stew in the refrigerator overnight so the flavors would mature. Tonight at dinner, unfortunately, the reheated stew was downright pasty. My very nice husband swears that it tastes good and is entirely edible, even if the broth needs to be thinner. I have learned that a roux is a powerful tool!

In news that you all care more about I'm sure . . . John is still sick and so is his mama now. John is enjoying more and more having books read to him. At least three times John has brought me a book and crawled into my lap for reading. John has also learned the delightful noise made by flapping one's finger over one's open lips while making a tone--how does one explain it better than that? Lastly, I've noticed that John is really falling in love with his daddy these days. He clearly misses him during the day. When Chris finishes work, John is eager to play with him and is upset if Chris doesn't stop right then to make a few minutes for him. It's precious!

In Which John Discovers Tissues

Has John been paying attention when he sits on my lap while I view my friend Sarah's blog?

Mama's Long Day

A rare moment of John smiling today. (I was too tired to take any additional photos.)

I am a tired mama. I forget that first-time motherhood is getting easier day by day until I have a day that is harder than usual.

John either is teething or suffering a cold. He has been extremely irritable and clingy since yesterday evening. Can't sleep. Nose running. Seems to be in a lot of tooth-pain. We've given him Tylenol three times. We had to walk him up and down the hallway several times during the night.

Of course, today I tackled more cooking than usual when running on little sleep and juggling a crabby child.

I spent all afternoon cooking a beef stew, about which I will report more fully tomorrow when Chris tastes it. (I made it a day ahead because I heard that beef stew really needs 24 hours to mature.) Needless to say, it was thin like water, so I had to make a roux to thicken it up. This I'm trying to figure out while cooking tonight's dinner. I forgot that the chicken dish I planned requires 45 minutes to cook so at the last minute Chris rescued the chicken by grilling it. Meanwhile I made a more-laborious-than-usual tomato-zucchini tart, which I had made successfully once before. I did something wrong and the pastry dough was gooey and raw on the bottom. Chris valiantly ate his serving, but I decided that the texture was unacceptable, so I simply threw it out.

All the while, John is being a total fussbudget. I scarfed down a microwaved vegetarian burger for dinner, then hauled John upstairs, determined to skip his bath tonight. That's when I discovered the huge poop blow-out. It covered his legs and arms and when he started rubbing it on his face, I gave up hope of skipping the bath tonight! More experienced and better mothers than me would have handled such a day with only one child in stride, but I had had it by the end.

Meanwhile, Chris very sweetly drove to the too-nearby McDonald's to get me a treat of french fries and a sundae. John remains awake and miserable now.

It's going to be a long night!

This ends our complaint-fest. We can all returned to our regularly scheduled cheerfulness now.

I Miss the Circus

It's that time of year! My dad has had a tradition of taking my little sister and I to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus every year since my sister was a tot. By the end of my sister's teenaged years and my young adult years, the circus was getting a little repetitive, but now the cycle has begun anew: my dad has begun taking my sister, her husband, and their daughter to the circus! I live across the country now, so I am not there for the circus outings: what had become a bit old I now miss terribly!

Below are photos of my little sister posing on the elephant at about age seven and her daughter posing on the same elephant a few weeks ago. (Dad is still digging around for the photo of my sister on the elephant at age three because that would really show their resemblance!)

Bulldozer Boy

New bulldozer pajamas on our sweet boy:

What's Cookin'? Thighs on Rice and Southwestern Skillet Supper. John quite liked the Southwestern dish, which contained Tabasco sauce and a cup of salsa! Maybe this baby inherited his tongue from my daddy (who has a kitchen cupboard full of exotic hot pepper sauces)!

Did John show comprehension of a baby sign tonight? John drinks water out of a small, plastic juice cup. When I offer it to him at the dinner table, I make the baby sign for "drink" and put the cup near his lips. Normally if John wants to drink he opens his mouth, but if he doesn't, he keeps his mouth shut. Tonight when I made the sign for drink, a grin spread over John's face and he pointed distinctly with his pointer finger to the water cup!

Writings About Motherhood

In the last few days, I have come across two astute pieces of writing on the subject of motherhood. I hope some of my friends currently experiencing young motherhood will be inspired and shored-up as was I.

The first was from the Introduction of The Art of Catholic Mothering by Maura Koulik, which I read last year and was perusing again. She described that she was mother of a 12-month-old, was pregnant again, and felt that she was "headed for a nervous breakdown."

"Now it is eight years later. My oldest son is now 9 years old
and he has four younger siblings. I have been busy mothering, home schooling and
learning from mistakes, crosses and by the power and grace of the Holy Ghost.
Through tremendous spiritual and emotional growth, I can easily see what it was
about motherhood that confused me so much in those early years. It was this
thing called SELF SACRIFICE. No one had ever told me that motherhood
and dying to self were synonymous! No wonder I was so confused! No
wonder I just couldn't seem to fit into the skin of being a mother! I was too
self-centered and this vocation felt all wrong.

"But it wasn't all wrong; motherhood was exactly the tool that
God had chosen to shape my soul and this may not be news to you, but 'being
shaped' rarely feels pleasant. And even in that retreat of 1997 God allowed me
to see and understand that each child He would send me would be yet another tool
with which He would try to remove some part of SELF that wasn't Christ-like."
(emphasis in the original)


Today I came across a beautiful psalm written by a young mother and originally published in the 1938 November issue of Marriage Chretien (re-published in Christ In the Home). In her poem, the mother compared mothers with cloistered nuns.

O my God
Like our sisters in the cloister
We have left all for you;
We have not imprisoned the youth of our faces in a guimpe and under a
veil,
And though we have cut our hair, it is not in any spirit of penance . . .

Deign nevertheless, O Lord, to cast a look of complaisance
On the humble little sacrifices
Which we offer You all day long,
Since the day our groaning flesh gave life to all these little
Christians
We are rearing for You.

Our liberty, O God, is in the hands of these little tyrants who
claim it every minute.
The house has become our cloister,
Our life has its unchanging Rule,
And each day its Office, always the same;
The Hours for dressing and for walks,
The Hours for feeding and for school,
We are bound by the thousand little demands of life.
Detached by necessity every moment from our own will,
We live in obedience.

Even our nights do not belong to us;
We too have our nocturnal Office,
When we must rise quickly for a sick child,
Or when between midnight and two o'clock
When we are in the full sleep we need so badly
A little untimely chanter
Begins to sing his Matins.

We practically live retired from the world:
There is so much to be done in the house.
There is no possibility of going out anyway without a faithful sitter for
the little ones.
We measure out the time for visits parsimoniously.

We have no sisters to relieve us on another shift.
And when the calls for service reach high pitch for us
We have to sweep, to wash the dishes, scrape the carrots for the stew,
prepare a smooth puree for baby and keep on going without stopping
From the children's room to the kitchen and to and fro.
Aprons and shirts, underclothes and socks
And all the baby's special things.
In this life of sacrifice, come to our help, O Jesus!

More Photos from Florida

Below are photos taken by Pop-Pops in Florida last week.


This is Uncle John, one of the many Johns on both sides of Chris and my families:

Animal Naming Contest

Katherine and I are not in agreement as to what animal this is on John's new pajamas. We need your help. Please submit your vote by way of comment to this post.

Ascending the Stairs

Video of John ascending the stairs with Daddy close behind him. (For our zoologist friends, those are zebras on his pajamas, not giraffes.)

Last night I was on the couch watching TV when John left his toys to crawl up in my lap and just sit there, leaning back against me. My heart melted! John was never a lap-sitter until within the last month or so because he was always on the go-go-go (unless I was wearing him in a sling).

As most of you probably know, John is not much of an eater yet, which is fine, but we do offer him solids daily. He absolutely refuses a spoon and will turn his head this way and that with lips clamped hard shut. (Nor will he self-feed with a spoon.) However, he really enjoys straws and likes having us fill a straw with a couple inches of water and stick it in his mouth to suck up. It's a fun game. Today at Chipotle, Chris got the idea to fill the straw with some guacamole. John has tried guacamole and plain avocado (both great first foods) in various formats and disliked them all. But he'd never tried it with a straw! John really liked eating guacamole out of a straw and probably ate ten little niblets of guacamole. That is a lot for this boy. Then at dinner, John ate two small hunks of garlic bread. Many of my La Leche League friends have babies who didn't truly take an interest in food until the tenth month, so I've been wondering this month whether John will soon increase his intake. (Of course, I also know several mamas whose healthy, well-growing babies didn't take an interest in solids until the middle of the second year, so who knows . . .)

John's First Footies

John wearing his first sweater of the season:

The boy has discovered another cupboard, this one containing sieves:
The Tale of the Mean Mama: John climbed up on the bookshelf, a whole five inches or so off of the ground, and found himself to be stuck. He held on to the chair for support and asked for my help. I really encouraged him to figure it out for himself, as he wasn't outright crying, more like bleating like a lost lamb. I gave him about five minutes before I rescued him and showed him how to put down one foot, then the other. These things can be tricky.
The temperatures have dropped here rather suddenly. After last night became downright chilly, I went out and bought John his first footie pajamas. Tonight it is expected to get into the 40s, but John will be prepared in his fuzzie footies! (I don't know why John decided to stand "on point" in the below photo.)