Henry 800

Henry - 800 days old

Top Eight Things You Don't Know About Henry

1. He loves playing with Playdoh.

2. He has pooped on the potty.

3. He feeds his raspberries to his dinasongs*.

4. He likes to help his mom make pie.

5. Huck is limping (and if it's not better by morning will be heading to the doc's office).

6. He is starting to say "I do it," whenever he wants to try something on his own.

7. His favorite meat is lamb.

8. When he grows up he wants to be a fire truck.

*Also known as dinosaurs. All dinosaurs are also called T-Rex.

Merry Eatmas!

We've been eating a lot these past few days. I thought the cookie exchange was a great idea until people showed up with really awesome treats. That was just the beginning of Holiday Eat Fest '09. Christmas eve morning we hosted brunch for Brother Nick and his family and our friends from Seattle, Rick and Anya. (With surprise guests Tanya and Stephanie swinging by to drop off gifts and a beautiful bouquet, respectively.) Our menu included bacon, a zucchini and tomato frittata, red potato hashbrowns, Greek honey yogurt and bananas, spiced pumpkin muffins, and mimosas. Fast forward to Christmas dinner where we served country ham (baked in Dr. Pepper), macaroni and cheese, brussel sprouts with bacon, and bread, with roasted apple pie and ice cream for dessert. It should be noted that while Henry did not eat very much at the dinner table with his folks and grandpa Gilroy, he did later consume several helpings of macaroni and cheese and most of the brussel sprout and bacon concoction on his plate. The kid eats brussel sprouts, people! We expect to eat more tomorrow when we hit Darr's sister's place for a Boxing Day celebration. Here's hoping the in-laws aren't too upset when they see what we bought their son, Gavin, for Christmas. (Intrigued? Click here to see how awful we are.)

As for the presents, there were many and all of them were awesome. The handmade count is high this year because my mom now has a room dedicated to doing crafty things. From her famous - at least in our family - slippers to a beautiful cable knit sweater for Henry, everything was gorgeous. (I keep telling her she should open up her own Etsy store. The pumpkin hat alone is a gold mine.) I have a new cookbook - Mastering the Art of French Cooking. While I don't plan on making every recipe in the next 365 days, I am looking forward to working on more challenging dishes. Probably we'll start with desserts. Is there any better place? Because Darr insists he is the very definition of Bah! Humbug!, I opted out of buying him a "big" gift and instead filled a stocking with a few trinket gifts. He has assured me this was the right move. I find myself unable to exclude him entirely from Christmas activities so the stocking stuffers were my attempt at compromising. (Don't like gifts? Okay, I'll only buy you a few small ones.)

Of course there were pictures...

Christmas Eve

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And there were pics of Christmas day, too...

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Right to pray in Arabic

The gist, the Ft. Hood guy (Hasan) who allegedly killed 13 people is restricted, pretrial restrictions from his command, from talking in Arabic to anyone unless there is a translator around. He was recently on the phone praying in Arabic with his brother and his conversation was cut short. No translator was present. His attorney is arguing "it's illegal and a violation of his religious rights." The catch, Hasan is currently under military control, not the civil criminal justice system. While I'm not sure I understand why there is a difference, there is. Challenges of this nature in the civilian world usually are typically successful. But based on Hasan's previous actions, the military can label Hasan a threat and limit his actions based on security reasons. When I was talking about this to Darr, his response was "why not just tape him?" That seems a reasonable solution. Odds are they are taping the guy anyway, right? Then, if a translator later determines he's not praying but helping plot another such event, we can restrict his rights with actual proof that by not doing so we're putting others at risk.

Hat tip: Volokh Conspiracy

Cookie Exchange 2009

I'm hosting my first ever cookie exchange today. Because Henry was at school yesterday I had time to bake and so I made peanut butter fudge, Nanaimo bars, and stained glass tree cookies. I bought some boxes and food safe tissue paper so folks have a way to cart the goods home once we divvy up all of the loot. I also picked up cheese, crackers, and cured meats to counter the sugar overload we're sure to experience when we have a nibble here and a taste there. Oh, and what cookie exchange is complete without mimosas? (Answer: None.) The only thing I lack is coffee. Darr drinks it during the week at the office but rarely has it at home and I don't drink coffee so, um, unless folks want the Folgers coffee from my parents' visit two summers ago, they're out of luck. Tea and egg nog are available upon request since I'm not sure everyone is up for drinking at ten in the morning.
UPDATE: 8:50am Stacey has dropped by with the first bit o' happiness. I am tempted to have a taste but will satisfy myself with a snack from the kids' bowl of crackers instead.

UPDATE: 12:46pm Success! Monsieur Henry and Cousin Amels are nearly napping and there is a box on my counter loaded with sweet happy cookie goodness. (I almost forgot to fill a box for myself, a situation I happily corrected by pilfering from the other completed boxes.) The haul included the following:

rocky road fudge

chocolate chip cookies

peanut butter fudge

bratzeli

mexican hot chocolate cookies with dulce de leche

Nanaimo bars

almond roca-type toffee (I'll have to get the official name from the baker.)

stained glass tree cookies

Holiday spirit

Language Acquisition, take four (holiday edition) from Christie Glynn on Vimeo.

He's still up, dude

He's still up, Dude

The ham is here! The ham is here!

The ham is here! The ham is here!

Sunday dinner with friends, now served with a cheese course!

I am very thankful we have friends without kids who don't bolt at the first sign of trouble when they come to our house for dinner and the little man decides he does not want to sleep. Jen and Craig came for their very first meal - shame on me for not inviting them over sooner - and stayed long enough to work their way through a pretty exhaustive menu, including (a condo first!) a cheese course! WoohoO! Darr was very excited when I agreed to this as I'm not nearly as much of a cheese fan as he is and so it normally is not something we do. I was sent to the store with a list of cheeses but the New Seasons cheese guy saw me perusing the cheese selections and offered up a suggestion. Since Darr had not specifically identified which sharp cheddar cheese he wanted, I went with the cheese guy. Trust me, I know how weird lamb shanks with oranges and olives sound but it is really tasty. On a side note, I need to remember to butter the sides of the ramekins when making the individual molten babycakes. Otherwise the cake sticks to the side of the pan and won't turn out nicely onto a plate.

Antipasti
Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus
Herb roasted zucchini with carrots in a Marsala butter sauce

Primi
Rigatoni with garlic bread crumbs

Secondi
Lamb shanks with oranges and olives

Fromaggio
Cheese sampler including Ossau Iraty, Mimolette, and Fromager D'Affinois

Dolci
Molten chocolate babycakes with homemade vanilla ice cream

Month Twenty-six

Dear Henry,

I didn't forget, bean. It's just that we're six days away from Christmas and things are a bit hectic. Not to mention your 800th day on earth is just around the corner. We celebrated your turning twenty-six months old by taking you to see The Polar Express at OMSI's Omnimax Theatre. One gigantic screen plus one cartoon containing a train equals one enthralled toddler. You sat in my lap for most of the movie, toward the end turning to me to say, "I love you too, mama." Then you asked for a hug with your arms thrown open wide. Talk about melting my heart, kid.
This was not the first train event of the season. Two weeks ago we rode on the Holiday Express steam locomotive. Whoo whoo! This is where you learned about candy canes. Now you love candy canes. You also choke on candy canes so I'm less inclined to give you one. Yeah, that's me, honing my parenting skills. You are very much into songs. Singing songs like Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Rock-a-baby (also known as Rock-a-papa and Rock-a-mama), and requesting songs. Songs that don't actually exist. Often we're driving around town and you'll pipe up with a song request from the backseat. "Mama, candy cane song." My on-the-fly attempts at writing lyrics are not good but I think it's the effort that you appreciate more than the end result. At least that's what I'm telling myself. Oh, and the candy cane song goes like this: (Set to the music of O Christmas Tree) O candy cane! O candy cane! You are a Christmas treasure. O candy cane! O candy cane! I eat you up with pleasure. You are so sweet when I lick you. I want to have one or two. O candy cane! O candy cane! You are a Christmas treasure. This year Christmas is both more fun and more work. Your tiny toddler hands are busy when it comes to the Christmas tree ornaments. You want to touch them. All the time. And, like many things we try to get you to not do these days, you ignore our pleas to not touch the tree. You touch, then you look at us while touching. Then you laugh when we remove you from the temptation and you return seconds later to continue your reign of touching. It's exhausting. On the flip side, though, you are eager to check out the presents under the tree without opening them and to help in the kitchen with baking. You have learned to plug in the tree lights (helpful). You enjoy ripping the tags off packages (not helpful). We managed to get out for a photo op with Santa. We arrived early enough to see Santa leave the building and make his way to the little faux North Pole house they have set up where the pictures are taken. The minute you saw that big guy in red you shyly shouted "Hi. Santa!" That exuberance faltered once we were inside and it became clear to you that you were expected to sit on Santa's lap. Luckily, it was a very cold morning and no one else was crazy enough to venture out to see Santa so we got to spend a few extra minutes with him just chatting until you were comfortable enough to have the photo taken. The pic turned out good but I am sort of sad I don't get the traditional toddler screaming on Santa's lap photo.
You hate sitting in shopping carts, which means I've had to endure several tantrums at the grocery store this past month. Not fun, Bean. I'm sure other parents see you and remember almost wistfully the days when their kids acted similarly. And I'm certain those without children see you and thank whatever deity they worship that they don't have kids, while simultaneously concluding I'm the worst mom on the planet to make you howl that way. Your pops is trying to help you learn how to go to bed and stay there without the assistance of the gate. It's going well, I think. When given freedom, you tend to push the boundaries further and further. And once the gate goes up, you're so tired from your constant pushing you go to bed.
We worked on table manners. For instance, now you sit at the dining room table for most of the time it takes your pops and I to finish eating. Sometimes you actually make it to the end, and sometimes you actually eat so that's a bonus. Eating is going well. I swear you'll try nearly anything, including bubbles you received from Montana grandma last Easter. Good job on the trying new foods, Huck. The other morning we had to wake up early to take your pops into work and you came stumbling out of our room and ran right into the dining room table. You're sporting a nice bruise underneath your eye as a result. You're always bonking your head. To illustrate how you bonked your head, you'll bonk your head against an object (e.g., the coffee table) again, and say, "I bonked my head." Well, yes, and um, it would have only been once if you hadn't gone for the instant replay. It's easy to love you when you're doing your cute little dance to the hippo Christmas song or when you're super sweet and cuddly. But we love you when you're naughty, too.

Love,
Mama

Miss Avery turns two!

How fast these kids grow up, I tell ya. Monsieur Henry and I attended a party this morning for Avery, who was celebrating her second birthday. She's two! Already! Avery was in super party form, nekkid from the waist down. Serves us right for showing up early. Of course there were pictures...

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When Santa meets Jack Bauer

Boy outfit #10

Bean's transitioning into his next size of clothing (24 month/2T) so I'm sure there will be a rash of these posts as I dress my boy each morning and realize that I adore each outfit. I particularly enjoy the juxtaposition of the army pants with the anti-war message on the shirt Hen's wearing today. I noticed he was standing still for a millisecond so I quickly threw the camera into automatic, switched on the flash, and snapped a few photos. I think these may be my first shots taken using the automatic setting since the photography class at the beginning of November.
Shopping guide info:
1. pants - Disney Cars, received as a gift from the Johnstons (Darr's Canadian cousins)
2. shirt - Tiny Revolutionary, purchased at tinyrevolutionary.com
3. belt - Miniman, purchased at Spoiled Rotten
4. socks - Mini Boden, purchased at miniboden.com
5. shoes - Columbia, received as a gift from the Bickels

The kinder, gentler SCOTUS

I loves me some SCOTUS blog.

This is a new feature on SCOTUSblog. The Supreme Court deals with a lot of technical legal issues. Our posts tend to be written in the same way, so that if you aren’t a lawyer it can be hard to understand exactly what we’re saying. We try not to go too deep into jargon, but it’s hard. As a result, we don’t connect with all of our readers as well as we could. Many of you aren’t lawyers. It’s important that everyone understand the Supreme Court, and we want to be a comprehensive resource.

So, on a regular basis, we’re going to step back and write about what’s happening at the Court in plain English. We’ll also sneak in some more basic background on how the Court works. That background material will also be incorporated into a “The Supreme Court in Plain English” entry on SCOTUSwiki. When the Court is doing a lot, and we have a lot of content, we may write these posts every day. When things are slower, it may be more like once a week.