Change

Today when making my naptime cappuccino I made too much frothed milk (whole). Since Otto was napping I couldn't share it with him. I decided to make it into hot chocolate and had it along with my cappuccino and cashews. It is snacks like this that are going to have to change if and when Mette ever stops nursing 6-8 times a day and starts eating more food.

On that note, both last night and today at lunch she ate more than one bite of mac and cheese. I would even go so far as to say that today she ate a "serving" worth. I put that in quotes becasause at this point I have no idea what a serving for someone her size is. I will say though that it was one of the best batches of mac and cheese I have made in a long time. I made it with heavy cream, cave aged gruyere, sharp cheddar and sour cream so how could it be bad. Hmmm, this is sounding like another snack I may want to ease up on. For dinner last night we all had mac and cheese with the delish tomato sauce I mentioned earlier and guacamole. Not low cal my any stretch but SO yummy!!

taller

mette grew during naptime today. how can I be so sure? She is now tall enough to cream the top of her head on the dining room table instead of walking under it. ow.

Not Ready

Looking at the first photo, the close-up that I just posted of Mette I am starting to see how she really may be turning one in less than two weeks. Today my friend Megan who has a little one just 7 weeks younger than Mette was saying how she was really looking like a toddler and seemed to much older suddenly. She sees Mette all the time. It's true, I am just having a hard time believing it. With Otto I was so excited for each new milestone, and I still am. And while I don't want to say that I am not as excited with Mette, there is something holding me back. I love each step forward, but I know that with the passing of each phase, well, it is just that, a passing. We won't have that anymore. I still carry her everywhere, she still wants to be by my side all the time, she still nurses and snuggles with me before going to bed (and more times than I really want during the night), she still coos and giggles at me but I can't hold her with one arm (unless she is on my hip) anymore, I can't put her down somewhere and expect her to still be there when I turn around. She is changing faster than I have been wanting to admit. She is walking, trying to talk, signing up a storm and definitely has a mind of her own which she is getting very good at expressing. Just try to let someone else touch the Cozy Coupe which she has claimed as her own! She is such a sweet girl. She adores her brother, think the cats are fantastic, loves being in the middle of all the older kids running around, loves smiling at her daddy from the comfort of my arms which drives him crazy and generally makes people fall for her instantly with her amazing laugh and smiles. She could work on eating. Big time. For the past few days there has been much less screaming at the table which is a major step in the right direction and more than once a few bites of food have actually made it into her mouth but I still would not go so far as to say she is eating. I however and eating everything in sight because while she does not really eat food, she is maintaining the baby chunk on a breast milk diet. I am in for a rude awakening when she weans. Not eating anything and everything I want all day while losing weight may take some getting used to! Then there is the whole sleep thing. She is getting better at that too, but we still have a way to go. She has just (three days ago) started doing 5ish hour stints at the beginning of the night. It is quite lovely. Then she does 4 or 3 and sometimes 2 hour stretches after that. It means getting up two or three times a night for me. A lot better than before, but there is still room for improvement. But just as I don't want her to grow up too fast I have to remember that along with not being ready for a toddler comes the joys of babyhood. Like not sleeping through the night and not eating food.

We won't mention that at this age Otto was eating everything in sight and had just started sleeping through the night....

If only

I would totally wear this outfit if I thought I could get away with it. Mette rocks it well

Follow me on this

Rarely am I ever inclined to make the same dinner in one week. I am all for comfort food and love leftovers, but cooking the same thing twice in a week isn't really my style. Too bad for eric as he is the guy who once he finds something he likes at at restaurant he rarely strays from that. Even if the restaurant is owned by his wife and that is where he eats 80% of his dinners. He would be happy with the same thing twice. That being said, I am seriously considering making this tomato sauce again (click here for link). I made it last friday and not only was it easy, it was amazing. I can still taste it. Both kids also ate it. Mette I am sure will scream like it is poison this time, but hey, what can you do. The recipe comes from one of my favorite food sites. She posts lots of things I want to try and I haven't been steered wrong once. I will say however that she must have some super fancy stove (at least fancy compared to my vintage 1912 model) because I always have to extend the baking times on things. Plus, who doesn't love a sight about food with pictures like that! So if you are like me, you might have all the ingredients for this in your pantry now. If you do, I suggest you scrap what you had planned for dinner, and make this instead. You'll thank me as soon as it gets to a good simmer and you whole house starts to smell divine.

New Layout

It is getting to be the season of birthdays around here. In the next 6 weeks, three members of this house will advance in age. It is time for cookies, cake and cupcakes!

Overheard

Today while getting dressed and trying to keep Mette from walking into disaster (did I mention she is totally walking everywhere now?) I heard this out of Otto's mouth...

"I am going to tie up Nurkel"

To be honest I ignored him. For one, I really did not think there was anyway Otto would be capable of conning Nurkel into staying still long enough to be tied up. Second, never have I ever seen Otto successfully tie anything up. I focused on the task at hand, no head injuries for Mette and pants for me.

While attempting to get the children out the door and off to playgroup Eric said to me, "did you do that to Nurkel?" At this point I looked and saw this...

She was sporting two of my hairbands wrapped around her abdomen. How Otto managed this is beyond me. I didn't take the time to get a better picture because by the time I saw her it had been at LEAST a half an hour since I had hear Otto say he was going to tie her up.

For the record, she seemed totally oblivious to the whole situation. She is sure changing in her older cat ways. She is even taking to sleeping on our bed at night. And not just ON the bed, she likes to sleep UNDER the covers snuggled between eric and I. For now it is kind of nice. Eric is pretty sick, we are working on what is wrong, and is losing weight faster than an undergrad before spring break. This is making him colder than he usually is. I have been going to bed with him after Otto goes to bed just to make heat in the bed. Having Nurkel under the covers helps that much more. I am not getting much done in the evenings other than reading books, but it is kind of nice. It would be really cozy if poor eric felt better.

While I am on a roll

I figure I might as well go with the groove of posting and put these up as well. Yesterday was so beautiful. It was the first day in what feels like forever that we have had sunshine and temps that make it fun to go outside. After naptime it what was close to the magic hour I took the kids out for a walk. Otto brought along his new love, a squirt bottle. He "cleaned" the road, the mail trucks, garages, the sidewalk, really anything he saw along the way. Mette enjoyed the ride and was adorable.

The dawn of a new era

My boys

For the first time since Otto was born, with the exception of when I was in the hospital giving birth to Mette, I was away from Otto and Eric for more than a few hours. In fact, Mette and I were gone for five days including travel days!! While we were off jet setting, Eric and Otto headed to Hoboken to visit Ben and Shannon, the newly engaged!! While there they went to the museum of Natural History, ate sushi, rode a ferris wheel in Toys R Us in Times Square, you know, bummed around.

Congrats you guys!! We are so happy for you!

note, this is eric with Shannon. While eric and Ben do look a lot alike, this is eric :)

Travels to KY

These pictures are a long time coming, but I am finally getting around to getting them up. Earlier this month Mette,my mom and I went to Kentucky to visit my sister who just had a baby. Mette and Otto's first cousin, Owen. He was a total bundle of cuteness. Mette was most interested in stealing his nuks. She won't take one herself, but if she can take it from a baby, score! Trying to gouge out his eyes in a loving way was also top of her list. While there she took great pleasure in axp. 75 trips up the un-gated stairs each day. She also seemed quite thrilled with the sleeping arrangements. She slept in bed together with my mom and I. Somehow even though she was the smallest member, she by far claimed the most real estate. I awoke more than once to find my mom and I teetering on the edges of the bed with her sprawled out in the middle. Stinker. She woke up each morning bright and early at 6:30 with a cheerful exclamation of GA!! She would then throw herself on my mom with a "graamaa" while kicking me in the face and vice versa. As far as little girls go, it was the perfect start to your day.

In addition to stealing Owen's nuks, she managed to lay claim to bib or two....

Snugglin' with Grandma

On the drive from the airport we passed by the town of Crittenden Ky. Special because that is my grandmother's maiden name and we have many a famous relative from Ky. Always nice to have a town named after you family. Notice the weather outside, we managed to hit KY during a snowstorm and freezing cold weather. Not too bad for us Northerners, but everyone there was pretty freaked out!!
note: I am awaiting photo approval on more with "the baby".

Great

for those of you who have never seen our master bath, it is quite beautiful. It is an original 1916 bathroom. The walls are tiled, the floor is an amazing black and white tile design. The sink is an unbelievable ceramic pedestal. The tub is the most comfortable soaker I have ever been in. It is not however a room where any of the surfaces are soft in any way. This of course makes it the ideal place to practice walking. In the eyes of Mette at least. Today at open gym she took four solid steps towards me for a fruit bar. The rest of the day was spent screaming if I wasn't holding her hand (only one) so she could walk around the house. We thought she was tired and having a meltdown at dinner, turns out she just wanted to get down and practice walking some more. Then while I was drawing her bath she decided to let go and careen around the room like a tipsy sailor. I say tipsy because Otto was a drunken sailor, she seems to have a bit more grace than he did. Not so much though that it wasn't completely terrifying watching her walking knowing any direction she fell was going to be bad. She is currently sleeping. My guess is either she will sleep fairly well tonight (for her that is getting up 2 or three times) or she will be up all night working on her moves.

Here's hoping for the best.

home

we are home. all of us home. in the same home. under one roof and if we are lucky all in our own beds. (mette takes to sleeping with us when traveling and while adorable to wake up to "GA!!", I could go for a break.) In the past ten days Mette and I have been on six planes. We went to Kentucky with my mom to meet her cousin Owen then came home for 14 hours most of which were spent sleeping, to get up and fly to Fl to see eric's mom with our boys. While we were in KY eric and Otto went to NY to see Ben and Shannon (the newly engaged!!!) and visit some museums. I have wonderful pictures, great stories and fun times to share but right now I am loving my couch too much to even bother thinking about where the camera and cable are. Plus I have a LARGE glass of wine to drink because after today, boy do I need one. It felt so good tucking the kids into their own beds tonight. They seem very happy to be home, as are eric and I. They were both amazing travelers. Tonight I am looking forward to my own pillow, my snuggly bed, two cats and with any luck more than two hours of sleep at a time. Oh Mette, how I love you so :)