*el jardín

We got home from New York City [!] last night. I'll post pictures/stories later, but will share now that we came home to a blooming garden. Irises and peonies and wildflowers are blooming and there's tons of cilantro and parsley. The beets [yes, rivaling Shrute Farms] are almost ready to harvest - maybe we can do it early and have fashionably baby ones.

I've never been successful with cilantro before, and am so happy to have so much! While it lasts this recipe is going to be a staple. So so good and addicting - I got it from chowhound.com.

Cilantro Rice

for each cup of rice - any type:

cook with 1 tsp salt, then add following, pureed:

2/3 C cilantro

1/3 C chopped onion

1/4 C scallions

1 jalapeño (I did half and it was fine for Vera)

1 Tb. lime juice

1.5 tsp. olive oil.

*cien años

My Grandpa JohnD would have been 100 tomorrow. He passed away a few years ago and it still makes me teary remembering him. Living near him and my Grandma was an extremely special and I think formative part of my childhood. I took these pictures [of pictures] last time I was home - they are just exactly how I remember him... always with his cowboy hat and boots, dusty jeans and pearl snap buttons. I loved riding with him in the old yellow Scout, and later the succession of F150s, down to the fields or corral - I still vividly remember the dusty sagebrush smell and the scratchy seat covers, the tic-tacs in the glove compartment, making conversation about the horses or the river or stories from before. For some reason I always remember too how he would wiggle his ears and when you came close to see he'd give a little jump and scare the bejezus out of you :)

I was able to see him just a week before he died. He had been fairly invalid for a while, with Alzheimer's and then cancer. My mom and I stood by his bed - still at home looking out over the beautiful valley - and just held his hand. My mom told him he was a wonderful father and grandfather, and I remember a look of lucidity crossed his face and he said in his familiar voice, "why I didn't know that!" - makes me cry just thinking of it now. Anyway, we miss you Grandpa! I will make sure my children know their Grandparents like I did.

[p.s. happy birthday to you too ecw-g!]

*sacando fotos

I don't know why I loved this tonight.. I guess just more proof that we no longer have a baby, but a little girl who has ideas and communicates them. So she first wanted a picture with Bunny - she saw the camera in our room, said "picture? Ubba-ubba?", ran to get Bunny and posed:

...then she wanted a picture with Bunny while sitting on Lamb [I can't stop laughing at this one]:

...then she wanted to take a picture of her kitchen, after which she 'showed' the picture to the kitchen and said "see?"

*camping

Well Vera had her first camping experience this weekend. She would probably tell you she had a fantastic time - setting up the tent with daddy, poking around all the gear, feeding/watering Boone [as well as tricking him by throwing rocks - cracked herself up]. She also slept great - in the back of the truck with me. That was the part I was most worried about, but it was quite easy. She only popped up a couple times exclaiming "bats!" "bugs!" "boone!" before flopping over a couple times and beginning to snore [it helped I was going to bed too]. She probably got the best sleep of any of us... I happened to come down with a flu-like bug on the drive down, so my night was rather restless, cold and achy. I literally watched the moon slowly travel allllll the way across the sky, wondering if it would ever be morning. Ben slept in the tent, though he forgot his brand new sleeping bag/pad and slept on the cold hard ground [added later.. he did sleep in a bag, just not the nice new one!] :(

We headed out about 10:30 the next morning, planning to spend some time walking around Goblin Valley and the slot canyons, but Vera fell asleep within minutes of being in the carseat and I started to feel worse and worse. So we ended up just driving straight home! Strangely, though we didn't actually see what we went to see, and though I sat in the chair or laid in the truck the whole time, it was worth it. Worth it to drive through some beautiful country, worth it to see how happy and excited both Vera and Ben were, bustling around fixing up camp, getting dinner ready, etc. We had a cozy little soup dinner too and it was fun just being a family.

..so proud and happy to help with the tent..

..we were laughing at what a dusty little raggamuffin she was here and then as I took the picture she let out a big belch. lovely..

*

It was an old-fashioned day of family fun at the park today :)

*then and now

I like to look back in the picture files. A year ago today it looks like my mom was visiting. I remember we spent a lot of our time outside getting the garden planted - tried to put Vera in the playpen, but she would not have it. She was literally scaling the walls, about to tip it over before I took her out. Aren't babies supposed to like playpens - like Uncle Jail-bird Joey? [someone please know that reference...]


We've been spending a lot of time outdoors as well - explains my lack of posting here [feels good to be away from the internet and tv!]. We go to the park about 3 times a day to go on the slide [she is a regular-grown-up little kid now - all by herself!] and look for the ducklings and goslings [babies, where arrrre you? we call :)] pick flowers in the backyard, fetch parsley and cilantro for dinner, water the pansies and tomatoes, pick weeds, etc. Vera knows which are the weeds and loves to throw them out to the street or into the lawn. She also loves to blow dandelion seeds.. this slows down our walks considerably as we always have to have a 'new' one in hand. So that's what we're up to lately!

Also in case you're wondering, Ben passed his exams!! He is now a doctoral candidate - done with all the schooling and ready to start researching and writing his dissertation. We're not going anywhere for a while :)

*los juguetes

I've been meaning* to write about some of the toys that I would buy [or be given/handed-down :)] again. I have learned along the way the things that capture her attention and the things that just haven't - as cute as some of them are.

So here's a small selection of the toys that Vera loooves and that I would recommend to others:

Wooden ring stacker thing: As simple as this is, she still likes to put it together often. The wood makes such a satisfying sound as it plunks down. The smaller ones also serve as pretend panqueques :) I bought ours at Ikea for $6!

Chicco car shape sorter: This one has held her attention since before she could even army-crawl! First she'd play with the shapes, then she could push the car around, then she'd sort the shapes with my help [I loved it when I first noticed how she'd mimic finding the right slot "no, no, no, no, yes!"], and now she can do it really easily on her own and can identify the colors and stars/circles, etc. My sister handed this one down :)



Tea set: She loves her tea set! I try to remember to keep it put away in her little cupboards or she'd be asking me to fill it with water all day long. She's quite adept at pouring us each a cup now - though it's usually coffee, not tea now that she pours.

Push wagon/stroller: We were going to get her a beautiful Haba one for Christmas, but it didn't work out [gifter please see forthcoming email]. I got her this one at a garage sale for 3$. It's definitely not as cute as the Haba one but, it works great and is used all throughout the day [a little lesson for me in snobbery?].

Dragon push toy: She literally laughed out loud when she first opened this one at Christmas and has continued to play with it since [sometimes Dragon is used more like a baseball bat and is therefore taken away :)]. Both Stella and our neighbors' little guy laugh out loud at him as well - this one is cute and wooden and probably German - and worth it :)

Blocks: while sometimes it seems all they're there for is for her to scatter and knock over, they're still so great and versatile. She started by knocking over our towers, moved on to building small ones of her own and identifying the little pictures. Now she can identify some of the letters and builds them into long trains and even sautees them into soup and 'cake' [not muffins, mind you].

[on a similar note, as cute as soft blocks are, they didn't get as much play as I thought they would have.]

*meaning to write about this for a long time. in fact we've lost the contents on two laptops while I gathered pictures for this post! so I just gave some links...

*mi chiquita

I'm still finding it too early to tell if Vera will be a girly girl, though she did choose these glasses over all the others [at REI with Daddy]. I wish I caught the enormous smile when she first showed me - so proud and happy.

*el campeón

So Ben finished his last written exam yesterday and feels it couldn't have gone better! I was never on the edge of my seat to find that out - I knew he would do amazingly. Last night a friend offered [thank you!!] to watch Vera and so the two of us went out to celebrate. We went to a place that doesn't even allow anyone under 21, which made it feel extra special :) We both had some amazing food and beer [not so readily available in the great state of UT]. He still has his oral exams next Wednesday and will have to grade papers/exams for his own class, but essentially summer vacation starts today :) :)

*ABCs

Vera's singing is cracking me up lately. I think it may come from watching this video a couple times?

*los examenes

Ben takes his comprehensive exams tomorrow!!! As in this is the culmination of these five years of studying. I meant to take a picture of the hundreds of books he's read, but I'm sure you can imagine them. Ben is most definitely the most determined, hard-working, perseverant person I know and I am so proud of him for getting to this point!! We'll find out next week whether he's passed, but I'm sure I'll know tomorrow when he comes home with a big triumphant smile :)

*one and three-quarters

I just met a little girl who said she was three and three-quarters - remember when those fractions were so important? Well Vera is officially one and three-quarters today. She is amazing us every day with her new words and ideas and mind-workings. It seems just in the past week she's really started saying fluid two-word 'sentences' - instead of daddy.bye.go, it's bye bye, Daddy! Mommy, come! Ubba, We-ah's! [that is "Vera's Bunny" :)]. Her most repeated phrases are 'sit down', 'lay down', 'like it', 'mmmmm good!' and 'cook!'

She also seems to be growing up a bit in her play, and acts like that child who wants this here and that there and you do this while I do this [know what I mean?]. She's really into lining up all her chairs down on the floor and making me or Stella or anyone else sit and say chugga chugga choo choo with her. I feel bad when her little friends aren't interested in her game :) We had fun the other night as she made Bunny, Monkey and Mommy all "lay down!" with his or her own book:

*

One thing I remember from my bit of Montessori reading is the idea of not breaking "the flow." When your child is absorbed in something: lining up blocks, taking a lid on-and-off, reciting her abc's or sitting on the bottom step of the stairs coloring quietly on her own [that's what we're doing now :) ], don't interrupt to say, "wow, good job! whatcha doing? oohh look at that." Don't break the flow of their concentration. Sometimes I forget, and the moment I say something the magic is broken and she moves on to something else. It's so fun to stand by quietly myself and just watch her little brain working..

*frump

Vera rediscovered this summer hat and sparkly tutu and put them on first thing yesterday morning. Also happened to be wearing the only clean pair of jammies whose feet had to be cut out as she grew. I couldn't keep from laughing - and taking pictures.

[Bunny had gone 'poopoo' and needed a clean diaper]

[here Bunny is wearing size 2T jammies (the favorite "purples") and Vera is showing us her toes..]

*

*

In case you were wondering, Vera is again taking naps! I think it was day 9 of the strike that she cried for a whole hour before falling asleep [for a measly 30 min.]. The next day she cried just a minute and slept an hour. Yesterday 2 hours! Also she hasn't cried at bedtime 3 nights in a row [this is huge, it was really upsetting to both of us :( ]. I basically have had the philosophy throughout these episodes [of not napping, not eating, only wanting milk in a bottle, only wearing socks if they're pink...] to stick to the routine. Of course with a little flexibility [hard to define, but you know what I mean?] and lots of love, but I stick to it. I continue to offer her vegetables, ignore the pleas [with an exception or two] for the bottle, and continue to put her down for her nap. Eventually things settle back and she forgets that it was all such a big deal. If any of you momma friends need advice on that front [or any other], don't hesitate to email or call! Cause I'm like an expert at this* :)


*[kidding, in case you can't read the sarcasm via the screen...]

*I ♥ tulips

I love them. They're so clean looking, so bright and cheery - and proof that winter is passed. I have fond memories of them all over our garden growing up, of seeing them at Queen Anne Thriftway + Pike's Place during college, of visiting the Tulip-fest with Tamara, and now of having my very own little collection. Each fall here I've bought a handful at the last farmer's market and every Spring get to enjoy that many more! This year I need to get some red ones and yellow ones.

**my cousin suggested the other day of giving bulbs as a housewarming gift.. what a great idea...**

*

...

Vera's diapers were starting to get a little.... stinky and stained.. so we went out this morning to hang them in the bright, hot sun. I made a makeshift clothesline over the vegetable garden while Vera and Stella dug in the dirt, picked dandelions and sometimes helped by handing me clothespins. I sprayed lemon juice on the stains and they hung all day in the sun - when I took them down they definitely looked a little whiter and brighter. I love the homeyness of clothes on the line. However, does anyone know how to get line-dried clothes to feel soft? Do I have to put them all in the dryer for a bit afterwards?

...and these are the beginnings of beets!

*el vuelo

I just liked these pictures from our traveling days, and thought I'd share. How do you like the sling picture - kind of SouleMama, eh? I really do love using a sling for airports - I usually am maneuvering the whole thing by myself, and a stroller just doesn't work when you also have to wheel a suitcase and a carseat. Plus it's fun and you get to snuggle with your baby :)

I should count how many times I've flown solo with Vera - I'd say at least.... 10 - maybe more. When she was tiny, it was easy to just nurse her to sleep. The worst was when she was about 9 months old - seriously not fun. I probably ran out of my bag of 'tricks' before we even took off and she was screaming to get down and crawl down the aisle. It really got better at a little over a year, once she knew what an airplane was and could point out things and generally just understand more. I think that flight we spent a good hour pointing out every cat and dog in the sky mall magazine [a very good resource for traveling with a child!].

This time, on the way up, it could not have been more perfect. She was so well-behaved, happy and excited to be on an airplane - and then even more excited to be on the shuttle to get the car. The flight home, however, was potentially awful - right at naptime, but she would not fall asleep! I prayed and prayed for her to just close her eyes.. instead God sent 3 angelic flight attendants to entertain us at the back of the plane :) She finally fell asleep literally as we landed and I got to carry the limpest, most deadest weight imaginable all the way to baggage. Anyway.. sorry this is probably the most boring post ever. Would you like me to detail each and every flight we've taken together? :)

*parte final

We got to spend our last day and a half with my cousin Beth and her sweet, growing little family. Vera and Pierce had some fun running around, rolling on the floor and turning some circles. Bathtime was pretty cute too, though I didn't have my camera. Nothing like cousin or sibling baths :) Vera was really tired of traveling by this time though, and the morning we left I was about done with her myself :) Pierce was an adorable, easy-going host and it was so great to see them play together - we'll have to go back and stay there at the beginning of the trip...

..definitely excited about the baby! it made me really nervous, but she did great..

..sweet baby Paige - we were so happy to meet her!..

*parte dos

We also got to spend a couple days with Julie and Eva!!! It was so much fun - just about the cutest little mama/daughter pair you can imagine :) Vera had a hard time as the week went on going to bed late, meeting all sorts of new people + places, so she sadly wasn't quite herself. I could tell though that these two girls love to play and be silly and would be the cutest little friends. Julie started things off well by letting Vera help make chocolate chip cookies on the floor - making as big or little a mess as she wished. When Eva got up from her nap, they stood at the little table dipping warm cookies in milk.. I wish I didn't forget the camera that day!!! I'm pretty sure I can remember in my head the picture of those two cuties with chocolate smeared all over their cheeks :) Vera also warmed up a bit playing in Eva's adorable cardboard house as well as ring-around-the-rosies outside. Shoot, why can't we live by all our friends?

... how cute is this little face?? she really knows when you're taking her picture :) ...

... I suggested they held hands.. a little awkward and forced, but still cute :) ...

... see here for a similar picture exactly a year ago ...