*

Our zoo has a special exhibit going on right now with pretty realistic, moving, roaring, spitting dinosaurs scattered around the park. Vera had already been there with Ben, and so the whole ride there she assured me that they are just pretend and not to be scared. Well she was pretty scared! We had a fun morning checking them out with our friends. Thankful for the zoo membership my brother's family got us for Christmas!

I bribed her to take this picture with me:

Sam's not scared! Or at least doesn't know quite what to think...

*ocho mesitos!

8 months already!! I hate to say it, because we all know it's true, but time is flying by. Seriously! Now that she's past the small baby stage, I want it to slow..down.. We all love this little cutie so much - she brings so much happiness and fun into our lives. She's on the verge of crawling, maybe another week or two [Vera crawled at exactly 8 mos.]. She has two little toofs on the bottom now and her hair is growing and not standing straight up anymore. She's finally started to seem interested in reading books, or is at least noticing the pictures. She's never been either excited about or averse to baby food, but seems to really like the tiny [more like micro] bits of solid food I've started giving her: mango, avocado and grape so far. I have a horrible suspicion that she is going to have major problems with dairy, which would be -to quote Vera via Strawberry Shortcake- the worst thing that could happen!! I'll try yogurt again in a month or so - the two times she's had it she seemed to have a major tummy ache the rest of the day: hopefully it's just coincidence. I just love her little babbling voice, when she puts her head on my shoulder, how she's started to suck her thumb [today she fell back on her head and was crying pretty hard. I cuddled her against my chest and she leaned against me, sucking her thumb for several minutes - it was really adorable], how she loves to laugh with Vera: it's all so fun.

She still doesn't nap well - anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour (once in a while longer). Nighttime is much much better than my last report. She goes to bed between 6-7 and sleeps until 5-6am when I feed her and put her back down for another hour or two. If she wakes before then I ignore her and she falls back asleep on her own pretty quickly, usually without even crying. She's been sleeping downstairs in the guest room for a few weeks now which has helped - it has actually been really easy! One night [the one I proclaimed on facebook] she slept alll the way through. It hasn't happened again, but I'm fine with waking once a night.

Every day when she wakes up from a nap we knock on Daddy's door to say hi and play a couple peek-a-boos. She gets so excited - I love it.

hanging out with daddy for a minute

*una lista

I love lists. My sister's friend had a blog devoted to just lists of things which I thought was a great idea [she hasn't posted a new one in at least a year - are you reading this?]. Isn't it fun to get inspired suddenly to write a random list? I hate when a good list starts in my head when I'm out on a walk or something without a pen.

Anyway, I found this one in my cookbook binder today and I think I'm going to put it up in my cupboard. It's always so hard to think of what to make for dinner! This was a list of the top 20 meals I make on a semi-regular basis. I would really love to hear anyone's -say- top 5 list in the comments :) I like new ideas and am more likely to make it if someone I know [and trust] says make this!

In no particular order. With comments because I feel like commenting on them:

1. spaghetti
2. 5 1/2 hour no peek stew [via Rosie]
3. broccoli pasta [a nostalgic favorite from San Diego days and my friend, SH. Ben doesn't love it.]
4. chile verde [I have no idea how this made it on the list. maybe I made it for the first/only time that day]
5. meatloaf
6. rice and bean bowls w/ salsa, avocado, etc. [I could eat this every other day]
7. tomato/feta/basil/pinenut pasta [via Rosie. I ♥ it! ask if you want the recipe!]
8. lasagne [I like it w/ italian sausage, spinach, bechamel, red sauce and lots of mozzarella]
9. meat + vegetable [so simple but I never think of it. what my parents eat every day]
10. taco soup [via Jenny. soo good]
11. chinese chicken salad [Rosie's recipe is the best]
12. grilled cheese and tomato soup
13. chicken pot pie [I only made it once but Ina Garten's recipe is SO GOOD]
14. empanadas [I use an old recipe from saveur... I love empanadas. I could eat like 20]
15. crockpot chicken w/ greens [I made this once. can't remember]
16. pizza [jamie oliver's dough recipe + tips from Benji at Luna Notte: milk and honey]
17. baked rigatoni with italian sausage, marinara and mozzarella
18. creamy polenta [ben doesn't love polenta: I do.]
19. pasta genovese [a favorite from a jamie oliver cookbook: pesto, green beans, potatoes, parmesan]
20. macaroni and cheese

and 5 more I added today:
21. spiced lentil tacos [epicurious.com]
22. burritos with refried beans, cilantro rice and homemade tortillas [made with coconut oil, yum]
23. pasta salad with leftover chicken, random vegetables and a little balsamic vinegar
24. grilled burgers [how was this not on my original 20?]
25. panini with prosciutto and grilled summer vegetables. [so so good, I always forget about this one.]

and Ben added:
26. fish and chips [we get this good frozen battered cod at whole foods and those frozen sweet potato fries. yum. vera loves dipping the fish in malt vinegar!]

*please do add a mini list in the comments!* even if it's just carob chips ;)

*

Ben got this old swing set from craigslist this weekend. It was going to be $20, but after he had to purchase a metal file to get the old bolts loose as well as kill the wasps' nest inside, she let him have it for free. Totally brings me back to our old swing set on Iris Street - especially the 2-seater see-saw swing. So far it's a hit!

*firefly (luciénaga?)

The other day Vera had a great idea [she always has "an idea!!"] - she put her wings on and then had Ben duct tape this flower planter to her bottom for a tail. She put a small bottle of nail polish in the tail "so that it will glow." Pretty stinkin cute... and funny. She got really mad because Ben probably couldn't keep a straight face and took pictures - and then got really mad because she didn't want me to even see the costume [I was putting baby to bed]. The whole thing ended with her having a bit of a fit in time-out. Poor thing :)

*

Edie loves this - I set her down in front of the toy box and she rifles through the whole thing. It keeps her busy for while - like long enough for me to do the dishes. One of those "antiSoulemama" moments we have around here :)

mom, look at this one!

*amiguitos

This is Fiona - Edie's first little baby friend ♥. Fiona just turned 1 and was 5 months old when Edie was born. It's been fun to see the age gap between them slowly get smaller and smaller. It will be so fun to see them play together!

Vera and Jack (her big brother) are about the same age difference and they have always been the greatest little friends, 2 peas in a pod for the most part. They definitely love being super silly together - one of the first times we went for a walk with them they shouted nonsense words back and forth from their strollers the whole time, laughing hysterically. The last couple times we've gotten together they come marching in from the playroom playing their instruments in a little show, it's really cute. Here was a perfect little photo opportunity as they read together on his little couch - I was about half a second too late and will have to try again:

Edie at their house practicing crawling skills:

*del jardín

*

she *loves* rolling around on our bed!

*la pintura

Vera has always loved to paint, but until recently she didn't get to do it too often. It always seemed like such a hassle and a pain to get everything out, to cover surfaces, get her clean water etc. However, in the last couple months she has been painting every single day. I just let it go and realized it's not that big a deal. Sure her space is kind of a mess, but it doesn't extend elsewhere. I do get her clean water, but she pours her own paint, finds her own paper and can pretty much do it independently. Once in a while I clean up her table and organize her paintings - which, of course, are impossible to throw away! I love each and every one :)

Here's a few...

a TV in the middle, a bottle of rainbow juice on the left:

She likes to fold the paper to make a mirror image [learned at preschool]. This was Edie's birth announcement which I've been meaning to post on here [for 4 months now] since I got really disorganized sending them out and lost track of who got one! sorry if you were one of those!

one of many family portraits - I love the little Eden:

the art table:

She pretty much does what she wants. I walked downstairs here as she was painting her hands to make prints:

*

Ben sent me this picture while I was at work today - it made me smile.

"Edie's rehearsal dinner"

*el pan

Hopefully Vera learns better from her grandma than me: my bread is always heavy and dense - my mom's is light and fluffy and heavenly :)

*

Ben hid some treasure for Vera in her sandbox today: nuts, bolts, marbles and pennies. She wanted "a lot of jars" to store her treasure in and came in to tell me she also needed "a lot of tops." I wasn't able to help her and so she got busy making her own. I used to love cutting things up, gluing and taping them together to make what I needed - it's so fun to see Vera be creative in that way. Which reminds me that she didn't watch anything this afternoon and didn't even ask! This is what I'd like every afternoon...

*una ensalada

My parents treated Ben and I out to a fancy dinner date this week, it was such a treat - we both LOVE to go out to eat.

Our salad was so incredibly good that we recreated it the next night:

lettuce [that heirloom lettuce costco has now was perfect]
fava beans [just blanched and shelled]
pepitas [I sauteed the raw trader joe's ones in olive oil and salt]
whole mint leaves

shaved ricotta salata

red wine vinegar
honey
a very little bit of olive oil
salt+pepper
[My mom made the vinaigrette, so I don't know the proportions]

I'm telling you, it was so delicious!! Obviously I don't get the credit, but I was sure pleased that I was able to copy it so well :)

*7 mesitos

These last couple months Edie really has started to show us her personality, and it's been so much fun! Not so much when we're out in public, but at home she laughs and smiles and babbles a lot [now saying babababa instead of just uhhhhhh]. She's started kind of playing with us - if I try to change her diaper on our bed, she flips over real fast, looks back at me with a grin and starts rolling all over trying to get away. She loves to grab my hair and pull hard, twisting it around her drooly little fingers. I probably shouldn't yelp and say HEY! - she definitely thinks it's funny. She also just started putting her little head on my shoulder once in a while in a little act of affection - so sweet, Vera was never a cuddler as a baby [she is more now].

She is still waking usually twice a night - sometimes 3 times and wonderfully last night just once at 5am. I would like her to sleep all the way through, but actually kind of enjoy a middle of the night cuddling time with her - just one though... we need to figure out how to make that work because she does not need to be waking 3 times! I don't let her fuss back to sleep if it's taking too long, because it doesn't seem fair to sleeping Vera. Anyway, we'll see what I report at 8 mos. :)

she was actually laughing here because she'd just peed on our bed: nice.

♥

*el parque

last week:

***

*dando pecho

I thought I'd share a little about my new job! After nearly a month of training, in the last few weeks I've finally been able to start working as a lactation counselor. I can't tell you how much I have learned - it is really amazing! You might remember me complaining about how badly nursing went with Edie [you might not have caught how truly horrendous it was - I'm not kidding and I am surprised myself that I stuck with it!]. Well as I go through my reading, training seminars and conversations, I can make a long long list of all the things I Wish I Had Known. That's really why I'm so excited to have this job - to help moms to succeed in feeding their babies the best*, to educate them beforehand and to be there when things aren't going well. When I was having problems with Edie, a few of you friends gave me advice and I can't tell you how invaluable that was.

It's amazing the misconceptions that are out there, as well as the lack of "baby-friendly" practices in the hospitals. I read, for instance, that over 50% of "breastfed" (not babies who are going to be formula-fed) babies are given formula supplements in the hospital! I can tell you from experience (with Vera) that that is setting you up for some serious difficulties with breastfeeding and immediately increases your chance of weaning early. Another misconception is that so many mothers think they don't produce enough, or that their milk started "drying up" - when in fact it's really rare. Not that they are lying - they really perceive it that way and it's sad because there are many ways to help them either produce more or see that they are producing enough. It is the #1 reason babies are weaned early.

ARG. I had written a whole lot more, edited and saved it last night to find it mostly erased just now. I'm just going to leave the above as it is now. Anyway, I'm really excited about the job - especially that I get to speak a lot of Spanish! I've had several moms give me a sincere thank you and that is such a big reward.

*I don't want to sound preachy or know-it-all or anything with all this - I just want to share what I've learned! Breastfeeding vs. formula has become so polemic lately and that's really sad. Formula isn't evil - my one brother who was formula-fed is the most smart, healthy, successful, affectionate one of us. But research does show that breastfeeding is so incredibly beneficial and superior in so many ways: I just wouldn't want someone to resort to formula because there wasn't anyone there to help/educate them otherwise. I work at a low income clinic and these are the moms who really need the benefits of breastfeeding both for their babies and themselves!

**In case you're wondering - I'm only working 8-10 hours a week. The job is super flexible and most of my hours are during preschool and nap times when Ben isn't too inconvenienced by watching the girls. I feel really blessed to be able to do this!

*matchy