Lucky

Even though tonight I broke our salad spinner and then 10 minutes later fell down the basement stairs (ouch that really hurts), I still feel pretty fortunate tonight because of this conversation:

Chris:  Can you make it up the stairs for one last hug good night?
Me:  Yep
Milo:  Are you feeling better Mommy?  I always love you.
Me:  Milo, I'm pretty lucky to have you as my Milo.
Milo:  I'm pretty lucky to be your Milo.

Raspberry Zinger Recipe

We have recently started a love affair with sweetened condensed milk.  It all started here and after devouring that tray of yumminess, I realized we could make our favorite treats from the restaurant up the street.  Whole World, a little vegetarian restaurant just up the block from our house, has several delicious baked goods, but Chris and I almost always choose the raspberry zinger bar cookie.  It is a tasty mix of raspberry, chocolate and coconut.   I had searched for the recipe, but couldn't find it by that name.  So I made it up!  And it is pretty close and worth sharing.

Raspberry Bar Cookies

9 crushed graham crackers
3 tbspn butter, melted
seedless raspberry jam
1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk
chocolate chips
shredded coconut

Crush the crackers and mix in the melted butter.  Press into square greased pan (I used a 9x9).  Cover with a layer of raspberry jam.  Sprinkle coconut and a few chocolate chips over jam.  Pour half can of condensed milk over the top.  Sprinkle on more coconut and chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Enjoy.  (Sorry about the lack of a picture - they were eaten too quickly to photograph.)

Phases

We seem to have entered - fingers crossed this doesn't jinx it - a more positive phase of parenting.  The late winter and spring months were tough, tough, tough.  It wasn't just having a new baby around, it was also just a difficult time for Milo.  We were all trying to find our new roles and routines.  We've already established change doesn't come naturally to Milo and me, so we butted heads a lot as we were figuring things out.

This new period, though leaves us both some room to breathe.  Milo is happier and more interesting to be around lately.  He's telling imaginative stories, singing silly songs, playing fun games and doing considerate acts for others.  He is more able (willing?) to take direction and to help.  He's less likely to run away from me in public or throw a tantrum for a questionable reason.

Leo, too, is coming into his own.  We see his personality forming and like what we see.  He's napping more regularly and interacting with us in fun new ways.

It's not that we don't have our challenges - both big and small, but they seem like just challenges and not huge insurmountable mountains of trouble.  We're in a good phase now.  It's like the earlier haze is burning off and leaving a cool morning of joy to discover together.

Leo - 6 Months

This little man with his sometimes froggy and sometimes shy smile has totally taken my heart.  I'm a little cuckoo for this kid.  His giggles light up my world.   Leo keeps up a steady stream of baby babbles and loves to have conversations with people around him.

We had a nasty storm here last weekend and it knocked out power from Friday night through Monday night.  Our little Leo was a trooper through the hot craziness that ensued.  As my mom says, as long as I am with him for his milk supply he doesn't really care where he is or what's going on.  Even when his fine baby hair was drenched in sweat, he smiled and cooed and made the best of the situation.

Leo has started eating some baby food lately.  He's had sweet potato, avocado, squash, banana, pear and rice cereal mixed with apple sauce.  He wasn't quite sure about it at the beginning, but now really enjoys being put in his highchair and being fed.

Although I think, he's a strong (and very solid at around 17 pounds) baby, he's not much of a mover.  He can roll from tummy to back, but doesn't do it too often.  He can and does scootch around on his back and is working on lifting his hips off the ground on his tummy.   He can also sit up by himself if placed in that position.    

Leo also has a tooth!  I have no idea the technical name for the tooth, but it is what I refer to as a vampire tooth.  This little vampire prefers to grab hair rather than suck blood though.

Summer "Bucket" List

In the spirit of the first day of summer, I am sharing our summer bucket list.  Some of the items are a little vague, but we had a good time coming up with the list and creating the actual document.  Our version is modeled after this one (and actually it seems I took a few of her list items, too!), but instead of a canvas ours is a piece of cardboard that came packaged with a new mattress protector.  And I'm not a designer, so our isn't quite as cute.  But the point is we have a list of fun things to do to check off!


Summer Fun List
Be Silly
Find a new park
Visit Zoombezi Bay
Pack a picnic
Blow bubbles
Make a new friend
Pick berries
Play happy things
Ride a train
Splash in fountains

(Items in italics are Milo's suggestions)
(We've already checked off two items)

Water

Over Popsicles in the backyard one evening before bed a few weeks ago, Milo and I had the most amazing conversation.  The amazing part wasn't so much the content, but the give and take of actual ideas and facts.  We were talking about water - where it comes from, how it gets places, what we do with it.  After each tidbit of information I would add to the conversation, he would solemnly nod and say "that's right" and then contribute more information.  Water: it brings us together and causes us to reflect.

Reflecting back on our talk, I realized most of our facts came from this book which we had checked out of the library last year and read many times.  It must have made an impression. 

Barefoot child in the rain

With summer in full swing, we have already had many chances to explore the properties of water.  The water we use to give the garden a drink comes from either the house, the rain barrel or our backyard pump.  We play in several different fountains around town where the water shoots in inviting arcs.  Sometimes we even play barefoot in the front yard as water drops fall of out the sky.  Water: so fun, so basic and so precious.

Today Milo had a rough day.  In the span of 15 minutes at the park he fell and hit his head on the sidewalk and then a buddy bit him hard on his cheek.  It was difficult for me to see my sweet little guy so sad and hurt.  So this afternoon, the four of us visited a neighborhood ravine and splashed in the water together.  The now exuberant three-year-old was happily shouting "I'm hunting for minnows" as we explored the area.  And at the end of our night, his little hand found mine and he whispered "Mommy I like having water adventures with you" and my heart melted into a puddle of love right there on the banks of the ravine. Water: so healing.

Leo - 5 Months

Although we think Leo is more serious in nature, he still has the most amazing baby giggles.  Differences in height / space are sure to get the most laughs from him.  For some reason he finds it super funny to watch someone walk down the stairs.  If Milo is the one walking down, bonus laughs erupt.  Leo also likes playing airplane games on my knees and enjoys giving me an arm workout while I sing and lift him over my head during the Noble Duke of York song.

Speaking of workout, Leo is officially a worn baby.  While he will mostly be content in the carseat carrier on walks, he much prefers to be worn in the Boba and close to either me or Chris.  This is way easier than holding him, but it is still a workout carting around 16 extra pounds.

Leo likes tummy time while we play with him.  He only very rarely will roll from tummy to back and we have only seen him roll from back to tummy once.  However, he can cover some distance schooching along the floor on his back (he arches his back and presses his feet into the floor).  We sometimes find him stuck in a corner of his crib from all his moving around.  Favorite toys are a Very Hungry Caterpillar, floppy bunny and Captain Calamari.

Our little(ist) buddy slept through the night from about 8 weeks through 18 weeks and now mostly wakes to eat once per night.  Those were a nice 10 weeks of uninterrupted sleep, but it does seem he likes the nighttime nursing because he has started getting very distracted eating throughout the day.  


Leo has shy little smiles for people as we go about our day.   He is less gregarious than his brother was as a baby.  For this reason, I feel so lucky that I get the majority of his smiles, laughs and coos.  He's not giving out the baby cuteness for free, but when it comes it is so so sweet.