Well our little girl is fast becoming mobile. Not only is she crawling with great speed and agility, she has started climbing. One step up. I suppose we can't get away with just one baby gate now. We are going to have to get three - to block up, down, and down.
She popped out two bottom teeth this month and seems to be working on a couple of top ones. She plays with them all day with her tongue, which makes her look like a crazed (yet cute) hippopotamus creeping around the house. We are still working on different foods, though she barely seems interested in actually eating anything. Butternut squash seems to be a favorite along with teething biscuits and puffs. Next month: nuts!
Now that she can move herself everywhere, she has taken great interest in Mason's room where there are a lot of things to mouth. His potty, books, his bed, night lights (my morning routine is unplugging them before she can get to them, don't worry Dad!), trains, the stacking toy, his red Crocs, his flip flops, his water bottle, and the few baby-oriented toys we actually do have in there for her, but those pale in comparison. She also has taken to my shoe collection, unrolling the toilet paper, and Zola's tail (I believe that was a point of fascination for Mason, too).
Kenzie is definitely proving herself to be a tough girl, Though she has to be to stand up to Mason's barrage of kisses, hugs, and body slams that start every day after he comes into our room and asks: "Is Kenzie awake?"
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Top 10 Restaurant Experiences
Just because food is on my mind....
1. Well this is a three-way tie because I love all things Paris:
3. The Gun Barrell in Jackson Hole, WY. Velvet elk and buffalo ribs. OMG.
4. Eating fresh-caught bbq'd fish at the island's only "restaurant" with my toes in the sand on the Perhentians in Malaysia after a long day of scuba diving.
5. Ruth's Chris Steak House - yes it's a chain, but definitely the best steak I've ever had and mashed potatoes that melted in your mouth. Soooo happy one is coming to Asheville in the Fall. Just in time for a certain couple's 5-year-anniversary.
6. Saint Pierre in Singapore - when I was working as a Tour Guide in Southeast Asia, one of my passengers was this little Frenchman (Loic) who was a chef. He wanted to try the best French restaurant in Singapore at the end of our trip and kindly invited me to dinner. Now, this was (I think) the first time I'd had a multi-course dinner with inter-course palate cleansers and everything, so it was unreal. And I had been eating $1 street food for months, so it was nice to, you know, go gourmet.
7. In 'n Out Burger - any time, any place (in CA, AZ, NV, TX, or UT that is). Best burger, fries, and shakes ever and they have a pretty awesome story.
8. This little hole-in-the-wall place in Ravenna, Italy that had the best risotto I've ever had. Wish I remembered the name...
9. The little hole-in-the-wall place in Sorrento, Italy that had the best gnocchi I've ever had. I ate it overlooking the Amalfi coast, which was also pretty awesome.
10. Wagamama's in London - when I studied abroad in 1997 this place was pretty new, but the concept was awesome. Benches and long tables for community dining and an open kitchen. The menu (noodle or rice dishes) was amazing and fresh (we found that the Raw Juice was Mason's favorite during our trip last year). Now that they've gone global, I think they are a little lacking in the ingenuity department, but still good food. This dining experience also represented a lot of what London was for me.
1. Well this is a three-way tie because I love all things Paris:
- Les Fetes Galantes - because it is the little hole-in-the-wall Parisian restaurant that you don't expect much out of, but gives you things like to-die-for escargot ragout and chocolate bombe cakes.
- Casa Olympe - because it was our honeymoon.
- Le Souffle - because I first had escargots here when I visited with my dad when I was 14 year old and then I first had a Cuban cigar on the tail end of my honeymoon. Both were life-changing.
3. The Gun Barrell in Jackson Hole, WY. Velvet elk and buffalo ribs. OMG.
4. Eating fresh-caught bbq'd fish at the island's only "restaurant" with my toes in the sand on the Perhentians in Malaysia after a long day of scuba diving.
5. Ruth's Chris Steak House - yes it's a chain, but definitely the best steak I've ever had and mashed potatoes that melted in your mouth. Soooo happy one is coming to Asheville in the Fall. Just in time for a certain couple's 5-year-anniversary.
6. Saint Pierre in Singapore - when I was working as a Tour Guide in Southeast Asia, one of my passengers was this little Frenchman (Loic) who was a chef. He wanted to try the best French restaurant in Singapore at the end of our trip and kindly invited me to dinner. Now, this was (I think) the first time I'd had a multi-course dinner with inter-course palate cleansers and everything, so it was unreal. And I had been eating $1 street food for months, so it was nice to, you know, go gourmet.
7. In 'n Out Burger - any time, any place (in CA, AZ, NV, TX, or UT that is). Best burger, fries, and shakes ever and they have a pretty awesome story.
8. This little hole-in-the-wall place in Ravenna, Italy that had the best risotto I've ever had. Wish I remembered the name...
9. The little hole-in-the-wall place in Sorrento, Italy that had the best gnocchi I've ever had. I ate it overlooking the Amalfi coast, which was also pretty awesome.
10. Wagamama's in London - when I studied abroad in 1997 this place was pretty new, but the concept was awesome. Benches and long tables for community dining and an open kitchen. The menu (noodle or rice dishes) was amazing and fresh (we found that the Raw Juice was Mason's favorite during our trip last year). Now that they've gone global, I think they are a little lacking in the ingenuity department, but still good food. This dining experience also represented a lot of what London was for me.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Montessori-ing
This summer has been an adventure or sorts to figure out how to best entertain a 3 year old and a 6-8 month old during the day time hours. This is exponentially harder when I'm supposed to also be working a part-time job as an Executive Director. Luckily June was pretty much covered between parents in town (i.e. free babysitting) and vacation (i.e. free babysitting) and July we had Mom's Morning Outs every Wednesday for Mason, but this left approximately 50 days of the summer that we had to get creative.
Now, I figured out pretty quickly that it was counter-productive and a tad bit of child-neglect to try to work during the day while the kids played, so we figured out a new system. Early mornings, I got about an hour of work in, then spent the day entertaining the kids with Health Adventure, parks, playgrounds, grocery stores, streams, and our garden. Then at night after the kids went down, I got in another 4-5 hours of work. While not ideal for my job, I was at least getting it done and not having to stress out during the day that I wasn't doing either of my jobs as a mother or director very well.
Part of this process was also coming up with some more effective "work time" at home - akin to what Mason was used to from school. We met with the teachers several times last year and knew what his favorite "works" (i.e. mini-life skills) were, so had started the process of replicating them at home, so he could have some structured time (instead of just playing with toys - he responds really well, we've found, to focused play). We had started this project around Christmas right after Kenzie was born and we had a lot of snow days and not a lot of outside time. We only put together one or two works, but got some of the basics.
This summer I decided to dig in a little deeper and get the remainder of the things we needed to have some complete works. I had fun perusing the web for some ideas on how to put things together and what supplies were needed. I was happy to find a blog devoted to showcasing the Montessori method and works which photographs and details various works. I also found some other resources on how to effectively bring a Montessori education home (and when to let school do its thing) and also an apropos letter to parents.
I especially love some of the more advanced ideas of having meditation work, color association and letter work, nature and home life work, but I don't think Mason is quite there yet. At this age we figured he would really need:
I found it AMAZING how much of this stuff can be picked up at a Goodwill. Granted we perused every single one in town, but found almost everything we needed (trays, bowls, utensils, etc) and only had to buy a few things from the Montessori Services catalogue. It was a lot of fun hunting for everything and bringing it home to let him explore. The only wish I had is that there were more space just to have them out and set up, so he didn't have to ask me every time he wanted to do something. I guess when we finish the basement...
Now, I figured out pretty quickly that it was counter-productive and a tad bit of child-neglect to try to work during the day while the kids played, so we figured out a new system. Early mornings, I got about an hour of work in, then spent the day entertaining the kids with Health Adventure, parks, playgrounds, grocery stores, streams, and our garden. Then at night after the kids went down, I got in another 4-5 hours of work. While not ideal for my job, I was at least getting it done and not having to stress out during the day that I wasn't doing either of my jobs as a mother or director very well.
Part of this process was also coming up with some more effective "work time" at home - akin to what Mason was used to from school. We met with the teachers several times last year and knew what his favorite "works" (i.e. mini-life skills) were, so had started the process of replicating them at home, so he could have some structured time (instead of just playing with toys - he responds really well, we've found, to focused play). We had started this project around Christmas right after Kenzie was born and we had a lot of snow days and not a lot of outside time. We only put together one or two works, but got some of the basics.
This summer I decided to dig in a little deeper and get the remainder of the things we needed to have some complete works. I had fun perusing the web for some ideas on how to put things together and what supplies were needed. I was happy to find a blog devoted to showcasing the Montessori method and works which photographs and details various works. I also found some other resources on how to effectively bring a Montessori education home (and when to let school do its thing) and also an apropos letter to parents.
I especially love some of the more advanced ideas of having meditation work, color association and letter work, nature and home life work, but I don't think Mason is quite there yet. At this age we figured he would really need:
- Sorting (colored buttons, containers or trays with multiple compartments)
- Tong (using tongs to move corks or fuzzy balls from one container to another)
- Washing (plastic toy, sponge, soap/water)
- Mixing (small whisk, bowl, any kitchen staple that can be stirred)
- Matching (we got a cute set of matching cards at Christmas and Mason is a champ!)
- Stamping (ink pad, stamps, paper)
- Measuring (measuring cup, bowl...a little beyond him right now)
- Pouring (sake cups/bottle, water - this is his FAVORITE)
- Juicing (small plastic juicer, oranges, lemons, etc)
- Spooning (bowls, lentils or rice, spoons of various shapes/sizes)
- Hammer (clay, tees, hammer - second FAVORITE)
- Beading (beads, string)
- Yoga (yoga cards) - we haven't tried this one yet, but I bet he's game
- Sewing (hoop, fabric, bright string/yarn) - again haven't tried this one yet
I found it AMAZING how much of this stuff can be picked up at a Goodwill. Granted we perused every single one in town, but found almost everything we needed (trays, bowls, utensils, etc) and only had to buy a few things from the Montessori Services catalogue. It was a lot of fun hunting for everything and bringing it home to let him explore. The only wish I had is that there were more space just to have them out and set up, so he didn't have to ask me every time he wanted to do something. I guess when we finish the basement...
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