Heavy

Keeping track of all of Bug's words is becoming fairly impossible. But lately, favorite words include: heavy hot/cold She now can open some doors... the ones with lever-like handles that are at daycare and the doctor's office. She's added another gear to her running... she is very fast! She jumps with both feet, on the floor or down steps and curbs. When we were building a bed frame this weekend, she walked around the 2x8s turned on end like a balance beam, putting one foot in front of the other (holding onto my hands). She turns faucets on and off, if she can reach them. We read "Where the wild things are" last night and she pointed and said "Beasts, beasts!"

Words at 22 Months

Bug is now 22 months!

Favorite things to say this week:
"What is it?"
"Where did it go?"
Uh-oh.
Oooooh noooo!
Put it away.
Mine! It is mine.
Nooooo. (in answer to most everything) (Rarely, "Yes," clearly annunciated.)
Let's go!
Stuck (I stuck, it's stuck)
Yummy!
Whoa! It's a Whoa! (whenever balance is required... like walking on a bed, or a curb)

Words:
Brush
Baby, Mommy, Daddy, Julian
Dog, Bird, Cow ('ow) (and even, this morning, "Cat"). Of course every four legged creature is still a "Dala" first.
Choo-Choo. Trains, seen or heard, but also trucks.
Down! Jump! (once or twice, "up")
Home
Night-night
Potty (and Big Potty)
Water (for all liquids, or anything in a cup), (lately, "wat-y")
Pretty
Dress
Sock, Shoe
Eye, Nose
Feet, Toe, Belly, Body
Yellow (and she points to the right color)
Watch (said once, with confidence, pointing to a watch in a book)
Wet, Rain
Appy, Apple (for apples and pumpkins)
Hat
Book

Songs:
Twinkle Twinkle (loves "up above the world so bright")
ABC song.
Ring around the rosies ("all fall down!")

She understands far more than she says. This morning I told her to go get her jacket from the bedroom, and she came back with it promptly.

Words like Water

The words flow out of her now... every day new ones, things that surprise us. This morning, she reached for the brush, and said "brush." Quite clearly! She looked at the room we are painting, to be her room, and said, "yellow." The babysitter said they practiced that one last night. Yesterday evening when I picked her up, she pointed to the swing on the porch and said, "swing." I asked if they had been on it, and they had not.

Favorite words:
"Noooo." Said with emphasis and inflection, and shaking her head, to nearly everything she is asked.
Yes.
All done!
Uh-oh. It's uh-oh.
Mine! It's mine.
Mommy
Dada

Other words:
Choo-choo
duck
bird
dog (although all animals are still "Dala" first)
water
Julian
Thanks
Bye
Banana (or 'nana)

She will mimic lots of words, repeating after us.

21 Month Words

Favorite word: Mine. Is it mine? It's Mine! Mine, mine!

When she wants milk: mi? mi?

Put it on? (can mean put it on, or take it off).

Is it ot (hot)? (can mean is it is hot, or it is cold).

All animals that walk on four legs are "dala" (the name of our cat).

Words heard more than once: bird, nose, nana (banana), water, baby, potty, tissue, bottom, shoe (one syllable), Dada, home.

Words heard once, mimicked: Julian, elephant, Thank You.

A Glorious Fall Afternoon

A glorious fall afternoon. We picked ripe orange cherry tomatoes, clinging to the late fall vines. Bug smushed them in her mouth, and sometimes her hands, slippery seeds clinging to her shirt and chin. We picked peppers from bushy, vining plants-- bell, italian sweet, poblanos, and brilliant red thai hot peppers. A few curling late season string beans, Little Bug picked a fat yellow one and crunched on it. I cut bunches of herbs for drying. We lay on our backs in the grass, looking at the clouds. A monarch butterfly fluttered past, the smell of the herbs fragrant around us. Bug lay on her back next to me, her head pillowed on my arm, content, giggling at nothing in particular, commenting on this or that with complete sincerity, in Bug language, twisting to look into my eyes to make sure I was following. I was, every word.

Later, we went dancing, the Sunday milonga at Oasis. Bug and I went early, we had dinner there. When our pizza and quesadilla came, she was eager, climbed up onto her chair, reaching above her head to her plate, munching happily on pieces I cut for her. When her hunger was assuaged, she climbed onto my lap, watching me eat. Then she wriggled down, reached for my hand, and led me onto the dance floor. We danced, forwards and backwards, her giggles filling the room as she pulled us in circles until we were dizzy. Dad came later, her face lit up when she saw him, and she leaned her head on his chest, their faces so alike. They danced together, a dance of silly colgadas and volcadas and lots of laughter. She fell asleep on his shoulder. She looked at us when he put her in the stroller, but closed her eyes again. Seeing me free another tanguero took my hand, and I didn't refuse. My sweetheart took another partner. But the next tanda we danced together, and the next, and then the compacita without letting go of each other. We kept dancing through the song after the compacita that wasn't tango at all.

Little Bug was asleep when we got home, and the bed was ours.

Homemade Animal Crackers and Goldfish Crackers

In the last couple of years I've been trying to cut packaged and processed foods from our diet. But I don't want Bug to miss out on yummy and cute things like animal crackers and goldfish crackers. I had been buying those super-overpriced organic bunny snack crackers, but Bug was pretty lukewarm about them. So one day I tried them- they taste sort of like cardboard! Bleck.

One day it occured to me- why not make our own? Somebody has to have done it. And sure enough, there are lots of recipes out there. I tried a few, and have now come up with a couple that work really well for us.

I also spent far too much time searching for a goldfish cracker cookie cutter. The only one out there that looks like the pepperidge farm one is seriously overpriced for a tiny cookie cutter, and I haven't yet gotten around to enacting the DIY goldfish cookie cutter directions that are out on the web. Clever, but I don't have any soda cans lying around, and haven't been inspired enough to dig one out of someone else's recycling bin.

In the meantime I fell for the super-cuteness of all the other mini-cookie cutters out there- how cute are those little frogs, turtles, dolphins, and dragonflies! I've decided that I don't need my cheese crackers to look like Pepperidge Farm goldfish afterall. Bug doesn't seem to mind either.

So here is my Animal Cracker recipe. It makes me feel good that it is full of good stuff like ground flax (high omega 3s!) and oatmeal flour. There is a lot of butter in it... but I don't think that milk-fat is a bad thing for kids, especially as a treat. This is an adaptation of the King Arthur flour recipe:

Omega-3 Animal Cracker Recipe 

3/4 cup (12 tbsps) butter
1/8 cup organic cane sugar
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup of oat flour (I grind up rolled oats in an old coffee grinder)
1/2 cup ground flax (I grind up flax seeds in the coffee grinder too!)
2 tbsp water

I make it in a food processor. Cream the butter and sugar, then add the honey and vanilla. Mix the salt, baking powder, ww flour, oat flour, and flax. Add to the food processor, and pulse until it resembles coarse, wet sand. Add the water 1 tbsp at a time and pulse. Empty the food processor bowl into a ziplock or onto a piece of plastic wrap, and press together into a ball. Chill for 30 minutes. Roll out to 3/8 inch thick on a floured surface, and cut with floured cookie cutters. Bake at 350 until the edges get a touch of gold on them.

Omega-3 Goldfish Recipe 

8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup ground flax
1/4 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp water
In the food processor, grate the cheese into the bowl of the food processor using your grater attachment. Switch to the usual blade, add the butter, and blend until the large chunks are gone. Add the flour, flax, oat flour, and salt, pulse until it resembles coarse, wet sand. Add the water one tbsp at a time, and pulse until just combined. Empty the food processor bowl into a ziplock or onto a piece of plastic wrap, and press together into a ball. Chill for 30 minutes. Roll out to 3/8 inch thick on a floured surface, and cut with floured cookie cutters. Bake at 350 until the edges get a touch of gold on them. 

They are totally fun to make too! Of course I get lots of help, some of which includes poking holes into my nicely rolled dough and tossing handfuls of flour on the floor. The cookie cutters themselves fascinate her, she loves picking out the cutter and handing it to me, and washing them up in the sink afterwards.

They are soooo yummy. And they make good play too.

Roar!

Crunch!

It is pretty satisfying to start the week with full jars of yummy snack food to put into lunches!

20 month vocabulary

Bug's words at 20 months:
(things she says all the time)
Uh-oh
Bye
Shoe (two syllables "shoe-ah")
Bike
Ball
Stuck and "I stuck"
Mine
Mommy (mumma, mama, mommy)
Dadda
Wow
Eye
Dala (all dogs, cats, and sometimes other animals)
Whatisthat
It is a bike/ball.
Boo-boo

(heard them once or twice)
That is a bike.
Spudder (spider)
Crayon
Bottle

Maybe she said that?
Dropped it.
I'm fine.
Water
Dolly
More

Her own words:
mi-i, mi-i (pronounced with a long "i" as in "my", with the second i sound rising in question)- when she wants things-- food, milk, a toy

From our 20-month studio pictures.

"It is a bike."

Today when I picked her up at daycare little bug pointed at a tricycle and informed me "It is a bike." she then pointed to a ball and said, "It is a ball." The instances when we think we hear her say something are also multiplying. Yesterday she was throwing a fit in her car seat and I said to her that I didn't know what she wanted. I had just given her a peppermint a few minutes ago. She thought about this then said something that sounded very, very much like "I dropped it." Twice in a row. Also yesterday she suddenly burst into tears in the living room and David asked: "are you ok?" and she seemed to say, "I'm fine" which David thought might be like her yes nod, which usually means no.

This weekend when I was away in Tallahassee David texted me that she had just pointed at a spider and said, "spudder."

Ready to face the day with her babydoll, a purple stuffed animal that Julian made, and her sparkly blue canvas sneakers (her choice!)

Fall Wardrobe... A Work In Progress

Just last week it was looking so grim that I actually ordered some clothes. A girl just has to have a few new things for a new school year! For example, I gave been ridiculously envious of all of the cute stripey dresses out there this year... And after noticing bulgy-ness showing with some of my jersey tops, I was really wanting a sleek ponte knit top that might be a little more forgiving.

I received my order the Friday before labor day. What a disaster! On three out of four, the fabric was just so plastic-y that it made my skin prickle just thinking about it. Worse than those horrible poly knits of the 70s. The forth (a ponte knit top) had a nice hand, but the fit was terrible... Perfect on the hips, but the chest looked like it was made for a DD, and I'm nowhere near that well endowed.

That was the catalyst... I cranked out 2 tops and a dress this weekend! Added to the few items I managed to make so far, and things are looking rather respectable:

Black denim stretch blazer (finished this summer!)
Marcy tilton raglan 3/4 sleeve top
Princess seamed polka dot knit top
Princess seamed black ponte top with silk chiffon trim
Striped sheath dress

Summer Sewing Projects

Summer went by in record time! Add to that a totally unrealistic list of projects, sewing and otherwise, and I feel like I hardly got anything done. These are the sewing projects I got done (this will start out as a list, and I'll add details as I find a free minute here and there)

Bridesmaid dress with Chris Palau technique frayed chiffon.
Lilly's princess dress (also for the wedding)
Polka dot linen dress (so this was finished in the spring, but I made it to wear in the summer!)
Drapey linen top
Sorbetto top in linen
Black button down cotton top
Stretch linen pants with zip fly (started over a year ago!)
Turquoise linen button down dress with embellished neckline.
Silk jersey skirt with comfy yoga waistband (remake of a failed dress)
Hot pink Milly silk jersey drape neck dress
Chevron stripe skirt with yoga waistband
Replaced the tattered acetate lining of my fall wool coat with blue waves silk charmeuse

Listed all together, it doesn't look too bad!