Happy Halloween!

Mal dressed up as a bat. We went to The Skellington's annual Halloween party this afternoon. I was going to take him to do more stuff in the early evening, but the car is acting up :(

A Sammich is still a Sammich

Mal will gladly eat cheese and bread, but will not eat a cheese sammich. I am ready to add variety to our lunches (sammiches!) but he is apparently not.

Make it Routine

So I joined Nablopomo for November in hopes that it would help motivate me to post regularly. Let's see if it works!

Picky Eater Update

I've been experimenting with food combinations with Malcolm to see what food it is that he decided he no longer likes. At first, I assumed it was collards and kale, but it's not. I thought maybe it was rice, but it's not. He'll eat all of those happily. It took me a little while to figure it out - it's the egg yolk I would add to his dinner a few days a week. I've been doing it for months now to add good fat into his diet. Who'd a thunk?

Kitchen Gadgets

I love kitchen gadgets, but only if I use them. I use my crock pot weekly year-round to cook beans (I buy dried) and multiple times a week during fall & winter to make soup. My veggie steamer / rice cooker also gets used regularly. My waffle maker was used weekly until it stopped working recently :(

Since Malcolm was around 8 months old, I started feeding him yogurt daily. I buy the 1-quart tub of organic whole milk plain yogurt from Trader Joe's on a weekly basis and it's come to the point where we are going through it in less than a week. I've been told by multiple people that making your own yogurt is really easy, but it seems like too much of a pain to me. However, after reading this post over at Crunchy Chicken, I am convinced that it's definitely doable with a yogurt maker. Making yogurt with a machine seems so simple, produces no waste and is cost-effective.

I'm going to ask Santa for this yogurt maker this year.

I have two kitchen appliances that I'd like to get in the habit of using more often. One: the juicer that Sherry gave us for Christmas. I need to get a container to store the juice in. I would love to break out the juicer daily for fresh juice, but the clean-up is very time consuming. Two: the bread maker that was a hand-me-down from Sunny. The recipes in the book call for a special yeast that I haven't been able to locate. Granted, I haven't looked too hard, but I should. I honestly just need to do a bit more reading on how to make good bread in a bread maker - especially with the continual rise on the price of bread.

Cold Feet

And I mean literally. My feet are cold. I need new slippers as my old ones are worn out.

Fall in Seattle is just gorgeous. Definitely one of my favorite seasons. I love the crisp air and changing leaves. We've been having nice weather - sunny most days with rainy days here and there to keep everything green. The temperature requires a light jacket most days.

I have my good days and my bad days with my back. Lately, it's been mostly bad. I went to the YMCA earlier this week to check it out and we'll give it a trial run next week. I want to see how Mal does with the provided childcare before I sign up. I would have gone this week, but the car's been in the shop since Wednesday (oil leak) and my back's been to hurty to ride my bike there.

Oh yeah. I got a bike a few months ago. I love it. Unfortunately, Malcolm is not fond of the bike trailer. At all. Last time I put him in it, he screamed his little head off. Sad face. I've been wanting to give it a go again but, again, The Back Thing.

More Toddler Speak:

plane
plant
down
up
yes
please
thank you
done
bat
banana
woof
socks
shoes
fishie
birdie
bread

Many of these words and the prior words I listed out are understandable to anyone. However, there are quite a few that we only know what he's saying because he's pointing at the object (like fishie). The way he says 'Thank You' is just so cute and when he says it is even cuter; he says it after he gives you something since that is what we say when he hands us an object.

The kid loves to learn new words. He'll bring us a book, point to a picture so we'll say what it is and then he'll try to repeat it. His favorite books are those with pictures of things that he already knows the names of.

You may have noticed a very important word that is missing from the list: Mommy. He will say Mommy when he hears another kid say it and if Tony prompts him over and over again. He knows I'm Mommy but, for some reason, hasn't felt the need to call out to me by name. Banana also sounds a lot like Mommy.

Time for me to go find another pair of socks before my toes fall off.

Note

Operation Picky Eater is in full effect. I tried to avoid it, but everyone told me it was inevitable. The frequency increases threefold when the little person is tired.

Words

ahchoo
apple
ball
balloon
bath
boo
bye
cheese
daddy
doggie
hi
kitty
no
row
'side (outside)

These are the words Mal can say. I believe there are more, but I just can't think of them off the top of my head. We've been surprised with how quickly he's picked up language. Our little baby's becoming a toddler. It's happening so quickly!