San Francisco

Since we decided to move to Austin, we've been making a "bucket list" of things to do while we were still in the Bay Area... and one of the things we'd been saying for years we ought to do was eat at The Stinking Rose in San Francisco.

God was on our side.  We scored free street parking in between the restaurant and Coit Tower!

We went all out for lunch -- ordered an appetizer of roasted garlic cloves to smear on some bread, and I had rabbit (not a cute bunny, but an ugly jackrabbit, I like to hope) while Ben had prime rib.  The prime rib was pretty rocking, while my rabbit was so-so, but hey, at least now I can say I've had rabbit.  Both were served with sides of mashed potatoes, while Ben gave me his creamed greens.

And then, the cout de grace... I did it.  I ordered the garlic ice cream.  Had to -- I'd regret not doing it when I had the chance, yanno?

Out came a massive bowl of ice cream three times as big as I was expecting.  I ate the whole thing and had a massive stomachache the rest of the day.  It was delicious and massive.  Have I mentioned yet how ... massive and rich it was?  I don't know if I was desensitized to it after Ben and I ate about 50 cloves of garlic between the two of us (we estimated), but I didn't taste the garlic.  Ben tried it and said it had a bit of garlicky aftertaste.  My heartburn overwhelmed most other sensations.  Ay carumba.  I didn't need to eat the rest of the day (although I ate Michael's dinner scraps -- some green beans, a carrot, and an apple).

The Stinking Rose in Little Italy

We walked around Little Italy and I ventured into a delicious-smelling deli, and then Ben and I walked past rows of restaurants wafting tempting aromas of all kinds of Italian fare.  I bemoaned how the best way I know how to experience a city is to taste the cuisine, which you can only do two, three times a day max (once if you eat the garlic ice cream at the Stinking Rose).

We serendipitously came across a shrine to Saint Francis of Assisi, so we had to go in!  I assumed there existed one in San Francisco, but was surprised it was just around the corner from the Stinking Rose.

Michael was asleep during the visit to his namesake's shrine, so Ben and I appreciated the beauty ourselves.

I lit a candle.  Yay

We then walked through Washington Square, admired the outside of Ss. Peter and Paul Church, which was closed (boo), and ventured up to Coit Tower.  With a stroller.  Up several flights of stairs.

The hills were steep!

We went into the tower, but not into the top.  We just wanted to admire the Communist murals and I debated whether or not to buy Michael a California bicycle plate with his name as a memento.  (Didn't.)  Then we walked around the perimeter and took photos so Michael would have proof he'd been here.

The Golden Gate Bridge in the background at Coit Tower

Michael in front of Berkeley (Campanile is visible towards the right)

TransAmerica building

Oakland Bay Bridge

This was Michael's longest outing, as far as Ben and I can recall!  He got several comments on his sunglasses again.  (One guy was like "A celebrity!  You can't hide!"  Although it's equally likely he was referring to my floppy hat, I suppose.)  Michael did pretty well, complaining a little at the restaurant but otherwise taking in the sights.

Daddy-son photo op!

"These flowers are more interesting than Mommy's attempt to cajole me into smiling for her silly photo."

"People say I look more like my daddy than my mommy, but that's only because I implant the suggestion with a subtle, subliminal message."

"This is the only photo taken that Daddy isn't ready for the camera.  It's also the only photo in which I'm laughing.  Guess which of these factors takes precedence in deciding which photo to share?  Yeah, that's right, I know you all are looking at me anyway because I am THAT CUTE."

SuperBaby! (not affiliated with DC comics)

We are retaining production and merchandise rights for now....

Michael snoring

Sleeping babies are redonkulously cute.  On the way home from church, he fell asleep in the car, slack-jawed, staring at me with his eyes drooping... then closed... then drooping, still looking at me... then closed... droopy open... closed... repeated ad cuteum until the eyelids just became too heavy.  Mouth hanging open the whole time.

Another milestone

On Friday (two days ago) Michael passed a carrot from one hand to the other.

Um... I read somewhere this was a Big Deal, but I don't quite remember why.  (Note:  the object passed from one hand to the other does not have to be a carrot for it to be a Big Deal.)

preliminary pro/con list

posted for input... have to add weights

Bay Area
Pros	(weight)	Cons	(weight)
more vacation time		stress of moving
higher pay than expected		company growth in wrong direction?
home ownership in near future		fewer job prospects in Austin (if Ben gets cut)
close to UT		tornadoes and flash floods
Whole Foods		Heat, draught
closer to Ben's family		Lots of hippies
closer to Tarisa's family
date nights in Houston
friendly coworkers
slower lifestyle
homeschooling network
Ben already has friends in Austin (so does Mary Ann)
proximity to TX Medical Center
Michael would have Texan accent
I could get my alternate teacher certification
weather (T-storms)
potentially short commute
center of country makes travel easier

Austin
Pros	(weight)	Cons	(weight)
exciting, interesting, cutting-edge work		can't afford home
Ben on management track		job prospects when current project is done?
friends, routine estabblished here		already fired from once
Trader Joe's		California is CTD
faster pay growth		commute will only get worse
very good personal/professional relationships built		higher pressure and workload
high visibility to Senior mgmt.		earthquakes
lots of hippie food		lots of hippies
Many job prospects in Si Valley if Ben is canned
telecommuting option

Teeth! Again! And sitting up!

Another milestone I would have missed if not for my mom and Skype:  Michael can now sit up!

As of his 6 month birthday, he was mostly able to sit supported in his booster seat, but he needed the restraints because he'd slump over.  At his 6 month well-baby appointment, I asked the pediatrician whether it was unusual for him to not be sitting up on his own, and she checked and he was doing a "tricycle" (her phrase) where he was able to prop himself up by putting his hands out in front of him.

Around the time of the checkup (as in, just a few days after his 6 month birthday), Michael started sitting in his booster seat without slumping, which is basically when I started offering him solids.

I never checked if he was able to sit up on his own until my mom asked last night.  I sat him down on the big playmat, and he sat on his own (without using his hands to support himself) and, after awhile, slumped over.  He did one cute maneuver where he sat up, put his hands in front of him, then pulled his legs out so that he was on his belly.  I'm not even sure I could do that!

Also, his top two center teeth erupted within two days of each other.  The second one officially erupted yesterday.  Babies are cuter when they're toothless.  :-(

Baby-led weaning update

Since the last post, we've introduced Michael to egg yolks.  My understanding that his Gramps (Ben's dad) has a mild reaction to eggs, so I'm keeping an eye on Michael.  I eat a lot of eggs, so if he doesn't have a reaction, that would make coordinating our meals together a lot easier, especially once I can give him egg whites!  (I've heard of egg white omelettes... but what about egg yolk omelettes?)

For the first time ever, I sprung for the expensive, organic, omega-3 enriched eggs at Trader Joe's.  It's for the boy!

He really enjoyed two of his three meals yesterday:  breakfast (sweet potatoes mashed with blackstrap molasses, and pears, both of which I posted pictures of) and lunch (egg yolk, avocado, cooked swiss chard).  The chard he mostly gummed, but he did eat some of the egg and avocado and spent quite a long time playing with his lunch.

Dinner was Indian Tomato Chicken again, since he enjoyed it so much last week.  We had some friends over (Mary Ann and Rosalie) and it was a little late for dinner, and we also cooked it differently.  All those factors combined... he barely tasted the chicken before he screamed and wanted to be held by mommy.  However, while I was snacking on an after-dinner watermelon, he lunged for it, and I reluctantly gave it to him.  My reluctance was based on the fact that I didn't wash the rind off before I cut it (since Rosalie brought over a halved watermelon with exposed flesh) and also I didn't want him getting full on basically water, since babies need calories.  Still, I let him have a bit and he enjoyed that.

As a side note, he has this thing where he'll occasionally wail when people laugh.  This happened at least twice with MA&R over, once right before dinner, so he might have been in a sour mood because of that.  We think maybe the laughing surprises him....?

We had a little more watermelon for breakfast this morning.  I wasn't going to give him any, again, but he kept eyeing me while I was eating it and smacking his lips, so I couldn't deny him!  We also had oatmeal (with blackstrap molasses) and cooked cauliflower.  A nice iron/Vitamin C combo.  I scooped oatmeal onto baby spoons and placed the spoons on his tray, and he spooned the oatmeal into his mouth and mostly knew what end of the spoon to suck on.  :-)

He makes a sour face after he tastes anything, but then he excitedly digs in for more!  Well, most of the time!  This morning, he made a face after tasting each of his foods, but he wanted more of everything.  He decidedly did not want more beans anytime I offered those, and I don't force it.

He likes artichoke hearts (I just microwaved some frozen ones) and cooked carrots.

I've read several times to expect a baby-led weaner to gag, and I've also read that it's alarming but important so that they learn how much food they can put in their mouths.  Gagging is a safety mechanism, but the gag reflex moves further back in the mouth as babies get older and have learned how much food they can have in their mouths.  Michael has had a couple of gagging incidents recently, and each time it is scary, but he coughs up some food and then continues on like nothing happened.  Sometimes I pat his back to help him work through it.  This morning, he threw up a bit after eating some cauliflower, which was a little weird.  He didn't cough or gag first.

Lunch today was a mini version of my salad:  cooked chard, egg yolk, avocado.  Same as yesterday.  :-(  (My salad included raw chard and other mixed greens, plus onions, marinated mushrooms and carrots, and Mexican cheese.  My salads never have a theme, just whatever I have I throw on there.  I guess you could say the theme is "The Kitchen Sink.")  He practically toppled over his Exersaucer to play with my popcorn, but I couldn't let him (choking hazard).

I'm finding the biggest challenge to the baby-led weaning (well, besides the massive cleanup of him, his seat, the chair, and his trays and utensils) to be providing enough variety for him.  Variety is important because there is a theory that babies instinctively know what nutrients they are lacking and they will opt for whatever foods contain them, provided those foods are actually offered! I've started keeping a food log just to try to track whether I'm being too repetitive.

Pear and mashed sweet potato

"Sometimes this toy tastes squishy."

"This is such a cheap teether.  Pieces keep breaking off!"

We found big chunks of artichoke hearts in his stool today.  Ewwwwww!

Michael at Church

Ben and I are lectors at the 7 a.m. mass at our church.  Normally we sit in the cry room, unless we have to read.  Last week was our turn to read, so we sat with the crowd.  I took Michael to the back of the church and outside for a good chunk of the service after we read, but we were sitting with Ben after Communion and Michael was being quite vocal, squealing and screeching.  He wasn't crying, just enjoying the sound of his voice.

The priest who presided (who was also the same one that baptized Michael) thanked our "young family" after the announcements for our ministry, "including the baby" who was practicing to be a lector someday.

After mass, several people came up to us and told us that they love hearing babies in church and laughed that Michael's "practicing" to proclaim The Word.

Today, after mass, a woman approached us and exclaimed, "He's gotten so big!  I remember when he was still in there!" ** while pointing at my belly.  (We've been lectors for about 2 years now.)  Looking at Ben, she added "he looks just like you" then turns to me and, just for emphasis, "not so much like you."  I guess that's why Michael is so cute!  Ben assures me that Michael truly is mine, and that he didn't get me pregnant via another woman.

** edited to add:  actually, what she said was, "I knew him when he was still in there!"  Ben and I thought that was rather sweet and biblical ("Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you"), and we really like how the other parishioners feel a personal connection with us!

Michael's birth story

When I said I might try to fill in the gaps in Michael's life, I wasn't kidding! Here we are at the beginning of this long, strange saga....

We recorded Michael's birth story in the hospital soon after Michael was born because I wanted to remember the details but I knew I'd forget. I had tried to mentally and physically prepare for the challenge, and so the birth was a Big Deal for me. In retrospect, it's hard to remember the pain -- I'm sure God designed it that way, otherwise we'd all stop at one child!  I do still remember holding my little guy for the very first time.  It was one of the most rewarding and -- to be honest -- strangest moments in my life.  I bet it felt strange for Michael, too!

(I tried to edit out some of the more explicit details, but it is a birth story with some details about dilation and whatnot, so read at your own risk.  Then again, the only people who might possibly be reading this are probably other pregnant moms who I personally know, which is no one at the moment, but if I ever do know one, she probably is desensitized to that stuff anyway.  Ramble ramble)

More Baby-led weaning

Since the last BLW post, I've offered Michael oatmeal (which I have for breakfast most mornings), sometimes mixed with organic unsulphured blackstrap molasses for iron; sweet potato sticks and chunks (again, often mixed into oatmeal -- "oatatoes," Ben calls them); apples and applesauce; toast (plain and dipped with extra virgin olive oil and guacamole); lentil/quinoa burgers; banana; soft, cooked carrot sticks; asparagus; and smoked pork (courtesy of Ben's talents). Nothing really new, except for the pork and veggie burgers.

Michael really likes sucking on his toast (from homemade bread--of course!) so I think it has potential to be a conduit for dipping and introducing other foods, which I did for the first time today with guacamole and olive oil. He still liked sucking it. :-)

He liked his applesauce, which I made by chunking up some organic Pink Ladies and boiling in water and seasoning with a bit of cinnamon. It mashed very nicely into a chunky applesauce. (I did something similar for the mashed potatoes, adding some buttermilk and other seasonings for Ben after I reserved a bit for Michael.  No need to peel the apples or potatoes, as the skins get very soft and fall apart.) He was naturally frustrated with trying to pick up a lump of applesauce on his tray, so I spooned some onto a baby spoon for him and handed him the spoon. He loved playing with the utensils and sucking on the spoon, even though he kept turning it over and dumping most of the applesauce off! (Some stayed on, so he sucked on what remained.)

After lunch today, I was munching on an apple while holding Michael, thinking he was done eating. He lunged for my apple, so I let him play around with it. He really liked sucking on it and even bit off a chunk, but he hasn't learned how to chew or move food to the back of his mouth yet so the chunk came sliding out his mouth. I'm sure he enjoyed the taste of the juice, though!

(Becky, I got your comment about your kids' adverse reactions to apples -- Michael, luckily, seems to be unaffected. I offered him apple awhile back and he hasn't had reactions to any of the food he's tasted yet. If he does, I'll slow down to the 3-5 day at a time suggestion so I can identify what's causing a reaction.)

He liked sucking asparagus, which comes with an easy handle.

I don't know if he was in a bad mood that day, but he completely rejected one of my dinners, which was the veggie burger, broccoli, and mashed potato. It all went straight to the floor and he wanted out of his booster seat. Unfortunately, he rejected my veggie burgers all three times I offered it to him!

Finally, he really enjoyed the leftover smoked pork we had last night! He sucked and gnawed on some chunks from the middle, which we figured were the least salty.

Even though Michael didn't like my lentil/quinoa burgers, I quite enjoyed them! Here is the recipe I used (adapted from here).  Makes 6-8 patties, depending on size.

• 1/2 C. dry white quinoa
• 1 C. chicken broth **
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 C. brown lentils
• water
• 1/4 C. oatmeal
• 1/2 C. mashed sweet potato
• 1 T. tomato paste
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. paprika

1. Bring chicken broth to a boil; add quinoa and simmer for about 10 minutes until the broth is absorbed and the quinoa is soft and fluffy.
2. Add lentils to a separate pot; add enough water to cover lentils, plus a little extra, and bring to a simmer.  Cook until lentils are mostly soft, about 10 minutes.  Add onion and garlic (and more water if necessary) and cook another few minutes to take the edge off the alliums.
3. Combine all the ingredients, and form into patties (makes about 8).
4. Place patties on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until crisp, turning over after 10.

I meant to take a photo like every diligent food blogger should, but I forgot.  Oops.  :-(

** I had some leftover unusual chicken broth from this slow cooker chicken drumstick recipe which went well with the quinoa.  (Unusual due to the seasonings, which are less neutral than most chicken broth seasonings.)  I just added half a cup or so of water to my slow cooker to catch the seasonings (though I left out the salt) and I added some carrots, pearl onions, and I believe some celery and garlic and onion to the pot for more flavor.

Michael and the lion

Michael's favorite part of the Exersaucer is the lion puppet (but only when I'm manipulating it). Video is about a minute and a half and is after the cut!

I know I say lots of dumb things (with or without the camera recording me). Ben and I were laughing at our scintillating conversations caught on tape yesterday, such as our debate about whether the pound of ground beef was really a pound... or was it MORE? (If you missed it on the first Exersaucer video, I'll give you a hint: it turned out to be a pound, shockingly.)

6 month well baby appointment

Michael's 6 month appointment was on Monday the 9th. He weighed 16 pounds, 11 ounces, and was about 2 feet 3 inches long with a head circumference of 17 inches. He's dropped in the percentiles for his weight and height: at his 2 month appointment, he was 58% for weight; 4 month, 48%; now, 34%. Two month height was 87%; 4 month, 83%; now, 61%. Head circumference has been fairly steady.

The pediatrician was a little concerned, but I'm not. This is one of those situations where too much information can be a bad thing, in my opinion! He seems perfectly happy and healthy to me, and if I was ignorant of those stats I wouldn't suspect anything could be wrong. I've been feeding him on demand, so I have no reason to believe he's malnourished.

I like to think God slowed his growth down a little so I can hold him a little longer!

(Speaking of which, this morning, I carried him for a little walk around the block and he fell asleep in my arms. I don't even know when it happened because he was wearing his super slick shades.)

He got his shots and had no adverse reactions, thankfully, other than the initial screaming and looking at me like "why are you allowing this to happen to me??" On our way out the vaccination clinic, we ran into the other young family with whom we took the Bradley childbirth classes (Monique, Jeremy, and baby Brielle). Brielle was getting her shots right after Michael. Even though Monique was due almost 3 weeks ahead of me, our babies were born just one day apart!

Michael's playdate

We took this video when Michael was around 5 and a half months old, on 4/19. My friend Talaya and her daughter Maya (whom we met at a mom group) came over for lunch. Here is a snippet of Michael enjoying Maya's crinkly toy and getting hit in the face.  Oh, and he still loves chewing on tags!

Video after the jump.

Michael's first spin on the Exersaucer

We bought an Exersaucer off of Craigslist last week and Michael got to take it for a test drive on Sunday while I made hamburgers. The video is repetitive -- I didn't even watch the whole thing -- but it's a lot easier to just upload videos than to edit them.

Video after the jump.

Teeth!

Michael's top two teeth are coming through. I didn't even notice until I was Skyping with my mom and she asked if he was teething... how humbling that I'm with my own son 24/7 and didn't catch it! But there are definitely white ridges under those gums. Pictures when they finally erupt, I hope, unless he sticks his tongue out and refuses to show them off (like with his bottoms).

These are coming in easier than his first two teeth. Not much fussing -- but still lots of drooling and wet, sloppy kisses!

Michael eating last night's drumsticks and cabbage

I've read that chicken drumsticks are a good finger food for babies... they come with automatic handles, and are more iron-rich than chicken breasts. Ben and I normally only eat chicken breasts, so we had to find a new recipe for drumsticks. I modified this Indian Tomato Chicken recipe slightly (I only have ground cinnamon and whole cardamom pods, no salt) and cooked it in the cast-iron skillet to further increase the amount of iron.

Michael went nuts with the drumstick when we handed it to him -- I wish we caught the first couple minutes on camera when he tore it to shreds! What's in his hand after the video starts had already been dismantled by him.

I also cooked up some cabbage that I picked up from the Farmer's Market that day.

Video after the jump... yes, I have a silly bib. I was wearing a lovely shirt, given to me from my sister-in-law. Also, we have a mat on the floor to catch his droppings, so I wasn't strictly feeding him off the floor.

Baby led weaning

We started offering Michael solids last Sunday, 05/08/11. It occurs to me that maybe it would be handy to record his likes and dislikes out of what I've offered him. I haven't been good about keeping track of what I've offered, but to the best of my recollection, here is what he's tried (or at least been offered, picked up, and stuck in his mouth):
- chicken drumsticks (cooked in an Indian tomato sauce)
- herbs and spices (parsley, basil, turmeric, cinnamon, curry powder, black pepper) and oils (olive, maybe coconut)
- avocado
- carrot
- spinach
- asparagus
- lentils
- beans (kidney/garbanzo)
- wild Alaskan salmon (low in mercury, high in DHA)
- noodles
- sweet potato
- broccoli
- oatmeal
- apple
- celery
- kale
- bell pepper
- blackstrap molasses
- wheat germ (I rolled some avocado and banana in this to make it easier to grasp)
- ground beef
- toast
- cabbage

I'm trying to buy local, organic ingredients where I can.

It's hard to tell what actually makes it down the hatch, because a lot of it comes right back out his mouth. I noticed that two days ago (05/16), his diaper output was a tad chunkier, so some of it went down! The night before, he woke up in the middle of the night and wailed, didn't want to nurse... he had a BM and went back to sleep. I think he might have had a bit of indigestion.

So far, his favorites seem to be avocado, toast, banana, sweet potato, and he really got into his chicken drumstick! He didn't seem to care for beans and lentils.

I mostly try to make baby-appropriate portions of whatever I'm eating, within reason. I don't add any salt to his food, and I don't give him eggs, nuts, popcorn, cheese or other dairy (though yogurt and egg yolks are coming soon). On Monday I attempted to make meatballs with grass-fed beef without using eggs to bind them! I also added some more veggies to the meatballs. They squished a little more than usual but were still yummy.

I do often spice things, so he's tried a lot of Italian and Indian seasonings.

A lot of people are concerned about choking and allergies. I might address those issues in a future post, but for now rest assured I've done my research to ensure Michael's safety and wellfare.

Intro

I love my beautiful son and could ramble about him forever to anyone who will listen. Since that list of names is short-to-nonexistant, I can at least jot down my thoughts and shoot them into the great cyber abyss to keep track of Michael's milestones and early life, and if anyone is interested, great, if not, at least I've got it on record for posterity (i.e. for him!). Unfortunately, he's already 6 months old so I missed a bunch of the big milestones. I'll probably make a few posts filling in some of the gaps, but I hope to do a better job of preserving memories of his babyhood from here on out with this quaint "blog," just like they used in Grandpa's day.

I also like cooking (and eating). (How many hobbies can a stay-at-home mother with no transportation cultivate?) So I might ramble about those things, too. What the hey, it's my blog. Stay tuned!

Compendium of Michael videos to date

Michael's greatest hits