First, a quick update on the free range baby. It didn't work out last night -- around 10:30pm we realized he wasn't ever going to fall asleep on his own when he had tasted sweet sweet freedom. He was sooo tired. He even dragged his blankies over to my bed and me, but then proceeded to hit me repeatedly rather than snuggle. So the mattress went back into his crib, he cried the loudest he could, then fell asleep within a few minutes. We'll try again next time we feel brave enough; surely the freedom will lose its attraction eventually? Strangely, he didn't sleep in, didn't take a long nap, and was as sweet as ever during the day. He really didn't want to go to bed at night, though. Might be that tomorrow he gets all cranky about the missing sleep...
Onwards to food! I hadn't planned dinner for myself, and it was a solo night, since Donut was off running a seminar. I was looking in the Everyday Greens cookbook to see if there was a recipe for kebabs, when I ran across a recipe for sauteed chard with toasted pumpkin seeds. I've been trying to eat more pumpkin seeds (very nutritious), and I have fresh chard from my box yesterday, so it piqued my interest. The recipe recommended eating it over polenta... doesn't that sound lovely? I thought so, and decided to make myself a tasty dinner. The polenta is easy -- boiling water, adding coarse cornmeal and salt, a bit of whisking... I added some olive oil and parmesan cheese and pepper at the end. I sauteed garlic and the sliced stems of the chard , then added the chopped greens with salt and pepper. When it was all wilted, I added some lemon juice and the toasted pumpkin seeds.
It was delicious -- the pumpkin seeds really made it fantastic. I made a huge plate of it and ate every bite. I shall certainly have to make it again; it would make a nice and easy lunch. I finished it off with fresh strawberries, mmm....
The boy climbed out of his crib last week (he's a strong one), so we finally decided to let him out of the crib this week. We dropped the mattress directly onto the floor within his crib immediately to prevent more climbing excursions, but this month seems like a good one to train him to sleep without bars.
Tonight is our first night; we haven't actually taken the crib apart yet, but we put his mattress on the floor next to it. It's now 9pm and he's still resisting going to bed. Every time I ask him whether we should go to bed and play with doggie, he yells "nooooo" and runs to the opposite end of the house. I hope this means he's sleeping late in the morning. :-)
It's been a whirlwind month, with lots of extended family drama (ongoing) and baby illnesses and finally my own illness. The first baby illness was sort of interesting, in a gross way. Some minor spit-up episodes (I can't really call them vomit) and a couple of days of diarrhea (not too awful). It's the first time he's had a bug like that, I'm glad it wasn't worse. Then he had a three day fever, which was possibly less fun, since it started with a 3am wakeup complete with screaming. He was very hot and unhappy, poor baby. Ended up sleeping a little bit with me the rest of the morning, but it wasn't restful. We thought it might be roseola, which starts with a fever but no other symptoms, but it never progressed to the rash stage, so who knows?
I'm almost over this cough, it mostly just shows when I'm tired now. I had to take naps after lunch every day this week to get over it, which was enjoyable and disorienting.
On the fun side, the baby has been kicking the past week, and hard enough that Donut can feel it. Course, once the babe gets bigger those kicks will be far less enjoyable!
Rustic White Bean Stew -- it is a white bean stew (dried beans, cooked with onion, carrot, celery, thyme, tarragon), then you add fried mushrooms and leeks and garlic to the stew at the end. I've never made it before, but how can I go wrong with mushrooms and leeks? I'm also going to make the suggested side: Tomato Couscous with Capers.
This may end up being tomorrow's lunch or dinner; with the grandparents in town we've been encouraged to go out for a date dinner while they babysit at night. I imagine this stew will taste even better with some sitting around for the flavors to meld. My one worry about the recipe is the tarragon... I'm not a huge fan of it. If it's too much I'll leave it out next time and just use a bay leaf and thyme.
What are you eating this week?
At this point in the pregnancy, I feel hungry nearly all the time. Kinda fun, kinda tedious... anyways, dinner tonight was takeout from Garden Fresh, and the Donut brought a huge selection of food for me to choose from before schlepping it over to his family (long story, but they're all at his aunt's place for meals right now, while I'm at home with the baby sleeping). I made up a huge plate of food and a bowl of hot and sour soup and half a kiwi smoothie bubble tea... can you see where this is going? About forty five minutes later I had eaten it all somehow. I had decided to ignore my usual stopping point (not hungry? stop eating.) and eat it all, in the interests of gaining some baby weight. My belly is now very large. I had weighed myself a few hours ago while giving the baby a bath, so I weighed myself again, and I am over two pounds heavier. :-D That makes me feel a little gross.
I went to a playdate/birthday party yesterday for a child in my mom's group, and I loved the house! It's a well maintained Eichler, with a wonderful courtyard with a fountain with carp, all tiled, nicely maintained front and back yards (a little sterile, definitely done by a gardener), and a fantastic kitchen. These houses are sort of C shaped, with the center being the courtyard, so imagine that one of the legs of the C is the kitchen and dining room, all open. One huge long kitchen counter island, with an even longer counter along the wall behind it. Nice modern furniture throughout. All tile. The usual glass walls from the courtyard through to the backyard. I didn't see the bedrooms, but they take up the other leg of the C. There was also a nice office as you come into the courtyard, to the right. Not sure if it is accessible from the house or just the courtyard, but what a great separation! Plus it had the glass wall, too.
Apparently there are 1100 Eichlers in our city; I remember liking them when we were house hunting, but we didn't see any we liked at the time. A lot of them have been remodeled badly over the years. This mom said they bid on seven of them before getting this one, and they even lost out on a bid when they were $250,000 over the asking price. *sigh* Probably out of my league!
I was listening to NPR last week and caught a segment on women's research clubs (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89598533). In the 19th century, women with an interest in research would meet and practice on a regular basis; they were unable to work at universities and needed an outlet for their intellectual energies. In a modern day club, most of the women are retired, and they meet every two weeks to watch twenty minute presentations by members. Each member must present once a year, and the club has a theme each year.
I found this fascinating -- I think I'll have to find or start such a club when I'm a bit older. I love research; choosing a topic and following all its paths to the end is good fun. School assignments never seem to encourage really getting to know a topic, you're always so rushed to produce something to be graded.
Driving home tonight from my art class, I heard an interview that covered intelligence work, and it did make me wonder if I'd be suited to being an intelligence analyst, or if they have the same annoying time constraints to produce reports. Probably, eh? I wonder if they get to go out and talk to people, or just do alot of reading? How much is first-hand knowledge and how much is second- and third-hand data?
I should just start a salon, and stock it with persons who have a well developed curiosity and like to talk and read. I could feed them breads and soups and decadent desserts, and we'd all sit around for hours. There would be quiet time for reading, and music time, and arguing time. A dry erase board would be set up on one wall, and a bookshelf on another. I'll have to incorporate this into our monastery plan; we'll have to set aside some space for this.
Have you ever been skinny dipping?
Haha, yes. In Thoreau's Pond, no less. :-P
I'm very excited about this book -- I just ordered it from Amazon. I love Isa's recipes, so I have high hopes for her newest cookbook.
It's been a trying month, but we packed up the house, rented an apartment, and moved. House is on the market now, this coming week should bring in the offers. It was a quick decision and process -- we came back from our cruise in mid February, took stock of our plans for the year and that we'd be welcoming a new baby in October, and decided it would make sense to sell immediately rather than after the baby arrives. We wanted to avoid the summer market, and the earlier in the spring the better (for sellers).
Now that we've moved, intentionally, to a smaller space that isn't as awesome as our house, I'm taking stock of the situation. I like the layout of the apartment. The amenities are nice, though I have yet to take advantage of the pool or gym. Maintenance staff is also a big plus, no more hours of frustration dealing with interesting plumbing problems. The kitchen periodically annoys me -- the fridge has the freezer on top, which just seems like the stupidest design. I miss my old huge fridge. And my pull-out pantry. Why do people think having shelves for pantry items is a good idea? You can't see anything!
Our other challenge this month will be storage and unpacking. We simply have too much random stuff that needs to be culled. Getting the Donut to realize he must part with old computer parts and other useless things will be necessary. Baby steps, we'll eventually get it all under control. Dwell magazine tells me that in the 50s, the average house was about the size of my apartment. Amazing! We've become so spoiled! Having less space may force us to buy fewer things, which I like the idea of. You know, after we buy ourselves a new flatscreen TV. :-D
The boy has adjusted to the move; the first week was rough with naps, though it may have been due to my having errands and appointments every morning. He kept falling asleep in the car on the way home and getting only short naps, then not sleeping again during the day. He's back to his normal schedule of one nap after lunch, for a couple of hours, then bedtime around 7pm.
What's next? Selling the house, working out a budget, planning our finances for the year, getting a fancy new TV, enjoying the second trimester, clearing out all the clutter and decorating the apartment, getting some maternity clothes for the summer, planning a potential trip to see my folks in the early summer... seems like a fun year.
