An important milestone

Okay, word of warning. If you do not appreciate toilet talk like I do, don't bother reading this one today. And don't say I didn't warn you.

There are many things I looked forward to when I found out I was pregnant with Cohen. His first smile, his first laugh, crawling, saying "Mama", saying "douche bag"...you get the idea. But another equally important milestone for me was being able to use him as an excuse when I tooted in public and didn't want anyone to know it was me.

And that day arrived today. It. Was. Glorious. And the person didn't know that babies that only drink breastmilk and formula don't have farts that smell like beefaroni.

I'm still smiling.

 

Have you ever used your baby as an excuse to pass gas?

And the winner is....

Remember when I threw out the challenge sometime in November about guessing Cohen's gender, date and time of arrival and weight? Well, I sort of never got around to seeing who came closest....until now!

The winner of bragging rights for an entire year and who we'll tell Cohen about ALL THE TIME is (drum roll please)...

April Van Wagenen

 

April guessed that Cohen would be a boy, arrive December 29th, be born at 12:30 p.m. and weigh 8 lbs 2 oz. She was only off the arrival date and time by 17.5 hours and the weight by 5 oz. I think those are really close guesses. Spookily close.

So congratulations to April, who also has the coolest daughters, Burgandy and Senja. Oh, and her husband is pretty neat-o too. He and I travelled all over the world together getting into all sorts of trouble way back when.

Music to my ears

One of my favourite sounds these days is Cohen babbling. It's almost non-stop and I absolutely love it. I really do think he'll take after his mother with the non-stop talking in a couple of years. And I hope he inherits his dad's storytelling ability. Hours of enterainment ahead.

My other favourite sound is my husband singing James Taylor's "Sweet baby James" to Cohen as he rocks him to sleep. Although he changes the lyrics to Sweet baby Gray which  makes it even better.

Ahhhhhhhh. Happy chills all over.

p.s. If you're not familiar with Christian's childhood stories of raising a bobcat as a pet or having a door for a dining room table, ask him sometime. It's quite amusing.

It just goes to show you...

...that when you set your mind to something, you can accomplish it.

For instance, I had a goal to finish the 1 kg chocolate bar my mom gave me the night before Cohen was born and I just finished the last bite tonight. It may have taken me 5 months to finish it, but I did it and I couldn't be more proud of myself.

I also just watched the last episode of Six Feet Under. That also took me 5 months to watch the entire 5 seasons of the HBO show, but I did it.

Now if only I could manage to get that linen closet of mine organized...check back with me in 5 months!

Want to ruin your marriage?

Have a baby.

Don't worry, we're not on the brink of the D word, but it's just been really tough lately. Add in the fact that all 3 of us are sick, no one is sleeping, we both work full-time and are trying to figure out who is responsible for what, and we sort of miss the freedom we used to have.

We don't do anything with just the two of us anymore. If we want to do something, one goes out and does it while the other one stays with Cohen. We just take turns doing the things we used to do together, like biking, grocery shopping, going to the dog races, sailing, and looking for buried treasure. Since he was born, we've only been out together one time. (Any family members wanting to move to Salt Lake City would be appreciated).

I just can't believe some people think that having a baby with someone will make things better for their relationship. They couldn't be further from the truth.

But don't worry about us. We'll get through this. It's just temporary, unlike that tattoo Cohen got.

Do you hate fish?

Then do I have the recipe that will change your opinion AND your life!

I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm part of the best book club ever. It's more of a dinner and social club than an actual book club. We always pick a book and 3 out of the 9 of us read the book and then we discuss it for 2-3 minutes when we get together once a month.

I look forward to my book club and wish I spent more time with these girls. And I always look forward to the food. I mean, these girls have mad skills in the kitchen. No tuna casserole for this group. Last week Marina, who is a lawyer and has the most beautiful 1 1/4 year old girl you've ever seen, made the following for dinner and I day dreamed of eating it again the minute I got home that night.

As part of our dinner group I made it on Saturday and took it over to dine with our friends. My one friend was incredibly leery about eating grouper. I don't think she knew what it was, just that it didn't sound appetizing. But my, my, my, did she ever clean her plate. I think she even licked it before putting it in the dishwasher. (Or was that me that did that?)

Without further ado...

Mustard Roasted Fish, by the Barefoot Contessa (of which I own 4 of her 6 cookbooks)

4 (8 oz) fish fillets such as red snapper (I used grouper, just like Marina)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 oz creme fraiche

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp whole-grain mustard

2 tbsp minced shallots

2 tsp drained capers

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. (You can also use an ovenproof baking dish.) Place the fish fillets skin side down on the sheet pan. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

Combine the creme fraiche, two mustards, shallots, capers, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Spoon the sauce evenly over the fish fillets, making sure the fish is completely covered. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, until it's barely done. (The fish will flake easily at the thickest part when it's done.) Be sure not to overcook it! Serve hot or at room temperature with the sauce from the pan spooned over the top.

Like Marina, I served this with roasted fingerling potatoes, asparagus, fennel and green beans. Just tossed them all with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper and roasted them at 425. I also served a salad of red pepper, avocado, cucumber and tomatoes tossed with some salad dressing I had in the fridge. Best meal I'd had in...well, since book club!

Next weekend I'm going to do something wild and crazy with beets!!

My baby has kennel cough

Or at least that's what we've told him.

His first week of daycare and he got a fever, a cough, and a stuffed up nose, and then the little disease bag passed it onto me. I have probably the worst sore throat of my existence and a really painful sinus area. My throat is so sore it woke me up in the middle of the night and I had to take some Advil for the pain. Left work early because I couldn't function. And then Christian came home complaining of nausea. I think he just felt left out (really, I do).

And so it begins. Life with a baby in daycare. Cohen's pediatrician said to expect 8-12 viruses a year. We can now put one under our belt. Oh well, it could be worse. Chicken pox, strep throat and scurvy were all going around his daycare last week. Next week: typhoid, the Plague, and rickets. Fingers crossed that polio won't hit anytime soon.