Cooper playing Cake Boss

Cooper making cake from John Parisi on Vimeo.

Day 4 of Snowmaggedon

John's home from work for the 3rd day now. We're all getting a little cabin fever because our alley is so full of snow we can't get our cars out. We walked down the block to have lunch at a (scary) little diner we've never been to, got a little dessert at a nearby bakery, and headed home again.

Our alley is up this alley and to the left.

There was a brief glimmer of hope when a loader and dump truck rolled down the street. We thought they were finally going to plow our street, and maybe even the alley, but they just drove past.

Our garage is past that wall of snow & down about five houses.

Seriously? Do you have to make it totally impossible for everyone else?

John made dinner :)

Random links & strong feelings

I'm thoroughly disgusted by this...
Blogher.com article: "Does Breastfeeding Cause Divorce?"
I'm just so outraged about it I don't even know what to say, so I'll let you all read it for yourselves.

and thrilled by this...
Recipe for Parisian bagels
I made these bagels today (I added dried onion flakes) & they're delicious. I tried one this afternoon & it's taking all my willpower not to go in the kitchen & eat the remaining nine.

Black beans anyone?

Tell us how you really feel

Dexter started solid foods almost six weeks ago. Well, I should say I started making baby food & shoving it in his mouth, because there was no actual eating happening for the first month, and this was the face we had to look at:


He's gotten much more enthusiastic about eating in the past couple weeks.

Posicles!

Not a typo - that's how Cooper says it.

No Cooper, grape juice Popsicles are not stinky.

Secret onesies, free food, & a hip hop toddler

Yikes, it's been a busy week.

I'm kind of obsessed with the website Craftster.org. It's a site with message boards so people can ask for advice on crafts they're working on and so people can show off crafts they've made. I love looking at the really cool children's clothes people make. Anyway, since I'm not quite busy enough (ha, ha), I signed myself up for a crafter's swap on the site. I'm making 10 onesies/shirts to exchange with someone who is doing the same for me. I've made some pretty good progress so far, especially because my mom came over & took Cooper out for a few hours this week, so I have 3 done already & I'd really like to post pictures of them, but I'll have to wait until the end of the month. We send them to our partners by the end of April & I don't want to spoil the surprise (in case she's checking out my blog), so I'll have to wait until she gets them.

Another website I frequent, SheKnows.com, was recently looking for volunteers to review products. I volunteered and was chosen as a "VIP reviewer". I assumed they'd send a diaper or a dryer sheet or something, like the normal samples you get in the mail, but the UPS man knocked on our door with a big box filled with Wild Organic food! This is most of it, but Cooper's done a pretty good job of demolishing the applesauce & animal crackers so a lot of those were gone by the time I got around to taking the picture. The best part is that the letter with the food says this is the "lunch" package & within a month or so I should also expect to receive a "dinner" package & "snack" package. Sweet! You can't beat free organic food.

We wrapped up the week with a party. John called Friday afternoon to ask me to bring Cooper out to his work so we could go to his court partner's party that evening. Oh, and it had a theme - "gangster rap". I only had a couple hours and "gangster rap" is a bit difficult on short notice for a toddler, so I went with more of an "old school rap/hip-hop" thing. I was pretty happy with the outcome.

In case you can't really see in the picture, that's a toy cell phone in his hand (with matching pager on his pocket), play money hanging out of his other pocket, and a Flavor-Flav style giant clock necklace (made out of felt I sewed together & wrote on with permanent marker and attached to Cooper's nursing necklace). Cooper, as always, was the life of the party.

Interesting note (especially for the grandmas reading this): I was exploring my Feedjit the other day & discovered that someone found my page by doing a search for "Blogger nudist grandma". So, if you're a grandma & considering becoming a nudist & blogging about it, someone out there is interested. The scary part is that on a different day, someone linked to my blog by searching for "grandma and grandpa nudist". It's difficult to tell, but it appears to be from a different location as the first search. I find this troubling a bit because, 1. someone's searching for nudist grandparents, 2. it's likely not one person, but more than one (because of the different locations), and most troubling of all, 3. both those searches link to my blog! Yikes. Weird.

Spring!

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. ~Henry Van Dyke

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. ~Charles Dickens

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain


Okay, it doesn't feel like it, or look like it, but it's here. I started searching for Spring quotes & just couldn't stop myself. Spring is my very favorite season.

Cooper & I enjoyed some lunch out on the deck.

"ChEEE-ZZZZZ!"

Geez, it's just too bad the kid is so camera shy...

One last one.. I couldn't resist:

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. ~Nadine Stair

Now we're cooking

Have I mentioned that I love Craigslist? I got Cooper this kitchen, a large plastic shopping cart with plastic food, a metal pot & pan, & a ton of Melissa & Doug wooden dishes & food, all for $35. We can't drag Cooper away from it. Maybe I can try some more complicated recipes now while he's busy "cooking".

Child labor

Someone really should make some kind of law against it.
I put Cooper to work cleaning up a toy storage rack. We got this on Craigslist for only $20. Now I just have to find a nice play kitchen & a table & chair set for Coop.

Coop also helped make pizza. (Unfortunately, despite all his hard work, mommy burned the pizza & we had to get fast food for dinner.)

Looks like Cooper was helping himself to some pizza dough. I swear, it's so hard to find good help these days.

A week as shut-ins

It's been cold here. I mean COLD. Cold cold.
I normally try to get out of the house every day, but it's just been too snowy or cold this week. We went to our gym class and Target on Wednesday, but other than that we haven't left the house.
I've been trying to occupy nap time with sewing, but I have a bunch of projects in mind or started that I'm missing an important element for (like a certain color of thread). So mostly Cooper & I have been lounging in pajamas (it's really hard to get motivated to get dressed), shocking each other (it's really, really dry & staticky), playing "what toy am I reaching & whining for in the toy box?" (it's a trick question; I emptied the toy box twice before I realized there is no toy that is satisfying), and learning to eat with a spoon.
Thankfully, the weather is improving & we'll be leaving the house much more often now.

Cooper in his loungy clothes & slippers enjoying a snack

Aah.. sweet, cheesy success!

Blueberries

Cooper tried blueberries and he loves them. It's kind of a good news, bad news kinda thing...

Yes, that is a flying blueberry

Blueberry-dyed grilled cheese

Do I have any blueberry on my face?

Finished!

All clean after a bath. Thanks to Dreft stain remover, the pajamas were clean after only two washes!

Cooper's birthday, Part II: Cake!

Cooper hasn't really ever had sugar, at least not in any great amount; maybe a little here & there in flavored crackers or something, but that's about it, so I was expecting him to tear into his cake. He was not so sure about it. After all, Mom & Dad were offering it to him & he's pretty sure everything we feed him is poison. (That stuff on the ground, though, all covered in dog hair & old & unrecognizable - that's the good stuff!)

Hey, if he's not gonna eat it...

Finished! Finished! Finished!
Cooper knows sign language for "finished" & he was signing it
frantically to escape the cake (& Mom & Dad trying to force it on him!)

After about ten minutes, when Mom & Dad lost interest, Cooper thought maybe he'd taste a little... just a crumb...

Hmm... that's pretty good...

Wow! That's really good!

So big! And loving cake!

Wow, all that cake made me really thirsty!

Yah for cake!

Hmm... I think I'm kinda full now...

And getting a little tired.