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on and off since 1999

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11 Months

11 Months

I can't believe we're in the final stretch of Minna's first year already! Big progress this past month. She loves to read before bed, turning the page whenever you ask her to and "knocking" in Dr. Seuss's "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" at the appropriate page. Her favorite game right now is what I call the "Sharing Game". She'll be playing with things, like a bunch of wooden vegetables, and then hand you one. I always say, "Oh, for me? Thank you Minna!" and she smiles. You can try and give it back, but she'll give it right back to you again. And keep giving you the other ones. She really seems to understand a lot of what you say to her, even if she can't reply.

She's also crazy about Bodhi and whenever she hears him meow she whips her head around to find him and claps and smiles and makes happy sounds. She also does this when she sees him first thing in the morning. And of course when she sees Ollie she just lights up and claps and laughs. The two of them have a band I like to call "The Kottke 2". He bangs on all sorts of things, and she takes the xylophone and a stick and whacks away, and then she claps while he sings and bangs on "drums". It's quite a sight.

Two more teeth on the bottom, for a total of 6 teeth! And I think two more on the top are about to cut through. She's also getting better at standing, but still no crawling and no pulling herself up. She's an eating champ and pretty much can feed herself now if it's not a liquid. And on her monthiversary she had her very first Shake Shack burger. I got some nice pictures of her eating it. But I like this photo better, of her sitting in our backyard, enjoying some O's, and saving that special one for later.

August 26, 2010 at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The more things change the more they change

While poking around online (actually trying to confirm the spelling of Buttner's, an old department store on Nantucket) I came across this New York Times article from 1989, Changing, Unchanging Nantucket, bemoaning the changing island. It's quaint in its complaints about the transformation, with notes like "[T]he tariff for motor vehicles had gone to $66.50 from $47.50 each way." It's $380 now. And the development and traffic and loss of stores on Main Street he catalogs are nothing compared to what I witnessed this summer. The stores that replaced the stores he misses have been replaced again by new stores -- the Benetton is long gone! And yet it's true, the mores and beaches are still the same. "There have been changes, but Nantucket remains a very special place indeed." Indeed.

August 22, 2010 at 11:34 AM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0)

My hate-love relationship with sunscreen has taken a turn back to hate. Until I discovered Neutrogena's Sport Sunblock (and then their UltraSheer) I simply couldn't stand the stuff. But oh Neutrogena! It was weightless, it didn't even feel like you were wearing anything. For years I slathered myself happily and regularly.

Recently my father sent me a link to the Environmental Working Group's Sunscreen Guide. And I discovered that my beloved sunscreen had a terrible rating! Worse, I felt horrible about putting it on my kids. So I bit the bullet and switched to some brands they recommended, all of which use physical barriers (as opposed to chemical) to block the sun's rays. Guess what? YUCK. I applied sunscreen yesterday morning and I swear I'm still coated in the stuff! It does not budge, not even with a loofa and body wash scrub-down.I'm totally bummed because I know this is "better" but the other stuff was so nice! Once I'm done breast-feeding I'm tempted to switch back.

August 04, 2010 at 08:41 PM in Life | Permalink | Comments (6)

37 Months

37 Months

Ollie's currently in the "Little Helper" phase. I haven't seen that on the list of milestones, but it's a big one. This morning he helped make coffee, carried all the breakfast plates (with their food) to the table, brought the forks, and gave Minna her drink. He would have cracked the eggs as well but I was rushing and didn't let him. After breakfast he watered the garden and was very excited to see this rainbow in the spray. By this time next week I'm hoping he'll be preparing all the meals, washing the dishes, and doing all the yard work so I can enjoy our Nantucket vacation.

August 04, 2010 at 08:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hot day, cool ice cream

image from http://megnut.typepad.com/.a/6a00d835019f8653ef0133f2a20ddc970b-pi

July 28, 2010 at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Catching razor clams

I've dug/raked for my fair share of shellfish (oysters, steamers, littlenecks and mussels) but I'd never harvested razor clams. I've seen their shells all over the beaches, but until a few years ago never realized people ate them. Then I had them roasted with butter and garlic at St. John's in London and fell in love! While reading my new Forgotten Skills of Cooking I learned a simple way to catch razor clams: pour salt in their hole and watch them wriggle out!

That's crazy! I can't wait to try it! Also if anyone knows a good source for buying razor clams in New York City, please let me know. I want to start eating them more regularly.

July 21, 2010 at 08:36 PM in Food | Permalink | Comments (3)

My copy of Forgotten Skills of Cooking: The Time-Honored Ways are the Best - Over 700 Recipes Show You Why by Darina Allen arrived today and I'm very excited to get started with it. Foraging for seaweeds and shellfish looks especially up my alley. And as I read the introduction I puffed up a bit with pride. The author complains of so many young people who don't know basic things (like butter comes from cream!) about where food comes from or what it looks like in its natural state. I realized that in his short life, Ollie's picked asparagus, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, black raspberries, rhubarb and (not ripe) blackberries. Not bad for a just 3 years old New York City native.

July 20, 2010 at 05:28 PM in Food | Permalink | Comments (1)

  Pyra_ad

Yeah. I found this on my hard drive. Kind of crazy.

July 19, 2010 at 09:51 PM in Science & Technology | Permalink | Comments (1)

4 Stages of Seeing Pregnant Women

Walking around Manhattan the other day I realized there are four stages of "Woman Seeing Pregnant Women on the Streets."

Stage One: You don't see them at all. You're pre-kids and you don't even notice things like pregnant bellies, even though you're surrounded by them.

Stage Two: "Oh I wish that was me!" You pine.

Three: "Hey! You're pregnant! Me too! Her too! All of us! Gosh, she looks big! Do I look that big?" You're there! You're surrounded by your pregnant sisters everywhere you look!

Four: "O.M.G. I'm so so so so so so so so happy I'm not pregnant."

Needless to say, I am at stage four.

June 17, 2010 at 03:08 PM in Life | Permalink | Comments (11)

I made a new About page. In case somehow you've been reading this blog and have no idea who I am.

June 15, 2010 at 01:45 PM in Happenings | Permalink | Comments (0)

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