Caitlin & Rob: March 2010

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Shoes

Guy LOVES shoes. He tries to put his own on all the time (by the way, he just barely got into his 12 month clothes, but his shoe size is already 5--what a 2 year old wears), he tries to put other people's shoes on their own feet, sometimes he just carries shoes around with him, and every once in a while he tries to wear other people's shoes, like this.

These are Rob's motorcycle boots--they are heavy (steel toed) things. Guy got into the first one on his own, and Rob helped him with the second. He even walked a little with both on. That was really funny to see.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Another survey - or two!

Another brother, another class . . . this one is regarding skiing/snowboarding. It's 3 or 4 questions long and takes less than 2 minutes, I think.

Click here if you can do it.

AND . . . my sister needs one done by people who served their mission in countries where malaria is present. If that's you, or you feel like being benevolent and getting your husband to help, here's that one: http://qtrial.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_eY6rpFIKqbVd6T2&SVID=Prod

Thanks!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Latest Project

So, I'm almost finished with class. Wahoo! I've loved it, but I am enjoying the idea that the end is in sight. I have part of a chapter left to lecture on, then the remainder of the class will be group presentations.

Anyway, with that almost done, a friend of mine finally kicked me in the pants and got me going on this project I've wanted to do for quite a while.

Here are the first 2 pages of a quiet book I'm working on for Guy. If guy won't be entertained at church, it'll work for me at least. :)

Lost left to do on both these pages (most of it isn't sewn together yet, just laid out) . . . the top is obviously a little car map, so I'll just have one little matchbox car to go with that. On the second one the door and all the windows lift open and there are slots to slide in family photos. We'll put in photos of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. I'm pretty excited about this little project (that quickly seems to be turning huge).

. . . now if we can just find Rob a job . . .

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Last Snow (I hope!)

Here are a few photos of what we did last weekend. I know--many of my friends are taking photos of their kids enjoying spring, and to put it candidly, I am jealous. This was the first snow Guy ever played in, though, and its already melted, so I tolerated it. It was even fun for the 20 minutes it lasted both times. I thought Guy would not like it so much (he's not too fond of grass), but he did really well.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

I'm in Trouble!

Rob started trying to teach Guy to fold his arms for prayers when he was about 3 weeks old. Okay, that's an exaggeration--but it was early, I promise.

Bless his heart for continuing to try to teach while not making it a big deal. A few days ago (when it hadn't been requested for a while) he did it, no problem. Now Guy will fold his arms on command almost all the time, and even on his own as he's walking around (what mom wouldn't think that's adorable, right?).

The other day, I asked him to hold something while I was changing his diaper. He heard "fold" and the rest of the diaper changing process was a breeze, yea.

The funniest episode so far, though . . . last night while I was getting him ready for bed he folded his arms on his own, which reminded me that I should pray with him (Rob was still at work). So, I actually had him fold his arms and kneel down on the bed, while I was kneeling down on the floor leaning on the bed. I then started a short prayer. And it really was a short prayer, but holy cow . . . while I was praying he lunged into the pillows on the bed (shrieking while doing it--me hearing this as I prayed), and then promplty returned to the kneeling/folded arms position. After I said "amen" and opened my eyes, he just looked at me and smiled.

I swear he thinks he pulled a fast one.

I tried to get a photo of him kneeling with his arms folded this morning, but that didn't work . . . hopefully later.

Teething

This morning and yesterday morning Guy woke up way too early. In fact, yesterday from 4-6 am we were sharing quality time that I'd just rather not have (as much as I do love him). I've wondered about teething in the past, just waiting for his next 2 bottom teeth to come in. Yesterday I learned he's out of order (thanks to my wonderful dental hygienist visiting teacher who watched him for a couple of hours yesterday) - his top two (3rd and 4th top ones) are breaking through together, poor kid.

I'm alleviating the pain how I can, with teething tablets, orajel, and tylenol, but I think Guy prefers this . . .

Kitchen Time

Sometimes when I'm cooking or cleaning in the kitchen Guy is all over the place--it's so hard to keep him contained/occupied. He doesn't like being in his little chair for all of that time, so he'll fuss about it. And while sometimes he gets to deal with doing things he doesn't like, I've found a great way to not make this one a battle.

Thank you, booster seat strap, you're awesome.

jello

Last weekend I thought it would be fun to make some jello jigglers for Guy. I remember loving them when I was younger. He did okay with it, actually eating that whole piece.

Still not quite sure how he managed this in the process, though--this stain was on his leg for a couple days.

. . . next time I'm definitely not doing red. :)

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Killer Salsa

I got a salsa recipe from my sister-in-law, Sara, when we were visiting her family. I've never made salsa before, but this gave me inspiration to try. Last night Rob and I had dinner with some friends, so I made it, and it was a huge hit. I could have eaten all of it myself, it really is fabulous. So, here goes, from Sara:

3 med sized tomatoes

2 scallions, finely minced

2 medium cloves garlic

handful of parsley

handful of cilantro

1 tsp lightly toasted cumin seeds (or I use 1/4 tsp cumin)

3/4 -1 tsp salt

1 T cider vinegar

1T lime juice

1 T olive oil

crushed red pepper, to taste

(I use the cuisinart and just throw it all in there)

What I learned: I don't have a big food processor so I used a smaller one in 2 batches, and the tomatoes probably got a little too small, but it was still okay. I used the minced garlic from a jar (Rob got fresh garlic from the store yesterday, but when I opened it up, it wasn't so fresh) and if I needed to do that again, I'd probably add a little more because I don't think it's as strong as fresh garlic. Also, I didn't have cilantro seeds, so I just threw in more fresh cilantro. Lastly, I used fresh squeezed lime and if I do that again, I'll probably use a little bit less than I did because that fresh lime was really strong (I love that flavor, but Rob--not so much).

Try it out, you'll LOVE it!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Photos of Guy

Yesterday it was warm enough to go outside and let Guy wander around a little bit. I tried getting him to pay enough attention to me to smile some, but wasn't very successful with him especially while he was facing the right direction (in the good lighting)--he was all over the place. It was still fun to take some photos of him.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Statistics for Thought

Getting my grad degree in communications gave me lots of opportunity to study media theory and effects. As a result, I recognized some of the effects that come from media use such as watching television. Now as a new mom, I think it's more important to figure out how I'm going to monitor my kids' viewing habits. When we visited my brother's family recently, I liked how much TV they didn't watch - and I liked that they Netflix Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes for Saturday morning viewing pleasure.

This week I'm teaching the Television chapter of Comms 101. Here are some statistics I found while preparing that again make me think, so I thought I'd share them:

-Hours per day that TV is on in an average US home: 7 hours, 12 minutes
-Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66
-Number of videos rented daily in the US: 6 million
-Number of public library items checked out daily: 3 million
-Chance that an American falls asleep with the TV on at least three nights a week: 1 in 4 (I'm embarrassed to admit I significantly up that statistic)
-Average number of hours per week that American one year-old children watch television: 6
-Number of hours/week recommended by the American Pediatric Association for children two and under: 0
-Percentage of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV and spending time with their fathers, preferred television: 54
-Percentage of teenagers who can name the city where the US Constitution was written (Philadelphia): 25
-Percentage of teenagers who know where you find the zip code 90210 (Beverly Hills): 75
-Percentage of “educational” TV that has little or no educational value: 21
-Number of violent acts the average American child sees on TV by age 18: 200,000
-Number of murders witnessed by children on television by the age 18: 16,000
-Number of ads aired for “junk-food” during four hours of Saturday morning cartoons: 202
-Percentage of Americans who can name The Three Stooges: 59
-Percentage of Americans who can name three Supreme Court Justices: 17

Here's a link to there are more statistics just like these: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/parenting/pa0025.html