Best Santa photo ever

My (former) roommate, Melissa, and her brother.

Love it.

IT'S SNOWING!

You guys! Guess what! It's snowing in the kitchen! Wait . . . wait.

Never mind, it's powdered sugar.



Scott is taller and more able to reach things that are placed on counters than I had realized!



A few minutes after this picture he realized that this was SUGAR and started putting handfuls in his mouth. Yikes. This was probably a moment in which I should have tried to teach and discipline him, but he looked so proud of himself, and was having so much fun, and helped in the cleaning up, so I decided to just keep the powdered sugar out of his reach in the future.

Blue Ribbon Baby

We're finalists in a family photo contest at HiveMoms.com, which is a site that helps organize co-ops. (Thanks, Ben, for being the baby stand!) If we win, I will start calling Scott a Blue Ribbon Baby. That's what Granny Koop sometimes called my dad, because when he was little she took him to a county fair (or something like that) and he won the prize for Best Baby Boy.

Pictures

Scott is into mopping and wiping things lately:


He gets grouchy if I stop cleaning to take photos and leave him to do all the work himself:

But he's back to smiles soon after. (Look! He has a tiny bit of hair for a teeny mohawk!)

Rice Pudding

Ladies (and gents), you are going to need to make yourself some rice pudding this week. We had an Indian version yesterday at a chaat house (what does chaat mean??) and I made some tonight here at home. Rice pudding reminds me of our honeymoon in NYC where we ate a lot from Rice to Riches.

Rice pudding is quick, cheap, easy, and makes your tummy so happy that you will not mind that it's chilly and overcast outside. It's the best thing you can make from leftover rice. Put it in a pot, add milk (almost enough to cover the rice), add sugar (I prefer white, not too much, start adding slowly and aim for somewhere around 1.5 tsp per serving), and vanilla extract. You can add an egg, but I like it more liquidy, without egg. Exact measurements can be found here, but they're not really necessary. Other additives: raisins, fresh fruit (after it's done cooking), chocolate chips ...

Now start sprinkling in little bits of cinnamon, nutmeg, perhaps a little cardamom or cloves, and hum it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas as the kitchen fills with wonderful scents. Simmer uncovered (steaming, not boiling) for maybe 15 to 20 minutes until mushy and perfect.

Yummmmm.

Tonight Scott was sitting on my lap, watching Sesame Street clips on the computer. In one of them, they sang the ABCs. He asked to be put down (by pointing down, leaning and making a "Mmmhhh?" sound), walked to the fridge, and pushed the button on this magnet that plays the ABC song, looking right at me. Wow! I'm just floored by this. He's, like, here! In full! Alert and communicating! But he was a baby only a few weeks ago!

Been having too much fun

My parents and sis came out to visit us for Thanksgiving week and we had so much fun visiting San Francisco, wedding planning for K's May nuptials, and eating eating eating. A few photos:

Thanksgiving morning 5 mile run in Golden Gate Park! Our CA friends, Shawn and Deb, convinced us to go and we're glad we did. I am smiling here, so it must be lap 1.

Scott was a roast turkey. Those are turkey leg frills, not Clydesdale feet.

Mom and Dad took Scott to the park(s) around MV and PA

The Fairmont hotel in SF had a Christmas open house. That gingerbread house in the background? REAL GINGERBREAD. Like, thousands of pounds worth.