Happy Solstice!

To celebrate the Winter Solstice, we had a lovely little candelit dinner at home. I made a spicy squash soup that had garam masala and red chili pepper in it. Yum. Warmed us right up. We also had a lovely organic roast chicken with couscous and green beans. And, then, cake! Solstice cake! Chocolate on the outside to represent the dark days of midwinter and yellow cake on the inside to represent the sun and the return to light. Only six more months until summer... >sigh<

Long-haired Hippie Baby Forced to Cut Hairs

It had gotten a little unruly, but it was cute. We liked his funky hippie baby look and didn't really want to get it cut. However, long hair on a little boy poses a problem. Every time it tickled his face, he'd ball up his little fists and rub...regardless of whether they were filled with banana, soup, yogurt, milk, spagetti...

What's Cookin'?

We invited our friends over this past weekend for a holiday "cookie summit." We asked everyone to bring one batch of holiday cookies to exchange so everyone could leave with an assortment. Some made their cookies in advance, some brought dough and baked them here and some brought the raw ingredients and started from scratch. The oven was rocking all day. It was also Nathan's birthday so everyone was able to hang out all day, toast his 43 years and have a nice big bowl of chili and some Gosser Dark (a favorite of ours) from the kegerator. Good times. The result at the end of the day? Cookies! Cookies for all! Here's a list of the types of cookies made, consumed and frozen for later: almond spritz, snickerdoodles, Russian tea cakes, triple chocolate espresso, chocolate waffle cookies, chocolate mocha, sandbakkelse, Kris Kringles, bird's nests, peanut butter balls, brandy balls, gluten-free almond, frosted sugar cookies, caramel layer cookies and Ann's rhubarb cookies! I have many left over, so stop over if you need a sugar fix :)

In other food news, this week is our last regular season delivery from our farmer. We are down to the root and storage vegetables and will get more of those in our two extended season deliveries in January. Then we are on our own for veggies until May, which seems so far away. So! What to make? How about chicken and brown rice stew with assorted root veg? This is excellent. The sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips and rutabaga are all mildly sweet making for a nice contrast to the heartiness of the chicken thighs and brown rice. I seasoned with thyme and a bay leaf and, my, its tasty! Warming soul food for below zero nights.

What Henry's Been Up To...

It's been a tough week for Henry. We discovered that he has a peanut allergy, he has a mild rash on his neck, he had four shots including the swine flu vaccine and he cut his first molar. Despite all the trials of being one, he continues to be a smiling, happy dude and is learning to walk. Here's a little montage of some of his daily activities.

Goofball

Walker

Three Steps

Walking is a big, big milestone for a little guy. Most of the kids in Henry's Thursday morning class are already walking and he's been studying them for a few weeks. It's been a couple of months since he started standing and cruising along the furniture, so we've been waiting patiently for him to gain the confidence to take off on his own. I'm very proud to say that after his class this morning he took three whole steps all by himself on his way over to me in the kitchen. Way to go kiddo!

The Stats at One Year

Henry is growing, growing, growing! He is tall and skinny and on track to be 6' 1" when he's an adult. He was scheduled for a lot of shots this time around and we opted to give him half now and have the other half in December to minimize the risk of any ill effects from the vaccines.

Height = 31 1/2 inches = 92nd percentile
Weight = 22 lbs 7 ounces = 50th percentile
Noggin = 19 inches = 92nd percentile
Teeth = 8

He's moved up to the "big boy" car seat and is now the proud owner of his very own potty chair, which he views and just another toy at this point. He's done with baby food and is making the move from formula to whole cow's milk. Bottles are out and sippy cups are in. Cheddar bunnies/goldfish crackers are, quite possibly, the best thing ever. The kid's current favorite activity is couch traversing. He climbs up on the couch all by himself and crawls/climbs from end to end, harassing the cats, looking out the window and "lounging" like daddy. In fact, he mimics most everything that Nathan does. It's cute. For now.

Henry's 1st Birthday