Going with the flow

We were invited to a dinner party on Saturday night by some co-workers of Shawn's. There were to be eleven of us, hosted by a Middle Eastern couple. We asked what we could bring, and the hostess laughed, saying she didn't understand the American habit of wanting to bring something--it is something they don't do. But, she told us we could bring a dessert, so I made fruit tarts. I was so proud of myself--I had managed to make the two different fillings (the above is a vanilla pastry cream and below is a lime curd) and the crusts on Friday and all that was necessary on Saturday would be to assemble, a process I really enjoy. While I struggle with cake decorating and the use of icing, I love this kind of thing.
Assembly of the tarts was going quite nicely--my intention was to lay the strawberry tart in the middle of a large platter and surround it with twelve of the blueberry lime tartlets. I filled each on a different plate so as to not dribble on the larger platter and to ease refrigeration and was planning to transfer them before we left. While the strawberries were a tad off-center, it looked lovely. As I went to transfer, however, I managed to collapse a side of the crust. I cursed. Loudly. Luckily Timmy was outside playing with Shawn. Then I tried to slide a knife under the tart to give some more leverage. And more collapse. This time I cursed and jumped up and down, so mad at myself for stupidly thinking I could transfer it after having filled and decorated it. And feeling sick to my stomach that I had worked so hard on this perfect looking tart just to break it before we even arrived.

This was on top of the stress I was feeling about Timothy being put to bed by someone else--a first for us.

The anger and frustration lasted while I got myself dressed for the party, but when I looked at the tart again, I realized you couldn't really see the crust from the top, and as tarts are rather difficult to cut without making a mess, I knew the crust would break anyway.

Everyone loved the tarts (and they travelled better not being on the larger platter, anyway), Timothy fell asleep with no problem and yet again, I had the lesson of rolling with the punches--stress isn't going to help any of us. To be honest, I came to it sooner than I usually do.

And Timmy just loved the blueberries!

Afternoon visitor

I was outside working to extend a flower bed to fit a new rhododendron and looked up for some reason. There in our field, standing still as can be and watching ME was this beautiful moose. It seems like all the moose I have seen in the last few years were in the process of changing their coats and therefore looked pretty mangy. This girl was just beautiful. Sleek and prehistoric all in one.


This picture was taken on Saturday--the first of a string of steamy days in the Northeast. Shawn's grandmother got a new ATV and we were taking it for a test drive. The ride to the stream, he was facing the other way, arms wrapped around my neck. On the way back, however, he was as relaxed as I think he has ever been. It is so interesting to watch him figure out the entire world and learn what is scary and what is not. If only he were more tentative around things that are dangerous! But he is constantly having big, full days, because every day is new and carries adventure and, in his mind, great risk. He takes it all with a grain of salt for the most part, but generally happily hanging on to me. On those days when I get frustrated with his clinginess because I can get absolutely nothing done, I need to remember that he is probably overwhelmed, overtired or just not feeling well and tomorrow is another day and he'll eventually overcome that fear or stress. We certainly had a wonderful day together today--river walking, picnicking, pool wading and just exploring. Not a bad life we have here.

Great outdoors

Here's the almost completed chicken coop! Shawn got the windows in last night and we just have to do some trim and doors to finish it up. We'll need to stain it, too, but that isn't a must for the little chicks to start residence. You can also see the plants starting up in the garden. The main two rows of green are some snow peas and the beans are just poking their heads up in the rows next to them. The last few days of rain helped a lot of things along, and now we just need the ground to warm back up for a major growth spurt. Considering their talking of 80s in the next few days, I think we'll see a lot of growth!
Here's our first iris! We transplanted a bunch of flowers from Shawn's grandmother this year and this is our first blossom. The lupin are forming their stalks and the lilies are bushing out nicely--it is so cool to see our gardens coming together.
Timothy is exerting more and more independence. He chases the dogs around with their leashes, wanting so badly to hook them and lead them. I humored him here, and thank goodness Bella is such an easy going dog. She munched on grass while Timmy led her around the yard. He was in heaven. Actually, he's pretty happy whenever we're outside. I'm so happy to see him as an outdoor kid--hopefully he'll always enjoy it.

Today, we're going to help family with flower planting. Well, it'll be a chance for Timmy to see his grandmothers and to play in the dirt anyway--I'll probably spend more time distracting him from pulling up what is planted than actually helping with the flowers, but we'll see.

Testing

Timmy knows what 'no' means. He just doesn't care. I'm not entirely sure what to do about that and how to convince him that listening to me is, well, the right thing to do. Any suggestions?

There are a number of things that Timothy will just continue to do despite the knowledge that he shouldn't do it. Like when he is no longer hungry, he likes to drop his food on the floor. I say no and then he stares straight at me holds his hand out with a fistful of food and lets 'er rip. Often, he tilts his head to the left right before he does something he shouldn't, so at least I have warning. He loves to crawl under the computer table and pull at cords and his new favorite game is pulling the cover off the speaker and drag it around the house similarly to the bread peel you see above.

Safety issues are what really get me. Timothy has been great about standing at the top of the stairs and then pointing to tell me he wants to go down, never making a move to try it on his own. Of course, I'm always right there with him, so he doesn't have that much of an opportunity to try it. Today, I was in the bathroom emptying a diaper but had my eye on the little guy who was on the move. He had been pushing around a xylophone in his bedroom when I snuck out, but then he headed to the top of the stairs. We made eye contact, I said no and told him to wait for me, he hesitated and then moved his little foot over the next step down. Fortunately, it was in slow motion and I was doing the leap through the air as he was about to lose his balance. I caught him just in time, he seemed a little surprised but didn't fuss a bit.

I wish it had scared him, though. Maybe he would be a little more willing to follow what he clearly understands I'm saying. Seriously, any suggestions for enforcing 'no' to a one year old?

Anyway, doesn't he look so grown up here??? These are his first two piece pajamas!

Funny kid

Timmy's favorite activities, aside from playing in the yard, are doing just what we're doing. He squeals in glee and runs to the closet when I say the word 'vacuum'. And what he wants to do is be in charge of the process. Notice the photo above--he was annoyed with me when I tried to do the vacuuming and he couldn't be fooled to have the attachment unattached from the vacuum. He wanted to be the one cleaning.

Today, when he was grumpy and I asked if he wanted to make bread, he stopped crying and nodded vigorously. He wants to put his hands in the dough, stir when necessary, add any additional flour. It is so cool watching his excitement with our daily activities.


A funny story from nap time this morning--he was rather quiet for a while and I thought he had fallen asleep when all of a sudden I heard a 'thump'. He has managed to grab a few things from his book shelf such as a picture frame that was too close to the crib and a few dust covers I had removed from books as the temptation to tear is quite high. When I heard him awake this morning, I discovered a couple books on the floor and he actually managed to get a large book inside his crib through the slat. This took some serious maneuvering and nimble finger work to say the least. I guess being able to entertain oneself is a good skill....