Happy Birthday Dallin!

 Comfort food...

 birthday surprises...

and pumpkin pie...I think it was a good one!

Lots of love, Liezel

New Favorite Thing

Dallin (lover of kitchen gadgets) received a Microplane Zester for Christmas.  I love recipes that include fresh citrus, and I use his tool often.  Before just a few months ago, I was using a duller-than-dull cheese grater for my zesting--with mixed results and battle wounded fingers/knuckles.  I am currently in love with this new kitchen toy.  Lemon and lime zesting is pure aromatherapy for my senses.  If only I were Jane and could have a lime tree in my backyard, hmmm....

Dear Inventor of Microplane Zester,

All I can say is: Genius!

Sincerely yours,
Liezel  

Baby Girl!

In case you missed the news, my little occupant is a girl!  The 20-week (half-way done!) ultrasound was yesterday.  I had no inkling whatsoever about the sex of the baby, but Dallin was firmly convinced it was a girl--and he was right!  She is growing like a champ, and every thing is perfect except for one small it-might-be-nothing-but-we-will-double-check-anyway issue with her kidneys.  Apparently, her kidneys are larger than they should be, but my doctor reassured me at least three times that it is common, and an isolated issue, and will likely resolve itself.  I am scheduled to have a re-check ultrasound in a month to look at her kidneys again.

During the entire ultrasound baby was head down, feet straight up in the air, face down.  She was not to be disturbed, and never changed position!  So, we have some really nice ultrasound photos of her spine and the back of her head (he he).  Sorry, no classic profile pictures to share...maybe next month we will get lucky.

This whole pregnancy thing is feeling more real now that I know baby is a girl.  I have lots to daydream about...

Zoo!

Ezra is in love with animals.  He takes a particular fancy in lions, owls, and giraffes.  We look at animal books constantly.  He is quick to point out the obscure animal in the corner of the illustration that has nothing to do with the plot line--like the mouse under the chair or the butterfly on the leaf.  Husband and I recently decided to nurture his fancy and get a zoo membership.  We are currently quite close to downtown; I can get from the house to the front door of the zoo in an easy 25 minutes.  Today the weather was perfect, so we took our first adventure.

As we prepared to leave for the zoo this morning, Ezra was excitedly calling out (repeatedly) "an-mul" (animal), "zoo", and then proceeded to rattle off as many animals as he could think of:
 "Zebra?"
"Yes, we will see zebras."
"Lion?"
"Yes, lions live at the zoo, too."
"Bear?"
"Bears, yes, we will see bears."
"Jaff?"
"Yes, many giraffes live at the zoo."

(You get the idea.)  Ezra included dinosaur in that list, as well.

The little guy could hardly contain himself.  When we arrived, he shrieked with joy.

The lion display sits just inside the front entrance, and, lucky for us, the two lion cubs were up and active.  A solid piece of display glass was all that separated us and the noses of the lions.  Ezra was happy as a clam.

We also saw our zebras, bears, and giraffes--along with a whole bucket of others common and those more obscure.  Ezra giggled at a pair of honky geese, tried to mimic some monkey calls, growled at the cheetah, and had compassion for all the sleepy animals.  "Ni-night,"  he cooed to the daddy lions who were always sleeping.

We ate lunch by the train station, and Ezra thrilled every time the familiar "choo-chooooo" call came circling around again.  Five minutes into our return trip Ezra conked out, very content.

One-Man Band

Ezra is one lucky kid. 

His daddy has turned into a singin', dancin' fool lately.  We enjoy his highly entertaining, completely random and spontaneous concerts after good dinners.  And now that I am cooking again, husband is fat (ish...) and happy, and he has music to share, folks!  Sometimes daddy is an opera star full of vibrato and passion, other times life is his musical and he gives musical expression to his kitchen cleaning activities.  Sometimes, backwoods country hoedown comes toe-tapping right through the kitchen.  Sometimes, he is all about rhythm, the "um-chick-a-um" revebrating from any available body part.  I am just as fascinated by it as Ezra.  I can't figure how or where the sudden inspiration comes from, but I love it.  Ezra probably believes that every kid gets serenaded by their daddy after dinner.  At any rate, husband keeps it lively around here with his one-man band.

(And, no I don't have any video evidence.  It's rude to get up during a concert, after all.  Trust me, it happens.)      

More Words, Please

For better or for worse, Ezra has learned that dreaded two-letter toddler favorite..."no!"  After his bath yesterday he was giggling wildly and repeating over and over "oh no! (giggle) "no, no!" (giggle) "no! oh no!"  I have done my best to not use that word, and instead re-direct his attention with a positive word instead, but he learned it, in spite of my efforts!

We have also been practicing "please" and "thank you"--aided by a great series of board books specifically designed to teach manners (Penguin Says Please, Mouse Says Sorry, Polar Bear Says Thank You, etc).  He seems to understand the context of both please and thank you.  For example, during a recent visit to the library, the librarian gave Ezra a stamp on his hand.  I prompted him to say thank you, and he did!  He version sounds like "dink you".  The word please has made quite an impression, and he uses it often without any prompting.  For example, he may ask for something by saying "more" (more books, more songs, more strawberries...) and if that doesn't work, he will look at me earnestly and say "please" (his version sounds like "pease".)  It completely melts my softie heart.  Who could help but respond?  And so we read five more books and sing ten more songs.

Ezra and I have conversations about the baby in my tummy.  He is very keen to the baby now.  If I rub my tummy, even just a little, he calls out, "Baby, baby!"  Lately, he wants to read books that highlight babies, so we have been reading a lot of Peter and the Troll Baby, The Rainbabies, and Freckleface Strawberry.

Speaking of baby, last week I started feeling flutters of baby movement.  This week I am getting full-on karate kicks, usually on my left side.  For such a little person (about 5 ounces) I am impressed by the strength behind the kicking!  Hello future soccer player!  And, in other good news, I am finally coming out from under the nausea cloud.  I have mostly good days now, aside from being constantly hungry and sleepy.  Hoorah!