Culinary Genius?

Carter has been getting creative in the kitchen. Last night's feast: mandarin oranges with peas. It made for beautiful plating, but it's not a flavor combination I'd want to try.

Carter ate it all - by the handful.

Culinary Genius.

Last night, Joo and I set out to make a meal that would be delicious and would not require Joo to eat "some weird vegetable" (I apparently do that to her quite often with my cooking). We made grown-up mac n' cheese, compete with peas, bacon, wine-sauteed scallions and lots of sharp cheddar (we weren't shooting for low-fat). It was delicious and weird-veggie-free. It passed the kid test, too. Carter wolfed down the leftovers tonight.

Joo's Visit

Joo (or, "Boo", as she and Carter have decided she should be called) is visiting this weekend! She is ostensibly here to see all of us, but she seems a little more interested in one of us...

Camellia

The camellia tree in front of our house is in full bloom. (I'm quite proud to finally be able to remember the name of this plant. I've been calling it our chlamydia tree for months...)

February is so much better here than in New York! I've been wearing short sleeves, and things are starting to poke out of the ground!

I know, I know, it will probably get cold again before spring sets in, but it's still so wonderful to have nice days like this in February!

Pop Quiz Answer

The answer, of course, is contacts. The reason, however, deserves some documentation. Following in Eleanor's opera footsteps, I was recruited/volunteered to be in the next Atlanta Ballet production of Romeo & Juliet as Lord Montague. Luckily for all involved, especially the audience, it is a non-dancing role, HOWEVER, it does involve an on-stage sword fight with very heavy broadswords. We open tonight and run for two weekends, so if you are in town, it will be interesting!

The Costume
...and TIGHTS!

New Words

Carter is learning new words all the time. His Uncle Park is helping out with some fun ones... (sorry the video is pretty dark)

Pop Quiz

Notice anything different about Thomas' face?

First Marshmallow

He liked it.

Toddler Food

Carter is a good eater. He eats a good mix of foods, and we really shouldn't complain about his eating habits. But sometimes we do.

He is getting quite a bit more finicky lately. In typical toddler fashion, it's not so much about one food versus another, its about him asserting his independance. One day he'll eat something, the next day he'll refuse. And, in general, Carter isn't fond of is leftovers. If I reheat something, he's not into it. It's as if he knows I didn't put out sufficient effort.

So, I've discovered a trick that (so far) virtually guarantees that he'll eat what we give him. If he helps cook it, he'll eat it (he's also guaranteed to eat it if it is a waffle or mac n' cheese).

I've been letting Carter help pour, mix and season his food. We watch the toaster oven or the microwave, and I talk to him about what we're doing. Even if its as simple as letting him hold the peppermill while I put a tiny bit of pepper on the leftovers before they go in the microwave, the participation is sufficient to get him to eat the food. The first night I tried this trick, he wolfed down an entire fillet of asian-spiced tilapia and green beans. Another night, in my desparation to find something he could sprinkle on some leftover lima beans, I chose a spice that was a bit too spicy. It was clear that Carter's mouth was on FIRE, but he refused to stop eating. Fire-mouth aside, the only other problem is the time it takes to get the food from the heat source to his plate. He's not fond of waiting for the food he has prepared to cool down!

As with most toddler tricks, I don't expect this to work for long... but I've gotten a week out of it, so that's something!

Words

Carter continues to pick up words at his own pace, but they are coming decidely faster these days (or, more likely, we're starting to understand what he's been saying all along). Here are a few of his favorite words these days:

food (na-na)
waffle
lunchbox (unbaugh)
the door (da doh - always ending on a very high pitch, as if asking "[who's at] the door?")
oh no (ooooooh nooooo!)
elmo
Thomas (dada)
Me (mama)
milk (ma-ma)
more (ma, most often: ma-ma-ma-ma)

Yes, those last three are a bit confusing.