Wednesday, February 21, 2007

She's in the Army Now

Baby E is commando crawling now. We first caught her doing it on Sunday at church. This evening I put her down on the kitchen floor with a basket of toys (I have these baskets in every room she is normally in) and I started making dinner (which was a delicious cauliflower gratin. Dh is away on business so normal meal rules are out the window). She decided the kitchen was boring and commando crawled right out. She crawled to the sliding glass door in the dining room and banged on that for a while. Then she crawled over to a box of crap Dh has in the dining room (no comment on that) and tried to get into it. Then she waved her feet around in the air and yelled to herself. Every now and then I leaned over the counter to say, "Hi!" and she smiled adorably at me. She entertained herself for a good forty minutes. It was great.

Baby E used to be the great self-entertainer. She would sit and play with a basket of toys for an hour. But concurrent with her new mobility is a lower threshold for boredom. Now I am lucky if her toy basket keeps her entertained for ten minutes. She much prefers getting into things or coming over to see what I am doing. "It's laundry, Baby E. Laun-dry."

This presents something of a dilemma for me. Dh and I discussed this recently and decided I am what could be termed a Lazy Homebody. When E was younger, I could go three days without leaving the house. Not even to take the garbage out. Literally, inside the house the entire time. And I was okay with that. By the fourth day, I needed out, but I definitely have hermit-ish tendencies. Being a SAHM dovetailed perfectly, I thought. But quite frankly, Baby E is easier to care for now when we are out and about, not holed up at home. She loves to look at people, things, ceiling fans. So I find myself inventing fake errands. "Well, Baby E, we desperately need a 10" springform pan. Let's go!" It's kind of weird to be out so much, but also kind of fun, because she does behave herself, and everyone is always smiling at her and thus by extension at me, which is nice. And we didn't find that pan today, but that's okay, it can just be tomorrow's Urgent Errand! You see, I actually totally need the pan to make a Raspberry Coffee Cake. Which I need to make to use up the raspberry puree left over from the Cheesecake of Love.

Baby E is really horking the food down right now. Everyone and their sister seems to be making their own baby food, so I kind of felt like a garbage-producing, money-wasting schmuck, especially since I'm a SAHM. So eh, what the heck. I decided to start making Baby E's food myself. The main reason actually being that with the amount she eats right now, she'd eat us right into the poor house. She eats the Gerber 2nds mixed with oatmeal or rice cereal. She currently eats 2 2-packs a DAY, and here in Oregon those puppies cost 94 cents a pop. So. I bought Blender Baby Foods because I want my hand held through this entire process, dang it! Then I went to my local produce store ("Where You Won't Get Slapped in the Face For Being Fresh") and bought tons. Which did not even cost that much $$. I made carrots last night and am quite pleased with how they turned out. Plus now I get to feel all virtuous because not only am I making E's food from scratch, I am even supporting my local farming community by shopping at the produce store. Ha ha

On a completely random note, I'm interested to see who wins the Democratic nomination. I don't think the Republican one is much of a mystery. I'll eat my hat if McCain doesn't get it. But the Democratic side is more interesting at the moment. Clinton seems to have lots of D.C. support, but Obama has all the glamorous support (i.e., Hollywood). I read the fawning article on Clinton in the November Atlantic Monthly. But I think Obama appeals more to the younger crowd.

3 comments:

liz said...

I also read the Atlantic article. I still don't feel like Hil will get the nomination. And even though I once vowed to vote for her if she ran, I think I've changed my mind.
Similar to the article, I feel pretty strongly that she lost her chutzpah after her insurance bill failed. I think she's too much to too many people.
Obama, he's got me interested again. I think he's got some great ideas. But I think that too much of the country isn't ready for an African-American president, which is really sad.
I think that more people would rather have a *woman* as president than a black man.
Haven't we come further than this?

Okay, moving on: Hooray for making the baby food. I have to say, I get the same smug sense of satisfaction by making Henry's food. My reasoning is a bit more self-centered. The Mistah is the Master of the Kitchen, and is such an Alpha Cook that I rarely get in there myself. But I make all of Henry's food. And I'm good at it. And Henry likes it. And I can support local farmers. And I know what goes in the recipe, therefore what goes in his mouth. Plus? I just really think it's fun.
And Blender Baby Foods is my bible! We just made the Creamy Sweet Corn (loved it) and the Cheesey Broccoli, Ham, and Pastina (loved it more than anything yet!).
For me, it was prompted by getting H to eat meats--but the Gerber meats? Eeeew.
Have fun!

Katie said...

Any thougths about good ole Mit Romney?

Marty, a.k.a. canape said...

Mmmmm. Cheesecake of love.

I think your kitchen sounds great. A cheesecake of love AND homemade baby food.

Impressive!

As for the Democrats, I have no clue. I don't think Ms. Clinton would win overall, so for that, I hope they don't choose her. I never gave up on John Edwards, but then again, I'm from Raleigh and can't help it.