Toads-in-the-Hole

Growing up, the ubiquitous American football game provided a background noise to holiday gatherings with my family. I recall watching my middle-aged uncles reclining in overstuffed Lazyboys, paper plates littered with turkey bones and Snicker salad goo resting atop their holiday sweatered bellies, their eyes trained on the television. This exclusively masculine crowd, with its occasional outburst of celebration or wrath, was a clique to which I did not belong, nor did I care to belong. Not because I was a girl, no, just because football seemed stupid.

Seemed stupid.

I still think that football is a crazy, risky, violent piece of entertainment. I still think that many of the rules are arbitrary and confusing.

But, becoming a football fan has been one of the most rewarding decisions that I've ever made because it's given me new and different insight on the men in my life.

So, this Thanksgiving, do something new for the ones you love ... You might just find something new to love.

Posted by Aimee at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Henry, Ol' Blue Eyes: sitting up all by himself for a minute or two; moving into 6 - 9 month wear; blowing a ton of raspberries; bathtime is still the best time; showing off his gummy grin; hates green-colored food; loves to grab Nine's fur (which Nine interprets as petting, so it's a win-win); keeping a close eye on that blur of an older sister.

Adelaide: worrying about going to Kindergarten; loving Miyazaki; would wear dresses every day, if she could; doing lots of "homework" (e.g., coloring, glueing, drawing, painting); incessantly asking "What time is it?" and then "What time is it now?"; telling secrets at bedtime; begging for playdates; keeping close tabs on that baby brother.

Posted by Aimee at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Henry's appetite for solid food has taken off!

In early November, our seven month-old Henry went for his six month check-up. Why so late? We like the pediatrician that we like and she has a busy schedule; sometimes it's a challenge to coordinate. In any case, at the appointment Henry weighed in a little underweight at 14 pounds, 14 ounces.

Well, shoot.

"His weight sucks," Henry's doctor pronounced. (Note: Henry's pediatrician is a friend from our days in medical school. We are happy with a doctor-patient relationship where she can comfortably Tell It Like It Is with us, so we're okay with her use of the word "sucks" at the bedside. I assume it didn't make it into Henry's chart, though.)

She suggested that we increase his solid food feedings and add rice and oatmeal cereals to everything that he eats. We are nothing if not compliant, so we increased the solid food mealtimes to (at least) 3 each day. And, of course, like the good nurse I am, I am nothing without charting, so we're logging all of Henry's Ins and Outs in our MacBook vault.

Here's the amazing thing ... Before our appointment, Henry typically nursed about six times each day and ate about one or two solid meals each day. After our appointment, Henry continues to nurse about six times daily, but now eats a minimum of three solid food meals per day!

It seems like Henry's always eating ... Bananas, sweet potatoes, peas, applesauce, pears, carrots, squash, and everything mixed with cereal. Eat, burp, sleep, eat, sleep, burp, eat.

You can imagine our daily diaper needs.

Posted by Aimee at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Happy Birthday, Aimee!

Posted by Joel at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Tonight, we're at home. Tots are tucked in. I'm surfing around the Internet. Joel's doing homework.

Joel sips his whiskey, and then says:

"So there used to be this disease called idiopathic Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia. The acronym for which was BOOP. So, a doctor would have to go into a patient's room and say 'Well, you might be dying. You might be dying from BOOP'. But, now the name for BOOP is Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia, or COP. So, they changed BOOP to COP."

I'm still giggling.

Posted by Aimee at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Adelaide finds that her stash of Halloween candy is more fun to sort and into different categories than to eat!

Posted by Aimee at 7:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)