Please Sir, I Want Some...

Tonight, Avi exhibited again that she speaks English. (With her hands, at least!) While Mike and I ate dinner (and Nourit made playdough cakes), Avi kept putting her hands together for more squash and apples. Not quite as clearly as our ASL friend at the left, but very clearly communicating with her hands what she wanted.

She can also clap and wave. What a smart baby! (Makes up for all the fussiness, I guess!)

Stealing Summer in October

The last 4 days have been amazing. After a cold and rainy spell, the weather turned warm again - I guess that's our Indian Summer? There was something inside of me (and many other people I ran into at the beach!) that wanted to just soak it all in, banking up sunshine for those cold and gray days that are heading our way very soon.

Nourit at the 57th Street Beach baking a sand pie.

Thursday, we left the house with our wool sweaters, and returned in short sleeves. We kicked off the first day of our ecumenical mom's bible study, held at Hyde Park Alliance Church. 14 moms, 22 kids, and 5 caregivers arrived at 10am, and soon the church was filled with the excitement of the children having Sunday School on Thursday. The diverse group of moms met upstairs in the sanctuary, thankful for an hour and 45 minutes sans children to pray and talk together. We decided to study the Psalms, and will meet again every other Thursday. Nourit, who never admits to having a good time, said she really liked 'going to school.'

Peter playing on the beach.

Friday morning, we caravaned with Amber/Kyla/Cole and headed to the 57th Street beach. Not 10 minutes after we arrived, our friends Joanna/Joshua/Peter (the initiator of our mom's study) and new friends Leslie/Eli/Micah, surprised us by coming to the beach, too. The kids splashed in the cold water and built sandcastles for a couple hours, while we tried to make sure noone ran into the water or the road, and all babies were happily fed and rocked. 4 moms, 8 kids. Not your average teenage trip to beach, but wonderful to be in the sun, nonetheless.

Amber, Kyla and Cole (all bundled up!)

Saturday was market day. Mike set up some recording equipment to tape Baba Eli singing and playing. He'll use it for a project he's working on this quarter. Nourit, Avi and I visited the garden, listened to Baba Eli, went to a cheese tasting, and just chitchatted with neighbors. I was excited to learn the market will stay open through December, moving inside the Experimental Station in November.

Avi contemplating the nutritive value of dirt.

When we got home, Nourit and I decided to get creative with the apples we picked last week. Nourit was too excited to nap and leave the baking to me, so she stayed up and we made our first yummy apple pie together. It really is easy! Alas, for two days in a row, little miss no-napper was so horrible by early evening that she went to bed more than 2 hours ahead of schedule.

Nursing In the Pumpkin Patch

I'm fortunate enough to be able to nurse my babies whenever/wherever, and just lazy enough to appreciate it even more ('cause there are no bottle warmers in the pumpkin patch!) Read more on Chicago Mom's Blog.

Apples and Peppers and Pumpkins, Oh My!

This past Saturday, we ventured down to Garwood Orchards in Indiana with friends from church for one of my absolute all-time favorite activities: Apple Picking! We picked Mutsus and Staymans, Red Peppers, and pumpkins. Of course, we followed it up with some yummy doughnuts and cider. After taking a little bite out of the much-anticipated doughnuts, Nourit quietly said, "Mommy, I don't like doughnuts." What's wrong with my child?? (For the record, she ate red peppers off the vine like they were going out of style.)

Nourit ate an apple as big as her head - and wouldn't share.

Mommy and Nourit looking for the perfect pumpkin. We found it, but it already rotted on our windowsill. Looks like we'll have to start the hunt all over!

Mike trying not to bonk Avi in the head with the ginormous Mutsus.

To Market, To Market (to buy a fat load of produce)

To hear my rant about grocery shopping in the year 2008, visit me here at Chicago Mom's Blog in To Market, To Market.

How to "Take a Hike" without a Kitchenaid (Note: Toddlers required)

Last year, we discovered the best scones known to Chicago. They were at the Bleeding Heart Bakery's tent at the Green City Market, and they eat like a meal. They are not cakey, but dense and crumbly. Click here for the actual recipe for the Bleeding Heart Bakery's Take a Hike Scones without commentary.

Now, here is my recipe. Without a Kitchenaid. With two toddlers.


Take a Micro-Hike Scones
8 oz Earth Balance buttery stick vege oil spread or other vegan margarine (do not use shortening) - But we're not vegan, so next time I'll probably just use butter.
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup organic light brown sugar - It definitely won't work if it's not organic.
2 tsp cinnamon - Clean out the coffee grinder so you can grind up the cinnamon sticks since the cinnamon bottle is bound to be EMPTY!
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda - If you don't have any in the pantry, try the open one from the fridge. Noone will ever know.
1 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats - What, exactly, makes them Old-Fashioned?
3/4 cup dried fruit, cut into small dice (any combinations: cranberries, apples, apricots, or other fruit) - We used apricots and dates this time around.
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds - I had to ask Mike if "Pepitos" were pumpkin seeds. Apparently they are. Hey, I used to have a 6th grade crush on a boy named Nick Pepito. Hmmm...Little Nicky Pumpkin Seed.
4 tbsp flaxseeds- These are so good for you. And your bum.
3/4 cup plain soy milk - Again, we're not vegan so I substituted buttermilk this time around.

Cut the buttery sticks or margarine into chunks and freeze for a minimum of 1 hr. This is a good way to teach your toddler how to use a knife. It's butter and you can use a butter knife. How much safer could it be?

In the bowl of a electric mixer, stir together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Mix in the oats. Using the dough hook attachment on med-low speed, cut frozen margarine into dry ingredients until pea size chunks are left, 2-3 min. Scrape down the ingredients as needed as they creep up the sides of bowl. Since all we own is a dinky little hand mixer, we had to get creative. This is when we invited another two year old over to help. Believe it or not, 4 little hands in the dough gets it mixed up pretty thoroughly. And since a good deal of it goes in their mouths, it's the perfect recipe since no raw eggs are involved.



Briefly mix in the dried fruits, pumpkin seeds and flaxseeds. Add soymilk (mixture will look soggy, but keep mixing until it reaches a thick, oatmeal-like consistency and isn't runny, about 1-2 min). Here we add buttermilk and keep mixing with little fingers. When they get tired. big fingers do the job just as well.

Scoop the dough onto a lightly floured surface; with hands, pull the dough together and roll to a thickness of 1 1/2 inches. Cut out scones with a 2 1/2 inch round cutter. The hard part here is making sure each toddler has access to a small cookie cutter, since they are much cooler than the big cookie cutters. I always thought bigger was better, but after witnessing the struggle to gain control over the smallest cutter, I have to revise my theory.

Transfer to a baking sheet lined with a parchment paper and bake for 25-28 min at 375 degrees. Scones will puff up and crack on the top. During this time, it is essential to put Abba or some other dance-able music on your I-Tunes. Somehow, a little twirling and head bopping make the scones puff up to perfection.

Cool completely. Yeah, right. They taste much better warm from the oven. (makes 9 or 10) or 13 or 20.

All Things Gross and Disgusting

So I came home from work today and Jessica handed over two well-fed and happy children. She was staying to help with some cleaning, so I got her started on the laundry and read Nourit her requisite 3 books and put her to bed for a nap. I then picked up Avi and started to put her in the Moby wrap. That's when she erupted. My poor, poor Avi - all the contents of her little tummy came out - the bottle of formula (I ran out of breastmilk in the freezer), her bowl of squash and apples (that she apparently gobbled up at lunch today), and whatever she put in her stomach after I got home and nursed her.

Maybe that was the problem. Jessica said she had eaten so much, but as soon as I picked her up, she threw herself sideways - her sign that she wants to nurse. I didn't think babies would eat when they were full. In fact, my neighbor and I just had that conversation when she told me her pediatrician thought she had overfed her newborn son. "That's crazy," I said. "You can't overfeed a breastfed baby." I'm wondering if maybe it was the formula, but she's had it a few times already now. Possibly the new food she was introduced to today? All three? A lingering bug? I don't know.

The poor thing vomited on Sunday evening, too, but I thought she was over whatever bug she had. I'm not used to a baby who pukes because Nourit never has. Oh, except the one time we went to Joy Yee's and she kept eating mushrooms. The next morning,I looked in her crib and there were all the baby mushrooms she had ingested the night before. "I burped!" she had cried happily. And we vowed never to let her eat so much Chinese food again.

So, Jessica is standing helplessly by while Avi is puking orange stuff all over me and the kitchen floor. But she suddenly springs into action, throws me a towel, and heads off to the nursery to get some new clothes for Avi. Uh-oh. Nourit's bed is all wet, and so are her pants and underwear. I FORGOT TO PUT A DIAPER ON HER! (Sometimes I feel like Dobby. Stupid, stupid Mommy! I mean, Dobby.) Jessica, bless her heart, was trying to get towels for me to bathe Avi, trying to clean Nourit up and put on a video for her, trying to change the sheets on the bunkbed, and trying to clean up the kitchen. She gets an A++ because she managed all of it.

And now my girls are both sound asleep, the laundry is almost finished, and I'm enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. Or rather, I'm drinking hot chocolate so I can stay awake and finish out the day. I hope my Avi starts feeling better. I feel so helpless with a sick child.