Talent Show

A reminder for tomorrow night. Come one, come all. It should be a good time.

Thanks, G-ma

I had noticed that Elizabeth was in a kind of "gap" between toys, developmentally, and so I started looking at toys on the Internet. She loves banging her hands against things so I figured a toy piano would be the way to go and I quickly found one I liked.

Then, inspiration struck. Why buy something ourselves that I'm sure her grandparents would love to give her? Feeling rather sin verguenza (shameless, but it has a better zing to it,) I emailed my mom. She said she'd buy the piano, if I post pictures of Liddybit playing on it.

Deal.

Elizabeth can't wait to open her package.

Elizabeth ponders what note to play next.

In this one you can see her two bottom teeth that have recently come in.



Here she is playing the piano for the first time. I love how she lifts her arms, like a conductor, waiting to give the downbeat.

Later, she got so excited, she spat up all over it. I'd say that's a sign of approval, no?


I have a feeling this might get old.

So, thanks G-ma.

P.S. Grandmas: So you have them where you can always find them, here are the links to your Mother's Day videos:
Grandma Davis and Grandma Giovo.

Success!

This

Plus this
Equals this:


I don't normally post recipes, but I had to post about this. A while back, my friend gave me a recipe for fish tacos. Tilapia sauted in butter and garlic, served on corn tortillas with cabbage, tomatoes, cilantro, and tartar sauce. They were good. But not the mouth-watering fish tacos that Adam remembered from his trip to San Diego years ago. So this time around, I looked on allrecipes.com, my new favorite website, and found the most amazing recipe for fish tacos. I didn't want to go through the trouble of breading and frying my fish, so I still sauted it butter and garlic, but also added the following:

1/3 c. lime juice
2 T. honey
1 T. vegetable oil
1 t. cumin

If I'd been thinking ahead, I would have marinated it in that, too. I had about a pound of fish and there was more than enough marinade.

Then, instead of tartar sauce, I made this "fish sauce":

1/2 c. mayo
2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
1 T. adobo sauce (from the can of chipotle chilies.)
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. cayenne pepper

Blend everything in a food processor or blender and spread on warm corn tortillas (before adding the fish and stuff.)

The results were "mighty scrumptious," to quote Adam. He and I both agreed this was one of my all-time best dinners ever. The fish sauce has a kick so if you don't like spicy, I would omit the cayenne pepper and maybe just use one chili. But WOW WOW WOW!. It was like an explosion of taste, like on Ratatouille. Little fireworks of goodness going off in our mouths.

Out with the Old . . .

From this*:


To this:


We've been making some major changes in the Johnson household. Not long after our Easter vacation, Adam and I decided it was high time we broke Elizabeth of her swaddle habit. Okay, okay, it was my habit. I was scared to death to try to get her to sleep without swaddling her and putting a blanket over her face. But she had gotten too strong and would wake up mid-nap b/c she'd break out of what we affectionately called "the straight jacket." It was even disturbing her sleep at night, too, so I finally made the switch.

We started with just nighttime. We put her in a sleeper sack, did our normal good-night routine, laid her down and walked away. With her arms free, I couldn't put a blanket on her face because she'd just pull it off. (I also put mittens on her hands because she still scratches her face when she's overtired.) After just a little bit of crying, she got quiet. I tiptoed up to the crib to find her lying on her side, holding her bunny, fast asleep. Miracle of miracles, it worked!

Abandoning the swaddle for the nap was a little harder, but it got a lot better when we . . .


. . . switched rooms with Elizabeth.

For weeks I had been contemplating moving her to the room and us out to the front room. It had it's pluses and minuses. On the plus side, we'd be able to open our windows at night worry free, have a quiet, dark place for naps during the day, and also be able to watch the t.v., have lights on, and otherwise go about our normal business after her bedtime. On the minus side, the front room would be lighter, noisier, and, Adam pointed out, we'd look like we lived in a studio apt. In the end, the pluses (ie. the wife) won and Adam moved all the furniture in one Saturday morning. What a man!

The first few nights did not go well. We were in the middle of a heat wave and everyone was outside, late into the night. One night, Adam and I both awoke at 12 to the grating accents of a Brooklyn teenager talking on her cell phone on the steps next door. "Oh no, he di'nt! I know, right?" The conversation lasted an hour at least. By the end of the heat wave, I was a walking zombie. But Elizabeth was sleeping great! We finally solved the problem by moving the bed against the wall, away from the windows and the light. Then, Adam rearranged more furniture to make it look a little more like two separate rooms.

Now everyone is sleeping great. I put Elizabeth down for her naps and every time I'm amazed that she just falls asleep on her own. Why hadn't I tried this before!?!?! And it's also really great to sit on the couch and watch American Idol (Go Kris!) at full volume or talk to our family on the phone without having to hide out in our bedroom.

Here's our new "bedroom."


The view (clutter and all) from the front entryway.


To top it all off, Elizabeth has cut her first two teeth and has started eating solids. The first time I tried, I couldn't seem to shovel it in fast enough. Now she's slowed down (maybe since she realized rice cereal is as bland as breast milk) but she still enjoys it. We've given her green beans, carrots, applesauce, and banana. It's so fun and Adam, especially, loves feeding her. Here's a video of her first green beans feeding.



So all in all, the changes have been good ones. To end, here's one last picture, just for the grandparents.


*For the record, I didn't really swaddle her that way . . . I tried but she got out of it. That was a swaddle with the pink swaddle blanket (with arm flaps to tuck over her arm and under her back), topped with the stretchy Ikea blanket wrapped and tied over the shoulders, her favorite escape route.

What the . . .?

Yes, yes, we will have another post about Elizabeth soon, but until then, a quick rant by Emily.

I have recently been receiving issues of Women's Health magazine. How or why I am getting these is beyond me. (Maybe one of you is sending me a subtle hint that I need to get back in shape?) Too bad they're not sending me National Geographic by mistake. But I digress . . .

What I don't get about these magazines is why they are filled with photos of half-naked woman. It's a woman's magazine, intended to be read by women! What on earth makes them think that I, as a woman, would be compelled to read an article or purchase a product because it's being hawked by a half-naked woman?! If anything, shouldn't these magazines be filled with half-naked men? How about naked babies? Lots of delicious-looking chocolate cake? Come ON, people!

I guess the idea is that, if I use XYZ product, I'll look like this sexy, skinny woman. But that's pre- supposing that I, the consuming female, would even want to! Walking down the beach with only my bikini bottom on and my breasts flapping in the breeze is not my idea of "alluring." I feel like Amy Poehler in Weekend Update. Really? Are you serious?!?!

Okay. Rant is over. Your thoughts?