This and That

More unrelated pictures. Atticus enjoying "frites" at our favorite Belgian waffle shop.

• I've started working again part-time. I'm back at my old job with the Church, working on visitors' center exhibits. I'm not an official employee, and I only go in a couple times a week. Atticus plays at his friend Mia's house while I'm gone. I'm not sure how long this will last, but it's nice to make some extra money. Unfortunately, sitting at a desk for 6 hours at a time is bringing back all my chronic pains. Definitely not going back full-time.

Male bonding over an iPad game where you drop bombs on zombie-filled cities.

• I made lasagne in the crockpot last week. When I first saw the recipe, I envisioned my brother Adam's attempt to make spaghetti in the crock pot. Not a success. But it turned out really tasty. I kept trying to figure out the advantages of using the crock pot instead of the oven, and there really weren't any, except for maybe energy consumption and not heating up your kitchen. So why on earth would you make lasagne in a crock pot? BECAUSE YOU CAN! Bwaaa haaa haaaa!!

Blurry iPod photo of a really excited boy.

• Halloween was kind of a bust for us this year. I made Atticus a really cute grinder monkey hat to wear, but he refused to wear it. Not even to take a picture. James made this great grinder organ from some cardboard, our pasta maker, and an iPod (to play the music). But when it came time for the costume contest at the ward party, Atty just wanted to "wun awound" in circles, so I had to wear the hat. We won for cutest costume. I also won for grossest dessert with my dish of roasted intestines. I used pureed apple pie filling for the filling. And it was extra gross because the pastry didn't cook all the way. I didn't eat any. James scored with his jack-o-lantern, though. Someone asked us if we'd had it carved professionally. Does such a thing exist? I'll post pictures after James uploads them. And I'll try to get a photo of Atty in the hat.

James has a couple new toys, thanks to your tax dollars. Kearns High School applied for and received a grant (from a part of the stimulus bill that allowed for technology in schools) to buy every student and teacher an iPod Touch for use in the classroom. As a bonus, every teacher gets an iPad. James is pretty stoked, and one or the other has been in his hands pretty much nonstop. Atty thinks they're pretty cool too, especially the app that lets him draw with his fingers.

His iPod is also a still and video camera, which is a handy bonus. We caught a few pics of Atticus the other day, and this is my favorite. I love his laugh. Notice how the photo is iPod shaped. Kinda funny.


And here's a video, which is also iPod shaped. I hope it works right. James is pretty proud of that pumpkin, as well he should be. It's gorgeous. The colors are beautiful--it almost glows. Atty thinks it's pretty fun to sit on.

Not much else is new this week. We made grape juice at my parents' house on Saturday, and it really felt like fall. Beautiful. And I've picked up more work with my old job at Exhibits, which is a nice change of pace but a good reminder that I really don't want to go back to work full time right now.

And that's what's going on in our lives at the moment.

It must be tied to testosterone or something

Today I was lying down with Atticus in hopes of his taking a nap, and he burped. Then he burped again. Then it became clear he was trying to burp even more.

Soon his "burps" turned into strangled, gargling sounds, which grew longer and louder. Then he started saying "sy-coh!" followed by more strangling sounds. After several rounds of this I finally caught on and asked, "Are you making motorcycle sounds?" To which he enthusiastically replied, "Yeah!"

So yeah, Atticus is definitely a boy.

Haircuts

Ok, I uploaded the photos. I can't remember if I posted about his first haircut, but this about sums it up:

My friend came to the house to cut my hair, and by the time we got to Atticus, he was already tired and worn out. The worst part was afterward when he realized he had bits of hair on his arms and chest (he wouldn't let us put the drape on him beforehand). He totally freaked out, and putting him in the bath just made it worse. He hated baths for months afterward.

So when he started getting shaggy again, we were a little nervous. Then James's barber mentioned Cookie Cutters, a salon that specializes in children's haircuts. For $15, we decided to give it a go. He got to sit in a hotrod and watch his choice of DVD (Thomas the Tank Engine is his current obsession).

He wasn't excited about getting his hair sprayed wet, and the comb and scissors were intrusive. We had to keep reminding him to keep his hands on the wheel and watch the trains, but he never got more upset than this:

And check out the results! Didn't I tell you he was handsome? Wary, but handsome.

And then at the end he got a balloon and a sucker and got to go down the slide a couple times. TOTALLY worth every penny.

Feeling Lazy

I've had a request for a new post, but the last few posts I've tried to put up haven't worked (videos didn't upload), and I don't feel like fighting with Blogger at the moment. And the newest pics are still in the camera, and I don't feel like getting them at the moment. So you'll have to make do with my new favorite picture:

It's currently our desktop wallpaper, and I love seeing this little face every time I get on the computer.

And it's a good preview for our next post, which is about his haircuts. His first haircut was traumatic, but his second went sooooo much better. As much as I loved the long mess in the photo, I may love this trim little boy cut even more. He's so handsome. I'll get those photos posted as soon as I get them transferred from the computer. Soon. I promise.

Look at me.

After pouring a bottle of water over himself.

Whenever Atticus throws a fit, we get face-to-face and say calmly, "Look at me, Atticus..." and then explain why he can't have or do whatever it is he wants at the moment.

So I couldn't help but laugh this morning when, after I tried to offer him water when he'd asked for milk, he grabbed my face and said, "Lookamee. Milk."

He got milk.

Oh my cuteness

This is my very favorite picture of James. I hope Atticus looks like this in a few years. We'll have to make sure he wears a Superman shirt for his kindergarten photo.

Oh, and James really does have blue eyes. They just look brown in this photo.

Yeah, sandals will do that to you.

And man, do they stink.

Memorial Day, part 2

[Does anyone know how to rotate video in Blogger?]

That evening our friends Larry and Sharon Nielson invited us over to help them eat leftovers from Sharon's daughter's wedding. How could we say no to gyoza and chocolate strawberries?? We brought a cooler of bottled soda. Atty thought the luggage cart was the best thing ever. On the way home, they kept getting grounded on the grass, so James dumped the ice and carried the cooler so Atty could control the cart. He's such a sweet dad.

Memorial Day, part 1

I know this is kind of late, but I had trouble uploading the video. James had the day off (yea!), so we headed up I-80 to our favorite diner, the Road Island Diner. I was sad to see that they had changed their menu, eliminating breakfast (except on weekends) and *gasp* their house-made potato chips. I'd been looking forward to those chips. But they still had coconut cream pie. And cold drinks.

A little early...

Atty received the Duty to God award Sunday. No, he didn't earn it. They're changing the design of the award, and the ward had a surplus of the old ones, so we took one home. It's his new favorite toy. And it's the reason behind his new word: tem-po. Which inspired our FHE lesson on temples. The other side represents John the Baptist restoring the Aaronic Priesthood, but we'll save that lesson for another time.

Today James was flipping it like a coin and asked Atty, "heads or tails--temple or dudes?" To which Atty quickly responded, "dooods!" He won.

Our little gymnast

Last week was Atty's last day at Little Gym. I had a hard time capturing him on camera because he wouldn't stand still for more than two seconds. Here are some highlights:

And a video (I tried uploading more, but it weirded out on me):

This little chair is 20 years old now. I made it in high school crafts class. I'd envisioned the back design to be more tulip-shaped, but my teacher convinced me that I didn't want to make the design too delicate. Which has turned out to be true, considering how rough this little guy is with it:

While I was making the chair, I envisioned my child using it. I don't think I could have imagined how adorable he would be in it, though. I'm glad I didn't paint it pink.

I'm thinking of painting it red. What do you think?

Atty Update

It's official: Atticus is still the cutest boy in our universe. And he's good and sweet and funny. We are AWFULLY fond of him. That's not to say he doesn't drive us crazy sometimes. Or every day.

He's just coming out of a phase where "on" was his favorite word. Every light--in the house, in the car, on other cars, in a streetlight, EVERY light he passed--brought on a chorus of "on! on! on! on! on!" "On!" could mean, "Hey, that light is on!" or "Hey, I want to turn that light on!" or "Hey, there's a light!" In any case it wouldn't stop until you acknowledged that either yes, that light is on, or no, that light is off, and we're not going to turn it on right now. Just saying "uh-huh" or "yeah" wasn't enough.

He now knows the word "off", which is a huge relief to my ears, and he's mostly accurate in his descriptions. And although I hear "on!" and "off!" a bajillion times a day, it's not nearly as obsessive as it was. The other day I heard him talking to himself, saying, "On? No, off. On? No, off."

His other new word is "poop." We're not ready to start full-on potty training, but I try to call attention to the times he's pooping so he makes the connection between the feeling and the result. I heard him grunting in the kitchen, so I asked, "Are you pooping?" to which he responded, "Yeah." Then when he was done he came and sat in front of me and said (with a little pride?) "poop." So we changed his diaper and dumped the poop in the toilet with much praise and excitement.

He still loves to play at the Little Gym--the boy is in constant motion from the moment he walks in the door. And he's getting more daring, crossing the balance beam (with help) and swinging on bars and doing somersaults and running in circles on the big mat.

He gives us lots of kisses and hugs, and he still likes to snuggle. I've started watching a friend's baby three times a week, and he gives her soft kisses on her cheeks. He asks about baby when she's gone. This kid needs a younger brother. I guess we'd better get working on that...

He's learning and growing so much every day, it's hard to keep up with him sometimes. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to try.

Dancin' Fool

The boy loves to dance. He bops his head to the radio, any songs on TV, and even commercials. For anyone who sees him only when he's shy and sedate, here's proof that the kid can move.

In this next one he's starting to get tired, and he makes sure you know not to play with the buttons on the TV and that there's a big light attached to our ceiling. Just so you know.

He Speaks!

Other favorite words are "baby," "uh-oh," "no no," and "bah-pu," which means light or clock or "hey, there's something over there!" Oh, and he said "keys" the other day.

"Yeah" is his favorite response to questions, though he will say no when he means no. A couple weeks ago the nursery leaders told James that Atty was the only one who would answer any of their questions, always with an enthusiastic "yeah!" Do you like coming to church? Yeah! Do you like nursery? Yeah!

I just love this boy.

The secret to good hummus

Cumin. I don't know why it took me this long to figure it out. It's not in a lot of recipes, so I'd make hummus and it just didn't taste quite right. I'd add more garlic, more lemon, more tahini, more salt, and it still tasted, as James put it, like canned garbanzo beans. Edible, but not great.

Then, when I was following the Ornish super-low-fat-reverse-heart-disease diet, I followed his recipe for hummus, which had no tahini and no oil but had a healthy amount of cumin. And even James liked it, which is saying a lot. Ok, so I added a touch of tahini--just enough to add that smoky slightly bitter tinge that makes hummus so wonderful. And now I add cumin to hummus even when the recipe doesn't call for it, and it makes all the difference.

And today I used my fresh hummus in a very tasty dish: Mediterranean pita "pizza" (a slightly modified version of a recipe from my friend Heidi Herway). Toasted pita, hummus, chopped tomatoes tossed with s&p and dried basil, and feta. Then put under the broiler until the tomatoes warm up a little and the cheese melts. YUM!! Holy cow, this was just what I wanted today. Warm and creamy and tomato-y and very satisfying.

In Atty news, he's figured out how to pull a chair over to the counter to get things previously out of reach. Which brings on that motherly mix of feelings--pride and thrill at his accomplishments, and dread that now nothing will be out of reach.

He's a Lefty!

I swear I didn't just put the pen in his left hand. James accuses me of tying Atty's right hand down during the day, but that's also a lie. He comes by this gift naturally. :)

But it would also be a lie to say I'm not a little proud, even though it's a random genetic trait I have no control over. I'm a little weird that way.

His Latest Tricks

Take one....

Take two...success!

He didn't do it in this video, but on previous successes he'd do this little happy dance on the bed, then throw himself onto his back.

And finally some more love for Mama.

The Many Faces of Atty

Here are some recent pictures you might enjoy.

I have croup. Pity me.

I don't remember why he's upset, but how can you resist that face?