Spring Walk
Anders still loves his walks outside. He's stable enough on his feet that we can walk through the grass and uneven ground; we just have to keep him from getting too close to the barbed wire.
- Mike, Corinne and Anders Rocket
12 April 2010
- Mike, Corinne and Anders Rocket
04 April 2010
Lucky Day!
We have what should have been a very nice blender, but it just doesn't work very well, particularly for smoothies. Reading blender reviews, it turns out that most home blenders don't work well. If you look at what the professionals are using, it is almost universally a Vita-Mix, a $400-$600 blender depending on the exact model. Mike has had one on his wishlist for quite a while. Over the last month, I had even contemplated buying one for his birthday and chipping in some recent bonus money... but I just couldn't do it. $500 for a blender?? There are so many other things we could do with $500.
I visit Anders at daycare every day during lunch. Usually I just walk directly back to work. But for some reason, yesterday I made the rare choice to walk back through downtown (so I could buy myself jelly beans). The White Salmon downtown is only about 3 blocks long with only about half of the businesses populated. One of these businesses was having a retirement sale and had set a random collection of goods out on the sidewalk, and there among the assortment was a Vita-Mix! It wasn't exactly the model Mike had been eye-ing; Mike wanted a higher end version which has variable speed control. This one was the $400 model with only two fixed speeds. But after a quick consultation with Mike we decided it was close enough. We are now the proud owners of a used Vita-Mix and out only $85! What luck!
The business owner actually had the exact model (speed control) we wanted inside. I inquired about that one, but she was only downsizing her business and was still planning to do some smoothies. So I offered that if she ever wanted to get rid of that one, she should let us know. She replied, "Oh no, that one will go home with me!"
We celebrated our Vita-Mix acquisition with berry buttermilk smoothies.
- Corinne, Mike, and Anders Rocket
Foodie in the Making
Anders loves playing with kitchen utensils, as we have mentioned before. Here are some recent examples of our "foodie in the making."
We set aside a lower drawer in the kitchen for some of his utensils. He discovered the drawer all on his own, so we just augmented it with some of his as well. The "taco rack" - a metal rack for cooling hard taco shells into an appropriate shape - is one of the original items still in the drawer that is brought out frequently.
The steamer basket, one of the original occupants of that drawer that still remains there, was pretty fascinating to him for a while. Notice the object in his other hand: a lemon. Yes, he is eating it.
While he hasn't made any of the recipes in this cookbook yet, we're hoping that at least some of it will sink in.
Believe it or not, we actually have gotten Anders to eat asparagus on at least two occasions. We have to make sure to capture it in photos so that we can use it as evidence later on when he gets older and changes his mind about its suitability as food.
- Mike, Corinne and Anders Rocket
Date: April 4, 2010
28 March 2010
Reading the Directions
Anders recently found the instruction manual to our (or really his) electronic thermometer and started reading it. He wasn't reading it as you would expect - flipping pages and looking at pictures - but rather it seemed like he was trying to imitate how an adult would read it. It's pretty hilarious.
He's never done this at all with his own books. I wonder where he got the idea?
- Mike, Corinne and Anders Rocket
Date: March 28, 2010
20 March 2010
Cannon Beach
It's been three months since we visited my parents at Christmas, so it must be time for them to visit Anders.
We drove in to Portland and met my parents for dinner at Screen Door, which is currently one of our favorite restaurants in the city. Corinne decided that we should split a slice of their ban-offee (banana creme) pie. But about a quarter of the way through the piece, she decided that I needed to get my own piece; she didn't want to share.
My parents had never been to the Oregon coast, so after dinner we continued west to spend a few days in Cannon Beach. I had rented a small cottage for us that was within walking distance of both the downtown and the beach. The cottage was small, but it was just the right size to act as our "home base" while we explored.
The biggest attraction in Cannon Beach is, well, the beach. So that was the place to start. Despite it being March, the weather was actually sunny and warm. We walked from the cottage to the beach for a great view of Haystack Rock, the signature feature of Cannon Beach.
Anders loved walking on the beach and playing in the sand. He probably doesn't have much memory of his previous visit to the beach last summer.
He wasn't quite as excited about the surf, particularly after dad misjudged the size of one of the waves and Anders fell backwards into the water. Oops. (Corinne watched the whole thing happen with a camera in her hand, but she managed to neither prevent the accident nor catch it on film! Oh well.) It's a good thing that the cottage was within walking distance for some dry clothes.
After our walk on the beach, we left Cannon Beach and headed south to Tillamook and the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Corinne has fond memories of a 1992 family trip to Tillamook and the fudge and cheese curds that she ate on that visit. During our last trip through the town of Tillamook, the cheese factory was actually closed, so this time it was a primary destination. We took the factory tour, sampled some cheese, and bought cheese, cheese curds and fudge to take home. (The fudge definitely did not live up to Corinne's expectations, but I was not surprised.)
And we ended with some Tillamook ice cream. Anders likes ice cream!
Debbie had recommended a place across the street from the Tillamook factory that makes sausage and jerky, so that was our next stop. Debby D's is one of those old-school, family operated shops. After we finished sampling the wares, we took home some beef sticks, sausage, and salmon jerky to go with our cheese.
We returned to Cannon Beach and walked to dinner at Morris' Fireside Restaurant. (Note: Oddly, their website highlights that they didn't have restrooms until 1976.)
The following morning we went out for breakfast at the Lazy Susan Cafe.
After breakfast we walked back to the beach. This time we walked all the way to Haystack Rock, although I think we carried Anders at least part of the way.
With my dad's two new hips, he had no problem with all of the walking that we did. He brought his cane with him just in case, and Anders thought it was pretty cool.
After a couple days in Cannon Beach, we drove back to Trout Lake for a few days of relaxation at home.
On this trip my parents actually spent a day on either end exploring Portland, including talking to a realtor and looking at real estate. Maybe the long-rumored Daly family move to the west coast might happen after all! Now if only the NJ housing market would pick up a little bit so that they can sell their current place...
- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket
Date: March 20, 2010
13 March 2010
Ahhhh
Kids are such sponges for information. It doesn't take too long for Anders to pick up on things. While we were in NJ visiting my family around Christmas, my mom had a "tea party" with Anders and inadvertently taught him to make an "aah" expression of refreshment after drinking his tea. He hasn't been "aah"-ing after drinking from his sippy cups but now that he is drinking from regular cups, he has remembered his Christmas "lesson". (We didn't remind him!)
...and the result several months later:
- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket
Date: March 13, 2010
12 March 2010
Granny's Knit Hat
Granny is the mother of my uncle by marriage, so not my grandmother but my cousin's grandmother. But I grew to know Granny when I lived with my Aunt and Uncle during my senior year of high school and then spent time with her at many of our family holiday gatherings over the years. She knit a hat for Anders when she was 98 and just a few months before she passed away.
Anders is not a fan of hats and usually won't keep them on for even 5 seconds. We are working on that so that we can shade his fair skin in summer and keep him warm in winter. But he must have known that this hat was special because he wore it for 15 minutes. I guess it was his tribute to Granny!
- Corinne, Mike, and Anders Rocket
Date: March 12, 2010
10 March 2010
Doh!
Anders has a book that he received as part of a Kindermusik class that he and I took for some good father and son time. One night I was reading the book to him before bed, and I came to the lines: "Sometimes I go Do-Si, sometimes I go Do". Naturally, the authors were referring to do-si-do, but I took it in the direction that seemed obvious to me - The Simpsons direction, i.e. "doh." Anders thought it was hilarious. We must have repeated that page 20 times that night.
It starts to get a little less cute around 2'20" when the "fake laughing" starts. But the fact that he tries fake laughing in order to keep it going is endearing.
- Mike, Corinne and Anders Rocket
Date: March 10, 2010
06 March 2010
Daffodils
During a recent trip weekend trip to Seattle, we decided to spend a day exploring the flower fields in the Skagit Valley. Rather than driving our own cars, we decided to rent a mini-van for the day so that all of us could fit in one vehicle for the trip: Mike, Corinne, Anders, Donna, Leif, Carol and Mark. Family roadtrip!
We started off at the Calico Cupboard in La Conner for some breakfast, including cinnamon rolls, coffee, conversation, and coloring.
The Skagit Valley is well known for its fields of flowers; apparently the environment is very similar to that of The Netherlands, and many Dutch immigrants settled there to continue their flower growing operations. It was too early and cold for the tulips to be in bloom - the annual Tulip Festival wasn't for another several weeks - but the daffodils were in full bloom.
So of course, we had to stop and let Anders enjoy the flowers - not to mention indulge his photo-happy parents.
Anders seemed more interested in the dirt than the flowers. Go figure.
Before returning, we just had to stop at the Snow Goose Produce Market for some ice cream - offered in "immodest" sizes, as the road sign advertised. Even their smallest size was more than any of us really needed; in fact, Leif asked them to stop scooping about halfway through his small. But the best part was that the ice cream was served in freshly made waffle cones. Yum.
We already knew that Anders liked ice cream, but at this stop we discovered that according to Anders, Chocolate > Coconut > Mint Chocolate Chip.
A fun road trip!
- Corinne, Mike, and Anders Rocket
Date: March 6, 2010
22 February 2010
Anders These Days
Snapshot of Anders at 17-months:
Food
Anders is still a great eater, though he has started to express more opinions about what he wants and what he doesn't. So far, he seems to be eating primarily vegetarian fare. Peas and kidney beans are particular savory favorites. But his true passion is for fruit. He is a fruit fiend: bananas, pineapple, grapefruit, apple, orange, pear, mango, and pretty much all berries.
His all-time favorite food, though, has to be blueberries. We picked up some organic blueberries recently and had to carefully ration them out. If given his way, he would eat them all in a single sitting. Looks like dad is going to have some competition come blueberry season.
Teeth
We've kept up the evening toothbrushing routine, and he is usually pretty enthusiastic about it, though his brushing skills are still not terribly effective. But at least it is now a part of his normal routine, even if Dad is the one who is doing most of the brushing.
Dislikes
Anders is apparently old enough now that he has started to exhibit some fears.
1. Horses. He doesn't mind pictures of horses, but anything three-dimensional appears to be a problem: his rocking horse, Zak's stick horse, even the horse-shaped jumparoo that he used to love. If he sees any of them, he will start pointing and yelling until they are taken out of his sight. (Sorry, Stef!)
2. Roaring. This one probably should have been obvious. Several of his books have pages that call for animals (usually a lion) to roar. One night dad read one such book, "How Loud Is A Lion?", as a bedtime story. When we got to the roaring page, Dad's impression of a lion roar was a little too good; Anders screamed and had to be consoled by Mom. I don't think that he's picked that story since. Anders also has a circus trailer that hauls a tiger and a lion and has a button on the front that produces a roar. Occasionally he will hit the button, causing him to back away and start crying. We really need to take the batteries out of that toy.
Activities
Anders loves his books. He will often just pick up one of his books, sit down, open up the book and start reading it out loud to whoever is around. It doesn't seem to matter that half of the time the book is upside down. He also spends quite a bit of time looking at his animal flash cards; the cat, giraffe, and lion are his favorites.
He still gets excited by cars, trucks, and pretty much anything with wheels. And sometime last fall, he learned to make car noises. Now he does it whenever he sees a car, whether it be in real life, in a book or magazine, or on his own shirt.
He seems to have pretty good hand/eye coordination. He likes playing "ball" and can do a decent job of throwing or rolling the ball to you. He doesn't quite understand that it's more fun if you are not standing right next to the other person, though.
If we want to keep Anders entertained, all we need to do is give him some crayons and put down a piece of paper. That will occupy him for a long time. And of course, the results will end up on the fridge.
It's really starting to get interesting now...
- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket
Date: February 22, 2010
21 February 2010
First Skinned Knee
With the unseasonably warm spring weather, we have taken to walks with Anders. Anders is so thrilled to be outside and walking that he giggles most of the walk.
For us parents, it's an exercise in letting go as each walk usually ends in a fall. But practice makes perfect.
As you can see at the end of the video, this walk resulted in Anders's first skinned knee. (See what happens when you don't watch where you're going?)
- Corinne, Mike and Anders Rocket
Date: February 21, 2010
Evidence for Parental Cause and Effect?
As parents, you often wonder what effect your approach to parenting has on the development of your child. But occasionally I think you might get some hints.
Case in point:
At 4.5 months, we played this game with Anders while on a trip to Boston:
Then, at 6 months we played this game with him:
Now at 17 months, he has decided that this is fun:
Coincidence? I think not.
- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket
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