Squeak squeak

Wow. I'm not sure how people with new babies and jobs get anything done. I had substitute teacher training for the first three days of the week and we were pretty much in survival mode the whole time. Food was made, the little one was bathed regularly, and not quite enough sleep was had. The baby was so pissed off on Wednesday that she cried herself hoarse. My dad maintains she was a perfect angel Monday and Tuesday, with only a little squeaking, but we think he just has a greater tolerance for crying since he doesn't see his precious granddaughter every day.

As I made the appointment prior to finding this new subbing job, R wound up taking the little one to her 4 month checkup. She's still all well and healthy, but she's slipping down the growth charts. Previously she'd been in the 45th percentile for height, now she's in the 19th. I suppose, being an October baby, she'll probably wind up starting school the year after she's eligible (though that is only because they've pushed eligibility back so far) and so won't be quite so tiny compared to her classmates.

R has been doing that P90X workout, so I decided to pop in the pliometrics (jumping) DVD... and made it through the warm up. Yeah, I know I haven't done anything more strenuous than walking for the past year and the workout is particularly intense. Still, I feel like a total weakling.

Having been steadily moving east for the past several years in pursuit of better housing deals, we have all of the sudden turned our eyes north in our search for a permanent home. We'd been looking further and further away from R's work, only to realize that if he's going to have an hour commute, it might as well be on the train. We'd be closer to the beach, which would make R taking up surfing make a lot more sense. Plus, my family lives in that area, which would make babysitting much easier. As R so succinctly put it, "I've never been so excited about Oceanside."

Recent cooking:
Coconut braised beef - I thought it was nice, R thought it was so-so. R, however, suffers from PTSD (Post-Tequila Stress Disorder), so anything with too much lime gets a thumbs down from him.
Sweet potato ricotta gnocchi - I bought the ingredients for this and then found myself with too many leftovers for lunches (one of those embarrassing mishaps of cooking for two), so I wound up making them and freezing them. I'll report back once I actually eat them.

A thought from my walk today

They should stop making hearing aids in that medical device flesh putty color, and instead make them shiny black and silver. You wouldn't be able to pick them out from all the cellphone earpieces.*

* Seriously, dude, could you not pick up the phone by hand? You've walking. Also, you did not receive a single call the entire time I was behind you.

February 4th

The wee one got her first taste of food yesterday. I had been planning on waiting (why rush into stinky poop?), but she seemed ready. Watching me eat has been good entertainment this past week, and yesterday she was following each segment of mandarin orange as it traveled to my mouth. At that point I thought what the heck, chewed off the end of one of the segments, and let her suck out the juices. I was expecting a grimace, but she actually seemed to like it and even opened her mouth for another taste. So, I guess we're trying out foods now.

Recent cooking:
Morning couscous with almonds, coconut, and honey - Finally, a use for the pearl couscous I've got sitting in my pantry (R finds it slightly disturbing, so I can't really use it as a side with dinner).A note about the portion sizes, though. The author adamantly maintains that this recipe serves 4, however I can tell you that if a fourth of the recipe is all you have for breakfast, you're going to be hungry in a couple of hours.
Creamy cabbage and potatoes - Okay, so I didn't exactly make this according to the recipe, but the final product was fairly similar. Creamy mashed potatoes, soft cabbage with a drop of vinegar, a puck of caramelized onions from the freezer. Not bad, but if your husband is Irish you might run into a bit of resistance, since his mom always colcannon with curly kale (I think hers turned out better than this, though if I do recall, there may have been a bit of cheese mixed in. Everything is better with cheese).