This One is for the Glynns

“It’s so Damp and Delicious!”

What started as a Wayne Street tradition has continued into our “adult” lives – Friends’ Thanksgiving. (“Wayne Street” was a frat-like house where Stephane and many, if not all, of the people featured in the blog have lived, crashed at or stolen stovetop burners from.) At Friends’ Thanksgiving, we invite new and old friends to gather, be thankful and eat as much as possible. Most years, we are so uncomfortable after dinner that no one has much energy to go back for more. This year, we mandated stretchy pants as the dress code (even though the OG didn’t listen)…I think it really helped because we barely had any leftovers! Stephane and Travis were once again put in charge of deep frying a turkey. They worked out all the snafus last year…and this time the turkey turned out perfectly (and, on time)! For those skeptical about deep fried turkey, you MUST join us for Friends’ Thanksgiving next year…

PS: If you were to guess which one of my friends is nicknamed "the Instigator"... could you do it?

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

As we were preparing for Friends’ Thanksgiving, the first snow of the season fell. The OG had not seen snow, yet…so, she kept staring out the window at the cold, white fluffiness. The next day, we took Olivia to pick out her first Christmas tree. We had had great intentions on going to a Christmas Tree farm and making Stephane Bunyan cut down our tree with an axe…but something just didn’t seem right about swinging sharp objects in the air with the

baby girl close by (actually, it was just the bad weather).

Instead, we went to the farmer’s market to pick out our tree.

We walked through rows of Balsams and Frasiers and Pines (oh my!), until we found the perfect one.

All I Want for Christmas…

With the stockings hung up and the Christmas tree fully decorated, all that is left to do is put some presents under the tree. With that in mind, we set out on a cold and snowy Chicago Saturday to do some shopping. The OG was her pleasant little self and didn’t complain once as we wheeled her throughout the city, wrapped in layers upon layers of clothing and blankets.

In the land of Grumpy Old Men

The OG accompanies Ah-Ma and Ah-gohng on errands and appointments, so she is often taken to the land of Grumpy Old Men. Once, at the dentist’s office, the OG was staring and staring at a Crabapple, sitting a few seats down. He was resolutely trying to avoid the OG, but after about half an hour of feeling her eyes on him and her smiles sent in his direction, he had no choice but to give up and smile back at the OG. Satisfied, she sat quietly while waiting for Ah-gohng to be finished with the dentist. More recently, the OG worked her charms at the Mercedes dealership. There was a particular Grouch who has been cranky with Ah-Ma and Ah-gohng for years…while waiting to pick up the car, the OG would just laugh and smile whenever he walked by. We knew that she had officially won him over when he stopped Ah-Ma, as they were leaving, and ran back to his office to get a teddy bear (Mercedes-branded, of course) for the OG! This holiday season, the OG is certainly doing her share of bringing goodwill to (grumpy, old) men!

…Got Places to Go, People to See…

Since she taught herself how to crawl, it is nearly impossible to keep her in one place! Ah-Ma’s house was just renovated, so the family room area is still relatively open and uncluttered. The OG spends her days crawling from one end of the room to the other – and, she is quite fast! Yesterday, she even crawled herself underneath a stool that was in the kitchen…and then got herself stuck!

Get Up, Stand Up

The only thing that stops her from crawling…is when she is standing up. The OG doesn’t limit her standing to her crib or her playpen…she stands up anytime (and every time) there is an object that she can use to pull herself up. She is getting very steady on her feet and you can see her confidence growing. In the last few days, she has even let go of whatever she is using to hold herself up with one of her hands. And, at Little Hands, she has already tried to climb up the stairs (and got up 3 of them) on the Baby Climber! Her very favorite thing to do is to pull herself up, using the mirror, and then to talk to and kiss herself. She is certainly going to be a handful in the upcoming months.

Look Ma!

The OG can now push herself into a sitting position (previously, she could only half push herself up, so that she ended up in a position similar to that of a 1950s swimsuit model). Between the crawling and the standing, she doesn’t have much time for sitting…but, it is a relatively new development, so I thought I’d include it anyway.

Peas Porridge Hot

Slowly, but surely, the OG is learning to eat her vegetables. One thing is for sure…the OG is very dramatic. She would not only make these exaggerated facial expressions whenever we tried to feed her, but she’d also occasionally gag and/or shudder after taking in a mouthful of the baby food. I was making the baby food, but thought that I wasn’t getting something right, since she didn’t like it. But, after trying a few mouthfuls of commercially made baby food, we received the same reaction so I think we’ll go back to making our own. One trick that really seems to work is mixing her rice cereal (which she now loves) with her veggies and a bit of milk. This must dilute the taste of the veggie (and thicken the texture) because she’ll open her mouth for more and more. Eventually, though, she’s going to have to learn to eat her veggies straight! So far, the OG has tried carrots, sweet potatoes and peas. She’s had some apples and pears, but we are trying to get her to like her veggies before the fruits (so that she won’t develop an aversion to non-sweet foods).