SF Visit

We did a LOT of eating on our trip out to SF - breakfast at St. Francis, Lunch at Zuni, Tea at Lovejoys, Veggie Asian in Berkeley and Valentinas and Zante from the old neighborhood.  We also saw a lot of folks - family, friends, classmates - sometimes we even remembered the camera ... See my Tabblo>

Learning

 

B is for BAKED ALASKA

The final "formal dinner" on the cruise (April 2004) is topped off by all the waitstaff parading flaming baked alaska through the dining room. Our jmp crew - me & em, Holly & Doannie, Mel & VJ loved our waiters -especially Oscar who took 15 minutes to tell really, really bad jokes to our table.

Table for 2 - Visiting with Grandpa at Zuni

These are Stefans shots of Eldon & Lil' Riley from our Lunch at Zuni -- home of the best chicken in the world - not to mention a great burger & a killer cesar salad.

It was a great chance to try and see if there is much family resemblance between these Reiley's --- what do you think?

Plus we got a couple good shots of mom1 and mom2 to boot.

... See my Tabblo>

Flying To SF

The boy did good on his flight out to SF.  He is so much bigger now - on the first flight we were able to lay him on a pillow on the tray table - this flight he actually scored a seat and could do most of the ride in his car seat (yeah) - except when he fussed and Em did the mommy dance with him up in the first class cabin, ... See my Tabblo>

A is for ... Adventure

This is a shot that I took out the door of a helicopter. Em & I were in Kauia & she really wanted to do the helicopter tour. I went along with her. So this is the volcano shot that we got just as the weather was turning pretty bad & let me just say that where you don't want to be is in a helicopter with no doors in a thunderstorm ... But we did get to see amazing views of the island and got to swim in a waterfall that you can only get to by flying in.

inch worm

 

Fall Colors

A quick view of what we saw this weekend driving from Boston to the Berkeshires - I guess this is what everyone says they like so much about the New England Fall - I didn't realize that some trees can actually turn bright Orange!!! The photo's don't really do it justice but you get the idea. 

Accepted at Harvard

See prior post

Five Months

So the boy has been with us for Five Months now (on the outside) - He has trippled his weight pretty much - putting on 2 pounds a month and he has grown about an inch a month -putting him at 14-15 lbs and 24" or so - these are highly unnofficial measurements. His most recent weight was on the postage scale and I am measuring his length with the Lamaze Inch Worm stuffed toy.

He is an amazing little person. His disposition is so good & easy going - not like either me or em. He can sit for 20 or 30 minutes on his own in the swing or kick chair sucking his fist and mumbling to himself (see above). I still think bath time is my favorite time of all. He loves the bath - he floats (with a little help) kicks & splashes and coos -

I can't wait until our trip to SF when we get to show him off to everyone - he is such a big guy now & not just a little houseplant/larvae like he was when we left. He will also get to meet some of the other babes that got born after we left town so that will be very cool as well.

I guess one of the biggest things for me is just feeling so crazily in awe of his little self. There have been some of those times when I am holding him & I just start crying - for no reason except the sheer enormity of it all - here is this amazing baby & he is entrusted to me & em & he is so perfect and handsome & fun. It is like the line in the grinch where it says his heart grew 3 sizes that day.

Duck Boy

Some of you in SF may remember "Duck Boy" - when I took this pj outfit from DGina and stuffed it with T-Shirts and socks to make a "practice" baby that I would carry around the house - Well we agreed that the stuffed Pj's with no head was a little creepy .... I think you all will agree that this new version is a great improvement. Funny that at 5 Months (almost) he is finally getting to be the same size as my underwear baby. 

A great posting on why it rocks to have 2 Moms

I found this post today via the Lesbian-Dad web blog (that I love... the photos and commentary are both AWESOME - I keep thinking this has to be someone I know...) -- anyway its a cool post that gives some props to the dyke moms & dyke dads out there. Also if you want to keep up with all the new dyke families keep checking the baby blogroll at LesbianFamilies.

You call this food.

Monito tried out a high chair for the first time at the shire this past weekend.
As you can tell by his perplexed look he wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
I think he liked sitting up at the same height as us for the first time but perhaps
missed swinging, kicking and music as provided by his current favorite chairs.

I want to get him a bumbo seat but think he may actually learn to sit up on his
own before I get around to buying one for him. I did get to enjoy some crass
consumerism this week & got a new stroller - on the suggestion/recomendation
of Lori Brown (one of DGina's great neighbors) I got a Mountain Buggy (& got a
good deal by buying last years model!) 

Today's special ingrediant ....

Placenta Roast:

All "food" should be properly cleaned prior to cooking, and all "food" should be properly cooked prior to eating.
This is a good recipe for placenta, which should NOT go to waste:

INGREDIENTS:
1 to 3 lb. placenta no more than 3 days old1 large onion1 large green or red pepper (green will add color to the presentation)1 cup tomato sauce1 sleeve of saltine crackers1 tsp crab or shrimp seasoning1 tsp black pepper1 tsp white pepper1 clove garlic (roasted and minced)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Chop onion and green or red pepper in small cubes. Place in large bowl. Crush saltines into crumbs and add to onion and pepper cubes.

COMBINE IN LARGE BOWL:
Placenta, seafood seasoning, pepper, garlic, and tomato sauce. Place into aluminum loaf pan. Cover and bake for 1 and 1/2 hours, occasionally pouring off excess liquid. Retain liquid for gravy base if desired.

or if you prefer....

Placenta Cocktail: 1/4 cup raw placenta8oz V-8 juice2 ice cubes1/2 cup carrot. Blend at high speed for 10 seconds
Placenta Lasagne: Use your favorite Lasagne recipe and substitute this mixture for one layer of cheese. In 2 tbl. olive oil, quickly saute meat of 3/4 placenta, ground or minced; plus 2 sliced cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp. oregano, 1/2 diced onion & 2 tbl. tomato paste, or 1 whole tomato.
Placenta Spaghetti: Cut meat of 3/4 placenta into bite size pieces, then brown quickly in 1 tbl. butter plus 1 tbl. oil. Then add 1 large can tomato puree, 2 cans crushed pear tomatoes, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tbl. molasses, 1 bay leaf, 1 tbl. rosemary, 1 tsp. ea. of salt, honey, oregano, basil, and fennel. Simmer 1 1/2 hours.

Placenta Stew: Meat of 3/4 placenta in bite size chunks, 1 potato (cubed), 1/4 cup fresh parsley, 2 carrots, 3 ribs celery, 1 zucchini, 1 large tomato, 1 small onion. Dredge meat in 1 tbl. flour mixed with 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. paprika, pinch of cloves, pinch of pepper, 6-8 crushed coriander seeds. Saute meat in 2 tbl. oil, then add vegetables (cut up) and 4-5 cups of water. Bring to full boil, then simmer for 1 hour.

Placenta Pizza: Grind placenta. Saute in 2 tbl. olive oil with 4 garlic cloves, then add 1/4 tsp. fennel, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1/4 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. oregano, 1/4 tsp. thyme, and 1/4 cup of wine. Allow to stand for 30 minutes, then use with your favorite home made pizza recipe. It's a fine placenta sausage topping.

recipes courtesy of Virtual Birth Center by way of LesbianDad