Mom, am I still four?

Oliver turned four this past month.  It was a birthday that had Oliver patiently waiting.  In fact, on Sunday the 19^th of May, the primary sang to Oliver.  He was excited about the singing but reminded some of the teachers that his birthday was actually the 23^rd.  When the day came, he was very excited.  He is a great four year old and has really started to be a ham.  The day after he turned four I was woken up with the question, “Mom, am I still four?”. Of course!

Oliver does some awesome things as a four year old.  He requests that Ansel be up in his room with him during quiet time.  Sometimes I set Ansel on the foot of Ollie’s bed and he watches as Oliver draws, lines up blocks, and the like.  One time, I heard Ansel whimpering a bit.  I went up to find Oliver comforting him with the one word Oliver knows Ansel speaks, which is, “A-goo.”

Oliver is between having a nap during the day and not taking a nap.  As a result, he is very sleepy during the late afternoon hours.  As such, he falls asleep during dinner and I just wake him up again.  Just today he fell asleep during reading lessons.  He was mid-sentence – “the fat eagle”- when he was out.  I moved the book which woke him.  He then said in his half awake voice, “Mom, I was reading about a bird.” He then continued reading, “the fat eagle saved the white eag…” and he was out again.

And finally, Oliver likes to write "birthday messages."  This involves getting a square of toilet paper and writing on it with a marker.  Some messages included: "Oliver Dad," "Mom I love you too," "Big Bird I love you," "2 Grade," and " Your prise is a stuft anamal.".  All good stuff.

A month without posts...

...makes me want to take on the challenge of a month full of posts, that is, one post a day (excluding weekends).  Can it be done?  Will it be interesting?  Who will care?  Well, let's face it, just me.  But I am up for a challenge.  And so, here we go.

I finished reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot.  It is (sadly) the first book I've read completely through this year.  Let's just say I need a very good book to keep the interest, especially when I have to stop and start often, and I like to nap.  With that said, here is my review:

Excellent non-fiction book about the life of a woman and the science behind her cells that never die*.   Part science, part history and present day, this book reveals the remarkable path of HeLa cells and how they’ve helped science.  But what’s more, the author explores how these cells have affected Henrietta’s family.  It also examines the ethics behind using patient tissues for research and how the laws have changed over time.  This book is a good read for anyone interested in science or not (I promise!), a page turner indeed. 

*And for anyone wondering how the cell never dies, well, it turns out the enzyme telomerase is missing in these special HeLa cells, so chromosome telomeres never break down, thus, never signaling the cell to die.

Gaufre

A few weeks ago, I achieved something I've dreamed about since Jess and I left Belgium after living (i.e., visiting) there for six weeks. 

The achievement: I made a Belgian Liège waffle.  And it tasted authentic!  As I took my fourth bite (it took a while to perfect the baking of the dough in the waffle iron for the correct done-ness) I was taken back to that 2008 overcast day in Belgium when Jess and I sat under the Arch at Parc du Cinquantenaire eating our first Belgian fare.

Making this waffle takes a little more work than your usual waffle or even your usual Belgian Brussels waffle, which are both batters.  The Liège waffle is a dough made with yeast and pearl sugar.  In fact, to make the magic happen, I had to collaborate with my dad (he brought the quality waffle iron) and my sister (she brought the pearl sugar).  Together we came up with something that I thought I could only get across the Atlantic.  No longer!  Although, I wouldn't mind going back sometime soon.

If you are at all interested in making this delicious, euro-doughnut treat, see the recipe here.

Almost there...

Yesterday I got Oliver, Ansel, and myself to the store to buy some food and additional essentials. I felt like I had really accomplished something - at one point I had Ansel in my arms and Ollie was helping me push the cart. How's that for multitasking? After checking out, driving home, and unpacking the groceries, I went to feed the little one. My button up shirt was on inside out.

I had a good laugh.

Big bones

This past Saturday, it was cloudy and we needed to get out of the house, so we visited the new Natural History Museum. It was great...quite the upgrade from the museum I remember visiting when I was little.

As we walked along I overheard an Uncle ask his teenage niece if she had seen the movie Jurassic Park. She told him no. This made me feel old-er. I mean, I remember the time when everyone had seen that movie. And now it is coming out in 3-D.

Needless to say, it was an awesome visit.  Fossils never cease to amaze.  And the Native American footwear of the past, I was in awe; sandals and moccasins from before the fourteenth century.  Plus, they had an interactive insect activity and I got to hold a hissing cockroach.  Then I dropped it (back into its cage) because I was a little jumpy.

This museum is must see for those who live in these parts.

General Update

Who doesn't like a general update?  So, here it goes.

Ansel is growing and smiling lots.  He is as cute as can be.  We have recently discovered that he sleeps best with white noise.  My sister-in-law noticed this first when she was holding him at my family dinner.  These dinners are loud.  We talk loud and we talk over each other.  Because of this, she took Ansel into the quiet living room where she thought he could rest best.  Instead, he opened his eyes and kept them open as long as he was in the quiet living room.  Once she moved to the dining room, where the cacophony of conversation abounded, he went right to sleep.

Oliver is growing and smiling lots too.  He will write on whatever surface he can: paper, balloons, ribbons, the sidewalk, his skin. He also digs reading and is picking up on it.  The other day we went to Old Navy.  Oliver has always called the store "Old Maybe," but this time, when he saw the sign, he read it and commented, "Mom, I always thought this place was Old Maybe but it really is Old Navy." 

Jess passed the bar.  Wahoo!  We had some sparkling peach cider to celebrate (see photo above).  He's into biking these days which is nice to do with the warmer weather.

I am trying to pull off being a mom with long hair.  It sure gets in the way a lot.  I am tempted to cut it again, and probably should, given that I don't care for it like I should.  Long or short?  Hmmm.

Happy Easter weekend

Happy Easter. May your weekend be pleasantly delightful.

A neighbor of mine has chickens and dropped these fresh eggs off at our house.

Growing

Here's Ansel at 7.5 wks. He's growing lots and is as cute as can be.  Look at those big eyes.  They will probably be, what we call around here, chocolate browns - just like his pops and brother.  His hair on the other hand is light with auburn hues.  We shall see where that goes.

I am trying to master the skills of being a mom of two.  I am far from it.  Yesterday I did not try to venture to the grocer with two.  So instead, I found myself at the store at 9pm, after Jess got home and we put Ollie to bed.  I was at Target and, after filling my cart with food items, got caught up looking at shoes for a brief moment. What was I thinking?  Get home, go to sleep for Pete's sake!

This is a fun time.  A good adventure.  So nice to have two little ones.

This sums it up

This photo is a great way to say a thousand words about our life around here at this point. I love this photo because:

1. Ansel is being held by Jess (which is a very common theme in our house),
2. Jess is sleeping,
3. Ollie is eating his dinner and is as happy as can be, but
4. He is eating alone since I am finishing up making dinner for the rest of us because I got started too late;
5. And finally, it is 6:15pm and it is still very light outside.

These days are uneventful. My mom always said an uneventful day was a good day. She was right.

ah, dumb phone

I don't need a smart phone, at least not yet.  I know my personality, and I would probably waste a bit too much time on it.  Did I ever mention that when email was introduced, I checked my email account ALL OF THE TIME?  It was exhausting.  This leads me to a short anecdote: The other day my brother came over to my house.  He saw Jess' phone (an iPhone 5) sitting on the counter and then mine (an old Samsung), after which he exclaimed, "If Jess has a smart phone, then what do you call yours, Ash?  A dumb phone?" The answer is yes. 

Here are the top 6 reasons you know you have a "dumb phone":

- only four app icons could fit on the screen, that is, if apps could be put on it
- your bro-in-law goes to use it and touches the small (see above) screen to scroll down, nothing happens
- the keyboard slides out
- texts do not come in conversation bubbles, they come in 160 character segments
- photos are the quality of a 7/eleven surveillance video
- your 16-year-old nephew sees your phone and says, "Oh, you've got the free phone."

So until I get a smart phone, my dumb phone will have to do.  And I'm okay with that.

p.s. I came up with this list whilst up in the night feeding the little one.  It's interesting the things you think about at 2am.