M. is Driving

M.'s new toy is an all-terrain walker. We're not sure if she is trying to eat the horn or if she is trying to make it play music. She can move herself backwards about an inch at a time. In another month I think she'll be all over the place. A. & Z. like to take her for a drive around the kitchen.

Searching for Tart Frozen Yogurt

In the absence of Red Mango and Pinkberry I did a search on frozen yogurt in Portland. I tried to think if I'd ever even seen a frozen yogurt shop- not that I recall. But, apparently on Division there's a dessert shop called Tart. I'm looking forward to trying out their yogurt. Has anyone ever been there?

Headed Out for Trick or Treating

Our Baby Kitty

Halloween Preview: Our New Kitty

Need a Vet?

3 Months

It is hard to believe, but three months have passed by. To celebrate her 3 month birthday M. slept through the night. This is the only night she has made it until 7 AM, but she is working on getting to 5 AM, which is an improvement. I think what I'm amazed at is how much M. moves. Her little legs are always kicking and pushing against whatever is near her. She most enjoys practicing standing while holding on to my hands. She often gets big smiles. She is just beginning to notice toys. Her attention is completely held by the Baby Mozart dvd. This gives me 20 minutes to quickly run around getting lunch or trying to finish something. She doesn't like sudden loud noises or to feel like she is suddenly falling- she has a distinctive and sudden cry for the way she feels about this. We love having M. in our family. It's wonderful to see her personality growing. On to month 4...

Potato Rolls

I rarely embark on making anything with yeast unless is a nice hot day when the yeast is almost guaranteed to activate. But, I've wanted to try making a recipe for Potato Rolls that appeared in Cooking Light and I don't think our weather is going to get any better until next summer. Everything worked and the yeast took off, but I think the key to my success in a chilly house was the heat being released from my crock pot. These were the best rolls that I've ever made. I'm even thinking about making them again even though it took most of the day.

M. and her dad out for an early morning walk

Fall

My family chose to buy the little nectar cups to feed the Lorikeets. I'm not a bird person, so I opted to just take pictures of them. For some reason the Lorikeets were very active and still landed all over me- one walked across the top of my head. Another perched on my shoulder for a long time- long enough to squirt out some poop. After being spit up on daily for the past few weeks this shouldn't bother me, but I was disgusted. Beware of the Lorikeets...

M.'s First trip to the Zoo

Babies love going to the zoo. They spend a lot time in the stroller, can only see a few feet, and because they're not walking they are probably freezing. This was M.'s day at the zoo. I think it was our first real fall weather. We had icy blustery breeze blowing and even though the sun was shining, I never really felt warm. M.'s hands certainly never warmed up. We used to take Z. to the zoo in China in a backpack. We were always a little frightened of the big cats behind what seemed like weak chainlink fences. A. has never loved the zoo. She said that she would rather stay home and learn to play Ticket to Ride. My favorite zoo is the Seattle zoo. It's a good zoo for walking.

Afternoon at the Zoo

The Oregon Zoo just opened their cats exhibit. We came upon these cheetahs lounging around. Matt and I think that's all big cats do most of the time. They eat a big chunk of meat and then sleep the rest of the day. Z. and A. saw these cheetahs licking each other which they reported makes one a girl and the other a boy, because they were "kissing."

M. Gives a Smile

I caught one of sweet M.'s smiles.

Was I ever going to make that?

Matt picked the apples off our tree today, which was given to us a couple of years ago. The catch to this gift was that the variety is unknown. The apples are mostly red and very tart like a granny smith. So, I pulled out my recipe file intending to find a cobbler or a crisp recipe. As I began to go through all my clipped from newspapers and magazines I ran across many favorites, such as Ginger Molasses Cake. I also realized that for whatever reason I had cut out many recipes that I will never make. Some of them have been sitting in my file for over ten years. For awhile I cut out all variations of apple pie recipes. Really, will I take the time to fry the apple rings before putting them into the buttermilk pie? (Yes, it sounded like a great pie, but I could never get past the added oil for frying or the extra time for frying). And, I am now an apple pie purest. I threw out all combinations of cranberries and apples, raspberries and apples, anything and apples. I also discovered that although I only make coffee cake from scratch or even from a box at most twice a year, I must have 15 recipes ranging from the basic coffee cake to at least ten of them using sour cream. It is only an imaginary world where I will ever make all of these. But, I kept them as good options should I decide to make coffee cake. With new magazines arriving every week loaded with ideas for the upcoming Thanksgiving feast, what will I make? I already have years of Thanksgiving menus set aside, but I will read through all these recipes and wonder what the various sweet potato mashes taste like and consider which desserts are really worth the calories. I assure you that the Ginger Molasses Cake previously mentioned is.