Friday, December 31, 2010

For auld lang syne...






Photos from my 365 project, which turned out to be the 226 project ;)
Click to see it larger.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Christmas 2010


Conor's second Christmas in pictures...

ornament on Nana and Papa's tree

playing in Mimi and Grampy's backyard with dada

at the Dallas Zoo

watching the cheetahs at the zoo

giraffe at the zoo

waiting for Santa on Christmas eve

decorations

Conor's stocking (or "sock" as he says) at Mimi and Grampy's

opening his "sock" Christmas morning

Madeline was this many on Christmas

Madeline opening gifts

Madeline with Belle and her pony

Madeline and Aunt Kelly with Madeline's dollhouse

Madeline in the dollhouse

Madeline and Clara

with dada and cousins

Sunday, December 26, 2010

18 months!!!!

Happy 18 months to Conorman!!!

Age 18 months

Weight 30 lbs.

Length maybe ~32"? It's hard to measure him!

Size 18-24 month clothes, size 5.5/6 shoes, size 5 diapers, 3T hats

Hair Another cut this month. Brushes it himself.

Teeth Still 16, and no sign of 2 year molars.

Sleeping One 1.5-2 hour nap after lunch. 10-12 hours at night, usually up once or twice. Slept amazingly well on the trip Texas!

Eating 3 meals a day + multiple snacks. Will eat just about anything.

Movement Always busy and on the go! Likes to dance and twirl in a circle, does the "If You're Happy and You Know It" dance (especially likes the stomping verse), climbs all over the furniture and takes some pretty brave dives between things.

Milestones Signs/says "please", identifies things that are "hot...ouch!", can point out his hair and chin

Outings 3 Christmases! (Nana & Papa's, Owosso and Mimi and Grampy's), went to see Santa, Dallas Zoo, Hands On Museum and the animal show

Favorite toys/activities books, play cars/trucks, Playhouse Disney, peek-a-boo, teepee, animals

Words/sounds Lots of new words, including Brian, please, hot, Elmo, dino, bus, "oh noooooooo", up, Madeline, night night, coat, bird, eat, fish, Ashray (classmate), David (classmate); New sounds - rooster ("cock a doo"), snake, donkey ("eee ooo" while rocking side to side")

Memorable Moments Christmas, seeing Santa, petting a snake twice (once at the Hands On Museum and once at the Dallas Zoo), fourth plane trip, first stomach flu :(

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Conorman's Teepee

Christmas came a little early on Saturday with a special delivery from the North Pole's Texas extension. Here is some video of Conor playing with his new teepee. I think he likes it - see for yourself:



He is already doing much better with the walls :)

Thank you to Santa's helpers Mimi and Grampy!!!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

"OOOOOOhhh, BUBBLES!"

That was Conor's response to seeing big fluffy snowflakes falling outside yesterday :)

Monday, December 6, 2010

Santa

Conor went to visit Santa in downtown Plymouth on Saturday. He gave Santa high fives and touched his beard, but wanted nothing to do with sitting on Santa's lap.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Last year's picture for comparison:

Friday, December 3, 2010

Baby Foodie - Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash with Black Beans and Lentils

I tried to come up with a creative name for this recipe but couldn't think of one :(  It is basically just a mish mash of a few ingredients I had available.

This recipe makes a good soft taco filling for mom and dad, while the little ones can eat it by itself.  I pretty much eyeballed the spices so adjust to your own taste.

1 medium sweet potato
1 medium butternut squash
1 cup lentils, cooked
1 cup black beans, cooked
1 lime
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp corainder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Wash potato, pat dry and prick several times with a fork.
Slice squash in half and remove seeds.  Coat lightly with olive oil.
Bake squash and potato at 400 degrees until fork tender, about 30 min for squash and 45 min for sweet potato.
Remove from oven and let cool.
Cut squash and potato into approx. one inch cubes.
Prepare lentils and black beans - if using canned, warm over medium heat and drain.
Combine lentils, beans, squash and sweet potato.
Add zest of half a lime.
Add cumin, coriander, cinnamon and salt.
Mix and serve!
Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional Information, per serving
Calories                          174.8
Total Fat                         4.9 g
Saturated Fat                   0.7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat        0.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat      3.4g
Cholesterol                     0.0 mg
Sodium                           38.3 mg
Potassium                       607.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate        28.3 g
Dietary Fiber                  8.8 g
Sugars                            1.6 g
Protein                            6.8 g

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Baby Foodie - Mini Pot Pies

This is soooooo easy.  It will probably take me longer to type this out than it takes to make.  2 ingredients, seriously.

Mini Pot Pies, from Pillsbury

1 can refrigerated flaky biscuits
1 can soup

Preheat oven to 350.
Separate biscuits in half.
Press one half of each biscuit into the bottom of a greased muffin tin.
Place a spoonful of soup onto each biscuit.
Top with remaining biscuit halves, pressing around the edges to seal.
Optional: Top with cheese, or a pat of butter and some seasoning.
Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.
DONE!

The beauty of this recipe is the versatility - you can use any kind of soup you like!  I think it works best with a cream based soup, like chowder or a chunkier cream of whatever.  If you use a broth based soup, it's best to drain it first.  You can also mix and match - I made it with drained southwestern vegetable soup and a dollop of cream of mushroom.  Make a bunch and freezer the leftovers.

Conor ate his so fast there wasn't time to get a picture :)

Nutritional information will vary based on your ingredients.

Monday, November 29, 2010

17 months!



Conor turned 17 months old on Friday.  He's changing so much it's hard to keep up with him.  He is gaining more independence but has really developed a love of cuddling.  His communication skills are improving, which is (slowly) helping him work through his tantrums.  (Oh man, the tantrums.  My mantra is, "He's a toddler.  He's  toddler.")  He is also really starting to test his limits.  One of his favorite things to do is climb on a chair, then look at us and smile.  Sometimes we have to cover our faces because it makes us laugh, and we try to be consistent with "discipline".  


Age  17 months


Weight  ?

Length  ?

Size  18 month clothes, size 5.5/6 shoes, size 5 diapers, 3T hats

Hair  We tried to trim it a few nights ago but he wanted none of that, so it's a little uneven at the moment - hoping to get it cut this weekend.

Teeth  16 - all four canines are in.

Sleeping   One 1.5-2 hour nap, usually after lunch.  10-12 hours at night, usually up once or twice.  

Eating  3 meals a day + 2 snacks.  Favorite foods are bananas ("manas") and apples.  He will carry a whole apple around to snack on, holding it like a football tucked under his arm.

Movement   Nonstop motion, loves to dance.

Milestones Imitating many more sounds correctly; identifies eyes, ears, nose, mouth, belly, belly button, head, toes, feet (he has done a few of these for a while now but does them all consistently now), signs for "up", gives hugs and kisses.

Outings  Nana and Grandpa's for Thanksgiving, dinner dates with mama, voting with mama

Favorite toys/activities  Books (favorite is Moo Baa LaLaLa), rocking horse, balls, play cars/trucks, Playhouse Disney, peek-a-boo

Words/sounds So many new words, including shoes (while he was learning this one it was "shooooOOOooes"), papa (Grandpa), water (watah), milk, apple (appah), banana (mana), pasta, cheese, car, truck (sometimes comes out as an unfortunate combination of "car" and "truck"), dog; often words are preceded with "a"; New sounds - elephant, monkey, lion

Memorable Moments Halloween, Thanksgiving, that time in the parking lot at school when the garbage truck honked its horn and lifted up the arm for us

Monday, November 15, 2010

Career Paths

Based on Conor's current interests, I've identified a few possible career paths for him.

Farmer



Coach
tiny gym teacher


Jockey



Member of the Village People

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween

Conor had a great Halloween!  We skipped the trick-or-treating because he's a little young for candy and despite our efforts can't say, "Trick or Treat".  [He did get a few licks off a Tootsie Roll Pop and about a third of a fun-size Crunch bar.]  Taking him for a walk around the neighborhood instead sounded like fun.  We dressed him in his cowboy costume, loaded up in the wagon and headed out to say "Howdy" to the neighbors and check out the decorations.

Cowboy Conor in his horse drawn wagon.

On the trail.

Awesome neckerchief.

Back at the ranch.

Found the candy.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Body Parts

"Conor, where's your nose?"

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

16 Months


Conor is 16 months old today!  (Somebody check my math because that can't be right.  It means he's only two months away from 18 months, which is pretty much almost two.)

Age  16 months

Weight  About 26 lbs.

Length  About 32".

Size  Mostly 18 month clothes, size 5.5/6 shoes, size 5 diapers, 3T hats

Hair  Needs another cut.

Teeth  12!!!!!  Molars cut through last week.

Sleeping   One 1.5-2 hour nap, usually after lunch.  10-11 hours at night, sometimes up once or twice early on.  After a few rough nights while out of town, he's back to (almost) sleeping through the night.

Eating  3 meals a day + 2 snacks.  Tried pickles - not a fan.

Movement   Running, dancing

Milestones   hmmmm.... do tantrums count?  

Outings  Milwaukee Marathon, Dallas Arboretum, The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm

Favorite toys/activities  Books (favorite is University of Michigan 101), rocking horse, balls, play cars/trucks, slide, animal DVDs, Swiffer duster, horse puppet, watching dogs, leaf piles, Pooh rider

Words/sounds New words - applesauce (APPA-sas), go (Madeline taught him this one), socks (sosssssss), Rodney (NEY-na)

Memorable Moments trip to Milwaukee, trip to Texas, Madeline's 4th birthday party

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Busy Busy Busy!

October has been a very busy month.  After our trip to Milwaukee, we travelled to Texas to visit Mimi, Grampy, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Jason, and cousins Madeline and Clara.  Conor was a complete angel on the plane ride there.  We brought a DVD player and lots of snacks and he even took a little nap.  The ride home was a bit more difficult, but I still think he did wonderfully for a 15 month old.

Clara has grown so much since we saw her last at Easter!





We went to see Madeline's swimming lesson - this girl is a total Janet Evans.  (I think I am showing my age with that one.)


We also went out to a pumpkin patch/hay ride/petting zoo/kid chaos center.  Conor loved all the farm animals.




Probably the highlight of the weekend was getting to go to Madeline's 4th birthday party!



We had a fantastic time and can't wait for Christmas!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Milwaukee Marathon

Sunday morning, Conor watched his dada and Aunt Megan run the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon.

It was a beautiful fall day.  Conor played in the grass while waiting to see the runners at the 7.5 mile mark.


Conor got a kiss from dada as they passed.


Looking good!


We saw them again just before the 14 mile mark ...




... and once more around mile 22.


Here's the gang after the race.  We all had shirts that said "Run Megan Run" on the front, and "I saw Megan run the Milwaukee Marathon and all I got was this t-shirt" on the back.  I wonder what dork came up with those???


Conor had a super special shirt that said "Run Aunt Megan Run" on the front ...


... and "My aunt is faster than your aunt" on the back.


It was a great weekend in Milwaukee - congrats to the marathoners!!!