Granola

I'm in the middle of reading Omnivore's Delimma, which Sean read and then gave to me. It really is a wonderful book, but it made me realize how much high frutose corn syrup was in the stuff I was feeding Stephen, mainly granola bars. Granola bars are a great convenience food for us. This evening I made granola bars, although shaped by a muffin pan so as to make them much easier to get out. They were really quite easy and turned out quite well. I could add what I wanted to them, so I added dried fruit so as to up the nutritional value. We'll see if he'll eat them. I will. As a whole, Sean and I eat very healthy...I cook most of our meals and I make Sean lunch etc. We eat whole grains and the like, but we didn't acknowledge how much artificial stuff is in the stuff we do eat, like artificial sweetners. Sean is also on a kick to try to buy a side of beef from a Texas cattleman who grass feeds cattle--more natural as well as economical.

The trouble with trouble is that it is so fun

I know I haven't been blogging as much as before and I promise to return to blogging more. :) The problem is Stephen moves so much it is impossible to get pictures of him anymore. (although I'm still holding out for a digital SLR later in the year that will hopefully solve some of this problem) He's so into everything that he doesn't really want to take a nap much :( , but that's ok. He does sleep at night perfectly and then wakes up and cuddles with us, which is very nice. We've cut his milk with water, and we've found that this helps his digestive system and he's hungrier for more foods. He eats everything and still loves tamales. I'm preparing now for my hip replacement at the end of February, which means I'm cleaning out my desk, putting a chair up in our bedroom, and generally getting things in order. Sean and I have both been working out more, which has made us both feel great. I have been doing the elliptical, bike and weight lifting at the gym and Sean's been running around the neighborhood more. Stephen participates when we walk with him around the high school, which he just LOVES to do and it gets him tires him out, which is hard to do.

Busted Lip

Last Thursday, Stephen went running outside after Sean and fell on the brick sidewalk. He busted his lip, but he's ok. :)

Reading at Breakfast

Stephen has decided that it is fun to read at breakfast along with mommy and daddy, who read the newspaper every morning. Here he is reading Business Week.

Feeding Himself

This weekend, we experimented and Stephen was able to feed himself just a little by spoon. After this photo was taken, we moved him to the highchair, where he fed himself more. I highly recommend the series of childrearing books by Louise Ames Bates. The book on one year olds always makes me feel better after reading it. This weekend's highlight (paraphrased): if you think he is frustrating you so much, just think that he must be frustrated that he has so much to say and doesn't have the words with which to express himself. Chimps and children have much in common until 18 months of age. He had his 15 month appointment this morning. He is about the same weight and height as last appointment, but he is walking and they said not to really care that he hasn't gained weight since he is so mobile and burning so many calories. The next challenge: get rid of the bottle. ug.

More Photos from Christmas

Walking in the Airport

We are finally back from our two weeks in Houston and Miami celebrating Christmas with family.  While Stephen loved every minute of it, I think he is ready to be back home.  While he is still waking in the middle of the night because he is a little sick, he slept until about 7:15 this morning and went down easily last night.  When we were in the airport traveling from Houston to Miami the day after Christmas, there was almost no one in the airport and Stephen LOVED walking from the security checkpoint to the gate and then when he got there, he wanted to walk some more...