Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas 2010 Recap

For Christmas this year, we went to Fort Wayne to celebrate with Chris' family. I got incredibly sick on Thursday (worst headache ever!) but luckily got better in time to enjoy the festivities! On Christmas Eve, we went to church with Chris' mom and her husband and his grandparents. After church, we all went to BakerStreet for a very nice dinner. Then home to bed to wait for Santa!

On Christmas morning, Colin woke up early as usual. We opened the door and he headed out to play with his new toys from Chris' Dad. He walked right by the tree and left his presents from Santa untouched! He had no interest in opening them at all. Until he opened that first one...

Then he couldn't get enough!

In fact, when we did Christmas with Chris' cousins and their flock of kid-lings, Colin was the minion that opened everyone else's presents! Kinda funny. Kinda not. He ended up with WAY too many toys! We spent our first morning at home purging his room of old toys and books to make room for the new ones. He especially loves his new cars and puzzles! The boy is a puzzle machine. 

On Monday we drove back home to Cincinnati early in the morning and celebrated a belated Christmas with my family and my grandma. Grandma gave Colin two of the Martha Stewart kid's chef series sets - which everyone loved! Every piece is a miniature version of the real thing. I can't wait to have him help me in the kitchen with those!

And we will have plenty of time for that since I am off work (except for one day) this week and Colin's school is also closed, making me a temporary stay-at-home mom! I am very excited about the idea. Being away from home has put us a little off schedule so today we stayed in and hung out. But we did venture out for the UC basketball game- it was Colin's first! 

photo op with the big 'o'

what a cheeseball!

LET'S GO CATS!

The Bearcats are undefeated so far this season and beat DePaul tonight 76-60. Colin was a little antsy so we ended up leaving at half time but he really had an absolute blast! And I'm glad that we got to see the Bearcats play in person. It's great to have a good basketball team again!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Glasgow Family Rules

A very fun package arrived for us today- our official Family Rules! Chris and I spent a lot of time thinking over each of these rules and I cannot wait to hang them up. Our pastor shared a message over this passage that really got this whole process going:

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.      Deuteronomy 6: 5-9

Write them on the doorframes of your houses. That verse in particular really stuck with me, so we are going to hang our family rules right inside the front door for all to see when they first enter our home. And it will be there for us to see everyday as well. Deuteronomy 6:5 was also the inspiration for our first rule:

Colin couldn't resist a photo shoot:
Next time you come over for a visit, take a look! We already implement most, if not all, of these into of these rules into our daily lives (although Chris likes to argue that I do not always leave my shoes at the door), but it will serve as a nice reminder. And if that doesn't work, Colin will always remind us! He has taken being 'prayerful' to new levels. Whenever we eat dinner as a family and every night before bed, we pray out loud together. Lately, Colin has been reminding us to pray!

We went to dinner with my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend at Grand View Tavern. The dining area was full so they put us in a booth at the bar. As soon as we all got settled, Colin reached out his hands to my Dad, on one side, and Chris on the other for 'pierres', as he says it. We all giggled a little and I said a quick prayer. And again the next morning, he climbed into my lap, put both of his little hands into mine, and asked for 'pierres'. How could a mother refuse? Hopefully the rest of the rules will be as easy to follow! 

Getting ready for bed with 'Dadda'

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

A Trip to the "Looavull" Slugger Museum

As I am writing this, the little guy is playing independently in his room with the door shut- his new thing- and I am munching on dried apricots- a new favorite snack of his!

This weekend we ventured down to Louisville for a mini-family vacation. It was cold and dreary, not much of a vacation, but we still had fun! My parents treated us to a visit to the Louisville Slugger Museum- a very exciting trip for young boys! Although, I think my dad was beside himself with excitement :) I have been to the museum but have never done the tour- and boy, oh boy, is it worth it! The tour guides do an excellent job walking you through the production process and the overall history of the sport. And as we were walking through, the workers were producing special-order bats for Brandon Phillips, Josh Hamilton, and Dustin Pedroia, just to name a few! Colin was literally entranced with awe! I've never seen him so speechless. We will definitely have to make a trip when he's older.

For dinner, I had made reservations at a restaurant at 4th Street Live. I made them earlier in the evening on purpose to avoid the crowd and, sure enough, the restaurant was nearly empty when we arrived. As the hostess was seating us at our table, I asked for a high chair or booster for Colin. She looked at me and said "We do not have any. This isn't a child-friendly place." That would have been nice to know when I made the reservation and mentioned that we had a small child! Nevertheless, we sat Colin in a chair and made sure that he was careful with his straw while we enjoyed our meal. Other than a trip to the potty, Colin sat in his seat the entire meal and was very well-behaved! I could not have been more proud!

He was extremely easy all weekend. I was a little worried about how the museum trip would go with someone so young but I think they made the tour interesting enough even for him! Can't wait to take him again when he's older- but we will probably skip the restaurant :)

Thursday, December 9, 2010

1-2-3 BLAST OFF!

I have been working on A, B, C's and 1, 2, 3's with Colin for awhile now. I count when we are going down the stairs and back up again. Sing the A,B,C's in the car. Everything and anything that can be counted is counted. And any quiet moment is a perfect moment for singing the alphabet or listening to them on tape. 

Still, I get nothing. The kid will literally not repeat any of it. Although, he has started saying "1-2-3-blast off!" which I'm pretty sure is due to his repeated viewing of Toy Story. 

Then we had a break through moment! We were playing together with a wooden puzzle of numbers 0-9. He laid down the '7' and I said 'seven'. Without missing a beat, he blurted out (out of nowhere!), "seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven" -as if he's been saying it for years!

My jaw dropped! The little stinker refuses to say "one, two, three" but has no problem with seven through eleven. Well, we gotta start somewhere! Wonder what other knowledge he's hiding in that little mind of his?!!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Christmas 'Dights' and Breakfast with Santa

Last night, Chris and I bundled Colin up and tucked him his carseat for a Christmas light search! Out of our back window, we can see a huge house lit up but we weren't sure where to find it. After heading down a few streets, we were greeted by a massive display of Christmas lights- seriously, it puts the Griswold's to shame! They have a Santa's workshop, a carousel, manger- the entire yard is Christmas-fied! I cannot imagine the amount of time and labor that goes into such a display but after seeing the look on Colin's face, I can tell you it is well worth it! Kudos to the home-owners for spreading Christmas cheer to all who pass by!

This morning we woke up to SNOW! A layer of snow had blanketed the grass and trees and has continued to fall all day. The roads were still clear so we took Colin to my parents' church, St. Tim's, for Breakfast with Santa. Last year, Colin was grumpy and tired so sitting on Santa's lap didn't go so well. This year, he was very cooperative:


Then we took a trip to the barbershop for a quick haircut- which he barely stayed awake for! Chris had to keep his held from falling over in the middle of her snipping. Very funny to watch!

Friday, November 26, 2010

But THANKS be to God! - 1 Cor. 15:57

I can't believe that it's the end of November already! This year has flown by! And what a wonderful year it has been. We have so much, as a family, to be grateful for:

1. Chris condo finally is rented out- yay!
2. Colin is thriving in his school and since he has been in the 2 year room (a debated topic because of his smaller size), his language has really taken off.
3. (Amanda) making it through yet another down-sizing and both of us being blessed with successful careers in a really tough economy.
4. Potty-training going SO well so far! We hope to have him completely diaper-free during the day before Christmas. He has shown such independence in this process, it's been a really sweet time.
5. A beautiful beginning to a wonderful marriage:

6. An awesome church - 7 Hills Church - that is growing by leaps and bounds and is taking us along for the journey!
7. And last but not least, wonderful family and friends! We were so blessed to have some many of our loved ones make the trip to Columbus for our wedding. We love you all!

Now, on to the festivities. 

In the morning, I could tell that Colin was going a little stir-crazy so I opened up his finger-paints (a birthday gift from Caitlin) and his adorable art smock:



It takes a very long time for little fingers to cover up such a big piece of paper! But we had fun. We stayed in Kentucky this year and hosted dinner for my parents and brother. It was my first attempt at preparing the entire meal- but I was very pleased with the results! Everyone hung out and watched some football while the turkey was in the oven:

The results:

My first homemade rolls (pre-baking in this picture). May be my favorite part of the meal!

Dad doing the dirty work. I don't do bones. Yuck! Not the turkey, just the bones.

It was a quiet, restful day! Very much needed. We plan to enjoy these next few days before we head into the holiday season. Hope everyone was able to rest and take a moment to count their blessings- and to savor the memories! God is good.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Managing Your Child's Food Allergies 101

1) EDUCATE YOURSELF
It was very overwhelming at first to realize that Colin was not going to be able to enjoy your typical infant/toddler staples- like Cheerios! I began to do research- I found blogs, checked out books at the library, etc. And learned a lot by trial and error. You have to learn a lot in the trenches! 

A blog that I sometimes follow has a lot of great allergy-free recipes and introduces new allergy-free products as they come on the market is a blog by Cybele Pascal. She is also a mom of a brood with allergies. Her latest posting is all about allergy-free Thanksgiving ideas! Great source. She has also written a WONDERFUL cookbook called The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook. Check it out!

My profession allows me to have to access to any allergist in town any day of the week! Lucky for me, I am able to get as much as advice as I need. Not so lucky for them, they ALL have heard about Colin's allergies at least once and have shared advice with me a time or two. Dr. Ann Ghory was the first to recommend that I test Colin. Another doctor has suggested books and share advice from his long-time allergy mentor. And yet another has advised me to seek out a nutritionist, which I did do and it is very helpful. Your allergist is FULL of information- ask for it!

2) READ, READ, READ LABELS!
Grocery shopping can be daunting with food allergies. The first few times I went it took me forever to check each and every label- twice- just to be sure it would be okay for Colin. But it gets easier, I promise! Now I can go to the grocery and grab items quickly because I know what he can and cannot have. 

Reading labels is very important. There are a lot of surprising ingredients in foods- and one of those surprises may be an allergen. For instance, some yogurts can have gluten in the mix. If we ever switch brands of yogurt, we need to check the label first. Also, Tostitos makes a tortilla chip that Colin can have but some their tortilla chips are made with soybean oil, which we avoid. So if we are unsure, we always check the label.

3) AVOID PROCESSED FOODS
As I've already mentioned, a lot of foods can have surprising ingredients- especially processed foods. I remember working with a guy who's family owned a hog farm. Their biggest custom was Tyson because they would put the pork in their frozen 'chicken' nuggets! If you don't read labels, you would never even know. We have found that it is usually easier (and less expensive) to just make things FRESH. And it has made us healthier as well!

There are allergy-free brands that make chicken nuggets and fish sticks but Colin is not the biggest fan. Like I said, it's easier just to make a substitute for him.

4) TELL OTHERS
For months, we were watching what Colin was eating like a hawk and he was still have a slight reaction. One Sunday when we dropped him off at nursery, we realized that they had been giving him snacks! Animal crackers, goldfish- all things that shouldn't have. Every Sunday when we drop him off at nursery, this is what we sound like:

"Hi! This is Colin. He is allergic to this, this, this and this. He cannot have any of the snacks you are serving- not even the pink lemonade. We have snacks and juice for him in his bag."

Every time. At school we do the same thing, except we leave notes in his lunch box for his teachers. We still have to tell family members. Friends. Babysitters. Everyone and anyone that comes in contact with Colin around mealtime or offers him a snack must know about his allergies!

5) HAVE A BACK-UP
Of course, we have an epinephrine-injector on hand and we keep one at school. We have never had to use it, gratefully, but it will save Colin's life in case of an emergency. What we use on a regular basis is an antihistamine. We keep a bottle at home, a bottle at school, at my parent's and one in his diaper bag. We just had to pull the bottle from his diaper bag last night. We go through A LOT. No matter how diligent we are there are times when Colin still comes in contact and has a reaction. So we are always prepared!

*It is important to note that I am NOT a doctor or a nurse. I am just a mom who has built a home around her child's food allergies. This is just what works for us! 

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Making a "Mesch"

In our continued efforts to expand Colin's foodie experiences, we decided to give sushi a go. Chris and I enjoy sushi of all kinds and thought that he may like it as well- and it's also covered in rice, which we all know that he loves! We ordered a california roll for him from The Waterfront in Covington. 

He did take a few bites and I wish that I was able to grab a few snapshots of his face because it was priceless. You could tell he very unsure of what he to think: avocado- like, rice- love, crab and seaweed- not so sure!


After a few bites, he began to deconstruct the sushi. In his own words, he 'made a mesch'! A big mess. We'll save sushi for a year or two.

Colin followed up that performance with this one:


And this is what his room usually looks like:

Ugh! The madness! The red bins from IKEA make it very easy to put it all back together- everything has its own place. We are teaching him that principle as well as to clean up after we are finished with something. Oh, to be two again!

P.S. Colin went potty at Beef-O-Brady's last night. It was the first time he has used the potty in a public place (I sat him backwards with plenty of toilet paper on the seat!). Another potty-training milestone!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Halloween 2010

We found the most adorable costume at the Disney Store on mega sale! Can't beat that. Colin wore NEMO around like a champ!



Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...





Little Red has a trick-or-treat night the week before Halloween night. All of the teachers dressed up and had decorated the school to look like a haunted house. Nemo followed around the other little students to collect treats. He was a little spooked out, but we made it!



who could resist this?



For Halloween night, we went up to Fort Wayne to go trick-or-treating with Hudson and Evan. Very fun! He quickly learned that if he hung around (and sometimes begged) after one piece of candy that the very nice person at the door would give him more candy. He literally got extra candy at almost every door. Why hit up a whole neighborhood when you can get the same amount out of one street? He works smart, not hard. I like it.



A gullible door attender



Of course, being the good parents that we are, Chris and I 'had' to take some of his candy due to the allergens- Reese's, Snickers, Kit Kat, etc. But we have found that he REALLY likes Nerds. Like he gets strangely excited about the little boxes. And he can eat them- double fist pump!


It was very fun to see him walk around in his costume, little tail swimming behind him. Very sweet! But the best treat of all was to hear him say 'thank you' at every door!


Thursday, October 28, 2010

Adventures in Allergy-Free Cooking, Part 1

As you may recall, in my post about Colin's 2nd year update, I challenged myself to begin branching out in the allergy-free world to find new foods for Colin. I have tried pizza, as you may remember from this post, but he was not a big fan! I also tried turkey meatballs, which he also didn't like. But this week, I think I've scored pretty big! 

For their Halloween party at school, I decided to try my hand at this recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. YUM. I made a few slight variations for ours- allergy-free yellow cake mix with egg replacer and I made mini's instead of regular cupcakes since they were for little guys (and gals!). I also used Canola oil in place of vegetable oil that the cake mix calls for because vegetable oil comes from soybeans. Oh the things you learn! 

Either way, the cupcakes turned out great! Chris and I couldn't stop 'testing' them! I think those mini's have a somewhat addictive appeal to them. P.S. Reynold's makes some of the sweetest little cupcake liners I have EVER seen! Kroger had a very good selection! No word on what the kids thought of the cupcakes yet- I will keep you posted.

Not to keep you waiting for more, I also tried this recipe for gluten-free, egg-free chicken tenders. I used Greek yogurt in place of the mayonnaise and added the spices to the yogurt-mix rather than the cereal crumbs. I also used Rice Krispie cereal in place of the Rice Chex because it was all that I had on hand. The recipe was a great success! Colin loved them! I will definitely be making these more often. I served the chicken tenders with asparagus spears and brown rice but they would also be good with mashed potatoes and green beans. Can't wait to make them again!

Friday, October 22, 2010

How Did You Find Out About Colin's Food Allergies?

Just thinking about next week for Colin's Halloween festivities makes me exhausted! 

Monday: wear black to school, Tuesday: wear orange, Wednesday: wear Halloween costume for Halloween party and bring in assigned treats, Thursday: wear Halloween socks (who has those, anyway?), Friday: wear Halloween shirt. It's madness! They're two for goodness sake!

Nevertheless, I will be up baking into the night so that Colin has special treats to take to the party! Special, ALLERGY-FREE treats, that is. I can't really expect other parents to meet our expectations for food requirements so I always try to bring in something that is safe for Colin to enjoy!

People often ask us how we figured out that Colin even had food allergies. It didn't take long, really. Even though I was nursing, he had had chronic eczema from the time he was born. My pediatrician kept giving me prescriptions for a steroid cream. I was going through tubes of the stuff! The eczema would clear up and then come right back. He had it mainly on his face, as you can see in the pictures, but also on his shoulders and back which he would scratch until he bled. It was awful! 

Look at those red cheeks! I feel awful just looking at them

In May of 2009, when Colin was about 7 months old, we took a trip to Michigan and stopped at a friend's house on the way back. After playing with their dog, Colin looked like this:


We knew then that something was wrong. When we got back in town, I scheduled an appointment with a Cincinnati allergist, Dr. Ann Ghory (we LOVE her!) and had them conduct a round of allergy testing. Since he was so young, they only tested for the top 8 most common food allergies and dogs, of course. Allergy testing is not a fun experience. The nurse comes in and pricks their little back with needles containing a drop of each individual allergen. And if the pricks weren't enough, every time there is a reaction, a large red, itchy bump pops up at the injection spot. Not comfortable at all for an 8 month old. Needless to say, the results were nothing short of shocking- EGG, WHEAT/GLUTEN, SOY, PEANUT allergies!

In case you didn't know wheat and soy are in a LOT of foods. It's been an interesting journey. If anything, it has made us better eaters! I will have to get into the nitty-gritty of how we manage Colin's allergies day-to-day, this has already gone on far too long! Back to baking it is!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

WUV YOU and Life Lessons from Kiddie Books

In the middle of playing, Colin came up to me, hugged my legs, and said 'wuv you' before continuing on his busy way! MELT MY HEART! I am so blessed :)

Before bedtime, we always read a few books to Colin. We went to the library after dinner, so tonight we had two new books to read: No, David and Mr. Impossible. I had never read any of the books from either of these series and was actually very impressed with their underlying meanings. Or, at least, what I was reading between the lines. Who knows if that was the actual intent!

1) In No, David, the main character, David (of course), continues to try his mom by engaging in all sorts of crazy antics. Playing baseball in the living room, climbing on the counters- your typical boy activities. From beginning to end, all that you hear his mom say is 'No, David!' When he's finally put in time-out and gets upset, his mom says 'Davey, come here. Yes, David...I love you!' 

Isn't it so true? No matter how much they do, no matter how much they may disappoint us, we still love them more and more!

2) Mr. Impossible was about a little creature that could do absolutely anything! A little boy, William, takes him to school to share with his classmates and teacher. When William went home and told his parents about his day, they chuckled at him. 

As a mom, I want everything for Colin. I want him to believe that anything is possible. As Christians, we are taught that absolutely nothing is impossible through Christ. But society makes us doubt ourselves, and ultimately, God. An interesting thought from The Mission of Motherhood:

"I've learned that my influence on my children is limited only by the smallness of dreams and my lack of commitment to the Lord and his purposes."

Very humbling. Here's to undeserved love, BIG dreams, and always believing in the impossible!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

10.10.10 - A Baseball Extravaganza!

We couldn't have asked for a better day for Colin's birthday party! The weather was BEAUTIFUL and, in fact, it was down-right-HOT for October, but that didn't stop them from playing their little hearts out! We had friends, food, balloons, a giant playground and a mini-baseball field. Lots of things to do for a two-year-old boy! 

The morning of the party, Colin woke up in his usual good-spirits. While I was getting ready, I heard this sound rubbing against the wall. I found Colin trying to 'hang' his birthday cards. I decided to help him out a bit and taped them to his bedroom door. He was very pleased! I liked the idea so much that I may just have to make it a family tradition:


During his afternoon nap, Chris and I worked in shifts getting things ready for his party. Here's a look at a few of the details:

 The food. Most important, the baseball-shaped Rice Krispies cake. Colin is limited on foods and cannot have your typical cake due to the wheat flour and egg, among other things. Rice Krispies, however, he can enjoy!

Each guest signed this wooden baseball bat as a keepsake!

One of our little guests, Ava. She brought along her little purse to the party, so cute!

The balloons! We had a love/hate relationship that day. Colin was obsessed with them but the wind liked them more! We lost a few good balloons that day :(

The gift table! Lots of fun toys for the little guy.

We were blessed to have our family and friends celebrate with us. Thanks everyone for making it a great day! Now with the party over, we are welcoming Fall with open arms and gearing up for Halloween! 

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Colin's 2nd Birthday Pictures

I didn't take 18 month pictures of Colin and I definitely regret it. It has been a full year since we've had professional pictures of him. Anna Kennedy did Colin's 2nd Birthday pictures at a local pumpkin patch. We were pretty pleased with the results! Here is a glimpse of her work:





I love them all! I couldn't stop posting!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Colin Turns Two

Tuesday, October 5th, marked Colin's 2nd birthday! We made a trip to see Dr. Poon for his 2-year check-up. Everything looks great! He's growing, slowly, but he's growing, coming in at 31 3/4 inches tall and 23 lbs. and 6 oz! He really is a Little Guy. I think he hit the 30% for his height. So we're making progress!

To celebrate his big day, my parents came over for dinner. We had Chipotle (the BEST restaurant for Colin's allergies. He can eat pretty much anything there!) and cupcakes from Sugar Cupcakery in Milford, Ohio. They made gluten-free, vegan vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkes. They were delicious! However, both my dad and Colin were not big fans. I think Colin isn't into chocolate frosting these days. Crazy, I know. But he put down a couple of allergy- free sugar cookies that I had made for him to take to school. Also, very good. There are a lot of great allergy-free baking products available now. 

Before he went to bed, he opened a few gifts from all of us. His favorite toy of the night was the fire engine riding toy that he got from Chris' dad and Theresa. Of course, he can go very fast and it makes lots of noise! We love having toys like that around the house, haha. But he loves it! His birthday party will be this Sunday so I'm sure there will be a lot more noisy toys to come!

Here is an update of Colin's development...

Food:
No new foods. Although, he did eat a TON of asparagus at the wedding reception. So I guess we can add that one to the list, if it wasn't already there. I will admit, I do need to start introducing more foods to his diet. The poor kid can only eat so much beans and rice, and macaroni and cheese! We will make that my challenge over the next few months!

Words:
'Bus' - he loves to point out every bus on the way to school in the morning!
'Beep' - whenever he hears a car horn on the road he always follows up with his own 'beep beep'
'Up/Down' - he's beginning to get the point of these words and often uses them correctly. The same with On/Off
'Melk'- milk. This is a word that we have been waiting for for a LONG time. Teacher Becky even mentioned it to us at school. But he said it last night and I made him repeat it just to be sure!
'Decky'- and speaking of Teacher Becky, Colin refers to her as Decky
'Carter' - his little friend at school. So sweet!
'Nana' - my mom
'Pop' - what he now calls my dad, who was originally Pap. Oh well. Pop is cute!

I'm trying to think if I've missed anything else- it seems like he's been saying so much more! I probably missed a few here or there. He is doing very well with language and can actually carry on somewhat of a conversation with you. He has moved up to the 2 year old room at school so being around the older kids should help him even more in this area!

Potty Update:
He has now gone pee on the potty twice all by himself and poop once. All three times, he has taken off his own diaper and walked himself to the bathroom and sat down. So we know he knows HOW to do it, we just need to make it a more consistent activity! Very excited with his progress here, it hasn't taken much effort on our part so far. Chris just needs to relax about the possible 'accidents', however, or else Colin will be in diapers until he's 7!

Looking forward to spending a beautiful day at the park this Sunday for Colin's Birthday! We've been very blessed to have such great friends and family be a part of his life. 

Monday, October 4, 2010

Sous Chef

I'm playing catch up these days! This posting is a collaboration of a few weeks worth of stories...

A few weeks ago, I took Colin to the grocery store with me. I do not remember what day or what time of day it was, but it was freakishly empty so I let him walk with me rather than sit in the (very uncomfortable-looking) cart. He was quite the helper! He followed along side me very well and only strayed a few times to pick up things that he recognized- box of rice, gatorade, etc. It was very cute! I was amazed that he was able to recognize the items that he can have.

Flash forward a few weeks, I was making a box of the macaroni and cheese that we purchased. The Little Guy got into the cabinet and pulled out a pot for himself. While the water was coming to a boil, I let him have the dry macaroni and a spoon. He went to town 'making' his macaroni and cheese! He really enjoys to watch what I'm doing in the kitchen and tries to 'help' as much as possible. Maybe one of these days he will be cooking for us!





Tomorrow is the Little Guy's 2nd Birthday! Check back for a run down...