Thanks and Giving

Well, this was the third year the Bird and Huz spent Thanksgiving in Chicago.  The first time they were lucky enough to have Big W’s parents visit them from St. Louis – although they weren’t Big W’s parents just yet.
The second time was last year and they were still in infant haze and the Parakeet managed to bring pies over to some generous friend’s house where they were introduced to that addictive board game, Ticket to Ride.
This year – it was just their family; The Parakeet, the Huz, and LIttle O.  That turned out to be just fine because the bird and the baby had a case of te old pig flu.  They aren’t positive, but really – looking back – it’s likely.  They both had regular flu shots and all the symptoms…
Being sick is no fun.
The Parakeet was on Day 6 of feeling like dog poo, but she managed to get the turkey in an Apple Cider Brine the night before.  Can someone say optimistic?  She slept in a bit on Turkey Day.  They all watched the Macy’s Day Parade and Little O tore it up in the living room (more on that later).  Once he went down for his nap, the Parakeet laid down herself.  The Huz went to CVS and came back with Tylenol Cold and a Snickers. It was time for this bird to shake a tailfeather and get her bird in the oven if they were ever going to have dinner.
She cut a couple items from the menu.
But in the end – they ate at five o’clock with Turkey, Gravy, cranberry sauce (first time doing that for reals instead of can), mashed potatoes (enough for an army apparently), stuffing (thank you pepperidge farm), and some left over acorn squash with apples.  The meal was topped off with a pumpkin pie (fresh pumpkin, refrigerated pie crust – the girl is a paradox). 
Little O got to bed early and the Keet and Huz weren’t too far behind.
So…they didn’t manage to get any pictures taken on the bi day – there are pictures of Little O opening his Thanksgiving presents from GB the night before…

Ooooo….books. And…A Stuffed Turkey!

Perhaps…yes…lay down on it!

Word on the Street

Little O spent a lot of months 11-13 yelling.  He would throw these “adorable” little tantrums when say, the refrigerator was shut and he couldn’t play among the produce and condiments any longer or when he was hungry and no one knew because his yelling was all sounding the same.
So month 15 is bringing a GREAT new form of communication – some words.
Little O runs around the house in the morning saying, “Da!  Da-Da!” looking for his Dad.  They tease just a little because he always looks in the bed or hangs off the bedroom door. Apparently, Da is sleeping quite a lot. 
He will hug the Parakeet and say “mommy”.   His favorite exclamation is “Oh No!”  It is beyond cute and soon they will get you a video of this particular outburst. It reminds them very much of Eleanor circa a year ago (or two).
Some other funny words and their translation
What  you would Say                                   What O would say
cheese                                                                sheeze
eat                                                                        eeet
shoe                                                                    shooo
socks                                                                   sahhhhcts
bye-bye                                                            buh-buh
bubble                                                               bubble (he loves this one)
Hat                                                                      hat (always while pointing to his head)
Off                                                                        Auf (pointing to light switch and he usually means on)
Yogurt                                                              go-ya
more                                                                  mo-mo (rivals the oh no in cuteness. The
                                                                             Parakeet would give this kid more of anything when he
                                                                             asks this way)

They are all enjoying the fact that Little O understands more words and speaks in his own babble.  He’s such a little person!!

Is it Mama Cruelty?

The Parakeet just loves seeing him in this hat!

Halloween Has Boo

The Parakeet and Little O go to the library about every other week.  They always leave with three or four new books for the tike.  Sometimes he never lets her get past the second page and other times – he loves them! He definitely has opinions about which books he likes.  He also definitely wants at least four books a day.
So, recently, she checked out a lot of Halloween books for Little O.  One of them was titled, “Halloween Has Boo”.  It rhymed the whole way through and Little O was just taken with it immediately.  When he saw the cover, hw ould say, “Boo”. 
He started to say “Boo” whenever he saw a pumpkin.  So, by Halloween day, they had a little game worked out. Mama said, “Happy Halloween!” and Little O said “Boo”.  They amazed many people while out walking in the stroller.

The Huz worked on halloween (boo).  So, the Parakeet got Little O all dressed up in his Lion costume (they borrowed a fabulous one from a friend whose son wore it last year) and took him to a Spooktacular party at church.  Little O was frozen at first, but eventually found the CD player, the pizza, and some streamers.  Sounds like most middle school dances, right? anyway…
Fun Getting Dressed:

The book above is “The Farmer and The Dell” by the way – big hit.
Then, they got to the party!!

Little O tried his hand at twister, but found his true love in the streamers.  He seriously ran back and forth through this thing for twenty minutes. 

Then, after a nap, some running around the house and a dinner of something other than pizza or cookies – they wheeled on over to a friend of the bird’s for some trick-or-treating.  Little O was very good at removing every piece of candy from the bowl and putting it in his bag. 

You can see they had to ‘urbanize’ this lion by this time of night and add the puffy vest.  The O-ster did climb up the stairs to a few houses, but mostly to show off his mane and “boo” skills.
In bed by 7:30. Phew what a night.

End of Month

Nearing the end of October, here are a few things the Parakeet is really enjoying. What are you enjoying?

-The National Park documentary on PBS
-Pumpkins and Squash, in oh so many forms
-Peppermint Tea
-Little O’s new dance moves
-SeaSource Detox Spa Cleanse
-Journal Time
-Trips to the Library
-www.myrecipes.com
-The Colors of Fall Leaves- this year is an extra special “Wow”

What are you enjoying?

Surprise Visits

During September, the Parakeet’s little bro returned from traveling around the world.  He then proceeded to tour the country.  He, and his friend Erin, made it all the way to Chicago the last weekend of September to see his godson (and his parents).  It was such a FUN visit. 
The Parakeet was busy busy with Arbonne that weekend, but it was a rare weekend off for the Huz and they made the most of it – catching up on some football, taking O to the park, and enjoying lots of food.
Can you tell they like each other?

When Little O sleeps for five hours..

Little O had a fever this week. The Parakeet suspects a molar, but can’t see or feel anything back there. He’s been sleeping hard and whining hard. It’s been tiring.  So, on Thursday when he went down for his nap at 1:15, what did the bird do? Well, what would you do?

Probably first,  you quick make a lunch and wolf it down. You check your email and get a bit distracted. You realize forty-five minutes have passed and you curse yourself for not getting productive already.
You curse getting productive and decide to lay down and maybe finally get rid of the headache that has been beating on your neck all morning. 
You wake up an hour later, confused. You check on the babe.
You do some work. Like an hours worth.  It’s great - those follow-up calls are finally done. You expect to hear tears any minute.
You realize three hours have gone by.  You begin to clean the kitchen.
You drop something. It is loud.
You check on the babe. He is breathing. He is sound asleep.  You leave his door cracked.
You finish cleaning the kitchen and wonder what the “H” has dripped all over the cabinets under your sink. You clean it. Yuck.
You sweep the bathroom floor.
You read a bunch of blogs.
Four hours have passed.
You check on the babe. He is sound asleep.
You decide on homemade pizza for dinner and make dough. With an electric mixer.
You call the Huz. He is in traffic and snaps at you. Helpful.
You call your best friend.
” O has been asleep for nearly five hours”
” Oh, wow, are you gonna wake him up?”
“I’m trying. His door is open. I turned on his light. I made pizza dough.”
“Woah”
” I know. I’m going to go put away his laundry and talk to you in his room”
“OK”
Within fifteen minutes, the little cutie pie woke up, a bit reluctant.  He blinked and stared and rolled around until his hair was standing up.  He pulled himself up to the edge of the crib and whined.
His Mama lifted his heavy little body onto her shoulder and said good-bye to her friend. 
She changed him and got him some milk and eventually got him to eat at least a little something.  It was 6:30.  By 8:30 he was back in bed for the night.
Poor babe.
This morning, though, the fever was gone.  He must have slept it off.

Veg-a-Lish

The CSA box-pick-up has become so routine the Parakeet hasn’t mentioned it lately.  There are two more pick-ups to go of the summer share.  It’s been so great.
They have done well at not letting produce rot which was one of the Bird’s biggest goals – some parsley has fallen by the wayside, and if no one eats the leftover coleslaw – what can you do?
There have been some interesting things lately, though, and you, dear readers, deserve to know.
These funny sweet potatoes came on Wednesday:

Surely, they will be delish roasted, but what the?
Also, this beautiful head of broccoli romanesco (google it) – not quite cauliflower and not the green stuff either – they plan on sauteing with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Can’t go wrong with a plan like that, huh?

Now, this pepper seemed to come perfectly in October.  The colors are just too perfect.

The Parakeet still has some radishes she doesn’t know what to do with.  The first batch became a radish-spread. eh. Suggestions?
With three bags of carrots in a row, the Parakeet’s fridge is going a bit orange. So naturally she made a carrot cake with homemade cream cheese frosting (thanks to the impulse purchase of cream cheese at Costco).  Little O got to lick his first beater.  He also proceeded to try and lick the floor he was so excited at the prospect of frosting!

the one after six.

It was Tuesday of this week that the Huz and Parakeet celebrated their seventh anniversary.
They set the evening aside, got a babysitter, and went to one of their favorite local restaurants; a little BYOB Italian place within walking distance of their apartment.  They didn’t know they would experience a cold SNAP thsi week, though, and opted for the car.
It was a simple night really, but so needed and so sweet.  They ate a lot and talked a lot and were able to really connect.  It’s hard to do that even after Little O is asleep when chores and other “to-dos” are starting you in the face at home.  It was good to get out and dream a little and reminisce a little, too.  What was the seventh year like? What will the eighth year be like? 
What did you love? What do you want to do better? They could hardly believe more than the seven-year marriage that they will be in Chicago nearly seven years come January. Seven years of super cold winters and super nasty traffic – but they have stayed.
They love their neighborhood.  They love that they can walk so many errands.  They love that there are professional sports teams and more theaters than you can count. They love their friends. 
Seven years is some sort of superstitious hump for a marriage to overcome and maybe it is one for a city as well.  Chicago – you got the bird and her man.  At least for now.

Can You Believe?

that this trail is just one block from The Parakeet’s apartment in a city park?

or that she got such a fancy stroller that actually folds up? (CraigsList, baby)