Observe and report

Here are some random things that I've been noting during the past few weeks.

1. I will forget to write about (conservatively) half of the things I intended to share here. This is simply due to my remarkable ability to forget so very, very much. The other day, Alex and I watched this show on 60 minutes about people who have this remarkable memory and never forget a day of their lives (it was amazing!). We pretty much decided that I have the opposite of that condition. I forget everything. Half the time that I try to recount something it sounds like this, "So I was watching this show and this guy was talking about something....oh I don't remember the details, but it was really interesting". The best example of this is that Alex and I were at dinner recently with friends and we were talking about my remarkable forgetful memory and I went to give an example and turned to Alex and asked (in all seriousness), "Alex, what was it I forgot the other day that you had to remind me about?" Yeah, Alex fears for our 'golden' years when I will be a blank slate.

2. Lego's. I don't have a single childhood memory of playing with Lego's. I am pretty sure now that I have just never 'gotten' them. Alex was so excited to get Caleb a couple sets of Lego's for Christmas and Caleb does enjoy playing with them. Although Alex enjoys them more. I really hate them, they are noisy when dumped on wood floors, they are messy and above all - they are a complete mystery to me. I built a 3-walled house and a couple of the simple things that were shown in pictures on the box. I am the least imaginative Lego user. Alex and Luisa (our nanny) have built (with ease): a train, a sports car, big houses, barges, robots, small cruise ships, boats, airplanes.

3. Winter squashes are wonderful. They are so easy to cook (just scoop out the insides and throw in the oven or microwave if you don't have much time) and then eat the delicious insides. I cook them all - acorn, spaghetti, butternut. The other day I got a little adventurous and made Butternut Squash enchiladas. They were really good. I made them with 'turkey chorizo' from whole foods (it was a REAL stretch to call that chorizo, it was ground turkey) - so I'm sure they are even more delicious with real Spanish chorizo.

4. Our cookbook. Over the past couple of years, Alex and I have been slowly compiling family recipes that we love, with the intention of making a nice cookbook. It's taking a lot time b/c we want to have pictures of each dish. Well, the other day I got inspired to try the recipe for Alex's mom's picadillo. I surprised him and cooked it while he was out. Success! I tasted exactly like his mom's. Caleb ate plenty and Alex had 3 helpings! I also learned it's important to try making each dish from the recipe to ensure that the instructions are right before we make the book.

5. Vocabulary. Caleb's vocab is awesome...in fact, it includes 'awesome.' :) I finally figured out where he learned to say 'I did it!' The iPad app Toddler Counting. He also learned 'awesome' there. Toddlers 'count' the objects on the screen by tapping them (or, if you're Caleb, jabbing them violently w/ your finger) and then it says rather calm exclamations like 'you did it,' 'awesome'. Caleb has also started using possessive language: Pete's ball, mommy's car, daddy's car, grandmother's car, buddy's car, abu's car, Grace giraffe. I think that's pretty remarkable. He also says, 'Delicious' and uses it appropriately. He got a fingerful of brownie batter before our BBQ the other day and declared, "mmm, delicious!"

6. Grace is rolling over from her back to tummy and tummy to back (not all the time though, on that one). I've said it before, but she is just pure sweetness. She smiles with such pure joy - I can tell that we're not going to have the same strong-willed issues we have with Caleb. His wonderful personality is driven by that wonderful will, which we are praying to shape without breaking. Grace is also laughing but almost exclusively at things that Caleb does. So far, he's the only one who really makes her laugh. The other day, I was holding her at the kitchen table while he ate and she was just talking to him and squealing and he would do something and she would chuckle and then he would do it again and she would laugh and then talk to him. He loves it.

7. Today I did something that I've never done before and I'm not that proud of. Let me preface this by saying it was cold today in Miami (high of upper-50s) and people get all crazy to wear clothes they hardly ever get to wear. So, I was working at Starbuck's and saw this young woman and just HAD to secretly take a picture of her with my Blackberry and text it to some friends with my own personal commentary. No, I won't post the picture here...mostly b/c the camera on the Blackberry Bold really stinks and the photo doesn't do the outfit justice...but also b/c it's wrong. The girl was dressed richly, very well and also ridiculous. She was very tall, with long auburn hair styled beautifully. She was wearing rich, brown stripper boots (the kind that come to the upper knee), a thin, silk blouse covered by a hip-length shaggy fur vest from some beautiful deep brown animal, a brown micro-skirt with a zipper all the way up the backside, and carrying a big Louis Vuitton bag. I'm sure I don't have an outfit that expensive, but it was completely ridiculous - believe me, I have the picture to prove it.