Medley

Oh lord, such sweetness. 
My girl makes my day shimmer.
Last fall I took Violet to this music class.  It's called Music Together, but she calls it "Teacher Music Class".  It's pretty great.  You sit around with your kid in a big circle of other parents and kids, and Teacher Sarah leads everyone in various songs.  Every once in a while she dumps out a basket of shake-eggs, or little drums, or bells, and the kids get to go crazy dancing along to the music. 
Anyway, like I said, we did it last fall, and Violet really liked it--  although admittedly she spent much of the time playing with the door stop in the corner.
Well, we decided to do it again this summer (thank you, Grandma Sprague), and Violet now is way way WAY into it!  We were surprised, although I guess we shouldn't be--  lately she has been singing constantly, every song, any song--- and making up songs too.   The time between fall and summer equals the exponential growth of the mind of a two year old; suddenly the door stop doesn't seem so interesting.
Here is a snippet that is pure indulgence for mommy and daddy, and probably for the grandmas and grandpas too... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz2LHR93DdA

Puzzle fun

Tick tock-- I could watch this little mind spinning its sprockets all day.

It is becoming quite apparent that this is going to be the summer of puzzles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zriB45AUR1E

Veggie Confession

Roasted Zucchini, Mushroom and Pesto Panino

I have a confession---  
We've gone exclusive.  Veggie exclusive.  Well, almost.
It started in India.  Three months of no beef or pork, with just a little tiny bit of chicken maybe once every four days.  Honestly, once we got over the adjustment period, (which did take quite a while), I started to realize that I suddenly had an enormous amount of energy; more than I've had in years.  We came home and introduced meat back into our diet, and then decided that it didn't really belong there, at least not on a daily basis.
I think it takes your body a ton of work to digest meat.  We haven't gone full vegetarian, but I do notice that after a dinner that contains meat (even just chicken), I feel lethargic, spacey, languid the following day.
I've always had a problem with the meat industry in our country-- (how could you not!) the way it is veiled so completely-- (watch "Food Inc." if you don't know what I'm talking about)-- and I've always kind of considered going green, but I've never really known how to do it exactly.  I think there are several ways to do it--  but these are the main tricks that have helped us:

1) Remove the mindless meat from your life.  This is the meat that you buy and eat almost without thinking--  pepperoni on pizza, hamburger (it's just as easy, and less expensive to order a veg. burger or take baby steps and order a turkey burger), soup meat (pea soup doesn't actually need to have a ham bone), meat ravioli, etc....

2) Realize that you still need protein.  Now this is an important one.  If you just cut out meat from your diet, and don't replace it with anything, then it's not going to work.  Adding a few beans here and there can do wonders to salads, or soups, or mushed up into spreads for sandwiches.  Hummus is a fabulous snack with just about anything used as a dipping utensil.  A blob of Greek yogurt with dinner and lunch goes a long way (greek yogurt has tons of protein compared to other yogurt).

3)  Compose a meal in pieces.  Now this has been a big one for us.  In our country, usually when we think about a meal, dinner for example, we think about the "main dish"-- usually a big meat dish, like pot roast, or pork chops, or baked chicken.  Then we add a couple of things as an after thought (some potatoes, or a little salad, whatever).  When we were in India we saw a whole new way of eating that is quite the opposite of this, and it is very conducive of the veg. diet--   it's the idea of putting a meal together in which the rice is equal to the beans is equal to the stewed vegetables, is equal to the creamed spinach, is equal to the tandoori chicken (when served), etc.... .
There really isn't a "main" dish when you eat this way, which makes it both quite a bit healthier, and also a bit simpler.  There isn't this pressure to have one huge knock-your-socks-off casserole that fills your plate, because of the simple fact that when you eat vegetarian it is important that you do indeed have all these different little components to insure that you are getting what you need nutritionally out of the meal.

Anyway, like I've said, we haven't gone totally veg. YET.  But for the first time in my life I truly don't crave meat the way that I used to, in fact it's getting a bit hard to cook it and eat it, especially where there are such beautiful veggies rolling into our markets this time of year.  I'd be interested to hear from my veggie friends out there (especially those with kids).  How do you run your veg. kitchen?       

California

Last Thursday Violet and I boarded the plane and flew off to California for a few days, leaving Tyler to chomp through his dissertation.  We've lived in Seattle for almost 7 years now.  CRAZY, right?!!!  We love it here, we really do, and we don't have any intention of leaving in the foreseeable future, but there is something completely satisfying about returning to the homeland, aka Berkeley.

Playing with Rose and John

Let me tell you--  my parents house is a bit like a sitcom.  Five times a day, people just show up.  There's a knock on the door, and you never know who it's going to be.  A neighbor, or one of my four brothers, or eleven nieces and nephews; always someone fun with a question or a cake or asking to borrow a lawn chair.  It's the way we were raised, in a very open-home kind of way where an average Tuesday night dinner is a weekly party where everyone is invited.  No pretense or formality; just everyone wanting to be together.  
Something Tyler and I miss more than anything in the world. 

        

On Saturday, and then again on Sunday we all got together.  All of my brothers.  Their kids.  My sisters-in-laws.  My parents.  We total around 25 when we're all together, and the wonderful thing about my family down there is that they get together so often and so easily that there is this very large and supportive loving community of people to raise all of the kids.  My nieces and nephews ("the cousins") are all best friends; the older ones kind of watch out for the younger ones-- it's really a fantastic thing.  

John, Violet, Samir, Rose, and April

Enter Violet.  

Honestly, she didn't really know any of them that well before this trip;

she was so little the last time we really spent any time with them, and then of course we were in India, but throwing her into the bunch was better than I ever could have imagined.  She just sort of tooled around with all of them, and played, and was looked after by some of the older girls.  And I got to hang out with my four brothers.  SO fun!

A few highlights from the trip:  

Reading the paper with Grandma Joy

Violet loves her Grandpa Eldon

Violet and mommy on the carousel

Playing with Sanjay

Violet at Samir's birthday party

Cousin fun

Dad and Mike

our lovely mother

Sammy

Uncle Petes!

Violet with Uncle David

Violet with Grandma Joy 

Fun at Point Reyes

Oh brother, who decided this photo was a good idea?

So much!

There has been so much!

First, we got our car!  Oh, 1998 VW Jetta, how we have loved thee...  But we are no longer afraid to drive in the rain now that we have our new car--  which is a good thing, since we live in Seattle.  Our new Subaru is divine, and definitely was worth the wait.

What else?  Well, it was my birthday.  I have been feeling a bit blue lately about feeling so far away from my family in California, and it seems especially hard around birthday time.  But on June 2, as I walked down the hallway, I was met with this fantastic collage of photos of everyone in my family holding up these little Happy Birthday Rachel! signs.  Tyler knows me well--  and giving me my parents-brothers-nephews-nieces-cousins-aunts-uncles-etc. to have on the wall in front of me during breakfast was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.
The rest of the day was lovely too, with a trip to the locks, and a nice lunch.  Violet went to bed and Chris and Vicki came over (thanks guys!) and stayed with her while we tried to go ice skating (the rink had unexpectedly changed their schedule, so we'll have to go another time), and then went to my favorite pub in the whole world:  The Pacific Inn Pub on Stone way, right by our house.  Have you tried their fish and chips?  It's this teensy little dive bar that just so happens to have the BEST fish and chips in the whole universe.  No joke.  We used to go there once a week, before the Violet O. was born.  It's a little slice of heaven in the form of cheap beer and fried goodies.

In other news, Violet is now very into doing these giant floor puzzles.  It's funny to watch her hold these enormous pieces;  she looks like a miniature shrunken version of herself as she stumbles around using both hands to carry a piece to the top of the puzzle.

Also, I am loaded up with work.  Which is a great thing!  Shoe work, elephant work, India bird work, and a few other projects.  Tyler's really busy right now too--  so we decided to take a day over the weekend and just be together in the sun (did I mention the awesome weather we've been having lately?)
More pictures?  Yes!  

I'm sure there is something else, but it's slipping my mind.  So I'll just leave you with a few snoots. 

Favorite Things

Have you heard?  Oprah ended her talk show this week.  Honestly, I never watched Oprah all that much-- but still, there was something about the ending of it, the completion of it, that got to me.  Admittedly, I tuned in for the final few episodes, and in this very unexpected way felt quite nostalgic for... I'm not really sure what.

Maybe it's that Oprah's show has just always sort of been there in the background my entire life-- as a kid I remember coming home from school and flipping past the Oprah show searching for cartoons.  In high school I watched her once in a while.  In college I definitely did NOT watch her (some sort of point I was making to myself and the world, I'm sure), and then in the past few years every once in a while I've tuned in for the novelty of it all at the end of a long day, mostly to see what her "favorite things" are every year.  

Most people I know have some sort of very strong opinion about her and her show.  It's either Of Course! they watch(ed) Oprah, or Definitely NOT EVER. 

Anyway, I thought today, just for fun, I would do a post about a few of my own personal Favorite Things!  Here's to you, Oprah!  

1) Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day   

I am in love with this brand.  I bought Tyler some of the Geranium Liquid Hand Soap four our 4th anniversary, just to be cute (geranium is the 4th anniversary flower), and, as it would turn out, we are both now looking for any excuse possible to wash our hands in the kitchen sink.
Since then I've also tried the Surface Scrub in our bathroom, which also is fabulous.  All their stuff is free of toxins, so I don't feel as though Violet is taking a chemical steam bath after I clean the shower. 

2) Challenge Butter

This butter is my favorite butter of all the butters that be.  And I like butter.  I like butter a lot.  Challenge Butter is especially creamy; very farm fresh tasting.  And, I love the foil wrapper.  I only buy it when it goes on sale, which is about twice a year-- and then I try to stock the freezer.      

3) Session Lager.  

This beer is delightful, comes in a fun short and squat bottle, and is made locally in Hood River, Oregon.  Tyler and I visited this brewery a few years ago, and then spent the night on a pear farm.  Good times.  

4) Natural Cheetos Puffs, White Cheddar

Ok, I could inhale an entire sack of these in one sitting if I gave myself the chance.  In fact, these paired with the Session Lager mention above, might be the perfect snack-attack.


5) Bean Boots 
I finally went for it this year, after we got home from India in March and my feet were freezing cold and missing the India sun, and there were tub-loads of rain coming down;  I bought a pair of these boots.  I have LOVED them.  They have kept my feet completely warm and dry through this Seattle "Spring".  They are also very Eastern-Shore Chic.  :)

6) Prismacolor Colorless Blender
This one is for all of my illustration buddies.  I just re-discovered this tool, and it is fabulous.  It seems to work really well on very smooth surfaces, like drafting film, and saves a lot of time giving the pencil work that "painterly" look.

7) Wissotzky Cherry Tea
I discovered this tea a few years ago in the Kosher section of my grocery store (so, if you can't find it in the normal tea area, check the kosher section; it might be hidden there).  This tea so wonderful because it is very cherry-like without being sweet.  It is light and just a tiny bit tart, and very pretty-in-pink.  Drink it in a turquoise colored mug for the ultimate lovely-effect.

8)  Kindle 
Ok, you guys.  My brother, Sam, gave me a Kindle for Christmas, and I really didn't think I would get much use out of it.  But, I swear, this little thing has been one of the greatest additions to my life since the birth of my child.  For some reason, reading on this thing is really really easy.  I only ever download the free books (of which there are thousands to choose from), but what that means is that in the past 5 months I have become extraordinarily well read in the old-timey 19th century novel genre.

9) Moonlight Path Bubble Bath 
The new packaging for this product is really kind of cheap and tacky looking, and honestly it probably isn't the highest of quality body products...  but man, this stuff is nice.  It smells like lavender and violets (what better scent!).  I love to take a bath with this stuff right before going to bed.

10)  Trader Joe's Chocolate Sunflower Seed Drops 

I couldn't find a link for these, so you'll just have to search for them in the store.  Ok, truthfully these aren't really that fantastic.  BUT, what is fantastic about them is that Violet thinks they are the greatest thing in the world.  If she has bonked her head, or needs a little cheering up for some reason, or if she's done something really great (like used the potty), I can give her one of these and it literally makes her day.  They really just are sunflower seeds covered in a tiny layer of candy-coated chocolate (like M&M's, but without so much sugar in each one).  She loves getting to pick what color she is going to eat, and she can have two or three or an entire handful without being sent into sugar oblivion.  

Potty Land

We have BREAKING NEWS:  Violet used the potty for the first time yesterday.  It may have been a fluke, or it may be the start of something big.  We'll keep you posted on the details as they unfold.

I have to say that honestly "potty training" has been one of my enormous dreads of parenthood.  It has seemed absolutely and completely intimidating.  Everything else so far in this mommy job has seemed pretty reasonable; but there is something about potty training that has struck a bit of fear in my heart.

When we were preparing to go to India last fall, and we were flipping out about various things (like whether or not we needed to bring three months of diapers with us because maybe they were not available in the town we were going to be living in...)  we started learning about the differences in potty training methods around the globe.  In many places, diapers aren't used at all.  And, in fact, when we were there, Yoshoda, The Help of the house (who also was a young mom of a young child) was a bit fascinated by my laundry lines full of cloth diapers and my shelf full of various creams and powders and wipes for Violet.  Her child didn't wear diapers.  When he had to go, he just kind of went (I guess), and feeling the immediate discomfort on his skin (that which a plush American diaper normally soaks up and away from the baby), the situation always demanded immediate attention.  She would whisk him away, change him into fresh clothes, and return--  good as new.
While I don't think this would work completely for our Seattle lifestyle from day one, I do think there is something to be learned from it.  Kids in India (as a stark generalization) are potty trained much earlier than kids in the good old USA--  many by 18 months (while the average age in the USA is 3 years old).  I think it has a lot to do with letting the baby feel the mess and discomfort they have made, and the parent providing a solution, rather than just masking it with a diaper.  Since Yoshoda has to constantly worry that her baby will mess himself while on the bus, at the market, on the living room couch, etc...  you can bet your bottom dollar she'll be looking for the natural signals babies give early on for communicating the need to to go (in America we ignore these signals)-- but they are there-- the same way that signals for food and comforting are there (those, we pay attention to).  When she sees these signals, she'll get him to the potty FAST.  

Anyway, what I'm trying to say, is that I think what I have slowly been learning about this process is that  it doesn't have to be this hard and rigid process for Violet (or for me).  Yesterday I let her run around in just underpants, no diaper, all day-- and there was only one accident (pretty good!).  She kept wanting to try to sit on the potty, and eventually the deed was done.
I think potty training is going to be a process of both Violet and me tuning into her natural signals that she has to go.  She was very excited to have done it-- but then didn't want to do again the rest of the evening.  We'll see how today goes.  She and Potato Guy (aka Mr. Potato Head), have already tried once this morning, but apparently neither one felt inspired to let the bowels flow.