Hide-and-Seek

Boozie loves to play hide-and-seek. We will go and hide in another room behind something and say where's mama/papa a few times and he crawls around laughing until he finds us. He loves it and it's so funny. So yesterday I gave him a little card to play with. It's one of those annoying cards that goes on your key ring that you just have to have to get the discount at a store that everyone should get, in my opinion. But I digress, I couldn't find it after he was done and I searched under the couch, in baskets, etc... Then T searched but neither of us could find it. This morning Boozie was playing again on the ground by a stack of VHS tapes on the floor that are waiting to be sorted and donated. He picked up the top one, pulled out the VHS tape, and dumped out that little card! He must have put it there yesterday and then remembered it was in there today. Luckily he found it because I don't think I ever would've looked in the VHS tape cases. Maybe he just didn't want me to find it... :)

Tick Tock

Well, it's official. It's time to child-proof the house.


And the guilty party?


And yet, he looks so innocent :)

Terrariums

I read many interior design blogs because I love having a space to live in that has good feng sui and that makes me feel happy when I come home. I'm always amazed at what a huge difference little things can make in a house. Like last week when I organized my linen closet with one of those little wire shelves, I just couldn't stop beaming at it. So when I read about terrariums on someone's blog (don't remember whose) I got obsessed. Terrariums are containers with little plants growing that only need to be watered once every 3-4 weeks. They're very easy to manage and they look so cool.

I did tons of research and decided what I wanted to plant, only to find out it's the wrong season to buy plants. Go figure. I guess January isn't optimal plant time. Makes sense. I found some fab containers at Home Goods and spent many weeks looking for activated charcoal, which I finally found at PetSmart. I found some reindeer moss on ebay and found some other little plants at a great nursery here and the terrariums turned out so fun. Now all they need are some mini morels like these.

So here's my step-by-step in case anyone else is interested:
1. Decide if you want desert-loving plants or tropical-loving plants.
2. Find containers and be creative. You can use kitchen bowls, vases, mason jars, etc... They just have to be clear glass. If you decided on desert-loving plants, your containers don't need lids and if you're wanting a more tropical feel, they require more humidity so lids help with that.
3. Buy supplies: activated charcoal (in the fish section of a pet store), pea-sized gravel (can be found at craft supply stores or in the same fish section of a pet store), potting soil (make sure it doesn't have fungus growing in it. If you bought it new, it should be fine. Otherwise, try sterilizing it just to make sure. Instructions here).
4. Put a layer of pea-sized gravel in the bottom of your container to ensure proper drainage. I put about 1-2".


5. Put a thin layer of activated charcoal on top of the gravel to prevent bacterial growth.


6. Put as much potting soil as you want according to how high you want it in the container. You can do little mounds so there are some plants that are a bit higher than others, etc...
7. Plant your plant in the soil.


8. Lightly mist with water (this can help get the dirt off the plant leaves).
9. If you're using a lid, leave it off for 24 hours and then put it on.
10. Watch the magic happen. Those with lids will start to have condensation on the leaves and the jar.

this is after almost 3 weeks

He's one!

Boozie is now officially one, as of 6:30 this morning. Hard to believe. T & I have been reviewing everything as it was last year: how the night before he was born we were out to dinner with friends; how the day before he was born we were running errands in the Heights, buying Kiehl's, and eating at Boulevard Bread Co.; how the night before he was born we were watching Property Ladder reruns; how the day he was born was Superbowl Sunday and T was so stoked to watch it with his new baby boy, etc... Such great memories and such a great first year. Needless to say, we are big fans of Boozie.


his tasty sugar-free apple cake


he loves to rip open presents and then toss what's inside

5 Things I Like About Today

I was tagged by Kristin to do 5 things I like about today. Usually I don't like tags but this one is fun.
1) Sunshine and high temp of 52 instead of the 20s like it has been the past few days. Jogging stroller here we come!
2) I put Boozie in his crib for his nap and went downstairs to clean and organize the bathroom. We have a video monitor so every once in awhile I looked at him and he was just playing, banging his legs, and rolling around like he always does in his crib. After 30 minutes or so he was quiet and I figured he went to sleep so I went up to check on him. And this is what I found:

Apparently he had gotten the mobile down that was hanging above his crib and thought it was a fun thing to play with and then an even more fun thing to snuggle with during naptime. Priceless.
3) Looking at my linen close that now has those expand-a-shelf things in it so the stacks of sheets and pillow cases are no longer leaning.
4) Tomorrow we're actually going on a date and have a babysitter. It'll be fun but the whole time all we do is think about Boozie and hope he's okay. :)
5) Discovering the amazing capability of wool in cloth diapering.

Lunch Skins

image from veganlunchbox.blogspot.com

For the past few years or so I've been ever-so-subtly phasing out all meat in our diet except for fish. Every once in awhile T would notice and request more chicken or turkey, but mostly he was satisfied with the meals so he didn't mind. But when he has a choice, he will most always choose beef, pork, etc... at restaurants or when the option arises. The other day he read an article in the Reader's Digest about a dude who does a "vegan before six" diet and it has immensely helped his cholesterol, glucose, etc... Since Type II diabetes runs in T's family, he wanted to try it out. The article says that he eats mostly vegan before six and then eats a regular dinner. But since T goes out to lunch sometimes during work, he thought he'd do vegan for breakfast and dinner and not for lunch. I was excited to try it. It definitely takes a lot of research, but last night we ate tofu steaks with roasted red pepper relish on a bed of greens and it was so tasty that we're inspired. It won't be too hard since the aforementioned phasing began years ago.

So in my search, I've subscribed to many vegan blogs in my Google Reader, one of my favorites being Vegan Lunchbox. On her blog, I found this fabulous product and I wanted to share it with everyone who wants to use less plastic in their life. It's a washable (even dishwasher-safe) baggie that can be used in place of a ziploc or whatever for sandwiches, grapes, etc... in a kid's lunch. Or anyone's lunch really. I love it.

oh-nine

I still can't believe it's 2009. I still remember when it was Y2K and the rumor was that the world was going to end. 12:01 hit and nothing happened. That was pretty funny for all those who bought all kind of preparations last minute in case the world crashed. And now we're only 359 days away from Y2K+10. That means that Boozie will be turning 1 in 28 days. We had a wonderful oh-eight. With Boozie in our lives, nothing could be better, really. Who knows what this next year will bring, or even the next few months regarding T's job, but we think it'll all turn out.

We had a great Christmas trip in Utah even though it was sub-freezing temps the entire time. The runs were not very enjoyable, except when they were indoors on the treadmill while watching Family Feud (we still need to go on there, peeps). We were gone for almost 2 whole weeks so the past 2 days have been very offish; I don't know how to have a schedule/routine/work anymore. Here's a summary of our great trip:


First, we enjoyed CB's first Christmas at home. He preferred the bows.

Next, Oma Belt presented Boozie with his first Christmas pj's and matching hat. Darling.

Next, Oma Belt presented CB with homemade cloth blocks that spell everything under the sun. He preferred the box.

Next, he realized that he has not one, not two, but three Opas. Who could be luckier?

And last, he got to celebrate the beginning of Anj's best year yet. And help her open gifts? What an aunt!

(And that's just a brief summary. Boozie also loooved playing with his cousins. Especially when Buddy made him laugh with the keychain on his head).