Baby on Board

Traveling with Julia has not been easy. I wasn't expecting it to be simple, but I was hoping it wouldn't be quite so, how shall I put this, deathwishy? 

Updates and Mango Chicken

First, some updates: tomatoes have failed the Julia test. This one was hard, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't see it coming.

On the bright side, we also ventured out to a restaurant with Julia for the first time! She did very well, only getting feisty near the end. She loved looking around and watching the other people and children, and then even the waitress commented on what a great job she did! We were proud muffin parents.

Cutting Baby's Hair

Guys, I'm really bad at cutting Julia's hair. I've had to trim her bangs three times now, and let' just say thank goodness this girl can work a bad 'do. Every time I look at her, I see Jim Carey in Dumb and Dumber.

Babydactyl. And lemon chicken.

The babydactyl was in full force last week. I tested hummus, and it was a no go. I suspect it was the sesame tahini though, and not the actual chickpeas. So I bought a can of chickpeas and I'll try my hand at tahini-free hummus. We also tried another kind of baby cereal last week; that was when the babydactyl really came out to play. Not so much "play," as "poo, scream, shriek, and not sleep."

We also celebrated our first Mother's Day with the muffin. Pink champagne was on hand (thank goodness grapes passed!), and that made the day feel even more special. Julia refused to nap though, despite my insistence that she HAD to because it was Mother's Day. It reminded me of when I was a kid and used to ask my mom when kid's day was. "Every day is kid's day," she'd always say, and though at the time I didn't think so, she was right.

Sweet Potato Smoothie

You know you're on an elimination diet when:

I tried out a new framing effect.
I don't think I like it.

• a sweet potato smoothie sounds like a great idea
• you enjoy said sweet potato smoothie
• the scent of fresh tomatoes makes you weep
• driving past your favorite restaurant evokes a Pavlovian response
• you buy a new pair of jeans two sizes smaller than your pre-pregnancy ones

Bongo Pasta

This morning while I emptied the dishwasher, I had a beat in my head and a groove to my plate stacking. There were drums, cymbals, and plenty of bass. As I nodded my head along to the rhythm of putting away coffee mugs, it dawned on me that I was rocking out to Julia's Fisher Price bongos. A gift from grandma last weekend, the bongos are Julia's new obsession. She hasn't gotten remotely tired of them yet; her parents, however, have. She slaps the drums and they light up and provide a bass line. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

But Julia's bongo playing has also led to something good: the time to create a new pasta dish. It's kind of like linguine and clams, but without the clams, if that makes sense. Mmm...clams...