Cooking with Fanny

I think Peanut would watch Cooking with Fanny all day long if it were a television show. Of course, she might be banging on the screen and screaming, "Fanny! Fanny!" the whole time as she tried to jump through the screen to get to the hostess, but some days I might be able to live with that if it let me get the dishes done. I digress...

Peanut loves to help cook, and she loves Fanny, so this is a total win-win. I get nervous only occasionally as Fanny has the confidence to use remarkably large knives around my daughter, but by and large the language acquisition skills and the sheer thrill of sorting vegetables overrides my anxiety. 

What's that? An onion, or part of my finger! (Just kidding people)

Taste testing is a bonus.

 

Really, could you get a happier face? 

 

And, just in case you thought I was exaggerating about the knife...

  Yup sister, I thought the same thing.

Mmmmmm!

As I mentioned in my last post, Peanut eats pretty much anything you put in front of her.

A few things before your viewing pleasure begins:

• Though it does not come up in this video, I would like to note that Peanut has gotten very good at saying a polite and calm "No" if she doesn't want what is on the menu or she has had enough of something (which is nice because she used to just open her mouth anyway and then spit everything back out which was a lot ickier). 

•  She has also gotten pretty good at using her fork as you will see, though hands do still play heavily into the mix depending on the meal options.  

• Though my 7th grade pre-algebra teacher taught me that the 11th Commandment was "Thou shalt not divide by zero," I think Peanut might argue that it is "You cannot blow on your food enough, or even on your fork enough frankly." It is probably more likely to show up in a biblical interpretation rather than in an actual translation.

• We did in fact save the absolute best for last. Nothing makes a mama feel better than a big old "Mmmmmmm!"

November?

Yeah, evidently I kind of missed November...and half of December. I think I might be good in the sprints rather than being a marathoner...except that I don't actually run at all. Whatever.

Part of what I find is that I will have a day or two with nothing really worth noting, and then *blammo* 23 days in a row in which I should note how tremendously awesome Peanut is and how she makes me laugh and shocks my socks off every day, but if I miss that first day...it's all over. Since I totally still owe you baptism and birthday part 3 posts, then I have been that much more computer averse. Did I mention I am an avoider? Yeah, again, whatever. 

To get back on the saddle again, I am just going to post some quick Peanut facts:

1. She now has upwards of twenty words. All are in Spanish except "bye" for which she also says "chao." They include: 

Tía Mala, aka Acky

•  bravo - while clapping, often at the end of a solid mama written and performed number. This is clearly my favorite word, for what I think is an  obvious reason.

• luna - impressive particularly because she seems to have it straight that luna refers to both the moon and the dog across the street. This is her Papi's favorite word.

• nano - for banano. The trick is figuring out whether she actually wants a banana, or if she is merely pointing out the banana and making clear she knows what it is. Mama trick learning is ongoing. I have eaten many bananas.

• acky - for Jacky, or Tía Mala (Bad Aunt - more on this another time), our next door neighbor. Jacky would like me to point out that my last update of Peanut's words should have included this word as well. Jacky would actually like me to say that it was her first word, though that is possibly a complete lie.

• vamos - almost always said with great conviction. She will look at you and say "Let's go!" and head directly to the door. the fact that she has on only a diaper is not an issue.

2. The Nutter eats basically everything.

I know that this will change at some point, and I will likely pine away on this very blog about the "way things used to be," but for now let me just say that my girl can eat. She eats little cooked broccoli trees (and gives a hearty "yuuuummmmm"), auyama (kind of like sweet potato), green beans, black-eyed peas, chicken, open-faced tuna fish sandwiches with pineapple and melted cheese (hey, she asked...), creamed spinach, pumpkin pie, raisin bran, soft-boiled eggs, obviously I could go on and on. The part you should actually be impressed with is that she does it with FOUR TEETH. I mean really, with all this intake, don't you think they deserve friends? 

On a different note, I am greatly heartened by the variety and quality of my potential future meals when all my teeth have departed.

3. We dropped the bottle at her birthday.  

Now she  only drinks from cups (usually with a straw). While there are many things I miss when they go, that is not one of them.

4. She has started her campaign to be Queen of Carnaval.

Each year just before Lent begins, there is Carnaval. In Barranquilla the season of Carnaval basically begins at 12:01am on New Year's Day and from then on there are parties, dancing, and appearances by the Queen. The Queen of Carnaval is a highly coveted honor, usually given to children of wealthy families (nothing too surprising there). Though Peanut was born in Barranquilla, she does not have Colombian citizenship (long story), so that counts as one more strike against her. She, however, is undeterred. 

Deciding that if the odds are high then one must simply work harder, Peanut stops to greet every person (and dog, and cat, etc) when out on a walk. In the land of "Hola Vecina!" (Howdy neighbor! - mostly to cover up the fact that no one actually knows your name), everyone calls out to Peanut by name. She stops to wave at the ladies in Bible study at the back of the Catholic church. She always walks onto Doña Olivia's patio. She makes sure to wave to Carlos, and she often stops to watch the guys at the gym. Even better is that they stop too. One moment, pumping iron and looking tough. The next minute, five guys in sleeveless t-shirts googly-eyed and waving at the little girl on the sidewalk. Wish I had a picture of that to put up here.

5. Peanut looks up a lot.

I notice not only because I get to sneak in kisses under her chin when she does it, but also because she often loses her balance if she is standing and looking up at the same time. It reminds me of how little we all look up actually. Go ahead, do it. It's okay. 

Here's to being back in the saddle, to the ride, and to the marvelous view...be back soon.

Birthday Baptism Bash - Part 1

Birthday 1 - The Actual Day

It started with a crown.

My mom, heretofore known as Abuelita, came the day before in order to be with Peanut on her birthday start to finish. As soon as she heard Peanut's stirrings, she ran in to sing Happy Birthday and so the celebrations began. Allowing her to finish her breakfast, in short order Abuelita had pulled this lovely topper out of her bag and Peanut went straight to royalty. 

Now I didn't think it would last. 

We can put a hat on Peanut's head to protect her from the sun, and if she is not immediately distracted that hat is off within .25 seconds. In fact, we can barely comb the girl's hair without her reaching up and grabbing to use the comb herself (which, perhaps deeply surprisingly, rarely results in combed hair). So I figured this crown, made of curly ribbon and wiry stars was a fun gesture on Abuelita's part, but one that would require some lightening fast fingers on the shutter of my camera to catch an actual photo of it on her head.

I could not have been more wrong. Peanut kept that thing on allllll day.

Sometimes she would toy with it... 

 

And once in a while she would lend it to someone else...

But by and large the girl kept that thing on all day - fascinated I tell you.

Most of the morning and early afternoon were spent doofing around (in a crown), waiting for Papi to get back from Cartagena with Nanny and Grandad. When looking at herself in the mirror got old, climbing in and out of and on top of Abuelita's suitcase became the order of the day. Because Abuelita's bedroom is also called the living room, there was not a lot of space for her to be private, but the upside was that she got to introduce Peanut to the wonders of make-up brushes.

Since Peanut's mom does not actually know what to do with a makeup brush, 

someone was going to have to step in at some point. 

 

 I will note that it is possible the lesson did not fully take as 

"brush-cap-as-musical-instrument" was an equally popular choice.

Once Nanny and Grandad arrived, we deemed it time to celebrate. And what better to celebrate with? 

Why, Cheerwine, of course. 

She looks like she just loves it, right?

 

We talked a lot about what happened a year ago on the 22nd, and noted that Peanut was way to big to return from whence she came, hard as she might try.

And even though the official party was scheduled for the 25th, no one wanted to miss out on this special day. 

We donned the birthday girl shirt and obviously requisite tutu and invited over the rest of the family. 

 So with Tía Jacky (also fondly, and very appropriately known as Tía Mala...), 

Abuelo Alex and Abuela Fanny, we cheered for the birthday bean.

Papi made a scrumptious flan, we sang, we clapped, and we laughed and laughed and laughed. 

Though the prize was well worth it, I am giving September 22, 2011 significantly higher marks than 2010.

But it ain't over yet folks. It ain't over yet.

Ode to a Fork

A FORK. How did it take me this long to think of A FORK?

Peanut is a great eater. She only has four teeth, but they do a looooot of work. (She has actually given me quite a lot of hope for the culinary delights I can still experience in my older years when my teeth mostly fall out.) She eats all types of fruits and has chowed down recently on portobello mushrooms with vegetable filling, rice and beans with peppers and corn, and open faced tuna fish and pineapple sandwiches. I am shoving in everything I can while it is still easily accepted so that when we enter the chicken fingers and french fries era (translated perhaps to the fried plantains (patacones) and empanada phase), she will have a strong base of green veggies on which to pile said mounds of oil and fats.

Anyway, she eats well, but is often very invested in active participation in the eating endeavor. For months we have given her a spoon and tried to avoid overt cringing as food poured down her front or flipped down onto the floor to the delight of ant scouts sent to camp at the foot of her high chair. She has been able to get the spoon to her mouth for a while, but rarely did it manage to actually have food on it when it arrived. Until...voila!...the fork.

We actually only got a fork recently as one of her birthday presents, so there is some excuse for our not considering it as an option, but ah these past days have been magical. It is in this heart-warming, enchanting spirit that I offer you:

Ode to a Fork

Oh thou gift to me dear fork -

Food, once speared, to my mouth arrives!

Though my mother feared faint punctures to my sweet skin,

Thy pleasant tickle on my cheek merely encourages me anew.

Your zest in that dish of watermelon,

The funny way you turn my avocado into guacamole,

It brings a smile to my face to see you at work.

Grace is sometimes lacking in our efforts,

My excitement never wanes.

To you I will always turn.

What mere spoon could compete with your form and function?

On to the veggie pancakes.

Let us conquer together those grains of rice.

Yogurt may be hard,

But in the end we will triumph.

2 - New Skills

Though she may say four words, Peanut understands many more, and it is incredibly cool to see her catch on to something new.

For a while we have tried to guide the Nutter as she was getting down off of the sofa, the bed, the ceiling (oh wait, no, that was me...), and our phrase is always "colita primero" or "bottom first." For whatever reason, while we were in Bogotá, it seemed the message finally sunk in. I don't know if it was because we slept in a bed that was very low to the ground so that the whole getting down from the bed process did not seem quite so daunting, or if it was just time. Whatever the case, "colita primero" is now where it is at. As noted in the photo, she will start to slide her colita over to the edge of the bed when she is still dead center. It is a helpful give away at the moment when we are still getting used to the fact that our daughter has a mind of her own and even though we just put her up on the bed, down may look a lot better.

And, though we don't have a photo of it, the second phrase she has learned is "a la boca" - to your mouth! Magically this is one we only have to pull out when there is actual food in front of her. Other times things pop right into her mouth without having to ask or remind even once... Peanut is still not master of the spoon, so it is kind of funny to yell "a la boca"  when she has a spoon in her hand because it goes very quickly to her face...just not always to her mouth. The ants, let me tell you, are equally pleased.

Mmmmm....Solids...

I keep thinking I am going to find time to really get some good posts up for you. I imagine having a post up every other day, or at least once a week. And then the water goes out unexpectedly (today), Peanut sleeps for a total of 20 daytime minutes (yesterday), or who knows what the heck else. Then I start to feel badly and avoid the blog. Or I have so many thoughts backed up that I need to call a plumber because I can't figure out where to start unplugging them.

So, in my desire to at least get SOMETHING to you all. I present...solids. They made their way into our lives a few weeks ago, and nothing has been the same. Cereal, carrots, bananas, auyama (a squash), guayava (a fruit), and next...avocado. It's a wild and crazy world down here.

 

So I gnaw on this big plastic thing, right?

Ohhh, I gnaw on this little plastic thing...

Hey, that ain't half bad!

What? What's wrong?

 

 

 

 

To appropriately address this solids thing, I do still need to note two things:

1. When the doctor suggested we start solids it was at her 5 month appointment when he informed me we were now to give her soup instead of her mid-day milk. 

"Soup?" I said incredulously. 

(Not to mention, "Soup?", like "What the heck do you mean by that, and how do I make it?").

"You know," he said (as I internally rolled my eyes), "you take some carrots, squash, chicken, other stuff but I am pretty sure I just zoned out at that point, and you liquify it and give it to her. You know, soup."

Yeah, so that didn't happen. Just too much of a cultural leap for me I am afraid. I really buy into the whole testing foods out one at a time to figure out if there is an allergic reaction kind of thing. I'm clear that 44 million people here are doing just fine jumping into soup. It's not them; it's me. I can accept that.

2. I am now making my own baby food. They don't really have jars of baby food down here except fruits (which seem like about the easiest thing to make from scratch), so I have now been pureeing food and freezing it in ice cube containers for later use. This may not seem like a big deal to many of you (because you did this, because it can't be that hard Mamie, or whatever), but I want you to stop for one moment and remember how much I like to cook even for myself. 

Yeah. 

Especially for those of you who lived with me during college, I know you are in awe right now. Thank you.