Junk Drawer

I stumbled across a variation of a standard recipe this last weekend that turned out to be really good.  I'm pretty positive I'm a latecomer to the "pasta bake" party but I'm posting this anyway if not for anything else than to help me remember exactly what I did.

I was planning to make spaghetti Sunday evening, an old tired standby of mine. I browned the meat with Tony’s seasoning and went to the pantry to get the spaghetti and saw a new box of ziti. Inspiration struck me out of the wild blue yonder and I decided to do something different. I ran to the grocery store for a box of frozen garlic bread sticks and a package of shredded mozzarella cheese. The following is what I did to switch up my tired spaghetti standard.

18 Weeks

18 weeks today!  We're getting closer and closer to the halfway mark and only 9 more days until we find out whether Jimmy will be a big brother or a big sister (inside joke).  And now down to business.  +1's weekly stats are this:

7 oz and about 5 1/2"...about as long as a bell pepper.

+1 at Week 18



The Importance of Spoons

Remember when I told you about Brent, or was it Brett? Anyway, he is one month older than Jimmy and they sat at the end of a table together in highchairs? Yeah that one. Well, one of the things his mom and I discussed is whether or not their age group should be using spoons yet. The school she had enrolled her son in said that everyone else in his class was already using one. I assured her that her son was not developmentally behind because my son was not using spoons either so there was no way they were behind. Right? Jimmy is a smart cookie and can say "Aqui" so yeah...those other kids have really overbearing parents that force them to eat with utensils they really aren't ready to use.

This week I was discussing the topic with some other moms in an online community I'm a member of and found to my utter shock and amazement that all of THEIR children had started using spoons properly around 12 months. !!!! Well then! I don’t want to be an overbearing parent but if he’s ready to use a spoon then by golly I at least need to offer him one every now and then. So Tuesday I dished up some dinner in a little Styrofoam bowl that was just his size and set it on his highchair tray and a small spoon right next to it. He was still napping soundly while we ate dinner so I waited patiently for him to wake up and try his spoon. When he finally opened his little eyes, I took him right over to his highchair and stuck him in it. He looked so cute sitting there fuzzy-haired and sleepy-eyed looking at this weird arrangement on his tray. Usually the food is directly on the tray and he’s expected to pick it up with his fingers. He picked up the spoon, which in his hand immediately transformed into a spoon shaped drumstick, and started beating a little ditty on the tray. I had the highchair positioned in front of the back door and he caught sight of his reflection in the glass screen door and watched himself play with his new toy.