I wish I could see the Muppets.

Portrait.

In January, my kind friend visited us at the beginning of her third trimester. About the second day into her trip, Eva made the [...]]]> Are you worried your ego might be overly inflated? Do you feel you need to be taken down a notch? I have the solution – spend some time with a two-year-old.

In January, my kind friend visited us at the beginning of her third trimester. About the second day into her trip, Eva made the following comment:

EVA: (Pointing to my friend’s belly) It is BIG!

KIND FRIEND: I have a baby in my belly.

EVA: You need to take it out.

ME: ….

While I stood around uselessly with my jaw hanging, my friend and Eva had a meaningful conversation about how the baby needed to stay in her belly for another three months.

Fast forward two months and several pregnant friends later, and Eva asked me this question yesterday:

EVA: Mama, do you have a baby in your belly?

ME: No, Eva, I don’t.

EVA: Oh, there is not a baby in your belly. It is just big.

ME: ….

Please, come visit us. We’d love to insult you.

Until then, you’ll have to excuse me. I need to go read up on turning your kid’s comments into teachable moments… before the next comment is aimed at a stranger.

PS: February pictures are up!

“Well,” I said, “I’m trying to decide between two books. A futuristic Cinderella story about a cyborg or a historical fiction novel about Japanese-Americans in 1940′s Seattle.”

“I know what I would pick,” said Matt. Cyborgs, obviously. If you look at my Library [...]]]> The other night Matt asked, “So what are you reading right now?”

“Well,” I said, “I’m trying to decide between two books. A futuristic Cinderella story about a cyborg or a historical fiction novel about Japanese-Americans in 1940′s Seattle.”

“I know what I would pick,” said Matt. Cyborgs, obviously. If you look at my Library Thing widget on the right, you will see I was of the same opinion.

And what was Matt reading? Alternate history/science fiction short stories that take place in 1600′s Europe.

We are not limited by genre in this household.

*** PS: Obsessive (and patient) photo-checking Grandparents, et. al, the weight of the backlog was too much. I am starting to update pictures again. ***

So forget the holidays and look at these pictures I took yesterday!

It cracks me up that [...]]]> Sometimes: when you haven’t updated your pictures in a month… and your holiday cards went out in January… and you spend all your time working on other people’s WordPress websites… it’s just too much to get caught up.

So forget the holidays and look at these pictures I took yesterday!

It cracks me up that among all of the blurry cell phone pictures I took, two look like Eva was posing for The Sartorialist: Playground Edition.

Aside from the grown-up looking posts (they are an illusion of photography), there was quite a bit of imaginative play going on behind the scenes – which I can’t get enough of. Take a look at where Eva was traveling at our new favorite playground.

Grandparents, et al., I will get the holiday pictures up. Someday.

ALLEGRA: Eva, [...]]]> Two weeks ago we purchased the new Muppets movie soundtrack. I already have most of it committed to memory. One week ago we took Eva to see her very first movie. Guess what that was? This week we are having dance parties to “Me Party” and we have a new topic of conversation:

ALLEGRA: Eva, are you a girl or a Muppet?

EVA: [in a grave whisper] A Muppet.

MATT: Is Mama a girl or a Muppet?

EVA: Mama is a grey Miss Piggy.

ALLEGRA: Okay. Is Daddy a boy or a Muppet?

EVA: A Muppet.

And then there’s poor Kermit, who just joined our Muppet family yesterday. Let’s hope he survives the experience.

If you looked closely around the house, you could see it was coming. Like the other day when I walked by the fruit bowl and thought, “That’s strange, there’s [...]]]> To be exact, it’s been more like “remodeling three months” or (as it feels) “forever remodeling,” but we’re just now getting to the big, exciting things.

If you looked closely around the house, you could see it was coming. Like the other day when I walked by the fruit bowl and thought, “That’s strange, there’s a big gaping hole in my pile of fruit.” Because I notice these things.

So where did my bananas disappear to? Oh. They are propping up a flashlight. Obviously.

Now, Eva did not understand this question at all. She probably still doesn’t know what happened last night, except that our street was filled with kids in costume, [...]]]> If you asked Eva any time in the last month, “What do you want to be for Halloween?” Her answer was, “A queen.” Said with grave solemnity.

Now, Eva did not understand this question at all. She probably still doesn’t know what happened last night, except that our street was filled with kids in costume, which was awesome, and our neighbors had a fog machine in a pumpkin, which was scary.

Because Eva does not understand Halloween and was actually just referring to the name of her favorite song, Dress Up Queen, I took some creative license with her request. I give you, the Queen of Hearts:

While I was searching for a queen costume, I found this hat, and discovered I needed to be the Mad Hatter.

I also found a White Rabbit hat. Matt stayed in his suit after work, dug out the bow tie that goes with his tuxedo, and grudgingly obliged. Poor Matt, forced to wear crazy hats once a year.

I found great meaning in all of our costumes. Matt, like the White Rabbit is very busy, always running off to meetings. Eva, like the Queen of Hearts throws tantrums while I pardon people in her wake. And I, like the Mad Hatter, find life can be a never-ending tea party.

First, you must go make Fine Cooking’s Olive Oil Pumpkin Bread. I’ve been looking for a standby pumpkin bread recipe for years, and this is it. I’ve made it three [...]]]> Is baking with olive oil trendy? I’m coming across the most amazing recipes this fall that use olive oil instead of butter or vegetable oil.

First, you must go make Fine Cooking’s Olive Oil Pumpkin Bread. I’ve been looking for a standby pumpkin bread recipe for years, and this is it. I’ve made it three times, twice as bread and once as muffins, following the recipe exactly (a rarity for me).

Next, make Simply Recipes’ Super Easy, Super Moist Chocolate Cupcakes, which also uses olive oil (and butter in the frosting).

Finally, when you’re trying to use up your leftover pumpkin, make Recipe Girl’s Pumpkin Spice Lattes. They are so much better than the ones I (used to) pay an embarrassing amount of money for at Starbucks.

I made a number changes to the pumpkin latte recipe because I don’t like my coffee to be very rich. I make my lattes with skim milk, quarter the amount of pumpkin pie spice and cream, and omit the extra white sugar and whipped cream. I also use our milk frother to give the “pumpkin milk” a final mix before putting it all together.