eat your baby carrots

Garrett the Carrot

Halloween 2007

Completely stealing the show at the ward halloween party
Saturday, October 27

Living it up at the after-party photo shoot
Saturday, October 27


Gearing up to eat carrots for the first time
(because, come on, you know it's a fitting food choice)
Wednesday, October 31

And he likes them!


Our baby carrot with his baby carrot after a walk amongst the local trick-or-treaters
Wednesday, October 31

A Note on Trick-or-Treating in Brooklyn: It is awesome. Because there are more apartment buildings (with locked entrances) than there are houses, the merchants on the major shopping streets host the trick-or-treaters instead. (I'm told you can go trick-or-treating at homes, so long as they're decorated for the holiday, but it's hit and miss and it's much more fun anyway to trick-or-treat at the shops where everyone else is.) I took Garrett out in his costume this evening to see what it was like. Though nearly everyone who paid attention as we passed by couldn't get over how adorable Garrett was (because, come on, you know he's a winner), the pure genius of the carrot costume was sadly lost on most of them, who unfortunately assumed he was a pumpkin. Some people, though, were smart, and made comments like, "Oh my, look at the baby carrot! Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen?!" Yeah, those people are my friends. One old man, who was sitting out in front of a local bar smoking his evening cigar, was particularly impressed and stopped me for a bit of friendly banter. His buddy, who was watching us from inside, was also impressed, and came out bearing the baby carrot Garrett is holding in the last picture. I'm looking forward to next Halloween when Garrett's old enough to go out trick-or-treating because, seriously, they know how to do it here in Brooklyn.

Eat your baby carrots, everyone
(but not this one -- he's mine)
and have a
Happy Halloween!

four the love

Dear Garrett,

I can't believe how big you've grown! I have loved having you in my life these last four months. Today I wanted to tell you some of the things I love about you.

Garrett, I love when you wake up happy, when you look up at me and grin when I ask you if you want to get up. I love that you like to play with me, that you let me hold your hands while you lock your knees in a stand. I love that you look up and smile when I call your name. I love that you laugh when I tickle you or hold you upside-down. I love how kissable you are. I love that you love your evening baths, how you kick and splash and grin whenever you're in your watery element.

I love that you enjoy your alone time, that you can sit contentedly in your chair or lie happily on the floor. I love how you coo and babble and have apparently incredibly enlightening conversations with yourself. I love how you sigh after you sneeze. I love how you gnaw, nibble, and suck on every one of your fingers, how you pull my fingers towards your mouth when I hold your hands. I love the blank baby-face stare you pull as drool dribbles down your chin. I love how everything is wet after you've been through.

I love the faces you make when you taste new foods, that you open your mouth wide even when you're unsure of how what's coming in is going to taste. I love how you like to help hold your bottle, even though your "helping" does more to pull it out of your mouth than to keep it in.

I love your fascination with the world, how you find everything around you interesting and worth staring at. I love that you like to know where I am, that your wide eyes follow me as I move about the room. I love that those same big, blue eyes brighten whenever you see me. I love your round little face and those darling cheeks. I love your tiny mouth and your jutting cleft chin. I love your pale pink skin and the pale blond hair that sometimes sticks straight up off your head.

I love how strong you're getting, how your head wobbles as you hold it up, that you can push yourself up off the floor when you lie on your tummy. I love that your hands have more control, that you can pick things up and play with them. I even think it's adorable that you can pull your binky out of your mouth, even though you and I both know you'd rather it was left in there.

I love those moments when I feel that I know you backwards and forwards. But I also love how you're always changing and learning new things, even though sometimes I wish I could keep you this way forever.

I love how sometimes the only way we can get you to fall asleep is to swaddle you in your blanket, pull your Lovey over your head, and set you in your chair next the classical music playing on the stereo. I love how other times the only way you'll go to sleep is if you're safely cuddled in the crook of your father's arm. I love how you snort in your sleep. I love that when you're tired, and I hold you up to my shoulder, you nestle against me and stretch out your arms in a dependent embrace. I love that you need me because I need you, too.

I love you, Garrett. Oh my, how I love you.

Love,
Mama

Every boy needs a pair of rocket ship pajamas sometime during his life.
Here is Garrett at 4 months in his.

the verdict is in

Our sweet pea does not like peas.


Either that, or it's his first taste of vegetables and he's not sure what to think. And he demonstrates that uncertainty by making faces (which are absolutely hilarious) and gagging noises (um...not so hilarious).

So, on the recommendation of his doctor, Garrett's a solid food man. Or baby. Whatever. It's been a bumpy road, full of experimentation as we've tried to find a balance between solving the reflux problem without inducing the constipation problem. Now we thicken half of his bottles with rice cereal (because he likes it, even though it plugs him up) and the other half with barley (he's not a big fan, but the fiber has changed him from One Who Keeps It In to One Who Poops Freely). We also spoon feed him something once a day. Up until this afternoon it was just rice or barley cereal prepared with pear juice, but we decided that today would be as nice as any to venture into the world of vegetables. Garrett disagreed, wholeheartedly, but if we left the decision of his diet totally up to him, he'd be eating nothing but pear juice, sips of ice water, and licks of chocolate ice cream.

This last week I also broke down and filled his Zantac prescription. He was hurting, and I needed a break from the screaming. And oh my, can I just say -- he is a changed man. Or baby. Whatever. I like Zantac Garrett much better than Heartburn Garrett.

I think we'll try the peas again tomorrow, see how it goes. After that, I'm not totally sure what to do. Does he by nature just dislike peas? Or is he like his Mama and just resistant to new things?

***

And now for two other noteworthy, though otherwise totally unrelated, items of business:

1. They turned on our radiators today. Hooray for warm apartments! We celebrated (or perhaps it was just a case of coincidental timing) by inviting some friends from our ward over to eat apples dipped in caramel fondue. Delicious.

2. Garrett's laughing has moved to a new level. Today during nursery he was sitting on my lap as the nursery kids were gathering for singing time. Garrett was watching them pretty intently, and then all of a sudden he started laughing. Just on his own. Laughing and laughing. It was so funny. I know our nursery kids are pretty silly sometimes, but I didn't think that Garrett had caught on to that fact yet.

cafe lindsay

I watched Fried Green Tomatoes this week while I ironed, and doing so made me consider for just a moment opening up my own little cafe. A little city sidewalk cafe, no less, where the water is served in glass carafes with lemons hanging off the rim and every table has a charming single-stemmed flower for a centerpiece. I mean, after all, I've had myself a bit of success this week in the kitchen, so why not share that with the world? But then, after realizing that opening and running a cafe -- cool though it would be -- would require much more energy than I have to give, I changed my mind. But if I did, this is what this week's specials would have been:

Grilled Chicken Salad Pitas
Crockpot Applesauce
Unbelievable Lasagna

Now, maybe you guys have more energy than I do. If that's the case, and you're wanting to go open a cafe of your own, feel free. I'll even throw in the recipes I've had success with so you've got something to get you started:

Grilled Chicken Salad Pitas

- fresh pitas, preferably from the Mediterranean grocery up the block
- prepared chicken salad (see below)
- Swiss cheese
- leaf of green leaf or romaine lettuce
- sliced tomatoes
- dab of ranch dressing

Slice pita in half, cut open. Stuff with slice of Swiss cheese and chicken salad. Grill in a frying pan until the pita is satisfyingly crisp. Then, stuff with lettuce, tomatoes, and top with that dab of ranch dressing.

To make Lindsay's Famous "Fake It 'Til It Tastes Right" Chicken Salad, boil a piece of boned chicken breast until cooked through, then separate the good meat from the bones and skin. Shred chicken, and add mayo and pickle relish to your desired consistency.

Crockpot Applesauce

- Apples, preferably the tasty McIntosh apples from upstate New York.
- 1/4 cup water for approximately every 5 medium-sized apples
- 1/4 cup brown sugar or 3-4 tbsp white sugar for approximately every 5 medium-sized apples
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, again, for approximately every 5 medium-sized apples
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg -- you guessed it -- for approximately every 5 medium-sized apples

Peel apples if desired, but if you choose to do so, please realize that you're doing more work than necessary for applesauce that won't be quite as healthy. Cut apples into fourths, toss in a crockpot, top with water, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook on high for about 2 hours or until apples are soft. Mash apples using an electric hand mixer -- because we all know electric mixers make things easier. Serve warm or chilled -- both are delicious.

Unbelievable Lasagna

- Lasagna
- Spaghetti sauce
- Ricotta cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Mozzarella cheese

Spread some sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Layer the following until you run out of stuff: UNCOOKED (yes, that's why it's unbelievable lasagna -- it's unbelievably easy!) lasagna, sauce, ricotta, cottage, parmesan, and mozzarella. Final layer consists of only lasagna, sauce, mozzarella, and paremsan. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's lunch time and I've got leftovers in the refrigerator seriously calling my name.

i'm it

Last week Sarah tagged me, and now that I've apparently finished showcasing all of Garrett's tricks (don't worry, folks, there will be more soon...there always is), I think I'll buckle down and be It for a few minutes. I'm pretty sure I've played this tag game before, or something similar to it, anyway, so I'll see if I can't spice it up just a bit.

1. jobs I have had:
- occasional babysitter
- regular babysitter
- Provo Library children's department summer volunteer
- Utah Valley hospital snack bar candy-striping volunteer
(okay, so I didn't get paid for those last two, but they were structured enough for me to consider them jobs)
- Target "blue world" salesfloor employee
- 5 Buck Pizza pizza-maker
- The Mac Hut macadamia nut seller
- BYU Morris Center cafeteria worker
(breakfast shift because I like to fool myself into thinking I'm a cheery morning person)
- Media Play book department employee
- Home Depot garden department employee and cashier
- Ricks College math department English vocabulary assignment grader
(because this math teacher believed in the importance of instilling the knowledge and use of big words in his calculus students)
- Ricks College math department math assignment grade enterer
- BYU Office of Information Technology reconciliation accountant
- Orem Junior High Utah history student teacher
(Yeah, didn't get paid for that one either...but it was work, dangit, so I'm counting it)
- Lakeridge Junior High remedial reading teacher
- temporary receptionist for some company in Springville
- Ball State Building Better Communities project management assistant
- Mother
(which is, hands down, the best job I've had so far. And, as you can see, I've had quite a few)

2. movies I could watch over and over again:
- Waking Ned Devine
- The Secret of Roan Inish
- BBC Pride and Prejudice
(because, come on, you couldn't very well call me a girl if I didn't list that one)
- Napoleon Dynamite
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- anything Wallace and Gromit
- The Man Who Planted Trees

3. favorite tv shows:
- 30 Rock
- The Office
- Heroes
(because let's face it: I'm sucked in and there's no going back)
- Ellen
- The Today Show
- Seinfeld
- Monk

4. favorite hobbies:
- reading
- writing
- 'rithmatic...heh heh...just kidding.

5. places I have lived:
- Provo, Utah
- Rexburg, Idaho
- Muncie, Indiana
- Brooklyn, New York

6. favorite foods:
- quiche lorraine
- manicotti
- fish tacos
- avocados
- peaches
- raspberries
- peaches with raspberries
- dark chocolate
- Swedish fish

7. places I'd rather be right now
- home. Wait. That's where I am. I'm happy here.

8. websites I check daily
- email
- blogs, blogs
- more blogs
- wikipedia...because there's usually something I'm dying to look up

9. who's It next:
- okay, so I'm boring, but I think I'm going to exercise my 42nd amendment right and not tag anyone. But if you want to play along anyway, feel free. I won't stop you.

chuckie's chuckle hut

My cousin, also named Garrett, once opened a comedy club in his bedroom. He called it Chuckie's Chuckle Hut. I think Baby Garrett has dreams of following in cousin Garrett's footsteps. At least, that's what I'm assuming his latest new trick, laughing, is gearing up for.

Anyhow, he started giggling a couple weeks ago as, I'm guessing, a defense mechanism for our attempts to reveal his true ticklish nature. I've tried to capture it on film several times, but usually getting him to laugh takes two hands, one of which cannot be used to hold the camera. Today, though, I had a few seconds of luck. And so, ladies and gentlemen, without further I do, I give you....A Glimpse of Garrett Giggling.

bath time is the best time

It starts the moment the water turns on. You quickly cock your head in the direction of the faucet and burst into a big grin as I take off your clothes. Sometimes, because you're starting to get ticklish under your arms, you'll chuckle as I take your arms out of your sleeves.

Stripped down to nothing, I lay you in the tub. The water is warm, and it takes a moment for you to adjust. But sure as the sun comes up each morning, after you've taken a few deep breaths you'll smile and coo and splash with such gusto, you'd think you didn't get to do this every night.

I let you play. You splash. You kick. You swim. The bathtub is your ocean. I pull out a soaking washcloth and wring it out, letting it rain over your pale pink body. You splash, you kick, you swim some more. You turn your head to the side and take in a sip of water. Oops, too much. You turn your head back. But ooooh, you want more. You smile and turn your head, and are startled once more.

Time to wash up! First your hair, then your neck, arms, tummy, bottom, legs, and back. Let's rinse off. You love the warm water swishing over your body. All clean!

You play some more. You play until the water gets cold or your fingers start to wrinkle or you pee, whichever comes first. Then it's out you come. Drip, drip, drip that water off your body. Brush, brush, brush, that fluffy towel over your skin.

(Safely) back in a diaper, it's time for powder. Nevermind what "the experts" now say these days about the dangers of inhaled baby powder. It smells too good and it feels so wonderful to rub it all over your soft, soft body. So we use it. And you love it. Just like I loved it when I was little like you.

Pajama time! You know, having to get dressed again after a nice bath is a disappointment, isn't it? Being naked is so freeing, and sleeves are more trouble than they're worth. But you'll thank me later for the clothes, later when it's cold and you're tired and you want to be bundled up and held close.

Yep, bath time is the best time. I think I look forward to it every night as much as you do. So what do you say: me and you, at the tub, about 8:00? Great! 'Til then, buddy!

for the books

Let it be known that on Sunday, October 21, 2007, Garrett pretty much scarfed down rice cereal with a spoon for the very first time:


We sort of tricked him into eating it by preparing it with pear juice. But we had to do something to loosen the kid up while at the same time adding gravity to his food in order to soothe the reflux. Because it turns out that iron-fortified rice cereal used to thicken iron-fortified formula can really plug up an already constipation-prone baby. If the two poopy diapers Garrett produced this morning (that's right...TWO! From a kid we're lucky to get one from every 2.5 days!) tells me anything, it's that I think our trick of one cereal-thickened bottle in the morning plus a small bowl of pear juice prepared cereal in the evening might be working. We'll give this a try for a week or so, but if things don't continue to go well, I think I'll go fill the prescription for baby Zantac his doctor gave me.

Let it also be known that you CAN get to the IKEA in New Jersey, even if you live in Brooklyn and don't have a car. But it will take an adventure, involving an hour-long subway ride with a small handful of transfers plus a 30ish minute bus ride, to get there. After learning that a free shuttle bus is offered on the weekends from the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan to the IKEA in Elizabeth, NJ, we decided to try it out. Besides, we needed a new rug for our living room because the one we bought two months ago, right after we moved here, already looks like it's been collecting dirt for five years. Because it's white. Yeah...not very good judgment on our part to buy a white living room rug. But we totally blame Garrett for that little mistake because it was while we were first rug shopping that he decided to start screaming hysterically, which of course made us want to do nothing more than grab a rug, any rug, and get the heck out of there. He was a much, much better baby during this trip. And now we have much, much nicer rug. And because he was so good (but mostly because they were only 49 cents each), we also bought these tiny stuffed animals for him to play with.

Garrett's new toys posing on the new rug

And lastly, let it be known that you never know when you'll be the answer to someone else's prayers. I think we were an answer this weekend for Tom, a young single adult from our Muncie ward who had enough money to get himself to NYC and to buy the new string bass he was coming out here for, but not enough money for lodging. One of my dear friends from Muncie felt inspired to give him our contact info, after he was apparently inspired to talk with her a few Sunday's ago. Anyway, he came Thursday evening and left this morning. It was fun to have him here. He was able to catch us up on news from the Muncie Ward, and we were able to give him a couch to sleep on. Seemed like a fair trade to me.

And now, for the books, let it be known that this post is ending because it is Monday and I have a Monday List of Things To Do that is probably 2 miles long which I really should continue tackling.

pinned

I have a pencil case that I bought years and years ago in Portland, Oregon. It's made of denim and throughout my years as a student, it pretty much lived in my backpack. While it did, it started to collect more than just pencils. Turns out that a denim pencil case is the perfect place to display a growing collection of pins and buttons. You know the kind I'm talking about: metal pins to commemorate special occasions and cheap buttons to tell the world that "I've been there!" Each time I picked up another pin, I'd stick it to my pencil case and now, after years and years, my pencil case pretty much tells my life story. (Or a part of it anyway.)

Yesterday, as I was working on a small project, I had to pull out my trusty pencil case. Since I'm not using a backpack on a daily basis anymore, I hadn't seen it in a while, and as I looked at the pins and buttons attached to it, I pretty much did the 30 second whirlwind blast from my past. I had such a good time reminiscing, I thought it might be fun to let you guys join in that whirlwind blast from my past. So here's my pencil case, and here's The Story of Lindsay, As Told By Her Pin Collection.



1. BYU-Idaho Alumnus pin: I graduated from high school in 2000 and needed to get away from Provo for a while. So I applied to Ricks College. Three semesters and one transition to a four-year university later, I graduated from BYU-Idaho. And to commemorate that fact, they gave me a pin.

2. Piano Recital pin: I started taking piano lessons when I was 7 or 8, and continued until I finished the Alfred Basic course during my junior or senior year of high school. I was never very good at practicing my lessons, and consequently I'm not that stellar of a player. But I did participate in a recital twice a year which, generally speaking, I performed very well at. And because I did, my teacher gave me a pin.

3. American Flag pin: I don't remember where I got this pin. But I am patriotic. So, um, there you go.

4. 11 Sept 2001 United We Stand pin: NuSkin produced this pin for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. My dad worked a second job as late-night security at NuSkin during one of the several particularly difficult times my family went through while I was growing up. It wasn't a fabulous job, but it paid the bills, and allowed us to survive while he was both laid off and working at a small start-up company that didn't yet have the liquid funds to pay their employees. It was a rough time for all of us, but I think especially for him. This pin, which NuSkin gave to him, commemorates the tragedy of September 11th and the heroes who did their part to pick up the pieces of that mess. It's kind of a hero pin. And it's fitting, I think, that my dad was given it because he was our family's hero, making sure that we were taken care of.

5. Brigham Young University Olympic pin: In January 2002, after graduating from Ricks, I transfered to BYU. Just in time to be in Utah for the Olympics. And just in time to witness one of the few times in BYU history when students got a whole week of classes off in the middle of a semester in order to volunteer in various Olympic capacities. I didn't volunteer, but I bought myself a pin at the Bookstore to commemorate the fact that I was at BYU during the 2002 Winter Olympics. Which was pretty cool.

6. Young Women pin: I received this pin sometime between the ages of 12 and 18 when I was working my way through the Church's Young Women's program. And I'll have you know that I did indeed earn my Young Women medallion, which is currently hanging proudly in a shadow box on my mother's livingroom wall near her son's Eagle Scout pins.

7. National Honor Society pin: During my senior year of high school, I had good enough grades to be in the National Honor Society. Alongside friends who cared about school as much as I did, we organized and carried out various service projects that touched me in ways I will never forget.

8. Volunteer Candy-Striper pin: From 1996-1998 I volunteered at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. Girls my age weren't actually allowed to handle things like sharp surgical instruments, so they put us to work in the snack bar. And that was fine. For two years I served hamburgers and milk shakes to the tired, grieving family members of patients, and occasionally (when the "pink ladies" were backed up) I got to deliver flowers upstairs.

9. Ball State University pin: For two years, while Blake was earning his master's degree at Ball State, I also spent the better part of my week on that campus. I worked in the Center for Economic and Community Development helping to maintain the Building Better Communities program. It was a good job, and I made some fabulous friends while I was there.

10. Home Depot pins: During the two summers after my freshman and sophomore years in college, I worked at Home Depot, first in the garden department and then as a cashier. Alongside my kindred spirit, Emily, I worked muscles I didn't even know I had lifting peat moss and paving bricks into truck beds, getting scratches in places I didn't think it I could as I set out and watered the roses, and teaching customers how to install a pond in their yards. Home Depot instills a lot of rah-rah in its employees, and they were forever handing out pins to us. These are two that I got.

11. PHS Pride pins: At Provo High School, if you made the honor roll (or were an "honor dawg," if you will), you got to pick something out of their "free stuff" collection. Things like t-shirts, water bottles, and these pins. Obviously I picked the pins twice.

12. Hard Rock Cafe pin: Okay, so this has nothing to do with my life. I've never actually been to Hard Rock Cafe. But maybe someday I will. And when that day comes, I will have the pin ready to document it.

13. Happy 100th Birthday Dr. Seuss! pin: On March 2, 2004, the world (or perhaps just the country) celebrated Dr. Seuss's 100th birthday by reading his books. I read some of his books that day, and have the pin to prove it. This pin actually kind of reminds me more of the day that he died, September 24, 1991. I was in 4th grade, and I remember feeling really sad as the principal read Yertle the Turtle over the PA system. He was quite the man, Dr. Seuss.

14. I Love Reading pin: I can't remember for sure, but I'm almost positive I picked this button up when I worked in the book department at Media Play. Ah, the days of working at Media Play! I swear, that was one of my favorite jobs. I mean, all day I got to live among books and recommend favorites to customers. It was heaven.

15. Lambert's Cafe Certified Roll Catcher pin: During the summer of 2002, I visited my roommate Julie at her home in Mississippi. While I was there, she took me and our friend, Beth (who flew to MS with me), to Gulf Shores, Alabama, which is just up the road from Foley, AL, which is where Lambert's Cafe is. If you're ever in the neighborhood, you should check this place out. Seriously. They cram you into a cafeteria-style room, serve you deep-fried Southern food, and chuck rolls at you from across the room. If you want one, you hold up your hand to catch it and hope for the best. Sitting there, you always run the risk of getting beaned in the head with a hot roll, and there are rolls littering the floors. It's quite the experience. Anyhow, I caught my rolls, and have the pin to prove it.

And there you have it: my life story as told by my pencil case.

sitting

all by himself...

...sort of.

dreaming

I am a very frugal person, but that doesn't mean I don't harbor deep down inside of me a wish list filled with items both attainable (in due time, of course) and wildly out of my reach. Here are a few things I'd love to get my hands on:

• An Ergo infant carrier. Or better yet, the limited edition Ergo infant carrier -- the one with vents that makes it more comfortable to wear in warm weather. For a while I'd considered a Baby Patapum infant carrier mostly because it's a little cheaper, but then I realized that the Ergo is better because I could carry Garrett not only on my front and back, but on my hip as well. (Thanks again, Becca, for sharing your wealth of infant carrier knowledge with me.) I could also carry Garrett on my hip with the Go Sling, which is also on my wish list. I have a Snugli, and right now it's working great. But in a few months either Garrett will outgrow it or my back won't be able to support him as well on my front, and I've learned that city life has made a good infant carrier an absolute necessity.
  
• A Bumbo Baby Seat, for two reasons: so Garrett can see more of the world and to maybe help his head round out.
• Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld (wife of Jerry). Because we all could do with sneaking a few more veggies into our diet. I know some might consider this book a rip off of that Sneaky Chef cookbook, but I personally am a fan of all things Seinfeld. And also she demonstrated a few recipes on the Today Show a while back and totally persuaded me.
  
• Dr. Sears' The Baby Book. Because sometimes it feels like I'm totally winging this child-raising gig. I have a copy checked out from the library right now and from what I've browsed through so far, it looks pretty helpful.
• The 2008 Writer's Market. Because I want to do more with my writing. And they say that living in NYC is a great place to be to try to get published. So, why not, right? Maybe this wish list item could prove to be an investment...
• A new frying pan. Because a few months ago I accidentally burned the non-stick coating off of mine. (Word to the wise...don't burn meatballs in a non-stick frying pan.)
• New glasses. I've given the trendy plastic frames a shot, but I think I'm ready to go back to something that isn't always sliding off my nose.
• A real bed. Like this one that Blake picked out. (He's got good taste, don't you think?)
• Someone to finance AND pick out a new wardrobe for me. Let's face it: I'm cheap and often let my cheapness override the fact that what I really need are pants that fit in the waist, hip, and leg and at the same time; shirts that are long enough to truly cover my torso; bras, shoes, and other accessories from someplace other than Target; etc, etc, etc.
• An electric keyboard piano. That doesn't sound too tinny. And has 88 keys. Because, honestly, I'd love to start playing again, but a real piano just isn't an option right now.
• A new couch. The one we have now was free (thanks, Kimberlie!) and is, according to my mom, very comfortable. But it's old and stained and kind of falling apart.
• A new microwave. Because the one we have now is apparently possessed (or has an electrical short, whathaveyou). We have to unplug it after every use or else it will spontaneously, and all by itself, turn on (like it's doing right now....um, excuse me for a second while I go unplug it).
  
• To win one of the contests I've recently been entering. Because winning would be awesome.
  

Hey -- a girl can dream, can't she? What are you guys dreaming of?

why shoplifting period, but especially in brooklyn, is not a good idea

So, I just got home from a trip to Rite Aid to pick up some Tide and toilet paper -- you know, the usual. During the time that I was there, something not so usual happened -- about 8 pairs (yes, that's right -- pairs) of NYPD officers entered the store. It struck me as odd that so many uniformed officers would choose to spend their lunch hour at the local Rite Aid, but, I don't know...maybe they all had prescriptions to pick up?

Only then things got a teeny bit exciting when, as I was at the front paying, 4 officers walked down the shampoo aisle leading a handcuffed old man towards the door where a squad car was parked waiting for him. I asked the cashier (who, by the way, was really nice and offered to lift my heavy items out of my cart since I had a baby strapped to my front...I'll go through her line again any day) what happened and she said they caught him shoplifting on their high security surveillance cameras.

"Some people are just stupid," she said.

In a city where every store is monitored by high security surveillance cameras, some people are indeed not too bright.

busy day

Today I:

• Got up and ready early
• Fed Garrett and got him dressed
• Washed dishes
• Did a week's worth of laundry, including all bed linens, even though I just washed them, because of a recent unfortunate night feeding incident
• Read my book at the laundromat while Garrett slept strapped to my front
• Came home, folded laundry
• Took the subway into Manhattan to buy those fancy schmancy Y-cut nipples at Babies R Us
• Stopped at Target on the way home to pick up another month's supply of formula
• Fed Garrett
• Fed myself
• Changed an explosively poopy diaper
• Wondered why Garrett was laughing while I changed the above mentioned diaper
• Marveled at the fact that he's laughing now and puzzled over how in the world I'd capture this adorable new trick on film
• Put Garrett down for a nap (sadly, the laughing was short lived)
• Made up the bed with the freshly cleaned linens; added the winter blanket because nights here have gotten cold and the radiators in our building haven't been turned on yet
• Ironed 7 of Blake's shirts
• Paid the internet bill
• Boiled the new fancy schmancy nipples to sterilize them
• Decided that leftovers would be good for dinner

And it's only 5:00!

Here's what I'm anticipating for the evening:

• When Garrett wakes up, change and feed him again
• Play with Garrett, try to get him to laugh again
• Pull the leftovers out for dinner, eat them
  
• Make tomorrow's batch of formula
  
• Wash dinner dishes
• Bathe Garrett, feed him again, and put him to bed
• Catch Blake up on my day and get caught up on his
• Straighten up the apartment
  
• Put myself to bed because, good heavens, I'll be worn out!

so this morning was minorly traumatic

I'd be lying if I told you I didn't tear up just a little while I watched my baby scream in pain and betrayal as he got his first round of shots this morning. And at the same time, I'd be lying to you if I told you I wasn't looking forward to this appointment. Finally, at age 3 1/2 months, Garrett was able to go in for his 2 month appointment (his first visit with a doctor since he was a week old). Dr. DeVito, his pediatrician, is as fantastic a doctor as all my fellow ward members said he was when they recommended him to me. He gave Garrett a clean bill of health and, in his thick Italian-Brooklyn accent, told me that he was developing just as he should be.

So now, for you grandmothers and other Garrett followers out there, here's how he's currently measuring up:

Weight: 14 lbs 5 oz
Height: 25"
Head circumference: 40 3/4 cm

After consulting my good friend, the internet, I learned that, percentile-wise, Garrett is measuring perfectly. He's in the 50th-75th percentile for height, in the 50th-75th percentile for weight, in the 25th-50th percentile for his weight in relation to his height, and 25th-50th percentile for the size of his head.

After I explained Garrett's tendency towards frustrating feedings, the doctor suggested that he might have a bit of reflux. So because Garrett is, as he put it, "practically 4 months old," he wants me to try thickening his formula up with a bit of rice cereal to help it settle in his stomach better. So we'll give that a whirl, and if things don't improve, we'll fill the prescription for a baby dosage of Zantac. Hopefully the cereal experiment will do the trick. (Which means that now, instead of having to go out and buy soy formula like I thought I'd have to, I have to go buy Y cut nipples so the thickened formula doesn't get stuck on its way to Garrett's mouth and thereby do absolutely nothing to ease those frustrating feedings.)

So we'll go back in 6 weeks to get his vaccine schedule back on track. I think it's safe to say that all of us here at this house are relieved Garrett won't have to get poked and prodded again until then. In the meantime, I'm going to let this poor, uncomfortable, slightly feverish baby of mine nap as long as he needs to. Sweet boy.

proof

Kristeee is real. And she is awesome. (But you guys already knew that, I'm sure.) She and her husband were kind enough to take time out of their few days in New York City to come down to Brooklyn to meet Garrett and I.

We had a fabulous time eating Brooklyn pizza (see, what did I tell you? You come see us, we'll make sure you get to partake of the goodness that is Brooklyn pizza). And then we hopped on across the Brooklyn Bridge. The weather did us a grand favor by shutting off the downpour we were drowning under all day yesterday only an hour or so before it was time to meet up and go out adventuring. It was perfect day -- blue sky, a little breeze, and crisp, autumny air. A great way to breathe in the fantastic views you get from on the bridge.

Thanks, Kristeee and BlueEyes! It was great to meet you! I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to cross my fingers that this isn't the only time we get to meet up in person.

showing off the borough

This morning the Today Show aired a fun little piece on Brooklyn and one of the things that Brooklyn does best: make pizza. Apparently there's some guy here who operates "A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza" bus tour of the borough. To which I say, "A Brooklyn pizza tasting bus tour? Hello? Sign me up!"

Seriously, though. I liked this segment because it shows off how awesome this nook of New York City is. Also, they even include a shot of my neighborhood (it's only a fraction of a second long, but quality over quantity, right?). So, watch the clip, and then wish that you lived here, too. And then make plans to come see us -- because you know if you did, we'd take you out for pizza.

Brooklyn’s best pizza joints

lovey

This is Garrett.

This is Garrett's Lovey.

It is soft and silky.
Lovey came to Brooklyn with Grandma Nancy.

Garrett likes to sleep with his Lovey.



He also likes to wear Lovey on his head.


Peek-a-boo!


Thank you, Grandma! Lovey is a keeper!

a plug for discount diapering

Let me for just a moment sing the praises of a little place called diapers.com. You may or may not have already heard of them. I hadn't, until I first moved to Brooklyn, when several mothers in the ward told me how lifesaving this website is for them. But it wasn't until yesterday that I tried them out for myself (the stash of "shower diapers" is finally starting to run thin). And now tomorrow, the good folks at UPS are delivering 2 boxes of diapers and a package of refill wipes right to my door.

Here is what I like about them:

1. They carry all brands of diapers (even that Costco brand, Kirkland)
2. And other baby accessories (i.e. wipes, formula, bathtime stuff, etc),
3. And for competitive prices.
4. Shipping is fast (apparently only 2 days),
5. And free on orders over $50 (and you know it's not hard to spend $50 on a supply of diapers),
6. Also, you can earn 5% back on orders over $75.
7. They have a referral program that allowed me to get $5 off my purchase yesterday.
8. So basically, I order, pay the same price (or, usually, less) for diapers than I would at my local drugstore, and someone else lugs them all to my door (for free).

The way I see it, it's a fabulous deal. If you guys want to try them out, you can use my $5 off code: LIAN6247.

And now, speaking of diapers....I just got a whiff of a smelly one that I should probably go change.

a guide to the berkshires

Getting There
Start in Brooklyn. Take the R train to the N train, and the N train to the 4, 5, or 6 train, then get off at Grand Central Station. Wade through a sea of New Yorkers also anxious to leave town for the weekend (which, for quite a few people, including yours truly, was going to last 3 days, on account of Columbus Day) to purchase tickets for the next leg of the trip, and somehow, on account of several miracles and cell phones, meet up with the rest of your party. Find your way to Platform 17, board the Harlem Line train to Wassaic. Transfer at the Southeast station. Get off at the end of the line (Wassaic Station). Hitch a ride with a loving uncle and aunt, and drive through the gorgeous Western Massachusetts countryside. Stop at Pittsfield. Total travel time: roughly 4ish hours.

Things to See, Do, and Discuss
Wake up to waffles topped with a brand of local maple syrup. Go on a walk through the neighborhood to admire the changing autumn leaves, taking special care to breathe in deeply the clean country air. Discuss the fact that both Arlo Guthrie and James Taylor live nearby. Drive through downtown Pittsfield, admiring the scarecrows up for the Scarecrow Festival, to Museum Facsimiles, where you can get the coolest letterpress cards for wholesale prices. Watch General Conference at the Pittsfield chapel; spend most of the sessions in the mother's room with your baby. Drive to the nearby town of Becket, birthplace of Eliza R. Snow, to see the marker in the yard of the athenaeum which my aunt oversaw the placement of noting that fact. Discuss the fact that an athenaeum is a New England way of saying library. Drive by Herman Melville's home, Arrowhead. Discuss the awesomeness of the fact that he wrote Moby Dick at that house. Drive by Miss Hall's School for Girls. Discuss the romance of New England boarding schools. Make and scarf down some delicious New England clam chowder.

Photographs


slideshow includes: visit from Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Dave in Brooklyn; trip to the Berkshires in Massachusetts; Columbus Day excursion to Coney Island; plus a smattering of uncategorizable, yet utterly adorable pictures of The BooBoo, yea even Baby Garrett.

itinerary:

- Give Mom a tour of the neighborhood, including stops at the grocery store, the laundromat, the library, the shopping district, and the shore. Check.

- Go for pizza at Peppino's (whose brick oven style Brooklyn pizza will beat out Grimaldi's touristy Brooklyn pizza any day). Check.

- Go for dessert at the local Greek-run French-style bakery, making sure to devour the most chocolatey item on display. Check.

- Laugh as Garrett made straining faces while filling his diaper. Check.

- Read The Onion, which Blake has happily started bringing home for me each night to read, and crack up over yesterday's headline. Check.

- Watch the season premier of 30 Rock (hilarious) and another hour-long new episode of The Office (also fantastic). Check.

- Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Check.


- Snap photos of Garrett while he was being smiley and adorable during a stop in the park for a feeding. (It's amazing how a full tummy can improve a mood!) Check.



- Take the train from Grand Central Station to Massachusetts for a relaxing New England weekend with more family. _________.

- Upload more pictures from the last few days to hold you all over until we can officially check the above item off the itinerary. Check.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

the baby who mistook his mother for an ice cream cone

Every time I hold Garrett up against my shoulder, he goes to town on my shoulder, like I'm the most delicious chocolatey ice cream cone ever or something. Maybe I'm made of sugar...? Whatever it is, I must be pretty tasty.

Actually, he thinks everything's pretty tasty: my shoulder, Blake, the bib of his overalls, his silky blanket, his fingers, his bathwater. You name it, he licks it. And he apparently also likes it.


Funny boy.

Beginning tonight we'll get to find out if he also likes licking his grandparents. My dad is flying in this evening for a conference in the city, and tomorrow night my mom will be joining us as well. I'm excited to see them! And I'm really excited to get to share Garrett. He has so many new tricks to show off since Grandma Nancy last saw him shortly after he was born. Grandpa Dave hasn't even met him yet, so this will be extra fun.

The plan is that Mom, Garrett, and I will hang around the neighborhood during the last part of the week, while Blake and Dad get down to business in the city. Then we'll all take a train up to Massachusetts to spend Conference Weekend with my aunt and uncle and the glorious autumn leaves of New England. I've never seen New England, let alone in the fall, so this should be pretty great.

So if you don't hear from me for a few days, just know that we're having a wild time -- which I'll of course be sure to fill you in on once we're back.

the story of our saturday...in pictures

The votes were counted, the Powers That Be considered them, and then they ultimately decided to skip the parade and head to Prospect Park. And so that's what we did. Because I don't want the bazillion photos we took go to waste, here's The Story of Our Saturday...In Pictures:


We took the subway to the west entrance of the park. Once in, we headed toward the south side to see the lake. At the lake we stopped to visit with some geese.


As we walked and wound our way through the park, we came across some awesome underpasses. These were no regular underpasses. These were pieces of architectural art.


We stopped at this pretty scene just outside the Audubon Center (which we did go inside to take a look at, but decided that it would be a better use of our time to come back when Garrett was a little older and could appreciate the cool activities they have set up there). The bridge behind me was built in 1889, which should give you an idea of the history surrounding this park. Actually, Prospect Park has a pretty cool history, so let's pause in our story for a moment so that Mrs. History Teacher Lindsay can tell you about it.

The park is located on the site of The Battle of Long Island, fought in August of 1776 during the Revolutionary War. Planning for the park began before the Civil War, as the City of Brooklyn began purchasing the land from the local farmers who figured that a former battleground was as good a place as any to throw down some crops. It ultimately cost them $4 million to buy. In 1866, designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, after they called it wraps on their previous project, Manhattan's Central Park, started work on Prospect Park. The landscaping and engineering of the park was considered revolutionary for its time and received harsh critiques for breaking with the "typical" traditional style European park. So Olmsted and Vaux must have been ahead of their time for thinking that a park which recreates nature in the wild would be something that people would enjoy visiting. Prospect Park officially opened in October 1867 while it was still under construction. Ultimately, the park cost about $5 million. Was it money well spent? We thought so. Okay, now back to Saturday.


On Saturday in the park a bunch of local, amateur musicians had gathered to perform. We stopped and listened for a minute to this guy...and admired that one fellow's pretty intense mohawk.

At the north end of the park we came to Grand Army Plaza, a big Civil War Memorial. At the base of the arc was a farmer's market. Where these people found space to grow their organic produce in Brooklyn I'll never know. But it did look pretty tasty.


Just east of Grand Army Plaza was the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Blake got himself a library card while we were there, and then we quickly browsed around. And wow. So many books! The Brooklyn Public Library system has 60 branches across the borough, most of which are pretty dinky. They do have it set up, thank goodness, for patrons to be able to request that items be sent from one branch to another. I think most of the requests are gathered from this library.


By this time, Garrett was hungry. So we fed him. Aren't we good parents? :) By this time we were also ready to call it quits at Prospect Park, but since it was still early in the day, we weren't quite ready to head back home. Garrett finished his bottle and was happy as a clam, so for that reason (and also because we were right next to a subway entrance), we decided it'd be safe to head into Manhattan to do some more exploring. Our usual method of sightseeing in NYC is to pick a spot we've heard is supposed to be cool to see, go there, see it, and then wander until we find something else that's neat. Saturday's chosen beginning spot: Wall Street.


A friend of ours from the ward, who is doing an internship near Wall Street, told us once that the sun doesn't shine in the Financial District. It's the oldest part of city, so the streets are very narrow, and the buildings are very (very, very, very) tall, so it's always in the shade. He was right. We walked down Wall Street at, oh, 2:00 in the afternoon, and for all we knew, it could have been dusk.


Across the street from the New York Stock Exchange...


...is the spot where, on April 30, 1789, George Washington gave his first inaugural address as the first president of this country. Mrs. History Teacher Lindsay thought that was pretty cool.


We next stumbled onto St. Paul's Chapel, where George Washington worshiped while in New York City. Sitting under the Great Seal of the United States, was his private pew, which Mrs. History Teacher Lindsay thought was also pretty cool.


Probably because I could only handle watching so much news coverage of 9/11, I wasn't aware that finding St. Paul's Chapel also means finding the site of the World Trade Center. Ground Zero is currently under construction (they're building both a memorial, as well as some just-started new sky scraping buildings), so we couldn't see it too well. But it was pretty obvious that's what it was because of the starkly missing buildings basking in the sunshine in an otherwise shadowed part of town. This is a picture of the site as seen from the graveyard at St. Paul's.

After St. Paul's, we hopped on Broadway and started walking north. At Canal Street it was pretty obvious we were in SoHo. The crowds totally gave that one away. Oh my word! I'd never seen so many people in my life! It was hard enough to keep up with Blake, who is better at maneuvering a stroller through a sea of people, so we didn't get any pictures. But that doesn't mean I don't have crowd photos to share! To deviate from Saturday for just a moment, let me show what Sunday was like on our street:

A big annual street festival was going strong as we walked home from the bus stop after church. It was huge, spanning at least 30 blocks, and stocked with vendors of all sorts who unwittingly tempted us with their fabulous smelling foods. It really was a shame that the festival was on a Sunday. Apparently all the local festivals here are on Sundays rather than Saturdays, most likely to cater to the Jewish population (which I'm pretty sure is quite a bit larger than the LDS population).


On every block there was a concert blaring. The one nearest our apartment featured the King in his bejeweled white jumpsuit. We spent a good 2-3 hours Sunday afternoon listening to him croon from our livingroom. Thankfully, by the time we returned home from a dinner invitation, the King had died. (No offense to his apparent talent, but I was getting a headache.)


Okay, back to Saturday. After escaping the crowds in SoHo, we found a nice Italian place where we stuffed our starving bellies with the most delicious calzones in the world. Mmmmm. And after that we all but gave in to our worn out feet and worn out baby and headed back home. We took an express subway home, which took us over the Manhattan Bridge (as opposed to under the bay). Here's a picture of our tired Garrett during our few minutes of subway sunshine as we rode over the bridge.


And because I have one, and because he's cute, what with his perpetually wide-eyed startled look (someone once asked us if Garrett ever blinked...for the record, he does), here's another shot of subway-riding Garrett, back underground. He's a big fan of subway rides.

And now snip, snap, snout
This Saturday tale's told out.

The End.