True Story

The last two nights I’ve been awake at 2:30 am, on the trail of the neighborhood’s Most Annoying Bird. I’m good with birds being all happy and singing, but I’m not good with that happening at 2:30 in the morning. I don’t know if this is a recent arrival with jet lag or what, but it needs to chill out.

The first night I woke up the dog and sicced her on the bird. She, being stupid and also tired, dutifully wagged her way out there and accomplished nothing. Full marks for being a good dog, though. Then I spotted a hula hoop and thought, “Now that’s a good projectile.” Toss, swish, flutter, and the bird shut up.

Last night the bird got crafty. It started singing its insane song at 2:30 again, and I growled out there with my hula hoop. Toss, swish, singing continues. And now it’s mocking me. Twice more I picked up the hula hoop and threw where I thought the noise was coming from.

I finally got silence, but I’m a little worried about what’s coming tonight.

Nora at 18 months

One of the things I’m trying to be better at (in addition to blogging at all) is writing down the memories and updates about Seth and Nora. I whirl through the every day of parenting and work and marriage thinking, “There’s no way I’ll forget this!” but I forget all the time. When Nora was born, Will kept reminding me of all the things that Seth did at that age, and I really didn’t remember a lot of them. Some of that may have been due to evacuating for a hurricane with a newborn, but the rest is due to mommy memory lapse.

So here’s a Nora update.

Nora is 18 months now, and she is a tiny little spitfire. She is – no kidding – in the 2nd percentile for weight at a whopping 20 pounds. She’s in the 25th for height, though (31 inches). She is incredibly sweet but balances that with a ferocious temper (don’t know where she gets it). When she gets mad, she leads with her teeth and a battle cry.

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I know every mom says this about her child, but Nora is SMART. She has been making phrases for a couple of months, she understands English and French perfectly (except for when she doesn’t want to) and she loves putting on and taking off her socks and shoes. I’m surprised at how well she does it, honestly.

Seth is my musician and singer, and Nora is our dancer (so far). She loves to move with music and rocks out in her car seat a lot. It’s hilarious to see her boogying from side to side with a fast song.

She is a charmer, a flirt, and a clown. She loves kitties and books. She is just perfect. 🙂

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Bienvenue! Welcome! Bienvenidos! [Something complicated in Finnish …]

There … that takes care of the languages our family sort of speaks.

I think I last posted about a year ago, probably for Holidailes, because that’s the only time I remember to touch this blog. Holidailies has been a long-standing journaller/blogger tradition of pledging to update every day for a 30 day period during December and January. Well, this year it was not its usual self and I wasn’t my usual self for the holidays, so I skipped it.

BUT.

I would like to start writing again! I see what my sister-in-law does and that my sweet friend Chrissy is going to blog again, and I think … hey, I should do that. I should keep my far-flung family and friends updated on what’s happening in life. (Other than pithy/witty/whiny Facebook updates and loads of pictures uploaded to the same.)

So, ta da! First post of the year. First attempt to return to the journalling/blogging world I entered in 1997.

Hi. 🙂

And yes … more baking!

“Gee, Erin … how on earth have you not managed to lose the last of the baby weight? And the twelve pounds remaining from Seth?”

Gosh, I have no clue. Maybe it’s the extended breastfeeding, getting pregnant again, and now breastfeeding again. Maybe it’s the asthma that makes exercise much less fun. Maybe it has something to do with YET ANOTHER BAKING ADVENTURE tonight.

Just look at these … how could I resist?

Chocolate Cookies with Mint M&Ms
Mom’s Delicious Chocolate Cookies

My mom has a recipe – I forget where it’s originally from – that makes the best chocolate cookies ever. As well it should since there’s 1.25 cups of butter in these things. I decided I’d make them tonight so I could send some to my brother as a Christmas treat. Thus the mint Holiday M&Ms on top … quite a delicious addition. As I was mixing the batter, Seth asked, “Cimmanon?” So I added about 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon.

These are to die for, and incredibly easy. Since I’d like the rest of you to share my baby weight, here’s the recipe.

  • 1-1/4 c. butter, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 c. sugar
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 3/4 c. cocoa
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 c. chopped nuts

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend well. Add dry ingredients and nuts. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes. Cool for one minute only, then move to rack.

If you’re going to add M&Ms to the top, do so right after you get them out of the oven. It makes it much easier to transfer the cookies … something about structural integrity, I’m sure.