Valentine's Day Fail

I had all these ideas of special things I could do for/with Lucy to make Valentine's Day special. And did I do any of them? Absolutely not! It was just another regular day - Brandon went to work, I worked on the house, and Lucy went to daycare. But when I picked Lucy up, she did not come home empty-handed.

I think just about every child she goes to daycare with brought her a Valentine.  And they were pretty adorable.

I love the mother who attempted to offer some healthier treats instead of candy. Maybe this was actually the lady who runs the daycare. 

And I love these little photo cards. The boys are brothers and their grandmother runs the daycare and their dad is a general contractor who also did some work on my house. I'm secretly hoping that Lucy grows up to date the younger brother because he is so cute! Well, not so secretly - I told his parents about my idea - I think that they thought I was crazy to be matchmaking at this age.

Lucy even brought home a treat for me and Brandon (although Brandon didn't get to eat any of them because I ate them all). 

She also got Valentines in the mail from Baba and Mayumi. Lucy hasn't quite figured out mail yet but she loved to stick the origami flower in her hair and pretend to be "Ariel mermaid".

More candy.

And more sugar.

Of course, I felt terrible that I sent Lucy to daycare without any Valentines but I didn't even think about it. But I should have since many of the children there are school age and would have brought Valentines to share with their classmates and would want to bring treats to their daycare friends too since it is such a small group. But Lucy didn't seem to notice. And I'm sure that the kids didn't need any extra sugar. But we will definitely do something next year (even though she won't be in daycare :(   

They made the cutest little paper plate basket to carry all their goods in. Sometimes, the simplest crafts are really darling. 

And Lucy was one happy camper.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lucy & Olive

I just can't seem to capture all the fun Lucy and Olive have together. Babysitting Olive has been a breeze lately because the girls are learning to play so well together.

I can't remember what the girls were doing here - singing a song?

In these ones below, they were being monsters with the cleaning gloves. It's amazing the things that can entertain kids - even if it is just for a few minutes. 

My Favorite Japanese Store

Since we have been renovating the house, I am always out and about, running errands and picking up supplies. The other week, when I was out picking up some paint, I decided to stop by my favorite Japanese store for some lunch, Japan Sage Market.

I can't remember when I discovered this little gem but you can see from the sign and store front that it doesn't look like the most inviting place. It's also not in the best part of town and even though I know I had driven by it before, I think I always thought it was just an abandoned store. Come to find out, it like stepping into Japan when you walk in.

There are several Asian stores in the Salt Lake City are but most are run by Chinese people. I think that this is the only one that is specifically Japanese run by Japanese people.  It always makes me miss Japan when I come here and I can't wait for my mom to come visit me so I can take her here and she can share with me all her secrets about making Japanese food using authentic ingredients (and chat with the other nihonjin there).

Even though it's not really a restaurant, they have a decent amount of prepared foods there like ramen, udon, curry rice, chicken yakitori, and salmon & rice. I ordered the pork ramen because that is what I was craving, but of course, my eyes were hungry and I ended up buying a lot more things (and also, cause I like to support local... and I was using a credit card and they want you to make at least a $10 purchase when you are using a credit card). I didn't take a picture of my ramen but I took  pictures of all my other things.

I'm a sucker for pan. This is definitely not as good as the real stuff (I think it was made in California somewhere). Actually, it wasn't really good at all. But I was just really craving something sweet. 

And I try not to buy these too often because I have a tendency to eat the entire bag by myself (and it's also not a fantastic price). But these are my favorite osembei these days. Lucy ended up eating most the bag but to give her credit, she shared a lot of them with the neighbor kids across the street (and me). 

I know that onigiri is super easy to make but I just never get around to it. They don't always have these at the store (or they sell out of them) so when I can find them, I always snatch them up. Lucy also loves these. 

Daifuku! I love this stuff. And Brandon doesn't so that means more for me. But Lucy does like this but can never get through a whole one (but she refuses to share with Mommy). I'm a little bit worried about how much sugar is in these but everyone once in a while, it doesn't hurt, right? And those adzuki beans have to have some decent fiber in them.

And I definitely needed to stock up on nori. Lucy loves this stuff and it make rice so much more enjoyable.

We'll see how long all this lasts until our next trip!

Sunday Naps

Naps have been difficult lately with Lucy. Well, not just lately - for a while. She used to go down between noon and 1pm, then it turned into between 1-2pm. But she fights her naps now (actually, has been fighting them for a while). And sometimes, we will just skip them and on those days, it's not so bad because she will go to sleep between 7-8pm which is heavenly. On days she does get naps, she often goes to sleep between  9-10pm, sometimes even later (which is torture!). Some days, the no-nap backfires and she can't help but fall asleep around 4 or 5 which results in her staying up until midnight (and believe me, we try to keep her up!). Any nap after 2 pm means a late night for us. Or rather, if she naps at ALL, she is up later than we want her to be. So we are definitely in a transition period, trying to figure out [survive] what is going to work for Lucy (and us) and it changes everyday.

We got a babysitter last night and went on an early date (we saw a matinee of the Artist and went to a Caribbean restaurant, Adobos for some authentic Puerto Rican food - so good!). Lucy didn't have a nap yesterday so we were hoping that she would go to bed early so we could enjoy another movie at home (Syriana - so sad and depressing). She fell asleep at 6:45 pm last night and woke up at 6:30 am this morning which was actually a good thing because then we hoped she would fall asleep around noon right after church on our way home. But it didn't happen. We tried putting her down for her nap after we got home and read books and laid down with her but to no avail. So we gave up, hoping that we could repeat yesterday and have her go to bed early again.

FAIL: I was reading my book on the couch (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Saffran Foer - so proud of myself for actually reading and blogging!) and noticed that Lucy was playing pretend mommy with her dolls and stuffed animals. First, she tucked in Baby Chia (she named her herself - I think a variation of Chihiro from the movie, Spirited Away) with her favorite pink blanket.

Then she lovingly placed teddy and lovey to sleep on her pillow pet. 

And then she settled down, right next to my legs as I was reading and put herself to sleep. I thought she was just playing pretend but then realized that she really had fallen fast asleep.

The whole set-up.

The clock reads: 3:05 pm. It's going to be a long night...

Potty Protocol

I'm pretty fortunate that Lucy's been potty trained since last July, when she was about 2 1/4 years old. I owe a lot to my sister, Elaine since she introduced me to Diaper Free Baby even though I was pretty lax in my EC approach. But even though Lucy can go to the bathroom by herself, she almost always still has me go with her (or sometimes Brandon, if he is home).

Potty time can be a bit traumatic for her lately. It used to not be so much drama but I think that as she has gotten older and more aware, she is more fearful of things and poo is one of them. She thinks that the poo will hurt her (and this is where I indoctrinate her to eat more fruits and vegetables as I explain that the fiber will make her poo come out more easily). So we have these rituals that we sometimes have to do with her. Often, she will ask me to hold her hands in my hands. If it is especially traumatic, both me and Brandon need to be there, holding both of her hands. And sometimes, she will whisper, "Say the words." And then I will have to chant, "You can do it! You can do it!" And then she will whimper, and groan, and push and after she is done, she will yell out, "I did it!" And sometimes we will even sing the song from Dora the Explorer, "You did it, you did it, you did it, HURRAY!"

The things parents do for their children. My younger self would be pointing at me laughing. But at least Lucy appreciates it. It's the little things that mean the most, right?

Giving In and More Cookies

This past Friday, I gave in. After yummy lunch with Brandon at the Robin's Nest in between painting at the house (I got a two-for-one meal with my KUER membership card - being charitable pays off!!), I headed to Williams-Sonoma where I got these:

Yup - I finally broke down and paid $10 for 4 hard-boiled egg molds. Lucy was so excited about them the whole car ride home so we had to make them right when we got in. There is a bunny mold, a bear mold, a star and a heart. Lucy chose to make the bunny and the heart. 

But that isn't all I got!

I also picked up a microplane grater (these are so convenient and I'm very excited to start cheesing and zesting things and maybe even chocolating some things over my meals and desserts). And underneath that is a decorating tool for all that baking I am going to do someday. Since Lucy likes to help out so much in the kitchen, I felt like it would be a good investment. And I also really want to make these:

 

What are those you might ask? Red velvet whoopie pies? Shaped as adorable hearts! Yeah, those went up on my Pinterest as soon as I saw them and the blogger who makes them recommends piping the filling so I wasn't going to argue. Those lovelies pictured above might have been the strongest reason why I bought that piping set. But in full disclosure, for those of you who are worried that I am blowing my budget on expensive gear at Williams-Sonoma, I did exchange some stuff I received on Christmas for all this (Sorry Heidi, if you read this! I loved your gift but I will make you some Red Velvet Whoopie pies instead of Marvel comic sugar cookies!). But the question is, what can I substitute for red food coloring without affecting the recipe too much? Beet juice? Or does the natural food store sell "natural" food coloring?

Anyway, while we waited for Lucy's eggs to boil, I was really craving some more cookies (do you see a pattern emerging here). I probably should have eaten dinner but I had a really late, large lunch and I was craving something sweet after all the savory. But don't worry, Lucy and I also snacked on apples (as you can see in the background). And when I get cravings for something, I want it as fast as possible with the least amount of work. So I found some peanut butter cookie mix in Damian's pantry (which expired in 2010 - please don't judge me too harshly! Cravings, remember?). So we had those mixed up in a jiffy (get it, like the peanut butter?) and in the oven baking.

Lucy's little molds were a little tougher to use than I thought and also took a long time because you had to wait an additional 10 minutes to let the eggs set in cold water.

But I had my milk and cookies to keep me company while we waited. And thankfully, Lucy doesn't like peanut butter cookies (they aren't really my favorite either but I will never pass up sugar) so she didn't even eat them (seriously, how awesome is this girl who doesn't eat cookies but prefers celery - okay, she is not like that all the time though). And I don't have to worry about Lucy ingesting some weird, addictive chemicals that Betty Crocker puts in her mixes to make me eat so much of them.

Lucy got to eat her hard boiled bunny and heart eggs (she only eats the whites and not the yolks - just like her mama when she was younger). The bunny came out much better than the heart - I think I need more practice with these.

And she loved them!

Celery Dessert and Other Randomness

I was making some chicken soup to combat this terrible cold we have had for the past two weeks (and to make the most of a rotisserie chicken) and was chopping up some celery after throwing away a few of the icky ribs that had wilted in the fridge. To my surprise, I turn around to see Lucy going through the trash, about to bite into the just disposed of celery. I've never bothered to give Lucy celery before because it didn't really seem like a toddler friendly snack and she's not into dipping things into peanut butter or salad dressing but I figure it couldn't hurt to offer it to her plain since she seemed interested. Well, she loved it!

I know you can't tell from the picture, but she ate that celery rib right up. I think we found a great new snack for Lucy.

Since we have been living at Damian's house while we are renovating, we end up having a little bit of a commute "home". A lot of interesting things happen in the car - mainly tantrums, sometimes sleeping, and the occasional feet clapping. Although Lucy is quite talkative as well and we have some interesting conversations. The other day, she told me, "Mom, I wish you were fat." Not sure why she wants that, but at least that means she must think I am thin. That is more than the little 5-year old girls in my Sunday School class think about their moms. At the end of the lesson today in church, one of the girls said while we were drawing pictures of our families, "My mom is fat...but she is tall." I told her to never tell her mom that. And then another girl in the class said, "My mom knows she is fat! And I wished my daddy is fat and HE IS! He makes a good pillow." The things kids say!

 

Lucy finally got her gingerbread man - except it was made out of toast and egg. I have never had toad in the whole until I met Brandon. I don't know how I missed out on these things in my childhood (even though I'm not really a huge fan).

Lucy wasn't really either - she mostly ate the toast man - one leg at a time.

And for dessert the other night, I gave her three options: an apple, mikan (clementine in Japanese), or celery. She chose celery.

How lucky of a mom am I?

Making Cookies

Our weekends seem to repeat themselves. Last Saturday, we headed out to Discovery Gateway again because Emily was going to be there with Olive, along with Kim and Marlo. We moms found a comfy couch in the corner and parked our butts there while the girls played. These places are so much better when you have some adult company to keep you sane in between looking for your kid who wanders off. They seriously need to install a gate so your kid can't get out without you (but maybe fire hazard - or they don't want parents not watching their kids).

The girls are so incredibly cute together - all holding hands. That little bear on Emily's shoulder belongs to Marlo who is supposed to document her weekends for her pre-school with him.  Pretty adorable.

Our little excursion to the children's museum ended up being relatively short since it only opens at 10:00 am (and I got there 45 minutes late, of course) and we had to get the girls lunch and then naps. So we headed out to the food court at the Gateway to get some food and while we were walking, I noticed the very unique way in which Lucy put on her shoes and thought I should capture a picture of it.

She has been doing this for a while - instead of putting the straps across her feet, she threads them through the loops of the bow at the top. As cute as it is, it is a huge pain in the butt because her shoes are always falling off and then it is really difficult to get the straps out of the little loops in the bows. Oh well, hopefully, she will grow out of it.

Lucy almost fell asleep on the way home but the nap just didn't take. Instead, we ended up making cookies for a church activity we had to go to. Lucy is quickly learning that mixing is quite the arm workout and I think that she yearns for a Kitchenaid mixer as much as her mom does. Also, sitting on the counter top is her new favorite thing.
 

She was actually really helpful with dipping the gingersnaps into the sugar. I thought she did a good job.

But it's not like our cookies were very difficult to make - we ended up using a box mix because we were short on time and that is just what we had lying around. But do you see that logo - EA Gingerbread cookies mix?

It was really Betty Crocker though. For Christmas, all the employees at Brandon's work got gift bags filled with cookie mix, EA apron, oven mitt, and gingerbread men cookie cutters.

But we didn't have a rolling pin and I just didn't want to mess with the hassle since we were short on time so Lucy was a little disappointed that we just made gingersnaps instead of gingerbread men. Next time, honey!

And while we waited for the gingersnaps to bake, I munched on bakery-bought snickerdoodles from Great Harvest - yum! We kinda stole these from Uncle Damian (well, we did have his permission)!

But it's a good thing we ate all those snickerdoodles because we never even got to eat our gingersnaps. We brought them to our church activity and didn't realize that it was a fundraiser for the Boy Scouts and that we had to pay for our own refreshments! Bummer. Not that I need any of the extra cookies.