2. this is just an example of what happens when i need to shower in the morning and get ready (usually i shower at the gym). he will dig through "his" cupboard (only has safe things) in the bathroom and pull out various things. he loves to play with my blow dryer and has also become obsessed with the neil med sinu-rinse bottle (perfect for an ent's child). you will also notice that he found a hair band and wanted it on his head so i helped him out.
3. cleaning. charlie loves to help me clean. we go through about 100 rags per day because he pulls them out of the drawer and starts rubbing them on the windows, floors, etc. he also demands to carry around that old windex bottle which i have filled with water, vinegar and lavender essential oils.
4. charlie still loves bath time and this shows how much more independent he is trying to get. pretty soon he will be able to throw his leg over into the tub, which i can barely believe! but it is precious to watch him try to do more things himself. at night, while we are praying with him before bed he is basically squirming off of our laps to get into his crib to put himself to bed!
the chariot full of stuff...whoops :)
honey whole wheat bread
246 grams of bread flour
246 grams of whole wheat bread (i prefer king arthur brand)
3 grams active dry yeast (3/4 of tsp)
9 grams kosher salt
74 grams honey
330 grams water
first, put flours, salt and yeast in kitchen aid mixer with the dough hook. then start mixer on a low speed and pour in water. as it starts to mix, stop mixer and pour honey in the middle of the dough. then restart mixer on a low speed and let the dough form. this may take a few minutes.
after the dough has formed, set a timer for about 5 minutes and turn the speed up to 6 or 8. you will need to hold the mixer at this point so it doesn’t jump around your counter. after you finish the 5 minute mixing the dough should look smooth and not be very sticky. pull the dough off the dough hook and leave the dough in the mixing bowl. cover with damp cloth or plastic wrap and put in your oven to rise. if you put the oven light on and crack the door a bit it keeps the oven at the perfect temperature for rising. you will let it rise about 2 hours, but i have left it longer if i was out and it is just fine.
after letting it rise for the first 2 hours, then lightly flour a section of your counter and put the dough on it. often the dough will stick to the mixing bowl you will need to lightly flour your hands and work the dough to get it out. try not to add too much flour to the dough. you will knead the bread a few times on the counter to get the air bubbles out and then put it back in the mixing bowl, cover and let rise about another hour or two. again – i often let it rise whatever works best for me that day. i think hard core bread bakers would punish me for saying that but my bread always turns out great – just sometimes the loaf “breaks” when baking.
after the second 2 hour wait, again lightly flour your counter and put the dough on it. this is where you will shape the loaf. you should knead the dough a few times to get the air bubbles out and then shape the loaf. i would go online and google how to shape a loaf for a true explanation, but i just make sure i fold the dough so that the seam is on the bottom and put it in a greased loaf pan. this is when i preheat my oven to 375.
you will then cover the dough in the pan with a damp cloth and let it rise about another hour in the loaf pan. this is an important step…before you put the loaf in the oven you must put 3 “cuts” in the top of the loaf so that steam can escape. then pop the bread in the oven and bake about 35-40 minutes. let cool on a rack and enjoy. mmmm...
here is a picture of my honey whole wheat loaf.
charlie’s buddy addison came over for a visit the other morning. addison came up the stairs and went in to give charlie a hug. it was precious. so then they hugged a few times and i decided to get the next one on video…this one didn’t go as well as the others. poor addison – he is definitely the recipient of charlie’s rough acts of kindness.
warning...this is a mom post. i am writing a ton of little things that i know i will forget in a month and want to be able to look back on :).
this has been the month that charlie really started to communicate. he is so hysterical to be around because he is constantly making some kind of noise/word to “talk” with you. sometimes after i pick him up from places and we are driving home i will ask him questions about his time. here is an example of our conversation after picking him up from our gym's (rac) childcare:
me: “charlie, did you have fun at the RAC?”
charlie: “ysss”
me: “charlie, did you play in the little house with henry?”
charlie: “yssss”
me: “charlie, did you have a snack?”
charlie: “yssss”
i love it! now i know he does not understand everything i am asking him, but i know he loves interacting like we are conversing normally. when the car becomes quiet he starts rambling like crazy "da dou da da da da ga ga na na da dou da dou" to tell me how his time was.
charlie is actually saying quite a few words. now most of these words i would probably only recognize because i am with him 24/7. he legitimately says dada, mama (or moamoamo), dog, yes, and duck (uh-oh and da dou continue to be his most used words – i would bet he says them 1 billion times a day). i would recognize…diaper, doctor, dog bone, flower, nana (sometimes for banana or my mom). he is also a pro at saying quite a few animal noises. moo (or mmmm) being his favorite. he will find his “little people cow” and walk around saying “mmmm”. he barks like a dog whenever he sees one. margit, charlie’s aunt, painted charlie a canvas of lily and of lewis (their basset hound) for his room. they are hung up by his crib and every morning he “woofs” at them when he gets up and while getting changed. so funny. when reading books he will make monkey noises, pig snorts, for a frog he just moves his shoulders up and down (because i do that when i tell him frogs say “ribbit”). i do feel proud that "no" is not in the group of his first words. i have been intentional about not saying it off the cuff without explaining what is off limits...maybe it is working :).
he can associate words with pictures. in a word book we have he can point to a ton of the pictures when asked to (ie: banana, baby, apple, ball, fire truck, bottle, lots of animals, etc). one day i heard him almost crying when looking at the picture of the bottle. he was standing over it, whining, saying mmmm (he says that when he knows that something tastes good – he does it when he sees bananas, strawberries, etc). the funny thing is charlie only had bottles for about a month or two of his life. just after he turned 1 year old, i stopped giving them to him at night. he gets a sippy cup with milk instead before bed, but whenever he sees the picture of that bottle he almost gets weepy.
something i find adorable is that he will walk around the house and find or see pictures of bill and say “dada”. even tonight he pulled out a family photo album my mom made charlie and went through every page and found bill and said “dada”. i almost cried it was so sweet. he would also see lily in the album and “woof”.
lastly, he really knows what he wants and he wants you to figure it out. when he wants to read a book and will go pick a specific book out and bring it over to you. before you even get a chance to get settled he is already plopping down on your lap. he is still a fantastic eater, but sometimes really wants one food. he will say “da” or “mmm” until you figure out what he is pointing at. most of the time it is a banana, pb&j, or whatever you are eating.
i will add pictures when i am able to get on bill's computer for a bit.
more walking practice.
when we are there, bill often gets paged and has to spend time on the phone dealing with it.
charlie thinks playing with the phone is fun.
we are excited that 2nd year is finished at the end of june!!! no more in house call!!
