Apples and lemons

Our fuji apple tree I've posted about here dropped an apple this week. An insect had tasted a bit of it before we got to it, but most of it was delicious! I have a good memory of a huge apple tree in the backyard of a house I lived in up until kindergarden in San Jose. My great grandma was living with our family during that time and I remember her making chunky apple sauce with apples from that tree. Maybe that's what was in the back of my mind when we picked out her fruit tree. The fact that Maggie tried the first apple from the tree planted to celebrate her birth and life is perfect in my book.

As we pick our apples this fall, our lemon tree is gearing up for winter. I wish I saw blood oranges on the other tree, but nope, just lots of bright green new growth. We have lots of little green lemons and we're excited to watch them grow. Maggie was pointing to them, so she's taken notice. Michael is worried she will pick them before they are ready. On this note, our cherry tomato plants in the garden were a great tool for teaching ripe v.s. not ripe. For the most part Maggie got it right by picking ripe tomatoes but we made it tricky for her by planting yellow, red, and heirloom cherry tomatoes (the heirlooms are a beautiful mix of magenta/pink/green-they totally threw me off at first). Every now and then we find an unripe green one in her hands. A couple times I've been gardening and have lost track of her for a minute or two. It's unusually quiet, that's when I know to go looking. Then I find the evidence of where she has been and it makes me smile...a tomato seed or two have dripped onto her shirt. I love this girl.

Almost there

Sweet Maggie,

You are almost to another milestone -18 months old. You will always be my baby, but you are a little girl to most now. Your hair keeps lightening and is a mess of honey-blonde curls with tight ringlets in the back. We're not sure whether to give you a haircut or let it keep growing. You have beautiful skin like your dad. I love touching your soft skin, being close to you, and smelling your smells.

You are talking a lot but are kind of shy about it sometimes. Words you've said: papa, fish, shoe, mo (for more), nana, mama, dada, uh-oh, whoa, and more that you are working on. New words every week. You love using certain signs: more, milk, airplane, and fish.

You like to perform and get attention around friends and family. You love to dance and have funny hops, sideways walking, chin on your chest moves. Daddy lets you walk around with his Ipod playing your music and you love it, you look pretty groovy for such a young one. You love animals, squirrels are your fancy right now. It was horses a couple weeks ago. Your toy dog Howie just got a sister/girlfriend named Pinky.

You are long and lean. 18 month tops fit you, but not most bottoms. You have big feet and are moving into a size 6.

You do best on a routine. You take one 2-hr nap a day. You have an early bedtime at 7 and sleep through most nights. Your early rising in the morning is often hard on mom and dad.

You have been expressing interest in potty training, going #1 once and #2 once on your own. You like to sit on the adult toilet, not your toddler toilets, for a long time with a smile on your face and you tell me when you are done. You love using toilet paper and wipes.

You have a little play teacup that you like to fill up with water and drink from. You are big helper and you like to throw away trash. We think thats how we lost our remote control. You are imitating everything we do. Daddy has a cuss can so that he can clean up his language around you :-)

You are a great eater. No more baby puree, just finger foods. You love cheese, meat, peas, beans, blueberries, and watermelon to name a few. You are doing pretty good with the spoon.

You love swimming. People are amazed at how fearless you are with swimming and other things. You love to roll around in the water and dip your head under water. It always gives you a big burst of energy!

You get really excited about seeing certain people - cousin Eden, our neighbors - and your eyes light up when I tell you we are going to see grandparents.

Your dad is head over heels about you. After you go to sleep each night, he talks about how much he loves his little Maggie. We are really enjoying being your parents. It's amazing to watch you grow.

Luvs,

momma

Tomato humor

2 jokes for today:

Why did the tomato go out with the prune?

Because he couldn't find a date!


How do you fix a broken pizza?

With tomato paste!

Weeks in pictures

State Fair finale

Day in the Life

You know you are having a great day when everything just falls into place. Hubby stayed in with the kiddo twice this week so that I could go out and enjoy some time with friends. So, today he was home doing his thang and I stayed busy with the Magster. We had a suprise visit from his dad and I captured a nice moment, father and son style. The funniest thing happened this morning. Maggie woke up early, which is normal, and we often try to entice her to fall asleep for another hour or so if we bring her into our bed. After doing this and her fussing around a bit, in my half-sleep state I felt her sliding off our tall bed, which she needs help to get off of, but intead of waking up and walking off she layed on the carpet and put her head on the pillow on the floor. It was so trippy. She slept like that for almost a couple more hours.

We hit up Harvest Day at our local horticultural center/community garden. I had Maggie on my back in the ergo and we tasted a variety of grapes and tomatoes grown there. It's an awesome site, with an orchard full of ripe fruit, native/Mediterranean plantings in full bloom, and lots of vegi plants. I picked up some plants for our own garden that are hard to find. Romanesco, dwarf pomegranate, lemongrass, dinasour kale, and other fun ones. You should have seen me leaving, it was a sight. Toddler on my back whining, a full tray of plants in front, and bags hanging off of me. In the same area is our library and we scored lots of books before we left. Maggie is always drawn to the kid computers, not the toys or books. The little girl next to her was being such a sport.

After a few afternoon beers with the boys, some much needed grocery shopping, and a dinner made up of homemade pesto over asparagus ravioli, sauteed brussel sprouts, chicken sausage, garden bruchetta on ciabiatta, and white wine, I'm one happy girl.

Now off to do more laundry and maybe throw some chocolate chip cookies in the oven...

Random thoughts

I wish I could slash a line, like I would on one of my incessant lists, through a couple of the books I started and then stopped reading this year. Neither of these I ended up caring for: Circling My Mother and A Year in the World (both picked up from Friends of the Library for a $1 or so, no loss there). They are going back into goodwill circulation soon. I gave Circling My Mother a chance because it looked interesting but it was quite boring. A Year in the World is one of Frances Mayes newer books (remember Under the Tuscan Sun?) so I thought it would be good but it was hard to stick with. I found her to be a little full of herself. Maybe due to her fame as an author now? It's too bad because the places she goes are interesting in themselves but I had a hard time joining her on her journey. The cover of the book is attractive though.

I'm thankful for state furloughs again. I know many state workers would love a full paycheck, but I also know many of them got used to Fridays off and like having more free time. It just means Maggie gets to be with daddy again and it gives me more peace inside.

Some days I feel left behind, in the "I'm a parent now and have to put my family first" v.s. "I used to be able to get up and go whenever I wanted and it was a breeze" way of thinking. None of the getaways I had imagined for this summer are panning out. It's fine of course because there is always fun stuff to do (and relaxing at home is one of those fun things) but life has taken a different path and I'm adjusting.

I want to make white gazpacho this weekend, which will use up my cucumbers. I'm a gazpacho fan since growing up and enjoying my Aunt Kris's recipe (which she wrote down from her college years in Spain). It's the tomato version though, so this will be interesting...blanched almonds, green grapes... Hubby is not a fan of cold soups. I hope he eats his share of bruschetta and crusty bread this weekend. We have a load of tomatoes in our kitchen. I was so pleased to pick four beautiful heirloom tomatoes about a week ago, I've never had good luck with those. We have more on the way among all of the other tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and herbs.

Iced lattes are the perfect "keep it together" drink in summer with a kid in tow. One of my favorite stops is a coffee hut near our house. I drove up this week, on my way to lunch with a friend, ordered my drink and asked for a mini drink for Maggie. Just ice water, but I could tell when it was handed to her through the window that she felt special. There has been a lot of grunting when she wants a sip of momma's drink and sometimes it results in tears when she can't have the sip. Once she catches on, she might just need a steamer or some chocolate milk.