18 Months

The Bear celebrated his 18 month birthday today. I don't really like to think about his birth, it was a horrible day, thanks to the hospital and my odious devil of an OB. I like to think of a moment four days after his birth when I feel we really came to each other for the first time. A smile came to my face today when I thought of it. He has changed so much since that moment when he looked at me with recognition and love, as if he were saying "Oh there you are Mommy!" He is interacting with his brother, pretending to brush his own hair, even feeding his toys with a sippy cup and spoon. He is trying to run now and is climbing furniture. He loves his blue duckie toothbrush. He loves our dog Frankie and sometimes calls him "Hankie." To say that he is obsessed with my Dad is putting it lightly. "Bello" lights up his world in a way that nothing else does. They are two leaves of the same branch. 

This morning when he woke up, I changed him and released him onto the floor for a few minutes while I got his breakfast together. He took off like a shot to the small library I made for him in one corner of the living room. He greeted his giraffe chair with a cheeky "hi!" and made a grab for his favorite barnyard animal book. I watched him for a few minutes as he sat cozily in his chair. He flipped through the cardboard pages as if he could read the words already. The occasional, "moo" and "pio pio" could be heard from his corner while I set out his breakfast. He thanked me for his food once he settled into his high chair with a quick "Tha-too" and dug in. We also enjoyed one quick jam session to the "Bad" album in honor of MJ, who, despite his insanities, is one of our household's favorite musicians. 

We spent the day indoors listening to the intermittent lightning storms pass over our new home. This canceled out my plans to whip up a fabulous dinner since indoor days require new ideas for entertaining the toddler. We colored, sang songs, made a tent, played with blocks, and endured one very squirmy haircut. The haircuts around here can not last more than 4-6 minutes or tantrums inevitably follow. I pop in a Baby Einstein into my laptop (we don't own a TV), the toddler becomes momentarily hypnotized, and the race is on for Mommy! I usually go right for the hair behind his ears and at the nape of his neck first since those are the hardest to cut once he starts wiggling and trying to grab the scissors away. I always save the huge mop of curls on top for last. Today's haircut produced the most clipped curls I've ever seen from him. I felt horrible throwing all those cute curly locks away but there is NO WAY I am keeping dead hair in a box as a memory (Sorry, Mom). 

So we tucked the Bear away for the night, looking quite stylish and a bit sleepy from the days activities. 

I had all of 30 minutes in the kitchen before I had to nurse the baby. I looked in the pantry and decided on something easy for the oven's first trial run.  And so...

Hungry Baby, Sleeping Toddler Cookies

2 cups Flour

2 Eggs (if you are a vegan, substitute a banana for the eggs)

dash baking powder

dash of baking soda (sorry I never measure anything)

pinch of salt

3/4C Brown sugar

1/2C white sugar

2 tsp Vanilla

a few dashes of cinnamon

1/2C crumbled Heath Bar

1/3C semi sweet chocolate chips

4Tbsp unsalted butter

Heat oven 350F, bake for 11 minutes or to desired brown

We enjoyed ours with a cup of tea. They were....De-LISH.