Various and Sundry Things

I love air conditioning.  During the heat of summer, I often pause and think to myself "thank heavens for AC!"  I'm not joking.  Best. Invention. EVER.

We went to Charlottesville a few weekends ago and feasted on delicious Thai food while gazing at the mountains.  I love the WV mountains, I really do, but there is nothing that compares to that view of the Blue Ridge.  Or the spice of drunken noodles.  Sigh.

The boy has a new favorite spot, perched on his chair, looking down at the street below.

Sometimes, he likes to wear his father's glasses while enjoying his evening bottle.

Wearing glasses is better than wearing wood chips, that's for sure!  Henry developed a most unfortunate habit of teething on his crib rails.  Post-nap, I would find little chips of crib on his cheeks and sheets.  Of all of the things I thought we would need for a baby, crib rails guards never crossed my mind.  Henry now has a snazzy set of padded bumpers gracing the top of his crib--a tasty new treat in his book, I think.  

Baby Beluga

After months of singing "Baby Beluga" (Raffi, anyone?) to Henry and looking at pictures of the little white whale swimming in the deep blue sea, Henry finally has a chance to swim in the deep blue pool at a parent/child swim class. It's definitely a hit!

Summer

Three cheers for summer!  I can finally catch up on my neglected blog and focus on a certain almost-one-year old.  I'm taking a break from lesson plans, colored pens, piles of papers, and all things teen.  That is, after tomorrow when I attend a class picnic with my future seniors.  After all, even if it's summer vacation, when invited to a picnic by a group of teenagers, you get excited and you attend.  Henry will likely tag along.  He likes the "big kids" and they like his chunky thighs.

Henry is less of a baby and more of a little boy every day.  He is crawling, cruising, and climbing up the stairs.  He is chattering, eating anything and everything, and giving hugs and kisses.  I have no doubt that this will be an amazing summer with him as my sidekick!

Muffins

Henry loves, loves, loves muffins!  He is definitely my child!  Last week, I made him a batch of basic banana muffins. Yesterday, I made something even better: carrot, zucchini and banana muffins!  These things are practically a meal.  I had seen pin after pin after pin for Toddler Muffins on Pinterest.  The muffins looked tasty, but not quite healthy enough for my little fellow.  It is summer, and zucchini is everywhere.  Why use something from a jar?  And babies are sweet--they don't need that much extra sugar!  So, here's what I did:

1 zucchini, grated
2 carrots, grated
1 banana mashed

1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons Canola oil

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
cinnamon
ground ginger

I mixed the wet ingredients, added the fruit/veggies, then sprinkled the dry ingredients on top.  After a quick stir to combine everything, I filled 10 greased muffin tins and popped them in the oven (375) for 20 (or was it 25?) minutes.  They turned out to be tasty, though not pretty, little treats, and good enough for me to eat for breakfast, too.