Friday, October 26, 2007
Coolest Thing Ever
Want to see the coolest thing ever? I made this. OK not really. I found a site that makes this. Consider the possibilities, people. CONSIDER!!!!!!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
A Quiet Moment
A special day has passed recently, without much fanfare. It was the day that Gideon was supposed to be born. That day was spent doing normal day to day things. Swinging in a swing, bouncing in a bouncer, smiling at nothing, sleeping sweetly. I could say schmaltzy things about babies and the sense of self, but those things have been said before. Instead I present you:
Then:
Now:
Then:
Now:
Pee Stories
In a pee update, things have gone from bad to worse in diaper town. I'm talking about a RASH. He has not bumps, but a little red swelling. A line of swelling has turned painful looking, though no reaction to touching has occurred. Imminently the search for strategies has ensued.
The cure for diaper rash, says the internet?
Good old fashioned nakedness.
What does nakedness mean? This question can not be pondered until you have dealt with a machine that produces foul foul things, things that hundreds of years of technology has attempted to trap.
Oh no, says nature, you can not hold ME down. And so the list of things that have been peed upon will continue.
And with it, a new list shall begin. Oh you know the list I am talking about, though its monstrous name will not be mentioned here.
Let us just say that every day is laundry day in our house.
The cure for diaper rash, says the internet?
Good old fashioned nakedness.
What does nakedness mean? This question can not be pondered until you have dealt with a machine that produces foul foul things, things that hundreds of years of technology has attempted to trap.
Oh no, says nature, you can not hold ME down. And so the list of things that have been peed upon will continue.
And with it, a new list shall begin. Oh you know the list I am talking about, though its monstrous name will not be mentioned here.
Let us just say that every day is laundry day in our house.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Dinners
I've been cooking a lot more lately!
Mon-Greek Shrimp Pasta-very good and very easy. Make a salad of feta, tomatoes, and oregano. Cook the shrimp with garlic, butter and olive oil. Make some pasta (we used penne). Add the shrimp to the pasta, add the salad to that, and you're done. Ate this for days.
Tues-Chris made a creamy corn and potato chowder (under my guidance). This reminded me of leek and potato soup and it was delicious. In Atlanta we used to go to this place called Taquieria del Sol and they had a spicy Shrimp Corn Chowder there that was to die for. This tastes exactly like that without the Shrimp and the spice. Easily modifiable-add some hot sauce and those little shrimp (or some cut up shrimp) and you're there. Ate this for days too.
Wed-McDonald's. It's Monopoly time at McDonalds. It's a good thing I don't gamble.
Thur-Spam Fried Rice. Chris claims this is his favorite dish. It's good comfort food, and after making it for six years, it's like sleepwalking. Freshly minced ginger makes the difference here.
Mon-Greek Shrimp Pasta-very good and very easy. Make a salad of feta, tomatoes, and oregano. Cook the shrimp with garlic, butter and olive oil. Make some pasta (we used penne). Add the shrimp to the pasta, add the salad to that, and you're done. Ate this for days.
Tues-Chris made a creamy corn and potato chowder (under my guidance). This reminded me of leek and potato soup and it was delicious. In Atlanta we used to go to this place called Taquieria del Sol and they had a spicy Shrimp Corn Chowder there that was to die for. This tastes exactly like that without the Shrimp and the spice. Easily modifiable-add some hot sauce and those little shrimp (or some cut up shrimp) and you're there. Ate this for days too.
Wed-McDonald's. It's Monopoly time at McDonalds. It's a good thing I don't gamble.
Thur-Spam Fried Rice. Chris claims this is his favorite dish. It's good comfort food, and after making it for six years, it's like sleepwalking. Freshly minced ginger makes the difference here.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Night Time
Night Time from Jane Yang on Vimeo.
How have I been sleeping, everyone asks. Is he sleeping through the night, they want to know. AHHH !! I don't know!!
Sometimes he sleeps. Sometimes he doesn't! Sometimes I don't know day from night!
Chris and I are trying to use the scheduling method of child rearing. Everything is going fantastically, except that 1) I keep getting off the schedule, 2) am not sure how to adjust for his developmental age, and 3) Gideon has gas and reflux which keep waking him up and off his "schedule." Two steps forward, one step back...now imagine it in sleepwalking terms. It all seemed so much easier when I was reading from the book. Then it was all head nodding and mmhmming and why doesn't everyone just do this-ing.
I think the facility that created this being should upgrade its manufacturing process or something. Oh wait. That's me.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Eating Well
Menu for this week:
Sunday: Smokey Shepard's pie-did not have cumin or paprika for some reason--so I used curry and it was just as good. This uses ground turkey which I told Chris was healthy, but then he noted all the butter, sour cream and heavy cream in the recipe probably added all the fat we needed for the week. I love this because it has lots of veggies and the best mashed potatoes in the world. These mashed potatoes have sour cream! They are so easy to make and yummy. I'm always using this recipe for my mashed potatoes. I don't like this recipe because it makes enough to feed way more people than Chris and myself. So we had to throw some away.
Monday: Linguini with White Clam Sauce. This dish is so good if you season well with salt, and so bland without the salt. Even better the next day, terrifically easy and seems like a grown up meal. Even though it seems barbaric, i use the baby clams. They're so ... teeny. I have the version from the book which did not include white wine or lemon. Both seem like good additions.
Tues: Supposed to have cream of mushroom soup, but alas, the lack of good produce at Shoppers thwarts us once again. Instead, we eat at Hollywood East with Jeff.. Yes we took our baby to a den of germs. Actually there were only about 10 people total in the large restaurant, and we sat in a corner. The baby always sits in the stroller with both his carseat canopy and his stroller canopy up, creating a bubble dome which prevents people from touching or even looking at the baby. Chris insists this cannot prevent germs from getting to him, but I beg to differ.
Wednesday: Ham, Cheese, Egg and Tomato grilled in a sandwich in the oven. We got a lot of ham people. Just butter the bread (particularly the edges) on one side, put in your ingredients, have your oven at 450, put your sandwiches (butter side out) on a baking sheet, 5 min per side, and you have some molten deliciousness. I bet this works with any combination of ingredients, like brie and pear, or ham and gruyere perhaps?
Thursday: Butter Chicken. I have sung the praises of this tremendous recipe before, and I shall sing them again. I took out the peas though. I always bought frozen peas and then had them in my freezer for months until I made this recipe again. But I used up the peas for the Shepard's pie and could not bring myself to have the peas in the freezer again. I just got rid of them!! But it was still good. It's that cream at the end--it just kills me..with deliciousness.
Tonight-Ledo's pizza?
Sunday: Smokey Shepard's pie-did not have cumin or paprika for some reason--so I used curry and it was just as good. This uses ground turkey which I told Chris was healthy, but then he noted all the butter, sour cream and heavy cream in the recipe probably added all the fat we needed for the week. I love this because it has lots of veggies and the best mashed potatoes in the world. These mashed potatoes have sour cream! They are so easy to make and yummy. I'm always using this recipe for my mashed potatoes. I don't like this recipe because it makes enough to feed way more people than Chris and myself. So we had to throw some away.
Monday: Linguini with White Clam Sauce. This dish is so good if you season well with salt, and so bland without the salt. Even better the next day, terrifically easy and seems like a grown up meal. Even though it seems barbaric, i use the baby clams. They're so ... teeny. I have the version from the book which did not include white wine or lemon. Both seem like good additions.
Tues: Supposed to have cream of mushroom soup, but alas, the lack of good produce at Shoppers thwarts us once again. Instead, we eat at Hollywood East with Jeff.
Wednesday: Ham, Cheese, Egg and Tomato grilled in a sandwich in the oven. We got a lot of ham people. Just butter the bread (particularly the edges) on one side, put in your ingredients, have your oven at 450, put your sandwiches (butter side out) on a baking sheet, 5 min per side, and you have some molten deliciousness. I bet this works with any combination of ingredients, like brie and pear, or ham and gruyere perhaps?
Thursday: Butter Chicken. I have sung the praises of this tremendous recipe before, and I shall sing them again. I took out the peas though. I always bought frozen peas and then had them in my freezer for months until I made this recipe again. But I used up the peas for the Shepard's pie and could not bring myself to have the peas in the freezer again. I just got rid of them!! But it was still good. It's that cream at the end--it just kills me..with deliciousness.
Tonight-Ledo's pizza?
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Conundrums
I have to go to the dry cleaner, but I have this baby. Can't leave it in the car. Awkward to carry carseat and dry cleaning in together. Cumbersome to take stroller out. Don't even get me started on that sling.
I pour milk in my cereal and baby starts crying. Leave cereal to get soggy? Leave baby to hyperventilate?
I'm sleeping. Baby has gas. Aid baby with expulsion of gas? Continue sleeping? Try to force Chris to aid baby with expulsion of gas, given that he's going to work the next day, but also given that I haven't slept more than three hours straight in two weeks?
See also: Things I did not think about before expelling a baby out of my midsection.
I pour milk in my cereal and baby starts crying. Leave cereal to get soggy? Leave baby to hyperventilate?
I'm sleeping. Baby has gas. Aid baby with expulsion of gas? Continue sleeping? Try to force Chris to aid baby with expulsion of gas, given that he's going to work the next day, but also given that I haven't slept more than three hours straight in two weeks?
See also: Things I did not think about before expelling a baby out of my midsection.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Ina, Fabulous Ina
How I love you
I love your warm smile
Your sparkling eyes
I love your laugh
And your deft spotlessly clean hands
I even love your bad perm husband Jeffrey
Your recipes look divine
So easy to make
So french in style
You can cook
And bake
Like so few of us can
Why did you never have kids Ina?
Were you too busy camping in France?
Were you too busy with your nuclear energy advisor position during the Ford and Carter administrations?
Were you too busy teaching yourself how to be an amazing chef?
I will be your kid Ina
Make me a coconut cupcake
Make me a potato pancake
Make me some brisket Ina
My soul to cook like Ina!
This is my ode to Ina Garten, whom I revere as perhaps the most fabulous chef/celebrity ever. Forget Rachael, Giada, Nigella and all the others. How could they compare?
Yesterday I made Croque Monsieur. 1) I made a roux. 2) It failed to thicken. It thickened after i let it sit. I failed to thicken it, perhaps is the correct statement. However, the sandwiches were easy and delicious and I will definitely make it again. I invited Jeff over thinking that 8 sandwiches would be too much. I think actually we could have eaten them all. I could have eaten them all. Thank you to all the ingredients that made this recipe possible. Thank you ham that my parents bought me that I didn't ask for. Thank you expensive Gruyere cheese that I'm glad I splurged on. Thank you cheap white Giant bread that helped me cut costs thanks to that expensive ass Gruyere but still tasted good toasted and smothered in cheese. Thank you broiler that works. And lastly, thank you Ina for making it all possible!!! Much love.
I love your warm smile
Your sparkling eyes
I love your laugh
And your deft spotlessly clean hands
I even love your bad perm husband Jeffrey
Your recipes look divine
So easy to make
So french in style
You can cook
And bake
Like so few of us can
Why did you never have kids Ina?
Were you too busy camping in France?
Were you too busy with your nuclear energy advisor position during the Ford and Carter administrations?
Were you too busy teaching yourself how to be an amazing chef?
I will be your kid Ina
Make me a coconut cupcake
Make me a potato pancake
Make me some brisket Ina
My soul to cook like Ina!
This is my ode to Ina Garten, whom I revere as perhaps the most fabulous chef/celebrity ever. Forget Rachael, Giada, Nigella and all the others. How could they compare?
Yesterday I made Croque Monsieur. 1) I made a roux. 2) It failed to thicken. It thickened after i let it sit. I failed to thicken it, perhaps is the correct statement. However, the sandwiches were easy and delicious and I will definitely make it again. I invited Jeff over thinking that 8 sandwiches would be too much. I think actually we could have eaten them all. I could have eaten them all. Thank you to all the ingredients that made this recipe possible. Thank you ham that my parents bought me that I didn't ask for. Thank you expensive Gruyere cheese that I'm glad I splurged on. Thank you cheap white Giant bread that helped me cut costs thanks to that expensive ass Gruyere but still tasted good toasted and smothered in cheese. Thank you broiler that works. And lastly, thank you Ina for making it all possible!!! Much love.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Baby Faces
This is no one trick pony. Gideon's many faces keep us entertained, especially as they're all caused by no reason we can discern.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Interview
Before we came home from the hospital, I asked Gideon a few questions about life. You may be surprised by what he had to say.
Gideon's First Interview from Jane Yang on Vimeo.
Want more videos?
Gideon's First Interview from Jane Yang on Vimeo.
Want more videos?
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Gideon is Home!!
After 4 weeks and 1 day in the NICU at GWUH, Gideon is finally home ! We've already taken him to the doctor and he is doing great. He's on an apnea monitor which checks his heart rate and breathing rate, but it hasn't gone off (unless we accidentally pull one of the wires out, and then it makes a very harsh noise indeed). Thanks to everyone for your love and support!
Friday, September 07, 2007
Esme
You know how sometimes something bad happens and you take care of it and you think everything is going to be alright? And then the same bad things that happened last time start happening again and then you take your precious cat to the vet and they identify a lump that is not a bone on her hind leg and you leave the vet and all you have is a clay pawprint and an empty cat carrier?
As Angela said, I hope Esme is playing happily in kitty heaven with nobody to bother her and a big soft bed to lay in all eternity long.
He Did It!
He's 5 pounds! We were at the NICU last night and he was up to 2295 grams--that's 5 lbs! They had him on a sleep apnea monitor yesterday morning, which had him covered in wires for a few hours and smelly glue afterwards. I didn't notice him doing anything, but that's for them to say. He's getting ready to go home now-he passed the carseat test, we were trained for infant CPR via "video" (don't forget the ABC's of CPR-Airway, Breathing, and Compression), and giving him a bath!
Bath Demo from Jane Yang and Vimeo.
Bath Demo from Jane Yang and Vimeo.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Updates Food and Gideon-wise
Gideon update:
As of yesterday he was 1790 grams, which is almost 4 lb!! When he was born 10 days ago he was 1635 grams. What a difference!
He took 10 cc's of milk yesterday by bottle! He gets 35 cc's per feed!
He was awake when I fed him and changed his diaper. He looks really really confused all the time. I mean seriously, his brows are in a constant state of furrowment. What the hell is he so confused about? Like he looked at the window and the look on his face was blank amazement. I know that he can't even see to where the window is, just the bright lights (because of his newborn nearsightedness), but his eyes just read, "what the hell is THAT!??"
I think he's now officially out of the incubator, because they pushed it against the wall. He's only in the open air crib and bundled up in several thin receiving blankets and a onesie and hat. He reminds me of that character from the Radiohead "Paranoid Android" video.
Foodwise we have been eating out pretty constantly. Froggy Bottom Pub by GW has really good burgers and fries. Aroma is my new favorite place for Indian. I first discovered it when Lesley had them cater Susan's goodbye party, and have been dreaming about it since. It was just as good! We also ate at Meiwah, which was decent. My parents have also been great about bringing us dinner at the hospital--curry one night, steak and mushrooms another night. Always a lot of seaweed soup. We also have been trying to get lunches from trader joe's, which I love.
Also, just got turned onto goodreads.com by Sarah and now update it more. Maybe I will actually read more books this year. (yes, I know baby owners are shaking their heads in disdain. How many times have I heard a variation of 'kiss your life goodbye' in the past 8 months? I refuse to kowtow! I refuse!!) My "currently reading shelf" includes Anne of Green Gables, part of which I was reading aloud to Gideon and began crying at the poignancy of the passage in which Anne describes the wonder of the world, and "Julie and Julia" which I thought for some reason I would hate but actually have decided that I love (thanks Lesley for the tip). I read that out loud to Gideon and have no qualms about using the f word, but at some point I know he will figure out what that word means and then will never be able to say it out loud again, so I better get my kicks in now I figure. Every other word in Julie and Julia is the f word.
As of yesterday he was 1790 grams, which is almost 4 lb!! When he was born 10 days ago he was 1635 grams. What a difference!
He took 10 cc's of milk yesterday by bottle! He gets 35 cc's per feed!
He was awake when I fed him and changed his diaper. He looks really really confused all the time. I mean seriously, his brows are in a constant state of furrowment. What the hell is he so confused about? Like he looked at the window and the look on his face was blank amazement. I know that he can't even see to where the window is, just the bright lights (because of his newborn nearsightedness), but his eyes just read, "what the hell is THAT!??"
I think he's now officially out of the incubator, because they pushed it against the wall. He's only in the open air crib and bundled up in several thin receiving blankets and a onesie and hat. He reminds me of that character from the Radiohead "Paranoid Android" video.
Foodwise we have been eating out pretty constantly. Froggy Bottom Pub by GW has really good burgers and fries. Aroma is my new favorite place for Indian. I first discovered it when Lesley had them cater Susan's goodbye party, and have been dreaming about it since. It was just as good! We also ate at Meiwah, which was decent. My parents have also been great about bringing us dinner at the hospital--curry one night, steak and mushrooms another night. Always a lot of seaweed soup. We also have been trying to get lunches from trader joe's, which I love.
Also, just got turned onto goodreads.com by Sarah and now update it more. Maybe I will actually read more books this year. (yes, I know baby owners are shaking their heads in disdain. How many times have I heard a variation of 'kiss your life goodbye' in the past 8 months? I refuse to kowtow! I refuse!!) My "currently reading shelf" includes Anne of Green Gables, part of which I was reading aloud to Gideon and began crying at the poignancy of the passage in which Anne describes the wonder of the world, and "Julie and Julia" which I thought for some reason I would hate but actually have decided that I love (thanks Lesley for the tip). I read that out loud to Gideon and have no qualms about using the f word, but at some point I know he will figure out what that word means and then will never be able to say it out loud again, so I better get my kicks in now I figure. Every other word in Julie and Julia is the f word.
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