Allison at 15 months

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 15 months to the day that Allison arrived, but here we are!  She’s getting increasingly independent and increasingly busy!  Here are some of the things she does:

• Says “mama”, “dada”, “up”, “down”, “help”, “ball”, “hat”, “pop” “hi”, “bye”, “no”, “more”, book”, “hop”
• Says “ass” and points to light fixtures.  I don’t know where that came from.
• Approximates “Tracy”, “shoes”, “socks”, “I love you”, “baby”, “touch”, “dance”
• Signs please, help, eat, drink, bath, bed, banana, all done, more
• Identifies hand, fingers, head, mouth, tummy, feet, eyes, nose, hair, tongue, teeth, ears
• Checks nose when you ask, “do you have boogies?”
• Follows command to “say cheese”, “wave up high”, “wiggle your hips”, “spin”, “dance”, “blow”, “stomp your feet”, “tap”, “do your hair”, “give (person) a hug”, “give (person) a kiss”, “do down dog”, “blow kiss”, “get a book, baby, ball, block, etc.”, “get up”, “get down”, “clap hands”, “kick”
• Stomps feet fast and shakes head when you sing, “she’s a maniac”
• Identifies cow, horse, sheep, dog, cat, snake, rabbit, mouse, turtle, elephant, lion, monkey, pig, crocodile, lizard, frog, duck, zebra, giraffe, fish
• Makes animal sounds for cat, dog, sheep, snake, rabbit, horse, cow, pig, bird, lizard, lion, elephant, monkey, fish, owl
• Identifies babies, (toy)car, ball, block, box, ring, phone, spoon, shoes, boots, socks, comb, blueberries, banana, strawberry, book, mail, coat, purse
• Pretend feeds her animals
• Answers the door to her pretend house when someone rings the doorbell
• Talks on her pretend phone
• Brushes her hair and her teeth
• Answers questions in her book, “what’s wrong little pookie?”

We also went to the eye doctor this past week and found out that her eye condition has not improved.  We are increasing her eye drop schedule from once a week to every other day.  We have also switched from using homatropine eye drops to atropine eye drops which is a stronger prescription.  Hopefully we will get better news at her next visit.

February 2011 videos

101 in 1001: Balloon release – task complete… FINALLY!

What should have been the easiest task actually turned out to be pretty difficult!  I had attempted this task twice previously with no success.  I was determined to make it work this time, so I hit up Red Robin for two balloons (actually 3, but one flew away a bit prematurely).  I wrote a note on an index card and tied it to both of the balloons, but it was STILL too heavy!  Ugh!  So, then I said, “forget it” and wrote the note directly on the balloon and off they went into the night!

101 in 1001: Make Cheese Fondue – Task Complete

For Valentine’s Day, Kevin and I made our first (hopefully of many) cheese fondue.  It was beyond flavorful and delicious!  We used a recipe from the Melting Pot.

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Butterkäse (we substituted Gouda)
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Fontina cheese
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white wine (we used Pinot Grigio)
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 teaspoons chopped shallots
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup crumbled Blue cheese
2 tablespoons chopped scallions

Toss the Butterkäse and Fontina cheese with the flour in a bowl. Place a metal bowl over a saucepan filled with 2 inches of water. You may also use a conventional double boiler. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and pour the white wine and sherry into the bowl. Stir in the shallots using a fork. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
Add half the cheese blend and cook until the cheese is melted, stirring constantly. Add the remaining cheese blend a small amount at a time, stirring constantly in a circular motion after each addition until the cheese is melted. Fold in the pepper and Blue cheese. Pour into a warm fondue pot and keep warm over low heat. Garnish with the scallions.

Restaurant Review – Testo’s, Troy

Last week, we had a Wednesday night dinner at Testo’s.  It’s a small, local Italian restaurant with a fair selection of meals.  It was quiet when we were there, but that was a Wednesday night.  We had tried to eat there the Saturday before, but there was a long wait.  Inside, the tables are packed close together and each table has that typical Italian-style red vinyl checked tablecloth.  The food was good and served hot.  I got a baked ziti special and Kevin got ravioli. Each entree also came with a sizable salad.  We got Allison chicken fingers and fries, but we ended up taking most of it home.  It was a lot of food!  The food was yummy and the service was friendly.  I will definitely return!

101 in 1001: Enter a contest by mail – Task Complete!

Not only did I enter a contest by mail once… I entered 6 times!  HGTVs 2011 dreamhome in Stowe, VT.  I’ve basically been obsessed with entering for the past month and a half.  I entered twice daily and Kevin entered twice daily.  And, as I said before, I entered 6 times by mail. 

Here is an explanation as to how the winner is chosen:

Each mail entry goes to warehouse and gets put in a “bin”.  Online entries get put into “virtual bins”.  Each bin has 50,000 entries and each bin is assigned a number.  They then draw a ball with a winning bin number (like for the lotto or bingo).  If the winning bin number is for a physical bin, then they dump the mail on floor, someone gets blindfolded and then sent into the mail to pick the winner.  If the winning bin number is for a virtual bin, then the computer randomly selects the winner from that bin.

Hopefully I’ve increased my odds by having virtual and physical entries.  They’ll probably pick the winner in the next couple of weeks and then ambush that person to let them know they’ve won. Hope it’s me!!!

101 in 1001: Italian Night – Task Complete

Italian night allowed for many completed tasks.  I purchased the tablecloth ($6 at Boscovs), borrowed a bread basket, and was even able to obtain a parmesan cheese shaker!  For the meal I made baked ziti with meatballs - although, I can’t take all the credit, because I had generous help from my mother.  My friend Beth made an incredible antipasto with homemade dressing.  It was delizioso!  And my friend Kate made an angel food cake which was a sweet ending to the meal (pun intended)!  We also had Italian wine and beer. 

 

In addition to the ziti with meatballs, I made some breadsticks which was another 101 in 1001 task to complete. I used my bread machine to make the dough, so it was simple to do.  Plus, they only required 5 or 6 ingredients and about 15 minutes in the oven.  The picture below shows them still in dough form rising.

After the meal, Allie also got to spend time with a couple of her boyfriends, Patrick and Jonah.  It was a great night with great friends!  Maybe Mexican night is next????

The Password Game!

Allie was playing with her Aunt Tracy on Skype!

 

Artist in the making