Six Months Together and Milestone Update

Last week we celebrated six months as a family of four.  It's hard to believe that it has been that long! Noah has really settled into our family.  He loves showing off his dance moves!

Six months ago he was frightened and angry!

Now he's a happy little brother who wants to be just like Micah.

He is doing pretty well overall.  He seems to be on target for most social, emotional and gross and fine motor milestones.  He continues to lag behind in language.  By two years, most children will have many words and will begin to use two word sentences.  Noah has only a handful of spoken words.  Mama, Libby, Mao (for cat), nap, snap, oh-oh and his favorite, snack!  I think he calls Micah "Nuh" which is what Micah called himself for a long time.  He has said a few other words while imitating others, but I'm not convinced he has conquered these words.  His newest word is cheese which represents a new vowel sound for him. He has a larger vocabulary of signs:  yes, juice, cheese, please, shoes, yogurt and all done. 

He has speech therapy through Babies Can't Wait once or twice a month.  We will have his speech evaluated at Scottish Rite in May and then we'll have a better idea of exactly where he is. 

What's for Dinner? Crust-less Spinach Quiche

Today's recipe comes courtesy of Allrecipes.com.  I doubled the original amount of spinach in order to get more veggies into my boys.  They both love this one!  

 

Crust-less Spinach Quiche

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 5 eggs, beaten
• 16 oz shredded Muenster cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. 

Head over to Homegrown Learners and see what else is for dinner. 

Yarn Along

I love to knit and I love to read.  Apparently many knitters are also readers.  I am once again joining the Yarn Along to share with others who share my affinities.  

I have just started reading Choosing to See by MaryBeth Chapman.  She wrote the book after losing her daughter in a tragic accident.  It's such a sad situation, I've had a hard time bringing myself to read the book because I can't imagine the pain she must feel.  

My big project is a circular sweater knitting in yummy Malabrigo Rios, a washable wool.  It's so soft and a pleasure to knit with.  The pattern is called Pole and I'm participating in a knit-along led by the designer herself.  That's been really helpful since I'm using a different yarn than originally specified and that has affected the gauge and drape of the fabric.  She's also helped me tweak the design for a custom fit.  

I'm celebrating Malabrigo March by knitting various projects in Malabrigo yarns.  I knit a cute hat for me since I seem to have lost my favorite Malabrigo hat. 

What's for Dinner? Betty's Salad

 

Today's recipe is for a Toledo classic.  Originated by Toledo restaurateur Betty Timko, it's my all-time favorite salad.  Of course no one in the South has heard of Betty or her wonderful salad with signature dressing, so I have to make it at home. 

Salad:

Spinach
6 hard boiled eggs, sliced
bean sprouts
bacon crumbles

Dressing: 
1/2 c. salad oil 
3/4 c. sugar 
3/4 c. ketchup
1/4 c. vinegar 
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 
1 med. onion, minced
1 tsp. salt

Blend above ingredients with immersion blender or in a mixer or blender. The dressing can be served cold or can be warmed for a special treat.  


Head over to Homegrown Learners and see what else is for dinner. 

Readoption

This week we completed readoptions for our boys.  Their adoptions were final in China, but completing a "domestication" will result in the issuance of a Georgia birth certificate in their adoptive names. Judge Sams was so nice and his staff was so helpful.  They said it was one of the happiest things they get to do.  After the hearing, we celebrated with playing by the courthouse and brunch at McDonald's!

 

What's for Dinner? Family-style French Toast

Dontcha love french toast?  Dontcha hate being stuck at the griddle cooking slices of french toast while your family eats your creation so it doesn't get cold?  The answer?  Family-style French toast.  Original recipe courtesy of my favorite site, Allrecipes.com!

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 10-12 slices of bread
• confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Combine brown sugar, butter and cinnamon; spread evenly in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan; set aside. 
2. Combine eggs and milk in a shallow dish; place bread in dish and coat with egg mixture. 
3. Place bread on baking pan over sugar mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve brown sugar side up; dust with confectioners' sugar. 

Clean up hint:  Cover the pan as completely as possible, breaking slices to fit odd sized spots.  Every place the bread is on the pan, the brown sugar will stick to the bread and not the pan.  Exposed brown sugar will bake onto the pan and will be much harder to clean.  

Visit Homegrown Learners to get more recipe ideas!

Visits with the grandparents

We were blessed to have back-to-back visits from both sets of grandparents.  Our house was full of love and laughter!  Here are a few pictures of the kids with their grandparents.  Noah was very excited to meet his NaiNai and YeYe.

The boys had a wonderful time hanging out and loving on NaiNai and YeYe.

Within hours of taking NaiNai and YeYe to the airport, LaoLao and LaoYe arrived.  Noah was happy to show LaoYe how to use his netbook.

There was lots of roughhousing!

 

 And lots of good family time.

Night, night!  Sleep tight!

Yarn Along

Are you tired of seeing my shawl yet?  This has been slow going.  It requires concentration that is difficult to achieve with a two year old at home.  I work on it mostly at nap time when I don't have something else I have to do (housework? what's that?!)  I have started the decreases and can't wait to wear it. 

I'm still reading Chinatown Beat by Henry Chang. It's a very dark story full of snippets of Chinese and glimpses into Chinese-American culture. 

I'm a short-attention-span knitter.  I always have at least two projects going and sometimes four or five!  My current diversion is Malabrigo March, a month dedicated to knitting projects from soft, yummy Malabrigo yarn.  I am working on a cardigan (Pole) from Malabrigo Rios, a washable wool that has a really nice drape.  The pattern calls for using different sized needles for different parts of the sweater so I ended up making five swatches to make sure I had the right sized needles for each part.  You'll see more of this in the future.  Here are my swatches: 

Wednesday What's for Dinner

Here's one of our favorite dishes.  It's usually a breakfast, but it can be a wonderful dinner too. 

Breakfast Strata

8 slices bread (I've even used hamburg or hot dog buns in a pinch)
2 cups shredded cheese
2 cups breakfast meat (I usually use Morningstar Sausage Crumbles, but you can use cubed ham or any sausage
6 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
4 T margarine

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick spray.  Layer bread, cheese and meat in the pan.  I aim for three layers.  Beat eggs and milk together and pour over layers.  Can be covered and refrigerated overnight.

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt the margarine and drizzle over the whole pan.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Enjoy!

Head over to Homegrown Learners to see more menu ideas.