November 2010

Note: These pictures run through the end of December.

Radio Flyer

With Mikey's birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa U, we bought a tricycle and some smartwool socks. I called around town looking for a particular Radio Flyer trike and found one at Walmart. Normally, I don't shop at Walmart because there is no real cost difference between them and other stores in town AND I'm not wild about Walmart's employee policies. But to get the perfect gift for my son, off I went. The best thing about the trip was that Mikey showed me that he understands that stuff that goes in the cart goes home. We were in the bicycle aisle and he was trying not to get too excited about anything because I think he figured that I was probably just browsing. But then I picked up the Radio Flyer and put it in the cart and he turned and looked at me, "really?" and when I smiled and told him that it was Mikey's new tricycle he clapped and smiled and was very excited to get it home. And once it was home, we started dragging it all over the house. (Dragging being part of the backwards walking experiments.)

Mikey's First Haircut

Janae came to cut our hair and we asked that she give Mikey a trim, too. He had started to have an unacceptable mullet. Mikey was not at all excited about the haircut but Janae was AWESOME and gentle and we crossed another "first" off the list.

The Children's Museum

Mikey continued to love the children's museum through November. He liked pushing the go grow grocery cart around and playing with the waterworks table to make the "water vortex" toys spin.

New Friends

We made new friends at the Missoula Library's "Tiny Tales." Nicole and her daughter Marin are regulars and we look forward to getting to know them better.

Stephanie invited us to visit her and her son Otis in Stevensville. Stephanie and her husband Ryan are working to restore the wildlife at a ranch. Part of their gig is that they get to live on the ranch and Mikey and I were excited to go on the outing. We spent some time playing with Otis and his toys and then we went for a walk around in the lovely autumn day. I remember feeling so blessed to have the time to enjoy learning about my new friend, Stephanie, and breathing that autumn air under a blue sky. It felt like a magical day.

The Mall

In the cold months, the mall is a popular place to take the kiddos because it is free. Southgate Mall has a little steam engine play area for children to climb on and slide down and jump off and run around. (It is nicknamed the "Germ Train" because of the indoor cooties that potentially build up from all the Missoulian children that play on it.) Knowing that Mikey likes to see other children, I took Mikey there one desperate afternoon. To my surprise, Mikey was entertained only briefly by the Germ Train and the children on it. As soon as he found the exit, he was off and running. My new toddling boy set off and ran from one end of the mall to the other!

Mmm...Tamales

Mike had a tamale day. He made dozens of tamales to stock our freezer. They were delicious!! And with a house full of new and yummy food we invited Nick and Mere over to enjoys the spoils of Mike's labor.

Now, we are continually learning how to alter our spicy cooking for Mikey. Mike forgot about Mikey and seasoned the masa per usual with some cayenne pepper and paprika. Then he stuffed it with super yummy turkey mole. Mikey loved the turkey mole but he couldn't quite take the spicy masa around it so I had to pick turkey out of the inside of the tamales to feed it to him! Clearly, it was the most elaborate way to prepare turkey for Mikey. ;) First, cook the turkey mole for a day in the crock pot. Then stuff it into masa and wrap with corn husk. Steam the tamale. Then open the tamale and take the stuffing out. Really? Next time, Mikey can just skip the spicy seasoning and we can feed the whole darn thing to Mikey.

Thanksgiving Tradition

Per tradition, we spent our Thanksgiving with Jim and Teresa Jacobs. It was a hard decision to choose to spend it with them instead of Cousin Nick and Meredith. We even tried to invite them along but the Jacobs' house was going to be overflowing as it was so we had to leave Nick and Mere to fend for themselves. It was a lovely thanksgiving with Mikey toddling around. As usual, Teresa had lots of toys out for him to play with and lots of hugs and kisses for him.