Another first

Poppy just asked me for “more milk.” She’s been putting little sentences like that for a few weeks now, and it always makes me smile. And then, on her way back to watching “Sesame Street,” she turned my little smile into a great big grin. She said “A B C D E F G.” It’s the first time she’s put together more than “A B C.” I’m so proud!

Sneaky chefs

There’s a great post at Vegan Lunch Box on how to sneak vegetables into your child’s diet. Among the suggestions from Jennifer and her readers:

  • Use a blender to add cooked kale to pizza sauce. I’d imagine it would work just as well with spaghetti sauce, too!
  • Add spinach to fruit smoothies. I don’t know if I could actually do this. But they say blueberries hide the spinach very well.
  • Add mashed sweet potatoes to pancakes. I had some sweet potato pancakes at a restaurant once, and they were great. I’ll probably try this.
  • Baked goods made with shredded carrots and zucchini. I love carrot cake and zucchini bread, so I’m not sure why this hadn’t occurred to me. Poppy loves bread, so I’m pretty sure she’d eat a zucchini muffin.
  • In slightly related news: The Laptop Lunch photo pool on Flickr is making me hungry. I just bought one of these little guys for Rockford. I’ve been falling down on the job with packing his lunches, and thus I keep seeing the on-campus cafe popping up in the check register. I’m pretty excited about the Laptop Lunch. Because it’s adorable and I’m a sucker for tiny containers.

    Broadening my horizons

    I’ve made a concentrated effort this week to look at non-selfportrait photos. Being in the 365 days group on Flickr, that can be difficult to do. But it seems to be worth it.



    16 favorites, 03/16/07nichole_e.


    1. Running for the Plane. Rockford loves Legos, which has given me a soft spot for the little plastic fellas. I love how travel-weary this guy looks as he rushes to make his flight.

    2. Behold the power of monkey cake. The expressions on those boys’ faces is priceless. The one on the left looks almost frightened of the cake monkey.

    3. Day One Hundred Fifty-Three: Connection. I like the way the intimacy in this photo is apparent even while the camera maintains its distance. And the angle is cool, too.

    4. 9. This one has great colors, and there’s something about that barrel that I like.

    5. Untitled. Poppy loves balloons, and I really liked the vibrancy of this.

    6. 36: Time to get serious. This is an older self-portrait from one of my favorite Flickr folks. Reluctant Suburbanite’s photos are always dramatic and well-framed. And she’s lovely and nice to boot.

    7. Once again. I love the treatment on this. It looks like a painting. I’d love to know how he did it!

    8. …middle of the road, you see the darndest things… This is just too cool.

    9. 141: Dance like nobody is watching. Another Reluctant Suburbanite. I like the lines and the sentiment.

    10. nightlight.jpg. This is a great, romantic fairytale set-up. I’d imagine it took some time to put together.

    11. Spatz’s. My Aunt Judy makes some great garlic toast with Spatz’s. Mmmmm… garlic toast and cheese dip …

    12. Old Flint (HDR). Great, dramatic sky.

    13. Saginaw Train Bridge. Again, I love the sky here, and I love the composition.

    14. sharpie_m!ffy. The story behind this makes me laugh.

    15. desert.wind. I want to make a tutu like this for Pi.

    16. Day 96: There’s a reason for the world… Officially a Mom is another one of my favorites. Her photos — particularly the family shots — have so much heart.