We are the champions!

After months and months, Isaac slept most of the night and only got up once. And I dealt with it - no midnight feeding. This is a HUGE change to the hourly wake ups that Laura was dealing with.

I feel pretty bad that we had not been successful before yet might have been. Did my involvement make the difference? Just a change in our strategy? The space heater? Who knows. Whatever it is, hopefully we can keep it going. In the mean time I am calling our winning streak of one to be record setting. 

Waffles!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Sliced fresh strawberries or syrup

Directions:
In a bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder. In another bowl, lightly beat egg yolks. Add milk, butter and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until combined. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter.

Bake in a preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions until golden brown. Serve with strawberries or syrup.

Yield: 10 waffles (about 4-1/2 inches).

Copied from tasteofhome

What you have?

It's funny how different Alice's speaking is in just a short amount of time. Well, short to me. Significant to her. For example a year ago, if she thought that you were eating something that she wanted she come over and say "What you have? What there?". Now she'll say things like "Perhaps if we go into the sunroom we would have to put on our coat, eventually." Well, not all of the words are perfectly clear and a lot of time it's a stream of words, but you get used to it.

She had troubles with her S's among other things. "I'd like a 'pecial 'pecial 'oy" (special special toy). Things like that. My example might be a bit off - my brain throws away the original words and just keeps the translation. It's funny because if we listen to older recordings her accent is different and we have trouble understanding her, even if we didn't at the time.

This is a long story to say that I find her accent, and her of course, endearing.

The things kids learn

Alice just now:

"Daddy! Tay here in the other 'oom. You need to tay here if you want teets (treats)."

I blame Laura. But I really want treats so I'll make sure I'm in the other room. 

A crafty one

As Alice grows and learns more, I'm starting to glimpse what trouble my future holds. She seems quite clever. We could say A = B and B = C, and she'll right away ask doesn't that mean A = C? Yes, the logic skills are there at a young age. She'll even figure out the things we leave out and ask about those. I foresee her logicing out of some kind of punishment as she gets older. (Yes, I am aware I just made up a word). 

Now, for no other reason, here's a picture of what I see from the bus. Could be worse. 

We are fam-ah-lee!

It's funny. This blog used to be (mostly) about coding, school, things that pissed me off. Some of it still is, but mostly when I find myself sitting down to post something I've usually got a smile on my face. Not a rant, not a demon to defeat. Just a wife and a couple of kids to care for, play with, and enjoy meals with. It seems like the most pure and simplest of pleasures - to be with the ones you love the most.

Moments with Alice with the sheer glee in her face when she asked to play with Benny's spaceship or when I gave her the remote for the camera during our Christmas photo session (yes, I know it's January 11th. We're a bit late.). Isaac's joy of banging nesting ball halves together or the gentleness in which he bows his head to touch foreheads with me. Laura's skills at changing the words of a song on the fly to bring laughs or her taking us all out to play in the snow in the woods of Mer Bleue.

Despite all of the crap going on in the world, or maybe because of it, how we can spend a day together is pretty freaking awesome. I have no idea how I ever became so lucky.

The cost of karma

Yesterday while waiting at the airports cell phone lot to pick up my brother someone asked if I had any jumper cables. After double checking, yes I did and I'm sure my brother didn't mind waiting a little. The man offered to pay for my parking ticket that I'd need to get to drive to him. 

So, I found the guy, and after a couple of minutes I got him started. At that point I refused to let the guy pay for the ticket because he had enough trouble. In the end the ticket didn't cost me anything, probably because I had been in the pay lot less than 15 minutes. 

Is this me being super nice? Not really. It's me paying back in a tiny tiny way all those random strangers (and friends and family!) that have helped me out when I really needed it. Usually a helping hand costs the person offering it almost nothing nothing but is invaluable to the one receiving it.