31 December 2007

white christmas



like last year, we traveled to denver to visit carl's family. we woke up on xmas morning to a fresh blanket of snow. it was so beautiful, and the snow kept falling for most of the day. cosmo helped carl shovel the driveway, and we did a little sledding in the street.



15 December 2007

dominoes



cosmo kept saying "da-no" for dominoes, and we were getting confused, so i tried to teach him how to say the word. here's how it went...

mama: cosmo, say "dah"
cosmo: dah!
mama: ok, say "me"
cosmo: me!
mama: good, now say "no"
cosmo: no!
mama: great, now say "dah me no"
cosmo: mommy no!

funny how those words just roll off the tongue...

13 December 2007

making marks

i've been giving cosmo more opportunities to express himself visually. we have a nice space in the workshop for him to paint, and in the house he works with markers, chalk and crayons. one day last week his drawing took a dramatic turn. he went from large open swirly-type gestures, to making small careful shapes and slow lines. i think it was a one-off, i haven't seen him draw quite like that since, but it was really interesting. maybe these examples demonstrate what i'm saying. the one on the left is typical of what cosmo does with markers.

10 December 2007

musgrave love

our farmer's market is closed for the season, but they had a special scaled down version out at musgrave orchard just a few miles from town. we drove out on a frosty morning to check it out. there wasn't much produce available, (compared to the regular market) but it was nice to visit the orchard. we took home a bag of apples and i made this pie.



it was possibly the best pie i have ever tasted.

06 December 2007

"two"



cosmo turned two on the day after thanksgiving. he was thrilled to have his beloved uncles ch. and h. visiting from houston. carl made his now-famous-pumpkin-bread in a cake pan, and we topped it with whipped cream and a few blueberries. i couldn't find the birthday candles, so we had to use some household/emergency ones i had in the cabinet. he managed to blow them out this year, i think. or, maybe i was too busy snapping photos to actually witness that for myself.

two also happens to be one of cosmo's favorite words right now. he pronounces it really well, and uses it to indicate most quantities larger than one.



two is also the number of fish oil tablets that cosmo gets to take each day. i was concerned that cosmo might not be getting enough omega 3, 6 & 9 fatty acids, which are said to be important for the developing brains of small children. so, i got him some fish oil supplements designed for kids. they are similar to a vitamin e capsule, and they burst in his mouth when he bites down on them. i tasted one, and it did not taste good. they have some lemon oil in them, but it does not mask the nasty fish oil taste and odor. surprisingly, cosmo LOVES these. he knows that he gets two, and he gets all giggly and giddy when we hand them to him, and chuckles as each one pops inside his mouth.
"how many do you get cosmo?"
"two! tee hee hee"
he refers to them as fish, asks for them every time he sees the bottle, and gets upset if we refuse (because he has already had them that day). luckily, offering a clementine instead is enough to get him to forget about them...for a little while anyway.