El Nino's Big Adventure

This was my first Mother's Day. (My daug and I thought other years counted but that seems to be just between us.) I was fortunate to have my own mother with me on this, my first, Mother's Day. El nino, our daug, and Dad gave me flowers, a card, and lovely photos of el that I've only seen on the computer. Now I have prints to put in a photo album! We took a little family trip to the Noguchi Museum http://www.noguchi.org/, a lovely small sculpture museum the artist designed himself with a beautiful Japanese garden. Then we came home and Dad made Mom and Grandma an elegant dinner. It was a lovely, lovely Mother's Day.

El is sitting up on his own (though it is for less than a minute at a time). But he's getting better at it every day. Daddy put together his high chair (a gift from my sangha) and he loves it! El will be able to sit in his high chair and watch mommy cook. Wow, I can make something that takes more than a couple of minutes to reheat in the microwave! Being able to cook is one of the things I took for granted before el was born and has been particularly challenging now that I have a baby. El's dad and I have a finite amount of time together during the week. So I don't want to spend my Sundays with him cooking for the week to come. So I usually eat salads or reheat leftovers from the day before or buy a slice of pizza, super quick dinners is about all I can do.

I did recently, however, start to make quiche while el napped. He woke up in the middle of the process, and I put him in the bjorn while I finished cooking. (I can put him on a play mat, but he's not quite ready for that when he wakes up from a nap). While I was rolling out the dough for the quiche shell, el got his hands in the flour. I didn't feel very graceful trying to complete the process with el between me and the counter. His daddy manages somehow but then again, he's a chef. He will always have a grace in the kitchen that I cannot match.

So now we venture into a new phase of life in the kitchen with el. The high chair will bring some new wonders to explore. Happy cooking.