Baxter's New Tricks: 15-months old

One thing is for sure: Baxter is never boring.  It seems like he picks up a new skill everyday, and it's amazing to me how fast he's learning things.  He enjoys mischief and has inherited our sense of humor.  In other words, Mighty Mouse has turned into Jokey Smurf.

Here are some new things Bax has been doing:

He's learned how to "smile".  Sometime he'll do it on command, sometimes he won't.  But when he starts doing this cheesy smile, there's no stopping him!  He'll bust it out at random times at home and at the store, expecting a big round of applause afterwards.

He has a Zoolander face.  We like to put random things on him (hats, glasses, toys) and tell him to "go show mommy/daddy!" to which he'll walk over to the aforementioned person and pose for a bit.

The half-smile.  This isn't really a "trick", this is more or less the look he gives us all the time.  To me, it's a look that says "I tolerate you.  Now give me some raisins/a straw to chew on/cheddar bunnies!"

Remember when Baxter was 6-months old and I made a video of him signing for "more"?  All the progress with signing stopped when he learned that he could get his point across by pounding the table (thanks, mom).  I tried signing again with him, and lo and behold this week he started signing for "more" again, usually followed by a point toward the bag of raisins.  Today, however, he signed for "more" after I gave him some cuddly kisses, which made me feel like the World's Best Mommy.

Bax has also developed an ear for music and dancing.  Every morning he points to the Vers (our iPod dock) and starts dancing.  Baxter's version of dancing is bouncing up and down with his knees, snapping his fingers, and sometimes swaying side to side or shaking his head.  I'm trying to get him to incorporate more b-boy moves, or at least the Robot.  Here's a clip of him dancing with a burp cloth for a cape that my mom put on him.

At 15-months, Bax has learned how to blow snot rockets, flush the toilets, pick up food with his play tweezers, successfully bring a spoon or fork ladled with food to his mouth (but hasn't quite mastered getting the food on the utensil), take his diaper off, take his shirt off, and knows that his socks and shoes go on his feet.  He can point to his eyes, ears, nose, tummy, belly button, knee, feet, titi, and "boobs".  (No comment.)  His favorite games are playing chase, sliding into the almost-splits on the kitchen floor in his socks, hiding in the curtains, and getting tickled by Mike.  His favorite toys are anything he can fill up and dump (like blocks and a bucket), Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl from Toy Story (he has Woody and Bullseye, but will almost always grab Jessie first), and sorting shapes into holes, such as with puzzles or his wooden tool set.  He still loves his lovey blanket(s), and thinks it's funny to give people pulsatile squeezes with hugs.

Where has the time gone?  He's grown up so fast!

Turning a new leaf

We are pleased to announce the newest addition to our family of kitchen appliances . . . the Vitamix 5200.  We've been wishing for a new blender since our current one (Kitchen Aid) was a piece of junk that could hardly crush ice or smelled like it was about to explode whenever we used it.  We used it primarily to make smoothies, and when we started drinking Odwalla's Superfood everyday, we thought it would probably be a good investment to get a better blender and make them at home.  My friend Hillary got one a while ago and posted her recipe for her Green Drink, which we are excited to try.  Matt and Angie brought their Vitamix over during Christmas and made everyone Shrek Juice, and we were amazed at how creamy and smooth the drinks were.  Enter the traveling Vitamix road show at our local Costco, and BAM! Proud new parents.

I've also been obsessed with reading this particular blog called Young House Love for a while.  I was initially drawn to their blog because of their DIY design ideas, some of which we incorporated into our office decor last weekend with hanging frames on the wall.  After reading through more of their blog entries, I realized they were a lot like Mike and I -- a young(ish) couple with a young baby, similar design aesthetics, and have an interest in being green.  It reignited our desire to be more earth friendly and leave less of a carbon footprint, so I've started switching out even more of our products to greener alternatives, such as soaps, toothpaste, and making our own housecleaning solutions.  Part of this was also because of articles about triclosan, which is common in antibacterial soaps and toothpaste, as altering hormone regulation in animals.  (My Sensodyne toothpaste didn't contain triclosan, but all my handsoaps in the house did.)

The whole organic overhaul in the kitchen is a work in process, but the big thing is that we're more aware of things we buy before we bring it home.  I've put things back on the shelf at stores because the packaging wasn't recyclable.  I've also started to become more wary about handling BPA-laced receipts, which researchers are finding have waaaaaay more BPA in them than the ol' Nalgene and plastic baby bottles that prompted a big recall last year.  We also got rid of all our Tupperware and replaced them with Snapware Glasslock container sets we purchased at Costco.  I'm also getting rid of my BPA-free Nalgene bottles and getting these Lifefactory glass water bottles instead since sometimes my water tastes like plastic and I think the glass would clean better in the dishwasher.  Mike uses Sigg stainless steel water bottles, but I have an absolute hatred the sound of scratching metal (putting silverware away always makes my ears cringe), so I think the glass would be a better option for me.

So that's just some of the green renovation being done in our happy little abode these days.  I'm hoping to get our crappy composter back in working order soon and either get Baxter potty trained or successfully strip his cloth diapers so we can further reduce trash waste.  And do P90X.  And put more money away for college/new house/retirement.  And have another baby and not sacrifice my kidneys.  And save the world.  Easy enough, right?