Monday, March 30, 2009

Ba-Ba Bahbit-Baht? Dis? Dis?

Thought I'd share a little snippet of Kira-speak for you.  We spent some time watching the basketball games last afternoon.  


Me:  Look!  There's a ball!  That guy is bouncing the ball!  He threw the ball!  He makes a basket! Yay!
Kira:  Baht?  Baht?  (Kira makes the sign for ball)
Me:  Yes that's right, it's a ball...
Kira:  Bahbit! (throws hands up in the air)
Me:  Yes!  He made a basket!
Kira: (claps, pauses, pats chest) ba-ba. 
Me:  Yes, you're the baby.
Kira:  Ba-ba baht?  (points to tv) Dis? Dis? Baht Dis?
(pause, then off of my lap and on to the next thing)

Kira also knows most of the time about her Het (head), Ice (eyes), Ba-ba Ba-ba (baby beluga), chuice (shoes), Tiktyu (thank you), and the incessant Dis? Dis? Dis? Dis? (either a I want whatever is out of my reach or tell me what its' name is over and over again).  It's great to see her communicating more clearly, although now that she knows we understand the angrier she gets when she can't have something.  Can the terrible twos start at 13 months?

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Kira on the Move!


Kira is officially a toddler this week. She is definitely walking (more like running) and talking more than ever. She is working on her greeting skills this week by announcing HIEEE!!!! and BYEEE! to everyone within earshot at the grocery store. She can spend 15 minutes waving and jabbering to the "boids" in our trees in the backyard. She also loves to play jokes on Mom and Dad by calling us by each others' names and cackling. When she walks, she walks with her arms outstretched like frankenstein, usually wiggling her fingers, bidding whatever is in her path to move to her.

With toddlerhood, of course, has come a myriad of new behaviors. Some of these are very sweet and loving, as when she tries to brush puppy's hair, or takes her hair ribbons out of her hair and pins them on my head. On the other hand, she now gets mad when you take things away from her, throwing her head and body back and forth with incredible force. This morning, I took the raisin box away from her and the response sounded like she was mortally wounded. And the fun, I hear, is that I can just expect it to get worse. Yikes!

In other news, we have a volcano that's erupting near us. But don't worry, we are somewhat prepared and now that the equinox has passed, we alaskans are all in a much happier mood.

I've been lax on baby food mondays. Let's talk about beverages. When K gets a snotty nose, I've learned now to give her a little bit of weak herbal tea that's lukewarm -- it warms the nasal passages and gets the snot out without having to use the evil bulb. My favorite is lemon echinacea, because we all know that the battle with day care crud is ongoing, especially in winter.

For our KFC Monday this week, I did slow cooker pork tacos:
1 4 oz can of dried chiles
2 tbsp chile powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 can of chunky salsa
1 lb pork roast
1 bag of dried kidney beans
Water to cover
salt, oregano and pepper to taste

Fixins:
Tortillas
Cheese
Extra salsa

Take all the ingredients and dump it into a slow cooker in the morning. Put the slow cooker on low obviously. Check periodically to confirm that the beans haven't taken all of the water -- if so, add a half cup of water and check in an hour. It's supposed to take nine hours, but I was able to raise the slow cooker to high at the five hour mark and things were tender by 7. You'll know that it's done when you press onto the pork with a wooden spoon and the pork just falls apart.

When the pork is done, take the pork out and shred with a fork. Make tacos using the beans, cheese, salsa and pork. Yum!
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

My first post using Plinky

I'd probably split between AK, HI and vacations. I love the nature of Hawaii and think it would be a fantastic place to retire. On the other hand, I love the spirit and snow of Alaska (more general, the mountain west).