Browse Author: beakatude

Dinner Outings

We’ve had really pleasant weather these past two nights so we went out to eat both nights.  On Wednesday, we went down to Super Duper for a tasty tasty burger and garlic fries.

I also love that they have jars of pickles next to the ketchup so you can have as many pickles you want with your burger.  Yum.  The also serve beer and wine too!

Afterward, we stopped at SMALL, which is a small bodega-like shop on our way home.  It’s a neat little store that stocks a bunch of pre-packaged products for the people who work nearby and eat at their desk.  What’s a little weird is that they also have a beer/wine/coffee bar that’s open until 9 pm.  So we stopped in for a drink while Kumquat slept.

On Thursday night, we also went out to Paragon for dinner out on the patio.  Kumquat loved all the noise, lights, and the Giants game that was on the TV overhead.

She was also really interested in the other people around us and stayed awake long enough to socialize with the waitress and the people seated next to us.  It’s good to know that we can still go out once in a while.

 

Liquid Gold

It’s Day Two of my 5-day course on Lactation and Breastfeeding.  It’s not for me personally since my little fatty is well-fed and eats like a champ but it’s training for work.  Being in the Bay Area where more and more mothers are breastfeeding, it’s something that can’t be avoided when I’m working on feeding with the babies at work.  So, I’m using my annual $750 education money and my 5 education days to take this course.   Perhaps I can use the hours toward getting a certification as a Lactation Consultant one day.  Could it be a part-time job for me later on when Kumquat needs me at home more?!  Anyway, the photo above is my milk on ice since I still need to pump while I’m away from home and my ice pack wasn’t doing enough to keep the “liquid gold” chilled.  Pretty weird that I have to pump in the corner of the room while I’m listening to all the anatomy and physiology of breastfeeding.  I sure hope they don’t get the bright idea of using me as a demo.

By the way, the course is being held next to Berkeley Marina at HS Lordships restaurant, which has a huge ballroom upstairs with a 270-degree view of the bay.  We also get a full Vegas-style buffet complete with crab legs, prime rib, and a huge assortment of desserts.  The view is so nice but makes home seem so far away.  OK.  Gotta go now…they just put out the veggies and dip for our afternoon break.  Heh heh.

My Little Pumpkin

It’s Kumquat’s first Fall and Halloween’s coming up so I thought it was time to do the pumpkin patch thing like a good mommy.  I debated for a minute but in the end I couldn’t resist and we went yesterday afternoon.  Besides, who doesn’t like a chubby baby sitting in the middle of a bunch of pumpkins?!

We got some photos with her and luckily she smiled for this one.

She was pretty distracted by the pumpkins and the hay and the other kids and the people and the cars and so on.  Oh well, she’s still cute. 😉

Happy Sweet Potato Day!

Kumquat is one week away from turning 6 months old and in honor of the appearance of her first tooth, I decided to start her on solids today.  For her first meal, I wanted to make sweet potato puree so we took a little trip to the Farmers’ Market and picked up a couple for $1.50.  What a deal!

This was my first attempt at making my very own baby food and it was pretty fun.  Here’s what I did:

After washing them, I wrapped them in foil.

They went in the toaster oven at 325 degrees and cooked for about an hour and a half.

Yeah, that’s a long time.  I think it needed to be baked at 350 instead.

When they were done, they looked so tasty – like Thanksgiving tasty.

Once they cooled, I cut them in half and they went into the ricer.

It was super easy to get the sweet potato mashed and looked pretty cool when it came out like spaghetti.

The sweet potato came out nice and smooth while all the “strings” and skin stayed in the ricer.

When I mixed it up, it was pretty thick so I thinned out a small portion with a tablespoon of water at a time until it was a thin puree.  It’s so simple and nutritious and without anything extra added to it.

Here’s the final product along with Kumquat’s cute little spoon. 🙂

After I fed Kumquat and knew that it was passable to her, I prepared the rest of the batch and it all went into the ice cube tray and in the freezer.

When it was all frozen, they popped out so easily!

They all went into a freezer bag and now they’re in little 3/4-ounce portions. Neato.

It’s a little bit of work for a whole lot of awesome.  I think Kumquat liked it and as a therapist who feeds babies for a living, this was an exciting day for me too. 🙂

Back to Cali

On Wednesday (10/10), Jason and Jia drove up from Southern California after returning from their month-long Asia trip.  They moved into their new apartment in Foster City and bought some new furniture.  The rest of their stuff arrived on Thursday morning.

We drove down to see them on Wednesday night and helped assemble their dining table set so that we could have dinner together.  They live right next door to a 99 Ranch so I walked over to buy some meat and other items and then we sat down for a hot pot dinner.  Yum!

We’re so happy to have Jason back in California after so many years and we’re so excited that Jia will be starting a new life on the west coast with him.  Ah, it’s so nice to have family nearby.

Reese is Two!

Today is Reese’s 2nd birthday!  Happy Birthday, Big Girl!

On Sunday morning, we went to Yerba Buena Gardens Children’s Playground for her party.  The playground is really nice and it’s next to the carousel, which Reese loved.  We got there too late for a ride but was there to play at the playground and even got story time too.

It was a beautiful sunny day and perfect for a little party.

We brought Koa along too but he was kicked out because apparently dogs aren’t allowed on the grounds.  Bummer.

It was fun to watch all the kids play and Kumquat loved being out there watching all the activity.

Reese is allergic to eggs and has only eaten vegan cake up until now but on this birthday, she tried her first real cake made with one egg in the recipe.  She ate it all up and had frosting all over her face for the rest of the day.

During lunch, the kids played in the grassy area nearby.  Can’t wait to see Kumquat running around with everyone.

Reese spent her afternoon picking little flowers and running around with her brother with only one shoe on.  Sometimes I miss the carefree days of being a kid.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Reesie!