Ben has started to get cabin fever - He will actually get cranky when we’re inside for too long, and it’s probably a good thing to get me out of the house. Great for Ben, not so great for the housework So we’ve discovered the play area at Brentwood mall! He loves being able to crawl around on the bouncy carpet-covered floor (and not hurt himself if he falls), pull himself up and cruise along all the toys, turn all the spinny things, crawl through tunnels and slide down the slides (with mom’s help, of course).

I’ve had a blast watching him ‘run off’ to check things out,  and love that he turns back to make sure I’m still watching. Then he’ll smile, wave and keep going - boy, it tugs on your heart strings. The other mothers (who always look like they’re just happy to get a break) must know I’m a rookie for tearing up.

It’s been interesting to see him interact with the other kids, as well as how other kids interact with him. There are older girls who think of him as a ‘toy’ (much like the dentist’s neice in Finding Nemo - needless to say, this needs supervision), then the slightly-older-than-Ben kids who like to come check him out and make him giggle. Lastly, the kids that Ben likes to approach that tend to shy away from him.

Yesterday though, Ben had his first run in with a playground bully - a 4 year old boy and his older brother who almost seemed fixated on Ben; running circles around him, secretly chatting and pointing at him, at one time standing over him while he crawled to pin his waist down, and finally ending with a’run-by’ and a sideswipe with the knee to Ben’s right temple.

While I was just a few steps away from Ben, it’s tough to know when boys are just being boys and how long to let them play before intervening, and ultimately, Ben will need to learn to fend for himself.  He just looked so innocent and unphased by the situation, while it felt for me that those kids were just being…well…a**holes (forgive my choice of words to describe child, but it’s hard to think of another word when you’re an upset mother!).

It’s a bitter pill to swallow, knowing that there is a very good chance my little guy will often face these kinds of people in his lifetime, but all I can do is give him the right tools to become confident in himself. When does he have to start daycare again? Maybe I could convince Chad to let me stay at home with Ben until he’s an adult…

Life has (very suddenly) become even more hectic now that Ben is mobile. It seemed like he was trying for months to lunge forward into a crawl and then in the space of 2 weeks, he was crawling, sitting, standing, cruising along furniture…and teething! Needless to say, the added excitement for him together with 2 new teeth (total 8 ) has meant some seriously sleepness nights in the York household.

It’s starting to dawn on me that my time at home with Ben is coming to end. Emotionally (together with the fatigue), I often feel like a frayed nerve when I see little things that mean he is learning to be independent too - choosing solid food over breastfeeding, wanting to crawl off and play with something that has caught his eye, wanting to be held by other people instead of me. Sigh. I know I know…all these things must happen *Timbit wipes a tear from her eye*

Ingredients:

• 800g flour + 200g semolina
• ~4tbl olive oil
• ~1tbl seasalt
• 2 packets yeast
• ~500ml water

Couple of tricks I learnt:

• Make a well in the middle of the flour to pour the water into and slowly mix the water into the surrounding flour with a fork.
• Par-cook the pizza dough on the BBQ until the crust hardens (literally takes a minute or so) before baking in the oven

A few weeks ago, Chad and I stumbled upon David Rocco’s Dolce Vita that had been accidentaly PVR’d from the Food Network, and we’ve been hooked ever since. He’s a bit cheeseball, but his recipes and tips from Italy always leaves us salivating and wanting to visit the Italian country side.

Check out his site which not only provides his recipes, but also his favourite places to visit and eat at in Italy.

Saw a really interesting / scary episode of ‘Doc Zone’ a few weeks ago about how chemicals in our every day products affect more than we think. Here is a synopsis from the CBC site:

The Disappearing Male is about one of the most important, and least publicized, issues facing the human species: the toxic threat to the male reproductive system. The last few decades have seen steady and dramatic increases in the incidence of boys and young men suffering from genital deformities, low sperm count, sperm abnormalities and testicular cancer.

At the same time, boys are now far more at risk of suffering from ADHD, autism, Tourette’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, and dyslexia.

The Disappearing Male takes a close and disturbing look at what many doctors and researchers now suspect are responsible for many of these problems: a class of common chemicals that are ubiquitous in our world.

Found in everything from shampoo, sunglasses, meat and dairy products, carpet, cosmetics and baby bottles, they are called “hormone mimicking” or “endocrine disrupting” chemicals and they may be starting to damage the most basic building blocks of human development.

To read more, click here. You’ll also find a link to watch the full 45 minute episode on the home page.

If you happen to be at Gourmet Warehouse, be sure to drop by the Latin Organics Cafe right beside it for a healthy lunch. Mostly a distributor of Columbian coffee and local organic food, they recently opened up a cafe serving what they distribute. It’s probably on par price-wise with your local Artigiano, but I have to say, I’ve never eaten such sweet tomatoes on freshly baked bread before. Really worth giving it a try =)

If you’re interested in local food communities too, be sure to check out Edible Vancouver.

Yield 24 cupcakes

1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake for about 17 minutes or until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Bailey’s Frosting

3 to 4 cups confections sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)
Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes until fluffy and light.. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.
Ice and decorate.

If you saw the Oscars, you would have seen The Cove. win ‘Best Documentary’. It follows an  team of activists, filmmakers and freedivers as they embark on a mission to penetrate a hidden cove in Taiji, Japan, shining a light on a dark secret. Utilizing hidden microphones and cameras in fake rocks, the team uncovers how this small seaside village serves as a horrifying microcosm of massive ecological crimes happening worldwide. The result is a provocative mix of investigative journalism, eco-adventure and arresting imagery, adding up to an unforgettable story that has inspired audiences worldwide to action.

It left us really sad and definitely more aware of the Aquariums we’ll choose to visit with Ben.

I’ve definitely noticed a slow down in my brain function of late. I’ve become so forward thinking about what Ben would need for the day, that I often rush out of the house with everything he needs, only to realize part-way there that I’ve forgotten to eat breakfast. Shucks, even doing simple math or spelling a word (something which I used to pride myself on) takes its toll.

So I’ve made a promise to myself to do at least one creative thing a day - no matter how simple - just to get the juices going. I started today slowly with a simple Photoshop tutorial. Hopefully, the cobwebs will get a good dusting!

Back from our first family vacation in Playa del Carmen, and Ben was an absolute champ! He loved all the stimulation - From regular strolls on 5th Avenue, to all the attention given by the locals, we loved watching him giggle and interact with everyone (maybe he picked up some Spanish?)! Even more so, it was like he grew so much in the past week alone and suddenly instead of a baby, we have a little boy on our hands - He is able to sit on his own (graduating from the Bumbo/bouncy chair to a high chair) and stand up by leaning on something. He wants to reach for everything (resulting in a mommy wearing a vanilla soy latte on one occasion) and has definitely learnt the advantage of his opposing thumb to nimbly handle objects. After some convincing, he loved being in the water and I can’t wait to take him for his first swimming lesson in a couple of weeks.

The introduction of solids in his diet is going well and he readily opens his mouth for approaching food. He managed to grab a slice of lime one day and for some reason, really enjoyed sucking on it! Maybe it’s because Mexican limes are sweeter or it soothed his 2 new teeth? I’m sure there is something in a rule book about having your baby’s first food be citrus, but there hasn’t seemed to be any reaction to it since (phew!). Unfortunately, the work of getting him used to his potty has become a distant memory and I’ll give it a try again once things have settled down back home.

It really is amazing that once you think your baby has learnt everything they can for their age, you’ll blink and suddenly there is something new! Here is a video from this morning of Ben in his high chair, handling a mandarin and almost understanding what I was saying:

…Almost a whole different kid from a video taken just 3 months ago!