Silly Boy

Every night before we go to bed, one of us checks on Patrick and puts a blanket back on top of him. We are never sure what we will find when we go check on him. Some nights he is squished in the corner of his crib, or his legs will be hanging out the sides. Last night we found this -- he was wearing an over-sized turtleneck with his pajamas and had somehow gotten one arm out of his shirt. Silly boy.

Finally!

Patrick's eye teeth finally broke through today! Hooray! Now he will have a normal smile and not be crabby for a few months until he gets his second molars.

Little Update on Patrick

Patrick is 18 months old now, and I thought I would give a quick update on him and his cute personality.

• He's healthy. We have been lucky enough to get through the winter so far with only one runny nose and a couple of coughs. No earaches or bronchitis or fevers so far.
• He's happy. Patrick wakes up happy and is pretty much happy all day long unless he gets really tired or really hungry. And then he is still quick to laugh.
• He eats well. For a toddler. He still eats the majority of his calories at breakfast, but dinner is usually not too much of a battle. He tries more and more to feed himself. Today at Wendy's he was a pro at dipping his french fries and chicken nuggets in the ketchup.
• He's a magician. Seriously. I don't know how this kid eats the way he does and has never choked. Today he put half of a chicken nugget in his mouth and just chewed, chewed, chewed, and then he swallows with his neck all strained forward. One day it was half a banana in just two bites. Reed think he is half PYTHON because he just swallows everything.
• He sleeps. We have mastered one nap a day, and he needs his 12 hours at night, so he pretty much sleeps from 7-7. This is heaven for us right now, because I don't think I have the good fortune for all of my babies to sleep like this.
• He is starting to talk. Like everything else developmentally, Patrick does things on his own time table. I don't know why I bother reading What to Expect; he's just going to do things when he's ready, including talking. The only frustrating time is when I am feeding him and he just points and does his whiny nasally noise. He does have a few words now, including: mom, dad, dog, go, yum-yum, and oddly, "clean up." He knows the animal noises of the alligator, lion, and monkey.
• He is still busy. If possible, more busy than before. But he is also starting to listen, which is nice. He kinda know what things are his to play with and what isn't. He doesn't always care, but he knows. The only thing I can't get him to really listen to is when the stove and oven are hot. Which is frustrating because I don't want his curiosity to get him hurt!
• He is making friends. We are making friends in the new ward, and so is Patrick. There are 4-5 little boys in the ward about his age, and we have had a few play dates. Miles lives just a couple streets away, and he play with him often. Miles is older and very verbal and bossy right now, so it is very amusing to watch them play.
• He loves nursery. As long as mom doesn't come anywhere near him.
• He finally gives kisses! But don't ask him to cuddle unless the puppy movie is on. He loves the puppy movie (Milo and Otis), and it is the only thing he will watch. He only watches it when I am either getting dressed or trying to cook dinner. He even laughs at his favorite parts.
  

Where Did This Come From?

A heart-shaped bruise has appeared on our son's leg. Huh.

They're Called World's Best Rolls

These are the first rolls I have attempted to make, and they turned out perfectly. Here is the recipe I used, exactly how it is on the blog I found.

2 c. whole milk (if you're in a pinch, you can use 2%, but whole is best. Don't use 1% or skim)
½ c. + 1 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1/3 c. (5 1/3 Tbsp.) butter
2 tsp. Kosher salt
2 pkgs. active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp.), preferably bread machine yeast
2/3 c. warm (105-115-degree) water
8-9 c. all-purpose flour
3 beaten eggs

Combine milk, 1/2 c. sugar, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter melts. It's salty. It's sweet. Yum.

Remove from heat. Allow to cool to lukewarm. I usually rub some ice cubes along the sides of the pan or pop the entire pan in a sink full of ice cubes to cool the mixture down because this step can take forever. This step is really important because if the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.

While the milk mixture is cooling, dissolve the yeast and 1 Tbsp. sugar in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes. If the yeast hasn't bubbled, you'll need to repeat this step.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 c. flour and milk mixture. Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Add yeast mixture and beat on high for 3 minutes.

Add beaten eggs. Why should you beat your eggs first? Same reason you should combine your dry ingredients before adding them to moist ingredients when making cookies and cakes--it ensures everything is well-mixed and can be evenly-distributed through your dough or batter. If you add the whole eggs, your dough may not be as consistent.

Stir in as much remaining flour as needed to make a soft dough. This dough should be very soft--it will be coming away from the sides of the bowl, but it will still stick to your finger when you touch it. Don't worry, it will firm up during the rising process. Part of what makes these rolls so good is that they're so soft and light; if you add too much flour, they will be heavy and dense. Place the bowl in a warm place and cover with a clean towel; allow to rise 1 hour.

Punch down dough. Lightly flour your work surface and turn dough out onto surface. Divide in half.

Spray 2 9x13 glass pans with cooking spray. Roll first portion of dough into a rectangle and then cut it into 12 equal-sized pieces. I like to use a pizza cutter because it has a blade on each side, so it cuts right through dough without sticking to the blade. This dough should be very easy to work with, almost like playdough. Shape each piece into a ball and place in prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough in the second pan.

Cover with a clean cloth and allow to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes. When dough has about 15-20 minutes to go (depending on your oven), preheat oven to 375.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden-brown. When done, remove from oven. Rub a stick of cold butter over the tops of the rolls. You must now eat one. Now. While it's hot. Then pop the rest into a bowl and no one will ever know that you cheated.


These really aren't "good for you" rolls, but they sure are tasty. We all had one hot out of the oven, and we are going to have some tonight with BBQ beef. I'm pretty sure this is a no-fail recipe, because I'm at high-altitude, and I have had problems before with the consistency of my breads, but they recipe came out perfect. And it wasn't too difficult, either. Just a couple added steps. But this is the only recipe I will ever use for breads I think. It is also great for cinnamon or orange rolls, and next week I am going to try it in regular loaf pans.

I would say "good luck" to any one who try this, but you don't need it! The recipe is great!

Awesome Date Night

We had a fantastic date night last night! Patrick was at Grandma and Grandpa Haight's having a sleepover. Reed and I went to dinner at a fabulous Japanese steakhouse for his work "holiday party." This is the kind of restaurant where they cook your food on a grill at your table and the chef does all sorts of tricks and fancy handwork. We also had sushi, which Reed loved, but I'm still learning to love.


Since dinner was on the house, we decided to splurge and go to a movie. We went to see Avatar 3D, and I must say it was awesome and well worth the money and late night. We are very happy that we went to the 3D version, too. I was mostly interested in this movie just because of all the hype, but now I understand what all the hype was about. The graphics and imagery is amazing, to say the least. The story was good, but not the best ever told. It still kept us guessing though, and it was very entertaining. We haven't stayed up that late for a movie in a long time, and it was difficult waking up this morning, but I think we need a late night out every once in a while so we don't let ourselves get too soft and old!

My Goal

I've kept my New Year's goal for a whole week! Hooray for me!

Around the New Year, it's hard for me to not think of at least one think I want to work on for the next year. I only made one goal this year, and I wanted it to be something that I truly desired and that would be simple. My goal for 2010 is to read my scriptures every single day. I didn't set a specific amount or time. I just want to get in the habit of picking up my scriptures every day. And so far, I have done that seven days in a row! Which has definitely not happened since I had Patrick.

We are also getting pretty good at family scripture reading at night, and for two nights in a row now, Patrick has said "amen" at the end of our family prayer. (It amazes me, because I can't prompt him to say words, but he'll just say them out of nowhere.)

I hope everyone else is doing as well with your New Year's goals!

A Tour of our New House

Here is a short video tour of our new house.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_KU0TAZ9zE

For Grandma and Grandpa Cook

I took some videos of Patrick this morning because 1) he was in a good mood and 2) I know his Grandma and Grandpa and other families members might like to see this crazy kid! Most of it is just him being goofy, but you can hear him "talking" and being silly. They are too big to upload here, so I made some YouTube links.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3_IpuHk7M4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHqZvKwHIqU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyUELSEqRc0

Pictures from Christmas