For Love of Acelgas

Since this is the page where I get to brag about my kids, today I'm demonstrating not only what exceptionally awesome eaters my kids are, but passing on the love in the form of one of my favorite, easy recipes, incorporating one of everyone's late winter/early spring vegetables--acelgas!  (Acelgas are either kale or chard, I believe.  If someone would like to clarify in the comment section, I'd appreciate that.)

Didn't know that acelgas were one of your favorite vegetables? 

I didn't, either, until about 2 years ago.  A friend of mine steamed some for me and I was hooked.  It's so simple.  Clean as much chard/kale as you want (clean more than you think you want, as it will lose considerable size after being steamed), put a tiny amount of water in a pot, put that to boiling, throw in the chard/kale, shake some salt on top, cover it, steam it for just a few minutes (not too long, or all the nutrients get steamed right out) and voila--delicious vegetable!    Or use a steamer basket. 

It's even better if you poach an egg or two on top of the chard/kale while it's steaming.  Instant lunch!

But the acelgas are just one ingredient from today's vegetarian, toddler-friendly feast.  Step two is even more exciting! 

Background:  one of the things I miss most about the US is the abundance of Asian restaurants that serve peanut sauce over noodles.  I've taken measures into my own hands and make my own. 

Beware if you do try to follow the instructions:  I rarely measure my ingredients (cooking is so much more fun when things are just tossed together in the skillet), but years and years ago I did get the base of this sauce from a cookbook, and I think this is how it goes: 

     Peanut Noodles
     1/2 cup onions
     2 cloves garlic
     1/4 cup peanut butter
     1/4 cup soy sauce (or less . . . I'm thinking less might be better, but when my unmeasured sauces turn out bland, it's usually because I wasn't generous enough with the soy sauce). 
      1 cup milk
      1 block tofu
      2 packages ramen noodles (without the seasoning packets)
      Valentina hot sauce (or Schirracha, but I live in Mexico and Valentina is a lot easier to come by)

      Sautee the onions and then the garlic in a large skillet.  Once transparent, add the peanut butter.  Let that bubble up and then add the soy sauce and then the milk.  Let that reduce until it's a nice, saucy consistency.  I also always add a block of tofu, cut into cubes and then smushed (to look edible) once it's added to the skillet (either before or after adding the milk). 

     While that's thickening, cook and then drain the ramen noodles.  Once the sauce it thick, add the noodles to the sauce, and simmer a little longer so the noodles and sauce get to know one another. 

       To serve:  layer a healthy serving of steamed chard/kale on the bottom of a bowl and top it off with an even healthier serving of peanut noodles.  Splash on some hot sauce (if you're so inclined), and enjoy! 

       My 18-month old ate three servings of this today.  The four-year-old raved about how the noodles were delicious and after being prompted to try the leafy greens, declared them to be equally delicious.  However, truth be told, it did take her the better part of an hour to finish a 1/3 of a cup of those delicious noodles (with plenty of coaxing toward the end of said hour) and, apart from that initial taste, the greens went uneaten. 

       I think steamed acelgas are fantastic on their own and I think these noodles are great on their own.  But put them together and both the noodles and the acelgas are even more delicious.  It's a match made in heaven. 

       And we'll be eating it for the rest of the week, it looks like.  No complaints from me. 

We Didn't Really Fall Off the Planet

While I mentioned briefly giving up the blogs, that wasn't my intention.  And it still isn't. 

But with having one child that rarely takes naps and a husband who no longer works at night, finding time to blog without neglecting my most important relationships has been tricky.  I'm going to make time, though, because I've missed this! 

So what's happened with us in the last three months? 

• Joey walks!  Really this development is a little over a week old.  He was getting closer and closer for a few months, but I think peer pressure finally pushed him to bust out on his own.  Last Thursday, we were visiting his little buddy who just turned a year old (6 months younger than Joe) and also just learned to walk.  Joe--being the smart guy he is--must have thought, "well, shoot--if he can do it, I can do it."  And he did.  This afternoon before his nap, he and I walked around the block together.  This baby is officially a toddler now!

• His vocabulary is still minimal.  He does say "mama" (usually "mamamama") and I think he's usually referring to me.  He has said Clara a number of times, once clearly pronouncing the CL blend.  On Christmas Day, he said "more" but we haven't heard that since.  Last week he was consistently saying "pfffft" for poop, but he's lost interest in that now.  His only real consistency is that he barks at dogs. 
•  
• Despite the lack of words, he can communicate quite well. The other day I let him be completely naked, running around the house--no diaper.  After awhile, he toddled up to me, quite concerned, grunting and pointing.  It was quickly clear that he had peed on the floor and wanted it cleaned up.  Not bad for a guy with 3-word vocabulary! 
•  
• He's also following commands well.  The other day he was playing with his dirty diaper after I had it all folded up.  I asked him to go throw it in the trash can, not thinking that he really would.  However, he scooted himself down the hall, diaper in hand, all the way to the laundry room, and put that diaper right into the garbage can.  That, and a number of other instances in the last couple weeks have left me pretty impressed with the kiddo.  

Clara

• Just turned 4 last week. 
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• She's always been very protective of her purple sippy cup, even though, for the last year, I haven't let her drink from it very often.  However, after her birthday party, Joey got sick and that purple sippy cup was the only clean one I had on hand.  She readily handed it over to him and announced that she was too big for sippy cups now that she's four.  We have been prodding her in this direction, but not too heavily, so I was proud of her to come up with that (mostly) on her own.  
•  
• After listening to her Spanish when her abuelos and Tia Lili came to spend Christmas with us, Mario and I were both a bit concerned with how she'll fare at school when she starts in September.  We had been toying with the idea of sending her to a dance class for awhile.  With the additional incentive of helping her learn Spanish better, and the fact that she finally sounded interested in dance class, we went to try one out a month ago.  It was a mixed-age class, and while the registration lady said that it was for kids 3 and up, the next youngest girl had to be about 8.  The class was an hour and a half long, and Clara kept up surprisingly well with the older girls.  Despite not being prepared to have an almost-four-year-old in the class, the teacher accommodated her pretty well.  When the class was over, I asked her if she wanted to keep coming to dance class three times a week (she was allowed one demonstration class before we signed up).  She responded with a very enthusiastic "yes!"  But Joey was getting fussy, so my plan was to return the next day to sign her up.  

          That night, she decided that no, she really didn't want to go back to dance class after all.  I'm still not    sure what caused such a change of mind in just a few hours.  Maybe I had too much fun relaying how adorable she was to Mario that evening.  Or maybe, as she says, it was just "too much exercise."  Either way, Clara is no longer a dance student.

While initially disappointed, I was a bit relieved.  She wouldn't have really had much of a chance to speak in Spanish, and three days a week for nearly 2 hours at a stretch is really a lot for a four-year-old.  And quite likely way too much for the little brother. 

Finally it dawned on me that she attends Sunday school at the International Church, which is mostly in Spanish (as all the kids but Clara and her best friend speak only Spanish).  Then on Wednesdays when we're there for Bible study, Naty (her friend's babysitter) teaches art to the school kids, and she always includes Clara.  So she is getting about 2 hours of mostly solid Spanish every week.  I was hoping to also send her to catechism at our church on Saturdays, not that she's four and old enough for it, but I was just advised that it would be better to wait until the school year starts.  Nuts. 




However, since we've been stressing that she learn Spanish, she has improved by leaps and bounds in the last month.  I hope we haven't been pushing too hard.  But whatever is it, it's working!  She seems pretty  proud of herself, too.  

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I'll leave you with Clara and one of her stranger Carly Rae Jepsen impressions, with Joey dancing along.  Yep, he not only walks, he can dance! 

Watch Out, World!

I decided to convert the blue car into a "walker" for Joe.  Right away, he knew what to do with it.

In the last few days, it has become obvious that babyproofing the house isn't enough.  It's time to toddler-proof the house!

Happy Birthday, Boyo!

Two weeks ago, we celebrated Joey's first year of life.  Is it just me, or is the first year of any child's life the Longest Year Ever?  I'm very proud to announce that we successfully completed it, so on to Year #2! 

One month old!

12 months old!

We were planning on a very quiet celebration for Joe at home, but the day before his birthday one of my neighbors called (we get together regularly for a Bible study once a week) and asked if we weren't able to get together that day.  We usually meet on Friday and it was Monday, so I was NOT at all prepared to go. 
Then Panchita mentioned that Rosario had bought a cake to celebrate Joey. 

Well . . . in that case, I guess I can hurry up the kids' naps a bit so we can celebrate my son.  ;) 

Joey's first birthday turned out to be a surprise party--for me, too!

Rosario got these hats at a wedding the weekend before.  Clara thought they were great.  Joey . . . not so much.

Modeling the . . . parrot?

Not having had any experience with this before, Clara helped him blow out the birthday candle.

Mmmm . .  cake!  (And cracker, in Joey's case.)

My wonderful neighbors

Big Enough for the Playground

Joey is finally big enough to play on something at the playground, and I've got the video to prove it!

He starts at one end and scrambles his way to the other end and then shoots himself down the slide.  For the video, he was going rather slowly.  (He was pretty interested in the other girl on his jungle gym.)

You go, Joe!

He was just fine after going down the slide sooner than I expected.

Three-Year-Old Geography

While I've spent some time with other three-year-olds, I'm absolutely clueless about what is "normal" for a child of that age to pick up on geography.

My three-year-old has been blessed with probably more travel experiences than the average three-year-old, and this is starting to come out in her conversation.  A month ago, we were able to go on vacation to the Gulf coast of Texas.  Sitting on the beach, she turned to me and, in an incredulous tone, announced to me, "they're speaking English!"

Yes, yes they do.

Since then, she's been asking to go back to Texas.  And, as we have a visit to my parents' coming up soon, and this last week she added "Indiana" to her vocabulary.  I know she picked up in this in conversation, because I don't remember flat-out telling her that Grandma and Grandpa live in Indiana.  (What a smartie!)

She also knows that we live in Saltillo, and often asks to visit her abuelos in Mexico (the city, not the country).  Trying to explain that Mexico is both a city, a country is something I'm hoping to leave to her teachers.  I could see it blowing her mind at this point.  But then again, as we cross the border fairly frequently, she may be able to accommodate this into her worldview fairly easily--who's to say?

And she also knows where we're talking about when we mention Toluca (where her Tia Lili used to live and Mario had to spend a week in a few weeks ago) and Jojutla (where we have other relatives).

The other day she overheard someone speaking English somewhere and told me, "those are English people."  Instead of trying to blow her mind and explaining exactly what small fraction of English-speakers are, indeed, English people, I simply agreed with her.

Then I asked her, "are you an English person?"

She thought for a minute and then nodded.    

Random Thoughts About Not-So-Random Kids

Update on the kiddos:

Joey

• is finally sleeping through the night!  (Maybe I shouldn't write that here, so as not to jinx him.)  However, whenever he seems to get on a solid stretch and we decide that it's a good idea to put Clara back in the room with him, SOMETHING happens and he starts screaming like a banshee in the middle of the night. The last time we tried them sleeping in the same room, Clara fell out of bed.  She cried, waking him up, so he cried, which upset her even more.  It's this never-ending cycle of screaming children. I know we're not the only people in the world who have their very young children sleep together.  Tips?  Thoughts?   

• about two weeks ago, something finally clicked in his head and he realized that he does not HAVE to put everything he comes across in his mouth.  I can't begin to explain how much easier this has made my life.  And really, it happened like that, like a switch turned.  All of a sudden--BAM--no more foot-to-mouth syndrome.  It's wonderful!  

He insists on putting his feet on his highchair tray  Always.

• he has realized that he just might have the ability to pull himself up to standing (or even on his knees).  However, the only time this occurs to him is in the bathtub, which besides being the slippery hazard it is in most people's houses, is even more dangerous in ours as our bathtub is perched on a small metal table, at my waist level, in our laundry room.  I was hoping that I wouldn't have to put the tub on the floor for another year.  

• eats voraciously

• loves to swim, particularly on his belly and does a great frog kick.  I'm so excited that neither of my children are scared of the water (to date). 

• a few Sundays ago, I propped him into a standing position on the back of the pew at church (so he could see the people behind us better) and he held himself up for almost a minute.  Every couple of days I try that again, and he keeps supporting himself well.  Yesterday he even took three steps toward me while I was holding his hands!  Yikes!  Once he learns how to pull himself up, he'll be unstoppable!  I'll enjoy this stage while I can (because it's clear that it won't last long). 

Clara

•  has decided that Joey is Spanish-dominant and insists on speaking to him in Spanish.  I'm glad she's using it and that he's hearing it somewhere.  

Clara really wanted to hold him.  Joe was not so thrilled.

• Still thinks that jumping is the best thing ever.  Today we were walking down some slippery tile stairs at the mall.  I was carrying Joey and holding her hand and she thought it would be a good idea to jump down them.  She was wrong, and luckily caught herself before she fell too far.  Getting to be a daredevil, that one!

• Her best friend is Mickey Mouse.  We've let her watch a few Mickey videos on YouTube and now she tells me all kinds of things that Mickey's doing, what Mickey likes to do, what Mickey wants to do, etc.  I think he's her new imaginary friend.  Except, everybody knows who Mickey Mouse is.  So, can he really be an imaginary friend?  Hmmm . . . 

• We went to a friend's pool and borrowed an inner tube--Clara swam around the pool, like she owned the place with the help of that inner tube!  I had no idea she was so capable!   That was one of the summer's more exciting moments for me. 

Clara helped pick our first tomato!

• She still loves to be a  help--she'll even offer to throw away Joey's diapers for me!  (sometimes)  She also likes to wash dishes.  As I have to double-check her work, help her rinse them (as I'm washing my own dishes), and put the dishes on the drying rack for her, I usually think having her help is more trouble than it's worth.  But when she does help and we're done, I notice how much faster we finish than if I were on my own.  It is so worth encouraging her to help!  And it really is a huge help that she can open the fridge on her own and bring milk, juice, cheese, etc, out to me--and even pour her milk herself sometimes!  

• Lately, her very favorite book is Ayudo a mi abuelita, a story about a little, bilingual girl who helps her grandma (who only speaks Spanish) do the shopping.  The book is almost completely in Spanish, except for the lines where the girl asks for milk and bread and oranges at various stores.  I read the narration and Clara "reads" those lines in English!  I love it! It's like we put on a little play every night.