Parties and {more} Pumpkins

I realized that I totally skipped over Jack's little birthday party...so here it is! His party was rescheduled because we got sick, and then it was supposed to be at the pumpkin patch, but we got rained out so we ended up at my sister's house, which was great! The only bummer was that since we had to change the date (and location) twice, a few people couldn't make it. We missed the Gonsalves' and the Molchanoffs!! I made apple cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting- a less processed, fake, sugary type of dessert for the little ones, but still super delish!

We love our boy!

Jacky loves "Sofunky" {soft monkey}

Cuzzies

 On his real birthday we went to Nana's house for yummy banana bran muffins and coffee! We celebrated Isabella too, because her birthday is 3 days before Jack's!

"Fighter" truck from Nana!!

Who's the boss

It is so fun (and funny) living with a toddler who is learning to speak. I'm sure most moms would agree that it is so cute when your little one starts to babble, and then say little words, and then speak in short, often disjunct sentences. It is literally like a little cave man; and while I can pretty much always understand what Jack is saying, it often requires some translation on my part so everyone else understands too. He is in the nouns, verbs, and adjectives phase, but every day I'm noticing his sentences becoming more and more complete and complex. 


Jack started talking really early for a boy. By the time he was one, he could point to many objects and give them their correct names, but his favorite thing to say was, "Wasat?" {what's that?}. He literally asked "wasat?" about everything. I could just see his little mind encoding and processing all of the information he was taking in about the world around him.  At Thanksgiving last year, we were at my Nana's house and Jack was going around pointing to various breakables saying, "don't touch, don't touch" Smart boy.  


Smart boy is also a very funny boy...sometimes by accident. 


The other night Sean was sitting on the floor playing the guitar, or "tarrrr" as Jack calls it, and he all of a sudden shouted,


 "Daddy, SOPPP" 


and he kind of swatted at Sean's hand that was strumming. Sean told him no no, and I commented to him in passing that Jack is definitely in the stage of pushing boundaries and trying to figure out who the boss is. 

My lil boss (wearing Papa's hat)

What happened next was one of the funniest things ever...this typed version will never do it justice since it is lacking in timing and intonation.


Sean jokingly looked at Jack and said, 


"Who's the boss? Daddy's the boss."


and without a single second of hesitation, Jack retorted, 


"No, Mommy's boss."


Like I said, he's a smart boy. Sean and I both cracked up, and luckily he is not one of those men who let their egos overtake any kind of rational thinking, so he was not offended at all. {Although he did tell Jack several times over the next half hour or so, that Daddy's the boss...} haha. 


Some of the humor in little one's early speech is not what they say, but how they say it. For example:


Giden Fider: giant spider
Zizard: lizard
J-bug: Jacob 
Gobbles: goggles
Fighter truck and fighter men: fire truck, fire men


I'm just happy he knows who's boss :-)

Mmm D' Licious: Chicken Curry

In an effort to add some variety to our dinner hour, I'm trying some new recipes! In this case, a delicious Chicken Curry over rice! Although, I have to be honest, this recipe comes from my mom's kitchen, so its not exactly "new" to me. However, this was my first at attempt at it. 

{Bell pepper and onion for the Curry sauce
& zucchini squash for our side dish}

Recipe: {this will feed about 6-8 hungry ppl...I only made a 1/2 recipe, and we ate it for 2 dinners and a lunch}
4 chicken breast halves
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs oil
1 large red bell pepper
1 med. onion
16 oz sour cream (I used Knudsen's fat free)
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup 
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 Tbs Yoshida 
2-4 Tbs Sherry ( I used Marsala instead)
2 tsp curry powder (into sauce) 
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
dash nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp chili powder
dash: pepper, Worcestershire's, garlic powder, paprika (1/4-1/2 tsp)


To cook chicken: cover in pan with broth, a little sherry, and garlic.
Bring to boil, then simmer till white (about 15 min.) Remove from pan, sprinkle with curry, garlic, and Lawry's seasoned salt. Dice.


Saute onion, bell pepper in butter & oil
Blend in curry powder
Add soup, seasonings, and sour cream
Add chicken.

I like to taste and add anything else I think it needs, although my palate is not super sophisticated, and I'm really still learning. I basically left this one as is, because I was afraid I would add the wrong thing and ruin it. 

I served it over Trader Joe's Organic Brown rice, which if you ever cook rice, this will save you tons of time and effort....it's microwavable! 5 min in the good 'ol micro, and you are good to go!

I forgot to take a picture the first night...hence the lack of side dishes accompanying the curry.

Curry is also one of those dishes that allows for all sorts of tasty toppings. I chose coconut shavings, cashew pieces, and raisins. YUM! It was so good, however, the first night I didn't think it was as good as my mom's. Magically, and this is no joke, the second day it was amazing! All the flavors had time to mesh together I guess...Sean and I both said it was better the second night! 

Enjoy!