Archive for July, 2007

Lost and found

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007

LOST: Time.

Specifically last Wednesday through now. Where did you go? The CSA shipment arrived Wednesday evening with fresh vegetables and then I woke up and realized we’re getting another shipment tomorrow. It’s already almost NEXT Wednesday.
I really hate wasting this food! I don’t like wasting any food, but this is super-fresh food that we intentionally seek out and bring into our home. Bad Tonya.

Time to go to the fridge and see just how bad I should feel….

Hmm… well, I’m surprised. We did better than I realized. Just some tired old lettuce, some still viable string beans, and these gorgeous potatoes.

Maine potatoes purple red

And now to feed my family using just ordinary household items and the food above… got it. Pork chops (marinating in olive oil, thyme from the garden, salt and pepper) and a little mix of potatoes, onion, string beans, onion, and more thyme, salt and pepper. Yum.

Dessert? Mangoes were on sale at Wild Oats so I think I’ll make something called a Mango Fool. Why do I think it’s called that for a reason? Will I be the fool at the end of this experiment? Let’s hope not. The recipe says to freeze leftovers for really good ice cream, which in these hot hot days sounds awfully good.

FOUND: The letter D

D is for Dashiell

I saw this on our walk yesterday. No other letters. Just the D. How perfect is that?

I Love Stokke

Monday, July 30th, 2007

I really really do.

That said, I should let you know, if you don’t know already, that I am a huge snob. Not about everything, but with Dashiell’s baby goods I’ve been particularly picky. It started with wanting nothing but the best for our new baby and also wanting nothing that is going to ugly-up my home. Honestly, I would do anything for this boy, but the thought of having to buy everything in primary colors for the next 5 years is simply not acceptable. Yes, Dashiell already owns lots of brightly colored toys (and clothes, but I’ll save that for another post) because I know color is engaging for an infant. Great. Bright colors- check. But considering he’s just 6 months old, how much more do we need? How quickly will the mass-produced toys and plastic crap take over our home? Too quickly, I fear.

This is my basic thought on this: we’ve chosen to bring Dash into our home to share our lives. We did not choose to hand our home over to Fisher Price and the everloving red yellow and blue, just because someone decided that’s exactly what every baby on the planet needs to have in order to be an honest and good citizen of the world. So when we started looking for a high chair, I realized it was an excellent example of how we could deviate from the brainwashing. Something that he’ll sit in and cover with food doesn’t need to be multi-colored, Disney- or Dora-themed, or just plain ugly. It should be something that you want to look at for the next year or so, and something that you can afford.

So, back to my love for Stokke. Those good people have gone and created a high chair that, among other things, will support Dashiell’s 350lb. bottom, should things ever head in that direction. If I know my genetics like I know my genetics, we probably won’t get around to testing this aspect of the chair, and that’s quite all right with me. The Tripp Trapp has lots of features we can appreciate right now with Dash being a trim 15lbs. And the most attractive feature? Its’ looks. It fits right in with our furniture and isn’t plastic and ugly! It’s a baby-gear revolution!

Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair baby

First, the basics.

Stokke Tripp Trapp
5-point safety harness
Seat and footrest adjust vertically and horizontally
Handcrafted from solid European beechwood
Engineered for stability; ergonomically designed
Adjusts for continuous use from 6 months to adulthood (holds adults up to 350 lbs.)[SEE?! What did I tell ya?]
Baby Rail (sold separately) provides greater security for children from 6 to 24 months
Adjusts easily with wrench (included)
Armless design allows a child to get in and out safely
Seven-year warranty on all wooden components
18″W x 19″D x 31″HDashiell in the Tripp Trapp High Chair

So we’ve had this assembled for a whole 4 days now and I’m so happy with it! We were feeding him on the table in the Bumbo, but he kind of slouches down in it, so once he got the whole sitting up thing it just wasn’t working for him anymore. The Tripp Trapp lets him sit right at the table with us which he loves. Note in the picture: We’re using the baby rail in place of the harness for the time being and it works like a charm. I wouldn’t leave him alone in it, but I feel safe about it with us right there.

There is no food tray so you have to be ok with a messy table. Honestly, I think it’s much easier to just wipe the applesauce off the table than to detach a tray, take it to the kitchen, and load it in the dishwasher or handwash it. Couldn’t be easier.

And as to the price point, at about $200, considering he will never outgrow it, it’s worth every penny.

I imagine I’ll update this review when we remove the baby rail and start adjusting the seat for the growing boy, but for now, this seat is getting a 10 out of 10 from me.

Stokke? Will you marry me?

I may be snobbish, but I’m awfully cute.

UPDATE: After having used the Tripp Trapp for a good six months now I figured it was time for a review update.

We are still using the baby rail and not using the harness. I love that he has been able to use this chair right at the table with us, and the rail allowed him some freedom to move around but still be contained. Without the rail, we’d have never seen that Dash loves to stand while eating, and also to dance a bit. He does his I Love Food dance at every meal, something he wouldn’t have been able to do with a traditional highchair. It’s adorable, and on the developmental side, it’s really helped him learn balance. (He began walk at 10 months and was immediately comfortable on his feet. We didn’t tell him he’d been practicing all that time while he was eating.)

On the down side, switching from the baby rail to the harness is going to be difficult. Recently, he’s begun to climb out of the Tripp Trapp and onto the table. Pretty cute to see in action, but ultimately not a good habit to form. With that, we took off the rail and strapped him in. It makes sense that he totally rebelled and refused to be held down, what with it being the total opposite of how he’s been eating all this time. Stokke says that the rail is good up through 24 months, so I think we’ll keep using it for the time being. Either he’ll start a new habit (sitting while eating? ground breaking!) by then or we’ll just have to suck it up and deal with the potential tantrum.

One more quick note: portability. I don’t think it was designed with this in mind, but once we realized how much we preferred this highchair over others, we began to take it with us to restaurants and friend’s houses. Pretty easy to do, though we definitely got some funny looks in the restaurants.

That was a while ago now, and we’ve sort of come to terms with those dirty little community highchairs they have at restaurants. Ok, that’s kind of a lie. I cringe when I realize we have to use one and I really wish Stokke would come out with a portable version of this.

Overall? Still loving this product. Would definitely recommend. Will update again when we have to make the next size/harness adjustment.

The Continental Op

Friday, July 27th, 2007

We are in full-on teething mode at chez Sattin, so I write this from the couch with Dash attached to me in the sling. It’s hot as hell (considering it’s about 90 outside and we don’t have air conditioning) and he barely fits in the thing, but it’s soothing to him so there we are. A sleeping teething baby is a good thing. Prior to this I tried giving him a pizza crust to gnaw on which proved a HUGE winner and caused an equally HUGE hissy fit when I finally threw it out. Amen to the sling.

There’s something else I’d like to share with you. On the built-in bookshelves in our Craftsman-style Cape, I have a strange habit of randomly choosing one book to display face-out. I’m not running a bookstore or a library, but for some reason I enjoy this little habit. It’s like giving each book a moment- or a month- to shine. Plus, it reminds me to readthebooksweownforgod’s sakeanddon’tbuyanymore!

Without further ado, may I present the Book of the Month and its’ opening passage:

the continental op dashiell hammett book 1945

“It was a wandering daughter job.
The Hambletons had been for several generations a wealthy and decently prominent New York family. There was nothing in the Hambleton history to account for Sue, the youngest member of the clan. She grew out of childhood with a kink that made her dislike the polished side of life, like the rough. By the time she was twenty-one, in 1926, she definitely preferred Tenth Avenue to Fifth, grifters to bankers, and Hymie the Riveter to the Honorable Cecil Windown, who had asked her to marry him.”

Dashiell Hammett is pretty greatly known for inventing the modern detective novel and not-so-greatly known as being the inspiration for the name of my son. Almost no one guesses right, which leads me to believe sales of Dashiell Hammet books aren’t so hot.
Neil would like me to add this: though it might have been inspirational for me, in truth, I never told Neil about it since we couldn’t agree on one single name for our baby. (Eli? No. Monroe? No. Jacob? No.) I kept it under wraps assuming it would never pass muster. Then, Neil discovered it in a baby name book (amazingly, because most of those books regurgitate the same names over and over and none of them had Dashiell listed) and called me from the bookstore. “How about Dashiell?” he asked. It was a huge moment for us, what with finally naming our beautiful son-to-be. And as it turns out, he doesn’t look like an Eli, a Monroe, or a Jacob anyway.

This 1945 edition of The Continental Op marks the beginning of my Hammett collection which will ultimately go to Dash. I wonder if he’ll read them or just roll his eyes at me.

Why is my towel damp?

Thursday, July 26th, 2007

“Marraige is all about sharing,” Neil is fond of saying, when what he reallys means is, “Why can’t I drink from your water glass? I don’t want to get my own.”
The answer is, “Because it’s mine. And because maybe I’m trying to see how much water I drink in a day and maybe you just screwed up my count. Grrr…” Yes, I growl.

I was reading MightyGirl today and I cracked up laughing, because I so feel her pain. I could have written that post myself. I buy our toothbrushes in girl/boy colors to make it super-freaking-obvious which one belongs to me and which one belongs to Neil. You’d think anyway.

Me: are you using my toothbrush?
Neil: no.
Me: yes you are.
Neil: (looks down at handle) oh shit. oops.

But in all fairness to Neil, this has only happened a few times. It’s the Towel Confusion that reigns supreme in my house. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to take a shower and found my towel pre-moistened for me. How thoughtful, right? Um no. It’s really, really gross.

And then there was this: I walked in the bathroom when Neil was in the shower the other day. There’s a towel draped over the door, and my hook is suspiciously empty. Hmm…

Me: hey, that’s my towel.
Neil: no it isn’t.
Me: yours is right here on your hook.
Neil: that’s not my hook.

Oh really? Looks like we’ll be starting from scratch on this one.

Vintage Mademoiselle

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

One of my favorite things is finding vintage goodies at yard sales, tag sales, garage sales, flea markets, etc. Especially when I get a good deal. This 1959 Mademoiselle magazine was calling my name from a table at a church bazaar last month. It shared space with some cheezy christmas ornaments and assorted religious articles. I don’t even read the modern versions of this magazine, but for some reason I needed this old copy. The price tag was $5 and I ended up with it for free. Perfect.

vintage mademoiselle 1959 magazine

So, after skimming a few pages, I’ve been inspired to go out and buy a current issue of Mademoiselle and compare their content and advertisements. I have a feeling the focus of today’s magazines has shifted a wee bit. If this copy is any indication, the ladies magazines of the 50’s seem to have marriage preparation as their primary focus. I’ll do a full count of every ad for flatware, and it will probably only be outdone by the ads for foundation undergarments. Pretty.

In other news, Dashiell turned six months old yesterday. Six! Months! I’m happy to share that he’s hitting all the milestones right on target, some of them even a little on the early side. He sits, he plays with things, he stands up holding on just for balance. He’s a regular one-man-band of baby tricks. He loves to be in water, especially when it splashes on him, which makes me think he may not be my son after all. But then he seems to want to eat every thing he sees, which makes him a mini-me.
Also, he has this new habit of coughing to get our attention. “aheh, aheh, aheh, aheh,” until we either come over to him or make the sound ourselves, at which point he breaks into a huge smile. Priceless. Happy half-birthday, Dash.

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