Usually, when I feed Gavin his cereal and veggies, he grabs the spoon once or twice during the meal and tries to feed himself.

Last night, he wanted to do the whole meal on his own. Every time I held the spoon toward him, he reached for it instead of just opening his mouth. Who am I to say no to a little guy who just wants to learn a new skill? We've been incorporating some Montessori principles in his early learning, and feeding himself fits right in with that philosophy:

'By setting up a home environment that enables children to take care of their own self-care throughout the day, the home environment can help the child develop independence and a strong sense of self. We can support our children to be able to say: "I can do it!" and "I did it myself!"' --Montessori.org

It was the messiest meal we've ever had. There were peas down his shirt and up his sleeves, and a good quarter of the food spilled down his bib. But he was super-pleased with himself. Every time I told him, "Good job!" after a bite, he'd grin and jump around in his chair. It was so worth the 30 minutes of kitchen cleaning and the 15 minute bath afterwards.

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We had friends over for dinner and board games on Friday night and dinner was King Arthur Flour's Italian Wedding Soup recipe. Trevor loves the cans of Campbell's Italian Wedding Soup that I buy in bulk at Costco, but I was nervous about trying to make this complex soup at home. (I also get a little freaked out by cooking raw meat directly in boiling soup.)

It turned out great, with a different flavor than the usual veggie soups and beef stews I make during the winter. I substituted fresh spinach for the frozen boxed that the recipe calls for, and swapped turkey in for their ground beef. No reason, just what I happened to have on hand.

Cooking the meatballs in the boiling broth made them tender and flavorful. I was tempted to brown them in a skillet beforehand, but I'm glad I resisted. They probably would have been tougher.

If you make the recipe, just keep in mind that the soup is very thick and hearty with all of the veggies, meatballs, and pasta -- and it gets even thicker as it stands and the pasta absorbs more of the broth. If you like a more liquid soup, plan to add a lot more stock.

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The second batch of 64th birthday cookies came out more pastel than the other recipe. Royal icing is great for gingerbread houses, but doesn't flood properly for cookies. Next time, I'll try the icing from last time with less milk to make it thicker.

Here's a comparison of flowers from the two batches.


Both butterflies:


And this time, the peace signs are not Mercedes logos. Hah.

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I swear it was sunny here just five minutes ago...

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The Liloias were invited to a 64th birthday party this weekend, complete with hippie themes and optional costumes. It seemed like as good a time as any to do some more cookie beta testing for the business I'm starting in May.


The icing was a bit too runny. Next time I have a different recipe in mind. This particular icing comes out very glossy. I'm going to try a stiffer, matte royal icing recipe next time. But the cookies come out buttery and delicious -- they're not just a canvas for the design!


The birthday girl's signature colors for the party are hot pink and orange -- hence the color scheme here. The only challenge I hit was that I couldn't for the life of me remember which two primary colors you blend to make orange. Blame it on the baby brain.

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Trevor had a few dollars burning a hole in his pocket at a craft fair last December and he picked up a small paper Christmas ornament done with some kind of origami. He was thrilled to add an ornament that he paid for to the tree. I was intrigued by the construction. Can you believe I went 35 years without ever seeing a German bell?

Of course I had to try it for myself. I found these video instructions online and it looked super-easy. It really was.

I tried it with a full 12x12 sheet of scrapbooking paper. As with origami, bigger is easier at first. But it's simple enough to try a smaller version. I think we'll be seeing a lot of German bells around here this year.

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Seven months old and impervious to cold. He's a true Vermonter, all right.

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