Random things I want to remember

1. I made brussel sprouts taste good tonight.  I had randomly memorized Chef Cat Cora's recipe from Sunday's Parade magazine, and tried it today because the b sprouts were on sale at Henry's.  It was easy - Blanch first.  Then use butter instead of olive oil to stir fry.  Add some salt.  Move away from heat and add capers and black pepper.  Quite yummy!

2.  Vera is starting to obey simple commands...when she wants to.  She started doing this on Monday, 11/16.  I asked her to bring me her toy keys from across the room, she grabbed them and crawled over to me with them in her hand.   She's also responded positively to, "Can Momma have a kissy?"  I love that proud smile she shows when she communicates effectively.  It clearly exhibits the verve that she has for life and says, "I did it!  This. is. AWESOME!".  I pray that she smiles like that, as least on the inside, for the rest of her life.  I'm excited to be communicating with her on this new level.  Soon, we'll be diving into deep discussions about Scripture and literature, and men (and how very strange they are)!  It's also a good reminder for Mike and I to watch what we say.  We knew that babies are aware of far more than they let on, so we've been careful with our tone of voice etc., but now it's clear that she understands the meaning of our language.  Time to figure out more nuanced words to use in place of certain ideas we want to express (e.g. "let's not give the 'innocent' any of this food").  

But with Vera right now, it's all about volition.  When she wants to be sweet, she's incredibly sweet, and when she wants to be fussy, watch out! And man, can that girl get fixated!  You can turn her around and try to distract her away from something that she's eying ten times in a row, but she will just turn right back around and go for it again.  I'm telling myself that this could be a good thing in the long run with some proper channeling.  

Signing has also improved lately, she's added "up" to her repertoire and signs it often, because she is always on the move.  Not a dull moment for her!
Music seems definitely in her blood.  She claps, dances and waves to the beat of the music in the house.  Today, she turned on her Mozart Cube and started conducting!  It looked just right, with both arms waving to the rhythm.  With the strength of her voice, I think my baby girl might be an opera singer...not that I'm trying to live vicariously through my daughter!  It's hard to balance life as a performer.  

3.  My man is awesome.  He got home today around 4PM, because they let him off early from the hospital (no more ambulatory patients).  He comes home, warms up to me with lots of cute little quips and hugs, listens and shares all the news of the day, changes out of his work clothes, grabs Vera and plays with her while I deal with his sister's wedding issues, calls my mom on Skype when I ask him to (because I'm busy making dinner) and fixes the webcam on my computer when it malfunctions.  He jiggered it to where it was working but only if held in a certain position, so he sat through the whole Skype conversation with my mom holding the webcam still.  He even complimented my brussel sprouts tonight, and he's never liked brussel sprouts.  10 brownie points for Mike!  He like getting brownie points, even though he doesn't particularly want to earn anything tangible.  I think it's his way of saying that he likes frequent positive reinforcement, and also, I think that he likes to imagine brownie points in terms of actual brownies.  The mere thought of baked goods makes him happy :)  I did surprise him with an actual prize for all  his earned brownie points, when I brought him leftover baked treats from two evening functions I dropped in  on earlier this week.  He gave me that big contented smile of his.  Love that man!  

Oh OK. I did promise some friends that I would have "deals" section at the end of every post.  I think the best deal I saw today was for a 2-year Redbook magazine subscription for $5 on Amazon.  All you do is go to Amazon and search for it.  I know I just wrote that I like to get subscriptions for free, but I don't think Redbook has ever been offered for free.  Anyway, I already have a subscription and it lapses in January, so this will be good.  The magazine is very informative and entertaining, and I like how it's geared toward more women with a lot going on in their lives.  It offers a little bit of everything.  So that's the deal of the day.  Night!