First of many times Daddy will dress Desi stupidly...OR...School Picture Day

Long story short...I forgot it was picture day. I sent Desi to school wearing a Microsoft T-shirt.


Still...Desi being the poser her is, the photos came out well. The hard copy images look better than the scanned ones. But, if you're interested, here they are.

Talky Talk Talk

Desi has been playing with all of his sounds, recently. He's got quite a few of them. Babycenter says his first word will happen any day now. Whatever...Desi's been talking up a storm, already.

Here are some words that we have heard, plain as day. As his proud father (see last post), I am confident these words have come out of his mouth:

• Mama and Dada (although, I think he gets confused as to who's who)
• kitty
• Baba-Waba...you know, as in Barbra Walters
• milk
• Something closely resembling Quincy...although, it may just be kitty, again.
• Idiot...this was directed at me when I was strappig him into his car seat.
• Darth Vader
• Duchovny...as in David. Kid's an X-Files fan
• and blithel blathel. This is probably his favorite word. Not sure what it means, but he says it a lot.

Shaundar just doesn't understand how to act like a Proud Parent

We've been practicing standing with Desi. Most times, he'll balance by himself for about a second and a half and then fall in a random direction. This weekend, he started to grasp the concept of standing unassisted. On Saturday, we practiced and he lasted about 4 seconds. Then, on Sunday, he went even longer. Shaundar was in the shower when this happened. As soon as she came back downstairs, I said, "Mommy! Guess who stood for a full 15 seconds!"

I was so excited and proud of Desi, at dinner that night at Uncle Brian and Aunt Lise's (a quite good hippie Vegan meal by Aunt Kelley) we wanted to show off. But, Desi wasn't having it. I think he was done with standing drills.

But, I still made sure everyone knew! "Earlier today...he stood by himself for 20 whole seconds!"

From the other end of the room, I hear, "Earlier, you said it was 15." It was Shaundar speaking.

Clearly, she doesn't understand how this works. When you're kid does something, you increase or improve what they did when you tell the story to others. For example...if your kid plays baseball and scores a run...you tell everyone that he hit a home run. If he gets an A in 2nd grade, you say he's reading at a Jr High level. If he comes home from school with a black eye, you say the other kid started it, but [fill in your kid's name here] finished it!

I have since explained this to Shaundar so she understands.

Good thing I didn't tell her Desi really only stood for 10 seconds.

The Heart Walk

The fam participated in the American Heart Association Heart Walk, yesterday.

By the way...if you haven't donated, yet, you still can. My page is here and Shaundar's page is here. You can donate right on the site and all the proceeds benefit the American Heart Association and the research they do.

So...we walked with my Uncle Brian and our neighbor Jennifer. Here are some pictures.

Desi prepping for his first ever charitable event.



Over 8000 people turned out.


Des clearly found the whole thing very exciting.


Seattle


Shaundar and Jennifer


Brian and Jennifer



Mmmm...free snacks.



The fam.



Our group...with Desi looking at the big boat.



Washington Pankow men.



Desi walking in the Heart Walk...with a little assistance.



Done walking, now.



At the finish line.

Baby kisses

You know what I'm talking about. Those wet, open mouth kisses on your cheek or your nose or your eye ball.

Desi is doing these pretty regularly, now. But, he's selective about when. He only does it with those he really loves and he only does it when he's really happy.

Shaundar is who received the 3rd most amount of kisses. Of course, he loves his mommy. He wants to give her lots and lots of kisses.

I get the 2nd highest amount of kisses. We're buddies and I make him laugh.

I'm sure you've already guessed who gets the most kisses.

Yup...Quincy.

Just this morning, Shaundar was getting ready in the bathroom while Quincy, Desi and I were playing in the bed. Desi was in my lap and Quincy came over and plopped himself down in front of us. Desi flops down on top of him and plants his open mouth right on his back. Then...2 second later, he grabs Quincy's face and plants another kiss there.

Shaundar and I are lucky to get a kiss once or twice a week. But, the dumb dog gets one whenever Desi can get his hands on him. I think Shaundar is jealous.

Recipe of the Week - From Kelley's new blog

So...I'll take a moment to promote my cousin Kelley's new hippie...I mean vegan...blog. You can find it here.

Here is her recipe for Quinoa with Asparagus, Dates and Orange. I think I've had it before. And, it was great. Even if I haven't had it, I'm sure it's great. Kelley's a pretty good cook.

I can't make this. First of all...I don't even know what a Quinoa is much less how to "blanch" one.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/2 cup white onion
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 salt
1 small can mandarin orange slices (drained)
1/2 cup sweet and spicy pecans from Trader Joes
2T minced red onion
5-7 dates
1 bunch asparagus, blanched, chilled and cut into 2 inch pieces
1 jalapeño pepper, diced

Dressing
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Directions

1) Blanch asparagus. Cool rapidly and cut into 2 inch pieces. Set aside.

2) To prepare Quinoa, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. (The original recipe called for olive oil, however olive oil may release carcinogens when cooked at a high temperature so I choose Canola oil) Add onion to pan; sauté about 2 minutes. Add quinoa to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Add water and salt to pan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes.

3) While Quinoa cooks, prepare dressing. Combine juice and next 4 ingredients, mix well by hand or in a food processor.

4) When your Quinoa is done cooking for 15 minutes Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes more. Transfer to large bowl. Add orange and next 5 ingredients (through jalapeño); toss gently to combine. If bringing this on a picnic keep ingredients separate and assemble right before eating - otherwise your nuts go soggy.

5) Garnish with mint sprigs - they look pretty and are delicious, I use lots of them, and lemon wedges. Serve at room temperature.

Peek-a-Boo

Peek-a-boo from Jason Pankow on Vimeo.

Babies love to put things in their mouths.

Taken from a PEPS get together for the Seahawks home opener.

Gross babies.

Some pics of the new yard

I mentioned before that I had redone the yard. Here are some pics.

About a month ago, with the help of my neighbor, Jerry, I totally tore up the yard. When it was originally put in, they didn't do a very good job. The soil was crumby, the sprinklers didn't cover te entire yard, and the natural drainage system killed a tree and a bush while keeping another couple of bushes from thriving.

So, we tore it up. We pulled the dead tree and the so-so bushes, leveled it out so water wouldn't collect in one area, and laid down new sod. We also (we being Jerry) put in new sprinklers.

This week, I finished it off by planting some flowers (which won't show until spring) and throwing down some beauty bark.

From the porch:



A litte to the right of that:


From the other side:



Quincy likes it.

What is it with babies and pulling crap off tables?

I know this isn't a habit exclusive to Desi. Everyone I know with kids has talked about how their kids pull crap off tables, out of drawers, out of cabinets, etc. Anything that is in one place and can be quickly transferred to the floor, BOOM. Kid makes the transfer with lightning speed.

You can even try to distract them with something that is allowed on the floor. "Hey, Desmond...check out this fluffy stuffed animal that can be on the carpet without worry of breaking or spilling or just generally annoying Daddy cuz it's on the floor."

"No thank you, Daddy...I would much rather grab this magazine, or this box with stuff in it, or this glass of water because they surely don't belong on this surface when there is a perfectly good floor they can be on."

Come to think of it...no matter what it is you are trying to distract him with, he seems to have a super power of knowing exactly what it is that I don't want him to touch. If I am playing my Xbox, for example, I will always make sure he's got a non-powered controller to play with. Doesn't matter. He wants the one in Daddy's hand. I can give him a teething toy. Nope...he wants the dog's chewy.

I blame evolution. Back in caveman days, when babies were being chased by sabre tooth tigers or woolly mammoths, they probably started knocking over everything in an effort to escape. This would distract the animals while baby scooted to safety.

Yeah...that's it!

Since it's been a while...

...since I've posted much, I have just given you (not including this post) 4 postings, today. Scroll down to take in all the pics and one video.

Peace!

Hangin' in the redone backyard

So...if you've ever seen my backyard, you know that it used to look like crap. Basically, the soil wasn't prepped properly, the sprinklers didn't reach about 1/4 of the yard, and I eventually just stopped caring. Lots of grass was dead, weeds had infiltrated, and it was basically just a place for Quincy to poop and nothing more.

With the help of awesome neighbor, Jerry, we dug up all of the old turf, prepped the soil, added some top soil to level out the yard, and laid down some sod. Oh, and we removed a tree that died about 2 years ago. Actually...it was the second tree to die in that spot. It looks 1000% better. I'm not done, quite yet. I plan to add more beauty bark and maybe plant some flowers. But...we can actually spend time out there, now.

I'm trying to get Quincy to only use certain areas as his bathroom, too. We're getting the #1 down. He'll stick to the bush or the bark around the tree (the one that didn't die). Still working on #2.

The pics don't really highlight the yard, I am realizing. Oh well. It does highlight how we can spend time out there, now.









Seperately...we think Desi may be trying to "bark" at Quincy. He's started making this caughing noise in Quincy's direction. Check out the video and tell me what you think.


Barking? from Jason Pankow on Vimeo.

Mom's night out

A great part of PEPS is our monthly Mom's or Dad's night out. One month, Moms stay home with the kids while Dads go out and have fun. The next month, Dads stay home while Moms go out. Well...Dads, being as smart as we are, realized that we can all hang out while the moms are out and watch sports. Babies usually go to bed around 8:00 leaving us to drink beer and watch baseball.

Last month, during mom's night out, at about 9:00, after the babies were in bed, the dads were sitting in front of the TV finishing off a pizza and passing around another round of beers when Tom declares, "We need to have Mom's night out more often."

Last night was Mom's night. Desi and I went over to Kevin and Duncan's house. Here are some pics.

Desi and Duncan chillin':


I tried really hard to get a picture of both of them staring at the TV while the baseball game was on. But, I could never get it just right. So...you get them looking at the camera while there are jackets or something on TV:


Comparing goods:


"Change it to football."
"No...baseball is better."


Desi on the Rocket.

Random pics

Quincy x2


Des with Auntie Kate.


Desi Butt


Last time we hire that babysitter.


Quincy's new favorite place is below the high chair.

Fun at the Linocln Park Wading pool

If you are on Facebook, you've already seen these. If not...here you go.

This was a regular PEPS night, but it was spent at the wading pool at Lincoln Park. The kids had a blast.



With Mom:


With Duncan:


Duncan:

With Dad: