May Firsts

Every day brings new experiences for Molly and the month of May has been no exception.

Baby’s First Face-plant

Last Saturday, we wanted to photograph Molly wearing some of the clothing bought by our friends. Not everything we received as shower gifts was for a new-born. Many of the cute outfits were for babies between 3 and 9 months old. Since Molly is enormous, she’s already wearing clothing for babies 9 months old. So it was basically now or never.

We propped Molly up in one of her Boppy pillows and proceeded to make pests ourselves with both cameras.

During a clothing change, I went into the kitchen to finish the dishes (since I do all the work around here) and Anna went into Molly’s room to grab a couple additional outfits. That’s when Molly went to work!

While neither one of us was watching, Molly started thrashing back and forth in her Boppy. Who knows what she thought she was accomplishing, but she worked up enough momentum to fling herself out of the cradling comfort of the pillow and land face-first on the hard-wood floor. Of course, she didn’t keep this development to herself.

Baby’s First Taste of Blood

This morning, after changing Molly (so Anna could continue to sleep, that lazy devil) I was trying to get our little bundle of, er, joy to go back to sleep. She’d yawned twice while still on the changing table and again in my arms. So it seemed likely I might be able to coax her back into the dreamless.

Lately Molly has been learning how to really use her hands. This includes grabbing all sorts of things. And when I’m cradling Molly in my arms, one of the nearest things for her to explore is my face. I’m a big tough man so her puny little claws don’t bother me when she rakes them down the side of my face. “Ha ha! Do your worst little baby!” I tell her.

This morning, Molly tried something new. She jabbed her index finger up my right nostril and ripped it back out. Now even big tough men have tender nostrils and I’m no exception. Blood began to ooze out of my nose. From now on, I’ll have to restrain Molly’s arms before spending time with her.

More to Come

These are only the exciting events of the first week of May. Who knows what Molly will accomplish in the weeks to come. You might soon be reading the following headlines in the local news: “Baby Runs Amok and Kills Parents and 4 Siblings” or “Cannibal Baby Found Chewing on Parent’s Leg”.

Stay tuned…

Cod Piece

This evening Anna and I enjoyed some Wicked Chowder. This is a variation of a recipe called Killer Shrimp which I first read about on Matthew Haughey’s Ten Years of My Life.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps fresh or dried rosemary
• 2 tsps thyme
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 tsp fennel seed
• 1 tsp celery seed
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 qts clam broth
• 6 ozs tomato paste
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1lb shrimp
• 1lb cod fillet
• 1 loaf of sour dough bread

Directions

1. Partially grind up the rosemary, thyme, and fennel seed. You should really still be able to see pieces of the spices rather than just spice dust.

2. Put everything except the shrimp and cod into a pot and simmer for an hour or two until the broth has reduced a bit.

3. Just before you’re ready to eat, add the cod and continue cooking for a few minutes. The cod should basically fall apart. The shrimp only take a minute or two to cook, so toss them in just before you serve the soup.

4. Serve with warmed bread. We get this great sour dough that has huge cloves of garlic roasted in olive oil baked right in it. It’s wonderful.

5. Wish you’d made more.

Next time we make it, I’m going to experiment with adding some vegetables. Nothing crazy, just carrot slices, potatoes, and other simple things like that.