Already a Big Boy

O is a climber. A masterful artist of propelling himself upward and leveraging any device he can to explore new heights.

Exhibit A: When I was working in the garden this past weekend, he positioned himself on the wire fencing and quickly climbed halfway up in the matter of three seconds. (There went our theory that he could help me in the garden because I could close the gate behind me and he would be safe and blocked inside.)

Exhibit B: His crib. He had no problem slinging his leg to the top of his crib and then using his toddler upper body strength to pull the rest of himself up, only to fling himself over and crash land. This problem started about a week ago. D and I were completely unprepared. K never did anything of this sort. No desire to fling himself out of the crib. In fact, I think we just transitioned him to a toddler bed at the age of two because we thought he'd be more comfortable not being confined.

As a reminder O is only 19-months-old. He's still a little pumpkin and while by definition, he's a toddler ... he's my baby. In desperation, I put a call for help out on the discussion board we have for working moms at the big company. (Definitely a perk of working for a large company is the social networks that exist.) The advice came fiercely and quickly ... they all declared it might be time to transition him to a toddler bed. I was in shock ... he's still a baby ... there's no way he is ready...

Alas, I shared the advice with D and he decided we should take the plunge and see what happens. So we converted the crib to a toddler bed last night ... and it worked! Of course, at first you could see the smile and mischief in O's eyes when he realized he was no longer confined to his bed ... but after a quick scolding that it was bed time and he needed to lay down, he listened.

I cannot believe it worked ... and I cannot believe my tiny little baby is now in a toddler bed. I know that at the end of the day, the quick transition was harder for me than it was for him. And D said this morning he came running in our bedroom all exciting yelling daddy! daddy! My little baby cannot be growing up this fast ... but he is ... and his big brother starts kindergarten this fall. Time really is precious and now I must go in and sneak a peek at my sleeping babies.

Latin Fusion in my Tummy

I love my wine club ... but I have to say the one thing about having a monthly get-together is that it certainly does rush the passage of time. I feel like it was just a few weeks ago that we were getting together for French cuisine (and in reality, it was!) and just last night we were gathered again for July's venture. I never could have guessed how fitting the decision to have Latin American cuisine in July would have been.

Much like the rest of the country right now ... we are in a heat wave of disgusting proportions (seriously, I merely walk out on my deck and I break into a sweat. To quote D this afternoon when he stepped outside for a moment, "I think I just walked out on the sun." (Granted, I'm a huge fan of thunderstorms, so I have enjoyed those in the evening, since they go hand-in-hand with unbearable heat.) Unfortunately, the torrential rain on Friday had caused the major highway I was planning on using to get to the restaurant to flood. So thanks to my inner navigational system and the GPS, I was able to get to Cafe Ena just in time.

I am not sure if the sweet little restaurant had air conditioning (and I am amazed at the brave souls who chose to eat outside) because I felt the ambiance truly suited itself to feeling like we were in Latin America eating dinner. But it was a truly splendid dinner all in all. (I have to commend us ladies, we have been doing a good job picking out the monthly spots!) To guide me through dinner ... I had a lovely Torrontes ... in fact, I realized after I ordered it, that I actually had a bottle of the stuff at home. I am a huge Sauvignon Blanc fan, but I have to tell you Torrontes and Albarino have become my go-to whites in the summer heat!

First course, we decided to split two appetizers. My boss (who is a big fan of Cafe Ena told me that we just had to try the Chile En Nogada. The Chile En Nogada is a roasted Poblano pepper stuffed with grass fed ground beef, raisins, red onion, braised apples, in a apple walnut sauce, drizzled with a pomegranate glaze. The apple walnut sauce elevated this appetizer ... and it had subtle flavor of fall ... which was a little off in the sweltering heat, but it could definitely be some one's light meal if they wanted something that is so complex that the flavors meld together beautify.

Our second appetizer was Calamares (in other words, calamari). It was in a yellow corn crust and drizzled with a chimichuri sauce. It also came with aioli ... but the light, fresh, lemony calamari did not need any sauce. I think it was the best calamari I have ever had ... and I love calamari ... so I often try to enjoy it at restaurants. There was something ... maybe it was the chimichuri ... that made it so light and refreshing, it was truly a plate that no one wanted any to go to waste!

For my entree ... I of course asked the waiter once again for recommendations. He provided three ... sadly they were the three that I was already considering so it didn't help me narrow down my choices. (The menu is truly mouth-watering and narrowing it down is perhaps the most difficult. After much consideration ... I selected what was called Conchas. The menus description: Coriander-cardamom dusted sea scallops served over a coconut risotto, sauteed baby spinach, in a curry cream sauce, topped with a pineapple salsa.

Of course, I am on a huge coconut craze right now, for some reason, and I think it was the coconut risotto that made me select this in the end. I loved the risotto and the pineapple salsa was a bit of a surprise. The scallops were not the best scallops I've ever had ... but they were a delightful scallop nonetheless. They melted in your mouth and if you were careful about getting all the flavors on your fork, it was a very nice contrast of flavors on your tongue.

Dinner is not complete without dessert. Unlike at Meritage last month ... this time I devoured the whole dessert. Perhaps it is become the lemon pie came with ice cream ... and this summer I am all about ice cream (my children have been grateful for the fact that there have been two occasions - today included - where I have declared ice cream for lunch or dinner.) I also loved the lemon pie ... it was a little richer than what I was anticipating, but a great citrus cut to the evening. And the mango coulis on the plate ... amazing!!! I think it really did make the pie.

I would highly recommend Cafe Ena - it's reasonably priced for what you get and would definitely make a great date night, girls' night or just for someone looking to branch out. Nice job!

Suburban Farmer

I just returned from working in our little backyard garden. I decided to uproot the yellow squash plant. In our inaugural venture, I think we were a bit overzealous on the capacity of our sweet little garden ... and it just couldn't compete with the zucchini plant ... and if I had to choose which one was going to stay ... well it was z for sure.

I have to say, I never thought I would get so excited to see the little green tomatoes, all the great zucchini, the baby watermelons and our cabbage ... and I am anticipating a cucumber explosion in the next week or so (but was able to harvest four lovely cukes today!)

Even though I am the only one who is really working in the garden, I can tell that D is quite intrigued with the possibilities (and okay, he has watered it a few times when we've had a dry spell ... but I'm the one who has to go in there and plunk out the vegetables making sure my arms are covered so that I don't get all scratched up. It's crazy, fun, and definitely imparts a feeling of accomplishment knowing that I am doing my part to teach my boys about healthy, sustainable living.

And I cannot wait until those tomatoes ripen ... in fact, as I had to pick out some today at the grocer ... D smiled and said ... it won't be too much longer until you can just go out into the backyard and pick some at your leisure ... then I'll know I'm in heaven!

Social Media Blizzard

Alright ... so I am trying to get on this whole social media train. I figure it will help my game as the workforce is more naturally geared to it for me to understand this communication approach, right? So, I've created my Twitter account, I'm set up on Google+, I already am a huge advocate of LinkedIn (seriously, who doesn't love looking up where people land after they leave your company ... networking at it's finest) and, of course, I am a daily visitor to the land of Facebook. And my company has their own social media platform that they are testing, and of course, my team has to be one of the first testers ... it would be strange not to be.

So, we'll see how it goes ... how well my attention span can handle this flurry of activity (and trying to decide who to follow, which circles to put people ... and really, how do you determine what to put on twitter vs. facebook vs. google (okay, I know that there is the ability to put your tweet on facebook ... I just haven't gotten there yet.)

Odds Against Us

When it comes to odds ... D and I have a lot of them against us. This reality hit me like a soft snowball this weekend when my mom described a couple as "being about D's age." Not ... about you and your husband's age, but just his age. Yes, my husband is a hair over seven years older than me. (But, if you figure maturity ... we're probably close to the same age.)

I don't really think about our age difference that often ... but it is interesting how other people ponder it ... or are shocked by it. And yes, it's amazing how many people have no problem telling us that often couples with that type of age gap don't last. (Unfortunately, D had a cousin his age marry a woman my age ... and I dont' think the marriage lasted a year. D's dad responded, "that's not surprising considering their age difference." I later had to ask D if his dad realized their age difference was the same as ours.)

And of course, D and I come from very different socioeconomic backgrounds. We were raised very differently ... our families look at family differently ... oh, we're different ethnicities ... we have some very differing political viewpoints ... he's a homebody, and I like to go out and do things. He's a spender, I'm a saver. It's sort of amazing that we can make things work ... but I like to think it is because of the way we complement each other. Where our similarities build strength and where our differences balance each other out.

And hell ... we have two amazing kids and I think we both recognize the important roles we each played in their creation. While the odds may be against us ... and I'm not typically a gambler ... I'll place my best on this one.

Happiness ... is a smiling toddler

I don't know if I've ever known a person who is as happy as O. Seriously, this kid smiles about everything. He runs up to everyone he can and shouts hi to them, and repeats it until they respond. And it's hard to deny him a response, because the whole time he has the world's cheesiest grin on his face.

D and I have truly lucked out when it comes to well-tempered children. (Now, don't let me fool you, both of my sons are also very talented when it comes to throwing a temper tantrum - the flinging your whole body on the floor screaming variety.) However, for the most part, they are happy boys. Even our pediatrician commented that he was amazed at how good-natured O was at his 18-month check-up. He said, usually this one is the hardest one for kids ... but no, O just sat there grinning from ear to ear and babbled away.

I have to say, whenever I'm feeling even slightly askewed, I just have to think of the cheesy grin of O and the dimpled smirk of K and I am recentered on my purpose for living. My purpose is to help maintain their happiness, make sure that those smiles stay on their faces as much as possible. My heart breaks a little every time they get hurt or sad ... (of course, K is at the age where he knows how to totally capitalize on this ... )
Being a mom is the most rewarding, hard and painful job out there (next to being a dad, of course.)

Here's to fulfilling my purpose every day.