beep beeeep!

drivin'...11/28/06
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Watch out! Here comes Dylan, steering with only one li'l hand!!!

soup party aka Tom's bday bash...

11/18/06 - so dapper
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Here's Dylan at last weekend's soup party. We hardly saw him! Who knows who took this picture of him!

Anyway, Tom and I made 5 soups -- Polynesian Peanut, Asian Noodle, Butternut Squash, Yukon Gold Potato, and a Saffron Stew served over cous cous. Heather and David also brought over a very highly-regarded gazpacho.

The soups got relatively good reviews -- the Polynesian peanut soup was popular partly because it was novel...and the 10-minute Asian Noodle soup was probably the best-liked!

Overall, it was a very good time....We are already thinking about next year's soups -- which ones will we bring back and what new recipes will we try??

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2006
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

We spent the day at Cindy's house, eating, drinking, eating, playing games, and did I mention eating??

Dylan apparently thought I talked too much!

Tom and I made coconut pudding triangles (which were also a big hit at last weekend's soup party), cornbread muffins, vegan pumpkin pie and roasted root veggies (parsnips, carrots, golden beets, yams, and purple and yukon gold potatoes). We also brought over a tofurkey from Tofoo Com Chay.

Mom made her usual mushroom ragout (one of my personal favorites) and Cindy made mashed potatoes and fresh cranberry sauce (and there were some other non-vegan dishes to which I didn't pay much attention!).

I was actually worried that Tom and I weren't bringing enough to go around...but, of course, we have tons of leftovers today!

Dylan was a little fussy -- he really had a hard time finding time to get in a good nap and didn't end up falling asleep until after 10PM -- but he did relatively well, all things considered...! We even got a rare shot of Dylan with all of his cousins on this side of the family (all of Cindy's and Ieanna's boys!).

More highlights are here....

Hopefully, the Thanksgiving down south was a very nice one, too! During times like these, we wish the coastline were a little shorter and the distance between us and LA were a lot less!

6 months old

6 months old! 11/20/06
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Dylan enjoying a peaceful moment with a person from Weebleville...

Dylan working those crawling muscles.

Still in a good mood...

of Bumbos and soup kitchens...

11/16/06 - in the new Bumbo watching me chop onion
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

One of the moms brought a Bumbo (blue thing beneath Dylan) to lunch at the brew pub last Friday and, wow, she was able to eat with two hands! I gaped and marveled at the utility of the thing while another mom/Bumbo-owner went on to share with us that she was able to cook by placing the baby on the counter (in the Bumbo) where they could see one another, etc., etc., so all were happy!

After seeing and hearing for myself, I went home and ordered one which just arrived today!

Seeing as we're prepping 5 soups in 4 days for Tom's upcoming 29th bday/soup party, I was really happy to try it out while I did some soup-making prep.

Well, Dylan enjoyed it, as is obvious from the picture, but only for about 5-10 minutes...

Bummer, says me, but I'm not about to give up! Maybe he'll like it more next time....And, anyway, I managed to finish the prep I wanted to do by cycling him through the Bumbo, the exersaucer and finally, carrying him around in the good ol' mei tai. So, if anything, at least the Bumbo offers another option which will buy me a few minutes here and there...!

Tom's bday!

bday picture! 11/15/06
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Poor Tom had to work on his bday, but when he got home, we did a few errands together and then had dinner at Parwana Afghani restaurant.

Before we headed out for din-din, though, we took this pic and snacked on bday cake (a vegan peach-vanilla cheesecake topped with blueberries and candied walnuts) from La Vie, a mostly raw, mostly vegan restaurant downtown.

Hey, life's too short...dessert first (as Tom does say!)!

play time

creeping, crawling

Ok. I was a little off with the whole teething thing. To date, Dylan still has zippo in the way of teeth! And his fussing seems to have stemmed a little. But, he still is slobbering a whole lot and chewing things, etc., and, of course, those things have to pop up some time....

Anyway, I've moved on. Now, I'm on the lookout for signs of crawling.

Right now, he can prop himself up pretty well (it's quite a nice cobra asana!) and he sometimes pushes himself up onto his toes. Also, when motivated by a particularly appealing toy, he will attempt to move himself closer to it, but he's currently more successful at skooching backwards than he is at propelling himself forwards!

As far as we're concerned, he can take his time with the crawling...but it's still really cute to watch him try new things and to see him developing!

I have some new video footage, too. Once I reinstall the video software, I'll post it here.

Avast! It's Halloween!

Halloween was fun. We were all pirates, less because of Pirates of the Caribbean and more because it seemed like an easy costume to do ourselves.

For the most part, the DIY was pretty easy, but I'm lucky I could borrow a bunch of Heather's clothes! Otherwise, people would probably have never been able to guess what I was...!

Dylan was absolutely adorable. He laughed and smiled a lot, though we didn't get to go trick or treating because it was his mealtime!

Tom's mustache is hilarious...Suffice to say, I'm glad he shaves.

As to be expected, it was a regular papparazi that night....I didn't post all the pics, but here are some more photo highlights...