Animal Kingdom

Nat just started actually paying attention to the books we have been trying to show him.  I took some photos of him today looking and listening while Nick explained every picture in the Fuzzy Bee cloth book.  Now the following is not intended to be a commentary of what kind of information is useful or not useful for the baby.  Instead it shows how differently Nick and I think, which I absolutely love and cannot resist sharing with you.

Nat is 2 months old

Here are some excerpts from Nick's comments:

- Oh the dragonfly.  It is the hawk of the insect world.

- Here is a little worm.  Worms are segmented just like you.

Compare and contrast Nick's descriptions to things I would say:

- Dragonflies have transparent wings, and they live near lakes and ponds.

- Here is a little pink worm.  Worms live in the ground.

We have a few toy animals of course, and Nat is just starting to show interest in them.  I overheard the following coming from our bedroom where Nick and Nat were spending quality time together:

- In some ways, lions are actually not very good hunters. Many predators take the direction of the wind into account, and don’t get upwind of their prey, but lions completely ignore that.... 

- Here is an alligator. Alligators clamp down their jaws on their prey and do not let go. 

- Whales swim in the water like fish, but they are actually mammals...

A Week of Baking

Last week could be classified as the baking week.  It started with making mushroom pie for dinner early in the week and culminated in cakes for Saturday and Sunday dinners.  (I did chicken out of also making Tarte Tatin for Saturday as well, mostly because being a mother of a then 7 week old child I could not spend all day baking.)

The cakes required a lot of planning and baking ahead, since I never have more than 2 hours at a time for any activity, and I was not going to give up my precious fewer than 6 hours of night time sleep.

The Saturday cake was inspired by the Miroir aux Fruits, or Fruit Mousse Miroir cake, from the Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts book.  I say "inspired" because I changed just about every single component called for by the recipe--sheet genoise instead of Biscuit Joconde, no egg whites in the fruit mousse, raspberry  instead of apricot jam for the mirror.  One of the wonderful things about this cake is that you are supposed to freeze it as part of the preparation.  So it is perfect for the very occasion when you do not want to be cooking on the day of the "event".

I tried to reproduce the "look", and I might have achieved it if I managed to make enough mousse. That would be something to look forward to next time.

Taste wise, my raspberry mirror mousse cake was definitely a success, which you could not say about the Sunday cake.

Sunday cake was planned to be a true cake in the American style--multiple layers, lots of frosting, etc.  However, I went a bit overboard.  I have used all the components of this cake in other combinations with success--super moist chocolate cake, ganache, swiss meringue buttercream, raspberry puree.  However, all of these wonderful things together made such a rich cake, that it almost felt like we were eating a little bit of cake with a lot of sweet butter.  Nick and I "struggled" for 2 days, but tossed almost half the cake in the end.

To redeem myself I made just the chocolate cake yesterday, which Nick and I have been enjoying without any filling or frosting.

Week End

Even a couple of weeks ago I would still get excited on Fridays about the prospect of the weekend.  Oh, the weekend!  It used to mean extra sleep, doodling around working on my various sewing and graphic design projects, re-watching my favorite period dramas.  Not anymore. Now I live in a kind of a "Groundhog Day" time warp--every day is exactly the same.  The only exception is Nat.  Nat's behavior changes gradually, but very noticeably, sometimes even day to day.

Nat loves his "caterpillar" outfit

As I pushed the stroller round the park a few days ago, I thought about my day-to-day activities.  Taking care of baby Nat has been tiring and satisfying--an experience that I find hard to describe.  I enjoy feeding and entertaining him during his awake hours.  At the same time I also enjoy the time I get to myself while he is asleep--a bit of baking and sewing somehow makes me feel a bit more "normal", whatever that means.

Outdoors is just SO bright

As a result I often feel in conflict with myself.  I look forward to Nat's awake times, so that I can play with him.  At the same time I look forward to his bed time, so that I can relax and do my own thing.  It is an endless debate whether or not my feelings are "normal", or whether I should be entirely devoted to my little baby, to the point of being incapable of thinking of anything else.  For my own sanity's sake, I try really hard to avoid this debate with myself.

And now I am off to work on another quilt until the next feeding. Happy Mother's Day!