Guacamole!

We went out for Mexican food last night, Oliver's favorite type of restaurant. And he had one of his favorite foods, guacamole. The best thing about El Charro is that they serve the guacamole in little bowls, instead of just putting it on your plate. He had all of us entertained while he was eating, including several other tables around us.

Oliver's First Haircut!

I had second thoughts about taking Oliver to get his hair cut today because I loved his long baby locks. But, it was getting in his eyes, and he was ready for a trim. He did great, and even smiled through a lot of it. And now he looks like such a big boy! Grandma came along to help take pictures. Here's a video, followed by before and after shots:

Before (front)

Before (side)

Before (back)

After (front)

After (side)

After (back)

Walking at 10 Months

Oliver took his first steps just a few days shy of turning 10 months old. Now, a week later, he's starting to cruise around the house!

Muffins

Oliver took a two hour nap today, for I think, the first time ever! Since I had so much time, I decided to make some muffins. They're gluten free and delicious! And since they don't have any added sugar, we gave a few bites to Oliver, and he loved them! The recipe is from Elana's Pantry, a website that I just discovered a few weeks ago. All of her recipes are gluten free and most use almond flour. We've tried several of them and they have all been delicious. Here's the recipe:

Gluten Free Carrot Banana Muffins
2 cups blanched almond flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup dates, pitted
3 ripe bananas
3 eggs
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
1 ½ cups carrots, shredded
¾ cup walnuts, finely chopped

1. In a small bowl, combine almond flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon
2. In a food processor, combine dates, bananas, eggs, vinegar and oil
3. Transfer mixture to a large bowl
4. Blend dry mixture into wet until thoroughly combined
5. Fold in carrots and walnuts
6. Spoon mixture into paper lined muffin tins
7. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes

Makes 18 muffins

Feeding

Now that Oliver is 10 months old, we decided it was time for him to help out around here. We gave him his first chore - feeding Penny! As you can see in the video below, it works out well for both of them :)

Puppies

On Wednesday we went over to see Kim-Marie (our friend who we got Penny from) to see her new puppies! There are six of them and they are just so cute. Oliver loved them and they were the perfect size for him. Penny on the other hand, thought they were a little annoying. She usually comes over to see Kim-Marie to get away from the baby at her house, but this time she was bombarded my even more. Penny's sister Cricket and grandma Brenna also make an appearance.

Video: Month 10

Here is the video from last month. I tried to get his steps on there, but didn't quite succeed. Enjoy :)

Today I have a 10 month old!

Swinging in the hammock with Daddy

Can you believe it! Where have the last 10 months gone! To celebrate, here are 10 fun facts about Oliver:
1. Yesterday he took two steps on his own! (Too bad I didn't have the video camera ready)
2. He thinks Penny's toys are more fun than his own
3. He loves to dance to any kind of music, but especially when Daddy is playing guitar
4. He loves to sleep with Mommy (somehow he ends up in our bed every night :))
5. He loves salmon - I can't put it down fast enough for him
6. He has six extremely sharp teeth (and I have bruises to prove it)
7. He can do four signs: milk, Penny (dog), more, and finished
8. He loves to push things around on the floor. If you put a box of any kind down, I can guarantee that it won't be in the same spot later if Oliver sees it.
9. Daddy always makes him smile
10. He has a full head of blond hair!

Cousins

 

Doug, Kara, Janna, Adra and Tory came to visit us this evening! They hung out at our house before we took them to dinner at the Hi-Life  in Ballard. We had such a great time and hope they come visit again soon! And Tory is going to be an aeronautical engineering major at UCSD, so we're hoping he'll be moving up here after college to work at Boeing with Nick.

 

Video: Bite Inhibition

Now that Oliver has six teeth almost in, he's been using them a lot: to bite his food, toys, teething rings, and us! I thought it would be easy to teach him not to bite us, I would just teach him bite inhibition the same way we do with puppies in class.

Here in an excerpt from our dog training manual "Play lots of mouthing games, with your hands in her mouth. At first, any Hard bites cause the puppy to lose her fun human toy for a bit. Yip or say “OW!” dramatically, freeze, and then turn away. After 10 seconds or so, play again or replace the human toy with a real chew toy. If the dog tries to bite you again right away, leave the room."

So I tried saying "Yip" or "Ow" every time he bit me, and apparently he thought it was hilarious! Take a look.

Cucumber Soup

I made this cucumber soup the other day using goat yogurt since I can't tolerate regular yogurt. It was delicious and very easy! Best eaten on a hot day.

Chilled Cucumber Soup with Fresh Mint and Dill
3 large cucumbers, peeled
1 tablespoon fine-chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon fine-chopped fresh mint
2 teaspoons champagne vinegar
24 ounces plain full-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1/4 cup soda water
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

Chop 2 of the cucumbers and throw them into the blender. Remove the seeds from the third cucumber. Throw the seeds into the blender, then fine dice and set aside the rest of the cucumber for garnishing later.

Put the rest of the ingredients into the blender and mix it all up. Season to taste.

Refrigerate the soup for at least 1 hour before eating, and preferably overnight. Top each bowl of soup with a handful of fine-diced fresh cucumber.