Happy Caleb

So, our son smiles and laughs.  What a joy, and how hilarious!!!  Here are some snapshots and video footage:

Getting ready for a springtime picnic outing--

The minute he saw the camera, he smiled, as if to pose!!!  

So we decided to have a photo shoot to see if he would keep "posing"...and he did!

Spending time with Summit on the changing table 

(she doesn't look to pleased, however)

Mirror, mirror, on the wall: who's that baby sitting tall?

We found a new "game" to play with the laughing boy!

What's to Love About a City?

It's always wonderful when reality exceeds expectations.  Keith and I will have lived in 5 states over two years...Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, now Arkansas, and soon North Carolina.  Additionally I've also lived in 2 states (Kentucky and Washington as a kid, Washington as a college student and young adult), but it's interesting how one's "likability criteria" changes with age.  We've received many comments over the months, ranging from, "Which location have you enjoyed most/least?" to "You're going to love (fill in the blank with the state name of your choice)!" 

So, my commentary?

1. Cliche noted, a place is what you make of it.  This is the must-have attitude of military life, but  everyone should adopt it.

2. What is available to do outdoors?  Being a Colorado girl, this is key!!  (Unfortunately, weather can dampen this--I have not enjoyed living in humidity-saturated states for the past two and many upcoming summers.  I suppose "weather" could be marked as #3, but it's so connected to #2 that I'll just keep them together:-)

3. Character.  Who wants to live in a city that could be mistaken for some other place?  Uniqueness comes in many forms: landmarks, terrain, history, buildings, restaurants & cafes, activity, shops...and I'm not talking chains, people.

4. The "locals" must have a clue that the rest of the world exists!  Diversity is a plus, too.

5. A feeling or sense of "belonging", or rather feeling "at home".

6. The WHO make the WHAT more lovable...whom you befriend and become involved with makes all the difference in the world.

2007-2009 Hobart Cities

1. Enid, Oklahoma (June, 2007-February, 2008):

Pros--#6

Cons--#2, 3, 4, 5

Conclusions--We're just not small-town or prairie folk.   But, we can always fall back on the friends of #6!  (Keith would probably add his comments to #3...he misses Turkey Creek!)

2. Corpus Christi, Texas (February-October, 2008): 

Pros--#2, 3, 4, 6

Cons--#2 (very flat!), 5

Conclusions--Love the cultural diversity, but Sarah's finally come to terms with not being a beach gal.  Keith, on the other hand, votes Corpus as his favorite---can't beat fishing off your back deck!!

3. Little Rock, Arkansas (October, 2008-Summer, 2009): 

Pros--#2!!!, 3, 4 (for the most part...), 5, 6

Cons--(haven't survived the summer, yet)

Conclusions--Sarah's favorite military town so far.  I love a city with "pockets" yet to be discovered, even after living there for half a year!  While Colorado outdoors can't be matched, Little Rock has been a beautiful place to live.  Love that River Walk Trail and fresh farmer's market! It's always wonderful when reality exceeds expectations.  I had predicted Arkansas to be my least favorite place!!!

4. Fayetteville, North Carolina: 

Pros--TBD

Cons--TBD

Conclusions--So many have said we will love our "permanent" home.  I'm a little worried about the humidity and bugs (including tics!!).  While Keith is excited about fishing and boating prospects, I'm hopeful for good hiking and "strollering" areas.  I also hope I'll feel safe and that I'll desire to be "out and about" around town.  Who knows, maybe we'll become permanent transplants from Colorado!

Family "Consultation" after writing this blog post:

After discussing with our family of four, the "favorite 2007-2009 city" votes are in---

Sarah-born in Washington in 1977, favorite is Little Rock (reasons stated above)

Keith-born in Oklahoma in 1978, favorite is Corpus Christi/North Padre Island (reasons stated above)

Summit-born in Oklahoma in 2006 (maybe 2007), favorite is Corpus Christi because of the stairs in our home and because of the numerous island birds and creatures

Caleb-born in Texas in 2008, favorite is Little Rock because of his good friends Parker, Andrew, and Owen

Video and Website Postings: Food

If you know me, then you know I procrastinate when I feel I don't have time to do 110%. Hence the month lag between blog postings. Rather than give my usual narrative, I'm going to try to be techie. (I know, that doesn't go in sync with the old school Nokia cell phone that I was forced to give up last August. Man, I miss that thing....but I admit to enjoying my new "modern" phone's speaker phone and multi alarm features...) ANYWAYS....

**Part 1: The Eating

I invite you into our small dining room, where Caleb thoroughly enjoyed eating his pureed pears last week:

(Was it my cooking, Caleb????)

**Part 2: The Cooking

I invite you into my small apartment kitchen, where I enjoy experimenting with new recipes as well as baking and cooking familiar favorites. Two of my recent concoctions included some of the same ingredients (oatmeal, nuts, craisins).

First, a "happen to find" recipe for GRANOLA from the December 2007 edition of Cooking Light. My previous favorite granola recipe was Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa "Homemade Granola" at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/homemade-granola-recipe/index.html., but it involved a long cooking time and expensive dry fruit ingredients. Plus, with 3/4 cup oil, it was fairly greasy. So, I like this "Chocolate Crunch" recipe much better--it's faster, cheaper, and healthier. Plus, who doesn't like a little bit of chocolate? It's great with yogurt and fresh fruit, milk, or even ice cream!

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1687651

Chocolate (Granola) Crunch

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 3 cups regular oats
• 1 cup oven-toasted rice cereal (such as Rice Krispies)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60 to 70 percent cocoa), finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preparation

Preheat oven to 300°.

Cover a jelly-roll pan with parchment paper. Coat parchment paper with cooking spray.

Combine oats, rice cereal, brown sugar, chopped pecans, salt, and ground cinnamon in a large bowl.

Combine honey and canola oil in a small saucepan over low heat; cook 2 minutes or until warm. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and chocolate; stir with a whisk until smooth. Pour chocolate mixture over oat mixture. Lightly coat hands with cooking spray. Gently mix chocolate mixture and oat mixture until combined. Spread oat mixture onto prepared jelly-roll pan. Bake at 300° for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes. Cool completely on pan; stir in cranberries.

Next, one of my mom's and my favorite oatmeal COOKIES (from one of our favorite cookbooks): Colorado Ranch Cookies. You'll find the recipe in the Junior League of Denver's Colorado Colore on page 270. They're moist, flavorful, and quick to make. Tips: I follow the"to enhance the flavor" direction at the end of the recipe. The almond extract truly makes the cookie, and I love the craisins even more when they've soaked up all that flavor. Also, I scoop the batter with an ice cream scoop to make the cookies even in size. I think the recipe calls for smaller cookies, so do what you want. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/COLORADO-RANCH-COOKIES-JUNIOR-LEAGUE-OF-DENVER-1249792

Colorado Ranch (Oatmeal) Cookies

Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

preparation

Mix the flour, baking soda and salt together. Beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar in a mixing bowl until creamy. Add the flour mixture and beat until blended. Stir in the oats, cranberries, coconut, almonds, eggs and flavoring. The dough will be very stiff.

Drop the dough by heaping

teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until light brown. Cool on a cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool

completely. Store in an air tight container.
To enhance the flavor of the cookies, mix the eggs, almond extract and cranberries in a bowl and let stand for 1 hour before adding to the recipe.

**Part 3: The Evidence of the Cooking (well, kind of...)

I will only post evidence of my "cooking" for my son (actually my providing food for him via me or via pureed veggies and fruits).......I know it's not much, but I've just got to brag about the first signs of "pudge" on my little guy!!!!!

(Picture taken days before his 7-month weigh-in at 13 pounds, 13 ounces.)

Toes, Teeth, a Tush, and a Tail

As adults, we miss the "interesting" in what we see day-to-day.  Thank goodness for infants, who remind us that each body part, nature element, and experience all have one-of-a-kind components to them.  This month Caleb has discovered a few of these wonders.  

Toes.  At first I thought Caleb's seemingly instant fascination with his ten little piggies came due

to my removal of his socks on a 70 degree day.  We were strollering outside, and I thought he was getting a bit hot--SOOOO, socks off, toes moving, hands touching feet, eyes staring. Throughout the winter and fall, I've struggled to keep those little pieces of baby body covered (probably because my own toes are always cold).  But I already know what my feet look like (and even if it were warm right now, I'd intentionally cover my toes due to my partially removed  postpartum ingrown toenail).  Caleb had only seen his toes during his short 5 minute baths--not enough time for ample observation.  But this day was different---30 minutes of uninterrupted toe touch time.  The fascination?  They're little and in different sizes.  Each moves (practically) independent of the other.  Shiny squares called nails tip the ends.  And, they stay attached when the legs bend the feet into touching range!  

Teeth.  No, Caleb does not have any teeth yet, and Summit has not bit him yet.  This discovery is just a speculation of mine.  Now that he's 6 months old, Caleb LOVES to put things in his mouth, including his own fingers (and sometimes hands).  I don't know if he likes the way his

gums feel to his fingers or the way his fingers feel to his gums.  Either way, his fingers get a completely different sensation when his hands touch his mother's or father's face.  Often times, those little hands find their way into our adult mouths---and our pearly whites get the Caleb Touch.  Don't you wander in what form babies come to realizations?  (Is it like the infants in that silly John Travolta and Kirstie Ally movie Look Who's Talking, where the viewers could hear the dialogue going on in, between, and among babies?)  Anyway, I'm sure our baby boy has thought, "Wow, these sharp things are NOT in my mouth...why is that?"  Just a point for we adults to ponder...

A tush.  This is more of an accomplishment than a discovery: our son can sit on his tush without any props, without falling over (well, 90% of the time...)!  

Of course I don't remember the first time I balanced on my bottom as an infant, but I DO remember the first time I could ride my training-wheel bike without needing the training wheels: that moment of balance when you hold your breath.  (Keeping with my psycho McCoy memory, the mile-marking even took place on our driveway in Radcliff, Kentucky, during the summer before my kindergarten year.  My dad and brother witnessed the event, and I then remember Dad taking the smaller training wheels off for me to test ride the "2 wheeler" around the house in the grass....)  I can say that Keith and I have coached Caleb in this sitting "ability" since Christmas.  Selfishly, we wanted to be able to tell the doctor at the 6 month appointment that our son could sit up, even though he doesn't roll over consistently.  Regardless of our motives, Caleb can balance, and I wonder if his baby brain had a silent celebration the moment his "training wheels" (the Boppy pillow and parent hands) came off.  (This picture is the before shot of Caleb's sitting era.)

A tail.  Yes, the tail belonging to a certain tabby.  Caleb finally notices the cat; when Summit walks across the room, Caleb's eye's track her movement.  Three months ago, Keith and I started taking Caleb's hand and petting Summit with it.  Now, he tries to do this on his own; most times the result is a previously baby-saliva coated hand now covered with cat fur.  It's humorous to watch--and occasionally Summit's tail comes into Caleb's grip.  No pulling yet, so I'm not sure if the cat is currently bothered by all this new attention/activity.  I'll simply close with this image, taken moments before I had planned to open the apartment door to wheel Caleb and the stroller outside for a walk, only to be halted by an "unexpected" cargo in the bottom basket:

PhotoWorking

I created a new "gerund" since I hear the one "blogging" all the time. I don't consider myself a blogger, nor do I think I'll ever become one who will be able to keep up with hundreds of blogs of internet friends whom I've never met. (I think I've been doing a good job, though, at following you friends who already have one; I love hearing what's going on in your lives!) I've had to push myself to make at least weekly entries--not something I would call a hobby yet.

So then, one of my newly proclaimed hobbies? PhotoWorking.

Actually, hobby is Keith's label. (I just looked up the word in the dictionary: a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation) A few months ago

while talking about how energized he became after a relaxing morning of fly fishing on the Little Red River, he mentioned that I appear to have no hobbies. At first, I took offense--I've had tons of hobbies over my lifetime: stickering in elementary school, rubber stamping in junior high, crafting in high school, ceramic and wood painting in college (oh, and I might as well label all my teaching days' classroom projects as a young adult hobby). "But you don't have anything now that you look forward to putting your time into to help you relax." Heh, heh, aren't SARAH and RELAX synonyms? "Well, sometimes I take naps!" was my rebuttal.

Deep down, I was experiencing that "I used to have a fulfilling full-time teaching job during the week and make time to play outdoors on the weekends but now I'm just a stay-at-home mom who does what?" syndrome. I questioned myself about what has fueled me over the past 6 months (or 4 at the time of this conversation) in my new role as an infant caretaker (a.k.a. MOTHER). I came up with cooking, in which my interest has grown as I've had more time at home (to cook AND to watch The Barefoot Contessa on the Food Newtork). Keith opened up another possibility: "You like to make photo albums through that website to give to people." (At the time, I was in the middle of creating a few projects to be given as Christmas gifts.) This made me smile. One I hadn't considered a hobby! I guess my form of relaxation is creating something, whether that be food or projects or something else to share. So, I'd like to share two of my recent albums with you:

*YOU CAN CLICK ON THE LINKS TO VIEW THE REAL ALBUMS ON LINE!

1. Caleb's First Four Months (I made it for my parents)

2. Stoppenhagen Family Album: the Past Century (I made it for my mom's side of the family)

3. While I'm at it----I'll also share my FIRST Photoworks book. For those of you who've know my family, you'll enjoy this one: McCoy Family Vacations

It appears husbands know how to get you thinking, reflecting, evaluating--because Keith didn't stop there. "Have you ever made or ordered a copy of a PhotoWorks album for yourself?" No--strictly gifts so far. So, next project? An on-line book we'll get to keep on our own coffee table (or on Caleb's book shelf). Any one have a suggestion for the new book's title?

PS---An interesting background tidbit I am admitting on line.....My enjoyment/obsession with computer photo book layout/editing/etc. stems from my yearbook staff days in high school....yes, I was editor in 12th grade, and yes I have been to yearbook camp. What a dork---yearbook camp, for a whole week????

A Reader, Let's Hope!

Every parent wants her child to fall in love with reading.  Especially me--but I think 66% of that hope is for selfish reasons.  First, I never really enjoyed reading myself.  In elementary school, I always viewed myself as a slow reader, so this affected my confidence and enjoyment.  The only time I remember truly craving books is when I became addicted to the Baby Sitters' Club series back in the late 80s when Ann M. Martin started writing them.  I stopped reading them, though, upon entry into junior high, when I became embarrassed about liking the juvenile books.  Over the next decade, I plugged through class-assigned literature, often skimming or just skipping to the end in order to make the "due by" date for discussion or test.   I didn't find books to "enjoy" until after college, when I became a 2nd grade teacher who all of a sudden needed to "enjoy" reading in order to motivate students to read.  The world of picture books opened up to me: the text is much shorter, the message a bit more obvious, and, of course, how could I miss the beautiful illustrations?  Just check out one of Cynthia Rylant's newer books,  Long Night Moon, which is lovely in its poetic voice and artwork:

In my "round two" of elementary school (oh, and first taste of grad school), I, Ms. McCoy also learned how to read all over again.  I found that simple metacognition really can increase one's understanding and enjoyment of text--being aware of what your mind can do and think while  (not just after) you're reading words can bring meaning to print, whether you're 8 or 31.  Which brings me to my second selfish reason for wanting Caleb to become a reader: I admit my feeling, since his mother has her masters in reading, that he should become a reader.  If I have all the "theory" in my bag, surely my own son could become a success.  (I'm sounding so full of myself right now, but at least I can be honest about these selfish thoughts.  I know reality will hit me when I realize that my son, too, like every one of my students, is an individual who has different learning needs and styles!!)

Lastly (and this one's actually for Caleb)--isn't it absolutely wonderful to be an avid reader?  (Those of you out there who actually are avid readers will have to back me

 up on this one---I can only claim what I think it might be like!)  Just look at what fun he's having already---monkey Caleb and Curious George are best buds!  We are sure to check out one of H.E. Rey's  Curious George books each library visit.  Last week's was the one with the pancakes. Over Christmas was, of course, Merry Christmas, Curious George, read with Uncles Steve and David.  Daddy Keith has always enjoyed reading, and he's looking forward to the day when he can read chapter books such as the Chronicles of Narnia and Hatchet to Caleb.  I think of how fortunate Caleb is to be able to grow up in an environment surrounded by print--so many children today do not have that privilege.  

Tennis, Anyone?

I'm sure I turn red every time Keith says, "She's really good---she played in high school and went to state."  Well, that was 15 years ago.  People would laugh now.  Needless to say, even Wii Tennis can't make up for years of lost practice.  Yet watching any Grand Slam tournament (right now it's the Australian Open) always puts the "Maybe I'll join a low-key league or something" thought in my head.  Today, taking advantage of the 60 degree January weather and apartment complex courts, we participated in the Hobart Family Team, Little Rock branch.  (I also somehow managed to find an old Cheyenne Tennis hoodie with pockets.  You'd think I was related Uncle Rico or something.)  Even Caleb came along--and he got to call the match at his discretion (after 5-1 in the first set...I won't tell who was ahead...it's too embarrassing).  Of course every parent wonders what sport his or her kid will want to play and thus begins to present "the best choices" starting at an early age.  Keith's vote?  Well...just take a look at Caleb's outfit (Avalanche).  Unfortunately, I don't think our little 12 pounder (remember, he's already 5 months) will make it to hockey player weight.  Tennis, however...well, Caleb already loves standing on his feet...I think you know my vote!