Bread is in the oven, gonna watch it rise!

Pictured here is a very happy girl. She isn't feeling very well (see those nose drippings?) and is very messy. She is very, very much loved. 

Hairstyle brought to you by vegetable soup.

What is she doing up on that stool? Will she work up there? Will she play up there? What is up there on top of that counter? 

DOUGH. But is started with a tbsp active dry yeast mixed into 3/4c room temperature almond milk. Then a tbsp of melted butter, a tbsp of sugar, 1/2tsp of salt and then about 1 1/2c bread flour.. And you've got a dough that needs some kneading. Emma's little hands were better for pinching the dough and squishing it between her fingers. I kneaded the main ball until it was ready to set in a bowl, be blown a kiss (it was going to sleep, after all) and rise. 

After an hour, our dough doubled in size. I offered it to Emma knowing she'd be happy to punch it down(above picture) then I kneaded it again. Emma took pinches of flour and sprinkled it on the kneading surface as she saw me do. Precise and perfect. After a few minutes we set it on the pan to rise for 45 minutes with the oven preheating.. 

Bread is in the oven, gonna watch it rise,

Right before my very eyes

35 minutes in the oven and here is the final result. Plus a home smelling like fresh bread.

I can't wait to eat a slice with some butter and a bowl of soup for today's lunch. Yummy!

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We will definitely be making bread on a weekly basis after this. It was such a special and rewarding thing to share with Emma. You can't beat fresh bread, still hot out of the oven and steaming. Best of all, this is bread we made together. 

A 10 o'clock sort of Cuckoo.

Patrick worked late last night and Emma was asleep when he got home. She woke before we went to bed and I went in to put her back down. It started out well but then, somehow... turned into us making a tent with the bed sheet. Then laying with both our heads on the pillows we frantically kicked our legs, making the sheet into a wavy ocean in the cold bluish nightlight. I held the sheet up with my hands and she crawled down to the foot of the bed, saying "In! Tent! In!" Soon she was making cat noises and threatening cuckooness. "Coocoo!" 

   "No cuckoos in this tent!"

 Then she sat up and pointed to herself. "Emma." 

  "Yes, Emma is in the tent."

She points to me. "Mama." 

  "Mommy and Emma are in the tent."

"Dada?"

  ".... Dada! DADA!" So at my call, in came Patrick, and we had a 30 minutes tent and tickle party before resuming sleep. And it was the tickliest and tentiest.

I love these spontaneous moments.

One fish, two fish, yellow tang, clown fish

One if Emma's favorite parts about our stay with my parents was my dad's saltwater aquarium. She would insist we hold her up to the glass or help pull a chair out from the table for her to stand on. This early bird caught most morning feedings and the afternoon sessions if we weren't out, enjoying the excitement the food created in the tank. 

Emma got to know by name the inhabitants of my dad's aquarium and would point them out when I asked. She knew the yellow tang who darted around, the pair of casual clown fish (would point out one, then find the other), and the wiggly Midas blenny. She could identify the royal gramma and leopard wrasse when they weren't hiding. I think she even had down the Bartlett anthias by our last day! There are fire shrimp and peppermint shrimp, a fantastic snail who slides along the glass cleaning off the algae and tons of hermit crabs picking through the sand. The aquarium was like a little slice of reef for us to enjoy.

Happy New Year!

Winter wonderland cometh

We got a solid inch of snow.. Just enough for Emma to cry out "Nuuuuuu!" each time she looks out the window. This morning we got to see what this stuff is all about. 

She did some drawing 

Evidence of a visitor of the feline variety

Emma also made footprints and sat on a snowy log. We want more snow for more wintery fun! Hopefully this weekend when we spend a night with P's family upstate to cut our Xmas tree we will have more. Our sled is packed and ready ride!

P is for Persimmon

We always get out our Eating the Alphabet book to match a new fruit or vegetable with the illustration by Lois Ehlert. Emma pointed to the picture of the persimmon when I opened to the P page... Hmm, lucky guess? Or astute pupil! Emma then got her toy knife and tried to cut it. 

(I ended up cutting it with my real knife but you were right on target, Emma!)

We have never had persimmon before. It looks a bit like a tomato.. Before taking a bite Emma held a piece to her nose and smelled it.

The sample.. 

The gobble

And seconds? 

A tale of the birth of Nurse Emma

Emma is growing into quite a caregiver, as evident by the extra love she is showing Patrick and I, her stuffies, and- of course, Catrick.

Catrick doesn't always want to sit for a brushing.. Alright, he NEVER does but he is as gentle as he can be when Emma lays her head on him, gives him kisses, or puts her hands on his face. 

A little digression here...

Later that same day we had a power outage caused by lines down on our block. With the sun down at 430 it was dark in the apartment by 5 and we had to go about our business by flashlight. Emma enjoyed discovering this tool by lighting her path or shining the light on different surfaces. But we thought there was something missing from the apartment... Uh oh, it's Catrick.

I let him out in to the patio thinking that no feral cats would come around to taunt him out into the dark and rain. I was wrong! Emma and I suited up and went out looking for him.

Wearing Patrick's bike helmet and light- which is incredibly bright made finding cat a breeze, but breaking up the cat fight he was in and managing to get a hold of him while wearing Emma was no easy task. My first attempt was a heavy hand on his shoulders which made him howl and bite, then I just scooped him under his arms and carried him home, his legs sticking straight out in front and yowling. We're lucky he didn't put up a fight because with Emma attached to me I couldn't risk her getting scratched, I would have let him go and we could have lost him. 

Emma was upset by Catrick's fury, his screaming and aggression towards me especially touched her. She was so concerned about my injury. It was minor but scary for her. 

I got the neosporin spray and she watched me apply the medicine as I explained that Cat was very angry at another cat and I got in the way. It wasn't his fault. Still, she stayed away from Cat the rest of the night and next morning. It was that morning that we left for New Hampshire to stay with Patrick's family for thanksgiving, where Emma would recall her knowledge of medicinal care.

This is Mitsy. You could probably tell by looking at her that she does not want your hand coming towards her. Emma got too close one day and Mitsy gave her a swat. The scratch on her hand was small but her heart was torn. Through the tears of hurt and shock she held her hand to me, knowing what came next. Medicine! Just like mama had for her scratch. Luckily I had it within an arms reach in that instance. I sprayed the neosporine on the cut and we compared scratches. I'm glad I had been bitten by Cat the night before so I could show Emma that it was okay, we get medicine and carry on. Because of this she wasn't alone in unfamiliar territory. 

Later that night Emma found the neosporine spray and pretended to apply medicine to Patrick and I with a shake and a "Tss, Tss, Tss!" spraying sound. We played a little doctor together, saying that one of us had a cut and needed medicine, then Emma would come in and apply.. "Tss, Tss."

Thanks for taking care of us, Emma. 

 We're not the only ones getting the love. Emma continues to share her food and water with all her animals while making hilariously overdone biting and slurping sounds. Lately though she has been interested in giving them pony rides (with help from us to hold the stuffy on her back) and also doing their nails. Using a small metal clip as her nail clipper she trimmed Panda, Moose, Beary and Pig's nails. All with a "Cuh! Cuh! Cuh!" to sound like the popping of a nail clipper. 

I'm amazed at the sort of imaginary games she is interested in playing as well as what she is thinking up on her own. Today she brought a bean to the spider (mentioned in my previous post) and tried to coax him down from his corner to feed him. Maybe to bury the hatchet... as she also tried brushing the spider's teeth with her own toothbrush when we first discovered it on the baseboard heaters. Poor spider was not expecting that one.

She surprised me too, Spider.