Wordless Wednesday: Water Ready

Robin's Latest Rash A.K.A. poor kid can't catch a break!

It started on her trunk, on the left side.  It spread to her back.  It didn't seem to bother her, but because it was spreading we took her in to her doc. 

Looks like it's a reaction, somewhat rare, to the Chickenpox vaccine she received on her 15 month checkup.  It began 10 or so days after the vaccine.  Currently it's also on her arms and legs, with her scratching her trunk. 

We were assured it's not contagious, and it will go away soon.  Anyone have this happen? It's been nearly 3 weeks now, so it may be here to stay for awhile. 

Poor kid.  At least we have tons of cortisone cream from a few months ago.

Little Slice of PDX comes to Orinda

We had our first official visitors last week!!!!  These guys braved the long, overnight drive to sleep on our fancy Ikea sofa bed for a few nights.



I didn't get all that many pictures, but since Christie is basically an unpaid professional photographer at this point, she took over that job.



We smooshed three car seats into the Prius and set off for adventures, checking out the Oakland Zoo, the California Academy of Sciences, and the local pool. We ate some good burgers, bacon, prosciutto,  pork. There was a lot of meat. And there was lots of talking, kid wrangling, catching up and fun. And one round of preschooler-toddler soccer:




Thanks for the great visit, Darren, Christie and Henry!   Now it's official: hotel McMiller Orinda is open for business!

McMillers Invade Sacramento, 2011 style

That's right. We took another short train trip up to Sacramento. We swam in the American river (somehow not pictured.) We ate fish n'chips. Twice. We met up with these guys. We saw the Railroad museum. We took a horse-drawn carriage ride through Old Town. Really, we did it all. And had a great time.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Little Diva

Do-re-mi from Ms. A on Vimeo.

Robin June 15 months!

Robin had her 15 month check up a few weeks ago, and thought I should get this posted before she turns 16 months!



Robin June 15 months stats:
Weight: 22 lbs, 14 oz; 50%
Height: 31 1/8"; 75%




What's new in Robin's world? She's emerged from the squishy infant larval stage into full blown toddler.



She is talking up a storm, from the moment she gets up, "It's a blankie" (and holds up her blankie) "Mouth! Eyes! Tongue! Teeth! Nose!" (as she pokes at my face). Ask her a question and you'll get, "No." or "Yeah" accompanied with a belly bounce. She loves playing pretend and anything can be a phone on which she calls her grandparents. She is sad when anyone leaves the house but is desperately sad when it's Mom, Dad or Erin. She throws tantrums, or now that we know what full-blown, knock-down, drag-out tantrums are like, throws cute little toddler tantrums. Usually involving Otter pops.



She's energetic, she still loves highly seasoned food. She now has two molars but still has two molars and 4 canines to go. She tells jokes. She sings all the time, ABC and Happy Birthday being her two favorites. She loves books, especially those with bugs in them. All in all she's a pretty cool person. It's so fun watching the girl emerge.

Wordless Wednesday

And now for gratuitous sibling cuteness

Follow the leader from Ms. A on Vimeo.

Heath's new bike

This is Dr. A's brother's new toy:


Heath's Chopper from Ms. A on Vimeo.


Sweet, no?

A very DIY Saturday

Nothing new in this post, only today was a very PDX kinda day, Orinda style.

One new skirt made (yes, it is addictive).

Homemade pizza & calzones made. 

Plus it rained and rained and rained (hence the PDX).  But we had to drive everywhere (hence the Orinda).

Recipe corner: crunchy kale

This was totally not my idea.  It was Jaques Pepin.  But I can't believe I didn't think of it myself.  It's easy, it's tasty, it's addictive, and it's healthy.  What more can you ask from a vegetable, particularly one with such a questionable reputation as kale.

Oven: 250-300F
Ingredients:
One bunch kale, washed, dried and torn into bite-sized pieces.  You don't need the ribs.
One tablespoon olive oil
Sprinkles of sea salt

Toss ingredients together.  Spread on a cookie cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Try to get it as mono-layer as possible.  Bake for 20 minutes, or more or less.

It will be crisp, crunchy, very fragile.  We gave some to the girls and they loved smooshing it to green powder.  I don't think they actually at any of it.

We, however, ate the entire bunch.

Such a delicious way to get your greens.

Look, Amber!

I did it!  It was super easy!!!!

Thanks for the pattern.  Now to make matching ones for me, Robin and Erin.