Campbell is 21 months!

I can’t believe Campbell will be two in just a few months. She is growing up so fast. I am a little late, but wanted to be sure to record what Campbell is up to at 21 months old.

Stats:

She loves her brother (when he’s not tormenting her). She spends much of her day following him around, copying what he does, and giving him hugs and kisses. She just learned how to say Sam (she says “Tham”) so it has been really fun to see how much time she spends thinking about him. She really likes to say, “Hi, Tham! Hi, Tham! Hi, Tham” until he acknowledges her, which sometimes takes awhile because Sam usually doesn’t realize what she is saying right away!

Her language has blown up lately. All of sudden she is copying everything we say and putting together 2-3 word sentences. One of her favorite sentences is, “I see moon!!” which she shouts over and over when you are in the car after dark. Her vocabulary has really expanded and it is so cool to know what she wants most of the time.

She is a very sporadic eater. Some meals she will eat nearly as much as us, and other meals she will just pick and poke and move food around. She really loves her sweets though! We were at a birthday party the other day and when they brought out the cake she shouted really loudly, “YAAAAAY CAKE!!!!”

Campbell is our goofy girl for sure. She is always making silly faces or making weird noises to get us all to laugh.

Her favorite sentence construction is to put me after a word to change it into a verb. After almost every nap, as soon as I walk in she starts shouting “Bow me!!” because her bow has fallen out. She also says book me, cheese me, buckle me and uppa me. She is quite the demanding girl!

She is definitely developing more of a temper. She will throw little mini fits when she doesn’t get her way, and sometimes slaps me when she is mad. Here comes two!

After a year and a half of hating the water, she finally likes to take baths! She even rinses her own hair.

She loves to do things by herself. She can take off her shoes and socks and loves to buckle herself in. She will NOT let you brush her teeth until she has had a chance to do it herself.

A few more pictures of our sweet and sassy girl. This is such a fun age and we are loving every minute of it!!

Sam at 4

Sam, at 4 years old, is…

so sweet to his little sister. Sam is really starting to have fun playing with Campbell and is usually so sweet to her (though he regularly will push her or knock into her for no reason–just random bouts of aggression). Lately he has been asking her if she wants a hug, and then they hug each other. Really sweet. When we pick him up from school on Wednesdays, he always asks her if she had fun at music class.

really active!! I am constantly amazed by how much energy he has. He loves to run and jump and run and jump and run and jump.

obsessed with Wild Kratts. He is always telling us funny animal facts that he has learned through that show. He also likes Super Why, Sesame Street, Octonauts, and Jake and The Neverland Pirates.
not regularly taking naps. He has quiet time everyday from about 1:30-3, but only falls asleep once a week or once every two weeks. He sleeps well at night though! 8-8.

a great chef. Sam loves to help us cook. He can even crack eggs!

is working on his fine motor skills. It has been really neat to see his writing and drawing skills improve this school year. He has never been all that interested in coloring and drawing, but there has been more of a focus on writing this school year. Sam can now write his own name and several other letters. He has also gotten much better at cutting!

eager to do things by himself. Sam sometimes likes to pick out his outfits (though he usually lets me veto choices), he can get himself completely undressed and dressed. He gets himself partially buckled into his car seat. He can go upstairs and bring things down for me (like when I need a diaper for Campbell).
a longhorn fan (duh!)

constantly growling at strangers. It is so embarrassing! But I guess that’s par for the course with a 4 year old boy?

way into superheros. He is always asking me detailed questions about superheroes that I have no clue how to answer. Thank goodness for Google.

our sweet little baby. He has been especially sweet and cuddly lately and I am loving it!

Sam, we are so lucky that you are our son. Every day with you is an exhausting and exhilarating adventure. Love you to pieces!!!

What We Ate Wednesday, er Thursday

*Every Wednesday (or so) I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week!*

Only a few weeks in, and already slipping. Well, better late than never, right?

Wednesday: Asian Inspired Soup

I had one last bunch of bok choy to use, and as you all know, I was ready to try something different! This was simple and delicious. I used this recipe but modified it by adding sliced potatoes and didn’t do the eggs. I served it with rice and Ben and I topped ours with a little of this. This was our vegan meal.

Thursday: Roasted Sweet Potato Salad and Cheesy Garlic Bread

My friend Maura gave me this recipe the other day and I couldn’t wait to try it. It was SO good! I served it with cheesy garlic bread, but it would also be great with a grilled cheese or soup.

Friday: Some Italian Restaurant in NYC

We were up in New York this weekend so it was out to eat for us! Friday night I had a delicious green salad and gnocchi. Yum!

Saturday: Fred’s in NYC

Saturday night we met up with my high school friend Patricia for dinner at Fred’s, which was very family friendly (as in, the combo of our wild/tired kids and all the other wild/tired kids in the restaurant may have convinced Patricia to never have kids. Ha!). I had a veggie burger and sweet potato fries.

Sunday: Wawa

We were driving back home at dinner time so we stopped at Wawa for sandwiches. I got my standard: toasted 6″ sub with cheddar, provolone, mayo, mustard, spinach*, pickles, tomatoes, banana peppers, salt, and pepper. (*On my Grandpa Chuck’s recommendation, I always get spinach instead of iceberg lettuce on sandwiches. So much healthier!)

Monday: Charred Corn Tacos with Zucchini-Radish Slaw

We made this again and it was yummy. Remembered to get avocados this time!

Tuesday: Indian Delivery

Well, I was planning to make soup for dinner and then realized at about 5:30 that I didn’t buy any broth. Oops! So we got Indian delivered instead. Yum! Here is what we ordered: vegetable pakora, vegetable samosas, naan, daal makhani, shahi paneer, vegetable korma, palak paneer (We *still* have leftovers, but I like having a lot of variety!)

Fall Nature Walk

I am not really an outdoors-y person, but when I saw this idea on Pinterest, I knew it was something we could handle. Sam had so much fun with this! And it was kind of cool for us all to get in touch with nature.

What We Ate Wednesday

*Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week!*

Wednesday: Lebanese Taverna

We met Auntie Becca and her work colleagues for dinner out at Lebanese Taverna. I got the Vegetarian Mezze (the regular mezze only has one meat item, so they just subbed that out for something else yummy!).

Thursday: Pizza Party

Our neighborhood has a pre trick-0r-treating party at the community center so we all had cheese pizza and candy for dinner. Delicious and nutritious!

Friday: Fettuccine Alfredo and Balsamic Roasted Vegetables

I was feeling super sick Friday night so I had applesauce for dinner. But Ben made a delicious dinner–I know it’s delicious just because I have had it before. The shallot really makes this version of Fettuccine Alfredo special (note: we make pretty much all pasta recipes using Trader Joe’s whole wheat fusilli. I am sure it would be good with fettuccine but the whole wheat makes it healthier, and it is still yummy!). And for the roasted root vegetables, feel free to use whatever root vegetables you like. Ours was very turnip heavy, because we had a bunch from our CSA.

Saturday: Grilled Pimento Cheese and Fried Green Tomato Sandwich and a Caesar Salad

I am still mad about this. I was still feeling horrible on Saturday night, so I had a banana for dinner. But I had found this recipe a week prior when I was looking for something to make with our green frying tomatoes (CSA). I was so excited about it and then I couldn’t even eat it! But Ben and Rebecca had it for dinner and said it was great. I had a little bit of leftovers on Sunday, and it was indeed delicious. Ben and I agreed that we didn’t like the cooking method for the sandwich. It suggests broiling but the bread ends up kind of soggy that way. Frying it up in a pan would be much better. But it is a labor intensive recipe, so perhaps they were looking for a shortcut. Also, you may note that the recipe calls for bacon. To make this a vegetarian dinner, we just skipped that. And I know bacon is SO HOT right now, but I honestly think this dish would have been too rich with bacon.

Sunday: Fondue Night!

My friend Nicole just moved from our neighborhood to a different neighborhood–still in Arlington, but about 20-25 minutes away. Our husbands and sons (and someday our daughters) are also friends, so we decided to set up biweekly family dinners to make sure we don’t lose touch. Sunday night was the first dinner and Nicole’s family hosted us at their new house. Nicole studied abroad in Switzerland and can make a delicious traditional fondue. To dip in the fondue, we had bread, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. And we also had a big delicious spinach salad. Then for dessert, we had chocolate fondue with fruit to dip in. Soooo good. I kind of want her to make that every time she hosts! But not really, because she is a great chef and I can’t wait to eat whatever else she cooks up!

Monday: Salt and Pepper Tofu and Stir Fried Bok Choy

I am not going to lie, I am a little sick of bok choy. I basically only know one way to make it, and it is good, but we have gotten so much recently with our CSA and I am boooored. But this salt and pepper tofu is always delicious! We also had a little rice for a full and filling vegan dinner.

Tuesday: Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce, Roasted Broccoli, Garlic Bread

This one is a huge hit with the whole family (the kids LOVE pasta). I took a big shortcut with this recipe and used store bought pesto. So easy and good! I cannot say enough good things about this broccoli. It is SO GOOD. Seriously, Ben and I may or may not have gotten into a little fight when I snuck into the kitchen and finished off the broccoli before he could. Ha! And of course, who doesn’t love garlic bread? I like it the soft way!

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween this year!

Sam had fun helping me carve pumpkins.

Both kids loved getting dressed up as superheroes!

Love this pic of Campbell with her pint-sized companion!

And they had a lot of fun trick-or-treating. Last year Sam was pretty shy but this year he jumped right into it! And Campbell followed her big brother’s lead and really got the hang of it! (Campbell’s adorable friend Minnie, aka Mary Clare, came with us too!).

Sam also had a blast passing out candy after we were done trick-or-treating. He constantly surprises us with how outgoing he can be!

I totally forgot to get candy to pass out until the last minute, so they hardly had anything left. When our first trick-or-treater came, she asked what kind of candy it was and Sam apologetically offered, “it was the only kind they had left!” Haha!

What We Ate Wednesday

*Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week!*

Wednesday: District Taco

I was not up for cooking, so we went to District Taco, everyone’s favorite!

Thursday: Macaroni and Cheese

I probably make this more than I should but it is so good and easy. It’s the definition of comfort food. I make my grandma’s recipe, but here is a similar one. I have never made it with a breadcrumb topping. My grandma always just crumbled whatever she had on hand for the topping–chips, crackers, cornflakes–and that works for me too! We ate this with some frozen peas and slices of fresh tomatoes from our CSA.

Friday: Halloween Party Food

Friday night was our neighborhood Halloween party which is always a blast. Everyone brings a dish to share so we made dinner out of that–hummus, pita, chips, deviled eggs, pasta salads, spinach casserole, etc. Aren’t these deviled eggs that my friend Silvana made wild??

Saturday: Baked Potato Soup

This soup is so yummy and the perfect way to use up the leeks we got this week in our CSA! I love making this during the winter months. I kind of spaced and forgot to plan a vegetable with this meal. It would have been great with a nice, green salad. But luckily Sam and Ben had made an apple crumble that afternoon, so we still got our daily serving of fruit in dessert!

Sunday: Date Night!

Ben and I went to an awesome restaurant for date night this week! Have you ever tried Sichuan Hot Pot? It is SO fun and really delicious. You pick a broth (mild or original), a protein, and some veggies. Then they bring your broth in a little hot pot that literally has flames coming out the side. They bring all of your fillings on little plates and you dump them into the boiling broth, then pull them out to eat them. For our protein we had tofu and for our vegetables we got potatoes, a crazy kind of mushroom, and spinach. This was our vegan meal for the week (easy to eat vegan at most Asian restaurants).

Monday: Ratatouille Soup

It is a miracle that this soup was even edible with all the ways I tried to sabotage it! Not really, but I couldn’t have screwed up more if I had tried. I was planning to make this earlier in the week but it got pushed back, so by the time I made it, the basil had gone bad, the baguette was stale, and we were missing the onion (who knows where that ended up). But I powered through and made the soup anyway, skipping the onion, subbing flat leaf parsley for basil, and broiling the baguette slices. Then of course, I got distracted while broiling the bread and completely burnt it. Ben suggested scraping it off and that was a good call! In the end, the meal was totally delicious. I can’t imagine how good it would be if you actually followed the recipe!

Tuesday: Tofu Fried Rice

My sister taught me how to make this long ago and it is still a fave. For the tofu, I chop it into small cubes, soak it in soy sauce, and then fry it with oil in a good non-stick pan over medium-high heat until the sides are crispy. Tofu is SO good cooked this way. You should totally try it if you aren’t a fan of tofu! For the rice, I fry cooked rice in a little oil over medium heat in a cast iron pan. Once it’s a little crispy, I add some frozen mixed veggies (e.g. corn, peas, green beans, carrots). When those are cooked through, scoot the rice mixture to the side and scramble an egg in the same pan (or skip this to make it a vegan meal). Stir the egg into the rice mixture once it is completely cooked. The last step is to add the fried tofu and a little soy sauce to taste. This is a great easy and fast meal.

What We Ate Wednesday

Oops! I almost forgot my WWAW post! I’ll make it brief! I did try to take pics this week, but it was hard to remember! Also, I am really bad at photographing food so that it looks appetizing. Sorry!

*Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week!*

Wednesday: Corn and Radish Tacos

We have gotten about 5,000 radishes from our CSA recently, so I was on the hunt for a good radish recipe. This one is excellent. We made ours with fresh corn tortillas, black beans, and jack cheese. Avocado would have been amazing.

Thursday: Take Out

Ben’s parents were in town and treated us to Lost Dog pizza. Yum!

Friday: Cheese Flautas with Cilantro Pesto, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, and Black Eyed Pea Salad

This is, hands down, my favorite fall meal. I always make all three pieces together and I only make it in the fall. It is one of the few things I look forward to when the weather starts getting cold. Click for recipes for the flautas, soup, and salad.

Saturday: Stir-Fried Eggplant, Tofu and Rice

Ben made this meal. You have to have a cook’s illustrated membership to see the recipe for the eggplant. For the tofu, Ben just fried it in oil and then added it to the eggplant so it got seasoned with the same yummy sauce. I try to plan for one vegan meal per week (though I don’t always succeed) and this was it this week!

Sunday: Curried Couscous and cheesy garlic bread

I saw Giada making this on TV last week and thought it looked SO good. And then when I saw we got cauliflower in our CSA, I knew it was meant to be. I asked my sister for ideas of what to make with this (in the show she made chicken nuggets) and she suggested cheesy garlic bread. It was a perfect combo!

Monday: Caldo Verde and grilled cheese sandwiches

Sorry, this is another cook’s illustrated recipe. I found this one when I was trying to find something to make with the collard greens from our CSA this week. It calls for chorizo, but that is no problem since I love the soy chorizo at Trader Joe’s. Of course, when I went shopping they were out! So I found a new soy chorizo that is also really food. This meal was delicious and spicy!

Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner

This is always popular with the kids, and us too! We had cream cheese biscuits, apple butter, scrambled eggs, and skillet potatoes.

Fall Apple Picking

This past Monday (Columbus Day), we took the kids apple picking. We’ve gone to the same place for the past few years, mainly because they sell the most delicious freshly baked apple goodies. It’s also a beautiful spot for picture taking.

The kids took their apple picking duties very seriously! This was the first year that they could really help! It was so fun.

Picking apples is hard work, so obviously they had to stop and take a snack break.

Why is it so hard to get them both looking at the camera and smiling, at the same time?

We got a good haul! We’ve made apple crisp and apple butter, and we still have a whole bag left!

What We Ate Wednesdays

As you may already know, Ben and I (and our kids, by default) are vegetarians. It seems that being a vegetarian, or at least eating less meat, is becoming more and more popular. Many times, when I mention to people that we are vegetarians, they respond that they have thought about being a vegetarian, but they don’t know what they would cook. Since we eat a vegetarian meal every night, I thought it would be cool to share our weekly meal plan with links to all of the recipes. I am not promising anything fancy or super awesome, but I do think we eat a pretty good meal every night, so hopefully you will enjoy this new feature. So from here on out, Wednesdays on this blog will feature a “What We Ate Wednesday” post.

Wednesday: Bean and Cheese Tacos with Guacamole

I made fresh flour tortillas, which I highly recommend if you don’t live in Texas. It takes a little while, but they are super easy. For the tacos, just scoop some refried beans (from a can) and some shredded jack cheese in a tortilla and heat (skillet or microwave). I don’t have a recipe for the guacamole either, but we keep it simple–mashed avocado, lime juice, salt, garlic powder.

Thursday: Macaroni and Cheese and Roasted Broccoli

The mac and cheese recipe is my grandma’s, except I use whole wheat noodles. Here is a similar recipe. The Roasted Broccoli is from Ina Garten’s and it is AMAZING. I skipped the basil, just because I didn’t have it on hand.

Friday: Cheese Pizza and Roasted Green Beans

No recipes for this meal. Just bought pizza dough from Trader Joe’s (whole wheat), pizza sauce from Trader Joe’s, and shredded mozzarella. Bake at 500 for 10 minutes. For the green beans, I roast those with olive oil and salt at 400 until they start to brown. Then I take them out and sprinkle shredded parmesan on top.

Saturday: White Minestrone with Fusilli

Ben made this one. Skip the pancetta. Serve with a crusty bread. The pesto makes this soup!!

Sunday: Date Night!

Ben and I went out for Thai food (crispy tofu, fresh rolls, mock duck, red curry). The kids ate leftovers 🙂

Monday: Take Out

Sam had a 6:15 doctor’s appointment so we got Chinese Take-out (homestyle tofu, garlic spinach, garlic eggplant, golden corn)

Tuesday: Spanish Tortilla and Roasted Carrots

The tortilla recipe is from smitten kitchen. The carrots were just roasted (400, until they start browning) with olive oil and salt and pepper. And I like to sprinkle a little feta on mine before serving!

That’s it! I will see if I can manage to take some pictures this upcoming week!