Category: Hope

It’s Time to Watch the Movie

It was a rainy day and The Civee and I had to do something with Hope this afternoon. We decided to take her to a movie.

We went to see The Muppets. It was age appropriate for her, The Civee and I wouldn’t be totally bored and Hope is familiar with the Muppets from Weezer’s Keep Fishin’ video (Weezer has a surprising number of kid-friendly videos).

We were concerned that we wouldn’t be able to last the whole movie. Hope gets vocal and likes to move around a lot, but we were willing to try.

The theater wasn’t that crowded, so we got seats near the aisle. There were a number of trailers and a Toy Story short before the movie started. Hope seemed to get the idea of watching what was going on on the big screen, although she often stood on her seat and talked (asking for more popcorn, mostly).

We did have to take her for a walk a few times and she got real antsy towards the end (damn those previews and the short feature!). But overall, she enjoyed the experience. The Civee and I liked the movie. And I’m glad to know what happened to the world’s supply of New Coke.

Also, when we were on our way into the theater, I saw a poster for the next movie I’m taking Hope to see:

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Thanksgiving Without a Turkey

I hope everyone out there in Internet-land had a great Thanksgiving, because I know Hope, The Civee and I sure did. It was just the three of us and The Civee’s parents. And because we were hosting and I was cooking, I decided to fulfill one of my life-long dreams (that ended up not happening a few years ago): steak for Thanksgiving. Or more accurately, Prime Rib for Thanksgiving.

It’s not that I don’t like turkey. I enjoy turkey tacos or the occasional turkey burger. But I happen to like the idea of steak for Thanksgiving (or any other day). The plans were hatched early on after we invited The Civee’s parents. They were both on board with the change from tradition.

I’ve never cooked prime rib before, and was a little bit nervous. I got a 6.5 pound section and had the whole afternoon planned. Out of the fridge at 1:15, in the oven at 3:05, lower the heat at 3:25, baste/check every half-hour, out of the oven by 5:15 (as long as it reached 120 degrees) and let it rest 20 minutes. All I did to it before putting it in the oven was put some butter on the sides and a pepper-garlic powder mixture over the whole thing. But when the estimated removal time came, the temperature was still lower than 100 degrees, so I had to let it cook longer (another 40 minutes all together).

I also made a salad and asparagus. The Civee’s mom made some broccoli and The Civee made mashed potatoes. Despite the wait for the prime rib (which ended up being worth it), dinner was incredible. The Civee’s father made some pies, which provided a great end to an amazing meal.

It was nice to make a dinner (especially one which we all thought was really good) to people who have provided many meals for The Civee and I (and many others). And I think Hope really liked the idea of a day where you eat all day. I could definitely do a non-turkey Thanksgiving again.

Although, I do have to say, even not having had any turkey, right now I’m feeling pretty tired. Who knew there was tryptophan in beef?

King Tom

Hope’s Scary Halloween Costume

Hope’s Halloween costume didn’t quite work out as planned.

A while back, The Civee and I decided that Hope should be something she’s interested in. With that in mind, and thanks to an article I read on Wired about why parents should make their own costumes (not that there’s anything wrong with store-bought costumes), I was inspired. For a while, Hope has been really into helicopters (and anything else that makes noise). With a little imagination, a cardboard box and some other accessories, I figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to make Hope into the cutest and coolest chopper since Airwolf.

We knew this was a gamble- there was the possibility she would not like the idea of walking around in a box. But at the same time, we thought this was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

So I made a cardboard box into a helicopter using some scissors, tape and aluminum foil.  We also got a little propeller beanie to make the costume more realistic.

But when it came time to get Hope into the costume, things fell apart.  She didn’t mind the hat. But trying to put the box over her head was problematic. She’d cry, try to wiggle out of it and run away. We took her trick-or-treating, with her wearing the cap and The Civee or I carrying the helicopter. We hit a few houses, explaining that she was a helicopter (and I think once people heard that, saw the cap and the box, they got the idea), and by the end, she rather enjoyed going up to houses in the neighborhood and getting candy.

By the time we got back to the house, she wasn’t so leery of the helicopter. She wouldn’t put it on. But she could at least sit next to it (the fact that we let her sample some of her candy probably helped).

It’s a good thing we had the cap as a backup. For next year, she’ll be more used to the idea of dressing up and will be able to give us some input as to what she wants to be. And now The Civee and I know to have a pre-made costume (or idea) on standby in case the original costume doesn’t work out.

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Hope and No-Neck: Reunited (and It Feels So Good)

Well, No-Neck’s eye job didn’t last that long.

Despite The Civee’s best efforts, Hope’s continued gnawing at No-Neck’s eye sockets (and the surrounding fabric) meant her favorite stuffed animal was in danger of being put out of commission permanently.

Thankfully, we have someone who can sew in the family: Grandma. Only problem is, she lives on the West Coast.

So earlier this week, I mailed No-Neck and another of Hope’s favorite stuffed animals, Ga-Ga the Cat (something she actually named herself, unlike most of the rest of her stuffed animals) out to Grandma. Hope quickly discovered they were missing. At first, she’d look at us and touch her neck (her sign for No-Neck) and we would pretend we couldn’t find him. But she quickly learned something was afoot. She grew tired of our lame excuses and got pretty clever by doing things such as pointing to pictures of giraffes to highlight the absence of a particular giraffe in her life. Over the past day or so, most of her giraffe-related communication would result in crying.

Thankfully, Grandma worked pretty quickly and this afternoon, we got a box in the mail with two of Hope’s missing friends and a bunch of other Halloween-related goodies (and some candy for The Civee and I).

Here’s Hope going through the box:

Thanks again, Grandma!

 

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The Secret to a Great Indian Buffet

There used to be this Indian place called Bayleaf  The Civee and I would go to that had an amazing lunch buffet. The buffet was great because there was a big selection and the food was always fresh. In fact, when you ordered the buffet, they would bring out a just-cooked plate of tandoori chicken for your table.

The Civee and I would frequently comment that Bayleaf put too much money into their buffet for it to last. Sadly, we were right. Bayleaf closed their Columbus location and moved an hour away. The Columbus restarant was replaced by a similar (but not similar enough) Indian place, the name of which escapes me. We took Hope to the new place and while it was okay (if not on the unnecessarily spicy side), it wasn’t worth the drive.  We thought the days of having a great Indian buffet in town were over.

But yesterday, we checked out this place that opened up in our old neighborhood called Aab. We got there at noon, just as they opened for lunch. They had a big selection, and even though there was no plate of tandoori chicken for each table, the food was fresh. And good.  Even Hope liked a number of the dishes (and the mango lassi we had for her to drink), probably helped by the fact that because it was for a buffet, the food wasn’t that spicy.

I wasn’t the only one who thought the buffet was great.  As I was loading up my plate, I overheard a couple sitting near the buffet discussing how much they liked the food.  The guy said (and I couldn’t make up a line like this): “that tandoori chicken is so fresh, I could spank it.”

I hope he was talking about the chicken.

Despite the odd commentary, he was right, the freshness of the food made it good (which was also probably helped by the fact that we got there just as they opened) and there was also a variety of dishes.

I can’t say we’ll go to the Aab lunch buffet all the time. But it’s nice to know we have a new place to replace an old favorite. And I hope that guy resolved his issues over the chicken.

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No-Neck Visits the Optometrist

Well, it wasn’t laser surgery, but one of Hope’s favorite stuffed animals had some major eye work done.

Most of Hope’s stuffed animals have some type of eye trouble. They can’t help it. It’s not only how she gives affection, but also how she copes with teething.  Many of her stuffed animals have eyes that are plastic buttons sewn onto their faces. And Hope just loves to gnaw on their eyes. At first, the symptoms present as just some scratched up eyes. But in time, the fabric surrounding the eyes comes undone, leading to the eyes coming out of the head. Here’s Hope in action last week with No-Neck the stout giraffe:

The Civee and I decided poor No-Neck had enough. We took him out of service for a few days and The Civee sewed up his eye sockets. I’ve been told that this took some time to do. It seems to be working. Although there are a few other friends of Hope that need similar repairs done, and the problem is many of them have smaller (I’d say beady) eyes. At the same time, it’s probably worth it as we wouldn’t want her swallowing one of the small plastic eyes. And by the time the next stuffed animal is ready for some emergency eye surgery, it may even be my time to pick up the needle and thread.

I’m not going to say that Hope hasn’t noticed anything different. We think she’s going through a teething phase now and seems to be chewing on everything (or trying to). But new eyes or not, she’s still taking No-Neck everywhere she goes.

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Hope, the Wagon and the Dance Break

We’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about what’s up with Hope. And there have been some comments (mostly from the grandparents) that there haven’t been enough Hope videos lately.

Well, Hope has been running around a lot.  Whether inside or outside, it’s tough to catch her doing just one thing. Unfortunately, this has led to a lot of pictures that are either blurry or only have half her body in it.

The other night, Hope spent quite a bit of time moving her wagon around the house. She put a bunch of stuffed animals inside the wagon and would occasionally stop and rearrange them before moving on (unfortunately, No-Neck the stout giraffe was too large to make the trip).  I caught her at the end, right before she stopped pulling the wagon to take a dance break.

The lighting isn’t perfect. I tried fixing it with YouTube’s video editor but you should still get an idea of what was going on.

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Finishing Up The Farmers’ Market Haul

Over the weekend, The Civee, Hope and I went to a local farmers’ market.  We’ve been there a few times before, but it’s not like we’re regulars. Most of the good stuff sells out early and the place gets way too crowded on hot summer days.

Despite the drawbacks, we picked up a lot of peaches, stringbeans and tomatoes.  We ate a few peaches used some beans over the weekend, but had a bunch still left to eat.  Tonight, looking at these fruits and vegetables, I realized if I didn’t use them now, I would not have the chance later.

We were having salmon for dinner.  The beans were easy- they would be our vegetable. I could make the tomatoes into gazpacho. But we had six peaches, which I was drawing a blank on how to use. Then The Civee suggested I just use them with the salmon. Actually, it was a rather easy solution. Both are similar colors. Both go well with brown sugar. So why wouldn’t they go well together?

I sauteed the peaches and salmon separately, then added them together at the last minute. And it was good.  I have to say everything went together well.

Hope had some of everything. While she wasn’t really into the gazpacho, she did enjoy the combination of the peaches and salmon. I tried getting a picture of her eating, but I couldn’t get a good one. Instead, I’ll share this one taken at lunch today:

King Tom

One Year, Two Surgeries Later

This was Hope one year ago today:

It was a few minutes before the surgery to repair her cleft lip (the first of two surgeries she’s had in the last year).  The six-week recovery period after the surgery was a bit rough for Hope, The Civee and myself.  And her second surgery wasn’t any easier.  But Hope has come a long way.  Here she is earlier today:

There are two things I should say about this picture. First, it’s really tough to get a good picture of Hope- she’s always moving.  Second, she’s in a big bottle phase right now.  Not milk bottles, but bottles that The Civee or I use.  The other day, she grabbed a hold of a Fresca bottle and would not let go.  However, she did stand still for a few seconds:

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