Vegetable and Tortellini Soup, Teething, Visiting with Jean and Catherine, and Discovering a Shadow

On the plate:  Vegetable and Tortellini Soup (an adaptation made by yours truly)

Soundtrack to cook to:  Sara Bareilles' Little Voice (I personally like the song "Love on the Rocks" - definitely NOT for the meaning of the lyrics, but just for the sound of the song.  I'm a very happy lady - there is nothing to read into, I promise.)

Oooooh teething!!  Goodness, lord help me.  This week has been a pretty mellow week - regarding travel, as I've been forced to stay home with the little guy.  Alexander goes through a developmental boom each month, and this month he has two teeth coming in and has developed his own opinion of what he wants to do and what he does NOT want to do.  Needless to say, we've had many a temper tantrum at home.  I've decided that we'd have a mellow week at home and do some crafts in the safety of our own home - where he can throw tantrum after tantrum without having the general public be witness to these spectacles.  Plus, the poor little guy is teething and he is very sensitive - which causes him to be cranky.  This has proven to not be fun for mommy, daddy, or Alexander.  While he was at daycare, I went to Target and bought 4 chewable teething ice packs - they've been on heavy rotation this week.

"Ooh, what's this?"

"Looks delicious...I'll put it in my mouth, just like
everything else I come across."

"Mom, is this safe?"

"Ha ha!  This is awesome!"

"I am one HAPPY boy!"

With a fussy toddler clamoring to be simultaneously held and put down, held and put down, I had to throw a quick and easy dinner together, stat.  Otherwise, we would be forced to have takeout, which is good, don't get me wrong, but not sensible when you have some time and a fridge full of food.  I had just gone to the grocery store, so I decided to make my mom's vegetable soup that I adapted by throwing in ground turkey (because I have a Meatasaurus Rex for a husband) and cheese tortellini (because we had it in the freezer and it needed to be used).  Here's how it went down:

I quickly chopped up some vegetables.
Any hard vegetable and some mushrooms will do.  You cook the ground turkey
first, then throw in the vegetables and cook them for a little bit (~8 minutes),
pour in a bottle of V8, a can of cannelini beans, and season with Italian seasoning.
Let it cook until all of the vegetables are cooked through, then add in the tortellini
and cook for 8-10 minutes. 

I like to top the soup with a little parmesan cheese.  It's a delicious, hearty,
and healthy soup and there's always leftovers, so no need to cook for the next day.  

After dinner, I prepped yet another dinner for a good friend of mine that just had her second child.  My friend Jean is my baby guru and the person that answered every single frantic e-mail that I sent her way when we first had Alexander.  I 20 questioned her to death about every little worry (as she had just had her first child 2 years prior) that I had and she was incredibly understanding, supportive, and gave me the encouragement that I needed to "keep on keepin' on".  I made her my "go to" pasta dish and made enough so that she would have a few meals worth of food.  This was just one small token of my appreciation for all that she did for me.

It was so lovely to catch up with her and hear how she manages her time with two children.  We had a wonderful chat while her newborn slept beautifully and Alexander played with her older son's trains and trucks.

Alexander, Jean, and the beautiful Catherine.

She slept so sweetly while we talked, and when those gorgeous little
eyes opened - I immediately melted - what a little charmer.

She's 4 months old and already posing for the camera.
Work it, girl!  Doesn't Jean look amazing??!!

Catherine doing some tummy time and Alexander checking out this
beautiful little girl.  He was so sweet and kept saying, "Baby!"

Once we got home, we were pleasantly surprised that Joseph was home by 11:30 a.m.!!  What a treat!  We had a delicious lunch and Alexander and I took a nap while Joseph studied.  

After dinner, Alexander had a pretty cute discovery:

It's so sweet and endearing to witness his innocence.

Teething, the next day, pretty much took over this little man's attitude.  I like to call him a "Crankapotamous" or "Crankasaurus Rex" - it fits him well during this time.  I decided that we could do some arts and crafts projects and put that fussy energy to work.

I got this idea from a website.  Take an old bottle and wash it out.
Then, fill it with color specific (I chose red) trinkets like pompoms,
stickers, beads, confetti, and glitter.  Alexander likes placing objects into other objects. 

The little man, harnessing his cranky energy and creating a toy.
It's a fun little toy to shake up and watch the glitter fall.

After that, I thought that Alexander would like to work on a painting project.  I placed him in his high chair and put him to work:

Creating an original art piece for his Tita's birthday.

The artist - hard at work.

Alexander working on his masterpiece.

Finger painting for fun - note the red paint in his hair.

I added a little bit of green paint, and the red and green
ended up on his face as well.

Alexander - clean and cranky.

Thankfully, my sister stopped by this afternoon and we celebrated her pre-birthday (it's tomorrow).  She watched Alexander while I took Oscar to his agility class.  He looks so darn cute weaving through poles, jumping over hurdles, and going up and down the teeter totter.  Thank goodness for family and friends- they make me feel more sane and ground me.  I'm so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.  Until next time...

Love and kisses,

Nikki