An Apple A Day. . .

keeps Kingston busy while Mom cooks dinner!

I was holding Kingston in the kitchen this afternoon and he started pointing to the fruit bowl with the apples in it. I picked one up and handed it to him, just to see what he would do with it. He immediately put it in his mouth like he was going to take a big bite, as if he had always eaten apples that way! It cracked me up because I have always cut, cored and even peeled his apples for him. I rinsed it, took the first bite out of it and gave it back to him. I put him on the couch to enjoy his apple while I cooked dinner. At first it looked like he was just sucking on it but when I checked on him in a few minutes he had made some major progress.

Kingston ate the whole darn apple, and would have devoured the core, too, if I hadn't taken it away from him. And believe me, he was not happy to give it up!

Check it out.

Is he lounging, or what?! And is he filthy, or what? When I pick him up from day care he is always dirty and some days really, really dirty. Today was one of those days. I think he wallows in the sand. Oh, well. Nothing the tub and the washing machine can't take care of.

I love discovering new things Kingston can do that I never even thought he would be able to do. Makes those temper tantrums over silly stuff just a little more bearable, sometimes! My little boy is growing up!

Honorable MckMention

Obsessed as I am with the My Charming Kids blog, I have again participated in a Name that Photo contest. And I got mentioned on MckMama's blog! Hooray! I have arrived.

So having said that, I feel the pressure to write a really fun and exciting post, seeing as how she linked to me on her blog, which means I should get some new traffic. Hello and welcome new friends! Come back again if you are interested in reading about pretty much nothing of great consequence.

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Kingston participated in his second day of daycare today. Ms. Cindy called at about 10:30 to report that he had stopped crying by the time I had gotten in my car this morning! He did great all day. She said he needs to learn to stop freaking at diaper changing (oops) and to realize that he can't always get his way (he can't?!) but other than that he is a very good boy. She said we should be very proud of him, and we are. A good report card. Whew!

He was totally exhausted when he got home, signing over and over that he was hungry. I think when he gets tired he thinks he needs to eat to keep himself awake! We will work on that one, too. He is currently in bed and has been since 7:15. I think that is the earliest he has ever gone to bed! Worn out for sure. He goes back on Tuesday and should do just fine again.

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On a totally and completely other note, you should see the burgers that I made on Super Bowl Sunday! I could have cared less about the game but really wanted some "game day food" so I turned to a burger. I have recently gotten into reading The Pioneer Woman blog for some good food inspiration and ideas. The burger she cooked and described last week had me intrigued, so I went for it. Check it out! Her picture was much prettier, but I added homemade sweet potato fries, so I think I get a few points for that, right?

It was huge and delicious! It really hit the spot. I recommend it for a different sort of burger, although I will admit I do love a plain old cheeseburger, too. I've already eaten dinner but I really wish I had one of these burgers right this minute, and I'm sure you do too!

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An update on daycare and a picture of a good burger. Pretty fun and exciting, I think. I hope you enjoyed. That was the best I've got. And that was me showing off.

Adventures in Self-Feeding

I've been trying to start giving/teaching Kingston a little more independence. Boy, is it messy!Who says you have to eat yogurt with a spoon?

Welcome to the world of self-feeding. Please leave your manners, utensils and washcloths at the door.

At least he's really enjoying himself. Even if it does take 15 minutes just to clean him up. I'm just trying to avoid the 7 year old who needs help feeding himself a bowl of cereal, ya know?

My Fortune

Do you believe in the fortunes from fortune cookies? Here I am following mine tonight.

What am I going to share with you, you wonder? Patience. You will soon see.

Nigel and I never get food from the "dirty Chinese" place at the end of our street. My brother, however, eats there quite often. If you know him, you understand this. He also eats an entire large Hot and Ready Little Caesar's (aka Little Sleazers) pizza at least once a week, too. Yikes. But I digress.

Nigel is out of town again so I didn't want to cook dinner. Mark was going to get Chinese so I asked him to get me some too. We didn't have a menu to look at so I just asked him to order the Sesame Chicken Combination. The egg roll is always disgusting and tonight was no different. The fried rice with the pink pieces of "pork" in it was OK once I doused it with soy sauce. The sesame chicken was mostly breader and very little chicken, as expected, but it tasted pretty good. Until. . .

Here is where I follow my fortune. I am sharing my bad fortune with you, my friends.

Please look on top of the piece of broccoli. I found a feather in my sesame chicken. Yeah, you read that right. A feather. Now, I have found feathers on chicken wings or pieces of fried chicken and that doesn't freak me out too bad. But this chicken is diced into tiny bits and covered in breader and fried. I must say that I never expected to find a feather in my sesame chicken. It pretty much grossed me out. Dinner was done.

And now I have fulfilled my fortune. I have shared my bad fortune with you.

Sunday Morning Pancakes

Another milestone in the Haynes household this morning. Kingston had his first pancake! As you can see by the pictures, he thoroughly enjoyed it. He stuffed so much in his mouth at one time and stored it on the roof of his mouth that he started crying. . . I think because he didn't quite know what to do with it! It was a fun breakfast.

And just because I love to torture the animal that tortures me on a daily basis, I found this doggie T-shirt while looking for the plug to the skillet and decided that Able should wear it for a while. Can you find him? He is camouflaged! He seems a bit subdued while wearing the T. Or maybe that is his mortified look . . !

Happy Sunday!

Bubble Gum for Dinner

Kingston had cereal and sweet potatoes for dinner but the way he was eating it, it sure did look like he was chewing bubble gum! He smacked and smacked and chomped and chomped! He was so cute. I swear I'm not giving him anything chunky yet. We think he has maybe watched us eat and is trying to immitate our mouth movements. We are hoping that he hasn't learned the smacking lips from us, too!

The boy does love some sweet potatoes!