11/22/06 Thanksgiving cookie cooking

Tomorrow we'll all go to our Jim Franklin Annual Orphan's Thanksgiving, generously hosted again by Paul and Elisabeth. Come to think of it, I think they've hosted this event more than Jim Franklin has!

This is a potluck, and I'm bringing my usual candied yams. Still feeling newly liberated from pregnancy, I took this as an excuse to make other things as well: cornbread, a blueberry pie, leaf-shaped gingerbread cookies, and a cauliflower dish. Really, all this is baking, not cooking, as even the cauliflower dish is somewhat sweet.

I've never been this productive before Thanksgiving. So how am I doing this now, with a 7-week-old baby, and two rambunctious little boys? Quite a few reasons. I'm thrilled that I can. I'm much, much better at planning ahead, managing my time, staying focused on a task to completion, yet also doing multiple tasks at once. I'm much, much better at doing things with one hand. Most importantly, today I got lucky and both Julian and Katrina napped at the same time this afternoon.

Gabriel helped me with much of this baking, which is time alone with him I greatly enjoy. I asked him to read off amounts from a recipe (he can sort-of recognize "1/2" and "1/4" and does know "cup" and "teaspoon" and can spell out the actual ingredient), or butter the bottom of a dish, or get the eggs from the fridge, and stir batter. He even made a good effort at peeling a yam!

But the leaf gingerbread cookies were for me to make and decorate, which I did after grubby-pawed little boys were in bed!

Our nighttime pattern has been pretty consistent: it's often difficult to get Katrina to stay asleep in the evening (two nights ago it took until 1:30am!), even though she's fussy and clearly tired. But once she is asleep, she wakes up once or twice a night, and has been going right back to sleep after nursing. Occasionally, she'll wake back up because of some seismic gastric activity, and I have to change her PJs and then she's up for a while, but still no fussing. Lately all daytime fussing is from being tired (or poopy -- this baby's bottom can't be trusted for 5 minutes!) and is soon followed by a nap. She still isn't easily soothed by being picked up, but she does now tolerate being carried around, as long as she's facing out.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

11/22/06