All Things Supercinski

We mustered our courage and drove to DFW last weekend to see family and attend my friend Erin’s baby shower. A last minute tantrum and a baby who refuses to nurse unless we are alone and in a quiet room made us late getting there and I missed the shower. I could have driven the extra 50 miles over there and been really late, but Annalise was already wiped out (and so was I).

We stayed with my brother and sister-in-law and their little girl and got to hang out with my other brother and other sister-in-law, and my mom and her husband, too. It was a fun get-together and I was glad my brothers and sisters-in-law got to meet Annalise.

On Sunday morning, we got up and headed to the Fort Worth Zoo with my mom and Woody. Josiah seemed to enjoy everything immensely, and just got testy around lunchtime as we ventured deeper into Day Two Of No Naps. Annalise was a champ, but still refused to nurse both at the zoo and in the car on the way home, silly girl. She’s making up for it this week.

Our attempt at a family photo. Josiah, teetering on the edge of no-nap meltdown, refused to cooperate.

Josiah’s favorite things were the huge koi fish swimming in the water near the baby giraffe who ran laps around the giraffe area (just like Josiah likes to do). He also got a kick out of the penguins. I also enjoyed seeing the penguins, the gorilla eating his own poop, and this one-tusked elephant.

And a huge thanks to Mom and Woody for braving the zoo (and lunch) with us! You made it a much smoother adventure.

• Commentary: Bailouts will lead to rough economic ride - CNN.com - “I am afraid that policymakers today have not learned the lesson that prices must adjust to economic reality. The bailout of Fannie and Freddie, the purchase of AIG, and the latest multi-hundred billion dollar Treasury scheme all have one thing in common: They seek to prevent the liquidation of bad debt and worthless assets at market prices, and instead try to prop up those markets and keep those assets trading at prices far in excess of what any buyer would be willing to pay. “
• Ron Paul: This Bailout Won’t Be the Last - The Home Front (usnews.com) - “Before the Depression, [the government] generally allowed these kinds of problems to unwind. They were very severe. They would last six months or a year—a lot of liquidation of debt would be wiped off the books. And then it would go back to work again. What we’ve been doing now—especially since 1971—is preventing the real liquidation of the malinvestment and the excess of debt… If this process continues, we’re going to own General Motors and Ford, then we will have to own the airlines. We are socializing our country without even a vote by the Congress. It’s a horrible situation.”
• Senator Bunning Declares The Free Market Dead - “My great grandchildren will be saddled with the estimated $1 trillion debt left in the wake of this proposal. We have gotten to this point because nobody has been minding the store. Both Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke should be held accountable for their inaction – and now because of that inaction – the American taxpayer is left with bill.”

These are some links for September 12th through September 22nd. Enjoy!

• How We Became the United States of France - TIME - “In bailing out mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, our government has basically turned America into the largest subsidized housing project in the world.”
• Congressional Leaders Stunned That Bernanke Finally Admits The Truth -
• Global Financial Seizures Continue, Gold Soars - “Welcome to the wonderful world of derivatives and 30 times leverage Mr. Bernanke. Not many can claim to threaten the world’s financial system. It took years of hard effort, but you, Greenspan and the Fed, in conjunction with fractional reserve lending, managed to pull it off. You and the Fed should be proud. Stand up and take a bow.”
• Delivery Method Affects Brain Response to Baby’s Cry - Well Blog - NYTimes.com -

Thankfully, we haven’t had much action around here, unless you count building block towers and cleaning out closets.

As I type this, Little Miss is laying on the bed trying her hardest to get a toy in her mouth. She is really an easy-going baby. If you haven’t heard her “I’m getting lonesome, hungry, tired, bored” whine, you should. It is more of a moaning holler, and it is so funny… for now. Speaking of, I should get it on video because it will be gone before I know it. We went to a friend’s house this morning and I held her month old baby, and I had already forgotten Annalise being so small. It makes me sad that these precious moments are so fleeting.

However, I am so glad that she is past the three month mark and through the fourth trimester. It would be really nice if babies were born at three months old, except the whole birthing part. I’m not a big fan of the fourth trimester, it is exhausting.

At three months, I have no clue what Annalise is weighing or measuring, but she is barely squeezing into the few 0-3 month clothes that still fit. She is smiling up a storm and starting to giggle/squeal in amusement. Her favorite things to do are to be held, to watch Josiah do stuff, and to be held some more. She greatly dislikes pacifiers, sitting alone in a bouncy seat for more than 10 minutes, and nursing with a cover on.

She goes to bed around 7:30 but doesn’t fall asleep until 8, no matter how early I start her bedtime routine. This makes teaching from 7-9 very interesting, especially now that she refuses a pacifier. She wakes 2-3 times a night to nurse, and (gasp) still sleeps in our bed. She is such a cuddle bug! Even though swaddled, she manages to scoot to my side in her sleep. During the day, she stays awake for 1-2 hours before needing to go back to sleep and is generally easy to get to sleep.

I guess that’s it. I’m sure you loved all the details, but since these monthly posts morph into scrapbooks for the kids, I need the details.

Our little guy has had a lot of changes in his world lately ever since “our baby came out”. Josiah loves Annalise, and it is so sweet to watch him dote on her. He loves to talk with her, bring her toys, and read to her. He also loves it that she needs to be fed and put down for naps, because he gets to watch a movie/PBS while I am occupied. I would say that he has adjusted well, but it’s been rough at times for our sensitive little guy. This picture is when he wanted to be “wrapped up” in Annalise’s swaddling blanket:

He also started learning how to use the potty a few weeks ago. I finally bit the bullet and did it since he kept telling me when he was going pee-pee. (I will continue to use our potty terms, so bear with me.) I have been dreading this task since I was in college and worked in the two-year-old class at a daycare.

We stayed home for five whole days the first week, and things have definitely clicked since then. He hasn’t had an accident in a whole week. Of course, he is still in a diaper during naptime and bedtime, and continues to make his poo-poos in his diaper during those times, but he is making progress. He actually started telling me when he needs to go “make pee-pees” and does a great job of going. His rewards have been homemade lollipops and stickers, and the occasional bowl of ice cream after dinner. I am so proud of him!

He shocked us Saturday morning by appearing in our bedroom at 6 a.m. We had not moved him out of his crib yet, and he managed to scale the side and climb out. He has successfully slept in the “big brother bed” ever since, though not without some fun learning times, but that’s another post. And now Annalise has a bed of her own, too!

Otherwise, he is doing great. He still enjoys reading books, playing at the park, lining up cars, blocks, and other random objects, and playing. He is a lot of fun and pretty hilarious most of the time. He also loves to sing and is often singing songs while he plays. I love this about him, and it is even more fun now that he can actually sing the words to song. So here is a compilation of some of his favorite tunes–several of the other songs he sang and bits of these are edited out since he didn’t have pants on during potty learning weeks (also why we have so few pictures in this post), but you get the idea.

A friend of mine shared this recipe with me, and it was absolutely delicious! I like that it uses bone-in chicken breasts (which were $1/pound last week at HEB) since they are cheaper. I just pulled the skin off and de-boned them before serving.

The recipe seems to take a long time to cook, but it has very little hands-on time. While it was cooking, I folded laundry, changed two of Annalise’s diapers, fed and put Annalise down for a nap, and checked my email (Josiah was asleep).

Apple Cider Chicken - from Rachael Ray
Yields 4 servings
* 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), divided
* 2 whole chicken breasts, 4 halves, bone-in and skin on (I used 3 breasts because they were all thawed)
* Salt and pepper
* 3 large yellow onions, thinly sliced (I only had 2 on-hand)
* 2 tablespoons thyme leaves, 7-8 sprigs, leaves stripped and chopped (I used about 1.5 teaspoons of dried thyme)
* 3 tablespoons honey (eyeball it)
* 4 large cloves garlic, chopped
* 1 cup plus apple cider vinegar
* 2 cups chicken stock

Preheat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add a couple tablespoons of EVOO, 2 turns of the pan. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper, and add to the hot oil, skin side down. Brown chicken, about 5 minutes per side. Remove and reserve.

Add another 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, the onions, thyme, honey and the garlic. Season the onions with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently for about 20-30 minutes or until the onions are really brown.

Add cider vinegar, scraping up all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken stock and bring up to a bubble.

Once at a simmer, return the chicken to the pot with the liquid and onions. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat down to medium and simmer for about 15 minutes, flipping the chicken over in the sauce about halfway through. Remove lid, check to make sure the chicken is cooked through by cutting a small slit in the thickest part of the breast with a paring knife to have a look inside. If it is cooked through — no pink meat — remove to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Turn the heat up to high and simmer until the sauce thickens up slightly, about 4-5 minutes.

You can serve the chicken right away topped with a big spoon full of sauce and the onions or you can return the chicken to the pot, turn the heat off and cover with the lid until you’re ready to serve it. Once you are ready, add 1/2-3/4 cup additional chicken stock and turn the heat back on to heat everything back up. This goes really well with a nice, crusty bread.