Moto Restaurant

For my birthday last week, we went to a fancy, adults-only dinner at Moto in Chicago. My brother was gracious enough to even lend us his apartment so we didn't have to trek back out to the suburbs when we were done. Oh, and he went to our house to help Grandma baby-sit! What a treat!

Over the years I have seen Moto's food chemistry demonstrated on various Food Network programs and was very excited to see it for myself! We had the 20 course tasting menu that took 4 1/2 hours! Some were awesome; most were good; and a few were bad! Here is a sampling of my favorites:

SNOW MAN: tuna ceviche in tequila citrus sauce with salty lime foam snow man.
CLAM BAKE: corn, lobster, fresh herbs and gnocchi that looked like scallops

BASEBALL SNACKS: peanut crusted quail breast in cherry reduction. The Cracker Jack paper was edible and tasted like caramel and pineapple.

CIGAR WITH ASHTRAY: a Cuban sandwich of sorts wrapped up to look like a Cuban cigar. This is one I had heard rave reviews about, so my expectations were very high. I was a little disappointed. Not a ton of flavor, and the texture was awkward to me. Jason thought it was good though.

FOREST ROLL: duck and risotto made to look like a sushi roll. The "wasabi" is a pea.

DUCK & MOLE: This was a duck taquito with sour cream and mole sauce drizzled on the plate. If you were expecting a sweet cannoli drizzled in chocolate, it was a big surprise!

BANANA SPLIT: the three droppers were chocolate sauce, cherry juice and caramel sauce. This was delicious!

ACME BOMB: the wick of this truffle desserrt was marshmallow which was toasted as they lit it upon presentation. We were told to eat it in one bite since the inside was liquid. Also delicious!

THE MENU: this is a cracker with edible paper and ink. It was served on a bed of spinach pesto with parmesan cheese. We were given it first and snacked on it while we waited for the first course.

Hello!

Hello fans! I know you've missed me this past week! Mommy and Daddy were on a little vacation and Grandma Joni was at my house to take care of me and Rachel. Uncle Ryan came over, too, and we all had lots of fun playing! Mommy is still buried with work and laundry and whatever else she does, so I'm posting today! Mommy can post later about her trip, but here's what I was up to. . . Climbing up and down my slide. . . .

Climbing up and down the stairs. . . .And making sure Rachel was fed. . . .

Watching Golf

In what really could have gone down as "Worst Move Ever," I moved Will's high chair into the family room so he could eat baked beans in front of the British Open coverage! He likes beans, so none of them made it onto the floor (much to Rachel's dismay). The same cannot be said for the some of the pasta primavera, but that wasn't very messy. Actually, the reason was not watching golf, but because Jason was mopping the kitchen tile floor and didn't need us in there.

But, yes, it was a nice bonus to sit and watch TV while we ate lunch. I sat on the couch for mine. In the background of the first picture is the white shelf that Jason assembled in an earlier post. We have two and are using one them for our shoes when we walk in off the garage. This second one hasn't found its permanent spot, but Will has been enjoying putting his "stuff" on it while he plays.

On the Mend

I'm happy to report that Will is back to his normal 13 1/2 month old silly self and has not been showing any complications from his HFMD diagnosis from Tuesday. We really think that Sunday was the peak with the temperature. Did you know that a temp between 100 and 102 is called "low grade" by the doctor's office literature? I call 102 a "highly worried mama" fever.

We've been busy this week so no new pictures; this is from last week when Will wanted to help Jason assemble some new shelves - immediately after eating baked beans that I didn't get cleaned off his face.

Neighborhood Watch

On our day home Monday, Will joined Rachel in her neighborhood watch activities. They each took turns pulling back the curtains and smearing up the glass. [Editor's note: Will had on khaki shorts most of the day, but they didn't make it back on at some point in the tiring (for Mommy) afternoon.] Will's turn. . . .Rachel's turn again, but Will doesn't look too patient. . .
Will stopping for a drink during Rachel's turn
(that's Pedialyte which he seemed to think was ok).

Up, Mommy, up!

HFMD

Will went back to daycare first thing this morning. And he came home by mid-morning. No fever, but the teachers thought his mouth sores looked like HFMD (hand, foot, mouth disease - which is NOT the same as hoof-and-mouth disease), which apparently is very popular among little kids. Of course, I had never heard of it before then or I would have recognized the symptoms of fever, mouth sores, and hand and foot rash. I attributed it all to teething and the heat.

Jason took him to the doctor for confirmation and a doctor's note that he can go back to daycare tomorrow since he hasn't have a fever since Sunday. Apparently the virus can stick around for months, so the rule is no fever. The mouth sores should go away in about a week.

No treatment except for comfort. Soft foods, cold liquids, no acidic fruits and veggies. Wish us luck that the sores don't get worse or hurt him much.

Another Sick Day

Will's blazing hot fever from Sunday got him a sick day home with his Mama on Monday. The fever broke overnight, but we decided to keep him home anyway to catch up on his sleep. There would be none of that! One hour after lunch. That's it. The rest of the day he was racing from toy to toy and room to room - stopping only long enough to climb the stairs or scream or cry. That's right; he wasn't always smiling and cute.

Ornery looking baby

This picture from last week captures some of the attitude!

We feel like it has to be teething because we can see/feel those four monster molars breaking through (bottom right is out) and his chin and shirt are covered in drool. And he has no other signs of illness to go with the fever. His pacifier is his best coping mechanism and that has left him with little pimples on his lips and chin due to the moisture. He hasn't been a very good eater the past few days (and meal times are high drama), but he's been draining his cups of cold milk. So, we're giving him a little more of that than usual. Water wasn't interesting him, so I gave him some fruit punch Pedialyte. He must have thought it was interesting and drank a cup over the course of an hour or so.

This is Rachel after Will went to bed. She's really showing how we all feel after our day at home!

Miscellaneous Moments

Uncle Ryan was over for a visit the other evening, so here is Will trying to scam him into something he knows he shouldn't be doing. Ryan seem to be saying, "hey, are you sure your mom lets you do that?!"Here are two of his favorites: balls and Rachel's toys (here, Rachel's toy balls). He's actually pretty hilarious right now with how he wants to play with Rachel. And thankfully she is very, very patient with him dropping her toys on her back, or trying to shove the toys into her mouth, and the not always gentles pats he gives her. Today I gave her an entire mozzarella stick as a treat after she let him crawl onto her dog bed with her. Will has a great interest in climbing these days. He routinely wants to climb the stairs (so we have to go with him) or he'll climb into and onto his toys. Here he's demonstrating his self-created "King of the Suitcase" game. Obviously I couldn't get a picture of him fully on it, because I was too busy telling him to sit down. Incidentally, he does know "sit" and does it sheepishly.

Seven Seas Dolphin Show

Today was a great day to have our family pass to the zoo! We were in and out in 90 minutes after using our free passes to the dolphin show. It was a nice, mostly overcast day today and not too hot - perfect for a day at the zoo. Unfortunately as I was holding our little buddy, I realized how incredibly hot he was. We left right after the show. He slept on the ride home, got a bath to cool off and wash off the sunscreen, and then went down for his third nap of the day.

I don't know if I was expecting Sea World or if it was the steaming hot baby on my lap, but the dolphin show was just so-so. They did a few jumps and splashes, but it wasn't very long. It definitely made me want to go swimming though! And, of course, as with all things; I'm always glad I go places just so I know what I might have been missing!

Animal Lover

Will has been showing a lot of interest in animals recently, so I think we're due for another trip to the zoo!

Here he is giving (and then taking away so he can give again) a rawhide to Rachel. He loves to find her toys at the house and throw them for her and then go get them if she doesn't. He also pets (pats?) her a lot which she likes. Now, the tail pulling she could probably do without. . .

When we were at the farm, Will got to go see the horses and donkey. Grandma Hilary held him while he pet Walter Donkey. He loved it! He also liked the barn cats (and they were curious in him), but he was unsure about walking around on the barn floor, so he stood in one spot and the kitties got close - but not close enough to pet.

1-1-1-1

According to the ticker, Will is one year, one month, one week, and one day old. Fun!

I just thought this would be a cute picture to share. This is what I see all day, every day. Well. . .at least all day, when Will and I are both home and I'm not already holding him! :-)

Sometimes it's a baby with a pacifier and a blankie like in this picture; sometimes it's a big boy running over with a smile and a hug. Well, there's always a hug for Mommy! :-)

Fourth of July Weekend

We started out the holiday weekend by watching a parade through our neighborhood. The highlight is the candy that the parade participants through out; we'll get in on that in a few years.There are several senior care facilities around our neighborhood. Here the one run by the Carmelite Sisters have a float and behind that was the center's van carrying residents. I just love that the sister is driving the tractor!

Will sporting his most patriotic outfit. He just likes to hold the sunglasses rather than wear them ever.

After the parade was a picnic at the subdivision pool. By the time we got there the food was gone, so we just went through the Wendy's drive thru on our way out of town. We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing at the farm in Indiana with Jason's parents.

Rachel LOVES to visit the farm. Not only does she get to run around outside with her good friend, Buddy, but the dogs get an endless supply of rawhide chews when they're loafing around indoors.

Will enjoyed playing with all the toys at Grandma and Grandpa's house - including this new set of nesting blocks that he brought for them. As you can see, the dogs (Buddy is asleep behind Will) weren't fazed with the addition of Will and Rachel.

Will had many favorite games this weekend - crunching empty plastic water bottles, taking the magnets off the refrigerator, and giving the dogs their rawhide chews. While the guys golfed on Sunday morning, Will, Hilary and I went to the mall for a few things and had lunch at Panera. Will loved his kids meal of grilled cheese and strawberry yogurt!

Ribfest

On Friday we picked Will up from daycare a little early so we could go to our town's annual Fourth of July weekend festival: Ribfest. It's a rib competition/carnival/concert venue fundraiser for an organization working to prevent child abuse. Parking is hard to find, so you park at a satellite location and take a school bus shuttle. Waiting in line for barbecue. We just picked the shortest line versus a particular vendor. The ribs/sandwich/beans that we got were fine. Certainly no Oklahoma Joe's though! Will had baby food while we waited (he's holding the lid for good measure) and then ate "Cowboy Beans" from Howlin' Coyotes. This sign advertises the fried Snickers that Jason and I shared. The middle right one says Deep Fried Chocolate Covered Bacon. We saw someone get that. It was just bacon dropped into a fryer and then covered with a dollop of hot fudge after it was on the plate. Not particularly appetizing looking.

Snickers covered in funnel cake batter, fried, and topped in powdered sugar. It was good but not great. Now we know.

The petting zoo next to the deep fried bacon and rib vendors. . . .We didn't go inside their corralled off area, but Will did observe the animals from the outside of the gate. Here he is presenting Jason will some freshly picked blades of grass - one of his favorite new games.

Our barbecue sauce covered baby with his new balloon while we waited on the school bus to shuttle us back to our car. Will stayed up an hour past his bedtime, but he was in good spirits while we were there and went right to bed when we got home. Our first family festival was a success!

Toddler Room

Will's daycare teachers told Jason today that they're planning to promote him from the infant to toddler room in 30 days. They sent him home with a handout about it. That room is basically 15-24 month kids, and the biggest change is that they all nap at the same time (12:30-2:30) instead of at their choosing, and it is on a cot instead of a crib.

We knew this was coming in a few months. His infant room teachers have been working on the nap time for the past few weeks. But, I was hoping he could stay in the baby room for awhile longer since he loves his teachers so much and because he's so tiny! But, he's an experienced walker and explorer, so he's getting an early bump up. Maybe like his cousin Lily he's getting too helpful with the little babies in their bouncy seats! :-)

I love to see my baby sleeping!

Is this little guy really ready to play with two-year olds?!

In a few weeks, he'll go over to start visiting the Toddler Room to get accustomed to it. I'm sure he'll love all the space to run around and the new toys to explore. I mean, their daily schedule does have two segments assigned to "vigorous indoor play." :-)