Term of the week

Headshake (Hehd-shAyek) noun:

1. A movement of the head in which the chin alternates between pointing to the right and left shoulder

2. A substitute for the word "no", especially in pre-verbal children

3. A sign that, if seen regularly, indicates temper tantrums and battles of will power just ahead.

Thank you, Isaac. I've learned this definition quite well.

Good Night

Lately, Andrew has been complaining that our bedtime ritual for Isaac is too long. Decide for yourself.

Part 1: Cleaning

This part of the nighttime ritual starts around 7, when Isaac goes in the bathtub. Or maybe 6:45. Or maybe earlier, depending on how whiny he's being. We wash, then play as long as he wants to be in the tub. Although he loves his baths, this is usually no longer than about 15 minutes. Then we get clean pjs. As a side note, do people with 16 month old children really get more than one day's use out of pajamas? Because every single day, his get dirty. I digress. Once properly clothed, we brush Isaac's teeth. He likes this for about 3 seconds, and then clamps his mouth shut. We ask him to open again, the the cycle repeats itself. In about 4 cycles, we do all the brushing he's going to give us, and this part of the evening is over.

Part 2: Prayer

This part technically isn't part of the bedtime ritual, as it's where we fit our family prayers. But I guess it does fall in the same window of time. We start by singing a song, usually a primary song, and all move into Isaac's room where we kneel down. We try to have Isaac kneel as well, and this has worked twice in the several weeks we've been working on it. Mostly we just hold him and clamp his arms in a folded position while the other parent says a [short] prayer.

Part 3: Book

Every night we read the same good night book to Isaac:

I love this book because it's sweet and because it's short. One sentence per page, and it's only about 8 pages long. For the first couple pages, Isaac sometimes tries to escape, but by the end, he listens as we give him kisses and cuddles and then say goodnight.

Part 4: Song

I know, I know, we just had a song. But that was a FAMILY PRAYER song, not a lullaby, and I am a firm believer in lullabies. (Can you tell this has been discussed somewhere else?) So, we sing a lullaby, which could also be a primary song, but could also be something else. Then we hand Isaac his yellow stuffed giraffe, tuck him in, and say good night.

It's not really to long, is it?

Yes, he is definitely a first child. Our last one will probably have the book and stuffed animal thrown to him as we walk by the doorway. Too bad Isaac doesn't even appreciate what he's got.

Adventures in Fish Sauce

I'm sure everyone has been caught in fascination by the title of this post. What is fish sauce, you ask? Are you sure you want to know? Ok, here it goes. Fish sauce is a condiment used regularly in Vietnamese food made of fermented -- yes, fermented -- anchovies. Bleh! But aside from my feelings about anchovies, fermented or otherwise, I really enjoy Vietnamese food.

Last Saturday night, Andrew and I had decided that it was time for a date night. The only problem is that we are truly starving students, so money for said date is a little tight. We decided on an activity that we both enjoy. We pick a food that sounds good, and make it for dinner. This week's food of choice was spring rolls.

For those of you who haven't tried spring rolls, shame on you. No, seriously, they're the healthy cousin of egg rolls. Shrimp, vegetables and herbs rolled together in rice paper, and if you're lucky, dipped in peanut sauce.

So first, we went shopping at our local Vietnamese market, the ABC supermarket, where we bought basil, mint, Vietnamese herb (yes, that's how the third one was labeled), cucumbers, shrimp, fish sauce, and a bunch of other things that we needed to make spring rolls. We then went to the Richardson family dwelling in Fountain Valley and started putting things together. Amazingly, everything turned out quite well. I don't think I actually followed any recipe, since I am terrified of fish sauce. I cut the amount of fish sauce in the peanut sauce from half a cup to about 2 tablespoons. But it turned out really well, and it was a super fun date.

Now to the adventurous part. On Monday, I walked out to our car, and opened the door to put Isaac inside. It smelled like I had left a sippy cup of milk open for the past two days. In the sun. For me, this was bad enough to breath only through my mouth. I scoured the car, trying to find the offending cup, but nothing was there! Finally, in desperation, I opened the trunk. Still no milk. And then I noticed a glass bottle lying in a small basket. Yep. It was the fish sauce. Still sealed! Even so, the smell took three solid car trips with all the windows open to get rid of.

The moral of the story? Fish sauce should live right where ours is living now: on the back patio.