Jumbled Thoughts

• "Analness"
I'm really anal. I know this. I admit it. And more importantly, I embrace it!

My friend, Lisa, over at This, That And The Other Thing, can tell you stories about me. She'd likely tell you about the time, in college, I lined up all my thumbtacks, down the edge of my cork board, separated by color.

Each night I put all of Matthew's toys away. Each toy has it's own place. Matthew is getting really good at knowing where each toy belongs, much to my delight. This is what my fridge looks like when I am done each evening, and Matthew usually pulls off at least half these letters each day.


• Ants
Some days I really hate living here. Yesterday and today were two of those days. Wednesday evening, Matthew and I went outside to feed the dogs and do some light yard work. We were weeding a series of pots that I'm growing bougainvillea in when Matthew started screaming. He had stepped in an ants nest and the little, black, pests were swarming up his bare legs. I grabbed him up immediately and set him down a few feet away. I brushed off as many ants as I could and then stripped him naked and hosed him down.

Last night, Matthew woke up crying three hours after falling asleep. He was rubbing his hands and feet against the sheets and repeatedly getting doggy, his stuffed animal, to kiss the owies.

This is what my poor baby's feet looked like today. His hands aren't as bad but doggy is still on kissing duty.


• Brutus
Brutus is now two weeks and one day old. His eyes opened today and he weighs a pound and a half. He's a sweet little dog but I think he's lonely. He doesn't make half as much noise as he did when Monster was with him. I feel sorry for him but Matthew and I talk and play with him as much as we can.

• Bland Food
Ever since Matthew started eating solid foods he's clamped his mouth shut or turned his face if he thought something was too bland. I ended up throwing away a few bottles of Baby Mac and Cheese I had made for him because he just refused to eat it.

He's also a difficult eater. He's not overly picky but he takes forever to get through a meal. He chews EVERYTHING what feels like 100 times before he'll swallow it. And when I say everything, I really mean it. He recently chewed his soup before swallowing it.

But I've finally figured him out. I mean, I've always known about the bland issues, but Matthew is totally into being able to dip things. He refused to eat french fries for the longest time until he discovered a little over a month ago that fries dipped in plum sauce are amazing. (The plum sauce was really for his chicken fingers.) Then my mother introduced him to ketchup. And last night, he wolfed down his fish as he dipped it in Tzatziki Sauce.

• Really Fresh Fruit
One of the things I love most about living here is eating a fruit, planting the seed and watching the seedling grow. Some years ago I ate a sweet sop. Today, I ate the first sweet sop from the tree I started.


This is the year where things are really going to start happening for me in the fruit department. My sweet sop tree has born one fruit so far, my pomegranate tree has about 6 or 8 fruits on it in various stages of growth but none ripe yet, my orange tree has some small oranges on it and my otaheite apple tree is bearing for the third time.

There is something to be said for walking out the door and picking a fruit straight off the tree and eating it. Now if I can only convince the surinam cherry tree to produce more than two cherries at a time Matthew and I could have a fruit salad!

Cheers :-)
- Rainforest Mommy