While pondering what to do for lunch yesterday (tis the most difficult part of every day, is it not?!) I browsed our produce drawer and came across a handful of tomatoes that needed to be used. This inspired to me to make a quick garlic-tomato sauce to go over pasta, which eventually turned into a tomato pesto.
It was delicious and quick to pull together, using just a handful of ingredients. Jack ate at least a cup or more of it, turning down other lunch options to eat more pasta. It’s also vegan or not vegan, depending on your preferences. We liked it both ways.
15 Minute Tomato Pesto
2 cloves garlic, minced
splash of olive oil
3 large tomatoes, diced
1/4 — 1/2 c. walnuts
1/2 c. fresh basil
soymilk
parmesan cheese (optional, omit for vegan recipe)
salt & pepper
rotini pasta
Cook rotini pasta. (I used 1/2 a box for this recipe, and the noodles were well saturated with sauce.)
Heat oil in a skillet and cook garlic for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook for several more minutes at a low simmer.
Pulse walnuts and basil in a food processor. Add tomato-garlic mixture and blend until smooth. Add parmesan cheese (optional) and soymilk until it reaches your desired consistency. I like mine not too thin, not too thick.
and last but not least, a birthday is not complete without a trip to in-n-out burger!
check out his first itty bitty nibble (cuuuute!):
Though Tyler disagrees, I’d say Jack’s birthday was MUCH better than last year’s. Being squeezed out of my lady parts vs. a dinner at in-n-out? I’d choose the latter, wouldn’t you?
I’ve been sobbing constantly for the past month it seems like. As his birthday grew nearer and nearer, the more tears I quietly shed. But yesterday I realized something really important. He’s more fun than he was a year ago.
Jack’s personality is in full-swing and he just delights everyone around him. He is constantly smiling and giggling and is a little clown around the house.
He does so many quirky things, and I tell myself, “How is he doing that? He’s just a baby!” But he’s not just a baby. He’s transitioning into a toddler, and he should be doing quirky, fun things.
GAMES: Jack gives the best kisses! ALWAYS during the day when I pick him up, he leans over and gives me a kiss. I don’t even ask for it. This kid sure has a huge heart and knows how to make my tear ducts work.
Jack rediscovered how to wave again! It’s like he completely forgot the skill, and then at church on Sunday some older ladies sitting a few rows behind us impressed him so much he started up again.
He also loves to wave and play peek-a-boo with himself in his reflection on the dishwasher. It’s great. Instead of peek-a-boo, he just says BEH! (boo)
His grandpa has been trying to teach him to “blubber” with his lips for several months now. Well, he picked this skill up last week in the car. Now he cruises all over the place blubbling his lip with his fingers. Blub, blub, blub!
Tyler has upped the fun in their coffee-table game of tag. He now throws soft blocks and toys across the table at Jack to try and “stall him” and make him stumble so he can’t crawl as fast! The kid laughs even harder at this game, if you can even imagine that being possible!
Tyler “dogpiles” on Jack with foam blocks. He loves it!
Jack loves to put things on your head, and will try to put things on his own head. His favorite is the foam blocks and socks that Tyler leaves around the house.
He loves his toy cars and pushes everything around the house like it is a toy car. The remote, socks, books, blocks, laundry baskets and the cars. He also loves to push the toy cars underneath the TV cabinet, and crawl low on his belly to fish them out.
FOOD: His favorite foods are pb&j, bananas (he eats one almost every day), oatmeal, and leftovers (aka anything we ate for dinner the night before). As always, he’ll eat anything.
He is great with his camelbak sippy cup and is pretty much completely weaned off the bottle. I don’t think he’s had one for several nights in a row now, and no complaining from either party. :)
SLEEP: We’ve recently prepared him for the time change by keeping him up a tad later at night. This weekend he slept in until 8:15am and 8:45am! It was glorious! Yesterday and Monday morning he slept in until around 8:15am again, which will be perfect for when Daylight Savings Time comes around on Sunday. I could get used to this sleeping in thing really quick, but luckily it’ll be over next week. He still usually needs a morning and mid-day nap. He gets quiet time in his crib in the late afternoon, and stays up til around 7 or 7:30 at night.
TALK: Thankfully there are not as many EH? EH?s being thrown around these days. He’s quieted down a lot from last month. He just crawls around the house babbling quietly, talking in his own little language. It’s adorable. We’re pretty sure when he says “BAH BAH” he means Mama. How endearing! He also can say “BEH” (which means BOO!) for peekaboo, and DADA.
MOBILITY: Yesterday he climbed up and pushed his walker all by himself! And when he fell five steps later, he got right back up and tried again and again! I was such a proud mama at that moment. Jack cruises along all of the furniture in the house, and stands on his tippy-tip-tip toes to reach things. He’s slowly becoming more confident in walking, but he’s a great crawler so I don’t know if he’ll make the transition soon or not.
Jack, you have won over our hearts. Thank you for being the motivation I need to get through each day. Thank you for your sweet, contagious smile. It looks just like your daddy’s, and you make sure I’m never without a smile during the day. Thank you for always obeying and being such a genuine, kind-hearted baby. We barely have to discipline you and thank you for that. Thank you for forgiving me when I fall short. Thank you for sleeping through the night at such a young age, and continuing to do so. Thank you for the hugs and kisses. Thank you for blessing so many people around you with laughter and joy. You have already overcome some big challenges in your life, but you dominated them fearlessly. You are unique and strong and a pure delight to have in our family.
We love you, Baby Jack, and can’t imagine a life without you. Happy birthday, kiddo.
Can you believe she was born on Halloween? We wanted Jack to be born on Halloween, but alas, that didn’t happen. It would have been neat to share birthdays. :)
Thank you for all that you do, Mom. We love you so much.
