Sunday, June 27, 2010

William's favorites

Now that William is one we've switched him over to real milk. I thought this was going to be a challenge but it turns out he loves real milk and made the switch easily. We've also been cutting out bottles which has also been a lot easier than I thought it would be! For the past three days he's only needed a bottle during the day twice. He's so grown up and independent!

For my own records, here are some of William's favorite foods:
  • oatmeal pancakes: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 2 eggs, 1/2 tea. baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, blended until smooth, cooked as pancakes.
  • raspberries
  • blueberries
  • strawberries
  • yogurt smoothies (frozen berries, yogurt and a little milk.)
  • peanut butter
  • Dr. Praeger's spinach littles, broccoli littles and fish sticks
  • shrimp
  • peas with mint
  • yogurt
  • Thai food
  • cheese
  • turkey breast
  • kiwi
It's a pretty long list because he's not really fussy. He takes after his father and only occasionally really obviously loves something he's eating. Berries, cottage cheese, smoothies and peanut butter are a good example of this. The other foods I know he likes because he eats them before he eats anything else on his plate!

He loves to run around the house chasing the dogs, Taylor, me and anyone else he can convince to play with him. He loves to stand behind me, laughing, while I "look" for him then pop out so I can find him. He loves snuggling with his blankie. He loves to bunch up his blanket, curl up on it and sleep with his bum in the air. He loves the water. He loves to be helpful and to get things for me and close the freezer and dishwasher door for me. He loves to scream while we change his diaper. He loves to get stubborn when we tell him he's not allowed to touch something. He loves to laugh when we throw him over our shoulder. He loves Tickle Monster. He loves books in general. He loves when we clap because he's done something well. He loves watching the older neighborhood kids play.

There is so much he loves and it's fun to watch him discover something new every day!!!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Fountains


It's been super hot the past couple of days so after William's baptism brunch, we let him run through the fountains nearby. It's one of his favorite things to do! He loves the water! (Which is why for his birthday we bought him a water table -he's used it every day for the past couple of weeks!-and a baby pool!! )





William's baptism

The day after William turned one, we had him baptized at St. John in Georgetown. It was a great service, and a wonderful day. His godparents, Maggie and Patrick, did a super job! After the service we went to brunch which was quite delicious!


Proud Grandparents!
All the Grandparents!!
More proud Grandparents! William is a lucky little boy.






The Godparents!!
William was quite amused that he was getting wet.
Happy Family!!!

(I am pretty sure William is gripping Taylor in an attempt to convince him to take off the tie!!)

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

William's First Birthday Cake





(for my records)

Chocolate layer

Makes one 8-inch square, three layer cake

3 cups cake flour
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
3 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups freshly brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter three 8-inch square cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

2. In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for about 30 seconds. Add the butter and buttermilk and blend on low until moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Whisk the eggs and coffee together, and add to the batter in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating only until blended after each addition. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans; each pan will take about 3 1/4 cups of batter.

4. Bake for 38 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Carefully turn them out onto wire racks and allow to cool completely. Remove the paper liners only when they are cool.

Raspberry Filling:


Raspberry Filling

Directions

  1. In a small sauce pan, combined all of the ingredients and slowly bring to a boil over medium-high heat (keep stirring until thickened for best results).
  2. Let cool completely before spreading onto cake.
Marshmallow Frosting:

Marshmallow Icing - adapted from Dorie Greenspan

1/2 cup egg whites (about 4 large)
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Put the egg whites in a clean, dry mixer bowl or in another large bowl. Have a candy thermometer at hand.
Put the sugar, cream of tartar and water in a small saucepan and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, cover the pan and boil for 3 minutes. Uncover and allow the syrup to boil until it reaches 242 degrees F on the candy thermometer. While the syrup is cooking, start beating the egg whites.
When the syrup is at about 235 degrees F, begin beating the egg whites on medium speed with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer. If the whites form firm, shiny peaks before the syrup reaches temperature, reduce the mixer speed to low and keep mixing the whites until the syrup catches up. With the mixer at medium speed, and standing back slightly, carefully pour in the hot syrup, pouring it between the beater(s) and the side of the bowl. Splatters are inevitable — don’t try to scrape them into the whites, just carry on. Add the vanilla extract and keep beating the whites at medium speed until they reach room temperature, about 5 minutes. You should have a smooth, shiny, marshmallowy frosting.


Cream Cheese Pound Cake:

Cream Cheese Pound Cake Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

p> Directions:
Make the pound cake: beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed of an electric mixer 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add sugar and beat 5-7 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and beat only until yellow disappears. Stir in vanilla.

Combine flour and salt and add to creamed mixture beating on low speed of electric mixture just until blended after each addition. Pour into greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Fill a 2-cup ovenproof measuring cup with water and place in oven with cake (keeps it moist!). Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean (check in several areas of the cake to be sure it’s completely done). Let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes then remove from pan (invert onto a plate and then invert onto another so that it’s upright) and let cool completely.

American Buttercream


1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (European butter is best)

6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Yield: enough for 2 dozen cupcakes or 1 (9-inch) layer cake


Sunday, June 13, 2010

First Mets Game!


We took William to his first Mets game in Baltimore yesterday! It was a 7pm game so he was up way past his bedtime but he did so well. He loved the crowds and the noise and the game! He also loved the french fries he managed to smuggle from me when I wasn't looking.

He was a little sleepy at the end of the game!
He did a lot of talking during the game!

Cuddling with Mommy!



Playing with Daddy!

Thai Food and more smiles


William loves Thai food! A new Thai restaurant opened up two blocks from yes (Yum, Yum, Yum) and we've already eaten there twice. William loves the thai pork buns and the thai chicken fried rice.

William made it 11 months without injury but in two weeks he's fallen and scraped his face and then gotten stitches! Crazy!


Luckily he's always smiling!












Friday, June 11, 2010

Stitches


This morning started off so well but then went downhill quickly. I didn't notice that there was a glass sitting on the coffee table and went into the kitchen to clean it up a bit. William was running from room to room. Suddenly I heard him cry out from the family room and I rushed in to see what happened. My poor baby apparently pulled the glass off the table and in the process it broke. A small piece of glass cut him near his eyebrow and he was bleeding like crazy!
I grabbed a paper towel to try to stop the bleeding and called Taylor so we could take him to the ER. I couldn't tell how deep the cut was because it was bleeding so much and, even though I had pulled out a piece of glass, I couldn't see if there was any more. As it was only 7:45 am, the ER ended up being the best option. Plus, it's 2 minutes away from us. So I finally got the bleeding to slow down and slapped a Toy Story band-aid on to go to the ER. Little William looked like he'd been attacked! There was dried blood all over his face. In fact, I think it was less the pain that had him crying and more the blood that was running in his eye. He stopped crying when the band-aid went on.

He now sports three stitches that will come out in 5 days. Taylor and I took our brave, sleepy baby home and put him down for a nap. I am happy to say that when William woke up, he was fine. He didn't even seem to notice the injury.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Always Smiling!

William is always smiling!
Crazy hair day! Some shampoo didn't get washed out and I couldn't get his hair down!