Picky Eaters

Jen and I have spent a significant amount of time patting ourselves on the back over how openly the Wombats have accepted all new foods. Over the past six months or so whatever we put in front of them, they ate.

Then they decided to get different ideas. When we were in Rhode Island last week they must have held some sort of meeting where they decided that they would no longer eat just anything. In fact, for fun, they decided to dislike different things than their brother so that we now have to prepare separate meals for each of them.


This lead me to breaking open a lovely recreation of a beer from the 1800s in this East India Pale Ale from Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project. It was a tasty beer but when I opened it I was really more interested in having the alcohol dull the pain of culinary horror that the Bubses had put on me.


Wednesday night began with me retrieving the babies after a long day of many, many chores. They were apparently delighted in themselves and their love for torturing me with their particular food likes and dislikes.


Once in their high chairs they continued to delight each other. Martin seemed to hold court (a very small court containing only his brother, Elliott) by cracking his brother up with his hilarious gags like letting his brother touch him.


Things only got more hilarious when props were introduced into the mix. Check out the comedy stylings of young Martin as he pretends to allow Elliott to grab his spoon then changes his mind.

Hilarious.


Strangely bed time was a snap. I rocked both of them almost instantly to sleep after their bottles and was able to make a proper dinner starting with this Caesar salad with farm share Romaine and Jen's grandpa's Caesar dressing recipe.


I was even able to enjoy a beer with a bad ass falcon on the label, this Falco from Evil Twin Brewing.


For the main course I made a summer ratatouille like my mother used to make using garlic, onion, zucchini, tomato, and fresh basil. I chopped some up for the guys. Elliott reluctantly ate a few bites. Martin did his new trick where he takes a few bites then just lets it all fall out of his mouth.

They hate ratatouille.


After another late night we had dinner around 9:00 PM again last night and actually ordered out getting some chicken parmesan and chicken franchese.

To accompany our meal we shared this Ruin Ten from Stone Brewing Company. This is a hard-to-find beer that I stumbled upon in a local supermarket while picking up garlic. My annoyance at running out of garlic was very justly rewarded by the beer karma gods.

In their second year begins a new era. I'm assuming this will continue to develop until the Wombats are like many children who will not eat anything. Jen's worst fears of having children that only eat chicken nuggets and us having to carry a baggy of grapes with us wherever we go may be realized.

I'm still holding fast that they will not encounter a chicken nugget until they leave for college.

The Father's day Miracle

On Thursday, Elliott developed an incredible diaper rash. He didn't seem to care at all but it was pretty ghastly. I was able to avoid a complicated doctor's visit by just having them call in a prescription cream for the sores he had. Unfortunately day care will barely give a baby food without a signed document from a pediatrician so we resorted to only applying at home.


Since this suddenly came on we've enjoyed some nude time after baths recently. Friday night Elliott got to crawl all over our apartment to let his rash air out. By some miracle he did not pee all over the floor. In that regard I feel like Jen and I are particularly lucky. Personally I've only been peed on once or twice by the babies. They have shown amazing restraint in that area.

I'm just hoping this doesn't mean they're going to be pee on us all the time when they're teenagers.


Jen was in the mood for pizza so after getting them to bed on Friday I made this pizza with ricotta, mozzarella, roast chicken, roasted tomatoes, roasted peppers, and balsamic glaze.


To enjoy with the pizza I opened this bottle of Brux, a collaboration between Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Russian River Brewing Company. It was recommended to age this beer but I've had it for about six months and just wanted to have it right away. I'd highly recommend it if you can find a bottle.


After dinner I had a small glass of this Solera Aged Bourbon from Hillrock Estate Distillery in upstate New York. This was an anniversary gift from Jen as it is aged in wood for our wood anniversary.

This was easily the best bourbon I've ever had. Truly incredible. I had to look up what "Solera Aged" meant and after reading all about it I now realize that I still don't understand what it means.

It's damn good though.


Saturday morning was their last swim class of the season. I'm glad they are unable to understand this because if they knew that this was the last class for a while I have a feeling they'd be pissed. They love swimming so we're going to see about how we can get them back soon.


After class we got a visit from Nana STIM, Grandpa Butch, Auntie Debbie, and Uncle Dave. We took them to the park by the beach and had a nice lunch and some playtime. They were a little cranky from having to wear sunscreen and hats but they still had a pretty good time.


When we got back they got to open presents. Grandpa Butch got them some shirts from his trip to Arizona and a book about Rabbits that Martin is in love with.


Uncle Dave got them some Bruins Jerseys which they wore propelling the Bruins to tie up the Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks. That was a sound investment.


Nana STIM brought some incredible moussaka.


To me it looked like it had been made by someone who had confused our group of six normal adults with a group of 12 NFL linebackers, however, there was barely any left when we were done with it.


After a long day of routine-breaking it was time to attempt getting the guys to sleep.


Grandpa Butch got it all on tape. However, what he didn't get on tape after leaving was one of the worst bedtime wind downs of all time. After a long day of getting riled up and being off routine they were not interested in sleeping at all. Eventually, after much wrangling, they drifted off to sleep and we were left stunned, bruised, and ready for sleep ourselves.


I worked on Father's Day but got home early enough to hang out with the guys before their bedtime. When I got home I discovered that Jen had done all of the laundry. I'd pretty much planned on spending all day Monday doing laundry and was now at a loss with how to spend my day knowing there were now zero loads that needed to be done. That may have been the best Father's Day present (or any kind of present) ever given to me.




I also had time to feed them their first nectarine, amongst large quantities of other foods.

In a start contrast to last night we just bathed the babies, fed them their bottles, and they both instantly fell asleep with absolutely no protest. It was possibly the best Father's Day gift I will ever receive.



For some reason I was desperately craving burgers so we ordered some take out from Ruby's Oyster Bar & Bistro and had one of each of their burger options.

It was incredible. If you haven't done it in a while I highly recommend getting two burgers and just eating every last bite and all of the fries. But you have to eat all the fries. Just do it. You'll be glad you did.


To go along with the burger I had this Peche Mortel from Brasserie Dieu du Ciel!, another from our Quebec trip back in February. It's a coffee stout that is barrel aged for a year and it's fantastic.


To top off the evening I enjoyed a small glass of this High West Whiskey from High West Distillery in Utah. This was the other half of my anniversary gift. While not quite to the level of the Hillrock it was still very, very good.

I now have more whiskey and bourbon that anyone has any right owning. If you want to come to my place for a whiskey and bourbon tasting please give me a call.

And do not drive.



When we went to check up on the Bubses after dinner we found the secret to their fuss-free bedtime. Apparently it involved working themselves ito the most uncomfortable positions imaginable. The key to a good night's sleep is apparently in jamming your feet and legs through the slats of your crib.

Hey, whatever works.

Wombats be Fickle

On Tuesday I didn't get much of a chance to do any shopping. The last few days we've had to scrounge together a dinner of leftovers, take out, and sometimes just strange combinations of different canned items from the cupboards. Some would say that a simple trip to the grocery store could alleviate some of these problems.

Some simply have no sense of adventure.


After work I had another beer from Brasserie Illimité, this Dopplebock. I could have sworn I'd had this while in Quebec and that I'd accidentally bought a second bottle. However my detailed beer records indicated that I had not actually had this one yet.

Detailed beer records. This is why I'm the coolest guy in town.


On Wednesday we had a little piece of history to go along with our shabby, cobbled-together dinner of leftovers. What we had was New Albion Ale, the original recipe for the original American craft beer. This beer was originated by New Albion Brewing Company (actually brewed by Sam Adams early this year when they acquired the trademark). This was a very nice pale ale. There is nothing that jumps out about this beer as being out of the ordinary but, apparently, when it was released in the 1970s it blew people's minds. I can understand how that would be the case if all you'd ever had was Miller, Coors, or Budweiser. It's a very good beer that is easy-drinking and lends a nice bit of historical perspective to the craft.


On Thursday the Wombats had their nine month check up. Apart from not enjoying their latest round of shots it went smoothly. Except for when they temporarily tried to remove all the various instruments from the rack above their heads. And when Elliott tore off giant pieces of butcher paper from the table underneath him and tried to eat them.


They were ranking quite nicely on the spectrum falling somewhere between the 25-50% range. Shockingly their heads are still the same size. When I commented on this the nurse actually measured Elliott's head a second time to make sure she hadn't gotten it wrong.

She hadn't. Their heads are simply the world's most elaborate optical illusion.

I got a call early the day before announcing that the day care would be closed on Thursday because they didn't have any running water. I just happened to have the day off of work so that worked out nicely. This did, however, throw a monkey wrench into my plans which were to bring our apartment from the level of festering cesspool to somewhere just above intolerable.


Martin had a fun time in the afternoon attempting to make an escape from his newly-lowered crib.


And in the afternoon they both had endless fun cracking each other up with their special brand of baby humor.

Personally, I don't get it.


They have been enjoying bath time more and more each day and Thursday they had a great time splashing and, for some reason, frantically squealing while we attempted to dry them and get them in pajamas.


After bath time I had another Quebec beer, this Infernale from Le Grimoire Microbrasserie. I bought this beer mostly because I found the label to be extremely comical. There is a range of beers from this brewery that feature a selection of demons and shirtless women on the labels. This one, I thought, encapsulated the style the best. The guy on the label kind of reminds me of Randall Flagg as imagined by someone with a 1998 copy of Adobe Photoshop who just got a new pack of filters that he wanted to try out. This keeps in line with the oddly heavy metal reminiscent flare of many Quebec breweries.

I wasn't crazy about the beer but the label made it all worth it. It was second only to that bottle of Clairette we saw when we were in Die in 2008.


Now that was pure class.


I also sampled a small glass of whiskey that was given to me by a friend as a late birthday gift, this Original Breakout Premium Rye Whiskey from The Tennessee Spirits Company. I am not an expert on whiskey other than I can say that it was good.

I drank the whiskey. It was good whiskey. I liked it. The rope was burning my hands. I pulled it anyway. The sea is fickle.

This morning, as we were getting the guys ready for day care, we got a call alerting us that they would again be closed. I had been the hero yesterday, Jen took the hero's crown for today.



In addition to no day care we also lost power because of mild wind. This meant that the small amount of work Jen could expect to get done on a day of caring for two babies was pretty much out the window. Instead she made the most of it by having a fashion show where she modeled the Wombats' new swimsuits for their upcoming swim class. They seemed pretty delighted by it. Let's hope the last eight months of baths have prepared them for a somewhat more enjoyable experience than their first trip to the beach.

They did not like it. They did not like the sea.



Jen also introduced the guys to the parachute game. This is a fancy name for putting a blanket on them and seeing who pulls it off first. Martin seemed to win the game.


However, Elliott made a very spooky ghost. Behold the haunting specter of the Elliott Ghost!


When I got home from work Jen announced that the Wombats will only eat now if you let them hold their own spoons while you feed them. This seemed to be a radical shift in eating habits in the eighteen hours since I'd last fed them but such is the life of the Wombats.

Wombats be fickle.

The Babies of Catan

The weekend started on Friday night (as it often does) and a late night getting home and convincing the babies to go to sleep. Elliott, uncharacteristically, has required more attention in that department than normal. We suspect he is going through an uncomfortable teething period though he doesn't really show any signs other than giving off high-pitched squeals and only being comforted by sleeping in bed with us.


I picked up some discount lobster tails at the store and made these sandwiches for dinner on Friday night. Normally "cheap" and "seafood" are two words I try to keep a good distance from each other but these were some beautiful lobster tails. I boiled them, then put them on toasted ciabatta with watercress, bacon, avocado, tomato, Old Bay, and a sauce of mayonnaise, ketchup, relish, mustard, and hot sauce. I served them up with some pickles and Cape Cod potato chips. We used to eat Cape Cod potato chips all the time growing up so I was excited to see them at our local store. What better way to enjoy lobster than with some authentic potato chips named after a cape that actually has no cod.


To accompany this dinner I opened this Wookey Jack from
Firestone Walker Brewing Co. This was a black rye IPA and it was very nice. My only concern is that the label is signed by David Walker, Matt Brynildson, and Adam Firestone. If this Brynildson guy was so important then why did they name the brewery after the other two guys and leave him out?

It turns out that Matt Brynildson is the brewmaster. That made me feel better. I thought that maybe he was some guy that got the shaft when they named the brewery.


For breakfast they Wombats had oatmeal with strawberry, apple, and chopped up bits of mango. We've taken to putting chunks of food in their pureed foods now and they seem to really enjoy eating it. Once we got over the initial fear of them choking on a piece of avocado it's been really good for them.




We also made the babies their first toast for breakfast with a little butter. They really enjoyed this one. Strangely I think this was their first wheat to date. We looked everywhere for a wheat cereal for babies but they seem hard to find. I found one by Gerber on Amazon that looked sort of sketchy, like it was a box leftover from the mid 1990s that they were still trying to get someone to buy so I opted to take them on a tour of other, more hippie-style grains instead like millet and amaranth.

That's right. Our are babies who eat amaranth before they ate wheat.


Due to Martin's new found climbing skills I spent this morning adjusting the crib so that he would hopefully avoid crashing down onto the floor any time soon.


He was momentarily amused by his new prison. Then he cried. Then he passed out.


Martin slept for several hours while Elliott wasn't much interested in a nap, though he was interested in mandatory dance time with Mummy.


After lunch and activities we took them out for a really long walk and ran errands, hoping that they would drift off to sleep. Instead after a trip to the eyeglass store, the post office, CVS, the shoe repair shop, and the wine store they were still both wide awake.


For dinner Paul and Caolan stopped by and Martin was mystified by Paul. This isn't saying much since all babies on planet Earth are, for some reason, captivated by the sight of him. Don't get me wrong, he is a handsome man, but I'm not quite sure what it is that all babies and children find irresistible. Personally I find him to be one of the funniest people I've ever met but I can't imagine that his particular brand of humor would be understood by your average baby.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe babies understand his humor on a deeper level than I do.



At some point in their visit Martin leaned over toward the light and learned something new: if you pull the string it turns it on and off!


This discovery made for perhaps the most exciting ten minutes of Martin's life so far.


Paul and Caolan brought over this labne, a Middle Eastern yogurt spread. I had never heard of this before and it turns out I have been missing out on something delicious!


For beer with this tasty spread I opened this bottle of Hop - Ruiter from Scheldebrouwerij in Belgium, and inexplicably with a .nl website address. We also ordered Italian take out and I found this to be a suitable accompaniment. Perhaps Chianti may have been more appropriate but I thought this aggressively hopped Belgian beer was far more enjoyable. It had an lemony effervescence that was quite pleasing. I was sad to learn that this beer was only brewed once so I guess I'm never enjoying another bottle of it.

If I had known this before I had it I may have savored it just a bit more.

Paul and Caolan brought one more thing with them to dinner . . .


Settlers of Catan! We'd been wanting to play this game for years. I think I first learned of this game five years ago and ever since have wanted to try it out. Since we apparently are both extremely passive about things we really want to do it didn't happen until they brought it over for us to play for the first time as the delivered promise from Christmas.

I won the first game thanks to my incredible ore cities and they let us keep the game.


On this night I became a true Lord of Catan!