Say, "Uncle!"

For the past month Jen and I, as well as the Wombats, have been engaged in an all out battle against our every-swelling inventory of fresh lettuce. It is certainly my least favorite time of the farm year. I have had very little leafy greens that have truly excited me over the years. Last year I did have some incredible sorrel and arugula in Austin, TX. I would have happily eaten entire plates of either with absolutely no accompaniment. However, this is the exception to the rule. In general greens are a little boring.


On Friday I used some of the Tropicana lettuce and topped it with kohlrabi which I boiled, chilled, and tossed with sour cream, salt, pepper, scallions, and a splash of hot sauce.


I also bused open this Ursa Minor Weizen Stout from Rising Tide Brewery in Portland, ME. I picked this up on my recent trip to Rhode Island and it was quite enjoyable.


For the main course I used up the remaining summer squash and spinach along with onion, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon, basil, and butter.


Jen had another wheat beer at the other end of the spectrum, this Sun Block from Captain Lawrence Brewing Company. This was another really nice offering from Captain Lawrence.


On Saturday morning the Wombats were able to use their toy drum from Aunt Lauren and the Xylophone from Jen to start a pretty awesome new band. Baby Hit Parade magazine has called them: "The White Stripes with a xylophone."

The xylophone is really weird in that it's like some sort of mixolydian scale. I think that's what Martin is going for though. Major keys are so played out.



For lunch they had their first straight milk. The verdict: they're on the fence. I think we've lost a bit of their trust after giving them something that looks just like formula but is not formula.

Milk is the main ingredient in formula so it's a little surprising that they don't like it. I guess once you get used to something as disgusting as formula it's hard to go back.


At Christmas Aunt Lauren told us that she was pregnant and we made an elaborate announcement for Grandma and Grandad where we dressed up the guys in T-shirts announcing the arrival of their first first cousin. Grandma opened this gift and was delighted by it but made no mention of the fact that her daughter was pregnant. Apparently she just thought it was some random, framed picture of her grandsons and did not read the T-shirts.


On Sunday Aunt Lauren gave birth to Evelyn! Martin was very excited to see her picture on Jen's phone. Elliott, however, saw the picture late as he was preoccupied with his afternoon nap.


I had planned a French(ish) dinner to celebrate Bastille Day but how was I to know that I would also be welcoming into this world my first niece? Had I known I would have tried to plan something more thematic for that occasion. Of course, I can't imagine what that would be.

I started off with duck rillettes, a salad with Tropicana lettuce and lemon vinaigrette, whole grain mustard, cornichons, Turkish figs, and Bethmale cheese. I wasn't able to find a cheese from the Rhone-Alpes region of France (where today's Tour de France stage was being held) so I went with the mountainous region on the other side of France. That, at least, shows that there was some thought there.


I also did not have a French beer so I went with a French(ish) beer, this Saison from Mystic Brewery. It was great, perfect for the season and the meal. And it was in a Belgian style. I've heard that that's near France.

Jen had this Cep d'Or rose which was also very tasty and also very much not from the correct region of France. It was closer than my cheese so that was a plus.

You can see here that I was not going to let go of my absurd need to try to pigeonhole this dinner into the Rhones-Alpes region. Even though I had next to no food or drink traditional to that area.


For dinner I made tartiflette which is a traditional dish from the region. It's basically like a potato Dauphinoise with cheese, onion, and bacon added. I cooked some onions in rendered bacon then added in the sliced potato, cream, milk, salt, and pepper and cooked it all in the oven. When it was almost done I put in some chunks of Saint Albry cheese. I should have used Reblochon but, again, there was none available to me.

The end result, as you could probably imagine, was quite delicious.



The Wombats celebrated by eating (but mostly destroying) a baguette.
A mere year and six days after the Wombats made their entrance their cousin joins them. That's much more exciting than some French people storming a crummy old jail.

This is America where Canadians give birth to Americans, son!

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.

One Year

July started with adventure, intrigue, and a great deal of apartment cleaning. As we prepared to depart for Rhode Island a week ago we spent much time packing, organizing, and wrangling two little wombats out of the house so we could make our trip up to see family.

Wednesday, July 3rd

After a stop by Target, one of my worst nightmares in life, we made it to my parent's house in 90-degree heat.


After a little dip in their new Target-aquired kiddie pool Martin took a nap with his Nana who refused to admit that she was asleep. Her contention is that she was sitting with her eyes closed for 90 minutes while holding Martin. As Martin is not talking yet we'll have to wait to see what his story is.


For dinner my Aunt Pauline made Dynamites, our peoples' traditional dish, and the Wombats got a chance to hang out in the pool for the second time that day with their cousins.


They also got their first taste of dynamite roll made by Dupras Bakery, the only maker of true dynamite rolls. And with this came their first exposure to high quantities of dough conditioner.


After a prolonged bedtime battle we took off to catch the fireworks. We arrived at 9:31 PM and they ended at 9:33 PM. With a free night to ourselves and no babies we decided not to let that opportunity go to waste and hit up the local watering hole for a couple of beers and the stark reminder that we were the oldest people out in the city that night by at least ten years.

Thursday, July 4th

On the 4th Jen took off to spend the morning shopping while the babies (and their daddy) slept.


During the day we had a lot of family over to see the babies. Their Great Aunt Pat brought them a present which Martin was excited to open.


Elliott, however, could not be torn away from his new favorite activity: trying to destroy my parents' DVR.


Later in the afternoon the boys broke the heat with another dip in the pool.


Martin was cautious and after a few minutes found it more enjoyable to hang out outside the pool and spectate.


To get them to nap we loaded them in the car to get them to nap and I got to visit Yankee Spirits, the place where I got my start in craft beer love back in 1998 when I went there for the first time. It had been nine years since I'd been there and the place is still incredible. I got a great selection of beers not available to us in New York.






Over the next few days I had a great sampling of local beers I had not had before and even snuck one in from Pennsylvania.


After their nap we went to another cookout to visit friends and family and the boys got yet another chance to enjoy some pool fun.


Elliott got to meet with one of his favorite ladies, Miss Madeline.


Then she broke his heart.


Martin was a bit more solitary as he played the beanbag toss by himself.


Even sinking a beanbag in the hole couldn't wash Martin of the deep existential dread he was inexplicably feeling that day.


Later he shaked this feeling to join his brother who was being entertained by Aunt Liza.

Friday, July 5th

Friday morning Martin awoke to say his first word. He looked me directly in the eye, pointed at me and said, "Dada." This was a very moving moment for me until he proceeded to spend the rest of the day pointing at everything he saw and saying, "Dada."


As they napped in the car we drove them to the other end of Rhode Island (about 45 minutes away) to visit with some more family. They got to see their Auntie Vi and Uncle Dick as well as their great aunts, and cousins Lisa, Steve, and Pete.



They also got to eat some delicious fruit.


The adults were less responsible and enjoyed a heaping plate of Allie's Donuts.




After their lunch they had a great time playing peek-a-boo with cousin Steven.


After an unfortunate tumble out of his high chair, Elliott and his brother accompanied us to the Redwood for another healthy meal: fried seafood.

Saturday, July 6th

Saturday started off with a leisurely breakfast experience at my parents' house.


Martin got to spend a lot of time with Grandpa Butch.


Grandpa was a big softie and played a lot of Martin's favorite game: touch the smoke detector. Martin called the smoke detector, "Dada."


Jen was not feeling too well in the morning but she played with Elliott by putting the blanket over his head and then Elliott had his first word: "Tada!" This was not something I would have thought that maybe this was a mistake except that he said it several times after removing the blanket from his head. Maybe he'll grow up to me a magician.

I just hope if he does that he gets some better tricks. Having your mother on stage pulling a blanket off your head is not exactly a show stopper.


Elliott took immediately to Jennifer who babysat me when I was little. Perhaps he would be a little more accepting of her desire to watch Solid Gold than I was in my youth.


In the afternoon we went to our annual cookout and Elliott found a spot in the shade.


Martin opted for beer instead of shade.


After a little bit I picked up Jen who was feeling a little bit better and she enjoyed some graham crackers with Elliott. She'd been hoping for more dynamites but didn't want to push it after her illness.


There was a great deal of reluctance for their afternoon nap but Nana was able to eventually rock Elliott to sleep.


Grandpa had no such luck with Martin on the swing. Martin was much more interested in watching the big kids play.


He was also getting along quite famously with his new friend Ava. Martin has a thing for older women.


It's worth noting that there was a right proper watermelon ice cream there, the staple of this cookout for longer than I've been alive. Much love goes to Dotti for keeping the dream alive with this staple of summers in Northern Rhode Island.


After eating the Wombats took yet another dip in a pool, this time with slightly more water toys.



After their dip they hit another staple of Woonsocket, RI: Wright's Dairy Farm. They got to have their first cake from the incredible bakery.


After making a huge mess I bathed them in the kiddie pool. This didn't turn out to be a very good idea as it just sort of coated them with a greasy cake-like film and made them smell of baked goods.

Without an afternoon nap Martin was asleep before we left the driveway which resulted in him being tossed into his crib with no bath, no pajamas, and no diaper change. Elliott, on the other hand, put up an epic two hour struggle against the tyranny of bed time.

Monday, July 8th

Sunday consisted of not much more than an intense journey home.


On Monday it was the boys' first birthday and Jen took them to meet me at work.


After lunch we took them to the Children's museum nearby.



They had a great time and so did we. We're already considering doing the annual membership. There's something very relaxing about taking them to a big place where they can wander freely and we don't have to be too worried about them destroying anything. The floors are even padded. We may just start going there for eight hours a day and seeing if anyone says anything.



It's also a great place for them to burn off some energy. They were completely knocked out for the ride home.


While they were asleep I took them to pick up the farm share where we were saddled with another huge dose of lettuce! This week we got summer spinach, scallions, escarole, Napa cabbage, basil, Jersey Wakefield cabbage, squash, and sugar snap peas.


After dinner Jen made some cupcakes for the guys that we had to chill in the freezer to get them to the right temperature to eat. After much running around we procured enough confectioner's sugar for Jen to frost them and they had a great time smashing them to bits. They smeared cupcake over so much of the apartment that I dare to think some of it may have even ended up in their mouths!



We gave them one of their presents, this octopus bath toy, that they got to put to use during their birthday bath. It serves a dual purpose of being a toy and distracting them from their never-ending quest to try to climb out of the tub.


After a particularly harrowing bedtime wrestling match Jen was able to finish up the cupcakes while I made dinner around 9:00. She frosted them all only to bring them to day care the next day and be told that chocolate wasn't allowed. We let the workers there have the cupcakes as we presumed the chocolate ban didn't extend to staff.


For dessert I had this L'assoiffe 12 from Brasseurs du Monde to celebrate twelve months of bubses. It was a really nice beer, perfect to honor two really nice insane monkeys.


A year and a day ago we were at the hospital after spending a lovely morning watching the Tour de France and also watching Jen's blood pressure creep to new highs. Less than twenty-four hours later these monkeys entered the world and brought with them a ton of love and a whole lot of work for mum and dad.


One year later the work has not slowed down but it's been worth it for all the love they share and to see how much people have taken an interest in their tiny, ridiculous baby exploits.

It's amazing what a year can bring. As parents we are still clutching onto a thin thread of control at the moment but I'd expect by this time next year they will have seized power and will be commanding me to get off the computer and spend more time meeting their unreasonable demands.

Send help.