Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Born Free.....



The Iddle reminds us all that we are....


Born free, as free as the wind blows
As free as the grass grows
Born free to follow your heart

Live free and beauty surrounds you
The world still astounds you
Each time you look at a star

Stay free, where no walls divide you
You're free as the roaring tide
So there's no need to hide

Born free, and life is worth living
But only worth living
'cause you're born free

(Stay free, where no walls divide you)
You're free as the roaring tide
So there's no need to hide

Born free, and life is worth living
But only worth living
'cause you're born free



hahaha--in all seriousness, he didn't really run off nekkid! Just a little post bathtime cruising around!

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Pablo Hiatt

Today I was painting some fan blades and Charlie Mac was bored. I took my paintbrush and made a smudge on the dog food can in the kitchen. I wasn't expecting him to love it because the Crayola "wonder" finger paints had been met with such indifference a couple of weeks ago. WELL--apparently Charlie Mac prefers more classic materials because our little Picasso was taken by the muse and was off on a hunt for more things to bestow with his own brand of beauty....


What to do today.....

what to do....



This is GREATNESS!!!


What else....what else?!?!?

These cabinets could sure use some color....

and this old flower bucket could
definitely use some sprucing up!!


Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Just hanging around the house


As you can see, Charlie Mac's cabinet holds many wonders....


And he loves turning things like this Brita lid into...

musical instruments!!!

a boy and his dog


walking and chewing his finger...at the same time!!!

Happy Boy

Our trip to Indiana

We went to Indiana right after Christmas (thanks Daddy!) to visit the Hiatt clan up thataway. We had such a great time and I really loved my first real visit to the Midwest. Here are some pics from that trip!


Someone is really enjoying his first grilled cheese at the Chocolate Moose!


Charlie Mac and his Peep


Bathtime!


With his second cousins Amanda and Missy


Bradley and me with Hash and Peep at the Chocolate Moose--I love marshmallow diet coke!

Friday, February 16, 2007

Sweet boy

Some of you may know that Sandy has been ill as of late (she's a lot more comfortable now). A few days ago all she felt like doing was lying on her bed. I guess Charlie Mac sensed that she didn't feel very good. I noticed he was crawling across the room using fists instead of his palms which couldn't have been very comfortable. I watched him beeline for Sandy's bed and thinking that she didn't need to be bothered I walked over to redirect him. Well, he wasn't there to bother, but to help--inside each of his little fists was a marble-sized piece of kibble that he deposited next to her head. I am so thankful that they got to know and love each other.


Thursday, February 15, 2007

Toddler granola...

Warning--this post is about making baby food and may be very boring if that's not up your alley...if this is the case, just scroll on down to the picture of our son drooling over his yummy snack.
I am way too excited about this. I was making Charlie Mac some peanut butter balls to have for a snack here and there and I

a) was dismayed that all of the recipes call for a lot of honey to use as a binder and
b) only had half of the honey that was called for.

So--I was feeling good about only using half of the honey (less sugar), but they weren't rolling up right and I was facing a peanut butter ball crisis.
I went a hunting in the fridge thinking I might have some pancake syrup to sub in and really didn't want to (WAY too much sugar and there would go my semi-healthy snack!) when what did I spy with my little eye but good ol applesauce, just waiting to lend a hand. It worked PERFECTLY and next time I am going to use it in place of honey rather than just as a supplement.

It's got nuts, whole grains and fruit AND it's great finger food--not messy and it's smushes for easy swallowing. Woo hoo! It's toddler safe granola!

Here's the original recipe

3/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup dry milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 honey
1 tsp. vanilla

mix the dry, add the rest and roll away! I don't know how much applesauce to use, but I would start with 1/4 cup and continue until the consistancy is right. Store in the fridge.
This would be great with older kids who can help or get creative with the stuff. You could make peanut butter bugs and decorate them with raisens and stuff for instance. I also bet any fruit puree would work. I'd rather not use jelly because again, just so much sugar.


"yumyum! I love this so much I'm drooling!"

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Bob Wilson is a very faithful observer of Valentine's Day--nary a year has passed since a 4 year old Augusta admonished him to "go back to the store cause you 'posed to have canny on Ballumtime's" without our receiving sugary goodness in mid-February. This Year Charlie Mac got his own box of chocolates from his grandaddy Bob, and let me tell you--it was a hit! He very meticulously gnawed on each piece to get a good sense of its flavor before returning it to its spot and moving onto the next flavor....





meticulous gnawing....is that really possible? I think this pic proves it....



Today his own daddy brought me flowers and a valentine. He also brought Charlie Mac his own flower and card...how cute!!!


I tried really hard to get him to pose for a precious Valentine's picture, but the next two pictures will make it clear that he hasn't yet discovered his genetic predisposition for the holiday....


OK, well he does look precious here, but look closely and you can see that he's not too impressed...in the next pic he shows his feelings for all this picture posing nonsense...

Happy Valentine's Day and much meticulous gnawing of chocolates to all of you!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Plumage, Bathtime and Caddyshack....

Charlie Mac may have gotten his cowlicks from both sides of his human family, but I've realized that he has inherited "le plume" from our Sandy. See here:





Bathtime yesterday was especially fun because Daddy got into the shampoo fun....






And I will leave you with this amazing impression he does of Caddyshack's Carl Spackler. I tried to catch a good shot, but he's usually very into his impression and won't pose for the camera....





Friday, February 9, 2007

Busy busy boy

Well, it seems that walking has trumped crawling in the order of preference for Master Hiatt. If he is on a mission he may drop down before bolting, but it seems that he'd like to be looking straight ahead for most of those these days as well.
He's also gotten a great grasp of english--at least on the listening end. His great grandparents Charles and Rosalie share with us a great family secret for childhood fun---give over one kitchen cabinet to the babies. This is the best idea ever. If Charlie Mac starts to open the recycle cabinet or tries to open one of the childproofed cabinets, I jsut say "now that's not your cabinet--close it and go to yours" and god bless him he takes his fat little hand and closes the forbidden cabinets and heads for "his" cabinet with absolute glee and triumph! I clap a lot when he does this which I'm sure helps--but it's sincere applause because I know it's got to be hard to pass up the temptation of the recycling bins when your just over a year and a month old! His cabinet is a treasure trove of tupperware, plastic cups, a bin of receipts (his important papers), a giant plastic collander and other delights. When we are finished with our time in the kitchen we "clean up" together and I have to say he is very good at helping put everything away. Of course, he likes to take things out and put them back again and again--but it's a great start!
I've gotten my camera working again and so here a few pics I took tonight of a PB&J supper. Note his new cup witha straw that he loves.
Take care!
love, elizabeth



Monday, February 5, 2007

story time

The Iddle is quite the talker these days...just not in English (or any other previously heard language). The lyrical linguistics of Iddlese range from the gutteral to the chirping, with many varied hand getures peppered throughout. I can't wait for the moments where he starts rolling on a subject that will forever remain unknown save for it's nature. He will be very serious with his little brow furrowed, or laugh in between rasberries and "mumumus" to convey a more lighthearted scene. Once he even twirled his hands continuously from above his head to his "waist" while making very musical sounds and I want to swear it was interpretive dance....I wonder where he gets this from....I'll have to get his dad to show him some of his more creative moves from "back in the day." I truly hope mine remain in fuzzy memory.
He's walking so well these days---crossing rooms with a look of giddy triumph on his little face---and we feel like he's won the Olympics every time.
I am being summoned with something that sounds like "dwa hop dup hoo" so, until next time, hip hip dwa doo to you!