Toddlers Love Thai!

Well, I barely survived another work week. The pollen is killing me.

On a higher note, I declare Little Buddha to be both baby-friendly AND toddler-friendly.

Last fall when the kid was 6 months or so, we ate lunch there amongst the office crowd, and the staff did not bat an eye. Tonight, I ordered a side dish of veggies for the kid to accompany homemade meatloaf and yobaby yogurt, two of the few food items I can count on him eating. The baby- well, toddler now- nibbled on the carrots, which is more than he's ever done with ANY other veggie in his 13 months of life... and then... HE ATE A TON OF BROCCOLI FLORETS OUT OF MY HUSBAND'S BEEF WITH BROCCOLI.

THE KID- ATE- BROCCOLI.

You go, Little Buddha! And as usual, my green curry went so great with a beer. Now baby's in bed with a full tummy, and I'm getting blog time!

I did have to painstakingly rip up the broccoli into teeny florets because they weren't that soft, but a mom will do anything to feed her baby right, so that was nothin'. And now I know if I douse broccoli in something good, he'll eat it.

Feeding a toddler is hard. Suddenly they refuse to eat that easy pureed baby food, and you have to scramble to figure out what they WILL eat. And you HAVE to get food in them, or they won't sleep. My kid will eat ground beef and turkey like it's candy, and he will let us spoon feed him yogurt, although tonight he insisted on trying to feed it to himself, which was very, very messy.

Tomorrow I'm going to try steamed broccoli florets with peanut sauce. I bought 3 toddler/kid food books this weekend. I'm going to try to find some more easy recipes, because I detest cooking. And his meals have to also work for my husband and me, because I am NOT making any more food than I absolutely have to. I HATE COOKING. There is so much else I'd rather be doing. So- MUCH- else. Click here to read more.

NFL Draft and Stamford's Vlad Ducasse

Geez Louise.
A line in an Advocate article, about the UMass tackle from Stamford High being drafted by the Jets, caught my attention:

Ducasse, who said he met with Jets officials in Stamford as recently as last week, bounced around a conference room with about 50 people at Morton's Steakhouse, holding a long embrace with his older brother, MacArthur, who was sent to Stamford from Haiti with Ducasse seven years ago by their father.

Geez Louise. Sent to Stamford by their father! Can you even imagine. I wonder who took care of him- I assume he stayed with family. And obviously some people from Stamford High gave support:

The most emotional moment of the evening came when Ducasse shared a bear hug with his high school coach, Kevin Jones, who served as a father figure and mentor to the player, who arrived in Stamford not knowing much English, and even less about football.

It is really amazing what a person can do with the right support system. Ducasse's dad made a tough decision to send his son away to a place with more opportunity, and it seems like his son's talent, drive, and determination took over from there. But there must have been a lot of people caring about him along the way, because a teenager can't do it alone.

In many respects, Ducasse's story is as compelling as Michael Oher's, the subject of the movie "The Blind Side." Ducasse was discovered at Stamford High School because he stood out in the hallways and was encouraged by friends to try out for the football team. During his first year at the school, his grade point average went from a 2.7 to a 3.8.

A cool story, and I hope to read more.
There are some great pics you can look at with the article. It looks like Ducasse's Dad was there for the draft, so I wonder if he came up to the US later?

I haven't seen the movie Blind Side, but I read the book when it came out and loved it. Click here to read more.

"Kevin" Movie Filming Downtown?

I hear there are yellow movie signs for Base Camp downtown! I myself drive a work-daycare-home circuit with the occasional jaunt to a restaurant with easy parking (read: not downtown), so I have NOT seen these signs!
My source says the movie is labeled "Kevin" and there is sign on Wash Blvd near the park, and a Base Camp sign somewhere on West Broad. If anyone knows some scoop, please tell!
Maybe baby and I will stalk the park set if it sounds interesting. Or maybe baby and I will just go somewhere else and post some fake yellow signs with another random word.

Look for signs like the one above- but that one's from a couple years ago, the DeNiro movie I think. Click here to read more.

Advocate Dishing Just the Dirt I Want

I don't mean to be a gossipy jerk, but I kind of like that the Advocate has two gigantic photos of the officer who was just suspended for punching a woman in the face last summer.

I like that they went there.

People want to know who this guy is, and the Advocate is letting us know. I appreciate that, because from many of the earlier newspaper articles, he sounded like an aggressive guy that you'd want to avoid. Thank you, Advocate, for making that easier! If that's not the job of a local paper, I don't know what is. DISH IT.

You know "The Dish" column in the paper, with local celeb sightings? Well, I love that column, but the giant photos of that officer are good dish too.

I don't mean to be mean. No one is perfect, and I hope that officer is getting the help he needs to do a better job in the future. Being a cop is hard, but that's no excuse for lashing out in a tough situation. Click here to read more.

Advocate on Coalhouse!

Innnnteresting!
Melanie Barnard just reviewed Coalhouse Pizza in today's Advocate. It's worth a read for some ideas of what to try on your next visit.

I can't really agree that Coalhouse is "often with a line outside," but then again, I don't ever get to go out to lunch during the work week, so maybe there are hordes of diners out in Bull's Head at noon.

Melanie emphasizes the wide variety of types of food that Coalhouse has, which for me is a good point since my husband and I have different food tastes. We haven't gone there often enough for me to have tried much, though, except the pizza and salad, so it might be some months before I can give an opinion on any weirder food options.

Also, I really cannot afford to eat out like I used to. Daycare breaks the BANK, man! I am so not joking!!!!



Click here to read more.

Bull's Head's Got Ya Covered

First of all, why is it called Bull's Head? No time to research now if I hope to actually post something... I was home with sick baby today so feel justified in ignoring him for a few minutes to blog!

Recently we are loving Bull's Head for the food options. Last week I got Tabouli Grill for lunch two days in a row. Their Greek salad is so fantastic, huge and healthy, and I love the addition of the sweet (but spicy?) peppers. (I'm from rural Virginia, I don't know what those peppers are called.)

We also like Coalhouse Pizza, because although I am not SUPER in love with the pizza, there is a great selection of unusual pizzas and I like their salads a lot. And hey, any pizza is pizza, afterall, so I'm not even sure why I'm complaining. I think because the crispy crust is a little hard to share with the baby, maybe. Although he's crazy for the meatballs on the meatball pizza!

I now love Hawley-Lane shoes not just for my comfortable old lady shoes, but for a good selection of kids' shoes.

I'm about to visit Zen Spa and Nails, because my other nail place doesn't have the made-famous-by-Rihanna yellow that I need. It's not florescent, it's straight up yellow.

And I am a huge fan of the newsstand/convenience store, because the people who run it are always nice to me, unlike the one of Bedford St.

And Kaleidoscope Kids has those adorable Angel Dear blankie friends that are so soft and lovable- great baby shower gift.

And Sal's Pastries if you need something sweet!

OK, off to enjoy our Coalhouse Pizza takeout, since I'm still not sure baby is feeling awesome enough to hold it together in a restaurant, although in general he's a fantastic dining companion. Click here to read more.