Nice and warm and hot.

A pilgrimmage to the Garfield Park Conservatory here in the city has become an annual event -- in 2009 we even went twice! It's lovely there, and, as Jonah just said while watching me upload these photos, "It was nice and hot and warm at the Conservatory!" Perfect for a Chicago winter. My mom has happened to be in town on the weekends that the Conservatory has hosted "Sweet Saturdays," a chance to learn about foods (bananas!), products (waxes!) and sweets (chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!) given us by these lovely plants. I'm already looking forward to 2011...!







Manny can barely contain his excitement at the cocoa station. He knows that chocolate isn't far behind.



Bzzzzz.

We often call Manny "pig." It sounds insulting, I know, but he's white and pink, (used to be) round and has curly hair; it just works. Incidentally, he happens to be a little crazy, a wild child, yes, even feral. Our little feral pig. Here, our little feral pig pops out of the jungle, from whence he came.

Manny is also very studious. A studious, book-loving pig, when he's not torturing his elder brother or finding ways to maim himself.

I can't remember what kind of plant this was, though I do remember that this section grew off a tree. I love it when I encounter plants that the imagination almost certainly wouldn't conjure by itself. I'd like to make this one into a necklace.

Whiffy's (and Baa-Baa's) Birthday

I think that these photos tell enough of a story without me interjecting any trying-to-be-clever captions. All you need to know is that Whiffy's birthday apparently falls on January the 27th (this was decided when we were faced with a bitter cold spell); Baa-Baa's does, too, because he doesn't want to be left out. Which will be good, since January the 27th is certain to be horribly cold here in the Midwest every single time it cycles around. Now we have an annual excuse to bake something tasty and heat up the kitchen.

Independence

This is what independence looks like. A pickle, mustard and "cheese product" slapped on a piece of bread.

Last week, when asked what he wanted for lunch, Jonah refused to answer (not uncommon). I turned to Manny, who answered, "Mac 'n' cheese." When Jonah found out what was on the menu, though, he just about lost it; he was eating no mac 'n' cheese, thank you very much. I told him, "Fine, child, you can make your own lunch." He did. He opened the fridge, placed everything he needed on the counter and assembled the sandwich himself, then ate it happily. (Unfortunately, we were out of both deli turkey and hamburger pickles, so Jonah was stuck with a meatless, pickle-speared sandwich.) While I don't want my child eating pickle and cheese product sandwich every day, there is something amazing and satisfying in seeing him do something all by himself. Jonah was at least a little proud of himself, too, I think. He still relies on me so much and is sometimes a real "Mama's boy," crying when I leave the house to go to the YMCA or run an errand without him. Insignificant though it may seem, Jonah making his own sandwich is one of the ways in which I see him becoming his own little man, separating himself from me and from complete dependence. Bittersweet, it's true, but necessary and important. And, really, there wasn't any mac 'n' cheese left by the time Manny was done with it, so it was a good thing that Jonah had another plan in motion.

3 months

Iohan just passed the 3-month mark. He's getting bigger and sweeter every day. His most recent accomplishment is finding his thumb. He still uses the pacifier to take the edge off his naps, but always resorts to his thumb before too long. You can't see it here, but Io-Io actually has rolls in his sweet little thighs.