gifts

kaspar and i spent half the day sorting through christmas gifts, which was mostly his toys and new clothes. it's unbelievable how many clothes and toys this kid has acquired in his 5 months!
absolutely astounding! the rate at which he grows out of clothes is quite astounding, as well. only two months ago his godparents brought him some gorgeous wool socks (yes, the hand knitted type) from latvia. at the end of october they were too large. yesterday i packed them away, because they don't fit any more. shocking, but true!

speaking of gifts... we have been totally spoiled this christmas. thanks to all of you! we have been showered with 'laima chocolates' and latvian 'dzintars' products for babies, moms and dads. the favourite toy for all ages - the elephant pillow has been a massive hit. it seems that the elephant has been photographed more then kaspar himself over the past few days. i'm not sure if kaspar will even get his hands on it, because his parents and friends like it way too much! and then there is the talking caterpillar and mountains of clothes and the coolest baby sun glasses... i'm not planning to write a list, as that would be totally boring for me and even more of a bore for you...but thanks!

speaking of growing children... kaspar has outgrown his car seat. that was not supposed to happen until he was 8 months or so. he's too tall. he's already 75 cm. tall and lanky kid! we need to get the next seat a.s.a.p., which is the one that will last him until he turns four or five or something like that. but with our luck, he'll probably grow out of it by age three. anyhow. that's our next outing - a search for a car seat. (thanks to grandparents and great grandparents we have that coming as a christmas gift, as well!) i hate the thought that i'll have to lug him out of the seat every time he leaves the car. yuck. it was so much easier, when we could just carry him inside with the seat and let him wake up slowly. or being able to stick him into a cart, with the seat, and go shopping. no more! those days are over! he's starting to sit by himself. he's discovered the fun of sitting and standing, so, lying on his back is no longer considered fun. bath by itself is no longer fun, either. we now need a bath tub full of bath toys! the infant days are long gone. the baby days are coming to an end. we are getting into the toddler phase. another month from now he might be crawling. and then walking and talking and ooooohhhhhh la la.... it's all happening too fast! i'm beginning to understand the mothers and fathers, who coo over infants and say things like "they grow up so fast!" or "i can hardly remember the days when mine were this age" (even if their kids are only two!) once upon a time i thought it was all a bit of a cliche. how ignorant of me!

speaking of ignorance...i've always known that tabbouleh can be made with bulgur wheat or cous cous, but recently a friend told me she uses quinoa. i had heard about the grain, but i never really knew much about it. well, it turns out that the little known quinoa is pretty much a miracle grain. you have to read about it to believe it... and it tastes great. since i've been making all of kaspar's food from scratch, i've been able to try out different vegetables and grains and such. now i've started to mix the quinoa with vegetables for kaspar. especially the ones he does not like. for example carrots - he will not eat carrots on their own, but mixed with quinoa they go down very well. he seems to love the taste of this fine little grain! and i love the internet. especially when it comes to finding information about random things like this. how did we ever live without it? how did one remember how long the turkey needs to roast? what the weather is like in china? what the people in helsinki nightclubs wear? or what i have to ramble on about today?