Wow, it’s rainy today. Mommy says it’s what’s left of Tropical Storm Tammy. We have to drive all the way home to Silver Spring in it. In the meantime, we’ve been stopping at a couple of more stores that Mommy, Daddy and Grandma wanted to go to. Mommy left her rain coat home, and got very wet.

Today was a very rainy day, but we all went shopping at the outlet mall in Williamsburg. Mommy, Daddy and Grandma got me a lot of clothes. Mommy jokes that she won’t have to do any laundry for me until I start preschool.

After we went shopping we went to dinner at a sushi restaurant. Mommy wouldn’t let me have any fish, though. But I did get to stay up past my bedtime!

Today we went to a place called Colonial Williamsburg. It’s a really old town that’s been kept as if it was 1775. Wow, that was a long time ago. We saw all sorts of neat stuff like the old Capitol building and Governor’s Palace. It was a busy day, and as you can see I was very tired.

Later, Grandma Lolo took care of me while Mommy and Daddy went out to dinner. I wasn’t very nice for Grandma, though. I fussed and cried a lot until I fell asleep. Then once Mommy and Daddy came back to the hotel I woke up again.

Today was another busy Wednesday. Mommy and I have a Mommy’s support group in the morning, then we went to lunch with Anita (Natalie’s mom, but Natalie was in daycare), and then Mommy and I went to our exercise class where we went for a walk in the park again.

Oh, during the support group, I pushed myself up so that I was on both hands and my toes!

When we got home, Grandma Lolo was there! We had dinner, and then we drove a long way to a place called Williamsburg. I slept a lot on the way, so when we got there I was very wide awake and bouncy!

It was the first time I spent the night in a hotel. But it was a very nice hotel with lots of room for me and all of my stuff.

When I’m eating, I like to reach up and play with Mommy’s face. I pat her on the cheek, grab her chin, and sometimes even grab her nose. I don’t think she likes that, though.

Help! I’ve been framed!

Today Mommy and Daddy took me to Bethesda. They were having a street fair and there was a lot of yummy things to eat, but Mommy and Daddy wouldn’t let me have anything!

Today was our last yoga class. I kept playing with Gil’s teething blanket because it had lots of colors and was pretty. After that, Mommy took me to lunch with Lauren, Danny, and Kyle’s mommies. Then we came home and Daddy gave me a brand new food: sweet potatoes. It was really yummy and I ate the whole thing!

We had exercise today and we went for a long walk in the park. Well, Mommy walked, and I rode in my stroller. But I was very tired and fell asleep!

Oatmeal is said to increase a nursing mother’s milk supply. To that end, I’ve eaten a lot of oatmeal in bowl and cookie form over the past few months. After many, many attempts, I think I’ve found the perfect recipe for chewy oatmeal raisin cookies.

Much of the credit goes to Alton Brown. When it comes to all things cooking related, he is The Man. I have a shrine to him in my kitchen. Well, not really, but I’m considering putting one in. The ironic thing is I don’t even like to cook (but I do like to bake, go figure), yet I watch his show religiously. Any discussion of cooking with people outside my household begins with “Well Alton says…”

So I took the principles of his “chewy” cookie recipe from “Three Chips for Sister Marsha” and worked them into the standard oatmeal cookie recipe from the Quaker Oats can. The result is pure oatmeal cookie yumminess:

Ingredients:

1/2 c unsalted butter (or margerine)
1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla (I use Penzey’s Double Strength Pure Vanilla Extract)
3/4 c bread flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I use Penzey’s Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cassia)
1/4 tsp table salt (not optional like the canister says)
1 1/2 c old fashioned oats
1 c raisins

Directions:

Melt butter over low heat. Beat together sugars and melted butter in a stand mixer with a flat beater (the one that’s sorta triangle shaped). Add egg and vanilla and beat well. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Slowly pour flour mixture into mixer using low speed. Stir in oats and raisins; mix well.

Lay out parchment paper on cookie trays. Scoop dough onto the trays using an ice cream scoop. Place in refrigerator and chill for 1 hour. Bake in oven at 350° for 14-17 minutes. Makes 12 – 14 large cookies.