Peanut butter cookies

Now that I know he's not allergic to peanut butter, we have added peanut butter cookies to our cooking repertoire.

Yesterday, we made our first batch of peanut butter cookies. It was so much fun. I made the batter then got us set up on the kitchen floor where he helped me roll up the batter into little balls, which he later flattened with a sugared fork. He loved that latter part the best and his exuberance shows in some of the finished products! They were the cutest little, unevenly shaped cookies ever and he was ever so proud of himself!

Despite clearing the peanut butter allergy scare, I was still a little reluctant to give him a taste. I gave him a little part of a cookie then waited over an hour before giving him some more -- believe you me, this was a difficult thing to do since he was very excited about the cookies and just wanted to scarf them all down.

Some stress relief

He's good with peanut butter. We've been slowly introducing peanut butter and watching for a reaction. I think we're in the clear -- yay! Of course, he won't be allowed to bring peanut butter sandwiches to school - ever! - because inevitably, some other kid with nervous parents will be allergic to the stuff.

Given his early food sensitivities, to cow's milk and grape skin, in particular, I've been very conservative with the introduction of new stuff. He hasn't tried other nuts yet and he hasn't tried shellfish. This summer might be a good time to start really spreading our wings.

Folders

I just realized I have a folder on my browser called "backhoes."

As I mentioned before, he so loves machines and he is utterly crazy about them. He has books about machines that are dog-eared and held together by scotch tape and hope. Some are really beyond salvaging but I could not bear the thought of throwing them out because despite the ravaged state, he so enjoys looking through them still.

Then we realized that there is an endless supply of machine images available online! Backhoes, stump cutters, excavators, fire trucks -- all there at our beck and call!

Now every time he wants to see something, he just goes to the computer and asks us for the object.

And then we discovered YouTube. He actually asks for YouTube specifically now. Endless short videos on machines. There's a video out there called "Big Trucks in the Canadian West" and when we first started watching it, it was at something like 750 views. Now it's at over five million views and I swear we are responsible for half of that number. Our son tends to obsess.

Because his experience with technology is in this controlled environment, he's come up with some interesting requests. We were stopped at a light last winter and beside us was a dump truck filled with snow. "Look, Dex -- a dump truck," and his neck whipped so fast I swore he got himself whiplash. Of course, when the light changed, the truck moved on. This prompted our son to say "No, fast forward, fast forward."

Banana muffins

This is my favourite banana bread recipe, except instead of baking it in a loaf pan, I pour it into mini-muffin tins so the cooking time is a lot less.

1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar (I use less)
1/2 cup of granulated sugar (I use less)
2 eggs
2 cups flour
3 slightly brown bananas
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon milk

Cream together butter and sugars until smooth, then add the eggs. Mix well.
Add (alternately) the mashed bananas and flour.
Mix the baking soda and milk and add to mixture. Mix well
Spoon into muffin tin.
Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
Or pour into a loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.
Enjoy.

It's a very forgiving recipe and Dex and I love making it together, especially on rainy days like today when we're stuck indoors. Dexter's job is to mash up the bananas and to spoon it into the mixture. It's a bit messy when he helps but he loves it and I love watching him help. When we finally get it in the oven, he takes his little chair and puts it in front of the oven to watch it bake (better than television, I guess) while I clean up.

These muffins freeze really well, too, so we always have muffins in the freezer. Sometimes, I save a bit of the batter and mix in blueberries or chocolate chips with it. The chocolate chip version is reserved for Daddy.

Let's play ball

Here's a picture of him with his bat and ball. He's ready to play.

Exit Plan

We were at Blue Mountain recently and as we're looking out the window enjoying the scenery, I pointed out the gondola. I told Dex that we can take the gondola all the way to the top of the mountain. And he responded, "but how will we get down?" I said, "We'll just take the gondola back down," and as I said it I realized -- hey, wait a minute? Is that a typical question from a two-year old? I mean it's great that my little boy can think things through, but I was just a little surprised.