nicknames

We used to call Nate so many nicknames. At one of his infant well-checks, the doctor asked us if Nate responded to his own name. He did not. But I also couldn't remember if I had called him by his given name (or given nickname, since Nate is a nickname for Nathanael) a single time in the previous week. The doctor was not concerned at all, but I started trying to make sure I called him "Nate" so that he would at least learn his name. My favorite of his cutesy nicknames was Cute Potato Pie. The only ones I still use (because he insists that those are the only valid ones) are Sweetie and Kiddo. He is often Mr Nate.

Ben has the advantage of being a younger sibling. Besides being called Ben for Benjamin, all of his nicknames started with his big brother. When Ben was a newborn, Nate called him B. Ben would be laying on a blanket on the floor. He loved to watch Nate run around or just look at pictures. Nate would get mad at me for whatever reason and run crying to Ben. He would lay his head on Ben's tummy, and cry, "Nooooooo!!! B!! Noooooo!!!!"

Nate crying to B about how mean I am.

So we have B. And I sometimes call him Sweet B, like sweetpea. Then there are, of course, Mr Poopie Poopie and Mr Froggy Benjamin, which Rodgers often shortens to Froggy B. Mr Poopie Poopie started one day when I was changing Ben's poopie diaper, and Nate said, "Hey Poopie Poopie!" We have no idea where Mr Froggy Benjamin came from, besides Nate's imagination. And that's what makes it awesome!

now I ABC's

The boys ran some errands with Rodgers, and I asked Nate to bring chocolate home to me. He obeyed. I shared.

I may have mentioned before that my boys love playing in the dirt. It's one of their favorite past-times. They have slightly sensitive skin, and certain types of dirt (especially red, African dirt) makes them break out in little rashes on their arms and legs. But they don't care. They would roll in big piles of dirt if the opportunity presented itself.

It's surprising, therefore, that they can't stand to have visible food or dirt on their hands. As taught on the show Sid, the Science Kid, Nate says the alphabet while washing hands, to make sure he has washed long enough.

Ben tries to say the alphabet as well. He doesn't know letters or anything advanced like that, but he makes the sounds for the entire song. He calls it "Now I ABC's," as in "Now I know my ABC's."

Adorably, when Ben's hands are dirty, he doesn't say "dirty" or "wash." He says, "Now I ABC's!"

The Pink One!!!!!

We have several big box stores near us, which is usually where we buy groceries. Most frequently we go to the newest, Naivas. As far as quality and selection goes, I would say Nakumatt is like WalMart, Tuskys is like Kmart, and Naivas is Target. Roughly.

Naivas has a fleet of cozy coupe shopping carts. Some have functioning horns, some have keys that turn (but don't come out), and one has a hot pink trunk. The others have an open cargo space. Nate adores the pink trunk one. He begs for The Pink One. Our rule is that he can have The Pink One if it is at the end of the corral. I'm not going to move 10 carts out of the way trying to the get to The Pink One or stand at the front of the store until someone returns it.

I remind him as we walk up to Naivas.
"What kind of car can you get?"
"One I can reach."
He knows the rules.

Still, when The Pink One is there but out of reach or not there at all, he often throws a fit and ends up walking through the store whimpering. This has happened so many times, and I've had to explain to Naivas employees so many times that he's upset about not getting The Pink One, that they know now.

Today, we got to use The Pink One. As Nate got in, with a big grin, the Naivas employee standing there celebrated with him. Sometimes, when someone returns The Pink One after we've already started shopping, one of the employees will find us in the store to bring it to us.

So here it is, in all its glory. The Pink One.

entitled...

When we run errands, we carry water bottles in the car with us. It's hot and humid, not everywhere we go has a/c, and some of the places with a/c don't set it very cool. We get thirsty.

Sometimes I forget our water bottles, or a quick trip turns into a longer one on a whim, and we don't have enough water. Juice boxes are pretty cheap, and there are usually some in a refrigerator at the big supermarkets. So if we need an extra drink, I let the boys get juice boxes. It doesn't happen often, so we don't think it's really a big deal.

Rodgers is working late today, so he hung out with us this morning. Ben was particularly grumpy, so we decided to get him out of the house, in a hurry. We didn't take the time to fill our water bottles. We got some water at the mall, which we drank quickly, but then decided to head over to Tuskys.

When we were done shopping, but not quite ready to head home yet, we decided to take an extra stroll around the first floor. When we got to the cold section, Nate marched straight up to the drink refrigerator, grabbed a juice box and said, "Do you need some juice, too, Ben?" as if it was a given that they were going to get juice.

I was going to let them have juice today, but didn't expect Nate to get them, unprompted, as if he owns the store. At least he thought of his brother.

recipe: fish fingers

Nate has long been in the "I don't like any food" phase of life. Ben is still usually a good eater, but gradually arriving in that phase as well. Because of this, I have been looking for lots of kid-friendly foods. (Now's as good a time as any to point out this Chik fil a copy cat recipe. It's one of the few recipes I actually follow exactly.)

The boys love fish fingers (fish sticks) that come in a box, frozen, precooked, and highly processed. One great thing about living here is that we don't have access to all of that processed food. But it also means that my kids, who have tasted processed food in the US and LOOOVE it, have a hard time finding fresh food that they like. It has taken me a year to find a fish recipe the picky toddler will eat. We've tried to get them to eat different types of fish, cooked different ways. Sometimes in the past Ben would, but less so now. I've tried different recipes for fish fingers, thinking maybe if they look the "right" shape and are fried, they'll eat them. No go.

Until today.

I started with this recipe, but I kind of did my own thing. One thing that is really great about their recipe is the suggested addition of turmeric to the bread crumbs for color. Kids love colorful food. (I'm looking at you, Rainbow Goldfish.) I took that suggestion, and they did turn out with great color. Another secret to the success this time, I think, is that we had a very mild flavored fish (Nile Perch), which also had a great texture for the small pieces.

Note that I did not measure anything, so the following recipe is true Ken-Tex family style cooking.

It's hard to get a good picture in our house at night. The lights are not very bright.

Fish Fingers

2 servings of fish, filleted (It's usually enough. We didn't know the boys would eat.)
flour, about half a cereal bowl
1 egg
breadcrumbs, same amount as flour
garlic powder
paprika
salt
black pepper
turmeric
oil for frying

1. Cut the fish into thumb-sized pieces. I aimed for similar thickness to the ones my mom served them in Texas - the frozen ones they adore.
2. Place flour in a small bowl. Add some (1/2 tsp, give or take) garlic powder and paprika, 2 pinches of salt, and a few shakes of black pepper. Mix thoroughly. Beat the egg in a separate small bowl. Place the breadcrumbs in a third small bowl. Add some turmeric. Mix thoroughly.
3. Coat the fish fingers in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs.
4. Heat oil in a frying pan, < 1/2" deep. When the oil is hot, add the fish and fry until golden brown. The original said 3-4 min per side, but I didn't think they were golden brown enough yet. I did about 10 minutes total. Remove from oil and drain on a towel or paper towels.

There are none left. At all. And I bet we would have kept eating if there had been more.