Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Things you must do with exchange students




Make brownies, and let them lick the bowl.



For the record, I am aware that the Current Thought on batter is that RAW EGGS ARE DANGEROUS!

(and we are not talking about cholesterol)

Well, how did we ever survive? My Mom had to make sure there was enough batter for 5 of us to lick up, so not only did we eat raw eggs (without knowing it, that would have been really gross), we ate one another's GERMS!!!! Of course, there was a time when we fought about that, but the prospect of raw oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough trumps your stupid little brother's germs. (Or, to be fair, now that I am a mature responsible adult, your idiot big sister's germs too.)

Sidebar: One brother gave me the best birthday card ever. The cover read: "Even though we fought as children, and hid each other's stuff in the toilet and spit in each other's milk at dinner and broke the other's favorite toys (I'm making part of this up because I have lost the card), we are now all grown up. So on this occasion of your birthday, in which we celebrate another year of adulthood I would like to say...[open card]...You look like a monkey and you smell like one too!"

I talked to a public health professional, and she confirmed that the biggest danger with raw eggs is the outside of the shell. If there are dangerous bacteria on the inside, well, most of my eggs are old enough we would smell THAT. So I carefully open eggs and wash my hands afterwards, before doing anything else. Which is probably more than my Mom did, but I really don't remember.

Haven't killed anybody yet.

(end soapbox, go back to original topic)

And, of course, you must introduce the exchange students to the grandson.

It is amazing how just feeding an 8 pound, 1 month old baby can be exhausting.

Friday, August 14, 2009

what is more important than grandchildren?




He is three weeks old, and all he can do is eat, sleep and poop.

And take adorable pictures.

And make everyone fall in love with him.
(this last could be dangerous later in life!)
We have international opinion on our side. A visiting former student from Germany said he is wonderfully cute, and a current student from Lebanon says so too.
He still sleeps like a frog. He is happiest when he sleeps on somebody.
Since he has not yet smiled at me, it is just gas!




Tuesday, August 04, 2009

grandma gets to babysit







And take more pictures, of course!!!!

In the first picture, we find out that, as well as eat, poop and sleep, he can also yawn.
In the second picture, we find he can use his carseat for a long long time.

And in the third picture, we deal with one of the great controversies surrounding newborns: do they smile, or is it gas? Doctors are on one side, mothers are on the other. (Guess who is where.) Since I am not the one holding him and I going to firmly state: I don't know.
Auntie sings to him, and he loves it. I didn't sing to my kids because I didn't want to give them nightmares. Fortunately, both auntie and mommy have good voices. (Which they did not get from either my or my husband's side of the family.)