Hittin' the gym

Drew and I signed up for a free Gymboree class this week (you can too by going to the link!). Gymboree is a children's learning and play center. They offer developmental classes based on your child's age, and they also offer sports, music, and art classes (for the somewhat older children). We went to a "Play and Learn" class for ages 0-6 months.

Oh. My. Goodness... I had a blast! It was amazing just how interested Drew was in all of the activities. He generally doesn't seem to care much when I sing and do little hand games, but they taught us all sorts of neat tricks and fun things to do to get him not only to pay attention, but to encourage development of different areas, like vision, hearing, or hand-eye coordination.

Drew actually enjoyed tummy time too, for once! They put an unbreakable mirror on the floor and spun colorful balls all over the place. He was so interested in his reflection, the balls, and all of the other babies that he didn't seem to notice he was on his tummy (though he did roll over once onto the baby next to him when I wasn't paying attention- oops! I apologized several times for the both of us... well, for me really...)

We got to go play on some of the equipment too. Drew had fun rolling around on a huge ball (I didn't get pictures of that, sad!), rolling in a tunnel, and doing sit ups on a wobbly bridge.

(He actually did "sit ups" just about anywhere I put him- the teacher kept laughing at him getting his "work out" in.)

He also enjoyed bubble time, and had bubbles blown especially for him since it was his first class!

Oh man, if we had the money (and I thought I could handle the jealousy of Jason getting to take him while I work) I would totally sign him up for the classes! I am so glad I remembered to do this before I go back to work though. His smiles and awe were priceless!

(On a side note, because I know my family will be curious, I am likely returning to work in January. My doctor's orders were 6 months for recovery, which ends on December 29th. School is back in session January 3rd. I am no longer at the high school I was moved to as the Family Medical Leave Act only protects my position for 60 days. So that position was posted and filled, and, once again, I am kind of in the air as to where I'll be. So, if you're the praying type, keep us in mind and pray that whatever comes my way will be the best option for our little family.)

Let me see that pumpkin roll!

Every year for the past four years I have a made a pumpkin roll for Thanksgiving dessert. It started when a girl in one of my classes brought one of these fabulous rolls to class. Everyone loved it so much that the next week she brought a copy of the recipe for everyone. I made it myself a few weeks later to bring to Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' lakehouse. My parents (especially my dad) loved it so I have made one every year since. I chose to try the Libby's Famous Pumpkin recipe this time, with a few small adaptations of my own, and loved the results.

If you like pumpkin pie and cheesecake, then you'll love this recipe. And even if you don't like pumpkin pie or cheesecake, this recipe is still worth a try!

Pumpkin Roll

Cake:
3/4 C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 large eggs
1 C sugar
2/3 C canned pumpkin

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Sift together all dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg) in a small bowl.

3. Beat together eggs and sugar in large bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin.

 

4. Slowly stir dry mixture into the wet mixture.

5. Pour the batter into a rimmed cookie pan. (Preferably with parchment paper on the bottom- I spray BOTH sides of the parchment with non-stick spray). Bake 13-15 minutes (it's actually better if the cake is slightly drier)

6. Immediately loosen cake once it is baked and roll it length-wise keeping the parchment between the layers of the cake (make sure the underside of the parchment is thoroughly coated in non-stick spray or it WILL stick)* The cake is HOT so roll quickly!

7. I like to seal my roll in plastic wrap to help it keep its shape while it cools.

8. While the cake is cooling beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
9. Once cake is cooled, unroll and spread cream cheese frosting over the entire cake. Roll the cake up once again. (Notice my ugly gash on the right- no worries, it still tastes wonderful! And can be covered in powdered sugar!)

See? Still pretty!

10. Refrigerate for 1 hour, slice and serve.

No matter what the outside looks like, it will look fabulous when sliced, and it will taste even better!

*Another method (and the method most often recommended) is to turn the cake out onto a dish towel covered with powdered sugar then to coat the cake itself with powdered sugar. You would then roll the cake up in the towel. I found that this method actually caused a jelly-like layer to form on the outside of my roll because of the cornstarch in the powdered sugar mixing with the moisture of the cake, so I opt to just roll in parchment.

Speaking of rolls...



He's getting awfully good at this! In fact every time I tried to take a video he had already rolled 2 or 3 times.... he's too quick!

P.S. 5 month pics of Drew will hopefully be coming later today, but by tomorrow at the latest. Stay tuned! ;)

How to get around

Drew is still working on perfecting his rolls, but he is getting better and better by the day. He is also discovering that rolling helps him get to places...

Are you looking at me?

Aha! I got the pink bag!

Time to head back to my other toys

Hope he doesn't make himself dizzy.

Roly Poly

Yup, he's done it! He rolled over! We actually didn't witness the first time.  Jason went to go get him the other morning and then called me in to see him like this...

That same day he started rolling all over the place. Mostly from his back to his front, though he did manage one front to back roll as well (though that's the one that's supposed to come first...)

Funny thing is he HATES being on his tummy, and yet he won't hardly stay on his back anymore!  If I lay him down to play he almost immediately rolls over then starts SCREAMING because he doesn't want to be on his belly.  This has also caused him to wake up earlier than normal.  This morning I woke to annoyed fussing instead of his usual happy coos.  I walked in to find him angrily on his belly.  I guess he needs to perfect that front to back roll as well!

Looks like we're going to have a mobile baby before we know it!  On top of the rolling he's also REALLY interested in crawling.

If he gets a good foothold he can launch himself a good couple of inches. I'm not ready for a mobile baby, but perhaps I should start thinking about doing some baby-proofing!

Hopefully there will be a video to come if I can actually catch him both rolling AND not crying angrily.

Rollin', rollin', rollin'...

A few weeks ago Drew was playing on his back on his mat. I walked away briefly and returned to find this...

Drew had almost rolled onto his stomach!  All that was in the way was his arm.  I was shocked because I had read on babycenter.com that...

Your baby may be able to kick himself over, from his tummy to his back, as early as age 2 to 3 months. It may take him until he's about 5 or 6 months to flip from back to front, though, because he needs stronger neck and arm muscles for that maneuver.

He did it a few times after that until last week and now it's all I can do just to keep him on his back (as you saw in some of his sleeping photos).  And sure enough I recently got my "Your Baby: Week 9" email from thebump.com and read....

He'll start rolling from side to side pretty soon, so make sure not to let him out of your sight (especially when he's on the changing table).

So I guess what he's doing is pretty normal at this stage, but I will definitely be watching him more carefully from now on!

Check him out in action!






(The mirror is still a pretty good distraction!)