A Weekly Serving - 3/26/2011 | What'sCookin'Chicago?

This week definitely flew by! I hope you had a great week yourself. Here’s my weekly musings on family, food, and fun…

Family – Joel is 46 weeks old this week and only 6 more weeks until he turns 1 year old… the countdown continues! He started “clapping” on his own this week but it looks more like he’s super excited, trying to put his hands together and missing it all together lol. He never ceases to amaze me and make me laugh. Our biggest challenge this week is getting Joel back on his usual routine for naps. After spending several days at grandma and grandpa’s while I was in Texas, he’s been in a detox of his visit. Hopefully next week will go back to normal, or at least close to the usual routine we previously established. But who knows… kids this age never really have a normal schedule or routine anyway!

He’s also been stripping randomly. I’m not sure what that’s all about but a few times this past week he’ll remove his pants while he’s in his crib or while in his play area. I guess this should be a breath of fresh air since I’ve been told there’s a stage where kids will remove their dirty diaper… oh boy, fun times ahead huh?!

Joel’s still cruising and I’ve noticed he’s trying more and more to stand up on his own. He’ll stand up holding onto something with one hand and every now and then let go for a brief millisecond. Although he still enjoys his walker, when he’s not in it, he’s all about pushing it around. I think this might mean he’ll be walking in a few weeks (maybe months?). I’m really in no rush for him to start walking. I’m perfectly content with him being in his mobile stage. I’m embracing this because I know once he starts walking, it may be difficult to keep up!

Speaking of difficult, it’s been getting more difficult for Joel to sit still for his weekly pictures. I had to distract him with a red envelope this week and even then he wouldn’t sit still, much less allow me to get a good smile shot. But here are some pics from this week’s photo session. Joel is STILL protesting socks and shoes lately. I’m sure everyone’s tired of his chubby toes…

Food/Restaurant News – I’m not exactly sure where things are with the restaurant. At this point, I haven’t heard anything so I can only hope the contractors are working away and getting things done as scheduled…

Fun – I finally had a chance to write up about my experience in Texas and working with Frito Lay and All You magazine/Time Inc. It was such a great time and it’s been nice to connect with fellow foodie bloggers and moms. Michelle, Leslie and I still keep in touch and hopefully our paths will cross again in the future. Michelle and I have tentative plans to attend a food blogger conference later this year so I’m looking forward to that!

Also, tonight we’re hosting a fun pizza party with friends to celebrate our move back to Chicago. We’re looking forward to seeing old friends and eating our way through some really good Chicago Deep Dish Pizza!

Here’s a roundup of what I cooked up in the kitchen this past week…

Stuffed Mushroom Pasta