I need to get a cookbook for ideas on dinners to make for Lauren. I guess now that she is a year and half, I need to start being more responsible / proactive / commited / organized (yes, I'm crying now... I used to be the only one who suffered from my shortcomings... ok, maybe Chuck suffered a little too, but he's perfectly capable so I don't have sympathy).

Here are her (and my) little nuances about meals:

- likes veggies (thought still often gets them in the form of baby food)
- loves pasta
- doesn't seem to like meat
- not quite using a fork/spoon yet - uses fingers
- needs to be healthy (no chicken nuggets)
- needs to be fast and easy to make

I'm thinking of getting Organic Baby & Toddler Cookbook. Any other recommendations?

Bedtime Books

For Lauren's baby shower, Aprille got her the book How Do Dinosaurs Clean their Room? Lauren became very fond of this book, especially the last line - "Thank You, Thank You little Dinosaur." She even started saying "dinosaur" a few weeks back. Aprille informed me that there are a few in this series, so I headed to the bookstore to buy another Dinosaur book and maybe one other book. Jenny met me in the kid section and became very animated - "Toot and Puddle... Olivia... the Pigeon books..." She was very excited to point out the must-haves. I couldn't buy them all at once, but along with "How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten", I opted to get Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. I think Lauren likes this book, but more importantly, I LOVE IT. Most of the book is the pigeon asking, begging, pleading to drive the bus. At one point and yells, "LET ME DRIVE THE BUS!!" I love reading this part in my best high pitched, exasperated pigeon-y voice

Jenny did not want Lauren to have to wait for her first Olivia book, so she got it for her. She brought it over yesterday and read it to her. Lauren enjoyed it very much. She stayed attentive through the whole book, which is no small feat. Today Lauren grabbed her Olivia book and brought it to me to read. I think it has instantly became one of her favorite books.

So the bedtime book routine has seen it's first major overhaul. Brown Bear and Goodnight Moon have been retired. Goodnight Gorilla never really captured her attention. Now it's the Dinosaur book, the Olivia book, and Mommy's favorite - the Pigeon book (vroom, vroom, vroomy vroom vroom, pigeon at the wheel)...

and then Mommy goes to bed and reads The Devil Wears Prada. I will save that for Lauren to read in another 15 years.