The Countdown to Four

My oldest, Peanut, turns four in October. I am literally counting the days. Not because I'm excited to celebrate the anniversary of his birth or to shower him with gifts. But I'm hoping his fourth birthday will be the day he suddenly decides to chill out! Three-and-a-half has been hard on all of us, Peanut included. Tantrums, attitude, yelling, hitting his brother, talking back, no naps, noise noise noise! I dread meal time. I dread time in the car. I dread any time I have to leave a park, friend's house or school. It seems every attempt to get him to do something we want is met head-on with resistance.

The "terrible twos" were nothing. Two was like a spa day compared to three-and-a-half. I keep hearing from other moms that four is better. "Four gets so much easier." "Four is much more fun." "All of that will get better once he's four."

Please, please, please be true. I need it to be true. Come on, four! Deliver!

Library Picks: Cooking with Kids

The Toddler Cookbook by Annabel Karmel
Last week our library was featuring several new books and Peanut quickly grabbed all the cookbooks he could find. For years I have looked for a great "cooking with kids" cookbook and this is my favorite so far. The recipes aren't the most creative or interesting, but it got Peanut wanting to make some pretty healthy recipes. The pictures in the book are really well done and even made salad look appealing to my picky eater. Peanut specifically requested the lettuce boats, salmon fishcakes and tropical ice pops (see tomorrow's Dish of the Week post). They were simple to put together and tasty! Peanut loves to help in the kitchen and these recipes seemed to have the perfect amount of tasks for him. I think I may end up purchasing this one for our cookbook library.

Keep on Rollin' Meatballs: and Other Delicious Dinners by Nick Fauchald
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I love that they break the recipes up into skill categories, Easy, Intermediate and Advanced. Plus the recipes are very simple and the illustrations are helpful for really young cooks. On the other hand, I don't like that many of the recipes involve sticking stuff in the microwave rather than cooking on the stove. Part of what I like about cooking with my son is showing him how things melt, mix, steam, etc. But overall it's a decent cookbook for kids and has some fun ideas. Peanut and I made the Crazy Shapes Pizza and both boys enjoyed eating their heart-shaped pizzas.

Enjoy more Library Picks!