Baby Roy is 5 Months Old

Five months isn't a very 'exciting' milestone - but we are heading toward the big six-months mark next! Here are some fun things about Roy at 5 months:

• He loves to suck his thumb. We are trying to dissuade him, but for the longest time he didn't really love binkies. But we discovered that he does love sucking on the back of a binky! So we give him the binky at let him suck at any odd angle. 
• With sucking his thumb, he particularly likes sucking it while drinking his bottle! It's disgusting and messy, but oh man is it adorable!
• Roy loves to sleep on his tummy - in fact, he only sleeps that way now. A few nights ago, he started waking up about 3am screaming, every night. He seriously wouldn't go back to sleep on his own, but we finally realized it was because he had accidentally rolled to his back each night. I'm not sure how we can get him to stay on his tummy at 3am...but we are working on it.
• He is getting much more bold at reaching for things - especially technology. He thinks that Shenli's xbox controller belongs to him, and he likes to touch my phone screen and grab at it. His other favorite toys include a blanket that belongs to Shenli, my work computer keyboard, and any sort of string hanging from sweatshirts. But don't worry, he loves his baby toys almost as much. :)
• This is probably obvious given the first couple of bullets, but he can roll over every way. If you put him on his back and look away for even a second, chances are you'll turn back to him on his tummy! But even though he knows how to roll back, he almost never does it. Instead, he prefers loudly proclaiming his discomfort until mom or dad comes to roll him back. Talk about a controlling 5-month old...
• Is still the most adorable, sweetest, happiest, funniest baby we have ever seen. (Biased much?) He is due for another haircut any day, and I think his face is getting pretty chubby and not as cute. But he still sleeps amazingly, eats amazingly, plays amazingly, and for the most part he still enjoys being in public and playing with other people. 
• He has learned to giggle! I can't believe I almost forgot this one. He isn't ticklish very often, but sometimes we tickle him just right and he makes a very deep giggling sound. I will try to catch it on video someday.

(p.s. I forgot to do a Roy 4-month post, so some of these pictures are way older!)

A very happy boy on Christmas

Official 5-month pictures

He will do whatever it takes to look where he wants!

 

My New Year's Resolution is to take 1 family picture per month - January: check!

Christmas Magnets

I wanted to do something crafty for Christmas gifts this year, but I didn't have a lot of time or energy. I stumbled upon this cute idea for making magnets of Roy for the Grandmas, and I though they turned out pretty great! I even made a set for my own fridge, just like the girl had done in the tutorial. The one thing I did differently was buy some Mod Podge magic stuff...I know there is a real name for it, but that is all I remembered what it was called when I went to the store. I think it is Magic 3D something or other. I researched how to make other magnets online, and that sounded like a fun idea to make these a little more legit. It was a little difficult to use, because little bubbles would appear that I could not seem to remove. But I still think they were awesome!

Here is the tutorial from i K.A.N craft, and here is how I did it: I created some 4x6 pictures that were really made of 6 little pictures each 2x2 size. I cut the pictures, and also cut some cereal boxes just slightly larger than the pictures for the backing. I painted both sides and all edges of the cardboard squares with black paint. Then I used spray glue to attach the pictures to the cardboard. I put on the 3D magic stuff and waited a day for it all to dry. Some of the cardboard bent or warped slightly, so I think I would use a stronger cardboard if I did it again. Then I used super glue to attach some magnets to the back. It only cost me the price of the 3D magic and the pictures (I got the magnets free from my neighbor, thank you!). And the best part is, when Roy grows again in a few months, we can make new sets for almost no cost or time!

The BEST Breadsticks

I have been putting off getting a Kitchenaid mixer for many years now. It just seemed like a good idea to wait until we were more settled and when I would be making recipes for more than just two people. But when I was gifted one for Christmas (THANK YOU!), it has now become the best thing ever.

Shenli does not like breadsticks. Or rather, he likes them at restaurants, but has never liked any of my weak attempts at making them. (as a side note, I've always considered myself good at making quick breads and pastries, but terrible at yeast breads. Now I'm starting to think it was just my mixing skills and not any lack of real skills on my part). I tried this recipe and OH MAN. Shenli said "why didn't we get a Kithenaid years ago?!?" I completely agree. The bread was soft, and the cheeses and flavors on top were amazing. We will be making these with every Italian dish possible now. We halved the recipe and it was enough for dinner and leftovers the next day for the two of us.

Craigo's Breadsticks
Recipe by Lauren's Latest

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 envelopes quick rise yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted, divided
4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons Lawry's seasoning garlic salt (note: I didn't know what this was, so I used a combination of garlic powder and regular seasoning salt)
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan
1 cup grated mozzarella
1/2 cup grated cheddar

Stir water, yeast and sugar together in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup. Set aside to foam up.

Meanwhile, melt the butter and measure out the flour and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir with the dough hook for a few seconds to disperse the salt into the flour. Pour in the foamy yeast mixture and start to incorporate. Drizzle in half of the melted butter. Scrape the sides if necessary and knead 7 minutes. Dough should be sticky. If it's dry, you've added too much flour, so add in a few sprinkles of water to get it to come together as a stickier dough. You're aiming to get the dough stuck to the bottom of the bowl. If you touch it with your fingers after 7 minutes, than maybe a small piece or two will stick. Grease the bowl and dough well with oil and let rise 30-45 minutes in a warm place until doubled in size.

Punch down dough and roll out to be 2 ft x 1 ft, approximately, on a floured board. Cut into 1/2-3/4 inch strips using a pizza cutter. Twist two strips together to create breadsticks and place onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. You may have to cut them to fit on the baking sheet. Let rise another 30 minutes or so. They should be almost touching by now.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Drizzle remaining melted butter over breadsticks, sprinkle with garlic salt and cheeses and bake 8-10 minutes or until poofy, hot, bubbly and brown. Cool 3-5 minutes before tearing apart and snarfing down.