Double-Crusted Success at Long Last

I consider myself a relatively accomplished amateur baker. One thing that has always eluded me, however, is the creation of a double-crusted pie. Today I successfully made a double-crusted deep dish apple pie. The key to success was a good butter crust pie recipe, adequate refridgeration, and that miracle of modern baking -- parchment paper. The recipe and instructions can be found at America's Test Kitchen under the title "Deep Dish Apple Pie".

Trent's Progress

I'm a little behind on Trent news. He's now six months old. He can roll from his back to his tummy and visa versa. If placed in a seated position, he can remain in the seated position from several minutes. He has very strong legs and can stand with assistance without problems. If you hold him up and lean him forward, he'll take steps. I walked at nine months, so we're expecting Trent to be an early walker too. He eats solid foods. He babbles a lot. Sometimes he appears to say the syllable "ma" in an appropriate context, but that could just be random. He also seems to combine the syllables "el" and "o" occasionally when he sees me after waking up. Again, may just be my imagination.

Minivans, Carseats and Sheet Goods

We bought a minivan. It's a Toyota Sienna. Nautical Blue. Which is marketting for Navy Blue I guess. I wanted a vehicle that could haul an 8x4 foot sheet of plywood. I couldn't have a truck because mounting Trent's car seat in the bed just wouldn't be safe. So, it was a minivan. Some of you are busy subtracting cool points from my tally. Assuming you ever had me down for any to begin with. My only defense is that other than "coolness" there is no metric by which an SUV is better than a minivan. What are the units of coolness anyway?

Trent Talks It Up

Trent has made some progress on his talking. He's started using more words intentionally. He's learned to say "please" as a prompt when he wants something from Tina or I. "Thank you" appears to be more difficult. After all, he's usually already gotten what he wants by the time "thank you" becomes appropriate. He uses the word "ball". When we're looking at picture books Trent will point at balls that appear in the pictures and say "ball". He's learned to say the word "moon". That word comes from the classic Goodnight Moon. Trent can point out the moon in the window and say "moon". Trent can also point at light fixtures and say "light". He's also demonstrated some understanding of the scripting associated with using a phone. He picks up a lot of things that are vaguely phone shaped and make taking sounds into them. He usually ends up by saying "bye bye".