Dang Cafe, Dang Quesadilla

We went to Baton Rouge last weekend with Caroline to see Livingston Taylor (brother of James Taylor) perform. He's just incredible. What a gift for performance that man has! Caroline reviewed the concert on her blog here. Many thanks to our generous benefactor who supplied us with tickets.

Going to Baton Rouge with Caroline was especially fun because she got to experience some of the culture of Tuan's Vietnamese Dad/Stepmom and family. They are very hospitable folks who kept Johnny while we were at the concert and then Tuan's dad entertained us a bit on Friday morning. Daddy Khanh took us to eat pho at the Dang Cafe. Hee, hee. That was such a funny name. I'm sure "dang" is a proper name in Vietnam, but it sure got me tickled. We then hopped across the parking lot to the Asian grocery. The Asian groceries in Jackson just don't compare to the wonders to be found at this one. I think Caroline and I could have wandered the aisles for a good while--there is so much to see! I had to content myself with walking through the store at a brisk pace throwing necessities and curiosities into the buggy.

Napoleon Dynamite has forever ruined my pereception of quesadillas. Everytime I make or think of one, I have to think or speak, "make yourself a dang quesadilla." I thought of it today as I whipped up a black bean/chicken and cheese quesadilla for Johnny. "Whoaa," you may say, "a quesadilla for a 9 month old?" I would have thought so, too, but the other night I picked up _What_to_Expect_the _First_Year_ and afterr reading the seven and eight month chapters (which was a little late, since we were already into the ninth month), I discovered the culinary possibilities for feeding Johnny. With the okay for adding whole milk and eggs to Johnny's diet from Dr. Flowers (YES! No more formula!), we have hit the ground running (and chopping into very small chunks). Here are some of the things Johnny eats:

Applesauce with flax seed and wheat germ
Oatmeal with raspberries
Peaches
Wheat bread spread with strawberry yogurt, sprinkled with flax seed and wheat germ, then rolled up like a cinnamon roll and diced (he loves this one)

Cauliflower/Broccoli soup
Turkey Burgers
Black-eyed peas
Chicken
Broccoli
Cheese
Peas, green beans and carrots
Mashed sweet and white potatoes.
Chicken broth
Avocado

Cheerios by the dozen

Johnny repeatedly rejects bananas. Sigh. I can't blame him. Bananas make me feel funny, too. Those little bananas they sell would have been so convenient. He also isn't very into juice or the sippy cup. But we're working on it. I'm so thankful he's feeding himself that I can handle taking a while on learning to sip. My attention span is not very conducive to spoon feeding every meal, and this new phase of picking up food on his own is wonderful. Johnny is also
off the pacifier. We lost all of them and he never blinked an eye. I think he thinks he's older than he is. Supposedly I was like that too. My hopes for a child with Tuan's disposition may be thrown out the window. :)

Sorry I don't post photos, but I'm impatient with downloading. Tuan has some on his blog. If you click on the photos section, you can see them.