Wheeeeee!

Grandma got BLT to do four complete pedal cycles in a row!

Cousins

We had a great weekend with visitors from down South. BLT's Auntie, Uncle, Grandma and Cousin came for a visit. BLT ignored Mommy & Daddy most of the time. We went swimming, we did bubbles, we played in the sand, we went to the zoo/park/thing, we went to Dim Sum, we went to Starbucks, we went to the Farmer's Market, the boys did potty sitting ... we had fun! The two boys did get a bit (just a bit) rambunctious.

Now we are lonely here.

BLT Sr & I did celebrate our 3rd anniversary yesterday with a glass of champagne at our wedding spot, while BLT enjoyed the cheese balls.

Potty Time

BLT got a potty on Saturday. It's a big hit. He has successfully used it 5 times already!! Sunday, Monday, twice yesterday and once this morning! He loves to sit on it and look at books. He doesn't want to get off. He has memorized "Potty Book" and reads it himself. He even notices if he skips a page.

America's Got Talent

David Hasselhof would send this kid through!

Runners

After a month hiatus, we are ready to get back in our running routine. BLT Sr gave me some new gear for my birthday yesterday and BLT was happy to help me with the visor. We did our short loop tonight. It was so hot - upper 90s today - and it was still hot even at 7:30, but we made it.

Weekend in Pictures

Library Visit


Swims like a fish! At a Pre-Dad's Day BBQ



Daddy's famous corn-on-the-cob


We had a really nice weekend. The only downside was that we saw An Inconvenient Truth on our date night Friday and I was so upset by it that I was physically sick until late Saturday. I recommend watching it. I hope it is not to late to reverse the damage we have done. We are inspired to make more changes in our lifestyle from the film.

So Friday was babysitting night and BLT did not shed one tear when we dropped him off. I told him it was a slumber party and he seemed pretty happy about it.

Saturday we met up with Miss M & family at the library. There were having a summer reading kick-off which included a person dressed like a lion. BLT was absolutely terrified of the lion, so we headed over to the safety of the playground. We couldn't stay that long because I was feeling really bad.

That afternoon we went to a Dad's Day BBQ at our friends. We told BLT we were going to a party and he didn't want to go after the "party" the night before, so we assured him that we were going too. BLT LOVED the swimming pool. He is a fish. He kicked, he tried to blow bubbles ... he had a blast! In the second picture in the pool, he is attempting to put his face in and blow bubbles. He usually kept his mouth open, though! Oh, he had a blast - see that big smile on his face!!

For Dad's Day today, BLT and I let BLT Sr. sleep in while we wrapped up his presents and made breakfast. When Daddy came down, BLT took him right to the presents. BLT Sr. thought I might have taught him to do that, but I didn't - he just wanted those presents open! We then went to the Farmer's Market and to Trader Joes before nap and got lots of goodies. We tried to go swimming this afternoon, but the city pool summer hours don't start until tomorrow (!?), so we were out of luck and just hung out in the park instead. We finished out the weekend with a nice BBQ of leg of lamb, corn on the cob, and sweet potato.

Cheese!

BLT gives us his best "cheese"

Mommy & Puppet Bear join in for a group "cheese"

Fishy lips before bed


In teeth news ...

BLT has at least 2 partial 2-year molars now! I see his right bottom one is partially in and so is the left top. I don't see anything on the right top, and I still haven't gotten a look in at the left bottom. I'm glad the teeth do not seem to be bothering him that much this time around.

For those with an interest in toddler food...

I finally got around to making eggplant cutlets for BLT last night. He loves the TJ ones, but they are very fatty, so I wanted to make my own version. I dipped eggplant slices in beaten egg and then in Italian seasoned bread crumbs and baked at 400F, 20min on each side. I then froze them. Tonight, I thawed out two slices and then sauteed them in some olive oil. Dipped in pizza sauce, they were very tasty!

BLT is still enjoying carrot or zuchinni muffins every day. Here's the recipe I use, basically the Joy of Cooking recipe halved:

Grate 3 med carrots. Beat 1 egg and 3/8c sugar in a bowl. Add in the carrot and set aside for 10min.
Meanwhile, mix 3/4c flour, 1/2t baking powder, 1/2t baking soda, 1/2t cinnamon, 1/4tsalt, 1/4t nutmeg in another bowl.
Preheat oven to 400C and spray some oil on 12 cups in a mini-muffin pan.
Melt 2-1/2T butter and chop 1/4c walnuts and 1/4 raisins.
Mix the butter, walnuts and raisin with the carrot/egg/sugar mixture and then mix in the flour mixture.
Distribute amoung the 12 mini-muffin cups. Overflowing is fine.
Bake for 15 min.

I used whole wheat flour in the last batch and it was good. The time befofe last, I forgot to add the butter (left it melted in the microwave) and it was still fine.

Pirate Booty Drama

If you look closely, you can see a hint of tears there. BLT has discovered the way to make Mommy crazy - empty snack bowl onto floor, wait for Mommy to pick up snack, repeat. Ahhh!!! The pirate booty was dropped dangerously near some dead ant remnants from our post-vacation ant invasion, so Mommy was very mean and made BLT throw away the pirates booty off the floor. Hence the tears.

I'm also trying to figure out the camera. Not there yet.

Happy birthday, Auntie M!

More Indiana Pictures

Sitting in Great Grandma's chair from when she was a little girl
Important milestone: Baby's First Tree's Rootbeer

Enjoying the whole Tree's Drive-In Experience including BLT's first hamburger (a bit hit with either red or yellow sauce and "red," a.k.a. tomato)

Why BLT still needs the bed rail

Pro Traveler

BLT was a great little travel. 'Scuse his PJs - it was a red eye. He loved pulling his carseat around the airport, charming lots of travelers. He didn't want to ride in it too much, just pull it with NO help. ("No daddy, No mommy.")

Four Generations

We're back from our visit to Indiana! Two cousins were sucessfully graduated and sent off with a great party. BLT loved seeing his Great-Grandmas, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncle, and Cousins. He also enjoyed seeing all the neighs and moos. We all had a really nice time.

Little Shopper

BLT was a little helper at the store. He put our purchases up on the counter and then thanked the clerk and said goodbye. He then carried the bag all the way back to the car. This was after some drama though...

First, he had a tantrum on the stairs in the parking deck when I picked him up with 3 steps left. People were backing up from both directions, so I made a move. He was not happy and wouldn't go on the slide after that. At the Container Store, he was really interested in the glass elevator, so I took him in there. When it started to go, he was really scared, poor guy. I almost couldn't get him back down to the ground floor because he didn't even want to take the stairs around the elevator! Then we went back over to the slide and there was a jazz concert giong on the same time. He started crying again! I can't figure out why he seems so scared of everything all of a sudden. Poor thing. I don't know what's going on.

He also had a rough day at school. When I was coming in to pick him up, he was getting in trouble. The teacher was saying something like, "BLT, that is not okay." Apparently he was rather rambunctious all day, climbing on the backs of chairs, throwing toys, etc and I had shown up right after a toy throwing episode. So unlike him to be causing trouble! The teacher did tell me that he did have a sweet moment on the playground when a new kid was crying. He went over and took his hand and patted him. Aww!

Hopefully, BLT will get back into his groove soon and we won't have so many emotional moments!

No picture today

I took BLT on the stroller walk after work as promised yesterday before the tantrum. Of course, he only wanted to ride in the stroller until we got to the store, then he wanted to walk. We stopped in Rite-Aid for a few things and then popped in Safeway to grab something for dinner. When we got home it was 6:15 - just a little later than when we usually have dinner. But before I could get dinner, he fell fast asleep while nursing. I feel so bad when this happens and he doesn't get his dinner or his bath. I feel responsible to keep him "on time." I didn't realize he was extra tired. It's harder to get everything done these days because he wants to go-go-go until he all of a sudden he's ready for bed right that minute. He didn't seem to mind, though - we'll see how the early bedtime affects his sleep! 1-1/2 hours down...

Uh oh!

Oh no. BLT has discovered the art of the tantrum. This episode occured when I told him it was time to go inside for dinner and we weren't going to take the stroller on a walk. BLT Sr got the first episode yesterday morning when he wouldn't let BLT get his own soap or play with the toilet paper.

BLT recovered to request gogurt and ah-may for dinner (that would be plain yogurt and homemade carrot muffins). He also had a few "elbows" (elbow macarroni with peas), some blueberries and some "apple" (pear).

I made the muffins this week and they have been a major success! I have redemeed myself from last week's zuchinni muffin disaster.

3-Day Weekend

We had a very busy weekend visiting with Grandma & Grandpa. The first pictures are from Saturday at the Bay Trail near Sunnyvale Baylands park. Then there's a picture of BLT and I looking quite similar on the ferry to Alcatraz Sunday. Before that, we went up to Muir Woods. BLT remembered his squat posing of a few weeks ago. Very cute!

We had a really nice time. BLT learned a lot of new words from Grandma & Grandpa - watch, two, cheese & smile (for picture taking) and more. THe also got to see his current favorite animal - Sea Lions! Arr, arr, arr.

The only downside was the rain on Sunday. It's not supposed to rain in May in the Bay Area! We had more rain just on Sunday than we usually average for the entire month of May. Good thing we brought our umbrellas!

BLT was on the cranky side, too, because his nap kept getting messed up. He gets tired right around lunch time which really makes it hard when you're going out to lunch. He went right back to napping fine at school today - napped a whole 2-1/2 hours almost! Whoa!

Random Food Stuff

I've been having a shortage of pictures this week because I can't figure out the new camera. This is one from last weekend.

Toddler eating is so complicated. Every night we must figure out lunch for the next day. Right now, his lunch entrees are PB&J, PB&B (banana), whole-wheat english muffin pizza with peppers, mushrooms or spinach and quesadillas with some veggie. Unfortunately, quesadilla has fallen out of favor and today's came back completely untouched. He also gets a container of fresh fruit to split between lunch and afternoon snack, some applesauce or cheese for morning snack and some crackers, pretzels or freeze-dried fruit to split between snacks.

For dinner, I try and get a veggie in. Monday, I had a dinner that was a huge hit! BLT had polenta triangles with sauteed mushrooms, all dipped in pizza sauce, of course. He loved it and ate it all himself with his fork. Tonight, I made him some zuchinni pancakes (shredded zuchinni, egg, flour, bread crumbs). He liked them, but not as much, so I had to feed it to him. He fed himself a bowl of yogurt at the same time. This was followed by almost an entire pear (known as "apple").

Really, the whole point of this food-devoted post was to mention those two dinners because I was very proud of myself. I'm trying to break the reliance on convienence foods for his dinner. We stick to mainly healthy food (veggie burgers, eggplant cutlets from TJs), but it's still not as good as a homemade meal. I don't like to spend too much time on his meal since I prefer to spend time playing. :D

BLT Sr has been making veggie muffins (carrot or zuchinni) that BLT just loves for breakfast. He calls them "Ah-may." No one knows why. BLT Sr was getting burnt out on the muffin making, so I took my turn this weekend. BLT has reject my zuchinni lemon mini-muffins. They are a little off - I think the recipe was too fluffy. Plus, I didn't measure anything, which may having thrown it off. Oops. BLT Sr is back on tap for next week's muffins. He's the best!

Vroom Vroom

BLT spotted a motorcycle on his "bike" ride and did his universally recognized sign for motorcycle - the revving of the hands along with a "vroom vroom" sound effect. He loves to ride his bike and wants to ride it all the time. He doesn't seem to be able to pedal just yet, or want to, so we push him about. He does insist on being able to steer, though. It would be much easier if he would let us use the front wheel lockout!

BLT also enjoys playing with his bat and the sandbox at the park. He especially loves getting "wa-wer" and dumping it in the sand.

Old Mac D.

BLT surprised me during bath time by joining my sign-a-long!
Please ignore the Mommy voice. BLT is not quite ready for a solo.

Another milestone was reached today:

First Skinned Knees Requiring Bandaids

I'm not sure if there's a spot in the baby book to fill out for this or not. When I picked him up he was all bandaged up and had the ouch report to go with it. He had a Cozy Coupe car accident out on the playground. This is, I'm sure, the start of many skinned knees now that it is shorts season.

New Camera!

We got a new camera this week. BLT Sr. has been very busy snapping pictures left & right to learn how to use it. I think he's getting pretty good! Here are some of my favorites:





He even got a covert shot of BLT sleeping. Isn't he cute? You could almost imagine him sleeping longer than 3 hours at a time.


We made a breakthrough discovery this weekend. Typically, on the weekend, BLT goes down for his nap before lunch because he seems to get tired earlier and he usually eats a 2nd breakfast with Mommy & Daddy. On Saturday we fed him lunch at 11 even though he seemed tired already. He was out by 11:45 and slept for 2 hours! Whoa! We tried it again today and he slept almost 2-1/2 hours! Shocking! We will be sticking with this new method.

Toddler Style

BLT has started to express his preferences in clothes. It's so funny. What I pick out for him and what he picks out for himself are not the same!

This morning I was putting him in a very nice Hawaiian style shirt from Aunties J & J. There was a hitch, though. I was putting away his laundry at the same time as I was getting him dressed and he saw "bugs." He had to wear his bug onesie (from Auntie C).

He picks shirts with animals on some other screen print. I pick stripes or solids.
He picks socks with a design. I pick solid color socks.

He's the boss when it comes to his clothes, though, so he gets the final word!

I did coerce him into changing from the patterned turquoise/blue socks that matched the first shirt (he picked the socks, I picked the shirt to match) to a pair of red ones that matching the bug shirt.

Other funny happenings...

We walked over to the Rite Aid to pick up a few things this afternoon. One thing we got was a new tube of Butt Paste (a diaper changing ointment). While I was running his bath, he opened the box, put the paste away (in his top drawer in a basket) and then threw the box away in the trash can. I was very impressed!

He has just started to be able to get into the top drawer. This morning I went in to find him taking wipes (one at a time) out of the top drawer, wiping his diaper area (over his clothes) and then running them into the bathroom to toss them into the trash.

When I folded up his laundry yesterday, I found one of BLT Sr's shirts in there. He must have found it on the floor as we were unpacking and put it into his basket. I'll have to keep an eye out when I put the clothes into the washer next time in case something sneaks in that doesn't belong!

Whale Watching

We had a fun weekend in Santa Barbara! We went down to visit some friends. Saturday morning we ran a 5k. BLT did not run in the stroller but hung out with "Uncle V" while BLT Sr, "Auntie B," and I ran the race. I did not do a best time, but still ran the whole way, which is good enough for me! We also had fun at the beach making & smashing (BLT) sand castles, eating out, and... whale watching!

These pictures our from our whale watching trip. It wasn't looking promising for whales and then the captain got a tip so off we sped in the other direction and found 2 humpback whales! It was so neat.

The secret to feeding BLT veggies: deep fry them. He loves veggie tempura. I cut it up for him and spear it and then he dips it into the sauce. He ate 1 piece of zucchini and almost 2 pieces of carrot at the Sushi restaurant on Saturday. These were not small pieces, either! Now how to do this at home...