a crafty playdate

half the kids at one station with paints & glitter

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This afternoon's playdate included two different craft projects, a build-your-own ice cream sundae bar and two hours of playing at someone else's house. It was mayhem but all of the kids were so well-behaved and it's such a great group of moms. Fun for me and fun for both kids -- what more could you ask for?? Meredith was the youngest (by almost a whole year) but you'd never know it. She makes herself at home immediately and runs around babbling loudly like it's her party. Thomas really enjoyed the craft projects -- he showed them to M as soon as he came home from work and then Thomas wanted to continue drawing and stamping until it was time for dinner. Fun, fun!

T & M look the wrong direction - "Over here, kids!"

M proudly shows off the butterfly she made

one year checkup

length: 29" (45th percentile)

weight: 21lbs, 12ozs (55th percentile)

head: 18-1/4 inches (80th percentile)

warm day = beach play

It is a warm one today! We're hovering around 93 degrees which made play at the beach before naps mandatory. Two months into our California adventure and today was the first time we actually pitched our beach umbrella, unloaded all the sand toys and got into our swimsuits to play on the beach (okay, just the kids in swimsuits but next time I'm getting into mine and parking my booty on a sand chair in the ocean). The kids enjoyed splashing in the pools of water along the beach and digging in the sand. Meredith is finally moving beyond wanting to eat sand by the fistful. Thomas looked pretty interested in the boogie board he saw another boy playing with. I'm guessing this will be his next "I want..." item.

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As we were loading up the car to go home, we saw a young woman stuck in the sand. The parking along the street at this beach fills up quickly so people park in this sandy lot right off the street. Only, it proved to be a little too much sand for this little truck and driver. She was quickly burying herself so M and two other guys helped her out. Nice guys!

walking skills

M-walks and spins from c on Vimeo.
It will never cease to amaze me how quickly new skills are learned and developed. It was 9 days ago that Meredith began walking without any sort of support or safety net. The next day, she began carrying something in one hand while walking. Then it was something in each hand. Then it was moving a little faster. The other day she began stopping, squating, standing back up and resuming her walk. Her turns have improved daily and the swinging of the arms and holding them behind her are the latest skills she's mastered. At this rate, I'm half expecting her to be skipping next week.

sweet girl things

I've never been a girly-girl, but boy do I love all the girly-girl things for Meredith. Mary Jane Robeez; hairclips in all styles, shapes and colors; socks with bows; sweet hats; little sweaters with cute detailing; tights; sundresses... I love it all. Now that's she walking it's even more fun to put her in cute dresses. I wonder how long until she protests and demands to dress herself in whatever suits her fancy? My fingers are crossed it's after her hair is long enough for pigtails and that when she does wish to dress herself it's in pink tutus and butterfly wings and long ribbons in her hair...

we love fair/festival season!

Encinitas street fair ~ 9:30am

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Sometimes it feels a little nuts to go to things first thing in the morning, but with two children under 3 years it's the best time to get out and do things. Getting an early start does have advantages and arriving to street fairs and festivals long before the crowds arrive is definitely one of them. This morning we took in our favorite coastal town's street fair and played at Moonlight Beach afterward. Thomas enjoyed checking out the fire engines and all the dogs that were out. Meredith loves people-watching and playing at the beach's playground.

first birthday

Meredith celebrates with cake and ice cream - yum!

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Thomas helped her open presents & cards

. Thomas enjoyed his own little cake and blew out a candle, too!

.Happy Birthday, sweet girl. We love you!

We miss Westmoreland, too!

the kids model t-shirts received ~ M checks out some sticky balls (we don't miss those), T looks at the card and the girls sniff for the treats they received

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There are neighbors and then there are neighbors. Maybe you are lucky enough to have those kinds of neighbors, too. You can call them at any time, day or night; request favors you wouldn't ask of just anyone; borrow food items, toys, movies, music; call for last-minute dinner plans, etc. and they do the same with you. And so it goes beyond just being neighbors. You become friends and it's great because the kids are friends, all the adults are friends with one another, the dogs even become friends... We miss having those kinds of neighbors.

Today we received a package full of items uniquely Portland with a card that simply read "Westmoreland misses you!". Aren't those kinds of neighbors great??

Greta & Bela don't sit like this for just any treat - these must have been extra good!

mixed drinks

I've been trying for the past month to give Meredith cow's milk but she's been reluctant to drink the stuff. I thought I could do it cold turkey. You know, strictly give her milk in a sippy cup and only formula in a bottle. She drinks water from a sippy cup all day long, but hasn't been too keen on drinking much milk from a sippy cup. My goal was to have her completely off formula and bottles by her first birthday. With just two short days to go, neither is going to happen. So, I gave in today and mixed up 2oz warm milk and 4oz warm formula and gave it to her in a bottle. And, for once, she drank the entire thing!

Dolphin sighting! This morning's beach walk included, of all things, a pod of about 8 dolphins. Yes, real dolphins swimming just on the far side of the surf break. Amazing creatures and such a treat to just happen to see while out exercising. All of the kids loved it (and so did the moms!). They were swimming towards a popular surfing beach and a woman in the group said the dolphins like to play with the surfers. Aren't dolphins everyone's favorite marine mammal??

creepy crawlies

He's cute. He's fuzzy. He's the new addition to our household. In about two weeks this caterpillar better turn into a butterfly or I'll have to find a good explanation to give Thomas...

Holy Guaca-Moly!

Today we enjoyed a local Avocado Festival with an estimated crowd of 70,000 visitors. Yes, an entire festival dedicated to this most delicious fruit. We've been to the Elephant Garlic Festival outside Portland and enjoyed all the different garlic-infused foods (and drinks!). I was expecting the same sort of thing and was a wee disappointed there weren't more avocado-based foods to sample. But they did have this pretty amazing guacamole paired with the perfect dipping tortilla chip that we all enjoyed. I also saw some avocado ice cream and some sort of baked good made with avocados. For "the friendly village" aka "avocado capital of the world", Fallbrook puts on a pretty large (and yummy!) festival.

inseparable

Thomas checks out his sister

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Thomas and his new binoculars are inseparable. He uses them to look at everything, including Meredith when we are driving. And the funny part? He looks through the wrong end. They are supposed to magnify what he's viewing, but instead they just make everything smaller and further away. The kid loves his binoculars.

spaghetti is the answer

Every night we sit down together and eat dinner as a family. And every night Meredith squirms and tries to get out of her high chair. She'll eat a little but she's always ready to leave the table long before any of us have even made a dent in our own meals. But tonight was different. Tonight we had spaghetti (and I know she's had it before) and for whatever reason, she wanted to eat... and eat... and eat. Thomas and M both left the kitchen while I remained sitting next to her while she ate... and ate... and ate. Maybe we should have spaghetti every night? Dinner was much more enjoyable!

jumping jacks are fun!

t-jumping jacks from c on Vimeo.

I am a toddler

This morning Meredith "walked" around the house. She'd take seven to ten steps before plopping down onto her bottom or she'd walk with one hand touching the wall as a guide. But after her nap she made three passes down the hall gripping her walker with one hand and that was the end of that. She's been toddling around the house all afternoon and evening. No walker. No hand on the wall just in case. From one room to another and down the hall, inside and outside, she's all over the place. Walking and smiling. Clearly so pleased with herself. So fun!

M rocks the rocking chair

the rocking chair from c on Vimeo.

Thomas always wants to play in Meredith's room and Meredith always wants to play in Thomas' room. I guess it's that old adage of things always being greener on the other side, eh? Thomas loves to climb in and out of her crib and jump on it like it's a trampoline. Meredith loves to walk around his toddler bed and play on his rocking chair. She's pretty good at climbing onto the chair and rocking the heck out of it...

Birch Aquarium

view of La Jolla from the aquarium

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Today we took the kids to the Birch Aquarium at UCSD in La Jolla. Neither had been to an aquarium before and they had a great time. There were tidepools to explore, exhibits of interesting sea life to view, shark feeding to watch, interactive exhibits to play with, etc. Thomas touched a sea cucumber, sea star and a hermit crab. We enjoyed our visit so much that we picked up a membership as we were leaving. Yes, our collection of memberships is growing! You just can't beat the family memberships if you think you'll visit more than two or three times in a year. Plus, the fees go to a great cause!

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Thomas has fun with the interactive exhibits


a California Sea Cucumber

speed dating, playgroup style

the kids enjoy the fountain and a pretzel after the Farmer's Market

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"Hi. I'm Cherl. This is Thomas, he'll be three in May. And this is Meredith, she'll be one later this month. We're new to the area..."

Did you know the kids and I are dating? Not really, but it feels like we are. We spent the first several weeks after the move getting settled and exploring the area on our own (not to mention getting over colds that have lasted weeks as we take turns!). But playgroups are great for a variety of reasons so the last few weeks we've been attending different playgroups - many, many different playgroups. Today was the busiest day yet with three different playgroups. Yes, three! It not only feels like we are dating, but today was like speed dating, playgroup style.

We began the day with a 3 mile walk at the lagoon, followed by a stroll through the Farmer's Market and finished the afternoon with two hours of play at a playground. Tomorrow we'll meet up with another playgroup in the morning and possibly another (yes, the fifth in two days!) in the late afternoon. There's also a mom's night out tomorrow evening with the late afternoon group of mamas. As much as dinner out to a Vietnamese restaurant without children sounds, this mama needs a break from all this playgroup dating. It's been great fun and we're seeing new things and meeting some interesting moms and children, but it's also exhausting!

Fortunately for us, there are a lot of playgroups in this area. It's just a matter of finding the right fit(s) and since I'm a strong believer of "three times before you decide", we'll be spending the next few weeks figuring out which one(s) work best for us. Until then, we'll continue the "dating" but not the "speed dating" we did today. The kids both do great - Thomas jumps right in these days which is fun to see and Meredith is a social butterfly - but I can't keep all the moms and children straight anymore. Was it Amy with daughter Grace this morning who runs or the other Amy with the Maclaren stroller? What is the name of that woman who is moving to Argentina for a year with sweet, little Nevada? What is my name...??

.Thomas feeds his sister -- so sweet!

Burley for two

I took the kids out in the Burley this afternoon for a short walk. It was Meredith's first time so I knew it'd be best to stay close to home and not venture out for too long. And I was right. I didn't have her belt quite right today because she was not sitting comfortably. I carried her the last stretch up to our street and then down to our house. Hopefully she'll enjoy it more with just a few more trips out. I was surprised by how light the Burley was to push with two kids and how easy it was to turn since all their weight is in the back. I'm looking forward to taking them out for a run!

post-dinner walk

Meredith's playground favorite

It took Thomas forever to actually go through one of these tunnels at the playground. He did not like it for the longest time. Meredith, on the other hand, loves it. She took to it like she's part hamster and can sometimes even be difficult to coax out of the tunnel. It's too bad the playground near our house doesn't have one!

seeds of wonder

Two weeks ago we joined a playgroup for an outing at the local Botanical Gardens. It was late in the afternoon and primarily a walk through the gardens (playgroup was for Meredith's age). It's a beautiful place with many areas to explore and plants to see so I've been wanting to go back with the kids and spend some time. With membership in hand and a planned children's activity nearly every morning of the week, it's a great place to take them. We could go every day and see something different.

We started our morning at the children's area, Seeds of Wonder. I love the name. It's a lovely area designed for children with everything from a small train that circles a succulent garden to a water table complete with hand pump and nets for fishing things out. There's a surprise around every corner which makes it a lot of fun for adults and kids alike. Today there was a storytime hour and afterwards Thomas was able to pot a small plant to take home. They have this available every single day so just imagine the kind of little garden he could have at home from these plants alone!

Walking through the Garden, we saw so many new and unusual plants. Thomas enjoys naming the plants and trees as we go... From left to right, in Thomas' terms: an oatmeal tree, mommy's favorite and a corn flower.

In the children's garden, we found a rabbit, a seahorse and a horse near the entry.

We concluded our trip with lunch in the Bamboo Garden. We sat on a bamboo bench adjacent to the pond with an older lady and had a nice visit with her. She comes to the Garden daily and had many stories to share with us. This funny (large!) frog entertained us all with his leaps from lily pad to lily pad and very loud croaking. It must be mating season, too, because we saw him eye a smaller frog, let out a few croaks and then jump on top of her. The poor little thing!

special delivery

Thomas: "Close the box. Take me to the post office and mail me."
me: "Where should I send you?"
Thomas: "To Grandma's house."

beachfront amusement

This morning we drove down to Mission Beach (San Diego) to walk the boardwalk and check out the historic Belmont Park's Beachfront Amusement Center. First we strolled the boardwalk. We were walking so slowly and taking in all the sights (mostly private residences) that we didn't realize we had walked almost the entire length before deciding to turn around. The 4 mile total walk isn't a huge deal for Thomas, but we were pushing it with Meredith's nap. Suffice it to say, we were all happy to get back to our car so Meredith could nap while Thomas and I checked out the Amusement Center. He really wanted to ride the big roller coaster, but I thought it would be too much for him so we rode a submarine ride instead. He could barely contain his excitement while we waited to get on the ride. When it was our turn to board, he chose to sit in the front and during much of the ride he laughed and held his arms up in the air. Later he said it tickled his tummy and was fun to ride. Silly kid, you are so much fun!

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