What mom? I'm vacuuming!

I think these pictures speak for themselves. (That thing that looks like a lawnmower is a lawnmower but don't tell him that. He insists it's a vacuum).




Max likes to do chores actually. The other day he mopped the floor and swept the deck and told me it was "so so fun mama!!" You don't see me complaining!

I scream you scream...

Most mothers would rather their children refrain from sugar coma inducing ice cream products. And I'm not different really. But when it's taken your son over a year to even lick an ice cream cone, it melts a mother's anti-sweets heart. Yes. It has taken Max a long long time to even think about trying ice cream. For a kid who loves candy and milkshakes so much you would think ice cream would be a favorite. Nope. Not this kid. Of course. Does it surprise you? Most things he does makes little sense to anyone but himself. Anyway...



Thanks to Baskin Robbins' $1 scoop night on Tuesdays Max has indeed tasted and enjoyed and even eaten ice cream. He seems pretty pleased. (I on the other hand will not get in to the many reasons I despise Baskin Robbins). And I swear there was never a more proud dad than Tyler (if you know Tyler at all you know that he can pretty much down a half gallon of ice cream on his own in one night if you let him).



And this is what happens when he eats lots of ice cream. He ran around like this for a good half an hour after we left.

Roommate Reunion Extravaganza!!

This weekend my old roomies from college came down for a visit. I had a lot of fun eating a LOT of food and just relaxing. And Max had a great time with Owice and Jewwie (Alice and Julie). He was a little sad when they left. I should have taken more pictures, and of course I didn't, but I did take pictures of our dinner one night!

Steamed dungeness crab, grilled oysters (best.thing.ever!) with a lemmon butter sauce, citrus salad with avocado, grilled garlic bread (that I burned but still turned out fabulous)... I mean check out this spread!









We did a little Costco shopping with Alice's brother who goes to UCSD. And commented on how much they look like each other the older they get. We ate at Hash House on Saturday morning and met Cuong there, too. Stopped by to see the kids so Max could say hi to Cuong and play. This morning Max asked me where "that kid who played football with me" went. I assume he meant Cuong. Max got a lot of cool presents -- a foam rocket launcher and a Cal basketball hoop that he won't stop playing with. He even learned how to launch rockets at people's faces! Thanks Alice and Kevin!







We went to this awesome dumpling place called Dumpling Inn. So good. Seriously. I'm going back. And we had hour long massages at The Hidden Spa in OB. The massages were awesome, even though they did this weird twisty butt thing. Then we got pedicures. Makes us sound like total girls. We even went to Extraordinary Desserts, which was good, not necessarily extraordinary, but really yummy. And we ate at Pacifica Del Mar for some fancy seafood. It was pretty good, although I did not enjoy the odd taste of BBQ grill on my mini gnocchis. The fish was cooked perfectly, though.

It was a really fun weekend! I got to hang out with some of my bestest friends for a weekend without any kids to worry about (thanks Tyler!!) and eat great food and reminisce and just relax. I also love the fact that my friends love to eat good food. It's probably the glue that holds us together -- our love of food. Alice and Julie are especially handy because they are always trying new restaurants and foods and passing along the info. They are always up for trying new stuff and experimenting with new tastes. Anyway... we have a good time together and I wish I lived closer to all these guys so we could hang out more! Oh well... thanks for a great weekend guys!! And for putting up with my kids waking you up at the crack of dawn

Five Months Already??

Can you believe it? Honestly I can't. She's already five months old! Our little Lia is the sweetest baby in the world. She is still the happiest thing on Earth when she wakes up in the morning and from her naps. She just smiles and smiles at you -- those big open mouthed smiles just like Max used to do! She rolls ALL over the place. You leave her at one end of a room and in minutes she's at the other end.



She's getting so big! She weighs over 16 pounds now. She's so chubby that she wears 9 and 12 month sized clothes! I have to keep buying new stuff because she grows out of everything so quickly. I'm so used to Max never outgrowing anything that I have to relearn how to buy baby clothes. We love her fat chubbiness.

She takes her naps in her swing and does an AWESOME job. She takes a three hour morning nap and I usually have to wake her up. And a two hour afternoon nap and I usually have to wake her up from that one, too! Her night-times could be a little better. She only wakes up once and sometimes not at all, but Max at this age was sleeping 12 hours through the night. I just don't have the heart to let her cry it out because she's such a little sweetie! We're getting there though.

She eats like a horsey! She loves baby food (I, on the other hand, hate it -- stupid goopy messiness). Her favorites are sweet potatoes and fruits. She goes to town on them and I think she prefers them over her bottle and will sometimes hold out for them (refuse an afternoon bottle and wait for her real food). I can't wait until this girl starts eating table food!

Her eyes are still bluer than blue just like Max's. Her hair is still growing, slowly. She's got a nice tuft on top but the sides and back are still lacking!



She loves to bounce in her jumperoo and loves to play with us. She's almost sitting up on her own and she wants desperately to crawl. She tries so hard! She's almost getting it.

Lia is so so happy all the time. She really only fusses when she wants something - a nap, food, attention or hugs. She loves to grab faces and talk to her toys. She falls right asleep in the car and loves the stroller. She likes to go on walks and be outside. She loves the beach. She loves to talk and blow raspberries. She laughs when you laugh at her and is just so happy and easy going. I'm so SO grateful that she is easy going! She loves to stare at Max and watch what he does. She looks at him with such awe and fascination. It's awesome. We love her! And we can't believe she's 5 months old!

In the car...

this is how they look!



Max is happy as can be, talking non-stop, asking non-stop questions and singing along to the radio (he knows the words to dozens of songs).



Lia sleeps.

Life is pretty great!

Dancing a Jig

Doesn't it look like Amelia dances a jig when she bounces? So cute!



Our little dainty dancer!

Taaaaag Sale!!

We had our second annual Mesa Multi-Family yard sale extravaganza last Saturday. Really, it's just a bunch of us that live around here that get together and try to make money off all our old crap. Last time was quite the success! This time was less so, but we still had fun. And I'm still craving those cinnamon rolls and bread that Jack Earnshaw made to sell! Can you believe he stayed up until like 2 in the morning (or was it 4?) making bread to sell?? It was awesome. Too bad not many people showed up and when they finally did we were already cleaning up! We still made some cash and got rid of junk so it worked out.

Afterward we went to the beach with everyone! It was sooo fun!! I can't wait until the summer when we can do this even more. It was such a great day, really warm (like 80 something) and we had a blast with our friends.







Lia had a great time! She loves the beach as much as Max did when he was her age. She loved the sand and the sun and the water, too. As cold as it was she was pretty happy in it. Never fussed at all! She even got some surfing time in with her dad.




Can you see those leg rolls? Priceless.



And Max still loves the beach, too. He mostly loves the sand now though. He sat there and dug and built sand castles FOREVER. He even did them all by himself! When it came to the water and waves though, he was really freaked out. Last summer this kid would just walk right into the water, no fear at all! This summer he runs away screaming and crying and won't let the water touch him. Tyler convinced him a few times to let him take him out on the boogie board and into the water if he was carrying him. But other than that, he was freaked out. I'm hoping the more he goes the less scared he'll be. He says, "The waves are scary and they knock me over and hit me!" Let's hope he gets over it.






The whole gang getting some sun.


Max playing with his favorite Baker girls.


Sienna was the only one who got him to play in the waves by holding his hand and jumping over them. Until he got one in the face and that ended that game.


This day at the beach reinforced the fact that I will never be able to move away from the ocean!

It's a Toddler World

Tyler finally let me give Max the point and shoot to take pictures with. I think his point of view is very interesting. And he does a pretty good job framing the shots, too. It melts a photog-mom's heart to hear her little man saying, "I'm taking pictures like mama! STAND THERE AND DON'T MOVE OR YOU'LL HAVE A BIG TIME OUT!! Want some candy?"

Here are a few because I think they are fun!





Favorite show and favorite rocket -- Little Einsteins!


A little blurry but she's looking right at him!


He took about 20 pictures of this one shot. I think it was important to him.


I thought it looked edgy.




Beloved teddy (who is actually supposed to be Oski Bear for all you Cal fans).


Well, missed the mark. But it could be editorial, right?

Things are getting bitter sweet around here!

As the summer looms ahead of us it brings a lot of things -- hot weather, beach, sunshine, women who should not be wearing really short shorts. But this summer there will be a lot of changes around here for Max. Two of his very best friends will be moving away! While we are so excited for them and their families and their new adventures, we will miss them so so much. It's hard to say how Max will react to these girlies moving away. I'm not sure he'll understand. And as forgetful as a toddler mind is, in this case it will be a blessing to him. Luckily, he'll have this blog to look back on when he's older! Anyway... his bestest friend Marcelle and her family will be moving to Tennesee! Congrats to Seth for landing an awesome residency in Memphis! But we think it's too far away. We'll miss our fun pool parties!



This last week it was very very hot so Marcela filled up the pool and we had a little party outside. This is one of Max's most favorite things to do. When you ask Max who his best friend is he usually answers "Marcelle and Marcela!" (He also sometimes says "my underpants!" and "chicken!" so it's hard to say).




Here they are "surfing." These kids have so much fun together! We're going to miss them!

Impossible Task

What is this impossible task I speak of? TAKING A PICTURE OF THESE TWO KIDS TOGETHER!!! Seriously. Max is not the most cooperative. And when he's smiling, she's chewing her hands and when she's smiling he's looking at a bird or something or whining or crying. This is the best I could do in their Easter outfits. I will get one worthy of my wall!! (Picture me beating my fists against a setting sun a-la Scarlett at Tara from Gone With the Wind).

Until then...

Easter at the Cove

Since Easter Sunday was such a beautiful day we headed down to the Cove after dinner. I love the cove. It's a little too touristy in the summer time, but it's GORGEOUS.



Every time we go down here Tyler and I look around and are amazed that we actually get to live here. It looks like a paradise, seriously. The waves, the rocks, the ocean, the sun. It's the perfect combination down there.



This time we walked south along the water and got to these tide pools. Luckily it was low tide. Danielle showed Max all kinds of stuff like sea anemones, snails, crabs. He had a blast. Of course he wouldn't touch any of them, but he enjoyed looking at them and running away screaming!









Lia was her sweet little self. Just looking around and drooling a lot and being a sweetie. It was the perfect ending to our day!