Lunchtime

Menu for today: black beans, rice, chicken, and juice.

Carter is learning to feed himself. Sure takes a lot of patience on my part but I must admit that watching him munch, chomp, and chew is pretty darn cute.

Toddler Times

Life with a toddler is fun, unpredictable, emotional, and exhausting. I am loving this age! Carter is now 15 months old, 18.5 pounds, and a walker. He has been taking steps for months but now he just takes off on his own. He loves to explore which keeps me on my toes! He can clearly say "Daddy" and "Dog" and on rare occasions he will say "Mom" (still wishing he would say that more!) His favorite song is "Old MacDonald" because he likes to sing the "EiEioooo" part!


Love this face!



Love this smile!



Ball pits can cause some crazy static!



Happy Valentine's Day

Our day began with pink (strawberry) oatmeal:

And a homemade card for daddy:

And ended with Dave and I snuggled on the couch with a bowl of cookies n cream ice cream and two spoons.

Hope your day was full of love!

Weekend Update

Haven Gastropub in Orange...Friday date night with my boys. Felt great to be back in our old neighborhood! I was nervous about taking Carter to a bar on a Friday night but we sat on the front patio and he was very happy with the food, the service, and the atmosphere. He loved watching the cars go by or people walking their dogs on the street. Carter scarfed down dinner very happily. I think my baby is a foodie.
Our menu:
Pommes Frites--fancy french fries with herbs and housemade ketchup
Mac n Cheese--black truffles, gruyere, fotina, parmesan, with a crusty top
Roasted Jidori Chicken Breast, rosemary mashed potatoes, roasted carrots
Irish Car Bomb--Guinness chocolate stout cake, Guinness ice cream, Irish Cream chocolate sauce, Jameson caramel

Delicious.
 
Sometimes it takes three tries to get a decent picture:
 

Yesterday we went to the Santa Ana Zoo. Small but affordable, the grounds were really nice, it is only 20 minutes from our house, and Carter loved it. They have farm animals and lots of monkeys but I think the hit attraction was the train and the elephant. We had a playdate with his friend Johnny. It was a beautiful day (actually a bit too warm!) but we had a wonderful time.

Johnny and his daddy on the elephant.

Carter performing tricks on the carousal. I'm surprised he didn't get kicked off the ride!

Hope your weekend was as lovely as ours!

Rock Star

Carter in his rock star pajamas, flashing his tough guy stare:

Most of my pictures of Carter look like this one--blurry because he is CONSTANTLY moving!

And to save the best for last... this is a video of Carter practicing his best hardcore/punk rock screams/growls. I have no idea why he does this (maybe because he listens to so much of his daddy's music?) It's pretty hilarious. The audio has not been altered in any way--Dave had to listen to it like three times because he was in disbelief of how deep of a growl his little boy can make!

Superbowl Sunday

I am not a football fan. In fact, I hate football. It's not that I don't love sports. I LOVE baseball (Go Angels!) and can watch nearly any other sport without complaining (and since I married a sports fanatic, we watch every sport imaginable). But football.... blah. So to deal with Superbowl Sunday, Dave took Carter and I to Toys R Us to buy a new toy. (We also stopped for some Yogurtland on the way home--I was in heaven!)

So.... here is our new toy. A ball pit! So cool, right?! It's like having a Chuck-E-Cheese in your home but MUCH more sanitary (yes, I am THAT mom that has a package of antibacterial wipes everywhere we go!) I think Carter actually likes the balls more than actually being inside the pit, although I anticipate as he gets older, he will feel more comfortable jumping/diving inside. Dave went crazy and bought 250 balls (and only around 100 will fit in the tiny pool) so I foresee a lot of plastic colorful balls being used as ammo in the years to come.

Toys that Grow

I love toys that "grow" with your child. For example, we have a V-Tech toy that Carter has loved since he was only a few months old and now it has converted into a walker and he still loves it. We also borrowed a Megasaucer from my brother-in-law's family when Carter was around 7 months old. He used to love to sit in it but now he loves to stand on the outside of it and play. I thought he was finally getting sick of it but today he discovered that he can hide underneath it and that if he sits exactly in the center, his head won't touch the top (because of where the seat is located). He put a bunch of his toy balls in the bottom, then crawled in to play with them. He was so caught up in his game that he didn't see us smiling and laughing at him. When he finally saw us, he flashed us a big prideful grin. He was pretty impressed with himself!