Life Lately: Spring

It's finally spring and we've been so busy with quite a lot. We've had the big birthday No. 2, which getting ready for was quite the feat. We've discovered that Kendrick loves cake (in addition to pizza, of course!) "More cake, please!" On his actual birthday day, we had a small birthday celebration at dinner time with Auntie Anum visiting. She brought so many fun presents and the "big slinky" was a huge favorite. He could drop that slinky from the stairs again and again. He had a big birthday party with many of his friends the following weekend. He still talks about Mr. Ron's visit to our house for the party and says "Meesa Ron!" every time he picks up one of the many balloons lying around the house.

This isn't quite a full post, but I wanted to share some photos of some at-home and playground time over the weekend. I also wanted to document some adorable things that Kendrick now says so that we don't totally let these beautiful moments flitter away in our memories! 

Playground time! Steering-wheel, see-saw, and "Frank" climbing!

"Mo corn, please!" On our way walking to pick up dinner- my little koala!

"Easter bunny coming!'- he learned this phrase from friends at school Here he is with the bunny at school.
Terrified at first. Cautiously hugging, at best.

Some beautiful things that our baby says now:

• No, no, Papa (to just about anything C wants to do to him)
• Why? (with a sweet, curious inflection at the end)
• Okay! (after we say "okay" at the end of a sentence, like "Let's go put on your shoes, okay?")
• pick. nose! (then laughs as he sticks a finger towards our noses)
• Tom. tow-truck. yah! (along with Gary garbage truck and Frank firetruck. yah.)
• Go there, go there! (especially when he's being carried and wants to direct you to where he wants to be taken)
• mine! (for many things that are actually "his". But embarrassingly, at the park today when another baby wanted to also use the slide! He just pointed at her from afar as she was approaching and said "no! mine!")
• TV Tom! (when he wants to watch his show)
• Funny! (sadly when we get hurt- pretend or real. Also when he makes a joke
• Big kids (he used this today when he was referring to a more complex part of a climber that was truly for bigger kids- out of his league and ability for now!)
• Hehrow? (this is how he says "hello" when pretend answering the phone)

[Additions to these cute little segments since I just re-read the last posting from January: Kendrick now says "bus song!" when he wants to sing The Wheels on the Bus, though demands the singing of this song so much less than he previously did. He no longer as that funny accent when saying "mouse" and "goat" (sad!)]

A Happy No-Year!

Another year is upon us and I can't believe this year, in 2017, and our baby is going to be 2! I guess that's how we count years now- just by how big our babies are getting, I suppose. I've documented time and time before, that I hate New Year's resolutions, since they're just silly and one can only be set up for disappointment by setting such lofty and all-encompassing goals. I like to make resolutions, but I call them my "new day" resolutions. We can only do our best day by day, am I right? "One foot in front of the other", as Chris likes to say. 

Happy No-Year is from an old "Friends" episode and I'm calling it a no-year since it felt like it flew and was gone before we knew it. It was also a sad year for us in more ways than one- personally, and in the grand-scheme as we all well know. Though,  not everything is lost, as there were some nice personal moments that will definitely make 2016 very special for us. 

I realized that our baby is growing way too fast and that if I don't start documenting his unique little being into writing, I might loose these essences and 20, no 30 years from now, it will all be distant fog. So, I will try- I will try so hard, to document these beautiful little pearls into our memories and so that we can cherish our thoughts forever. 

For Christmas this year, since Chris has to work, we all opened our books on Christmas Eve (the 2nd annual book swap!). Kendrick opened all his gifts on Christmas Eve as well, and went to bed a happy boy. For New Year's Kendrick went to a Noon Ball Drop where so many balloons fell from the ceiling at the strike of noon on New Year's Eve! 

So intrigued! 

He loved playing with the balloons, and went around the whole room, carefully picking them up by their little knots. 

Balloons everywhere! Happy New Year!

At home, Chris and I sat in our pjs on the couch and enjoyed the countdown on television, though I joke that he fell asleep at 11:58pm... But of course he denies this! I couldn't have asked for a better New Year's Eve!

checking out his Christmas fire truck

At the time that I am writing this Kendrick is 20.5 months. He loves trucks ("a sha!"), cars (which he says with a Bostonian accent- you know, without the "r" at the end), and "a bus". He will say "bus" when he wants for us to sing "The Wheels On The Bus," which is his favorite song- he then wants to put a "cow" on the bus and says "toaun!" when we sing "all, through the...."  We joke that he has a funny accent saying certain words like when he says "goat" (goaht), "milk" (mok- and he even says ah moka moka moka when he's really desperate for some milk), "mouse" (moase). Of course he loves to say "no", but he constantly surprises us every day with new works that he either imitates us saying ("stop it!" "don't"), or situations in which he knows how to use them. He said "bless you!" the other day after I sneezed. He still loves acting silly especially when he knows he's doing something "bad". He says "NO!" if I ask him if he's pooped (and he definitely has) as if it's the most ridiculous question in the world. He also whispers "no" with an almost imperceivable shake of the head when I ask him if he sees the sun in the middle of the night (my ploy in explaining to him why he should also be sleeping). He hates keeping his socks on after he gets home for the day and demands "off" while pulling at the toes. We think he's going to have a thing for shoes. He's not even 2 and wants to choose his own shoes for the day. Of course, we still melt when he says "mama" or "papa" with the most gorgeous smile on his face. 

Here's to another year of memories.

Summers and Fathers

Today is officially the first day of summer. My my, time is really flying this year. I have stopped making excuses for losing touch with blogging- you're all too familiar with the typical reasons (mostly, the one where I'm dying from exhaustion every. single. day.). But looking through my old posts makes me so happy, almost in a wistful way. I realized that blogging really allows me to focus and highlight all that's right and good in my life. And golly, you know I always need more of that- especially this year.  It lets me breathe a bit and reflect about my day to day experiences. With little time for much, it's my little reprieve.

A few months ago, I was in Quebrada, juggling K in one hand, trying not to spill my coffee and pastries with the other when I happened to look up and saw a placard on the wall that was just so apt. It might be old hat to others, but something makes me think that I saw it at the exact right time for me. "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's about dancing in the rain." All too often, I find myself thinking that things will be better in a few years. If we just get through this hard time, then in 5 years we'll be where we want to be... Though I'm all for optimism and future planning (you know, to a fault), I realize that I have to live for the now and make the best out of my every day...otherwise, the years will just fly by, in the blink of an eye without me even realizing.  So here I am...in the best of times.

We had a lovely weekend. We are really quite used to this one-day-a-week-off schedule that C's been doing for the past year. We went to Morses Pond on Saturday- C's first time, if you can believe it! We As we sat in our reclining chairs by the "beach," we laughed about how it was just like a vacation. Actually even better than a vacation, because you get to go home to your own house rather than some strange hotel or rented house! K had a great time playing in the sand and getting his little toes wet. He even took a nap in my arms out there- a real beach bum baby. The photo above is Papa and Baby on the beach- on our nice pre-father's day outing. 

Fathers' Day was a little uneventful for us, as C had to work. But he enjoyed one of his favorite cuisines, Thai food, for dinner. Lucky guy!

I usually like to do a summer bucket list, but I haven't had the chance to put one together just yet. I think some of the list will include outdoor concerts where we can take K, farms, maybe a low key day trip if we can swing it. More to come as I mull it all through. One thing is a constant- I know that many days will be spent just Mama and Baby, milling about at home...and we'll have some more selfies to prove it. 

Year-end update

Well, I've done it again. It's been a busy several months and the blog/journal has been terribly neglected. I think about blogging often, but life's been...well, hectic. I laughed a little to myself when someone I know told me that a good day is when everyone in her family has survived- two little kids, herself, and husband. BUT, I'm starting to see things her way just a little. Yup, just surviving is a good day all right. So, anything outside of just surviving is a treat. A really good day.

And today was a really good day. We are just starting a nice week where Chris has time off. Family time is all too rare and precious around here. And C is very lucky that I did NOT, for the record, forget about his birthday (as we all know he did mine!). To spend his 34th birthday together, as a family was really great. The day was sunny, happy, and warm! The past couple of birthdays have been rather cold I remember driving through a snow storm to get to dinner a couple of years ago!

We started the day off at Peet's Coffee (where we managed to find a table for the first time of all the times we've been there!) and lunch at...where else Rod Dee!

iced coffee, anyone?

BFR with crispy chicken, of course

I was inspired to blog today because I remember Chris' past 2 birthdays so well. They were of course, topics here and here. I realized just how important it is to me to keep up with my journaling. There's something about the written word that brings me back to exactly where I was or what I was thinking and feeling at the time and it's something that just photos don't seem to as accurately convey for me.

Christmas gift shopping. Kendrick also got his first pair of shoes. Getting them on will be quite the  challenge!

This holiday season, I'd really like to do the Twelve Dates of Christmas like we did a couple of years ago, so I've got to get a-planning! We really won't be able to get to a full twelve events, but just half of that number would be marvelous!

Here are some things we've been up to over the past couple months:

Thanksgiving dinner preparation with my brother!

Our veritable feast!

Kendrick's first Thanksgiving! We continued my favorite tradition of watching the Macy's Day Parade
and then the Dog Show

The day after Thanksgiving, we headed to Volante Farms in search of our Christmas tree. To our surprise, the nursery was turned into a Christmas decor market and we found some great ornaments.

Ear muff Christmas tree ornaments- we should have gotten this one!

One of the photo contenders for our holiday card!

The 2nd annual MSPCA photo with Santa. But this year, we added Clementine and Kendrick!

*First photo: our decked out Christmas tree! It was quite the ordeal getting all the lights working!

First Father's Day

Just look at these guys…I mean, really. Could they be any cuter? We were in Maine over the weekend and it made for a weekend of many many hours of car travel. Poor K cried/screamed/wailed pretty much the entire trip up. It was truly torture for him, for me, for C, and for Harry. Who could blame him though- we were in the car for 8 hours each way because of traffic, stopping to change diapers and all that jazz. Eight! But the ride home was so much more better for everyone. Little baby slept soundly most of the way, which was pretty impressive for the little guy. 

We'd never been to Bar Harbor before. We arrived late in the evening on Friday so it just seemed very deserted. The next day, though, we were able to explore the downtown area a bit and I was pleasantly surprised. It had cute, coastal, classic New England charm.

We first had breakfast at a fantastic place called Two Cats. The breakfast was one of the best breakfasts I've had in a long time (a long time out, that is…we make a mean breakfast at home). I had the lobster Benedict and instead of a traditional English muffin, they used a buttery biscuit instead. Why eggs Benedict is not always a biscuit instead of a muffin is beyond me. My mind is blown- just like the time I had cheddar cheese cooked into scrambled eggs for the first time in middle school. Seriously, that changed my scrambled eggs-life. I wish there were more places like Two Cats where we live!

For lunch we ate at Side Street Cafe, where C got a lobster roll and I enjoyed some delicious Southern sweet tea. K surprised us by being awake and quiet during the majority of lunch! He just sat in his car seat, looking around and at us. Towards the end of lunch I put him in the sling.

We had a nice little patio outside our hotel room that Harry enjoyed quite a bit!

Bar Harbor wedding time

A low key, Father's Day dinner at Sweetgreen

Afternoons of Leisure

We had a really full week last week- especially last Friday. And by "full," I mean we had a couple of nice, leisurely activities lined up during the day that were really quite pleasant. We've been on a "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" kick and C found a cool little diner in Somerville called Rosebud Kitchen that we wanted to try. It was a pretty hot day but they had a nice outdoor area which was totally relaxing in the middle of the afternoon (I'm not sure why we both look so miserable in these photos but I tell you, we had a good time!)

Basking in the afternoon sun al fresco… and waiting until the next diaper change/feeding

my lunch date and our fancy fizzy drinks 

I love a great retro diner and though the vibe was a bit hipster, any restaurant with a changing table is now a restaurant friend of mine. To top it all off, we both got some pretty nice drinks and I had an amazing lemon lavender fizz that had real lavender essence!

We then took a walk through the Somerville Community Path and stumbled upon a nice playground. 

where the bigger kids play

I took a photo of this mural that we saw along the path. I just thought it was so adorable. I mean, a bunny riding a bike with a dog in the basket- it doesn't get cuter.  I wish we biked more still!

Earlier in the morning, we went to Book Babies at the local library branch where babies and toddlers enjoy songs and stories. It was our first time and Kendrick liked it! He actually stayed up and awake the entire half hour, which completely shocked us. It was so endearing to see him looking around at the other older kids (he was the youngest one!) and listening to the songs. I think he even smiled a couple of times. It was so great! We went again this Friday as well and hope to make it a regular event.

our happy little book baby at the library

I love these guys

In the evening, we spent some time in the back yard and Anusha & Lindsey came to visit. I love that we live so close-by to each other that it's just a pleasant walk. We spent time out in the yard with the dogs, and enjoyed some cooling drinks and cookies. 

all we wear are stripes

I'm dreading the fact that our leisurely days together as a family are coming to an end soon. Actually, it makes me terribly sad. We still have a few more weeks though, so I hope to make the best of it!

The Most Unassuming Birthday

Well, it was the most laid-back of birthdays, that's for sure. What a difference having a little demanding baby with needs greater than yours changes everything down to the birthday plans. Let's not mention that C almost forgot it was my birthday until I reminded him the day prior. He insists that he wouldn't have forgotten, but he also doesn't fight it much when I accuse him of forgetting, so we all  know the truth, don't we?

It certainly was an easy, laid back day and I couldn't have had it any other way. C did his best to let me "sleep in" and it was nice. He even brought Harry upstairs for a morning cuddle- just like old times and it was delightful. Harry enjoyed it too. 

We made our way out of the house and ventured to Nashoba Brook Bakery in Concord. We've been buying their bread at Whole Foods for years. Not only is it delicious and the most perfect for avocado toast, but I enjoy the idea of  supporting a local bakery (even though it's arguably arm and leg-ish in price). I was excited about the fact that there is a cafe attached to the bakery. 

A perfect place to while away the afternoon. Coffee, sandwiches, & baked goods. We couldn't ask for more

Not only was it a beautiful day, but we got to sit outside right by the brook. 

Our little associate, finally calmed and full after his lunch. Now was can enjoy our meal.

Surely you've seen the Toughest Job in the World video? We just happened to come across it again the night before. The whole video is so great and right on point, but the one part that really stood out with us as parents was the part about lunch. The toughest job in the world position doesn't get to eat lunch. Well, there is no lunch break until the "associate" takes his lunch break first. Well, this is true at our house every day now. As soon as we got our scrumptious sandwiches and settled down in the perfect location outside, Kendrick started wailing. Our little "associate" couldn't care less if it was lunchtime and he certainly doesn't care that it's your birthday. 

Excited about delicious baked goods and bread.

We stopped by another bakery on our way home and got some delicious meatloaf for a dinner in. Meatloaf is one of my favorite meals and I couldn't ask for more on such a relaxing, laid back birthday. 

*First photo: A tired Mama with a tired baby out at lunch