Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Tuesday Playdate


Being the 5th Tuesday of the month, there was nothing going on for Free Tuesdays at the park.  So, we strolled around the park, letting the kids run amuck & get into mischief, instead ;-)  Ez loves running around on his own (without me) and playing with his friends...




 You can hold my snack container, but I'm probably going to surprise attack you later on, okay?

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!  Here I come!  

 Jordan met up with me & Ez after Ez's friends had tapped out for nap time.


We took our lunch down to the Embarcadero to enjoy the sunshine & beautiful weather.  He doesn't look too happy, but I can assure you - he was having a great time :)

 Ezra made friends with a timid pigeon and a greedy seagull...

 A walk around the Seaport Village proved that being tourists in your own city can bring forth great photo opportunities....like this one with a cow bench!

The Post That Almost Wasn't

I just realized that I uploaded these pictures over a week ago...and even got so far as to dump them into a new post.  

Then I promptly forgot about it.

So, here's some pictures of Easy-E.  We've been going to the 6th Avenue playground a lot recently - it's got 4 baby swings (where all the other parks only have 2), it's always got lots of kids, and is walking-distance to Jordan's office.  'Tis good.

Who is this kid chasing after me in the monkey hat?  

Would you like to see my pinecone?

And finally, this was Ezra that night - he fell asleep nursing, but sleep crawled over to the middle of the couch...finally resting on the pillow, like this...

Monday, January 30, 2012

Haircuts & Playtime!


I took a recommendation from a friend and finally took Easy to a kid's hair salon.  It was called Little Locks, located in the Birdrock neighborhood of La Jolla - and it was adorable!

It's also a toy store, which is genius, so Ez got to play with the train table while waiting for his haircut.  He  loved the train.  There's also a couple bunnies for the kids to check out while they wait, though Easy managed to miss them due to his love of trains ;-)

He was called back a few minutes later.  He was SO excited to sit in the car.  He played with the steering wheel, giggled, and wouldn't stop smiling.  We thought we were in the clear and both looked at each other incredulously.  

That is, until the cape went around him.  That did it.  Reaching out for us, trying to escape the car, fussy-face....So, onto my lap he went, where he was just fine for the whole haircut :)  


One last long-haired picture before the cut...

After his haircut, he found the baby stroller and refused to let go until we pried it out of his kung fu grip about 10 minutes later...


Once we tore him away from the toys, we walked the couple blocks down to the cliffs.  Here's me & EZ down on the rocks...he wanted nothing to do with sitting still & taking pictures.

Taking in the view from a little higher up...

He loves the water.

After running a few errands (and a car nap), we took Easy to the Old Trolley Barn Park to run around and get his crazy out ;-)

He loves to play peekaboo around things!

Checking out the clouds with Dad...

Deep conversations, yo.

Monday, January 23, 2012

16 Months!




My boy turned 16 months today!  

He's growing up SO fast.  I am constantly doing double-takes, catching myself, in awe of just how much he's grown.  Every single day, there's something new.  He's amazing.


Here's some of what Ezra has been up to lately...

-He loves to chase.  At the park, at the store, down the sidewalk...anywhere.  He squeals with excitement whilst grinning and making fists, then runs after me.  It kills me dead.  
-He tried (and loved!) salmon!  Jordan picked some up, on a whim, and Ez loved it!  In case you're wondering, it was wild-caught, Sockeye salmon.
-Those teeth that were driving him mad this past month?  3 or 4 of them have clearly come in (it's hard to tell - he's not too excited about my finger in his mouth.).  There's still 2 or 3 that are hovering...just waiting to come in.  I think the worst is over, for this round :)
-Playdates with his friends are getting to be more and more fun!  He even held hands & walked around with his friend Claire!  Seriously, it was crazy-cute.  They hugged and held hands and just made us melt.  Adorable!
-Ba! is still his word for bath, Mamama and Dadada are still works in progress.  He's playing around with different sounds, feeling them out, and taking his time.  
-His current arsenal of signs?  Milk, dog, more, sleepy, please, water, all done, bye.  
-He still loves to give high-fives and blow kisses.
-The bike is now something that is just to be played with and no longer ridden.  Screaming fits happen if we attempt to put him on it for a bike-ride :(
-His stroller has come back into play, thankfully, as a means of transportation - not just something for him to push.  
-The zoo is more fun each time we go!
-Swinging on the swing set at a playground is at the top of the "Ezra's favorite Things" list.  He also goes down the slides (the little ones) all by himself!
-He's absolutely amazing.  And I tell him every single day.

Here's some pictures:

This should be titled, Pouty Ez.

Such a big boy :)

Getting him to look in the general direction of the camera was difficult.

This is him signing Milk.  He does it with two hands sometimes...as if he's yelling ;-)

After reviewing this picture, we both decided it's time for a haircut.  Just a trim (again), but some of that mop top has got to be thinned out.

Such a cutie.

Look Ma!  I can touch the ceiling!

16 Months!  Yay!

Friday, January 13, 2012

What a Difference a Day Makes


Seriously.

Yesterday was downright awful.  Ezra was clearly uncomfortable and generally pissed all day.  He wanted to nurse nearly all day and when he didn't want that, he wanted to throw a frustrated fit about something.  It's not even the constant nursing that I mind - it's the on/off/on/off/Ican'tmakeupmymind! that he does.

He refused to eat much of anything.  This is not unlike most days, recently.  But combined with everything else, helped make the day worse.

We didn't leave the house.  He pitched a major fit when I tried to get him on his bike (which is crazy - he LOVES his bike).  Just.  Plain.  Awful.

Today was like sunshine on a bed of rainbows with unicorns and kittens all around.  We dropped Jordan off at work and headed over to one of the many playgrounds in the area.  There, he did some swinging, some running, some eating (milk AND food!!), some sliding, and some playing in the sand.  From there, we drove over to the zoo and strolled around for a couple hours.  He played on the little playground area in the Elephant Odyssey and snacked the whole time.  He was happy and smiley and just generally pleasant.

He even continued his run of happy by playing in the kitchen while I picked up and made dinner.

Not a tantrum or pissy face all day.

I cannot believe the difference a day can make ;-)

Here's a couple pictures I snapped while we were at the zoo...





Monday, January 9, 2012

Teething

For the first several teeth that Ez got, he was a tiny bit fussy.  He had rosy little cheeks (so sweet!) and drooled a tad more, too.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that he was getting some more in...and that they were causing a few problems.  

Boy, was I in for it.  Beginning on Thursday of last week, he's had a mild fever, huge, swollen gums and has been in so much pain.  Like, waking up at 3am screaming, kind of pain.  Inconsolable.  He's never been inconsolable.  It took about 10 minutes of pretty hysterical crying while I held him, sang to him, rocked him and tried to nurse him, before he calmed down.

Even when he does fall asleep, he's insanely restless and cannot stay asleep.  Those damn teeth.  Seriously, his gums feel like mountain ranges.  He's got at least 5 teeth coming in all at once.  

My kid, man...he's the teething overachiever ;-)

After that night, he's at least been consolable with rocking and nursing.  Starting last night, he has been having a tough time breathing through his cute little nose because it's so runny/crusty - what with the fever and the whimpering and all.  Poor little guy.  I feel so bad for him.

We've been doing the clove bud oil (mixed with some Udo's 3-6-9 Blend) on his gums and just bought him some Boiron Camilia.  It's a homeopathic that has been helping him relax and take away some of the pain.  He's not a fan of taking it - it's in liquid form and is completely tasteless, so I think it's just a general distaste for anything being shoved in his mouth.  But once it's in there, he tends to like to take a few bites of food.  This is a plus, considering he's not eating much beyond those few bites (and a ton of breast milk).

I've got a picture of him that I took really quickly for my mother the other night.  It's not good (it's from PhotoBooth, so whaddayawant?), but I feel compelled to add in a picture of him ;-)

You can tell he's not happy.





Friday, January 6, 2012

Science Center Fun!

Ezra had a playdate at the Reuben H Fleet Science Center last Tuesday.  It's on the rotation of Resident Free Tuesdays - each Tuesday, a couple different museums in Balboa Park offer free admission to San Diego County residents (and active duty military).  It's an awesome way to check out the museums and gets us out of the house...done & done!

There's a play area inside the science center that's only for kids aged 0-5.  There's a bunch of different stations, including a 'grocery store,' a learning lab, suction tubes & balls, giant legos, a firetruck, and a lot more.  We put him down as soon as we walked in & he just took off!

He had a great time playing with all the kids (there were about a million there!) and exploring.  Occasionally, he'd look around to see if we were near, but he didn't really seem to care too much ;-)

Here's some pictures we snapped:

Ez & his friend, Sonny, playing at the conveyor belt in the grocery store

I called his name a million times...and he finally turned to look at me - with this look on his face

In the fire truck...

Go, go, go!!

Playing in the pinwheels

He got pretty sleepy & wanted some snuggles.

But soon enough, he was back to playing...

Fun with light boxes!

He kept picking up the mouse, putting it to his ear & saying "Hello?"  (or his version of hello!)

Ez & Sonny playing in the little, little kid area.

So happy, he was squealing!

 I had to include this picture of Jordan...because it's so hilariously awful.

 Playing with the lightening globe outside the play area...

Smile!


We had so much fun.  The science museum itself is really great, too - we just didn't spend too long at each exhibit (and skipped a ton b/c the boys are still a little young).  After 2+ hours playing, they were ready for nap time ;-)  We'll definitely be going back on the 1st Tuesday of each month & also investing in an annual pass when Ez is a bit older.


Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Dog-Park-Days of January


Ezra took Brodie to the dog park yesterday.  The sun was shining, the air was warm and the sky was blue. Perfect San Diego day.  It's days like that that remind me why I live here.

And you know what's great?  Those days happen very often.

While Brodie ran around like a maniac and played fetch with Jordan, Ez and I walked over to the playground.  After a little stalling on the slides and in the sand, we made our way to the swings.  There was no baby-swings, so we just sat together on the swing.  True to form, he LOVED it.  So much so, that he threw a fit each time I tried to switch it up to play somewhere else.  Granted, it was passed his naptime, so I  already had that working against me.  Either way, we had fun & the kid got to enjoy the beautiful beachy-air day.

Here's a quick shot of Brodie, waiting very impatiently for Jordan to throw the ball again...and again & again & again!



Because of his first nap being pushed back by a couple hours, he ended up sleeping from about 8:30 until 2:30 in the morning.  Fun.

He did manage to drift off to sleep just as I was getting my first sip of coffee...that I reluctantly made around 6:45 because I was sure I'd fall asleep standing up without it.  Perfect timing, Ez...perfect timing ;-)

He's got a play date at the local science center later this morning.  My fingers are crossed that he gets a good nap in so he can enjoy it  :)