A Brodie + banana bread + Ezra =

Yesterday, I walked into the living room to find this...

Oh yeah.  Live it up now, Brodie.  Fur up that couch all you can before I replace it & institute a No-Dogs-Allowed-On-The-Couch policy.

Right.  Like that'll happen.
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I had some perfectly overripe bananas taking up some valuable real estate on my tiny kitchen table, so I used them to make this super-yummy banana bread last night.  I think I used about 1/4 cup extra banana and I'm glad I did.  The texture is awesome.  The oats help a lot with that, too.

You're gonna want to make it.  And you should.
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I just saw a teaser for an upcoming weather forecast - saying that San Diego may be feeling more like Chicago this weekend.  Just in time for me to find out that I left my Peekaru at my Dad's house in Maine.  Nice.  I guess I'll just be bundling Ezra up before I stuff him in the wrap :)
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Here's some pictures of Little Man from today -- post-haircut.  I think he looks like such a grown-up little boy now.  I'm a little sad about that.

Shut up.

Oh, hey!  Check out how I sit up in the rocker now.

 Rest assured, the fauxhawk is still in place, just shorter and more even.

And here's a couple from our playtime this morning. This kid is so much fun.

1st Haircut!

Yep, you read that right.

Easy-E got a haircut yesterday.  It wasn't nearly as eventful as you may be thinking.  It took all of 2.5 minutes and was really more of a trim than a cut.  I mean, Pauli cut about an inch off from the right side and the top/front, but it was just to even it out a bit.  He really looked like 2 different kids if you looked at him from one side, then the other.  Now it's a bit more uniform and a little less Joe Dirt-like.

I love the side-eye he's giving in the last one.  Though he wasn't crazy about having his head held still, he did really well - which is probably a good thing since I have a feeling we'll be doing it again in a couple months :)

5 Months!

Guess who is 5 months old today?!

Here's some more that I couldn't resist...

And here's another one I took earlier today just for funsies.  He's just so darn cute & happy :)

Can you believe he's already 5 months old?  Seriously.  My wee, little man is getting so big, so fast.  Make it stop!

Stop Sweating in the Risotto!

Tonight, I made this mushroom risotto.  Vegetarian, of course - which only meant veggie stock in place of chicken broth in this case.  We both really liked it.  Lots of mushrooms, rich, earthy flavor...definitely something I'll make again.

If you know me, you know that I love Gordon Ramsay.  So, naturally, the entire time I was making the risotto, I kept hearing Chef Ramsay shouting Bloody hell!  You're sweating in the risotto!  You donkey!  And then I started hearing it as my brother doing his (bad) rendition of Chef Ramsay.  Then I started laughing.
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We spent another afternoon looking around at some new places.  I'm finding that my love for San Diego is growing - it's just so great to keep finding these little pockets of awesome throughout the city.  Now if only a house the size of my first (one-bedroom!) apartment didn't cost a not-so-small-fortune, we'd be all set :)
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Here's a few pictures we snapped of the boy.

Weekend Update

This weekend was pretty good.  Saturday, Ez got to meet his Great Grandma Ann!  She was visiting some family up in LA, so she came down to spend the afternoon with us.  We had lunch at one of our favorites, Hash House...here's a picture I snapped of the three of them.

LOVE that woman.  She's so great.  We only wished we'd had more time to spend with her.

And here's a shot of Jordan working on Grandma.

Sunday, we drove around looking at some possible places to live.  Our lease is up soon and we simply can't stay cooped up in this tiny house any longer.  Not with the growing piles of baby things accumulating.  I really wish this place was roomier (and had more storage...and counter space...and cupboards) because I like the neighborhood, the neighbors, and the central location of it.  We're looking at Hillcrest, North Park, and South Park.  We really love those areas, so hopefully we'll find something awesome in the next couple weeks :)

An Early Start

Ezra decided that after snacking all night long, he wanted to be up at 5:30 this morning.  Lovely.

I took advantage of a happy kid this morning and decided to make my favorite breakfast food, next to Lydia's challah bread french toast, of course.  I made this.  Oh, I've mentioned it before.  And like then, you'll likely say Why should I care about oatmeal?  And to that I say, you don't have to care about it, just make it and you'll see.  'Tis good.

I made it with just apples this time.  Cause that's all I had handy.  Still delicious.

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Here's Ezra playing in his jumperoo yesterday.  He freakin loves that thing.  Yesterday was also the first day that he actually played with the toys on it.  He's really good at spinning the ball.  That's on the milestone checklist, right?!

And here's Easy E's latest attempt at Le Tigre.
(Speaking of, have you heard there's another Zoolander in the works?  SO excited!)

Doesn't this shot make him look like a cabbage patch kid? I mean, it's totally the angle plus wacko hair combo, but I still get a kick out of it.

And finally, because I cannot resist a sleeping-baby picture, here's Ez. Like always, he was wrapped up and so cozy that he fell asleep.

Just in case you're concerned, I pulled down the wrap for the picture.  He was snug as a bug in a rug in there while we were walking.  Have no fear.

Wraps and Pictures, Pictures and Wraps

So, I've been pining away for this, in green paprika, for the past month. We're still using and loving the Moby, but I'm really excited about the possibility of back carries, which can't be done with a stretchy wrap. Plus I think Ezra would look really cute all wrapped up in a pretty new woven :)

I am also very much enthralled with this.  Pretty, huh?  I can't decide which I'll get the most use out of, though I'm leaning toward the BB Slen.  Oh, decisions, decisions!

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My living room has been completely taken over by stuff.  Baby stuff, to be exact.  Between his activity mat, jumperoo, bouncer chair and all the other various toys, it's a veritable baby palace.  He's only 4 1/2 months old and he's already taken over the house.  Good thing he's cute. 

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Here's some pictures of the boy.  He's been working on sitting up, unassisted.  I thought he probably was going to be pretty good at sitting up with the couch holding him up...but I was wrong :)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Mom's funny.

Feeling a little unsteady...

Aaaand he fell over.  But check it out - he's still the happiest kid ever.

Here's me and Ez after taking Brodie outside in the rain. Thankfully, we have a big umbrella, so we stayed nice & dry :) Brodie, on the other hand, was soaked.

The weather has been awesome here lately. Perfect weather for dog-walking and line-drying diapers...two things that make me very happy ;-)

Something else that makes me very happy is fondue - which we had yesterday. It's a tradition now, so a little indulgence for the sake of tradition is okay, right?! I mean, beer cheese fondue is always a good idea.
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About a week ago, I met with a woman who makes soakers and longies from sweaters. Awhile back, I made Ez a soaker from a sweater I accidently shrunk (Jordan still hasn't let me forget it) but it's already too small for him. I had a favorite sweater that didn't fit me anymore and thought it would look really cute as a pair of longies -- so she made them for me! They're all done and I can't wait to get them on him...they're SO freakin cute. I'll post pics as soon as I get them :)
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Here's Ezra, sitting in his Bumbo, reading his puppy book. He really did more chewing than reading, but we'll let that slide just a little longer.

Easy-E was having tons of fun last night in the bath. It's a super foggy picture because I steam up the bathroom before his baths, but if you look closely, you can see Mini-Man enjoying his playtime.

Just a quick post

We spent the afternoon walking around downtown, did a little shopping at Horton Plaza (gift cards were burning a hole in my pocket!) and just enjoyed the beautiful SoCal weather. Ez fell asleep in his sling, so we ended up walking much longer than originally planned...happily making our way to the Ghiradelli ice cream shop on Fifth for some coffee. I would've preferred indulging in some ice cream, but the place was packed (tons of tourists), so coffee to-go, it was. Ez woke up while we were there and seemed to really enjoy the people-watching. Plus, he loves it when girls smile at him, which happens a lot. He's a charmer ;-)

I love San Diego.
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Remember Monchichis, the cute little monkey cartoon characters from the 80's? I've been calling Ezra 'Monchichi' for awhile now and only recently realized that he actually kind of looks like one. What do you think?

I think Mini-Man is working his way through a bit of a growth spurt lately. He's been sleeping and eating nonstop for days now. We can barely get 10 minutes of playtime in before he's ready to have a snack and a nap again.

Nighttime has gotten exponentially better recently, too. He still eats a couple times a night but manages to do it while mostly asleep...which means I can wake up just long enough for each snack and doze off myself. It's nice not to have to entertain a kid at 3am ;-)

But all this new daytime napping comes with a bit of a string attached -- 90% of the time, he wakes up (and the cycle begins again) if I take him off my lap. This means I'm back to being tied to the rocker or couch for over half the day.

The silver lining? I get more snuggle time with the boy. Always a plus.
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Did you notice the ridiculously high-pitched squeals he belted out in those videos I posted? Holy cow, the kid LOVES to do his happy screams. He does them at Frank (the singing puppy) during diaperless time in the morning and it's just too cute. He has also started "singing" along with Frank. Lots of Ooooooo Oooooooo and Aaaahhhhs. I melt.
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We picked him up a Jumperoo the other day. I know that I said I wouldn't, but he had such a good time in it at a friend's house that I had to. He looks so damn proud of himself when he jumps! Rest assured though, for every time he plays in the jumperoo, he owes me twice the sitting up practice and tummy-time ;-)
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And here you go.

Don't mind his hair. I have to wet it and comb it down to his head as it dries in order to get it to kind of stay put. I took this just after I'd started the process, so he looks a little silly. Check out the outfit, though. Super cute plaid shorts, huh?


Here's my guy after his bath, rocking his duck robe. Too sweet.

A quick video

Here's a video I just shot of Jordan and Ezra. Super cute. Oh, and sound is the important thing here if you want to hear some adorable baby laughs and squeals!



And here's another, just for the heck of it ;-)

Wedding Recap, et cetra

Oh my.

Last weekend, we attended (and were a part of) the wedding of a couple of dear friends, Jenna & Travis. It was perfect. Set in the Texas Hill Country, the ceremony was outside on the river. Though the forecast called for a 50% chance of rain, it remained dry and cool. The bride, though always beautiful, was absolutely stunning...and Travis wasn't half bad either ;-)

The whole weekend was planned - from a bridal luncheon for the girls to pheasant & quail hunting for the boys. Ezra managed pretty well, despite being having his whole (new) schedule turned completely upside-down. He was loved up on by some super-awesome members of Jenna's family during the rehearsal and the wedding. Seriously, they loved him and he adored them :-) He even charmed both beauty queens - the former and current Miss New Mexico -- the kid is good.

I did manage to forget my camera for 99% of the weekend. I am kicking myself just thinking of all the great photo opportunities we missed out on. Then, when I did finally remember to grab the camera from the diaper bag at the end of the reception, my battery died after about 5 shots. Awesome.

Here's Jordan & Ez.


And here's me and my man.

The flights in and out were mostly uneventful. Surprising for us, I know. Something we did find out about and promptly took advantage of was the ability to skip the whole security line. Did you know you can do that with a baby? Me neither. We also took advantage of family preboarding since we were flying Southwest and had to sit 6 rows apart (in middle seats, no less) on the flight there. Ever nursed a baby that likes to kick when he eats whilst sitting between two larger sized people? I mention their size because arm rests couldn't be put down, so I sat for 3 hrs with E's head cradled in my completely numb arm while he kicked the lady next to us. And because we were split up, Jordan had both my book and my ipod with him, while I had nothing but Easy-E to help me pass the time. Thankfully, he's a great little traveler.

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Congratulations are in order! Jordan's brother and his love welcomed little Elijah into the world approximately 3 weeks ago! He's a cutie and we're so excited for them.

Congrats, guys :-)

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Here's E-man doing what he does best. Being cute.

Man, I have the most unhappy kid ever.

I've noticed that about 94% of the pictures I post are of Ezra in his green lounger. He really doesn't spend much time in it at all. It's really just when I want to take pics of him that he goes into it, especially since most of the time it's just me and him.

And here's a few of Little Man doing something else he's been loving these days...standing up (with help, of course).

He's up!

He's coming...he's coming to getcha!

Aaand he's down.