23 Months!

I'm simultaneously so excited and so sad that my little boy is getting so close to being 2.  This past month has brought a lot of growth for him - he's physically bigger, he's getting more consistent with eating, and his speech has really started to take off.  He's really turning into such a cool kid and I couldn't be more proud of him :)

Here's a little of what he's been up to:

-He is putting forth some serious effort to talk!  He says some pretty silly/odd words, too...he can say "Audi" (he's got a RC car that's an Audi), "onion," "bat," "ball," "ice," "hat," "ham" (due to his Green Eggs and Ham book) and a few more I can't remember.  He signs all the normal words that I expected him to be saying (and then some).  Actually, he is still surprising me with how many signs he knows.  Kid is a sponge.

-The Cat in the Hat is his most favorite thing EVER.  He requires the movie to be playing while he plays, dances, reads, etc.  ALL. THE. TIME.

-He is so close to getting both feet off the ground when he "jumps"... it's really adorable right now and I secretly love that he hasn't mastered it yet!

-He says "Whoooaaa!" rather emphatically, all the time.  When he likes something, when something unexpected happens, really anytime.

-He tells us which animals he wants to see at the zoo and will also tell us the sounds that they make...which is always good for a laugh :)

-He's started to swing on any bar he sees...Just like the monkeys do at the zoo.  Damn monkeys.

-Brushing teeth is no longer a tantrum-throwing event.  Thank you, Cat in the Hat movie, for having a scene where the Cat brushes his teeth.  Thank you.

-I'd all but given up on potty-training until a couple days ago.  Now, he seems to be really into it and I think we'll be making some serious progress over the next couple weeks!!  He even does a potty dance!

-The car/truck/motorcycle/ambulance/police car/bicycle/firetruck obsession continues.  Thankfully...as this is the general theme for his party this year ;-)

-The Cat in the Hat, Go Dog Go, Green Eggs and Ham, and various Elmo/Sesame Street titles are among his go-to books.

-He's the most amazing little boy I've ever known.  And I tell him every.single.day.

Here's some pictures to mark his special day!

A quick catch-up

A LOT has been going on over the last month.  Well, I guess it's not really a lot...just one really big decision that has lead to a lot of time doing things other than updating this blog.

We're moving.

To Vegas.

In October.  

Yes, I'm sad.  Devastated, actually, to be leaving San Diego.  I am in love with this city.  This is home.  

But, it's a wonderful opportunity for Jordan - he'll be working with our great friends Job & Brandi - and it's bound to be a good thing.

Aaand, that's all I can say about that without getting too crazy-emotional...

Here's Ez at a friend's birthday party.  Naturally, he was attached to one of the toy cars.  He spent all of his time either driving this car around or playing in one of the baby pools or at the water table.  Clearly, the party was a hit with my kid ;-)

 At the zoo...checking out the giant tortoises.

 Look!  Look!  There's elephants and donkeys and a horse over there!

 He's gotten rather possessive over this baby elephant statue at the zoo.  It's HIS, damnit.

Ez giving a kiss to his favorite elephant statue.  Yes, he has a favorite.  Yes, we go to the zoo A LOT.

 When did he turn into such a kid?

The look on his face here kills me.  I adore this kid.

King of the mountain.

Though he loves the gorillas, he was far more interested in my sunglasses than taking a picture with them (and me).

 The obsession continues...

 Yay for gorillas doing laps around their enclosure!

Jordan went to Vegas for the week, so me and Ez have been on our own.  Sunday evening, we went over to a friend's house for some playtime and to watch Hunger Games.  We didn't stay long once the movie started (Ez was a little tired) but rest assured, I'd already watched it 1.5 times ;-)  Netflix came through and I got it on the release date!  Turned out to be a really good movie, and like always, I'm glad I read the book(s) first.  Too much to fit into a movie.  

Anyways...here's a cute picture of Ez and another guest for the screening.  I think they were plotting against us in the little pop-up tent :)

We've been spending every evening since last Wednesday (aside from last Sunday) at the zoo, so I've been a little busy.  I'd like to report though, that I'm getting rather efficient at packing a take-along dinner for Ezra to eat while walking around the zoo :)

Tomorrow is the official 23 Month photos....stay tuned!

22 Months!

Twenty-two months, people.  22.  Months.  

I wish this kid would slow down!  He's far too close to 2 years old now...and I'm not ready!

Here's some pictures of E-Z-E, to mark his special day...

My boy is turning into such a cool kid.  I'm so freakin proud of him.  Here's a little of what he's up to these days...

-Broccoli and roasted garbanzo beans are two of his current favorite snacks.  

-He's got quite an arm on him...he loves to play catch and is also getting really good at hitting the ball off his tee.  

-He recently acquired some new cooking/food toys and has been having a whole lot of fun "cooking" with them!  He loves to use his spatula to take the cookies off the tray, he uses his little whisk to stir up his veggies in Potsy...he's just so cute :)

-He learns new signs faster than I do.

-Turtles and elephants seem to be his favorite animals right now...I couldn't be happier!  I swear, I had nothing to do with this ;-)

-He is nearly obsessed with babies.  His best buddy has a 4 month old sister, whom Ezra just adores.  He loves to play with her and signs "baby" over and over again.

-Hats are as necessary as oxygen to this kid.

-He will stare and wave at every police car he sees.  LOVES them.

-Motorcycles are right up there with police cars.  He often gets motorcyclists to wave to him, which really makes him happy :)

-He likes to fake-sneeze...but really dramatically.  It's hilarious.

-He's so energetic and smart and funny and sweet.  He's the most amazing little boy and I tell him every.single.day.

Complaint Box...and lots of Ez pictures!

I haven't really done much of anything lately.  We've been to Playtown a few times, done some playgrounds, lots of walks and bike rides, and some indoor playdates.  Nothing too exciting to talk about, but definitely some makes-Ezra-happy-times!  

We are in the middle of a serious tantrum phase.  I'm pretty sure that 75% of his outbursts are hunger-driven, in spite of my constantly offering different foods to him.  He's just not that interested in food.  

Go figure.  

The kid who required round-the-clock-feedings for the first few months of his life due to his weight-gain issues...has a problem with eating enough to keep himself sated and happy.  He can't grasp the idea that eating will make him happy and will cause him to not throw fits and have temper-tantrums...resulting in time-outs.  

Duh.  

To be honest, I hate even having to put him in time-out during these times.  I know why he's upset.  He just refuses to eat.  Not interested.  Especially once he gets into a mood.  The crazy, high-pitched screams, the flailing, the real tears...it's all very much what I was warned about regarding the "toddler-years."  My sweet, adorable, considerate, often-too-kind little boy turns into a little monster on a daily basis.  

I know that once he figures out the pattern or, perhaps, once I can begin to force-feed him food - he'll be my sweet little Ezra again.  Mostly, I just relish the happy, smiley times.  And consistently remind myself that it's just a phase and that I'll have my little love back once it's all over :)

Here's my happy little man, at Playtown, going down the slide like the big boy that he is :)

Here he is, looking rather surprised.  He was playing with his friend and just happened to run up to me and this was taken seconds before he began a stream of "Ezra-talk." 

 Ez and his buddy on a walk/bike/firetruck ride through the neighborhood.

 Professor Ezra, at the zoo.

 Ezra, the paleontologist, at the zoo.

 Me and my Mini-Man, checking out my faves, the elephants.

 Easy-E and his buddy, Claire.

Ez, getting his cookin' on.

Fourth of July!

So, I'm a few days late posting these...but that seems to be my trend lately.  

On the morning of the 4th, we met up with a bunch of friends and participated in the Normal Heights Neighborhood 4th of July Parade!  It was so freakin cute.  Ridiculous.  All the kids were riding in their red-white-&-blue-decked-out strollers, bikes, trikes, pack & plays, etc.

We took Ez's Radio Flyer Fire Engine over and it ended up being perfect for the occasion :)

 It was impossible to get everyone in our group in one picture - we ended up spreading out as we headed down the parade route.

 Mama and Ez.  He kept waving at the people standing outside their homes...he's such a ham.

 He even let his buddy share his fire truck :)

 Afterwards, there were all kinds of sweets and things being passed out.  Naturally, Jordan grabbed an ice cream sandwich...and naturally, my obsessive child took it from him for a couple bites.  I'm telling you...this kid...

 AHHHHHH!  Sugar!

 Ezra-wrangling was necessary after the ice cream.  Kid went crazy.

Ez, signing "scared" for me.  Yes, I make him go through his signs just for fun.  Yes, I love the way he looks when he does this one.

 The kiddos, post-parade, pre-sugar-induced, past-naptime-meltdowns.

 He LOVES cars, dude.

After Ezra's nap, we packed up some food and toys and headed over to Bird Park to settle in and watch the fireworks.  Ez was pretty happy about the whole situation and really liked running around, butting into adults' games of catch, ladder ball, etc.

We got there around 4:30, knowing that we'd have to get there early enough for a decent spot for the fireworks at 9pm.  Lots of walks, soccer playing, car-pushing, wrestling, dancing, tantrum-avoiding-tickles took place during those hours ;-)

 There was even moment of snuggle time...

And some deep conversations...

 But soon enough, it was bounce-up-and-down-on-mom-until-she-admits-defeat-and-gets-back-up time.

So, it finally got dark....and at around 8:50, we started to get Ezra ready.  All excited.  He'd even learned to sign "fireworks" just for this.  We were ready.

 This was taken just after the giant firework-explosion...he kept signing "more!" and I was a little more than sad when I had to keep explaining that there wouldn't be any fireworks this year :(  We did wait it out, though, until about 9:45...then packed it up and went home.  By the time we got settled in, the local news had picked it up and was already talking about the giant ball of fireworks.  Apparently, it was ALL of them.  For the whole show.  All at once.  In 3 separate locations.  Crazy.

We still called it a win, as we got to spend almost every moment of the day outside and Ez even got to have a dance party with the little girl on the blanket next to us ;-)

Forgotten Photos

I tend to take a lot of pictures of my kid.  As you can tell.  

This means that I also forget to share them, despite knowing that my mother is just itching for daily documentation of Ezra's life.  

So, here's some pretty random pics.  Some of them have made it to the Facebook realm.  Others were just sitting patiently in iPhoto until I remembered that they existed.  Either way, here ya go.

Mr. Cool at the playground a couple days before we went to Maine...you know, he had to work on his tan before his big trip ;-)

I'm only kidding.  Really.  He wears sunscreen everyday.  I should buy stock in California Baby.

Climbing the big grassy hill at Petco Park.  It wasn't a game-day, so there were far less people hanging out, but Ez still had a good time watching some kids take batting practice in the kid's field.

A patient who has season tickets to the Padres gave Jordan tickets to a game.  Turns out, we were just a few rows up, directly behind 3rd base.  Pretty sweet.  And as you can tell by this picture, Ez really got into the game (for the first couple innings).  He clapped every time anyone in the crowd clapped and loved to see them hit the ball :)

 Here's Ez during one of our daily super-long walks.  We've been starting at Jordan's office and making our way to Balboa Park after a quick stop at the 6th Ave playground.  Ezra really likes the fountains.

I'm not entirely sure when this was...but I know it was before the trip to Maine.  Either way, this would be photographic evidence of Ezra's first Freebird.  He got a baby-bird, but mostly just wanted the tortilla chips. I know now to ask for them in a separate basket...so he doesn't even know they're there ;-)

E-Z-Rider picked out the wheels he wants for his bike...