Monday, August 17, 2009

20 Months and counting....




Illustration by Alison Jay


2 days ago, on the 15th of August, Henry turned 20 months, and also said his first 3 word sentence! We were out on the back porch and he pointed to the sky and said, "I see Moon!" Lo and behold, although it was still light out, there it was. Henry has been very interested in spotting the moon everywhere we go. One of his favorite books right now is a new one we just bought called, ""I Took the Moon For A Walk". It's very sweet, and has really great illustrations.

Henry has been having a word explosion this past month, and has also been picking up sign language. He's become addicted to this video series called Signing Time, and he can do over a dozen signs. It's incredible how much it's boosted his vocabulary, and helped minimize some of his frustration when he's trying to tell us something. There was a phase when all he'd say was "uh uh uh" and point helplessly to everything in sight. It used to be this huge guessing game, but over the past couple of months we've definitely closed that gap.








Illustration by Ed Emberley



Henry's Top 5 favorite books of the month:

1. Drummer Hoff by Barbara & Ed Emberley
2. I Am A Bunny by Richard Scarry
3. I Took The Moon For A Walk by Carolyn Curtis & Alison Jay
4. Cars and Trucks by Richard Scarry
5. I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss & Mary Blair






Monday, August 10, 2009

JUNE-JULY 2009




Henry & Kyle

















We all took a trip out to Ventura to visit our friends Heather, Hume, and their son Bastian. We had a nice day at a playground by the seaside, but not without incident. With the prophetic last words from Nicole, "make sure he doesn't get wet" since Henry was in full clothes, I walked Henry along the seashore. We got a little too close to the ocean, trying to dodge the waves. I actually tripped from the force of the undertow, sending Henry face first into his first taste of salt water. Yeah, I felt like a jerk of a dad, and Henry felt pretty wet. I guess all good days must come to an end.





The top food pick of the month...Smooothie! It's been a pretty hot summer, so this cool treat was a no brainer. cool treat. Henry has also become a finicky eater, so we've been sneaking in a lot of greens into his smoothies. It's really quick and easy. Literally throw it all in a blender, and presto. Liquid Lunch!

*Basic ingredients: 2-3 Icecubes, 1/2 cup Milk, 1/2 cup Yogurt, handful of mixed fruit (frozen or fresh berries, plus add 1/2 a Banana for more sweetness), and then any leafy greens of choice...they'll never know what hit them! (a handful of baby spinach has been working well for us). Optional ingredients: 1 Tbl of Honey, 1 scoop of Brown Rice Protein powder or a Tbl of peanut butter (or almond butter). Makes 2 servings! YUM!!!!


There's a new Peekaboo Playland that just opened over on Colorado, right near The Coffee table. I've never been to the original location, but I hear this is one is much bigger. It's got huge, loft sized ceilings, with spacious natural light that comes in off the street and from the skylights. There's a couple of rooms off of the main floor, a kitchen and a reading room, so you can get away from the din of reverb when it gets a bit loud and busy with kid traffic.














Pajama time with Henry & Inga! Lately he's been into wearing towels around the house, keeping in the fashion styles of little Edie from Grey Gardens, or maybe he's off to do some dragon fighting.











By the power of greyskull....


Hanging out with Molly








Henry bear hugging/smothering Olive, our incredibly submissive, patient cat.


Rehearsing for that Carnegie Hall standing ovation.





Jumping into the pool with mommy @ The Rose Bowl, Pasadena.


Henry & Keaton


Chilling out in the reading nook.


Save the sharks...and the brooms!


Henry's favorite ride of the day...Dumbo! I might add, this was on my birthday, and Henry's first time experiencing DisneyLand. It was on a Monday, but still pretty crowded. We waited in line for the Dumbo ride for about 45 mins, but Henry was so excited, he enjoyed every 4 minutes of the ride while it lasted.


A personal favorite ride of mine, It's A Small World. I feel like I'm inside Wayne Coyne's head when I ride through here, slipping through the seamless psychodelic segways of children singing from different nationalities, the same song, over and over. I can't get enough!





Just a small aside, I am not really pro Disney, but we got a chance to get some free passes, so I thought, why not? I think for all the waiting in lines and walking around, for the few hours we were there, I think Henry got just enough of a taste to enjoy it.








Outside on the grounds near the La Brea Tarpits, Father's Day.














Zimmer Children's Museum, Father's Day.


Tiny Tot's Gym, Montrose.











A surprise package from Becky....Balls!


Our friend Heather gave us this totally rad hand me down camouflage vest for Henry. The boots just seal the deal.


Naya's Garden, Silverlake.











Under The Sea Playground, Burbank.













Our friend Eric Cooper, the famous actor!


G'nite!