Happy Thursday

 Owen had his first play dough experience the other day.  Hmm well I think he experienced it at preschool with Scott once before but I took it away quickly because he was eating it.

So this time he got to play (and eat a little) to his heart's content.  I did have to haul it out of his mouth regularly but once he got the hang of squishing it in his fingers he put it in his mouth less frequently.

And he loved sitting up at the table and doing something with Scott.

Later the same day I hid some new giant dinosaurs in the backyard bushes and let Scott hunt them down with his binoculars.  It was a blast.  And Scott was really good about sharing them with Owen.  And bonus, I have four more of these bad boys tucked away for a rainy day.  Gotta love great lakeshore finds!

We just got home from preschool and Owen is taking the greatest nap.  I love Thursdays (and tuesdays too, school days are awesome for tiring these two out).  I guess I should go do the dishes now...

Up

 Here is what we accomplished at the park today.

If big brother can climb UP the slide then so can little brother.

Stairs are for babies.

All the way to the top, all by himself

In case you are keeping track the kid is only 10 months old.  Oh and he can't walk yet.  I thought first steps would come before spiderman climbing.

My very own superhero

There are really no words necessary.  Scott's face says it all.

Mac n cheese dinner date with batman.  Lucky girl!

He literally has not taken it off since we got home.  He asked to sleep and bathe with it on by I convinced him batman took his mask off for those things.  He already asked if he can wear it to school (which isn't until next tuesday).  Also he's a little afraid of giants (go figure, not monsters, giants?!!?) and I told him to get something from his room he asked me "no giants in there right?" and I said "no giants, buddy.  But if there were no big because you are batman and you can take them.  He said, "oh yeah" and ran into his room fearless.

Scott also wanted Owen to have a mask, when I explained that Owen was too little for a mask, Scott said "that's ok, he can still be batman anyways".  

And last night:

 Superman, scaling tall buildings and flying.  (as soon as I walked in from work he yells: "hey mom, where is my cape?" - where's my super suit?, Incredibles?!!?!)  And I of course knew what he was talking about and exactly where it was.

Clark Kent

Even superheroes get tired.  My sweet ones asleep together.  I love how they are touching each other while they sleep.  So sweet and peaceful.

Mom genius

It is no secret that Scott is a picky eater.  Ugh.  How are you my child?  Vegetables and Scott are not friends.  Seriously, it breaks my heart.  So this smart mama (with the help of her smart mama and pinterest) started using the popsicle maker (the fancy instant one no less) to make "smoothie" popsicles. Scott LOVED this.  Spinach, avocado, banana, coconut milk, almond butter and dates! Genius, just genius.

Neighborhood hike

 I love where we live.  Love it.  We can literally walk 90 seconds to a trail head and we are off to explore.

Today was gorgeous and Scott's been asking to hike daily, so off we went.

Scott even took charge of walking Charlie (Papa was right with them the whole time just incase though)

Scott and Mimi found some great climbing trees.

Can't wait to explore our neighborhood hills some more!!!

Rant

I'm seeing a trend at a few of the local parks we frequent (thankfully not our neighborhood park).  These electronic games are popping up.  And I'm seriously unhappy about it.

I guess they are like memory/pattern/Simonesque games (I don't know I haven't played them) which require kids to push different buttons in sequence etc.  Great game.  Memory, movement...super.  I just don't see a need for it at a park.  Don't kids get enough electronic stimulation in every other aspect of the world?  The park should be a place to escape the noise, stimulation and technology.  Swings, slides, sand.  Ladders, monkey bars, bridges.  I kind of thought that was the formula.  No electronics needed.

Be outside.

Use your imagination.

Shame on you Thousand Oaks Parks Department for allowing these to go into our parks and to take away yet another place that kids should be using their imaginations and instead filling it with loud noise and lights.  Again, I'm not opposed to this type of game.  This is just not the place.  And great to tell parents to tell their kids not to play on them, but that is less realistic when they are spouting off loud noises and distracting young ears.  Kids flock to this stupid machine out of pure curiosity.

The parks department should be expecting a letter from this concerned and disappointed parent.  And we are crossing a few parks off our top 10 list.

Beach Magic

 I was in a bit of a funk today.  When Owen woke up from his nap (early) I asked Scott if he wanted to go to the park and he said no.  Huh?  Then I saw a friend posted a picture of their family at the beach on instagram and I thought why not.  And Scott was totally on board.  So off we went.

It was just what we needed.  The boys played happily in the sand for hours.

This guy was in heaven.  Warm sun.  Lots of toys.  Lots of sand.  And his brother.

I took the boys to the beach by my parents house and we parked in front of the house they rented nearly a year and half ago now.  The one where Scott and I spent about 3 weeks while I was pregnant with Owen during Brian's kitchen remodel.   I have many pictures from that October at this very spot with Scott looking much much younger.  Sweet and sad, its going by way too fast.

Owen: double fistin'.

I used the sand claws to draw out roads for Scott to drive his trucks over.

These two! Too cute!  I can't even deal.

Scott is such a good brother.  Always trying to help Owen.

 Acting crazy!

We ventured down to play in the waves towards the end of our day.  Owen had a pretty intense look on his face the whole time but I think he had fun, even when I dipped his pigs in the water.  I let him sit in the wet sand and when he would crawl toward the water or a wave would come Scott would come comfort him and say "its Ok Owen, I'm here, I'll protect you."  Then he tells me "its my job to protect my bruver".  I seriously die over their cuteness.

I put my camera up before we got too wet (smart mommy because we all got soaked) so I don't have any picture from the water play, but it was hilarious and so much fun.  Scott had the time of his life and was soaked from head to toe when we left.  All I had brought was jams for him to wear after we took a bath (we were going to mimi and papa's after) so we stripped naked and he rode to their house in dry chonies.

We left feeling refreshed and happy.  The beach definitely worked its magic on us today!

To the Zoo

We haven't been to the zoo in forever, so yesterday we finally coordinated with some friends to make a day trip to Santa Barbara.  I count this as Owen's first trip to the zoo because the last time he went I was still counting his age in weeks.

I got some great pictures of Owen "hatching" in the zoo park.  I think he had a blast.

This face says it all.

Owen playing with his bud Sebastian.  The big boys were going down the ant hill and never paused long enough for me to get a picture.  And whoops that I only had my phone to capture this day.

We've mastered the backpack wear.  Great way to see the zoo.  And what gorgeous day it was too!

We watched the giraffes on three different occasions and I think its safe to say they are Scott's favorite.  The lions live next door (the lions and giraffes can see each other actually, I think its kind of a tease for the lions to constantly be looking at edible animals, and I feel like it might keep the giraffes up night.) and at one point the lions started growling and roaring so we ran over to watch which also ended up being a highlight.

Hangin' with my boys.  Next time I will try for a smile.

Memorable moment:  During the lunch the big boys were done before the rest of us so they were running around in the trees nearby, when all of a sudden Elias calls out "mom, we found a bird" and comes running over with a dead bird in his hand.  UGH!  Scott told me he hadn't touched it, but I washed his hands like he had.

10 months...

 Two months from yesterday this guy will be one.  Freakin me out!

What's he up to these days?  Well he is still the happiest kid you'll ever meet.  He is always smiling, and lately he has taken to really smiling at people and flirting.  He's a charmer.  Watch out girls!

Owen is super fast crawler, especially when playing chase aka "imgunnagetchew".  That's probably his favorite pass time.  He cracks up when you say it and turns and crawls away as fast as he can.  He also loves to wrestle with Scott.  The two of them have started getting rough, much to my dismay and constant background commentary of "watch out for your brother", "gentle", "get off of him".  Last night they were wrestling after bath while I was getting them into jams and Scott head butted Owen causing him to fall backwards onto his head - I gasped, Owen could not have laughed harder.  He loved it and came back for more.  Lord help me!

Owen is still not a walker but he can surely cruise all over the furniture and anywhere as long as he has a walking toy.

He has 5 teeth and I'm pretty sure he is working on a few more as we speak.  Happily for everyone involved, Owen doesn't seem to run high fevers with each tooth anymore (knock on wood).  His last tooth came through with nothing more than a sleepless night.  He is putting those pearly whites to good use by eating up a storm.  We are still mostly on purees but there is almost nothing he hasn't tried.  He seems to not care for butternut squash and he absolutely would not touch the blueberry and banana puree I made after the first time he tried it, first time love, ever since HATE! I have given him little bits of cucumber which he LOVES and little bits of banana which he hates (which makes me think just blueberry puree would be a hit).

Miscellaneous facts:  Owen LOVES to dance.  Loves!  He dances all day!  Beyond cute.  Anytime music comes on he rocks back and forth and smiles so big it looks like his cheeks are going to pop.  Also I think he signed "more" to me the other night at dinner.  He did the same motion on two occasions when it would have been appropriate.  But he hasn't done it since so maybe not. Does this make me that mom who thinks their kid is so advanced?  Probably.  Either way I think he rocks!  And we have also mastered the backpack wearing in the ergo carrier and he is loving the view.  It was kind of a necessity as he still comes with me when I work in Scott's classroom on Thursdays, this way Owen gets to watch everything and I get to have my hands even more free to help out.  Win win!

Love this little mr. mcweetums! Isn't he delicious?!!??!

California snow suit

It's flippin' freezing here!  Temps below freezing over night and in the 30's and 40's during the days.  These California babies don't know what to make of this cold!  Plus its super sunny out so Scott cannot for the life of him figure out why I make him put on jacket, hat and shoes before we go outside (until we get outside and he realizes how cold it is).  And since we only get weather like this maybe four days a year we don't invest in the attire.  So my boys are wearing footie jams 24/7 layered with hoodies and beanies when we go outside.  And that my friends is a California style snow suit!

After this particular park outing pictured we came home for hot chocolate and for the first time ever Scott got marshmallows in his.  (If you are interested, for Scott I just heated up chocolate almond milk and he was none the wiser, still dairy free for this kid).  And it should be noted: I LOVE how Scott pronounces it "hot chic-witt".  So cute! Part of me wants him to never grow out of it, but I know he will, way too fast!

Happy winter!

Superman's Mom

We play a lot of superhero around here lately.  Fun.  And hilarious.  Here is an example:  today Scott had on his superman jams (which he calls his batman jams) around 3pm (we are that family, don't judge).  He said "I'm batman, daddy is Superman and you are a rescuenaut." (astronaut, but sometimes he confuses that word with other things).  And I asked what Owen was, Scott said, "A Rhino".  So there you have it:  Superman, Batman, a rescuenaut and a Rhino....walk into a bar....

And just for my memory purpose Scott was trying to remember the words to "Slippery Fish" in the bathtub tonight and when we got to "octopus" he stopped for a second, thought, then exclaimed: "OH yeah, OCTOFISH!" LOL! For real!

{gf} banana bread

I started using the recipe about 6 months ago and figured it was high time I posted it so that a) you all could enjoy it should you choose and b) so that I don't ever lose it.

1 jar (16oz) raw almond butter (I use Trader Joe's)

4 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

~ 1/4 c. of  honey (or agave but I'm not a fan); also I have never measured this I just guestimate

* blend those ingredients together then add mix ins

My favorite mix ins (which in my mind make it banana bread, without bananas its really not banana bread, so I guess up til now its just a great basic muffin mix)

2 bananas sliced up

walnuts

dark chocolate pieces 

I never measure these either.

Bake in either muffin tins (~20 mins) or mini bread pans (~25mins) @ 350

They are insanely good and addicting!  My favorite part is not only are they gluten free but completely grain free (which is something I'm experimenting with right now out of necessity).

Hope you enjoy!

Friday Fun & Bonus Material (in no particular order)

I hate when I upload pictures a certain way and they don't show up like that.  And today, I'm not fixing it.  So first off, our couch arrived.  Merry Christmas to us.  Its so comfy and we love how it turned out.  I was a little nervous about the navy blue in the weeks after we ordered it.  I have never gone dark like this, we have always had some variation of beige/neutral, so this was definitely outside the box for us.  And I'm so glad we did it.  Plus I'm sold on the dark already with two boys and a black dog I think the dark will make it look newer longer.

Now we go out of order completely.  Here is Owen enjoying his empty starbucks cup....I will pick up more of the friday fun story later on.

Driving to meet our friends at the library, we passed the street that we would turn on to get to the country club where Brian and I got married.  Awwwe sweet memories!

Yesterday before our adventure Owen took a two hour nap, in his crib, by himself, WHOA BABY.  So Scott and I had some fun in his pop up tent.

A few days ago, this mess happened.  Bright colored messes bring me joy.  These two boys bring me the most joy!

Oh and I pulled a muscle in my shoulder (anterior deltoid if you care).  So I have been icing every hour and "resting" it as much as possible.  Hard to rest a shoulder when you have 20 and 30 lb. children who need to be picked up frequently.

Wednesday (? I think) we went up to Mimi and Papa's and went for a hike (on which I took zero pictures, but mimi did so maybe I will get some from her eventually).  Then we came back and played in the backyard where Owen had an absolute ball in the cozy coupe (both pushing it and riding in it).  Parker and Scott were riding the tricycle and scooter and Owen really felt like one of the big boys riding around with them!

Speaking of outside the box....here is our chalk board inspiration of the month!

While he is not a true walker yet, Owen can definitely cruise on furniture or with a push toy (as seen below).  This day he walked back and forth across the yard at least 5 times. 

Back to friday funday, we met the Richie gals at the library where we played by the fountain, read tons of books, ate an amazing gluten free pizza from fresh brothers, went to starbucks for a yummy treat and just had an all around good time.

The biggest littles enjoying their banana smoothie from starbucks (can be made dairy free, I think the kiddos just love their special grown up cup with the green straw)

Happy weekend friends!