Sneaky and determined

I left Sam downstairs for a minute to change clothes and bring down laundry. He cried shortly, then quieted.  I assumed he was playing.  After a minute I heard a baby grunt, closer than I expected.  I ran to the hall.

He had pushed aside the gate and made it halfway up!  I'm standing on the step he was on.  This boy is testing my vigilance!

Halloween

It's not even August, and yet every day Jack tells me he has decided what he wants to be for Halloween.  Sometimes several times a day.  So far from this week:

• Spiderman
• Batman
• a Knight
• a Dragon
• a Dinosaur
• Construction Worker
• a King

There are many more I can't remember from earlier this year.  I tell him "Oh?  Sounds good! Good idea!" and remind him that in October he will make the final decision.  Each idea is always "Definitely" for him.

No Peekaboo

Sam has started to do Peekaboo himself by putting his arm over his eyes.  It's totes adorable.  Too bad I couldn't get him to do it on camera.  Here's the outtakes.

Date night!

We had a lovely time out together sans children.  First was dinner at the hot new Sushi Den location in Denver, Izakaya Den.  The food was great, the restaurant pretty (loved the live bamboo encircling the staircase, growing two stories tall).  But it was crazy noisy, rushed, and the table next to us was full of loud, drunk fifty year olds behaving rudely.  Ugh.  Still, Ben enjoyed his miso soup, tempura, and ramen bowl.  I had a delicious melon and Serrano ham salad with basil and watercress, and wagyu beef sashimi. Sorry, no pics.

The good thing about the rushed service was we had time for dessert!  We drove across town to High Point Creamery for their flight of ice cream, where you can sample five of their flavors, with garnishes and sauce.

Salty dog chocolate, basil blackberry swirl, mango coconut lassi, mint chocolate bark, and simply strawberry.  So good!

 It was a sweet ending to a wonderful, rainy evening.

Weekend life

Bumps

A new record?  Center green bruise, right forehead lump, and the left sided triplet of red marks (individually acquired) at hairline, brow, and cheek. 



Poor guy! 

More GJ photos

Sam goes gaga over animals.  Natasha tolerated him well. 



Dinner on the patio Sunday night.  Jack served himself proudly: bread for every compartment.










Bells bells bells!


Before leaving the valley I stopped at the Palisade Insectary to buy bindweed mites for Ben.  Jack complained of the smell the whole time we were there.  (Rotting potatoes and bleach, according to the scientist who said hello.)

First word?

I reviewed my first word post on Jack, and again I'm not sure whether to say Sam has his.



As I said on his 10 month post, he's been saying "mom" at me for a while.  But he also says it for other reasons, so I'm not sure what to make of it today.

Today he said "Ba!" when I pulled out a favorite ball.  My mom says he was saying "ba" in the pool this morning when we played with balls too.  So maybe?  Who knows?

Happy Birthday Dad!

vacaaaation

It's almost 10 am and I'm in my jammies still, feet up, browsing the internet.  Sam is napping, Jack is shopping with Grandma.  It's  . . . quiet.  So very quiet.  For some time now.

Ahh.  Lovely.

New this week

Just odds and ends here.  I had to reorganize my room to make it more baby friendly.  Geez, this kid gets into EVERYTHING.

We bought an all-access pass to the Arvada Apex center and I love it.  I can exercise any time I want, dump the kids in their daycare (fee included), and take any classes.  I've done pilates and zumba so far, and spent some time just running and doing calisthenics on my own.  I love the free daycare thing.  Not only do I want to exercise and get healthier, but if I ever need a mental break, I can drop them off and then sit in their hot tub, or read or whatever.

This weekend we are going to GJ for my dad's birthday and some more pool time.  Jack is SO excited.  I forgot to give him short notice.  He mentions it several times a day.

Sometimes I feel so "mom."  This was one of those times.

Glamour Shots

While looking for some old photos to frame I came across this beauty



It had to be shared, right?  This was Amanda's gift to me on my twelfth birthday.  Wow. So glamour. Much denim.

Weekend Friends

Last weekend was an oasis of friendship.  I realized I don't talk to many adults.  Sure, there are librarians and retail workers, teachers and church members.  But I don't have many friends and I rarely see them anyway.

First I went to Amanda's book club on Thursday.  Amanda hosted, and played the part perfectly.  Her food was delicious, plentiful, and interesting.  The room was packed with lovely ladies and the conversation flowed.

Then the starring event: Miranda came to visit!!!  Holy crap, I miss that girl.

We did the Baker neighborhood by having brunch at Atomic Cowboy, then lusting over colors and textures at Fancy Tiger.





Some quiet visiting.




Then I went to my first concert at Red Rocks - The Avett Brothers.  Miranda is a HUGE fan of them.  I definitely see their appeal.  They were fabulous performers.  I liked a lot of the songs they did.  Their variety in sound is impressive and fun; some bluegrass, some hard rock, some folksy, some punk.



I'm not into music.  It's fine and all, necessary to make dancing happen, and that's all good.  But I'm not the type to study to it, clean to it, cling to it, or attend concerts.  My first show was at the end of high school (Collective Soul at CU Coors Stadium).  My last one was maybe 2007 (Neko Case at Boulder Theater). Probably fewer than 10 concerts in total.  I find them too loud, too stinky, too long, too crowded, too expensive, and the sound is always worse than the albums.

While Red Rocks was crowded and stinky (SO much pot), it was such a beautiful, bizarre place to see a show that the novelty made it fun.  Plus like I said, the Avett Brothers were really good.  Most every concert I've seen they just play their music.  These guys were dancing and shredding cellos and banjos all over the stage, with a well put together lighting design.

Before we got to the amphitheater it started pouring rain.  It continued on and off from 6:30 to 10pm, before finally stopping for the last hour.  Between the rain and the hike into the theater, I declared this the most camping I have done in the past decade, so I should be good to avoid nature for another ten years.

The next day was not nearly so exciting, with a pleasant lunch and a trip to Ikea.  Miranda packed up her kids for the long drive home yesterday.  It makes me blush that I whine about driving my guys to SLC.  She recently finished a trip to Seattle too.  That's a lot of car time for anyone, even without two kids in tow.

I miss her already, but it's nice to have friendships you can pick up again as if you never left.  Hopefully next time we can see Nate too, and meet in between our home states. 

Morning games

Sam is 10 months old

Sam had a rough day today.  He has a cold, as evidenced by copious boogers and puffy eyes and sleepiness.  He got a big head bonk yielding a purply bump (though a daily occurrence, head bonks are sad).  In a poopy diaper change I found an alphabet bead like this (the letter "V") that he must have found in my craft room while I was printing Red Rocks concert tickets.  Yuck and ow.

 

But he's still a funny kiddo.  Now that mobility has been achieved, he's always on the move.  He crawls with one leg tucked and one foot stepping forward.  Sort of a monkey scoot.  He "pyramids" and gets up on hands and feet, trying to dog walk.  Crawling quickly escalated into cruising. He has bruises all over his body from bumps and falls.

Social interactions are coming along.  He sort of waves bye bye.  He claps and plays patty cake. He knows the signs for "more" and "all done."  I'd been working on "all done" for weeks.  He finally, clearly signed it while shopping at Target.  He saw me get out my phone, then put it away.  With a look of desperation he slapping his hands together saying "momomomomomom!!!"  Of course I had to reward him :-)

 

Sleep was better.  He was going several nights in a row from 7pm to 5:30am.  The fever last week and the cold this week and the teething in between have messed us up again.  I hope he can get back on schedule soon.  He also takes regular naps, one around 8:30 and another at 1:30.

He LOVES cats and dogs.  Squeals with excitement when he catches Jem's attention.  Also still crazy for his brother, obviously. 

The latest craze is putting one thing inside of another thing.  All toys and bowl like objects are experimented with.

Growing like crazy and capturing my heart!

Family portait

Look at this amazing picture Jack drew of our family!

He says we are in a picture frame. Dad is holding all of us, and I am holding Sam in my arms.

Just cruisin'