Happy Valentine's Day

I think Valentine's Day should be a reminder to tell the people you love exactly that in your words and actions. I hope they feel that every day, though, and not just today. Valentine's Day, every day! My little family makes my world and I feel very blessed.

Our weekend

We had a Mila and Mama weekend since Steve worked both Saturday and Sunday. And we

...fingerpainted.
...made cinnamon pull-apart bread. Delicious and I think I like it even better than cinnamon rolls. But baking with a toddler requires a whole new skillset than cooking, I've realized. I'm convinced it can be easier but I have to do some things differently next time.
 ...begged Mila to just give me another 30 minutes to sleep. She gave me 15 and then the gig was up.
...explored the Botanical Gardens at Tilden where Mila thoroughly enjoyed herself throwing pebbles and attempting to clean every single plant identification marker with a baby wipe.
...I did it; I sewed my first article of clothing. A skirt for Mila. Holy crap ( it is far from perfect but you have to start somewhere, no?).
...read A Ride on Mother's Back: A Day of Baby Carrying Around the World 492 times. And by read I mean I would turn to a page, eek out a sentence before Wugs would slam it shut, then demand for me to "read" it again. Aaaaaaand again.
...read Carry Me, Babies Everywhere 489 times, same way as above.
...ate dinner by the light of our ice lantern.
...sewed another quick heart garland for M's teepee, stripey.
...painted my toenails red and sparkly.
...got all dressed up for church...
...and since we were 25 minutes late pulling into the parking lot I made the arbitrary decision to play at the park instead.
...so we went on the swings (you push her so high! one mother said to me. Well, she's a daredevil, this Miss Wugs), played in the sand, and watched the tennis players.
...appreciated Marmousch being supportive when I confessed that we had played hooky from church.
...went on a Mila and Mama date to a bagel shop where we sat in their courtyard, ate our bagel sammiches and watched the BART train whiz by. 
...made red playdough together and I tried to get Mila to keep the pink glitter confined to the storage bin she was playing in.
...made cream of mushroom soup since Steve would never, ever eat that. (I take full advantage when he's gone to eat food he hates--like mushrooms or smoked salmon.) Wugs gobbled up that soup. I'm so proud!
...decided to stop cursing the fact that we live in a 2nd floor apartment since Mila's getting really good at going up and down stairs. She probably wouldn't be getting practice like that if our apartment was on the ground floor. 

At least baby can't say no.

So this is what I do now. I dropped everything when I saw this ear warmers DIY on pinterest last week to make Wugs something cute to cover her noodle (never mind that it has been so warm here that we are in shorts, fan on, windows open- no really!). She loves my headbands, digs any amount of frou-frou dress-up that we can get ourselves into--she loves to say and wear her tata, translation tutu in Wugsspeak. So quirky ear warmers* equals a home run, right?

Unfortunately, my unpredictable monkey wouldn't even let me put the finished ear warmer around her head to snap a picture. I tried. I really tried. Not even Baby wearing said ear warmers could entice Mila to follow suit. Relinquished to the dress-up drawer in the hopes that someone will have a change of heart. Sigh.

*For what it's worth the ear warmers were so easy peasy to make, even for a clumsy sewer like me. That won't be the last thing I make on Prudent Baby, I'm sure. And pom-poms, well they are just too fun. I highly recommend pom-pom making (I use my hand!), instant mood boost :)

Feeding goats and watching airplanes

Oh, the places we will go. When your daughter with the sparkly eyes maa's like a goat (not to be confused with her baa's, mind you) and does airplane wings and a neeeeeeeawwwwww (that is the best airplane phonetic sound I can muster) each time she hears one flying overhead...well. You try to make these things happen.

Breakfast of champions.

My breakfast this morning was my usual delicious cappuccino and a slice of this delicious shaker lemon pie. I finally did it. This pie. Keeper!

Every year around this time I walk by the meyer lemons in the produce section and think I should buy some and see what all the fuss is about but then talk myself out of it because I haven't planned ahead and don't want them going to waste. I always resolve to go home and find a meyer lemon recipe to try for next week...and never do. This happens every year, and then that short little meyer lemon window closes and I still haven't seen what all the fuss is about.

So last week I was at our grocery store and saw those meyer lemons. You guys are coming home with me! So with Wugs papoosed to my front in the ergo we reached in the bin and didn't stop until we had pulled out 16. Sixteen! And off we went back home, Mila dreaming about cats and babies and me dreaming about all the meyer lemony things I was going to make.

First up was the above Shaker Lemon pie. Oh my gosh. Win. (I went with her pie crust 102 recipe and it was so perfect...and easy...that it's going to be my go-to crust recipe here on out.) Then I attempted meyer lemon curd that was going wonderfully until I ignored the phrase careful not to let it boil. My poor burned curd...I will be making you again, my pretty. More meyer lemons are already on the shopping list for next week.

While we're talking about breakfast here was Mila's that same day. Wugs never used to be a big breakfast eater except for scrambled eggs (but scrambled eggs every day? That gets old.) and then I stumbled upon a great combination she was actually into. Homemade granola (I have loved this recipe since SouleMama first posted it, but Wugs also gave her seal of approval to this one) with a little milk, then whole wheat toast with jam that she (sorta tries to) lather on herself with a small spatula. Oh my plum puddin' girl. Just look at her.

Next up in my 2012 Meyer Lemon Fever are linguine with meyer lemon zest, creme fraiche and parmesan cheese from Cooking for Mr. Latte and a meyer lemon aioli to go with some veggies for superbowl snacking. I made a forgettable meyer lemon buttermilk cake last night (still ate it though. Ha!). Who knew that 16 wouldn't be enough?!

This is...winter?

It's been glooooorious here in northern California these last few days. Sunny, not cold, not hot, just right. How could we not spend our weekend outside? We headed to Tennessee Valley which is a favorite spot of mine in the North Bay but almost a little too popular, especially on weekends. That trail was crowded. Wugs loves stranger danger attention though, so she reveled in all of the attention coming her way. Compliments on her mocs, her eyes, her smile, her airplane imitation, whatever--she eats it all up. Ham. Like her papa.

In other exciting news, Mila has discovered her shadow. Let the imaginary friendships begin!

p.s. You know that saying It's not about the destination, it's about the journey? Nothing illustrates that point better than hiking with a toddler. We never even made it to the beach on our hike since Wugs became fascinated with all the sticks and leaves on the ground (I swear she gets out daily) and was sitting every 20' ;)

At the table.

As of last Wednesday, a little change has occurred in the Weibel household. That's right...

hello booster seat! Goodbye, high chair. My big girl. I still remember the first day we sat her in that high chair to eat solids for the first time...her eyes dancing and full of excitement because she seemed to just know this was a big deal. The end of something from Mila's babyhood is, as always (does it get any less magnified the more kids you have?), a mix of sadness and excitement. It does help that the high chair was a royal pain to keep clean--I swear there were magnets in the crevices to attract caked-on food. It also helps that in the last month Wugs decided she very much enjoyed standing in her high chair and climbing onto the flimsy tray. Lil bugger.

And it's hard to be too sad about the whole high chair sayonara for very long when you see this little big person sitting at the table with the grown-ups. I love this girl.

Also gonna brag for a second here...Mila's eating has been awesome lately (before you hate, know that she still does not consistently sleep through the night...we just stay tired 'round here). Nowadays I can get her to eat just about anything. Some foods she's had and enjoyed of late (i.e. signed for more over and over): olives, pomegranate, mushrooms, tuna fish, chickpeas, lentils, beets (beets!), sole, cabbage, ...she gobbles up vegetables and can't get enough of fruit. Steve puts his foot down at giving her oysters and sushi but I am just counting down the days, friends! My foodie partner in crime has arrived!

Of course I realize that by putting this out there, tomorrow Mila is going to turn into Miss Picky once again. I know how this mommy thing works, y'all--I know that the second you get used to something then BAM, the whole game changes on you. At least I now have proof that at this point in time she was a rockstar foodie.