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.

Happy Birthday!

The quality of a father can be seen in the goals, dreams and aspirations he sets not only for himself, but for his family.

- Reed Markham, American Educator

Happy birthday Dad! (It's one of the big ones and he has worked oh-so-hard to get there. I am proud of him.)

p.s. That's my sweet baby and her Nonno one year ago, she's wearing his baptismal gown in those shots. Wait, what?! How has it been a year?

New favorite books

Mila's favorite books of late, in no particular order:

A Ride on Mother's Back: A Day of Baby Carrying Around the World
Catch That Baby! can you tell my kiddo has a baby obsession?
A Nonna recording of Goodnight Moon
Love You Forever (she sings along with me during the "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always..." part, going aaaaahhhh aaaaahhhh aaahhhhh ahhhhh. That means so much because it was a favorite book passed down from my mom. I even have my old copy from 1985!)
Good Night, Gorilla  she thumps her chest like a gorilla and shouts aaaaaahhh! in a different way than the singing ahh's.
The Life and Times of Mila H. W.

The last one is a book I made for Mila on Pinhole Press. Did you see that article on custom storybooks in the December issue of Martha Stewart Living, like 2 weeks before Christmas the way I did? Did your jaw drop in the middle of the checkout line at Joann's like mine did? So I did what any crazy, I'll-sleep-when-I-die mama would do, I spent the next 3 nights making my girl a storybook chronicling some of the highlights of her first year. Here is the book and a few of my favorite pages from it:

Sweet just doesn't describe the scene as Mila pulls out her book over and over again, lighting up when she those images. More customized storybooks to come (says the mama who continues her I'll sleep when I die! battle cry).

Our long weekend in Lake Tahoe

Note that this was not this past weekend, but the weekend before. In other words, the weekend before 8 inches of fresh powder blanketed Tahoe and all the ski resorts and other local tourism rejoiced.

Ah. Well, it would have been nice to wake up in our cozy cabin to a blanket of fresh snow outside, but I'll just have to settle for waking up to my sleepy milk monster.  Best consolation prize ever, no? At least a few ski resorts were making snow and we did get some sledding in. Mila had a ball nibbling on bits of snow (I tried to make sure it was clean, I really tried). Sledding, not so much. I don't think it was so much the speed that did her in, but rather the kicked-up watery snow that her face seemed to be a magnet for. At first she signed 'more' but by the second day we were the ones walking with our screaming banshee down the hill, nervous that we were dangerously treading into Toddlers and Tiaras territory.

-things I forgot to pack: my jacket (!!!WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!), sleep sheep (again, stupid), socks. I need packing training. Checklists or something.

So in the absence of sleep sheep we desperately downloaded 'baby sleep sounds' on itunes. Steve had it on a loop but all of a sudden we hear the first few notes to Gold Digger...you know, she take ma money, when I'm in neeeeeeeed...yeah she's a triflin' friend indeeeeeeeed...oh she's a gold diggah. I just about choked on whatever junk food I was devouring (twizzlers, oreos, doritos, take your pick) as Steve moved faster than I had ever before seen him in order to shut that Kanye up. Sorry Kanye, a lullabye master you are not.

Christmas 2011

I know Christmas was so 2011 and everyone's moved on, but I am as usual late to the game and want to post a few pictures from ours. I loved our Christmas, both the first one with just us and the second with my parents (hoping to merge the two this year!). Christmas was pure magic to me growing up and nothing is more rewarding than to watch that same magic unfold before your children's eyes. What a way to end the year. 

Christmas, 2011

 

Mila made me play google's jingle bells no less than 28 times in a row.


Mila got frustrated at something (I can't remember what now, it was probably something like me not letting her have the wrapping scissors or something) and in a fit of frustration, hitting a box, then hitting the Christmas tree, and then --stopping short upon seeing me, walking over and giving me an I'm sorry kiss. And sidenote, how long does this hitting phase last?


Mila and I went on a Christmas Eve bike ride, first one in months, for some much needed fresh air. A good beach walk and some driftwood put us in a better mood since I was scrooging that Steve had to work.


Being the last one in the house to go to bed and looking back at the tree with all its glorious presentscape one last time, I felt...blessed. Not from all the material and tangible things that were in the room, but because of all the love we had put into making this moment special. 

Wugs walked out into the living room to find presents piled up in a bubble wonderland (and that image seared into my mind is all I'll ever need).


I loved the simplicity of the handprint salt dough ornament Mila "made" for the Papa (despite under duress).

Mila's first painting is forever commemorated on canvas. It was her present to Steve, is already hung up and we stare at it constantly. I only wish that were an exaggeration--proud parents.


Alameda's Christmas Tree Lane all decked out. We didn't see it on Christmas, but it was one of our favorite Christmasy activities we ended up doing. Mila The Red-Caped Beauty danced at the houses that played music from their displays.

Wugs loved and appreciated the two soft dolls I made her...both are sleeping with her in the crib, per request, as I type this (along with 14 other dolls/softies/lovies but hey).


I think wrapping presents is my favorite part now, thanks confetti! Fewer things are more satisfying then taking your prez with the double-sided tape design, dumping a big bowl of confetti on top, and then shaking off the excess. Glorious. Try it!

 Steve got in on the Christmas present making with not one but two gifts for Wugs. The first was inspired by this...the 2nd was a little treasure trunk in which he painted on a few beloved dadas (obviously a hit.)


A new favorite book around here -- We Are In a Book! Not Mila's favorite. Steve's. It is read aloud, and often.

I did think of something more satisfying. Seeing the name Wugs on a pajama butt.