One Gorilla and a Peanut's view of mommy

I picked up this book at the library without even flipping through it.

I was in a rush and was drawn to the cover illustration.

You can't tell because of the lighting but the pictures are bright, clear and vivid.

The author/illustrator uses watercolors and the result is amazing.

The book is called One Gorilla: A Counting Book by Anthony Browne

It starts as a simple counting book.

Simple in that it's a counting book, but I seriously didn't know the names of half these animals.

Peanut can now identify Macaques in a line-up of monkeys.

And then we get here and I start wondering if lemurs are monkeys.

But then John Mellencamp pops up and declares us all one big primate family!

This is a self-portrait of Anthony Browne, the author but does it remind anyone else of Mellencamp?

So here is where the book gets really fun.

We look at all the different people and ask Peanut which ones look most like our family.

The green circles are who I thought Peanut would pick for mommy and daddy.  

The blue arrows are the pictures that Peanut picked.

We all agreed on Peanut as the little Asian boy in the bottom right corner.

I thought the Asian man with glasses would be B but the one Peanut picked made sense also.

But who do you think Peanut picked for me??

Take a good look.

I know there isn't really a good match for me but I assumed

either a woman with dark hair or an Asian girl.

I was so very wrong.

Every. single. time. Peanut picks this lady.

Is it the red lipstick?  I do love red lipstick, although lets admit that the blue eyeshadow is overkill.

B tries to make me feel better by saying it's the big smile.

What is it about this lady that resembles me…

or have I looked like a blonde crackhead all these years and never even known it?

True Story

Exactly.

Peanut's Promotion

We're finally here!

It's been 2 years and several pregnancies but the 3rd time's a charm!

I'll be 13 weeks on Sunday and everything is looking perfect!
We are very excited!

I'll tell you all about it as soon as I stop throwing up.  ;)

SeaWorld: Dolphins, Dirty Looks & a Drenched Boy

Hello friends, join me on this lovely photographic journey of a day at SeaWorld...

a wonderland of toddler emotions.

Between the excitement of being with cousins, and the constant over-stimulation of an amusement park, it's amazing we made it out without any meltdowns.

Attitude, definitely.  Meltdowns?  Only by mommy.

The Dolphin Show.

You see, shows are odd for toddlers because we sit in venues that look as if something exciting might happen and we wait for 15 minutes before anything does.

That's the equivalent of spending six toddler months just looking around and trying to figure out what in the world we are supposed to be watching..

But then the dolphins show up and you're all like....

OMYGAWD!  DOLPHINS!

I was super impressed that someone was able to train these dolphins to flip over and splash the crowd with their tails.

Peanut was insistent that it was his turn to do it next.

He wanted to sit next to that lady with the tarp.

Which makes me wonder, why do you sit in the designated soak zone and then cover your legs with a flimsy blue poncho?

Dylan was mesmerized.

Either that or he was calculating how to get out of there before he got splashed.

Riding two dolphins is not nearly as graceful or feminine as one might think but she is quite talented.

This was also something that Peanut insisted was his turn next.

This is when we buy stinky fish, wait, we didn't buy that- thank you to whatever auntie or uncle got that for Peanut!- and we try to feed the seals that are fed all day, every day.

As you can see, these guys aren't exactly racing to the edge to receive their treats.

The only logical thing to do is pelt the noisy beasts with your fish.

I'm pretty sure they're just yelling at him and not trying to eat the fish.

Unless you can find this bird.  He wants all the fish and he's not afraid to step on a seal to get to it.

Cousin love.

This was a hug.  Or a tackle.

It depends on how much space you give them and how much energy you have.

If you're tired or hot and you think it might be a tackle but noone is screaming yet, you can call it a hug and actively ignore it.

But really, this was a hug.

The Shamu show starts at 1 pm.

1 pm = Nap time

After a weekend of excitement and random schedules and noise and food and whatnot, naps are important BUT it's Shamu.

We had a whole group and you can't miss the shamu show.

So we did what every parent in this situation does.  We hype it up.

LOOK PEANUT!  IT'S A WHALE!

I look at him with that frozen excitement face plastered on.

You know, the one that involves raising your eyebrows and shoulders, mouth open in a wide grin in the hopes of getting some kind of reciprocation.
I know you're mimicking it right now.
Your excitement face doesn't seem to me working either.

WOW!  LOOK AT THOSE WHALES JUMPING AND FLIPPING!

AREN'T THEY AMAZING!

HAHAHA!  AREN'T THEY SILLY!

.................

AND SPINNING, BABY!  SEE THE WHALES SPINNING!

I clap my hands wildly, snap a few pictures and give him the excitement face again.

Um, what?

This is either the look angry celebrities give the paparazzi for jumping out from behind a bush for a surprise this unwanted picture of you will be on tomorrow's cover
  OR
he's making an obscene gesture.

You call it.

But then some Gangnam Style song came on and I guess he couldn't help but pound his fist to the beat.

He has never, to my knowledge, been exposed to this music.

I'll be honest,
I found his immediate response a bit alarming.
















Of course, daddy decided to go on a big ride with his cousins.
I knew the only way to keep him from a meltdown was the water play area.

This kid LOVES the water.

As you saw HERE.

I kinda wish that you couldn't see this area from all the kiddie rides.
It's hard to keep him away and not something I want to do repeatedly through the day.

But did you see that kid's face?

I cannot resist it.

And 15 minutes later.

Summertime

East meets West, the Cousin edition

We spent this past weekend on a much needed vacation in San Diego.

4 whole days visiting with family that flew in from as far as China and Boston for B's cousin's wedding.  The highlight for Peanut was spending time with all his own cousins.

I've been negligent in downloading pictures this summer, and the result is 969 new pictures for me to sort through.  Instead of doing anything in an order that makes sense, I'm going to start with the last outing of the weekend.

We had dinner at awesome Point Loma Seafoods which sits just next to the docks.
It was a bit grey but the weather seemed so fitting to the scene around it.
Besides, I don't mind a bit of grey after a day in scorching SeaWorld sun.

I wasn't really sure how dinner would go considering the only nap that day was 35 min at SeaWorld.

Apparently a dinner of a crab cake sandwich and clam chowder is plenty to keep him happy.

Seriously though, the crab cakes are fantastic!

Meet Dylan!  Dylan and his family flew in from Boston and rented a house in Mission Beach that we used as base all weekend.  He and Peanut are 3 months apart and were fast friends as soon as they met.

I'm already fantasizing about a trip to Boston.

Plus, Dylan's mommy is an ER doctor in Children's Hospital Boston which is pretty much the best thing ever when you have 2 wild boys galavanting around.

I was like, don't worry about Peanut, Katie can save him if he falls down those concrete stairs!

My father-in-law commented the other day that trying to get all the kids to look at the camera for a picture is like trying to herd cats.

I'd say that's pretty much accurate.

So.tired.

And goofy.

Peanut has taken a sudden interest in my camera.

I'm assuming because it's expensive and he feels deep down that he needs to get his hands on it.

He took this picture of his cousin; I think it's pretty good.

Watching these boys together is awesome.

They are at that age where they can actually have conversations,

 and we can still marvel that they are communicating.

Stop growing kid.  Just slow down.

And then we let them run down this dock approximately 184 times.

Everyone needs a buddy to run down a dock with at 8pm on a summer evening.

But this is my absolute favorite of the night.

This picture captures the fun and giggles and squealing and friendship and breathless tromping around, all in one perfect moment.

Of birds and bugs

Climbing mountains at the park

The other day Peanut and I were in the backyard.  It was one of those gorgeous sunny days and we were watching the birds flock to our fruit trees.  The previously unidentifiable fruit tree of which I will ask advice about at a later time.

He laughed as the birds flew around and I watched him attempt to take off with them.

He jumped, waving his arms around and laughing loudly as the birds took off for safer ground.  Peanut did this repeatedly while I watched with amusement.

He suddenly looked at me in disbelief.  "Mommy, I can't fly."
I could tell he was actually surprised.

"Well, where are your wings and feathers?" I asked.

"I don't have wings.  I can't fly, I'm too little," he said as if he will surely be able to fly when he gets older.

I was having one of those existential mommy moments.  You know those moments?  The ones where you marvel about the existence of you and your little one, at your places on this Earth.  You are amazed to see this little human you helped create.

I was watching his mind whirl over the fact that there was something he could not do and watched as he decided that surely he would be able to do this wonderful, amazing thing when he got a bit bigger.

I watched him as he smiled and ran and giggled and played and I took note of every moment, trying to burn it into my memories.  It is an amazing thing to watch your child exist and learn and grow.

I saw the tiny bug, about the size of a gnat, land on the the bright yellow stool sitting in the middle of the lawn.  His eyes lit up as he discovered this new friend.  Oh how he loves bugs.

In the blink of an eye he was reaching over to it and the sound of me screaming NOOOOOOO! broke the magic of our moment as he smashed it with his finger and stuck it in his mouth.

Celebrating Easter 2013

I loved Easter this year because Peanut was pleasantly surprised to find an Easter basket waiting for him in the morning.  He also loved putting up some decorations and doing a few crafts.

He did not however, have any expectations for bunny prints staged outside or elaborate egg hunts and who knows what else.  This is nice because somehow during the move I lost our bin of Easter stuff and again this holiday just snuck up on me, which is what I say for every holiday these past few years.

Perhaps my favorite part of all this egg business is watching the little ones try and open some of those tight fitting eggs.  

It is awesome.

I might have to glue some together when he gets older.

Or is that not part of the Easter spirit?  I'm not so sure.

The big reward for all that hard work is...... MONEY!

One quarter, one dime, one nickel and one penny and you would have thought the kid won the lottery.

Oh the simple things in life.

Nothing like the clunk of coins dropping into your Noah's Ark piggy bank.

I keep trying to play with the filters on flicker but I think what I really need is photoshop.
How much money do I need to spend in able to get a program that will brighten up pictures like the one above?

Peanut also loved spending time reading through his Easter book with daddy.
Daddy does a lot of fun voices and sound effects.

B had to work (Boo!) so he helped me get the kid wrangled to head to church.

Of course we were already running late which means I made a last minute switch of churches in an effort to find a mass that was 30 minutes later than the one I planned to attend.

We stopped to take a few pictures but really to throw some dirt and get messy before heading to mass.  He picked up a snail in the church parking lot and threw it at my car.

Thank you for that.

We ended up in the children's room of this new church, which is to say that we ended up in a room with no ventilation and 10 other kids, 9 of whom were sick.

There was a box of books and the kids were wandering around and

 I couldn't hear anything and Peanut thought it was play time.

We left early.  I know.  But seriously, I was dying in there and I felt like staying any longer sort of missed the point of going in the first place.

Somehow his sleeves got dirty with I-don't-want-to-know-what so I changed him again before heading to my parents house.

This look says, "Seriously mom, I just want to give Nama this bunny I made and you keep dragging me around and changing my clothes and taking lots of pictures.  Enough."

So off we went and he was so happy to see his cousin.

They are always happy to see each other.

They are always arguing within 30 minutes.

It always makes me laugh.

What I love about this age is that the kids are really happy with their one egg but all the adults are busy calling them, getting their attention and pointing them to more.

It's hilarious to watch the chaos.

I'm still trying to decide if Peanut went around picking all the pink eggs or the other boys picked all the blue and green or if it was just coincidence.

Either way it was awfully cute and very noticed by myself and others which really makes me laugh.

We can have a discussion about gender differences, gender discussions and society expectations later, yes?

Again with the egg opening!  

You gotta put some muscle into these things.

About this time we realized that all the eggs that were pre-filled with other little eggs had a bunch of candy that they couldn't eat in the center.

Bubble gum, Now & Laters and other choking hazard, yay!

It didn't really matter because the kids, or at least Peanut, doesn't really get the concept of candy anyway.  I let him have some Smarties that he ended up spitting out.

We decided it would be better to distract them with Easter Baskets.

Look mom, an Easter gun!

Yes, yes, that's nice dear.  Wait what?

OK, OK it's a bubble gun but still, the thing comes with a holster.

A holster filled with bubble ammo.

These gun and holster sets are obviously not as easy to use and you would think.

Papa to the rescue!

When Peanut was born I said no guns.  I don't particularly like them.

Of course, a child can turn just about anything into a gun.

I often find him shooting things with a backward golf club.

I suppose it doesn't matter.  

Unfortunately or fortunately these didn't end up working well and magically disappeared after the festivities.

I've decided that the ability to find your own Easter eggs and then open them is a right of passage.

It's like moving to the big kids table.

We spent a little time stuffing our face.

The adults do it with dignity, which is to say that we do it one serving, one plate at a time.
We casually go back time and time again, a serving here, a serving there.

The kids shamelessly stick as many cheese puffs as possible into their mouths before they choke.

Fun was had by all.

A little baseball training from my nephew Justin, whose child I am convinced is some kind of hitting and pitching prodigy as the age of nearly 3.

We both met daddy at home later in the evening, with our arms full of leftovers and our eyes drooping from a day of festivities.

How was your Easter?