Reading with Uncle Jeremie

The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats.  When Uncle James suggested that it was not, perhaps, the proper weather for that book, Asa yanked it back out of Uncle James' hand and brought it to Uncle Jeremie.

Uncle James' Birthday

Uncle James' birthday fell on Easter, so we had a lovely cake for dessert.  And who made this cake?

Liquid ingredients:

Plus cake mix and a lot of stirring:

Mmm.  Spatula.

Happy Birthday, Uncle James!

Easter!

Somehow, we missed getting pictures of Asa in his super-handsome new shirt and tie - by the time we got home from church, it was nearly eighty degrees for the first time this year, and Asa just wanted to play.  But what we did get was pretty cool:

Apparently, two eggs in a cup was the way to go, despite the overflow.  After this initial spill, we found some newspaper to spread on the counter.

And we became a little more vigilant.  :)  Asa's favorite egg-to-cup delivery method was an overhand pitch - I'm astounded that no eggs broke.

 

Mummy had the wire dipper ready in the green cup, but Asa opted at the last minute for blue.  Oops!

The stickers under his hand here proved to be more difficult than anticipated - he's good at stickers, but these were very small and very sticky, and so very hard to work with.

But we had beautifully-colored eggs for Easter dinner!  (And for Uncle Kohta to win the egg game.)

Tricycle

No, he isn't really old enough.  Or quite tall enough, although he's really close.

But he wanted to try.

He'd get up onto the seat, try to walk the tricycle forward, and tip over - head over heels over trike.  Disdaining my help, he'd get back up and do it again.

He could get one foot on a pedal at a time, but then didn't quite get the concept of pushing.

I give it... maybe till mid-summer.

Just a Picture 4/18/11

Foodie

About an hour north of Granna's house are olive groves, and a lovely shop with tasting bar.

Yes, you can taste the olive oils, the vinegars, and the salad dressings.  All were fabulous.  M, Granna and I were like kids in a candy shop.  And the kid himself, you ask?

He bellied up to the tasting bar and demanded his share.

By the time we left, every clerk in the store was gaping at the one-and-a-half-year-old who was practically licking the olive oil out of the tasting cups.  His face was absolutely shiny, and he had a huge grin on his face.

But that day held one more new and exciting taste experience:

Chocolate covered bacon.  Does life get any better?

Nope.

Peek-a-boo in Granna's Curtains

Playground!

For the first time since Asa learned to climb playground equipment, he was able to do so without a coat.  It's a lot more fun that way, I understand.

Having three devoted adults isn't so bad, either.

Unusual pictures: usually, Asa goes down slides headfirst, no matter what we say or do.

Nice to know, with all this, that some things don't change.

San Diego Botanic Garden

Best. Children's. Garden. Ever.

The musical garden.

The art garden.  Lily Tomlin, eat your heart out.

 The top of the climbing structure.  Walking across a net with a toddler is no fun.

The whole climbing structure.

Not a Firetruck

Asa has noticed that we live on a busy street.  Especially since our busy street is the main route to both the hospital and the city police station.  There are a lot of sirens.  Recently, Asa has pointed them all out to us, although he hasn't learned to differentiate between police, fire and ambulance.  They - and the pictures in the last post, and his new Playmobil toy - are all the same.

Choo-choo-tuck.

Train-obsessed, much?

Miramar

First off, MCAS Miramar, where we saw lots of really fast planes and... a FIRE TRUCK.  Which is why Asa's pointing with both hands.

No idea what a local truck was doing on base, but it made for a happy kid.

Then on to Miramar Lake...

There are ducks there.  All week we saved bread - leftover dinner rolls, Asa's uneaten morning toast - to feed the ducks.  Problem is, there are also geese.  Geese are much more assertive than ducks, when bread is on offer.  Which is to say that Mommy, pushing Asa's stroller, beat a hasty retreat, and Pap Pap and Mummy got their toes nipped by hungry geese.

But once safely away, we had a couple of lovely walks.

Muppet trees!

Miramar Point.

The view from the top of the dam.

The second walk, Asa walked about 3/4 of a mile by himself.  Such a big boy!