Happy Feet

Sorry about the sideways video.  You'd think I'd remember.





And yes, this is typical.  When he's happy (especially when he's eating) he twirls his feet.  Completely adorable.

Block Island!

A trip to Block Island, and this time he was fairly aware of what was going on.  He wasn't too sure about the boat ride, but then, we weren't either - it was pretty rough this morning.

Grampa picked us up at the boat, and we installed the carseat and headed over to the house.

We saw all the new construction, but Asa seemed more interested in Grampa's beard, and nose, and mouth...

Asa also got to meet some cousins, which was a lovely surprise.  Unfortunately, Mummy didn't get as good a picture as she thought she did.

More snuggles at lunch with Grampa and Beth.  We tried a restaurant high-chair for the first time... it helped to have Mommy's jacket tucked behind him.  He actually did pretty well through most of lunch.

Then, because Asa fell asleep in the car, we took a leisurely drive around the Island, starting at the Abrams' farm.  Mommy had never been there, and couldn't stop talking about the yak.  If it was, indeed, a yak, and not a Scottish-longhorned-longhaired sheep, like Grampa thought.

Asa woke for a few minutes in the car, but went back to sleep with his favorite (and rarely-allowed) soothie.

Then back on the boat, which was much more fun the second time...

... I just wish I'd gotten a picture of his first boat-dog experience: two golden retrievers, one of whom took great pleasure in licking the rest of Asa's last meal off of his hand.  Mmm, peaches!

Sunshine Baby!

Spring came to New England on time, for once.  The end of last week just kept getting warmer and lovelier, culminating in the most beautiful first-day-of-Spring that I can remember.  So out came the short-sleeved onesies, the sunhats, and the baby sunblock.

Nonni and Poppy were in town for the beautiful weather, too.

In other news, Asa also chose this week to learn a bunch of new tricks: pushing up, sitting up, and rolling over.  The last two he doesn't yet do consistently, but enough that we know it's not a fluke.  This was about the best picture I got, although not the best pushing-up that he did - he got his belly button off of the ground several times.  We're in so much trouble.

I know - he doesn't have his hat on.  Turns out hats are made of fabric, and are therefore highly chewable.  Keeping it on him in the dappled shade of our backyard ended up not being worth the fight.

Happy Spring, everyone, and enjoy the sunshine!

The strangest things are closest to home...

Literally.

Asa and I went for a walk on a recent warm, spring-like day... not expecting anything strange in our little neighborhood.  But lo and behold, the strange appeared.  So when Mommy got home, we took the same walk with her... and my camera.

It started out in a very normal way - a walk down a dead-end street and into a memorial "forest" (which I put in quotes because of the lack of undergrowth, which in my book makes it more a "memorial stand of trees").

From there, down a road with a golf course on the other side.  As we walked, I noticed that the fence went from plain old chain link to rather ornate wrought iron, and figured we were coming up on the clubhouse.  That is, until I noticed the "garden gnomes":

At which point, of course, I had to cross for a better look.  I mean, wouldn't you?  And it was sooooo worth it.

You know, when confronted with such a sight, you just have to stand and stare for a while.

Cuties of my Heart

Just another sweet day of slurping on Mummy's fingers.

Especially if they still have plum juice on them.

Mommy says that she's surrounded by cuteness!

Food, Glorious Food!

(With all respect to Lionel Bart...)

I'll say it again: we have a little foodie.  He has, so far, eaten everything we've put in front of him, except jarred peas.  That, in my opinion, enhances (rather than detracts from) his reputation as a foodie.  Indeed, sometimes he enjoys eating so much that he continues asking for food - opening his mouth and making insistent noises - when he's probably already full.

Better still, though, is that we may just have the makings of a little cook.

Although we have been known to give him jarred baby food (gifted to us - not to use it seems wasteful, although I sometimes wonder if it's the McDonalds of baby food... says the woman who admits to a huge weakness for fries...) usually we make our own.  Simple enough - peel, chop, microwave, purée, freeze.  The only problem is that our little food processor is a little loud.  And that Asa's bedroom is right off the kitchen.  So food is best made when he's awake.  Which presents a bit of a problem, as he grows up and demands more attention.

Solution: for the peel-and-chop part, we sit together at the kitchen table and he watches me.  As long as everything is out of his reach, we do fine.  Better than fine: he's fascinated by the peeler and the knife, the bowl full of fruit or veggie bits, and the compost bin (which is kept really far away from curious hands).

When the chopped bits come out of the microwave, we shift up to the counter for the puréeing process.  The first couple of times, the noise startled him, but now he flaps his hands joyfully and watches the food spin.

After the food has gone into the ice cube trays to be frozen, we do a little clean up... which sometimes involves swiping my finger along the inside of the food processor or down the spatula, and popping what's there into his mouth.  Nice little between-meals snack that he very much enjoys.

The meal this day was plums - out-of-season at the moment and therefore something of a treat.  Also a treat because they are a pain in the neck to make.  Ever tried peeling a plum?  Tossing it in the microwave really didn't help much, I ended up scraping mushy plum out of wilted peels with my fingers, smearing purple streaks all over the kitchen (and my sweater).  Problem: he loves plums.  From the second I offered him a finger-full, he's been hooked.  I haven't cleaned food-prep equipment so well without soap and water since the last time my mother offered me beaters of cookie dough.

Ahhh, the things we do for our little foodie/cook-in-training.

Great Weekend

Weekends are always made better by the presence of good friends.  Extra kudos to Amy, who never has an easy trip up here, but seems to stumble upon the worst that Greyhound has to offer.

Fortunately, it was the nicest weekend that we've had since... November?  October?  It was 54° and sunny.  Spring is coming, it really is.

A perfect day for a walk in the park.

We walked through the rose garden, too.  The park service protects the roses during the winter by collecting the Christmas trees that have been set on the curb and laying them in the rose-beds.  Apparently, some people aren't as meticulous about removing tinsel as I am, however...

After our walk, we headed over to the Attleboro Arts Museum for their annual poetry slam.  Asa is definitely a hip artist's kid with his shades:

Asa wasn't too sure about the slam itself - a few of the poets were kinda loud, and he's not too good with high-volume situations.  But there were some really talented people there - if you're in the area, I highly recommend next year's slam.

In and around all of the fun we had out of the house, we hung out and ate.  A lot.  Auntie Amy got first-hand experience of Asa's appetite.

What a great weekend!  Thank you, Amy, for coming and spending it with us!