13 Month Update

Looking back through my archive of posts, especially those of when I was pregnant and of Enzo's early days, I am so glad I keep this blog.  I don't keep any kind of journal or photo books so this blog (and Facebook) has become the digital record of our lives.  I read old posts and there is so much I have forgotten about what was important to me at a certain time.  With that in mind, I'd like to keep better updates about what Enzo is doing.  Not only to inform all of my lovely readers about Enzo's daily brillance, but as a record for me to look back on remember what he did and what he loved at a particular time.  I do have a baby book that I've been filling our little by little, but when the time comes to really do it I'll be using the blog as a resource for sure.

He turned 13 months old on the 10th of January.  And it snowed at our house.  This denim jacket is getting a lot of use this winter.  It has been cold!

Favorite foods: curry sweet potato lentil soup(!), yogurt, whole apples, oatmeal, cheerios (only if they are in a certain snack cup), veggie straw snacks, noodles, cheese, tortillas, dessert (loved the black bean brownies I made this week, yes, brownies), teething biscuits

Favorite activities: chasing Turnip around the house, climbing on our backs for piggy back rides, walking walking walking (doesn't crawl much now), puzzles, stealing iPhones, walking around with a kitchen towel over his head and bumping blindly into furniture, tickles, stroller rides around our neighborhood, playing ukelele with dad, taking books off of bookshelves, throwing his hands up in the air while I say "So big!"

Dislikes: sitting down to read books, being stuck in the car seat for long periods of time, being removed from an area of the house he is not supposed to be in, having things taken out of his hand by me (the worst!)

New experiences: gave him homemade hemp milk that he seemed to enjoy (instead of a midday nursing session), playing in the snow, bike riding with dad, lots of babbling and saying mama and dada, he is very close to running

Nicknames: El Destructo, Man Child, The Boy, Mr. Man

Off to another 1st birthday tomorrow afternoon!  So many baby toddler friends!

Happy New Year!

First post of the new year!  We didn't have any plans for new year's eve but at the last minute we heard from another Bonny Doon local about an event hosted by local train enthusiasts.  I couldn't quite get the full story, but basically there's this piece of land near the Davenport/Swanton area where a one-third gauge antique steam train resides.  Here's a website for more info.  The train is operational with a really cool steam engine and was decorated with lots of Christmas lights.  For Bonny Doon residents they hosted a potluck and free train rides New Year's Eve.  Here is Enzo enjoying some sourdough on the train.  It was cold that night, but we had fun!

The days have been nice so we're trying to get out more often.  Here's Enzo's favorite part of the park - the bouncy fire engine.

Then last weekend we went on a nearly spontaneous trip to Tahoe at a family friendly resort called Granlibakken.  It was a nice place and had a The Shining/Twin Peaks/summer camp vibe - in a good way though!  Jake really wanted Enzo to experience the snow.  Even though I wasn't really looking forward to this trip, it ended up being really fun!  Enzo wasn't quite sure what to make of the snow, but he didn't hate it!

All bundled!

The thumbless mittens gave him useless t-rex arms!

Jake and I went snowshoeing while Enzo napped.  Okay, not the whole time, but for most of it.  Must be comfy up there on Jake's back.

Enzo thought throwing snowballs at mom was hilarious.  He was really cracking up right before I shot the video.

Sledding!

Jen, Lance and Sarah came form Sacramento to spend an afternoon with us on the second day.  Here we are posing as if we had built this funny snowman.  Maybe next time we'll build our own when the children can at least help a little!  

More snowshoeing on the second day.

Hiked up to the top of the ski lift.  No skiing for us.  This time.

And when we got home Jake put together a new sweet ride for Enzo.  Helmeted fun is this mom's favorite kind!  I can see them getting a lot of use out of this.  (Jake was looking at a deer at the top of the driveway when I took this.)

Enzo's Stats

Sorry about all the format changes on the blog!  I was just experimenting with format and color because I was tired of the way it looked.  I hope you like the new fun design!

Anyway, Enzo had his first year check up yesterday.  It was kind of a disaster though.  Many weeks ago our clinic told us that our doctor would be at the main clinic that day instead, but that we could still keep our appointment time.  However, after a 40 minute drive into Santa Cruz to the main clinic, they had no record of our appointment and our doctor wasn't there.  He was at our clinic that's much closer to our house.  And now he wasn't available anyway.  Soooo, another doctor was able to see us 45 minutes after our original appointment time.  And she was super nice and couldn't stop commenting on how handsome he is!  Of course I was completely won over by her.  She just had a baby of her own so I feel she was really relating to Enzo and the new parent anxiety/questions.

Currently he is 30.5 inches and 21 lbs 8 oz.  His weight has slowed down a bit which was really surprising to both Jake and I.  He seems so heavy and our backs hurts all the time from carrying him around.  The main reason I didn't reschedule his appointment to see his regular doctor was because he's had a cough for over 2 weeks.  I've been watching him closely and even though he occasionally had a slight wheeze that would go away, I never felt the need to bring him in.  However, the day of his appointment he was sounding like a wheezy coffee percolator and the doctor set up a nebulizer breathing treatment for him which cleared him up pretty quickly.  He sounded so much better after the treatment.  It was a good thing despite him screaming for the 8 minutes it took to finish.  Baby does not like when his parents hold a mask to his face!  We got sent home with a prescription for an inhaler which I used once today as well.  And he had three shots.

Poor baby!

I really wish this picture was in focus but it was taken tonight and you can tell he his feeling fine!!  Up to his old antics of putting things around his neck and having a blast.  He moves so quickly I rarely get an in focus shot now!

And a few days ago we went to the aquarium again.  They have a seahorse exhibit now and this one was too cool!

First Year Photos

Wei, our photographer, is amazing!  I just love her pictures.  We will use her studio, The Tiniest Bird Photography for as long as we are in the Bay Area.

Some of my favorites:

Enzo's First Birthday Extravaganza!!

Well, I ended up making a big to-do out of his first birthday!  I had the time off and I felt the need for celebration and acknowledgement for keeping him alive for one year.  The first year passed simultaneously slowly and quickly.  I'm actually not in too much shock over him not being a baby anymore because he still looks like a baby to me - still has minimal hair and a super round head.  When I look at his newborn photos his face is the same as it is now.  See?

Same old stink face when trying to get a good picture!

Anyway, on to the celebration pictures!  The Friday before his birthday we did his professional photo shoot which turned out excellent!  More on that in another post.  Next, the Saturday before his birthday we did the big birthday party with lots of friends plus two family members, Tracy and Nolan.  Even though 9 people cancelled and I started to panic a little that morning, we had a whole house full of people, mostly small male children!  Enzo was fascinated with all their running around business and there were minimal meltdowns out of any of the kids.  Esme was the the only girl out of about 8 kids.  She held her own just fine!

First some food!

There was carrot-walnut-ginger-pineapple cake with coconut whip cream frosting and unpictured banana cupcakes with a chocolate marble.  Yummmm!

Cheese plate including chocolate cheddar(!), goat cheese with hot pepper jelly, a pesto torta and plain Jack for the kids.

Crudities with vegan ranch, sweet potato cashew dip and hummus.  Also pictured in the back a sesame noodle salad.  We also made hot out of the oven mushroom pinwheels and veggie pigs in a blanket.  Everthing was devoured!  

Enzo LOVING all the attention while being sung his first Happy Birthday!

Birthday boy and dad montage:

 The next two pictures represent the chaos of the day.  I remember a lot of kids everywhere all the time, Turnip in the middle and lots and lots of wrapping paper.

And Enzo getting a breather for a minute.  

Despite being exhausted from the party, we went on a long hike the next day and Enzo was so cute playing around in the woods.  He really loves his outside time.

 On his actual birthday, we started the day out right!  Eating pancakes in our pajamas!

The rest of his birthday day was pretty low key after such a long weekend.  We ate up the rest of his birthday cake and opened a few more birthday presents that were coming in from the mail that day.

Whew!  I've been meaning to get this out for a while!  It was kind of an overwhelming experience and next year it will be a little simpler.  But hey, you only have your first birthday once!!  

The ups and downs of eating onions

Everyday Enzo is trying new foods and playing new games.  His most favorite game now is climbing on our backs and making us walk around on our hands on knees!  Not fun for the parents when the house is covered in hard tile floors.  But we do it anyway because he gets such a kick out of it.

Here's a current picture of him playing and making a goofy face:

And I taught Enzo how to put things on the dog.  The blankets were my doing, but the wash cloth on the head was all him.  Poor Turnip!  She tolerates so much.

Today he tried onions (that had been boiled and strained to make a broth).  Results are mixed:

First Steps Day!

I'm a little behind in blogging but on November 26th Enzo took his first steps!  He took about three steps in the nursery in the afternoon then about 5 steps later that evening.  He hasn't done it since, but we've got the cameras ready in case he does!  His 10th tooth came in yesterday and there are two more bottom molars that are just bursting.  Poor little guy, he's been working on those molars for weeks.

These are some of his current interests:

Getting tangled up in cords.  He thinks it's hilarious.

Harassing the dishwasher.  Cannot keep him away from it when it is open!  Hopefully he takes after Grandpa Gary and will LOVE doing the dishes.

Our daily battle: Baby vs. Cds vs. Parents.  If we had storage I would box up so many books and CDs to store until he's older, but we have no space to put extra boxes.  Not sure what to do about this.

A stop at the beach on our way up to San Francisco 2 weeks ago.  Got some great shots of these two dudes.

Eating noodles at Cha-Ya, a vegetarian Japanese restaurant.  He made such a mess....and enjoyed every minute of it.

Trying ice cream for the first time.  "But, you didn't say it was cold, mom!"

"Ok, it's all good now."

And Enzo's stellar table manners at Thanksgiving.  You could say he was really into this meal!  I had to wash his shoes more than any other part of him after eating.  He's been experimenting a lot with using utensils lately.  We usually don't give him a fork obviously, but he's been pretty proficient with a spoon and yogurt!

 And for those who haven't seen this video (from October 30th):


He picks up this skill of putting the frog in the chute so quickly!  Well, it sure impressed me.

In 2 weeks I will no longer have a baby but a toddler!!  We're clearing out stuff we no longer use - co-sleeper, infant car seat - for new things that he will definitely be getting for his birthday and the holidays.  We're ready for the onslaught of packages!