Kookoolan Farms

We had a fun adventure out to Kookoolan Farms today.  They raise happy chickens, cows, pigs, sheep and veggies.  Yum!  But what really brought me there in particular was the fact that they sell raw milk.  I've been doing a lot of reading and I've decided that that is the best way to go assuming we can get our hands on a safe supply which I believe I have found here.  The lengths they go to to ensure the milk is safe is awesome and the respect they show all of their animals makes me feel pretty incredibly lucky to live so close to them.   The raw milk is gonna take some getting used to, it's really nothing like the stuff you get at the grocery store.  It's not even white!  Apparently cows that actually eat grass make milk that's a creamy off white (huh, guess that's where the color descriptor 'creamy' comes from, duh).

The other exciting thing is they sell everything you could need to make cheese out of that fresh milk.  I can't wait to begin those experiments, I just can't decide where to start.  Tomorrow is the day we pick up our CSA share so we'll see what we get in the basket this week but I'm gonna have a ball making dinner tomorrow with all my new goodies.

Peter had fun at the farm store, lotsa stuff to look at and they had a fun wood farmhouse in a corner that kept him occupied for quite a while.  While I'm thinking about Peter, I forgot to share that he got his first molar last week!  He was laughing and I saw white.  At first I thought he had something in his mouth as we hadn't had any teething fussiness but nope, he cut a molar.  He's got such a mouthfull of teeth now!

Jason growls a lot.   It's not loud or anything but when he first wakes up or when something isn't right he growls (I suppose there isn't much right about getting up in the morning when you're a night owl huh?).  It's completely unconcious and I often don't even hear it unless I'm thinking about it I'm so used to it.  Well, Peter apparently has been listening.  When he woke Jason up from a nap after work he started growling too!  I just busted up laughing it was so cute and he did it a few more times before he went to sleep.  I hope he keeps it up.

What a boring post with no pictures but I've got Petey sleepin in my lap and I forgot to bring the camera over before we settled so too bad!

musings on a baby boy

Before I had Peter I think I kinda wanted a little girl.  Of course I always knew I would love and adore my child no matter their sex but part of me thought little girly stuff might be just a little more fun for me.  Well, now that I have a little boy I had to say I really do find the dirt eating munchkin moments to be fantastic fun.

He has absolutely zero interest in stuffed animals or books.  But if it has moving parts, lights, or buttons, he's ALL over it.  He studies things and likes to figure out how to make it do everything it can do.  He'll keep turning and pulling and poking until he's satisfied that no other parts open up or activate anything else.  He pulls the batteries out of the remote and then tries to put them back again. 

I really don't know much of anything about little boys, but boy, I'm having fun learning!

 This was just after he came in from playing in the rain (and my tomato planter... again).  The water and the mud made for a very happy boy.  And then bathtime was a blast as usual!

Helping Daddy clean the lint out of the dryer. 

Sesame Street and Gymnastics

We have discovered Sesame Street.

I'll often watch Food Network as Peter nurses and drifts off to sleep in my lap but yesterday I thought I'd turn on Sesame Street. I've offered him various kids shows before, including Elmo, but he never paid any more attention than he did to my shows so I just kept watching what interested me. Yesterday was different though. He was fascinated. The sprawl in the recliner is exactly how I set him when I got up to get the camera, he didn't move a bit, while usually when set in the recliner he tries to climb over the back immediately. The spell started wearing off a little so I put him a bit closer in his rocker and he went back to glued for a little while. I love the different expressions I caught in those shots.

We finished swimming lessons a couple weeks ago and decided not to continue for a while.  The classes are in the evening and Peter just wasn't happy going out at that time.  He'd had fun the first few weeks but his nap/sleep schedule shifted so we'll just have to go play during free swim or when his sleep schedule shifts again.

Parent/child gymnastics started this morning!  The age group for the class is 1-3 years, most of the children were 2 1/2 - 3 with one 2 year old and then Peter at not quite 14 months.  Despite the age gap, Peter was pretty comparably sized.  He was just a touch shorter but most of the kids had lengthened out into lean little kids as is normal so Peter looked like a little tank in there.

The class started with the teacher asking everyone to sit on a colored spot on the floor she'd put down.  Peter, not too interested in following directions yet, started trying to collect them.  I managed to keep him entertained with one while she walked the other kids through some stretches and when she had everyone run around the room in circles for warm up Peter mostly stood in the middle and stared with occasional forays into the flow of traffic going the opposite direction.

It was fun to see the other kids actually doing little things like somersaults and hanging on the bars and walking on the balance beam.  Peter seemed to enjoy walking on the squishy mats and was enthralled by himself in the big mirror and had a blast checking out the equipment (most particularly the stands and knobs for adjusting height.)  The class ended with the teacher blowing some bubbles and all the little kids crowded together popping bubbles was adorable.  It took Peter a while to realize what was going on and to wander in the midst but he did eventually. 

I think the class is a bit beyond him and I don't think I'll sign up for more until he's a bit older but we'll keep going for this session.

Grandma and Grandpa come to play!

Grandma and Grandpa came and had a wonderful visit yesterday. We had a blast playing in the park and Peter had so much fun showing off his walking and talking skills. We got a new word too! "Catch" Last week I played catch with him for quite a while and he had a blast but I forgot all about that until he started throwing his ball yesterday and every time he threw it he said "gah-sch!" The two parts of the word were very distinct and oh so cute.

He walked all around the place holding Gramma's hand and had a grand old time, she still wasn't allowed to actually pick him up though. He was also very helpful when she wanted to try to take some pictures of him. I think he ended up taking more pictures of the grass and her jacket than she managed to get of him. I rather love the shot I got of the two of them taking a picture though.

Grampy was there and played with us a bit but he kinda melted in the sunshine and slept for most of it. I love the picture of him sleeping on the hill, it reminds me so much of when I was a kid and we'd be playing around him and he'd be trying to stay awake but just not succeding convincingly.

My mom also brought Peter the ferret and Peter had a ball playing with him but that play is really hard to photograph. I tried but I mostly got little blurry flashes and butts sticking in the air as Peter peers under whatever the ferret is checking out. They seem to enjoy playing together though and it is such fun to watch.

Momma's little helper

I just can't get enough of that sweet little grin.  In this shot he's been 'mixing up' my poor tomato plant with a whisk and periodically trying to get at Thomas in the planter on the table.  I'm SO happy we got a place with a south facing balcony so I can grow plants and let Peter and the kitties play in the sunshine!

Here's some random cuteness from this week: Peter was watching me sweep and when I set down the broom he picked it up and tried to walk around with it but kept getting it stuck on things so I got out the little broom I found while I was pregnant and he LOVED it.  He was 'sweeping' chairs, the floor, the cats...  it was so much fun to watch.

Snapshot - 13 1/2 months

What he is saying:

•  Still lots of Mamama and Dadada
• Ghee Ghee! (seems to be his attempt at kitty!)
• A whole lot of other sounds
• While he's not saying them yet he's signing "hi" and "bye" with two distinct waves even when he just hears the word so it isn't just him copying our wave!

What he loves doing:

• Touching the kitties!
• Digging in the planter on the balcony, sad for the tomato plant trying to grow in it but oh well, we'll see how many make it to ripeness.
• Playing with water.  Whether it's water in the sink, toilet, tub, watering can, pool, puddle... you name it.

What I am loving about him:

• His ADORABLE drunken sailor walk.  I just adore it!
• How easily he adapts to different situations.  He did amazingly well at a crowded conference for three days.
• How intense he can be.  He is very expressive and he lets us know when things are and aren't going as he would like them to.

Some of his quirks:

• He likes kalamata olives but not black olives.
• He holds anything remotely cellphone shaped up to our ears for us to talk into (and he enjoys it when we talk then hold it for him).  But if there's someone actually on the phone talking to him it fascinates him and he wants to stare at it.

What I want to remember from today:

• His obvious delight at all the different toys our first time to Tiny Tots.  
• How happy he was to play with a new kid and how willing he is to share.  He doesn't mind when another child takes a toy as long as there's something else for him to have instead.
• The way he feels sleeping snuggled in my lap after a long day of play.

Snapshot - 1 year!

**I typed this up 4/24 but never posted it, oops**

What he is saying:

• Mamama and Dadada
• Lots of motor noises, particularly when pushing toys around

What he loves doing:

• Playing 'can't catch me!'  He giggles furiously when I call after him "I'm gonna get you!"
• He still adores daddy's mouse and has figured out many of Jason's tricks to hide it from him.
• Emptying the fridge door, though now that he can open the fridge on his own the novelty seems to be fading
• Playing in the toilets!  Opening and closing the lid, flushing, and general joyful splashing.  We haven't had him clog it yet...

What I am loving about him:

• I love watching him experiment with things, figuring out how things work.
• How patient he is when we're out running errands
• How he scrunches up his whole face when he grins

Some of his quirks:

• He loves everyone and smiles for strangers in a heartbeat, but if anyone tries to hold him, he cries desperately.  They may get a minute or two of happy baby, but not much more than that.
• When something frustrates him the throws it away from him, tucks his chin to his chest and grunts (hard to describe, but rediculously cute).

What I want to remember from today:

• The absolutely gleeful belly laughs coming from both Peter and Jason as they played together this afternoon

Tiny Tots

We went to check out Tiny Tots today just cause it was something different to do and it struck me as a good idea. It's fantastic! It's just two rooms in the basement of the community center and it's full of all sorts of toys. There were tons of cars and trucks, Peter made a beeline right for them and carried that red car around for quite a while before taking any deep interest in anything else. There was a train table and a lego table, three slides, a puppet stage, several of those horses that rock on springs (no idea if they have some fancy name but I remember those from when I was a kid). Plenty of 'appliances' for playing house, I don't think I've ever seen a plastic washer and dryer before, and lots of plastic food. Even a dress-up box with several capes! The rooms were connected by an open double door, the one with most of the toys was carpeted and the other had a little basketball hoop and some 15 or so vehicles for kids to ride in/on. I can see that room reading like bumper cars on a cold rainy day.

Today the place was empty, there were two kids there when we arrived but apparently it was time to leave for kindergarten as they left within 5 minutes of our arrival. The whole place was ours for over an hour and a half until a 2 1/2 year old arrived. His mom and grandma appeared to be meeting with a social worker or something so he was left to his own devices. Except for the trains which he hoarded completely he played really well with Peter and was a pretty friendly child. Peter had a blast going from pile to pile just checking everything out a little at a time. It wasn't rainy today but it wasn't particularly nice either so I was kinda surprised at how quiet it was. I wonder how busy it gets during the wet winter months.

Busy or quiet, this is going to be a fantastic fun place to play!

We're still here!

I've got so many cute pictures since I last posted that I know Peter will never give me time to post them all so here's just a few and I'll try to post more often to keep up with the cuteness in the future.

It's kinda hard to see in the picture but this is his first experience with eggs. He was helping me make breakfast and he started pulling eggs out of the fridge so I just put him in the tub with the two he'd cracked and let him go for it. He thought it was pretty awesome and it was fun watching his surprise when he cracked it enough for the egg to start coming out. Apparently this was all he needed as he plays in the fridge regularly but he hasn't touched the egg carton since!

Peter is playing with Peter here, you can just barely see Peter the Ferret's nose poking out from behind the garbage can.  They had a lot of fun together in the hotel room.  Shortly after this picture was taken there was a moment of insane cuteness as  Peter the Ferret did his modified weasel war dance (his back legs are completely useless) and Peter danced with him!  It was spectacularly adorable but sadly we didn't manage to really get it on camera.

This was a fun evening.  I can't remember what started it but apparently I thought he wanted to play in the sink (I was right) so I let him and he thought that was just the most awesome thing he'd ever done.  He just sat in there turning the water on and off  and played with the stream and his rubber ducky.  After a little while Jason thought to stop up the sink and then he had even more water to splash in which of course made it even better.  He is constantly reminding me how much joy we can find in the little things if we just stop to take the time and think about how cool it really is that we can pull a little knob and water runs out!  And better still, if we turn it one way it's cold but the other way it's hot!

Walking in the park.  He still walks like a drunken sailor, especially when he's trying to go quickly, but he rarely crawls anymore.  It's pretty cute when he does fall too, it's Very controlled and he looks like he's falling in slow motion most of the time, pretty funny to watch.