Tractor

Favorite word:

Uh oh - troublemaker!

It only takes a couple of seconds to go from playing quietly to getting into trouble!

"Look what I can do!""I cleaned out your flower pot for you Grandma."

First Boat Ride

Henry took his first boat ride this weekend. What fun!

George had the opposite of a golden weekend -- the dreaded "lead" weekend where he is on call Saturday into Sunday and therefore, has no weekend. I took the opportunity to make a quick trip to Iowa in the midst of a little heat wave announcing summer's arrival.

Let me start by explaining that Henry absolutely LOVES the water. I believe it started with bathtime, and now he has radar for any puddle, pond, lake, creek, or river. It's actually quite tricky keeping an eye on him around any standing water because he just can't resist a quick splash. At the lake, he's quite brave near the shore. He starts at the edge, but soon just continues deeper and deeper into the water. He throws his arms back and forth to splash, likes to sit down in the water, and loves it when I swing him around so his legs drag through the water. Eventually, he even gets brave enough to dip his face into the water. Even after he comes up sputtering and coughing, he still goes back for more.

After playing at a beach along the Coralville reservior, we continued our afternoon with a nice, long, relaxing boat ride. Though Henry resisted sleeping at first, he was very relaxed. He resembled a wet noodle. Eventually, though, he drifted off to sailor sleepyville.

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for a great boating afternoon!

CSA Day

Yesterday was our first CSA pick up. CSA stands for community supported agriculture, meaning members pay for fruits and vegetables up front, and farmers deliver the goods through the growing season to a "pick up" location. Not only are we excited about buying from local farmers, but the farm we chose uses organic practices as well. In addition, our health insurance covered over half the cost of membership!

We (ok, mostly *I*) have been looking forward to our fresh vegetables since we signed up back in March. I was not disappointed. Our box of food was amazing! The heads of broccoli and lettuce were HUGE, the beets and green onions were gorgeous, and the jury is still out on the salad turnips (we just haven't tried them yet) but it's fun to try new veggies. The radishes had surprising bite (the newsletter decribed their taste as "hot & pungent") and they weren't kidding!

The look on Henry's face suggests he rather enjoyed the zip!

We tried the recipe suggestion in our CSA newsletter: frittata
Henry ate it up - broccoli and all. :)

We look forward to a summer filled with adventures in eating. Tuesdays are fun days!

Beach Babe

Henry went out for an evening walk with Charlotte and decided to turn splashing at the water's edge to a full out diving into Lake Mendota. The cell phone camera shot doesn't do it justice - he was soaked head to toe and having the time of his life!

(Despite some skeptical comments from nearby canoe-goers, honest, the water was quite warm near the shore!!)

New Summertime Do!

fish lips

Henry doing the fish lips while having some rhubarb crisp and ice cream.

A visit to Gma and Gpa's

Here is a link to some photos of Henry in Iowa visiting. Enjoy!

(Thanks Caroline!)

A Weekend Away

George and I had a "weekend getaway" over the holiday weekend. We went to Baltimore for a wedding and left Henry with my parents in Iowa. It was our first separation from Henry, so initially there was some anxiety, but I think overall we did very well. There was no crying and carrying on from any party involved!

Actually, it was probably a much needed break in the routine. Henry continued (if not improved) his regular sleeping schedule, enjoyed a lot of ice cream and cookies (what are grandparents for, right?), and gave up many of his habits for nursing. (Since opportunity knocked, we're taking advantage of a non-traumatic weaning process!)

Apparently, Henry enjoyed roaming the 7 acres of my parents country home with two dogs, two aunties, and two grandparents. Instead of "helping" with the garden, he had a front row seat for watching the tractor plant soybeans next door. (How exciting!) Sounds like a little boy's paradise, no?

It took me a little while to adjust to the fact that I was only responsible for MY own personal belongings on the trip. I repeatedly asked George if I put my wallet in the bag. My brain had a hard time not thinking I was missing something, since I'm usually trying to remember sippy cups, snacks, extra diapers, change of clothes, and a few toy cars. You know, the essentials.

On our trip we enjoyed a few quiet meals. Actually, that should read "we enjoyed eating a hot meal of our choice with adult conversation." We were thankful we weren't those folks entertaining youngsters in the airport crowd, and were happy to become involved in the quiet reading of a good book during flight. It was a wonderful weekend to wrap up George's vacation week! Which was, for the most part, a much needed STAYcation, complete with home & garden projects.

15 months old

and needs another haircut!