Tuesday, June 23, 2009

cafe bebe


we hosted our first cafe bebe yesterday, it was a big hit. the babies got to nosh on crackers, raisins, and blueberries while the moms ate pesto-mozzarella finger sandwiches and sipped organic green tea. the babes then splashed around in dylan's 12 dollar kiddie pool from kmart.

we even had a live music session, courtesy of mama yvonne. she cajoled her young fans luca, dylan and arriel to eat healthy, share toys, and behave. instead, they ate chocolate chip cookies, flung toys, and pulled and tugged at each other until they fell to the ground. in other words, a good time being toddlers.


dyl, arriel and luca contemplate just how much fun cheap plastic can be. very!!

Monday, June 15, 2009

NO!

dylan at lacma, on a big unnamed pink thing; navigating street lamps; crawling underneath a henry moore.


what we've learned... is that if you use baby sign language long enough, they will start to sign back. it just amazes me to see dylan use signs for food, when he's hungry or when he wants to feed the dogs or cats. he points up to the sky when he hears a booming sound, and will twirl his finger in the air for 'helicopter.' he will make whisker signs and say 'maow' when he sees the cats. and whenever he sees a dog, he pats his leg or chest. 

dylan is talking (phew!), and at 17m months i think he's making great progress, if you want to call it that. i've noticed that all the hours and minutes spent reading books to him have been paying off--all the words he uses come from his story and word books, mostly. oft-repeated words from dylster are:

ball, book, bird, duck, mama, dada (or just 'da'), ssszia! (for sophia our dog), and lots of animal and barnyard sounds. and 'nmo' (a very nasal 'no'). 

he has a new word for 'grandpa'--dylan loves his grandparents so--'papa.' we will point to pics in the photo album and he will point out his 'papas.' 

he obsesses reading his books, poring over his favorite nursery rhymes like 'bingo' and jack and jill and humpty dumpty again and again, and he loves looking at family and friend photos. 

now if he only voraciously ate everything his mama makes him for dinner, i'd be happy. 


Friday, June 12, 2009

don't break my heart, my achy breaky.....

we think...














it's about time... 

that dylan got a haircut. 
dylan says: rock out with your mullet out! 

more dynamic mullet looks here


a few playdate friends





dylan has been plenty busy with playdates, outings, classes now that it's summer. he just started swim lessons, and can now jump in the pool, put his face in the water, blow bubbles and generally have a fun time splashing about with other babies.

a stone's throw from redondo beach is wilderness park, a small wooded oasis filled with wildflowers, pine trees, and ponds filled with beijing ducks (the white feathered kind). we're learning about ducks and a pack of red-eared slider turtles, found breeding in the pond, even spotting a lone leather-back turtle sunning itself on a rock in a marsh. this has to be one of dylan's favorite places to hike and play. the best thing, according to dylan, is hanging out and romping in the grass with the likes of his buds arriel, matisse and arqum.