Vincent’s First Visit to Toro Park
We took our inaugural hike today with the backpack carrier! We decided to go to Toro Park, which is on the southern end of Salinas and about a 10 minute drive from our house. The weather is always nice and sunny there. We put Vinny in the backpack. He doesn’t like being strapped in there, but as soon as he is “in” he is all smiles!
We just walked the perimeter of the park — didnt go on any trails. There were lots of people having picnics for Memorial Day and kids playing all sorts of sports (soccer, football, volleyball, biking). Vinny loves people watching, especially if it is other little kids.
We stopped and took a break at a nice spot in the grass, by some big trees. We laid a tiny baby blanket out for Vinny to sit on (forgot to bring a bigger one). He loved picking at the grass and climbing on Mom and Dad.
On our loop back to the car, we stopped by the swings, but when we got there we realized they didnt have any toddler swings, only big kid swings. 🙁 It was a quick trip, but nice to get out and enjoy the comfortable weather.
Memorial Day Weekend – Clam Chowder Festival
This weekend we decided to check out the first annual Monterey Clam Chowder and Calamari Festival at Fishermans Wharf. Schipper Design (Rita) designed the logo/artwork/posters for the event. When we got there the parking lot was really full, took a bit to find a spot. We realized upon entering that they were having patrons buy tokens to get food/stuff at the booth. Booo to that, we thought. OK so we gotta stand in one long line to get tokens, buy X amount of tokens, not knowing exactly how much you’ll really use, then we have to stand in the booth line to get the actual chowder, another line for another type of food, etc.
So what did we do? We walked to our favorite Greek food place and ordered gyros! Yum!
By the time we got there, Vinny was fast asleep! Which worked out because then Jeff and I could eat in peace. Haha. While sitting and eating out in the sidewalk area, we ran into Anthony and his family, said hi, talked about the festival for a bit.
Last weekend Jeff installed our big Britax convertible car seats. I guess Jeff’s car has too much a slant on the backseat, so Vincent is leaning too far forward making it uncomfortable for him. He really did not like riding in it. He kind of screams and pushes his feet out of it. As soon as we can turn him around to be forward facing, we plan on doing so to hopefully make it more comfortable.
* Check out Vinny’s slippahs from is Aunt and Uncle in Hawaii!!
Vincent is Now 10 Months Old!
Vincent is officially into the two-digits months! LOL! Whenever I lool at photos of him from a few months ago I get so nostalgic! Like “Oh, remember when he used his pacifier?” — and “Look at that, he just stayed on his back the entire day because he didn’t like being on his belly!”… And now look at him go!
He just loves — i mean LOVES — standing up! He needs something to hold on to of course. Right now that usually is a laundry basket, the coffee table, his pack n play/baby gate, or the side of his blue plastic rubbermaid bin that we use to keep his toys in (weighted down with dumbbells).
He can “cruise” (walk holding on to things) pretty well and fast. If he is inside of his baby gate, he can cruise all the way around by himself. He loves to take things out of containers (like laundry out of the laundry basket!)
It’s so funny to watch him play with his toys. His signature move is to “scratch” things with his index finger. (Like the lens of the camera?!? Ahhh!)
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He likes having a toy in each hand and banging them together to make noise. A lot of the times he will want to grab a third toy, but isn’t willing to give up the two he has in his hands. Its quite entertaining to watch. Jeff took this photo above, where he wanted to grab the iPhone from him, so he stuck the links he was holding in his mouth.
He still love to watch TV – the Sprout channel is specially made for pre-school kids, and he is mesmerized by the graphics, songs, and characters on the shows.
Dad broke out the pots and pans for Vinny to play with one Saturday morning. He sure loved that! Of course the spoon we gave him to bang with ended up in his mouth. He was fascinated with the fact that one of the lids to a smaller pot fit all the way INSIDE a pot of larger size.
Jeff and I have found that he laughs hysterically at certain animal sounds and other sound effects. “Meep, meep!” like the Road Runner, or similarly, “Beep, beep!” like the car. “Meow, meow!” is another favorite. You can do other sound effects and he won’t laugh. But these three it’s pretty much guaranteed a big belly laugh.
New foods this month — beets! We made him some ground turkey. Becky fed him mangos (for the 3rd time or so) but for some reason this time he seemed to have an allergic reaction to it because he got a red rash on his face. We just made a batch of peaches – thought they were not as sweet as we’d hope. Summer coming up should bring us more fruit options.
We are noticing that Vincent is starting to vocalize himself a lot more now. It is still nonsense baby talk, but he can say the “dadada” sounds really good and probably says those syllables the most. During memorial day weekend Jeff asked Vincent if he like spending the whole weekend with Mommy and Daddy and there was a slight pause then he said “DAH-DEE” all perfectly!! It was the cutest thing ever.
I am starting to brainstorm ideas for his first birthday party. I have a theme in mind, and i am getting really excited to plan and make everything pretty for it! I am going to go way overboard on this. I wish all my family an friends lived in the same place so they could enjoy my fabulous party! Being the first party, i have to set the bar high. =) My parents, Jeff’s parents/brother and perhaps my sister Susan will be coming up so we are excited for that. Jeff and I will be taking some vacation time around his birthday to enjoy our family visiting.
Stratton’s Come to Visit
Jim and Christina (and their two kids Maddie and Daniel) drove up from So-Cal to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary, here where they met, in Monterey. Patti and Evan also came up too. They stopped by the house on Thursday night to meet Vinny and see our house. It was quite a whirlwind of activity with 2 toddlers, a 4 year old and Vinny.
On Saturday we went to My Museum in Monterey which is an interactive kid museum where they can explore different exhibits such as the beach, a hospital, a golf course, a theater, etc. The spot for Vinny was the beach because it was for kids under 3 who are learning to walk and climb. There was two baby slides in there that Vinny just loved going down! Jeff took him to the top and let him go, while i caught him a the bottom. He giggled with glee as he went flying down. If he could talk i am sure he would say “again, again!”
Since this area is known for its Ag, they had a mock field where you could pick carrots, lettuce, and strawberries. There was also a cute play-firetruck complete with fireman outfits, and a real ambulance with a working “telelphone” that you could hear yourself in if you talked. Jeff held the phone up to Evan’s ear and said “say something” — but Evan being the quiet boy he is just shook his head side to side. It was pretty funny.
I think it may be worth getting a season pass to this place because it really is a great place for a small kid to explore. I forgot to bring my camera so i have some more photos with Patti’s camera but i haven’t been able to get them from her yet. I will post to Flickr when i get them.
Vincent Standing in his Playpen
Daddy took this video of Vincent standing and listening to music in his pack n’ play while i was off teaching one of my fitness classes this weekend. This video makes me realize how much Vincent really does pay attention to things going on around him, such as sounds and music. He seems to really enjoy the words or beats of the “Toddler” Pandora station! He really loves to stand while holding onto something. He can tell he wants to stand on his own, but isn’t quite sure how to make that happen yet.
My First Mother’s Day
My first Mother’s day started out with a nice present next to the crib in the morning. I didnt open it right away because I thought I’d wait till Jeff got up.
I went to teach RIPPED in the morning and after class i got a nice text message from Vinny and Jeff that said Happy Mother’s Day and had a photo of a vase full of flowers freshly picked from our backyard.
When i got home, I was asked to open my present! I opened the card first and it was homemade. My favorite! Vinny’s handprints using special magic marker and magic paper. I love the cover of the card (seen in pic below) “For my mommy” — complete with backwards “R”.
Next was my gift. A dozen MOM cookies from a baker on Etsy! It was quite beautiful. I wonder how she decorates them so precisely. They were chocolate flavored, and the frosting was a bit hard to chew when it came to the “double layer” but it was still yummy. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with 12 cookies, (certainly wasn’t going to consume all of them myself!), so i gave one to Becky and then one to each of the Momma’s in my office (Kathy, Michelle M. and Rhonda).
Being a Mom is such a fulfilling job. I am thankful each and everyday to have such a wonderful, happy, smiling, spirited baby. He makes life so much more fun and adventurous.
I love daydreaming about what he will be like when he is a little bit older — walking and talking, asking questions, going off to school, his first little league game… what kind of girl (or boy? LOL JK, you never know…) he will marry… just everything! So many great moments to look forward to in his life.
Momma loves you Vinny!
The Farm
Today we took a visit to The Farm — a produce stand out in Spreckels where they grow most of their own organic vegetables and fruits.
The best part about it is that they also have a small petting zoo area. Here is Vinny with a few bunny rabbits hanging out in their little brick den area.
There was also a couple of goats, handful of ducks, more bunnies in cages, and some chickens.
We bought strawberries (for us), carrots, beets for vinny…and some other stuff I can’t quite recall. It’s a cute store that also has homemade pies, B&R farms apricots, and gifts.
We took some photos outside by their old truck.
Also put Vinny in a wagon that had a bunny on the outside of it. I think The Farm’s logo is a bunny so it is a perfect place for some cute photo ops. Too bad all i had was my camera phone! Oh well, Vinny had fun! It was a nice day.
Daycare Closing
We are sad to find out that our sitter, Becky, will be closing her daycare effective August 10th. We have to find another one! She is/was so good with Vincent, and we loved the fact that she only watched one other boy, who is only 3 months older than him. How will we find someone to replace her? 🙁
Happy First Boy’s Day, Vincent!
Boys Day is a Japanese holiday, now celebrated as “Children’s Day” in Japan (for both boys and girls) but in Hawaii it’s still only Boys Day. Usually this means displaying a big carp kite above your house to represent the healthy males in your family. We got really lucky this year because my Great-Aunt Lillian sent us a Carp Kite that she had bought while on a trip to Japan some 30 or so years ago! She said she bought it for my Mom “in case she had boy” — which of course she never did. (3 girls!) It’s in excellent condition, all wrapped up in the original packaging and never opened.
We received it in the mail a few weeks prior to Boy’s Day and Jeff got started right away setting it up. Eager much? (For some reason, I can’t seem to get him that excited to do the dishes) He only put it partly together then saved the rest for later.
All the instructions were in Japanese and there seems to be some quirky things about it but we made it work. And it looks great! Vincent loved playing with the flags. His absolute favorite thing is watching things fly in the air, so we knew he would love it.
Vincent was flapping his hands trying to get the kite to move. It was so funny.
Love the way this photo turned out. A nice portrait with bold colors!
Everyday after work Dad and Vincent get the mail. On Friday, Vincent got his very own envelope addressed to him, all the way from Hawaii!
It was a Boy’s Day Card from Tehani.
My mom sent Vincent something for Boys Day too, just a couple of gifts and a card. I let Vinny open the gift wrapped in Sanrio paper (This is so old skoool, Ma! How long have you been saving this paper?!?! )
It was a Elmo Lift and Look book. He really loves this book, he can turn the little flaps all by himself. He does it over and over and then scratches at the artwork on the paper.
Grandma also sent this cute mini-carp with candy on the inside. All Vincent wants to do with it when you hand it to him is shove the long stick end down his throat.
Though he did start to grab at the fishes too and did his usual flappy hand dance. Can you see? He subsequently was hitting the pinwheel part of it over his forehead.. Over and over. It looked painful, but guess it just didn’t hurt that bad…?
Having a boy is awesome! Especially having this little boy… he lifts our spirits up everyday! Not only Jeff and I, but our whole family too — from Florida to Pennsylvania, to Hawaii!. :=)
Great Strides for Vincent, 9 months
Vincent has learned so much in the last month! It is crazy ridiculous how much has changed. Jeff got a great shot of his two bottom teeth (which he’s had for a couple months now, but we never got a photo).
Just as an example of how much is changing, day to day, i took this above photo one morning. He was pulling his hands up to the edge of the crib. First time he had done that!
Then the very next morning, he pulled himself to standing! Geez, guess it’s not a steep learning curve on that one?!? Impressive young Vincent!
LOL, this photo cracks me up!! He was exicted i was taking photos i guess! Now he is really good at sitting up and playing. Just last month, he preferred just hanging out on his belly, and would flop over easily if we tried to sit him up on his own.
At daycare, Miss Becky got the boys a blue bouncy ball to play with. She said that Vinny especially loves that ball. So Daddy bought him a ball for us to have at home, and he LOVES it when we bounce it over him, or play with it by throwing it around in the air.
I attempted taking a shave ice photo, but he just proceeded to rollover and bite the straw!
But then i out smarted him. I knew he loved “flying things” in the air, so i grabbed another stuffed animal and whirled it in the air so he would laugh at that one, instead of the shave ice next to him. It worked! Except my camera strap got in the way! Hey, i only have two hands!
I took this video of him laughing up a storm with the shave ice pillow. I did the same thing i normally do with the ball which is bounce it off him when he is lying down. Turns out this is absolutely hilarious to him.
Who knows what he is laughing at here!
So hard to take a photo of him now, because he will just crawl away from me! Here is a video (taken a few weeks ago) that shows him doin’ his army crawl.
Handsome.
He loves to scratch things with his index finger and also with his whole hand. He will scratch everything you give him. Also he is into grabbing my lip and chin when i nurse him. Sometimes he hits me repeatedly! He’s already grabbed my glasses off my face.
Patti gave us a tunnel plaything and a exersaucer (which is similar to his jumperoo but has lots more toys on it). Lucky Vinny has more toys… and also more clothes from Evan.
Other things that have happened this month:
– He loves to say “babababa. He can say “mama” but only does it when he’s getting upset or cranky. Hasn’t really said “dada” convincingly yet.
– He’s a meat eater! So far he’s tried turkey, chicken, and pork! Other new foods: green beans (yuck), acorn squash, cauliflower, prunes, broccoli, tomatoes, barley, green peppers, puffs (feeding himself!)
– He’s a pro at escaping diaper changes! He just can’t sit still. Jeff and i both need to be there when we get ready for bedtime – one person to distract/entertain, the other gets down to business. Even then it’s chaos. We’ve changed the setup of our diaper changing station so that if he rolls over, he will still be on the bed (and not the floor! whoopsie…)
– He only wakes up once to nurse at night now, but typically this is before i go to bed, so he is pretty much sleeping though the night. The past few nights though, he has been taking up to 2 hours to go to bed. We try at his “normal” bedtime at around 7pm, but he doesn’t actually go to bed until 9pm. Isn’t that way too late for a baby?!?
Vincent is so funny, we just love sharing his photos and happenings with all of you. Please comment if you like reading our posts! Until next month….