Shira meets the Bumbo Seat

Who enjoys this chair more?

reading stories

I just wanted to post a shout out to my amazing husband and Samuel's and Shira's amazing Dad. In the morning when we can barely peel our eyes open for Samuel's 6am wake up (please become a teenager soon so we can complain about how you never wake up before noon) Steve is always at the ready to read with Samuel and Shira as I do all the things we have to do in the morning: nursing, picking up the house, making breakfast, picking out clothes, unpacking the bag from yesterday and then repacking our bag for today (lunch, snacks, diapers, extra clothes, water, pacifier, phone, wallet, etc., etc.)

And then, in the evening when Steve gets home exhausted from a long day at the salt mill, and I am doing all of the above mentioned things AGAIN, except this time it is nursing, making dinner, washing the dishes, doing the laundry, etc., etc. and can't take care of one more child or change one more diaper or play one more game, there Steve is again to read stories to the two munchkins, even though he can barely keep his eyes open (or off the computer) either...

Thanks honey for being wonderful!

visiting daddy at the office

I have many memories of visiting my mom at work. The vast majority of them involve food, which is not surprising, since she ran a series of restaurants and cafes. Many of those memories also involve me being used as slave labor. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed the abundantly free food and beverages (ah, the days of being a 7 year old making mixed drinks at the bar - mostly virgin ones), I never thought that my mom was playing while at work.

I have a feeling Samuel and Shira may grow up with a very different perspective of what Steve does when he leaves the house. To start with, the best that I can do to explain to Samuel what Daddy does all day, is to say that he talks to people a lot. Doesn't sound too bad so far.

Then, when we visit Steve (in his new WINDOW office!)

the plethora of toys,

video here:
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the free milk, juice and soda as well as the video games (wii rockstar, halo, etc.) and comfortable couches in the foyers make it hard to persuade Samuel that he really doesn't want to go to the office with Daddy in the morning.

shira the rock and roller

Watch as Shira rolls over for the first time ever. We've got another mover on our hands...
and here she is with an encore performance:

where is the farmer?

That was Samuel's first and most oft repeated question today, as we visited a farm that has a program for 0-3 year olds.

I like that Samuel and Shira don't have preconceived notions of what a farmer should look like, as the answer to Samuel's burning question was, "See the hot 20 something chick over there with the buff sunkissed arms? She's the farmer." She was not the only farmer, of course. There were a couple of 40 something women too. No middle aged men to be seen anywhere, at least not today. No overalls or pitchforks in sight either.

Anyway, since fall is on it's way (though you'd be hard pressed to notice considering the 88 degree weather) we had the opportunity to read a harvest story, pick apples and make cider, in addition to picking grapes, strawberries, beans, and tromping through a corn field.
picking and eating green beans
The corn "jungle"
Shira, ever the good sport.

Eating strawberries straight from the plant can't be beat

The bucket of apples for our apple cider. Samuel did not contribute to said bucket...because he wanted to make sure that the ones we picked came home with us. Samuel found that Shira and her stroller came in might handy in this situation.
Little video on the making of the cider. Being a Californian, I had never seen this done. Steve was of course able to discuss it in great detail with Samuel when he got home.


Samuel samples the cider
and loves it. Not only did he have seconds and thirds, when I dumped my water bottle in order to fill it up to take some home to Steve, Samuel begged to drink that as well. I was able to defer him by telling him it was for Daddy, and he would have to ask if he could share it when Daddy got home. Knowing that his Dad is a pushover for him, he was not concerned, and knew that he just had to wait it out.

oh my goodness

Warning: This is a 3 minute and 46 second video of Samuel playing. Anyone who is not a doting relative may not have a desire to watch the whole thing.

Also, if you are reading this through facebook, you probably can't see any of the videos that I post on the blog - for some reason they don't seem to load. If you want to see the videos, you should read this on my blog: mysunmoonandstars.blogspot.com

Library Storytime

Before we meet our friends for our usual Friday lunch, Samuel, Shira and I take the bus to one of our local libraries for storytime. Taking a stroller on the bus is a big hassle because the driver makes you fold it up, so in the past I would put Samuel in the Ergo. When I was about 7 months pregnant, I could no longer wear the Ergo because it made Shira kick and hit me like crazy, so I started carrying Samuel on my shoulders. Now, Shira goes in the carrier (I just figured out how to get her on my back and she is only 2 and half months!) and Samuel rides on my shoulders. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, since I am the one carrying them :).

Samuel on the bus. He loves to pull the cord and hear it "ding" to request our stop.

It was a bigger crowd than usual today. For the first time Samuel ran in and sat in the middle with the older kids, rather than sit on my lap on the edges.

At the end of storytime Samuel loves to get a stamp from the librarian. He used to just get it on his hand, and I had to go up with him. Now he runs to the front, and requests his stamp in multiple spots of his choosing. Today it was both hands and his belly. Last week it was his knees. ??? How he decides I have no idea. Today's stamp was a heart to celebrate grandparent's day, which apparently is this Sunday.