Egg Hunts and Aebelskiver

Lots of pictures for everyone this week! On Thursday Einar went to his first Easter Egg Hunt at the park. Who knew that 14-month-olds could figure out how to hunt eggs and handle a basket? He was such a pro that I figure he's been practicing while I've been sleeping or something.

Then on Friday we drove up to Ventura after Jared came home from work where we could head out early on Saturday to visit Solvang. Solvang is about 45 miles north of Santa Barbara and the final destination of our aebelskiver pan quest (aebelskivers are traditional Danish round pancakes that Jared really loves). I had given Jared a choice for obtaining the aebelskiver pan from his birthday wish list; I could either order it online or we could make a little trip of it and drive up there for the weekend for a birthday trip.

We started out with breakfast at a Danish bakery and then continued to eat our way through town. Einar likes aebelskiver because they are shaped like balls and fit in his hands. We found the pan that Jared wanted and when we got home he made us aebelskiver breakfast for Easter morning. Yum. Einar joined a game of soccer that a family was playing in a Solvang park and made off with the ball a few times. The boys were very kind to let him play "keeper" for awhile. Once it looked like it might rain again, we headed back to the car to head home. Einar conked out for a couple of hours after all of the excitement. Traffic was pretty rough through LA so we got off of I-405 and took a much needed break at a great park in Santa Monica. I had packed the sand toys in the car with us and so we headed for the sand. The park was jammed full with families and we had fun just being outside. On the road again we stopped for dinner at California Pizza kitchen, where all of our appetites were satisfied, and then got back to San Clemente by 8 for Einar's bedtime.

For Easter we had a friend of ours from Gardnerville who now lives down here come over for dinner. Lisa brought along a friend, whose husband is in Iraq with Lisa's husband Mike. Mary Ann also brought her daughter Paige who is 2. We had an Easter Egg hunt out on our lawn and a yummy leg of lamb dinner.

Well, I'm off to change a smelly diaper and get us ready for a park outing. Enjoy the pictures.

Like Mother Like Son

It seems that Einar wants to do a happy food dance when he eats chocolate just like his mom and dad. Now I'm not the only one on this blog that is shown going crazy with chocolate. This afternoon I made some mini brownies for Jared to take to work to celebrate his birthday on Wednesday. We enjoyed a few of them for dessert and Einar had one of his own. Surprise, surprise, that went over better than the Arugula-Beet Green Pesto Rotini that I had made for dinner.

Now that the dishes are done and the boys are both in bed I can upload a couple of pictures. I tend to be a bit more of a night-owl than Jared and usually when I hit the pillow by 9, I get a second wind and am wide awake. Oh well, maybe that's why I don't have to be at work at 4:45am any longer. Einar and I tend to wake up anywhere between 7:30 and 9am.

When we wake up we start our day most mornings with oatmeal made with craisins and some fruit. Einar's favorites these days are melons and bananas. I also get a cup of coffee or tea. Breakfast, like most meals, is a very messy affair and usually takes us at least 40 minutes. Then we rush to get out of the house so that we can meet some friends at the park by 10 or go for a walk. Today was a park day and we went to Liberty Park in the Talega development. It has really nice, soft sand to play with.

Einar was a bit of a meltdown man again today and we had to leave the park around 11:30 since he was starting to push some kids around because they were playing with a particular green bucket that he was eyeing. It was time for a bottle, a burp cloth and a nap.

Later this afternoon after Einar's nap and the completion of my Monday chores, we walked down to Ralph's for a few things off of the grocery list that we haven't been able to find at the commissary. Then we stopped at Starbucks and got coffee for me and a chai for my friend Kathleen and we walked back to her house for a little afternoon snack and playtime. Sorry I don't have any pictures of playtime, I forgot my camera again.

Meltdown Man

I think that Einar is working on a few new teeth. We haven't seen them pop through yet, but if the feverish little body and tendency to become Meltdown Man frequently are any indicators, then new teeth will be appearing shortly. He's doing pretty well considering, but if things don't happen to go his way, he loses it.

On the other hand, several times over the last few days he has spent 15-20 minutes walking around the living room just giggling. He seems to be really happy most of the time and has quite a sense of humor.

Last night after he went to bed, Jared and I played a couple of games of Labrynth. It is a game that my friend Karin gave us and it is a lot of fun. I got whooped twice last night before I threw in the towel--Jared was on a roll. We were also enjoying a bit of coffee and chocolate while playing the game. I guess I got carried away with the chocolate.

Today after church we drove to Laguna Beach and found the Yellow Crystal Cove Shake Shack. It was featured on Rachel Rae's $40 a Day show and I enjoyed a Date shake and Jared had an Orange Vanilla shake. Then we headed back home to try to give Einar a nap, but instead it was me who got some shut-eye. Einar didn't get anymore sleep until the three of us went on a very long walk along the Forester Ranch Ridgeline trail. There were fantastic views of San Clemente on the trail and Einar was lulled to sleep by the off-roading in his jogging stroller.

Now the boys are in bed and I just finished watching Grey's Anatomy, which I try to catch every Sunday night if I remember. Tomorrow I'm going to sign him up for Parent and Baby swimming lessons at the local pool.

Little Guy isn't looking so little!

Ok, so maybe he looks little sitting on that chair, but he sure is growing up fast!

Einar and I had a good day today even though he still hasn't adjusted fully to the time change. I guess an hour makes a pretty big difference to a little guy's internal clock.

After breakfast we went to the park and he played in the sand and on the swings. Then it was home for some lunch and then several attempts at an Einar nap. It took him forever to fall asleep this afternoon! When he woke up I gave him a bath and then it was off to the mall to get his picture taken.

Jared came home early tonight so he came with us to pick out the best shot of Einar and then we enjoyed dinner out. Einar ate lots of walnut chicken. Bedtime was late again since the kid was pretty happy and smiley tonight.

Time Change

Einar has not adjusted easily to the time change today. He was a sleepy sleepy boy this morning during church and tonight was not an easy-to-bed night. It's almost ten and his head just hit the pillow AGAIN!--he's finally out of words for the evening. Those smiley pictures of him in his green pajamas were taken just 15 minutes ago. I am thankful that he's not fussy with the transisition, just happy with a few more words to share tonight.

Jared and Einar came down to the beach with me this afternoon to do a clean-up of my stretch of sand. It was low tide so we got to walk along the water instead of just up by the train tracks. I filled a big yellow bag with stuff, but it seemed cleaner than the last time I was down there. Jared and Einar were there for moral support and the view. It was nice to have Jared carry the little guy in the backpack. I had been worried about the 100 stairs down to the shore, but once we got there I saw other challenges like going down by the creek and under the train tracks to get to the water. Jared was the perfect kid transporter for the job!

Earlier this week Jared and I felt like horrible parents when we took him to have his feet measured and we found out that we've been stuffing 5 1/2 to 6 sized feet into size 3 and 4 shoes. We realize that foot-binding went out of style years ago and Einar would have trouble passing for a Chinese woman anyway. It's time to make the trip to the shoe store for foot measurements on a regular business. He walks better with bigger shoes.

Black Eyes, Whale Watching, and Toilet Locks

Well, Einar got his first black eye on Friday morning just after he got out of bed. He had walked into the downstairs bathroom and slipped on the linoleum and his face met the floor. He recovered quickly, but the black eye was here to stay. I took a picture of it yesterday just so you all wouldn't worry about him too much. Now that he is walking around in a determined if still wobbly way, he's a bit more bruised than when his mode of transportation was a sporty crawl.

Yesterday we all went out on a whale watching trip after church. We had a super time and saw not only grey whales and false killer whales but also some dolphins and sea lions. It was Einar's first time out on a boat and he seemed to kind of like to get his sea legs by walking around on the deck with us a bit. The boat ride was only two hours long and we left out of Dana Point Harbor which is just five minutes away from our house. He wore his yellow rain jacket and his new sun hat and he sure looked a lot like Grandpa Lee.

Fun at play hour at Dana Point

This morning after a pancake breakfast at home, Einar and I went to a gym/play hour for little people at Dana Point Harbor. Each Thursday they set up this big room with balls, mats, balance beams, tunnels, a trampoline that is only 3 inches off of the ground, hula hoops, and other fun things and it's a total free-for-all. There was even a bubble machine and music. Einar at first went around and collected as many of the balls that he could find. He was watching everyone and had fun in a play tunnel that was shaped like a bus with windows. Somehow he became the baby for the older boys and girls (2+) to lasoe with the hula hoops and come up and growl at. Einar loved it even though it was a bit confusing at times. I forgot to bring my camera in however =( and will have to remember if we go there again.

He is now taking a nap and I've just finished submitting our taxes for 2005. Now it is time to figure out some lunch for me and some finger snacks for the little guy when he wakes up. No big plans for the afternoon but we might get outside a bit more since it is such a nice warm day. Yesterday a trash caliper was dropped off so we might even get down to clean up our section of beach this afternoon.

Later that night....

Einar is in bed for the night after an exciting afternoon of being a super hero. In the mail today he got a Batman outfit from Grampa Lee and Grandma Jean. He makes a really great Batman! We also went for a walk this afternoon before coming home and making some Thai food that I scorched but that Einar still liked--what a kid! The picture of the two of us sleeping is the morning after we returned from Germany. Jared got out the camera since we were so out of it from our travels.

Sick Blog Server

Yay! The Blogspot is back! The past day and a half the server has been acting up and I haven't been able to post anything. I guess the Blog got the same cold that Einar came down with. I'm pasting in the entry that I wrote the other day and am including those pictures as well.

Today Einar was feeling much better. I kept him off of the vitamin T and he did well all day. We went on our Dana Point walk this morning and then to the commissary to get some more milk and a few other groceries before heading home for his nap. Since he has stopped nursing in the past two weeks, those trips to the grocery store to stock up on milk have been happening more frequently.

When he woke up from his nap, we took our visiting next-door neighbor (remember Linda who rode the train with us to Los Angeles in November?) to the mall to do some shopping and play in the kid area. The mall here has a great play area for little guys that Einar really enjoyed walking around and visiting with all of the people and kids. It was fun watching him walk around like a drunk (those legs still don't bend like more practiced legs when they walk) with another kid his age and then walk around to visit with the bigger kids and even try to scale another mom. Before I reigned him in for a snack of his own, he even snagged a kid's chocolate chip cookie and then knocked over the kid's stroller when the cookie and kid were taken away from him. Either I need to feed him more frequently or offer him more chocolate chip cookies. I guess I need a bit more practice at this mothering gig.

Well, I've tried to upload the photos three times, but I guess the blog is still recovering. I'll still include what I wrote yesterday.

Written yesterday:

Our little guy hasn't been too photogenic the past few days. I sincerely doubt that any of you would truly appreciate picture of him with green snot oozing from his nose. That is unfortunately an accurate description of Einar since Saturday night. He woke up on Saturday night with a full-blown cold and was pretty miserable. Since then, we've kept him home and dosed up on some Tylenol cold medicine to help him weather through. Today is the first time he's been in anything but a sleeper suit and he is wearing a turtleneck, some sweats and his orange pom-pom hat--I don't want him to get chilled.

He's feeling good enough to get into my new system for keeping the sheer volume of toys down a bit each day. I purchase 7 smaller storage boxes and divided up some of the toys like puzzles, ball games, and cars into each of these so that we can bring out a new box every day. Not a bad idea except when your kid raids the stack of storage boxes on the morning you start the program. I guess I need to store them out of site or get opaque boxes instead of tempting clear ones.

Since this is the week that the return of the swallows is being celebrated in San Juan Capistrano, I'm including some pictures of our visit to the mission last month with Lynn and Dennis. The mission is only 3 exits north of us on the freeway and has gorgeous grounds and so much history to absorb on a visit. It was a bit cold on the day we went, but the rain held off until we got back to the car. From what I read in the newspaper yesterday, the experts are predicting that the swallows will be returning a bit late this year because of the chilly weather.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Einar is toasting everyone with a pint of Guinness. Actually it was Jared's idea for that photo shoot since he wanted a new picture to take to the guys at work.

It's nap time for Einar right now. Yay, two naps today for the little guy! He's been waking up early all week probably from the time change and naps haven't been too predictable. I'm making corned beef with cabbage, potatoes and carrots for dinner tonight and the house is smelling really good right now. While that is simmering on the stove, I'll be cleaning up the little bits of the phone book that Einar discovered were really fun to tear out this afternoon. So much for thinking that he was good around magazines and books and thankfully we just got a new yellow pages last month. He sure got this big grin on his face as the paper went "RIP!"

No big plans for this weekend so far. Jared will be home and will probably be taking Einar to town tomorrow morning for the weekly haircut (Jared's, not Einar's). It might be getting time for Einar's first haircut though. Yesterday when I fed him a bagel spread with almond butter and apple butter the first thing he did was put it upside down on his head and rubbed it really good into his hair. Actions like that lead me to think that he might look really good with a short cut like his dad's. We'll take pictures if it happens soon.

Back from Germany

Einar, Kermit, and I are back from Germany and seem to be over our jet-lag as well. We had a really good trip visiting with Karin's family in Ludwigshafen (outside of Heidelburg) and then travelling with Paula up the Rhine to Cologne and then spending our last two nights in Wiesbaden. I now know why tickets to Europe are cheaper in the winter months--we enjoyed lots of snow and had to peek up at statues in gardens that were hiding under wooden huts to protect them from the weather. Castles seem to have winter hours as well.

The pictures are from our travels around and I will have more once Paula and I consolidate our photos. There is also one of Einar with Aunt Jess and Uncle Tor when they were here in San Clemente visiting right before we left for Germany. Jess knit the sweater that Einar is wearing. The one with Jared was taken around midnight at LAX when he picked us up from our flight. Einar is enjoying one of the cookies that Jared brought for him while I'm still enjoying the flowers that he brought for me--Jared really missed us while we were away and was pretty excited to see us both.

Einar took his first steps while in Germany at the baptism party. He strung together about five steps that day but then waited until he saw his dad to take any more. Now he can do pivot turns and walk about 5 feet, but still prefers the speed of his crawling to get places. Walking is only fun as a novelty, not as a way to get somewhere.

One of his favorite activities in Germany was hearing his voice echo in the churches that we went to visit. The first one that he noticed the accoustics in was the Rothenburg church. As we walked through it he just kept saying "DA" and grinning. Everytime we walked into one of these old churches he would try it out again. The Dom in Cologne was a disappointment for him since it was so large that there wasn't an echo.

In Cologne we also visited a Lego store where he got to finally get out of the stroller and play with Legos for a little while. That was great fun until he turned into stinky pants. Paula asked a clerk at the Lego store where we could go to change a diaper and he pointed us to the drug store across the street. They actually had a baby changing station next to all of the baby supplies on one of the aisles!

In Heidelburg we stopped at a park along the river and played on this long wooden snake teeter-totter that was great fun. It wouldn't be allowed in the states because someone would sue for sure. It really threw you and Karin, Paula, and I had to hold on tight in order to stay on as we were whipped around.