Lately

(Loves playing his dad's harmonica) 

(Doing a little stretching at an empty McDonald's. We visit at least once a week these days. Coffee and cookies for J and I, hamburger with no bun for Cohen) 

(Trudging home from getting the mail) 

(The faster, the better. J and I get a good little workout. This is in our backyard) 

(He loves playing in the snow) 

(Our second babysitter date ever. We went to a drinks and desserts event at the local ski hill. We have had lots of dates in the past 1.5 years, but we usually only ever have family or our daytime nanny watch Cohen. Having a real live babysitter is a whole other thing)

(Dude loves to wear these goggles we found on the street the day after halloween. On the street! And his new thing is packing his very own book bag for our weekly trip to the library.)

(On a recent breakfast family date. He loves to wear sunglasses. And drink coffee creamers)

A moment

Just a really scene in our house these days. Jon and I love to spend time with Cohen on the floor of our living room playing with blocks, reading, playing with the fire truck. Cohen is a total pro at making towers really high. I'll be like, nope, that tower cannot handle one more block. And he'll carefully, gingerly add another block with a huge smile on his face. Skills.

Also, I am just loving the spaces where he is getting his little canine teeth. So cute.

Library list

Two solitudes: Just starting this one. Comes highly recommended by my husband.

Daily love: I am sorta into the Daily love website, so I thought I would like the book. It was just OK. The main message I got from it was that I need to check out Tony Robbins, the motivational speaker.

Wheat belly total health: I read the first wheat belly, but this one is so much more intense. He recommends you eliminate all grains from your diet, and also all gluten-free items. So no more bread, rice, oatmeal. And he says to reduce your fruit intake way way down. Since we are now a nut-free and egg-free household, it's almost impossible to follow this book. We did it for like a week, and we probably lost weight, but we didn't even want to.

Yes please: I can't pass up a female celebrity memoir these days. Tina Fey's was the best by far. Amy's was pretty good, but I laughed out loud exactly once. I expected more. Still, I would recommend this book. I liked hearing about her struggles with motherhood and working.

On the weekend

(he just loves to trudge through snow. around and around our house)

(and instead of working out I have been pulling him around the street/yard as fast as I can)

(driving in a snowstorm)

(he is a snow lover)

(must have sat up here for at least 5 minutes)

(snowshoeing)

We had a good, quiet weekend, maxing out on snow activities. We went snowshoeing twice, sledding 5 times, skating once and spent a ton of time just walking around in the snow. I sorta feel like a lot of toddlers don't spend much time outside. I am basing that mostly just on the fact that I know a lot of little kids live on our street, and I never ever see them outside. Maybe it's because they have sweet ball pits and indoor bouncy castles in their houses. I'll be over here hoping for some playdate invites. 

1.5 years old!

Cohen is 18 months old today. I am loving this age so much! 

Some things about Cohen lately:

- He is still apparently really small. He weighs around 23 pounds now.

- His auntie Kiki finally cut his hair, which I find makes him look so much more like a toddler as opposed to a baby.

- Favourite foods lately: frozen blueberries, always (he goes to the freezer door and says "boo?" whenever he wants them). He also really likes plain greek yogurt, pom juice (which I always lace with fish oil), ground beef, and tofu. Least favorite: salad. Whenever we try to give him salad, he puts it in his mouth, then spits it out as if it were poison. And he can eat a whole can of sardines in ten minutes, easy.

- Words: "bubble guppies." This is a show on netflix that we let him watch for 20 minutes a day. He LOVES it. He can say bubble guppies so clearly, it's amazing. We are also teaching him/making him say please whenever he wants something. Right now it is more "peas?" He also loves to say "moo" when you show him a picture of a cow, and he loves to try to count to four. Also says, "no" to every single thing J and I say to him.

- Favorite activities: He loves helping J and I. When I am baking and I let him pass me the muffin liners or dump the flour in the bowl, he is super happy. Though it usually ends in him being pissed that I wouldn't let him eat all the butter or climb right into the oven. He loves carrying the little watering jug around behind Jon to water all the plants in the house. He loves grabbing the freshly folded facecloths and throwing them right back into the dirty laundry hamper. Other true love: toddling around the driveway/empty parking lot/lawn/open space with no particular end game. Also getting chased by J or I.

- Things that make him super mad: When J or I ever have our phones or computers out, ever. If electronic devices are in sight, he wants to be using them. Getting out of his crib, sometimes. He sometimes just wants to spend the whole day in there, but with us in plain sight. If we try to leave his room, no, that is a problem. My makeup case. I am down to just blush and bronzer because he has destroyed all other cosmetics.

- He sleeps from around 6:30 pm to 5:30 am, then naps for 2 hours in the middle of the day. I would love if he slept a little longer in the mornings, but it's really not that bad.