Turned Around

Now that he's legal-one year old and at least 2o pounds, Brady's perspective of the passing world, as seen from the car, recently changed. I think picture number two nicely reveals how he feels about it.

Brady Turns 1!

Today my baby marked his 365th day. Happy Birthday Brady! Saturday, we celebrated with a "Fingers and Hands" themed art party-our first event to incorporate organized activities, which included finger painting on two textures: shiny white poster paper, and foil paper, and making clay molds of the kids' hands(the hand molds also served as a fun memento for the mommies). Along with the catered food from Pat and Oscar's, we provided finger foods like PB&J sandwiches, goldfish crackers, fruit kabobs, and apple slices. We decided to do things a bit differently than we had in the past in order to make Brady's special day stand apart from Jonah's parties, and I believe that we were every bit successful. It was an experience for us all, and the children really seemed to enjoy the art fun. Another nice change was the weather. Usually we are near melting in the July heat, so benefitting from the soft breeze and cool temperature on a late morning in October was great. The sky was blue, the air was clear, and the sun was shining. It was a perfectly beautiful day for a birthday party. We topped the celebration off with a song and some cake and sent the kids along their way with personalized canvas totes filled with "finger" goodies.

The Ellen Show

I was invited by my friend Kathleen, to accompany her and some family members to a taping of the Ellen Show. Luck was on my side because she had tickets for a day when Jeff was off. We had both lunch and dinner in L.A. and spent a great girls day out. Obviously cameras weren't allowed in the studio so my pictures are few.

Imagination Workshop

Hats off to my dear friend Nadakia for hosting an incredible birthday party for her two girls Zoe (4) and Petra (3). This party was one of a kind, different from any other we've ever been to. It began at the Imagination Workshop, a fabulously charming little children's museum in Old Town Temecula. Science was the theme and the kids were given "labcoats" and "goggles" and sent off to explore the many hands-on rooms. If you've never been there before, it makes a great outing for the family-and the added bonus is that it's educational. The party ended at Pat and Oscars where Nadakia set up numerous science stations around the banquet room amid the pizza, pasta, and chicken.

Cereal Box Club

I just had to grab my camera this morning, when once again I had a flashback to my own childhood, and in this case, weekend breakfasts. Jeff and I were both cereal box readers, and lately Jonah seems inclined to have a book with him while he eats in the morning. Saturdays are special, as I usually serve him whole wheat waffles topped with bananas (minus the syrup, of course), and he in turn gobbles it up. Today however, he took his time, choosing instead to balance his efforts evenly between eating and enjoying his hide and seek book.

Riley's Farm

This time was the real deal, and it was a blast. Last year, when we began our annual apple picking tradition, we arrived at the farm too late in the season and had to pretend to pick them out of the bins in front of the old time mercantile. Our sad little attempt at capturing the experience made for a good laugh, but Jonah still had a good time. We made a mental note about the best time to visit, and have had the end of September/beginning of October in mind all year long. This is when the apples are at their peak; so today we walked through the orchards with our boys (swatting at flies every step of the way) and picked our very own apples right off the trees. While we were there we stopped to admire the goats and the horses, and made a quick trip over to Oak Tree Village for a quick look around and some apple butter.

Story Time at the Library

The boys and I have begun making weekly trips to our library here in MoVal. The original intention was to attend story time in the mornings, which also includes a little music and dance, but Jonah isn't quite ready to sit still that long and listen to the book of the day in its entirety (a quick glance at the other kids in attendance made me realize that the average age was about 4 or 5). Our first trip didn't go quite as planned so we chose to browse the stacks instead. We brought home some good books that should be a nice addition to our own private reading times here at home.

His Mother's Son

I get such a kick out of noticing the quirks and traits that the boys inherit from Jeff and Me. In this photo, Brady is caught sleeping just like I used to when I was younger. In most of the houses that we lived in, my bed was up against a wall, and for some crazy reason I found this position to be extremely comfortable. Go figure...:)

Cutting into Playtime

Mommy, are you done sweeping yet??

LET GO!

It's been a quiet week at the Cummins home-but tonight, we got some blog action. Jonah's latest phrase is "Let go!" Much to my dismay, he says so quite emphatically and defiantly at the worst times. This evening, his demand was made at an ironic moment in which his baby brother obliged him. Brady was standing at the foot of the couch...and let go for the first time ever! He balanced for about 10 seconds before plopping down on his bottom. It was very exciting (you had to be here). The first time's always the hardest, but from then on, it's practice makes perfect. As the evening wore on, he continued to try out his new skill. He was an early crawler, an early cruiser, and it looks like walking is just around the corner. Additionally, we are starting to hear the beginnings of his first word (besides mama and dada). Monday afternoon, while Jeff and I were out on an errand (yes, we missed the actual moment) Brady was playing on the floor and got ahold of the phone. He turned it in his hand, put it to his ear and said "Hooooo." He is such a sponge! Keep sopping it up, baby-learn, learn, learn.