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Maddox loves helping me in the kitchen. Whenever I go in to cook he says “help”, and “up” (because he wants up on the counter). I’ve been NOT buying a learning tower or similar kid platform product. People say its totally amazing and I should get one, but I just can’t get over the idea of a big ladder type furniture thing living in my kitchen 24/7. Enough of the house has already been taken over by kid products, not my kitchen too!

I usually just plop him on the counter and we get to cookin’. For apple pie makin’, we brought in his little blue table.  It worked out pretty well and he stayed a bit cleaner.

In this photo he is taking the stickers off the apples.  It bothers me that some apples have stickers – even these organic ones.  Yuck to stickers on fruit.

Honestly Maddox made a great deal of the pie himself (with much guidance).  He is getting better at measuring (scooping), not spilling wet ingredients, not eating too much of the ingredients as they go in the bowl, stirring, and opening packages. To prepare the apples we have a handy gadget that peels, cores, and slices all by cranking a handle – so Maddox is able to help with this step too.

For a year now, I’ve had a ‘Stash of Stashes’ in our side table drawer. They were from The Pretty Little Things Club. The other day Maddox pulled them out and decided it was time to for the family to wear moustaches. We were instantly on board – who doesn’t love an impromptu moustache party??

Next time Lily will have to get in on the moustache action! Because she was only a 2 weeks old, we decided to let it slide this time.

The theme for Maddox’s 2nd Birthday Party was generally monkey, banana, yellow. As with many parties, the crafting before hand is the most fun part. I love the idea of little party goers having some prize or special gift to take home with them to remember the day. For two year olds, crayons and coloring seemed the best idea.

I made monkey shaped crayons and each kid was given 2 different colors wrapped in a little celo bag with yellow Japanese paper tape. For the crayons I melted down Crayola brand crayons (I heard other brands are no good for this sort of thing), and used a Monkey shaped plastic chocolate mold. I knew I wanted to make shaped crayons for about a year now so I’ve been scouring Craigslist and hounding parents for their used crayons.  This search method was a big fail. Back to school time at Target was the real key. I found Crayola 24 count boxed crayons for 25¢ each.  What a deal.  So to keep things easy I bought 24 boxes.  Then I sorted them all by color into each of the 24 boxes.

Maddox helped me to peel the paper off the crayons and break them into small pieces (his favorite part). Strangely, he hasn’t taken it upon himself to break up all of his crayons since this project. We did lose a few in the early days, but he knows the difference now between craft project and coloring.

I melted the crayon pieces in baby food jars partially submerged in a pot of boiling water, then poured the melted wax into the molds and popped them in the freezer. The only cracking problems I had were when I used pieces from the “found” Crayola crayons. So my advice is to stick with brand new crayons and don’t mix.

The coloring books I made using a lightweight yellow card stock. Using our printer, I added the image of the Monkey from a quick internet search for Monkey Coloring Pages or something like that. The inside paper I cut to size, then sewed together with the cover using my sewing machine. (I didn’t want the little kids to have access to staples, and the sewing worked really well.) I then rounded the corners of all the pages and the covers and smacked on a strip of brown book binding tape. Voila! Toss in some monkey stickers and cup shaped like a monkey head and you’ve got yourself a little monkey party loot!

Last weekend we were up in Grass Valley, CA for the wedding of Jake & Kristin – Wahoo! Very exciting indeed. If ever two were meant to be together… The family and friends were fantastic, the ceremony was beautiful, and the food was delicious. I love that the entire event was held outdoors. When the sun went down and the music went up, the night became electric. The joy in the air was tangible. Oh how I adore weddings!

[Maddox’s wedding outfit]

[Eating a pretzel]

[During the ceremony with a fan]

Maddox had a blast at the wedding. He enjoyed playing with all of the kids, watching fish in the pond, gathering flowers and sticks, playing with toy princesses, staying up late enough to see the moon, experiencing his first night rain. He even picked out a special flower for his friend Riley. He is turning into quite the little gentleman.

[Getting ready to deliver a special flower]

After much deliberation, Maddox picked out the perfect flower for Riley.  He had one flower in each pocket, one for her and one for him.  It was so cute!  Though even his tantrums these days are pretty cute. What is that?  Maybe its my hormones, but I can’t help but to think he is the greatest thing in the entire universe.

This is pretty great stuff too:

Congratulations you guys!

This is from last week. It is just cute and makes me happy. It was a really hot day for San Francisco (98), so Maddox was wearing few clothes. We like to play a game where we open our eyes as big as we can then make them really small again. At the beginning of the video he points to the straw and says and does the sign for ‘Orange’ for some reason. Then he shows off his verbal skills saying the words – blue, poop, and walk. The video goes until he gets distracted by a bit of milk splashing on the couch.

Today is the second day of daycare, which I have started calling “school” because it seems more appropriate and is just plain easier to say having fewer syllables and all (I need to conserve energy where I can). Anyway, drop off totally sucked.  He started crying in the car as soon as we pulled up and he saw the big yellow house. Even the peppy little Boston Terrier couldn’t snap him out of it.  When I left he was crying and saying “Baum Baum”, which means “Mommy, Mommy”.  Heartbreaking.

So I’ve basically been crying for an hour.  And beating myself up.  Then telling myself its best for everyone etc etc. blah blah blah.  And now I’m recovered enough to plan my day of distractions.

I’m going to start with sewing.  I’m working on a blanket for the new little baby and it would be cool if it was done before she is born. Following that, I plan to walk 2 blocks and get the longest, most fragrant pedicure money can buy. And if I’m really feeling crazy, I might walk one more block and see a movie.  And this my friends is really out there for me.  I am not a movie goer. I always enjoy them when I go, yet I avoid them like the plague.  The time usually seems better spent doing something social, or at least getting something done – like laundry or yard work. But today it might be the only way to escape my head and heart.

A cute photo from the archives to remind me of how good life is…

UPDATE:
The daycare just sent me a couple text messages. Apparently he is “doing really well today. He only cried for like 10 min! Now he’s playing”.

Also a couple photos…

Today is Maddox’s first day of Daycare.  It is also the first time we have been apart this long, ever. I really hope he is happy and doing well.  It is nap time now.  I don’t have high hopes of him napping there without crying.  We’ll see! From what I hear, every kid does great the first couple days, then things fall apart and they don’t want to go anymore. Then this phase lasts somewhere between a couple weeks to a couple months, depending on the kid.

I have been trying to keep as busy as possible so as to not over think this separation and totally meltdown. I have a hefty dose of pregnancy hormones working against me, but so far I’ve done pretty well. I went to the Mission for hipster donuts (bacon apple maple glazed), Rainbow Market (hippie co-op), car wash, met with our designer, met with a painter, and now am enjoying lunch. So far, I’ve made it without crying. I almost did for a minute in the grocery store when I saw all the kid books and toys, but I sucked the tears right back in. Once I get going on the crying thing, there is no turning back.

I’m excited about this new phase. I think it will be really great for all of us. Mostly though, I’m doing it for him. I want him to socialize, learn to take direction from other grown-ups, make friends, and have his “own life” that doesn’t involve us or the baby-to-be. Of course this is also good for me…I guess. I don’t quite see it that way yet. I feel guilty about out-sourcing my family. Once the new baby is here it will be nice to have special time that is just for her.  Also this is an attempt at helping Maddox to feel more independent and less displaced. Hopefully it all goes well!  I just have to keep reminding myself why I’m doing this.

Recently we went on a mini vaca to Palm Springs.  It was a nice escape from our San Francisco Summer.  The sun felt SO good! When we left I believe it was 106 degrees.  Ahhh…

[Maddox in a hanging basket chair at The Parker]

We were there for only 3 nights, but I felt refreshed and relaxed upon our return. The warm nights are the best part of hot weather if you ask me.  It feels so good to be in a tank top at 9pm and still feel the heat on my skin.

Here is a shot of Maddox and Josh taking a moment to enjoy the hammock.

Maddox and Riley pick up a game of Bocce…

(The metal balls are VERY heavy for a 1 1/2 year old!)

Next up, Maddox and Damon play a game of Giant Chess!

Maddox and I just finished making cheesy souffle ebelskivers with the fancy pan and cookbook my mother bought us for Christmas. Turns out Maddox likes playing with flour as much as the dirt outside!  The difference is he is totally contained in his highchair and I can do indoor mommy activities (like actually cook). He uses the measuring spoons, and whisk, and pours and stirs over and over. He is a very focused youngin’. I let him shake in some cinnamon for color and fun. Flour is pretty cheap too, for the amount of fun he is gets out of it!