Our little nude gardener

Back in June, we made an effort to have Cyanne spend some time each afternoon running around outside sans diapers. A little fresh air never hurt anyone...
She spent this time helping Tom in the garden or helping him water the plants around the house.

Here are some photos of her 'helping' Tom water some sunflower seedlings:














































































And, of course, there's nothing like fresh strawberries to top off an afternoon outside in the yard. Especially when a bath is in the immediate future anyway.

















(I'm aware she may hate us in years to come for these but I think they're adorable. She's so, so cute! [Have we said that already?])

Garden Produce

June 14th, 2009:

The garden is starting to produce some incredible, beautiful food.
The tomatoes are just starting to come on. We had a few tasty ones thus far.
However, here is a photo of some of the lettuce, snow peas, french sorrel, herbs, and spinach Tom picked for our salad tonight.





Beautiful!

Cyanne - Post First Haircut

Oh my goodness, someone has a HUGE case of the cuties!
Here are a few photos the day after Cyanne had her first haircut.

These were taken back on June 14th, 2009:

A fun weekend

It was a gorgeous day (back on June 14th) so we decided to go down to the wharf. We enjoyed lunch at Longboards - sunshine, ocean breeze, and lots of seagulls and flags to keep Cyanne entertained. We then took Cyanne back to the Sea Center where she felt all sorts of fun sea creatures!






And then... we stopped for ice cream. She totally nixed Daddy's Rocky Road (yucky yucky!) apparent by her scrunched up face and tongue sticking out... and instead, ate the vast majority of my mint chip. She's a big mint chip fan.... but then really, who isn't? =)

We checked out the boats and birds - met with loud "ooohhhhssss" and "aaahhhhssss." She also loved looking at all of the dogs that wandered by.

First Haircut

Cyanne had her first haircut June 13th.
We ventured to Kid's Cuts in Santa Barbara - her first "salon" experience!
She did a fantastic, amazing job!! Tom and I were totally prepared (Starbucks in hand) for a total meltdown. I was expecting tears, wailing, swift movements of the head -

But instead -
we had a serene, calm, rather dazed child sitting in my lap.
She played with a bucket of (I'm sure clean and sanitized daily) toys and just kept an eye trained on the man cutting her hair.

I had him trim her bangs which were in her eyes and just a light cut of the back. Yes, I'm aiming for the long hair... And we had to keep her precious ringlets...

Here are some before photos:



During:
While not looking thrilled, she was at least calm!




And after!:
We took her to the beach to celebrate her new 'do.

Cyanne and Max - The lovefest continues

(these were taken back in May... bit it's even more true now.)

Cyanne LOVES Max.
Max tolerates and dare I say, likes Cyanne.







Every single time she sees Max, she points to him and says "aawwwwww...." and immediately walks over to him, puts her hands on his back, pushes him to the floor, and promptly lays right on top of him. He just lies there until she's finished snuggling.







Or, if we're holding him, she'll walk over, give him a hug and say "aaawwwwww...." as in nice kitty.... I like this kitty... he's soooo soft. He's just like my stuffed animals but way, way better.





Really, Cyanne LOVES Max.
A lot.

A Night Away...

Tom & I are going to have our first night "away" since Cyanne was born...
I have never spent a night apart from her since she was born - that means we have spent 693 nights together in a row.
And, well, even more if you count the 9 months she was growing before she was born =)

We are doing this for several reasons:

1) For fun.
2) Because we know it will be a long time before we're able to do it again after Blabey Baby Girl #2 arrives this fall.
3) Because I didn't want our first night away from Cyanne - my first night away, I should say - to be the night I was in the hospital delivering her sister.
4) Because I'm very tired and the thought of sleeping without a baby monitor and not having to wake up when Cyanne does in the morning is frankly, highly enticing.
(Of course, because we are who we are and I am who I am, I will wake up at 7 AM anyway... just as I would were I home with her. At least I know this and therefore, won't be surprised when it happens tomorrow morning =) I just won't have to jump out of bed and start the day that early.)
5) We wanted to have a little time to spend together and gather ourselves and our thoughts before the craziness that will be the next 3 months begins:
Tom traveling, third trimester of pregnancy, total remodel of the attic into bedrooms, organizing all things baby, getting ready for the baby, a volunteer Junior League project done by me started and finished this fall, reading a new legal book by Judge Aldisert on Opinion Writing, interviewing him, and writing up an article for the local bar magazine, oh, and work and all that comes with that. I'm sure there's more, but that's what comes to mind. All, hopefully, to be done before November 15th.

So, a few reasons for us to 'escape' for the evening.

Here is where we'll be:
The Montecito Inn in Montecito.
To come: a fantastic dinner at Lucky's, walk along Coast Village Road, and a walk along Butterfly Beach (one of the very first places I ever took Tom on his first visit to Santa Barbara back in the Spring of 1999 - a little over 10 years ago...)

And here is where I plan to spend a few hours (at least):


I shall substitute my margarita for my diet coke and water... and shall enjoy every moment of relaxation -
While, of course, thinking about, wondering about, missing, and likely worrying about Cyanne the vast majority of the time. =) I'll try and keep the worrying to a minimum, I promise.

"No"

Ah, we have entered the world of "No."

Mommy: "Would you like to get out of bed?"
Cyanne: "No."
Mommy: "Would you like to stay in bed?"
Cyanne: "No."
Mommy: "Well, what would you like then?"
Cyanne: Silence - Jumping up and down in said crib with puppy & blanket, all smiles and giggles.

However, I don't mind it because it is frankly adorable the way she says it. This little voice with great enunciation and a little circle formed by her lips: "No." Very deliberate.

It is helpful at times such as when I'm getting her dinner ready and I ask her whether she'd like something - blueberries, meatballs, pasta, tomatoes. She'll either make a "yummmm" sound and smile and do the sign for 'hungry' or say simply, "No."
Last night it was clear she was not interested in blueberries (perhaps she'd had one too many at daycare?) but was all about the cheese.
But then, really, who isn't?
She is my child, after all... =)

So, off we go into the world of "No."

She does nod her head for Yes - now we just need to get her to say it so she finds a friend for her "No" word.
The "Yes" might come in handy, say, when we're offering ice cream...

She usually gets what she wants though because she smiles adorably and says "peease" for please - and does the sign for it.
It's been well noted in our household: it's almost impossible to say no to an adorable little girl saying "peease" and smiling at you, waiting for whatever it is you're holding or whatever she's wanting to do.