wrap!

it's funny how, on one hand, i love to obsess about finding the perfect wrapping for a present to the point of multiple-shop-acquisitions and on the other i love the challenge and fun of figuring out a way to use what i have on hand to do the job.

me and bonz had a baby shower to go to on saturday and i was looking at my unwrapped goods on friday night with no wrapping paper in sight.

enter: kraft paper, hemp twine, scissors.

it turned out pretty cool if i do say so myself.
i almost always like my weirdo cobbled together wrapping best anyways.

flavor of the minute

bonzo's new favorite addition to an outfit is my old yellow and grey striped headband – or, as he calls it, a band-band-head.
it makes him dance faster and do all sorts of stuff with greater precision and motivation.


never mind the added adorableness for the eyes and the ears.
(band-band-head? swoon.)

making me happy on a monday morning

stripes are always, always my favorite so this photograph has me swooning this morning.
it's just so cheerful and sweet and simple and charming.
[image]

harvest

picking and eating strawberries in the garden is rapidly becoming one of bonzo's favorite things to do.

bonzo's world

i love to watch bonzo when he's playing – or just being – and he doesn't know i'm watching him* because he's so blissfully immersed in his own world.

sometimes he's full of stuff to say and songs to sing to himself and other times he's still and quiet – but he's always so completely in the moment that i just can't help but watch from a distance in absolute admiration and adoration.

it's super important time for both of us, i know.

but sometimes i catch myself wanting to join him while he's playing so contently or sit next to him and soak in some quiet time with him when he's just still and reflective – it's just so tempting to want to be in his little world with him while he's so in it himself.

but i know it would snap him back into his head and out of the moment and i want him to have that time,

i really do.

of course sometimes i wish he'd do it on cue – as in: could you occupy yourself for 15 mintues while i do something, bonz?

but, like most everything in life, the best stuff often happens when it's unprompted.

* um, except above. mama, i see you watching me!

guest post at code name: mama

i'm stoked to have a little guest post over at code name: mama today.

she does a regular series about the joys of breastfeeding past infancy that i've always enjoyed reading and am happy to now be contributing to.

dionna, the mama behind code name: mama, is an inspiration in so many ways and her blog is a great resource so it's an honor to have a post over there.

check it!

and, in honor of the subject, here are a few shots from our trip to baja:

it's a hard knock life for bonz.

mother's day

so happy to be yours, bonz.

ready or not

readiness.

i've been thinking a lot about it lately – specifically respecting bonzo's readiness – because opportunities seem to be arising left and right.

first there was round one of the swim lessons.

oh how bonzo hated it.

then, a month or so ago i had the wise idea to start him up in another program just to see if he liked it – and to get him acclimated to the pool for our impending vacation (baja! we just got back last week... pictures soon.)

and, let me say, that i'm looking at swim lessons as swim exposure.

for a mama who talks a lot about respecting readiness, the idea of swim lessons might sound a little senseless (or at least it kinda does to me) because i think there is something massively huge to be said for letting these things unfold and happen at a slower pace, down the road, without rushing or pushing.

but i also thought exposing him to something he may love could be fun – if he enjoyed it.

anyways, round two didn't go over so well either.

we were in the pool for two seconds and i could tell it was a no.

so we got out, dried off and went home.

i want bonzo to know that he can say no and that i'll listen – and respect his readiness which is clearly not upon us now with regards to bodies of water.

fast forward a few weeks to baja. he was a little concerned about getting in the pool and the ocean and each time he said so i told him we didn't have to get in unless he wanted to.

but he sure didn't mind sitting poolside with his meme and his mama, as documented by the chooch:

and i got us a silly little pool to bring along since bonz is down for splashing, scooping and pouring – just not wading, swimming or submerging:

a tiny, plastic, inflatable pool just feet from the warm, calm sea of cortez? well, yeah.

totally ruled.

anyways:

readiness.

this guy knows the way, he really does.

i can learn a lot from him if i sit back and let him show me.