wordless/wednesday

the book of bonz

i've mentioned before that bonzo loves to talk about when he was born. loves it. and he likes to compare his story to what's going on with my belly – with ours baby.

enter: visual aid.

i made a book with blurb, especially for bonzo – it chronicles his whole entire life from when i was first pregnant up until the day i hit "publish" and "buy now" online a couple weeks ago.

it hits all the high-points:
photos of my growing belly, us getting his room and things together, friends and family celebrating at my baby shower, an even bigger belly, brand-new-born bonzo and – according to him, most importantly –photos of his first nursies. then it's followed up with a bunch of newborn-bonzo pictures of him nursing, sleeping, nursing, cuddling and nursing. then there's a rapid-fire spread of his development – sitting, standing, walking – all the way up until the last photo of him a couple weeks ago. oh it's cute stuff.

the intent behind the book – aside from just being a special thing for my special guy – is to help him make the connection between what's happening now, in this pregnancy, and what happened when he "started out teeny tiny in mommy's tummy". and it's a good visual for what newborn babies do. ours baby will do just like you did, bonz: nurse, sleep, nurse, cuddle and nurse.

we talk about it a bunch. i follow his lead. sometimes we only talk about his story, sometimes we talk about ours baby. sometimes we talk about both. either way we love to flip through the pages and oooh and aaah over the cuteness.

so far bonz thinks ours baby will be a boy.
the frontrunners in the name-department are: pantsy and shook-keee!
they've been added to the list and are under careful consideration. of course.














[does it go without saying that i have no affiliation with blurb? i assume it's obvious but if not, i don't.]

fork it over.

march 20, 2012:

i heart the shins. james mercer's voice has high ranking on my favorites list. it just doesn't get much
better – live or recorded.
i got oh, inverted world when it came out in 2001 and i remember unwrapping the disc in the parking lot of the brand new amoeba records in hollywood and falling in love right then and there.
i love that their sound's evolved but they're still rad. when coldplay's parachutes came out a hundred years ago i remember having the same full-body-reaction to it – instant love. but it's been such a steady decline for me with their music and now i don't even care about their new releases. they're not the worst – and change is inevitable – but they just changed too much for this girl. though i still love their old sound and always will.

anyways, a new shins album! hooray.

easy being green

i love whole living magazine. it's one of my favorites – i've been a fan since it was called body + soul.

the march issue came a week or two ago and it's a juicy one. there's a feature called "naturally brilliant" and it's a feast for the eyes. for starters, the food styling is gorgeous and the greens section was dog-eared immediately. there's a recipe for broccoli-spinach soup that caught my eye because it looked delish, seemed simple and, going down the list ingredient-by-ingredient, i knew it would be a hit. never mind the second part of the recipe is for avocado toasts – rustic bread topped with mashed avocado topped with radish sprouts and lemon juice? yes, please.

bonz and i got the goods at whole foods this afternoon, came home and whipped it up in no time. i even stuck to the recipe with only one or two slight variations.

this is an easy, fast, delicious and super nutritious recipe that's totally going to be in regular rotation over here. i love that the greens are very lightly cooked – not only is it healthier but the finished product is the most vibrant shade of green. recipe below!









broccoli-spinach soup (with avocado toasts)

1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 leek, white and pale green parts thinly sliced
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock (i use this when i don't make my own)
1 bunch broccoli, chopped (6 cups)
6 oz baby spinach (6 cups) (i probably used more like 8 cups of spinach. maybe 9.)
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan (i used 1/2 cup – bonz loooooves parm!)
2 tbsp tahini
coarse salt and ground black pepper

4 slices rustic bread, toasted
2 avocados
1/4 cup radish sprouts
1 lemon

1. heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. add leek and cook until tender, about four minutes. add stock; bring to boil. add broccoli and cook, covered, until bright green and tender, about two minutes.
2. remove from heat. stir in spinach, parmesan and tahini. let cool slightly. season with salt and pepper.
3. working in batches, purée soup in a blender until smooth. (i used my emersion blender. easy!)
4. top bread with avocado and radish sprouts. season with salt and pepper, squeeze with lemon, and drizzle with oil.
(i didn't make the avocado toasts but duh. it's pretty obvious that this would be delish. with or without the soup.)

easy rider

bonzo's so stoked lately. he's all about using the pedals on his tricycle. and he's all about wearing his new helmet – riding or not. it's pretty much the preferred activity around here lately. i've been backing my car halfway down the driveway to where it begins a slight slope towards the sidewalk. then he's got the garage and a bunch of the driveway between my car and choo choo's vintage bmw to practice, practice, practice. plus it's pretty cool to watch the neighborhood goings-on while we're out there. when the mailman pulled up and handed us the day's offerings, bonzo took the mini-boden catalog from the stack, walked right past his bike in the driveway and took a seat in the middle of the garage to "look at the kids" – another thing bonzo thinks is pretty fun to do.



and another tid-bit of cuteness from the other morning – i'm in the kitchen and i hear, "mama! come push me, come push me in this thing!"
and this is what i see when i walk in the room:


here's how things are shaping up at twenty three weeks.
it's cray-zeeeee that i'm this far along already. the time is fly-ing-by this time around.
who's in there?!

hearts, kittens and rainbows

the first words i heard this morning were from my smallest valentine: "i'm gonna give you a kiss!"
so my valentine's day was made by sun-up.

i'll go on record saying that i'm right in the middle about this day. i don't particularly love it but i'm definitely not anti-valentine's day either.
sure, it's great to have a day to celebrate love. and this might sound like an easy out – but ain't that every day? i find that along with the excitement and joy that holidays bring, pressure and expectation tag right along. so i guess the two sort of offset each other and i'm left feeling like i do: right down the middle. neither thrilled or bummed, not happy or sad. i mean, happy because i'm generally happy but not just because it's valentine's day. you know what i mean?

i got the chooch a valentine and wrote him a little love note on the inside in sparkle pen.
they're words i'd say to him any old day of the year because i mean them through and through but today seemed like just as good of a day to remind him how much i love him.

happy valentine's day, friends!
i hope it's a day filled with an extra dose of love for everyone.

today and a couple yesterdays

today:
bonz made some valentines...


read "the surfing book" adorned with new band-aids...


was pretty much the cutest thing ever...


and thoroughly enjoyed his new bubble leaf blower. seriously, best $18 i ever spent. as you can see, there was some serious work to be done out back today.


and in previous days:
here's the bonz in his morning cozy spot.
he reads, listens to music, gets comfy and is generally adorable while i get ready for the day.


horsin' around with my favorite fella:


we spent some time at the beach. in winter. again. oh, it's good for the soul.


this guy lives to wear his trunks:


a week or so into the new year, my mom and i headed down south for a little shopping and lunching with bonzo. we stumbled into baby gap at some point along the way and she treated "ours new baby" – as the baby is now referred to – to a few cute morsels. i tucked them into my dresser and everyday i get a little giddy when i open the drawer and see them. bonzo's enjoyed toting them around and holding them in his arms like they're ours baby – complete with "ohhhhhhhhhhh, baby."

today he asked to be told all about the things newborn babies do – as he likes to talk about pretty often lately. so we talked about how they sleep a bunch, cry and have lots of nursies. he informed me that when the baby cries he'll be the one to give the baby nursies. and then i can give the baby nursies. "i'll have this one and ours baby can have that one."

he's got it all worked out, that bonz.

greenwa

in preparation for an impromptu morning at the zoo – just me and my guy – i decided to make a trusty stand-by to add to our picnic: greenwa.

really, it's quinoa with broccoli – or sometimes spinach, or sometimes both – mixed in. but since it's green and it's quinoa we call it greenwa.



it's quick and easy to make, super nutritious and packs really well.
i threw it together while me and the bonz had our breakfast and then added it to our lunchbox and out the door we went.

it's so simple that it's a bit ridiculous to even share how we do it but it's such a hit that i'm doing it anyways:

1. make quinoa: rinse 1 cup of quinoa really, really well (i use my trusty mesh strainer) then put it in a pan and add 2 cups of filtered water. bring to a boil, cover, simmer for 15 minutes. fluff with fork.

2. blanch some broccoli: boil water, toss in the florets, remove with slotted spoon or drain after just a couple minutes and rinse with cold water. broccoli will be bright green. (when i do spinach i steam it lightly).

3. chop up the greens up finely. i don't use much of the stalk, mostly the tips.

4. add it to your quinoa and combine. (usually i do a bit more broccoli but this is what i had in our bare fridge this morning).

5. top however you like. bonzo likes any combination of olive oil or pasture butter, soy sauce, nutritional yeast.

we parked ourselves on our picnic blanket under a shady tree next to the lions and listened to the waves crash on the beach across the street. bonzo downed the entire container of greenwa i packed – along with just about everything else we had – and then we carried on with our lovely little day at the zoo. heaven.

slamdunk playdate

my dear friend has two little dudes. one's almost exactly bonzo's age and her youngest is about to celebrate his first birthday. both bonzo and i love all three of 'em – lots.

the other day we headed down to their house for a playdate that turned went from fun to mega-fun as soon as we the telltale yellow hue of heavy equipment.

it just so happened that there was some major work being done right where we were headed for our picnic lunch. i'm sure some people would be bummed to see – and hear – that situation just yards from an otherwise peaceful grassy spot at the park. not us. i'm not sure who was more excited, the boys or their mamas on their behalf.

we spread out our picnic blanket, took a seat and had a bite while the boys squealed with delight watching these giant loaders scoop huge bucketfuls of gravel, back-up and dump it into the dump truck. there was lots noise and commotion and these two pals were pleased as punch with their front row seats for the action. we couldn't have wished for a better day's activity for these buddies.


bonzo, out of sheer excitement, went in for the hug – which, in this case, looks a little more like a headlock than a gesture of love but it's the thought that counts, right?


and he was almost equally as excited to borrow his pal's helmet – first for riding trikes in their back yard, then afterwards for our walk and even for a bit of equipment-watching at the park. he was just so happy to wear it  and it was just about the cutest thing i'd ever seen: this giant styrofoam bubble atop his little noggin, strapped gently beneath his sweet little chin, while he's in the stroller and then watching all the work. he was just so proud and satisfied wearing it. there are not enough pixels or words or seconds in the day to describe how much i love him.

just a trim

bonzo got his first haircut over the weekend.
two and a half years of growth (granted there wasn't much going on in the growth-department for his first year) left him with quite the shaggy mop. which i loved.
anyone who knows me knows i love me some messy hair. my grandmother used to say, "it looks like you combed your hair with an eggbeater!" to me every time she saw me. and it was true. so i was down to let bonzo's hair get long and crazy. but it was starting to go from crazy to cray-zee. not off the charts or anything but the time had been upon us for a while. i just had to come to grips with reality: it was going to need a cut.

so after a week of playing haircut in preparation, we went to the salon – or barber shop as bonzo refers
to it – to get it cut by a homey. trimmed, really. i wanted to keep the length but just give it a bit of shape. and that's exactly what went down.

here's my guy the morning of.
don't think i wasn't having serious second thoughts about our 4 o'clock appointment.
(ps: this photo doesn't really do the mop much justice.)


bonzo was a super trooper at the salon.
i expected some hesitation – and maybe some tears – so we'd been "cutting hair" all week with bonzo's trusty play-doh scissors. we went through all the steps at home: the chair would go up and down, the cape (flour sack dish towel) would be draped over his shoulders then his hair would be sprayed, combed and cut. i was bonzo's barber and he was mine. we inspected my blowdryer thoroughly. listened to the sound it made and talked about the sounds we'd hear at the salon.

then we showed up for our appointment and hoped for the best. and bonzo ruled. no tears were shed. not even by me.



the front's always been a little shorter so it stayed about the same length and the back got snipped. little curls fell to the ground – only to be picked up and put in a ziplock.
here's bonz right when we got home, smiling about the results:


and here he is the next day. i'm pretty sure haircuts make you run faster:

and, just like that, he went from cute to cuter. i didn't think it was possible but... turns out, it just keeps on happening.