Isn't it amazing...

how fast I am growing up?

Amazing... how pizza will always put a smile on my face.

Wow- wee....

Can you see what I see?

I stared at this truck for a LONG time... the truck driver was taking cars on and off.

Now that is pretty amazing!!!

Come on Mom let's go... shesh!

Beverly Hills 90210

I was blessed with a trip to Beverly Hills for my 30th Birthday (ok so I went along on my hubby's business trip). I'd never been to Cali and I was so excited. I've never seen palm trees so tall in my life. (Which is something for me as I grew up in Florida, palm trees everywhere). Cali really is beautiful and I can see how people are drawn in, the beautiful scenery, people and the cars... of my! However, I am clueless as to how people afford it. Man it is expensive... whoo-wee! I felt a bit out of my league there. As for the family, well I think the hubby loved it. The babe on the other hand... not so much. The poor kid missed home, missed his home, his toys, his bed, his routine. If you notice he is only smiling in one picture. Needless to say, if the kiddo ain't happy... ain't nobody happy! Oh it's good to go away and even better to come home!

My b-day dinner at The Crustacean Restaurant. Delicious, great service and amazing atmosphere. They have a pond that you walk on all through the restaurant... so cool!

The airport can be fun

There are all sorts of new places to play with you truck!

The one happy picture... cheerios, gold fish and milk. (I don't know what happened here)

Sleep is a good thing... especially when you have a entire king size bed to yourself!

Rodeo Drive Baby!Yup, there are all these great stores and all Mikey wants to do is examine the fire hydrant

Daddy trying to coerce him to move from that spot

Any girls heaven!

Hollywood

Look out George Clooney... Mikey is on his way!

See the Hollywood sign off in the distance?

(Note the pathetic expression on our kids face)

This made him smile a little, but we were not able to capture that on the camera. (Note the very awesome Coach bag my hubby got me for my b-day... I'm spoiled. It is the most beautiful bag I've ever owned. Thank you Smoochie! Muah...)

It's a good thing that he's so darn cute he can get away without smiling. ;-)

Brown Cow, Brown Cow

What do you see? I see a happy toddler looking at me!

I have finally found a yogurt that Mikey will not pour all over his try in disgust.

Mikey loves this stuff! (I must admit I do too, it is really good)

In case you didn't notice, he is now eating with a spoon.

He is very good and now insists on eating every meal with his own spoon and fork. We aren't talking those kiddy spoons and forks either. He wants the real deal.

See... pretty amazing, huh?

For those of you who don't know my husband this is how he finishes any meal that he really, really likes. He must get every last drop. Like father, like son.

(Mikey did not learn this from me) ;-)

Happy Days

Oh, why is it so hard to get both boys to smile at the same time?

There is always one of us either looking away, blinking or making some silly face. Oh, Happy, happy days!!!

Monkey...

No wait, I mean Mikey!

Okay, so my son has very similar climbing skills to a monkey.

Yes, he is trying to use his toy to climb onto the couch.

Ahhh, great success!

O.k. Mama... I've got my bib ready. Come on already I'm hungry! (The other morning he went over and got his bib and tried to put it on himself. I guess I was taking too long getting breakfast ready).

I love it when she gives me the spoon. I make a huge mess feeding myself, but isn't that part of the fun?

Get over here rice...

Maybe it's better if I use two hands.

There... got it! Yummy in my tummy.

16 months

Seriously, where does time go? I can't believe my son is already 16 months... shesh! Mikey is so much fun and I am so proud to be his Mama. Let's see right now he has 13 going on 14 teeth, he finally has a full head of hair, he is 2 1/2 feet tall, when he laughs it is the best belly laugh you have ever heard, he waves hello and good-bye, he gives high 5, he can say Mama, Dada, Ba (ball), Daa (dog) and use sign language to tell you he is all done eating or in the tub. It seems like everyday is a brand new adventure. We have had lots of company (first in June Mike's Mom, then in early July my Mom and in mid-July my Dad and Step-Mom). We have been very blessed and we loved having everyone visit... lately we've been trying to get back into our routine.

Last Sunday was Daddy's b-day and I feel horrible not posting a Happy B-Day post to my wonderful Hubby... next year I'll have to really step it up to make up for it. However, on his b-day we had no lack of excitement. Mike wanted to go on a bike ride... okay I thought. That sounds really nice. Little did I know that we would bike through 3 different cities! I think in all we biked a little over 25 miles, but it felt like 125 miles. I was sore for two days!!! I hope you had a great b-day my love! ;-)

Anyhow, here are some of the recent pictures. I wish I had more. I need to be better about taking more pictures...

Mommy, Mikey and Grandpa Mike

(at the Wollersheim Winery)

I love this picture.. isn't my baby so sweet!

We stopped at the pool on our crazy bike ride... the boys posing for a picture. Aren't they handsome?... oh I love them both so.

Mikey playing in rocks

Mikey playing in his yogurt...

I couldn't get him to eat it so I let him play with it. How could I resist that smile?

We miss you already

We had the pleasure of Grandma and Great-Grandma coming to visit us all the way from Florida. It was fantastic to be able to show them around the town we live in and for Mikey to show off all of his new skills. It was so nice to wake up and eat breakfast with them and take them to the Farmers Market. We really do miss them already and they just left this morning.

We went to the Zoo, and it was so much fun! We saw lions, monkeys, giraffes and bears... oh my!

The Zoo crew

Come on Mikey... give Grandma some good snugglin'

Mikey can almost reach the giraffes up there!

Great-Grandma is a little emotional here. She was telling the Zoo keeper how the giraffes are her favorite (mine too) and how beautiful they are. So, the Zoo keeper decided to invite her in to feed the giraffes some graham crackers.

Pretty amazing, huh?

The weekend before our company arrived Daddy had a much needed weekend off. We decided to take full advantage of it. My hubby took me to the Wollersheim Winery and I had such a great time. We went on a tour, enrolled in an annual membership and the best part... I came home with a case of wine!!!

Mikey and me in front of one of the wine cellars

Those are just part of the vineyards behind me. I decided that my dream would be to own my very own vineyard. Man, what a life that would be...

Next on our agenda we decided that we needed get our Florida baby signed up for a annual membership at a local pool. This pool is fantastic and the best part is it is 90% geared for the little ones. The main part of the pool is so shallow that Mikey can safely walk the entire thing... and he does (with his truck in hand at ALL times)!

Say cheese boys!

Another super cool aspect of the pool is there is this sand box area filled with beach sand and all sorts of water gadgets to get muddy from head to toe. What fun!!!

And yes... we went to the Zoo again.

Mikey and Daddy rode the carousel

While Mikey and Mommy played in some really neat dinosaur bones.

Well, we are sorry to see Grandma and Great-Grandma go. We really will miss you guys more than you will know. Please drive safely back to Florida. However, I just barely had time to clean the place up today though as my Dad and step-Mom are driving up to see us now as I type this. Our house is filled with family and good times this week. So, give me a few days and I will fill the blog with some pictures of the three Mikes together. (My Dad's name is Mike, my husbands name is Mike and you of course know my child is Mike are well).