DIY Toddler Fun: Easy, cheap bathtub painting

This activity is a BIG hit with Ruby. Just a drop or two of food coloring in a cheap can of foam shaving cream. Then a few paintbrushes and a paint tray borrowed from our art supplies. She actually likes this a lot even when I just spray out the shaving cream and leave it white, so that's what I usually do. We practice letters and numbers and she loves drawing clouds. 

Tip: check first to see if the food coloring stains your walls. It left some of my grout a little bit tinted.

Deliciousness: Breakfast of champions

This is our new family breakfast routine at our house. Greek yogurt with sliced up grapefruit, peaches, and/or plums (you really can't beat the fresh, locally-grown stone fruit in California!). Drizzle a little agave nectar and you've got deliciousness and nutritiousness. Yum.

Memory-Keeping: Flower girl dress

When we got married and picked out our flower girl dresses (this was an Easter dress at Target for $17.99!) and outfits for our ringbearers (little guayaberas that matched Jude's!), I bought one extra of each of them for any future children we may have. We knew we were going to have a LOT of kids at our wedding, so we also bought little teddy bears--some pink, some green--for each child to keep. I kept one of each of those bears, too!

I bought a 12-month size in the dress, but my cousin Angie (whose adorable daughter, Abby, was one of our three flower girls) ended up having an extra one in a 2T size (she had bought multiples of the dress at the time, not knowing which size would fit Abby best) and sent it to me last year. When Ruby was about nine months old, I put her in the dress and did a little "photo shoot" in our living room with the pink bear from our wedding. Then, last month, with Ruby at 25 months old, I put her in the bigger size and took some more pictures. Really fun and special to see her in that dress...Our wedding seems like just yesterday and it really makes us stop and reminisce to see our beautiful girl wearing it now.

 

And here are the adorable little munchkins from our actual wedding day in 2007!

Just Because: Is that a halo?

My dad saw this picture and asked if the bright spot on the upper-left-hand corner was the reflection from her halo. Pretty angelic picture of her, to be sure. 

Deliciousness: Watermelon and sea salt

Ah, summer. That's all. Bye!

Fun Stuff: Toddler dance classes

I'm not going to lie...Ruby more often does this sort of thing (laying down while everyone else is dancing, for example) than what she's supposed to be doing, but she LOVES dance class all the same. It was our Saturday morning routine all summer.

Just Because: Very distinguished animals

Ruby and I were at Target and I told her she could pick out a pack of stickers. She chose these mustaches. We have some friends whose baby is due any day now and the daddy-to-be sports a killer mustache, so Ruby and I posed this little pic (she refused to wear one) to welcome the new baby. :)

Just Because: Yoga with babies = brilliant

Ruby and I got to yoga together. It's lovely. She runs around the studio, stands on blocks, and does the occasional downward dog. I get a workout.

Deliciousness: Hot summer day s'mores!

I am kind of obsessed with these. Graham cracker, marshmallow fluff, chocolate ice cream. Unbelievably delicious. Jude looked at the ingredients on the fluff jar and decided that eating one of these was probably worse for us than smoking a cigarette. I wouldn't know, as I've never smoked a cigarette, but I do know that these are likely similarly addicting...Y.U.M.

Memory-Keeping: "Face book" for baby

When I took this photo (the third one below) this weekend, I wasn't thinking about replicating any other photo...but once I looked at it on my computer, I realized how much it reminded me of my favorite photo of Ruby (the second one below) that I took last summer. I love this little face! I know I take a LOT of photos of Ruby, but I think I'm going to start a little book with a head shot of Ruby right around each of her birthdays, to see how that lovable little face changes over the years. :) Here are the first three!

Ruby at one day old, looking sweet:

Ruby at one year old, looking sweet:

Ruby at two years old, looking sweet:

Fun Stuff: Sidewalk chalk

What's not to love about sidewalk chalk, really? Cheap, non-permanent, fun. That's all.

Deliciousness: Vegetables...drink up!

Our vegetable intake has skyrocketed since we got a juicer. Jude is on a tear these days, buying bags and bags of fruits and veggies at the farmers' markets and shoving them all through that juicer in various combos...some of them significantly more delicious than others! I am pretty sure that between these three juices he made for us for breakfast, there are beets, beet greens, cucumbers, oranges, cantaloupe, carrots, celery...and probably lots of other random things I'm forgetting.

Here's the juicer we got, which we're in love with. It's super easy to use and clean and works crazy well. Also, the pulp left behind makes great compost!

Just Because: City of twinkle twinkle

We may need to leave the city to see the actual twinkle twinkles, but this video is a breathtaking look at all that glitters in Los Angeles. Stunning.


LA Light from Colin Rich on Vimeo.

Deliciousness: Eat, drink, and be mommy!

My husband is a chef. I, on the other hand, have very few skills in the kitchen. When Jude is working and I need to feed myself and Ruby, I struggle to find things that don't come in boxes that are healthful and fun for us to eat...Then, along came The Petit Appetit. Amazingly simple and joyful foods and meals in here that even I can make for Ruby! GREAT resource for domestically-disabled mommyfolk like me.

Here is a post (with recipes!) I wrote about this book over a year ago on an old blog I quit writing.

The second book is about party foods for entertaining kids, but I have found it useful for everyday food as well.

Just Because: First time in a barn

Ruby is still talking about this! When we were in Minnesota a few weeks ago, she got the thrill of going inside her first barn. She was impressed. She even got to see three sleeping bats. 

DIY Toddler Fun: Pick a stick, any stick...

Jude told me recently that he sometimes feels bad just going to the park all the time with Ruby because he can't think of anything else to do. First of all, considering you're an incredible, hands-on, super fun, loving dad, you should never feel "bad" about taking Ruby to do something she loves.

That being said, I got this idea from Ohdeedoh and made Jude a gift: ideas for things to do with Rubes!

Just Because: Ruby loves Buddha

This is at Jude's parents' house. Ruby used to call this statue: "Baby Boo-Doo," but now refers to it correctly as "Buddha." She gives it hugs and kisses. Actually, one of her favorite places to go for an outing is the neighborhood garden store, where she gives hugs and kisses to all of the Buddha statues they are selling.

Just Because: Awesome vintage potty

Look what my mom still has lurking around...That's right, she saved our childhood potty for her someday (and that day has arrived) grandchildren to use! I have to say: there aren't any potties on the market today as adorable as this one!

Baby-Talk: Sorry if talking about poop offends you

Me: "Wow, Ruby! Is that YOUR big poo poo in the toilet?"
Ruby (proudly): "Yes, it IS my poop. And I do NOT want to eat that poop. Poop is NOT somethin' to eat."
It troubles me to think she may have somehow thought that I was asking her to do so...But I applaud her recognition that such foolishness would be wrong.

Family Outing: Afternoon at the beach

You know...living in California and all, you might assume beach days would be a regular occurrence. Hardly! To plan a whole day of it often seems like a production. We are more of the last-minute (semi-accidental) beach-goers. This was a Sunday afternoon in which we happened to be on the West side and were headed home when we had the sudden urge to stop at the beach. And by "sudden urge," I mean we literally made a split-second decision and pulled into a parking lot off the PCH and headed out to the sand. Ocean and beach=always lovely. 

We keep our kite in our trunk, exactly because of days like this! Daddy has gotten so good at flying the kite that he doesn't even need to hold it with his hands anymore!

 Ruby LOVES to throw rocks into water.

 Ruby's first self-portrait! Little bugger grabbed my camera.

Wake up, Daddy! Time to go! Note the kite is still flying from his belt loop during his nap!

Deliciousness: Red beet pancakes

We are  always looking for ways to get our little munchkin to eat colorful veggies. She was in LOVE with these pancakes daddy made. Fresh beets from the farmers' market, pureed, and put into homemade (whole wheat) pancake batter. Yum. Froze some of these in individual baggies for future snacks.

Deliciousness: Nothing says summer like strawberry shortcake...

And nobody does strawberry shortcake like Bocalli's in Ojai, California. They grow their own strawberries, so the dessert is seasonal.

Family Outing: Oh, Ojai...How do I love thee?

We are lucky to have this amazing mountain retreat (my in-laws' place) only 1.5 hours away. We don't take advantage of it often enough. But we're working on it...

She had a swimsuit on originally...then there was an incident.

We took my parents when they were in town. My dad loves to fly kites.

Ruby looking fly with her samurai hair and movie star sunglasses.

Taking a nap with Daddy next to the river.

 Goofy face.

Peaceful.

Party Inspiration: Backyard barbecue cartoon screening!

What a fantastic idea to keep the little ones entertained while the adults catch up! Here is Ruby at our family friends' summer celebration. Peggy hung up a tablecloth for a screen and projected cartoons in the backyard. So fun!

Happy-Yay: Wheeeeeee!

Uncle Tommy is so good at this!

Family Outing: Buckingham Fountain (my favorite place in Chicago)

I was so glad that Ruby seemed to love Buckingham Fountain as much as I do!