Lake and I drove out Saturday morning while it was quite wet. 

To Harborview, to work, where Clarence was met. 

We got off to a really good start,

With coffee and admirers, before we did part.

Then Lake got to spend the whole day with Clarence, 

A great day of fun away from his parents. 

Well, sometimes while Mummy was working 

To everyone’s delight Clarence was lurking. 

In spite of the torrential rain, outside they went

walking to Starbucks Brewery just as he’d originally meant. 

There Lake dug it, as it was lively and loud and terrifically boisterous!

The coffee, thought Clarence, was dreamy and creamy, and absolutely lustrous!

And then to the Frye to contemplate the art

And suffice it to say

They had a great day!

But indeed, what’s more,

In conclusion, to Starbucks in the Columbia Tower, on the 73rd floor !

Mangoes are the perfect fruit! The pit is formed exactly as if designed especially for Lake to suck on.  Even having never encountered a mango before in his life, he’s very proficient at extracting the sweet juiciness. 

He’s up to his knuckles in mango and he’s loving it!

This is us today hanging out on the 8th floor skybridge at Harborview. One of our favorite lunch spots. And now this just happens to be the 5,000th photo stored on my phone since my baby shower less than a year ago. We think he’s pretty photogenic. I guess that makes us paparazzi parents. I hear that’s a thing. Oh well! Another perfect day in paradise… captured on camera!

Lake’s made basically totally of milk. My milk. So far. I have a strong feeling that is all about to change. We seem on the brink of a food revolution. Now when I eat my lunch while he eats his, there are competing interests. Milk, carrot, milk, carrot… he’s not sure where his loyalties lie. I think I may be the only mother in the world who is telling their child, 

no honey, maybe later… you may have a carrot this afternoon. 

Last weekend I was eating a pear while carrying him in the Baby Björn during our Costco shop. Suddenly he’s eating off the other side. Then he’s holding it. Pear Snatcher. He’s putting his eight well formed teeth to good use. 

As you can see here, carrots are an especially common theme. 

And then after dinner last night while I was washing dishes he found a bag of garlic grown by Katie and her family. We are planning on planting it soon so it’s in a paper bag on a low kitchen shelf. Lake played with the bag for quite a bit, then worked himself out a pretty nice plump purply bulb of garlic. He examined it with great care and played with it thoughtfully for a while. Then… Chomp!

And then he was perfectly happy double-fisting a carrot and a garlic bulb. One bite of carrot. One bite of garlic. Carrot. Garlic. Carrot. Garlic. Carrot Garlic. This went along for a long stretch. And he got really happy!

And then along came mummy with a mango. 

I’ll take what she’s having please. 

One taste and he was sold. Game over! It was Pandora’s cornucopia. He was in heaven. Vegan heaven! My Milk Man is awakening to the discovery that there’s a whole world of fruits and vegetables waiting for him out there!

I look at pictures of my happy little man from earlier today and gaze at them trying to block out the cries from Lake in the bedroom next door as we let him put himself to sleep. He’s not having it. It’s 11pm, you’d think he’d be happy to sleep. I would. But it’s just not the case. After a ten minute eternity I go to check on him. He’s upside down and backwards in his bed, wide awake in the worst kind of way. I rescue him to my breast and he drinks my milk in the big bed until almost midnight. Thank goodness for breastfeeding. And for breaking the rules. It’s so hard to know when to let him self soothe and when to respond. Well actually it’s only difficult in the moment. In retrospect it’s always clear that if he cries for more than a few moments he’s just not ready for sleeping. So he had a nightcap and then slept straight through with the rest of the household until 10am. Sweet reward. 

Forest, Lake and Falcon hanging out with the felines and me on Saturday (Mr. Silky shown). The guys drove over from Montana to celebrate Forest’s big four-oh birthday and we were fortunate to be on the itinerary. Lake hasn’t had a chance to get over to Montana yet, so luckily Montana goes mobile and comes to us. Here Lake gets a sneak peek of Montana Camp. What a thrill!

Thank you for visiting, Forest friend! Lake is blessed to have such a strong role model as you, following your dreams and rocking this life thing wholeheartedly! Happy Big Birthday!

Lakers can sit. He’s sitting pretty. He loves his socks and chewing on his shoes. He can eat his feet. He can crawl with assertion and last weekend he even successfully climbed up a back deck stair. (Then he looked behind him and toppled back down.) … there have been a lot of head bumps lately. 

He pushes himself up to sitting for a while now. He’s every day perfecting his sense of balance, finding his center of gravity, and strengthening his core bit by bit. 

At first, he somehow managed to not get quite all the way. He would prop himself up. His arm is his “kick stand”… endearing!

Now he is pretty strong and usually sits all the way up, but tonight he threw me a kickstand for old times sake. Last night he was doing pull ups off his high chair tray. He climbed his way up to standing, using the Stokke as a jungle gym, then started hanging and pulling himself up with his feet off the floor. From kickstand to air time in ten days or less!

Yes, that’s Lake eating celery. We think he’s rather charmingly inspirational. Who knows what’s next?!

Bach’s Lunch… box lunch! After walking by this sign in our neighborhood for several months now, we finally had an opportunity to check it out: the First Tuesday concert in the church Bach’s Lunch. So, Lake ate his lunch in the sanctuary of the Christ Episcopal Church. 

He absorbed the sounds of Baroche masterworks of Scandinavia performed by a baroche flute, baroche violin and harpsichord. It was his first church. He loved the tall ceilings with the fans way up high. The pastor and the musicians were happy to have Lake there taking in the sights and sounds. I was too mesmerized by the music to eat my box lunch but this didn’t stop Lake! He was a pro at eating and listening. We were personally welcomed back and we look forward to the First Tuesday of April. Will you be joining us on April 4th? 4548 Brooklyn Ave NE… just two more this season. Bach’s Lunch with Lake makes for a perfect day!

We had a great time in Vancouver BC this weekend. In spite of the snow and freezing weather we had to show Jo our friendly neighborhood nation to the north. And we had a great time of it for sure!

We explored the various landmarks and districts of Vancouver. This included the famous Gastown Steam Clock, which I’d somehow walked very near for many years but never really seen. It’s fantastic! And it wa snowing which just added to the mystical old world feeling. 

We also had a ton of fun on the elevator of our apartment hotel. We had the same room as last year when we were here on our baby moon. Now we are back with Lake. Lake loves mirrors!

We explored the various aspects of Canadian culture. One telling anecdote from brunch highlights the difference between Canadian and American culture… where I was acutely made away of my heritage unflattering as it may be sometimes. 

My bottomless cup of coffee was brought to the table with all the other drinks orders. I was so impatient for my coffee! I would have been ready for a refill by the time the rest of the handcrafted drinks were ready. 

We were directly experiencing the common good culture. When our drinks arrived together they were all delicious. Such a thoughtful and polite society. 

Nonetheless, or perhaps enhanced by this, we had a wonderful brunch with the LKS UBC officers at Catch 122. 

A memorable visit to Vancouver, BC! Thank you for your hospitality Canada. We look forward to returning soon!

Goofing around on our lunch break today. Couldn’t be happier. What a lunch date! Happy Weekend friends!