March 24, 2008

• A scorching Easter weekend

  Happy Easter, everyone! I don't know how the weather was in other parts of the country, but we had a really hot weekend. Los Angeles is never really cold anyway, but it was in the high 80s yesterday and today. All the sunshine was great, but even I thought it was a bit too hot (and I love hot weather).

  This weekend, Johnny, Jack and I mostly laid low. I know I have a busy work week ahead (that's an understatement, too), so I mostly I just wanted to relax, spend time with my three boys and catch up on some rest. Saturday, we did make a big outing to Babies R Us. Jack's growing out of his infant gear, so we got him a "big boy" car seat (the Britax Marathon), a Maclaren Quest stroller (more lightweight and compact than the Graco one that his infant car seat snapped into), one of those grocery shopping cart seat covers, some more feeding spoons and bowls and some babyproofing gear (socket covers, wall anchors, etc.). Thank goodness we had some very generous relatives and friends who gave us Babies R Us gift cards up the wazoo. Our total spend on Saturday was $650, but we actually walked out with gift card money to spare. Thank you!  The good news is that we won't need to spend anything else on baby gear for a long time to come ... and baby #2 can reuse a lot of this stuff. Was having babies always this expensive? What did cave people do? The scary thing is that Johnny and I stick to the basics for the most part, because we don't have a lot of room in our apartment. For instance, we don't have a bassinette, infant swing or separate changing table (I change Jack on top of his little dresser). I hesitate to think what people who go all out must spend! I'll have to resist the urge to buy brand new stuff for the next baby. You all will have to remind me of this!

  We didn't do anything special today because Johnny and I aren't particularly religious (so we didn't participate in any church-based activities for Easter), and although Easter is a fun holiday, Jack is too young to do Easter egg hunts and all other things -- just wait a couple of years! We can't wait to dye Easter eggs, put together Easter baskets and basically relive our childhoods.  We went out to brunch, then took advantage of the nice weather by going to the park. There were lots of families having Easter picnics, and Jack loved watching everyone!

  Besides that, we just relaxed. I did go to Bar Method this morning, and last night I made another few batches of baby food. Jack's been going through food like crazy, so I wanted to stock up. I made stewed strawberries (to mix with mashed bananas and yogurt for dessert); chicken liver with potato, carrots and apple;two batches of braised beef (Jack's favorite meat!); one batch of chicken breast with sweet potato and apple; butternut squash with cheddar cheese, sauteed tomatoes and tiny pasta stars; and cauliflower, carrots and zucchini with tomato and cheddar cheese sauce. This ought to last him a good month or so! Thank goodness for the Magic Bullet.

  OK, I think that's enough narration of our uneventful (but fun) weekend. Here are some pictures of Jack!

  Jack crawling around on the floor

  

  

  He's not sure about this use of the orange ring

  

  Getting a jump start on his rock star career

  

  Lately, Jack's been going after our water glasses whenever we drink water. While we were out at lunch on Saturday, we let him take a few sips from our glasses. This mostly results in sputtering, but he does manage to get a few mouthfuls down!

  

  Jack in his new Maclaren stroller at the park today

  

  Waiting for me to heat up dinner

  

  Jack's expression when eating braised beef

  

  OK ... time to fold some laundry, then get to bed. Wish me luck this week!

  • 1:05 am
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