Little man after his mom's heart

Who needs toys? Richie is beginning to enjoy the morning paper during breakfast as much as his Mom. Now if we could just get him to turn the newspaper around so it's right-side up.

A very Kiwi Christmas

We were blessed this year with a classic Hawke's Bay Kiwi Christmas. The weather was not too hot, not too cold, not too windy and just the right amount of sun for a day at the beach. 

Christmas Eve dinner on the deck

Richie enjoying his first Christmas cookie

Christmas lunch at the beach with the obligatory party hats (part of the imported UK Christmas cracker tradition)

Richie and Paul hit the beach after lunch

Did I mention how gorgeous the water was?

Me and my little man. Doesn't he look like a mini J Crew ad here? Totally by accident

It's our 5th Christmas here, and as we polished off our eggnog pie on the deck overlooking the sea at the end of the day and heard cheesy pop songs wafting over from the neighbor's patio, we finally got it. Kiwi's treat Christmas like Americans treat Fourth of July but add the presents. They go to the beach, have a bbq, set off fireworks or noisemakers and get silly drunk by the end of the day with friends.

We're not complaining, it just finally made sense. But we combined some of our family traditions (Swedish meatballs, eggnog pie, Christmas cookies, etc) with our favorite Kiwi ones and had a grand old time. Hope you all had a great holiday too!

Another day at the beach

Nothing says Christmas like singing Jingle Bells on the way to the beach...?! Well, yes that's what we're getting used to here. Lucky for us Northerners we have had a few rainy days to get all the Christmas cookie baking done but other than that it's been full on summer here. The last two Sunday afternoons we've gone down to the local beach to let Richie and Paul cool off in the water. It's still too cold for me, but Richie doesn't seem to mind it  a bit. He squeals with excitement every time the water rushes in around him as he sits in the sand and plays. Lucky for us, this beach is literally down the hill from us and has been recently expanded.  Quite convenient, but the sand isn't as nice as it is at some of the more secluded beaches 30-45 minutes away, like the one we'll be going to for our annual Christmas lunch at the beach.

Have we created a monster?

Ok, I know I've bragged about Richie being a foodie just like his mama, but I think things have gone too far. This weekend, I cooked up the last 2 of the treasured 3 artichokes that were produced by our garden (we planted our own since they are so hard to find and we LOVE to eat them whole). While Richie was happily eating his own dinner, I started to eat mine. He took great interest in it and asked for "bite?"

Heck, I thought, I'll let him try one leaf and A) he won't be able to figure out how to eat it or B) he'll think the strange bitter leaf is yucky and he'll let me finish it in peace. Well, this clever boy picked up the leaf, eyed it like a pro at delicately bit off the tender inner core of the leaf like a gourmand! Of course his next move was to look at me, say "yum!" and ask for more. So Paul and I ended up sharing those last two precious artichokes with Richie, wondering if we've created a monster. I mean, really, kids are not supposed to like "grown up food" right?

Obligatory scary Santa photo

Last night was the big Christmas party for Parent & Child, a great play center where I take Richie twice a week. It was held at a lovely garden nearby that has an amazing elevated miniature railway running through it that the kids (& their parents) can ride on. But the biggest line was to sit on Santa's lap so after 20 minutes of tag-team place holding while one of us ran around with Richie we finally got to the head of the line. Richie smiled at Santa and gave him a high five, but then as if on cue as soon as I put him on Santa's lap, he let out a blood-curdling scream and wriggled right outta there! Cross one more holiday cliche off the list. I'm sure this one will be a classic.

Does oatmeal count as a finger food?

We've really been trying to encourage Richie to use a spoon on his own and while he's getting pretty good at it, sometimes he must feel that it just slows him down too much. So he dives into even the mushiest foods with his fingers in an effort to get it in his mouth faster. And yet he still holds onto the spoon as a token gesture.

More adventures in eating

Mmm, Thai peanut noodles and pork mini meatballs! What's not to like, it's got peanut butter in it, it's noodles and it's very messy!

What's this? Dessert after dinner? Unprecedented!

Oh my, rhubarb crumble is a little bit tart!

But it like it! More please!