A day at the park

Not a bad day at all. Enjoying a fall day at our neighborhood playground. The views aren't bad either.

Swing built for two, sort of.

One big baby swing. Two little babies. Too cute!

Richie and 5 month old Olivia had a grand old time on their autumnal outing.

He's a Marmite Man

We're trying to raise Richie as both Kiwi and American so the time has come to introduce him to that great Kiwi favorite Marmite. (most Americans may be more familiar with its Australian cousin Vegemite) Yes it looks like poo and doesn't smell much better. It's a fermented yeast spread high in all sorts of B vitamins that is quite an acquired taste. Most Kiwis are raised on it slathered on buttered toast. But their first taste usually comes in the form of "Mousetraps" (small pieces of bread toasted with Marmite and cheese on top). 

It's definitely a love or hate kind of food. Looks like Richie's already a lover.  

Best friends in the making

Richie has been fascinated by the cat, Banderas, ever since he first felt his silky fur at a few days old. Somewhat surprisingly, Banderas has been extremely accommodating, letting Richie pet, pull, tap and sometimes gently kick him without ever raising a claw. Of course he knows when to walk away but more often than not he'll come over to Richie on his own accord. Richie has now learned the sound of the cat's bell means he's nearby and starts to look for him when he hears the jingle or the swoosh of the cat door. Then he lets out a squeal of delight when he sees his buddy. I wouldn't be surprised if Richie's first full crawl or steps are to get him closer to the cat. He already rolls across the bed to get to the cat for a pet. And when Richie wakes up in the middle of the night with teething pain, who comes in to check on him if I leave the door open? The cat.

Ode to a noodle

What's a native tongue?

Just like that, Richie's new favorite thing is standing. He's pulling himself up from sitting and loves to stand at his activity table and play with all bits and bobs (aka buttons). The table is another great toy library find, but the only problem is that it "speaks" British. As in when you press on those dough-colored discs in the lower left it says "mmm, biscuits" rather than "mmm, cookies." And when you spin the alphabet soup bowl in the center it sings the ABC song, ending in "X, Y and Zed" rather than Zee.

This brought up the tricky linguistic issue of what language is going to be Richie's native tongue? Will it be Kiwi or American English? After much debate, we've decided that while we're living in NZ and everyone else is speaking Kiwi around him, we'll speak American at home. Then he can decide what to use when he gets older. So for now I'm strictly "Mom" not "Mum" and on Wednesdays we wear our swimming suits not our "togs" to go to swim class, and we use a shopping cart at the grocery store, not a "trolley." Although I did have to do an online search for "trolley seat cover" rather than shopping cart cover to get him one to ride around in now that he's outgrowing the capsule. So that will go back to the place I rented not "hired" it from soon. This is going to be tricky to keep up as Paul and I have already gone soft and catch ourselves using more and more Kiwi-isms.

Just chillin'

We had a Final Four party on Sunday to watch the games and although Richie slept through most of it, he did have a great time afterwards climbing on the cooler we brought out for the brewskies. He looks like he's ready to tailgate already!

A word between mates

Liam: "Mate, does hat this make my head look big?"

Richie: "Dude, we are totally rocking the wool beanie. Bring on winter!"

Richie vs. Broccoli

It's hard to tell who's the winner here. But it was fun to watch.

Richie is discovering the joys of finger food and Mom is discovering the joys of the "dishwasher safe" tray on his feeding chair! 

Steamed broccoli was much easier to grab than those slippery pieces of fresh fruit we tried first, but he tended to pulverize the florets before getting them to his mouth. Boiled kumera (sweet potato) was another hit. And yesterday we tried pasta spirals, which he'd grab by the handful and shove in his mouth, sometimes more successfully than others. Now if I only had a dog to pick up the pieces that didn't survive the trip from tray to mouth!