These are the stories of my truly amazing, always full of energy, and very silly little man.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Zucchini Fireworks

Ever since the Fourth of July, Donovan has been watching his own pretend fireworks shows, whenever and wherever it pleases him. He will sit down in the middle of the kitchen or on the living floor and start making booming noises, with the occasional, "look Mom, it's a really big one" or "that one looks like a jellyfish". This would be the result of a nice fireworks display put on in Orange Park this year and us getting great front row seats on the river.
Intensely watching fireworks on the 4th!

The other night, we were sitting down to a lovely dinner of Penne pasta with tomatoes and vegetables (thank you Bertolli) and Donovan was picking at his plate just like usual. Every now and then, he would eat a bite of pasta in between making his fork flying around like a plane or drive on tracks like a train, but the vegetables were staying untouched. Now Donovan has his times when he is a really good eater; those are usually during growth spurts and he will eat anything and everything put in front of him. He eats and likes most food, including vegetables, but like plenty of three year olds, he would rather play at the table, take a few bites, and then announce he is full.

So there sat the zucchini just staring at him. Dan and I tried several persuasion tactics to get him to take a bite of his zucchini (mind you, he has eaten zucchini on several occasions and really likes it). We tried the, "wow this tastes so good" method (yes Mom, I do eat zucchini too), and the "do you want to have to save it and eat it for breakfast instead of cereal?" method. Nothing seemed to be working. Of course, if we really did save it for breakfast, there would be a huge fit about not getting his cereal and it would end with him crying while grudgingly eating the zucchini as fast as possible to get to the cereal and me in a really bad mood. I really didn't want to deal with that in the morning.

After many unsuccessful attempts on our part, Donovan started to "boom" and see fireworks. Dan then asked, "Can you see a zucchini firework up there?" This got Donovan thinking. Dan then told him, "If you eat a small bite of zucchini, you will see the firework." Immediately, Donovan forked a bite and shoved it into his mouth. Then he followed swallowing it with a huge "BOOM". "That's the zucchini firework!" He proceeded to eat every single piece of zucchini on his plate with the subsequent boom and he also ate the tomato and bell pepper. Those made red fireworks he told us. Before we knew it, his plate was empty. After a lot of fireworks going off for the finale, we all cleaned up from dinner - quite happy and full.

Friday, August 7, 2009

The Evolution of Donovan's Hair


Just the other day Donovan got a new haircut. He has had several haircuts in his life, but this was the first time I let him decide how it should be cut. He told the hairdresser, "Make it very short and stand straight up." I have always loved Donovan's hair and the fact that he has had hair since he was born. I also have tended to keep it a bit unruly and long. I think it looks cute that way, but thus is life; the boy grows up and chops off his hair, I just didn't think it would happen so soon.



In my nostalgia, I have revisited the evolution of Donovan's hair through pictures, enjoy.


At birth



About 6 months old



About the time he was being referred to as the "mayonaise baby" (In Japan, there is a very popluar brand of Mayonaise: Kewpie.)


Almost 1 year


15 months



18 months



22 months



First Haircut - almost 2 years old

Before


After


2 Years old



2 1/2 years old



Almost 3



We let it get way too long this time



... and now at 3 1/2, the buzz cut.




Thursday, August 6, 2009

Pictures of Our House Part 2

Here are more pictures of our house after painting...


The living room


The playroom




The kitchen





We are still working on the rest, but it sure feels good to have some rooms finished. More pictures to come.