Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Our Favorite Books

we're big into books, and baby van has tons of cool ones. in fact, when my friends threw me a baby shower last year around this time guests were asked to bring books instead of traditional baby gifts. we ended up with a unique collection of some hand me down books, picture books, poetry books and classics.

here are some of our favorites.

i think my personal favs are The Country Western Alphabet and Nevermind Your Ps and Qs: Here's the Punk Alphabeti picked up these two in portland last summer. the art is hilarious and i love the adult references. plus, it's important our kids know these things, ya?

"W is for Willie, can you see him through the smoke? He's got to hit the road again to save the farming folk."
punk /new wave rock influences, Elvis and Elvis. 


the jolly postman is another gem. we received this from van's auntie kristel and real life postman uncle josh! you get to peek in to envelopes and read the letters that all the classic fairytale characters write to each other. too cute.



vanny is a 4th generation californian, so this one was a natural choice. i love simple counting books, especially when they are cardboard and rep california. we're proud californians here.



and this one! oh, how i love this one. it's indestructible. literally. like, it's made to never rip or tear. i've tried! and i think van loves it because when he's eating it and crumpling it with his chubby baby hands he thinks he's doing something bad. i'd love to collect others. the old mcddonald one is super cute - it's set in south america and the illustrations are very fun.

van and i love to read good night, galaxy which is from the same series as good night, california mentioned above. i love nerdy science shit and van loves to go look at the moon and stars with tony while i make his bottle each night so this book was an obvious choice. good intro to the vastness of the universe for a little one..."good night nebula, good night black hole..."


we close out most nights with whoever you are by mem fox. it is freaking adorable. it's a little baby sized cardboard book that teaches that we are all more the same than we are different. and the illustrations are amazing - how cute are these two?!

"Smiles are the same and love is the same."



i seriously love children's books. probably more than regular books. your little ones reading anything good lately? i'm always looking for more to add to the collection.

Monday, November 5, 2012

First Halloween

last halloween i was just starting to look officially pregnant. and this halloween i had a sweet little 10 month old to celebrate with.

about a week before halloween we went to a little pumpkin carving party at a friend's house. tony carved while i kept van from covering himself in slimy pumpkin inners or stabbing himself with a carving utencil.

a guitar. with an amp!



i took the friday before halloween off to take van to bishop's pumpkin patch in wheatland. it's the same place we used to go with my parents when we were little. and since we went on a friday and not a weekend, it wasn't packed at all. we ate some lunch, walked around and went on a hayride.




  

on halloween day i got off work, dressed the baby and snapped some photos before taking him to my friend's house and my parent's house. he can't walk or eat candy, so we didn't do any trick or treating. my friend's sweet mother made him a corn muffin (he loves those) and he had some beans and quinoa at my mom's. he loves food, so it was a treat for him to get to eat at two different houses.

   
cutest sailor ever, right?







 
back home. he was over it.




 
van's sailor shirt was from The Wishing Elephant and his hat was from It's Sommertime. both shops shipped exactly what i ordered and were very speedy. my shirt matched his and was from Royal Kane. i wore a sailor-inspired hair bow from WhimsybyKrista.