After nap, we had lunch at the house, followed by a trip to Whole Foods. On the way to the store, Zoe had the bright idea to stop by a friends house for a dip in their algae choked pool. He floated around in this little raft thing of his. He liked it for about 15 minutes, and then wanted to get on with our trip to the store. Enzo loves the grocery store - fruit samples, cookie, pizza, and today some rare bites of ice cream.

We spent the afternoon getting ready to have Li and Neil over with little Elijah. Enzo played out front for a while an then took a short nap. After his nap, he had one of the worst meltdowns he's ever had. Seemingly for now reason, he just cried and screamed for 30 minutes after he woke up. We were going to take him to the ER but he finally calmed down. Despite all that, he ended up having a nice night with our guests. He did a bunch of his tricks, which amused everyone. He's definitely getting better about interacting with people he's not familiar with.

Zoe on call tonight. Enzo and I headed out to pick up the dogs at about 4:30PM. We ate a pretty good dinner of chicken, beans and rice when we got home. We went on a short walk, and then played in the front yard. Enzo spent about 30 minutes putting the lid of a tupperware on and off and on and off. The he spent the rest of the time swinging his golf clubs around and throwing them over the hedges. And he may have hit me on the head a few times. We had a nice long bath, read some books, and went to sleep easily.

Straight to the farmers market tonight after work. We met the Pfleegers and some friends of theirs. Enzo was so outgoing tonight, walking all over the place smiling at random people. He sort of had two dates tonight actually, one planned with Wes and another unplanned with little Eliza. He was really cute interacting with them both.

After work, I took the man for a walk around the block in his red car. Zoe was back with our pizza and pasta when we got back around. Enzo made an incredible mess of himself during dinner. Fortunately, we had the foresight to remove his shirt before his meal. He got a quick shower in the kitchen sink, and then we went off on our family walk. We bumped into our neighbors and planned an outing to the market tomorrow. On the walk back, Enzo said something that sounded a lot like, "ah, bullshit".

After work tonight we stopped by the Pfleegers for some sandbox time with Wesley. Enzo loves the sandbox and seems to be really comfortable around Wes, Christa and Eric. Back home, we had a nice BBQ. Enzo loves chomping big bites of corn straight from the cob. Dinner was followed by a family walk with the dogs. After his bath, Zoe read Enzo some books, one of which had a picture of a rubber duck. Enzo came very close to saying "duck" many times. More like "uck".

After work, we just played around the house before dinner. Enzo starting hitting the dogs with his new golf clubs so we took them away for a bit. We had a nice burger BBQ dinner followed by a family walk.

After breakfast, we went to Whole Foods to do some grocery shopping. Enzo munched on a cheese stick in the shopping cart, but unlike last weekend, he didn't steal the cheese stick. When we got back to the house, Enzo was ready for his morning nap. It didn't last very long though.

We tried to eat some lunch, but Enzo wasn't too interested so we went out to look for a better wading pool for the front yard. We stopped by two places, and struck out. So for now, Enzo is still stuck with the dogs wadding pool. We did however pick up a cool set of golf clubs for Enzo. He took to it right away and was hitting the ball with the club over and over, chasing the ball around the front yard. He carried around a golf club pretty much for the rest of the day.

We spent the afternoon just laying around the front yard and going on walks around the neighborhood. Enzo caught another nap in the stroller around 3:PM. Enzo ate corn straight off the cob tonight at dinner, and fed himself a carton of apple sauce with a spoon.

The beach was great today. Perfect weather, and Enzo had so much fun just digging in the sand, running from the waves, and eating a big picnic. After a few hours of just hanging around getting sunburned, we took a long walk into town down the Strand. Enzo crashed in the stroller for about an hour while we got ice cream.

We had a nice ride home, and then played in the front yard wading pool while Zoe made Enzo's favorite carbonara. It was still early, so we drove up to park to let Enzo burn off some energy. He was running around in the long grass, and got so tired he could barely stand up. He also might have said "moon" again as he pointed skyward.

Bath time back home, followed by some bedtime stories, some crazy running around, and then bed.

We started our day at Peet’s with coffees and bagesl. Enzo enjoyed his egg bagel with strawberry cream cheese and bagel and lox. We perused the children’s section at Borders after breakfast and bought some new reading material for the man. We got more Maurice Sendak and Leo Lionni, 2 of his favorites. We attempted a nap after Border’s but Enzo was having none of that nonsense. Mommy took him on a walk around the neighborhood with his new stroller fan, and the cool breeze from the fan as well as the soothing hum put him right to sleep in the stroller. Daddy was off running errands during this nippy nap, and we hung out in the front yard with the pool for a long time. Enzo loves playing in the water, even if it is a pathetic little wading pool in the front yard. The dogs’ wading pool, no less.

We had a nice lunch at the café by the train tracks, then went to pick up my fixed sunglasses. Back at the house we played in the pool some more. Our little old Vietnamese gardener was still there and she was going on and on about Enzo. "I love you, I love you", she said.

We put Enzo in some dry clothes and we went out to pick up the dogs and the Prius. Enzo got a little cranky in the car, but then fell asleep on the way home. I sopped in the driveway and left the AC on full blast. He stayed asleep for about 30 minutes, and I may have dozed off there for a minute also.

We gave Enzo an early dinner tonight because we had reservations to go out ourselves. Alex came over for a couple hours, so we could sneak out and get a bite. We realized it's the first time the two of us have been out by ourselves in 14 months. We had two whole hours to ourselves!

Enzo was still up when we got home, but not for long. Zoe read him a few books, and he was ready to crash.

After Kidspace we ran some mundane errands in the oppressive heat then went and got a snack for Enzo. We hung out at home for a while, and allowed Enzo to take the dangerous late afteroon nap - 30 minutes at 4pm translates to an extra 2 hours past his usual bedtime. We fed him some pre-farmer's market dinner, then headed off. We got some Rainer cherries, strawberries and white nectarines. Enzo had some of daddy's hot dog and mommy's corn on the cob, then some shaved ice. He looked up at the sky, pointed at the moon, and said something that sounded very close to "moon". While at the market, we noticed for the first time that Enzo has not one, not two, not three, but FOUR molars coming in at once. God help us.

Home for some rumpusing out in the front yard, a bath, books with mommy, then bed...only an hour after his usual time.

We let Alex go early today. Both Zoe and I were home about 4:PM. We played in the front yard, and then I took him for a ride around the block in his car. Zoe had a nice pasta dinner ready when we got back. After dinner we went on our usual family walk. We bumped into the Pfleegers on the way and we stopped to chat. I ran back up to fill little Wesley's pool with air with our new air pump. Back home, we played out front again for a while before bath. Zoe read Enzo a big stack of books before bed.

We had our usual routine tonight - dinner, family walk, playtime, bath and reading. Enzo didn't fall asleep while I gave him his bedtime bottle, but I put him in the crib anyway. He cried for about one minute, and then sat there quietly listening to his music for about 30 minutes (he turned it back on), before falling asleep all by himself.

Zoe and I started thinking about all the things that Enzo knows now, and here's the list we came up with.

mommy
daddy
alex
betty
harriet
mr
give it/this to mommy/daddy/betty/harriet/mr
give daddy/mommy a hug/kiss
spit it out
swallow
bite
stop
no
milk
water
blankie
ladybug
bird
bus
garbage truck
helicopter
plane
duck
watermelon
fish
crab
ball
bath
dance (say "dance" and he will dance)
shake your head (like a penguin)
thump your chest (like a gorilla)
clap your hands (like a seal)
wave your arms (like a monkey)
arms up
ear
nose
feet
one leg up / other leg out (when taking pants off)
so no te o ue ne (raise arms up, japanese song)

I relieved Alex a little early this evening, and took Enzo for a short walk in the pack. He started to fall asleep right as we got back to house, but just then Zoe pulled in the driveway. Enzo forgot about being sleepy, and we played in the front yard instead. I grilled some steaks while Enzo had his dinner. He sat in his chair for a long time tonight, and ate a huge meal. We took the dogs on our usual post-dinner family walk. He was very sweet tonight, walking back and forth between us giving us each hugs again and again. "Now give mommy a hug", "Now give daddy a hug". He understands so many things like that now. Smartest kid ever most likely.

We had Christa, Eric and their daughter Wesley over and it was nice to hang out with normal people and their normal kid, with normal interests and excellent taste in baby gear (they literally own the same baby goods that we have - down to the crib, stroller, dresser and daddy diaper bag). They made fun of our hideous upstairs bathroom. We had beers, burgers, heirloom tomato and fresh mozzarella salad, corn on the cob, and yogurt panna cotta for dessert. A good time was had by all. Enzo was so hyped up that he stayed up a full hour past his bedtime, screeching and laughing, running all over the house.

Enzo LOVED the aquarium. We had him out of the backpack so he could stand and press his face right up against all the big tanks. He loved to stand and watch the fish go by. He liked the touch tanks, and the stingray pools. We had to rush through the tropical reef section, as Enzo was fading quickly. Our time at the aquarium was exactly when Enzo is usually asleep. He hung on until the very end when he finally fell asleep in the pack.

Back in Pasadena, we made a stop for lunch. Some weird guy at the next table actually took a couple photos of Enzo, and it made him uncomfortable. Enzo finally went down for a nice long nap when we got home.

After nap, we headed out to Altadena to meet some friends for dinner with Enzo. It started to go badly from the moment we arrived. Everyone but us was late, so they gave our table away. Then after almost an hour, we were seated. But the highchairs at this sketch place were unusable so we tried to keep Enzo in our laps. He started to get very antsy very quickly, and by the time the food came, he was off the deep end. The roasted duck came in a duck shaped basket, and when we wouldn't let him hold the duck, he lost it completely. So Enzo and I went outside to walk around in the parking lot and read books in the car. Zoe scarfed down her dinner, and we left.

Back at the house, a quick bath and straight to bed. A bad end to a fun day.

When I got home from work, Enzo was dancing like crazy to his little Japanese song book. Again and again and again, pressing the touch pad to start another song and continue his jig. Zoe got home with the dogs soon and told me the news that we were expected to meet the Metcalfs at Chucky Cheese. I figured we could try anything once, so away we went. It was pretty unbelievable. I mean, Zoe and I were speechless. Kids and parents running around screaming, guzzling huge sodas and gulping down pizza and cheese sticks, video games, flashing lights, and on the way out, vomit under a booth table near the exit. Enzo was sort of in shock, but managed to hang in there and eat some dinner. When Zoe said we were going, I grabbed Enzo and practically ran out. He was very tired when we got home, and went straight to bed after his bath and a couple bedtime stories.

Gymboree was pretty empty today, only three other kids, but we had fun anyway. The lesson of the day was Stop & Go. Enzo got pretty silly, and was laughing every time I grabbed him and said "Stop!" We went down the slide a few times, climbed up the ramp, rolled around in the tube, carried the ball, banged on the air log, and sang songs. He bailed out on parachute time as usual. When we got home, Enzo went down for a rare 2.5 hour nap.

Zoe had a short day today, and was home when Enzo woke up about 12:30PM. We piled in the car and went into Old Pas for lunch. After eating, we returned some clothes at BR, and ran a couple more errands.

We had a 3:PM appointment with the admissions director of the Pasadena Waldorf school to talk about Enzo attending the Parent-Toddler program next year. The campus was pretty cool, and the office was in a big craftsman house. We had a great meeting with Dianne, and Enzo was so cute and well behaved. She pretty much loved him, and we felt like it might be a good place for Enzo. We'll see.

Enzo almost took an afternoon nap, but then decided against it, so we went for a family walk instead. On our walk, we bumped into our new neighbors, and we stopped for an impromptu play date with little Wesley. Enzo loved her new sandbox, and they sat peacefully digging in the sand while Zoe and I took a tour of their little house. They have exactly the same kid room furniture we bought. It was such a nice visit, we invited them over for a BBQ on Sunday.

Before going to the farmer's market we fed Enzo dinner. It's always a disaster trying to have some picnic there. It worked out really well. We got ourselves something to eat, and Enzo just hung out in the backpack. Back home, we had our usual bath, books, then bed. Mercifully, Enzo went to sleep on the first attempt tonight.

Enzo ate a nice big dinner tonight - chinese takeout. Beefy noodles and a corn-chicken thing which he loved. Made us feel good to see him stuffing his face. Went on our usual family walk after dinner. Enzo faked us AGAIN, and didn't go to sleep when we thought he was ready. And once again was up until 9:30PM. He was ridiculously cute during that extra 90 minutes - laughing, running around, playing, chasing pets, reading. When he was ready to go to sleep, I plopped him down in the crib, and he crashed after a minute or two of some whimpering.

We had a nice time with Enzo after work tonight. I read him some books while Zoe fixed dinner. After dinner we went for our family walk. Enzo faked us out tonight and didn't go to sleep on our first attempt at 8:PM. That's never good. So despite being up since noon, he didn't go to sleep until 9:30PM.

Usual routine after work today. I hang with Enzo while Zoe makes dinner. Enzo liked his Indian food. We went for a nice walk around the block with the dogs. Then bath time, then books with Zoe, then I put him to bed.

Zoe made breakfast when we got back, and then we headed to Manhattan Beach again. Enzo drank a bottle of milk and then slept the rest of the car ride. We had to sit in the parking lot at the beach waiting for him to wake up.

It was such a beautiful day, and Enzo had a blast. He was laughing and running around and playing in the sand non-stop for about three hours. I brought my real camera, and managed to take a few good shots. Enzo reached out with his sandy hand and grabbed my lens, so now my zoom is a little crunchy. After spending a few hours on the beach, we walked down the strand in to town to grab a coffee and a snack. Enzo grabbed another quick nap in stroller as we walked. Enzo had a fun ride back home in the backseat, squeezing a nectarine all over himself, occasionally eating a bite.

Back home, I took Enzer and the girls for a walk while Zoe made us some dinner. I bumped into Enzo's little girlfriend Wesley around back. Play date coming soon. We had a nice dinner followed by a ride down the street in Enzo's car. We came home for a bath, and after a few books, Enzo was ready for sleeps.

From Gymboree we headed straight down to Anaheim to Kyle's 3rd birthday party. Enzo crashed on the way down. The party was held at Adventure City, a kids amusement park with rides and animals and lots of insane kids running around. Enzo rode on the train, in a fire truck, and on a carousel. He got to pet a tortoise and a sheep. He was actually not very happy about the petting zoo animals. He wanted to look at them but not quite ready to go hug a 150 lb sheep. No nap on the way home.

We stopped by the house and then went over to Vromans to look for some new books. Wow, it's tough to find good books. The only real gem we found was I'm The Biggest Thing in the Ocean, which he loved immediately.

Back at the house, Zoe whipped up some dinner, and then we went to the dog park. Zoe and Enzo went to go play in the playground while I stayed to throw the ball for the dogs. When we got back home, I put Enzo in his newly assembled big boy Radio Flyer wagon. He started out sitting in it fine, so we decided to go around the block. Bad idea. About half way through the walk, he decided he needed to stand in the wagon. Then after falling and hitting his head twice, he decide he needed to walk out front and pull the wagon. But he's not strong enough, so Zoe had to push while I held his hand. It took kind of forever for Enzo to walk and pull the wagon up the street.

He was ready for a bath after that, and then crashed soon after.

Enzo was in an exuberant mood tonight, screeching like a banshee and toddling around like crazy. He ate his dinner of corn, broccoli, hot dog and nectarine with relish. He is getting better and better at spearing food on his fork and feeding himself. He does not do as well with a spoon - he tends to fling the food over his shoulder en route to his mouth.

We took a nice family walk after dinner, then a long bath playing with all his toys, then books, then bed. He needs his rest, he has a big weekend ahead.

We took Enzo to the Thursday night market again tonight. And again it was kind of a disaster trying to feed him a substantial dinner there. He's much more interested in walking around, digging in the dirt with his fork, and watching the big kids run around. We went on a family walk when we got home, and then Enzo went straight into the bath. He was covered with nectarine juice, cherries, cracker crumbs, and dirt. Lovely child. Enzo and Zoe read books for half an hour before bed. Enzo spent most of that time rolling around with his blanket and his stuffed chicken. He hadn't slept since noon, so he crashed a little early tonight.

Zoe came home post-call and took over for Alex around noon. They met Katie and baby Luke at Amy's Playground. Enzo had fun at Amy's playground, hanging out with the bigger kids and keeping an eye on the ladies. He shared his snacks with Luke, who is finally starting to grow some hair. When they got home, they went on a walk then had a nice impromptu playdate with Wesley and her mom in the front yard. Wesley also invited Enzo over to play in their yard because she just got a new sandbox. Enzo was in a great mood until the moment dad got home when all of a sudden he remembered that he was hungry. He hung in there until dinner was ready, but didn't sit for long. All he wanted to do was walk back and forth pushing the broom. After dinner, we had a nice bath, read some books, and hit the sack early.

We went to the Rose Bowl again with the dogs. Some guy down there interrogating me for 20 minutes about boston terriers. Zoe had a hot breakfast waiting for us when we got back. Enzo enjoyed his eggs and salmon as per usual. We sat and read some books waiting for Alex. He met her at the door dragging both blankies behind him.

Alex said they read books all day long today. Too many to keep track of. Zoe is on call tonight, so I scraped together some dinner for Enzo. Mac & cheese, deli turkey and some veggies. He was really calm and focused during his meal tonight, and he ate a ton. I sang him songs and made some faces to keep him entertained. After dinner we went for a long walk with the dogs. Enzo was getting pretty sleepy near the end of the walk but we made it back in time. We had a nice bath and read some more books before bed.

After work, we did our usual routine. Enzo and I hung out while Zoe fixed us some dinner. We had a nice dinner out back and then went on a short walk with the pups. Enzer had nice deep warm bath, and then read books with Zoe. Just a nice mellow night with Enzer. He's a very sweet little bug.

After the park, we packed up Enzer and I headed to Manhattan Beach. He took a nice nap on the way down, and was ready to hit the surf when we got there. It's the first time he's been to the beach since he was a little larvae. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the sand. And wasn't too eager to walk on it at first.

It wasn't long until he was walking all over the beach, getting his feet wet, and digging in the sand. At one point, he was pretty much just rolling around, and wallowing in the wet sand. We saw birds, planes, helicopters, and ships too. We stayed for about three hours, and we both agreed it was probably the most fun he's ever had. Probably the best day of his life.

He took a short nap when we got home. After a nice walk with the puppies, we sat down for a nice meatloaf dinner. Bath, books, bed. Nice end to a big weekend.

After the party, tried to get Enzo to take a nippy nap, but he did not...until we took a walk to feed the ducks at 5:30. On the way back Zoe noticed that he was asleep in the backpack! We thwarted that attempt so that Enzo would go to bed at the usual time...otherwise he would have been up until midnight! Alex came over to babysit so that we could go out with friends.

We went to get some Mexican food after work tonight. Enzo ate a nice big meal, which included half of an avocado. Back at the house, I put together his new Radio Flyer like-a-bike. We wheeled him up and down the side walk. He loved it, and was upset when we had to back inside. He was a sleepy bug, and went to sleep pretty quickly after bath and a few stories.