Oh man did this kid have a great week. His Bubie came to visit him (and spoil him) and they had a fantastic time together. He got new toys and a trip to the zoo and pizza and ice cream and so, so, so much playing time. Bubie leaves this afternoon, and I suspect we might have a hard time getting this beautiful boy back into his normal routine, but I'm so thrilled that they enjoy each other so much and that they have been able to make these memories.We did far more than my photos illustrate this week, but in an effort to be more present in these wonderful family moments, I didn't bring my camera with me every day. While I love having the photographic memories, somehow staying behind the lens separates me a bit from experiences, and these are the exact moments I want to be involved in. I hope you understand.
On Friday, we went to the zoo (as you may recall from his lesson from the bears), and Ezra's favorite animals this time were the otters. They swam right up to him, and he was delighted (and even a little startled).
We also had some nice weather (between rain storms) so we played outside a lot, and we even broke out the bubble machine again. (By the way, looking at that link, it's amazing how much hair and teeth this kid has produced in the last seven months).
I have several great internet shares today, but we'll start with the movie trailer for The Girl on the Train. I really enjoyed that book last year, and I'm super excited that Emily Blunt is playing the lead. Other points of interest include these amazing photos from 1986 -- you will not believe seeing Halle Berry as a Miss USA runner up! And I enjoyed this interview with Terry Gross and why she didn't have children.And if you are still interested in any Prince coverage, I really enjoyed this interview with Paul Westerberg about Prince. My favorite excerpt is below.
My first recollection of seeing him was a dress rehearsal for one of his early tours. I was next to another musician, a couple other guys that were up-and-comers and that thought they were hot shit, and we were watching Prince. The guy turned to me and said, "I'm fucking embarrassed to be alive." And that's how I felt. He was so good. It was like, "What are we doing? This guy is, like, on a different planet than we are."
The sun is out! The windows are open! And man, this kid is DIRTY from all the outside play. But we are not complaining!This week at daycare they had silly days for the kids to dress funny or wear hats or whatever. The above photo was taken on "Crazy Hair Day." Yup, we can handle that assignment!
Ezra also got more trike riding in this week! Special thanks to Nyberg for passing along the cool Italian wheels!
Magda had a great week as well because she got lots of walks, a few days in doggie daycare, and tons and tons of snuggles. I love how her eyes match that chair she's sitting on.
Bath time shenanigans!
And the next morning, this is what his hair just looked like! Ha! We might need another visit to Barber Bob soon, but I love all that body!
Our neighbors were cleaning out their garage (they have 3 kids a few years older than Ez), and they passed along this trike that we can steer. It's super helpful right now because even though Ezra has the other bike, he hasn't figured out how to pedal yet. As you can see from his foot placement.
This is Ezra hugging Magda. Is your heart melting? No? Just mine?
This weekend we had Record Store day, two or three serious tantrums, brunch with friends and two birthday parties. Passing out in the car seat is becoming normal.
And at today's party, Ezra loved the fast slide in the back yard.For your internet share of the day, I loved 
This kid is eating us out of house and home. Now that he's back to full health, it's like a swarm of locusts are going through our cupboards! But it's ok. He's adorable and I forgive him :) I might just need more photo jobs to pay for all these groceries!
I love this photo because I love the back of his neck and the mess of his hair.
I love taking photos of this kid eating. My god, he is hilarious (and lacks any and all manners).
I shot this because of how much I love it when Ezra entertains himself.
And then he gave me this look and it reminded me of 
Also, I snapped an image of a temper tantrum because I don't want you thinking that it's all sunshine and roses over here. Don't get me wrong, we have a LOT of fun in these parts, but there are several meltdowns a day over things like being forced into wearing pants, changing a diaper or us denying him a fourth bowl of cereal.
But Ezra was thrilled when he got to visit his buddy Diggs this weekend!
Here he is hugging sweet (and patient) Diggs.
And when the old boy laid down to sleep, Ezra decided to join him. Cutie.For your internet share of the day, 
Ezra's first bike ride!We had such an amazing weekend, full of wonderful firsts. We had Ezra's first bike ride, his first trike ride, his first sushi, his first club soda, his first ice cream cake and his first rice krispie treat. Are we teaching this kid to live right or WHAT?!
Now this, this is a funny story.When Jamie and I were first married, I had (or may still have...) a habit of taking off my shoes when I got home and leaving them wherever they fell. Jamie got fed up with this (apparently) and one afternoon I walked into the living room to find an enormous pile of all my shoes he had found throughout the house. Message received!So this week, when Ezra began collecting Jamie's shoes (oh, all right, there was one pair of mine) and putting them in a pile on the living room floor, we both nearly died laughing. Who knew that sort of hijinks was genetic?
On Saturday, we took Ezra to FujiYa, a Japanese restaurant in town. We sat in one of the private rooms where you sit on the floor and eat at a small table. Ezra loved it! And he ate squid and tempura and edamame and sushi and it was awesome. We will have to go back for sure.
And on Sunday, we went to a friend's birthday gathering where we ate ice cream cake and rice krispie treats and Ezra got to play with a new dog, Sammy. Oh, how dogs make him happy! (Along with ice cream!)
What a weekend.As I mentioned, I kept Ezra out of daycare on Friday so we could have an extra day together. We went to the zoo to see the baby farm animals with dear Nyberg, and it was so much fun. When we got home, I put Ezra down for his nap and he slept, and slept and slept... and slept. Finally, after almost 3 hours I went in to check on him, and we'll just say there had been some "intestinal distress" during his sleep. And it was everywhere.Ah, parenthood.The rest of the entire weekend was spent at home playing, sleeping, dying Easter eggs, coloring etc, etc, etc. And it was also full of puke cleanup duty, horrendous diapers and SO MUCH LAUNDRY.And KU lost in the Elite Eight. And I almost sliced the tip of my finger clean off while cooking.But, it's a new week, and hopefully Ezra's appetite returns soon (along with a tougher stomach). At least his spirits remained high despite the illness... and he's still adorable. He has those 2 things going for him, for sure.
For your internet shares of the day, I think 
This kid has the best morning hair ever. And that expression? Priceless.This week was great in that 1) It's March Madness! 2) Ezra has figured out how to turn on music on the stereo, which is great fun! and 3) We visited many more animals, as that seems to be The Kid's favorite thing right now. Oh! And we had chocolate ice cream. I mean, who doesn't love that?!?
I might have written about this before, but Ezra loves helping us "cook." He watches us chop all the ingredients (tasting them along the way) and he loves to stir whatever pot we're cooking in. In this photo, Jamie taught Ezra how to make hashbrowns and omelettes for breakfast. We made one 3-egg omelette to share (as usual), but Ezra ate about 3/4 of it! He's a fan of those, for sure.
On Saturday, Jamie had the (brave) idea of taking Ezra and I to the humane society. I mean, seriously, do we need more things to take care of? Absolutely not. But we thought Ezra would like seeing bunnies and cats and other dogs.
There were hardly any animals there! Rest easy, Minnesota, you take good care of the strays. This kitty here was one of the few left at the shelter, and Ezra liked watching her because she's only 6 mos. old and played a lot in her cage.
After the Humane Society, we stopped off at Sebastian Joe's for a scoop of ice cream (peanut butter, chocolate, chocolate chip). Ezra was a BIG fan.
We had to show him over and over again that the cup was empty and there was no more left.
Another thing our little guy likes to do is help with groceries. He likes to organize the cart while we're shopping, and he likes to help us unload them as well.
We also went to the library one afternoon. Ezra loves the toys and books there, but this time he discovered that the computers are right at his level. Dangerous. Not that he's going to log hours and hours and hours on the internet, but dangerous that with a few clicks this kid can turn the language on your device into all portuguese, and you have no idea how to fix it.
When we got home, Ezra read by himself for a bit. I love it when he entertains himself like that, and books are his favorite.
And then on Sunday, we took Ezra back to the zoo! This time we went to the tropical section (which we didn't visit last week). Ezra loved seeing the giant tortoises, the gibbons, the flamingoes and the tropical fish.
Jamie snapped this photo of Ezra and I while we were there. See those curls? That's how my hair changed after I stopped nursing Ezra. That right there is how my hair dries now. It is so weird to have curly hair just show up out of the blue when you're twenty six years old.*
*Plus or minus a few years. 
So, obviously, we went to the zoo this weekend. And Ezra was a bit enamored by the Leopards. I should be clear, he didn't care as much when it was only the dad leopard in front of him (on the left), but when the younger, female (daughter) leopard showed up and sat to stare at him, he was a touch fascinated (as we all were!).The rest of the weekend was pretty great as well -- weather in the 50s and 60s, lots of walks, Ezra's first wagon rides, Magda'a first trip down the slide at the playground (!!), zoos, record stores and some big KU basketball wins. Speaking of college basketball, 
This kid got to ride in the wagon to go pick up some bird feed with us, and boy-oh-boy did he like that!
Ah yes! There also was another haircut. As you can see, we started with tears... but those cleared up in about one minute. The rest of the time he just somberly watched the infamous and magical Barber Bob do his work.One thing Bob does to keep Ezra calm is he avoids using a cape because that can freak kids out.
So it's a good thing we keep lint brushes for the dogs in our car. Because this kid has a LOT of hair.
On Sunday, we took Ezra to church. Our church! That would be the record store! I loved watching him toddle around holding onto my purchases.
Here's another shot from the zoo -- Ezra loved the penguins.
And lastly, here is a shot of Magda on top of the slide at the park. She climbed on up there and I made her sit for a photo, then she just scrambled down the slide like the kids do (but on all fours). What a goof.Now! I should probably address last Friday! I had taken a photo for my blog, and I had found an internet share of the day, and ... and... I simply forgot to put it all online. I was super busy with a shoot that day and a trip to the vet with Magda and meeting a service person at the house, and that part of my job kinda slipped my mind. I'm so sorry!I will post that photo eventually, but for now, I'll give you that 
Well hello from the land of "FINALLY! A HEALTHY WEEKEND!"We had so much fun this weekend -- including clear breathing, pain-free ears and the slow reduction of antibiotics! But in all seriousness, it sure is fun to have days off when no one is sick.We met up with friends for play dates, went out to lunch, ran errands, went for long walks, played at the park and attended our first ever Rock the Cradle (a big party put on for kids by our favorite radio station over at the art museum). Also? Remember when it snowed on Friday? It was 58 on Sunday and is supposed to break 60 today. Magda and I are walking like nuts again, and we are both thrilled with how happy it makes us.
I'm starting today's post with a few more shots of my lady here. See how her chin is getting grayer? Kids make everyone, even the dog, turn gray.
Friday was "Pajama Day" at daycare, so Ezra wore his favorite pair (sent to him from Norway!).
Magda enjoying the snow last week.
Here's Ezra on his play date. Where he refused to smile.In front there is 
If you want this kid to grin, he needs to be at home. And being served chocolate croissants for breakfast is a good place to start.
Here we are tackling our favorite slide.
And here we tackled the next biggest slide on the playground. But for some reason, he would only go down that one on his belly. Cute.
More snacks. Watching this kid eat cracks me up.
And here we are at Ezra's first "disco." This was at the radio station party where they played Michael Jackson and Taylor Swift and such. Everyone else on the dance floor, you know, smiled and danced. This kid? He watched and sucked his thumb. Ah well.