ARt MuSic & FoOd

This summer has been a real fun exploring with a 2 1/2 year old. I am so exhausted sometimes,

from multitasking the details of daily life, but at the end of the day when I put my Marley to sleep.....it's all so worth it.

Music: Marley pictured with Herman Matthews

This summer I have been making extra efforts to take Marley to live music events in Los Angeles. It so funny how he is past the point of being amused, he is actually studying and memorizing lyrics and melodies. He seizes any opportunity to go up on a stage and ask the drummer if he can play, sometimes they politely say no, but most of the time they prop Marley on their knee and let him play.

Which leads to my epiphany this year.....My 2 yr old gets it! He takes the bull by the horns and goes for it. Honestly, I admire him for his boldness, of course he knows no better, but its his instinct! We all were born with that right? When did it go away? Anyways, this is why I have never been so present in my life. I spent a lot of time in my life worrying about what people thought of me, hanging on to hurtful words, and beating myself up for not meeting unrealistic expectations. It blinded me and outweighed all the amazing things that has happened to me. Well No more. Life is too short and it took me thirty something years to understand ........"that energy & negative people", has nothing to do with you. So my remedy! I really try to stay in the moment, focus and be grateful for everything I have, most importantly family and friends. I treasure every minute with my son. He is life. He is happiness. He is a part of me. If one were to ask me .."What makes you great?" I would say "I with the love of my life was a part of creating one of the most amazing human beings on Earth."

Art:

Everyone in Los Angeles seems to been really into finding the hippest places to receive services, especially for their children. Why? I don't need an art studio to teach Marley to paint. All he needs is water paint, paper, brushes and space! So, we went around the corner to the art store, bought all of our supplies and Marley just went to town. He actually made some really

interesting pieces. One was called "Robot" he made that for his daddy. And the second painting is called "Chocolate ice cream......cold,cold." for his grand mommie. I am not joking that is what he called it when I asked him what it was.

FOOD:

Well my little foodie has a grocery list of things he loves. It goes as such: Kefir, Bread, Cheese, Cereal, Apple Juice, Corn on the Cob, Soup with noodles, pasta, Salmon, California Rolls, avocado, apples, Tortilla chips, Pizza, Broccoli, Lemon, Oranges, Watermelon, rice, cooked carrots, tamales, and Veggie burgers. I am sure there is more, but these are his staples.

In our neighborhood, we have an array of restaurants and cafes to choose from. I often go for a stroll to see what's new and to take advantage of the lunch specials. We walked pass one sports bar with outdoor seating. The sign said "Free pizza with purchase of a beer". I asked Marley if he wanted pizza. Of course he said "YaY, Mama!" So needless to say it was happy hour for both of us.

With all of this said. I feel like I'm experiencing the best years of my life. It seems like I get a new pair of eyes, which in turn has allowed me to recognize my sons passion and gifts. Opening up my heart so much that all I want to do is nurture and give him all the tools to further enjoy what he loves to do. And all I'm doing is taking his lead. I Love you Marley.

Cooking for Baby!!!

When I first started to introduce baby food to Marley he really had no interest in my homemade sweet potatoes....I was kind of sad that he preferred Earths Best store bought baby food. I just think at the time he liked the more watery consistency. But now Marley has teeth, he is enjoying a thicker and chunkier consistency of food. He is so interested on what is on my plate, it is becoming a sport ...to eat!!!! I allow him to eat steamed white rice and soft beans off my plate, but once digested it's not so cute. If you know what I mean. Anyways, I refuse to give up and I decided to give homemade food another try. We bought this beautiful book in William Sonoma called "Cooking for Baby" . I learned a lot of great puree recipes for babies and toddlers and we also bought a freezing tray, so that we can premake the food and freeze for future use. It's really a brilliant and economical way to make baby food. I bought a whole bunch of veggies(Cauliflower, pumpkin, sweet potatoes & asparagus) from the farmers market today and had a field day. Steam & Process......a little butter in the Cauliflower, easy easy and enough for this whole week. Just freeze, pop out a cube, heat and eat. I am so excited....I hope he likes it!

Earths Best!

We have begun the first trial of baby food. I initially tried to make my own baby food, by steaming sweet potatoe and mashing it up. Unfortunatley the consistancy was a little too thick for Marley, even when I added water. So we decided to go to the next best thing and get organic baby food. We chose the brand Earth's. Best. The first vegetable we tried was winter squash. He loved it! Then we tried the organic sweet potatoe and he loved that even more. I have to admit I was a little taken a back that he didn't eat my version but, I will try again in the future. This week has been very challenging, because I have to introduce a green vegetable. We met with our pediatrician and she instructed me to feed him a green vegetable for 1 week exclusively. Ahmed tried on day one, and he was not having it. The next day I had to use some fun trickery to get the peas in his mouth. Such as making faces, doing the airplane, the best trick is to make him say Dada and that is the perfect movement for him to chew. And of course, pretending to eat the food worked as well, untill he had his fill!!! Then he was done and turned into the green monster. But he is getting better everyday and I let him play with his spoon after....which is his favorite part. I am so proud of Marley . He is healthy and a whoping 21lbs and 27inches. Yay!!!