Baby's First Halloween

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone had a happy and safe one! As planned, we met up with two of Mars' baby friends at the mall. I think that was a rookie mommy mistake. The mall was crazy and jam-packed! There were long lines for trick-or-treating, and most stores had already run out of candy within five minutes. We ended up having an impromptu baby party inside of Target where the aisles were big enough for stroller parking. After about an hour or so, the baby friends were done and wanted to go home so we stopped by a Vietnamese restaurant for take-out. That's where Mars got his first trick-or-treat Halloween candy. And boy does this baby love candy! As you can see in the pictures, he loves crinkling the wrappers and chewing on the packaging... little does he know what the packages actually contain! 

On our way home from tonight's Halloween excursion, I let Mars chew on my finger for a bit and I felt his first tooth just barely sticking out of his bottom gum! Pretty soon, his adorable toothless smile will no longer be toothless. Kind of bittersweet, but also makes me wonder what he's gonna look like with teeth! 

8 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days old

Mars is 8 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days old. 

It's Halloween! I can't believe it! This is my absolute favorite time of the year! There's so much to enjoy right now and so much to look forward to. It's not too early to start watching Home Alone and play Christmas music right? Cause it's raining and gloomy outside and it feels like the perfect thing to do at home under a blanket (yup, we ended up skipping the Giants parade because of the weather, but that's ok, we'll watch it on TV).

We are now back from Southern California, and Mars has made so many strides since we left! He can now pull himself up to standing on the coffee table, and full-on crawl from one end of the room to the other! Oh! And he got over his fear of dogs! I'm seeing our house with brand new eyes because of all the new things he's learned how to do in the past two weeks. Now it's really time to baby proof!

For Mars' first Halloween, we're planning on going trick or treating with his baby friend, Joss. Afterwards, we'll come home and hopefully see some cute trick-or-treaters at our door. With all the traveling, I didn't have time to make him a costume like I planned (a garden gnome or Buddy the Elf) but that's ok! He makes a super cute Winnie the Pooh anyway!

Going Out: Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch

For the past two weeks, we've been visiting family and friends in Southern California and it has been so much fun! The weather is always amazing and visiting the home I grew up in always makes me nostalgic. 

One of my favorite parts of the trip was when we took Mars to his first ever pumpkin patch. We went to Tanaka Farms, which is right next to where my sister lives, and it was impressive. I'm used to old parking lot pumpkin patches so seeing an entire field of pumpkins was a really neat sight. 

I think this wheelbarrow was someone's shopping cart of pumpkins but it was a great prop for a cute photo!

I cannot handle this father-son picture!

Mars is chewing on some hay in this family photo.

If you live in Orange County, I would highly suggest you to stop by Tanaka Farms! They have year-round tours; watermelon in the summer, strawberries in Spring, and Christmas trees too! My sister even gets their CSA box of fresh organic veggies every week. It kind of makes me want to live in the OC again...or at the very least, visit a lot more often!

Fall and Winter Sensory Bags

Remember when I went crazy at the dollar store? Well, I didn't stop at the sensory bottle rainbow. I also made themed sensory bags! 

For a sensory bag, you need

flat, non-pointy objects to put in the bag

hair gel

2 freezer bags

and duct tape.

1. Put all your objects in a freezer bag.

2. Pour in some gel (the amount of gel depends on how squishy vs. how jelly you want your bag).

3. Pour in some water to dilute the gel (this is good if you don't want to use all your gel on one bag).

4. Seal the bage while squeezing out as much air as possible.

5. Squish everything up!

6. Tape all edges with duct tape.

6. Double bag it and tape all edges again.

And here is my Halloween themed one with pumpkin confetti and googly eyes. 

Have fun!

Going Out: Land's End

Land's End is definitely one of my favorite spots in the city. Pair that with amazing weather, and we've got ourselves the perfect weekend outing. 

This is where we started, right above the Sutro Baths ruins.

Then we headed up the Coastal Trail and (barely) saw the remains of two shipwrecks (still cool though because it's something I've always wanted to see).

We took baby in the stroller and wore him towards the middle of our hike, but looking back, we should've worn him the whole time. The trail was a bit bumpy for the stroller, and we couldn't go any further once we hit the stairs, but it was still a good three-mile walk roundtrip. 

Afterwards, we had an amazing picnic in the open seating area of Park Chalet where we put down a blanket and sat in the sunshine. It was the most relaxing and comfortable way to end our outing. 

Sensory Bottle Rainbow

Look! I went crazy at the dollar store!

A while back, I made baby a toy by filling a plastic bottle with rubber bands and bag clips. I don't think the bottle I used was meant to contain liquids and it started leaking, so we stopped giving it to him. The other day at my sister-in-law's, she told me that this was called a sensory bottle and that I could hot glue the cap to prevent leaks. That night I stayed up really late browsing Pinterest and the floodgates of homemade toys opened up on me and I couldn't wait to try out these diy sensory toys. And that is how I went crazy at the dollar store bright and early the next morning.

First up is my new and improved sensory bottle. All you need is
an empty bottle
things to put in the bottle (it helps to have at least one heavy object, like a marble)
fine glitter
hot glue
and clear hair gel.
(For this green one, I put way too many things. I think half the stuff would be enough.)

1. Put all your objects and the glitter in the bottle.
2. Put hair gel in the bottle (a quarter of your empty bottle or less will do).
3. Fill up the rest of the bottle with very warm water (leave room at the top for shaking).
4. Shake it up!
5. Fill up the rest of the bottle with cold water, letting the bubbles flow out.
6. Put hot glue on the cap and close it up!

The more gel you put, the more viscous the liquid, therefore suspending the glitter for a longer period of time. You can also use glitter glue in addition to the gel to make it extra viscous (almost like a colloid!) Have fun!

8 months and 4 days old

Mars is 8 months and 4 days old.

I remember when Mars was just a little under a month old (top left picture) and a friend came to visit us with her 7 month old. That baby was so big and developed compared to my little newborn! I remember thinking how heavy that baby was and now my little guy is even bigger, even heavier than that baby was back in March. Everyone, I mean, EVERYONE talks about how fast time flies with a child, but this is insane! How did the time go by so fast? Sometimes I'm still surprised that it's already October. I thought I just had this baby last month…at least that's what it feels like. 

This week, we are in Southern California visiting my family. Mars is at the age where he just adores his 4 year old cousin and follows her around with his eyes. When they sit together in the backseat of a car, he can stay entertained for even the longest drives. Last night, they had a bath together and it was so cute. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

In My Bag: Going Out to an Early Dinner

With baby's bedtime routine starting at 7:30pm, we can only go out for dinner if we start very early around 5pm. However, it's always such a treat when we get to go out since we don't do it very often anymore. Now that baby is eating solids, packing for a meal out gets to be a whole ordeal. We are baby-led-weaning, but to avoid a huge mess in a restaurant, we make an exception and feed him very soft foods with a spoon (and sometimes give him the spoon to play with). I had cleaned everything up already before taking this picture, but here's what's in my bag:

1 bag: alexander wang large emilie tote in suede (similar)

6 items for baby: extra pants and cardigan / i can fly book / feeding spoon / bandana bib / cloth diaper

1 item for mama: iphone

Finding More Uses for Old Clothes

After cleaning out my closet, I have two giant trash bags full of clothes that I don't wear anymore. I haven't had a chance to donate them, but I think that's a good thing. Last time, I dug through the bags and took out all the sweaters so that I can repurpose them into knit pants and a hat for the baby. This time, I dug through the bags once again for drawstrings and waist ties so that  I could make a sensory box for Mars. 

It doesn't look pretty or anything like a toy, but I think that's why Mars likes it so much! We've found that he is most interested in things that are not toys, so this turned out perfectly!

To make this box, you need

ribbons or drawstrings

a cardboard box small enough for baby to hold

old t-shirts

something to put inside so the box doubles as a rattle (I used crafting jingle bells)

and packing tape.

1. Cut off all the drawstrings on pajama bottoms, hooded sweatshirts, and dresses. You can use a few ribbons that you have around the house as well. 

2. Poke a small cardboard box with a sharp pencil (double times the amount of ribbons you have).

3. String the ribbons through one hole, tie a large knot, then string it through a second hole so that they all come back out of the box.

4. Stuffed the box with some old t-shirts and bells.

5. Seal it back up with packing tape.

Enjoy!

Going Out: Clement Street Farmer's Market

We used to live in the Inner Richmond, right where the Clement Street Farmer's Market is at. Since moving, we haven't gone back so it was nice that we took some time from our weekend to visit once again. I love going to the farmer's market at the beginning of each season. When summer started, there were berries all over the place! Now that we're in Fall, there are pumpkins everywhere! My favorite!

7 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days old

Mars is 7 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days old.

Some new things this week:

Mars raises his hands when he wants us to pick him up.

He can army crawl across the room and back.

And

he is trying to pull himself up on the coffee table. That's what this picture is depicting, baby's struggle as he tries to pull himself up. He's not quite there yet, but if we stand him up against the coffee table, he is able to stand there for a short bit before he falls back down. 

Happy Friday, everyone!

In My Bag: Family Shopping Trip

My bags are usually pretty small and light when we all go out as a family on a quick shopping trip. Here's what I had in my bag this weekend when we went out.

1 bag: louis vuitton murakami pouchette with chain

2 toys: natural rubber paci / mini book

3 items for mama: pocket comb / hand sanitizer / iphone

From Sweater to Romper and Pixie Hat

Last week I cleaned out my closet in an attempt to simplify and build a capsule wardrobe. So far, this resulted in a huge pile of clothes that I no longer wear. A lot of the stuff is still in good condition, it's just that I can't fit into it or it's not nursing friendly. One of these things was a nice cashmere sweater that just didn't fit right anymore. I really didn't want to throw it out since it was so soft and nice, so I repurposed it and made it into a romper and pixie hat for Mars.

Today, he wore this new outfit to see his cousin Lily. She is just two months older than him and she got freaked out by the hat! I think she thought that he was some kind of pointy alien or a monster! It was the cutest thing, I wish we got a picture of it!

Going Out: Pacifica

Pacifica is a neighboring city that reminds me of a sleepy beach town. Since the weather has been extremely nice, I met up with another mommy friend and we went on a short stroller walk in the area. Our first stop was the bakery where we both satisfied our sweet-tooth cravings. Then, we strolled along a residential area that faced the water. It was a nice and peaceful outing for mama but I think it got too hot and bright for baby so we went home shortly after. Next time, I want to try this old-timey-looking fish and chips restaurant.