No More Broccoli Until You Eat Your Quesadilla

Brennan has for the most part not been a picky eater. But he certainly does have some preferences emerging. He's becoming a less of a fan of meat, particularly when its not strongly seasoned. Blackened chicken and the like he'll eat up, but plainer forms of chicken and other meats are not as interesting. He loves vegetables, with lettuce and broccoli being his favorites. Nancy from his family care tells us that when she takes the kids to Bertucci's, Brennan is all about the salad and not as much the pizza. Well at least he's learning to eat healthy. I'm not sure where he gets that from -- not from us certainly.

Same sort of thing happened at Chili's a couple of weeks ago. We got him chicken quesadillas (Hmmm... Blogger suggests that when I say "quesadillas" I have simply misspelled "peccadilloes"--sort of the same but not quite). I tried the quesadillas out and can confirm they were yummy and definitely deserving of the party in Brennan's tummy. But we also got a side of steamed broccoli. Brennan wasn't the least bit interested in the yummy cheesy quesadillas; all he wanted was broccoli. Never thought I'd be saying to a nineteen-month old, "no more broccoli until you eat more quesadilla."

Fun at the Mall

Brennan loves the play areas at the malls. Since it was a little hot out Saturday for taking him to one of his favorite outside parks, we headed over to the Natick Collection for a bit, just so Brennan could run around and have some fun outside of the house. We get there and realize -- no stroller. This is sort of a big mall too. But fortunately, the Natick Collection has something even better. Every mall should have these. Grocery stores too, for that matter. Brennan was thoroughly entertained.

Superhero

Daddy sent this picture to me without explanation, so the best I can guess, Brennan has decided to be a superhero of some sort today. Or a wizard. I'm not sure.

Brennan & Papa Day

Once a month or so, I try to have a day with just me & Brennan. Not that we don't like Daddy, but it's nice to have some one-on-one bonding time, and Daddy could use the break. Last weekend, we went into the city for the "Ahts" festival (i.e., the Boston Arts Festival). We walked along the harbor for a while. The tide was very high. Brennan was mesmerized by the waves and the boats. The water was really as high as it looks here -- occasionally splashing over the top.


Brennan was also thoroughly entertained by the seal exhibit outside the acquarium. We spent a half hour watching that exhibit, with Brennan yelling "fish" every time a seal passed by, mixed in with some "wows." He was really annoyed when we left.

Probably the most amusing thing the whole day was how it ended. We spent a fair amount of time in the playground at Christopher Columbus Park, and I could tell Brennan was getting pretty fatigued. We had been outside for a long time and doing a lot of walking. On our way walking back to the car, we stopped by a ballet performance and decided to sit down and watch for a while. It's hard to see from this picture, but Brennan was thoroughly entertained. He sat there and just watched the dancers dance and listened to the music, clapping along with the audience in between numbers.


So perhaps we have a ballet fan on our hands? Who knew?

Our Morning Routine

We have a pretty set morning routine. Brennan starts making noises around 6 a.m. We ignore him for a while because that's just too early for us. He has gotten in to the habit now of flipping on and off the light switch in his room to further note that he is up. But he remains pretty content for a while -- having deep conversations with Winnie the Pooh and Donald Duck. And if you go in his room right when he starts making noises and ask if he wants to get up, he'll answer "nooooo" in a giggly voice.

Eventually, one of us will get up and bring him down for breakfast. He's overall been a flexible eater from day one, but lately he's gotten a little pickier. He's caught on to the fact that I give him the oatmeal from the variety pack that isn't as tasty (plain oatmeal and "banana" oatmeal that tastes nothing like bananas). Oh well.

Then, it's off to snuggle and watch Yo Gabba Gabba. He gets super excited when the show first comes on. Below is a relatively modest version of his daily excitement:

...and then it's off to the rest of our day.