Santa.

We managed to catch Santa during his busiest time of the year. Cruz wasn't impressed! He was interested in the workshop, the Christmas tree and lights but when I sat him on Santa's lap he was very, very worried. We managed to get both Leslie (nana) and I in a shot with out a total meltdown. Merry Christmas friends and family!

Say Cheese.

Curz is having new adventures every day! He has started daycare two days a week and I've noticed his ability to communicate has exploded since he's been enrolled. He says "bop" which means "up" when he wants up on the couch or to be picked up. He can sign the word "more" and "all done", which are helpful when he's eating. His favorite books are picture books that his aunt Sam bought him, he's most intrigued by the animals and grandma T taught him to make the sound of a snake "ssssss" and point his fingers mimicking a snake head. He also makes a scrunch face when you take a picture of him and say "cheese". Were having so much fun and can't wait to see his reaction to Christmas morning.

It's Uncanny!

Found some old photos of me as a toddler and I now see where Cruz gets his stunning looks! Haha.

CHOW!

Lots of exciting things happening here at the Wilkinson household. Nick just created an interior landscape for a new local San Luis Obispo restaurant, CHOW. The restaurant will feature Asian fare with a California twist focusing on Chinese and Vietnamese flavors, set to open on November 17th! Can't wait to celebrate my 35th birthday there! Good job Nick!

Hippie by day... Elephant by night.

Halloween was so much fun this year, we carved pumpkins, trick-or-treated and accidentally ate part of a Milky Way bar. I let him suck the wrapper and he actually got into the package and sucked most of the candy out... his first candy. Grandma Suzuki made this Hippie costume that Cruz wore to school and the elephant was courtesy of g'ma and g'pa Wilkinson.

Monterey Bay Aquarium!

Artistic photo of the aquarium sign.

Nap on the drive up north.

This fish kept swimming up to Cruz at the Kelp Forest exhibit.

Jellies!

Nick, Cruz and I took a 2 hour drive north on beautiful HWY 1 to Monterey Bay Aquarium to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. The aquarium has many new exhibits since I visited over 10 years ago. We enjoyed "The Secret Lives of Seahorses" exhibit and really loved the new "Jellies" exhibit. And of course the otters were the highlight of the day, Cruz left with a blowfish and stingray toy memento and fun was had by all.

Pumpkin Patch.

We made our yearly trip to La Familia Ranch Pumpkin Patch, a local family run ranch here in Los Osos. Cruz picked out a mini pumpkin, sat on a giant pumpkin, kissed a goat and hee-hawed with a donkey! Though I'd post a picture from last year... wow has he grown so much. Can't wait for Halloween to dress him up and parade him around the neighborhood!

like father like son!

Last night was a rough one! Great hanging with you last night Uncle Jay and Aunt Anna.

Yard Work.

We're visiting my parents in OC and Cruz spent the afternoon yesterday helping grandpa Suzuki clean the yard; he edged, raked, mowed the lawn and at the end of all that manual labor grandpa pulled out the sprinkler for some water fun.

Oldies But Goodies!

Hello ladies!

Bath time fun with Mimi!

Go Chargers... you can't see Cruz's hat but it has a Chargers bolt on it (thanks grandpa)!

I recently got a hold of some of Grandpa and Grandma Eady's photos and though I'd post some of when Cruz was about 4 months old... he was so fat!

First Year of Life.

On August 28th Cruz turned 1. What a whirl wind of a year, I've learned so much about being a mother, Cruz has taught me to live in the moment, enjoy quality time and see each day as a new discovery. We held a party for him this past weekend and thank all our friends and family for loving Cruz as he was your own. Our cowboy spent the day eating, napping, opening presents and hanging out in the pool, and of course had his first cupcake! Cruz has been walking for about a month now and spends most of his day pointing at everything and saying "dat" which I translate as "that", not sure what he's really saying but it's cute.  He plays with his toys for most of the day and has developed a fascination for books. He has about 5 heavy hitters which he practically demands every time we sit down to read, he wants to turn the page by himself, no help from mom. He still loves to give kisses to everyone, usually open mouth and if your lucky you might get some tongue! He can also comb his hair and brush his teeth, he does the motions but he's not actually doing the deed. It's so fulfilling to see him discover the world, my heart is filled with so much joy.

The Most Important Meal

Nothing like starting off the day with some golden coin bananas and a cactus pancake!

House Full of Family!

Practicing for my birthday.

Dancing for LaLa.

Thanks for the train Gma & Gpa... I love it!

PaPa and Cruzer.

This summer the cactus pad has been full of friends and family, it's or favorite time of year. Recently Grandpa and Grandma Wilkinson drove two days from Twin Falls Idaho to visit with us and spoil Cruz. The house was full of aunts and uncles, good food and lots of memories. Thanks for making the journey papa and lala and thanks to aunt Sam for making the 8 hour trek all the way from El Centro to0. We love you guys!

11 Months.

July 28th marked Cruz's 11th month of life... here's a typical day:

7am: time to rise and shine

8am: breakfast (maybe oatmeal or yogurt and some fruit, hopefully some of it makes it into his mouth)

9am: open up all the cupboards in the kitchen and pull out all the Tupperware, walk around the living room following Solo everywhere

10am: nap (hopefully for 2 – 3 hours if were lucky)

1pm: lunch!

2pm: walk around the living room looking for anything to get his hands on that's not a kid toy

3pm: swimming lessons

4pm: snack!

5pm: walking around the house trying to get out of the house via dog door, front door back door, deck door

6pm: eat again... can he still be hungry?

7pm: splash in the tub

8pm: down for the count!

Swim Lessons.

Swim snack.

Teacher Jessica showing us how to get in the pool.

Ready to start class.

Cruz has his first swim lesson today. Our teacher, Jessica, said he did awesome for his first lesson. We sang songs, dunked underwater, learned to back and tummy float and discovered how to use a swim noodle. Watch out olympics... here we come!

Aunt Sam!

Aunt Sam had a visit with us a few weekends ago... we just love her! Thank you Aunt Pam & Uncle John for the too cute strawberry hat.

Dog In Baby Out!

San Diego Zoo or Bust!

During our week vacation to San Diego we spent a day at the zoo with Aunt Helen and her family. Cruz loved the animals. Towards the end of the day he was getting pretty good and finding the animals in each enclosure... he would point to animal as soon as he found it. His absolute favorite was the meerkats, the enclosure had windows close to the ground so the kids could view them and their was a meerkat digging a hole in front of Cruz, he was cracking up. 

We're 10 Months Old.

We were camping on Cruz's 10 month b-day so I'm posting pictures from our annual family camping trip to San Clemente State Beach. Cruz can now stand unsupported and he took his first steps this week, he's so close to walking! He still loves music, and dances at least once a day. He favorite things are cars that he can crawl and roll along the ground, avocados, shaking his head "no" to every thing and person, and I discovered he loves the ocean. As soon as I introduced him to the ocean he kept crawling down to where the waves break. We also discovered he doesn't like dirt... we set up a play yard on the site with astro turf and Cruz never left the safety of the grass. He really enjoyed camp life and spending some quality time with family! 

Sand goatee.

Texas here I come.

Camp bath with cousin Jake.

Cruz and Jake just hanging out in the tent (aka home base).