June 2015

One of our most beloved Boston events takes place each June at Government Center — the Scooper Bowl!

Ice cream hats FTW! Note my bulging 15-week baby bump (and Soren’s ice cream bump).

Out of the 20-scoops we ate, our favorites this year were Ben & Jerry’s Save Our Swirled (and Tonight Dough is always a hit), Baskin-Robbins’ York Peppermint Pattie, and Yeungling’s Sea Salt Caramel Swirl. We were completely incapacitated by our sugar comas that night.

Somehow, Soren still had it in him to plank it up on the Greenway.

Tim and Soren went for a Blue Hills hike one Saturday morning during my gym time.

My favorite picture, ever.

This is Soren’s prime spot for checking out the goings on at the park — baseball, soccer, cricket. He also notes whether our neighbor is sunbathing on his porch (“He’s nudie!”).

Soren MUST be involved if we’re using the food processor. He insists on taking a “taste test” at every step of the pesto-making process and will let me know if it needs more salt, oil, garlic, etc. By the time we’re finished, he’s usually consumed four or five heaping spoonfuls.

First summer trip to Butterhill. Here, Tim is teaching Soren all about disc golf while I read and watch from the giant and perfect porch.

Soren was a pro potty learner (and I guess he wanted this horse to learn, too). We were really surprised at how easy and low stress the whole thing was. I know it’s different for every kid and every parent. but our secret to success was to wait until he wanted to do it, and then we let him take the lead. No staying home for three days straight, no pressure from us to ditch the diapers, no reading books or articles about how to potty train. A lovely process for us.

Soren latched on to this fishing pole and went in search of things to catch in the back yard. He mostly ended up with pinecones.

Bedhead at Polly’s Pancake Parlor.

Always throwing rocks in rivers.

NATURE!

This photo was taken moments before Soren lost his ability to pee standing up. I had to go badly enough (blame pregnancy) that I squatted in the woods. Soren saw this and has refused to go standing up ever since. This means we no longer have the convenience of peeing in our back yard, by a tree at the park, or in a parking lot when I don’t want to find a real restroom.

17 weeks

Same day, new spot, new clothes, no pants, and more rock-throwing.

For a few days straight, Soren insisted on bringing this box on all our outings. It was his “sample cart,” from which he dispensed such delicacies as “mango and cream cheese” and pepperoni pizza. Signs we spend too much time at Costco and Trader Joe’s.

Soren takes his strawberry picking very seriously. Only the ripest berries will do.

“These are NOT ripe!” says the strawberry snob.

On the way home from berry picking, Soren and I stopped at Dairy Joy for an impromptu burger and ice cream. I considered it research for this blog post I was working on.

For weeks Soren anticipated the Boston Book Festival’s first annual Hubbub fest, which was like the BBF but just for kids. He knew Mo Willems would be there, and he was thrilled. HIs excitement was compounded by the fact that I decided to ditch the car and take public transit instead. This was our second MBTA bus ride ever.

We got to Copley in just enough time to snag a decent spot in line, which meant we got pretty good seats for Mo Willems’ book reading and Q&A (there were a few hundred people there). We rushed to get in the book-signing line after, but it was clear it would take at least 30 minutes to get to the front. I tried to persuade Soren to ditch the line and go enjoy the rest of the festival, but he wouldn’t have it. I don’t know if our two seconds with Mo were worth it, but Soren was glad to get his copy of “Knuffle Bunny” signed and to tell Mo how much he loves “Time to Pee.” (Also, we confirmed that Mo does pronounce it “ka-nuffle.”)

Thanks, photo guy, for the memorable shot.

Next, we snuggled up in the reading tent.

And lifted some weights. There were tons of really neat games and playthings on the lawn at Copley, but many of them involved my participation with Soren, so no pics. Tim got stuck doing cafeteria work at the temple that morning.

As we were heading out Soren spotted the Roxy’s tent, so we snagged a grilled cheese sandwich. Lunch on the T was never so good.

After a few years of partial gardening attempts (with mediocre attempts), we finally have thriving plants! Our basils are out of control (I’m actually harvesting the leaves correctly), our cilantro is not dead, and our parsley is always green and fragrant. Best of all, our tomato plant (in the back) is enormous and has dozens of little green guys growing and on the cusp of turning red.

One Saturday afternoon it was a little too cool for the beach or pool, so we made our way to Drumlin Farm. On the tractor ride, Soren waved non-stop to every animal and person he could get his eyes on.

Just like a goat.

After the farm, we swung by Walden for a quick picnic dinner, then off to Kimball Farm for dessert. Sometimes I try to talk Tim out of ordering the large ice cream, but then we polish it off with no problem. Also on this visit, Soren learned he HATES port-a-potties. He had to go #2, so I took him over to the potty and showed him what it was all about. He took one look inside the toilet, took a few seconds to let the small wash over him, and screamed to get out of there. We did have the travel potty in the car, so Tim sprinted to grab it. Unfortunately, we were out of bags to place under the potty. Tim’s solution? An empty ice cream cup. TMI? It worked like a dream.

Most of Boston’s splash parks and water features didn’t open until mid-June. Artesani opened earlier, so we made a few attempts there. Soren hated it. Too much chaos, too many unpredictable water sprays coming at his face. I was worried he’d never love splash parks again. Fortunately, he’s perfectly happy with the other parks (Joyce Park here).