When I moved to southern California the first time I chose Marina Del Rey on the city line with Venice. I had an apartment just 3 blocks from the beach and I spent most of my free time strolling Venice's canals and the beach boardwalk, taking in the crazy energy (thanks to the crazy people). My dad loved to come visit and go there to people watch. He'd even join the folks fishing off the pier - just for the amazing people watching.
Well, Cooper seems to really enjoy people watching. He loves the mall and strolling in his stroller just about anywhere there are lots of people and action so I figured we'd spend the afternoon at Venice beach so he could get some great stimulation and fresh air and I could get my Venice "fix" since I moved away from that area nearly 3 years ago.
It was fun - for both of us. Cooper was hilarious - as freaky people passed by on foot, on skateboards, rollerblades, etc...he would yell out to them! The boardwalk was packed with locals, tourists, performers, and merchants. I was hoping that we'd stumble on some new creative products that I wouldn't be able to live without but it seems the boardwalk merchants haven't changed much since my last visit but that's OK - we really didn't need to buy anything.
We walked and walked and walked - probably walked 3 miles or so up and down and up the boardwalk again. We stopped at Washington St. at one of my favorite beach side restaurants, The Terrace Cafe. I had a great salad and Cooper showed no interest in his pureed pears - but he still enjoyed himself making funny noises and faces and entertaining everyone at the tables next to us (he really is a performer sometimes!). I was happy to see all of my favorite Washington St. restaurants still in business - like the Venice Whaler, and Mercedes Grill. I had worried that things might be closed or different because of the economy but I was thrilled to see my favorites still there.
After a fun afternoon at the beach we headed back to our area and cruised the local Target for some necessities before heading home. It was a fun and packed day and he's already asleep :).
By the way, the petting zoo still wasn't open so we won't go back til next month when it should definitely be open - I hope!
The plan for tomorrow --- the nanny is coming at 10am to watch Cooper for the day while I clean the house. She couldn't work on Monday because of a family crisis she had to deal with so we agreed she'd come one day this weekend to make up the day so I can get some much needed cleaning done. After that is done I'll probably take Cooper to the town center for some strolling and dinner "out" - he eats better when we're out of the house so I take him to the mall or the park or wherever with his baby food and he eats it right up - at home he purses his lips shut tight. Would love to understand why that is - any ideas?
2 comments:
The outing to Venice Beach sounds like such a fun, amusing time, Julie! No really revolutionary ideas about Cooper's willingness to eat when not home, other than trying something different to feed him. I'm surprised he'll eat/does okay with pineapple bc of the acidity. Jonathan sometimes has problems with apples (sauce, juice, combos) bc of the acid so we haven't tried pineapple. How about the orange foods--sweet potatoes, squash, or carrots? These are all sweeter than green vegetables and have less acid than some of the fruits... My girlfriends and our pedi suggested starting with vegetables rather than fruits bc many babies won't eat vegetables after being used to the sweetness of fruit. Jonathan eats a whole bunch of diverse foods now, but who knows if it bc he started with the orange veggies and moved to the green ones before fruit, honestly, who knows if this is why?! :) They keep us guessing, our darling little ones! As far as why Cooper will eat out but not at home, my best guess is his focus is elsewhere when he is out, rather than directly on the act of eating, so for whatever reason, he eats more "automatically" when there's something else going on. I could use a cleaning day, but it is going to be sunny and in the 50's here tomorrow, so cleaning be damned for now bc the 20 degree weather will be back again for a spell before too long!
I would love to visit Venice Beach someday!
I wouldn't worry too much about feeding him. It's mostly for practice unless your doctors want him eating. I found with Baxter that he will kind of eat purees, but he doesn't enjoy them. Give him a ripe avocado or pear cut into small cubes? He's in heaven. Some babies just don't care for purees. You could try letting him self feed.
Good luck!
Post a Comment