This is why I love spring...

Tulips!

My most favorite of flowers

Had lots of them in our wedding

I have planted lots of tulip bulbs at every house we have owned

This year was the first spring we had tulips at our new house

I just love the beautiful bright colors, the sweet, aromatic scent, the long stems and the smooth curvature of the flower petals

A mature palate?

She wouldn't eat pizza

Or crackers and cheese

But she gladly devoured both of these:

If you are a very neat and clean momma, I don't recommend giving your toddler tomato soup. It is very messy, but Julia just loved it! Of course, as you can see, it was the heart healthy kind (I am a cardiac CNS and have to set an example). We made the mistake of keeping her in a white shirt while she refused to put on a bib. Oh well, maybe the Spray-n-Wash will get it out. If not, there are lots of other things she can wear.

Yes, that second photo is 3-Bean Salad. I recently tried some at the salad bar at work and found it quite tasty. Julia wanted to try some, so I gave her a bite expecting her to spit it out in disgust, but no, she enjoyed it and said "more, more" all while signing "more" (we know she really wants something when she signs it AND says it).

She has weird tastes as a young child, but I hope it continues. We also enjoyed some tasty broccoli tonight with dinner. She enjoys that too.

A Shopper....or Not

On my days off (Fridays), Julia and I like to go to various stores to browse. The last place we went was Kowalski's. For those of you who don't live in Minnesota (or don't know what Kowalski's is), Kowaslski's is a grocery store. Not just any grocery store. It is a, what I call, "fancy" grocery store or "gourmet" grocery store. The store has some of your typical mega-store items, but it specializes mostly in top quality ingredients: a fabulous deli/delicatessen, a superb selection of high quality meats, breads and much more. Their produce section is beautiful: everything is well organized and facing one direction and looks fresh and delicious! I don't do my regular grocery shopping her because that would be pricey, but I love to go to get some good breads, meats and produce. They sell my absolute favorite hummus here (made by my friend Deena in St. Paul): Deena's Gourmet Hummus. It is super good and I think everyone needs to try it. She has a new flavor: black bean chipotle that is to die for! Kowalski's is a grocery store that I can tolerate being in for a long time; unlike this type of shopping trip.

At Kowalski's they have mini-shopping carts for the little ones. I decided to let Julia give these are try while I pushed a big cart. She enjoyed pushing the cart and it was hilarious to watch her go up to a shelve look at items as if she was really shopping and then say "no" and continue on with her cart pushing. We were only a quarter of the way through the store when she decided to park her little cart in the middle of an aisle and walk away saying "bye" as if she had enough. She must have the same tolerance for grocery shopping as I do.