Hello July, Where Did You Come From?

Happy July-June flew by!

As always, I present you photos of the past week(s):

Monday, June 22

Leif playing with his Mickey Light Saber...

Tuesday, June 23

I took out my friend Susie to The Lazy Dog Cafe for her birthday happy hour.  Yummy food!

 Since Hubs had the day off, he took Leif on a boy-date to Griffith Park and then to the zoo.  They had a really fun day!

Selfie at Griffith Park

When I got home, I took over Leif duties while Hubs relaxed a little/took photos.  He captured this awesome one of me making dinner for Leif, while Leif was, well, being a toddler.  :)

Leif and Daddy had such a big day, he passed out as soon as I put him down.

What melts my heart: him clutching his vibrating/singing elephant.  He's finally finding comfort in a stuffed animal/object which is nice because before it was just me-not that I don't love the affection, but it makes bedtime such an easy transition!

Thursday, June 25

I was generally happy with my stylist in Simi Valley, but a few things that have transgressed with my hair/flakiness nudged me to try another stylist closer to work.  I felt a little bad, but after meeting my new stylist/getting my hair done, I'm much happier.  My previous stylist seemed to cut my hair the same way no matter if it was long or short-same shaggy edges, and I've gone back a couple times now to fix something.  This new stylist listened to me, was hilarious and down to earth, and gave great advice.  It's not a lot different, but it just feels/looks to me much better!

New color/cut=happy Nichi!

Friday, June 26

Leif's new morning routine consists of him chowing down on a banana-a whole banana, with him holding the peel as well.  It's so cute and shows he's growing up too fast!

Of course Miles is all in for this routine, just because he usually gets the last piece Leif doesn't eat!

Leif usually falls asleep on the way home from daycare, and this time after Hubs pulled him out of the car, he slept for another 20 solid minutes-10 in this position.

Saturday, June 27

We decided to escape the heat in our neighborhood and travel down to Long Beach for this Pirates & Mermaid Festival!  First, getting ready...

Leif's new fascination is to find his belly button and hold onto it.

Almost ready-just had to get his pirate sun-hat and sword...

We finally reached Long Beach after a long drive...Leif woke up from the car ride early and was screaming/crying, so while Hubs searched for parking he dropped us off at the beach close to the Pirate Pier.  The beach happened to be the same dog beach we take Miles to once in a while!  We didn't get too close to all the action, but Leif had fun trying to climb all of the little dog statues:

We grabbed some lunch at the Belmont Brewing Company since grabbing fair-like food would be hard to do with Leif and not to mention the limited options.

Great beers and delicious fish and chips!  Leif had some pretty decent pasta.

It was a small festival, but it was fun and Leif had a great time seeing all the flashy-dressed people!

Sunday, June 28

Morning routine...

We had to get Leif's haircut since we are flying out to a wedding this coming weekend...he was such a good boy at the salon!  Of course we have to thank Mickey Mouse on TV, a train with a bell to sit in, and lollipops.

Afterwards we grabbed some lunch, did the toddler play area, shopped, and decided since it was so hot to let Leif run around in the little fountain/splashpad in the same shopping center.

This cutie was so shy and never really ran around in the water.  He just stared and pointed at the water, tapped his foot on one that didn't work, and ran to us.  He's too cute.

The closest he got to a fountain.

 Then as we entered our neighborhood, the temperature of course raised by about 10 degrees...

WTH

So yeah, we WERE excited to go to Washington, but of course their weather is in the high 80s...hahaha, no we're still excited to come up.  It will probably feel cold to us!

In other good/bad news, I'm not sure if I've written much about Leif's daycare.  She's been pretty great with him, but overall she's just a mess.  There have been a lot of weird situations that have popped up lately, and she always has an excuse for something I'm not too happy with.  She is always complaining about some sob story about not making rent, or not having a car, or roommates (yes, that should have been a red flag before we enrolled him, but we didn't know until two weeks in that she needed roommates and she's renting her house).  I hope I'm not coming across without empathy, but I just don't have the time to write out everything that has happened (and it's a lot within this last year).

Anyway, yesterday was the last straw for Hubs and I, which provided me fuel to research daycares and call a couple.  Yesterday after work we checked out a daycare closer to our house and we fell in love.  It's a larger daycare center that provides care for 6 week olds to 5 year olds.  They have classrooms for each stage and playgrounds sectioned off accordingly as well.  The teachers/staff were so friendly and all the kids seemed like they were having such a good time.  AND it's not much more than our current daycare.  Score.  So, we put down the deposit since they currently only have one opening left and Leif will be starting there at the end of the month.  Phew!  It feels like the cliche "A weight has been lifted off my shoulders".  The hardest part about all of this: giving his current daycare lady the two week notice.  It feels like a mixture of quitting a job that is "just okay", breaking up with someone, and moving all at the same time.  Hubs keeps reminding me she's basically working for us-we pay her to watch our son, not be our friend...which I totally agree, but I believe that's how she views us.  Anyway, we'll tell her soon, but for now, I'm still trying to mentally prepare for our trip this weekend-hoping Leif cooperates on the plane now that he's so mobile!