thrifted: books for Clio

Leif and I love books.  We love, love, love books.  Especially used ones.  One of my favorite smells in the entire world is that of a used book store.  

Clio loves books too.  If she is fussing the quickest way to get her to calm down is with a book.  She gets so still and becomes entranced with the pictures.  Most the books we get her are from used book stores or ones we pick up while at thrift stores.  We feel like buying used books encourages her to read but it also encourages her to think in a more environmentally-minded way.

Here are three of my favorite most recent additions.  The artwork in these are really incredible and, at least in children's books, artwork is generally how I judge the quality of the entire book.

We Are All In The Dumps With Jack and Guy, by Maurice Sendak 

(we are big Sendak fans in this house).

Lengthy, by Syd Hoff

MacGregor Was a Dog, by Diane Redfield Massie

So, any recommendations for children's books?  I would love to hear 'em.

eight months and excuse me for more flower photos

Eight months, eight months, eight months.  This month, only a few days in, is already shaping up to be my favorite so far.  I swear she went to bed a tiny baby and woke up the next morning a little person.  Babbling and now crawling all over the place.  It is awesome.  I am so fortunate to be this little lady's mom.

Today we went to Descanso Gardens -yes, another garden because the weather was perfect- to take some photos of her eight month old self.  

Ten minutes of walking around and she knocked out in her stroller.

 So I parked it next to this place. 

Then sat by myself reading, looking through Instagram and generally just enjoying the view, while she slept for an hour clutching her favorite toys.  

After her nap and a milky snack we spent some more time wandering around.

I'm pretty sure that she wanted to put every single flower we saw in her mouth. 

Clio could not have been more excited to be let loose on the grass to play.

While taking photos a nice man with an even nicer camera (Canon 5D, sigh, I want you) offered to take a shot of us together.  But Clio would not cooperate.  She just wanted to rub her face in the grass.  

That's my girl.

los angeles arboretum

There are some days that make me so happy to be living in Los Angeles.  The day I took Clio to the LA Arboretum was one of those days.  70 degrees, blooming flowers, the smell of orange blossoms, no crowds, and a very happy baby.  These days time seems to be getting away from me.  Busy with work.  Busy with life.  It was incredibly special to have a day that was perfectly peaceful in every way.