The heatwave seems to have no effect on Taiyo's appetite. Yesterday as we walked into SOY he asked for gyoza. After chugging on two plates of gyoza, he asked for a bowl of rice, which he enjoyed with his favorite takuan pickles. His favorite watermelon is also in high season. He ate a big bowlful after dinner.

Taiyo is such a city kid- lately he's often up until midnight. He still asks for Dora or Elmo, but I tell him it's mommy's time to watch television. Then he asks for Conan. We watch Conan if it's on, and he points at TV saying, "Conan," or "Andy." Other moms envy me when I tell them Taiyo usually sleeps until 9am. Today we didn't get up until 11am! He was in great mood, and had great appetite. Milk, a bowl of yogurt, handful of cereal- he prefers my cereal Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries over Cheerios - then of course asked for my bagel in between. For lunch we stopped at Roots & Vines on Grand Street near Clinton. This is one of the places we pass by all the time on the way to the supermarket or library, but hardly make a stop. It's known to be a local mom's hangout during the week, but on Saturday, there was no sight of a stroller beside ours. Entry is easy, with a wide doorway, and inside is fairy roomy for strollers also. Air conditioning wasn't working well today, and it was warm inside- perhaps that's why it wasn't as busy as they usually are. While I went to order our food at the counter, Taiyo quickly situated himself in the middle of the bench at the long table. Our sandwich, Mexcan style "Torta" with carne asada came pretty quickly, and it was nicely presented on a wooden square plate with a little thing of pink coleslaw. Taiyo didn't like coleslaw- he may immediately reject certain flavor, which I still can't predict. The sandwich wasn't great- the meat was super dry and the roll was stale, but he ate some of the bread and a slice of tomato. They had a bucket full of children's books by the window, which helped to keep him at the table. Later our long-time customer Seth walked in and congratulated us on Japan's women's world cup victory. Taiyo ran around a little making some old people smile, before getting his first lesson on the game of chess by Seth.

Today's sandwich was not a hit, but I've had pretty good food there in the past. They also serves brunch on weekends. This is a child-friendly neighborhood cafe and it's recommended.

Sometimes the simplest thing is the winner. Fresh asparagus yesterday morning was the thing for him. He didn't even bother to try my miso-mayo-tofu dip. He just kept munching on the steamed asparagus. Tougher bottom ends that I took off before cooking also provided him entertainment- he enjoyed snapping them for a while. After a long nap it was avocados. When he wandered into the kitchen I offered him a piece of avocado. He just couldn't have enough, living up to a moniker I gave him a long time ago: bottomless Taiyo. He kept asking for more, and ended up eating a whole big avocado. It's still hard to figure out what he may eat- some days he would spit out avocado I offer him. But today, it was the thing to die for.

This morning Taiyo let me take out a jogging stroller I haven't been able to use for a few weeks because he would protest it. He was a good coach trying get me back into shape- he called out, "Hashi, hashi (run, run)" everytime I slowed down and walked. We went to the Union Square market for some beautiful blueberries. On the way back we stopped at Chipotle at 14th Street and Irving Place.

This relatively new joint is spacious and clean, with lots of room for a SUV stroller we had to manuver around. This is definitely a better option among fast food, but to my suprise Taiyo showed no interest in colorful Burrito Bowl with chicken, corn salsa and extra topping of guacamole. He just kept drinking the apple cider from the market. I got him to taste a little, but only thing he liked and wanted was cilantro-lime rice. Meat was little spicy for him anyway. The little stool was low enough for him to climb on, and comfortable enough to sit on, and overall it was pretty good experience.

While he took a nap, I couldn't wait to cook up another prize from the market- beautiful golden chanterelle mushrooms. I sauteed with butter, little salt and soy sauce, and sprinkle of oregano. It was so delicious and I couldn't wait to have Taiyo try them, but when he woke up what he wanted was Chinese dumplings on Clinton Street: Prosperity Dumpling at Clinton between Rivington and Stanton. They make decent dumplings, and they are usually ready to be served. It's mainly a take-out joing, with limited seating area along the wall and the window, and there's no bathroom. Although I think the best dumplings in the neighborhood is found on East Broadway at a hand-pulled noodle place near the post office, Taiyo still loves this place's dumplings. It's pretty good deal: four dumplings for a buck.

Taiyo woke up with a serious funk. He cried because I wouldn't carry him while getting his milk together. I cried for milk and me at the same time. He had to have them both. I said I have to put him down to get his milk ready. He screamed and screamed. I ignored and put our breakfast together. Raising a child is a game of tolerance sometimes. I'm getting better playing it, but I still lose it here and there and scream back at him.

He wanted to go to the market, but we were going to see our dear friend Lynne, or Lakshmi, in her new free Little Movers Yoga movement class at Hamilton Fish Library. She just started offering this class at the library on Fridays at 10am. Little ones 12-36 months are welcomed. Taiyo loves running around the room, and going up and around the stage.

Taiyo slept three hours in the afternoon to get out his summer funk. For a few days the people from Love A Lot are bringing toys and it's been like Christmas for him. Today he woke up to a tub full of blocks. "Wow!!" He was just as excited to see his lunch bowl. It was vegetarian Friday for us, with fried tofu, avocado, and fresh mozzarella cubes, seasoned with balsamic vinegar. He loved the tofu, rice, and some avocado, but wasn't really fond of cheese to my surprise. He decided to get down on the floor and started running around, but every few minutes he came back to the table and asked for another bite. Also miso soup with daiko and napa never dissapoints him. It was definately like Christmas for him. After meal, he asked for his guitar and started singing stomping his little feet, providing live entertainment for customers.

Last year on 4th of July, Taiyo stood on his own for the first time. This year at 21-months, he's singing ABC's. I've been trying to start this new blog for a few months- Dining with Taiyo- because he just loves eating. He loves eating good food with other people. Is that because he's growing up in a restaurant? SOY blog has been pretty much Taiyo blog for two years now. I decided that I officially transform it into Taiyo blog. We'll be chronicling about our dining experiences in and out, just for the fun of it.

Today: Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria
282 Bowery at Houston
It was a dump day all day with drizzling rain. My plan was to walk up to Minca on 5th street for ramen noodle soup, but rain discouraged me and I pushed the stroller to the west along Houston because I had to pick up something at BestBuy on Broadway. We passed by a few places I was thinking about, but they seemed to be a little busy even though it was only 4pm in the afternoon on Sunday. We finally stopped at Pulino's at Bowery. This was our first visit there. Their sister restaurant Schiller's around the corner from us is fairy kid friendly- they will give Taiyo a set of crayons as we sit down, and there's always a very friendly waitress who would come around even if ours wasn't her table. Pulino's didn't have the crayons for Taiyo, but high-chair came right out for him, and access is nice and easy with the door wide open (thanks to the warm weather), plenty of room by the outside door to park the stroller, and Taiyo was happy looking around hipster interior with liquor bottles nicely decorating the walls. He also liked the view of the pizza oven behind him. Service was smooth and quick, and Taiyo liked their pizza very much- we had Bianca and he ate almost half of the pie. The table next to us, with older couple and their son, was quite amused with Taiyo. He really likes to entertain others. After he decided that he was through, Taiyo tried to run out to the street, but the staff there was quite aware of this little person and tried to stop him. That gave me more positive impression about this place. I say recommended. Sorry no pictures- Taiyo destroyed only a year old camera and I was on the way to pick up a new one.

Old blog is found here: http://archive.soyrosendale.com/weblog/