Thirteen Months Old

Richie is thirteen months old!

He's still a tiny little thing.  At his 12 month check-up a few weeks ago he weighed in at 19 pounds and 26(?) inches.  20% for weight and around 5% for height.  He still has a few 6-9 month clothes that fit, but most are outgrown.  Some of his 6-12 month clothes are very roomy, but some in brands that run smaller are getting outgrown, too.

Sleeping is much improved in the last week or two.  He's sleeping all the way through the night about 50% of the time, including the last two days.

He's starting to walk, but its very slow.  A little surprising given how well he stands and cruises.  Everyone at daycare thought he'd be walking by New Year's.  He'll take a step or two at a time, though.  Last night when I picked him up he took the first two (cautious) steps and crawled the rest. 

His latest trick is dancing.  He is smitten with the music that plays before Anthony's "Rainbow Loom" videos.  Whenever the music comes on he'll do the little "baby butt bob" dance.  Its so cute!

He has also discovered the game where you drop things and other people pick them up for you.  That's a lot of fun!

This picture was taken at the park by our house.  He had a wonderful time crawling all around the sandbox exploring.

Summer Days

 Ooops, I meant winter days.  Although, really, you wouldn't know.  We haven't had rain since early December and there isn't any forecast for weeks.

  We pretty much spent last weekend outside playing.  Saturday afternoon we had a park playdate with kindergarten friends.  (Anthony complained he was too hot.)  Sunday we had a park playdate with Ciaran.  Anthony picked the park venue.  I had hoped it was for the neat climbing area on the playground.  Nope, he wanted to go down and climb around in the dry creekbed.  He and Ciaran had a great time together.

  Richie basically tagged along, though he did some time on the swing.

Crazy Hair Day

Today is Crazy Hair day at school.

I spiked Anthony's hair and added gold and purple stripes.  I thought he looked pretty good.  Its funny, the gold looks better in person, the purple shows up better in the picture.

We considered coloring Richie's hair (what there is of it) to match.  However, we're fairly confident is strawberry blond, baby fine hair would hold on tight to the color.  I don't want to turn his hair purple permanently!

Ice Skating

Anthony has been begging to go ice skating for a few weeks now.  Sunday afternoon I relented and took him to a local rink. 

  They have "bucket skating" for the beginners.  Basically, you pile up the buckets and can push them ahead of you and use them for balance.  Before he was actually on the ice, Anthony was insistent that he didn't need the buckets.  The minute he was on the ice he realized that it was very slippery and was hanging on to his bucket for dear life.   We got off to a slow start, but after 10 minutes or so, he started to get the hang of it and I took him out on the main part of the rink so he could get the idea of a bit of speed.

  By the end of the session he'd really figured it out and could make it half-way around the rink at a stretch!  Check it out!

La Brea Tar Pits

 Our first day in Southern Calfornia was spent at the La Brea Tar Pits.  In that area of Los Angeles, tar seeps to the surface from oil reserves deep underground.  Back in the last ice age, the tar would get covered with water or leaves, animals would walk into it, get stuck, and the rest is history.  Or archeology.

  The first thing we did when we arrived at the tar pits was go to an observation pit.  We could see a partial escavation of a mastodon from a block of tar.  They also had a neat exhibit where you could try and pull the weight of your leg out of a chunk of tar.  Anthony was fascinated.

  On our walk across the grass to the museum, my sister Erika spotted a small bit of tar seeping through the grass.  Despite my admonishions to not touch, Anthony did.  He discovered it was very sticky and tried to wipe it off in the grass.  Of course, then the grass stuck to his tarry finger.  (I had told him not to touch the tar, but he was very curious.)

  Anthony enjoyed seeing all the skeletons—mastadons, mammoths, saber tooth cats and the like.  We took a break to visit with a docent and he told her about how his Aunt Erika found tar and he touched it.  She asked him what he learned.  His response, “It was a mistake."

Richie’s First Birthday Party

 Richie turned one year old on New Year’s Eve.  We had a small family party at my sister’s house to celebrate.  Richard had a nice time mashing up his cupcake.  A cousin complained “He’s wasting the best part,” meaning the frosting.  He ate a few bites.  I’d expected more gusto, but he’s getting over a bug and his appetite isn’t the best.

  Richie is SO CLOSE to walking.  He’s cruising, he’s standing independently, but isn’t QUITE there yet.  Any day now.

  He is a lousy sleeper when we travel.  Possibly even worse than Anthony, if you can imagine such a thing.  Its a good thing he’s so cute.