Grandpa's Birthday Party

 We were very excited to go to Omaha over Winter Break to help Grandpa celebrate his birthday.  (Don't tell anyone, but Anthony thought 70 was VERY old.)
  We had a big party with lots of family there.  Richie was exhausted, but a very good sport about playing "pass the baby".  He'd pretty much flirt with anyone who would give him a cell phone to play with. 
  It took awhile, but Anthony and his cousin Alex finally started bonding over games on their parent's phones.  A while later they were running all over the place playing together. 

Omaha Zoo

 I was having blogger problems, so I got behind on pictures from our trip to Omaha.

  I try to make a point of taking the family to the zoo every time we're in Omaha.  Its a fabulous zoo and I always discover something new.  This year I visited the swamp area for the first time.  I thought the beavers in their lodge were quite cool.  We also spent quite awhile in the rainforest exhibit where Anthony was thrilled to see hippos in the river below.

  The highlight of the trip for Anthony was sitting right next to a gorilla.  Obviously the gorilla was on the other side of the glass, but he sat right down next to Anthony and crossed his arms.

  Anthony also enjoyed helping Grandpa drive his scooter.  They did remarkably well together!

Beach Day

 The weather is positively glorious, so we headed down to Santa Cruz for the first beach day of the year.  It was a fabulous day.  Both boys love the beach.  We were there for 4 1/2 hours, and Anthony was playing in the water the entire time.  No real pictures this time, but it was the standard fun.  Run from the waves, throw things in the waves, jump around in the waves...

  Richie had a fabulous time, too.  He walked around in the sand, crawled around in the edge of the water, visited with various dogs, borrowed another families volley ball and took one very very very short nap.

Richie's Orange

 While visiting with friends this afternoon, Richie got his hands on an orange.  He chewed on the peel for awhile, then I took pity on him and peeled it a bit.  He went to town on that thing!  I think he ate nearly half the orange.  His clothing was completely drenched in orange juice by the time he was done. 

Snow in Omaha

 There wasn't much snow in Omaha, but Anthony made the most of it!  Shortly after getting off the airplane Anthony made a snowball and threw it at Daddy!  He thought it was great fun.

  He was thrilled beyond belief to discover patches of snow right outside Auntie Jessica's back door.  He spent a long time playing in the snow in his pajamas!  The best part was the second morning when there was an inch of fresh snow on the ground. 

  After Grandpa's birthday party he spent a good half hour playing in the snow directly in front of a picture window at Grandpa's assisted living home.  At one point he had almost a dozen grandmotherly types watching.  (I wasn't sure whether they were enjoying him playing in the snow or appalled that he wasn't wearing a coat or mittens.  At least he was dressed then!)

Fourteen Months Old

Richie is a big boy now!  Well, not that big, but he did outgrow his little overalls (size 9 months).  They fit in Omaha two weeks ago and now are too tight, so he has grown.

More than that, though, he can DO stuff.

1.  He really likes feeding himself with a fork and spoon.  His skills are minimal, but he's really into it.
2.  He's toddling up to 20 steps at a time.  He crawls wicked fast, though, so its far more efficient.  He has figured out to crawl backwards down steps, finally.
3.  He's mastered the word "uh-oh" and uses it properly.  Example:  he throws his milk cup on the floor and then says, "uh-oh".
4.  He's sleeping through the night maybe half the time.
5.  He can fit two lego duplos together.