Ready for School

The last month or so, Richie was WALKING all the way to school with Bob and Anthony, rather than cruising in his stroller.  He found Anthony's old backpack the other day and loved wearing it.  He also then took off down the sidewalk to go to school!

Gap Tooth Smile

The tooth fell out in the afternoon of his last day of school.  It had been loose for a LONG time.  It was definitely loose back in February when his latest set of tubes went in, I remember him showing it off to the anesthesiologist.  We spent a good week trying to convince him to let Daddy pull it out, or just to pull the thing out already.  (Bringing back memories of my dad trying to get me to let him pull the dangling tooth.)

When we were at Big Basin the next day, Anthony decided he wanted a bag of polished stones from the gift shop.  Fortunately he had Tooth Fairy Money.  He was originally concerned that the money was safe at home.  I lent him money and as soon as we got home he came running up with a $5 to pay me back.

Sheep to Shawl

 Today we headed off to Elkus Ranch for their annual "Sheep to Shawl" event.  It was our fifth year in a row, and as always had a lovely time.  This year Ciaran and his mom joined us.  He and Anthony had a good time together.

  It was the standard day...  We started off grinding corn to feed the goats and chickens.  Even Richie got his own bag of corn this year.  We fed the animals, watched the sheep get shorn, died wool and worked in the garden.  Richie's favorite part was helping water the garden by playing in the water tub.  He also thought it was pretty funny to have a goat eat out of his hand and to chase the poor sheep around their pen.

As usual Anthony liked the chickens the best.  He also enjoyed dying the wool and playing in the farmyard with Ciaran.

Camping at Big Basin

 For my birthday this year we went camping at Big Basin State Park with some of my college friends.  It was a great time!  It took Anthony a few minutes to warm up to the other kids--older boys can make him nervous, but soon they were off playing together and having a great time.

  Richie, on the other hand, was clearly unconvinced that he wasn't one of them.  They climbed on rocks and trees, he climbed on rocks and trees...  They slept in a tent, he crawled around the tent until he collapsed in the corner out of sheer exhaustion.  The best part was that he thought EVERYTHING was funny.  The boy just couldn't stop giggling.  At one point he was sitting in the dirt, self-tanning and giggling up a storm.

  I left telling Bob I that I want to go back to Yosemite next year for my birthday.  He informed me that he was still recovering.

  We camped a LOT before Anthony was born.  We'll be doing more of it, I can tell.

Butterflies

 I'd always meant to do a butterfly project.  I never quite got around to it before.  Besides, he did it at preschool every year.

  This year we finally did it ourselves.  We all enjoyed watching the caterpillars grow from these teeny little things to genuine fat green caterpillars.  It was also very exciting to wake up in the morning and see the butterflies!  We had nine pupae and hatched eight butterflies.

  Anthony was quite sad to see his butterflies go.  He'd hoped they would stay around and play for awhile.  Alas, they had places to go.

Kindergarten Graduation

 Yesterday was Anthony's kindergarten graduation.  I freely admit to finding the whole thing kind of silly.  That being said, when Anthony came home from school asking if I was going to his kindergarten graduation, there really was only one answer.

  It started with the three classes leading us in the pledge and singing three songs, including the school song.  Then we went into the classrooms to hand out certificates and back out for snack.

  Anthony didn't seem to really understand that kindergarten was ending, but on the way to school he announced "On Saturday I'll be a first grader!"

Seventeen Months Old!

Richard is seventeen months old.  He's still tiny, but definitely has gotten taller.  He's also grown FIVE new teeth in the timespan of four weeks, bringing him to a total of eleven.

He's got a bunch of new words.  They include "Hi", "Boo" (i.e. peek-a-boo), and the perennial favorite "No".

Richie also has a bunch of sweet new tricks.  He can kick a ball, blow a dandelion and give real kisses on the cheek.  He really wants to walk down stairs but can't quite do it.  Yet.

His favorite games include "this little piggy", peek-a-boo, soccer ball, and "whatever Anthony is doing".

His favorite food is probably hot dogs followed by whatever junk he can scam from Anthony.  He is also quite fond of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, macaroni and cheese and apricots.