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.

One Hundred Days of School

Last Wednesday was the 100th day of school.  Anthony's class celebrated with an 101 Dalmations party.

In addition to the great costumes, they each had a baggie with 10 pieces of ten kinds of treats.

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.

Candy Cane

 Somehow Richie got his hands on a candy cane.  He was enjoying it so much I didn’t have the heart to take it away from him.

  His stocking did have some treats.  Animal crackers, gingerbread crackers and a teeny chocolate Santa.  This was way better.

  He’s clearly a second child.  I don’t think Anthony discovered any candy before his second birthday.

Christmas Brunch at the Fairmont

 I wanted Christmas to be special, but I really didn’t want to cook.  We went out to Christmas brunch at the Fairmont instead.  It was really nice.  The food was excellent, the desserts were amazing.  Anthony decorated a cookie, as you can see!

  Anthony got a balloon flower and Richard got his face painted.  I asked for “something fast and easy”.  He rocked his little Chrismas tree.

  Afterwards we walked around Christmas in the park in San Jose.  It was a perfect afternoon!

Merry Christmas!

  Santa, Grandparents and Cousins were all very generous to my boys this year.

  Highlights (so far) include Anthony’s Rainbow Loom and Anna doll (from Frozen).  He also really digs his Fort Magic kit.  I think he’ll really enjoy his puppet theater once I get it set up for him.

  Richard’s favorite toys so far are his Plan Toys hammer ball set, his stacking cups and his crawl through tunnel.  Its funny, my boys are five years apart, but Anthony still grabs the baby’s toys to play with himself.

Santa Pictures

 We visited Santa at the mall Thanksgiving weekend.  Anthony was excited to see him, but quite unsure what to ask for.  (That was rectified a few weeks later when he decided on a Rainbow Loom.)  Now, he's very insistent that he wants a Rainbow Loom.  He isn't greedy, though.  He doesn't really ask for anything else.

  Richie evidently just wants socks for Christmas.  (He does own socks and shoes, he generally chooses not to wear them.)

  I love this picture of Richie with Santa.  I've spent a ridiculous amount of time staring at it.

  Anthony has figured out that not ALL the Santas we see are the real Santa.  He didn't have an opinion on this guy, whose beard was clearly real.  He will point out (afterwards) that the clearly fake Santas are indeed fake.  On a related note, he realized that the Ariel who flirted with him at Disneyland was NOT the real Ariel, but rather a woman in a dress.  He had a pretty hard-core crush on her for a long time after that.  I'm really thankful we made that trip while he was still a true believer.

Donahue’s Christmas Party

   Tuesday night was the Donahue’s annual Christmas party.  We’ve been going every year since Anthony and Robert were tiny tikes.  We started off with potluck dinner, then Christmas songs, then a visit by the fat man himself.

  Sarah was surpised/impressed that my boys had matching shirts.  We’ve been friends for six years now, I thought she knew me better than that!  What else would they be wearing???

  Richie was more enamored of the fat man than ever.  When his turn was over, I held out my arms for Richie to come to me.  He completely ignored me because he wasn’t done visiting with that strange guy.

Stylin ‘Do

 Maria at daycare always does the girls’ hair every morning.  Richie was fascinated by the process and always wanted to interfere.  I had a good laugh when he came home with a mohawk.

Kathleen’s Christmas Party

 Saturday was a long awaited day—the Christmas party at daycare.  It is the social event of the year, in addition to her current kids, Kathleen always invites the alumni.  Anthony had a great time playing with his pals.  I barely saw him all evening!

  I loved seeing Richie playing with Nico.  Nico is 2 1/2 and adores Richie.  Nico lent Richie a matchbox car and they crawled around on the floor playing cars together, it was so sweet!  Nico’s mom is pregnant with a girl; Nico was very disappointed to learn that he wasn’t going to have a Richie of his own.

A certain special guest arrived after the singing.  Anthony was a VERY enthusiastic singer, I think he may have been louder than all the others put together.  He was also a very good big brother.  When the singing started I put Richie on his lap and he took care of R until the special guest left.  Everyone commented on what a good big brother he is.

Santa was very good to both boys.  Anthony (and the other bigger boys) received these Planes airplane launchers.  Anthony has barely put his down.  Richie scored TWO presents—the traditional “baby’s first Christmas” ornament that Kathleen gives to all the little ones AND the toddler toy—a shape sorter/crock pot.  Richie hasn’t figured out the shape sorting part, but he certainly enjoys putting things in the pot, take them out of the pot...