No fun at all!

I hadn't realized the water was turned on at the park. Richie discovered it pretty quickly while I wasn't paying quite enough attention.

"Camp Mom"

 Daycare closed for a week in July.  Anthony had theater camp and Richie did "Camp Mom". 

We started by walking Anthony to theater camp.  Then we'd head to the park for awhile and a nice long walk to cause him to nap.

After naptime, we'd head out on our excursion for the day.  Some excursions were less fun (pediatrician for shots), some were more fun, like the Children's Discovery Museum.  This time around I bought a membership, I buy it every year or two.  Richie had a great time.  He LOVED the water play area the best, of course.  He painted for awhile, too.  His other favorite was playing with the balls in the baby area.  He'd put the ball in the pneumatic tube, it would shoot to the top and then zig-zag down a maze and pop out at the bottom.  Such fun.

18 Months Old!

Richie turned 18 months old at the first of the month.  His check-up went well.  He weighed in at 21 lb 15 ounces and 30 inches long.  15% for weight and 1% for height.  Dr. Zetes said we shouldn't expect any major changes, since he's been following his little curve since he was about 5 months old.

Richie is still insanely fond of balls and dogs.  At this block party a doggie grabbed pizza right out of his hand.  We all watched it happen, it took the dog a good five minutes make it happen.  Richie just thought it was funny.

The big change we've noticed is that he now likes to read!!!!!  We're a family of readers and I was very sad when he couldn't sit through "Moo, Ba, La La La."  Now he'll grab a book walk up and climb on my lap to read.  He is quite fond of some of the Boynton Books, LOVES Brown Bear and The Very Busy Spider and also loves Mem Fox's books "Hello Baby" and "Ten Little Fingers".

Park Time!

In addition to daily camp, Anthony is doing swim lessons every day.  We try to get to the pool early so the boys can play on the playground for awhile first.

Richie loves the slides.  He can go down the five foot slide by himself.  He keeps trying to go down the big curly slide, but when he does he tends to topple down it.  I don't LET him, but last time he took off while Anthony was getting positioned to go down it with him.

He usually walks up the stairs on the jungle gym, but sometimes experiments with the ladders. 

Anthony, meanwhile, climbs up the OUTSIDE of the curly slide.

Summer Camps

The modern child (with two working parents) spends his summer doing a series of day camps.  We are currently on week 4!

So far, all the camps have been a success.

Week 1 was Camp Splash at the YMCA.  He had swim lessons every morning, water play some afternoons and free swim other afternoons.  They ended the week with a field trip to a small waterpark.

Week 2 was Bible School through our church.  It was a short program and he spent the rest of the day at Kathleen's house with Richie and his old friends.

Week 3 was Baking Camp, also through the Y.  That's where he got his lovely chef hat.  This was the camp he most wanted to do.  When we were looking through the camp book I'd say, "Do you want to do swim camp?"  He'd reply, "No, I want to do baking camp."  Ditto for rock climbing camp, theater camp, etc.  So far baking camp was his favorite.  He's eagerly looking forward to making some of his recipes at home, especially the Elephant Ear cookies.

This week is "Camp Discovery" at the Y, a general day camp.  Yesterday they had a water balloon toss.  Today is swimming and tomorrow is a field trip to a bigger water park. 

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.

Nice Big Brother

Anthony has always been very nice at sharing treats with his little brother.  If he has a lollipop or popsicle he always trades licks.

Bob came home with some tiny Scharffen Berger chocolates yesterday evening.  Anthony fed most of his chocolate to Richie.  (Yes, we shared artisan chocolate with the kids!)  I asked him why he was so generous and his response was that it makes him happy.

Memorial Day Weekend

 We had a lovely Memorial Day weekend up in Tahoe with friends.  We arrived Saturday after lunch and promptly set out for a short nature walk. Richie was THRILLED to learn to blow dandelions.  His big brother taught him that trick.  He was less than thrilled that we wouldn't let him play in the river.  Anthony and Ciaran enjoyed playing in the river and we all were very impressed with the beaver dam!

  The following day was camera free as we went for a bike ride from the base of Squaw Valley down into Tahoe City.  We played by Lake Tahoe for awhile.  Anthony went in well past his knees while we were able to keep the baby distracted away from the water.

  We did let Richie play in the water when we went to Donner Lake for a short outing before the drive home.  He thought it was cold.  Anthony thought it was cold, too.  He played in the water some, but spent a lot of time playing in the rocks that sheltered the swimming area.

Anthony's Plant (Another Year, Another Bean)

As usual, he loves his plant.  He waters it obsessively.  He carries it around with him.  (We're going to the park, wait, I need to get my plant.)  He checked on it every 30 seconds to see if the seed had germinated.

Yet somehow, the plants always seem to grow.

This year's is going into the ground tomorrow.

His Easter basket will contain pumpkin, watermelon and sunflower seeds.  I expect that they will all be well loved.  Hopefully not too well.

Visiting the Easter Bunny

A few weeks ago we took the boys to the mall to get big boy shoes for Richie (size 4 1/2) and to visit the Easter Bunny.  Richie found the bunny to be absolutely fascinating.  Anthony immediately recognized that he wasn't real and proceeded to stage whisper to me.  I told him not to say it out loud so he didn't hurt the bunny's feelings.

Last night Anthony asked me if the Easter Bunny was real.  I asked him what he thought.  His response was that the one at the mall was fake and he could see the person inside.  I suggested that it might be one of the Easter Bunny's helpers.  Anthony didn't like that answer very much, but did proceed to explain that the Easter Bunny was busy getting everything ready for Easter.

The rest of the trip...

Somehow, we didn't get pictures for some of my favorite parts of our trip.

The hotel had a nice warm pool.  Anthony swam for at least an hour each day, he probably had more in him.  His stroke needs serious work, but he could swim the width of the pool.

Richie LOVED the pool.  He thought it was hysterically funny when Daddy helped him float on his back.  He didn't get quite as much swimming time as brother--one day I made him nap instead of swimming and another day we came out early as he was turning blue. 

As Anthony said, "There is nothing funner than swimming."


The other great part of our trip was our walk at Armstrong Redwoods State Park.  Anthony really hoped to see a banana slug.  He even made a point of asking the ranger if they had them.  We looked closely, but no banana slugs.  He did find lots of wildflowers and some very pretty mushrooms.  Its funny, it was probably the slowest hike I ever took, well over an hour to walk under a mile and a half.  It was because Anthony was exploring the entire time.  

Richie slept through most of the walk.  He did wake up and go for a short walk himself before I plopped him back in the stroller.  Anthony was slow enough, if we'd gone at Richie's speed we'd still be in the redwoods!

Old Friends/New Friends

I really wanted a babysitter for part of our trip, but i just wasn't comfortable leaving the boys with a complete stranger.  Then I had the "a-ha" moment and realized that one of my former scouts moved up to the Santa Rosa about 11 years ago.

I called up the family and they were happy to take on the boys.  The boys spent one evening at their house playing with Dana's daughter.  All three kids had a great time together.  Then Dana and her daughter came out and joined us on the walking part of the safari and kept Richie while we went on the jeep tour. 

 It was really nice seeing my scouts all grown up.  Her daughter was just precious and I really enjoyed getting to meet her.  A good part of the drive home Anthony was spotting random white SUVs and asking if that was his friend's car.

Safari West

The highlight of our vacation was a trip to Safari West in Santa Rosa.  It was a pretty fabulous experience.  We slept in a safari tent; Anthony was thrilled to sleep in a bunk bed. I don't think the rest of our acommodations were even noticed..  We were up a good part of the night with Richie, but it was kind of wild hearing the flamingos all night long.  For the record, those birdies are LOUD.

  In the morning we headed out for our safari.  Richie joined us for the walking tour (before we got in the jeep) and then stayed behind with one of my former Scout.

  The safari was pretty darn neat.  Bob and Anthony rode on the top seat and were pretty much face to face with this giraffe.  While Anthony enjoyed the animals, he just enjoyed going four wheeling, the animals were a bonus.  Besides and up close and personal visit with the giraffes, we saw rhinos, cape buffalo and all sorts of antelope.  (The zebras were nowhere to be found.)

  Another nice part of the experience was that both boys made new friends.  While we were enjoying our communal dinner, Richie hit it off with the 3 year old girl at our table.  When he was done playing I let him toddle around the dining area.  Next thing I knew she had him by the hand, announcing to her mother that she was taking him potty.  (We stopped that.)  Anthony made friends with the girl on our safari and was thrilled to see her at McDonald's on our way out of town!

Snoopy's Ice Rink

 We took a long weekend to Santa Rosa for Anthony's Spring Break.  The first day we went to the Charles Schulz museum and ice rink.  We visited the museum in the morning and after lunch at the Warm Puppy Cafe I took Anthony ice skating.  (Bob sat out the skating as his ankle is still healing from a bounce house injury.)

  Anthony got frustrated occasionally with how slowly he skated compared to some of the other kids.  Most of those kids were clearly accomplished skaters, I thought he did remarkably well for his second time on skates. 

  We skated for a little over an hour, then had snack and headed back to the hotel pool to swim.  (For the record, nothing is better than swimming!)

Happiness Is...

Sharing Daddy's ice cream.












Since we were at the Warm Puppy Cafe, a little "You're a good man Charlie Brown" seems in order.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d13_LoHQkRM

Happiness is finding a pencil.
Pizza with sausage.
Telling the time.
Happiness is learning to whistle.
Tying your shoe for the very first time.
Happiness is playing the drum in your own school band.
And happiness is walking hand in hand.
Happiness is two kinds of ice cream.
Knowing a secret.
Climbing a tree.
Happiness is five different crayons.
Catching a firefly.
Setting him free.
Happiness is being alone every now and then.
And happiness is coming home again.
Happiness is morning and evening,
Daytime and night time too.
For happiness is anyone and anything at all
That’s loved by you.
Happiness is having a sister.
Sharing a sandwich.
Getting along.
Happiness is singing together when day is through,
And happiness is those who sing with you.
Happiness is morning and evening,
Daytime and nighttime too.
For happiness is anyone and anything at all
That’s loved by you.

Fifteen Months Old!

Richie walks!  That's the big news of the month.  He's still very wobbly but he walks everywhere he goes.  He's also discovered Anthony's old lawnmower and loves to mow the sidewalks with it.

  He also talks.  He jabbers all the time, but he has more and more real words.  The current list:  oh-oh, no, ball, dog, bottle, book and I'm fairly confident he says "thank you".  Now, you have to be "skilled in the art" to understand his words, but he's definitely saying them. 

 His fifteen month check-up went well.  He's still pretty tiny, 20lb, 2 oz and 29" tall. That makes him 15% for weight and 2% for height.  He's still follow his curve on the growth chart, and at least he's on it!  The nurse practitioner thinks he will grow more teeth, as he's still at 6 and holding.

  I just looked back on my blog post for Anthony, and Richie is doing more or less the same stuff, though he doesn't stack blocks.  He can scribble with crayons, talk on the phone, and likes to play with light switches.  And, like Anthony at this age, he's insanely clingy.  Oh, and he throws temper tamtrums.  The kind where you throw your whole body down screaming because you didn't get your way!

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.