Yesterday afternoon the boys were let loose to run in the yard while I cleaned up the kitchen (an unending task). After a time they wandered out of my immediate line of sight so I ventured out to check on them.
Turns out P had mastered the ladder on the climbing structure and he and O were taking turns climbing up and going down the slide.
This kept the boys happily occupied for nearly forty five minutes, until they were pink from the heat and I insisted they come in and have some water and a light snack before swimming lessons.
This afternoon the boys and I went to the park so O could practice using his “bigga bike!” and so P could explore the playground now that he’s walking a bit more steadily. Continue reading →
Every now and then Mommy needs a time out. I’m the first to admit things happen, the other day P grabbed O’s dinner (rice and peas with butter) off the table and vigorously dumped it all over the kitchen floor. O cheered him on and demanded I get the “keener!”
These things happen, and I have to sweep the kitchen floor about twice a day anyway, and we steam mop at least once a week, so a little rice with peas and butter isn’t the end of the world (or that much more work).
But every now and then, something happens that I’m less okay with. Continue reading →
I have also caught up on uploading the growing backlog of video dating back to O’s second birthday. So, for your YouTube viewing pleasure, I’ve listed the videos I’ve posted and a brief summary of each. Here they are in chronological order with the oldest ones first:
(Jan. 2011) Cupcake Demolition 2011 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GMHy-08yB0) aka O’s second birthday. We sing happy birthday and then O gets nervous about blowing out the candle. There are also photos of the happy event. For some reason it is formatted as wide-screen so some of the photos are cropped oddly and people are missing their heads.
(March 2011) Que Sera, Sera – the toddler won’t let it be (http://youtu.be/UKWUaw5h2nU) O plays with the musical tin he got from Oma for Christmas 2009. Sadly, shortly after this video was filmed, the music box was over-spun and suffered one too many falls off the dresser. It is now sitting in our garage. If anyone knows how to fix it (for free or nearly free) we’re open to ideas, O is very fond of it.
These BOOS! are Made for Walking (http://youtu.be/bQumVqi1CqI) O enjoys borrowing Mommy’s $5 cowboy boots. He is now tall enough, they no longer go past his legs up to his torso (those would now be Mommy’s rain boos). He can shuffle/walk around in them, and throughly enjoys doing so.
(May 2011) Diaper-Clad Backpack RockStar & Adventurer (http://youtu.be/zVV1M-CAwr0) O got a new backpack (the one he’s wearing) from “Auntie” Leslie in Munich. Shortly after it arrived, he refused to take it off for a several hours. He also grabbed the foam pad (previously used to spare one’s knees when kneeling to bathe the toddler) and used it as a guitar (he does this rather often).
(June 2011) Meet Baby P (http://youtu.be/eaU8m0JAqQQ) fairly self-explanitory, baby P’s first YouTube video, starring along with YouTube veteran no-longer-Baby-O.
(July 2011) O likes to HALP!(http://youtu.be/Cg_Hj0zMJm0) O enjoys HALPing Mommy with the laundry. He enjoys HALPing sorting the laundry, loading & unloading the washer & dryer, and sorting out things like socks to “assist” in the folding process. He is a very good little HALPer. When we are DUM-DUM with the task at hand, the basket must go WAY! and then ME-ME gets to take the laundry basket and continue his laundry-inspired play. See related blog post, O likes to HALP! (July 1, 2011)
Today while Gavin went to an Uber Geek Conference in San Francisco. While he did that, Oliver and I braved traffic and made it down to Palo Alto to visit Grandma Dulce. After a quick trip to IKEA to return some lights, we went to the Palo Alto Children’s Museum & Zoo.
O cranked the wheel that ran a fan (wind power), spun the wheel that controlled water pressure (water power), and then ran around the zoo (O-baby power). There were animals to see, but the bridge was far more fascinating than the local specimens, perhaps in a few months the animals will hold more appeal.
As you can see, there is a new video of O up on YouTube. More photos of O have been posted to the 19 month photo album.
