Tunnel Usage 101

I don't think he read the instructions.


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A sad update from an earlier post. 2 years and 2-1/2 months is not an appropriate age to restart the cuckoo clock. A yank on the wrong end of the chain and it all goes wrong. Hopefully, we can take it to a clock repair.

FunChops

Check out this amazing invention! The funchop!

We went to one of our favorite Sushi restaurants on Friday and the server really took a liking to LT. She brought him out his own bowl of rice & miso soup and a big bowl of edamame. She kept shelling the edamame for him everytime she came by. LT LOVES edamame, so he was quite happy. She also introduced us to the funchop and then it came home with us (with waitress approval).

Frosty the Snowman

Somehow we haven't taken any more pictures in the last week and a half, so we have to go back in time to November.

LT is just being so funny recently. His newest favorite phrase is "Stop it." Yeah, it gets a bit annoying. We are listening to Elmo cd in the car from the library now. One of the songs in "John Jacob Jinglehimmer Schmidt." At one point, Elmo & friends get very quiet. This prompts LT to say, "Stop it Daddy! Stop it turning the radio." Then I have to explain to him that they are just singing quietly and Daddy did not actually turn it down. Then they start singing loud again and LT thinks it's really funny.

Today Daddy was supervising while LT took Doggy to the potty (after taking his diaper off, Doggy's diaper that is, proclaiming "big poo-poo" and using two wipes). Doggy walked up the steps, sat on the potty, went "pssst" and then got a "Good job!" from LT. Do you think we might be doing a lot of potty learning around here?!? After the potty, Doggy gets a new diaper and then goes to take a nap. He does a lot of napping and pottying.

Christmas Card Reject

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words ...

Cuckoo for Cuckoo Clocks

It was finally time to crank the cuckoo clock back up. It's was off for almost 1-1/2 years now waiting for LT to be able to resist the urge to pull the chains every 2 seconds. 2 seemed old enough and it is! LT LOVES the cuckoo clock. See for yourself.

(So apprently do Mom & Grandma.)

JUMP!

Whoa. It's been weeks since I updated! This last week and a half have been a bit crazy. Fun! But tiring. So tiring that LT even said in the car tonight that "I tired" and it was only 7PM! He went to sleep at 7:45 - he hasn't gone to sleep that early in a while!

We had lots of visitors. Cousin JT, Uncle S, and Auntie C came in the first wave, followed by "Grandma, Grandma, Grandpa" T in the second wave. Really, there's just one Grandma, but LT likes to call grandparents by that name.

LT was soooooo excited to have Cousin JT visit. Somehow 1 toddler + 1 toddler = mass chaos. Toys were flying, bedtimes & naptimes were passed by, and lots of fun was had.

Hello! Welcome to our hen house!

Monarch Season!

Look closely... what do you see?





It's butterfly season! Lots of Monarch migrate down to this area during the winter to Santa Cruz, Monteray, and even this mall parking lot in Freemont (!). We took a trip down to Santa Cruz this weekend to a Butterfly garden. There were a lot of butterflies!

LT and I voted today. We had a very funny conversation on the way over there.
Mommy: LT, do you want to go vote?
LT: Yeah, Ride the boat at the beach.
Mommy: No, not boat with a "b," vote with a "v," vvvuh
LT: I want boat with a "b"

LT even managed to sneak in a vote for an American Independant party candidate for State Treasurer. I let him have his vote. :)

Last weekend

Last Saturday we went to a party at a vineyard out in Livermore. There was even a whole pig cooked in a pit underground! Very exciting. LT had lots of fun running around and dancing with the other kids. You can see he really got down.

I'm a little behind - still on last week. Poor LT has a fever now and is resting.

Trick-or-Treat!

It's official: LT loves Halloween!

He loved everything. Dressing up, face painting, knocking on the door, saying trick-or-treat, saying thank you, getting candy, getting candy, getting candy...

He had a party at daycare and then we went to one at BLT Sr's work before coming home for the grand finale. I was asking him what he wanted for dinner on the way home in the car. This is the conversation:

Me: LT, do you want zuchinni pancakes for dinner?
LT: No, chocolate!
Me: How about beans & rice?
LT: No, chocolate!
Me: A veggie burger?
LT: No, chocolate! I like chocolate.

He ate a few bites of a scone when we got home, but once the doorbell starting ringing, he was ready to go! Off we went!

He practiced saying trick-or-treat ... pause ... thank you all the way up to the door. He usually froze up with the trick-or-treat once the door was opened. I think the problem was that the neighbors were answering with giant candy basket in hand. How can you remember to say trick-or-treat when you are getting your bag ready? LT liked to take the candy himself and then carefully place it in his pumpkin bag. And then go back for another ... He did really well with saying "thank you" though! By the last couple houses, he was able to get out a trick-or-treat. We went to about 8 of the neighbors and then he was "All done trick-or-treat." We made our way over to his friend M's house, but he didn't want to TOT there - just play with all of her toys. We stopped at one final house on the way back (the "pumpkin house" with all kinds of outdoor decorations) and they had a very nice treat of animal crackers for the wee set.

Back at home, BLT Sr. held down the fort and handed out all our treats by 8pm. I guess I'll pick up a few more for next year. We had 109 full-size bars and a few people got two, but we still probably had at least a hundred TOTers before we turned out the light. We got three more groups of bell-ringers after that, but they got turned away empty handed.

LT really loved Halloween and we all had a great (& tiring) time. Today he asked Daddy to go get his panda suit and pumpkin bag to take along to daycare ...

Helping Daddy Turning!

Here's LT "helping Daddy turning" as he likes to say. We went to our next phase of toy storage, which required another bookshelf in the family room. We're trying to downsize some toys, too. It's hard!

While the boys were assembling, Mommy was cooking up the small pumpkin. The result: pumpkin lasagne. Dishes required: 2 baking dishes (1 washed and re-used), 1 pasta pot, 2 saucepans, mandoline, cutting board, knives, cheese grater, and numerous spoons and spatulas.

Chef LT

What can I cook for you today? Some fried banana? A sliced carrot, perhaps?

LT has been enjoying his birthday kitchen. He also got some very nice fruits & veggies to slice and even a chef hat and apron! Thank you everyone!

I like the last picture... look closely at him and see if you notice anything. He takes after his mother!

Pumpkins & Pandas

We had a fun filled afternoon at a nearby pumpkin farm. They really had the setup. LT (not really a "B" anymore) got to go on a silver train with Mommy and a cow train with Daddy. They boys rode in the Hugh Heifer car. We left with 4 pumpkins - a $7, a $4, a $3 and one 75 cent. Plus two guords. We even watched a video on the "Life of a Pumpkin." Did you know that pumpkins have male flowers and female flowers? Neither did I.

Watch TB

BLT made a startling discovery last night. He turned the radio on and was memerized! He was a little confused and kept saying "Watch TB, watch TB" (aka TV). He was jamming and getting up close with the clock radio. Hey, I'm fine with him thinking the clock radio is TV!

Poor thing is sick tonight. He threw up after our run and again 20 minutes after he went to bed. We're not sure if we went running too soon after he ate or if he is really sick. He's been sleeping now for almost two hours, so I hope that will be all! Poor baby.

Birthday party, birthday party

Here it is! The big moment! He almost got both candles out on the first try. He ahd been practicing for a while everytime we saw a birthday picture in a book. THis time, unlike birthday number 1, BLT actually went for some cake!

We have a lot of pictures from Hawaii, so we're giving a new picture sharing method a try. Let's see if this works!

Link to Hawaii album

2 Years Old

BLT is two now. I've always taken him in to get his portrait taken for his important birthdays - 100 days, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 18 months. This year we compromised since we went to Hawaii. BLT Sr. served as official portrait photographer. I think he did an excellent job capturing BLT.

BLT is so grown up, so fast. We watched videos of him from his first year last night. He's so different. It's just mind boggling. He's also much thinner. He was a very round baby! He still has the same great laugh, though!

Seven?

Who's teaching this kid to count? No seven? No eleven?

BLT visited preschool this week and is really excited about it so far. He has one more week of visiting before he is officially moved up. Boohoohoo. He is growing up so fast!

The costume is making progress. Anyone still not know what it is?


Oh, you can see the Memory game on the floor behind him. He matched over 1/2 the pieces before he got tired of it! Very impressive!

zOO

I guess you can tell who takes the pictures in the family by who's missing!

The carousel was a bit of a bust because somehow we picked the only animal who didn't go up and down. Maybe the giraffe is too tall?

Long Time, No Blog

Been so busy! Last weekend (Labor Day), we went over to Aunt J & Uncle R's house in Reedley, CA. We meet up with cousin Burli and family for some relaxing and swimming and even diving (okay jumping) off the diving board! Then is was a short week and this weekend was date night for the parents, new shoe shopping for BLT, and then a big day out today! A co-worker gave me a pass to the Oakland Zoo, so we decided to go up there today. When we got there, I realized I forgot my wallet. Oops. I guess we'll have a free return visit! The Zoo was lots of fun, we saw elephants, camels, zebras, giraffes, bats, etc... BLT was very excited to ride the choo-choo and then he rode on a giraffe on the carousel. He was even brave enough to pet and comb a goat! Very exciting! We finished out the day by meeting up with friends for dinner and topped off the evening with an ice cream treat at the landmark Fenton's Creamery. We did get some pictures both weekends, but they're still on the camera. And I am exhausted! Maybe tomorrow ...

Little Hiker

Saturday we had plans with friends, but their daughter was sick. Very similar to the last weekend when BLT was sick! So instead, we headed out on a hike. It was harder than expected and BLT only got to walk for the first short section. Otherwise he might have fallen off a cliff.

This is how it ended up:




Can you recoginize this Halloween costume? Sewing is hard. I had to match up curves, which you can see, I am not the best at.

Jazzy Fest

So Sunday, BLT perked up enough that we were able to go to the Jazz Festival. A great time was had by all. Our blanket soon become hotspot central for BLT, a 5yr old girl from the blanket next door and a 3-1/2 yr old boy from two blankets down. I didn't actually get to pay that much attention to the music since I was playing activities director. One HUGE hit with the kids was the brainchild of some marketing genius somewhere. The kids all got these inflatable airplane hats. You could see people wearing them everywhere, BLT just preferred to make his zoom around.