Memorial Day

 We came home early from Lakewood on Sunday because Andrew's eye was swollen, red, and hot to the touch.  A trip to Kaiser and an "allergic reaction" diagnosis later, we were given the okay to play.  Andrew spent the morning running manly errands to Harbor Freight, Best Buy, and Target.  After his nap, we played with the water table and filled up the kid pool for a test run.  In the afternoon, we headed over to the Websters for some hot dogs, watermelon, and more play!

 Sam and Nate have some big toys!

 Jordan cheesed it up for the camera and I loved having a happy subject who smiles, poses, and stays relatively still.

 Taylor actually let Andrew play with and near her.

 Elijah made a friend with Melissa and enjoyed the constant attention of the adults. 

 Sam had a great time playing with the girls and watering the fence.  Andrew thought it would be a good idea to lick it (yep, never thought I'd be saying, 'don't lick the fence Andrew.')

 All the kids enjoyed the giant bowl of watermelon. 

 it's kind of hard to see in the pictures, but they all have watermelon dripping down their chins and pink streaks down their tummies.

 not too sure what's going on here, but it is priceless

Andrew had a great time! 

Thanks Websters for inviting us over to play!

Andrew's first trip to the Zoo

 Yesterday, Andrew visited the monkeys at the LA Zoo.  The Southern California April Bumpies planned a day to get together months ago (L-R: Mandi with Maddie, Andrew and I, Nicole with Avery, and Hannah with Xavier) and it was great to meet up again and talk baby talk.  Dave, Nicole's cousin and Mandi's husband came, so we had seven adults and four 13 month olds.  There was a lot of getting in and out of strollers during the day!  Unfortunately, this was pretty much the only time (other than lunch) when Xavier was happy :(  Hannah was a trooper though!

 First up was a baby possum. 

Andrew pointed and "ohhhh"ed and when the possum yawned, Andrew laughed.

 In the petting zoo, Andrew bravely went up and touched the goat (he was the only kid that was okay with that).  He kept pointing and "ohhh"ing.

 Avery loved being out in the open.  She was so cute and even walked holding my hand!

 We rode on the carousel, but none of the kids were too impressed.  Andrew stared, then jumped onto me.  Avery smiled at first, then cried.  Xavier cried then stared.  We can probably wait awhile before we do that again.

While the kids all ate their pouches and goldfish, we looked at a whole lot of sleeping animals and an elephant or two.  I must reiterate how WONDERFUL these food pouches are--not only does Andrew like them, but he can hold it and feed himself liquid without making a huge mess. 

 Andrew got really, really excited when he got to the chimp exhibit.  One of the two visible chimps decided to swing himself all the way around the enclosure over and over again.  Every time he got closer to us Andrew's "talking" got much louder and the pointer finger came out!

 As much as I wanted him to see the giraffes, they were kind of far away and barely moving so they did not catch his attention. We did get a good family picture!

Another monkey exhibit was really exciting.  The orangutan mommy and baby were right in front of where we stood and the baby was playing and eating enough to captivate Andrew for a good 10 minutes!  His little pointer finger cracks me up--he was so determined that I see it!

 We had some free running time!

After lunch (the kids all ate so well!), we headed over to the Lair.  I totally hate snakes and most other reptiles; they didn't move enough to keep Andrew's attention, but it was a good 'talking' time with the mommies as Dave looked intently at all each cage.

 By the end of the day (1:45 pm), the kiddos were out cold. 

Andrew and Avery slept soundly in their strollers.

 Bye LA Zoo!

p.s. The San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park are superior in every way and we'll probably not go back to the LA Zoo.

Room 2

Andrew has been in the Toddler room at daycare for a six weeks now and he loves it.  His teachers report that he never stops moving, is easily engaged in each activity/station, eats a ton, loves "music and movement time" the best, and outdoor time is his most favorite thing on the planet. 

His set schedule is great for him. 

Here it is:
7:45ish am--Dave drops him off
8-8:30--Breakfast
8:30-9--Child-Directed Activities (aka: free play)
9:00-9:15--Recess
9:15-9:30--Child-Directed Activities/Music and Movement
9:30-10:30--Focus Activity Rotations (aka: small groups rotate through five rotations for ten minutes each with their one-to-four ratio teacher)
10:30-10:45--Recess 2
10:45-11:00--Child-Directed Activities
11-11:30--Lunch
11:30-1:45--Nap time (usually Andrew sleeps from 11:30-1:30ish)
1:45-2:30--Child-Directed Activities/Recess 3 (depends on how many kids are there)
2:30-3:00--Snack time
3:00-4:00--Focus Activity Rotations
4:00-4:30--Recess 4  (this is the time frame I shoot to pick him up during, he loves recess!)
4:30-4:40--Snack

Like I expected, the one nap thing has screwed up our sleeping life for a few weeks, but I'm happy to report that after six weeks, we're good.  He has actually finally starting keeping the same nap schedule from school for the weekends too which is great.

Water with Friends

Andrew and Jordon

This weekend was incredibly hot!  After Caleb's birthday we all headed to the Websters.  The parents cooled off inside with the air conditioning and the kids got wet!  Andrew, like always, loves playing with other kids.

Elijiah

 It looked a little like chaos, but all had a great time!

Jordan, Andrew, and Nathan

Brendan and Sammy

Clockwise: Brendan, Sammy, Taylor, Jordan, and Andrew



Nathan and Andrew "shared" the ball back and forth.

The birthday boy was pretty content to play on the bikes.

 and the shamelessly cute pictures of Andrew playing can't be left out

 taking his turn climbing the stairs to go down the slide

 ahhh, I see the ball!

"mommy, when will I be big enough to play with them?"

Caleb turns 2!

 We celebrated together with cupcakes in the park! 

 the pinata was pretty funny--we started with the youngest (Andrew) and worked to the oldest

Taylor (the oldest) is the only one who actually whacked it hard enough to make a difference, but even that didn't help. Between Rob's selective puncture, Dave's selective battery, and around round of the kids hitting it, Taylor finished the job the second time around and the kids were actually able to get some candy!

 After the pinata, we opened presents in the shade and got ready to

head over for water play at the Websters.