...and the moments that follow

post birthday moments

Four

First moments

First Birthday

Being Two

Turning Three

And today, he is Four...

I asked him a few questions, this didn't go as easily as I thought it would- he is so ceribral sometimes, over thiniking each of these questions...


Favorites.
TV Show: Batman (old school, POW!)
Movie: Cars
Food: Steak and pesto Pasta
Fruit: Watermelon
Color: Blue, Green, and White

Vacation: San Diego, because we went to the Padres game.
Sport: BaseballToy: he told me transformers, but we don't even have any of those- I would say his match box cars.

Song: Somebody that I used to Know, Gotye, Good Feeling ,Flo Rida, Chop 'em Down, Matisyahu
What he wants to be when he's a grown up: A super hero, a dentist or an astronaut

O, you are an amazing, smart (crazy smart), articulate, serious yet silly, beautifully intense, sweet, amazing and wonderful little boy. I can't wait to watch you as you move through this new year and beyond.
love you.

Nine in, Nine out

It's official, she has been out as long as she was in...
and man do we have our hands full with this little girl.

Last night I announced we were headed upstairs to do Fifi's chair pictures and O said, "Oh wait, let me get my camera! I want to help."
and off he went to get his Fisher Price digital.

As with most things in our family dynamic, O is
the organizer and the one calling the shots.
I think he might have a future as creative director, no?

But this little sister of his, she might just give him the biggest run for his money he has ever seen.
If there is anything that I remember from this month,
it is the fact that Fifi likes to test the boundaries and push things to the limit.



She is a flirt and a joker.
If you tell her no, she is going to head right back to the forbidden fruit,
with a "Tommy gun" laugh just to touch, taste or destroy (or should I say, "srcumble"?) whatever you just asked her not to.

May was a month of new adventures. We went camping and Fifi put her feet in the ocean for the first time. She helped us celebrate Jojo's birthday, our 8th anniversary and I got to not only be recognized as a mother, but as a mother of two. (It's official since displayed on the mantel is a dried clay hand print from O and a foot print from Fifi).



We hung out with friends and family at home and away. We went on a girl's weekend to the Bay Area and listened to a LOT of Katy Perry and Miley on the way. We also took her to her first Ace-ball  game. She loved all the clapping (and the hot dog bun we fed her for dinner).
Other adventures, of the more domestic kind include pulling up on things to come to a standing position AND wandering around (sometimes one handed). She uses the couch, the ottoman, the dog's back, the wall, mama or daddy's legs or what ever is handy in order to get where she wants to go.



She has mastered the stairs (so scary for me) and can hardly be left alone for a second. She loves the water and if you set her down in the bedroom she is instantly in the bathroom pulling up on the side of the tub, squealing in delight at the running water.



Fifi got her first ear infection this month and we are all trying to shake "the cold" right now. There might be two more teeth popping through on the bottom very soon , but for now she is happy to chomp away with just the two she has. Ears and teeth could explain why she has gone from drinking almost 20oz of milk a day to just 8 or 10oz and takes on average, only one nap for about 2hours each day.
Night time sleep is hit or miss as well. Last night I was in her room for most of the night trying to get her to fall asleep. Let's just say the chair in these photos has seen a lot of use lately. Despite the small amounts of food and rest, this girl is full of smiles and giggles and silly.



Sometimes I have to stop and catch my breath at the fact that I have not one,
but two,
 amazing, wonderful kids.



Fifi, you have fit into our world so well.
We love you to bits and pieces.


A look back, this is why I love this tradition. look at the change!

It's Ace-ball Season

Ace's home plate.

Ready to play.

He and Daddy-O caught that ball at the last game
they went to earlier this season.

Long afternoon shadows.

Fifi taking in all the excitement of the game.
She loved when we would all clap our hands.

We had box seats, for free!

We had a really fun time at the game against the Salt Lake City Bees (we won!).

Though staying up so late made for a very hard wake up this morning

for daycare and work.

123:365, Waiting for Jojo

My mom's train came in on Tuesday morning. She had been back east for about two and a half weeks to visit family and friends. We missed her tons while she was gone.

To say that Mr. O was excited to
a) go to the train station
b) pick up his Jojo
would be a total understatement.
(I was pretty excited as well)
I have never seen the boy so wired up and nutty.
Even his teachers at school said something about his energy and goofy spirit that day.

Watching him run to her when he recognized her walking towards us from the last car on the tracks is something that I will never forget. I remember him looking up at me like, can I let go of your hand mom? and then he was off at lightening speed... I was so choked up I couldn't even bring my camera to my face to capture it.

Trust me, it was cute..
straight outta the movies kinda cute.

36:365,stuck on you

my boy and I had a rough week. I decided we really needed to spend some time hanging out, just the two of us.

after we tamed the bedhead, we went to the park. He requested to "Play with that thing" meaning the hula hoop in the back of the car,

My tummy started to grumble so I decide it was time to go get lunch.

"Friendfries" and a strawberry milkshake.

The girl behind the counter gave him stickers and he covered himself, them me with them while we waited for our order.

After we ate, we went to the dollar store to find goofy glasses and other goodies.
it was just what we needed.
He told me on the way home "Danks for the date Mommy, that was fun."

Thank goodness for the weekend and a sweet little boy, who happend to not get himself sold to the circus earlier this week....

blue and yellow make...

I have been wanting to get the paints out for MrO. for a very long time now. Since Little girl was sleeping and the weather seemed perfect for just a diaper and some paint, I got out the big sheets of paper and let him loose on the back patio.

The first dip. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to get his hands dirty.

Making his mark on the paper (doesn't it look like he is explaining his work here?)

Moving the paints around the work area, this was almost as much fun as painting for him it seemed.

It was all about the swirls and circles on this piece of work, he also worked only along the edges of the paper. So interesting to watch his process while he painted.

Making a mess and really getting into your art is where it's at.