We’re beginning to seriously entertain the idea of starting Dylan on piano lessons. He sits down at the piano every day…! I’ve started some super basic stuff with him (the musical alphabet and trying to do some preliminary finger strength exercises). He seems pretty into it…look at him flash those pearly whites!
Dylan just loves Chloe…and he’s super helpful, too. We can always count on him to agree to holding her for a few…!
Cameron adores her, too. This is one lucky baby gal.
This past Wednesday, Dylan got to go with us to story time in Scotts Valley. It was so sweet seeing the two kids sitting next to each other, sometimes holding hands (Dylan had his hand on Cameron’s back almost the entire time!).
As usual, after stories, there was a little craft activity. This time, the kids got to make kangaroo puppets, complete with a pouch and a joey!
After story time, I made the dubious decision of going grocery shopping, primarily for lunch items, with all 3 kids in tow. By this time, Cameron was cranky and Chloe was uncomfortably gassy (and probably tired of having her naps disrupted by getting put into and taken out of her carseat!). It was a rough trip. We spent the first 2 or 3 minutes standing just outside the door of the store with Chloe crying in the Ergo and Cameron wrapped around my leg wailing and protesting the whole trip.
After finally persuading Cameron to get into the cart, the kids were fine…up until Dylan ticked Cameron off by simply pushing the shopping cart! Since the trip was taking forever — what with all the delays with mediating arguments AND the unfortunate knocking over of a container of cherry tomatoes, I had to nurse Chloe in the car before finally taking everyone home. That poor girl was at her wit’s end by the time we’d gotten to the cash register!
Ah, so. It only took us under 2 hours to get home from the library…! But, once home, everything was copacetic once more. We ate outside (always a popular option for the kiddies!) and Dylan and I took apart a laptop, an HP dv1000, so he could see all the innards.
After that, Dylan got super interested in his Snap Circuits, so we brought out the Alternative Energy kit and went outside to collect some solar power!
Cameron wore her binary “kid” shirt (that shirt says “kid” in binary) that she got from Auntie Christina! Perfect attire for the project!
We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine in the backyard.
On Tuesday, we had a picnic lunch in the backyard — broccoli and olive pizzas, PB and J sandwiches, and apple slices. It was a gorgeous day!
And, our backyard actually is looking pretty good!! I’m glad the kids like being back there and I’m so happy it’s a bit safer than it used to be! I can actually sit back and relax instead of chasing them along the paths and hillside!!
After lunch, we hooked up with Heather and the girls and went to the beach to enjoy the beautiful day.
They made sand angels….
…had popsicles…
…cooperated, argued, and generally just made noise.
The beach just never gets old…!
We’re in spring break and, so far, we’ve been having a lot of fun (except for yesterday’s exhausting grocery shopping trip to Trader Joe’s, but that’s another story…). Monday is usually Cameron’s day with Lola, but I’ve actually been keeping her at home with me because a) I actually miss her and b) we’ve been working the potty training routine. But, my mom misses her, too, so I decided to pack up everyone and head to Lola’s house for the day. We went to a park close to my mom’s house which had enough sidewalk to make it a very fun place for Dylan to bike…and for Cameron to run.
Cameron is pretty familiar with the park since she often goes there with Lola and Grandpa. I love the sheer joy!
Dylan literally rode circles around the place!! And Cameron ran, ran, ran. At one point, she ran beside Dylan who biked slowly enough for her to keep up. And they chatted along the way!
Dylan enjoyed this park so much, he wants to go back!
Lola also knitted little headbands for both girls. Cameron is finally getting more interested in keeping the hair out of her eyes, so she actually kept it in!!
We had a great day–Auntie Cindy even stopped by to say hello. We ended up getting home just a teeny bit sooner than Tom!!
Last Sunday, we went to a bday party for one of Dylan’s classmates at one of the local gymnastics places…It’s the same place Dylan is currently going to with T. and K., but this was Cameron’s first time. She saw those monkeys on the wall and started beaming (yes, she’s still obsessed with the 5 Little Monkeys — or mawnkeeees, as she says)!!
Of course, Chloe came, too!
And, here’s Dylan with Frankie, the bday boy.
Later that night, Dylan and a few others from his class got to perform the Grateful Dead’s “Eyes of the World” on stage with a local Grateful Dead cover band called Slugs ‘n’ Roses. The bassist and guitarist of the group know the classroom mom and Teacher Juan, so the kids got a special “in” to perform with them!
Dylan was pretty excited! He wasn’t even nervous on stage, and I could tell he was really belting it out!
You can tell Maddie (the gal on the mic) is a natural. She was really born to rock out!
All that dancing — mostly jumping up and down in place and spinning around in circles — was pretty cute to watch!
…is the Ergo…! She naps so well in it. Chloe and I usually take a nice walk through the ‘hood once she’s nicely settled in. I can get about an hour in if I time it just right (after nursing and diaper change!).
Last Friday, Heather and I took all of the kids to Polar Bear for some ice cream and sorbet scoops. We intended to take them for a little hike over by Harvey West afterwards, but our plans got derailed when I had to stop to nurse Chloe and the kids waited with Heather at the playground. Once they were climbing, running and sliding, there was no persuading them to leave for a hike! But, it was all active fun, so it was all good.
The big kids think it’s just a riot to have pictures of their backsides taken. I guess this is the downside to having a camera with me all of the time! This is the only shot they voluntarily posed for!
Here’s Cameron sliding down in her favorite monkey pants. One of her fave outfits these days includes these pants (a little on the big size still and a thrift store find) and an undersized monkey nightgown. How is that for fashion??
At last Wednesday’s story time, we saw Griff with his babysitter! It’s been a while since we’ve seen this little cutie, so it was nice to hang out a little — of course, Cameron still mostly does parallel play with most kids (exceptions are K. and Dylan and Taliana). I believe they were the cutest 2-year olds there…! 😉
I decided to hang out with Dylan during snack time (after volunteering in the classroom). Aren’t these fellas cute? I even like the “trouble-maker” but I don’t really have to deal with his disruptive behavior on a constant basis!!
And here’s the trio of Good Guys a.k.a the non-alpha males in the class.
