Addie learns to walk

Family Bowling

This past weekend, my mom was here for a visit and we all went Bowling.
Kathy came.
It was great fun.

The Good, Bad and Ugly

The Good:
My son is amazing. He sat still (and I mean STILL) for about 10 minutes during a belt ceremony today at Taekwondo, earning himself a sticker from Master Johnny and some praise words to "look at Dylan - do you see how still he's sitting! He hasn't even moved!"
My jaw dropped. How could it be that MY son, the ever-moving, ever-active boy was the one who sat the most still in TKD sitting, earning the praise of his teacher. I'm so proud. I'm beaming. Beaming.
And now the cat is out of the bag; I KNOW what he's capable of.

The Bad and Ugly:
After class, on our way home, I got a call from Ryan asking me to come straight home. He said that our neighbor was hijacked at gunpoint right out of her garage just two doors down from our unit and the police had just arrived to take statements. Forensics arrived to collect a screwdriver that was found outside on our front porch which probably wasn't related, but collected just to be sure. The victim got home right after I left with the kids for Dylan's class. It was a woman. It could easily have been any of us.
Certainly it shook us up and now we are thinking a few things over...

Now for a little video showing Dylan's progress with his Taekwondo class to cheer us all up:

Taekwondo

Dylan started Taekwondo in an effort to help him build confidence, self-regulation, respect, and an outlet for all that massive preschool energy!

Ryan took him there last Friday and asked him if he wanted to try out a class. At first Dylan was hesitant, but then he saw a 5 year old boy sporting his green belt and Dylan quickly asked if he could do 'that' too. Explanations have been given about the ranking of belts and how it will take a lot of hard work. Dylan was on-board at least in theory.

It's been a week now and he's been to 4 classes and while he's still pretty shy, he's come out of his shell a bit more each class. The teacher (Master Johnny) is a great motivator and clearly loves the kids and his job, seeking to get to know each child and connect with them to help them open up and become both more confident and disciplined (a skill, no doubt). Dylan has become more motivated to 'earn stickers' and earn 'patches' for his uniform, even stating tonight before bed that he's going to say 'YES SIR!' nice and loud tomorrow so he can earn lots of stickers. He began asking to practice his 'tricks' before bed at night and trying out a nice loud 'yes sir' and 'hiya' in the car. He hasn't earned his first belt (white) yet, but if he gets through the first two weeks of trial classes, he'll get that and I think it will help him feel like he's accomplished something.

Last weekend there were a few behavioral issues that Dylan struggled through. It was a tough weekend. But after just a few of his classes, I think he's gaining a sense of control over himself and it's showing in his behavior at home too. With a lot of changes going on at home with Ryan's new job and figuring out how to carve out family-time while Ryan is working longer hours, I understand that some of his acting out is a part of Dylan processing all that and being a preschooler too. Yet, I think that having an outlet for his energy, learning new tools for self-regulation, developing a sense of accomplishment, learning about respect and discipline, and having rewards for hard work and effort outside of our home, is all going to be VERY good for Dylan this year.

Hi-Ya!



Here is a video of Dylan at his first class last weekend. Notice how he keeps looking back to us for direction and reassurance? Poor kid, just didn't know what to do, but wanted to stay in the class. He did a lot of standing there, taking it all in that first day. Another mom told me that her son burst into tears his first class because it was so overwhelming for him. I guess Dylan staying in the class and not running back towards us was a good sign.
He's done a bit more each time he's gone now. I'll post another video when I get more clips.

Gymnastics Boy

Chatty Addie

Addie is definitely a girl when it comes to language.
While Daddy was gone one night at his LSAT class, Addie practiced saying 'dada' before bed.
She was also working on her standing skills as a side act.
And I'm glad she thinks I'm as funny as I do.



Note: those pajamas are 3-6 month sized. At 10 months I am amazed she still fit into them.
With how much this girl eats, you would be amazed too!

Harnessing my inner 'white trash'

Last night was Thursday Night Thunder at the Irwindale Speedway. The drag races went from 5-10pm and we were there for about 2 hours of it. At first I felt pretty embarrassed by the fact that my baby was barefoot and without a coat of her own (wearing an extra of her brother's and wrapped up in my coat). Then I thought a bit about the noise. Was I doing unrecoverable damage to my children's ears? Then I saw the kid with a mullet, the King Taco stand, the VW bug racing, the Uhaul truck racing, the funnel cakes... and I felt better.
The engines roared, the folks around us could care less if my kids were dressed properly, there were M&Ms, I had my diet Dr. Pepper, and the cars raced on!
By the end of the evening, Dylan and his buddy Joshua were running in the parking lot between our cars and the King Taco stand, pretending to be cars in the Piston Cup Championship. It was a good night. And we ALL had fun (Addie included!)

Tantrum

Dylan still throws some pretty classic toddler tantrums. Of course he does. And over pretty much anything, but at least we are gaining a sense of humor about a lot of things. And when he does something he knows he isn't supposed to... like pull his sister's leg, block her from moving across the room to one of us, throw something in the house, or 'back talk', he gets a time out. FOUR whole minutes to start (because the recommendation is a minute for every year of age), but we add another minute if he fights us further. Sometimes those time-outs are all the quiet our house sees during the day and we sometimes secretly (ok, not so secretly anymore since I'm posting about it) enjoy when we can relish in some silence.
One day last week I got some nice quiet time for a whopping 10 minutes because of his behavior!



And let me add for the record that the tantrum/episode of 'self-expression' was only beginning with what you see here on the video. It got worse after the tape stopped rolling...

Frito Bandito

Ryan and Addie have this little song they sing together. It's genesis was from the Frito Bandito song that Kathy sings sometimes to us.


When Ryan sings it to her, she sings it back with a hearty "aye yi yi yi" and we all laugh.


We really need to get it on video.



Now to be honest, I'm tempted to change the words to match Dylan and all his friend's love for cheetos. It'd work, don't you think?

Update: Got a video in the car of Addie singing her little song. Nevermind the turbulence. I was sitting in the FAR back of the car and it sure was a bumpy ride.

Nearly Crawling

At 8 months, Addie is nearly crawling. Tonight after getting her all ready for bed, she protested at the highest volume possible, making it impossible to put both kids to bed in the same room. So I brought her back to our room to nurse and snuggle until Ryan had Dylan settled. Addie had other plans for our mommy-daughter date. She was going to show me her new tricks. At first she cooed and tried her best to clap her hands (still a ways away on that skill). But then then her BIG tricks came out. She was rocking and rolling and showing off. See the video for a peek.

And yes, Dylan came back into our room to watch Addie's show and tell. It was a family event. Nevermind that everyone is tired and NOBODY was in bed yet.

A Golfing We Will Go

On Sunday evening, we went with some friends and took the kids miniature golfing (first golf experience for Dylan and his friend, Nolan). The dad's were about as excited as the kids. The course had 9 holes and the boys probably could have played longer.
Then we went to a tasty little local Mexican restaurant for dinner together and I think I had the best burrito of my life.
The kids were tired and a little squirrely, but it turned out to be a very fun evening.
I'm already itching to go again.



(Notice how much Dylan and Addie adore each other? I love how she studies him while he goofs around, snuggling and singing to her).

Prepare to Swoon

Addie is currently learning to sit up:

Along with busting out two teeth over the holiday break, she's been babbling up a storm (on her terms, so we have had a hard time catching it on video except this one):

Our Holidays at a Glance

Dylan and Addie enjoyed the holidays this year.
They met Santa at the Americana Mall, which was pretty impressive.



We spent two days at Disneyland with Ryan's family, complete with the Pixar Parade that knocked Dylan's socks off!



Then we went down to San Diego up through Christmas Day.
Dylan had fun waking everyone up on Christmas morning, opening presents, and giving Addie a present he made and wrapped by himself:



On the day after Christmas, we headed up to Lompoc to spend a week up at Briana's sister's house, where Dylan soaked up some time with his cousins and Addie popped out her second tooth.

Here's some footage of the cousins helping bring the presents into the livingroom for opening:

it goes by so fast

I was watching some old videos of Dylan on YouTube.com tonight and in an instant I found myself wishing I could go back and enjoy those moments again as Dylan's language was first emerging, his learning to walk, his discovering the world around him. I suppose he still is learning, always will be. But I miss that time, a year ago, when everything was a BIG deal. Remember when he went through his 'moon' phase? We went outside every night and looked for the moon in the sky together.
Now our family has grown and Addie is at the point where she's smiling and cooing and noticing familiar faces and showing excitement over that. It's fun to do it all over again and remind myself to enjoy each stage.
Because it just goes TOO fast.

This Little Piggy

A Night Out

Last night we went out to dinner, sans Dylan. Our friend Kathy watched him for us while we enjoyed a quiet evening at PF Changs and then a quick run to Vons on our way home for some milk that Dylan had been asking for while we were gone. What kind of parents don't leave enough milk for some 'chocolate milk' while they are gone?
Anyhow, she posted some cute videos of her babysitting Dylan on her blog today.

Video Linkys

Look on the right sidebar for links to some new (and some embarrassing) videos. The Roscoe's one is pretty much incriminating of me stuffing my face full of fried chicken (which if you've actually tasted Roscoe's, you'd understand completely , especially pregnant) and Dylan picking his nose. The Meltdown is just that: Dylan having a meltdown over a silly jelly packet that fell on the floor at Roscoe's (again, if you've been there, you know why we didn't want to give it back to him once it touched those floors!). And "Baby Sister" is of Dylan as I was putting him into his carseat after the ultrasound where we learned that baby #2 is going to be a GIRL! Dylan was so cute, announcing he's having a baby sister for us - which melted my heart and was honestly the highlight of the evening. Ok, until Roscoe's, of course.

Videos

For those interested, here are two recent videos of Dylan:

1. Orangee

2. 13 1/2 Weeks and Counting (which makes me tear up watching Dylan kissing and talking to the baby).

Enjoy!

Santa Barbara Weekend

We spent this past weekend up in Santa Barbara for Ryan's biology department annual retreat. We stayed at the Hotel Mar Monte, across the street from the ocean and walking distance to State Street.

My sister, Nicole, and her two boys came down to visit us on Saturday for the afternoon. So while Ryan practiced his talk, we went for a walk with the boys along the beach. It was really fun for Dylan to see his cousins and I enjoyed visiting with my sister.

Then this morning before we headed back home, we took Dylan to ride on the antique carousel - an original built back in circa 1915-1917!

On Saturday while walking along State Street, we came across this anti-war protest/demonstration. And in a state of silliness, I decided to pretend to be a part of the group, but without the flowers in my hair and flowing skirt, I just couldn't pull it off.
Don't you like the woman with her mouth covered by peace and heart stickers?

fevin, eight, FIVE!

Dylan likes to make this new silly face.

Directions: Make a pukered up mouth and turn your eyes as far over to one side as you can. Await laughter, then bust into laughter yourself.

We now interrupt this program of Dylan bouncing on mommy's legs to recite a toddler's version of how to count to ten. (I love how he ends powerfully with FIVE, as if it's the best number and should end all digital sequences).