Memorial Day Weekend

I thought the pool experience deserved its own post, but we had a pretty eventual and fun Memorial Day weekend. We spent Saturday at home. Erik got to go to his third birthday party in a row. Unfortunately I forgot my flash card for my camera so no pictures of the party. Erik did get to sit on a motorcycle and someone did take a picture. One day I might get an email with that image... not holding my breath since most people are not photography obsessed like myself.

We started off our weekend at Grandma's with yet another birthday party. Erik's second birthday cake of the weekend. Grandpa's birthday was on Wednesday so it was our belated celebration. Both boys were very excited for birthday cake, even Elliot who now gets occasional bites since he turned one. I would not give it to him at all, but since he is very observant about food it is unavoidable.

Here are both boys staring down the cake anxiously awaiting their first bites.

Our first of many tastes of birthday cake over this weekend. We had a lot of leftovers and the kids really got to indulge unfortunately. I think Erik needs to take a sugar break very very soon. Unfortunately we have a birthday party we are invited to every single weekend this month. So not sure when that will be.

 

Early on Monday morning we headed out to the Oak View Memorial Day parade. It was absolutely adorable and extremely homespun. Erik even got to drive in the parade in Grandpa's Model A.

After our big morning the boys went to their grandparents to nap and I convinced Carl that we needed to look and test drive some cars so when a private seller showed up on craigslist we would be able to know exactly what car we wanted. Well of course we found a great car at a great price and ended up buying it. So we had to say good-bye to our good old Escape, the car I brought Elliot home from the hospital in.

After a long afternoon at the dealership we took everyone out to pizza as a thank you for babysitting. We love Ojai pizza, although I have to admit I am getting sick of it because we go there every time we visit.  The first picture is just an image of the pizza pan. We accidentally ordered just enough pizza and had no leftover and no chance to overstuff ourselves on pizza.

 

Oh let's not forget to include the picture of mama, so this weekend is not entirely motherless.

First Swim Of The Season

This memorial day weekend we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house since we hadn't seen them in a while. They had been on vacation the last couple of weeks in the Mediterranean and Erik was missing them like crazy and asking about going over to their house everyday. So we headed over there hoping the weather would be nice enough for a swim. It has been cold the last couple of weeks. Luckily the weather cooperated and we were able to take a dip both days.

This was our first swim since our trip to Palm Springs. When we got there Erik kept telling us he didn't want to go in the pool and insisted he wasn't interested. I put on his swim suit just in case.

After a bit of persuasion we convinced him to dip his feel in the water and try it out. Reluctantly he agreed, but I have to give him credit, at least he tried it.

Since he was missing Grandma so much lately she was able to convince him to test out the pool. He wasn't too sure about it at first, but eventually he warmed up to the idea of the big pool.

We then put on the floaties and he became a fish in the water. He absolutely loved swimming after that. We couldn't take him away from Grandma the entire time, he just wanted to spend time with her and that's it.

Elliot was sleeping this whole time and I was waiting on the sidelines taking pictures and checking on him since we didn't have a monitor. Eventually the very sleepy baby woke up and headed into the pool himself. This guy was a natural and was a fish in the water instantly. He loved being in the pool.

The only thing about Elliot is that we couldn't get him to stay in the baby float. He climbed out instantly. Erik stayed in this thing forever and loved it at this age. Just shows you have different your children are from one another.

My favorite Elliot moments were of him jumping off the edge. He was really brave and did it very well. I couldn't be prouder of my little athlete.

 

The boys playing with each other in the pool, or playing as much as they can while a parent is holding them.

LA zoo and a promise

About three weeks ago, Erik friend Rachel very nicely asked me if she, Elliot and Erik could all go to the zoo. I told her a strong yes, but the timing never seemed right to make it. My nap schedule is really hard to navigate, we have been sick, and life just gets in the way. Well spur of the moment I decided that today we would go. Right now we have landscapers working all over our yard only giving us inside space to play and soon it will be summer and the zoo will no longer be an option. So today we went.

I really love going places with Michelle and Rachel. They are becoming our really good friends and I love talking to Michelle, and while Erik and Rachel are each other's favorite people. One of the nicest things about having a good friend to play with is tag teaming that goes on. Here is an example of what happened today and why I love them being around.

The kids were pretty wild today at the zoo. I am pretty sure Erik and Rachel were feeding off of each other's energy and were running around excited to get to the next exhibit and just happy to be outside enjoying this beautiful day.

Well I forgot to strap Elliot into his stroller and I think he got inpatient while we stopped and started climbing out the bottom. It was pretty hard to maneuver him out because my new stroller doesn't have a front tray that detaches very easily. At this exact moment Erik started running toward the next exhibit in the middle of a group of kids. This is a situation where I am constantly torn lately. One child needs my immediate help and the other is closer to danger. Michelle is great help because he chases after Erik for me while I rescued Elliot.

I think we are a great team and all our children really respond to each other and likes spending time with each of us. So it really is a good match for me anyway by having some extra hands while we are out and about. Besides Erik and Rachel always follow each other and are together almost every second so it is a natural fit.

We are both really working on discipline and I am trying to get Erik to listen and roam a little less. He was doing really well the whole day, but when you add the enticement of ice cream the training gets even better. If Erik ran too far or didn't listen he wouldn't get his ice cream. Well anytime he start running off today and I told him to stop he did. We had an excellent listening day and an excellent visit to the zoo. There were some hiccups and boo boo, but when you end the day like this, life couldn't be better.

Today wasn't mamaless since Michelle so nicely offered to take our picture. Yay for capturing a great day and a fun and successful outing. I always know when we spend the day with Michelle it will be a mostly successful day.

A Trip To The Farm

This morning one of the mom's from our Thursday 2 year old class, organized a trip to Underwood Farms. This is a place I have been meaning to go to for months/years. As Elliot got older the harder I thought this trip would be, the more I wanted to wait until he could walk. Well when it was a planned trip and not just me deciding to go, I had to say yes. Besides it is a 30-40 minute drive which gives Elliot a chance to nap in the car. Granted it is a short morning nap for a guy who likes to sleep for 2 hours, but he definitely is making up for it this afternoon.

So this trip was a bit of a challenge like I suspected. I am getting tastes of what it feels like to have two walking toddlers. My attention is constantly being pulled in three directions, Erik, Elliot and photography. At one point we were in a park with Erik's classmates and I left Elliot on a fence standing, Erik playing with the feed and ran to get my camera. Forget about my bags which anyone could take because I am completely distracted.

Besides feeling like I was constantly battling between where Erik wanted to go, needing freedom to roam and meeting the needs of Elliot we did have a fun time. This is probably Elliot's dream field trip because he gets to just ride in a wagon. I have decided that if Elliot could be in a stroller or wagon for hours a day walking he would be completely content. The first time I took him out of the wagon he got so angry and threw a fit. Of course by the end he was climbing out, but what do you expect of a 13 month old.

Right now Elliot constantly wants to walk holding my hands. I was a little unprepared for this and only put him in socks and this place was full of wood chips. What kind of mom of two would I be if I didn't forget something? So he is constantly standing, cruising, and trying to play and be a part of the big kids. None of the other children had younger siblings so Elliot was on his own and stood up just fine to all the big kids. I guess it helps when you big brother is a bit of a bully and wrestler at times.

At Underwood Farms Erik got to go on his second pony ride, the first being over 7 months ago. All of his friends were going and I couldn't deny him the pleasure even though I suspected he would be afraid and want to get off. He stood in line with all of his friend anxious to get on announcing his name to the ticket collector and he was the first to get on a pony in his exuberance. As I suspected once he was put on the pony and moving he was a little unsure of the whole thing. Parents were not allowed in, which made me think this might go badly. The staff there must have a lot of experience with upset toddlers because one of the girls noticed right away that Erik was unhappy and stepped right up to stand by him and talk to him. I saw him saying lots of things to this girl so she definitely settled him down. I wouldn't say he enjoyed his ride, but he wasn't upset or scared as much as when he was alone.

In all this fun of new activities for Erik, balancing two toddlers and our first trip to the farm, I can't forget the pictures of just playing because that is what Erik does best. Here are some of his favorite places at Underwood Farms today.

Grandma doesn't realize it yet, but this place is half way between her house and ours so I have a very good feeling we might ask her to meet up there in the morning a few times this summer. Besides I really could use another hand chasing two toddlers at this place and focus more attention on each child.