Silly Boys....and a Girl Dog Too!

This is so fun! I'm pushing Daddy on the trike.


It would appear that Alex wanted Daddy to get on the trike to anchor it down, so he could hang like a monkey.


As you can see, Xena was quite interested in this little game too!

Happy Thursday!

Griffin on his horse at the carousel


Alex on the ostrich


Cupcake! Yum! Hey, I was really good at the dentist yesterday, I deserve it!

It was a fun Thursday, with a trip to the zoo, where we met Griffin and Erin. The boys ran off alot of energy, visited with a bunch of animals, rode on the train and finished off the morning on the carousel. This afternoon, Alex and I visited the shopping center in Emeryville where he always enjoys chasing pigeons. Today, he also savored a cupcake from Teacake Bakery...yum! It was a reward for the great dentist appointment yesterday. We could not go right after the dentist appointment because they put flouride on and he had to refrain from eating, but today he surely did enjoy it.

Alex's First Dental Visit

Alex and Anna the Dental Assistant after the appointment

Alex had his first dental visit today and I could not be more proud of how well he did with the whole process. He was a super duper patient! He listened carefully during the demonstration on how to brush and floss on Miss Cow and was very cooperative during the examination and cleaning. Anna, his dental assistant was very nice and did a great job cleaning Alex's teeth and Dr. Mendoza-Sobel had a cool train light on her head to check out Alex's teeth, which she said are looking great. They gave us some good tips on brushing and flossing and Alex picked out a new black toothbrush, got his own "Mr. Flossman" and a package of dental floss, a bunch of cool stickers and a truck!

Too bad that "San E" does not live closer to us, so that she could be Alex's dentist, but as a substitute, I think we will be happy with Dr. Mendoza-Sobel and her staff. Overall, a wonderful first dentist visit, both Mommy and Alex were very happy. Great job Alex!

Tuesday

Alex and Johnny in full concentration on their drums


Busy and cute drummers!


Playing with a snail after music class (poor traumatized snail)

We always have fun on Tuesdays, but today's schedule was a bit different than usual. We went to tumbling today, since they are closed this Thursday and then we were able to meet up with Carrie and Johnny for lunch at La Pinata in Alameda, which was alot of fun. The boys had a great lunch and the Mamas got to catch up and chat, so it was a win-win. In the afternoon, we went to music class and the rain stopped long enough for everyone to hunt for snails and stomp in some puddles. Always fun!

Nimitz Way Trail--Tilden Park

Family pic (one of the few that we ever seem to get)


Admiring the cows


Alex tromping through the hills, shortly before stepping in a cow pie.


David and Alex riding past the cows on the path


One of the happy California cows along the way


The family on the way back

Our bike ride this morning was up in Tilden Park on the Nimitz Way Trail. The scenery is beautiful, with views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Pablo Resevoir and even some cows to ride along side on the way. It has a good mix of up and down, so you get to work a bit to get up the hill, but then going down the hills fast is rewarding too! Alex liked to go fast and he enjoyed the company of the cows along the trail. He even met up with a cow pie, so it was just like being on the farm. We are so grateful that we can live in an urban area where so much land has been preserved for people to enjoy the outdoors. Now, what to do with the afternoon?

Sunny Day!

Busy in the water


On a mission


Got sand?


Look! It's a carrot that looks like a W!!


Surveying the strawberry plants

Alex fully enjoyed this sunny Saturday! He started off the day with an outing to La Farine, always a favorite and then later in the morning, we stopped at the Alameda Farmer's Market for his favorite strawberries, which happen to be delectable right now, before heading to Crown Point Beach in Alameda to enjoy the sunshine. He had a fabulous time in the water and sand and after a quick change of clothes, he enjoyed a nice snack in the sunshine and dried out a bit before heading home.

This afternoon we spent a bit of time gardening in one of the raised beds. Alex harvested a few carrots which had seeded themselves from a year or two ago, which was quite cool for him. He especially liked the double carrot, which he said looked like a "W". It was basically a double carrot, with a third small root growing out of the middle, so it did look like a W, which of course, is probably his favorite letter. We then planted some of our own carrots and strawberries. Let's hope we can keep our bird friends away from the strawberries. We're also planning to plant potatoes in a "tower" and eventually we will transplant some of our seedlings that we started indoors. Alex loves to garden, so it is always fun spending time planting and caring for the garden. Let's just hope that things grow well, so that he can harvest some fruits and veggies after all of his effort.

Fun at Finn's

Chicks!


Hard at work


Gardening is serious business


Concentration

Co-op this morning at Finn's house was especially fun, because we were able to meet and play with the chicks which they are now raising. Alex and Finn had a great time watching the chicks. There were lots of giggles and excitement and Finn proudly told us the name of all six chicks. I could totally see Alex with chicks of his own....maybe someday.

When the chicks went away to eat and sleep, the attention turned to weeding the lawn and pruning the rosemary bushes. These boys are quite helpful! They sat in the wagon for quite awhile working on this task, which was completely self-driven. At one point, when we asked if they would like to have snacks, they both replied with "no", which is unheard of. Gardening is a fun task....no time for snacks!

Who Needs a Bed to Nap In?

Especially when you can sleep on the comfy floor with your teddy.
Taken on Wednesday


Or better yet, you can sleep in the laundry hamper
(which happens to serve as a tunnel/toy about as often as it serves as a laundry hamper).
Taken this afternoon


Friday April 30th, 2010
(5 minutes prior to this..."I'm not tired. Don't take nap.")


Alex does have a bed, he really does....but this week, he has spent just as much time sleeping elsewhere as you can see.

Tumbling

I took Alex to tumbling class at Ruby's Tumbling in Alameda on Thursday, for the first time. After being a bit shy in the beginning, he really enjoyed the class. I couldn't take video at the class, since I need to be the spotter for everything, but this video shows some practice time at home this weekend. He loved hanging from the rings and bars at class, as well as climbing up the ladders and walking on the balance beam. It will be another fun activity to add to our week.

Busy Weekend

Little biker boy all ready to go! (He reminds me of Landen in this picture)


Alex and Daddy riding around Bay Farm Island


Tadgh and Alex enjoying dinner


Alex and Sid playing some bolo golf

We have a fun weekend here, with lots of sunshine. On Saturday we took a nice bike ride around Alameda's Bay Farm Island and then had a nice relaxing lunch at Speisekammer. Alex enjoyed playing in the "jungle" out on the front patio, while David and I enjoyed a nice beverage. After naptime, we took in a short zoo visit and a carousel ride.

Sunday we bought some prep items for the garden, went to the Farmer's Market, and went to a picnic up at Robert's Park to say farewell to Steph, AJ and Emerson, who are moving to India in a couple of weeks. Alex enjoyed the nice shady redwood forest where the picnic was located and also tried his hand at "bolo golf", which is very popular in Minnesota, from what I heard, but I do not remember even seeing it there. In the evening, we continued to enjoy the beautiful weather with a barbeque at the house with Hoa, Sean and Tadgh. The boys enjoyed sausages and potato salad and fresh strawberries from the Farmer's Market, in addition to playing in the front yard for the evening. All in all, great weekend! Hope yours was a good one too.

Chillin' in the Front Yard

Chillin' in a sunny spot


Little Bro Bro, what are you doing?


Hey Sissy, look up in the sky!

This afternoon we did some yard work in the front yard and surprisingly, Alex took a break from undoing piles of leaves and actually rested with Xena in the sunshine for awhile. This is a rare occurence, so as soon as I saw it happening, I went in to grab the camera. They were having quite a lovely time hanging out in a sunny spot together. At one point, he made a "nest" back behind one of the trees and was trying to convince Xena to come in there with him. "Hey ZZ (I have never heard him call her that before), wanna come in here with me?" It was super cute, but of course, I listened to it for too long, before actually starting to record it.

Lazy Sunday

Out for a walk in the rain


Rainbow!

Our weekend was pretty low-key, especially with the rain on both days. No bike rides in the rain, so we did alot of activities in the house and took a trip to IKEA to get a tent for Alex. Lots of reading, playing with Legos, playdough, painting. Name an indoor activity and we probably did it! We did get out for a walk on Sunday afternoon and were lucky enough to see a rainbow and capture it with the camera. The rain has finally stopped this afternoon, so hopefully we will have some sunny days ahead.

Garbage Truck

I think that the hundreds of garbage trucks which David and I have drawn by request over the past few months have rubbed off on Alex. This is the garbage truck which he drew just now, while I got up to get some more crayons. I asked him to tell me about it and he explained the details of it, including the wheels, which you see, one in front and two in back, the flashing lights on the top of the front of the truck. I think it looks great, and he was quite proud of himself too!

Updated Video of Mourning Doves

Here's an updated video, one from Wednesday evening. The Momma was sitting at a different angle, so you get a better view of the two little ones. One of them even stretches his wings at one point. It appears that their dinnertime is about the same time as ours.

We put out some sunflower seeds on the back deck, hoping that the Momma would find them and not have to travel too far to get food. She did leave the nest shortly thereafter, and then came back and fed the babies. Alex has dubbed the Momma as Martha and the baby birds as Miles and Mickey. I read that the chicks only stay in the nest for two weeks, so we may see them fly away within the next week or so.

While we were capturing the doves on video, Alex was talking about taking pictures of the birds. He had his toy camera and "his" tripod in the other room, up against the window trying to take pictures of them, while David was doing the same in the kitchen. It was cute. He was saying "cheese, mourning dove, smile!" while taking pictures.

Corporate Branding at Work

This is a rather random post, but it just kind of boggles my mind, so I wanted to post it so that I will remember it in the future. For those of you who are into corporate marketing, or doubt its power, read on. Back in November, when we were in Minnesota, David flipped on the television for a minute to put in a DVD for Alex to watch, and the UPS logo flashed on the screen for what I think was about a second...I'm not joking, it was just a flash. Alex exclaimed, "UPS man!" Wow....we were amazed. There was no picture of the UPS man driving his truck or delivering packages, just a plain logo on a plain screen, like the one shown above. The power of the brain of a human child just never ceases to amaze me. I know that they pick things up, but it was just surprising to me that he recognized that.

Then there was the recognition of "WM" as synonymous with garbage and recycling trucks, which I have mentioned before. The UPS man and the garbage trucks we see around quite often, so it makes sense that there will be some sort of recognition.

Today, when he was napping, the mail came and there was an envelope from the Cal Academy, asking us to renew our membership. When he got up from his nap, he saw the letter and said "Cal Academy". Mind you, there were no pictures on this letter... no fish or penguins or rainforests, just a logo on the top, which happens to be quite an abstract logo, as shown above. This one amazed me even more, because we only see that logo when we go to the Cal Academy and (even then it isn't always in the same color scheme as shown above) or when he sees the membership card, neither of which are events that occur frequently, maybe once per month or so. So, I guess my whole point is this....just think of all of that brainpower potential in children and how it could be harnessed if you are actually trying to teach them. Incredible!

New Neighbors

The other day while washing dishes with Alex, I noticed a mourning dove perched over above a rain gutter on our neighbors' house. For the next few days I watched and she was there every time I looked, so I started to think that she was tending to some eggs. Yesterday we got the binoculars and the zoom lens out and it turns out that she has two little babies. In this pic you can see them (click on the pic to make it larger), right where you would expect her beak to be. They are the two fuzzy little gray balls. She was feeding them while we watched. Alex was quite excited!

Easter

The little hunters, all ready to find their eggs


Let me check out the loot!

Playing some basketball in the kitchen


Carrie and the delicious lamb and roasted potatoes

Easter dinner, yum!

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Alex eyeing the carrot cake, as Auntie Carrie cuts it.

Alex giving an elephant trumpet in praise of the delicious carrot cake!


Cake, nom, nom!


Taking a little rest from all of the monkey jumping


Jump, jump, jump!

We had a lovely Easter, despite the rainy day. The Lee's invited us over for Easter dinner and we thoroughly enjoyed the company, as well as a delicious dinner of roasted lamb and potatoes, followed by some scrumptious carrot cake. As you can see, the boys had a fun time, hunting for eggs, playing some basketball and jumping like monkeys on the bed. It was nice to be able to spend time together and enjoy some good laughs. Hopefully everyone else had a wonderful Easter too!