Art Class

Kyle and I checked out a new playgroup this week, along with friends Mikey and Kay. We had lots of fun with play dough, stickers, stamps and paint. Kyle's favorite part was having his hands painted and "stamping" those on to the paper! It's definitely nice to take him somewhere else for such explorations and not have to worry about him getting paint, etc all over the house! But it was something that he enjoyed, so I will definitely start trying more things with him at home in safe areas, and hopefully he'll learn to stop eating the crayons sometime soon!

Exploring the Exploratorium

We had a long day in the city today, with Kyle's first trip to the Exploratorium. He is still a little too young to be able to understand the concepts behind each of the exhibits, but that didn't stop him from enjoying pushing buttons to make things move, turn on lights, or make buzzers go! Just as much fun as all of the magnets, fish, bubbles, and water fountains were the other kids to play with, as we were meeting with friends from St Mary's College. Christian and her husband Mark drove out from Fresno with their son Noah, who was great with Kyle, running around with him in the park afterward, holding his hand, and giving him big bear hugs and kisses to say goodbye when we left. He's going to make a great big brother to their little one who is also due to arrive in April. Sarah, Michael, Maddie and Julia joined us from Santa Rosa, and it was amazing to see how much Julia had grown since the last time we saw her at the SF Zoo in August. She's now rivaling Kyle in size, weighing 22 pounds and also wearing 18 month size clothes - very much the healthy and happy little girl! Jen and Ava also came up from San Jose to join us, and it's amazing how much Ava has changed since our visit to the zoo, she is now full of words, and a very observant little girl.

Before most of us had to make our escape due to much belated nap times, we were lucky enough to get a few photos of the four moms and all of the kids except for Maddie, snapped in front of the Palace of Fine Arts. We're hoping that it won't be another year before we are able to get the (growing) families together again.

Coyote Point Museum

We had Kyle's 18-month check up yesterday, and his doctor declared everything to be "perfect". He weighed in at 24 pounds 5 ounces, and is now 32.5" tall. He was a champ with his two shots, and as usual, barely cried at all.

In addition to KinderGym yesterday, the fun activity of the week was today's trip to Coyote Point Museum with friends Mikey and Kay. We spent some time walking through the exhibits inside the museum, but the fun point for the boys was seeing the native California animals outside, and especially the river otters. Unlike the otter feeding at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, it was very quiet at Coyote Point, so we had front row viewing until a couple of even younger kids arrived. Kyle's favorite viewing post was in a small cave with a little window peeking into the bottom of the exhibit, and he loved getting Mikey to join him there. He was quite the ham for the camera, and gave Kay a cheesy grin when she took this picture of him!

Happy New Year 2008

from Our House to Yours!!!

Kyle and I went to visit his friend Ben yesterday for a "demolition party" The two boys had a great time pulling the marshmallows off the roof, until everything started caving in, and then Ben wasn't too happy to see his house falling into ruin! Kyle brought Ben a piece of the house as a peace offering

I'm thinking that maybe next year we'll build our own house, and it will be Ben's turn to come over for a visit to help bring down the walls!

Wishing you all the best for a happy and healthy 2008.