Busy Little Gardener

Kyle is a wonderful gardener-in-training, and Dave is hoping that he won't lose some of his enthusiasm for working outside before he is old enough to truly help! At this age though, he is great at bringing us items, and sometimes in cleaning up the trimmings or piles of weeds by putting them into buckets (other times he just thinks it is great fun to throw the pile all over the garden!) Of course, the challenge we have now is trying to convince him that the sharp tools are not toys, and he can't play with them all of the time, only when we are helping to do something with Daddy.

He's very aware of cameras these days, and definitely likes to pose (if he's not trying to get his hands on the camera itself) So after I took some candid photos of him "mowing the lawn" the other day, he wanted to take a look at what was on the camera. After we had seen all of the new photos, I asked him if he wanted me to take some more of him mowing the lawn, and sure enough, he went running away to get his mower, and kept turning to check that I was still taking photos! It is hard to believe that it has been nearly a year since we gave him his lawnmower for his 1st birthday, he is such an expert at pushing it around these days, quite different from how he started.

His favorite garden tool is the blower, which he sometimes asks for first thing in the morning when he wakes up. It is also the first thing on his list of must-teach items for his little brother or sister, and somewhere after that he'll get around to teaching crawling and walking as well if he has the time!

40 Weeks (and Counting!)

Today is our official due date, but true to the example set by big brother Kyle, the newest addition to our family is going to continue staying comfy and growing for a little bit longer before making a grand entrance. The above is what 40 weeks looks like - Dave and I are certain that I popped for a second time yesterday, finally catching up to the size I was with Kyle. Not too long now until we know the actual weight, but we are expecting the little one to be at least 9 pounds!

It's hard to get Kyle to be still for the camera these days, either he wants to play with the camera, or he is busy with other things. Dave was able to capture this cuddle shot with Mama and Baby, just before a quick kiss to my tummy and then time to run off and explore again!

Mommy! Mommy! Cate-what?

Kyle's newest discovery this week has been caterpillars. We had a minor invasion of our Oak tree by Western Tussok moths last year, and despite a recent great pruning job, it looks as though they are back again this year. Dave didn't have a chance to pressure wash ALL of the cocoons that they covered the house and cottage with, so it looks like he may as well wait a little longer to get this year's additions as well! Kyle and I were enjoying some fresh air outside this afternoon (mostly me sitting in the shade and Kyle running around) when I was very urgently called to see his bulldozer. It seemed that he had discovered something crawling on it and wanted to know what it was! Of course, the challenge after telling him about caterpillars was trying to get him NOT to touch it, because these little hairy guys are known to cause rashes. Needless to say, his toys have to be put away in his toy shed EVERY night now, so that we can try to discourage the presence of the caterpillars on them, and also the soon-to-come cocoons!

Earth Day on the Bay

We took Kyle to the Marine Science Institute in Redwood City for their annual Earth Day Open House, the only day it is open to the public. We had a few activities from the schedule that we were interested in seeing, but we ended up cutting the visit short because it was quite cramped and crazy with the small buildings and LOTS of kids. Still, Kyle had a great time viewing the tanks, especially with the sharks, and even touching some of the fish. We left before the shark feeding because we knew it was going to be difficult trying to squeeze our way in, and Kyle was getting to the point of needing lunch and nap time soon too! After seeing one at the tide pools last week too, he now gets very excited to tell us about sea stars, and even found one amongst his bath time toys that we haven't previously paid much attention to!

He had such a wonderful time watching everything, that we can't wait to take him to the Monterey Bay Aquarium soon.

Tide Pool Adventure

While Kyle and I are enjoying our time together waiting for baby, in addition to missing "Dad-deee" every day when he goes to work, we've been trying to find some fun activities to keep us busy. On Friday (with the permission of my OB!) we took a trip to the coast to go tide pooling at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve at Moss Beach. Kyle thoroughly enjoyed the drive out there, pointing out all of the trucks we saw along the way: "roller!", "tractor!", "bobcat!" and knew where to look for each one again on our return (until he fell asleep!)

We had absolutely gorgeous weather out at the ocean, with beautiful blue, cloudless skies; not too hot, with barely a breeze blowing past. Once we were at the beach, it took quite some convincing to tear Kyle away from the most exciting activity of throwing sand into the small rivulet that was flowing down into the ocean. Unfortunately, most of the tide pool access was limited due to the ongoing Harbor seal pupping season, but we were able to venture out to a small portion of the rocks to see tiny fish, hermit crabs, snails, a single star fish, and lots of sea anemone (who unfortunately were quite shy and didn't show us many tentacles - not helped I am sure by being poked by a curious Kyle!) It was difficult for me to worry about taking photos while also keeping track of Kyle on the slippery rocks, so I'll have to get photos of our discoveries when we next go out there with Dave. Although, if we wait until the end of pupping season (which runs from early March until the end of June) so that the tide pool access is increased, we will also have our hands full with another little one!


We met Kyle's friend Kevin at the Reserve, and were soon joined by "new" friends Arden, Aiden, and Maddie. The kids had a short attention span for the tide pools, so after a little while we moved to the beach for some snack and toys (although we were asked by a ranger not to bring the toys next time, as they are trying to discourage a "Day-at-the-Beach" experience in the Reserve). We decided to head back down the coast to the Pillar Point Harbor for some lunch and to let all of the little ones see the boats. There was a great picnic spot just by the harbor which did a great job of containing the kids while they ran around, and also gave them a great view of all of the boats. Unfortunately, there wasn't much activity to observe, with no boats returning back in to dock while we were there. Kyle had a great afternoon, and was so exhausted that he managed to take a nearly 3-hour nap, even after being woken and transferred from the car to his crib once we arrived back home! I love this last photo of our big boy who is getting very independent - Dave and I are both amazed daily by the transformation that has taken place in him, he is growing up so quickly and we don't know where our little baby went!

Eagerly awaiting Baby

Kyle is getting very excited to have Baby joining us soon, and keeps telling her (or him, although Kyle wants a sister) "out, out, out!" He was happy yet again to go to the OB visit with me yesterday (and this time we were joined by Daddy, who misses all of the visits he was able to make when I was pregnant with Kyle) and to hear Baby's heartbeat on the Doppler.

I had my last ultrasound today to check out the size, and this little one appears to be right on track according to dates, but I don't have the weight estimate yet. The tech showed me the hair waving around in the fluid, and we saw the eyes shifting around and eyelids blinking, as well as the little one drinking and swallowing fluid. Kyle was very excited to see the pictures of the face afterward, although they do take a little imagination to pick out the features at this point, when baby is getting so big!

I am now at full term now, so we are trying to prepare for baby's arrival any day now, although like Kyle, this one seems to be taking his or her own time. I have a C-section scheduled on May 2nd, in case the stork hasn't arrived by then!

Happy Hollow

Dave's birthday was on Thursday, so aside from having a date night for the two of us that night, we were looking forward to getting away for a fun activity for the weekend. With my due date so rapidly approaching, we were a little limited with what we could plan, but we decided to head down to Santa Cruz for the morning. However, by the time we got all three of us loaded up into the car (how long is it going to take for four?!) it was already 10am, and we decided it wasn't worth the drive since we'd be limited on time there before Kyle's nap. So instead we took our first trip to the Happy Hollow Park and Zoo in San Jose.

Kyle started off on the vintage 1940 carousel that they have, and then we moved into the zoo. We saw a sleeping jaguar, lots of lemurs, meerkats, and a long-standing favorite, feeding the goats. His new favorite was a large tortoise, who was walking along the perimeter of his enclosure, so Kyle kept running along with him, trying to reach through to touch him. We also saw a capybara, which has long fascinated Kyle in one of his magazine, but who, unfortunately, wouldn't go in the water for us.

Back in the park side of Happy Hollow, we promptly found the "choo choo train" (a motorized Dragon with cars) which was unfortunately taking a break at the time. There was a fire truck which Kyle was very excited to drive, from which Kyle quickly spotted another merry-go-round. Which he happily rode with Mommy and Baby-Bump, although we did have a difficult time deciding which character to ride on, turtle, snail, pelican... too many to decide from!


We also went on Kyle's first see-saw ride, which was a big hit. Just as we were about to leave, the train ride reopened, but we decided to give it a miss because the line was getting so long and our little guy was getting so tired!

The park and zoo are closing at the beginning of July for major renovations (reopening Fall 2009), so we were glad that we were able to make it down there when we did, but look forward to seeing the updated/upgraded park next year in the Fall. The 1940 carousel that Kyle rode with Daddy won't be making a return, so we're happy we had a chance to ride it when we did.