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.

Howdy Pardner

Yesterday we attended the 2nd birthday party of a friend, and there was a great cowboy theme - complete with a petting zoo and pony ride! Kyle loved having the bandanna on throughout the whole party (he was even pretty unhappy when we had to take it off at home for bath time!) but the hat wasn't such a big hit - it was barely on long enough to snap this photo.

The pony ride was a little worrisome for Kyle, and to begin with he was ready to get off as soon as he was on. But once the pony started walking, he seemed quite content to hold on. In fact, he went back for a second ride a little later! We'll be taking him down our favorite horseback trip into Haleakala Crater before we know it.

Happy trails to you, until we meet again!

The "Littlest One"

Here's our littlest one, getting bigger each time that we take a peek! This time, weighing in at about 20 ounces, and measuring just as expected for 22 1/2 weeks. Dave is still convinced that the facial features are very masculine, but I believe the fact that this one is MUCH smaller than Kyle means that we have a petite little girl. It's hard to believe that we only have another 3+ months until we find out! There was a lot of action during this appointment, even though it was a very quick visit. We saw lots of swallowing, and (s)he was playing with his/her toes up above his/her head (ah, I wish I was still that flexible!) I officially "popped" the week before Christmas, so for those people who hadn't already been told, they now know they news!

Kyle still likes to "listen to the baby" if I am laying on the ground, and in fact, the other day "told" me to lay down and then he proceeded to push up my shirt a little bit and put one ear and then the other to my tummy to check if he could hear anything. Sometimes baby even gets a little wave or a kiss! I have another OB appointment on the 15th, so I am sure that he will like to hear everything through the Doppler then!

Merry Christmas!

We were lucky enough to have Kyle's Great-Grandma come for a visit for Christmas and New Year. Somewhere behind our posed family is our Christmas tree - just a little one this year as we had it up on the coffee table out of Kyle's reach. He was so crafty about it - he knew that he wasn't supposed to touch it, so he would pick something up and try to touch the tree with whatever it was that he was holding! The above shot was filled with much laughter, as Kyle loved having the camera on the tripod, and was clever enough to figure out how the trigger/timer worked, although it took a little bit for him to figure out that he had to run back to be in the photo with us!

Both sides of our families came for Christmas dinner, so we were lucky that our dining room table can expand to hold 10 of us. Along with Maemo, Granpa, and Great-Grandma, we also had Noni, Papa, Uncle Mike and Great-Uncle Charlie. Kyle was a little too excited from all of the other happnenings of the day, so he didn't spend much time sitting down during the big event. On the menu for our Christmas evening was:

Roast Beef with Horseradish-Mustard Sauce
Roasted Potatoes with Tangy Watercress Sauce
Dilled Carrots and Green Beans
Sautéed Leeks and Broccolini with Balsamic Vinegar
Orange, Arugula, and Kalamata Olive Salad
Ciabatta rolls

followed up by a wonderfully rich Chocolate Torte and the traditional Italian Rum Cake.

My apologies for the much-delayed post, I am sure everyone understands how hectic things are over the holiday season!

Wishing you all the best to you and your families,
love, The Walkers