A little catch up via photos

I used to have one camera.  Now I have 3.  And don't download any of them regularly.  Photo documenting isn't working as well as it used to.  And even if I was consistent about the camera use or downloading, I have my hands more full with two kids and don't have another pair of hands for a camera.  That may be why my iPhone takes more photos lately.  And why I don't have as many pictures/videos of Anson just being cute.  Sorry, son, I'm trying!  In any case, here's a sad attempt at a catch up!

Labor Day at the beach with the Haws Family

On Grammy & Papa's last weekend in CA before officially moving completely we spent the day at the beach, of course!  We had a nice lunch in Carmel and played on a couple beaches on the way home.

 Gramma (my mom) is the master fort-builder.  Notice the muli-level creation.  We're so lucky she can watch the kids every morning for us!

Fun stuff with my cousin Haley on her visit to CA (and her sister) for her birthday!  San Francisco, Ghiradelli, Natural Bridges State Beach, and a SJ Sharks game for Raimo's birthday.

 And, of course, a pre-Halloween pumpkin patch!  Train ride, hay tunnel, corn stalk maze, farm animals, finding a perfect pumpkin (there were lots, actually), bumping into old neighbors, lots of fun!

Anson is a Walking Pro

This may be more of a personal journal entry than anything, just to document our little boy at this stage.

Anson has been walking for probably 6 months now, taking a step at a time.  For a long time he was walking everywhere but required a hand to do so.  I was definitely ready for him to just let go so I could walk with a straight back.

One night we had the Mukherjee's over and Anson was showing off his walking skills.  But instead of crashing into them he stopped in front and handed them something gently.  Turning point!

Not too long after that we were practicing walking between Blake and me and this is what we got:

The next day he was walking between Blake and I when we were in separate rooms in the house, just going back and forth.

The next day he was officially walking everywhere.  Yay!  He's been essentially walking for so long that he started with running, walking over things, carrying heavy objects, etc.  I really don't mind.  He was into everything already anyway and at least he's not pulling on me all the time.  I can walk freely now, too. :)

Some more "stats" on Anson at 16 months:

• At our recent checkup our pediatrician told us he's at the 6th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height, which has been consistent for his lifetime so far.  He's a tall and lean kid.
• He can say: Mama, Dada, Mama (a little differently for Gramma), Papa, ball, Co (for cup and milk), car, koki (hikoki is Japanese for airplane), bapo (Japanese for belly button), kaka (for cookie/cracker), hah (hot), nana (for banana and string cheese), buh-bow (bubble), uh-huh (for yes) and uh-uh (for no), buh-bye
• He imitates inflection for "Here mama" (handing something over),   "I wan(t) Mama",
• He can sign: dog, ball, more, food, milk, drink, juice, please, diaper, ice-cream, cheese, banana, peas, bread, cereal, car, airplane, train, hot, wash hands and go!
• He also thinks it's funny to pinch his nose and say "Mama"
• He LOVES (and chases) dogs, cats, and cars.  
• He also loves balls and has a pretty good arm.
• He dances to music, claps after every song someone sings or plays, and sometimes conducts the music with both arms.
• He clasps his hands together for prayers.
• Every morning he gives kisses & hugs, blows kisses, waves good-bye, and signs "I Love You" with just his index finger extended.
• His favorite people are Mom, Dad, Claire, Gramma and Amanda but also likes to talk to family on Skype.

 We love this kid!

Mel & Monterey

Melanie & Wyatt came for a quick trip to Monterey.  It was great to meet Wyatt and fun to hang out with them for the day.  Spending time with family is our favorite pastime.  Spending time at the beach is our other favorite pastime.  It was a happy day!

The afternoon, in pictures.

Amanda teaches our kids how to properly chase birds.

She's a good teacher.

We love Amanda!

A running hug for Melanie!

The Honored Guests + Seals on the rocks

 

Making friends with hermits.

W & A

Stayed here nearly the whole time, watching and feeling the water go in and out.  Can't blame her.

W, A and M

Not pictured was lunch at a place we'll likely not visit again, a memory-filled walk to Big Granddaddy & Corrie's old house (owners let us walk into the back yard and, sadly, we forgot to get pictures!), and afterward hot cocoas to warm up after all the time on the beach. 

To Mel & Wyatt: Thanks for the visit and sharing your whole day with us!

Pioneer Day 2011 - The Makings of A Tradition

I'm about a month late doing this post, but I wanted to record what a fun FHE (Family Home Evening) night we had for Pioneer day.  Both Blake and I have ancestors that were Mormon Pioneers (read more at wikipedia; lds.org used to have a great website about the pioneer trail but I can't find it anymore...).  In fact, Anson is named after one of these ancestors - it's a good naming story I'll tell another time.  We know the names of our ancestors, but not many stories about them.  We decided we could use at least one FHE night around Pioneer Day on July 24th to talk about the faith and sacrifices of the early pioneers.  Hopefully we can find more stories as a family and our children will be familiar with our history.

Realizing our kids are still young we kept it very basic.  We sang Primary songs about pioneers, looked at LDS art of pioneers, and "made" our own handcart out of card board.  We told Claire what the pioneers took with them, but that they could only take what they could carry.  Claire went to her room to get a few changes of clothes, favorite toys, pretend food & utensils from her play food collection, and a blanket.

Then we sang "The Handcart Song" and "Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked" while walking up and down the hallway.

When we started singing about washing at streams Claire told us we needed a stream.  We set that up and every time she crossed over she stopped to pretend to wash clothes & dishes in it. 

The girl LOVES to pretend.  She had a blast.  All week long she kept asking to play pioneer again.  Thanks to Blake for keeping that cardboard thing held together long enough to have a nice night.  Thanks to Grammy for walking Anson back and forth - I think he had fun, too. :) 

Tribute to Ice-Cream

One of the less-significant rules of our marriage is that we will always have ice-cream in the freezer.  Our children are no strangers to the creamy cold bliss in a bowl.

We recently asked Claire to draw us a picture.  This is what she brought back.

The ice-cream cone and scoops of delight are fairly obvious.  Her traced hand is holding the cone.  Her wrist is adorned with a bracelet.  And that other thing reaching out from the left side of the picture?  That's her tongue!

Summer Staycation

With an impending (local) move we didn't make any big vacation plans.  But we can't just let summer go by without doing ANYTHING.  So here's a couple things we decided to DO.

OAKLAND ZOO

DAY OUT WITH THOMAS

Both of these were 1/2 day trips.  The kids and parents all came back happy instead of wiped out.  What 1/2 trips have you done lately?