Wedding Celebration in Sacramento
Last week we travelled to Sacramento to celebrate Dad/Grandpa & Donna’s wedding. We awoke on Tuesday morning, the day of our departure, with snow on the ground. Fortunately there were no airport delays so after struggling with Adin & Zane’s grumpiness, we left the house on time at 8:45 with ‘black car’. We had short waits to check in our bags & to go through security so we had plenty of time to get everyone to the bathroom and to watch all the action outside on the tarmac before boarding the plane. Our flight was short, a little over an hour, due to some strong winds which was great. Adin entertained himself most of the flight looking at the emergency pamphlet while we tried to keep Zane occupied which wasn’t an easy task. Grandpa picked us up at the airport and we spent the rest of the day at his house with Grandma & Donna. Zane was a wreck on Tuesday night. Neither of the boys had a nap so we tried to put Zane to bed early, he went down okay but then started waking up about every 2 hours starting around midnight – crying & screaming. He wouldn’t even sleep in bed with us so finally I took him out to the living room and sat with him. He finally fell asleep around 3:30 but I wasn’t able to sleep until about 5. Adin & Doug got up around 6:30 so I took Zane back to the bedroom where we slept until about 8:30. Sleeping got a little better by the end of the trip but not much.
Brad & Sarah arrived on Wednesday so they were able to join us on Thursday to an excursion to the train museum. Adin has been talking about visiting the museum for weeks so was very excited to go. He spent a short amount of time exploring the trains downstairs and then wanted to go upstairs to the train table. Doug let Zane wander around downstairs with the big trains and then they too came up to the train table to play. The museum wasn’t very crowded and neither was the play area so both boys enjoyed the chance to play with lots of different trains. It was a beautiful day outside, sunny and in the low 70s, so we wandered around the train tracks for a while and got to see several Amtrak trains pass by. We returned to Grandpa’s in the afternoon to eat lunch and put Adin down for his nap. We tried to nap Zane but he was having nothing to do with it which would be the case for the entire trip! Uncle Roger, Aunt Katie, Uncle Jack & Aunt Carol arrived later in the afternoon and then Donna’s brother, sister-in-law, cousin and a few friends came by. We had a very yummy dinner followed by an excellent cake. Adin & Zane enjoyed themselves, Adin was a little social butterfly walking around & talking to everyone. Zane was quite reserved during most of the trip and wanted me to hold him constantly.
Friday was Dad/Grandpa & Donna’s wedding day. We spent the morning hanging out at their house and then got everyone ready to head over to the church. Both the boys were excited to get dressed up and relished the compliments they got on how handsome they looked! We took photos before the wedding and then the ceremony was held. It was a very touching exchange of vows and joyous occasion. Adin was the ring bearer and he carefully delivered the rings to the minister when asked and returned to sit down with a big smile on his face. I think he was quite pleased to be asked to have a role in the wedding! After the wedding we spent some time in the church before heading to the luncheon. Adin & Zane were running up & down small risers that were used by the choir. They were having a quite a good time and expended some pent-up energy. The luncheon was very fun though we had to keep reminding Adin to keep his voice low as he was quite boisterous. Both boys inhaled their lunches and Adin, of course, devoured a piece of the wedding cake. After lunch everyone returned to Grandpa & Donna’s. It was another beautiful day so we took Adin & Zane outside to play for a while. Both boys went to bed early since neither of them had a nap, except for a short snooze in the car. After they were in bed, Doug & I enjoyed visiting with everyone and hearing stories about Larry, Uncle Roger & Uncle Jack’s adventures when they were younger.
All dressed up for the wedding!
The bride & groom after the wedding!
Saturday, Doug & I took the boys to a small amusement park in Sacramento called Funderland. The rides were small and designed for younger children so it was perfect for them. Zane was a little too small for some of the rides but did go on the train, cars & carousel. Adin went on those rides too and also an airplane & fish ride. There was a railroad crossing set up in the front of the park where the train went by and Adin spent a good amount of time there watching for the train and directing people through the crossing. I think he would have stayed there all day and not even gone on any rides if we hadn’t suggested it. We didn’t prepare any lunch for the boys so we got some food from the park. They didn’t have a huge selection so Zane ended up with chicken fingers which he totally devoured. Adin had a hamburger and ate nearly the whole thing which is quite unusual for him. Both boys fell asleep on the ride home and then didn’t want to sleep anymore when we got back to Grandpa’s so we spent the rest of the afternoon outside playing soccer and cars. We ordered pizza for dinner which we ate when everyone returned from a trip to see the sequios. Doug & I would have loved to see them too but knew we couldn’t expect the boys to sit for a 5 hour round trip car ride. It was early to bed again for Adin & Zane since we were leaving the next day.
On Sunday we spent the morning visiting with everyone before it was time to head to the airport. It was hard to believe that it was already time for us to head home but Doug & I were ready since we didn’t get a full night sleep the entire time we were there because of Zane. We aren’t quite sure why he was having such trouble sleeping, the only thing that we can think of is that he really thrives on routine so being in a different environment totally threw him off. On Thursday we moved Zane out of our room and into the office so he would at least stop disturbing Adin’s sleep. That did seem to help a little bit, Doug was putting Zane to bed since he was having better luck than me and he would typically sleep until about midnight and wake up crying. By Friday & Saturday it only took about 15 – 20 minutes to get him back to sleep so things did improve but it wasn’t easy to deal with all the crying & screaming that preceded each bedtime and awakening.
Grandma travelled back to Seattle with us and will be here for 2 weeks. Adin was great on the flight and even go into the cockpit. As we were boarding the plane, he was trying to look into the cockpit and the pilots invited him up. They were so nice to Adin, showing him how they turned on lights in the cockpit, how the steering wheel worked on the plane and answered some questions that he asked of them. Zane was exhausted so was not much fun on the flight. He kept trying to get into everything and would scream when he didn’t get his way. Fortunately the flight was short, only about an hour & 20 minutes so we made the best of it. ‘Black truck’ picked us up from the airport and we got home around 4. Adin & Zane spent some time running around the house before we sat down for dinner which was takeout from a Thai place down the street. I put Zane to bed around 6:30 and Adin went to bed around 7:30. Everyone slept through the night and didn’t wake up until after 7 on Monday – hooray!
Mommy’s school day with Adin
Wednesday I went to school with Adin. I had been to school for his VIP night and art show but didn’t have a chance to attend a regular school day with him before this week so I was super excited for the opportunity!
Tuesday morning I told Adin that I would be taking him to school the next day and that Daddy would be staying home with Zane. I asked him if he could tell me about school, what the schedule was like, what rules there were and what my job working in the block area would be like. He enthusiastically explained what we needed to do when we arrived at school, rules for the block area including not building blocks higher than each of the children’s shoulder, no knocking down or throwing blocks, etc. We also talked about circle time, snack time and outdoor time. Later that day and on Wednesday morning Adin asked me if I had any more questions about school and reminded me of some rules that I needed to follow!
It was snowing on Wednesday morning so Adin was a little concerned about whether we would still be able to go to school or not. I assured him that we would be going since the snow was not sticking to the ground. After parking the car, which Adin inspected to ensure I was not over the yellow line, we walked up to the door to wait until it was time to go into school. When Teacher Cecile opened the door, we went inside and Adin told me where to hang up my coat & bag. He then told me we needed to go upstairs, he washed his hands and then got our name tags. We then went downstairs to the block area where I had been assigned. Adin played there with me and his friends Austin & Aliyah for most of the free play time. He would go off to explore other parts of school but would always come back to be near me.
After free play time, we went upstairs where Adin showed me how the kids clean off the table before circle time. We sat down for circle time together and Cecile introduced me to the class. She asked Adin to tell me what his friends could call me and he said, “Lisa, Mommy or Adin’s Mommy”. I was then lucky enough to meet Harry, who is a shy hedge hog (not real, as Adin explained to me) that always has something special to show the kids from his backpack. This month’s curriculum is about nature and the class is learning about different animals that hatch from eggs. Harry had a tadpole in his back pack this week which we talked about for a while and then the kids had a chance to ask any questions they had about chicks, frogs and butterflies.
After circle time, we sat down for snacks then it was time for outdoor play. It was still snowing and some snow was on the ground so the kids were excited to get outside. I was assigned to the sandbox area which Adin wasn’t interested in so he went off to pull a wagon around the road. I then spent the remainder of outdoor play helping about 6 kids go inside to use the bathroom. Adin was a little disappointed that I was inside for so long, the rest of the day he kept asking me why I needed to go inside so much and why all his friends needed to use the potty. Outdoor play was about 45 minutes and then it was time for closing circle. Adin had the ‘Chicks, Butterflies & Frogs take home bag’ on Tuesday night so he went in front of the class to talk about what he thought of the take home bag and what he wrote about in his journal. The children then clapped to thank Adin for sharing and then it was time for class dismissal.
It was such a wonderful experience to watch Adin interacting with his friends at school and his teacher. He is so comfortable and at home there that it just warmed my heart & made me smile. I can’t wait to arrange another day at school with Adin!
Zane – 15 months
Zane had his 15 month well-child visit last week. Considering that his appointment started 30 minutes late, he did really well. While the doctor was prepping his vaccination, he fell and bumped his head which caused quite a few tears. Once he calmed down from that the poor guy got his shot and had his 2 big toes poked for an iron test. He handled it well though especially since big brother was there to hold his hand & distract him. Zane now weighs 25 lbs. 4 oz (65th percentile), is 32 3/4″ tall (90th percentile) and his head circumference is 49 3/4 cm (97th percentile). He has consistently been in these percentiles for weight, height and head circumference so has a good growth curve. All in all Zane is doing great – healthy, happy & developmentally on track.
Zane has mastered going up and down the steps & often wanders off to use the stairs. He’s much more confident in his walking ability now and enjoys joining in with Adin playing mini-racer which is running circles through the kitchen, living room & dining room. Playing on the bus, throwing balls and dancing are some of Zane’s other favorite activities. He is also starting to push cars around and mimics other types of play like making Adin’s toy people walk around and flying airplanes. Zane is starting to play more with toys again, is showing more interest in listening to us read books and also enjoys drawing on the magnetic drawing board. Turning lights on & off and opening & closing doors are still his absolute favorite things to do!
He still enjoys a wide variety of foods but definitely expresses his preferences during meal-time. Zane loves to fed himself and rarely lets us feed him with a spoon or fork. We’ll often put the food on the spoon for him and then set it on his tray so he can feed himself from the spoon. He also likes trying to pick up food with his utensils – he has some success with it but it takes a long time so he usually will go back to using his hands or having us put the food on a spoon for him. He’s obsessed with cups & drinks and would happily drink from everyone’s cups if we let them. Zane doesn’t like us to help him drink anymore which is a complete 180 since he had previously resisted holding his own cup!
Earlier this month Zane was expressing his emotions in a big way, he was becoming easily frustrated and was quick to cry & scream. In the latter part of the month his emotions have levelled out and he is mostly content. Over the past few weeks Zane has become very attached to Mommy. Whenever he sees me he shouts out “MOMMY” and runs over to me. He likes me to hold him and be the one to feed him – sometimes he’ll refuse to eat until I sit down with him. He’s also been more anxious during separation; the other week he cried when Doug left the room when they were over at a friend’s house and won’t willingly go to anyone but Doug or I.
Zane seems to be adjusted pretty well to his new sleeping schedule, we had a few rough days when he got up early in the morning and still didn’t want to take a morning nap so we are definitely down to one nap a day. He is waking up between 7 – 8 am most days now and goes for his nap around 1 – 1:30. His naps have been varying in length but usually last until 4 – 5 pm. We’ve moved bedtime to 7 pm so he can catch up on the sleep he missed earlier in the month and that seems to be working well.
Zane really wants to communicate and strings sounds together as if talking in sentences. Some of the words that he regularly uses aside from mommy are hi, bye, cup, car, cat, bird, bath, uh-oh and gar (his word for garbage).
At 15 months, Zane is most certainly a toddler. I can’t wait to see how he continues to grow & develop. We love you Zane!!
Quick Update – Feb 2012
Saturday we went to Town Hall to see THEESatisfaction family concert. Adin and Zane both enjoyed the music, Adin even got on stage during the performance when the band invited kids up to join them. He was dancing a little bit and walking around the stage so he could get closer to the girls singing. It was pretty cute and surprising that he did it. We did have one casuality of the outing though, Adin’s digger went missing. He brought it into the concert hall but when we got to the car we realized we didn’t have it. I went back inside to see if I could find it but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I called over to Town Hall today but it’s not in lost & found so I think digger may be gone for good. Adin has been asking for it but understands that he was supposed to keep track of it and that we might not get it back.
On Sunday morning, Adin & I spent some time outside planting primroses he bought me for Valentine’s Day. He was so excited to get them planted, he had his shovels out and dug most of the holes than watered the flowers. After planting the flowers, it was time for us to head to swim class. Adin has really been enjoying his new class and is learning a lot of new skills. Zane is also enjoying his swim class and will be moving into a new level for the next session which starts in 2 weeks.
Adin and Zane’s preschool is on winter break this week. Today they hit the play zone at Bellevue Square mall with some friends. Adin got a bloody lip after jumping into another boy and whacking his face on the boy’s head. During dinner tonight, Adin explained to me what happened and that he had cried for a little while but then had a drink of water and felt better so they went to look at 2 different toy stores.
Last week we started transitioning Zane to one nap a day. He was taking his morning nap without issue but then did not want to take an afternoon nap. He’d also get really upset, crying & screaming at nap time and bedtime. It’s been going surprising well even with Zane dealing with a really runny nose and congestion which we think may be caused by teething.
Adin has been very defiant the past couple of weeks. He’s been throwing food and pouring his drink onto the table or his plate during mealtimes, being rough with Zane and generally ignoring every instruction that we give him. We hope that he works through whatever is going on soon since this behavior can be quite exhausting.
Oh the Drama….
The last couple of weeks have been filled with a lot of big emotions. It seems like Adin & Zane both are shedding tears on a daily basis. Adin has been getting very frustrated lately with Zane interferring with his play and also wants whichever parent is with him to play & basically ignore Zane. Zane on the other hand is enjoying his new mobility and likes to climb up & down the stairs. He gets very frustrated when we try to keep him in the playroom and will throw a little tantrum if he doesn’t get his way. Zane also is going through a mommy phase right now and wants to be with me whenever I’m home. He gets mad and will yell & cry if I try to do something away from him. The combination can be exhausting. Who knew that boys were full of such drama?!
Back to a regular week
Last Saturday we were finally able to get everyone out of the house since the weather warmed up and our precipitation switched over to rain. After breakfast we all headed out to Costco to replenish our grocery supplies. Adin & Zane both enjoy trips to Costco; Adin was especially pleased that he got a few samples to eat while we were shopping. Once we got back home, Doug had the fun job of putting everything away while Adin, Zane & I played outside for a bit. While the boys were napping I took the opportunity to go to the gym – now that I have a membership again, I’m determined to get there 2 days a week! On Sunday, Adin and Zane both had their swim lessons. Doug has been taking Zane to his class which starts at 10:30 and then I took Adin over around 11 so we could all swim in the family pool until Adin’s class started. Zane’s class is not as advanced as what he was doing in Waterbabies though Doug has been doing alternate things with Zane to keep with his level. Adin’s class is going well – he’s picked up on the arm movements quite well. There are 3 other kids in Adin’s class – two boys that are at least 5 by my guess and a girl that looks to be about 4. One of the boys was kind of getting in Adin’s face during class this Sunday and trying to take a ring away that Adin had. I really wanted to go over there and tell the kid to knock it off but Adin was basically ignoring him and didn’t seem upset by his behavior so I had to swallow my instinct to defend him and instead sat back to observe the situation. After class I asked Adin how he enjoyed class and he said “good”. We talked about some of the things that they did and he didn’t mention that boy bothering him so I decided not to bring it up.
Adin was excited to return to school this week. On Monday and Tuesday they watched a short video of Eric Carle painting which Adin thought was great and couldn’t wait to tell me about when I got home from work. Wednesday Doug was responsible for snack which was orange-cranberry muffins. Apparently this was a big hit with the kids since he had Adin and 5 to 6 of his classmates helping in the kitchen. Adin had helped Doug do some prep work the night before and was really excited about it being their turn for snack again. Adin got another surprise on Wednesday when he got to bring the Eric Carle ’take home bag’ with him and spent Friday morning working on his Eric Carle collage.
Zane went to his class on Friday and had a great time. He was walking all over the school and exploring everything. Zane continues to do some walking on his own, walking holding onto our hands and crawling. Sometimes he is really motivated to walk on his own and other times he really wants to hold onto our hands to walk & gets really frustrated if we don’t do it for him. He’s always on the go and still enjoys getting into whatever Adin is playing with. Zane also loves to climb and goes up the steps quickly. He really wants to go down the steps walking which we strongly discourage! Zane loves to look outside, play with light switches and open & close things. He is very vocal and has a large number of words in his repertoire including hi, car, cat, gar (which is for garbage). Like his big brother, Zane is fascinated with watching garbage trucks. Anytime we say the word garbage, he looks out the window to see if one of the garbage trucks is coming. He’s still a champion sleeper and eater. Since we returned from Sacramento, Zane has been sleeping in until 10 am most days and then will take his afternoon from ~1 or 1:30 to ~4 or 5 pm. He’s got a large range of foods in his diet now including chicken, lamb and eggs. Zane really enjoys feeding himself and most meals we try to have things that he can eat on his own. He’s really interested in using a spoon and will often take the spoon from us after we put food on it and put it in his mouth on his own. We also will give him a bowl of food and the spoon to let him practice getting the food on the spoon. Its hit or miss with that but he enjoys the practice! Zane is completely off bottles now and drinks from his sippy cup and also from regular glass cups when in his high chair. Zane still has a primarily happy disposition but does experience strong emotions. He’ll throw himself onto the ground, crying & screaming when he’s frustrated. He needs a couple of moments to do that and then will re-engage with us. I have to wonder if this will increase or decrease as he gets older!
Adin & Zane also hosted a playdate with a few friends on Thursday and with Austin for a little while on Friday afternoon. We don’t have much planned for the boys this weekend outside of swim class on Sunday. Doug & I are escaping, I mean, going out on Saturday night which we are both looking forward to as having a meal without children is a luxury we don’t get very often!
Snow, snow, snow!
It started snowing here on Saturday afternoon when we were on our way home from a family concert at Town Hall in Seattle. We have a couple of inches on the ground and the forecast is calling for more snow through Wednesday. Adin has been so excited to have snow so we’ve been outside to play several times each day. Sunday morning when he woke up and saw that there was more snow on the ground & that all the tracks he made the day before were covered up, he asked to go outside. I figured there was no way I’d get him to do anything else so by 7:30 Adin & I were bundled up in warm clothes and playing outside. Yesterday I had Zane out in the stroller while it was snowing which he thought was quite funny. Today we bundled him up in his snowsuit and took him outside again. He doesn’t want to touch the snow but did have fun riding on the sled with Adin and really liked it when Doug took him down the hill in the sled. Adin has been having fun pulling the sled around, today he loaded up small meow (a stuffed animal that is really a dog but we call him small meow) in the sled and we walked him around the neighborhood. Adin also enjoys riding in the slide and he did surprisingly well holding onto Zane while Doug pulled them around. Adin also had fun going down the hill in the sled with Doug.
Doug pulling Adin & Zane on the sled
Last week the boys were both back at school though neither one of them was feeling all that great. Adin had gotten over his fever by Monday (he had a fever from Friday through Sunday) but still had a stuffy nose and was coughing. At school he was fine but his mood at home wasn’t that great either! Fortunately he seems to be completely recovered now. Zane had a slight fever one day along with a stuffy nose and cough. Zane still has a cough mostly during the night but that is getting better since we put the humidifier in his room. Doug has also been sick and is slowly recovering.
The first weekend in January Adin & Zane both started their swim lessons at the proclub. Adin’s class is more advanced then what he was doing at Waterbabies - doing some actual arm strokes both face down going forward in the water and on their backs. He picked up on the technique right away and says that he is enjoying his class. Zane’s class is pretty similiar to his waterbabies class so far (since the roads were still covered with snow on Sunday morning and he wasn’t feeling well we decided not to take Zane to his class this past weekend).
