Mother Son Bowling

Xander's boy scout troop had a Mother-Son Bowling event a couple weekends ago. It has been a couple years since we've bowled but Xander remembered the rules. The bumpers were up, which helped. He did have an interesting style...

We played with one of his classmates and his mother. It was so great to see Xander and his friend cheering for and encouraging each other. During one of my frames they realized they could enter their names in the lane next to us. Next thing we know, they are both bowling at the same time on their own lanes. The workers there stepped in pretty quickly to reclaim that lane for a birthday party.

Xander's friend and mom left after a bit but Xander and I continued on until our time was up. He has asked to go back every day since.

Light up the Sound

Last night, out of nowhere, Xander grabbed his guitar and started to make a song. He then grabbed some paper and wrote down the song.

After that one performance, Josie wanted in on that action. Xander freaks out because she is replacing the word 'sound' with 'sun'.

Look! No (training) wheels!

It's been a long time coming. Xander loves riding his bike. He gives the balance bike a go every once in a while. He LOVES going on the trailer bike with Chris. So Chris decided to take off the training wheels and see how Xander would do.

Pretty good for the first time!

Castles on the Rug

It all began with a gift for Christmas 2010.


Nothing fancy was built in the beginning. Sadly, those bright blocks were left in Ohio.


So an investment was made into plain wooden blocks. And soon Xander would begin running up to me to ask "Mom, do you like my castle?"

"Why, yes, I do like your castle."


"Why, yes, that is a nicely balanced castle."


"Why, yes, I like how a little man lives in that castle."


"Yes, nice castle. Did Buzz help you build it?"


"That's a pretty awesome castle, Xander. How on earth did you do that?"


"Wow, that is an amazingly precise castle!"


"Xander, do you want to take architectural designs next year in preschool?"


Then, just to mix it up, Xander started building more with his Mega Blocks. He's had them forever and plays with them all the time but only recently started building castles with them.



Now the best part of building a castle is knocking it down, in case you didn't already know that. Usually Xander will knock down his own creation. Sometimes Josie will get in there and destroy it, causing hysteria. Occasionally Xander will run up and ask "Mom, do you want to knock down my castle?!?" Somedays Superboy or a ball will knock down the castles. Here's an example of a truck doing the deed.



Xander loves to ask for me to help build his castles but I never seem to do it right. "No, Mom, that doesn't go there!" And I'm afraid I'll stifle his creative spirit because I would never think to build some of those castles.

San Diego Vacation - Hotel

This is the last post about our vacation, I promise. We just had so much fun I that I have to get it all documented.

Our hotel experience went pretty well. We had a two bed room with a crib for Josie. The first night was lousy with the spring break boys playing WrestleMania at 11:30 at night. The next few nights were much better. You already know about the pool. While there was no free continental breakfast, there was a nice restaurant with delicious food. By the last morning Xander was running in yelling "Good morning!" to the cashier.

We went out for dinner a couple nights but stayed in the other nights because we were just so tired and knew the kids wouldn't deal well with sitting patiently.

We turn into zombies in front of the television.

"Hey!" Made them look!

Xander is in his zone.

My favorite picture ever. Once again I have to add that she did not learn this from me.

Bed head!

I accidentally had my camera phone on video mode when I originally took the above picture.
Perfect timing on Chris's part!

San Diego Vacation - Pool

I already mentioned that we went to the hotel pool on the day we arrived in San Diego. We also went swimming after a warm day at SeaWorld.

Xander wore his water wings and did a good job of getting around by himself.
He tends to 'swim' by running in the water. It was slow, but got him where he wanted.

Josie was put into her floatie. She was content to sit in it and lean over to splash the water with her hands at first.

Then she wanted out to practice trust falls with Dad.

Then she just wanted to play on the steps.

Of course you can't just leave her to play in the steps of the pool, so Dad had to carry her around.

Meanwhile, Xander really wanted me to get into the pool because it's cool for me (whatever that means). Notice that he is the type to use his hands and body while trying to talk Mom into the pool.

After swimming was over, we headed out to lunch. Thanks to the fancy apps on our phones, we were never at a loss for suggestions or directions. This night Chris decided on a Mexican restaurant.

Surprisingly, Xander has a fear of mariachi bands.
I expected him to get up and dance when the band came over to play "It's a Small World." Instead, after sobbing and clutching Mom, the band stopped and slunk to the next table where there were no temperamental three year olds.

Josie just wanted to know when the food would arrive.

Entertainment Around Our House

Josie has become obsessed with the buckles on her booster seat. I remember that Xander also went through this phase. "Look what I can do, I can buckle myself in! Wait, now it's buckled and I can't go anywhere! Momma, open! Open! Open, Momma!" Ok, she only says the last part.

Tired of being called over to unbuckle the little sweetheart, I took the seat off of the chair and set it on the floor. Added bonus, more buckles to put together! Now, when she sits down and buckles up, this is what we get.



Xander saw that I recorded Josie and had to get in on that fun.

Dad Teaches How To Jump Rope

First, Dad demonstrates how to jump rope.



Then, Xander jumps and holds a rope, therefore he must be jumping rope.




And, finally, demand that Josie learn to jump despite not being able to jump.




Sadly, I was not taped jumping. I did awesome though.

Performance Art

We are trying to get out and do things on the weekends while we are here, but sometimes we have no idea what. While Chris was looking for something to do indoors last Sunday, he found that there is a Pixar exhibit at a museum. Not the best choice to bring a three year old to, but we decided to go for it.

We arrived and Chris stood in line with Josie while I wandered with Xander in the outdoor part. Our tickets were for 2:45 and it was just after 1, so we went in to look at the regular art museum. Xander kept asking "What's that?" and tried to touch everything. Then we found a special room for 'Art of the Immaterial' and Xander felt the need to express himself.


(I'm not sure how this will work, I recorded it on my iPhone but it doesn't seem to load correctly. It's basically Xander stomping to a techno beat as a voice names the colors on the screen.)

After this, we decided to take a rest room break and headed for an exit when the lights went out. I was immediately grabbing for my phone for light and calling for Xander, but emergency lights went on in less than 30 seconds. We headed to the rest room and when we reconvened we found out that the doors were locked and everyone was hanging around outside in the rain.

After about ten more minutes it was announced that this was a city-wide power failure and the museum was closing, but our tickets would be good for another time that we would like to visit.

So I will let you know how the Pixar exhibit is within the next two months.

snoring baby!

Xander and I went for a walk and he fell asleep in the backpack. Turn the volume up really loud for this one.

dinnertime hijinx

More of us goofing around after dinner....








It's the crab rangoons that give him strength!

Sitting around the house...

rollover Beethoven

So tonight in a fit of fatherly frustration at how to stop a crying baby from crying, I decided that Xander could use some time on the floor face down. With all the limb flailing that he does when he is upset, I figured that it would be good way for him to expend that frustration and exercise his little muscles.

Well, as it turns out our little Xander can roll over at 16 days old. And not just once, but we finally got the camera on the third rollover, this is the tail end of it.



And after the first time I made sure he was in a superman position when I placed him on the floor. So don't get the idea that there was any halfway placement by a parent so that we could brag about what our kid could do...this was a full belly arms legs extended starting position.