Jump Around

Today Z attended a birthday party at what turned out to probably be his favorite venue yet: there were wall to wall trampolines, a giant digital clock (his new pasttime involves announcing the time every minute at meals), and topped off with ceiling fans. Here's a ten second video that apparently represented the entire hour that he was there (minus a 2-minute potty break).

But he did fabulously, not objecting one bit when mommy cued him that the hour was up. He even enjoyed everyone singing happy birthday to his friend N - the only minus was that the nap that followed meant he's likely going to be up crazy late this evening; Meredith and I are going to see a film, so hopefully he'll do okay for the babysitting mima.

Playing with food

In addition to his constantly expanding vocabulary (new recent words include "both" for pairs of items and "just" for emphasis or excluding something - "I just want to go outside" when I ask him to get in the car), Owen continues to surprise with his ability to both pretend and draw comparisons to other things he knows. Whether it's riding his horse, picking up a blue lego and pretending it's a car (yes, the cars are still on holiday), cooking in his kitchen while mommy or I am making something to eat in the grown-up version, or inventing some new friends to read to (watch below), this kid has a wonderful imagination:

Mommy has a yellow hairclip that he says "looks like an airplane", and indeed, when he said that, I immediately saw the biplane shape. (He more specifically says it's an "airplane with fruit", since it has some dangly plastic fruit decorations.) Here he is making comparisons and references to both a piece of construction equipment he saw recently and one of his favorite books:

Garden Gnomes

Spring has finally started to, um, spring, with a few warm days sneaking through the grey ones. The boys have been really enjoying getting to spend more time outside; they often want to check on the fairy door Meredith installed a few months ago, to see how our little neighbors are doing -- though unfortunately this often involves tromping through/flattening mommy's pretty and just-sprouting flowers. Then of course O has taken to the toy lawnmower, and thinks that those same flowers are the perfect items to mow. Z for his part has rediscovered the large blue ball, and enjoys sitting on it and then rolling/falling off it (forward or backwards is apparently equally fun). Here they are both incorporating Thomas the Tank Engine into their outdoor activities:

On the plus side, they've been doing fairly well with sharing -- taking turns on the swing, both playing in the playhouse, and even occasionally cracking each other up with their antics. Oh, and I don't know if it's just that I have a somewhat squinty smile that O is imitating or what, but when we ask him to smile for a picture, it usually ends up looking something like this -- silly man. Anyway, heavy duty outdoor playtime is always balanced with a bit of chillaxin', sometimes back inside the house with snacks, but several times now on the deck chairs, casually sipping on milk or juice while surveying the premises:

Give it the boot

Well that certainly didn't take long - the boot is off, and Z is already mostly back to full on walking. Today he even climbed aboard the bus all by himself -- Go, Z! On the topic of the bus, lately O really wants to join us in waiting for and then boarding the bus. It's only mildly nerve wracking having the two boys running up and down the driveway, climbing onto and off of the stone bench, and often one doing each in opposite directions. But O has made a huge fan/friend in the bus driver, who he chats up and receives fun stickers from while I get Z belted in. And there's nothing quite as cute as O waving and saying "bye bye Zachary, bye bye yellow bus" as the bus pulls away from the house.

Doctor Doctor

A very busy day for our insurance card, as each boy got to visit a doctor today! Meh took Owen to his 24-month wellness checkup in the morning, and in the afternoon, Zachary and I returned to Children's Hospital for the latest status check on his leg. First, to Owen, who was very happy to be going to "see the fish" (they have a nice aquarium in the lobby) - apparently the happiness went away pretty quickly when they gave him his three shots ahead of the doctor's exam, when usually the shots follow. But beyond the sadness (not even assuaged by a pair of blue Snoopy bandaids) and the super-snotty cold he's been fighting (despite diligent kleenex application, his sleeves at the end of the day are a pretty gross sight), he's in good health! The stats:

• 26 lbs 6 oz (25th percentile)
• 34 1/4" tall (50th percentile)

(No head circumference measurement this time around apparently.)

In the afternoon, I drove Z to his own appointment -- he talked much of the way there about getting a "picture of his leg", and had a nice time wandering around the lobby (even saying hi to an older boy - it was very cute to see him interacting in this way with another kid), having a snack, and looking at pictures of cars and trucks (see yesterday's post) on my phone. He did great with both the x-rays and the exam, removing his boot twice so the leg could be examined. And we are delighted to say the boot is needed no more! The doctor said his bone growth looks great, and indeed in the before/after images, where there was a clear fracture before, I don't see a thing now. She indicated he might have a limp for up to 6 months, and we'll keep an eye on him to make sure he gets his leg strength back. But all in all, hooray -- tomorrow we'll try sending him to school sans boot and see how things go.

Virtual Toys

The boys' obsession with cars and trucks continues unabated despite the cars remaining on extended holiday (due to some pretty dramatic tantrums and constant fighting). They have a new favorite Curious George episode where he plays with cars (actually giving them a car wash, which the boys experienced in person last week with mommy -- Z apparently loved it, O got scared of those vertical scrubby cloth strips). And yesterday, they asked for "double decker buses on the TV"; sure enough, the Xbox YouTube app supplied us with video captures of both London and Brighton bus routes, and then motorbikes ramp-jumping over a series of double decker buses. The boys loved the latter so much that I found them a few other monster truck and stunt videos that they can watch again and again (but hopefully never imitate?). But their very favorite was a video of an evaluation of the "Cars 2" line of die cast toys. The boys continued to ask to watch the toys being removed from their plastic boxes ("here we go, opening presents!" said Z) and then stored inside of the larger Cars 2 playset storage Double Decker Bus. It's no tamagotchi, but these boys clearly have a favorite new virtual set of toys.

(And incidentally, more than a million hits on both of these videos?! Perhaps we're not the only ones with kids who are into toy unboxing.)

The Number Two Bus

While Owen isn't quite two (I'm particularly sad to miss the proper day, as I head out to San Francisco tomorrow morning and don't get back until the day after his birthday), we celebrated his birthday today with family (mima, papa, grandma, and J were all in attendance!) and several of his young friends. As usual, Meh was amazing and outdid herself with incredible decorations, food (for both the kids and grownups), drinks (tea and even London Underground-themed labelled waters for goodness sake), activities (making jeweled crowns), little picnic lunches for the kids, and pretty much everything; even the invitation was amazing stuff, not to mention our sons' matching outfits. More pictures of the fun times can be found here.

Oh, and ever since his friend L's birthday party a few months ago, Owen has had a very specific request for his own birthday cake:

(If you're wondering, "minna" is what O calls nursing -- we'll pass on discussing that topic in this entry, though I was amused to discover that one of the streets/venues I'll be at this week shares the name.)
Anyway, more than a month later, and Meh fulfilled this 'red heart' request on the back window of her amazingly incredible double decker bus cake. I myself contributed some UK-based chocolates, a miniature pop-up book of London sights, some stickers, and a piggy bank shaped like a double decker bus from my recent trip.

O was particularly giddy with everyone singing happy birthday to him, getting a huge smile on his face. He also chowed down on the cake itself (occasionally with a fork, mostly with his hands), in addition to playing energetically, making a crown with his friends, and generally having a blast. Z did very well with the flurry of other kids too.

Grandma and J had generously wanted to offer us a date night, but between our activities (my orchestra had a dress rehearsal Friday night, a concert on Saturday night, and Meh had a meeting Sunday night) the only opportunity was after the birthday party wrapped up. Meh and I had a nice quiet tea at our favorite Seattle tea house - thank you grandma and J! The whirlwind continues tomorrow, with grandma, J, and me all driving to the airport to fly our separate ways. Again, huge huge thanks to mima and papa for supporting Meh and the boys while my work travel schedule goes through hopefully its craziest stretch of the year.