Family Time

We've been so fortunate to spend lots of quality time together as a family this summer. Recently, we headed to Vasona Park in Los Gatos for a stroll near the lake and an afternoon complete with good friends and Snow Cones. While Brody might not have gotten to indulge on lots of high fructose corn syrup, he did enjoy some time "flying" with daddy.

Up, up, and away!

18 Months...Where Does the Time Go?

Like most parents, I now know that it feels as thought time is flying by. This past week, Brody hit the 18month mark. I can hardly believe how much this little guy has grown!
1. Brody is chatting up a storm. While much of what he says doesn't actually make a whole lot of sense, you can just tell by watching him that he is so determined to get his point across whenever he babbles. He does know quite a few words now (mommy, daddy, pup pup (dog), kitty cat, car, truck, tractor, choo choo, more, milk, cheese, juice, pee pee a poo poo (which he LOVES to say in public!), ball). He also knows quite a few animal sounds...needless to say our time in the car sounds more like we are in a barnyard as we practice our sounds every day.

2. Brody is running, climbing, hopping, jumping, falling....all over the place. Lately he quite enjoys climbing atop the kitchen table and sitting up there like he is King of the World. It's very amusing....especially watching him realize that he can't climb off the table.

3. We have reached the "Obsessed With Cars and Trains" phase. Make that OBSESSED! Brody love the Disney/Pixar Cars movie and ALL of the characters - Lightening McQueen, Sally, Mater, Guico (which he pronouces "Geek-O"), Sherrif, Mack, Doc, Ramone, and more. He also LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine. In fact, we finally broke down and thanks to Craigslist, we are now the proud owners of a train table, lots of wodden tracks, and Thomas and friends train cars. And yes, we occaisionally find cars and trains in random places throughout the house. I found a dump truck in my running shoes the other day...So FUN!!! :-)

4. Brody experienced a rite of passage with his first visit to Disneyland. While he might still be too young to remember his day at "The Happiest Place on Earth," it was fun to see his face upon meeting Winnie the Pooh, playing around in Toontown, and seeing the antique fire trucks on Main Street. (It was NOT fun to see him breakdown in the middle of the day because of exhaustion, sensory overload, the heat, etc.)

5. Brody is becoming a pro at using Skype to "talk" to his Grandparents. While he has a short attention span, he does like seeing Sasha and Tula (the family dogs) on the computer screen. Porter likes that too and definitely is NOT afraid to let us know with his own barking.

We've got our 18month check up on Thursday, so more later on his growth. In the meantime, how could you not love a cutie like this:

Happy 18 months little man!

Aquarium Adventures

We first took Brody to the Monterey Bay Aquarium when he was about 7 1/2 months old. While I think he enjoyed it, he was a bit too small to really get out and explore the exhibits and enjoy all of the fun things that they have especially for younger children. With our annual passes in hand, we ventured back to the Aquarium, this time as "members," and embarked on an adventure through the eyes of a now 17 month old. Here are some images from the day:

We backpacked it this time! No stroller to mess with...
highly recommended method of travel for any little one!

One of our first views upon entering the Aquarium.

Not quite sure what these were, but they were pretty cool!
(Brody was more fixated on other things, so I didn't
have time to catch the name of this sea creature)

A pretty orange fish. Brody thought it was "Nemo."

Giving the anchovie a kiss.

Brody trying to "find" Nemo.

Giddy up!

There's something fishy going on here!
(Cutest Halloween costume idea!)

Enjoying the slide in the Splash Zone.

Look mom and dad! I caught TWO fish!

Plant or sea horse?
(This was part of the new AMAZING sea horse exhibit!
I could have spent hours at this exhibit alone, soooo cool!)

Again...AMAZING!!!

Tomato!

A few months ago, Brody got to hang out at the Playcare Center at the gym we belong to. He actually hangs out there a few times a week while I swim or go to a class, but this time he hung out with other kids during a "Parents' Night Out." We dropped Brody off at about 4pm, headed across the street to the mall for dinner and a movie, them went back to pick him up at 8pm. He had a great time, and even brought home a present: a tomato plant!

When it comes to planting fruits and veggies, we certainly are far from experts! A few years ago we planted a lemon tree with high hopes that it would provide us for fresh lemons (the perfect companion to a nice cold beer or soda), but I can count on ONE hand how many lemons have actually grown in the past few years. For the longest time I thought perhaps we had planted a lime tree instead. Nope...just a defunct lemon tree.

So, I'll admit that I really didn't want to screw up planting this tomato plant! My son brings home something that's living, needs to grow, and needs to be taken care of, so naturally I want to do what I can to help this little plant grow so that Brody can get excited when we go outside to water the plants. So, a few days after we brought it home, I planted it in out backyard and crossed my fingers that it would grow!

Fast forward a few weeks, and holy cow!!!! THE THING IS STILL ALIVE AND GROWING!!! Every time we go out into the backyard, Brody always wants to show us his tomatoes! Right now, we've got two tomatoes growing, and if Brody can keep his hand off of them, I think that they just might make it!

Pointing out his tomatoes.

Watering his tomatoes.

Perhaps this will start a trend and we'll start growing other fruits and veggies. Better yet, perhaps this will help all of us (Mike, Brody, and I) to actually EAT our veggies! Brody wins hands down in the fruit consumption department. In fact, there are days that I am shocked he doesn't actually turn into a grape, strawberry, or lately a blueberry! Whatever the case, watching my little guy take pride in "his tomato" is pretty cool!

Anyone for blueberries?

Heat Wave!

Summer has only just begun, but we've been enjoying our time outside. This past week we had a bit of a heat wave, so we came up with some fun ways to cool off! Here are the latest shots of Brody staying cool:

Splashing in the pool!

Catch this, mommy!

First ice cream cone, compliments of Drew and Mia!

Hanging with Porter in the Kiddie/Doggie Pool!

NO FEAR when it comes to running THROUGH

any water fountains!

This coming weekend we are heading to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to enjoy their new seas horse exhibit. The last time we visited, Brody was only 8 months old. This time, we think he'll enjoy it much more and we'll all be able to explore things together. We recently purchased an annual membership at the Aquarium, so I think that we'll be heading down there quite a bit this summer and throughout the year.