Godzilla Returns!

Ingrid went away on business again this week, leaving me alone with the (not so) little guy. The first pic is actually a little older, but just shows that Bunky and I can survive OK on our own.

More importantly though, Ingrid was up in Canada on her trip so of course she had to go look for things we can't get here. Like, HOCKEY SKATES in Fin's size. And another LEAFS jersey. Anyway, I put his skates on while we were watching the Flames-Sharks game, and he was very excited bu the prospect that he would get to wear skates just like the players on TV. He even asked for his helmet but unfortunately I think that's still in the car from the last time we went skating. He walked around in his skates all over the living room (skate guards on of course) and seemed to have pretty good balance and even decent ankle strength. You can even see that he's bending his knees for proper balance in a couple of the pics.

We haven't made it to the rink for a while now, but I think this week I'll take him over to the rink again and see how he does on his new blades! I just need to find somewhere decent to get his skates sharpened (not so easy in Los Angeles).

Fin at Marcello's Party

My friend and mommy-mentor, Maria, has a son, Marcello, who turned two on March 31. So for my birthday on Sunday the 30th, I went to his party, which was a hoot.

Trying to get Fin out of the little ride-in car was like prying candy from a baby. He did share, though, with a little convincing. He loves cars. I know Omi wants to get him one and I hope she does some day - just not yet. :) The other thing he fixated on - which saved me from having to share my Carvel ice cream cake with him - was a toy phone. Go figure. The kid was trading stocks and negotiating hostile corporate takeovers during the party.


Maria, Marcello, and big brother Truman just after blowing on - I mean out the candles. All two of them. haha


The bubble machine - always a fascinating attraction! (Fin in red jacket)


Here's a kind of reverse shot of the bubble machine and the kids playing, after it had been knocked over, all the batteries fell out, etc. But the dads on the scene fixed it quickly. Fin ran around and chased bubbles too, but he was a little shy. (Fin on far right)

Easter Bunnies & Chicks & Pigs

Ah, to "celebrate" Easter ... a holiday that I never really got into except when I was in The Glory of Easter pageant year after year (and that's a month-long commitment and a professional show... I wonder if it still runs?). Anyway, we tried a little bit to get into the spirit but it's not easy when it's 80+ degrees and your skin turns pink before you even get out of the shade.

No pictures - sorry, I know that will disappoint everyone. I haven't even taken pics in the past month :(

Yesterday (Sat) we went to the park where the Studio City council put on an easter egg hunt, which was to say, scattered 10,000 plastic eggs in a 50'x50' area and, age by age, let the kids mow through like a herd of tiny biped cattle and those in the front got all the eggs and those of us in the back got one, and some kids got none. We gave our one egg to one of those unfortunates, Marcello, who loves eggs, and we didn't need to trade it in for toy crap anyway. But it was cool that they did it, in age groups, too. We had sunscreen and lasted 10 minutes - I don't know how the other families survived. Oh and Bunky wanted to go on the big inflatable slide and got half way up the climbing part and slid down, and then I just kind of coaxed him off because it was going to become a disaster if he couldn't make it all the way up. Then we went to Jamba Juice and then home and played in the yard.

Today we lazed around... Fin and I went to the farmers' market which we haven't been to in a while. We got stuff and did free arts & crafts and played in the petting zoo. He likes bunnies but doesn't want to hold them; he likes chicks but doesn't want to hold or touch them; he did acknowledge other living creatures including the plethora of kid goats the size of small cats and the piggies the size of large fat cats. I pet the calf but the "cow goes moo" seemed to escape his attention. We had a nice walk and later in the day we went to the bookstore where he went up and down the stairs and ran all over, and we were on our way to the park when he fell asleep... but of course that lasted until we got home and no nap (as usual). For dinner we had Sunday Roast and Yorkshire Pudding at the pub and he was a good boy.

WHAT'S UP NOWADAYS?

Fin's big thing now is "no." He's entering that stage where he has tremendous energy - far more than I can keep up with (he seldom naps and I am needing a nap 2-3 times a day). He's testing everything - swing this, throw that, smack this against that... not in a malicious way, just to see what happens, or to expend new kinds of energy. Belt! Swing it around and around and around until you smack daddy in the leg - daddy yelps and that's funny! Daddy growls and that's scary... try it again to see what happens... and then go running to Mama for emotional support. No more does saying "stop" work like a game, now it's look you right in the eye and say "no" and see what happens. Well we are as gentle and non-reactive as we can be, barring safety issues (like brain damage to us or him), as we don't want to create the kind of reaction he finds amusing and wants to recreate. However, we're stern - he said no to coming inside and I went after him and dragged him (gently) in, saying "No say no to mommy, you come when mommy say come!" And he came inside just fine. Not very many tantrums to date, though I've probably just cursed myself.

He can sing the alphabet (given his phenomic challenges) and count to twelve, and recognizes more than 50% of letters, and he finally seems to acknowledge a color - blue. That's the only color, though. Blue car. Blue train. The pediatrician said once he gets a color he'll probably stick with it for everything, but so far he's only using it correctly, not for everything. Mention another color, however, and he still glazes over like you've asked him to calculate the distance to the moon.

He's damn smart. And damn cute!

Just two pics for no reason

Although we're not quite ready for potty training yet,
Bunky does imitate just about everything we do, and
doing the "business" is no exception. Here I caught
him with his pants down (yuk yuk!).
He is quite proud to go through the motions, but he
has yet to go racing there of his own accord.
I hear the trick is to use real underwear. Yuck!
There is no rush. We'll wait 'til he's ready.

I know this sounds like a cliched proud mamma statement,
but Bunky knows most of his letters and reads books
front to back (mostly), and memorizes the stories on a
page-by-page basis. Sure, it's not really reading yet, but
it's a good sign he totally gets it - he's probably going to read
before he uses the potty properly!

Bunky's First SKATE!

Today we went for our first skate. What inspired us was threefold: Feistabillo sent a pic of Little Joey skating with her in Alaska, and Bunky's desire to wear his helmet on the couch, and Daddy's experiment with Bunky's $10 "bobskates" (two blades - it's cheating but we're more interested in a happy experience than actual skating right now). He seemed to like the bobskates, so we decided to go to public session at our rink.

It didn't take long after walking around off the ice for him to get comfortable ... and before long he was ready to let go of my hands. (I, however, kept holding him for obvious reasons, namely that it's slippery out there!)

What kind of adventure would it be if we didn't stop for a food break where we push all the buttons until Mom gets the hint and pulls out a dollar for some cheese crackers?

Oh yes, Daddy got some skate time in, too.

We decided to leave while he was still happy and having fun.

Afterward we went home, had lunch, and watched the Leafs beat Boston in OT!!! With Mama's favorite player, Darcy Tucker, getting a goal, a point, and then the overtime winner... w00t!

The Big TWO was Jan. 21

So Fin turned two on Jan. 21. But the day before was Sunday, so we enjoyed a little excursion to the L.A. Live Steamers museum. I was very disappointed. There's only one train ride and you can't go into the park itself (granted it's tiny!) and the wait to ride was an hour. It was not at all like they made it look on TV, where you go in and ride lots of different trains and rails. Hmph.

Anyway, we got to ride, and it was a lot of fun. Fin got the front seat!

Here we all look good and Bunky missed his shot.

The best part of his birthday (this is from the night before the train ride) was hanging out with Bapa. He seemed to have a Bapa fetish which is soooooo cute. I think Omi was jealous. :P

Waiting in line was all right as long as Bapa was around.

We opened a birthday present from our friend Lyra (and Melinda at work) and we liked it so much that we took it to MyGym that night, even though we hadn't even gotten it out of the box yet! When we got home Mamma opened it and now it's one of my favorites.

Great birthday. Next year, party!

Snow Day was Jan 13

Somewhere back in January we went up to the snow for the afternoon. While we were looking for a hill, the road was blocked. So we used the road. It was dandy.

I think Daddy might have enjoyed it more than Fin did, though.

Somehow, I don't know how... Fin let us put on his tuk and he actually wore it the whole time. Too bad he wouldn't leave his mittens on. He just didn't "get it" when his knuckles scraped the snow or when his fingers were so cold they burned. *sigh*

Photography is fun in the snow, too... who's that fat pink polar bear behind Bunky?!?!

All in all we had some fun sledding along the mild grade of the road.