Monday, June 28, 2010

Train Museum with mom, again


Occasionally LT and I get a day to just hang out, alone. We had one of those days this week. Inevitably when I ask LT what he wants to do, he says go to the train museum, without any hesitation. So, we did. We usually do the exactly same thing. We park, go inside to the gift shop area and play on the Thomas table, look at the trains that are for sale (and try to convince mom which ones he wants or will get "next time"), go outside and look at the backhoes and any other construction equipment and then end our time at the round house. This week started no differently, in the gift shop/Thomas table. However, MC, Isaacs mom, had mentioned that Isaacs favorite part of the train museum is the basement. I had no idea there was a basement! LT and I checked it out, and indeed it was very cool. There is a model train you can pay a quarter to see run and another quarter if you want to see the miniature amusement park run. We did that a few times. There is also a little wooden train, just the perfect size for a 3 year old conductor!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Playing with daddy




Music & Pizza


A while back I asked LT what he wanted to do for his birthday party and he told me that he wanted to have a music class with pizza and ice cream. He changed his answer many times since that time, as three year olds are wont to do, but the music class was the most popular reoccurring idea. So we decided to have a small (due to limits of the venue) party at Music Together.


We've been taking LT to music since he was pretty young and it's taken him some time to come out of his shell in class. At first he would just sit quietly and watch - it didn't even seem like he liked class when we were there. But he would always talk about class and ask to listen to the CD in the car and so we figured he must like something about it. Over time he's gotten more comfortable and involved at class but apparently he was extra comfortable at his own party because he was very animated from start to finish.


Riley politely enjoying the music.

In addition to music, dancing and instrument playing, the teacher improvised well and got the kids pretending to be animals.

And really, what's a music class without a little wrestling match?

Maike's little brother Lucas.

Maike and her mom.

LT getting into the party spirit.

Z choosing some instruments for the play along song.

Ewan hamming it up for the camera.

Dancing!

And more dancing!

Jonah totally captivated with the chimes the teacher was showing him.

Holden playing the shaker.

The dentist's baby with some juice. Just sayin'...

Adler had a big day at LT's party including trying to steal beer.

Having a great time climbing onto the big drum while other kids were trying to play it.

Having his first slice of pizza and trying to be just like the big kids.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Belleview Park

I took the little boys to Belleview Park earlier this week. It is a huge park, with a petting zoo, a small train ride and a long stream for kids to play in. LT and I hadn't been since LT was just a year old and I thought he would really enjoy it now.
We got there soon after it opened and the petting zoo was having some "technical difficulties" and wasn't open yet. Therefore, ALL the kids were in line for the train. Needless to say, it was a long wait, but LT waited patiently as you can see below.
Adler tried to be patient, but was itching to crawl and stretch his legs by the third time the train filled and we were still in line. He did a great job though.
I had this great idea that I would get a cute picture of the boys on the train together. As you can see, there are some funny shots, not exactly what I was aiming for, but the boys were having fun playing together on the train and thats all I could ask for.
Adler was intent on taking LTs glasses off and LT thought it was hilarious.
By the fifth minute of the train (its maybe 10 minutes), Adler was ready to crawl out and off the train. For those of you who know him and have held him, he's pretty strong and extremely determined to have his way. Luckily mom won and he didn't get himself off.
When we got off the train, the petting zoo had finally opened. After a 30 minute drive, a 30 minute wait in line for the train, a 10 minute train ride, I thought LT should try to use the potty. We trekked it across the park (large) and found a public bathroom. It was a success for LT, he kept himself dry the whole time! Adler tried to climb in the potty. Luckily mom won again.
LT wasn't very interested in petting the animals. We weren't there for very long.He watched the ducks in their tiny "pond" for a few minutes.And tried to milk the fake cow, which was out of milk.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

new skillz

These pictures were taken about two weeks ago. Shorty after Adler learned to crawl, he started pulling himself up on just about anything he could find. He's gotten more stable but the first few days of this new trick were a little precarious as you can see from this series of pictures.

Potty trained (ing)

For some time now, I have wanted to get LT potty trained, for a variety of reasons. First, he is 3 now, seems like a reasonable time. Second, most of his buddies are, or are on their way to being, potty trained. Third, he needs to be for school next year (or so they say at least). But the very biggest motivator for me is the sheer number of diapers the Campbell household throws away daily and my constant guilt of polluting the earth. Despite all these reasons motivating me, I have to be honest that it seemed like a very daunting task (especially hearing Brian's parents talk about the troubles they had trying to potty train Brian and how old he was).
This week, I was sort of thrown off guard and forced to potty train. I order both boys diapers off of Amazon. They are shipped once a month in a big box. Last month we had plenty of LTs diapers and so I skipped a shipment and forgot to restart the subscription. Thus, Monday morning, I was left with NO diapers for LT. On top of that, I was watching Sofi and Ofelia for a portion of the day. Yikes, 2 kids in underwear (1 not potty trained at all) and two mischevious babies who have no fear.
In hindsight (even though it was hard at the time), this was probably the best day to just force LT into being potty trained. Sofi, one of his closest buds, was already potty trained. Seeing her ask to go potty reminded him all day that he should ask too and he did. I think he had one accident all day the first day and probably 3 or so more all week. It was a little rough the first day with both kids asking to go potty every 15 minutes, but LT seems to get it. So, here I am documenting this huge milestone (and hoping he doesn't regress).

In addition to potty training, we did some finger painting (which is the only time I had a minute to take out the camera!)
Poor Adler really really wanted to finger paint, but was forced to just watch from the sidelines.
The calm before the storm. Not long after this picture was taken, the kids just dumped out the jars of paint and their pictures were piled mile high with paint. They loved it.Thank you, Sofi!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Z and LT

LT in the hot tub after swim lessons with Z.
Sitting on your friend's lap is always a fun activity.

Making silly faces for the camera.
Drinking juice at Sofi's third birthday party.

And of course, doing what these two boys do best, digging and driving cars through sand.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Expressions of a 3yr old

Landon turned three years old on Saturday. Kari was gone most of the morning doing a triathlon so I got to hang out with the boys and that, of course, meant that they had to put up with a camera in their face all morning. For some reason I managed to capture a number of very LTesque facial expressions that morning - expressions I can't really describe nor do I necessarily know what they mean - but they are just him.


Like this face.

And this one.

Brothers playing nicely together.

Chugging trains and parking them in the garage under the back of the couch.

In the afternoon we had all the grandparents over for a BBQ birthday. LT was very happy to have everyone around and to get a few birthday presents.

Dylan, one of LT's friends, has this same kind of race track and I've always enjoyed playing with it when we are at his house. So I was very excited when LT got one of his own for his birthday. Oh, and LT seemed happy about it too.

LT decided he needed to take pictures of his own cake ceremony. We haven't looked at the pictures from his camera yet but hopefully he got some good ones because I was having technical difficulties with my equipment at this point in the evening.

One more classic LT expression as he takes the candles out of the cake.

The singing fishy card was pretty cute for the first ten or so rounds of the song with LT singing and dancing along with it. By Sunday afternoon and maybe the 10,000th rendition of the short tune, however...