LT bikes

As usual, LT wasn't going to ride a two wheeler (no training wheels) until he was ready. We tried this fall and he grasped the concept, but wasn't very enthusiastic about getting rid of his push bike. However, after his attempt riding his push bike yesterday (his knees in his arm pits), I think he realized he was in fact too big for it. I just mentioned in passing today that we could get out his pedal bike and I could help him learn. He said, "great idea, but I already know how to ride it without help." With a tiny push (although I am working with him on using his legs to push off), he can ride it alone now. He wanted me to take video after video of him riding.

Ski day with mom

Although I take LT weekly to ski lessons, it wasn't until this week that we were able to ski together. Typically, Adler comes up with us and stays with Baba during LTs lesson and then we rush out of lessons to get Adler down for a nap. This week Adler had a bad cold and I thought it would be better for him to stay down in Denver and rest instead. While LT was in lessons, I skied and then met him for lunch. Before he ate, he said he might be too tired to ski with me. However, as is typical with LT, he ate and ate and ate and was suddenly happy and excited to go ski again. We did 4 runs under the lift together (he wasn't ready to quit, but I needed to get down to Denver to tutor the little boy I tutor on Wednesdays). On our first lift up, he wanted to show me everything he had done with his class. The picture above is the obstacle course they took him on. He also showed me the tree that is decorated in Mardi Gras necklaces.
I was nervous about trying to get him on and off the lift, but I quickly realized that besides needing a little boost (only due to not being tall enough) onto the lift, he could do the rest himself. We got to the top and he hopped off and skied down the hill. He told me that the way we ski together is to play follow the leader, and I was to go first. I started off and he flew past me yelling "NOT THAT SLOW MOMMY!" Off he went.
This week was the last week of his four week ski session. They had a little ice cream party with rainbow ice cream, chocolate sauce and sprinkles!

Donuts

Adler has a sweet tooth, there's no doubt. I try not to feed the kids much extra sugar, but last week Adler got two donuts! While up at Baba's house for LTs ski lesson, she had bought donuts for the boys for breakfast. He was so happy and ate it quickly.

A few days later, Adler and I stopped at the yummy donut store by Papa and Grandmas house. Adler chose very carefully the one with pink frosting, no sprinkles. It was the only one left, we got lucky!

Coconut Tower

It's been about six weeks since I last skied with LT and I knew he's learned a lot in the three lessons he's had since then but I was still really surprised and impressed at how much he's improved.

I was so taken aback as a proud father that I had to break out my phone and try and capture some of it on video. Here he is skiing under the Kokomo lift which, for reasons I don't quite understand, he calls "Coconut Tower." The terrain under Kokomo is as beginner as it gets but this was still leaps and bounds ahead of what he was doing just a few weeks ago.

We went with some friends who have a boy a little younger than LT and two older girls.  LT was really excited to do Kokomo again until he found out that the girls were going to go on a bigger lift. He shyly told me he wanted to follow the girls. He'd been telling me the whole previous run that he wanted to go faster so I figured what the heck, why not take him on something more challenging.

We got to the top of Union Creek quad and LT and Elise (the middle girl) decided to ski down on the greens with me while her older sister and dad went to do some bumps on the blues. This was definitely more challenging than Kokomo and maybe LT wasn't quite ready for it.  But despite a few crashes and a little help down the steeper sections, he did great.   

One big run was enough and they decided they wanted to do some runs on the magic carpet.  

I took off my skis and just watched while LT and Elise did laps together on the carpet. She's a little better than he is but they are close enough in skill level to be pretty good ski buddies. Here you see Elise diligently ski around the cones while LT just cruses down the middle.  

LT did one more run than Elise and she hiked half way up the hill in her ski boots and told me it was so she could help LT get up just in case he fell over.

I thought he'd be exhausted when we got back to Baba's house. And he probably was but that didn't keep him from going sledding outside for over an hour (maybe 'cause the older girls were doing it). Regardless, I guess LT is just a snow-sports kid at heart.

Childrens Museum

Baba was so kind to give the boys a Childrens Museum membership for Christmas. I take Adler every Thursday there while LT is in school, but the three of us have also made a few visits.

Adler the mad scientist.
They usually have a fire truck for the kids to play on, but the exhibit has been under construction for quite awhile. Meanwhile, they have this temporary truck for the kids to play on. Neither of them can wait until the other one opens, its definitely a highlight of every visit.
We were surprised when we went the other day after not having been for a year. They have a new space exhibit! The kids can launch rockets, explore gravity and built their own rockets. LT spent over an hour in this one small area.
Eye protection... the boys might have some differences, but they both protect their eyes, no matter what. This is the first thing Adler asks for when he goes into the bubble exhibit.

Skiing

Both Brian and I learned to ski young. The exact age is unknown, but it was young enough that neither of us remember the first runs we took. I knew I wanted LT to learn young too, but somehow learning to ski before 4 seemed silly and challenging. How would he walk in the boots? Carry his own skis? His little muscles were still developing. I, for no real reason, decided 4 was a perfect age. I intentionally schedule his school schedule so that he had some time off to ski during the week, knowing that Kindergarten brought a whole new schedule to our lives and we would never be this flexible again. I think, for us, we chose the right age.

We discussed whether or not we should teach him ourselves. Lessons are expensive and not flexible. Yet, despite the fact that Brian and I can both ski well, neither of us have a clue as to how to teach a child to ski. After a few family attempts, I decided to sign LT up for 4 consecutive lessons at Copper. I intentionally did not tell LT we had signed him up (I was worried he would refuse to go). We have been driving up Tuesday night, staying with Baba and then heading to Copper for lessons Wed mornings. Last week was our first week. I waited until our drive up and casually mentioned to LT that he would start ski school the next day. I waited anxiously for a reply. After a minute he said, "oh great, I think I will really like it. I will be fine mom!" Ah, what a relief. We went to Copper Wed morning on a bright, sunny warm day (no snow for mom to enjoy, but for LT it was perfect conditions). LT had no trouble putting on his boots, carrying his skis or walking from the lodge out to the magic carpet on the first day. Best of all, he loved it and wanted to go back again this week.

On our drive home, after a long nap, he did mention that "it was a little long mommy, I was tired." Our intention in teaching him to ski is to enjoy it and have fun. I told him I would be happy to come back halfway through this week and check on him. Today was a different story weather wise. It was windy, below zero and snowing. I was sure he would want to leave with me halfway through, but I was wrong. He didn't want to stop. He didn't want help. He wanted to keep practicing and showing me all the things he had learned. Even I had to go in and warm up a few times, but he insisted on staying outside.
His teacher is really great. A young guy with a lot of enthusiasm. They use hula hoops at first to get the kids to learn to snowplow. The first run I watched LT, he used the hula hoop. Never again, and he never fell or got his skis crossed.
By the end his teacher was even pushing him gently on his back to get him to go faster, and still no trouble. He loved it even more.

Here are a few videos from today. He's come a long way with just a few days on the slopes.

Better late than never

 

In what is now a holiday tradition, every year I take the prior year's blog content, turn it into a book using an online service, and give it as a Christmas gift to the grandparents. This year Kari's mom asked, "now is Alder's birthday party in here?"

Oh right, Adler's birthday party... um, somehow that one just slipped though the cracks. Poor kid. 

So, many months late, here are some photos of Alder's two year old birthday party. We did it at the little place the boys sometimes take gymnastics classes.  I thought it was a great party and, as far as I can tell from these photos, it looks like everyone had a pretty good time. 

Behind-the-Scenes

I linked to our holiday card post on some social media sites with what I thought was kind of funny, "whether you celebrate Retail Christmas or something less mainstream like Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, etc., we wish you the very best this season http://landon-t-c.blogspot.com/2011/12/happy-holidays.html"

I amuse myself sometimes. 

All the photos in the card were taken in my friend's, and reluctant co-worker's, garage studio.  Those and a few others are here. He took the ones of our whole family and let me shoot lots of the boys - the boys weren't entirely cooperative as seen below running around the set. Above is LT relaxing on a single chair with his three kids watching TV after the photo session. The rest of the photos are just outtake shots of the boys together that I thought were cute.