Declan's Birthday

On January 8th, the family headed down to the Bay Area Discovery Museum for Tanyon's cousin Declan's birthday party. It was a gorgeous day on the bay! We spent some time checking out the water front before heading in. Tanyon liked watching the water and was thrilled to see his first pelican.

Once inside, we headed to the Tot Spot first.  Kids must be under 42" to enter. Out of curiosity, I measured Tanyon and he was just 2 inches under the maximum, which is funny, because there are still parts of the Tot Spot that he won't engage in because he is so cautious.

Inside the Tot Spot, he would go up the gopher/underground maze, but he won't drop down, because he is worried about falling. Meanwhile, many children way smaller than him had no problems doing it. On the pond side of the building, he still wouldn't go on the lily pads and pond, which are like little water beds. He doesn't like the instability. I hope he gets a chance to conquer these fears before he gets too tall to enter the building...

Outside the Tot Spot, Tanyon loved playing in the mock river with little plastic fish. We also checked out this cool feature that teaches kids about quail, their families, and predators.  Tanyon really liked getting all of the quail together with their family.

Since it was such a beautiful day, we spent most of the time engaging in the outdoor activities at the museum. On this one, children move washers up the rods and release.  As the washers move down, they make cool noises:

Inside the art room, Tanyon played with flubber, which was a lot like moon dough. Although fun, the room was a little crowded and we had just a little more time before the party.

Unfortunately, once the party began, we didn't have any time to take pictures.  Paul and I helped keep an eye on Declan's little brother Weston.  Between Tanyon and Weston we were busy eating, playing and running around outside. It was a great party though and we are grateful to Molly and Clay for inviting us.

Time with Quincy June

On Jan. 7th, Tanyon and I got the opportunity to watch Baby Quincy for a little while her mommy went to the grocery store. Tanyon was thrilled!  However, it was quite a learning experience for him. We had to have chats about being gentle. Once Quincy started to cry right after he had touched her arm and he thought he had hurt her, so he nearly started crying himself. He learned  that sometimes babies cry, it is not necessarily something you did wrong.  It was a great training opportunity for this future big brother and we hope to do it again soon.

Here we have propped Quincy on the pillows, so Tanyon could make silly faces at her better:

He couldn't help but sneak in a kiss:

Here he is reading books to her:

Tanyon did learn that babies love to be sang to, so he sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at least 12 times to Miss Quincy that evening.

Binkie Fairy

With the new baby just over a month away, we decided it was time for a visit from the Binkie Fairy...

Here is the letter Tanyon and I wrote to the Binkie Fairy:

We went all through the house and collected any binkie we could find, then we put them in a fancy bag for her to take:

We placed the bag in Tanyon's room for her to find while he was sleeping:

In the morning, Tanyon had a new big boy present in its place:

He was a little sleepy, but super excited to open it:

His surprised face as he realizes it is exactly what he asked for:

The letter Tanyon received from the Binkie Fairy:

The baby binkies she brought for baby brother:

The next night, Tanyon went to sleep without any fuss and did not ask for his binkie once.  However, the following nights were a little harder.  Tanyon had to learn to settle himself without the binkie. He did not ask for his binkie during this time, he was clear that it was no longer an option, but he asked for me to hold him, more blankets, no blankets, special stuffed animals, etc. After one week, however, Tanyon is now going to sleep beautifully. We do our night time routine. I turn on his music, turn out the lights, sit next to his bed, so he knows he is safe, then he falls asleep in about 10 minutes. I am soooo glad we did this before the new baby came!

Babymoon

On January 4th-6th, Paul and I took off for a "Babymoon" (a little getaway alone before the new one arrives).  We decided a couple of years ago to not get big Christmas and birthday gifts for each other, instead we go on an overnight somewhere together.  We like the idea of creating memories instead of accumulating things. 

Our first stop was Santa Cruz's Uncommon Brewers.  We had tasted their beer at the Face-to-Face Benefit Beer Fest in Santa Rosa two years ago and really liked their stuff.  They are a small operation that doesn't even have a tasting room. The owner and brewmaster met us at their warehouse and opened up all of the beers he had on site and shared each one with Paul. We got to talk beer and just hang out a little bit.  He is a great guy and we recommend picking up some of their beer to try if you ever see it. 

After beer, we checked into our B&B, then headed downtown for a little ice cream.  We found ourselves at The Penny Ice Creamery, which was AMAZING.  I had one scoop of chocolate ice cream with a salted caramel swirl through it, and a honey yogurt pecan scoop. Next, we walked around the boardwalk and some through the downtown farmer's market.  We ended up having dinner at a great Italian restaurant called Lillian's. 

The next day, we walked along the ocean cliffs and watched the surfers.

We went down to Capitola for more walks and some tea:

Then, we went to San Jose and met up with my sister Julia who took us to an awesome Sharks game, which they won.

We really appreciate the babysitting from my dad, Teri and Grandma Joan! Thank you for giving us the opportunity to get out and enjoy some alone time before our life changes some 

more. 

Play Time with Kendra & Owen

A couple of days after Christmas, Tanyon and I got together with my best friend from high school, Kendra, and her son Owen. We met at Howarth Park to feed the ducks and geese.  It was only after we had finished that we saw a sign that said not to feed them bread...since when has this rule been in effect and why? Anyway, Owen had no fear of the geese as they came right up to him to feed.

Tanyon was a little more reserved in his approach and stayed a little further back.  In fact, he spent half of the time behind the gate and threw the bread over the gate into the water for the smaller ducks.

After Kendra and I walked around Spring Lake, the boys got to play together at the playground:

Tanyon pulled Owen into the little house and "made cookies" for him and another girl who was nearby.

Quite a fun time was had by all. We really wish they lived closer to us, so we could do this more often.

Our little superhero

12/26/11

Having a little fun with Tanyon's new toys.  He requested that we make a Tanyon Superhero with his legos.  I don't think we did too bad:

Here is the horn that Papa and Tete got him for his scooter. Paul said he wasn't sure how long it would last :) :

Christmas Day in Healdsburg

Next to his balance bike Nana and Bapa got him earlier in the month:

Sheila with the birdhouse we got her:

Nana and Bapa looking through the family calendar we made them for Christmas:

Paul posing in his new cowl that Sheila knit:

Having a little fun:

Tanyon, a little tired out from the crazy couple of days:

Christmas Morning

I was bummed I couldn't get my video to load to truly show you the excitement of waking up to presents from Santa by the fireplace.  Tanyon got a basketball hoop and he started playing with it immediately.  He also had asked for something "Dora" from Santa, so below he is holding up his new Dora band aids that were in his stocking:

We had my dad, Teri, April, Matt, Julia, Grandma Joan and Mari over for brunch and presents.  It was really fun to watch Tanyon get excited about every little thing he opened. Expressions such as, "I love it!" "Awesome" and "Oh man!" escaped his lips with each gift. Below he is doing a dance over new white socks:

Julia, Matt and April opening their goodies:

Last year, Tanyon was very careful when opening gifts.  This year, he got into the ripping of paper and embracing the process:

Laughing with Papa:

Playing with his new gift from mommy and daddy, duplo legos: