Tanyon's Almost 3rd Birthday Party

On February 12th, we celebrated Tanyon's 3rd birthday a month early.  I figured we would not be able to have a great party with a new infant on the actual date.  So, I gathered the troops and created a sports themed extravaganza.  I am cheating and just putting a link to the great pics my sister April took below.  You should get a good idea of the day from the pics.

http://malvino.smugmug.com/Children/Tanyons-Almost-3rd-Birthday/21672130_qRjFrH#!i=1728753207&k=JQBZw5S

For fun, here are two of the many great pics you will see:

Family Day 2/18

Friday, 2/18/12, we decided to take a family trip up to Healdsburg for some hanging out.  We started with lunch at the Beer Republic, then we checked in with Paul's parents at their house (so Tanyon could try to use a familiar potty). Next, we walked around downtown.  We stopped at our favorite bakery, Downtown Bakery & Creamery.  Tanyon had his favorite Doughnut Muffin, which got all over his face:

 I got my favorite Brownie Cupcake:

 Paul gobbled up his almond bar before we could get a pic:

 We played in the store Mr. Moon's, then messed around in the plaza:

 We took a second to dance around:

Daddy and Tanyon also played:

 When we got home, Tanyon tried on his new helmet and elbow gloves. We thought the extra protection and safety might encourage him to ride the bike Nana & Bapa got for him.  Paul even put on his helmet and showed him how easy and safe it was:

 However, Tanyon still did not believe him at all. He opted to ride his scooter.  This kid cannot be convinced to do anything he does not feel super confident about.  He got his scooter a year ago and he is just now feeling sure enough in his ability to ride it. We have a feeling it may be the same way with the balance bike.

 He did want someone to enjoy the bike though, so he insisted daddy follow him on it.  As you can see in the distance, it wasn't the easiest for Paul to ride:

Move Over Jamie Oliver...

Our own "Naked Chef"

Tanyon got a kitchen rom Paul and I for his early birthday present. He loves pretending to cook us food everyday, so we thought it would be fun for him to have a pretend kitchen to do it in. He loves it and has made us several meals.  He likes it so much, in fact, sometimes he doesn't wait for clothes before he begins preparing a meal.

Below he is getting ready to make us some cake (a neat wooden birthday cake set given to him by his friend Samuel at his birthday party):

 Making some eggs on the stove..."Hey lady, are you photographing me cooking naked?"

 Mixing up his ingredients:

In the video he is saying "chocolate" in Spanish over and over. He was making hot chocolate for us on the stove, just like Dora's abuela does for her.

There was an even longer video of intense cooking, but it may have shown a little too much bum for blogspot.

2/16/12  

Future Slugger

Paul made a makeshift tee in our backyard and Tanyon loves using it for batting practice...

he can't wait until he is old enough for t-ball

I couldn't get the first video to download, so I put a link to it on my facebook below:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150695770192673

This one he insisted on using his "pretend" bat:

2/16/12

Train Engineer

2/5/12

Pairing my obsession with overalls with my mom's gift of an engineer's hat...he was very excited to sport this outfit around the neighborhood.

Oakland Zoo

1/28/12

Thanks to a killer groupon deal, the Miller Family has a membership to the Oakland Zoo this year. It is a perfect size for Tanyon and he loves it there. Here are a few pics of our first trip down for the year:

Preggie lady (8months) in front of the giraffes: 

Dad and son checking out the elephants:

Love this one!  What is Tanyon looking at?!

Pretending to be flamingos in front of their exhibit:

Rainy Day? Back to the Discovery Museum

1/22/12 was a rainy day in Northern California this year. It also was Paul's 38th birthday.  As a busy daddy, he requested a little alone time for his birthday before the big 49ers game, so I took Tanyon back down to the Bay Area Discovery Museum. There were lots of kids there, but we had a ball nonetheless. 

Our first stop was the Tot Spot, where Tanyon has been contemplating going on the "pond" area for over a year.  On this day, he had a breakthrough and conquered his fear.  It took some observation of other kids first, then he picked a pond that was covered with no other kids in it.  He started by putting his feet in the "water," then sitting on a lily pad. Here he is hiding behind one of the lily pads:

Starting to move around on the pond:

Once he got in, he realized there was a real fish tank on the ceiling of the pond.  He sat for awhile and watched the fish:

Before long, Tanyon was rolling around the pond:

One of the other areas of great interest was The Bay Hall, where they have a great train play area:

Then, Tanyon spent a bunch of time "fishing" for crabs:

After playing at the museum for a few hours, Tanyon and I went into San Francisco to pick up dumplings and noodles at one of our favorite Chinese food spots. We brought them home for daddy's birthday and ate them during the Niner game.  Aunt Sheila also stopped by with a homemade lemon pie, which was super yummy.

Homemade Soup

1/21/12

Puddles After the Rain

A walk around the neighborhood the day after we had our first big rain...

1/21/12

Hide and Seek

Tanyon has been getting to be a much better hide and seek player lately.  He used to jump out of his hiding spot as soon as you started looking, but now he is waiting patiently for you to find him. He was playing a game with Paul a couple of weeks ago and this is what Paul saw from one side of our bedroom door:

Despite pretending we didn't know where he was and standing really close to the door talking about it, Tanyon never budged.  So, I got the camera and flashed it behind the door.  He finally realized he had been caught.

1/20/12

Chopsticks

1/18/12

At my baby shower, one of my coworkers got Tanyon special training chopsticks from Shanghai, where she spends a month each summer teaching.  Tanyon was so excited about the chopsticks that he insisted on using them to eat every meal for many days in a row.

Shower for Baby Boy #2

On 1/18/12 my lovely Wright Charter School staff threw me a "surprise" baby shower.  It was a very sweet gesture and I was overwhelmed with their generosity and enthusiasm. 

Knowing I loved my diaper service for Tanyon, they pulled money together to start the service for our new little guy:

Some of my amazing coworkers:

Sally made a flourless chocolate cake that was out of this world!:

My fellow preggie teacher, Audra, swang by before her own prenatal doctor's appointment:

Many of my colleagues handmade items for the baby.  I'm not quite sure where they found the time. A blanket from Terrena:

Ellen knit a very sweet sweater:

Judy made a train blanket, similar to the one Tanyon uses every night for bed:

There were also some fun toys and gadgets we can't wait to try:

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE KIND GIFTS AND SHOWERING OF LOVE!

Lego Creations

We got Tanyon duplo legos for Christmas and I have been amazed at how well he has played with them. Sometimes he looks at the brochure for ideas of things to build.  

Here is the house he made all by himself:

Here is a car he made:

A car he converted into a "Superhero":

1/14/12