3 years old

Look at that handsome face. I just want to squeeze it all day long. Here's some things I want to remember about Kyle at 3 years, 3 months old:

• You talk NON-STOP. Words that end in "T" you pronounce with a "K" so you say "giank" for "giant," "righk" for "right," "presenk" for "present," etc. And some words that start with "S" you use "G" like "Gop!" for "Stop!" Words that start with "L" are "Y" like "Yoyo" for cousin "Lolo."
• You also like to say "that's funny huh?" or "that's silly huh?" "oopsie daisies!" and "aye yay captain!" 
• When we do thumbs up, you use your pointer finger shaped like a hook. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen.
• You can write your name like a champ!
• You are about to finish your first year of parent participation pre-school, and you've grown up so much. You follow the rules, sit on the mat, do story time by yourself, etc. So proud of how far we've come since we started!
• You love to color and your pictures are no longer scribble. You stay in the lines and use all different colors. You're an amazing artist!
• You also love to paint and do such a good job on your crafts at school. You take them very seriously.
• Your favorite shows right now is Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Paw Patrol.
• You finally gave up your pacis last month. We were so scared to do it because you were OBSESSED your whole life, but after one night of torture we got through it and survived. The paci fairy brought you some Paw Patrol guys and their vehicles and I think you were satisfied with the trade.
• You started swim lessons last week and aren't sure if you love it yet.
• You sometimes sing a song to baby sister in my tummy that you made up. "Go to sleep, baby sisterrrr."
• You were a super potty trainer. Once you were ready, it was like you never even wore diapers! For us, the key was really just waiting until you were ready.
• You love the Step Into Reading books about Batman and the super heroes. But you also really love the Dr. Seuss books. We read a ton of books every night and you always ask for just one more.
• We like to go to the library and you help me pick out books now. 
• Last time we went to Knott's, you went on the log ride with Mimi! But now you say you don't want to do that again because you didn't like it. But you tried!
• After you get out of the bath, you and your dad like to trick me. You get in your jammies and then put your towel over them and make me think you just got out of the bath. You call it "jammie burrito" and think it's hilarious to do it EVERY NIGHT! You always say "I tricked you huh!!"
• You are a super friendly neighbor and say hi to everyone when we are on a walk or go to the park. The Fed Ex delivery guy came yesterday and you told him "I'm Kyle and I'm 3 years old!"
• We've been working on writing letters and you are doing really well! You can identify all of them and most of their sounds, and you can write A, C, E, H, I, K, L, M, O, Q, T, U, V, W, X by yourself (capital letters).
• You like to do puzzles and we play games a lot, like Candy Land, Memory, Chutes and Ladders, Sequence for Kids and Go Fish.

You are so stinkin sweet with your baby cousin and I can't wait for you to meet your baby sis. Only 5 more weeks!!

Baby #2 Coming Soon!

pictures by my good friend Morgan

It's been 100 years since I posted on this blog and I was actually going to delete it, but then I went to fill in Kyle's baby book and noticed that I had NOTHING written down for his 12 month update. So I came back and read my 12 month post and was able to fill in all the info I needed! Then I started browsing through all the old posts and realize how much I miss it. True, I don't have tons of time to spend on it, but whenever I have a few minutes to spare (like I do today) I want to post some updates to help me remember this time in our lives.

Only 5 or so weeks until we meet our baby girl and I'm feeling READY. Not ready, like I can conquer the world with 2 kids (I actually don't know how the heck I'm going to do it!), but ready, like I can't sleep very well and I'm uncomfortable and my feet are swollen from running around with Kyle all day so let's do this.

I also can't wait to see her sweet little face and introduce her to her big brother, who is excited beyond belief.

strawberry picking // 25 months

It was almost 90 degrees in the OC yesterday, but that didn't stop us from lathering on the sunscreen and spending some time at Tanaka Farms. During the spring they do strawberry tours, where you climb aboard a tractor, take a tour of the farm and then pick your own fresh berries to take home with you. (In the summer they have watermelon tours, the fall a pumpkin patch and winter Christmas trees.)

The entire tour is about an hour, and Kyle did great! I was actually surprised at how much he enjoyed it. He loved climbing aboard the tractor and sat nicely the entire time, pointing out cool things he saw, like a scarecrow and a hawk. On our way to the strawberry field we made a few pit stops to try some of their home grown veggies - we got to try carrots, cilantro, onion, celery, bok choy and sugar snap peas. And would you believe that my little picky eater took a bite of every single one?! (except the onion - I spared him from that experience). I couldn't believe it! I guess he got caught up in the moment :) He liked the carrots and peas the best, which is no surprise since those are his favorites at home too.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at how much Kyle loved the tractor ride since that's totally up his alley, but what really made me smile was how into the strawberry picking he was. He wanted it to do it all by himself and looked hard to find the good ones that were perfect for his little basket. And he was so, so proud of himself when his basket was full and he carried it back to the tractor. He climbed back in with his basket, opened it up and grubbed! Shoved strawberries in his mouth for the whole ride back.

We bought some sugar snap peas from their market and headed home, where Kyle was really excited to show his dad his basket of berries and eat a few more before dinner. We can't wait to go back this summer for some watermelon fun!

Santa Ana Zoo

I love taking Kyle on "field trips" when we have a free day. Sometimes we invite friends along, but other times it's fun to do things just the two of us. Last week, we checked out the Santa Ana Zoo. I had heard that it was a smaller zoo, so we knew going into it that there wouldn't be a huge variety of animals, but it turned out to be the perfect size for a 2 year old.

One of my favorite things about my schedule is that my "free day" is usually a Tuesday or Thursday, so when we go on these types of field trips we usually don't have to fight the crowds. This particular day was a Thursday, and aside from the bus of middle schoolers enjoying their actual field trip, there weren't too many people around. We saw tons of monkeys swinging around, which made Kyle laugh, an anteater, camels and an ostrich. But the highlight of Kyle's day was probably discovering that there is a CHOO CHOO at the ZOO! He was in heaven.

We took a lunch break and then I let Kyle play around on the playground for a while (by the way, he asks that I stay down now so that he can play by himself - what the heck!) and climb in the jeep, which was probably his second favorite part since he loves playing in daddy's real Jeep at home.

When Brian comes home from work in the evening, Kyle and I love to tell him about our day. When I asked him to tell daddy what we did that day, I expected him to say "ride choo choo," but the first thing he said was "see monkeys!" So cute.

Overall, we had a great day and I'm sure we'll be back again. Parking is easy and free and the zoo is right off the 5 freeway. Kids under 3 are free and adults are only $10, so it's a pretty affordable and fun outing for mommies with young kids. 

my daily routine with a 2 year old

chillin at home

park day

checking out the petting zoo

For some reason I love reading other mom's "daily routine" posts like this one from Pig & Dac, so I thought I'd share what a typical weekday is like for a stay at home/work at home/working mom. Plus, it will be fun to look back later and remember what life was like "back then" :)

6-7 a.m. (sometimes 5:45) - rise & shine!

Kyle wakes up, gets up from his toddler bed and comes and gets in bed with us. Sometimes he'll fall back asleep for a little bit, but he usually just snuggles with mom and kicks dad for about 30 minutes before we're all "ready" to get up.

7 a.m. - rise & shine, con't.

We all get up and head to the kitchen. I make coffee and pour Kyle some milk in a sippy cup and usually cut up a banana for him. Kyle and I either play or watch some Curious George/check emails/work on writing projects/prep for class while dad gets ready for work. (On Mondays and Wednesdays I need to be out of the house by 8 a.m. to teach my class, so those mornings are a little more hectic as Brian and I are both getting ready and taking turns keeping an eye on Kyle). After we're both wide awake I'll make us both breakfast.

8 a.m. - noon

Mondays/Wednesdays: I'm gone (teaching/office hours) during this time and grandma is home with Kyle. They usually take a walk in the park, do puzzles, read books, play outside, have snacks, etc. 

Tuesdays: auntie day! After breakfast I drop Kyle off at my sister's house so he can play with his cousin Jake, who is 3 (older cousin Harlow, who's 6, is at school). They usually do chalk outside, watch a movie and play with Jake's endless supply of cars/trucks/airplanes. My sister will feed him snacks and lunch because she is amazing. Kyle loves his auntie days so much and gets so excited every week. While Kyle is playing I head over to Coffee Bean to enjoy a latte and use their wifi to BUST SHIT OUT. This is my time to plan for my class and work on writing projects. I get so. much. done. during these uninterrupted hours and am so thankful for my sister for her help.

Thursdays/Fridays: I'm home with Kyle, so we will play around the house, paint/color, do puzzles, play choo choos, clean the kitchen, go to the park or do a fun activity/outing by ourselves or with friends. Kyle starts up his gym class again in a couple weeks, so he'll be doing that Thursday mornings for a while. Sometimes on Fridays we like to go to story time at the library at 10 a.m. and then stop at the park on the way home.

[Note - if I am having a crazy busy work week with lots of deadlines, sometimes I have to use this time to work at home. On those days, Kyle watches more TV than I'd like or makes crazy messes while I try and get stuff done.]

Noonish - lunch time/wind down for nap.

1-3 p.m. - NAPTIME AKA HAPPY HOUR AKA BUST SHIT OUT

I'm beyond thankful Kyle is still a rock-star napper. He's usually out for a good solid 2+ hours. This is when I frantically do laundry, vacuum, clean the floors and bathrooms (I try and clean when Kyle is up and he loves to help, but cleaning with a 2-year-old helper can sometimes be more trouble than it's worth), work on writing projects, grade papers, blog and every once in a blue moon sneak in a nap myself!

[Note - this is probably when I should be exercising, but you don't see that on the list above, do ya?]

3:30-6 p.m. 

Run errands or continue our play/learning time at home, head back outside or meet up with friends. Today when Kyle gets up we're heading to Costco, the post office and the gas station. He's a pretty good shopping buddy and I'm lucky that he loves to be in the car and helps me unload the groceries. There is definitely some snacking going on during this time as well. Other things we like to do: use our Knott's Berry Farm passes for a few hours of fun, go for a bike ride with Kyle in the "baby" seat, play with blocks, do sidewalk chalk, ride his little push Jeep or pull the wagon around the park with Penny or play on the playground behind our house. We sometimes like to check out other parks or kid-friendly places around town, like the petting zoo or children's museum.

Fridays: this is when I leave for my bar shift, and don't come home until 12:30 a.m. On these days, grandma comes over to play with Kyle until dad gets home from work, and then dad handles dinner/bath/bedtime.

6-7 p.m. - dinner time

Dad usually comes home around this time (usually closer to 7). Most nights I'll make dinner, some nights he'll bring something home for us and some nights we go out. Dinner is all over the board for us.

7:30 p.m. - bath time

I'm lucky to have an amazing husband who 90% of the time handles Kyle's bath while I take 15-20 minutes to myself. I'll usually just sit on the couch and catch up on Instagram, or sometimes I'll get a head start on the work I need to do that night. It's a nice break and I love him for it!

8-9:30 p.m. - play, think about bed time, watch a show, talk about getting Kyle to bed earlier tomorrow

We are in a bed time RUT! Our routine is so ridiculous right now. I think he's still in the in-between phase, stuck between the crib and toddler bed. Bed time takes forever because I'm not ready to just put him in bed, close the door and say goodnight because he will just play around, come out of his room, jump on his bed, etc. until the cows come home. So what we usually end up doing is play/read in his room for a bit, then saying goodnight and I'll stay in his room until he falls asleep. Sometimes I'll rock him, but lately he's just been wanting me to lay down next to his bed. A few nights he's gotten out of bed and fallen asleep next to me on the floor, then Brian picked him up and put him in bed. I'm usually in there for 45 mins- an hour (seriously) and 90% of the time I fall asleep myself. Sometimes I'm ok with that, but on nights that I need to do work it is BRUTAL to have to wake back up and turn on the computer.

10 p.m. - midnight

Depending on my work week, I'll use this time to BUST SHIT OUT. I'll plan for the next day's class, finish projects, catch up on email. If it's a light work week, sometimes I'll just leave Kyle's room and go right to bed. On fun nights when we aren't tired and have no work, Brian and I will watch a show together, have some drinks and enjoy some hub/wife time. Those nights are my fave :)

Thanks Pig & Dac for the inspiration. I'll have to remember to do these posts every six months or so to see how life has changed.