"Ba, Mom"

(actually posted by Amanda)

This is what Corban said as I left his room tonight after putting him in bed. This kid is the cutest! All day he has been cracking me up with what he is saying. And to go along with that laugh is me pulling my hair out trying to figure out what he wants as he is also very quick to get upset. He has definitely entered the terrible twos- now I know what other moms are talking about ( I HOPE). So it is a really good thing he has a lot of cute moments that I can dwell on for enjoyment.

When I brought him down for breakfast he was saying "dogs". I figured he was talking about dogs and asked if he wanted oatmeal (that has been a winner for the past week). "No". But when I showed him the packet he said "yessss". So I cooked it up for him. He hadn't finished eating the oatmeal, but he asked to get down, "hans" as he is holding out his hands asking that I wash them. And then he started looking for "baby". He saw a blanket on the couch and stood over it as if to peek at the baby, but he couldn't see her, so he pulled the blankets off the couch. Luckily "baby" wasn't there, but was up on my bed sleeping. So I took him up to see her. He calls her "baby" even when you say, "Say Malia".

Later I was getting into the freezer for yeast to make bread and he saw the frozen hot dogs and says "DOGS". Oh, that is what he meant. So I then cooked him hot dogs for breakfast...But those hot dogs he gobbled up- 2 to be exact. So while he was in his chair eating, I was making bread. Back to the hot dogs, EVERY TIME I put them in the microwave, he cries/whines. It is as if the microwave is a cue for that. It lasts just short of the 30 seconds that they are cooking, and when I take him out he is happily yelling "hot dogssss". When I gave him his second one, he wouldn't allow me to cut it up. Later I came in and he was choking, mouth stuffed, on it. But he is pretty good at solving those problems on his own.

I allowed him to get up on a chair while I was making bread. After it has risen and was time to put it in pans he wanted "Up" again. So I allowed him. He started picking and eating the dough. When I got to the last loaf he played tug-o-war with me over it and it ended with him yelling at me with big alligator tears. So I put him in his chair with a little bit of dough to finish off. It would be one thing if he were just playing with it, but since it was being eaten I was a little concerned of the amount of intake. I threw some crackers on as a distraction.

Then tonight he wanted "cheessse" (he must love "s"). A few minutes later you hear, "I", "J", then there was a "Y" and a "K". He was making...seeing letters in the pieces of shredded cheese.

Jared came home with a yogurt cup in hand and Corban excitedly says, "yote."

Dinner was soup, so Corban kept saying it, "Soup. Soup. Soup."

As we drive around I will every once in a while hear, "O", "T", or whatever letter he is seeing. He will also do this at t he yogurt store, "Z", "Y", "Rrrrr" (that one is the sound, not the letter), "S". It is amazing what Letter Factory has done to this kid. When he goes to "draw", he wants me to do it with him and I just end up going through the alphabet while he says the letter I write. Today I decided to do numbers, "10" was his favorite.

It really is "delightful", as one of my friends put it, to watch these little ones learn and grow. The simplest of things are so entertaining. The other night I saw him rolling around on the ground- it was like he just had figured out he could do that. Same thing with putting his head on the ground while his feet are still on the ground- so I pushed him into a somersault. He liked that.

There is so much more I wish I could remember. He really is so much fun at this stage. Oh, the other day I was changing Malia on the floor and Corban came up and laid down close to her head and just started talking sweet talk to her. She got a big smile on her face and was enthralled with him - bigger brother taking care of little sister. He also has been found jingling toys in front of her face- they both get enjoyment out of that one.

Jared will have to write about nursery since I wasn't there and would do the story justice.

Life really is good!

Santa House

We are lucky enough to have friends that are concerned about our Christmas spirit and are interested in helping us build traditions in San Diego. On Wednesday night we went with the Garcia's to "The Santa House", which is a home of a very wealthy couple who have Santa and toys from Santa every night in December leading up to Christmas. They have been doing this for years. Pretty spectacular! More amazing than any other place I have seen Santa. Corban was a little scared of Santa, but he sure was a nice one. In fact, he said, "We believe in Golden Spoon. Anyone who is a friend of Golden Spoon is a friend of ours." Even Santa knows we have the best yogurt!
Corban really enjoyed looking at all the toys but probably wouldn't have cared if he couldn't take one home. He also enjoyed all the scenes they had set up. The "snow" bubbles weren't as exciting as I thought they would be to him, especially considering his facination with bubbles.
We left with a hot cup of cider and hot cocoa. It was a fabulous night spent in the Christmas spirit!

Visiting Hours

The best way for the kids to spend time with daddy lately has been at Golden Spoon. Can't say that we don't enjoy it. Every visit gets a sweet treat! Today the store was so slow that daddy even sat in the lobby with us, played a guessing game with Corban and fed Malia a bottle while mommy ate her yogurt...or two yogurts. Corban's favorite treats are a cone with yogurt, he starts at the bottom of the cone, and gummy bears or worms. Daddy played "which hand has the gummy" and was very good to stick to the rules- only pick one.

When it continued to be slow we decided to take a walk outside. We stayed close because Jared was the only one working :) There is a lovely fountain out front that gives lots and lots of entertainment for an almost-2-year-old. When I was outside with Corban and Jared was back in serving some customers, an old couple walked by and stopped to watched for just a moment. I made the comment to go with their look, "It makes me just as nervous." Corban doesn't always look so stable on his feet and was walking around the edge of the fountain. Of course I was the one that got this started, but that was when he would hold on to my hand. Now he was comfortable handling it all on his own...picking up speed every now and then.

Daddy joined us again once another employee arrived to work, so I had him take over the Corban watch. He tends to not get as nervous as I do and this kid needs exploration time! Mom holds him back too much.

It was fun being able to spend some time with daddy. To make it all worth it, the night ended with a SPLASH! Even San Diego is too cold for a fountain swim in December!

And I am thinking he enjoyed that part of "exploration", but was just a little nervous about getting back up on the edge.

The Fabulous Find

I was out and about looking for something for a Christmas present I am putting together. I decided it might be a good idea to try some thrift stores, that way I could also see if they had any great winter wear for my babes or toys Corban could enjoy. We are going light on spending for presents this year, every year for that matter, so I have to be creative in how I find them. I had been to four thrift stores and had one more to go. I had purchased nothing because the few items I had found were so cheap it would have been ridiculous to put them on a credit card- I will have to remember to take cash next time. I arrived at the last store and the parking lot was jam packed. I drove to the back in hopes of finding a spot, but there was a traffic jam of people dropping off items. The first person I saw was taking little girl toys over to the trailer. I wanted to shout out, "Hey, I will take those off your hands!" But I felt silly and she was in a rush. As I passed by the back of her truck I saw there were more items. So when she came back I got the guts to ask her. She seemed a little hesitant but said she would set the items aside. I then had to quickly maneuver my vehicle to not be in the way of others while i loaded up the toys. As I walked into the store I still had it in my mind that the first items I saw her take over would be great..but how would I get them? I could see through the back of the store to where they were loading the trailers, so I decided to head back and see if I could talk them into pricing the item and allowing me to buy them. Unfortunately they wouldn't do that for me because "it isn't fare to everyone else." But I was more than fortunate to find...

I couldn't believe it! Who gives away a phil&teds?! I put my hands on it right away and strolled it around thinking-"There must be something wrong with this? Why has no one else claimed this steal of deal?" It was a little wobbly, but I could see it had a flat tire- easy fix! What was even more unfathomable was the sticker- $49!!! AND I came on a day more perfect than others, "30% off everything in the store." As I stood in line there were two Spanish ladies (that means they were only speaking Spanish) admiring my find. They even came up and touched it and spoke a few words back and forth. They were just as surprised as I was that this item was for sale at the thrift store.

I left having spent only $35 and feeling so grateful for wealthy people! I couldn't be happier with my fabulous find, so I hope they felt really good about giving it away to some unknown individual! I got home and Jared filled up the tires and I took Corban for a stroll through the house and then down the driveway a few times (it was already really dark outside). I read the entire owner's manual online, which is not even something I usually do when I purchase things brand new. I really am so stoked about this stroller, I might even take up running so I can use it everyday...not really :)

To make the day even more fabulous, Malia was out shopping with me for four hours and was so happy and smiley (when she wasn't sleeping) all the way to the end. I did have to feed her the parking lot before driving home, but we are accustom to that.

Here are two reasons I love life:

And this is Malia talking to me.

The Luckiest

Hey there! So I am the luckiest guy in the world. I have the coolest, most beautiful wife! Two amazing and cute little kids! And to top it all, they love me and I love them. Here are a couple of recent looks.

Malia in the bath, loves it as much as Corban Two cuties together.
This is Malia in the morning, this and a lot of smiling. I just liked this one.

This is what Corban looked like when I checkid in on him during his nap this evening. gotta love it!

If you haven't heard the song, the luckiest by Ben Folds you have to check it out. I will try to attach it to a video or something. we'll see how that goes.

Almost a week late...

So, last Monday night my night class was cancelled and I was able to come home and enjoy the afternoon and evening with my family. This almost never happens on Monday's, so Amanda had a great idea and we just ran with it. We decided to have a picnic on the beach. I dressed Corban in his swimming gear as Amanda put together some sandwiches and we headed off to a nice breezy evening on Torrey Pines Beach. We arrived around sundown and loved the view. Corban loved the water, but after falling in was shivering so much that we had to change him. then we ate dinner in the dark on the beach on a single beach towel. It was a great night. I love my family! Here are some pictures of the events.

I was explaining the birds and the bees...

...but all he wanted to do was get in the water...let's go!

Mommy was camera shy at first...that and she didn't want to get in the water with us.

Corban gets really excited around the ocean.

Curse you aqua scum!!! Or maybe he is dedicating the rock for some unknown purpose.
The kid wasn't afraid of getting his feet wet, and at this point he had already fallen in.

Finally got mommy to pose with the kids.

This is the classic "our son is running out to sea, you better go get him" face.

My beautiful wife and daughter.

I just love this face he made.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Our dear little chub has decided she isn't going to face plant anymore. She is taking matters into her own hands and...rolling over. It was quite a surprise to me when it happened yesterday so I put her back on her tummy to try it again. And roll she did. I don't remember Corban doing it this young, but Malia is a little ahead of him in many ways. This girl already weights 12 and 1/2 lbs! She is in the 90th percentile for weight, 75th for head, and 50th for height. Corban still sits in the less than 3^rd percentile for height and probably weight, weighing in at just over 20lbs, and 90^th!!! for head. That’s some noggin he’s got!

We also rolled on up to Rancho Santa Margarita for this evening. Ellie took Corban out Trick or treating to show him the ropes. He wasn’t all that interested in going from house to house to get more treats. He only wanted the piece he had just received. He would stop on the door step and ask for us to open it. The great part about that is that you don’t have to go to that many houses. We probably only went to 8 houses and then we were done. After bath time and a little more play, we put him to bed in Jacob’s bed. All was quiet (for about 1 hour) until Jared and Roger walked in and then Corban was crying again. I gave Jared “the look” so he has gone to take care of it. What a great husband!