Lots of love (and fuzzy beasts) in the Bay!

We spent the weekend in the Bay Area. After the horrific drive down (5 hours. Not so great roads, driving at night. Screaming baby in carseat x 120 minutes straight, who then puked), it turned out to be a fairly good time. Iver, who seems lately to be chronically tired as he hasn't been sleeping well, was not his usual happy self but pretty vigorous tantrum-throwing carseat-hating toddler,  and Kelvin and I are both beat, but we still got out and had some fun with the Lee kids and Leongs.

On Saturday, we visited Target and then went out to Tilden Little Farm, where the kids got to pet /feed (celery) to the farm animals:

Mason (6.5) led the way!

Sophia (4) was more cautious

 This chicken escaped and pooped on the railing!

Iver awoke from a brief car-nap, and loved feeding the goats, sheep, and cows!

 Clapping his hands for a job well done!

(Kelvin had a bit of fun, too)

 

We also got to ride on the nearby carousel...

... where there was a nearby BEAR!

Sophia led the way to the train!

Choo Choo!

We had a nice dinner Saturday with Serena and Brad (but, alas, I didn't take any pictures!).

On Sunday morning, the Lees took us to the Oakland Zoo (where, interestingly, later in the day we'd attend Josh and Kay's wedding reception!)

tiger skull

 

The African savanna was a hit

In the afternoon, we were blessed to witness Josh and Kay's wedding amidst the Redwood grove at UC Berkeley. It was a lovely ceremony, and, while Iver was a bit "roamy," we both enjoyed a good part of it.

Jon was busy with Jenna (with another baby coming soon!)

 

Arlene and Eric, also our dear friends, meet their son who completes their crew of children-now-paired-off.

Flower girls

Here comes the Bride!

 The reception at the zoo Snow building had a lovely view, and great food.

hugs!

Play area outside!

  with the newlyweds (Iver loved the sparkling juice served)!

Sharmieka and Susana, the lovely bartenders, rode back with us that night to Humboldt, with (thankfully) less carseat screaming (and no puking) from Iver.

It was a fun-filled, but a bit tiring weekend. We had a great time, but are happy to be home for now!

17-month update

Iver is 17 months old, and

- is probably between 19 and 20 lbs, and still probably in single-digit percentiles. He feels like he's growing in terms of weight (when I carry him for long periods, I notice! and his tummy seems rounder), although it amazes me that he can even maintain weight with how little he seems to eat. He wears mostly size 12-month clothing (some 12-18 month shirts) and about size 4 shoes. 

- still nurses regularly and drinks some milk and water from a cup (and some pediasure through a straw). He sits for short periods at his Ikea "baby table" and will try to use a spoon/fork but mostly eats/grazes on the run. He still is a fruit-a-holic (watermelon and blueberries are his favorites), but eats most veggies and meats/our table foods, but in very minute quantities. He likes pretty much all crunchy snacks.

-  is loving daycare, where now he runs into the kitchen happily when I drop him off and actually where he prefers to eat breakfast after a 2-hour fight at home.  He hasn't been febrile/sick (fingers crossed) in a few weeks, which is an improvement. He is very social, and loves other kids and babies, and is good at giving hugs and kisses. 

- sleeps on his own full-size futon in our "office." He goes to sleep usually between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., and wakes anywhere from 1-4 times (we had a good stretch of 1 waking but now it's regressed) before being "up for the day" between 5 and 6 a.m (and not convinceable to sleep longer). He has gone up to 8 hours at a stretch before waking at 4, although this is not the most common pattern. I had a pretty successful month and essentially night-weaned him (Kelvin has been getting up with him to break the milk association), but it still hasn't extinguished the midnight, 2, 3, and/or 4 a.m. waking. I read another toddler sleep book, and read that many (as much as half) of toddlers still wake at night and require parental intervention, so, while I would love things to be different, I know that I'm not alone. Sigh. While I am a morning person, I really don't like to be up at 5 a.m. seven days per week... and 9 hours of night sleep doesn't seem adequate for a one-year-old (in my opinion). So he generally still needs two naps, one around 10 a.m. for 1-2 hours, and another around 3 or 4 p.m. (which he often fights when he's home with me, and which I don't let go past 5 p.m., otherwise bedtime is a fight).  

- has started being more verbal. He will say, in addition to the "bear," "yeah" and "no," from last month, also says "ball," "bath," and, most recently, "cat," and "car" and "Pepper." He signs a lot, and is starting to learn all body parts, animal parts and sounds. He understands so much-- it's incredible to see this little mind grow! I can't wait until he's talking more and can communicate instead of throwing tantrums!

-  still wears cloth diapers when we're home (and size 3 Huggies overnights), and will poop on the potty every morning and 1-2 more times during the day, usually consistently after dinner (and not recently in the bath).

- loves baths, reading books, and the outdoors, loves to "walk" Pepper (he voluntarily jumps into the umbrella stroller in the mornings!), and playing at the park. He's been imitating everything, like washing our hands and faces, and he loves to be a little helper, taking good instructions at unloading groceries, and "cleaning" the house, dusting and sweeping.  

He hates: straps, being confined, the BOB stroller, diaper changes, and especially the carseat. He screamed for 2 hours straight in the car yesterday (then puked) on our way to the Bay Area.

While he tests our patience every day and leaves this mama exhausted and frustrated a lot of the time, he's a fun, passionate little guy who is almost a year and a half old!

Here is his climbing prowess at the Eureka library

The Li-beary!

Who knew there would be so many bears at the Eureka Public Library (where we got to stop on Saturday due to a massive book sale!)??

Iver surely enjoyed himself in the presence of these hairy friends!

 (I pledge allegiance to the bear...)

I love this one (I think he was yelling, "bear!")!

"There's another one!"
(This may be the same giant, Costco bear that K's parents have that got this whole bear-obsession started)

Books AND bears!! So excited about reading!