BBQ

Today we drove to Petaluma for a BBQ at Brian and Marla's new house. The boys loved digging up the garden with their buddy Naomi. When we got home Wyatt said, "I'm glad I went to Petaluma today." After much needed baths they are both sleeping soundly - the true sign of a good party and a fun day.

While the cat's away...

Malcolm helped himself to his choice of trains while Wyatt spent the night at Gigi's house.

A New Chapter

Wyatt (aka: Bear, Silly Goose, Goose Master General, Goose, Mr. Pickles, Sweet Pickle) has had a rough few weeks. He hasn’t felt well and he’s been extremely clingy and prone to extreme emotional outbursts. Its been a little difficult for everyone. But, as with other emotionally difficult phases in his life, he seems to surface from such episodes having made major developmental leaps. That seems to have happened this week. He’s back to his old sweet self again now. Only this time he is asking new questions about the relationship between time and space. Here was our conversation yesterday:

Wyatt: Is it today?

Mama: Yes, its today now.

Wyatt: Right now its today?

Mama: Yes, its today.

Wyatt: Its not last night?

Mama: No, its not last night anymore. Last night was when you went to bed.

Wyatt: Oh, OK. So we are at our house today then?

Mama: Yes.

You get the idea. This went on for some time. He’s really trying to put things together. Its funny how much you take concepts like today, tomorrow, last night and tonight for granted until you see someone struggling to try and make sense of them.

He has also turned a corner with Malcolm. He definitely still pushes him over every time Malcolm comes remotely near anything he is playing with but, for now, it seems that many of the random acts of violence have subsided. He is even including Malcolm in play by getting him his own car to play with to keep him away from his car. He is also taking more of an interest in what Malcolm is up to by frequently asking me what Malcolm is doing or trying to say. They even shared a waffle yesterday morning for breakfast which Wyatt thought was pretty cool. Here are photos of them eating breakfast and playing lincoln logs together

And most importantly, Wyatt actually gave me several kisses as I was leaving the house for work this morning! I usually have to chase him down to give him a big hug and kiss before I leave. After I did that this morning I turned around and was saying good-bye to Malcolm and Gissela and I felt a big kiss on the back of my leg. I thought it was from Pink Bunny so I thanked him and Wyatt said, “No! That was me!” Then he proceeded to give me several more kisses before I left. It was very sweet.

Grumpy's Visit

Grumpy came from NC this past weekend for an impromptu visit. Malcolm loved having another set of arms to carry him around and rummage through toys with him. Wyatt had lots of things he said that he planned to tell Grumpy before he got there – like how much he LOVES his fire truck and he wanted to show him how he plays with his new tennis racket. When Grumpy actually arrived Wyatt got a bit shy and didn’t end up telling him these things. They warmed up to each other pretty quickly and in no time they were playing in the “boat” together. (Well, only Wyatt was actually in the “boat”). Wyatt and Malcolm got pretty used to having Grumpy around and on the morning after Grumpy left, when Wyatt heard a knock at the door, he yelled, “Grumpy is here!” Unfortunately it wasn’t him.

A portrait of the artist as a young bear

Ever since Christmas Wyatt's been really into painting. It all started with an ornament painting party, and it's progressed into train and car painting. Here he is demonstrating his artistic skills and deep concentration.

Dottie Day

We recently celebrated Dottie Mae's first birthday! I can't believe we've known her for a year already - time flies. We didn't get any shots of her action packed birthday party but here is a shot of her and Malcolm at the playground. And also a photo of one very funny valentine.

Happy Birthday Gammy

Yesterday we met Gammy downtown for a birthday brunch celebration at a local tea house. The boys loved playing outside and watching the seagulls in the waterfalls at Yerba Buena Gardens. It was a perfect spot to let them run/crawl around while we enjoyed brunch. Wyatt also spent a good deal of time "making tea" and photographing himself (as seen above). Malcolm was sad that it wasn't his own birthday.

Academy of Sciences - Malcolm

Malcolm also met his buddies - Sammy and Addie - at the Academy of Sciences today. He's been before as a young infant so this was probably the first visit he could really appreciate what he was looking at. He was mesmerized by the huge tanks and loved watching the brightly colored fish. I think his favorite part was crawling around outside with Addie.

Academy of Sciences - Wyatt

We met friends Stella and Levi at the Academy of Sciences today. Wyatt stopped by all his favorite exhibits - the zebras, penguins, the wave and the hand dryer (yes, that's right, the hand dryer. Its used after the kids play in the tide pool exhibit touching starfish. Wyatt has become more interested in the dryer itself and, I suspect, was only sticking his hands in the tide pool to have an excuse to use the dryer.)