And the celebration continues...

Wyatt, continuing to wear his birthday hat the day after. Us celebrating birthday meal at the Rainforest Cafe. The boys loved it!

Birthday Bear

Wyatt turned 3 on Saturday. We celebrated with a big birthday party (joint party with his buddy Stella) at the Christopher Playground Rec Center. They both had a blast!

Wyatt was so excited for his party he kept asking, "Is this the birthday party?" at every place we stopped and completed errands along the way. Once we finally got there he was very busy driving the little cars at the rec center and really enjoyed playing "birthday party" with a fire truck. Of course the fire truck was wearing a birthday hat. And, in an unbelievable turn of events, Wyatt also wore a birthday hat! Turns out he will wear a hat, we've just been trying the wrong kind for the past two years.

Wyatt was so excited to blow out the candle on his cupcake that he didn't even wait for the end of the Happy Birthday song. He helped himself to at least 4 cupcakes (icing only of course.) All in all I'd say he had a great time at his birthday party.

Playdate with Dottie

Dottie and family came over on Sunday for an impromptu playdate. I mostly got pics of Malcolm and Dottie hanging out together but in fact all three kiddos had a great time. At one point Wyatt was running around screaming jumping on beds and Dottie and Malcolm were following him around laughing hysterically. Dottie showed off her new walking skills. We hadnt seen her in a while and since her first birthday, she is quickly making that transition from baby to toddlerhood!

Valentines

Here are Wyatt and Malcolm enjoying their Valentine's Day treats. Malcolm didn't actually eat any of his, but he enjoyed playing with the heart box. I guess Wyatt took the name Whitman's Sampler to heart.

M is for Mayor, Moose and Malchito

Malcolm is 9 months old. His personality is really starting to develop. He lives up to his namesake, Robert Ricci, and is proving to be quite the mayor of the playground. In fact, he'll crawl right up to anyone and, I'm convinced, would leave with another family if their snacks were good enough. Around the house he is still primarily interested in anything that Wyatt is currently playing with. If Wyatt is gone or asleep, Malcolm loves to busy himself opening and closing doors of all kinds - he has several bumps on his forehead and smashed fingers to show for it. He also LOVES Laverne. He chases her endlessly and, when and if he catches her, he tries to bury his head in her belly and nuzzle up to her - the same way he does his beloved giraffe. He has been scratched in the face several times, but continues to come back for more. (Poor Laverne. She temporarily moved out of the house and under the back deck and would probably still be out there if I hadn't decided the rains were a bit much for her out there.)

Malcolm is an expert crawler and stander upper. He has taken a few steps from the ottoman to the couch, but is not yet fully walking - THANK GOODNESS!!! He has recently discovered the steps and gets giddy when he sees them and remembers he can now climb them. He says Mama, mama, mama, mama but its not entirely clear if he means it. Wyatt thinks it means he wants more food, but he's probably just looking for any excuse to give Malcolm his lunch. Malcolm has as many teeth as he is months old (if you count the two that are just poking through now!!! And, he has started pointing at objects and grunting. He loves watching birdies in the sky and always points them out.

Moose Man (Malchito as Gisella calls him) is such a wonderful addition to our family, its hard to even imagine that he's only been with us for 9 months so far.

Plain Corn

Last night for dinner we had Jason's yummy crockpot corned beef and cabbage. On being told we were having corned beef for dinner Wyatt replied, “I just want plain corn.” (as in plain corn instead of corned beef) Today when I was reflecting on that hilarious comment while procrastinating at work, I realized that interaction just about sums up most interactions with Wyatt these days. He is told one thing and, regardless of how he really feels, he immediately protests and insists on a different outcome. “NO! I don’t want that I want this!” He didn’t really want plain corn. In fact, he’s never eaten corn and I’d venture to say, aside from books, hasn’t even really ever seen corn. He just knew it was different than (I suspect he thought it was some slight variation of) what we were having for dinner. In either case, he ate a giant plate of “plain corned beef” (our little compromise) and all was well.

These tiny little people asserting themselves in the world is both cute and exhausting. But mostly cute!

Wasssup?

Wyatt has recently taken to wearing a baseball hat backwards. He apparently saw this on some skateboarder somewhere (he says on Manny the cartoon, but he is often an unreliable source.) Whatever the case, after years of trying to get him to wear a hat, now he doesn't want to take his "skateboard hat" off. Its pretty cute. Pictured here he's in the process of trying to flip it around backwards.

Diaper Time

Here is a cute shot of Malcolm in some homemade nappies. He's testing these diapers out for a friend who is starting an eco diaper company. They are a great combination of reusable liners that will be laundered by a diaper service and easy-to-use fabric cover that velcros on as quickly as disposables. This is only the first prototype, but they were a big hit!

Playdate with Levi and Sammy

Levi and Sammy came over yesterday for a little afternoon play date. It was surprisingly low-key, given the dynamics of four little boys all competing for the same toys. At one point it seemed that Wyatt and Levi ganged up on little Sammy to squeeze him out of his spot at the window - but I guess that's all to be expected. Mostly Wyatt and Levi played on their own - coaxing Laverne out from under the deck and finally, a rousing game of hide and seek (higenseek) in the garden with pink bunny.