And He's Off!

Leelee can ride a bike! Woohoo!!! He had been getting good at gliding, feet in the air, on his Skuut bike for the past few weeks. Ev and Jeff brought Didi's little blue bike over the last time they came and today Dae and Leelee took it for a spin and Leelee picked it right up! They even rode around the block together :) He can't really take off on his own but once he's on he can ride, turn, and stop. Of course I took about a thousand photos...

This weekend, Dae's friends Sergio and Tamar drove in from Portland and spent a couple of nights here, so we took the opportunity to go wine tasting (thanks to dad for watching the kids!), out to dinner, and climbed Badger Mountain.

Terra Blanca vineyard

This was at Liberty Christian School's Applooza festival. Leelee couldn't get his fill of this particular bouncy house so I plopped baby down with a bag of goldfish and monitored Leelee.

The beginning of the hike up Badger Mountain. Energy galore.

Still going strong. Holding hands, even :)

Leelee soon tires and asks for assistance.

Shortly after, Leelee has had his fill of hiking, Dae can no longer piggyback him, so Dae and the boys head back down to the play structure at the bottom of the mountain. Sergio, Tamar and I forge on!

 

The top of Badger!

Trouble, trouble, trouble. I let him pull out these bags since these are the least harmful items he can pull out in the kitchen.

Fighting over granola rights. They love their 'nola.

Abstract pieces

Leelee brought home this little masterpiece from pre-school today. It was by far the nicest piece of 'art' he's ever made, so I hung it up on our sparsely decorated wall.

Baby, helping himself to a little snack.

Leelee's first Field Trip Permission Slip

A couple of Olin-isms:

1) He does not like bland food. He likes salt and flavor, just like a little adult!
2) His newest thing is sticking his hand WAY into the toilet water. It is so disgusting. I cannot get to him fast enough when he's got his arm in there. I swoop him up and get him over to the sink where I scrub those chubby little hands within an inch of their life!

Hangnam Style

We watched "Gangnam style" on YouTube a few times over the past couple weeks and Leelee has been going around saying it, but he says "Hangnam style".

Busy Weekend!

Ev, Jeff and crew came into town for the weekend since Ev and Jeff were participating in the Indian Summer Half Marathon on Saturday. First half for Ev and she did awesome! The weekend was packed since it was also Christ the King's annual Sausage Fest (supposedly the second biggest event in the Tri-Cities after the Boat races). In addition, Lisa came into town yesterday and hung out with us yesterday evening at Sausage Fest! Again, another reunion of the old 'hood: Seattle Court and Spokane Street.

Lisa, me, Ev, Kelly

The cheering crew at Kelly's house. Turns out the race ran right in front of their house!

Jeff & Ev going strong mid-race

Can you believe the time? Awesome!

Golf at the Sausage Fest. Prizes were awarded at each booth - therefore the kids had a ball!

Bathtub fun. Olin holding his little calculator.

Olin is really obsessed with water glasses, ice, and putting a piece of silverware in a large glass of water with ice. Restaurant dining is exhausting :)

Fantacolor toy. Love it. Ordered it via Amazon Prime and it arrived 2 days after I saw it on Dawn's blog post :)

Another sleep spot. Front entrance bench. Sound asleep.

Stats

Olin seems solid (in body composition) but unfortunately the numbers speak otherwise. We had our 1 year appt for Olin today at our new pediatrician's office in Richland and a 3 1/2 year appointment for Leelee. Here are the numbers:

Olin:
Weight: 7th percentile (19 pounds)
Length: 19th percentile (29 inches)
Head: 60th percentile

Leelee:
Weight: 45th percentile (33 pounds)
Height: 16th percentile (37 inches)

Leelee had a flu shot in his leg and I was expecting a yelp and some tears...he didn't make a peep! I was so proud. I had told him about his options: the nose spray or the poke in the leg, and he wanted the poke because the baby was going to get poked. Of course.

Olin had a little bit of a tougher time with his 4 shots. He cried, we left, and he passed out within 5 minutes of getting into the car after the big appointment and slept through the entire open gym time at the local gymnastics club. Meanwhile, Leelee had a hoot.

I took a video of Olin yesterday morning at breakfast and his new eating sounds:

Smart Boy

Just now Christian had been asking for milk. I finally went over to the fridge and said "Ok, did you want some more milk?". He said "No, not some more milk, since I didn't have any milk!".
I said "You're right! Do you want some milk?"

Smartypants! :)

Baby and his Attitude

Baby's getting a little attitude these days. Lots more crying and making his needs very clear and very insistently. I think he's gotten used to me stepping in to defend him when Leelee takes a swipe at him or pushes him down because now, if Leelee does something, Olin will look up toward me and if I get mad at Leelee, only then will Olin start crying. Sheesh.

All the construction around our neighborhood makes for great and free entertainment. We sat in front of this  tractor (forklift? backhoe? They are all tractors to me) for about 10 minutes.

So cute all curled up in the corner. It's like he fell asleep trying to get as close as possible to the door, and to humanity. His little yellow socks blend right into his bedding.

Bellevue

We've gone up to Bellevue & Seattle a few times since we moved to Richland since it's an easy 3 hour drive and there is such great food and shopping there. My mom is always a great host and we're free to come and go, even if they're not there.

I also got to see Megan and meet Tate this past weekend, who was adorable. It was so nice to finally meet him!




In no particular order, here are some photos from this past weekend as well as a couple from 2 weeks ago in Seattle:

Everybody blowing out Olin's candle but Olin

Presentation of Black Bat at the Museum of Flight. My grandpa was part of this squadron. 

Tyson, Olin, Christian

Just got whacked by big brother, who is smiling.

Check out Leelee's face 

Olin gnawing on a yellow watermelon slice at Kelly's bbq. He sat, alone and quiet, for a good 20 minutes. I actually forgot about him until someone alerted me and told me he was done with his watermelon :)

Puo Puo's stairs were the main attraction this trip. 

I never get tired of Leelee's different sleep positions.

Piloting aircraft at the Museum of Flight.

He loves holding his own toothbrush. I wish his accuracy was a little improved!

This concoction from Oasis in Chinatown was scrumptious.

Hilarious. There are so many different sleeping combinations in our home.

Me & the little guy 

Sleeping Shenanigans, Part Infinity

There's no visible ending to Leelee's sleep shenanigans. Last night I got home from a mini night out and again almost stepped on Leelee sleeping in the hallway.

Other news:

1) Leelee loves Wonder Pets. I really am proud that I haven't turned on the TV during the day even though the temptation is at times overwhelming. At night, though, many times I am worn down and he will ask for one show and Dae or I will let him have one. Lately, he has this new trick where he will watch one show for about 5-6 minutes, declare "this show is not good" and ask for a different episode. We believed him at first and would change it to another show. Left uncontrolled, he would do this 5, 6, 7 times. We finally caught onto him and I now tell him he has to pick one and stick with it! That little trickster.

2) Olin loves shaking his head back and forth and laughing.

3) I think Leelee had a good first day at preschool today. At the drop-off, he took off with the teacher, Karin, and barely glanced back. I had to ask him if he wanted a hug and practically chase the little fella down!

4) Being in Richland has made it really easy to exercise since I can easily gear up the stroller and run out my front door. Also, Kelly and I have been working out together 3 times per week, either jogging or climbing Badger Mountain and it has been nice to be held accountable and exercise with somebody else. It also helps that I have no job.

5) Leelee has taken to the Skuut bike! He is getting so good. He rides pretty much every day and is finally getting to the point where he can sort of lift his feet and glide quite a way while steering and balancing the bike. It's amazing how quickly kids can learn - one month in a bike-able neighborhood has done what one year in a condo probably would not!

6) There really are a lack of options for many things in Richland. No Whole Foods or Trader Joe's or any dependable organic offerings. No great sushi or Asian food. No good haircuts. Nowhere to really eat healthy unless you make it yourself (We used to love going to New Seasons and get their Wok Bowls but there is nothing like that here). I cart my recycling 4 miles into town. I googled Yoga studios today and there might be one legitimate one.

7) Conversely, there are a lot of great things here.  Mexican food. The sun! A lack of real traffic. It's safe here.  The schools are good and there are a lot of educated folk here. A slower pace. People are noticeably friendlier here. In-state tuition for UW!!! Everything's just a little bit cheaper.

8) Dae's schedule has been so good that his golfing score (handicap?) has gotten better and better. I like to tell him that his current job is like "medical school" and his patent office "position" in which 80% of the time was spent golfing and the remaining 20% to whatever he was really supposed to be doing. Those types of things (school) just come a little too easily to him.

9) I feel weird not working. I am ready to work again :)

Leelee's First Day of Preschool

We're off in about 30 minutes!