Streets of Bethlehem
Ever year a church right down the street from us puts on a free Christmas event called “Streets of Bethlehem”. Since Jeff and I are not religious at all, this never interested us, but since we have a kid now, we thought it would be something fun to experience for the holiday. Can’t go wrong if it is free, right?
We dressed Vincent up nice and warm (two pairs of pants!) and we tried to find a beanie for his head, but only had super tiny ones from infant days, or adult ones from mom and dad… add it to the Christmas gift list!
We walked over to the church and stood in line for a few minutes. Vinny was in the backpack since strollers are not allowed (hay on the ground). They had people in period garb, riding on horses and asking for donations.
Once it was our turn, we walked though the gate and they started the “play” which was a story of Jesus. Virgin Mary, the angel, Joseph, blah blah blah,,.. haha.
Then on the next “station” which was a bunch of street vendors, some with incense, some with farm animals, yarn makers, blacksmiths, etc.
We had to wait again for the next station to clear up, and Vinny was getting claustrophobic with all the people, so we just decided to shuttle on through and leave.
We skipped what i can only assume was the really boring part, because they last play/stage area was baby jesus!
Which was a good idea, because the last station before you leave is the goats you can feed. So we had the goats all to ourselves.
Vinny was tired! I think he would have liked to get out of the backpack and play with them but Jeff was afraid he wouldn’t get back in after we took him out (which has happened in the past, even though he loves the back pack, he gets tired of it)
I am glad we finally got to check out this Salinas tradition, but not sure we will go next year. Maybe when Vincent is old enough to be more interested in everything… so in a few years.
Vincent is 16 months!
New Skills: Climbing
Vincent’s biggest new skill this month is CLIMBING things! But luckily he isn’t too advanced in it yet!
He has figured out how to throw his leg over and onto the seat of his toy car and sit on the seat without rails to hold him in.
He loves pulling himself up onto the edge of his portable crib, which usually means he wants us to put him inside it (to play).
Any kind of box he sees, he will want to stand on top or sit on it.
Even a box that is not meant to be sit or stood in.
He can walk up tiny steps with his feet, and normal sized steps by crawling up them on his hands and knees. We dont have too many steps here that he can practice on.
Saying and waving bye-bye
He just learned how to CONSISTENTLY say bye bye and wave bye bye at the same time. Previously, he would only do it some of the time, and usually not together… but the past few days he’s really gotten the hang of it! So cute!
No other words yet — though sometimes I think he says “hi daddy” and “I did it”, and he sure does talk a lot of gibberish (or is it just Korean?) He has his how language, i think.
Other New Skills
He can open the toilet bowl lid and splash in the water
He can crawl under the coffee table barricade we made to block off the litter box. So once past the table, he proceeds to play with the kitty pee and poop 🙁 Ewww
He can push the dining room chairs out from under the table and back again
Making faces through the sliding glass doors.
He matched up the square, circle, and triangle on his toy walker.
He knows how to kick a ball. Our neighbor gave him a “sky ball” that is shaped in a football and i showed him how you kick the ball, so he can sort a do that now (not really good at it yet).
He figured out how to push the lever on this toy with his hand… then suddenly discovered his mouth could also do the trick…
He can hold and “draw “with crayons! Just making the color appear on paper — no real drawings yet of course.
He can hold our index finger with his whole hand while he walks next to us
In the Kitchen/Cleaning Up
He likes to come and help mom empty the dishwasher (or just make mischief and remove all his sippy cups from the top rack and throw them on the floor)
Playing with the tupperware cabinet and relocating various items them all the to different rooms in the house
He found the brooms one morning and was having a ball clacking them around and such
We store all his food bibs by hanging them on the oven dish rack, He loves to come by and rip all of them down one by one, whenever he gets in to the kitchen
Loves to empty out our refrigerator’s condiment drawer but pulling out jars 1 or 2 at a time and passing them to mommy or daddy. Some are glass! But nothing has broken yet…
Obsessions
He started this last month, but he loves flipping his toy walker over and then sitting on it. He insists on doing this, all the time, and gets mad when he can’t flip it over sometimes.
He loves to take a toy, or any object, and come up to me while we are standing (like at the sink or something) and sticking the toy between my legs so that it stays there, or falls through to the other side.
As soon as he sees the iPad layout out, he’ll fuss and cry until we turn it on and let him play his Mickey Mouse Road Rally game that asks him questions and helps him with shapes and colors in a story/activity format. It has a few songs on there and all the Disney characters, so it is pretty cute.
Moving his stack of books, one be one, from the bookshelf to handing it to us.
Same goes for putting all his balls in the portable crib: throwing them in there, then going in there and emptying them out… loves to do this with any object into any sort of container!
New Experiences
Taking a bubble bath!
Playing with water in a cup during bathtime and enjoying a the showerhead spraying fresh water over my head
Bouncing his big blue ball and laughing at the same time
Got his first flu shot at his 15-month check-up
New Foods / Eating Routine
He can hold a spoon, and i am trying to teach him to feed himself, but that’s pretty advanced for him still.
He loves chicken sausage and waffles at the moment for breakfast. He ate 3.5 sausages, a full waffle, and a yogurt at this meal! And all while having a REAL plate in front of him! (Normally we just throw the food on the high chair table directly)
He still really only loves fruit (blueberries and honeydew this month), and any other type of food he can get turned off on pretty quick. Distraction is the best method for getting food in his mouth.
He still throws his food and cup over the side of his high chair, causing a complete mess and “score” for Butters!
He tried some of my Costco frozen yogurt — he really liked it!
Physical Changes
He has a new bottom tooth, making total teeth count to 8 (4 top, 4 bottom)
We just bought him new shoes in size 5.5. Star Wars … R2D2 from a local shoe store here called Joy-Pers! Also bought him more socks since he wears them everyday now with his shoes.
His head is getting a little less peaked at the top, and rounding out if you look at an aerial view of his head.
We’re excited for the holidays this year. I am amazed at how active this little boy is! I’ll leave you with this video!
Vinny’s Lil Chair
Early Christmas present from Mommy and Daddy — Vinny’s very own chair! It matches perfectly with the grown-up sofa and love seat. Way too cute…
Oh.. what’s this?
Must be for me!
Yay, i’m sitting it in it!
Of course Butters liked it too:
Apparently it’s the kiddie/kitty chair.
Holiday Parade of Lights
The Lara family came over this afternoon for some dinner, playtime and to start work on Lilia”s 2nd birthday party invitations.
Carrie made traditional green beans, yams with marshmallows and some butterscotch cookies. Jeff grilled a Tri tip and I made mashed potatoes and chocolate chip cookies. It was nice to enjoy a family meal at our dinner table. We don’t do that quite often enough.
Vincent and Lilia played nicely.. Though at one point she got mad because she wanted some balls that vinny had on his hand. Vinny got scared and started crying but only for a little bit. Other than that they pretty much entertained themselves with vinny’s toys and the iPad.
When it got dark we drove to Main Street and lined up to watch the Christmas parade. There were lots of people there but we got a good spot. I was surprised at how many floats and people there were in the parade.
Vinny hung out in the back pack for half of it and then we carried him. He was waving a little at the people in the parade and Jeff said he squawked when snoopy arrived! We left before we could see Santa. It will be fun next year when Vincent knows more of what is going on. For example, Lilia was pointing out the monkey, banana, bubbles, etc.
Happy Thanksgiving
We spent our Thanksgiving this year with my good friend Angie, hey boyfriend Steve, and her two kids. Angie used to work with me but she is on diability because she is having issues with her arm. We had a great time hanging out and cooking a relaxing dinner. Angie did a great job with the Martha Stewart brine-then-bake recipe. Mmm mmm. I am glad she asked us to come over since we were just going to be lazy and do a ham for the three of us.
We forgot Vinny’s high chair so we did a makeshift carseat plus exercise band and back brace straps! LOL it actually worked though.
Emma (4) was pulling Vincent in the wagon. She was having fun with Vinny and was being very nice to him.
Ellie had a new pet mouse she just got yesterday. Every time we see her it seems she has a new pet!
Vinny fell and cracked his head a few time on the ceramic tiled floor. 🙁 The house was huge and very nice — i loved the doors and high ceilings.
5 acres of land! Holy cow! I had already planned to ask Angie to take our Christmas photos here… so that worked out perfect with all the nice trees and light outside.
Vinny was playing with Tinker toys which had these tiny wood pieces that he kept popping in his mouth and we wouldn’t discover them till way later.
We all had a great time and it is wonderful to always have somewhere to go or people to share our thanksgiving with even though it’s normally not any of our blood relatives. We are thankful for our friends here in California, our families in other states (Hawaii, FL, East Coast) and of course the bestest kitty in the whole world – Butters! Jeff and I couldn’t be luckier to have such a happy, healthy, and rambunctious little boy who lifts our spirits up every single day. We cherish everyday we get to spend with him and look forward to the christmas holiday, and the next year and all the learning he will continue to do.
Thanks to all of you who read my blog and comment (and no thanks to all of you who read and do not comment… LOL, kidding…sorta).
Oh and i made a chocolate haupia pie but we didnt get to eat it there because Vinny was melting down. But luckily i made two pies!! The one we had at home was the “disaster” pie that had cracks in the piecrust, and not enough filling (bc i just used the leftovers from the “good” pie) but it was still delicious!
Helping Vincent Adjust to his Helmet
My friends who have seen Vincent with his new helmet on say he looks like Megaman!
The day that Vincent got his helmet, he also ended up getting a cold! Poor guy! He was sneezing and nose running, congested and everything. Jeff ALSO ended up catching Vincent’s cold, so on Friday, i had to work from home while babysitting Vincent with his helmet and Jeff stayed in bed all day.
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Took him in for a quick adjustment on his helmet. He fell asleep in the car, (its only 5 minutes away, if even!) and was so sleepy he kept sleeping after i got him out of the carseat and signed in at the front desk! He was so cute.
The doctor came out and took off his helmet * ripp * goes the velcro! So he woke up. But was very still and just laid on me.
After the doctor, we walked a couple blocks from the office to a new park i found on Google Maps.
It has a big long slide, a basketball hoop sort-of thing, a train, a see saw, and a play structure. Also a really big hill! Vincent didn’t want to leave when we were done.
We then went to Jamba Juice to get Daddy a vitamin boost drink. He was so rascal in there while we waited. He was grabbing at all the snacks available for purchase that were at “kid level” and shaking the stools so that they made a horrendous amount of noise. Yes, that is my kid that is making all the mischief…and this is BEFORE he gets the sugar rush from the smoothie! BTW, he loved his first smoothie! Carribbean Passion, i think it was. Passion fruit, and some peach.
It takes a lot to watch him with his helmet because he gets fussy if you dont constantly play with him. So i took him outside a bunch, let him walk on the sidewalk, and check the pumpkins we still had from Halloween. He like eating rocks and feeling the plants, too.
He found a pinwheel from his birthday party that was outside on the ground. Struggled to get to it, but when he did he was happy.
He is learning how to go up an down stairs.
He mostly just holds my hand when he goes down and “drops” over the edge. Climbing back up, he will lift his leg if he can, but most of the steps we have here are way too big for him, so he needs to crawl up. He gets a kick out of it though, once he gets to the top!
So far he is OK with naps with the helmet on, but he doesnt do too well at nighttime. Overall, i’d say he is adjusting pretty well though. He sweats a lot but that is to be expected.
Happy Halloween and Happy Helmet Day…
Vincent finally got his cranial band a.k.a. helmet this morning. We visited the Orthoist and he fitted the helmet on his head by shaving down some areas in the front. He immediately had a sour look on his poor little face! But he kept it on, which is a bit surprising.
Jeff is staying home with Vincent for the next few days while he adjusts to it, and i am taking Monday off to be with him.
Jeff carved a pumpkin, and i normally carve one too, but was lazy this year since i got home from work and it was a bit late to start. Jeff carved one though and baked the pumpkin seeds!
His pumpkin looked good outside.
We only got a handful of kids, maybe 7 or so. Vincent stopped what he was doing everytime to see who was at the door.
He liked playing with the big orange candy bowl and chewing on the candy with the wrapper on.
Earlier in the week, my mom sent over a package with some lift the flap books (vinny’s fave), a pumpkin bag (he used for trick or treating), a sponge-bob hat, and some cookies.
They were homemade and painted with egg yolk dye.
Visiting the Brown’s New House
Our friends Kyle and Bonnie just bought a new house which happens to be right next door to Kyle’s parents house! Sah-weet! They totally scored on that one, and I’m majorly jealous! Their house is in a very nice neighborhood and they even have a pool and several water fountains! Haha!
We went over for dinner to catch up and see their new place. Jeff thought it would be funny to put vinny in his infant swing that we loaned to them to see if he would like it.
Yeah, not really…
Vinny was having fun getting into all sort of trouble. Dried paintbrushes, various cleaners, small trinkets left out on low-lying tables, the open dishwasher, pool chemicals, candles, books, electrical sockets, you name it! Ahh, yes, so we were chasing after him feverishly.
Their daughter Charlotte just turned 6 months and she is a doll! But obviously, not mobile yet… She has the biggest, brightest, cutest smile! And she is strong! Been putting weight up on her feet since we last saw her at 4 months, and can sit up if she gets propped up. It will be fun when the kids can run around together. I am sure we’ll use their pool often!
Vinny found an empty water jug and was lifting up in the air, which was funny because he had his superman outfit on!
Then he started banging on it like a drum! See, he is totally having the time of his life right there.
We put the kids in their halloween outfits to snap some pix. Actually got Vinny to sit still for two seconds!
Halloween Party at Daycare
Here are some pictures from my daycare provider. They had a Halloween party today, and it was one of the girls’ birthday.
This is Miss Charlyne!
Vinny’s superman cape!
Older girls got cake and ice cream, littler kids got cookies
Charlyne gave Vinny a bunch of candy, and more cookies in a treat bag. Mmmm.. holidays and sugar!
Daycare Photos
Here are some pictures my daycare provider posted on her Facebook page from earlier this month:
Charlyne’s husband John reading to the kids… while Vincent runs towards the camera smiling.
Oh just throwing chairs…
What a crazy smile. Cool toybox!
Everyone smiling for the camera! What hams! The girl closest to Vincent is always so smiley! Her name is Alyse and she is about the same age as Vinny. They seem to get along really really well! The other girl is 2 years old.
This one is from a while ago, probably from the first week or so when he started there. Playing with an airplane of course.