May -- The Month of Celebrations

Lots going on in May… birthdays, Mother’s Day, and play days! We started Mother’s Day weekend with a trip to the Quail Botanical Gardens for a Chocolate Festival. We borrowed Sadie for the day and did crafts with the kids. (Note: The duet of “I’m a Little Teapot” was filmed on the way to the Gardens) The kids had fun, though Mommy and Daddy realized how much more work two kids are!
For our actual Mother’s Day celebration, we trekked down to our favorite breakfast spot in PB, Café 976. Luc drank “coffee” (lukewarm hot chocolate) and ate all the whipped cream off his waffle. The weather was nice enough that we went down to La Jolla Shores beach to play in the sand. (Note: The soccer video was filmed on Mother’s Day at La Jolla Shores) After the beach, it was naps all around for a pleasant afternoon.

Luc’s birthday celebration began bright and early on May 18 with the 7:00 AM arrival of the lion jumpy. He jumped in it so much, that he needed a nap (and actually took one!) before the party started at 11:30. It was so hot that day that Mommy sent Daddy and Uncle Deric to Costco for another umbrella, but that didn’t bother the kids at all. They raced around the backyard, jumped in the jumpy. The ice cream cake was a hit with everyone, though it melted a bit in the heat. The kids also managed to do some damage to the piñata, but Luc’s friend Chris Hanger broke it wide open for them in the end.

The birthday celebration continued on May 20, Luc’s actual birthday. He got to take cup cakes to his friends at day care and made himself a birthday crown with a big “3” on the front. Later that day, Grandpa Art came over for dinner (spaghetti, the Birthday Boy’s choice) and more cake and presents.

Luc’s big accomplishments while turning three included starting potty training and giving up his pacifier. Luc earned three M&Ms for peepee on the potty and a whopping five M&Ms for poopoo on the potty. He is very motivated by chocolate and is doing great. As for the pacifier, the “MiMi Fairy” came to visit and took all the mimis for new babies and left a big boy present in their place. Luc loves his new Thomas the Train set and has not missed his mimis at all.

We rounded out the month of celebrations with the news that Auntie Sarah and Auntie Dan are engaged! Congratulations, we are so happy for you!

April Showers Bring … Talk of May Birthdays!

Luc is very excited about his birthday and rarely a day goes by without some planning discussion. So far, the general theme is “animals” (the specific theme varies each time) and there will be a jumpy house. And cake. And presents. You get the picture.

In an effort to distract him from party planning, we started prepping him for his new big boy room. We are moving him from the tiny room with a crib to the big room with a big boy bed. A theme change comes along with the new room and good timing too. While Luc still loves the ocean, he is heavy in to trains these days, so it is a good thing that his new bed is a train bed! Mommy painted the walls and Daddy put the train bed together. Luc slept in it the very first night without a backward glance at his crib. He has a lot more room for toys in his new room and he really likes his new bed. He is on his way to becoming a big boy!

Another distraction was a party-sized play date at our house. We invited Toler and his family over for a make your own pizza night. Everyone knows that, once you have two kids together, a few more don’t make much of a difference, so we had Sadie, Ethan, Max and Wyatt over as well! The kids got to put their own toppings on their pizzas and Daddy cooked them on the grill. I am not sure how much eating actually occurred, but the kids had a blast.