Where's WALL-E?

Want this. Gotta have this! ;-)

Palace of the Legion of Honor

Callum and I are out with my parents to view the second half of the Impressionist exhibit (Impressionist Paris: City of Light). A fun day outing but MAN it is freezing in the city today!!

Suuuuuushi!

I don't know about this Mom....


Huh, not bad.


Hey, it's like spaghetti. Only, not really.


My dad's been wanting to try a Japanese restaurant out that's near our house, but we never get around to doing it. So, Thursday after our day up in the city, we drove back home to pick up Logan and decided to grab some dinner since Jon was going to have a late night at work anyway and I could use the help with the boys.

The food came out and let's just say I was shocked. As in S-H-O-C-K-E-D at how much Logan ate and how well he did!! We've tried feeding him Japanese food before, but without any luck. This time, he was all game and it was awesome. He ate a ton of edamame, two inari (sweet tofu and rice sushi), a tiny bite of agedashi tofu and then a bowl of udon noodle soup. WOOHOO! I'm hoping to go again really soon so he can remember everything he liked and ate and so we can keep up this trend. :)


As dinner was winding down, so were the boys. Throughout dinner I was sitting on one end of the table with Callum while Logan was at the other end, in between my parents. But, after our meal, Logan was really interested in sitting with me. So, because he'd done so well, we decided to swap kids - having Logan move over to my side of the table and me handing Callum over to my dad.

Logan immediately got upset! It turns out, apparently, he not only wanted to sit with Mommy, but he wanted to sit with his baby brother too! So, I took Callum back and held him while Logan - all on his own - wrapped his arm around Callum and leaned into me hugging us tight. My dad tried getting a few shots but they're all with my iPhone, so they aren't the clearest.


It's moments like these that I just love being a mom of two.

Grumpy Sunflower

I think this is my favorite piece of artwork from Logan yet. It probably speaks volumes that I am most fond of the artwork that has a grumpy face rather than the smiling cute happy go lucky kid most parents want to see. But this is SUCH an expression of his! How can I not like it? Plus, it goes perfectly with the sunflower background. ;-)


Yesterday, out of the blue, Logan started asking "Why not?" at dinner. But, what cracked us up was his incorrect application of the question.

Here are some snippets of the conversation between Logan and Jon.


Logan - finish your sandwich.

Why not?

You can have some apples and chocolate milk after you eat your sandwich.

Why not?

It's late. It's almost your bedtime.

Why not?

Birth of Impressionism

My parents and I headed up to the city today to check out the 'Birth of Impressionism' exhibit at the de Young Museum. Several masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay in Paris are on special loan to de Young right now (debuting this Saturday), making for an AH-mazing (and rare) opportunity to see some fantastic works of art!

This was the only photo I took while up there, the back of my mom's head and her odd choice in hair accessories. :)

Dexterity

Logan's doing much better but still a bit sickly. He had a really great morning today, we even got out and ran a couple errands which felt good to get out of the house, however after his nap this afternoon he was back to his clingy, fragile, upset self. :(

His fever is pretty much gone, although it did appear after his nap just a tiny bit (upper 99s), and the rash is also mostly gone (a few small spots also poked their ugly head out briefly after the nap), so we'll see. Unfortunately, he also has a weepy eye that's getting clogged up every time he cries (which feels like every 5 minutes), so I'll be calling the doc again tomorrow to see if we can get some drops for it since it's not clearing up on its own.

Because we've been cooped up in the house all weekend and Logan doesn't want to do anything but cuddle in bed and watch movies or sit on my lap, as close to me as humanly possible, I broke out some of the art supplies today so we could get a break from the TV.


I got about two 20 minute sessions out of him before he decided to quit and grab my hand to pull me back to cuddle in bed, but at least it was something. He absolutely fell in love with his new "froggy" scissors (I got the ladybug pair as well), learning how to cut paper on his own for the first time. Of course, he's not skilled enough to be left alone, but I was surprised at how quickly he picked up how to use them, one handed and all!

Handmade Presents

I almost forgot to post the highlights of our Christmas (before Christmas has even begun!).

Last Friday, Logan (and his teachers from school) made Jon and I a beautiful little photo box, very similar to the one I made for Jon for Father's Day, but much nicer in my humble opinion, since Logan contributed to the art as well. :) The present was wrapped in paper with a beautiful big bow, but Logan insisted on unwrapping it for us that night when we got home (and when I say insisted, I mean he pitched a fit). So, we got an early Christmas present from our little boy this year!

It's now sitting on my desk at work. I didn't think to snag a proper photo of it before taking it in, so a snapshot from my iPhone will have to do instead.


Today, when I picked him up from school, we had two little Christmas tree ornaments waiting for us. We put them on the tree tonight and they are so cute, filled with Logan's scribbles and all! I'm sure this is just the beginning of many more handmade crafts to come.



They really finish off the look of our tree, don't they? ;-)

Carving Pumpkins

Yes, I left this fun "art project" until the very last day.

Logan was most interested in drawing on the pumpkins than anything else. He was most certainly not interested in touching or scooping out the insides. ;-)

Distraction

Lately, anything related to art is a great distraction. I grabbed a brochure and pen for Logan to draw with while we waited (forever) at the vet's office this evening.

Unfortunately, Lola's cancer has returned. :( We're doing another set of chemotherapy treatments; not nearly as long nor as intense a program as before (her body wouldn't be able to take it) but hopefully it will help.

Abuelita and Aunt Sarah Visit

I'm finally catching up with the week and have such blogger's guilt for not posting pics and a story about Logan's Abuelita and Aunt Sarah's visit over the weekend that I'll be damned if I don't post about it tonight, before I pass out on the couch watching The Soup. ;-)

Abuelita and Abuelito Riedy, and Aunt Sarah, moved from Washington state, down to Burbank (LA) to be closer to the family and grandkids. While on their drive down this weekend, they passed through the Bay Area to visit with us. Abuelito Riedy wasn't able to stay unfortunately, because he needed to get set up in LA and then ready for work in San Diego by Monday. But, we did have a really nice visit with Abuelita and Aunt Sarah.

Saturday morning we went to Logan's friend Maya's 2nd birthday party.


The party was at a nearby Color Me Mine pottery studio and I thought Abuelita and Aunt Sarah would enjoy coming with us to watch Logan get his art on.


He had an okay time painting his ceramic plate. He certainly wasn't impressed with Mommy trying to help out. Oh well. :) Hopefully it comes out! We ate a little pizza and cake before calling it a day (it was way past naptime).


While Logan napped, Jon and I introduced Alicia and Sarah to a game of Settlers. mwahahahaha

Jon won, of course, but we had a really good time. When Logan woke, we decided to try an early dinner at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Zeni. Because we went before the crowds gathered, we lucked out, got a table right away and had a really nice meal (it was Alicia and Sarah's first time trying Ethiopian and I think they liked it!).


Logan had a great time visiting with Abuelita and Aunt Sarah but I think his most favorite part of all was "helping" Abuelita walk with her cane.


It was the most precious thing ever and he INSISTED on doing it any time we were out and about. :)


Sunday we had brunch at our favorite local spot, Stacks. Aunt Catherine, Uncle Danny and Nadia all drove down from San Francisco to join us as well. We had a great time chowing down on yummy food. Logan was the center of attention and loved it. After brunch, we said our goodbyes as everyone needed to hit the road to continue the rest of their drive down to LA.

That afternoon we relaxed around the house, did some chores, and checked out a local toy shop to compare various wooden train sets. Jon has been wanting to get Logan a train set since he was born - and seeing how well he took to Robert's train set only solidified that goal. We compared the different brands out there, let Logan play with a few himself, and then went home to find a great deal online. ;-)

Counting Cotton Balls

Giving Jackson Pollock a run for his money... ;-)

I am Doggy...

Hear me BARK!

Memorial Day Weekend

Yesterday we quarantined ourselves all day due to a nasty fever Logan had caught, out of the blue (I actually noticed it late Friday night). He was hitting temps around 102 and just NOT feeling like himself. And, for about 20 of those 24 hours, he insisted on being held and rocked; nothing else would do.

It was exhausting, particularly in the middle of the night when Jon and I were zombies and Logan would fall asleep, or near asleep, and ask to be laid down in his crib. We'd thankfully oblige and then 10 minutes later he'd wake up screaming again, wanting to be held and rocked for another 45 minutes. It was a VERY long night for us all.

In any case, he woke up today as if none of that had ever happened (of course). We decided to hit our favorite breakfast joint, only to discover the wait was WAY TOO LONG. So, we went to our next favorite place, which also happens to be down the street from the Hickson's, who joined us for some wonderful company. After brunch, and some playtime back at their house, we headed home so Jon could make his way up to the city (for a gaming conference he's been wanting to attend) and I could put Logan down for his nap.

When Logan woke up from his nap, I decided the two of us would take a fun bike ride to a nearby children's store that I'd been wanting to visit for awhile but have never gotten around to it. Lakeshore Learning focuses on educational materials - and there's not much more I can say but that it was awesome. The only thing that stopped me from buying EVERYTHING was that we had biked to the store and I couldn't necessarily bring it all back home. ;-) So I limited myself to a few arts and crafts items, as well as the obligatory balls and cars that I never can leave a store without these days. Logan was in 7th Heaven and frankly, so was I.

Once we got home (it was a nice bike ride too! about 4 miles round trip), I whipped out some paper and finger paint, stripped the kid, and plunked us both down on the kitchen floor. We had fun making a mess; even Izzy got a little coloring done (he laid down right smack in the middle of our artwork, what did he expect?!). :)


After cleanup, bath, dinner and pj's, we hung out in the den for awhile - where Logan mastered walking clomping across two rooms in Mommy's big tennis shoes (he has loved wearing both of our shoes for some time now, but just tonight he actually managed to WALK in them!) and straddling poor Hunter, one of the Jodoin dogs we are dog sitting this weekend, which was hilarious (especially when Hunter finally got up to move to another room and Logan slid back on his butt with a thump).

All in all, a great Sunday and weekend play day. And boy, am I beat.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. :)

Van Gogh in Training

Just bought a new arts and crafts book for toddlers recommended by a
friend (thanks Jenn!). I'll have to start buying some frames since I
don't have much fridge real estate left to display all the new artwork! ;)