Saturday, January 31, 2009

Day at the Zoo


Today we met up with our friends Steve and Cassandra for a wonderful lunch and then a great time at the San Francisco Zoo. Eoin didn't quite seem himself and so we kept him in the backpack for a little while and we went to see the five day old baby giraffe.


We were so lucky that we got not only to see the baby giraffe but Mommy and Daddy interacting with her as one happy family. We saw the baby getting up on her wobbly legs and Daddy being very protective of his family. It really was a great sight. After the giraffes we headed to the monkeys and lemurs which we knew Eoin would love. His favorite show is Zoboomafoo which is all about a lemur and his creature friends. However when we took Eoin out of the back pack he was really cranky and wobbly on his legs. It took me a while to realize that Eoin's legs had gone to sleep and he had pins and needles. The poor little fella cried his way through getting the feeling in his legs again but once his legs were ok again there was no stopping him! He was running all over the place. We showed him where the lemurs where and told him to call 'Zoboo" and to our amazement he did - several times.

We finished the day off with Eoin's first carousel ride. We all had a great time and can't wait to go back to the zoo and see the other half that we didn't get to see today.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Lipstick

The pictures say it all really!

15 month check-up

Eoin weighed in at 28 lbs even and 33.5 inches lomg. So no change at all! He is now on the 95 percentile for height and 91 percentile for weight. His head stayed on the 75 percentile. Eoin was able to do everything on the checklist - say at least four words, feed himself with a spoon, point to body parts, walk, run, sleep through the night without a feed and there were a few others but I can't remember them.

Dr Walton did tell us that this is around the time kids start to have dreams so we might find that he wakes up upset. I think this might have happened last night because Eoin was standing in the crib with tears streaming down his face and that is very unlike him.

Eoin got two shots on the slowed down shot schedule. He didn't even cry this time and the other big change for him was that he let Dr Walton look in his ears without having to be pinned down! Eoin sat on the table like a big boy and let the exam just happen. He loved Dr Walton looking in his throat and then Eoin proceed to look in Dr Walton's and Mommy's throats too.



UPDATE: for the first time ever Eoin didn't have any reaction to his shots. Every single time in the past he has run a fever (as high as 105) and lots of crying. Yesterday nothing!!! So happy right now.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

New Blog Header

I love my new blog header and little blog titles! Thanks to Chelsea at Aqua Poppy Designs. Chelsea was a dream to work with and really really fast too! And another big thanks to Anat for the great family photo.

Another little change to the blog (as I learn more about blogspot) is the addition of little reaction buttons under each post. And at the request of Cindy (and a little more exploring of blogspot) I managed to add 'too cute' as an option. I thought it might be fun for everything to be a little more interactive.

Oh and of course the last change as you can all see is that Chelsea made me a great signature for my posts :-)

Social Life of a Toddler

Eoin's social life is great. How does a one year old have such a hectic calendar? Well maybe it's because Mommy likes to be out and about and socializing too! Over the next few months Eoin has swimming on Mondays and Fridays. Playgroup on Tuesday and Wednesday and music class on Friday mornings. Eoin loves swimming which started yesterday. He was a pro and he even started swimming a little under water. Playgroup is wonderful and a chance to practice our sharing and being gentle. Music is a close second favorite to swimming and Eoin thinks its the best ever to be able to stand in the center of a circle of people who are all watching him dance.

Just funny.....

Monday, January 26, 2009

Vacuuming

Eoin loves the vacuum! In fact I think he has begun to throw food on the floor just so that he can get the vacuum out and have fun with it. Today when I got the vacuum out he followed me round the house saying 'pease, pease, pease'. The last 24 hours have been nothing but 'pease' - I think that the little guys thinks that if he says please he can have what ever he wants.


Russian Dolls



Eoin got a new toy the other day - real Russian dolls. The dolls gave him hours of entertainment! He must have spent the best part of Sunday afternoon taking the dolls apart and putting them together again.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Table and Chair

While at IKEA today we picked up a couple of kids chairs and a table for Eoin. He has really shown an interest in sitting and concentrating on puzzles, shape sorting or drawing in the last few weeks so we thought we'd encourage it. Of course Eoin also thinks it's great fun to climb on the chair and then the table and jump of them.

Bedding


The last few nights Eoin has been a little cold so we decided to get him a duvet and baby pillow. So off we went this morning to IKEA to see what we could find. We gave Eoin the choice of two different jungle bedding patterns and he chose the red (this was Mommy's favorite too!). It was also time to take his cute jungle bumpers out of the crib because he was beginning to use them as a climbing aid. I think he will miss the bumpers because Eoin snuggles right up into them but we are hoping that the pillow will help with the transition. So hopefully tonight between his sleep sack and his duvet Eoin will be toasty warm.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

New words and discipline

Eoin has finally learned to say please. He has been able to say thank you for a little while but he has finally worked out that saying please gets a great response. Today I was tidying out the laundry cupboard (a project long overdue and made necessary by our washing machine leaking but hopefully the repair man can work out what is wrong!) and Eoin came to me with a toy that he needed help to open and he said 'pease' and of course I was delighted and stopped and helped him. A few minutes later Eoin came back with another toy - same thing. And then it happened a third time when he saw something he wanted in the laundry cupboard; he pointed and said 'pease'. Now I wonder how long before he gets mad if he doesn't get what he wants even if he does saw 'pease'?



Other new words in the last week include night night, bye bye, yeah, sit down and gentle. The issue of being gentle is becoming huge to say the least. Eoin is now deliberating throwing things and banging toys on surfaces he knows he's not allowed to. So we have decided on a two pronged approach. The first time ask him to stop throwing or banging and show him the appropriate way to use the toy. Then a firm second warning telling him that if he does it again the toy will be taken away. And the third time is when we take the toy away. This usually results in tears especially if it's his stroller and baby or broom but he normally moves on quickly. We hope that with a couple of weeks of consistent guidance we will have a break through on the throwing. Being gentle however I think is going to take a little longer.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Favorite toy

Eoin's favorite toy at the moment is his pink stroller and baby. He will walk to the park with the stroller and baby and mimic other parents who are feeding or rocking their babies. The other day he followed a new Mom all the way round the park with his stroller and baby! He even shares food and his blankie and dumblie with his baby.

15 months old

Eoin is fifteen months old today. Not sure how heavy or tall he is but his check up is next week so no doubt I'll tell you then.

Eoin's personality is really coming out. He is super energetic and boisterous but with that comes an amazing amount of affection. Eoin loves to give hugs and kisses and will stop playing to just randomly come and give you a hug.

Eating is much better now that he is on a lactose free diet. Favorites are pasta, sausage, fries, raspberries and anything with chocolate.

Let's think - new stuff this month include:
  • being able to get food onto a spoon and into his mouth.
  • a huge fascination in the TV (the photo illustrates this).
  • lots more talking and beginning to try three syllable words like submarine.
  • a lactose free diet which has made huge differences to his digestion and skin.
  • the beginnings of tantrums!
  • spinning round and dancing whenever he hears music.
  • jumping
  • interest in puzzles and stacking toys.
  • sharing though it is a very forceful share. More like here have this or else.
  • one nap a day not two but its usually a long one.
  • favorite songs are 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' and 'If you're happy and you know it'
  • beginning to understand that dumblie (pacifier) and blankie are just for bed or quite time.
  • on and of course throwing everything!!!!

Rainy day fun

It's been rainy for the last couple of days (and for the foreseeable future) so we have had to be creative when it comes to fun play things. This morning Eoin and I built a den under the dining room table. We lay under the table and read books and had our morning snack.

A little rain never stopped anybody....

...from getting out and enjoying the playground. Well that is until Mommy realized how wet the play structures became in the rain! Eoin loves his boots and if he had his way would wear them all day everyday.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Obama Inauguration




Eoin and I managed to catch a little of Obama's Inauguration today before we had to dash to playgroup. I know Eoin didn't get it but boy what a truly amazing day! As Europeans in America it has truly been awe inspiring to watch how much the country has changed and grown from the need for new leadership and stewardship. I hope that for our children and grandchildren and all the children of the world that this growth continues in America and shines as a beacon to the rest of the world as an example that change for the better can happen.

As Will-i-am sang last night 'It's a New Day'. I look at our son Eoin and tears fill my eyes from the overwhelming sense of hope and opportunity that there is for him.

Dizzy

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Wonderful weather

We've been having the most glorious weather the last few days. Really warm and dry (a little too dry to be honest) so today we packed up and headed to the beach. We had a picnic lunch and Eoin learned that if he threw his food on the ground all the birds came running to grab it - he thought it was great fun. After lunch we played on the beach. Eoin was still a little scared by the waves and so he sat on Daddy's shoulders and watched the waves. We built sandcastles and explored the rocks. Eoin was soon tired and so we headed home with one sound asleep baby.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Exploring

Eoin has really started climbing and exploring spaces that he previously hasn't shown any interest in. He loves the baskets under our entry table so much that I have decided to take our emergency pack out of one basket and make it into a little cubby den for him with a blanket and pillow. It will be a surprise for him in the morning so I hope he likes it!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Family photo session


Last Saturday we had a photo session with a great local photographer - Anat Reisman Kedem. She took Eoin's picture when he was just three months old and we loved her work so much we had no hesitation going back. Anat spent at lest two hours running round after Eoin in our local park and got so many great photos we are now spoilt for choice on what to choose. Thanks Anat!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Chalk boards


So for the longest time I have wanted to disguise the (rather ugly) back of our kitchen cupboards which can be seen in the dining room. I thought about painting them with chalk board paint and some magnetic paint but that seemed like a lot of hard work. Then I discovered these stick on chalk boards and magnetic circles. I love them and more importantly Eoin thinks they are great. Now if only I can teach him that chalk isn't for eating but as his great grandmother would say 'He'll eat worse before he's 80'.

Spider......

..look away now those of you who don't like spiders!



Eoin has a new pet. This biggish spider has been living on the outside (thankfully) of Eoin's bedroom window for a few months now. Eoin is getting rather interested in it and I'm not sure how much longer the spider is going to hang around, especially with Eoin banging on the window to see if he can get the spider to move.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Such warm weather.....

....that we allowed Eoin to play in the water at the park today. It was around 70 degrees (20 celcius) here today. Eoin was so happy splashing around in the water. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me at the park so here he is on his bike when we got home.

Water really is his favorite thing. so we plan to start swim lessons at the end of the month.

Feeding others

For the last few weeks Eoin has really been into feeding others. Well he has always tried to feed us but of late he now tries to give his bottle to his stuffed animals and yesterday we found him feeding his cereal bar to Sappho. Luckily our cats don't much like human food!

And just for those of you who don't believe we have two cats because you have never seen Seamus here is a picture of them a couple of days ago.






Wednesday, January 7, 2009

A great photo...

Thanks Reenu for capturing our little man so well!

Balls

Eoin has really become fascinated with balls. We always have to take one to the park and if we forget, like today, he 'borrows' another kids ball. Thank you Sahir for sharing your ball with us - hope to see you at the park again soon!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Making a spectacle of himself


Glasses are the new favorite toy!

River Dance eat your heart out!



I'm a sucker for any show that involves dancing and so the last few nights have been enjoying the world dance off show. Of course Ireland is winning!!! Eoin seems to love the show and I am bummed that I missed getting him to do his best Irish dancing but here is just a little half hearted attempted from him.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Best entertainment ever!

Eoin's friend Andrew came over for a playdate today (so did Julia) and they all had the best time watching the squirrels pinch the bird's seed. Andrew learned, a little quicker than Eoin, that you had to be quiet for the squirrel to stay. He was so cute and kept telling Eoin to sshhhhh!

Disco!



Playdate fun!


From a while ago but......

so cute! Here is Eoin with his friend Max back on Halloween. And then Eoin strutting his stuff as a dinosaur.

Aquadoddling


Eoin has been enjoying using his Aquadoodle mat. We love it too because it works with water and so no colors end up all over him or the house!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Play Doh



Eoin discovered Play Doh for the first time today (thank you Amy and James!). At first he really wasn't sure what to make of it and really didn't like the texture but after about 10 minutes he began to get into it.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Afternoon stroll

We headed up into the Palo Alto hills today for a short walk. There is a great park int he hills that is just for Palo Alto residents and it is always super quite. Eoin managed to walk almost all the way round the lake!

Long suffering cat

We have two cats Sappho (pictured) and Seamus. Seamus lives under our bed all day but as soon as Eoin goes to bed comes out. Sappho on the other hand is a star of a cat. She is so patient and gentle with Eoin. She does occasionally hiss at him but has never scratched him. We finally got through to Eoin about being gentle but his interpretation of being gentle is to give hugs so now instead of being mauled Sappho gets huge hugs from Eoin. We're not sure which she preferred!

Spectacle boy

Eoin managed to get into the guest room today (I didn't close the gate properly!). He loves trying to get in there because for the time being the cat food is in there and he thinks it's yummy!
Well Eoin found a pair of my glasses and thought it was hilarious to try them on. But I think that by letting him play with them for the sake of some photos I may just have undone about 10 months of work of teaching Eoin not to play with my glasses - oh well!