Room makeover

BEFORE

Today Eoin and I (with a little help from some great guys) created a family/play room for us all. We had to get rid of an IKEA dresser which was falling apart anyway and also put stuff in the attitic but that gave us tons of space to move our guest bed - futon and bring in Eoin's bigger toys. We kept the computer in the room as Eoin is really beginning to show an interest in it.

AFTER

We did move the cats food out into the main part of the house and so far Eoin has been really good and not played with it but my guess is that as soon as he isn't getting what he wants he will go splash in the water. Doing something he knows he's not meant to is his new way of getting attention so I'm pretty sure we'll end up with water or cat food all over the floor at some point. Overall though I'm thrilled with having the sitting/dining room back and creating a space that we can all chill in together.

More train fun

So today we decided to treat Eoin to a train table. I think it was as much a treat for Daddy as it was Eoin as Daddy was easily as excited by it all! Well I suppose I should admit that I loved building the track and trying to work out the best configuration too. We made the table while Eoin was napping and so it was a huge surprise for him when he woke up. He played with it all afternoon and loved sharing it with his friend Andrew. So far so good on the not taking the track apart but we are still trying to teach Eoin that he can't climb on the table.

Train frenzy

In the last few weeks Eoin has gone crazy about trains but just in the last week we introduced him to a train track and the fun you can have with them. Now he spends hours playing with his trains so much so that today we are off to find a cheap train table. Not sure where we are going to put it but hey who cares if the house looks more like one huge playroom than a home! We won't change it for anything.

Ano Nuevo

Today we headed south along Route One to the state park of Ano Nuevo. It was a gorgeous day if some what blustery and this seemed to bother Eoin so we had to find ways of distracting him and getting him to walk the mile and a half to the elephant seals.

Distraction number one were bugs and lizards and hunting for them. Then we found a pine cone which he threw and kicked for a while but the best distraction was following 'the string' to find the treasure at the end of the trail.















About a mile in Eoin had a meltdown and refused to walk any further which we thought was ok seeing as he had done nearly a mile but he also refused to go in the backpack or on Daddy's shoulders and only wanted to be carried by Mommy. Normally I'd have given in but I'm sporting a rather fetching cast on my right arm at the moment so carrying him wasn't really going to work.

















In the end we carried him between us back to the car having only caught a glimpse of the elephant seals. Eoin promptly feel asleep for a second nap in the car (very unlike him) and was a much happier boy once we got home. Maybe his leg was still a little tender from his shots or maybe this was a little glimpse into the terrible two's and just wanting things done his way!

18 month stats

Weight - 28 lbs (13 kgs) and 75 percentile
Height - 35 inches (89cm) and 98 percentile
Head - 49 cm and 82 percentile
Weight for Height - 50 percentile

Think he's going to be tall and skinny!

Newspaper boy

Yesterday Eoin and I were snapped for the local newspaper while checking out the new farmers market downtown. I really didn't think much of it until I opened the newspaper today and saw our picture staring back at us! Those strawberries really were yummy and didn't make it back home because we enjoyed them while listening to a local bluegrass band.


PS Thanks go to Joshua Melvin for capturing us all having so much fun.

Monkey Boy

Eoin practising his bar skills at gymnastics.

18 months old today

Eoin hit 18 months today. Where has the time gone? It is becoming more and more difficult to catch a good photo of him now as he is always moving or exploring.

I'm not sure what Eoin's stats are at the moment but will update on Friday after his baby checkup but if I had to guess I'd say about 30 lbs and 34 plus inches. Oh one stat I do know is that he has huge feet! Size 8 US or size 7 UK.

Eoin's life at the moment is all about the physical stuff. Throwing and kicking balls, swimming, gymnastics and jumping and climbing on just about everything. He seems to have no fear and last week it all came to a head when one of his crazy jumps broke Mommy's thumb! Because of this crazy activity level Eoin seems happiest playing with kids about a year older than him but of course they aren't always into playing with a younger kid!

The other great development this month is that Eoin will finally sit still long enough to read some books. Sometimes we even get through two or three books.

On the motor skills side Eoin seems to be progressing well but I'm not sure what to gauge it against. He can now lace beads (biggish ones), open and close a zipper, poppers and rather annoyingly his stroller clips. He can feed himself with a fork but not a spoon and is working hard at drinking from a regular cup.

Eoin has started to show some interest in his potty and can tell you where pee-pee comes from. We're not going to push hard on the potty stuff but hopefully by the time he is two we might have made some progress.

Eoins favorite toys at the moment are his fire truck, trains and his sand and water table. Eoin's speech is great. We can now really understand him and he is communicating his needs and feelings very well!

Challenges are still him learning to be gentle, not hitting and not throwing things.

I wonder what changes we'll see in the run up to two years old?

Yeah....

Eoin's picture made it into the May/June addition of Adoptive Families magazine. We just got our three compliemtnary issues in the mail today.

Hot hot hot!

It hit 90 degrees here today and so we went for an adventure to Los Gatos and found a little creek we could paddle in.

There was also a little train that we could ride on though Eoin loved watching it more than riding on it.

Hide and Seek

Eoin loves to hide behind trees and jump out and shout boo. He will also hide behind curtains, doors and just about anything he can crouch down behind. He's quite good at hiding for some time before losing patience and jumping out.

Dandelions

In the last few days Eoin has discovered dandelion seed heads and he loves trying to blow them. Normally this results in him either inhaling the seeds or eating the whole thing as he puts it too close to his mouth!

Ladybugs

Eoin is fascinated with bugs of all kinds so today we headed to the local plant nursery and bought some ladybugs (about 1500 of them!). Eoin was so excited and kept asking for more bugs all the way home. Now that he is napping I've had a chance to release them in the garden which was a little tricky than I had thought and after some quick moving none went up the splint on my arm ;-) Can't wait for Eoin to wake up now and have fun exploring the garden for ladybugs. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures.

Why so quiet?

Well to answer that question lies in the picture. On Wednesday morning I neglected to push the dining room chair back under the table after breakfast and Eoin used the chair to climb onto the dining room table. He then decided to jump to me but I was a good three feet away. It was going to be his head on a hard wood floor or me doing my best to catch him. Well I've ended up with a small break in my thumb and torn ligaments. Doctors couldn't do much yesterday as everything was too swollen so back to ortho on Monday to see what is to be done. Surgery was mentioned but really really hoping the ligaments aren't that badly damaged!

Easter

We combined english and american traditions for Easter and Eoin got an easter basket full of fun stuff especially an english style easter egg and his first kids bible. We had a great day spent with friends and eating Andy's wonderful roast lamb dinner. Now if only America would adopt an English tradition of making the Monday after Easter Sunday a national holiday!

Toddler Competitiveness

Andrew and Eoin having a climbing competition :-)

Happy Easter Great Grandma and Granddad

Thank you for our Easter cards Great Grandma and Great Granddad.

No more monkeys.....

Easter fun

Today we hosted a playdate for all our little friends. We decorated some foam eggs and danced lots!

Funny Face

Eoin trying to look at his nose!

Big Day

So almost a year after we finalized Eoin's adoption his new birth certificate arrived today. It's a weird feeling. We didn't think it would mean much but to see our names on his birth certificate is a special moment. We kind of wish there was space too for Amy's name too after all she is the amazing person who gave Eoin life and chose us to be his parents.

Toddler Gymnastics

Eoin and I recently started a new Toddler Gymnastics class at Burgess Park in Menlo Park. Eoin loves it so much and it is 50 minutes of good running around and using up energy.

The class which he takes with his friend Andrew, starts with 20 minutes of free movement in the soft play area and on the trampoline. Then we have 20 minutes on the basketball court playing with balls, hula hoops and then singing some songs. The last ten minutes are on the real gymnastics equipment which the kids just explore and have fun on. The class finishes with bubbles and a fun stamp on the kids hands. So much fun!!!

Sippy cup fun

Bunnycat

Well I guess Eoin is trying to get his own back but instead of me poor Sappho has to suffer!