Fun Car Games

Nicholas is always looking for entertainment in the car.  It took John about 2.5 years to figure out how to lower and raise the back windows in the car.  Within a week of him doing that, Nicholas had figured it out as well.  That being said, he still looks for little things to entertain himself.  His latest kick is to play locks before he gets in the car and after he gets out of the car.  Basically, he goes up to an open door and then just presses the lock button so it opens and closes.  It takes so little to entertain that boy; yet, he could do it for hours.  Me, being the sourpuss that I am, do not let him do it more than once.  

El Campeon Mundial

Our Nicholas is quite the athlete.  As you can see from his belt, he's a world champion wrestler.  He's perhaps the youngest in history, if I am not mistaken.  In the ring, he has a motto:  Deeds not word!

Our Trip to the Zoo

Yesterday, I asked Maureen how she felt about going to the zoo if the day wasn't too hot today.  She thought it was a grand idea.  Actually, she was thinking of taking the boys to the beach, but I put my idea forth prior to her talking to me about hers.  That teaches us the following:  If you snooze, you lose!

So, we made the mistake of telling John that we were going to the zoo and we basically had to sell the idea to him.  How do you ask?  We told him there was a train.  After he heard that, he just wanted to talk about the train at the zoo.  Nicholas was just happy to be going anywhere.  He's a good little guy like that.

On our drive over, John asked if we were going to drive by the big fountain and the red train.  The boy has the memory of an elephant.  He forgets nothing.  We drove by the fountain at Forrest Lawn and then we drove by the red train at Travel Town.

We get to the zoo and the boys are all skittish because they don't know what to think.  We rent a double stroller and John doesn't want to ride in it.  Nicholas enjoyed it until John decided to join him.  At that point, he decided that he had to get out of the stroller.  Lesson for the day, get two single strollers.

The first animals we see are flamingos.  All Nicholas could say was, "DUCK!  DUCK!  DUCK!"  Apparently, all birds are ducks to him.  John was a bit more subdued and liked looking at the flamingos.  After the flamingos, he started asking about the train incessantly.  It got to the point where we abandoned all hope of seeing any animals and went to find the little train.

When we got to the train, the ride operator told us that it was closed until the end of the bird show.  To kill time, we decided to see the bird show.  Neither boy appreciated it.  They both were freaked out by the birds flying over the audience.  John was freaked out by the carved wooden bird on the stange.  He kept on calling it the Big Angry Bird.

Sadly, we left the bird show and decided to leave the zoo since both boys were getting restless.  Nicholas did not want to part with his spacious stroller and John was in tears over not riding the train.  The train was you standard carnival ride.  Oh well, it was a good experiment and we plan to try it again when it isn't too hot and the boys are a little older.

On a funny note, John decided that we were going to go to a park.  He said, "We are going to the park.  We'll take our new green stroller and walk there.  Ok?  Is that a plan?"  We had to break the news to him that we only rented the stroller.  Still, it was rather spacious and Nicholas just loved lounging in it.

Down By The Sea

Nicholas spent some quality time with his buddy Jake Wiseman in Newport Beach.  Quality time for those two is parallel play where they play in the same vicinity, but don't interact.  One day, I'm sure they'll wrestle each other since they are 1-month apart in age, but for now, they just tend to tolerate each other like Maggie Simpson and the baby with the unibrow on The Simpsons.

Fun Treats at Trader Joe's

On our weekly trip to Trader Joe's, John always wants to stop by the sample sections. Nicholas avoids it like the plague. While Nicholas and I were wandering the store, a very nice clerk came up and said hello and was trying to engage Nicholas. Eventually, Maureen and John came by and I showed her the ice cream cones that we'd been hearing about. The clerk said, "You haven't tried them? THis is my favorite part of the job." and he proceeded to open up a box for us and allowed us to try them. Needless to say, we bought the box. We were going to buy a box even if we hadn't received the free sample, but that was a very nice treat for us all.

This little one did manage to make a mess.  He didn't get anything on his t-shirt, but he did drop chocolate and ice cream on his pants.  He even managed to somehow get some on the back of his pants.  When I picked him up, I thought the brown was something else that is far less pleasant.  Thankfully, it was sticky and sweet and not stinky and nasty.

August Birthdays

We had two very important birthdays on August 10 and August 17, Mami and Papi's.  The boys were so excited to celebrate and take them a fine cake from Hansen's to enjoy.  As you can see from the photo, the boys didn't wait for the birthday boy to dig into the cake.

Yakety Sax

Fun on the Train

Thanks to Tio Luis for spotting this great find at a garage sale.  Thanks to Ana for sharing it with the boys.  Thanks to Mami and Papi for letting the boys ride it at their house. 

As you can see, they really like the train.

I Heard It and Knew Exactly What He Had Done

We had just finished shopping at Ralph's and he was enjoying some goldfish from the bag.  I didn't give a second thought to giving him the bag since he'd done a good job in the store and didn't drop anything.  Five minutes into our drive, I hear the sound of the bag being turned upside down.  I asked Maureen if it was what I thought it was and she said, "It sure is." 

Sometimes, I think to myself, "That boy's just not right."

The Joys of Shopping at Ralph's

They have a self service bakery.  Nicholas is a fan of fresh baked muffins.  As you can see, he enjoys shopping with us.

Our Little Monster Got a Haircut

It looks like you can actually do something with his hair at this point; however, by the time we left The Yellow Balloon, it was back to its bowl cut glory.  As the one who had to hold him while he screamed and cried, I was in favor of giving him a buzz.  Maureen will have none of that.  She likes his hair even if it does revert to a bowl cut every time.