Nana 911

My mom (aka Nana Patty) came to visit last week while Aaron was out of town. It was awesome having her here. It actually felt like I was on vacation. It was so relaxing to trade off the kids with her so that I only had to worry about one child at a time. I was sad to see her leave!

Poor Avalon doesn't have a single belonging that is all hers. I got out the Einstein mat for her, which is about the only toy that two month old can use. However, Waylon hijacked it and immediately began scootching all over the house, pretending it was some sort of vehicle. Ordinarily I would have stopped him, but my mom and I decided that I need to pick my battles so I let it slide, which meant avoiding his usual melt down when I take a toy away. He was entertained by the toy for quite awhile, but seems to be over it and no longer tries to play with the mat. I guess letting some things slide is necessary when you live with a toddler.

Waylon showed Nana what a great big brother he is by holding Avalon and being very sweet with lots of kisses and love.

This is the face Waylon now gives when you ask him to smile for the camera. Every time he makes it I almost pee myself laughing.

Nana Patty seemed to love sitting and rocking Avalon on her legs so that I could give Waylon more one-on-one attention.I stole this picture from my mom's blog. I love that they have similar expressions.
Waylon LOVES his kitchen/Barbecue center that Nana and Tom got him for Christmas. However, it just got set up a few weeks ago and has been a life saver for me since it keeps Waylon entertained for long periods of time.

Perhaps my favorite part about my mom's visit was that we built these shelves in Avalon's room. I have been dying to do this, but Aaron didn't think I could do it. I was very proud that my mom and I proved him wrong!

Aaron's Birthday

Aaron had his #$%^&* birthday last weekend (2/17) and we threw him a raging kegger party with all of his friends whooping it up until the wee hours of the morning. Oh wait, never mind. I must be having pre-kid flashbacks. We actually had our neighbors over for carnitas and Aaron entertained Waylon and Chloe with some crazy antics until about 7:30pm, which felt like 4am. There is nothing quite like getting two toddlers amped up on frosting and watching them spin out of control! Happy Birthday, Aaron!

Waylon was in awe of daddy's cupcakes
Aaron's birthday wish was that he could sleep in until 7:30am on Sunday. (It didn't happen)

The boys dig in!

Chloe is almost exactly Waylon's age so they are both going through the "MINE!" stage. Actually, they were super cute together and were totally interacting, which is a huge developmental jump from their previous parallel play. That said, they are toddlers and they had some "disagreements" about who could play with certain toys.

Waylon and Chloe are just beginning to wind up....

Aaron appeared to be having the time of his life playing with Waylon and Chloe.

Avalon tried to hide from the noise and craziness in the moby wrap (my FAVORITE piece of baby gear these days), but nothing could keep her safe from the shreaks of Waylon and Chloe.

Waylon pulled out all of the blankets and tried to convince Chloe to join him in his favorite game of "night night." The game consists of Waylon getting totally wound up while yelling "night, night!!!!!!" and trying to get people to lay down with him for the second or two he can stay still.

Jumping on the couch was the hilight of the evening.

The next day Aaron had a real birthday treat while watching TV all afternoon while eating left overs and drinking beer.

Gaucho the Frog

I was excited to get Waylon and Avalon UCSB clothes when we visited campus last month. However, Waylon felt the need to spice up his Gaucho gear with his froggy ensemble. The funny part is that when the hat actually fit he hated it, but now that we have to squeeze it on his head, he often insists on having it on.

Playgroup Invasion

On Valentine's Day we hosted the weekly playgroup. Usually there are several moms and kids at each playgroup, but for some reason almost every person in the group showed up this week. It was hilarious to see about fifteen toddlers run around the family room while several babies in car seats were lined up on the kitchen counter. Aaron was working upstairs and almost had heart failure when he saw the scene downstairs. Although Waylon is usually pretty cool about sharing his toys, I think he was ready for everyone to leave.

Waylon got a super awesome kitchen and grill from Nana for Christmas, but it only recently got set up. It was BIG hit with the toddler crowd as were all of the cars and trucks. This picture only represents some of the moms and kids at playgroup. There were even more people in the kitchen!
Usually Waylon loves to run around at playgroup, but this time he was overwhelmed seeing all of the other kids in his house and wanted Mommy to hold him and give him snacks.

This picture of the SUV armada in our cul de sac is worth expanding. Apparently there was no parking, and not a sedan in sight.

Look Alikes?

So far, Waylon and Avalon do not look alike. In my opinion, they are both beautiful babies, but with very different looks. Waylon was bald with giant cheeks and looked more like a Gerber baby. Avalon has lots of hair and is very petite. However, they look exactly alike when they get mad and scrunch up their faces crying. I think they get that from Aaron.

According to everyone that sees Waylon, he's a mini-me version of Aaron, and comparing their pictures as toddlers that definitely seems to be true. Avalon seems to resemble my baby picture, which my mom scanned and sent to me. Its nice to have at least one of my children look a little like me.

Here I am at 6 weeks old, looking a lot like a baby monkey.
Avalon at 6 1/2 weeks old

Avalon at 3 weeks old

Waylon at 3 weeks old

My mom did this split-screen picture to compare a picture of Avalon at 1 1/2 weeks with Waylon's picture at two-months.

Toddler Entertainment

Several months ago I remarked on the blog about how incredibly cute Waylon was, and that I was worried that his cute personality could not last. It didn't. He is definitely entering the terrible twos, and every word out of his mouth is "no" or "MINE!" He is like a bull charging through our house, pulling every toy and non-toy he finds out and on to the floor. He will then cry giant crocodile tears if we try to make him clean up, or attempt to keep him from ruining whatever he is currently trying to destroy. We are trying time outs and searcing for patience, but he is quite a hand full. One of the toughest things is when I have to nurse Avalon and somehow keep Waylon entertained. Initially, he did well watching TV or playing with toys in the nursery. Now he has discovered the joy of pulling all of Avalon's clothes out of the closet while Mommy can only helplessly watch. This photo was taken after Waylon raided Avalon's belongings and decided he wanted to look pretty. I cant wait to show this to his friends when he's a teenager.

Hardcore Parenting

Since Christmas, everyone in the family has been sick at one time or another, and it seems like Waylon's nose never stops running. Last Sunday (2/10) Waylon got really sick with a fever and vomitting. It was one of those fun parenting moments when you are juggling a screaming newborn and a feverish toddler all night long. Luckily Aaron's parents were here to help with Avalon when we realized Waylon was sick. I dont know what we would have done with her while we dealt with his "issues" which required several crib sheet changes. It was a long night and even more tiring the next day when he felt just well enough to be a total grump. I was pretty excited that he felt well enough to return to school on Wednesday. Mommy and Daddy definitely needed the break.

Before he was sick, Dr. Waylon was having fun diagnosing everyone's illnesses...
...including Louise's.

This photo was taken after Waylon's fever broke, but when he was still pretty out of it. He insisted on taking his own temperature by holding the thermometer in his armpit.

Recent Avalon Photo Sessions

I felt really bad when I did a post about Avalon's 6 week update and realized I did not have any recent pictures. I quickly got to work with several photo sessions, and here they are. I must say, its much more fun to take photos of her now that she can hold her head up. She is a pretty engaged baby and seems to look around and check things out more than Waylon did at this age. However, she did got through a SUPER fussy period last week. Mommy finally figured out that she needs more structured nap time. Thus, when she gets fussy, about 1.5 hours after she starts eating, she gets swaddled and put down for an official nap. The bad news is that she no longer chills out wherever we put her, but luckily she still falls asleep on car rides so I am able to get errands done.

6 1/2 Week Photos

8 Week Photos

Avalon loves to lay in her crib and stare at her mobile. Her favorite object is the red bunny. She can stare at it for quite awhile, and will track the bunny while the mobile goes "round, round" (as Waylon calls it).

While she is highly developed (we think), this picture is deceiving. Avalon does not sit up quite yet. However, its fun to prop her up in the corner of the crib for photos. She looks like she really loves it, doesn't she?

Personalized diaper cover thanks to Auntie Wendy. Too cute!

Farewell Thelma

On January28, our family had to say goodbye to the sweetest, craziest beagle in the world, Thelma. We had her for 4.5 years after getting her from a beagle rescue the day we moved into our first house. She had a laundry list of ailments, but was always a sweet dog that was extremely loving and very tolerant of Waylon's antics. We miss her a lot, and are now spending a lot of our time trying to get her sister, Louise, through the loss.

No matter what Waylon did, Thelma was always very tolerant and had many sweet moments with him.
Thelma "posed" last year for this shot.

The most recent photo of Thelma during a family walk.

Thelma (right) and her constant companion, Louise.

Josh & Brandi's Wedding

We were very excited to join in the wedding celebration of Josh and Brandi Fraser in Santa Barbara on January 26. Aaron, Avalon, and I ventured up to SB while Waylon stayed here and got totally spoiled by Grandma Josephine and Grandpa Ed. As you can imagine, he did not miss us at all! The wedding was beautiful and we had awesome seats in the front row, but from that angle I couldn't get any good pictures of the happy couple. Fortunately, Doug was the photographer, and you can see his beautiful photos on his blog. Avalon was a wonderful baby for all of the wedding events, and spent the entire time sleeping.