In-house biking

Much to the relief of Mommy's back, Nick is figuring out the whole push-yourself-on-the-bike thing. He's loving riding it around the house, running into things, etc.


"What, you mean I can't ride my bike in the bathroom????"


And a stop for a quick drink at the wine rack...


A toddler's gotta stay hydrated, after all.

Cousins hatching a plan...

Jocelyn's brother, Brian came down to meet wife Natasha and son Alex at LAX when they arrived back in the US after a visit to Natasha's home in Russia. The layover was long enough that we could all meet for dinner. Poor Natasha & Alex were exhausted, but we were able to grab a quick bite while the cousins got to know each other (they were 7 & 3 months old the last time they were together!) I think they're perfecting their mischief planning skills...

"OK. Here comes the waiter. You grab the bowl of chips, I'll get the salsa. Try to look innocent. Yea, like that. Good."


"Dude - you got the chips. Nice. Now where is the waiter with that salsa?"


Just a glimpse of what the Thomas boys will be getting into in the coming years... we're in trouble.

Spoon-er-rific

Nick has become quite proficient at using his spoon to eat. Sure, he gets some on his bib, but he can always scoop that up later.


Hmm... maybe if I use another spoon, I can get MORE in my mouth...


Yep, that's the ticket. Two spoons it is.

It's as if he was in the desert...

We give him a lot to drink. Really. Milk, water, sometimes juice. But given his reaction, you'd think he was dying of thirst.



Nope - just loves drinking like a big boy out of his cup. Not to mention playing with the faucet and soaking himself and whomever might be near...

A Boy and his Bike

Well, it's not quite a bicycle, but it's close. It's a Radio Flyer tricycle thingy. Not a true tricycle as it has four wheels. We bought this for him figuring he'd love to push himself up & down the sidewalk. Thanks to an "interesting" design, Nick's heels hit the back wheels as he pushes himself along, which - understandably - did not make for a fun ride.

He'll putter about on it a bit or hold one of our hands which sort of pulls him along...


But by far his favorite method of propulsion is one of us pushing from behind.


Or, better yet, with our hands on the handlebars too. He'll grab your hands and put them there if you are confused on the concept.


Here he is waving at Mommy...


She is going inside because she tweaked her back after pushing Nick down the sidewalk. Not quite the entertainment we were hoping for...

The Desotell's do the Dash

The Dino Dash! We signed up to help friend, Christy and her school where she teaches. The race was a 10K-5K-2K "Dash", with the 2K reserved for families & pets. It also happened to be the first rain storm that we've experienced down here. I'm sure others will think I'm nuts, but I loved it! It's not often you get "real weather" down here.

Here is Nick on the drive down to Tustin in the OC, happlily wearing Daddy's Packers hat (the Niners were on a bye week that weekend, so Mommy allowed it for the day).


Maybe Nick had a premonition that the Packers were going to lose later in the day...


Here's our little racer - lucky boy got the easy way through the route and cruised in his stroller.


And here is part of the crew (we were separated at first) - Tom Prendergast, Sr. (TJ's Dad), Jon, Margaret, Kevin, Noah, Kyle & Nick. Not pictured are TJ, Christy, Rowan, Riley, Dave and yours truly.


Noah & Kyle ran the whole way (and so, not by her choice, did Margaret). Noah was photographed at the end of the race and was in the Orange County Register (the local OC newspaper). We hang with famous peeps!!

Tigger says Happy Halloween!!

So Nick was Tigger for Halloween this year - and a cute one at that! We decided he is still too young to take Trick-or-Treating this year, so we stayed at home to answer the door - or so we thought. It turns out that since our part of the neighborhood is sort of cut off from the main part by two main roads & a railroad track, most of the T-or-T'ers stay on the other side of Torrance Blvd. where they have access to more loot. Good that we didn't have to get up multiple times to answer the door or have Nick woken up by the doorbell, but bad that now we have a TON of candy to, um, discard of...

At Nick's Day Care they had a Halloween Parade and a little party after for the kids and parents. Nick was able to do a little Trick-or-Treating between classrooms, so - not to fear - he did get to do a little. Unfortunately since Mommy was with Nick in the parade and Daddy was scrambling through traffic to get there, we don't have any pics of the parade.

Here is the perfect example of Nick's attitude when Mommy gets out the camera.


A full-length shot of little Tigger. And, for those of you that are wondering but are too polite to ask, yes, there is padding in that tummy! He's a big boy, but not THAT big!!


Nick keeping an eye on another student dressed as Elmo. Elmo can be sneaky and you gotta keep an eye on your snacks.


Speaking of snacks, here is Nick with his. Note the LOVELY fruit salad on his plate made by one Tigger-Mommy.


Nick apparently likes to help himself to other students' fruit when they are not looking. Heck, even when they are looking. The evidence - climbing over the table attempting to steal someone else's grapes (who said only Elmo's can be sneaky?)


In an attempt to help keep fruit stealing from becoming an class-wide epidemic, Mommy tries to avert the theft by sticking a spoonful of fruit into Nick's mouth. This only worked temporarily and children were "relieved" of their fruit as the afternoon went on...


Back at the ranch, Nick checks out Mommy's pumpkin carving skills.


Not to be outdone, Nick takes on his own pumpkin artwork project using (thankfully washable) markers.


Clearly Mommy's pumpkins are not up to Nick's standards and decides to add a few of his own touches.


Nick trying to convince Daddy that, yes, he IS old enough to go Trick-or-Treating so come get me immediately as I am NOT going down those stairs!


He did 'cruise' the neighborhood in his Tigger Moblie (aka stroller) but had no interest in ringing doorbells. I mean, why ask for food when you can just steal it, right?