Freedom of speech

My sweet Miles will be 4 at the end of July and, on a daily basis, I am amazed on how grown up he is these days - in particular - how well he talks, expresses himself, and (sadly) talks back to us! Let me share some stories with you... the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good: This morning when I dropped Miles off at Layla's, I hung around for a bit, which I don't usually do. It's nice to chat with Layla while the boys get busy doing what they do there. Oliver quickly settled into a peg board game and Layla encouraged Miles to show me how he is learning how to read 3-letter words. Layla's school is Montesorri school, and, I will openly admit that I don't know as much as I probably should about the Montessori method, but after watching Miles this morning, it re-affirmed (once again) that it's a great small family school and we are very lucky to have found Layla. It was such a treat to watch him using a Montessori reading/phonetics exercise that helps him learn to sound out and read 3-letter words. I was very impressed and felt less guilty about him being at school all day long while I am work. He's learning a ton, but there is still lots of time for singing, playing, and having fun!

The bad (but funny): Miles has started saying some "sophisticated" (for lack of a better word) things and at times he can be a bit too big for his britches. For example, last night Miles said "Can we go to Starbucks and play on the indoor playground?" And, we said that we could go to Starbucks but we were pretty sure (try positive) that there wasn't an indoor playground there and he replied "Mommy, just trust me" as if he knew more than I did. Hilarious. Another thing ... sometimes he will get something out of the fridge and he will leave it wide open. I will tell him to close it and he will say (in a very pleasant tone) "That's okay mommy, you can do it" as if it's such a treat for me to close the fridge he opened! LOL.

The ugly: This stuff is the stuff you aren't very proud of it, but I guess it's all part of growing up and asserting your independence? These days when Miles gets upset or doesn't get his way, he sometimes will say things like "Well, then I don't love you anymore." Or, "Then I'm not going to be your friend!" Ummm... ouch! I quickly respond "I don't think it's very nice to say those things and I still love you. And that's ok if you don't want to be my friend, but I am still your mommy and you have to listen to me." HA - of course he's long gone when I am done saying all of that. LOL

Girls Weekend = Boys Weekend

This past weekend, I went to Boulder to spend a long weekend with 3 of my girlfriends from college (see pics below). Derek, Miles, and Oliver stayed home in San Jose to fend for themselves (with some help from Hao-bu, of course)!

I had a really nice weekend away, but it was hard being away. It's true that distance makes the heart grow fonder as I really missed my 3 boys, but I also feel like they missed me which was nice! (Dare I share that Derek told me that there was a "void" without me at home?! Very sweet, I know.) Derek is a wonderful daddy and husband and I am thankful that he is so supportive of my need to have a couple of girls weekends each year.

The boys had a fun "boys weekend" and kept busy with various activities... a train park pancake breakfast on Saturday morning and then they went to their cousin Lulu's 2nd birthday party with special performer Andy Z. And, on Sunday morning before they picked me up from SFO, Derek ventured up to SF with the boys to ride the cable cars, the bus, and the MUNI. (He got some help from Goo Goo and their cousin Adam who was in town).

But... as much fun as they had, I must admit that my weekend full of yummy dinners, good wine, hiking, and going to the spa with good girlfriends was just what the doctor ordered for mommy.

A few great pics from the boys trip to San Francisco:

{The boys waiting underground for the MUNI to arrive. Derek said that Miles was very protective of his little brother getting too close to the yellow line/tracks.}

{The boys and Goo Goo getting off MUNI}

{Miles with the Bay Bridge in the background - this is an incredible picture that Adam took!}

{Miles enjoying a ride on Goo Goo's shoulders}

{Such a cute pic of dad with his backpack taking care of the boys, breaking up a fight over the sippy cup}

{Oliver keeping close to his "mama"... so sweet}

And a few pics from my Girls Weekend in Boulder with Teri, Lara, and Geri:

{Having a glass of wine before dinner at a wine bar on Pearl Street}

{We wanted to take a group pic and our only option at that time was setting up the camera on the other bed in our hotel room. LOL}

{Saturday morning hike at Mt. Sanitas}

{Margaritas at The Rio (where they have a 3 marg limit) but Derek's are better!}

"I faaht"

This weekend, Oliver made his dad proud when it comes to his speech development. He now says "I faaht" right after he has farted and it's HILARIOUS!!! :) He says it so innocently and probably wonders why daddy and I are cracking up! LOL

While we are sharing funny Oliver stories, here's another one... Oliver gets very attached to things once you have put it on him. For example, he has a "Sleep sack" at night when he sleeps (it's a blanket that zips up over him so he cannot put it over his face). Well, in the morning, if you take it off - he goes into a super crazy pissed off tempter tantrum for a good 10 minutes or so. Never mind the fact that if he keeps it on, he falls and trips all over the place because there aren't holes in it for his feet. Silly kid!

Oh... and if he has a sweatshirt on, forget about it... he does NOT want to take it off, even if it's blistering HOT outside!!! Uh, can you say ridiculous?

Final example, check out this swim vest I bought for him. He refused to take it off once it was on. It's hilarious!!!

You have been warned - do not take things off once they are on... this little kid has a TEMPER!!!

More Oliver favorites...

Some really cute pics of Oliver on Mother's Day! My boys (all 3 of them) are the best gift a mom/woman could ask for!

Little Oliver is getting too big, too fast

Gosh, time flies. I know, such a cliche, but it's so true. Our little man Oliver is 1.5 years old today! Happy half birthday, sweet little man.

Some fun stuff to share about Oliver and what he's up to these days:
- He said "popsicle" the other day and pointed at the freezer (although, a child's parents hear things way differently than others)
- He LOVES to say hello to people - he will yell hellloo to anyone and, sadly, they usually don't hear him and/or acknowledge him
- He LOVES dogs - he gets totally giddy and excited when he sees one and if he gets to pet the dog, he's in heaven.
- He still have an insanely strong preference for Derek, but we are making an effort to have Derek spend more time with Miles and me with Oliver. It's really nice for me to get some time with my little baby boy.
- He is extremely strong willed and gets VERY upset if you take something away from him or if something doesn't go his way. God, does he get upset. (I am sure my mom is reading this thinking "Hmmm... that sounds like someone I know!" - LOL)
- He LOVES his big brother and whatever Miles has, Oliver wants to have. They are quickly becoming good buddies... jumping on the bed, giggling together, sharing jelly beans. I have to say that, for the time being, they get along pretty darn good. I hope it stays that way.

As a half birthday present to Oliver, we decided to take his boh-boh's (pacifier) away! LOL! I know - such mean parents, huh? Well, we've been talking about doing it for months now... and lately, we know he doesn't really need it. In fact, when he has it, he sometimes is screaming when it's in his mouth, which tells us that it's not very soothing, as it's intended to be. He also hasn't had a pacifier at Layla's (daycare) for MANY months now... so we figured it was time. Truthfully, it was as much our crutch as it was his. And, the good news, is that he went to bed JUST FINE without it. He asked for it, we told him, "No boh boh" and he was fine. And rather than hearing silence from him room at bedtime -- we got to hear him chit chat with himself for a good 20-30 minutes before he went to sleep! What a treat!

Here are a few of my favorite recent pics:

Colorado fun... cousins galore!

Note from the editor: This blog post is a bit overdue, but an un-named person sent me the pics late. ;) wink!

At the end of March, we visited all of our family and friends in Colorado. The day before we flew in for the weekend, Denver was hit with a huge blizzard and I was quickly reminded of why I don't miss the crazy Colorado weather. Despite the snow, we arrived safe and sound and had a really short but sweet weekend with family (including my mom!) and several of the great friends I grew up with. Miles and Oliver had such a great time playing with all of their cousins and it made me sad that we all don't live closer. (Note: they have 6 cousins on the Ramstetter side and 1 cousin on the Lu side... time to catch up Lisa and Kevin!!!)

Miles took a very strong liking to his cousin Caley, which was very sweet. And Camryn and Oliver were like two peas in a pod. :) Camryn is so grown up now, she was such a help keeping an eye on Oliver while Derek and I had some fun with the grown ups.

Here is a great pic of all of the cousins in our family. The only was missing was my sweet nephew, Alex, who was up in Cheyenne, Wyoming for college.

Starting in the front : Oliver (1.5 years old) being held by Camryn (9); 2nd row, left to right: Caley (7) and Gabby (4); Last row on top, left to right: Kaydee (7), Courtney (5), and Miles (3)

And one more, just for funsies... poor Miles wasn't a happy camper!

Dinner in a basket

The other night I made Miles an "M" sandwich for dinner using a "M" shaped cookie cutter that I bought and he was super excited about it. In typical Miles fashion, he didn't eat at the table (he doesn't like to sit still for very long). He decided to have dinner in a basket... the pictures below speak for themselves! It was pretty darn funny - he ate the entire sandwich in the basket (our laundry basket) - happy as can be! I guess I might have to serve him dinner in a basket every night!

"Miles, where are you?"

"I am having dinner in a basket, mom."

"Is there a problem?"

"Dinner in a basket rocks!"