10 month old Alex

Height/Weight: No measurements since his last doctor's appointment.

Clothing Size:9 months, some 6 months and some 12 months.

Diaper Size: 3

Eating: Alex eats like crazy, especially lately.  Colin has discovered that Alex will eat anything and tries to use him as a disposal service for foods Colin doens't want to eat.

Sleeping: Still a great sleeper! 7 pm bedtime, althogh daylight savings time makes that hard.  Sometimes it's later and he is up by around 7.  The poor kid can't keep a nap routine because we mess with it constantly.  Don't worry, it's all for really critical things like Disneyland, or going to the Ladera Spring Celebration.  He does great despite the disruptions.

New Skills: Alex can stand by himself!!  He's done it a handful of times and it's only a matter of time before he's walking, I know.  He also started clapping!  It came seemingly out of nowhere and delighted everyone.  I've been trying to get it on video, but no luck so far.  He also gave daddy a high five!

Maybe it's not a skill exactly, but Alex has started to figure out when Colin (or anyone) is taking something from him and he does not like it.  He's normally very happy and laid back, but he will let loose if you try to get something away from him.

Alex is so much fun right now.  He laughs frequently, plays and smiles.  He's into everything and he keeps us busy, but we wouldn't trade if for anything!

Ladera Spring Celebration

 In 2010, I rode my bike over to the Spring Celebration in Ladera by myself to check it out.  I remember thinking, wow, there are a lot of kids.  Today, we went back, with two kids of our own.  It's crazy how time flies!

They had a mini egg hunt for the little guys and both of our little people participated.  It was crowded, but fun.  Alex found his very first Easter Egg!

Colin loved looking for eggs, just like last year.  He's such a sweet boy and was so gentle with all of the other kids.  The end result is not very many eggs, but several sweet sharing moments.  I love my sweet boy!

I can't believe how big our boys are getting!

Gavin and I tried to skip it, but Colin really wanted to meet the Easter bunny. Both boys did great, no tears or fear at all!

There was also an awesome slide.  Unfortunately it was for 3 and up.  Fortunately, Colin can't read...

Saturdays are so much fun.  After we came home for a quick nap, we headed out to our very first pool day of the year!  Both kids loved the water, and Colin remembered all of his lessons from last year's swim lessons!  He can climb out of the pool all by himself and did pretty good jumping in.

We BBQ'd for dinner and spent a bit of time at the water table.  It was a long and full day in the sun, and both boys were exhausted by bedtime.  Gavin and I stayed up and watched a movie, and I just kept thinking how much I love our Saturday Family Days.  We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place and have such a healthy and happy family.

Hiking south

We went hiking again!

This time we went the other direction on the trail.  5.1 miles.

We borrowed a hiking backpack from another friend.  This pack was a Chicco.  I didn't wear the last one, so I can't compare very well, but Gavin says he liked where Colin sat in the seat better.  

Grandma came with us so we got several awesome pictures of all of us.  Sadly, I didn't get any of her!

This was my first time using a toddler packing backback. I started off with a sort of steep cliff and a river crossing!

 Family hiking is quickly become a favorite pasttime around here!  The boys absolutely love being outside.  Colin sings songs and tells us about what we are passing.  On this hike we saw a centipede, rabbit, bugs, and birds.

Our hometown <3

Saint Patrick's day party!

Water

Plumbing has been a nightmare in our house.  Seriously, it's been awful.  From pinhole leaks, to blown pipes, to fixtures, to toilets, pretty much everything has had some sort of problem.

This week we finally sucked it up and re-piped our house.  It was expensive, loud, and a huge bummer, but it's done.

I don't have a ton to say about the process, primarily because I'm exhausted from two full days in the house with no running water.  

The crew seemed to do a good job and we now have running water at all of the appropriate places in our house and so far no other places, so I suppose we'll call the project a success!  

A beautiful hike.

Saturday is my favorite day by far. Our Saturday family adventure was a hike. I knew there were trails around, but I had no idea how beautiful some of them are!!

We borrowed a toddler pack from a friend.

Loaded up!

Alex feel asleep and had a prerty good nap for most of the hike.He kept grabbing my camelback tube!

Almost asleep.

Right about the time Alex feel asleep, we got to the first stream crossing.  I wasn't going to cross.  I didn't want to wake him, and I didn't want wet socks.  I finally decided to go, and I'm so glad I did.  Up to this point, the trail had been a gravel access road, but after the stream it became a really beautiful trail.

We stopped for a mini picnic under a bridge in the shade.  

We did have a mini drama at the picnic.  A bee stung Colin!  Gavin was trying to get rid of it (it was between his ear and his head) and when he finally did, it kept coming back!  He ended up picking up Colin and running about 100 feet down the trail to get away from the bee.  The stinger didn't go all the way in, but we monitored it closely.  A few hours later, it was completely gone, but Colin keep mentioning that the bee startled him during our hike! Poor guy!

What a beautiful way to spend a Saturday and enjoy some time as a family!