15 Month Checkup

Ari had his 15 month checkup on Tuesday. He weighed in at 24lbs 11ozs, was 31.5" tall and his head measured 49cm. That once again puts him in the 50th, 50th, & 90th percentile respectively. Dr. Bean says he's looking good and seems to be right on track for all his development stages. Ari threw an absolute fit as soon as Dr. Bean came in the room at his appointment. Usually he will only start fussing once Dr. Bean starts to examine him but the lack of a second nap that day and vacation just before was enough to set him off just at the sight of the Dr. We did have to get 3 shots so there was even more crying to be had. He will have to get shots at 18 months and then 2 years but then we get a break for a little while.

Ari has all four of his molars in, although a couple are not quite through all the way. Now we just have to wait for canines before the two year molars. Hopefully we can get a little break in there but if not maybe by the time he's two he can actually tell us when things are hurting and where.

San Diego Part II

The last post was getting kind of lengthy with all the photos so we'll just make a second one. Here is some more San Diego fun. We only ended up at the beach one day because it was overcast the entire time we were in San Diego. This was Everett's first time at the beach so we made sure to document it for his parents.

Mmmm bagel with cream cheese and a side of ham provided by Ari.
Kaitlin & Camden on the wall at Sea Port Village.
Ari was ok with the water until a wave snuck up on him and then....
...he was having no part of the beach anymore. He just hung out with Mom.
I think Ian was excited to be at the beach.

I didn't get the video of him crashing in the ocean but this was the result. His pants were literally dripping.

Everett was ready, give that boy a boogie board!

Hanging with Dad at Old Town!

San Diego

We took a long weekend trip to San Diego last weekend. We accompanied my Mom and sister Mandy along with her two kids and the loaner kids from Flagstaff of Ian and Everett who were staying with Mandy while their Mom & Dad were in Europe. Sounds like a pretty good deal for everyone as I'm sure Ian and Everett had more fun in SD than they would have had in Europe. We spent Thursday at Sea World, Friday at Sea Port Village and the beach, Saturday we went on the USS Midway with my nephew Camden and Sunday we cruised around Old Town for a little bit before we hit the road to come home. Ari did amazingly well on the trip with no major meltdowns in spite of the fact that he was only getting one nap a day. And I thoroughly enjoyed my days off from work and being able to spend time with my wife and son!

Ari and Cousin Everett getting ready for Sea World.
Nana and Ian playing with some starfish.
Shamu show.
All the excitement, priceless! Ari slept really well on our trip. He slept until at least 8 every morning, now if we can only figure out how to get him to do that at home.
Sea Port Village
Camden posing with the battleship heading out.
My beautiful wife and son! I couldn't have gotten any luckier!
Camden in a cockpit aboard the USS Midway. I'm not sure but by the look on his face I think he was in his element!
Camden on the com in the bridge of the Midway. He was talking into the phone, I have no idea what he was saying as I couldn't hear him but he was giving orders.
Ari cruising around Old Town. There was a Japanese couple video taping him walking around with his hat on. We probably need to scour the internet as I'm sure he'll end up in a Japanese commercial for Old Navy.
Could you get any cuter? The answer you're looking for is NO!

Infatuation

Cara has been watching baby Mia for a few weeks now and for the most part it is going as expected. Good days and bad days are the norm but it seems as though the good days have a slight advantage. I think she is doing an amazing job but don't tell her I told you that. It has reinforced however the reasons why we choose not to have another baby so close in age to Ari. At least at the end of the day Mia gets to go home with her mommy.

Ari however thinks Mia is the cat's meow!! This little boy is seriously infatuated with this little girl. He really wants to help feed Mia but he's not up to the task just yet of knowing all he needs to know. He does however pat her back to help Cara burp her. He is very gentle with Mia which is something we were worried about as he was going through a bit of a smacking phase a few months ago. He loves to give her kisses and zerberts (rasberries) and generally just adores her. He even fusses many days when her parents come to take her home. Here are a few pics of him doting on her.

We're gonna have to find some snow

Cara found this cute winter had and couldn't resist picking it up for our little man. I have to admit it was pretty adorable on him. We are going to have to find some much cooler weather in order for him to wear it though. Being that it's still close to 100 for a high temp here everyday and he sweats when he's just playing in the air conditioned house. Maybe we will have to make a road trip to see Aunt Renee and her crew in Flagstaff when the snow is falling.

Superman.....

Or just mild mannered reporter Ari. I think we will have to work on the curls if he wants to pass as Superman. As I recall Superman only had one curl right in the front. Ari found some 3D glasses that I had sitting around the other day and had fun putting them on and more fun having Mom and Dad putting them on. It was hard to get a picture because he kept walking towards me as soon as he saw the camera, but we managed anyway. Hard to believe this is the kid who didn't like the camera all that long ago.

Flute

So in our ongoing battle to stop some of the incessant whining that our son has decided he needs to do all day long most days, Cara bought him a flute aka recorder to play with. It worked with good success for a few days but of course it is a flute after all and Cara does watch another baby during the week so playtime is limited. Here's a little song for everyone from the day he got it. Turn your sound up and enjoy!

An "I actually have 5 minutes to do this" Update

Both kiddos are sleeping finally, we'll see how long that lasts!

Just wanted to post a quick entry with a little Ari update. First, he loves baby Mia to pieces and wants to kiss her and zerbert her all day long. :) He can pretty much run now. He can sign the following words: daddy, more, all done, light, thank you, wash, diaper, eat, dog, and a few others. He can find his ears, eyes, nose, mouth, hair, head, toes, knees, hands, belly. He says a version of: bath, nana, papa, mama, banana, bird, truck, up, eye. He makes animal noises for lion, sheep, cow, dog, and owl. He waves and points and blows kisses. :) He can stack up to four blocks; I am really impressed with his fine motor skills in general. I swear he is learning something new everyday right now! It is so fun to watch him.

Blocks

No I don't think these are the building blocks of a good education, but they are the just right for a good time. One of the games Ari likes to play is knocking down the stack of blocks that Cara or I set up for him and we are more than glad to do it since this is the reaction we get the first few times he knocks them down. Usually I tell him, "heyyyyyy" and that just adds to the giggles.

Redneck Morning

So last weekend we think Ari may have been partying in the back of the truck with the redneck neighbors down the street. We woke up to see him in this outfit. Ok, not really but it sounds like a good story. Actually he peed out of his diaper that morning and since someone likes to take his diaper off we have to put some clothes on him. These were not only the closest but I also figured it would provide some good blog material.