Santa!

Cross!

That's Oscar in front of Theo, #899. The race turned into a typical grueling cross affair. The lap was maybe four minutes. Theo started to slow down after a tricky downhill while I got behind him. I caught up and cheered him on, he looked at me, broke into a smile, and sped back up again. But then he flagged, looked over at me, and said "I'm getting tired!" I convinced him to keep going, and he made it all the way to the finish line on his own. We told him the race was over, and he started to cry, "I want to do it again!" We told him he could ride around the park, and then he remembered that he was tired and said no. I asked if he had fun and he said he never wanted to do another race again, which is about how I feel after a race. But then I said we'd go and get a milk shake and he started to like his bicycle again, and he rode it back to the car. Here's some footage of the race.

Halloween!

Everyone's a lion!

Happy Brothers

For now...

Morning with Mommy, Theo and Sam

Interview with Sammy

Trailer!

Passing the Summer

Time rolls on in a mostly pleasant manner, at least when Sammy will sleep at night. Here are some pictures from the last couple months.

The Theo Show

About a week ago, Sammy became fascinated with Theo. Whenever Theo is in sight, Sammy just stares and stares. Even if Theo isn't singing.

The Mind of a 3-Year Old. Boy.

Sammy Loves His Toes!

Socks

Theo is gripped with a sock obsession. He wants to wear them all the time. He wears them when he goes to bed, even with sleeper pajamas with the feet on the end. He wanted to wear them to the beach. We drew the line there, and it was the first time in several weeks that I had seen his toes for more than the time it takes to remove on old pair and put on a new pair.

Slide!

Sammy in the Flowers

Museum of Flight

We went to the museum of flight the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.

Theo rode in airplanes, and had fun

Sara tried to fly airplanes, and had fun.

Little Theo stood under a big airplane (B-47 Stratojet). I think he thought this was fun.

Sammy enjoyed the day too.

Theo enjoyed his lunch afterwords.

The Jungle Gym

Sammy has really started to enjoy his jungle gym. He can bat his toys and look at them without his eyes crossing. Theo finally noticed (after several weeks) and it stirred a latent memory or something, because he decided he wanted to go into the gym and play with Sammy.

Sammy Eats!

Well, nearly. We tried some banna and he gave a gentle but firm nolle prosequi.

Sammy & Sara

From Sara & Sammy

Theo's 3rd Birthday

At least we took some pictures.

Sammy's Shirt

From Chris & Joel down in SLO. Seems to make Sammy happy enough.

Epic Trike Journey

On Sunday I set out with Sammy and Theo on a trip to the bookstore and cupcake store. Theo got a new trike on Friday -- his old one is still too big, and he can't pedal it very well -- and rode it all day on Saturday, really figuring out how to pedal. He wanted to ride it up to the bookstore. It had a pushbar, and I hadn't been on any sort of walk since skiing Mt Adams with my dad and sister last year. I thought a journey might do me good.

Sara's folks had came over in the morning, so we didn't get started until after 2:00. This was later than I had planned, but waiting until after lunch meant Theo was more willing to sit in the trike and not want to get out and run around so much. Sammy had just nursed and so fell asleep as soon as I put him hin the bjorn.

The trip started slowly. For the first two blocks Theo would stop every 15 feet or so, exclaiming that there was a stop sign. I began to doubt our chances. As we rounded the Y, however, he seemed to settle into it, and we started to make good time. The first half of the walk is uphill, so I kept pushing and tried to keep a steady pace. When we reached the summit at Trader Joe's I was feeling optimistic enough to take a picture.

From Epic Trike Journey

After the hard push uphill, descending towards Broadway was delightful. The sun was out and we had found our rhythm. We passed by the police station, waited while a skateboarder was filmed grinding on a bicycle stanchion, and made a surgical and rapid pass through the bookstore. We continued around the corner to the cupcake store.



I was quite pleased. While we still had the 15 blocks home to go, most of it was going to be downhill, and Theo would be fortified with a cupcake.

From Epic Trike Journey

We even had a totally voluntary trip to the potty. Sammy woke up while we were eating, but was in a good mood.

From Epic Trike Journey

We continued back uphill. Theo's concentration had deteriorated and he kept running the trike into walls and trees, but his enthusiasm was still strong and he kept peddling away. We soon arrived at the summit with the prospect of an easy roll downhill back home.

From Epic Trike Journey

The descent began smoothly, and with the sun at our backs Sammy remained calm. As we approached 23rd he grew restless, and probably a little sweaty, and the last few blocks were a little tense as he began to fuss. We finally arrived at the garage, all in good spirits and happy with our success.



We went around to the front yard to find Sara finishing up some weeding. Theo quickly shrugged off the fatigue of the journey and announced he wanted to pull up some grass and dig in the dirt. Sammy was happy to get out of the bjorn and squirm around.

Reading Digger Man Again

What Children Do To Your House

 

Generations of Shaws

 

Faces of Sammy

 

Biting on Stone

 

Wrong parent, Sammy.

Theo & the Chapstick

This one's for Grandma Shaw.

Sammy Struggles

Haven't managed to get any video of his laughing, but here's some grunting to tide you over.

Sammy Smiles!

Grandma Shaw with Sammy

 

Squeaky Sammy

A Wee Frosty

 

We had a little bit of snow, not enough to disrupt the city but enough to make a wee frosty.