The Small Family   

I’ve titled this week’s blog in honor of Theo’s latest obsession: bananas! He loves them! In fact, I think he’d be happy to eat just bananas for lunch. Luckily, Chris feeds him a great variety of foods at breakfast and dinner, while I’m working, so when it’s time for me to feed Theo lunch, it’s not really a big deal if he doth protest and insist on bananas only! That’s also what he wants when I give him a snack between meals: “Nana! Nana!!” Okay, bananas it is. At least he’s craving something quite healthy, rather than demanding French fries or something.

We started out this week by venturing to a new outdoor play area over near Grandma Diane’s house. Another parent at the mall play area had tipped me off about it, and wow—what a great play area for a little guy Theo’s size! It’s outdoors, but unlike most playgrounds around here, there is shade over a lot of it. And TONS of equipment for kids to climb on, and a soft base below it all in case, as my son is wont to do, a kid falls on his or her head. (See the ouchie on Theo’s head in this week’s photo album. That kid is just determined to whack his head several times each week.) So Theo had a great time at that playground, and he even met a little four-year-old friend named Bella, and when we left and I told him to say bye to Bella, he said, “Bella!”

We also met up with one of Theo’s other little buddies this week—Emma and her new little brother, Jamie. Janeane and I enjoyed a nice stroll through the mall and then let the kiddos play at the play area while Jamie slept. Theo managed to fall off the top step of the slide, but no harm done—he was more startled than anything.

And we had another trip to the mall on Friday afternoon—this one for Theo’s 18-month pictures. They turned out really cute—I’m super pleased! They even got some good ones of him in his Halloween costume. I don’t have the digital proofs yet, but perhaps I’ll have them in time to post with next week’s blog post. (It sometimes takes a couple days for Picture People to email us the proofs.) Grandma Diane came along to help, which was great because she kept Theo busy while I looked at the proofs and ordered our prints.

Saturday morning was the monthly used book sale in Placerville, so the three of us headed up there and then went a bit further to Apple Hill. It was pretty busy there, this being the first real weekend of the season, but we had a lot of fun. (Apple Hill is open all year, but the Apple Hill Shuttle just started running this weekend, and all the farms are now open.) We usually go to a specific farm at Apple Hill, but it’s not particularly kid-friendly, so we branched out this time and went to two others. At the first, there were pony rides. Theo liked seeing the ponies, so we tried to give him a pony ride, but he sat on the pony for all of 30 seconds before deciding it was not his cup of tea. Maybe next year!

At the second farm, we had lunch (grilled hot dogs, French fries, and dessert—homemade apple cheesecake for me and homemade crumb-top apple pie a la mode for Chris; fries, hot dog bun, and apples for Theo) and then let Theo explore the big pumpkin patch and apple orchard. This proved hilarious, as Theo was filthy within about a minute and proceeded to get more and more dirt-covered as he played. By the end, he was absolutely covered in dirt and happy as a clam, having collected some treasures (i.e. rotting apples he found on the ground) and had many great adventures in the dirt. We had already used his spare outfit when he wet through his clothes earlier in the day, so when we got back to the car, we had to strip him down, clean him off with baby wipes, and let him ride home in his car seat wearing only a diaper. All that dirty playing wore him out, and he quickly fell asleep in his car seat, looking like a happy, content, mostly naked little Buddha.

Sunday morning Grandma Diane came over bright and early so we could all go join Auntie Lynnie and her family for the Walk to Cure Diabetes, benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. (For those who aren’t aware, my sister’s youngest daughter, Stevie, is an insulin diabetic. So my sister and her family are big supporters of this event every year, in the hopes that someday we’ll find a cure for juvenile diabetes.) It was a really beautiful (albeit slightly chilly) morning and a nice 5k walk through Sacramento and Old Sacramento, and it was great to get to see Auntie Lynnie, Uncle Charles, Noelle, Tyler, and Stevie, along with a few other friends who came out for the walk. (Sammie, unfortunately, had to work, so she couldn’t join us.) Theo wasn’t crazy about being stuck in his stroller for a 5k walk, but he survived.

Afterward, Grandma Diane, Chris, Theo, and I went to Tower Café for brunch. They have the best French toast ever, but it’s always very crowded. However, they have a nifty fountain/courtyard area where Theo was happy to walk around while we waited. All went well until Theo decided he wanted to go walking out to the main street...and then into the main street, had I not been watching him. When I told him no and turned him around to walk back toward the café, he sat down on the sidewalk to show me his displeasure. Then he rolled onto his hands and knees and was about to push himself back up to standing, but instead he sort of crumpled forward and skinned his head on the pavement (thus the picture in this week’s album). It was a very minor fall, since he was already on his hands and knees, but yikes...the bruise and sidewalk rash look rather icky. It figures—he has his 18-month appointment with his pediatrician tomorrow, and he has a skinned-up head. I guess boys will be boys...

Anyway, I’ll be curious to see where Theo weighs in (literally!) at this appointment. He’s been on the small side at his last couple appointments, but he has been eating like a horse lately, and I think he’s grown in height. So we’ll see where he lands on the percentiles chart this time.

Hope you all have a good week!

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