Karaoke and Car Shoes

We had a pajama party with some of our friends. They gave Bowie these insane Hot Wheels slippers. He calls them car shoes. I am very surprised that he wears them as they are cumbersome, but come to think of it, most of his favorite footwear is not very practical. He was inspired by Finn's toy microphone to sing Charlie Parker Played Bee Bop over and over again to us. And later that day I found him leaning over a page of Ten Little Elvi with 10 microphones on a stage singing Charlie Parker again. This morning he was sitting on the potty all by himself singing You Are My Sunshine. He is really getting a singing voice too, holding out notes and adding a bit of vibrato.

Swimming in the Big Bathtub

Bowie and Chris have been taking swim classes at the Y. The teacher calls the swimming pool the big bathtub. Bowie just loves the water and is very comfortable in it. This summer should be fun!

Bowie at Honey's School

We went to a surprise wedding shower for my sister at Honey's school yesterday. Bowie LOVED it. It is a really fun place to explore. It is a gardening montessori school. Each child has his or her own plot and there are chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, a dog. All the children wear gardening boots when outside. It's a dirty, organic playground with tubs full of water all over the place (which is not so great in mosquito season). Bowie walked across this rope ladder with total ease. He has been really working on balance recently, like climbing ladders, placing stools on top of other things and standing on them, even standing on the back of the rocking bear on loan from a friend. SCARY! But he really does seem to be fairly aware of his abilities and usually exhibits some amount of caution. I registered him for a gymnastics class today. Maybe that will satisfy some of those balancing needs.

Papa's Birthday

Bowie can sing the Happy Birthday song. We've been singing it a lot lately since Chris's 31st birthday was Saturday. Bowie understood that the packages coming in the mail were for Papa's birthday. He would walk by them and say "Papa's birfday pesents." And he was beside himself excited that we were going to make birthday brownie for Chris (brownies with ice cream is his favorite dessert). He poured in the vanilla, the nuts, the sugar, helped me stir, and of course licked the spoon. I'm not sure why he was so excited about sugar. We don't talk about it ever but both of my parents call him sugar for a nickname, so maybe that's why he responded to it. After we poured it in, he was saying "Bowie eat sugar. Cake has sugar." with such glee that you'd think sugar has some scent that is mind altering. It has been so much fun seeing him understand and enjoy the idea of a birthday because it will make his 2nd birthday so much fun. Yesterday we went out to my folks' house to celebrate both my sister's and Chris's birthday. They have the same birthday though Destiny is one year older. We have a lot of shared birthdays in my family. Chris and Des. Me and my dad. Bowie and my mom. That's pretty wild isn't it?

Chris took off three days from work and we just spent time together at home, got some projects completed, had dinners with friends, and Chris went to a couple SXSW parties and shows. It will be hard when he goes back to work tomorrow. I know that Bowie will be missing him tremendously. And I will too. I love spending time all as a family, and it's been really nice for us as a couple too. The first few days were actually a bit hard, trying to get into a groove with each other. Bowie and I are so used to our patterns and routines, and Chris has his too. I can't wait unitl our next vacation!

Drum Kit

So, not my most artistic grouping, but I love the expressions and the meaningfulness of these pictures. For anyone that has seen Chris drumming, you will recognize the grimace on Bowie's face in the first photo. And seeing Chris pass on his passion for drumming with Bowie is amazing. Of course Bowie has an affinity to it. What 2 year old (well, nearly) wouldn't love the freedom to bang and be noisy? Whether Bowie will be passionate about drumming or music we will have to wait and see, but what is important to us is not that he like what we like (though wouldn't that be nice?) but that he sees us be passionate and that we share our
passions with him.

Tonight we went to a free outdoor SXSW Spoon show down along Town Lake. It was a nice evening (still a bit of spring left for Austin I hope). Bowie had a grand time wandering in the crowds, rolling in the grass, throwing his glow-in-the-dark ring, and grinning ear to ear at friendly strangers. He has a huge social grin now. He's totally interested in interacting and communicating with other people. Sometimes it's a struggle for him, more so with his
peers.

Honey Day

It's spring break for Honey, so we spent yesterday together. It was easier than I thought it would be. She is so easy to reason with and Bowie adores here. We had lunch with Chris at a park near his office. As fun as it was, I am glad to only have one now.

Blue Shoes, Green Boots

This was Bowie's look this morning. What a goof! He loves his frog boots and his drumming shoes (have NO idea why those bright blue shoes are his drumming shoes, but they are.) My sophmore year at UT I worked at a montessori school where there was an adorable, wild haired boy named Boone. His parents let him dress himself and he'd come to school in the wildest getups, one boot and one sandal, for example. I have been anticipating such a day for years, and here it is.

Sunday Workday

We worked all day in the backyard. We threw every bit of trash and rubble (except the actual cement rubble from the destroyed bomb shelter and the enormous heaps of fallen branches) over the fence into a pile of danger temporarily to be located in our driveway. But I am very excited to feel safe sending Bowie back into the yard. He totally enjoys the freedom to explore. We observed worms and pillbugs uncovered when raking. Time to get one of those bugscopes.

Turtle Hide Out

Bowie is really enjoying being under things lately. Here he is last Wednesday at Northwest Park under the turtle. Today he spent a good deal of time under our bench, saying "good night" and pretending to snore.

Underwear

Bowie wore underwear for the first time today. I think these briefs are adorable. He's using his potty a lot lately. I know that it looks like he's already peed, but that's the drippings of a strawberry popsicle. Already in the upper 80s here.Skipped straight to summer.

The Kite Fest

Bowie's second kite fest. What a nice day, just a tad warm with a nice breeze and overcast. We didn't have any success keeping our kite up, but it sure was fun. Bowie insisted that we take Tuba with us. I had so hoped that Bowie and Tuba would have a close relationship and it feels good to see how much he loves her.

Sleepy Head

We had a great morning out at the Mayfiled Preserve and Garden with our friends Michele and Finn. There were peacocks all over the cottage making beautiful courting displays and up in the trees napping. Bowie was intrigued but cautious. We went down to the lagoon and Bowie made a muddy mess. I did plan ahead and brought an extra pair of pants but Bowie just went on with the hike in his diaper and muddy shoes. Defintely taking my camera back there. Well, Bowie got well worn out and here he is sleeping soundly as I click away.

Yogurt Body Lotion

Bowie sure is getting better at using a spoon. Very messy still. It's quite warm here if you hadn't guessed. Bowie wants to spend every moment outside jumping on the upside down wading pools (his homemade trampoline), throwing rocks at the ladder (the designated okay target), tossing Tuba's ball, diggin sand out of his play table and dumping it on the ground, riding a rolling plant stand like a skateboard. I would like to be able to capture more of these moments, but I hope you can appreciate how much supervision is required.

Diplodocus

Meet Bowie's Diplodocus. His first dinosaur. He points out the Diplodocus in his dino book. I can't believe that we are already learning dinosaur names. All the years I dreamed about having a family, all the years Chris and I waited for a child and now I am learning and teaching dinosaur facts to my nearly 2 year old son. It's all as good as I hoped it would be. And it's so much more amazing than I ever expected. Saddly, Bowie's Diplodocus met Bowie's "sharp teeth" (as Bowie likes to say) in an accident that left him three-legged.

Big Hair

A friend came over for a playdate and shared her hot tofu dip with us. Bowie loved it so she offered it to us. Here is Bowie's sanck yesterday. No interest in the caroot, turkey, or cheddar cheese. Just crackers and dip. Look at the big hair! I love it. He looks like a little rocker.

The Skateboard

This is the skateboard that I made for Bowie.

Skater

Last Monday we went to our favorite thrift store and Bowie always looks for skateboards, footballs, roller skates, black bicycle, and baseball bat. Well, he found some rollerskates. No longer would "too big" be believed because, well, they do fit. He practiced amongst all the shoppers, then a bit yesterday evening with Chris. Today he started out with a firm grip on my hands until he was distraqcted by older boys across the street tossing the football. He slowly loosed his grip and I gently slipped my hand from his. He stood balancing for at least 5 minutes. When he realized he wasn't being held up, he was excited and confident. At one point he skated (well, more clomped) all the way up the sidewalk by himself without falling, about 10 feet. I am so amazed by him, all of the time.

Central Market Pond

It was very foggy and moist today. But we needed to get out so we played at the Central Market playground and pond. Bowie loves to go look for ducks and ride dinner trays down the hill. He tolerates the playground, willing to bounce the bridge but his final goal is to make it to the bike rack or the duck pond. He sure got wet and dirty. He is nearly fearless.

Grey Sweater

Ah, my quiet, thoughtful Bowie. My boisterous, giggly Bowie. He's all of it, all of the time. The last photo is him reacting to the little indian figuring skateboarding on my ear. This totally cracked him up.

We had a super fun day with friends. We spent 2 hours at the local thrift store for the everything half off president's day sale. We finished shopping after about an hour, but friends kept showing up! I left hurting after pushing Bowie around (holding him up by the hands) on in-line skates (him skating, not me). Of course we had to bring them home with us. And for dinner we went to a pizza party for some of our childless friends. This is something that we rarely get to so and we must do it more often. Bowie had a total blast. He got so much attention. Loud, physical attention . He was immediately best friends with each person there crawling into their laps and giving huge smiles to people taht are dear to us, but whom he's rarely seen. He stayed up until 10:30 and didn't even fall asleep during the drive home.

Hungry Little Man

I've been taking a lot of pictures while Bowie eats. I always have. Our dining room table is north facing, so it gets nice light and Bowie stays relatively still. But I get a lot of chewing and messy pics. Yet, this is a very realistic capturing of the way we spend a great deal of our time. Bowie lately has been on a very strict sausage and berry diet. He wakes up in the morning asking for sausage before he even sits up! I have to ration the blue, black, and raspberries. It is a difficult job. But he'd turn into Violet if I didn't.

The Trike and Dress Up Party

Yesterday Bowie and I spent the morning at the park. I think that I've written before about how much I love spending our time there. Bowie loves to watch other children and take over any of their transportation toys. A playgroup arrived at Ramsey Park all children riding, tricycles, bicycles, or the beloved plasma car. Bowie was already riding his tricycle on the tennis court when they arrived, almost like a parade. He could not take his eyes off of them. The mothers had baskets of dress up capes, hats and masks, too. But Bowie wasn't the least bit interested although they very sweetly offered to share all they had. After the kids dispersed to the playground, Bowie went over to inspect and explore and ride on toys. He even rode, really pedalled a little bicycle with training wheels. I expected him to overjoyed and worried that I'd never be able to get him off, but he deemed it "too big" and dismounted quickly.

Heart Shaped Balloon

Here are pictures of Bowie last year and this year. Oh looky looky how pudgy he was! Today I measured Bowie and weighed him. He's 34.5 inches tall (90th percentile) and 27.5 lbs (about 60th percentile). What a long tall drink of a boy he is! He enjoyed his balloon much more last year. But this year he can say, "I love you Mama. I love you Papa. I love you Bowie." Oh, that my heart doesn't burst is amazing.

Heart Shaped Pizza

This is our fourth year of Mangia's heart shaped stuffed pizza for Valentine's Day. Bowie LOVED it. Notice the bear card on the left under our little homemade cards (which we have yet to deliver)? Both sets of grandparents sent the same exact card to Bowie. It must have just screamed out that it was the right one for him.

Waking

We went to a fun birthday party this morning. But that meant that nap was a bit short. Here is Bowie waking up. Then we went down to Town Lake with Tuba and flew a kite. The wind was vicious today, and the kite was easy to get up and keep up. Bowie loved playing with the all the dogs off leash. I'm a bit anxious with Bowie down amongst all of those dogs. He loves it and is respectful of them, but perhaps is not cautious enough. Tuba loved getting out. We need to get her out more often. She is such a sweet patient dog.

Green Hat

I can't believe that Bowie agreed to wear this hat for so long this afternoon. I've been trying to coax him into it forever. Had a fun morning at Groovy Lube getting the oil changed. Bowie was surprisingly good at waiting for an hour. He spent the majority of time balancing on the parking curb. He inches along sideways. After nap, we played out in the backyard. We are spending a great deal of time out there. Bowie loves to putter around and throw rocks.

Orange

Today Bowie and I went to story time at the library. It's been a couple of months since we've gone to storytime. The librarian is so great. Bowie was completely enraptured. I'm committed to making that part of our routine again. The theme was colors. I got out the watercolors this afternoon. Bowie sure loved the water and paint parts of the activity. Not much painting on the paper happened. Bowie also shose to wear his dino splashers for most of the afternoon.

Not a Lotta Lotta

Not a whole lotta lotta going on today. We hit the park this morning. That is one of my favorite ways to spend our time. Bowie totally took over a young boys three-wheeled scooter. And got it going for a bit too. He's really watching how people do things, and I can see him internalizing it. He'll watch someone someone scooting along, and I'll see his little foot pushing the air. There is a group of skaterboards that has been hanging out in front of our house. One of htem has a really tall spiked black mohawk. I taught Bowie how to say "mohawk". Bowie kept saying "more skateboard please" when the skaters got out of sight.

Bowie's First Drumming Lesson

I joined an online photography group and I have been really inspired by the storyboards I've been seeing there. Most of my photos are about capturing our lives and telling the story of our family. I think that these storyboards really help accomplish this. Here is one from Bowie's drumming lesson yesterday.

Garden Helper

Bowie was away from us almost the whole day. He went back to the zoo with his cousin Honey and my folks. That is defintiely the longest he has ever been away from us both. I missed him very much. That may be the longest I've been away from him. I am sad that he had such an adventure that I didn't share with him. But I am also glad that he is confident and secure enough to venture out into the world without me.

When he got home, he helped Chris do some yard work. We have a lot of rubble left in the backyard from the bomb shelter demolition. So Bowie is helping us build a big "rock" (really cement) pile. Love that he still looks like a baby in his fuzzi bunz diapers!

Little Drummer Boy

Animal!! Today Chris got out a snare drum for Bowie. Needless to say, it was a tremendous success. Bowie really enjoyed himself and Chris was beaming with pride. Looks like we need to start buying earplugs again.

Basketball

Get it! Bounce it! Throw it! Kick it! Well, we've got a little of soccer mixed in there, but Bowie is really learning the basics. He will happily sit near the court for half an hour and watch people play. When he gets onto the court, he self-commentates and really puts a lot of bend in the knees.