T-Ball

Jack started his Little League T-ball season last week. He has some twenty games over the next two months but thankfully there will be no more practices-- I'm guessing the games twice a week are enough practice. He had his second game this morning and for now they've put him on first base. He really likes playing and seems to follow the instructions from the coaches well and tries hard. Their team is the Colorado Rockies. Anna was hoping for the Angels (her favorite team), Derek and Jack were hoping for the D-backs, but this year the Rockies will have to do.


Picture before the first game.

His first at bat. He's third or fourth in the line-up.

Standing like the coach says to stand.

Learning how to slide into home!

I'll Feed Him! I'll Hold Him!

Kathy brought Ethan and Addie down last week. Ethan is getting so big and even cuter as he fills out and gets more interactive. The kids all wanted to feed him and hold him. Luke still wants to hold him a lot but he's getting so big that he's really an arm-full-- but it's so cute.


The Boys.

One holds, one feeds. Perfect.

Tag-team feeding.

Luke holding him.

Hummingbird Update

The babies are getting bigger. This was from last week and now both of their heads are regularly poking out of the nest as they wait for their mom to return.

Sea Lions

The sea lions were the main attraction at La Jolla and the kids enjoyed watching them up close.

When we were driving there it reminded me of the first few times I had driven down to San Diego when I first moved to LA. Spanish words weren't foreign to me, but I hadn't realized how many things were named in spanish here yet (even Los Angeles, the angels) and I'd often not get the right pronunciation because I was thinking in english when I read things-- especially if I hadn't heard the word pronounced.

I figured out most of the pronunciations quickly but some took longer to sink in than others. Here's the perfect example: La Jolla. I would drive by the exit and think what an odd name La Jolla was (pronounced in English la-joe-la). It took me years to realize that it was actually 'La Hoya' and make the connection between hearing it on the news/radio and seeing it in person. I enjoyed a good laugh at myself and still do when I think of La Jolla.


It's SUPER-LUKE!

What do boys do with sand?

What they do with just about everything-- throw it. Even the girls got into the sand throwing action for awhile.

La Jolla Cove

On our way back home home we stopped at La Jolla Cove, where I had never been, to see the views and the sea lions. I was trying to take a few pictures of the kids with the water behind them and I got about two in before Jack was having trouble with his eyes because of the sun. As you can probably see from these pictures, he is protecting his eyes even though the sun is coming from mostly behind them. By the end, after a few minutes, he's almost having to cover them to look straight ahead. I have the same problem in bright places and almost always wear my sunglasses now when I'm outside, even on cloudy days.

Mission Bay Park

We enjoyed some pleasant play time in the sand and play equipment at the park the other week. Leah kept climbing every high thing that she could find (see previous post for an example) and the others played more cautiously. It made us all look forward to beach days this summer.

Leah Climbs

And climbs and climbs and climbs. She had a lot of fun conquering this thing at the park near San Diego.

San Diego

Derek had to be down in San Diego for work for a few days so we went to join him for part of the time. We had dinner at Seaport Village on a very chilly evening. As close as we live and have lived to San Diego, Derek and I figured out that it had been 8 years (I was pregnant with Anna) since we were last down there.


Derek and the kids with Coronado in the background. It had been so long since we'd been there that we didn't know the Coronado bridge was no longer a toll.

Face Painting Night

We went to a nearby restaurant for a kid's night for dinner the other week when Derek was out of town. They had a face painter and a hat making project and a play area so the kids were distracted with a lot of fun things to do and I got a chance to read a little. When we first got there none of the kids wanted anything to do with the face painting, but by the time we left they had each stood in line three times (except Luke-- just once). They had one or two on their cheeks and one or two on their arms and wanted to stay for more.

We left two hours after we arrived and had a lot of fun-- and some down time for me.


Anna had cherries on her other cheek and a horse on her arm.

Leah had a flower on her other cheek and also a horse on her arm.

Other than the baseball, Jack had a snake and some balloons on his arms.

Luke had enough 'natural' face 'paint' and only got a bee on his cheek-- but he was very excited about it.

Mama Hummingbird

This is the Mama NOT liking me being outside near her babies. I was by our back door, where we normally go in and out, about 8 feet away when I was taking the first pictures but she'd shoot around and tweet at me in, as I imagine, the most angry tweet a hummingbird can come up with.

Hummingbirds

Right outside our kitchen window there is a small palm tree and on one of the old branches that was trimmed off, a mama hummingbird built a little nest a month or two ago. As I stand and wash dishes I can see the nest, just above my head level about 5 feet away from the sink so it is a pretty good view. We figured she had some little eggs in there and in the last few weeks caught the first glimpse of them. At first we only saw one at a time but since then have seen both babies as their mommy feeds them or as they grown and are sticking their little beaks out.

We have more recent pictures of the both of them, but I thought I'd do this chronologically so here are the pictures from a few weeks ago when we first got a good view of the baby.

At The Cove

It was a beautiful day in La Jolla. The breeze was cool but the sun was warm and the views were beautiful. I'm looking forward to summer days at the beach in spite of the sand factor!

Thankful for the Nose News

Looks like the little man's nasal cavities are fine and the ENT surgeon said we most likely won't have to do any follow-up work and to just let it heal on its own. What a bruise-- or should I say 'bruiser'!?

Progress

The swelling has gone down a lot and now the black, blue, purple and yellowish green have arrived. In this picture you can't see on the inside of his eyelids where it looks really purple. He still gets the stares out in public! We have an appointment with the Ear/Nose/Throat surgeon on Thursday for a follow-up.

Leah Said...

As we were going by the gas station and she was obviously thinking about gas,

"Gas is a special liquid that is lighter than air."

Hmmm. The four year old has obviously been listening to some of our science reading and she is patching bits of her knowledge of 'gas' together. It still surprises me what they come up with.

A Clingon in the Family (aka, it's been a looong day)

This is what a Clingon looks like. I'm not sure what show they are even from, but that is one of the first things I thought of when I got a good look at Luke this afternoon. He doesn't have the whole look down, just the part around the eyes.

Derek was holding him on his leg in the family room when some turn of events brought him to rest (very, very quickly) with his head on the coffee table. It was a really loud crack and scream from Luke and almost immediately it ballooned into the most massive, swollen hematoma I have ever seen. We tried to ice it and evaluate it quickly. He seemed fine for the most part and a friend was there to give me a little helpful advice since I am usually not so good with these things for some reason (thank you, Trish).

We called our nurse hotline and they suggested that we bring him in. The swelling was huge so the doctor decided it would be best to take some xrays for a better picture of what happened. Turns out he fractured his bone at the upper part of his nose/eye. He was so good at the urgent care. Everyone looked/stared/awwwed at him but he ran around like nothing was wrong and held perfectly still for the xrays after the first one and ended up falling sweetly asleep in my arms as we waited for the final evaluation. He'll be going back to the Ear/Nose/Throat specialists later this week for a further evaluation. The most invasive end to this matter will be surgery, but it is also likely that nothing will need to be done. The doctor said it will take weeks and weeks for the swelling and bruising to go down. I believe it-- it is sooo huge.

For dinner Luke had ice cream, ice cream and more ice cream. The other kids were bummed and not very happy for him even though they should be happy that he is happy and sad that he was hurt; instead they were wanting what he had. Anna even said, 'I wish I had broken my nose!' What?? They really do love him and came around with some gentle instruction.

Jack broke a bone at 14 months. Luke waited until he was 2 1/2. The girls are still break-free. I wonder how many more trips to the Urgent Care we have in our future? We're so thankful he is OK and that we have medical care close by. Truth be told, I think Luke has been reading my emails/blogs and heard that his cousin Zach had a serious tooth-smashing back incident and his other cousin Nathan had a few staples put in the back of his head and he just wanted to be 'one of the boys'.


Enjoying his ice cream. The spot has gotten darker/more bruised over the hours and the swelling has gone down a lot-- believe it or not since it is still HUGE.

Front view... what is that, a baseball protruding from his forehead?

The side view. Doesn't it normally indent there? Ouch.