Action Adventure

 

One of our favorite activities on the weekend is going to LACMA to make art with the twins.  They’ve got activities for all ages, we can visit every Sunday for 3 hours for free, and our highly mobile (and fast) toddlers love it.

March Of The (Halloween) Penguins

This was our second family Halloween with Dominik & Scarlett and this year they got to go trick or treating. In this picture we got our family portrait in front of the same house we got it in front of last year. Does everyone look the same? I’m pointing at the camera so the twins will look at it but babies are pretty much into doing their own thing.

Although you can’t see it in this picture Dominik was able to do a fair bit of waddling.  Given that he only really started walking a couple weeks ago he did great!

At our first stop Scarlett took a piece of  candy we’d put into her bucket and tried to add it into the bowl of candy being offered up by our neighbor instead of taking one from him and adding it to her bucket. After a little tutorial from Mom and Dad she understood that she was supposed to take a candy and add it to her bucket and got it right the rest of the night.

All in all they were able to visit about 10 houses about 50% under their own power and seemed to have a really good time doing it.

Jumpy Jump

One of the most fun parts about being a toddler is that you get invited to other toddler’s birthday parties.  Today our friend Payton turned two so Scarlett and I headed over to her party and played with all her toys!  Also, it was Scarlett’s first time in a jumpy jump.  She liked it for about 10 seconds.

First Boat Ride

Grandpas, prepare to be jealous:

Dominik and Scarlett took their first boat ride with Uncle Dwayne and they had the best time ever.

Dom did get a little grumpy because of some teething, but the minute he made it into Sue’s arms, everything became right in his world.

After the boat we had naps and snacks and play time.

Twas The Night Before They Turned One …

Tomorrow is Dominik and Scarlett’s first birthday. I just spent an hour assembling the Playskool “Laugh & Learn Learning Home,” which will be lurking here in the living room along with their new beach gear Beth got them today. Hopefully it’ll be a nice surprise when they wake up tomorrow.  By the way we’re sorry that we haven’t yet thanked whoever got Dom and Scarlett the “Laugh & Learn” toy but the shipping receipt didn’t indicate who bought it. So whoever you are stand up, take a bow, and let us know– it’s a beauty.  I’m hoping tomorrow to get a lot of video and photos to document their first birthday which will show off it’s various interactive capabilities.

From the swanky new beach gear you might have figured out that we’re going to take them to the beach for their first birthday. Which is a really exciting prospect and a new milestone too. The only time we’ve taken them to the beach before they couldn’t really crawl so they didn’t get to touch the sand or water. This will definitely be a lot more …    interactive.

Just a few thoughts about the developing mini-humans.

Dominik loves to look at plants and feel their leaves, he’s got a quiet smile with 4 teeth. At some point in the first week at home Beth called him “Bubbie” which morphed into “The Bubbincito” which eventually became “Bunbinimide (a new element on the periodic table?) which turned into”The Bubbin” we’re just as apt to refer to him as “The Bubbin” as we are Dominik. Also, let me say those various permutations are reserved for parental use only Although, Dominik hasn’t yet walked he has given up the army stomach slither for a full speed scrabbling crawl which he accentuates by slapping his hand down and making a slight howl of “Oh.. Oh.. Oh.. Oh..” with each motion  and he pulls himself up with confidence. He loves to pull himself up in the crib then fall backwards onto the mattress repeatedly while giggling.

Scarlett is now showing a pretty distinct preference for walking over crawling. She’s loves to point at things she would like us to hand to her for examination and has already figured out that we’re more likely to give it to her if she cries. Whenever she finds a shoe of mine or Beth’s on the floor she will now always try to put it on. Her smile is usually accompanied with an infectious gravelly laugh. Oh yeah, and Scarlett’s nickname is “Sita” which branched off as the feminine version of Dominik’s “Bubbincito.”

Both kids are doing really well meeting new people, situations, and unexpected changes in their environment. My favorite thing to do as Dad is toss them about, hold them on my shoulders when we go for walks and make them laugh.

As I’ve finished writing this I see it’s already the 10th of July. Our kids are 1 year-olds.

Happy Birthday Dominik & Scarlett.

Kidspace Rules!

Today we took Dominik & Scarlett to Kidspace in Pasadena (a shout out to our friends Doug and Janet for tipping us to this place on Facebook). Dom & Scarlett had an amazing time in their Early Childhood Learning Center (or as I like to call it THE PADDED CELL WITH TOYS). You walk in, remove your shoes and let your kids go, if they haven’t already torn your arm off trying to escape into this pleather wonderland. Apart from the shoe area the entire room is floored with rubber and contains a myriad tactile fun exhibits designed for kids 4 and under.

Dominik crawled freely throughout the room grabbing toy after toy and either tossing it or tasting it.

Scarlett has really started to piece together her steps into series and can now go as far as 15-20 feet before she needs to “reset” with a crawl.

The toys were incredible and really well thought out: More Details Here.

Kidspace beats Peekadoodle Kids Club a similar indoor play club in San Francisco on a number of fronts. We visited Peekadoodle on our April road trip to San Francisco and I can easily say the biggest difference between these to places is the price. A one day pass at Kidspace costs $10 for each person over 1 year of age. A one day pass at Peekadoodle was $50 for a family. If we’d taken Dom and Scarlett, who turn 1 this Friday, to Kidspace next weekend entry would have cost us $40. So the price difference seems nominal, right? BUT a 6 month membership at Kidspace (which will admit 4 family members anytime) is $89 bucks which is a mere fraction of what Peekadoodle charges for offering a similar safe-play area experience.  To be fair to Peekadoodle they do offer classes (for an additional charge), it’s cafe is way better (and more pricey), and the complimentary internet connection for parents is a kind of a sweet loss-leader, and overall it’s indoor areas are slightly cleaner.  However, the annual membership fee for Peekadoodle starts at just over $2000. GULP! WHAT?! REALLY??! Yes. Really. And don’t get me started on their parking validation deal …

In addition to a similar range of indoor play areas for kids Kidspace also offers: an outdoor tricycle track with helmets, 3 different cool multistory climbing gyms, science exhibits, a play construction site, water spouts, a simulated river with various waterfalls, gardening area and much much more. Again, to be fair to Peekadoodle the weather in San Fran isn’t always amenable to outdoor play so for the moment their options are limited. However, I’m sure as their fees pile up they’ll be able to put a dome over their lawn and create the Peekadoodle Biosphere (with Fresh Oxygen for an additional Fee).

Okay, one last attempt to be fair, when Beth and I drove away from San Francisco  we were fans of the concept and execution Peekadoodle. If you’ve got the money Peekadoodle seemed like excellent place to take your kids. We had a great time there and so did Dominik and Scarlett. If we lived in San Francisco and we had the money we’d probably be members and take them there everyday. I know I would just to feel like it was worth the price.

However, we’re blessed (or cursed depending when you ask me) to be angelenos so if you live in L.A. or are visiting with kids in the range of 1 to maybe 10 I’d say Kidspace is well worth the price of admission even at $10 a head, especially on a hot day. Kidspace provides an excellent environment for kids and parents to play without draining your funds which should be saved for college. We’ll be getting a membership on our next visit.

Best Park Ever

A good friend recently told us about an amazing park near our house. Although the park doesn’t have bucket swings, the grass goes on forever, there are water toys, and we were the only people there at 10 a.m.! Dom and Scarlett will be taking a trip to the beach soon, so we thought we’d give them the opportunity to practice wearing their swim suits.

Note: We tried those pull up swim diapers, but I think they have to be changed as soon as swimming is over.  I didn’t know this, so when Dominik peed, the diaper didn’t absorb anything.  This makes me wonder, what makes swim diapers different than regular ones?