A friend of ours discovered a weekly drum circle for kids in the valley.  What a great find!  We went with a big group of friends with kids (Jordan’s pre-school friends). Jordan definitely enjoyed it more than attempts at soccer or baseball.  He is definitely in his element playing music.  And Eli enjoyed it too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwkn2za97qc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQrHrvHOdIo

Then we had an after party at Gia’s

Monday Jordan officially starts pre-school 5 days a week!

The nickname has stuck.  I pretty much call him the Bean all the time.  I can’t help it.  On occasion, eeen-Bean.

Meanwhile the Bean has been so fun lately.  He rarely complains, mostly smiles, and takes whatever Jordan dishes out.  His smile is infectious.

Sometimes Eli wakes up Jordan from his nap (this is right before Jordan got his big boy bed)

Pretty soon, he won’t be a baby at all anymore, so I snapped these pictures of his cute pudgy self exploring

Seeking out the outlets, as usual…

JUMPING

I can’t believe we are already planning his first birthday!

These pictures and videos are already more than a month old.  But still worth checking out.

Jordan’s birthday celebration at school/camp

They all got their dance on

These pictures are from one of Jordan’s friend’s birthdays, Lucas.  They pulled out all stops, even inviting Mickey and Minnie.  We got photo bombed by one of Jordan’s friends

Jordan was not interested in any of the bounce houses they had at the party.  He found a tornado machine to play in (without turning on the tornado)

And hung out with his friend Jorge

The biggest news from Jordan’s birthday is that he’s finally sleeping in a big boy bed.  A much easier transition than we were expecting.

He couldn’t be happier.

I can’t believe it’s been 3 years since Jordan came into our lives.  From that little 4 lb, 11 oz. peanut

To the fun happy kid we know today

At 3 years he weighs in at 28 pounds, 11 oz. (20th percentile) and is 37 3/8 inches tall (50th percentile)

We had a great party for him at Kids Corner.  No meltdowns this year

He got to see old friends

And played with Nanny and Poppy

And Eli had fun too!

A good time was had by all

Buzz Lightyear still rules the house

Cupcake time

Last day of baseball

After 3 weeks of soccer (and very little excitement), Jordan started 3 weeks of intro to baseball.  What a great coach.  He speaks Jordan’s language.  He tells them to run and pick up the “cookies” (balls), and has them act like rocket ships so they hold their hands in the air.  Whatever it takes to get the kids moving.  Jordan is not the most excited kid about sports, but he gives minimal effort.

Here he is squeezing those cookies to protect them

Ready position:

First time swinging the bat, and he connects!

Eli comes to watch his brother play

Is he saying Dada, or just making noises.  You be the judge:

We hosted the family at our house for Safta’s birthday.

The kids had a blast playing together, and much to Jordan’s excitement, got to watch Toy Story together:

Nanny and Poppy came in town to play too!

Treats all around

Next post will be Jordan’s 3rd birthday photos!

Cousins at the Beach was another great success.  Even though most of Jordan’s and Eli’s cousins are much older, both boys enjoyed all of the attention.  And the weather was perfect!  I’m so glad we have these pictures from each year to see how everyone grows and changes:

Everyone wanted a turn holding Eli, which was great for us.  And he loved getting to know everyone:

Jordan got some love too:

The older girls, especially, gave him attention:

When he wasn’t playing with the M&M jeep at uncle Terry’s

It was so nice to see everyone together, having fun and looking relaxed

Jordan even got into the volleyball game:

And Tamar and I got some nice relaxation time in with the kids

Did I mention Eli is crawling now?

More fun, food time, and movie time:

Breakfast at the hotel:

Beach time

Then Lisa, Naiya and Ellis came back to our house to stay.  I wish we could have a sleepover every week!

Fun time at the park

Eli loved it all

We went to the Santa Monica pier and I joined Naiya and Ellis on the ferris wheel

And when it was all done Jordan enjoyed birthday ice cream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx2Bmc7azfI

And heard a bedtime story from Naiya

So much fun!!!!

Come back soon!

First Father’s Day as a dad of two kids!!  I feel so lucky to be the daddy to these two.  Watching them play together is the best.

And what an awesome gift I got.  A bike trailer:

Jordan had a blast on his first ride:

We don’t have many family photos of the four of us, but here’s a good one:

Eli started crawling a short time after father’s day.  Now everything changes.  Well except for his happiness.  He still smiles all the time:

Watching the shower in amazement

Eli and Mommy:

Experimenting with noise:

Happy:

Jordan started soccer class.  He did pretty well the first day.  He ran around and kicked the ball and participated in the aerobics.  I was impressed and proud.

They’re all winners:

No That’s not a typo.  That’s Jordan’s way of saying infinity.  The Toy Story obsession continues.  If only his darn parents would let him watch it more than on occasion.  He asks at least once a day when he will see it, and we’ve told him it’s reserved for special occasion.  He always wants to know “is today a special occasion?”  Anyway, he’s found other ways to imagine he’s somehow part of Toy Story, wearing mom’s straw hat to be Woody, or mom’s shoes and Dad’s helmet to be Buzz Lightyear.  Here he is as buzz…

Even in his undies

Speaking of which, he’s doing pretty well in the potty training department.  Still have a road to go, but definitely getting there, at least at home.  In public is a whole other ordeal.

Eli finished his mommy and me class.  Here’s a few pics

Family trip to the Grove (where Jordan was running around as Buzz)

Jordan helping out with Eli’s bathtime

Visit from Nanny and Poppy

Other pics of Mr. pudgy cheeks and thighs

Excitement!!!!

Mommy and Eli

Slumber party with Hayley

Safta and Eli

Eli got his first tooth a couple of days ago after struggling for what seemed like weeks to get it out.  The next one is only days behind!  He also finally rolled over from his back to his front.  He’s doing push-ups all day and scooting himself in circles and backwards.  Seems like crawling won’t be too far behind.

Jordan has left his car obsession behind (amazing!) and has moved into some new things (obsessions), including dinosaurs, animals and anything Toy Story.  He requests the theme song from Toy Story (“You’re Got a Friend in Me”) all day and asks for it on repeat.  And then he gallops around in circles singing it it.  He begs us to see the movies again everyday, but we tell him they are reserved for special occasions.  In place of seeing the movies over and over again, he carries around the DVD cases (or as he calls them, movie “cages”).  Instead of reading him books to go to sleep, he now requests that I read the back of the DVD cases and he has memorized most of the words (“a perfect addition to your Disney/Pixar collection and hours of fun for the entire family!”).  When he’s not terrorizing other kids at school and his cousins, he’s a really sweet, fun boy.

Here’s Jordan playing with his dinosaurs:

He can tell you which ones are carnivores and which ones are herbivores and knows more about the specific names than I do.

We went to a great place called Eco-Station where they rescue animals as a potential venue for Jordan’s upcoming birthday party.  He loved it.  But it will probably be better for next year.  Here I am with Eli while Tammy and Jordan are on the tour:

The kids love each other.  And Eli doesn’t even seem to care that Jordan plays keep away with everything that we put in front of him.

Some close ups of Mr. Cheeks and Thighs

Fun with family:

Looks like something shady is going on here.  But actually it is just Jordan trying to keep a toy away from Ari and Michael

Fun jumping around with Michael at Liam’s birthday party

Back to the fire station open house.  Jordan’s Halloween costume still getting lots more wear than we expected:

Zonked

Fun at various parks

Other photos, including some selfies

Nanny and Poppy in this week!  We are all looking forward!

We had a great getaway in Palm Springs last weekend.  Well actually Indian Wells, but what’s the difference, it was sunny desert with a pool, and we had a great time even with 4 in one room!

We stopped at Living Desert on the way home, which is a desert zoo.  They also have the biggest model train set you’ve ever seen.

Jordan is WAY into animals and dinosaurs these days

And being sweet to Eli

Man do I love these guys:

First avocado

Here’s Eli tickling his own thigh in his sleep and giggling.  He was doing it for awhile, I only caught part of it.

Avi and Jan hosted us for a nice dinner too.  We are so excited to hear that Eytan, Reva and Zakai are coming to live with them so close to us!!

And cousins all wanted a turn holding Eli at Safta’s house

We hosted one of the other Eli’s that we have in our life now.  Jordan loved having a different baby who was more mobile than our Eli

That’s all for now.  Starting to plan Jordan’s 3rd birthday already WOW!!!