Old McDonald's Farm

On Saturday we paid a visit to Old McDonald's Farm in Humble (pronounced "umble"), TX, with our Texas cousins and grandparents. It's like a giant petting zoo with farm animals where kids can get up close to all the animals and feed them. Most animals were kept in pens or behind gates but peacocks and deer roamed the property freely. The first thing Clark did when we arrived was stick his finger into the chicken coup which promptly got bitten. 

When we were looking at the sheep Clark told me, "I smell something." I guess the farm aroma didn't escape him. 

He was hesitant to get on a horse, telling me he was "too brave" to ride the first one he sat on. This was his second try--the horse was much smaller--and he rode all the way around. 

I would rather ride a horse than have a goat eat out of my hand!

Llama may spit and/or Lana may spit.

The highlight of the farm for Clark was the train. He rode it again,and again,

and again. He would've ridden it all day.

After the multiple train rides Clark made his way over to the sand. Another of his favorite things. We took home one very happy and very sandy boy.  We were so glad to see everyone and play at the farm!

Ultimate Sharing

This was the scene I was watching a couple of days ago while eating breakfast. I left my cereal to document this precious moment of play. Not only was Clark sharing some of his most prized possessions--garbage trucks--but he didn't mind at all that Lana was biting and slobbering on one. 

Clark loves his little sister...now. He went through a long period of indifference initially but now he absolutely adores her. He quite often will give her toys to play with, help me change her diaper, ask to hold her, or make her laugh. The adoration is mutual. I love those precious sibling moments!

Lana is 4 Months

Lana is four months old. As with every other age, I love this age! She's very smiley and giggly and LOVES her older brother. She laughs when he laughs and loves when he plays with her. She's not as content to lie on the floor as she once was. She seems much more aware of her surroundings and wants to discover the world around her. Whenever we go to put her down she lets us know she's not happy with our intentions. She learned to roll onto her stomach a couple of weeks ago and now every time I turn around she's on her tummy so she can see what's going on around her. She now prefers sleeping on her stomach as well. She's just beginning to be able to hold toys and get them to her mouth. Her little voice sounds so similar to Clark's sometimes that if I'm not in the room it's hard to tell which of my babies made the noise.

Here are her stats from today's 4-month well check:

Height - 25.5" (90.37%)

Weight - 14lb 2.8oz (63.69%)

Head - 16.38" (68.88%)

Only Beanbags

Clark's got a real throwing arm. With pretty good aim. That's great and all...until my house starts to feel like a space station with zero gravity characterized by objects constantly whizzing through the air. We used to allow soft balls inside, but even that got too unruly. As much fun as it is to remind Clark constantly that we don't throw things inside, I thought it would be more fun to provide him something he can throw inside. Let's be honest: he's 2 and he's going to throw stuff. I've wanted to make him some beanbags for a while so a couple of weeks ago I got out some fabric and got to work. 

A quick peek online and suddenly my simple beanbag project became more complex by adding appliqued numbers. When I finished I realized I might have just made him 10 destructive indoor projectiles but he's been good about throwing them only into provided baskets or buckets. If you ask him what he's allowed to throw inside he'll tell you, "only beanbags." 

To be safe, these beanbags are actually ricebags since it seems that Clark is still allergic to legumes.

Riding the City Train

Last week the Houston Metro light rail was offering free rides all day in honor of it's 100 million rider milestone. Since my little boy loves trains of any kind I made sure to take him to cruise the rails. He always asks to "ride city train" whenever we see it on the roads so this was his lucky day! We parked in the Museum District and walked to the nearest station. Clark was gleeful when the train approached. We got on and rode the line all the way through downtown and back, meeting a variety of passengers along the way including policemen. As I had hoped, riding the Metro was a huge hit! 

Strawberry Picking: It's Fun

Last week I took my little bunch to the strawberry farm to do some picking. We met up with friends and Clark was much more interested in playing with his buddy than picking strawberries. As it should be. However, that left me with Lana strapped to my chest and my very pregnant friend to do most of the picking. Picking consisted of walk 3 steps, bend down to get 2 berries, repeat several times. Needless to say, neither of us left with a full bucket. Clark was insistent on carrying what he refers to as his "special bucket" the entire time, which was actually very helpful, as long as I didn't have to chase him down to get the strawberries in the bucket. As we drove away with our fresh berries I asked Clark if he liked the strawberry farm and his reply was, "it's fun!"

Clark had to do everything his friend did, so when she sat down so did he.

Here they are discussing fashion: "pocket!","hat!"

Bluebonnets: a Texas tradition

When the bluebonnets (and Indian paintbrushes) come out around here, so do people, their kids, and their cameras. Seeing the ground blanketed with wildflowers is a spectacular sight. The ample fields of bluebonnets are about an hour away from Houston, but there are some pretty decent patches near our house. Bluebonnets only last for 2-3 weeks so we ventured out last week to take part in the colorful Texas tradition. along with lots of bees. oh my!

Party at the Firehouse

One of Clark's good friends turned two a few weeks ago and had her birthday party at the fire station. Clark got to sit in a real fire engine and meet real firefighters. The kids were all fascinated with all the buttons, levers, and valves inside the truck. It was a perfect party for kids--we had so much fun!

Happy Easter!

We had quite a lovely Easter yesterday. Clark and Lana wore shiny new clothes to church in the morning. Church was a little more exciting than usual since our regular three hours of meetings was cut short by an hour due to a strong gas odor permeating the building. 

No holiday is complete anymore without making something from Pinterest, such as my Easter nails and bunny gift bags for wrapping little toys.

Clark is mildly obsessed with his Daddy right now so I thought it would be fun to have them coordinate. Clark noticed the yellow theme after church and exclaimed, "two yellows!"

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house in the afternoon to spend time with family and have an Easter egg hunt with the cousins. Steve's been keeping Lana company on the floor for the past few days since his back has been troubling him.

Clark enjoyed the egg hunt as long as his neither of his cousins got too close to his basket. In one instance, he wasn't comfortable with the amount of interest one of the girls had in his loot so he had a 30-second meltdown before proceeding to gather the rest of the eggs. 

I guess that means he really liked the Easter eggs, especially after he noticed the plastic geckos that Mom had hidden inside some of them.