Mommy's Little Helper

Little Ted has been very helpful around the house lately.  He has taken a new interest in cooking, as you can see from the photos below (sorry for the poor quality).  

LT has helped me make pancakes (actually, when I turned my back, he tried to eat the dry mix.  Oops!).  He's also really good at stirring his juice mix.

LT cleans up pretty well, too.  He puts his toys away when mommy asks, and if a broom is around, he will sweep the floor.

Here's he's taking a break after sweeping the carpet.

Right now, he's resting - he had a busy morning helping mommy and daddy work in the front yard.  He's an all around helpful little boy.

Meet the 3 year old

Last month, this guy . . .

. . . turned 3.  We can hardly believe how big he is!

On the day of, we marked the occasion with Angry Bird cupcakes.  Little Ted was a happy camper.

A few weeks later, Ted's parents hosted a birthday party for LT at their house.  Here's a couple pictures from the event.

Of course, we had to take our annual "Ted" photo to showcase 4 generations of Teds.  

Pretty impressive, huh?

Laughing

Our blog has a notable lack of activity, not because we are doing nothing, but because we've been a little too busy lately.  That said, we have lots to talk about, like Little Ted's 3rd birthday!

But before we get to that (I still need to upload the photos and video to my computer), I give you this video of Little Ted enjoying a YouTube cat video (one of his favorite activities).

Shirley Temple

Little Ted enjoyed his very first Shirley Temple at Mi Tierra last week. His favorite part? The whipped cream, of course!

Bike Ride

At the beginning of the month, we took our bikes out. We could do this thanks to a new store in town. They are located at the edge of downtown, within walking distance of Cameron Park, and they have a bike trailer for rent.

We are in love with this thing and will probably break down and buy one eventually. It can seat two children, and some models convert into regular and jogging strollers. Neat!

Little Ted had a blast on outing. We rode to the playground and stayed there for about an hour. He enjoyed chasing the other kids and watching them play. I almost convinced him to try out a slide, but he changed his mind at the last minute. We'll have to face that challenge next time.

Super Hero

A week or so ago, we had to run an errand in the rain. We put LT in his rain jacket for the very first time (thank you grandma Gonzalez!).

He knew the coat was different and inspected himself in the mirror after I dressed him. Apparently, he liked what he saw because he would not take it off. The coat became a kind of super hero cape, though I admit he looks more the Gorton fisherman than he does a super hero.

Eventually, we peeled the coat off of him, though it did take some effort.

Yes Sir, Mama!

Lately, we've been working with Little Ted to get him to say "yes sir" or "yes ma'am" when he is asked or (as is more often the case) repeatedly reminded to do something.  He's catching on, for the most part.  It has become his go-to phrase, especially when he has done something he knows he's not supposed to do.

Sometimes, he says the phrase in response to just about any question.  For example, I was feeding him breakfast a couple of days ago, and his yogurt cup was just about empty.  I asked him, "Are you finished?"  He answered, "Yes Sir, Mama!"

I don't so much mind being called sir, so long as it's followed by 'mama' and is said by my little boy.

More Weekend Pics

When we visited Bryan and Amy this past weekend, they planned to take us to the zoo to celebrate Little Ted's birthday (what good godparents they are!).  Well, that didn't really pan out - the zoo was packed and we got a little turned around trying to get ourselves there using the rail system.

Instead, we ended up at the Museum of Natural Science. It was a nice change of plans - we had air conditioning, we were out of the sun, there were plenty of places to sit, and the museum has a McDonald's in it!

Of course, there were also great exhibits, including a full dinosaur skeleton, terra cotta soldiers in the "Warriors, Tombs, and Soldiers" exhibit (the pictures you see below), and a pretty cool Titanic exhibit that makes you feel like you are actually on the ship (we also took a picture that, thanks to Photo Shop, shows us inside of the ship).

 When Little Ted got bored, we enjoyed the front of the museum, which included a fountain, tables, and lots of shade from big trees.  My favorite moment: a little girl, probably about three years old, entered the museum with her mother and grandmother.  They were obviously out that day to take pictures of the little girl (the museum is on the edge of Hermann Park, a large recreation area near the hospitals in Houston, which also serves as a good backdrop for photographers).  She was dressed up to look like a bee, with yellow and black leggings and wings to match.  Little Ted, who has only limited experience with bees (he's familiar with the ones in Dr. Seuss), spotted her and correctly identified her costume.  He shouted, "A bee!  A bee!  Bzzzzzzzzzz!"  Luckily, he didn't panic the way he usually does when he sees flying bugs, so I guess not all flying bugs are monsters in his mind.

Before we left, we shot this pic of Little Ted and our hosts.  Overall, we had a great time, and Little Ted is ready to go back and visit his pet friends.

2 yr old Speller???

When bedtime rolled around this evening, the 3 Gonzabloggers were relaxing upstairs.  I wanted Little Ted to know that it was time to start our nightly routine, so I said,

"It's time to take a b-a-t-h."

Now normally, I don't spell the word.  I typically say "bath," and that generally leads to a negative response from the toddler.  I didn't want to get him too worked up since he did not get his usual nap today; hence my decision to spell rather than say.

His response:

"No!"

Me: "And what does b-a-t-h spell?"

LT: "Bath!"

At this point, Ted and I looked at each other in surprise and awe.  Does our two year old actually know how to spell???

Probably not, but he did a good job of deducing what mom was referring to.

Guess this means we won't be able to do much "spell speaking" in this house when talking about things we don't want Little Ted to know.  I'll have to brush up on my Spanish skills or learn Arabic so we have other options!

Weekend Trip

Last weekend, we visited Ted's friend, Bryan, and his wife.  The last time we saw them was their wedding day, almost a full year ago.  Since then, they've bought a home and settled in with their three cats and one dog.

They've been asking us to visit for awhile now, and we finally had some time to get away, so we packed up the car and headed SE.  As you can imagine, Little Ted was more than a little excited to share a house with so many critters.  By the time we left, Palmer, Phoenix, Rocky, and Charlie were thoroughly terrorized, and Little Ted was exhausted and sad to leave.  He still remembers his animal buddies and even asked "Can we see the puppy?" as we were headed to the grocery store this afternoon.

Ted shot the video below while we were there.  In it, Little Ted is calling to the animals, and they are doing their best to stay away.

Funny Face

This is what happens when a toddler gets a hold of your camera phone - he makes faces at himself.