Oakland Zoo

Saturday we took a family outing to the Oakland Zoo. The day was so beautiful and warm. I can't believe the weather this year. It's hardly seemed like we've had a winter, which makes me a little nervous for the consequences that will come later in the year due to lack of precipitation. Anyways, we had fun as a family checking out the animals. Preston's favorite part of the zoo is the elephants. He could stand and watch them forever. We had a great time until Preston found a leaf and was excitedly running to show us when he slipped in some gravel and landed flat on his back. He was crying pretty hard and then Nate and I discovered he was bleeding pretty badly too. He must have landed on a rock. It was hard to get a good look because of the matted blood in his hair. We took him to the first aid area hoping they could help us clean him up a bit so we could get a better idea at how bad his cut was. Luckily it looked worse than it was and he calmed down quickly. We ended by riding the Merry-Go-Round and his head wound seemed to be forgotten.  

Medicine for Ducky

I found Preston in his room today making sure his ducky got his "medicine".

Puddle Jumping

He is all boy! Look at the glee that shows in his face as he jumps in the puddles.

Fun Pictures from the Week

This week has been a long one! Since we put Preston in his big boy bed he has become a little cranky - mostly from lack of sleep. He does great at night. I think there has only been one night all week where we had to put him back in bed multiple times. Otherwise, he has never come out of his room. However, he really struggles with naptime. He's pretty good about staying in his room and quietly playing for at least 45 minutes but that's it. He has only fallen asleep during naptime once this week and I can tell you he has needed a nap many more days than that.

On Saturday Nate took Preston out for a little "Father Son" outing. They went to Gymboree and out to lunch while I stayed home and deep cleaned the fridge, freezer and kitchen cupboards. Preston had soooo much fun. He was bursting with excitement when they got home and had to tell me everything they had done. It was pretty cute. Preston is such a daddies boy! He sure loves him a lot.

Just a few other cute pictures - The other day Preston lined all of his cars up on the piano. He was so proud! He's pretty particular about certain things and he loves to lines things up.

Big Boy Bed

Helping set up his big boy bed!

We set up Preston's big boy bed on Saturday. Here goes nothing! I am guessing naps will be pretty non-existant now since he was already hard to put down at naptime anyways. At least before even if he didn't sleep he was trapped in his crib for a quiet time. The last two days since we set up his bed he has just played around in his room or come out repeatedly.

However, he did sleep in his big boy bed all last night! He didn't come out once after we put him down for the night and we didn't hear a peep out of him all night. He was so proud this morning when he woke up that he had slept in his big boy bed.

Picnic in the Park

We had a picnic at the park! The weather was absolutely beautiful and we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to enjoy it. We packed a quick lunch and took Preston's tricycle to the park. I pushed Preston to the park on his bike and noticed for the first time he was moving his legs with the up and down motion of the pedals. He's getting there! I just can't wait for him to learn to ride his bike. He'll love it - I'm almost certain! I was a little hopeful that after we ate lunch I could teach him to actually ride his bike around the park. There is a nice big open sidewalk area that would be perfect to learn on but instead he insisted on pushing his bike around the park himself. We drew with chalk, played ring-around-the-rosie, then Preston played in the dirt. He's all boy!

Christmas 2011

Christmas this year was very relaxing and so much fun to spend time together as a family. I think Preston was so sad when he realized Daddy wouldn't be around as often after Nate went back to work. He's such a Daddy's boy. Whenever Nate is around no one else can help him do anything. Forget changing his clothes, forget getting him out of the car, forget wiping him off after a meal or getting him a drink of water - everything he wants done by Daddy. So - I had lots of time to read and do other things. I am definitely not complaining but at times it can be a little frustrating. We had nearly two weeks together in Utah spending time with Nate's family. We had some fun times. Below is just a splattering of things we did and fun memories to remember.

• A twelve and a half hour car ride to Utah where Preston only slept 30 minutes. Who is this kid that never sleeps?
• Attending Ogden's Christmas Village to see all the little elf houses. It was a super cold night!
• Playing games with the family including Bang, Hearts and Farkle. We also spent a lot of time playing Words with Friends with each other. We each had a game going with every other family member.
• Playing Xbox 360 Kinect. Annette was the master at darts. We had some good laughs, especially playing football. It was fun to see the video playback after each sport to see just how silly (or coordinated) you looked.
• Decorating gingerbread houses. Preston spent more time eating the candies, especially the marshmallows, than he did decorating. He loved putting sprinkles on and sprinkled the floor in the process. He quickly learned to scamper up onto the bar stools when no one was looking to get a few candies off before he was stopped.
• Sprinkling reindeer food on the lawn and leaving cookies out for Santa.
• Preston loved helping in the kitchen. He enjoyed helping Grandma make gingerbread men, licking off beaters, and simply being in the action.
• Making orange rolls. I think we finally found a good recipe. They were so delicious!
• Lots of shopping! Last minute Christmas gifts and car shopping for Maren, which Nate always enjoys.
• Dinner with the Larsen family
• Opening presents was so fun with Preston. As he saw each new gift he wanted it "out" so he could play with it immediately. Getting through the presents is a lot longer process this way but he loved it.
• Meeting cousin Ashley, Cameron and baby Logan for lunch one afternoon. It was so fun to catch up.
• Zupas! Yum.
• Going down to Spanish Fork/Payson for haircuts, to visit the Hughes family, see Megan and meet her new husband Tyler, and to stop by Grandma and Grandpa Weed's grave site.
• Pheasant hunting. Nate had so much fun and has since been saying he needs a gun. They shot 9 of the 12 planted birds. 
• Christmas evening we opened some remote control cars. We had 6 cars and only 2 frequencies. The cars were going crazy and it was so funny. Preston had no clue what was going on but loved it all the same.
• Brotherly bonding time. One of Nate's favorite things is to sit in the hot tub with his Dad and brother and just chat. He had a good 2 hour chat one night with his brother.
• Sledding in the scarce snow. The weather in Utah was beautiful and mild but not conducive to Winter sports and activities. Preston went out for a walk with Grandpa and Daddy and found a tiny bit of snow to sled in. He had so much fun.
• Attending the temple and then also being able to go to a sealing for a distant family member.
• Going to Uncle Robert and Aunt Patti's house to meet Jack, the donkey, and Bernie, the dog. Preston received a little toy pull-along dog from them for Christmas that he absolutely loves and has now named Bernie.
• Christmas with (Great) Grandma and Grandpa DeFries. We celebrated the Monday after Christmas.   
• New Years Eve shake run to Jake's Over the Top - and over the top it was. Those shakes are huge.
• Attending Weber State's basketball game against Utah. Preston was thoroughly entertained the entire time with all the action in the stadium.

and after all that - we have very few pictures! I seriously need to get a bit better.

 

 

Uncle Eric is so worried Preston will become a Warriors fan so he wanted to get him started on the right foot. A Jazz jersey for Christmas. Preston had to put it right on.

Grandma gave Preston some new construction jammies on Christmas Eve.

Showing off his finished house - and snagging one last lick before bed.

Sprinkling reindeer food on the lawn

Christmas morning this was the first thing Preston saw. He was delighted.

Sledding on the little patches of snow

The crew on the pheasant hunt