T-ball

It's been really fun the last few months watching Seth's baseball skills develop in T-ball.  It's probably just as much fun for me as it is for him. It's pretty much the reason I had kids.

They start the year just learning where the positions in the field are, to hit off the tee, and how to run the bases. Half way into the year they put the tee aside and transition to coach-pitch for the kids who can do it. Seth really loves it, because it's more like real baseball.

Before each pitch, I tell him to "get angry" so he'll swing hard.  I love his expressions.


He's definitely more into the hitting than fielding part. He is 5 after all. We're constantly reminding the kids to face the batter so they don't get hit by the ball.

He gets a little disappointed that we don't keep score at this level. He's so competitive, he just wants to win. He is always asking me about next year, to make sure they'll get to keep score when he's in the next step up.


Video montage of the year:

And I can't help but link to this video from a few years ago when he had just turned 3:

Jedi Seth's Party

Seth turned 5 over a month ago. Here are the pictures from his Star Wars party.

We had a couple of land speeders for them to relay race and whack the sandperson with their lightsabers. These pool noodle lightsabers (made from all dollar store stuff) were a huge hit. I probably could have just handed them those and called it a party. The party was like accents of structured activities within one giant lightsaber battle. Great fun.

Seth loved his birthday obstacle course last year, so I gave it another go with a star wars version. They wore a blast shield helmet and had to hit a hovering ball with their lightsabers.

Next was launching stomp rockets through the death star.
This is a low-effort Jedi-athleticism obstacle course filler. I envisioned the swamp scene with a mossy tree branch they'd leap over with Yoda on their back. They're five year olds though, not Star Wars buffs. (The land speeders and Tusken Raider was a little beyond most kids' appreciation as it was).
They had to defeat the sandperson without touching him this time. They had to knock him over with the force. It was pretty awesome seeing some of the kids really concentrate on it. One of the boys didn't realize someone was standing behind the prop and pulling a string. He was amazed by the power of the force! The kids crawled through this tunnel. Another athleticism filler. Then the ultimate test--fighting Darth Vader. If you already couldn't tell this was an extremely low-budget party put together with household items, dollar store junk, and cardboard, Vader's costume is a nice hint. Yes, I convinced our dear friend Pasi to tie a plastic dollar store table cloth around his neck, put a child size mask from our costume box on his face, don a cardboard and electrical tape chest plate, and let a bunch of boys whack him with pool noodles. The kids LOVED it. And we love YOU Pas!
  
That's supposed to be a death star piñata. Yes, it looks a little sad because it's made out of a paper lantern, felt squares, and a paper bowl (for the big circular indentation that doesn't appear in the photo). Seth wanted edible storm troopers to pour out of it, but candy and bags of chips sufficed.
Presents and cake. Another birthday down.
I feel like I should write an ode to Seth now. I'll just say, I can't imagine a more endearing little boy. We adore him to pieces. 

 
  PS--Ada is already planning her birthday for next year and is casting Pasi's wife to play Queen Amidala for her party. That's gonna be a tough one.

T-ball

Just a cell phone video, but here's Seth up to bat:


And Seth running home to score a run:

Crystal Pier, Pacific Beach

Earlier this month I got some more shots of Crystal Pier down in Pacific Beach. It had been a while since I'd gotten to do any shooting. It was fun. I'm going to miss the San Diego sunsets in a few months. They never do get old.

Nikkor 12-24 @14mm, f13, 20s Nikkor 12-24 @24mm, f4, 1s Nikkor 12-24 @12mm, f13, 20s

Sleepy Sweet

Ada had surgery on her eyes yesterday for strabismus.  It was an eventful day to say the least, just ask Lindsay if you want the story. Here is a little cell phone video of Ada waking up in the post-op area.

Opening Day

I've been waiting for this day for about 5 years.  It's better than Christmas or my birthday. My boy is playing ball.

3 Years

Our little Valentine turned three this week. She's all about being fancy lately, so we threw her a princess tea party. She and her friends dressed up, made crowns, and went on a treasure hunt with purses. They found feather boas, pearly bracelets, lip gloss and some little toys.

Here are the sweeties after they made their crowns. They look more like statues of liberty than princesses. I should have had them pose with torches and books in hand.

Despite how this appears, we did not give the girls Virginia slims. That's a stick from a fruit kabob. Ada's just naturally sophisticated.

These girls had a great time pouring water from one vessel to another. It's amazing how long that can entertain tiny kids.

Ada designed this birthday cake--pink with oranges and a strawberry. She was really excited about her cake, but she's just like Seth: one bite and she's done.


Her gifts: a Hello Kitty brush and coloring book, an electric toothbrush (she's finally willing to brush now), and a princess castle tent.

I decorated with these paper lanterns. Ada LOVED them and kept saying "they're SO fancy!"

So much merry we don't know what to do with it

  
This is our fifth Christmas as San Diegans, but the first one we've spent here. It turns out Aaron's work doesn't accept notes from his wife that read "Please excuse Dr. Rutman from work for the next week. Christmas is very special to him." (He spent much of Christmas day at the hospital). Anyway, SD is a pretty sweet place to spend Christmas. The weather was so perfect, it was as if San Diego was showing off. My parents did the traveling this year and spent the holiday with us. It was great having them.

On to the Christmas morning photos...

These puppets were my surprise for Seth. I worked on them in the evenings while he slept. I made him Joker and Catwoman too. (I wish I had a picture of them). He immediately gave the Catwoman puppet to Ada because she loves Catwoman and he doesn't want to play with a girl puppet, especially not a bad girl. I've been playing Joker in our puppet shows since Christmas because Seth needs a bad guy to pound on. I put a lot of effort into these, but they won't be handed down to his children or anything--these are battle puppets that are already showing some wounds.

I was trying to avoid the Princess craze with my daughter, with its over-emphasis on beauty, but every puffy dress she sees has her mesmerized. She enjoys dressing up as Darth Vader and Iron Man, but she's definitely been wanting something feminine in the costume box. Seth insisted that I make her a princess dress for Christmas because he knew she'd love it. I couldn't resist fostering Seth's interest in doing something sweet for his sister. He helped me choose a pattern and we took a trip to the store for Seth to choose fabric in Ada's favorite colors. (Ask Aaron where's the last place on this earth he's interested in spending time. It's the fabric store. His sweet mother OD'd him on those as a child, so it's funny to me that Seth loves them so much). Anyway, Ada loves her dress, and her fancy shoes too!


This is the Christmas present Seth was anticipating the most: Wolverine from X-Men. When he sat on Santa's lap and asked for a Wolverine costume, I could tell Santa thought he was talking about a brown furry mammal costume. (THAT would have been awesome).
 

Ada fell in love with a pink suitcase she saw at Ross a couple weeks before Christmas. She asked Santa for this suitcase. By the time I made it back to the store, it was gone. Aaron could not rest until he found his daughter a suitcase she'd love. On the night of the 23rd, he found this beauty at Costco, complete with lights and yes, Disney Princesses. Ada approves. Grandma and Grandpa Shields added a second lightsaber to Seth's collection. It's a huge hit. He's constantly practicing his moves in front of the TV's reflection.



Ada was very excited about this Abby Cadabby gift, but was unfortunately quite let down when she found that the doll is unable to hold the magic wand since it's practically bigger than the doll. She now loves them separately. I like how serious Seth and Ada look as they study this Star Wars figurine together.


This watergun and Captain America stuff got huge reactions from Seth. He's so fun to open presents with.


Ada doubled her baby collection. She got a Cabbage Patch Doll. They still feature a signature on the butt, just like the ones I spent unmeasurable amounts of time with as a kid.