What Otto is up to Now

Otto surprises us everyday with his vocabulary and memory. He can sing just about any song that I regularly sing to him (which is A LOT), he knows the alphabet, he can count to 20 in English and to 5 in Chinese, he speaks in 7 word sentences, he can spell his name, and he says please and thank you regularly. I guess every parent is stunned when their child learns language and I'm no different. It is a remarkable thing to witness. I wish my brain was as absorbent as his. Plus he is just so funny and has Trevor and me cracking up all the time. He is a dancing machine and insists we listen to music or sing songs. We have regular night time dance parties with Trevor and Tam Sam. He loves to laugh and asks us to repeat over and over again words and phrases that he likes the sound of. He is also getting very agile and dexterous. His balance is terrific. He can walk up and down stairs no problem, cruses around on his scooter like a pro and is getting the hang of his park friends' balance bikes (we got him one for his 2nd birthday nest week). He is also running really fast! Trevor has to jog to keep up! He is climbing up the ladders at the park and sliding down the super duper big slide (face first-once) and really becoming a dare devil. He also likes to walk sideways especially if he wants to look at something-he kind of sneaks up to it sideways. Here are a few recent photos. One of Otto in the bath smiling (when we ask him to smile he puts his lower lip out), one on a motorcycle, and one in his proud toddler shirt.

Fall

We had a truly wonderful summer. Otto had so many cool adventures and he was really big enough to take part and enjoy all that summer had to offer. But I have to say that I'm excited that fall is here. The weather is perfect and getting cooler and we are getting excited for Halloween. We've had a couple of fun trips up to Lake Arrowhead. Once with Fisher's family and once for Trevor's 40th birthday party with close friends. Otto loved all the hiking and the boats and enjoyed hanging out at the little beach and feeding the ducks cheerios. We've enrolled Otto in soccer classes. He goes every Saturday morning and although class takes place in a super cool park and it gives us something to do every Saturday morning, I don't think we'll enroll again for a while. He is just a bit to young for the structure of the class. He's slowly learning the routine but I think he'd just rather play "kick the ball down the hall" at Goa's house. I do think he's a pretty good player though and will keep helping him score goals and dribble and get the basics down...but just in our backyard! Otto and I also had a wonderful trip to Florida to see all my friends but I don't have pictures yet from our trip so that will be a later post. Daddy has been working around the clock so I've been trying to keep Otto entertained outside the house but Otto has been wanting to hang around home more these days. Maybe he's getting sick of all the stuff we currently do. I hear Disney calling!!!!

More Summer Happenings

Unfortunately, we got some bad news this summer. My aunt Karen, who had given Otto his favorite motorcycle shirt, passed away. It was unexpected and so soon after Grampy that Goa, Otto, and I had to go to Wisconsin to see the family. We had a very nice time seeing everyone despite such sad circumstances. We stayed at a great hotel with Uncle Jim and Aunt Janine and had breakfast together every morning. The hotel had a water slide and huge pool and allowed dogs so Otto had fun with all of that. We also took an afternoon and went to a very typical huge mid-western water park which was so incredible and brought me right back to my childhood in Illinois. So we really did make the best of a very sad situation and Otto got to meet his family which I was so happy about. The photo of Otto on the 4-wheeler was taken at the Harley Davidson shop in Wisconsin where Aunt Karen spent quite a lot of time. Otto was in HEAVEN!
A week later Goa left us for Texas and the twins but we gained "Tam Sam" as Otto now calls Sam. Sam came for a visit from Florida and decided she would move back at the exact time as Goa left to stay with Cooper and Tucker. With Goa's room vacant Sam moved in and has been a GODSEND helping me with Otto and also doing tons of babysitting. Plus along with Sam we gained Otto's doggie best friend, Maybe!!! They love each other and have developed such a wonderful bond. They love playing and Otto looks for Maybe every time we are home and vice versa. They really are so close-it is a joy to watch! Another fun addition to our summer was the sweet 3 foot deep kiddie pool that Rachel gave us! It provided us with so much fun this summer. And it was hot enough to really warm up the pool so even this Fla girl enjoyed swimming in it. Otto and Dad took a few trips down to San Diego to play with Morgan and Troy and now that Otto is getting a little older we've even been taking him to a few restaurants. Summer 2011 has been a blast!

Alaska

Ok, summer has officially ended without another post. I'm the worst! But fortunately I took lots of pictures. Summer was really highlighted by our amazing trip to Alaska. We had the best time. Otto was terrific on our flight there despite a several hour delay. We got in very early in the morning, had a short sleep, and got picked up in a huge "Monster Truck" as Otto calls big pick up trucks and taken to a small bush plane airport. Otto was THRILLED and ran up to each one inspecting the wheels and propellers. We got in our airplane and flew about 60 miles north to our lodge located right in the middle of nowhere. It was a absolutely perfect day-very clear, sunny, and warm. And our first order of business-a fabulous lunch followed by a helicopter ride surveying the region (glaciers, ice burgs, trees, rivers, and TONS OF EMPTY LAND) and salmon fishing on the rocky bank of a pristine river. Every day brought more helicopter rides, fishing, and delicious food. We were unsure if Otto would enjoy the fishing but he loved it. He had fun sailing down the rivers in boats and loved playing on the banks and loved spinning the reels and playing with the the lures. And of course, who loves helicopters more than Otto? He squealed and kicked his feet when we were on the helicopters and talked about them when we were not. Another added benefit of the lodge were all the 4-wheelers, tractors, snowmobiles, and big farm and building equipment on sight. It really was a vacation dreamed up in Otto's head. Unfortunately we had to leave the lodge but we still had a day and a half in Anchorage which was really fun. By then the weather had turned pretty chilly and overcast so our hike to the city's overlook took place entirely in dense fog and a bit of rain but it just made for a more dramatic feel. We still had a great time and stopped for pizza on the way back. The morning before our airplane took off back for LA we met up with my high school friend, Amanda Loach, and her family. We went on a long walk along the coast and stopped at a playground. All in all, Alaska was a really perfect family vacation! Here are a few pics.