Monkeying Around

Grandpa Lyons and Margaret invited Preston and I to go with them to the Oakland Zoo last Thursday (02.23.2012). I thought that Preston would love seeing all the animals and listening to the noises they make, so I was excited to go with them. We got there and Preston saw a few animals and wasn't as interested as I thought he would be. I think he enjoyed watching all the other kids run around more than watching the different animals. It was fun though. I haven't been to a zoo in such a long time!

Here are a few pictures of our adventures:

Here is a shot of the entrance of the zoo. 

 Thanks Grandpa and Margaret for taking us to the zoo! Here they are in front of the flamingos.

 There were lots of pink flamingos right in the entrance. By the way, if you are wondering...my favorite animal just happens to be the flamingo. oh yes, you better believe it!

 The monkeys had it the best though. They were just laying here in the sun on their own little island. 

 Here we are! Preston and I were watching the elephants for quite a long time. 

 There were 4 huge elephants.

 There were quite a few giraffes too. They were in the area with several other safari animals. 

It was a fun day. After the zoo we went to an amazing restaurant and ate some delicious food. It has been fun living here in California and being able to spend time with our family here.

My Little Mover

While we were home for Christmas Preston decided to start crawling, well...really it was more like an inch worm thing that he did to get around. I think it came from watching his cousin Jakob race to the toys. Preston really watched other kids and then seems to decide that he can do whatever they can do, especially when it means that he can have what they have. It is so cute to watch him move around in his own little way. His crawl has since changed from his inch worm moves to a full out crawl. He now moves so much faster and is starting to stand up again all the furniture he can. It often scares me. I hate it when he falls. He definitely needs a helmet of some sort since he has hit his head so many times. He has learned how to sit back on his bum though, which has changed things for now, but we'll see what happens once he starts walking!

Here are a few videos of his progress:

This is his transitional crawl. He is started here to get up on his knees and yet can't give the inch worm up. 

 Preston has also started talking quite often. He likes to talk to himself in the morning after he wakes up and is starting to form more definite sounds. Can you hear it on this video?

 This shows him crawling over to stand on the coffee table. This happens daily! 

I get so excited to see him develop, but them I get so worried when I find out what it all means. I wish I could protect him against everything, but them I realize that he needs to learn and grow...that helps him develop better than if I were to coddle him. I guess that is probably just a little piece of how Heavenly Father feels.

Teething!

Preston started teething January 8th, our first Sunday in our new ward. It lasted almost all week and you could tell he was in so much pain. It was so sad. I kept giving him Tylenol and tried teething tablets, numbing gel, and frozen teething rings. He didn't really seem to like any of them, but like everything else...enough time passed and he was able to feel better soon.

Here are a few pictures of my little man. If you look close you can see his two little teeth on the bottom. It has been hard to get a picture of them, but when he was eating I saw them pretty well so I had to attempt. 

I definitely loves eating, but not really baby food. He thinks it is a happy time, which it totally is. What is better than family and food!

After he eats baby food I usually give him some sort of real food to chew on and entertain himself while we are eating. He seems to really like apples that are peeled and cut. He has gotten really good at knowing how to not make himself choke, which makes me feel better giving him different foods. This is his normal look while he is eating.

 This is Preston enjoying his toys. He really likes the darts from the Nurf gun and usually sucks on them. I then decided to stick it to his head. He couldn't reach it...and it was hilarious to watch. He then got distracted by other toys and just kept playing. 

He is such a cute little boy and I am so grateful that he is able to bless our lives. We love you little boy!