Learning to Crawl

The exciting news for the weekend is that nine-month old Punky can crawl virtually anywhere around the house, and clap his hands on cue. The clapping happens most often when he is watching Baby Einstein videos, while the crawling more or less happens whenever Punky is awake. This has already gotten him into trouble on numerous occasions around the house, as he has a tendency to crawl into the tightest spaces possible. Like beneath a rocking chair or into a TV cabinet. Last night, he crawled off our bed and landed on the floor with a loud thump I could hear downstairs. It turned out to be nothing serious, but he really scared me when I heard him fall.

Although we three boys in the house had the sniffles, we still made it to the Oakland Zoo on Saturday and to the Walnut Creek shopping district on Sunday. On Saturday, we spent the afternoon not at the zoo itself, but at the kiddie amusement park attached to the zoo. Russell really enjoyed riding on the train and merry-go-round, as usual, and he actually went onto a couple of rides by himself (airplane and car rides). Unfortunately, Jenny took Russell onto a fairly serious roller coaster at the park--one that frightened Russell so much that he soaked his diaper. It took a bribe of some ice cream to calm him down. Check out the pictures below.

Russell has lately expressed some behavior indicative of jealously towards the attention his brother Punky is receiving. So I took it unto myself to spend more time playing with Russell and opening some of the gifts we have in storage for him. The overall effect on Russell has been positive. He is spending more time playing with his new toys and less time in front of the TV. Of course, it also means that I am usually found doting on both boys whenever we are all together. While it sounds easy, simultaneously playing with a 3-year-old boy and a 9-month old baby is physically exhausting after a few hours. The "new" toys that Russell really enjoys as of late are:
1) Play-Doh Fun Bucket
2) Little People Lil' Kingdom Castle
3) Plain Old Tops - Check out the picture at the bottom of this post.

Weekend Pictures
On his first rollercoaster ride, Russell holds onto his mother for dear life 
Punky enjoys the attention 
Russell takes the car out for a spin 
Brewster goes along for the ride 
Russell checks out the spinning top