Happy 4th Birthday to Nathan!

I can't believe my baby turned 4!  The past four years have been so much fun with our little boy and we have made so many great memories already.  He is a little ball of energy, but also such a sweet little boy.  

It's amazing to me that Nathan really is a little boy now, no longer a baby.  He has an extensive vocabulary (and he uses it to talk/converse all day long!).  Sometimes, I forget that he is only a pre-schooler.

He is also an incredible athlete (I'm actually blown away at how good he is at whatever sport he tries - even skateboarding!).  And, he is completely obsessed with sports--all sports.  He is not into trucks, or trains, or Legos, or any of the other things little boys his age are typically interested in, he only likes sports.  And, he plays sports all day long, every day.  He is constantly hitting, kicking, throwing, catching, etc.  And, he even uses sports to learn other things.  Because he was so enthralled with the World Cup, he learned all of the flags of all of the countries who had teams in the World Cup.  He also knows what all of their jerseys look like :)  Coming from a family of athletes, I couldn't be happier to have a sporty little boy - I absolutely love going to the park with Nathan and playing football, baseball, tennis, etc. with him and also going to his lessons and watching him play.  I can't wait to see what the future has in store for him!

This year, we have also had the chance to see what a great big brother Nathan is.  He is so sweet with his little brother and it is so cute to hear him talking to him and teaching him things.

Happy birthday baby boy!

Making cupcakes to take to school for his birthday.

Birthday morning - balloons and presents!

Happy birthday pancakes before school.

Nathan's friend, Aiden, took him to lunch at the Rainforest Cafe for his birthday.

 

Birthday Boy!

Happy 4th birthday, Nathan!

Summer Trip to California 2014

I think we have finally recovered from our trip to California.  The jet lag has now worn off and both boys are back onto normal sleep schedules :)  As always, we were crazy busy going here, there, and everywhere, but we had a great time and it was so nice to see and spend time with all of our family and friends!  Thank you to everyone who came to see us!!

Sunbathing with Uncle Casey.

Trent and Uncle Ryan

Swimming with Daddy.

Making S'mores.

Getting some love from Uncle Dale and Aunt Deanna.  It was so nice of them to drive down from Washington to visit us.  The boys had so much fun hanging out with them!

He loved falling asleep on Auntie Chrissy's lap.  She is the baby whisperer!  We asked if she wanted to come back to London with us, but she declined :(

We were lucky enough to spend a couple of days with these two jet-setters :)  Great Grandma and Great Grandpa got to meet their youngest great grandchild and they got to play some baseball with Nathan.

Grandma and Nathan at his early birthday celebration at Farrells.

Trent with Grandma and Grandpa.

Trent with Auntie Chris and Uncle Bob.

Trent with Uncle Dan and Auntie Anne.

Nathan helping Uncle Bob blow out his candles.

Apparently our month in California was good for Trent's development of gross motor skills.  He started crawling while we were there and he started pulling himself up to standing while we were there.

Trent's inch-worm/army crawl.

Trent meeting Grandma Choi for the first time.

Skateboarding with his cousin, Monica.

Mini-reunion with some of our friends from mommy and me class.

Visiting the dentist - no cavities :)

Slip and slide fun on a hot summer day.

Swimming lessons.

One of the best parts of our trip home - In 'n Out!

Golfing with Uncle Dale.

Fun at the Orange County Fair. 

Nathan's first piñata.

Pool time with the cousins.

Fishing.

Trent and his aunties.

The Choi Family

Thanks Auntie Anne and Uncle Dan for the new skateboard!

Baseball is his new favorite sport.

Paddle boarding in Long Beach.

Crystal Cove

Nathan with Grandma and Grandpa Choi.

Skateboarding cousins.

Trent on his 7 month birthday.

Back in London.  This is what jet lag looks like - a little snack and some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse at 2:00 am.  And, yes, all four of us were awake :)

Chicago - July 2014

Last year, we thought we stumbled on the secret to making jet lag bearable.  On the way to California, we stopped in New York for a few days for a friend's wedding.  Nathan adjusted to New York time fairly easily and then easily made the transition to California time after that.  So, this year, we thought we would stop off in Chicago.  Chris needed to go into the office there anyway and we were hoping that the kids would settle into central time a bit easier than jumping all the way to pacific time.  Unfortunately, it didn't really work out that way and we had lots of early (i.e., 3:00 a.m.) wake-up calls from the boys.  But, as always, we did have a great time in Chicago.  Nathan hasn't been there since he was a baby, so it was all like new to him.  And, this was Trent's first time in America, so everything was new to him :)

In the car on the way to Heathrow.  Nathan was so excited to start our trip!

Comfy :)

Nathan's favorite part of the flight to/from America - the ice cream sundae cart :)

First stop in Chicago - the grocery store.  I usually do my grocery shopping on-line here, so Nathan was thrilled at the chance to go grocery shopping.  He ran down the aisles throwing things into the basket.

Millenium Park

The Bean

Jellies at the Shedd Aquarium.

We got to touch sting rays at the Shedd.  Nathan thought they tickled.

Penguins

Uncle Casey joined us in Chicago.  Nathan was so excited to see him!!

Best buds on the boat ride from the Shedd to Navy Pier.

The best lunch spot ever for Nathan!  We ate lunch at Lucky Strike Lanes.  Nathan got to bowl while eating lunch!  If they had one of these in London, I am sure we would be there every weekend :) 

And, he got to play pool after we finished bowling!  What could be better?

The Cubs game.  This was Nathan's favorite part of our trip to Chicago.  He had been looking forward to it for months.

Nathan got to try Cracker Jacks for the first time ever.  And, not surprisingly, he liked them :)

Nathan was so into the game.  He sat and watched very intently for most of the game.

Nathan had been practicing singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for months.

It was a great trip!