3 Years, 1 Month

Our little chaos monsters...

... as is apparent by their expressions, doing something they're not supposed to be doing.

The changes with the boys seem to be accelerating. As the boys became determined to climb out of their cribs at every opportunity, it was time to switch to toddler beds, which we did last weekend. They've also stopped napping (pause a moment here for Mom and Dad to cry a little). They work together to eat whole boxes of mac & cheese and we now buy milk at Costco. 

Both boys' language abilities have exploded. Some examples, courtesy of Henry...

Super-sweet Henry:

On observing a homeless man carrying large bags, "He has a lot of stuff! I will help him carry it!" 

Not-so-nice Henry:

"I don't like sick people. I like healthy people. That's why I like Daddy and not Mommy." 

Humph.  

More Birthday

You can never have too many party hats. Henry and Steve demonstrate: 

Jack wanted the toy car to have some party hats too:

Presents from Mom and Dad:

School bus and recycling truck!

Though they still love to race around on them, their old balance bikes are noticeably too small. So, for the big 3... new big bikes!

Henry:

We've since taken the pedals off until they get used to the size of the new bikes. We chose these bikes primarily because the pedals could be removed and the bikes used as balance bikes until the boys are ready for the pedals. That being said, they did a great job of their first pedaling attempts.

Jack gets a helping hand from Dad:

Henry gets a helping hand from Mom, with family friend Lucy looking on:

The boys were excited to host friends Alex and Anthony for a birthday dinner in our little house (I didn't get a great picture, but you get the idea):

Adventures Close to Home

Enjoying a classic police car at the Santa Cruz PD open house:

Jack takes his driving seriously:

Checking out a police SUV: 

They really liked the police department open house, so hopefully the PD will do it again next year.

Henry, motorcycle racer, at the local mall:

The boys cruising on their old balance bikes (Henry in foreground):

Jack:

Jack is convinced he can pull Henry up this hill in the wagon... and almost did!

Wild Jack, leaping from a play structure...

... fortunately, at least so far, he lands gracefully with knees bent, then likes to roll for dramatic effect.

Henry, shopper extraordinaire:

Loveridge boys on the loose in the freezer section:

End of summer water table fun:

Deeply involved in picking outfits for sticker dolls (which are part of a sticker book they got from Grandma and Grandpa Pool for their birthday):

Helping Dad make banana oatmeal cookies, Jack's expression in response to Mom soliciting a smile:

Hungry Jack cannot possibly wait for the cucumber to be sliced:

Goodbye to Weekday Kasey
In a necessary but sad transition, the boys' much beloved nanny Kasey is now going to be a friend and visitor, but no longer their weekday caregiver. The boys are now both going to their preschool five days a week. Kasey took care of the boys from age four months to three years. The boys are extremely lucky to have had such a loving presence in their life.

Jack, Kasey and Henry:

Kasey and Jack:

Happy Henry, playing with Kasey:

Wild little boys playing hide-and-seek with Kasey:

School
The boys were ready to go to school, and were delighted that they are now going to go together (instead of alternating days).

The boys are ready for preschool...

... but is preschool ready for them!?

Henry, doing his favorite school activity, art:

Jack doing one of his favorite activities, using tools!

Jack, living the dream, cruising school with an awesome backpack chair:

Adventures Far From Home
We visited my parents during the boys' school summer break, which meant...

... new and exotic parks!

Grandpa gets in on the fun:

The boys, particularly Jack, were delighted to stumble upon a gathering of hobby plane flyers. We stayed for quite awhile watching the planes take off, soar and land.

One really fun part of the trip, that the boys are eager to repeat next visit, was a ride on the little train in El Dorado park.

The boys also had fun playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Playing piano with Grandma, Henry on the bench, Jack on the ground:

Helping Grandma open her belated birthday gift:

Henry, elephant wrestler: 

Jack fell in a well! (On purpose and thankfully a very small one housing a fountain my parents were cleaning out):

Grandma and Grandpa have all the fun projects, in this case cleaning and sorting rocks from the aforementioned fountain:

Jack, loving Grandma and Grandpa's spa (and frisbee):

Despite never having a lesson, and definitely not being able to swim on his own, Jack thinks he knows how to swim and will launch himself confidently around any body of water. Fortunately we have life jackets for use in the pool until he actually learns to swim.

Having birthday cupcakes, showing what happens when Mom asks her boys to smile:

Sigh.

We did several non-park outings in Southern California. We didn't get pictures from the LA Zoo (where they enjoyed the giraffes, elephants and a "crocodile," which was actually some other similar creature I don't recall the name of) as we were busy wrangling boys, but they must have had a decent time because they keep talking about wanting to go back.

We also visited the Aquarium of the Pacific, where Henry bonded with this model of a little blue penguin:

Feeding Aunt Natalie and Uncle Richard's turtles! (A real highlight of the trip.):

Unfortunately, our trip to Southern California also involved Henry having a dramatic crash on his bike, which led to us rushing him to a pediatric dentist for an emergency appointment while startling amounts of blood poured from his mouth. Ultimately, he was lucky and while his front three teeth were knocked loose, nothing was broken. He's since bumped his mouth twice more (once running around Grandma and Grandpa's house and once falling down the stairs at our house... sigh) but he is slowly healing. I am constantly amazed by how tough these little guys are. On the bright side, Henry had to stop using his pacifier as a result of the accident and he has seemingly accepted that the doesn't get to have it anymore. Steve and I were both surprised it wasn't more of a battle. They grow up fast.