These pictures are really going to drive home that Linus is a little boy, not a baby. We still can’t help calling him a baby, but there’s just no denying how big he’s getting, and how much he can do now.
As the summer winds down, we’ve been eating the last of the summer foods, including corn on the cob. Linus is a big fan.
We also took another trip to the zoo. This time Linus posed with the flamingos.
Here’s our little ornithologist checking out some rare blue macaws.
We went back to the birds of prey show again. Look at this starry-eyed, rapt attention!
Some shots of the birds for you now. This time Yen had control of the camera, so they’re much better than the last batch I took.
Look how low this owl gets to the ground. Her wings actually brushed the pavement.
This is that bird, again, who whacks snakes on the ground to break their bones.
Loungy Linus, just taking it all in. Those are my sunglasses he’s chewing on.
Linus and Yen stopped off after the show to say hello to the bald eagle.
I screamed when he reached for it, but the trainer calmly said, “Don’t worry. I know how long his little arm is.”
Whooping cranes.
Here’s Linus checking out the goats. The first time we came to the zoo, they had just been born a few days before. They’re getting quite big.
Linus is really into Thomas these days. He loves the books, the toys, the television show, and of course real trains. This is a little wind-up toy that we haven’t seen in a few weeks. I wonder what he’s done with it.
Linus has been learning to make different little faces, including this pout. He’s quite proud of it. Yen will say, “Make a pout face! Pout face!” (in Vietnamese of course), and Linus goes right into it before he falls into giggles.
He really likes toes right now. He wants to see everyone’s toes wiggling, but hasn’t quite figured out how to make his own toes wiggle.
He just loves his books. All day, from the moment he gets up in the morning until last thing before he goes to bed at night, he selects a book and brings it over to one of us, then settles into the chosen lap. He’s getting impatient with how small my lap is becoming.
Another field trip day. This time we headed to Harvard to check out the Natural History Museum. Yes, again – it’s free on Saturday mornings!
Linus met the (stuffed) Galapagos tortoises.
And the (also stuffed, thankfully) Komodo dragon.
He also checked out their extensive fossil collection.
As usual, he liked the bird display best. He kept going up to the glass and pointing at the animals inside.
A monkey looking at a monkey! He really loved this museum. It’s just a bunch of big glass cases full of animals. He paced around and around. We could barely keep up with him.
We stopped off at the mineral room on the way out. I didn’t think Linus would find it every interesting, but I think it turned out to be his favorite part. He liked touching all of the different samples.
He really liked getting to touch the meteorites.
Back at home, here’s our little bi-bo king sitting inside the wagon for once.
And then of course he has to get out to perform routine maintenance and checks.
Next up, making sure the vents are all in working order.
The next day we headed back into down, this time for the Museum of Science.
We stopped off first at an electricity show. Linus enjoyed the show until the very end, which is a big finish with all machines coming on at once. Then he let off this piercing scream and we got the heck out of there.
I really don’t know who enjoyed playing with the exhibits more: Linus or Yen.
Linus’s favorite part of the museum was the escalators. We finished our visit by going up and down, up and down, up and down.
Here’s Linus the next morning, video chatting with Mommy. He hung up midway through the chat by just slamming the top of the laptop down.
Naked baby! Look at that trim little figure.
As I mentioned above, here’s Linus just out of bed and looking for the book he’d like to read. Aren’t those great pajamas?
I’m particularly proud of this one. Linus loves to watch airplanes flying overhead. Luckily we live near a commuter airport, so he sees a lot of private jets taking off and landing whenever he’s outside. We got him this airplane toy quite a long time ago, but it’s only recently that I got him to realize that it’s a plane. Now he flies it all over the room while you say, “Zoooom!” for him.
Helping again, this time with the sweeping. We’ve been trying to include him in our chores now. For instance, I let him put things into the recycling box for me. Or when I do laundry, I take the clothes out of the dryer one by one, hand each to him, and he puts it into the basket for me. Our chores have gotten a lot slower, but he loves helping.
Last weekend, we went to the Cape for a couple of days. Here we are heading out to the beach. It was Linus’s first time.
This is a perfect beach for a toddler. This isn’t even low tide, and the water is very shallow and smooth.
I made such a mistake dressing him in shorts and a t-shirt instead of in trunks. He got wet almost immediately. I don’t know why I didn’t realize that would happen.
Here, Linus stood in the water, just staring, contemplating the largeness of what he was seeing. Or I think that’s what he was doing. Anyway, he was there, motionless, for several minutes as the sand gathered around his ankles.
After we were finished, we headed back out to wait for the shuttle back to the hotel. Linus chatted away with everyone he saw. His opening move is always to point when someone comes near. Most people get the idea and point right back at him.
After that great adventure, he slept for two and a half hours.
These are some of Yen’s snacks. I guess Linus wanted to try them!
Swimming lessons have started again. I don’t know what changed in the last three weeks, but he really gets what he’s supposed to do now, kicking his feet and waving his arms around on command.
Yep, that’s me taking a turn in the water with him!
Please don’t make fun of my giant belly.
He loved the jumping-in part. And so did I!
