52 : 12 (part 2)

This family is ready for summer. Long days, sunshine, and strolls to the park. Ewan is enjoying his bike, shorts, and sunglasses.

52 : 11 (part 2)

Ewan is currently transitioning to the frog classroom (toddler) from the polliwog room (baby). He spent about 20% of his time there last week, 50% this week, 80% next week, and then the first week of June it will be official. Ewan is definitely ready to be a frog, we just had to wait for a spot to open up. And frogs walk in to school it seems, because Ewan no longer wants to be carried as you can see in this week's picture.

The frog room includes field trips to the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building, more outside play time, a set schedule, and cot sleeping as opposed to crib sleeping. This last bit is what I was most worried about, but he has taken to it quite well. Today he slept for almost 3 hours, but rumor has it he might need an alligator cot because his feet hang off of the frog size!

52 : 10 (part 2)

Our Ewan is an explorer with a slightly cautious approach, since he took his first step just before he turned one he has been trying out life on his feet. He started with a few steps here and there, but largely relied on his super fast crawling skills. Around 13 months Ewan started taking longer strolls with the occasional fall, but in the last few weeks he has become a walking maniac. At the end of April we counted 40 - 50 steps at a time and the speed was increasing dramatically. Now he walks everywhere and even likes to walk in and out of school on his own. Walks that used to be quick with Ewan being held now take a bit longer, but 14 month old Ewan is so proud of the independence he now has and he even walked across the hippo at swim class!

EP's Official 14 Month Picture - Taken May 20, 2013

52 : 9 (part 2)

After London we grabbed an East Coast train to Edinburgh where we spent 5 great days. I studied abroad in Scotland during the summer of 2002 and was so excited to show my boys the city. We stayed in Edinburgh and had a lovely view of the castle from our room. We visited the castle, wandered the royal mile, explored New Town, and went to the National Gallery and the National Museum of Scotland. 

Vacationing with a toddler was a whole new experience, instead of late nights wandering we got back to the room at a reasonable hour with candy and cocktails from the Tesco for adult time after EP went down. Also, leisurely lunch hours turned in to visits to the Princes Street Gardens (where the swing set was AWESOME and obviously not pretentiously concerned with safety like they are here in the states) --- but I can safely say we would not have had it any other way. Ewan was an AMAZING explorer, and aside from a few indicators that he did not love the train, the trip was incident free and we are already planning our next adventure. 

52 : 8 (part 2)

This week we took a flight across the pond, and Ewan got the second stamp in his passport. I had to go to London for work and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring my boys along for a vacation. Ewan slept the entire flight over, made friends with the man in customs, and instantly fell in love with the phone booths.

We did a lot of walking during our 6 days in London and every time we walked by one of these red phone booths Ewan pointed and squirmed. During our stay near Leicester Square we frequented the Bowie exhibit at the Victorian Albert, the London Zoo, the Tate Modern, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and the British Museum. It was a jam packed visit that made us love London even more.