Thursday, January 15, 2009
by self
well this is the week of evie really starting to exert her independence more fully. she wants to do everything "by self", which is very, very cool, but it does make getting her pajamas on take a lot longer. i guess i should just be happy and look forward to the day when she can make mommy's coffee or cocktail all "by self".
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
music makes the world go round
it seems that evie has involved herself in a couple of different musical projects. from the videos you'd think she's only about the drums, but she blows a mean harmonica too.
what's that?
so this morning evie and i walked into the bathroom just after mike got out of the shower. and for the first time, guess what she noticed? yup, with a pointing finger, it was "what's that?".
Monday, January 12, 2009
mondays
well it's been a week since a post. lots going on here, or maybe not going on is a better way to look at it. the economy seems to be crashing down on us right now. things have dried up at work, and we're scrambling to figure out how to keep things afloat. i was really stressed at first, but then realized that years of miserliness will make this all ok. in my worst case scenario, i stay at home with evie for a year while we wait for the economy to improve. when i think about it that way, it doesn't seem so bad.
truthfully, though, it is still hard for me to imagine staying at home. i think i'm going to keep my fingers crossed that things pick up at work.
all that said, my girl and some gorgeous weather was the perfect antidote for the stress. we had a fun weekend starting with a fun day at the playground with her friends on friday. her friend marlon came over on friday night to play with us while his parents went out for an evening. we're finally going to get the whole babysitting swapping going, and friday was our first go. the kids had a great time playing together until bedtime. evie went down like a champ with mike - marlon was a bit more of a challenge for me. everything was going pretty well until i sang him a song that had the word "mama" in it. he heard that and his lips started to quiver and a tear rolled down his cheek as he said "mama und papa". i ended up holding him until he fell asleep. not too bad. and i look forward to our night out.
the rest of the weekend was more fun with evie. we hung out. we read. we sang. we went to a birthday party and did painting and decorated butterfly wings. it was all really nice. so going back to the gloom of work made this even more of a monday than usual. i came home from work starting to feel a little down again.
evie fixed that.
after dinner she overturned the drum we got her for christmas and started pretending that it was a pot and she was cooking. she kept stirring and adding salt. then i helped her add more stuff to the pot - including an awful lot of "sausage". as we stirred and smiled all of my worries just disappeared for a while. it must be magic soup that she made.
truthfully, though, it is still hard for me to imagine staying at home. i think i'm going to keep my fingers crossed that things pick up at work.
all that said, my girl and some gorgeous weather was the perfect antidote for the stress. we had a fun weekend starting with a fun day at the playground with her friends on friday. her friend marlon came over on friday night to play with us while his parents went out for an evening. we're finally going to get the whole babysitting swapping going, and friday was our first go. the kids had a great time playing together until bedtime. evie went down like a champ with mike - marlon was a bit more of a challenge for me. everything was going pretty well until i sang him a song that had the word "mama" in it. he heard that and his lips started to quiver and a tear rolled down his cheek as he said "mama und papa". i ended up holding him until he fell asleep. not too bad. and i look forward to our night out.
the rest of the weekend was more fun with evie. we hung out. we read. we sang. we went to a birthday party and did painting and decorated butterfly wings. it was all really nice. so going back to the gloom of work made this even more of a monday than usual. i came home from work starting to feel a little down again.
evie fixed that.
after dinner she overturned the drum we got her for christmas and started pretending that it was a pot and she was cooking. she kept stirring and adding salt. then i helped her add more stuff to the pot - including an awful lot of "sausage". as we stirred and smiled all of my worries just disappeared for a while. it must be magic soup that she made.
Monday, January 5, 2009
big digger!
evie and i met brighton and his mom, melanie, at krissy field to play on new years eve. it was cold and foggy, but the kids didn't care, there were dogs, and water and heavy equipment. life was grand.
brighton will be around for a few more weeks before he and his family move to new mexico. we're going to miss them.
we met up with the whole family again last saturday at tartine, this great bakery about six blocks from our house. the place is almost always packed, but we've found that if we arrive before 8:30 on saturday mornings, it's quite civilized. evie enjoys a gougere (french cheesy-poof) and scamming ham from mom and dad. we all gathered there for a nice breakfast, and it must have had some other magical effect on evie, because when we got home she wanted to take a nap at 10 am, then slept for 5 hours! definitely a record.
brighton will be around for a few more weeks before he and his family move to new mexico. we're going to miss them.
we met up with the whole family again last saturday at tartine, this great bakery about six blocks from our house. the place is almost always packed, but we've found that if we arrive before 8:30 on saturday mornings, it's quite civilized. evie enjoys a gougere (french cheesy-poof) and scamming ham from mom and dad. we all gathered there for a nice breakfast, and it must have had some other magical effect on evie, because when we got home she wanted to take a nap at 10 am, then slept for 5 hours! definitely a record.
our day at the zoo
so mike's birthday at the zoo turned out to be absolutely gorgeous. we took the L train out there, which was the beginning of the fun for evie. she always loves the train. it looked like it was going to be a cold, foggy day, but when we got there is was blue skies and beautiful.
to increase our fun, our friends claudia and marlon joined us.
evie even got to ride a bear.
and feed an elephant.
click on a picture to see more pictures of the actual animals. warning, the rhino is somewhat x-rated!
to increase our fun, our friends claudia and marlon joined us.
evie even got to ride a bear.
and feed an elephant.
click on a picture to see more pictures of the actual animals. warning, the rhino is somewhat x-rated!
the last hurrah
so i pretty much felt like that grizzly bear in the picture when i got up to go to work this morning. we had such a nice long break, but all good things must come to an end. we had lots of fun in our last week off, so i will try to recap it later in the week, when i recover from being back at work.
the picture should clue you in on our trip to the sf zoo. that's where we spent mike's birthday. lots of fun. and no one eaten by a tiger, so we call that a success!
here's a video of some chimps that entertained us:
the picture should clue you in on our trip to the sf zoo. that's where we spent mike's birthday. lots of fun. and no one eaten by a tiger, so we call that a success!
here's a video of some chimps that entertained us:
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
evie meets her cousin allie
one other nice thing about our trip to LA was that evie finally got to meet her cousin allie - the only cousin she hadn't met yet. allie lives in new york now, but she was in LA visiting her dad for the holiday, so we overlapped. she came out and met us at the gene autry museum for a bit just before we headed home.
evie wasn't in much of a mood to pose for a picture, but she liked meeting her cousin.
evie wasn't in much of a mood to pose for a picture, but she liked meeting her cousin.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
54 is the goat birthday
we celebrated mike's 54th birthday today with waffles and sausage for breakfast, followed by a trip to the zoo and then a roast goat leg with a lovely bottle of red wine and some homemade rice pudding gelato for dessert.
the birthday boy is happy.
the birthday boy is happy.
the most wonderful time of the year
so christmas, it probably seems like a long ago memory to you, but it went on for 7 days here. mostly because we doled evie's presents out by 1-3 per day. she didn't really know the difference, and it made things extra fun for her. i suppose she'll be a little disappointed today when there aren't any presents, though...
the big gift this year? the tricycle from grandma and grandpa. it's a very big hit. it's still a little big for her, but i think that's good, because it should fit her for a long time.
gifts started a bit early here, on tuesday night, before we left for LA. we let evie pick out the first gift to open - and since i hadn't put the trike together yet, she picked a more moderately sized package. after first picking out the two boxes for mike, she settled on a present from gladys. a very cute christmas sweater. when she saw it, though, she realized that this should not count as the one gift she should get to open and headed back to the pile. another gift from gladys. let's just say gladys knows my girl. her very own barbie computer, so she can check her email (that's what she says she's doing when she picks it up - so cute). the only problem is that walking through the airport with her happily clutching her computer, people are going to think i bought it for her...
the next morning was christmas eve. we woke evie up early, and i had a glimpse of her teenage years. she just waved me off as i tried to wake her up. eventually she did get up, and we got dressed and headed to the airport. the absolute most exciting place in the world for evie. so much to look at.
it was a smooth trip to LA. that was nice. bodes well for our trip to florida in february - i hope.
tom, margaret, evan & lena were very kind to have us down to celebrate christmas with them, tom's parents, and his two brothers. evie loved the mcdonough family. so many people to play with.
i brought down the box of bracelets from grandma for evie to open on christmas morning. they were a hit.
though lets face it, the whole day was a hit. presents, food, people. what's not to like. evie especially loved hanging out with the big kids. she was a guitar hero groupie.
the trip back was uneventful. we spent saturday in golden gate park with gaurav and his family. the academy of sciences was overrun with people, so we didn't stay too long, eventually giving up on it to head over to the playground and carousel. it's hard to believe how big these girls are getting. zyla is absolutely gorgeous.
the next day she picked up the big box from cayden to open. lots of good stuff!
i'm already looking forward to next year!
the big gift this year? the tricycle from grandma and grandpa. it's a very big hit. it's still a little big for her, but i think that's good, because it should fit her for a long time.
gifts started a bit early here, on tuesday night, before we left for LA. we let evie pick out the first gift to open - and since i hadn't put the trike together yet, she picked a more moderately sized package. after first picking out the two boxes for mike, she settled on a present from gladys. a very cute christmas sweater. when she saw it, though, she realized that this should not count as the one gift she should get to open and headed back to the pile. another gift from gladys. let's just say gladys knows my girl. her very own barbie computer, so she can check her email (that's what she says she's doing when she picks it up - so cute). the only problem is that walking through the airport with her happily clutching her computer, people are going to think i bought it for her...
the next morning was christmas eve. we woke evie up early, and i had a glimpse of her teenage years. she just waved me off as i tried to wake her up. eventually she did get up, and we got dressed and headed to the airport. the absolute most exciting place in the world for evie. so much to look at.
it was a smooth trip to LA. that was nice. bodes well for our trip to florida in february - i hope.
tom, margaret, evan & lena were very kind to have us down to celebrate christmas with them, tom's parents, and his two brothers. evie loved the mcdonough family. so many people to play with.
i brought down the box of bracelets from grandma for evie to open on christmas morning. they were a hit.
though lets face it, the whole day was a hit. presents, food, people. what's not to like. evie especially loved hanging out with the big kids. she was a guitar hero groupie.
the trip back was uneventful. we spent saturday in golden gate park with gaurav and his family. the academy of sciences was overrun with people, so we didn't stay too long, eventually giving up on it to head over to the playground and carousel. it's hard to believe how big these girls are getting. zyla is absolutely gorgeous.
the next day she picked up the big box from cayden to open. lots of good stuff!
i'm already looking forward to next year!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
cookie extravaganza
evie's friday friends came over to help her make her first ever batch of christmas cookies. things were a little wild and crazy, but the cookies taste great, and everyone had fun.
eve and lilly even got in on the fun.
yet another great friday.
eve and lilly even got in on the fun.
yet another great friday.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
a ray of hope
ok this has been a really tough week. you know things are bad when i'm happy to go to work, so that someone else can deal with the tyrant known as evie. she has just been a bit of a terror for the past week, and i find myself looking for any signs that this is going to pass and not that she is going to torment me with "don't want it" tantrums for the next 16 years.
last night, i found my sign.
she was in the tub and having a tantrum. i can't explain what it was over, cause it's never quite clear. the one good thing about the tantrum is that it gave me a chance to look into her mouth and see that she has a new molar.
hmm. that might explain why she told us her "mouth hurt" last week and why she's been waking up in the middle of the night crying for a little more than a week. oh, and hey while i'm blaming the tooth for those things, maybe this hair trigger temper has something to do with having a toothache?
if you don't believe it, please don't tell me, cause i just want to enjoy this for a little while longer. and because even if it is the tooth, i know that there are still three left to come...
last night, i found my sign.
she was in the tub and having a tantrum. i can't explain what it was over, cause it's never quite clear. the one good thing about the tantrum is that it gave me a chance to look into her mouth and see that she has a new molar.
hmm. that might explain why she told us her "mouth hurt" last week and why she's been waking up in the middle of the night crying for a little more than a week. oh, and hey while i'm blaming the tooth for those things, maybe this hair trigger temper has something to do with having a toothache?
if you don't believe it, please don't tell me, cause i just want to enjoy this for a little while longer. and because even if it is the tooth, i know that there are still three left to come...
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
ho ho ho
my office xmas party was last night, and lucky me, i had two dates!
evie spared us the tantrums, didn't pull down the tree, and was pretty much a delight. that is the christmas gift that i'd like to keep receiving all season long.
evie spared us the tantrums, didn't pull down the tree, and was pretty much a delight. that is the christmas gift that i'd like to keep receiving all season long.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
it was the best of times, it was the worst of times
so it seems like it was a tale of two evies this weekend.
we had moments of sheer joy and fun. eve and lilly have arrived for their annual december visit, and evie is having a blast with lilly. last night we went to my friend juniper's to celebrate her birthday. her apartment is an absolute toddler hazard, but evie listened and played with only the things she was supposed to, and she was very social with the crowd. total joy.
and then there was the other evie. the throw herself down on the floor and pound her fists and kick and scream. not once, not twice, way more often than i could count. culminating in a 90 minute tantrum tonight.
i guess we should count ourselves as lucky that this was the first time she's ever cried for this long. perhaps that's our silver lining.
when do the terrible twos end?
we had moments of sheer joy and fun. eve and lilly have arrived for their annual december visit, and evie is having a blast with lilly. last night we went to my friend juniper's to celebrate her birthday. her apartment is an absolute toddler hazard, but evie listened and played with only the things she was supposed to, and she was very social with the crowd. total joy.
and then there was the other evie. the throw herself down on the floor and pound her fists and kick and scream. not once, not twice, way more often than i could count. culminating in a 90 minute tantrum tonight.
i guess we should count ourselves as lucky that this was the first time she's ever cried for this long. perhaps that's our silver lining.
when do the terrible twos end?
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
evie and brighton - together again
brighton is one of evie's earliest friends. he was born a month after her and lived right around the corner from our old place. then, up until august he was part of our nanny share on tuesdays.
in late august brighton's family made a temporary move to l.a. so they could all be together while his dad was working down there on a project. plan was to be back at the end of october.
well the best laid plans, don't you know.
seems the family was all back in new mexico, where mel and eli (brighton's parents) are from and they just happened to find the perfect house. next thing you know, they've made an offer and will be closing on the house later this month.
they're back for a few weeks packing things up. mel decided that she and brighton needed a break, so they joined us at the academy of sciences last friday with the rest of the gang.
fun was had by all.
now when evie says brighton's name (which is often), she says "brighton. penguins."
i like that. but i'm going to miss them all.
in late august brighton's family made a temporary move to l.a. so they could all be together while his dad was working down there on a project. plan was to be back at the end of october.
well the best laid plans, don't you know.
seems the family was all back in new mexico, where mel and eli (brighton's parents) are from and they just happened to find the perfect house. next thing you know, they've made an offer and will be closing on the house later this month.
they're back for a few weeks packing things up. mel decided that she and brighton needed a break, so they joined us at the academy of sciences last friday with the rest of the gang.
fun was had by all.
now when evie says brighton's name (which is often), she says "brighton. penguins."
i like that. but i'm going to miss them all.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
she's got the music in her
evie enjoys the music. like most kids, she just can't help herself and starts dancing whenever there's music playing. last night she added a twist and made herself a dance partner. this is a little long, but there's a really nice payoff at the end.
Monday, December 8, 2008
learning about "men's work"
evie decided to don mom's rubber gloves and dive in with dad and learn about men's work. she actually calls it that. it makes me so happy.
Monday, December 1, 2008
where's waldo
or more precisely, where's evie? evie loves the eye spy books right now, so this seems fitting. see if you can find her (and mike) in this video from the carousel in golden gate park on saturday. be forewarned, it's not exciting!
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