Sunny September

Dear Little Trip,

We are deep into the summertime heat in our little neck of the woods. It is taking some adjusting getting used to this thing they call the sun, and we are looking forward to having some air conditioning next year. In the meantime, we are grateful that Oma and Opa have a nice cool house, and that we have an open invitation to come and bug them when it gets too hot. They have a great park just behind their house that is frequently visited by deer. "Dee-arr" is about your favorite word and topic right now. You look for them everywhere we go and whenever you see some woods or hills you make a "dee-arr" pronouncement. I have no idea how you acquired a Boston accent, but you go with it, buddy!


Chillaxing with some "wine" and cheese on the deck at sunset. "Wine" is another favorite word. As is "beer." Mama has no comment.


Hiding out with my truck.


Hiding out without my truck.


The most Caucasian child in the Bay Area is not used to the heat.


I can do it by myself now!


But it's fun to take Oma too!

We came up today so we could take your one-and-a-half-old pictures at our preferred portrait studio. We actually tried to take these portraits last month a little closer to home. Mama made special arrangements to have the manager shoot your pictures at the local place, since you have a small problem sitting still for as long as it takes a camera to click, but when we arrived there was a brand new photographer looking naively hopeful and confident that she could handle the task.

You spent the next 30 minutes exploring the props in the supply closet, scooping up the backdrop fabric and trying to run out the door with her squeaky toys. At one point the photographer was on the set and you were behind the very expensive camera with the camera button in hand taking pictures of her. The camera snapped away, the umbrella lights flashed, and Mama tried not to laugh too hard as you took professional quality photos of the sweating photographer's backside.

Today we did a little better!


Definitely not going to sit in this chair.


About to make a run for it.


I'll just adjust this prop for you guys.


Cracking myself up.


Bye Bye!


Working on my swagger.

Dada takes you to the local farmer's market just about every Sunday. Usually it's just a boys' trip since Mama is at work, but I got to tag along a couple times this month. You attract a lot of attention in your fancy wagon. Dada pulls you from booth to booth and you feast on whatever samples are offered up while giving a running commentary on your surroundings: "Wheeyul" (wheel), "Gray" (grapes), "Dada" (any man over the age of 18), and the ever popular "Bye-Bye" (shouted at anyone who happens to be walking by). If you get a little bored you amuse yourself by throwing things out of the wagon. Sometimes it's your hat, sometimes your sippy cup, sometimes part of Dada's haul.


Me + rotisserie chicken guy = love.


This is the life. I ride around. You feed me grapes and peaches. Let's keep this arrangement going, shall we?


Ever the water baby, we know we can always keep you happy in either the bath tub or the kiddie pool. We are so glad we can bathe you in a real tub now that we have moved, and you love, love, love your baths. You lay down on your back and wiggle around like a seal. And you have to stay in the tub the whole time the water drains. You tell the drain, "bye bye, bye bye" over and over again desperately, as you wave your little raisin-y fingers to the draining water. Then we have the obligatory naked running through the house until someone catches you and wrangles you into your jammies.



You will just have to imagine the view of toddler's naked tushie running with abandon towards his beloved dump truck about three seconds after this photo was taken.


Oh yes, that is refreshing Mama!


This is just a little bit fun.


Have I mentioned how much I like to open and close the shampoo lid?


Let me think about what to do next....Oh...I know...


I will splash and splash and splash some more.


I'm so cute you don't mind if I soak the whole bathroom, right?


Bye-bye wah-wah, bye-bye.




You still really love buses and fire trucks, and the obsession over diggers is going strong. The shopping center by our house has been undergoing major renovations, and grocery shopping has never been so much fun. We do love our "dig digs!"


A moment of silence in honor of the dig dig.


Keeping cool with a milkshake at the local ice cream shop (with full view of dig digs, of course).

We bought you a little potty, just in case you decided you wanted to try it out.


It's going great so far.


Really, really great.

Oma and Opa took you on an adventure to the city last week. You guys enjoyed a few of your old SF favorites, including a bus ride with a bus driver that remembered you and gave you a free ride. You also stopped at Starbucks for a cookie and pretend coffee, and then went to the rich kids playground where you played in the sand and looked for deer. Now that you have deer at your local playground, you are quite sure they have them at all the playgrounds. We don't want to burst your bubble. You also spied a little park vehicle that was unmanned and looked just like a lawnmower to you. You moaned until Oma and Opa put you in the driver's seat. Then the driver returned. He thought it was cute. Kind of.


The wheels on the bus go round and round...


You have no idea how cool this is.


But you definitely know how cool this is.


Oma, this doesn't taste like a double soy half caf latte.

Mid Summer Madness

Dear Baby Trip,

We've been enjoying the summer with a few field trips recently. We checked out Habitot in Berkeley, which is technically a museum, but actually looks more like a giant play room on kiddie steroids. There are no windows down there, and a lot of bright lights. And bright colors. And loud noises. And screaming children. And Mommy might need a Valium before taking you here for a repeat visit. But you had a blast, and because it is generally one long rectangle of space, if a parent were to lose a particularly squirmy child (hypothetically of course), said parent could take solace in the fact that hypothetically lost child could not escape said facility. Hypothetically. Unless you have the one child on the planet who discovers the entrance and is hell bent on climbing the large flight of stairs up to the very busy street Habitot is situated on. Did someone mention a Valium?


A play rocket ship full of old fashioned joysticks, telephones, keyboards and keypads. Nostalgic for Mama, tantalizing for toddler.


"Hello, It's for you Mama. It's 1985. They want their phone back."


I don't really want to ride on this car anymore. But some other kid may want it, so I'll just sit here so they can't have it.


This never gets old. Well, not for one of us.

We've been back to our old favorite Bay Area Discovery Museum, as well. You really like to play with the sand table there, and there was a little jostling between you and a particular snot nosed three year old who didn't want to do much sharing. Mommy had to give him the evil eye.


Scooping the sand with a cup is apparently not as interesting as pinching up three grains at a time with your tiny fingers and placing them carefully in the salt shaker.


It only looks like I am interested in the tunnel. That sweet little boy behind me is actually going to lose his train in 3, 2, 1....

Dada took us to Toast for a big brekkie last week after Mama went on and on about the cool fountains they have that you can step right into and do a bit of splashing while you wait for your pancakes. Dada volunteered to take you in while Mama relaxed with some hot cocoa. But Dada's idea of splashing and Mama's idea of splashing differ. Just a bit. You went swimming in the fountain, soaked your clothes, and happily ate your pancakes while dripping dirty fountain water.


No Mama, I am just going to get my fingers and toes wet.


And by fingers and toes I mean legs, arms, tummy and hair.

We went to our new pediatrician for the first time, and you were super psyched to see her big, sweet Golden Retriever joins her at work everyday. You were even more psyched to have your first Dum Dum lollipop after the visit. At first you couldn't figure out what to do with that scintillating globe of sweet stickiness, but the fine layer of gooey drool that covered your face, hands, shirt and shoes let me know that you got the hang of it pretty quickly. Soon after the lollipop was wrapped in a Kleenex and confiscated into Mama's purse. Days later I found you on the floor of our house with my purse contents strewn around you and the Dum Dum hanging happily from your mouth. The Kleenex was still wrapped around it. You didn't seem to mind.


Hello sucker. I love you.

We trekked up to Santa Rosa for Rosh Hashana this week. Unfortunately we had to leave Dada at home, but Oma and Opa took good care of us, and you tried out synagogue for the first time and enjoyed a service by the lake where we threw bread into the water to symbolize the casting off of our sins. I will assume you had no sins to cast off since you only ate the bread allotted to you for throwing. Afterward at the picnic you spent your time trying to join the ducks in the water and terrorizing the adults who patted Mama on the arm and told her how "active" you are.


What do you mean we're out of matzoh balls?


Old sins cast into the water. New sins in the works!



Sometimes a lesson can only be learned by experience. And wood chips...not so yummy.


Oma, This is MY little green truck. And I will knock you down for it.


Meanwhile, back at the ranch...


First real fever. Feeling a little under the weather.


But eating Mama's ice cream cake for brekkie makes me feel a little better.


And wearing Lily's shoes helps too.



Dada wipes my snots and gives me lots of snuggles.


And keeps me nourished.



Corn on the cob is the awesomest.


Mama broke down and bought me this stroller that I always like to push around the toy store. I push my diggers and trains around the house. And my shoes. And sometimes the pots and pans.


Woobies are for babies. Big boys sleep with trucks.