Beer and Bottles

The Theta Xi gang descended on the unsuspecting Marina Round Table on Sunday night, unleashed five children on the premises, let them wreak havoc on the jukebox and the arcade games, and almost treated the other patrons to a fire drill. Thanks to Todd for planning the dinner, although, as one of the only kid-free adults present, he clearly didn't know what he was getting into when he suggested meeting "somewhere kid-friendly... maybe a sushi place?"

Joey and Gitte up to their usual antics... note the fire alarm behind them. Joey almost shut the party down.

Lucas really wanted to join in on the jukebox fun!

Joey, channelling his inner Uncle Kyle, discovered the arcade. It was an instant love affair. He even concentrates like Kyle...note the tongue sticking out in the third picture.

Natalia and Clara (only one week apart!) look super cute, even though they're surrounded by pitchers of beer.

Pacifica Playtime

We left the damp, cool fog of San Francisco for the damp, cool fog of Pacifica last Thursday for a cousin meet-up at Frontierland Park. With school out for the summer, we had all the family teachers in attendance, meaning lots of hands on deck to corral 5 babies under the age of 2!

Grandma Cecchin was kind enough to supply us with coffee, brownies, and assorted snacks... and with 6 total adults, we actually had the hands to feed ourselves!

all the kiddos pose (sort of)

What I would look like with (fraternal) twins...

(don't mind the ever-present glasses lately... it's doctors' orders. I'll be saying goodbye to them forever after my LASIK procedure tomorrow! )

Meredith cozies up to Clara, who's sporting gear from her alma mater

First picture of Clara's new teeth! (break out your magnifying glass)

Joey looking far too big for the baby swing

Tommy perfects his SDI look.

Bridget was very pleased with herself coming down the slide...

and finally, a sneak peek at what Megan might look like in 5 years (doesn't she look so mature??)

This Blog Update Brought to You by the Letter J

2.5 Years Old: Due Diligence

Joey turned two and a half on the Fourth of July (which, by the way, would be a MUCH cooler birthday than January 4), and his baby book is hounding me for information. I thought I would share here, as well.

Weight

37 pounds

Height

about 37 inches

Clothing Size

3T, moving into 4T for pants and jeans

Shoe Size

Size 10. When we bought his latest pair of shoes, we were standing in front of the "big boy" display at Nordstrom. Another little boy, who looked to be about 4, pointed out some cool kicks to his mom, and said, "I'd like the blue shoes with orange stripes." Joey, meanwhile, pointed to the same shoes, and in toddler-speak said, "ornge shoooos mommy!!" They ended up getting the same pair, in the same size!

Favorite foods:

pizza, olives, garbanzo beans, red bell pepper, chicken nuggets, french fries, anything that can be dipped in ketchup

Bedtime

He's a wonderful sleeper, once we have him convinced that it's bedtime. We're dragging our feet on converting his crib, and he climbs out constantly. He'll usually sleep from 8:30 pm until 7:30 or 8 am.

Naptime

Most days he takes a two-hour nap.

Teeth

He loves to brush his teeth, but adamantly refuses help from Mommy and Daddy, and therefore, his first visit to the dentist in August may not go that well.

Health

In general, he's a pretty healthy little boy. We think he might have a slight intolerance to milk and/ or berries, and we're cutting off juice completely, too.

Milestones (colors, numbers, letters)

He knows almost all of his letters, can point to them and identify what they are, as well as a word (or words) that start with the letter ('M is for mommy! D is for Daddy! and doggy! and Davis!')

He also can count 1-12 or so, and repeats after me/ is learning the rest up to 20. We count scoops of coffee grounds into the coffee machine every morning together.

He knows most of the basic colors and shapes as well.

Newest accomplishment/ skill

He knows the difference between right and left now, thanks to Daddy.

Vocabulary

He can almost always convey what he wants to say, rarely gets frustrated, and his vocabulary is expanding every day.

Favorite activities

Playing T-ball, kicking the soccer ball ("kickball"), playing with blocks, trains, toy cars, coloring, dancing and playing with musical toys

Favorite TV show / movie

Cars, Curious George, Oswald, Wow Wow Wubbzy, Blue's Clues

Favorite Book(s)

Dig, Dig, Digging
Emergency!
Bark Park
Good Night Train

Bellying Up to the Bar... and the Onion Dip

We celebrated with the Cliffords on Sunday, toasting baby Natalia's baptism. Joey opted against the fabulous Ottimista fare, and flaunted his Capri Sun right in front of the bar, while Clara enjoyed her first taste of onion dip, courtesy of a yummy celery stick proferred by Christine!

Three Trios

Crystal and Chad escaped smoke and fires in northern California with their two baby girls and two dogs, and spent Friday and Saturday with us. Shawna and Matt joined the craziness. Mass chaos was to be expected, but let's just say that I practically needed a megaphone while placing our Chinese takeout order, in order to be heard over the shouts, squeals and screams of three two year-olds and three 9-13 month-old babies. Our playroom really isn't the same, either, but everyone had fun, which is all that matters!

When Joey was born three months after Lorelai, the age difference seemed huge. As a brand-new mom, just getting used to a tiny, wrinkly newborn (well, not so tiny, but still wrinkly, and very red), Lorelai looked like she was masquerading as an infant, and should have been walking, talking, and changing her own diapers.



It turns out that she didn't take long to get around to the walking and talking!! And Joey probably won't catch up to her vocabulary and verbal skills until he's entering high school. But time has erased most of the developmental differences that seemed so huge in the first year. Here's Joey, Lorelai, and Megan on the tire swing at the park:




Digging up the photo of Joey and Lorelai as newborns inspired me to do another comparison... Crystal, Shawna and I... then and now.

Here we are on high school grad night. Honestly, this was the pick of the litter, sadly.



And with the littlest trio, Lily, Clara and Bridget.

A Tale of Two Noggins

Tim played softball down at Moscone field in the Marina tonight, so like good little fans, we headed down to watch, expecting some warmth and some sun in that lovely little microclimate. We guessed wrong! I was forced (forced!) to buy sweatshirts and hats at Baby Gap on Chestnut Street (I know, freezing babies is just my excuse today, what will it be tomorrow?).

We strolled into Baby Gap, and I spied an adorable blue and white striped knit number for Joey, flipped through the sizes, and grabbed size 5-6 (I know). I guess I was being wildly optimistic, though, because when I tried it on Joey's head for size, he immediately objected, "too tight! too tight!" Undeterred, and trying to digest the fact that he has the same size head as, apparently, an 8 year-old manchild, I looked for a larger size. I couldn't find one, and had to turn to a sales girl, who informed me that Baby Gap doesn't make a larger size.

Yes, that's right. He's outgrown Baby Gap at two and a half years old. It was a sad, sad day for Joey's noggin (shown here, cold and uncovered, at the softball game).



Thank goodness I still have another child with a baby-sized head. How could I pass this up? She looks like an adorable little mademoiselle!

A True Summer Night

We had a miniature heat wave this week in the city, and on Wednesday night, we were actually out in our backyard at 8 p.m. with kids running around on the grass, and playing with water toys. Can you beleive these pictures were taken in the Sunset in July?? Note the short sleeves and Gitte sporting only a diaper!

Urban Cowboy

As you can see, the cowboy hat is the headgear of choice around here right now. Today, Joey took it for a spin on a walk in Golden Gate Park with Grandma Cecchin and Meredith, Tom and Tommy.

Field Family Fiesta

Cousins Cindy and Patty graduated from college, and gave us all a wonderful excuse to soak up the summer heat on Sunday. We love any chance we get to see the (rapidly expanding!) family, and the East Bay sun!






There were plenty of babies to go around for Hop and Mop!



Thanks to the Field and Garcia families for hosting a fun party, and congratulations again to the new college grads!

Little Firecracker

We celebrated the Fourth with a feisty little firecracker, Bridget, who is already objecting to events that broadcast her age. She couldn't even partake in her custom "1" cake without her trademark eyebrows-raised, almost-silent howl.





She was much more composed when it came time to open presents, and looks downright sedate (very uncharacteristic!) in the last photo.




Most of the images are courtesy of Shawna and Matt's neighbor, Alan Morris, who was nice enough to document the big day. Best of all, the birthday girl wasn't the only one being photographed that day. I love these photos of my dad and Kyle goofing around with Joey, and Tim holding Little Lady Clara Jane (LLCJ -- Tim's new nickname for her).