Tales From the Front

Navigating motherhood can be tricky -- there are so many pitfalls, so many potential gaffes you can make at the playground, at baby classes, at the pediatrician. So, for the benefit of others, I'll share an important lesson from the trenches (or Sunnyside Playground, Wednesday, 11 a.m.):

Never, never, never, NEVER ask a woman when she's due, even if you believe that she's only weeks away from delivering a baby.

Shawna and I were chatting with a woman from her church at the tail end of a long, hot playground visit on Wednesday, and I made the mortifying mistake of asking this poor woman when she was due. She responded (very graciously), "Oh, I'm not pregnant," leaving me with nothing to say except a hideously insufficient, "Oh, I'm so sorry." Luckily, her cell phone rang, and we packed up our double strollers and high-tailed it out of the park.

Luck be a Lady

We celebrated Tim's grandmother's 90th birthday in style over the weekend with a casino-themed party that played to Eda's love for gambling. We had a wonderful time, and we think the guest of honor did, too! Jeff and Mike both made fabulous dealers, although I had to step in to settle a few disputes ;) Luckily, I had a baby strapped to me for most of the party, so I wasn't called into service -- otherwise, my atrociously atrophied math skills would have been on display.

Jeff dealing to a raucous Cecchin crowd:

Skinny Mike:

Balancing wine and a baby is much harder than dealing!

Joey helped announce all the Keno winners, and absolutely loved it. In fact, he was too grown-up to hang out with his parents for most of the night. I think his calling in life may be a pit boss.

Doesn't he look shady?

Clara Jane's mother forced her to wear this ridiculous pink get-up, but she took it in stride. Here, she's channeling her Italian roots and gnawing on garlic bread.

And finally, cute pictures of both Marco and Tommy!

Musical Prodigy

I'm being totally unbiased when I say this: When a 2.5 year-old pickes up his guitar, turns it upside down and tucks it under his chin, and then grabs a piece of Thomas track to use as a bow, one of two truths are apparent:

1) He's a musical prodigy.

2) He watches far too much Jack's Big Music Show.

husk·y

According to www.dictionary.com, husky means:

1. big and strong; burly.
2. made in a size meant for the larger or heavier than average boy.
3. for, pertaining to, or wearing clothing in this size: the husky department

I offer my own definition:

1. an adjective applied to 2.5 year-old toddlers who must lay flat on the ground in order for their mother to zip and button their size 4 loose-fit jeans.

Does JC Penney still have a husky department?

No Jellybeans Required

We threw in the towel on Joey's swim lessons, and enrolled Clara instead. While both of them are little fish, Clara was much more excited about the instructor, the games, the songs, and even swimming underwater! The teacher couldn't believe how well she did for her first lesson. We submerged her several times, and she wriggled her way underwater between the teacher's arms and mine like a little Olympic swimmer in the making!

Candy Intervention

The sleepless nights, the fevers, the tubes of Orajel and the bottles of Motrin were worth it... all of Joey's teeth were present and accounted for at his first dentist appointment yesterday. Best of all, no cavities or other problems to report, which might be regarded as a miracle considering 1) Tim's mouth is riddled with silver, and 2) Joey consumes way more jellybeans than any dentist would consider prudent.

The pediatric dentist we chose, KidSmiles, gets high marks all around. They know how to win over their patients at a very tender age. They plied Joey with stickers, toys, a Blues Clues DVD, and a brand-new green toothbrush, and he actually allowed the dentist to look into his mouth to examine his teeth and count them. They tried brushing his teeth, but started off with a berry-flavored toothpaste that Joey didn't want anything to do with. He made a face like he was being poisoned, and he gagged and coughed out, "Water! Water!" before explaining, "I can't like it."

(When I tried to convince him that the toothpaste was yummy, and "tastes like candy," the hygienist raised her eyebrows, and asked nonchalantly, "How much candy does he eat?" Whoops.)

Joey and I in the waiting room (the staff actually took this picture, printed it out, and gave it to us at the end of the appointment, along with his glowing report card):

He was slightly wiggly on the chair, but was very excited about his toothbrush!

More Water Adventures

We ventured to the hottest part of the state on Sunday -- the Central Valley -- to visit the waterpark where Shawna, Kyle and I lifeguarded for four summers. Only a couple of miles from our old house in Clovis, the waterpark brought back lots of memories, and it was surreal to experience it with our own babies!

Even better, Shawna and I planned to surprise our mom, with the help of our dad, since they were in town for a wedding in Fresno. At the post-wedding brunch on Sunday morning, we sent Joey into the restaurant to say "Surprise, Mop!" He didn't have a chance to get the words out of his mouth before she spied him, and screamed, "JOEY!! What are you doing here???" It was such a treat to spend the rest of the day with them, Kyle, AND Crystal, Chad and Lorelai, who took one of their first flights piloted by Chad for the trip from Yuba City to Reedley.

Megan was a sliding fool. She went down this octopus slide about a million times:



Joey did the octopus slide once, only because he was being held hostage by his father:



Kyle, seeing if a cute, turquoise-clad baby (Bridget) would attract any cute girls (alas, prospects were few and far between in the kiddie pool section):



Clara, happy as a clam in the Pack n' Play that we brought expressly so we could neglect her... kidding!

Cakewalk

We babysat for Shawna and Matt on Friday, and proved once again that feeding, bathing, and putting two toddlers and two babies to bed is easy-peasy!

Bloopers

A few vacation outtakes for your viewing pleasure:

No one is really sure what Joey is doing in this picture:



Clara groping her mommy:



After discovering that his T-shirt smelled like pee (Joey was sitting on his shoulders in just a swim diaper), Tim was forced to change into Matt's Periodic Table T:

Summertime, and the Livin's Easy

An eleven-day vacation will make you forget about all sorts of things, including eye surgeries, work, and Sunset fog. We spent a wonderful, relaxed week in Lake Tahoe and 5 days in Twain Harte with Tim's family, visiting the lake in both locales almost every day, and treating our sun-starved babies to lots of water fun. They got to visit and play with cousins on both sides -- Megan and Bridget on Meeks Bay, and 15 month-old Tommy and 6 month-old Marco at Twain Harte. The adults had plenty of fun, too, consuming way too much wine, playing far too many board games, and staying up much too late at night.

I took almost 500 pictures over the course of the vacation, which only nets out to about 50 each day, but adds up to a lot of pictures. Here's the best of the bunch.

Our first night in Tahoe, we hosted Crystal, Chad and Lorelai and Lily, and Shawna and Matt and the girls drove in for the bedlam, too:





We met up with the Stecher clan for the next several days at Meeks Bay, a beautiful sandy beach that's sheltered from wind, and boasts a snack bar and an air pump for all those inflatable toys. Shawna and Matt brought a baby pool and put it right at the water's edge for the smaller babies.

Joey and Bridget had fun digging in the sand together... they're kindred spirits in every way :)

Clara really looks like a strawberry blonde next to Bridget!



Clara happily chowed down on a drumstick at lunch one day:



Megan and Joey had a blast wrestling and chasing "East Coast Jack" Stecher:




Clara showed off her retro, ruffled rear end:








Joey practicing his football form with Daddy and Uncle Matt:





he even perfected his showboating technique:


Back at the Raley homestead, Clara dug into Joey's toolbox, and got spectacularly messy at mealtime, every time:





We had several outings on the South Shore, including miniature golfing at the Heavenly Resort, and ice cream at Camp Richardson:














We headed to Twain Harte on Sunday, and had a blast with all the Cecchin cousins, shown here in their birth order/ batting order shirts from Aunt Meredith -- Joey, Tommy, Clara, and Marco (who needed a little prop to keep him upright).

The whole gang out to dinner on Sunday night, minus the camera woman :)

Marco and Jeff showing off their matching shirts:


Three guys and three strollers, heading to dinner:

Marco shows off his tummy and his smile:

The kids loved the baby pool on the deck, including a very devious Joey:

Joey had a blast building sandcastles with Tommy and a very talented Uncle Tom:

taking a break to douse Grandma:

Thanks to Grandma Cecchin for these last pictures, since I'm usually the one behind the camera!

And finally, two more cute photos of Clara: