Sweet Dreams

It's hard to believe that Ralph Waldo Emerson wasn't a mother, so spot-on was he when he wrote about the sense of lightness we feel when the last books are read, the lights are out, and all are asleep for the night: "There was never a child so lovely, but his mother was glad to get him to sleep."

But our memories are short. The most puzzling phenomenon of parenthood may be the fact that even after an exhausting, frustrating, trying day with our children, when we tiptoe into their rooms at night before turning in ourselves, we actually miss them, and feel the inexplicable impulse to wake them!

Joyride

Even Superman gets a kick out of Tim's driving.

Water Babies

We kicked off our vacation-filled summer with three days at Twain Harte Lake with the Cecchin family. With its soft sand, shallow wading areas, warm water, and nearby slides and swings, it's an ideal place for fledgling swimmers learning to kick and float, like Joey, and fearless toddlers who think they know how to swim, like Clara!

Thanks to Grandma Cecchin for organizing the trip and treating all of us!

She's Famous!

For the past six months, I've been designing the monthly newsletter for the Golden Gate Mothers Club - a group that serves almost 4,000 moms in San Francisco. The 36-page newsletter is chock-full of interesting, well-written articles about parenting in the Bay Area, provides a calendar of dozens of kids activities, and reviews books for kids. I love getting a sneak peek at the content every month while laying out the issue. Still, it's a giant task that makes the third week of every month a little crazy! My reward? Getting to meet up with some really nice moms on the newsletter team twice per month (usually at a wine bar or swanky tea lounge), and also getting to sneak in a photo of my kids every now and then ;)

Happy Father's Day!

Some snippets from our relaxing, fun-filled day...

First Date

Tim and Thomas chaperoned Joey and Gitte on their very first date -- and first movie for both -- on Father's Day. "Up" had just enough action to entrall the kids, and just enough adult-ish humor to keep the dads amused.



As you can see, they were on their very best behavior, even though the arm between the seats was up ;)


Apparently the date went so well that Gitte agreed to extend it, and go for ice cream afterward!

Trimming Down

If there's anything more appalling than discovering that your Lab weighs 113 pounds -- thanks to his thrice-daily habit of parking himself below the highchair -- it's realizing that you have been eating too many table scraps, also.

After meeting with a nutritionist over the weekend, we're on day 3 of a customized diet plan, and I can't believe how many times I've had to check myself from eating leftovers from the kids' plates. Whether it's half a waffle from breakfast, a couple of chicken nuggets from lunch, or a few graham crackers or goldfish crackers at snack time, it's all off limits to me now, and now I know exactly why I need to lose weight!

Wish us luck as we embark on a summer of limited treats, carbs, and dinners out!

Ballerina or Bruiser?

It's hard to say what Clara will be best suited for... ballet (like cousin Tommy) or football. She loves the bling, the tiara, and the skirt...



...but obviously, she's being raised in the school of hard knocks here.



Thanks to Grandma Cecchin for capturing this darling video while we were in New Orleans!

One more reason...

I fell even more in love with my Kindle today, thanks to the amazing customer service at Amazon. Mine was developing cracks along the left-hand side -- mostly from the hinge on the cover, but being carried in a diaper bag can't be good for any electronic device! -- and Amazon is overnighting a brand-new Kindle today!

Now, I'm off to search for a better, more protective cover! The marketplace for Kindle accessories has exploded!

The Big Easy

Lest you think our lives revolve strictly around the daily drudgery of changing diapers, serving meals, laundering clothes, and disciplining small, thankless children (who most recently locked their own mother out of the house and forced her to enter through the dog door), I'm happy to report that we escaped to New Orleans for a weekend of child-free debauchery.

We met up with our friends Tom and Susie and stayed in the French Quarter with a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street. We couldn't get enough of the people-watching, the live jazz, the beignets, the Hurricanes and Hand Grenades, and the ability to sleep in well past noon for two days in a row!

At first, I was embarrassed about the amount of alcohol pictured in the below photos, but then I remembered the part about crawling through the dog door.












Inidentally, the five-hour flights to and from this fabulous city provided us with an absolutely decadent amount of time to read, watch movies, listen to music, and sleep. You never properly appreciate an airplane ride until you do it without babies after becoming a parent. Still, proving that we can't entirely escape our children, we both read Home Game, by Michael Lewis, a hilarious must-read for any dads you still need to shop for this Fathers' Day! This passage, about the lessons that can be learned at Mardi Gras, was especially appropriate!

Beads, in the brief moment they fly through the air, become so valuable that grown men will trample one another to get them, and young women will disrobe. Three hours later they're worthless again, but that's not the point. The point is how to get as many of them as possible.

Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Cecchin for allowing this weekend to happen and watching Joey and Clara!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

I may have overshot my mark here. Next to me, Clara now looks blonde! But it is what it is, at least for the next 8 weeks!

Disregard the fact that Clara looks like a sullen teenager in these photos... just be impressed that Joey took them!!

Sleeping Beauties

Today I accomplished what should be impossible.

I took two sleeping children into a spa, and they snoozed through not only an eyebrow wax, but also a pedicure!!!

I'd like to thank everyone who made this possible... namely, the staff at West Portal Spa, who didn't flinch when they saw my double stroller, and the crew of children who tuckered mine out at the playground this morning (darling, hard-playing offspring of Shawna, Sabrina and Melissa)!

Denial

There comes a moment in every mother's life when she must finally submit to a tidal wave of three year-old resistance and accept a new and terrible reality: no naps.

Today, I walked into Joey's room during naptime and found a scene of complete destruction. Blinds were askew, the cushion was off the glider, a towering pile of toys formed a "castle" in the corner (so I'm told), wipes carpeted the floor, a dresser drawer had been emptied in his search for his "Hero" shirt," and his tool bench had been completely dismantled. This last was the proverbial nail in the coffin for naptime, I think. It took me 15 minutes to assemble the tool bench!!! It defies belief that it was flattened in the time it took me to microwave a Weight Watchers meal.

In fact, I almost couldn't believe he'd done it all himself. And yes, it turns out there was an accomplice.


I knew super powers were at work!

Matchy-Matchy Anonymous

Is there a support group out there for mothers who feel compelled to dress their children in coordinating outfits? It's a sickness, but I can't stop.

We headed out to Gilroy on Saturday to celebrate Tim's feisty great-aunt Marietta's 97th birthday!

The "Bozzo Bash" provided all sorts of entertainment for little ones, including bocce ball and ping pong.

We had a lot of kissing cousins, but when we tried to corral the four Cecchin cousins (Tommy, Marco, Clara and Joey) for a group shot, we got a lot of fidgeting, blank stares, and zero cooperation (too many boys in the lineup!).

A Case of (Slightly) Mistaken Identity

They do say love is blind. Or, absence makes the heart grow fonder? Or, what's the saying for completely forgetting what your father looks like when he's been gone for three days?

Yesterday morning at the breakfast table, while I was flipping through The Chronicle, Clara pointed to a huge picture on the front page of our own Governor-Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger, started squealing, and shouted, "Daddy! Daddy!!"

Joey got down out of chair, walked around the table to get a better look, and calmly said, "No, Clara, that's not Daddy. He just looks like him."

'I Can Bounce High, High, High on My Big Boy Bed'

Until two days ago, I think we may have had the largest and oldest child ever confined to a crib.

At long last, Joey now has a full-size bed, after a back-breaking morning that involved me disassembling two cribs, re-assembling Joey's old crib in Clara's room, and attaching the headboard and footboard from Clara's crib to a full-size frame in Joey's room.

Joey lended a hand at some critical points, kept up a running commentary that mostly included the word "why???", policed the area and kept it free of baby girls, and puttered around with his tool set acting important. Who says you need husbands? ;)