Boy Genius

Warning: obnoxious parental bragging ahead!

Yesterday, we met Shawna and ALL the girls at Julius Kahn playground for a few hours in the sun, and while the highlight of the day was definitely seeing Annie and Tessa on their first park trek (they did great, and caused quite a scene!), Joey also had a big moment:

He found a piece of sidewalk chalk, and wrote his own name!!

First, he wanted to write Clara's name, and actually drew a "C" before deciding he couldn't do any more, so I suggested he write his own name... and he did, with no help or visual aids at all! Yes, the "J" was pointed in the wrong direction, the "E" had 4 "prongs" instead of 3, and the points on the "Y" weren't exactly connected... but that just made it all the more charming and adorable, at least for this mommy ;)

Luckily, I didn't have my camera, or else this post would have been doubly obnoxious!! ;)

New Favorite Photo

Our everyday lens broke on my camera a few weeks ago, and we've had to use our portrait lens for picture-taking ever since... allowing me to capture this shot of Clara over the weekend. A new favorite!

Tooth Watch 2009

I think we may be the opposite of helicopter parents, and leave the door a little too wide open for injuries sometimes. As a result, Joey may be losing baby teeth very, very prematurely, after a high-energy bouncefest in Clara's crib with Gitte on Wednesday night.

We heard screaming, ran in, and found Joey clutching his mouth... apparently on a downward bounce, he and his teeth collided with the rail of Clara's crib, leaving this momento for posterity:



Although there wasn't any blood, and the teeth (the two just to the right of his upper front teeth) aren't loose, we still had to place a sheepish call to the dentist on Thursday morning when he refused to chew on that side of his mouth (and whimpered in pain!). Apparently, we'll know within 2 weeks whether the teeth died due to the impact -- they'll start to turn grey and could fall out.

Here's hoping that the Tooth Fairy doesn't make her first visit for several more years... we'd like to keep this smile intact!!

Little Entertainer

Clara, at 18 months, has officially entered Tim's favorite phase. Her personality is starting to emerge, and her throaty, husky laughs, mischievous looks, and independent nature are keeping us entertained! But she's still eager to please, cooperative, sweet, and a champion sleeper, so we think we have the best of both worlds with our little girl!

For those keeping track of stats, here are the goods from her doctor's appointment last week:

Height: 31.5" (50th percentile - we find this number highly suspicious, though, since she still seems really petite!)

Weight: 23 pounds (25th percentile, up from 10th percentile! she's starting to visibly chunk up again!)

Head circumference: 47 cm (65th percentile)

We still debate every day what color her eyes are - they change from grey blue to green all the time - but they always get compliments! Her hair is slowly becoming more blonde than strawberry, but you'll have to trust us on that, since in photos she's always a redhead! She still takes two naps a day, goes down without a fuss and sleeps through the night almost without fail. And finally, she's our resident garbage disposal, and is giving Joey a run for his money at mealtime.

Happy Half-Birthday, Clara Jane!

Thank You

Tim and I were so thankful for all our friends and family last week, after learning that we lost our baby at our 20-week ultrasound. While we hope that no one else has to experience a loss like this, it demonstrated just how fortunate we are to have such a rich circle of support. Gorgeous floral deliveries, meals delivered to our doorstep, and outpourings of sympathy in our mailbox and inboxes were much appreciated and made us truly feel your love and prayers. Most of all, we're immensely grateful for the fact that we have two little ones to distract and comfort us right now... stay tuned for more of their adventures!

Kid-Free Cancun and Our Amazing Race Try-Out

After our trip to Puerto Vallarta last year resulted in a severe case of Montezuma's Revenge for me, we swore we wouldn't be returning to Mexico any time soon. But then Mark and Christine decided to get married in Cancun, and we decided we couldn't miss it -- especially once Mop and Hop volunteered to babysit for us for 6 heavenly kid-free days!!

We had such a great time celebrating with all the family and friends who flew to Cancun to be with Mark and Christine, and especially loved staying on the island where the wedding took place -- Isla Mujeras. I lugged along our huge camera, but took way too few pictures -- probably because I had my nose in my Kindle the whole time! :)

This was our view from the villa on the island:

Here's all the groomsmen and Tim, before the wedding started:

Mark and Christine were (I think) the first American couple to get married in the island's Catholic church, and the local kids were fascinated with the whole production. They crowded into the doorway of the church to see the bride enter, and the little girls kept sneaking up to the front of the church to peek at the row of bridesmaids. They were adorable!

The day after the wedding, everyone relaxed poolside at the villa where the bridal party stayed... it's hard to tell where the pool ends, and the ocean begins!

Despite all the fun, I had very good reasons for not wanting to stay in Mexico -- including two babies at home and a stomach that is not at all receptive to Mexican water -- but I almost didn't make it out of the country. The morning of our flight, I cleaned out my purse, and threw out the Mexican tourist card that I was given upon entering, in Mexico City. I didn't realize (and definitely wasn't told!) that I needed to hang on to it and present it in order to leave the country again. We had a two-hour layover in Mexico City, and we needed every minute of it to race around the huge airport and fulfill the requirements of an insane Mexican treasure hunt. We had to visit at least seven different officials, fill out a Mexican police report, negotiate with a Mexicana airline supervisor, and finally get an official stamp from an immigration officer, before getting to board the plane to San Francisco! According to Tim, I'm not really the best candidate for Amazing Race. I say that it's not really fair to judge someone who's five months pregnant and wearing flip-flops ;)

These Days Are Numbered

With Shawna now almost full-term with her twins (36 weeks this weekend!), I convinced Tim to snap a picture of us as we were heading out without babies last night to celebrate Lori's birthday. We've taken far too few of these belly-to-belly photos during three shared pregnancies!

(I'm 18 weeks in this photo, or about 4.5 months for those who don't speak pregnancy lingo :)

The Verdict

We'd like to thank our faithful blog followers for not only weighing in on the great facial hair debate (20-14 for the beard), but also waiting patiently for a verdict. After a scratchy, scruffy few weeks, Tim made the impromptu decision this morning to shave off the beard! We're leaving for Cancun in 2 days, and not only did he not want any extra body hair in a humid climate, he didn't want to be mistaken for any swarthy drug lords!

My Newest Diaper Bag Accessory

Tim surprised me last night with the most exciting gift any reader could ask for, the latest-generation Kindle!

I have been lusting after this device ever since it first came out, and I can't believe that Tim (the same man who cruelly added a "Books" line item to our budget when we were first married) willingly placed in my hands an object that allows books to magically fly through space and land in your hands in about 10 seconds. It's definitely dangerous. I already bought two books while laying on our family room couch last night, and surfed for more while waiting for the car to get washed this morning (a woman with a fancy-schmancy iPhone was clearly jealous). It fits neatly in my diaper bag between coloring books and Joey's Thomas the Train catalog (his favorite reading material), and hopefully will prove impervious to sippy cup spills!

Fruit Fiend

We keep meaning to pull out the videocamera to capture on film exactly how quickly Clara can polish off an entire carton of raspberries (about 60 seconds flat). The same holds true for bananas, pineapple, apples, strawberries, grapes, and melons. We call her our "little bear" or "angry bear" when she runs into the kitchen, points to the fruit bowl on the countertop, and then vigorously shakes the legs of her highchair. Here's that wild look on her face, captured while she was eating raisins today. She was on cloud nine... until she realized I wasn't going to let her eat the entire carton.

And finally, one more photo to round out the bunch... here's Clara sporting a mismatched outfit (Daddy dressed her) and crossing her ankles while eating (she has always done this, even when nursing).

Meeting Mela

Our friends Thomas and Sabrina had their second baby girl last week, and we went over last night with dinner to meet baby Mela, an adorable little chubster who put up with being held by both Joey and Clara. She's had lots of practice with her big sister Gitte, who has been mothering baby dolls for months in preparation!

Clara loved every moment of her turn to hold Mela, and really didn't want to relinquish her! Note that she's also sporting a borrowed Tinker Bell costume from Gitte... their house was baby girl heaven last night!

Gitte told Joey to put his arm around her, but he looks like he definitely doesn't mind ;)



and finally, proud big sister!

So Many Ladies, So Little Time

Joey has far too many little girlfriends to choose just one Valentine this year, so he opted to send a super-suave Lightening McQueen card and cherry lollipop to all of his lady friends. Cousins Marco and Tommy got one for good measure, too :) Here he is showing off the cards before they were stuffed into envelopes.

The Great Facial Hair Debate

On a lark -- or out of laziness -- Tim grew a beard a week and a half ago during our "staycation," and it went unchecked during the following four days of relaxing, carousing and gambling in Tahoe with friends at a bachelor party. For better or worse, it's now pretty grown in, thanks to his Italian genes, and he's debating whether his first foray into facial hair should become semi-permanent of not. Weigh in with the poll at the top right of the page! :)

Budding Artist

If scrawling on every available surface with crayons and pens makes a three year-old a gifted artist, then Joey definitely qualifies! His most frequent request these days is for crayons and paper -- his favorite canvas is a yellow Post-It, and he blankets it edge to edge with illegible scrawls that would make a conspiracy theorist proud. Other canvases have (regrettably) included walls, books, tables, and himself.

But all his hard work is paying off! He had one very unbiased critic (Mop, the original artist in our family) convinced that he was a genius when he drew this self-portrait on Sunday. Judge for yourself!

Staycation 2009

Tim and I decided to be really hip this winter and take a staycation. We were all set to go to Tahoe for some rest and relaxation last week, but at the last minute, the packing, the prospect of dealing with out-of-sorts babies in Pack n' Plays, and the lack of snow made us decide to stay put and do some sightseeing in the city!

On Wednesday, we visited the California Academy of Sciences for the first time, and Joey and Clara enjoyed the fish, the "early explorers" area designed just for tots, and the alligator!

When we pointed out the "fishies" to Clara, a lightbulb went off in her head, and she tried to feed the fish one of her goldfish snacks!

Joey makes his ferocious pirate face while manning the ship in the "young explorers" area.

Joey saw the pendulum from afar and was very intrigued:



On Thursday, with the help of Kyle, who was in town through the weekend, and accompanied by Shawna and the girls, we hit the Bay Area Discovery Museum. Aside from a traumatic hair-pulling incident that caused the loss of way too much of Megan's hair, and a bathroom accident that forced us to clear part of the shipwreck area for kids (Joey), we had a lot of fun, and couldn't believe we hadn't been before! At the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito, the museum has a gorgeous view of the City and the bay, and has a lot of activities for toddlers themed around water, bridge-building, and waves.







Unfortunately, Clara slept through most of the outing!