Mommy and Juju day

Today we absolutely had to take the car in to be fixed. Our great mechanics at Melrose Motors are in SF's SOMA, so Juje and I drove in, then walked to Market and
A) Rode the Subway
B) Looked at shoes (thanks, Jujie)
C) Saw nearly all the good floors at 49 Geary (You rock, Jujie)
D) Played on the lawn at Yerba Buena and sat in the sun
E) Hit Whole Foods for afternoon snackies where Jujie lost all momentum and passed out in his stroller while I walked all the way back to 10th St.
It was a beautifully sunny day.

Happy

Backhoe

A little boy's dream... he wakens to road building machines parked in front of his house. Oh joy! (notice, his little pointing finger is ready...)

Moment

500th Post (Spring Zoe)

Zoe and I took an after dinner walk around Lake Temescal. The late evening light was lovely, and we spotted not only lots of Mallard friends, but a family of fluffy, spunky, oh-so-cute baby duckies. Spring feels so good.

Wow, what started as an email to a friend has become so much more- it's a chronicle of the last three and a half years or so, nearly all of the highlights of Zoe and Julian's lives so far. In these 500 posts I've documented a toddlerhood of firsts- first sits, stands, steps, first tastes, first teeth. To a stranger's eye, it's a collection of the Mommy Vernacular. But to family, this blog is a way to be together everyday, watching the kids grow and change, without missing a blink.
Thank you for sharing this space with us.
Stay tuned for posts 501 and on- who knows what they'll do next.
Just you try to Keep Up!

On death; more car talk

Driving through Berkeley, from the backseat...
"Mommy, when someone kills a snake, what happens to the snake?"
"Well honey, it dies."
"What happens when it dies?"
Hmmm. This is a toughie.
"It's spirit leaves it's body behind, and the body doesn't move anymore. It's dead."
"How is it dead?"
"It's spirit has left, when it's heart stops. Everyone who is alive has a heart that beats and keeps the body going. Keeps the blood moving, and everything inside working, and when it stops the body can't keep going anymore and it dies, and the spirit of the creature leaves and never comes back."
"What is it's spirit?"
"It's the part that you know. You can't see it, like you can see their body. But you know it. It's what makes them act the way they do. It's what you like about them. The body is the part that you recognize and touch, but the spirit is what makes them who they are, and is the real life of the creature".
"Can we have tuna for lunch?"
Thank goodness she didn't ask where it goes.

Sketcher

Zoe's drawing has really taken a major leap all of a sudden.
It went from scribbles that were totally unrecognizable, to circles and lines, then suddenly it has arrived at people. They look like alien people, but are clearly people.
There are heads with round eyes, bodies, legs, arms and even smiles. Zoe even started making portraits of me with a baby in my tummy (from when I was pregnant with Juju- don't read anything into it). She even drew a picture of Sid, with 4 short legs and a tail. It's just amazing to see these progressions from one week to the next.

Little Farm Birthday Party

Zoe's 4th birthday party!
This was Zoe's big birthday debut. We invited all of Zoe's Playschool class and few close friends to join us in Tilden Park at everyone's favorite place to get cozy with our animal friends- Little Farm. If you've seen this blog before, you know we love it there. In fact, we've spent the last 3 birthdays there! But this one was by far, the best yet. All the kids raced and chased, ate and fed, climbed and bashed, and everyone had a great time. It was really nice spending time with the other moms and dads from Piedmont Rec and watching the kids all play together. The weather once again held out for us, and it was a beautiful spring day.
We made all the food ourselves- Grammy and Mommy up early baking pizzas, squeezing lemonade and counting plates. Our good buddies (who are NOT morning people) showed up early to decorate trees with a rainbow of streamers.
And the night before, the kids decorated the cupcakes Marcia baked. It was all worth the smiles.

Cupcakes Galore

Little Zoe heaven. 3 dozen cupcakes, freshly baked and cooled, just frosted in two delicious flavors (tangy cream cheese vanilla or chocolate) waiting like an empty canvas for a rainbow of sugar crystals and crunchy pastel balls. Note the 6 pack of play cupcakes also on the counter- a new birthday gift from Grammy.

Snoozytime with Daddy

Airplane Ride

Chair Lift

Post dentist lunch at the Grove

Jujie's first trip to the dentist

It's dentist time again.
Zoe finally stopped throwing a tantrum every single time we brushed her teeth (twice a day, unavoidably), and now it's Julian's turn to hate it. He also has 4- count 'em four- molars coming in right now, so the back of his mouth is not a happy place. Nico threatens them at the sink, "We're going to the dentist soon, and if you don't have perfect teeth because you won't let us brush them, you may have a cavity, and the dentist is going to have to fill it. YOu'll get in the chair, and he'll get his drill out, and if you think THIS is bad, just you wait..."
Finally after weeks of these threats and the upcoming office visit looming, I thought it wise to hush up with the dentist scare.
Zoe has already been twice before. At the first visit, the kids sit in the big chair, get a bib, and are introduced to "Mr. Squirty" and "Mr. Thirsty". They get to hold the little instruments and squirt out the water into a cup, and then vacuum it up with Mr. Thirsty. The dentist will take a quick look with the mirror-on-a-stick (if they're lucky), get a quick count, and that's pretty much it. On the second visit, they may get a real cleaning and a good look & poke. On the third visit, they get x-rays.
I sat with Julian on my lap in the big pink chair while Grammy sat with Zoe and a pile of toys in the waiting room. He was a bit nervous, but held Mr. Squirty and Mr. Thirsty as they did their work into a little blue cup. He let the Dr. take a quick peek at his teeth through a narrow slit between his lips. And after we finished and were headed to the treasure chest of toys, I asked the Dr. if he was ready for Zoe. He said, "Oh she's getting her teeth cleaned right now".
"What? Really? All by herself?"
"Oh yeah, she's doing fine".
Wow. I remembered when she wouldn't let them put on the bib, and refused to touch Mr. Squirty and Mr. Thirsty. Refused to let Dr. Chen put the mirror stick in her mouth, as the patient Dr. said, "well, maybe next time".
Next thing I knew, she was having x-rays taken.
Afterward, I asked Zoe, "Wow Zoe, you were all by yourself getting your teeth cleaned. That's great. Were you scared?"
"Yeah," she replied with a shrug, "I was a little bit scared, but I had to do it, so I just did".
Right On.

GGP

Casa de Papusas

Ballerinas

At the cafe with Mommy

Zoe takes the camera

I love these. Thanks, Zoe.

The grass is cool, like me

Musee Mechanique

"Mommy, what's that?"
Uh, that would be the French Execution mechanized amusement. Which is really cute and all, but we're looking for the Opium Den one. Where is that Opium Den?
"It's a funny little mechanical play, honey. Let's keep looking..."
Fun at the Musee Mechanique
Oh, and right outside is a real live submarine, the USS Pampanito.
Good times at Fisherman's Warf. Who knew?

Cat Tipping

Boardwalk Bites

It's more fun with your hands up!

"I'm a pack of French fries!"

Is there a cop in the house, because I smell ham...