California Love

We went out to Los Gatos, a burb outside of San Jose, to visit Matt's old college roommate, his wife Lisa and their 5-month old daughter Anna Marie last weekend. It was a great visit and Anna Marie is quite the cute baby. On Sunday, we went up to the Ritz at Half Moon Bay (a coastal town south of San Fransisco) for a short vacation. It was fabulous- the hotel is located on the Pacific Coast and the weather was perfect (60-ish in the mornings with highs in the upper-70's in the afternoons). Small trivia fact -- If the hotel looks familiar in the pictures, it was the filming location for the movie America Wedding (the third installment of the American Pie movies that came out a few years ago). We walked down to the beach every morning and afternoon to play in the sand, visit the seals and collect shells, sat around the fire pit every evening to make smores and enjoy the sunset, and ate lots and lots of seafood. It was by far one of the most relaxing and enjoyable vacations we have taken and David did wonderful.

We took Southwest Airlines out to California, which means we had two stops both ways resulting in a total flight time in excess of 6 hours (we had free rapid reward tickets that were about to expire so we figured worth the hassle). David was so great that the flight attendants on both flights commented on what a great flyer he was and the pilot even took him up to the cockpit during on of the stops to show him around and let him push buttons (how cool is that?). In the interest of full disclosure, however, we did load up the ipad with a few episodes of Mickey Mouse that we used for backup when he got restless. We still don't let David watch television at the house, so he is pretty amused when you play the cartoon card. 

On Wednesday afternoon, we headed into San Fransisco to meet up with Ruth, who I use to work with at Fulbright, and her wife, Elisa. I talked to Ruth practically every day of my pregnancy with David and she left the firm shortly after David was born to go do something meaningful with her life (I know, who knew that there were more fulfilling things in life than practicing corporate law), so it was really cool for her to meet David now that he is a mini-person. We had a great dinner and it was nice catching up. While in San Fran, we also went on a bay cruise, walked around Mission district and went shopping in Union Square. All super fun.

And now for the photographic evidence...

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Pre-Vacation Post

We are getting ready to head to the cool weather in San Fransisco tomorrow morning for a week long vacation and visit with friends, but I thought I would post the few pictures on my camera before we head out. I should have more pictures since I have been able to spend much more time with David since going flex time, but I seem to forget my camera more often these days (not to mention we have been staying indoors due to the 100+ degree days). The flex system is not perfect yet, but, for the most part, I have been able to get home to see David by 5:00 pm most days. Even better, Hayley and I started our new get fit plan at the beginning of August and we have been able to exercise at least 3-4 nights each week and, with my extra time at home in the evenings, I have been cooking a healthy dinner each night for everyone. Since we started, Hayley has already lost 7 pounds and I have lost 4. Yay for us!

David is really quite the ham. We recently found a series of books called "No, David" that are a big hit around the house right now. Favorite foods at the moment include broccoli (he calls them trees), macaroni and cheese, sweet peas, carrots, peanut butter toast and almond milk. He doesn't really care for meat (and by doesn't care for, I mean will not eat in any form), so we have been trying to have more meals with tofu, beans and nuts to make sure he gets enough protein. I have never been a huge meat eater, but Matt is definitely a meat and potatoes kind of guy so it is funny that David is so carnivorous. Like most toddler behavior, it is probably just a phase.  Speaking of toddler behavior that we are hoping will pass-- David has recently decided that telling us he has gone poop is not sufficient, he must show us as well. He literally sticks his hand in his pull-up, grabs a handful of poo, walks up to one of us and says I went poo in my diaper. It is disgusting.

We have been working on ABCs, counting and colors.. all the normal stuff.  In addition, David is obsessed with the States. This likely started because we put a U.S. map above his table in the breakfast area and would show him where family lived (i.e. Papa Bruce and Granny D live in Oklahoma, etc.) and point out states during his meals. It turned into a game and he got good at learning them, so we keep moving up from states where we have family. He can now identify more than half of the states on the map, in random order. It is pretty amazing. Sorry for the bragging, but I figure it is only family that reads this blog anyway so I can get away with it!

A few weeks ago, David had a blister pop up on his toe after a trip to the aquarium. Luckily, it went away on its own within a day or so.  

Because of his eczema, we don't get to take bubble baths very often. I found some bubble bath for sensitive skin and, as you can tell, he enjoyed it.

Aunt Hayley had a box of jewelry that she brought over for D'Ann and I to look through before she took it to the resale/donation place. David got in the middle of it and started putting on everything- necklaces, bracelets, etc. I am sure he will eventually hate me for posting these pictures, but it was too cute...

David after getting into my mascara:

David's newest fascination is money. I have no idea how it started or what this says about our child or our parenting skills thus far, but the kid will do anything for coins. Anything! We were working through the ABC book a few nights ago and we told him he could have a dollar if he would finish all the letters. He did and we upheld our end of the bargain. He carried the dollar around the entire evening and insisted on sleeping with it. Around 2am or 3am, we heard him wake up and start looking for his "money." He found his dollar and went right back to sleep with the dollar in hand. So I had to get up and take a picture of that! 

Summer with Granny D

We have been so lucky to have D'Ann, Granny D to David, stay with us the past few months. When Isabel got ill and our nanny search failed, Granny D graciously offered to give up her summer and move in with us to care for David. It was so nice to know he was in good and loving hands during the day. In addition to taking care of David, D'Ann did way more than we could have ever asked- teaching David how to dance, taking him to ever possible fun thing there is to do in Dallas, including art class, book readings, the zoo, the children's museum,  the water park (or, as David calls it, the Aqua Park), various play-centers, etc., taking him to the park every morning no matter how hot it was, making friends with his soon to be teacher at St. James, becoming a Little Gym super grandma, cleaning around the house, taking care of Emma dog, babysitting when Matt and I had evening events and even taking care of Matt when he had eye surgery. We will all miss her very much!


Here are some pictures that D'Ann took of their time together this summer: