The Kracken (or, "The Creature from Hell that We'll Refer to as Last Week")

You know those weeks when every little stupid stress in your life compounds into the perfect maelstrom?  When the normal (and normally manageable) little roadblocks pile up to the point that you're suddenly slamming into a wall rather than climbing over the rough patch?  To the point where ever your metaphors for those weeks are overly worked because your brain's been on hyperdrive for way too long?

Yup, we just came off one of them weeks.

Like I (tried to) say, if you take the following items individually, you can handle what life throws at you.  But throw them all into the same 5 day stretch, and you've got a Type A gal like myself cowering in a corner each night with a loaded bowl of ice cream as her only source of solace.  Exhibit A?  HD came down with a fever last Monday night.  Keep in mind that she's never had anything more than a cold, so her dumbass parents take a good 15 minutes to figure out the baby thermometers we had on hand.  Oh, and STILL didn't use them correctly until my lovely mother-in-law (a former nurse) showed us how 2 days later.  No other major symptoms, just massive fever spike every 4-6 hours.  HD's out from daycare the rest of the week, leaving us scrambling for care (in-laws for the win, holla!!!) and poor Hubs trying keep me from her in case she was contagious, since fevers + pregnancy are a huge no-no.  Hubs was the true hero of the week, shouldering a major burden of doc appointments, easing night sweats, and carrying around our very fussy little girl.

Oh yeah, so couple all that with the fact that Oct-Nov is the absolute worst time of year for me at work. Y'all know about benefits open enrollment season at your employer?  The period of several weeks where you can make any changes to your health benefits through your company?  Well, I'm solely responsible for making that magic happen for about 600 employees each year.  In addition to trying to plan for my upcoming maternity leave.  Being the sole benefits rep on the whole HR team, I've been trying to train some co-workers in how to keep up compliant with all federal and state benefits and leave of absence laws for the 3 months I'll be gone (starting from a level 0 knowledge base).  It's a picnic, let me tell you, especially when you already feel like the worst parent ever for not being able to help take care of your kid.

And in the midst of all this, we thought it would be super fun to try to paint the new baby's room.  Ha.  Ha ha ha.

Several doctor visits and 4 days later, we have a categorized urinary tract infection on our hands.  The good news?  Well, she wasn't contagious and we didn't have to worry about baby 2 in ute getting sick too.  Bad news?  Hubs and I felt horrendous -- frigging parents of the century for dealing with something that should be preventable.  The doc mercifully wouldn't let us beat ourselves up about it.  HD was one of the wackadoo cases that exhibit no symptoms other than fever.  Anyway, we were finally able to get her some antibiotics last weekend, and she's been her old self ever since.

Lessons learned?

• Hubs is the best partner ever (I already knew this, but it was further proof), a true champ.
• UTIs are not just for folks having lots of sex in their 20s.
• It is scary when your kid gets sick and you don't know what's up, even if you know she's going to be fine.  In 2.5 years, we've never experienced more than a cold with HD.  
• Holy crap, 2 kids sick at the same time is going to make me want to hide under the covers.  
• We're not bad parents, even when it feels that way.  We didn't idle, waiting around for HD to magically get better without seeing the doc.  But we also didn't needlessly freak out and jump to OMGhospitalnow type conclusions.  We comforted her as best we could, and it worked.  And didn't utterly ruin her tiny lady bits in the process.

It Be the Month of Blustering (or, "March Date")

Things be busy here at the Dread Pirate household (I'm covering for a co-worker for a month in addition to my regular job, my parents are visiting for a week, we've got a contractor installing new windows and fixing a water damaged wall).  All your typical yada-yada-yada to explain the blog neglect.

In the midst of it all, Hubs and I had our Christmas date for the month of March.  The theme for this month?  I got him a gift certificate for Home Depot, with the promise that we could go for as long as he wanted and that I had to act interested yet not over opinionated over anything he wanted to look at.  The in-laws babysat, we got Starbucks before hand, and we managed to hit two different Home Depots in order to hunt down some special lights we needed.  But the best part came after.

We got to go on a dinner and a movie night for the first time in, literally, years.  Yes, plural.  We sat at a sushi bar, eating incredible grilled hamachi cheek and pretending we were in our early 20s again (i.e. did sake bombs).  We sobered up during the movie, Friends with Kids (entertaining 1st half, then sads set in as we realized that eventually we will know people of our generation who get divorced, all wrapped up with a cheezy ending).  The plus side?  We got home at about 9:30pm!  Couple that with the fact that we actually had beer on St. Patrick's Day, and we call that a win.  Either way, for a little while, we felt like these crazy kids back in 2007, complete with the cocktail in the pic.  [Fun fact for you San Franciscans -- I'm pretty sure this photo is from Bubble Lounge, back when it was cool and we lived in LA and just didn't know any better.] 

Five years is not a long period of time, unless you think about how much has actually happened since then.  A proposal, a cross-state move, a marriage, buying a home, having a baby, illness.  The first real grey hairs and wrinkles have invaded these two kids.  They drink less, travel less, sleep in never.  But they also get to play every single day, sing and laugh more than ever, and work a lot harder.  I'm proud of how far they've come, but I love when they get to resurface to play, if only for an evening.

Portraits Revisited (or, "Photo Project 2")

And for week 2 of my one photo a day month...Here are the daily topics from Sunday, Feb 5 (kind of) through Saturday, Feb 11:

- 10am (I forgot to take the photo last Sunday!  Which would have probably been a pic of HD on the potty, so you're welcome on being spared that sight. You have Monday morning at my desk in the office instead.)
- dinner (awesome Hubs made a pizza with pine nuts when I wasn't feeling well.  And yes, he made the pizza.  No frozen ingredients whatsoever.  My hero.)
- button (courtesy of my cardigan and coat)
- sun (another make up pic from the next day. I was home with a sick HD on Wed so I snapped this shot of a building near my office on Thurs)
- front door (Hubs was home with sick HD this day,  and they came to meet me when I arrived home.  Nothing makes a working woman happier than that.)
- self portrait (note the tired/stressed tension in facial lines.  I was once an actress, but that's hard to fake with such accuracy unless you're Meryl.)
- makes you happy (napping kid definitely qualifies)

In case you can't tell, I'm having tons of fun playing with the photo effects, playing up various colors and lighting and faux old-timey qualities.  That's it for this week! More to come...

A Romantical Tradewind (or, "February's Date...with the Kid")

Remember the Christmas gift for Hubs?  The one pre-planned date a month deal?  Well, February's date was a doozy.  Mostly because we opted to bring the kid along, as it was a day excursion.

We drove out to the coast to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.  It's this gorgeous expanse next to the Pacific with a rocky coast that's perfect for tide pooling.  And the weather!  It was a crazily beautiful day in the mid 60s, wild with sunshine.  Tide was lowest at 2:38pm that day, so we got there after her nap, about 3:10pm.  Kid had on her ladybug rainboots and was all set to go charging into the ocean.  She adores the beach, so how could we not bring her along?

Winter in CA?  Yeah, it's not just like this in the movies.

We had a blast charging over the sand, chasing gulls, and gazing up at the bluffs.  We had to teach HD to be extra-super-insanely gentle with every creature we came across.  There were anemones, hermit crabs, barnacles, and seaweed everywhere.  HD had a fabulous time quoting every book/tv show she'd ever heard regarding sea life, insisting that there were octopi in the pools, etc.  It was definitely perfect (FREE) entertainment for a kid, but roping in our ball of energy wasn't the easiest task.  After close to an hour of romping and "HD-BE-GENTLE-touch-it-niiiiiiiice" we were off to the car for a snack and the drive back.

HD admires her "lagybug" boots.

Sandbluffs make her seem even teenier.

Hubs is wearing his best date face.

From there, we went out to eat.  Since salt air gives you a case of the starves and all.  We hit up Jack's Prime, a neighborhood place that's your basic upscale burger joint.  This place is genius, y'all.  To quote ...myself (I wrote a Yelp review on the place), "Love and hearts and puppies and cuddles abound."  Jack's obviously strives to be a family place (smart idea, considering the area demographic)!  It was hopping on a Saturday eve, but we were seated after a mere 10 minute wait.  Huge booth, instant crayons & coloring sheet, local craft brew (delectable Full Boar Scotch Ale for interested parties) for the parents and a superfast served kid's plate  ofwhite meat chicken fingers & crazy fresh fruit plate.  And the juiciest burger I have feasted upon in a long while, besides my precious In'n'Out.  It was such good food and service, I made a point of telling the manager how much I appreciated having a swell local resto to which we could bring our toddler.  [Y'all like my awkward I'm-not-ending-a-sentence-with-a-preposition bit?  You can't ever unteach an English major...]

Daddy, you can't expect me to pose when there are fries to be had.

Back home to wind the kid down for bed and for us to snuggle up to watch Sherlock (grab on Netflix Watch Instantly; it's a fun miniseries).  A perfect Family Date Day, although next month we're definitely taking off for some adults only time.

Verily, a Call for Grog an' a Hornpipe (or, "Birthday Party")

"Verily" is perhaps my favorite term in pirating lingo.  But I digress...much earlier than normally in my posts.

Awhile back, Hubs asked what I wanted for my birthday, and I had an instant reply: "To be utterly removed from any party planning."  I am more or less the social director/type-A control freak of our little family, but now and then a matey needs a break.  He did little more than ask for a guest list and run a few ideas by me.  All in all, Hubs is wonderfully capable without my micromanaging!  He planned a great night, with a good mixture of spontaneity thrown in.

WE DID KARAOKE.

Ok, y'all.  It had been a solid couple of years since my pipes did any public singing beyond belting Yo Gabba Gabba tunes in the grocery store to calm a peckish HD.  Color me stoked!!  Item one last Saturday was to dispatch HD to her grandparents' house for the night [Side note -- HD loves her grandfolks, but she threw a snotty-nosed, puddle-sized tear, heaving sobs fit when we tried to leave.  She's been going through major mama separation anxiety a little later than most kids.  She's fine once we leave, but any tips on easing this is appreciated. Comment or email me!].  Item two was to don my best grandma sweater and hit up the unspeakably delicious Dosa for a little quality date time with just Hubs.

Hubs secured a private room at a joint in Japantown, complete with plastic liter bottles of Korean beer and delicacies like seafood pancakes.  There was even a glorious fruit platter.  The room was long and skinny with black vinyl booths, sort of like sitting in a semi-janky stretch limo.  We met up with a slew of friends and brothers and got the party started.

My lovely sis-in-law, rocking the crescent tambourine.

A little warm-up tune.

Hubs and me, now both officially sailing strong in our thirties.

Behold, the glory of a packed private karaoke chamber! Note the fruit platter.

The song options were beyond off the wall.  You had some standard show tunes, top 40, some basic country hits.  The typical variety you'd expect, but with weird little gems thrown in -- like the main tune from School of Rock.  My karaoke twin Shana and I bogarted the mike most the evening, slamming down ditties like "I Would Do Anything for Love" and "Glory of Love".  Because, you know, those are some serious jams.  Hubs did a stellar rendition of "Physical" as an homage to the week of my birth, and my fave Toto song.  We were treated to jokey takes on ditties by Mariah Carey, TLC, Blackstreet, and Boyz to Men.  We made excellent use of the applause button on the karaoke controls.  It was a blast.



And I even busted out a Johnny Rotten impression (which most of our guests kindly ignored).  You can feel free to do the same.

The night rounded out at local bar Blur, where we grabbed a sweet huge booth.  I also was treated to some tasty Sheep Dip.  Then, Hubs and I bid good night and proceeded home.  And for the first time since HD's been alive, we spent the night in our own home without her (we've spent nights away from her, but only if we're in a overnighting somewhere for a wedding or event).   The next morning was the biggest luxury ever, sleeping in until 8am (a HUGE gain for us over the standard 6:30) and going out for breakfast.  Once we retrieved HD, we made it up to her by taking her to Golden Gate Park to ride her beloved carousel:

The past few years, my birthday has been very low-key, which has been perfectly lovely.  But it was still nice to be made a fuss over.  Thanks heaps to everyone who was able to come, and to those who called me anyway to show some love.  This will easily tide me over for another 10 years :)

The Young Matey Hears the Call o' the Sea (or, "Our Quintessential Suburban Weekend")

This past weekend was the best possible mix of getting boring junk done and having fun.

Getting junk done equated to Target-mania to stock up on supplies and clearance clothes for our little bean pole.  Kid's 19 months old and almost too tall for 2 year old's clothes.  Grocery shopping, gym time, laundry.   And the dreaded little activity of digging through HD's plethora of toys/books/stuffed animals and weeding out the trash and stuff that's too babyish for her.

Yup, that's me wailing in the background.  I know grandparents like to spoil, but this is RIDICK!  There's more junk outside the shot, just waiting to impress upon our child that stuff equals love.

Now on to the funs!  Pinterest is a wonderful thing, no?  Well, not only has it helped me tag lots of pretties that I will never afford or muster the effort to make, but it also actually presents the occasional marvelous idea.  The "I Could Actually Do That" idea.   That particularly magical pin lead me to create a year's worth of pre-planned dates for Hubs as a Christmas gift.  Last Saturday, we did our first one, at home wine tasting.  We hit BevMo and took advantage of the 33% off sale, purchasing 3 wines that are not at all like what we usually drink.  After HD was asleep, we busted them out and did the whole she-bang, rating each wine on color, scent, and palate.  We spent a good hour discussing the wines, laughing, and using pretentious language about tannins.  First date was a roaring success!  I'll be sure to post about each month's date as they occur.  Conjugal details aside, naturally.

Hubs critiquing the Argentinan Chardonnay's not-buttery-enough color.

Boo-zay!

Sunday was a blast for our whole fam.  We headed up to our beloved San Francisco to hit up Golden Gate Park.  It was cold and windy, but Lord knows that doesn't stop a toddler from enjoying a park.  Kid had the time of her life at the huge Children's Playground, which has a tons of slides, those little bucket seats that spin around, sand pits, and cool statues of ocean stuff for climbing.  But our HD was completely enamored with the carousel.  So much so that she begged for a second ride and has not stopped talking about it in the days after.  She even reenacts the slides and carousel with her baby doll and stuffed Cookie Monster.

On her actual first ride.  HD looked so blase during the ride that we didn't realize she actually loved it until it was through and we had to vacate (horror!!).

That's right -- we're riding a pig with a jaunty neck kerchief.  I call him Toots.

The best part of the whole day is actually the part where we didn't take any photos.  Inspired by the wave and sea creature statues at the playground, HD insisted upon visiting the ocean.  Seriously, "Ocean?  Ocean?  Oooooocean?" was the catch phrase of the day, even in the midst of fun park stuffs.  And since the park is pretty much right there, we drove on over after we were done playing.  We got out and braved the blowing sand and walked our little bug-lette down to the Pacific.  I stood with my little family in the freezing wind, eyes squinting against the sun on the water, and knew that moment was so much better than any photo of it could ever be.

This Annum Needs to be Keelhauled (or, "Finally, the End of 2011")

The past few years have been a complete whirlwind.  Witness the following:

• 2008 -- The year Hubs (who was not-yet-Hubs back then) and I each moved from LA to San Francisco and started new career paths.  We also got engaged and started making a (teeny-tiny rented) home together.
• 2009 -- We married, we traveled, and we decided to start a family.  We also started the super-duper-amazing-I-mean-no-it-sucks-shoot-me-now process of house hunting.
• 2010 -- On New Years Day, we placed an offer on a beautiful Victorian house (20 miles south of our old apartment).  It was accepted, and we moved from the city to the 'burbs to become real mortgage-paying homeowners.  Hubs did a ton of travel for work; I got a promotion.  And of course, we became parents to the awesomest kid on the planet.  It was sort of a monster year for being thrust face first into adulthood.

So on New Years 2011, Hubs and I decided that we had had enough change to last us for awhile.  We said that our resolution was that 2011 would be the calmest year ever.  Keep it nice and easy, just work on our house, do our jobs as well as always, and have fun being parents and learning about our new town.  Apparently, God thought that was pretty funny.  And life continued to happen, you know, as it does.  

This year has had plenty of good, and definitely some bad.  It sure as hell threw a lot more change our way than we anticipated.    Another unexpected promotion, a new job for Hubs (so grateful and amazed that I can say both of those things in this economy).  Both of our brothers got married, bringing two awesome ladies into our family.  Our teeny gurgley baby became a walking, talking, hilarious drama queen.  We had a health scare that rocked our little family, and we managed to come out ok on the other side.  It's all been a lot more stress than we counted on.  But it was never, ever more than we could handle.  Every bit of it has made us stronger as a family.  And despite any anxieties we faced, we have a pretty good life.

With that, I can safely say that we have no resolutions for 2012.  Just goals and hopes.  To do everything we can to stay healthy, to strive for kindness, to be a good example for the kid, and to have fun.  Oh, and to blog more :)

Hope 2011 taught you all as much as it taught us.  Here's to a bright, shiny, unblemished new year!  Bring it, 2012!  

(And now, for a completely random video)

Pirate in Red, with Crew o' Reindeer (or, "HD Meets the Big Guy")

We've definitely been a little holiday-themed here at The Dread Pirate Mama, but that's kind of the way the daughter is rolling lately.  Kid is obsessed with St. Nick.  Hubs and I had to wake her up yesterday morning, and the first words she uttered the actual second that she opened her eyes were "Santa Claus!"  Keep in mind that HD's only 1.5 years of age, so it's not like she's got a complete understanding of presents just yet.  To her, the Santa excitement doesn't stem from the bringing of toys...it's more the fact that he's basically a new puppet-type character in her life, like her beloved Cookie Monster.  He's a brightly colored squashy dude in an outlandish outfit with corresponding songs and catch phrases. 

She demands Santa songs at odd times of day, usually while being changed.  She takes ornaments from our tree and lays them at the feet of our 10 inch Santa figurine like sacrificial offerings.  She runs around the house chanting "ho, ho, ho, Meery Keefmiff."  So when Hubs and I talked to HD about visiting Big Santa Claus (not to be confused with our little figurine), she could barely contain her excitement.  I was wary, as I have heard many a story about toddler freakouts once in the presence of Santa. 

Last week, we headed to our small town's local fire house.  The amazing firemen hold a free event there each year, and it is 18,000x better than any mall Santa experience.  They have free hot drinks and cookies, a coloring station, and a big pile of actual snow out on their driveway (HD takes after her mama, and flat out refused to touch the stuff).  As the crowning glory of the event, Santa Claus hangs out in a black leather easy chair so the kids can visit him.  We went in the beginning of the event, and got to witness several nervous kids throw mini fits over visiting Santa.  Not so our HD.  Kid full on broke away from Mama and sprinted to Santa.  Thank goodness there wasn't a line to see the big guy.  She was in awe, and all smiles.

We decided to give Santa a break from all the love and allow other kids to visit him.  HD was only mildly pouty about saying goodbye, but was mollified at the coloring station.  Here's her I'm-so-not-sitting-in-the-cool-lap face:

Before we left, there was again no line for Santa (weird since the place was crawling with kids, and he wasn't a creepy Santa).  And HD sprinted up for a return visit.

You may be wondering, in the midst of all this Santa-love, have we discussed the true meaning of the holiday with our child?  Why, of course.  But only because one of the kids at day care taught her how to say "little baby Jesus."  She's now named one of her baby dolls "Little Baby Jesus."  This doll is a Cabbage Patch looking babe with pig tails that my grandmother sewed years ago -- the Jesus moniker would definitely would have warmed her Catholic heart to no end.

Thankful I Be on This Day Again (or, "My Thursday Ritual")

HEY, YOU!!!!  Get Thankful!

















Yes, it's time for Thankful on a Thursday again.  As mentioned before, I normally do this on Facebook, but I figured the above photo was reason enough to post it on the ol' blog.

Thankful on a Thursday: for Hubs insisting that we get a gym membership (and the glorious 45 minute lunch time classes they offer), for the tastiness of holiday business lunches, to Neil Gaiman for being such an incredible and creative author, and to a little kids who are infectious in their wonderment over the magic of this time of year.

HD's holiday lingo has expanded to: nutcracker, snowman, baby Jesus, and Santa-Claus-is-coming-to-town.

What's up tonight?  Me merry crew will further our Christmas spirit by visiting Santa Claus.  Even better?  We're not doing it in the mall!!!  Our local fire station invites kids over each year to meet Santa and donate toys.  Way more fun, helpful, and Christmas-spirity than being charged $25 for a basic photo package.  Color the Cap'n stoked.

Festivities and Menageries (or, "Man, We Was Bizzay")

Crazy weekend!  A gorgeous 11/11/11 wedding at the lovely Ferry Building in SF (congrats Omar and Alex!).  An overnight stay with Hubs's bro and his wife, minus Miss HD (she had a sleepover with the grandparents).  An awesome morning back at the Ferry Building to brunch it up with them, adults-only style.  Blue Bottle coffee + oyster po' boy + pumpkin tamale = breakfast of piratical champions.  Hightailed it to the grandparents' home to retrieve the kid and have lunch, then swooped on down to the other end of the Bay to the Oakland Zoo with my bro and his wife.  We saw our entire local family in the course of 4 counties and 1 day.  *phew*

This attempt to climb into the animal pen happened at every single exhibit.

There are zebras in the background, I swear.

Hubs and I unknowingly in matching outfits for a family pic (we will NEVER do that to our child on purpose)

The Zoo taught us many lessons, including the following:
1)  We don't need a stroller as long as we're in a fenced-off kid-friendly area with no cars (bah, like those are hard to find!).  It was truly awesome to let HD run free. 
2)  Like Madeline, HD also says "Pooh, pooh" to the tiger in the zoo.  But she was very impressed with the spider monkeys (which made Hubs and I nostalgic for our Costa Rican honeymoon). 
3)  Giraffes do communicate with each other verbally, but their voices are on a low enough frequency that most humans don't hear it.  What?  I thought that was fascinating.
4)  My brother and I, unbeknownst to one another prior to this weekend, shared a secret nerdy passion for Meerkat Manor.  Talk about weird sibling connections.  BTW, I'm still sad about the split of the family after Flower's death.

Agenda for next weekend?  YO GABBA GABBA LIVE (natch)!

Pastimes of Yore ( or, "I Need a Hobby")

The weather's been gorgeous lately, so the daughter went for a romp the last weekend in a cold park fountain.  Watching HD's joyful abandon over running in gushing water...it makes my heart sing.  And I'll be honest, it also makes me a wee jealous.  It reminds me of that part in Knocked Up when Paul Rudd's character is watching his kids in the park, and he comments that he wished he enjoyed anything as much as his kids enjoy bubbles.  He obviously loves his kids, but he knows he needs something in his life that's just his own.

So Hubs and I have instituted taking every other Saturday morning off.  One of us spends quality time with HD, and the other one gets to do whatever he/she wants (sleep, errands, workout, laze about and watch tv).  Today's my morning off -- I'm thinking this could could be the perfect time to start dusting off old hobbies, or cultivate a new one.

Piratical Nonsense (or, "Grateful")

Ah, the eyelashes

I think everyone has moments of wishing that you lived somewhere else, even for a bit.  We all fantasize about visiting a particular place and (definitely) glamorize said place.  Don't you have places or times or situations that you love to inhabit again and again in books, movies, or just your imagination?  [Me?  Pirating and Caribbean port towns aside, I am totally into Regency period England, modern-day New Orleans, and NYC circa 1980 when punk was on the way out and new wave was on the rise.  And that's just a drop in the bucket.]

And then it occurs to you -- wow, the people of New Orleans have no idea that I find their world so compelling.  I don't think any average citizen of NOLA (still dealing with Katrina and oil spill aftermath) is currently wondering if some random woman out in California is slowly becoming entranced by his city's history/music/food and planning a future visit.  The everyday culture of his world is simply a given, along with the problems that go with it.  Nothing enviable about that.  Why would someone removed from that reality fantasize about it?

Enraptured by Yo Gabba Gabba

So of course it's even more surreal when you realize that there's a flip side to that coin.  What if I'm the one inhabiting a world that someone fantisizes about?  What if someone is thinking longingly, "Man, I wish I was married to my dead sexy best friend; had a crazy, brilliant, HEALTHY, funny little girl; worked a steady job; lived in a safe, (relatively) clean home; and was still able to occasionally see awesome friends and family...".  When I think of it in that context, I realize that the mortgage, the commute, the bouts of teething and 1000 other little stresses are not as all-consuming as I sometimes make them out to be.  That I am one insanely lucky pirate.  



Enjoying one of the last bottles before we give 'em up for good!



Thoughts like that are also what motivate me to start saying nightly prayers with HD.  I hope that Hubs and I are able to instill in her a sense of gratitude for all we're given, as well as a good work ethic to try and keep it.   



Eating "cack-ahs" (crackers) and "butta-butta bye" (peanut butter, but it also means butterfly?)



Unfolded laundry aside, I heart this pic.  HD sorta looks like a Beatle

Blocks and Rowdy, HD's partner-in-crime

Yonder Bermuda Triange (or, "Why Did I Disappear for 3 Weeks?")

There was just too much fun going on the past couple of weeks since I've last written.  Let's do a quick catch-up and get down to kid cuteness, shall we?

A Southern lady-in-training, complete with smocked seersucker and halo.

1.  Vacay to my favorite port town: Charleston, SC.  I'm lucky enough to have folks that live in this awesome city part-time, so we get a free place to crash and free babysitting to boot!  Highlights of the trip were HD's trip to the South Carolina Aquarium (at present time, she deems any land mammal a "puppy" and any water-faring beasite is a "tuh-tuh" -- turtle), LOTS of beach frolicking at Sullivan's Island and Folly Beach (the warm water plants me firmly on Team Atlantic -- take that, majestic beauty of the freezing Pacific!), my father getting me slightly overserved, and HD got to meet her great grandfather and great Aunt Barbara :)

Pop, Mammy (Admiral Granmadre!), HD, and the Cap'n -- 4 generations of devious.

Our first all-looking-at-the-camera, all-smiling family portrait!  At happy hour, no less!

Sandpaper Pappy and HD in Waterfront Park, post-dip in the Pineapple Fountain.

Wind and hilarity at Folly Beach!

 2.  Last weekend we went to our first wedding of 2011 in a very cute winery...and it'll be a busy year on the wedding front.  I get 2 sisters-in-law this year, people.  Incidentally, we're not planning on taking HD to any of the weddings, unless the couple just really wants her there.  Any reader thoughts on this?  Hubs and I look at it as a date day for ourselves to be full dancing/drinking adults (in HD's lifetime, this has only occurred when we're at weddings!), not to mention that toddlers and Catholic ceremonies aren't very compatible.  Besides, HD will prolly have way more fun playing with her grandparents than being shushed in a church.    

3.  The institution of Workout Wednesdays.  Neither Hubs nor I are trying to lose any weight, but we do want increased energy to run after a toddler, plus the strength to man-handle her effectively.  So we've  begun working out together one day a week after she goes to bed -- a Jillean Michaels DVD here, some Netflix Watch Instantly pilates classes there (yup, I LOVE that Hubs is secure enough to give pilates a go...and he liked it!).  We're adding in a second weekday in August, and then committing to a weekend day by September.  Baby steps for couch potatoes, folks.

4.  Hubs started a new job!  He now works about 3 miles from our house, instead of 20.  This new lack of commute was especially awesome yesterday, when I was so enthralled in my book that I completely missed my normal train stop on the way home.  I have always vaguely assumed this would happen one day.  Which meant I ended up 2 entire towns south of where my car was parked.  Hubs busted a gut laughing on the phone, then lovingly came to retrieve my stranded ass 15 minutes later so we could pick up HD on time from daycare.  I'm a lucky lady.
__________________________________________________________________________________

With our catch-up out of the way, here's all news HD.  Kid is running around all over the place now, usually with as much grace as a wino.  It's adorable.  Per her daycare provider, she is also now officially a flirt.  One little boy kissed her goodbye after I had strapped her into her car seat, but apparently she likes to sidle up to a different boy regularly to bat her eyes and whisper "hi."  Once she's able to speak in full sentences, I imagine she'll break all sorts of hearts.  In addition to HD's array of animal sounds (horses have been added to that list), she can now point out a bunch of her body parts as well.  She's particularly proud of showing off her round "nummy" after a meal.  HD now is ridin' dirty in a big kid car seat (rear facing of course!) and we retired the infant car seat she first came home in almost 14 months ago.  Finally, Hubs and I are in the super fun process of starting to wean away the bottle.  Our opinionated little miss, who gave up the boob and pacifiers with minimal issues or fuss, has made it clear that a "baba" of milk is her one true love.  She has zero problems with cups as long as they contain water or juice.  Recommendations for process as welcome!

Our daughter, a sucker for the bottle.

Sailors Cry "FREEDOM!" (or, "The Independence Day Staycation")

It's definitely a little hard sometimes to plan your weekend around a baby.  The kid takes 2 naps a day, which isn't exactly conducive to fun outings.  Sometimes the weekend gets eaten up by errands, laundry, and Little Gym classes.  But Hubs and I have been talking about it, and we really want to be the parents who take their kids out on adventures.  They don't have to be extreme or expensive, just as long as we're together and experiencing something other than our three living room walls.

The awesome part about family fun days?  Everything is a new experience for HD, and her enthusiasm is so infectious.  She's past the age where I can just wrap her in Moby and she'll sleep through my adult conversations & lunch dates.  But I'm fully realizing that HD being a toddler is basically my free pass to relive my own childhood.  No one questions your craziness (singing Disney songs loudly, pointing out and counting everything, making animal sounds at random) when you've got a tiny kid on your arm.

This weekend we absolutely did not travel (saving that for a trip to Charleston next week to see my folks, YAY).  But we did go to some pretty awesome places...  The 3-day staycation began with a low-key day in our neighborhood.  Cleaned house, went to the local park and library, and beat the heat in our very own kiddie pool:

HD looks ever so "coolsville, jellybean" in her sunglasses.

Sunday, we risked the kid taking her nap in the car rather than the crib.  This is so we could spend the day hanging out at the San Francisco Zoo.  HD adored the petting zoo and getting face-to-face with the meerkats in the Children's section.  And, yes, all animals (from grizzlies to kangaroos to scarlet macaws) were deemed "puppy" by our butterbean.

It's a little tough to tell since the shot is grainy, but the goat is having a blast.

That same night, Hubs and I put the kid to bed and made ourselves a super romantic snack or strawberries, cheese & bread, and the last bottle of sparkling wine left over from our wedding a couple of years back.  It was only after all of that that we actually remembered that it was our original anniversary; 6 years from the time we started dating.  [Side note - I suppose marriage anniversaries trump all prior ones, but I feel it's a bit wrong not to recall that we've been together a good 4 years longer than we've been married!]

Then on the 4th, we headed out to Half Moon Bay.  For those of y'all that don't know, that's a beach near SF (a mere 8 miles from our house!) that is freezing, foggy, and windy 95% of the year.  This was the one day it wasn't.  We picnicked on the beach and played for hours.  While HD loves her some sand (but didn't try to eat it -- VICTORY), she was not so keen on the waves.  I'm hoping she reacts to the Atlantic Ocean a bit better next week.  Although truth be told, this Carolina girl can barely function more than 7 seconds in the frigid Pacific too, so can I really blame her?

We wrapped the whole weekend up with some pork ribs (Hubs is so grateful he married a Southerner), and bath time out on the front porch.

So this 4th of July, we celebrated HD's newfound independence along with that of our country.  Next up, the long awaited vid of the kid...walking.