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.

Sailing Solo, Part the Dos (or, "Mama Hits the Road")

This weekend, I'll be hitting the flipside of my previous Sailing Solo post.  This time, I won't be the single parent at home with le bebe.  Rather, jetting to bee-yoo-tiful San Diego for a girls' weekend with old college buddies. 

There's been a lot of inner strife over this, y'all.  As a fulltime working mama, I spend a max of 4 hours of waking face time with my kid each weekday (during which I'm also supposed to get us both dressed, bathed, and fed).  I don't mind that I have to work, and I like getting the adult interaction each day.  But I do relish a weekend of simple park hopping, games of chase, morning stroller runs to Starbucks, and picking flowers with my daughter.  I love spending time with Hubs and HD.  They're fun people, and I definitely feel that in the hustle and bustle of life, we have to slow down and remember to hang together, minus the TV.

But.  Like all mamas since time began, I have to stop and actually, literally, remind myself that it's ok to do something that's just for me.  Something that has absolutely nothing to do with Hubs or HD.  That ultimately, a mama who knows how to be an individual is a good thing for her kid.  You know, so I (a) teach her how to be a strong, independent woman and (b) don't freak out in a couple of years when the kid starts to desire a life of her own and I don't know what to do with myself.  Not to mention the fact that Hubs is HD's numero uno, and I know they'll have a blast together without any mama interventions.

So bring on the Coronitas, the sun, the adult feminine chit chat.  I'm ready.  I may even manage to keep it down to one phone call to the fam per day, and one teeny kid gift in my carry-on.  Hubs will be repaid by having Sunday evening to himself and his scotch. 

We interrupt this tirade to announce that my baby brother and brand new sister-in-law had the Funnest Wedding Ever last weekend.  And this terrible mother adores her in-laws for taking the baby so we could enjoy every last bit of it kid-free (besides, parents need nights off together to remember why they're married, right?).  *Muah* to both families!

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.

Where the Parrots Fly (or, "A Much Needed Break")

A couple weekends back, we made like parrots and flew south.  Although I suppose parrots don't exactly ever need to migrate.  Anyway, we decided to brave Southwest Airlines with a near-toddler and head to our old hometown to visit some old buddies.

Highlights include:

• Hanging with so many good friends.  Mad love going out to my girl Jasleen, Meghann and her daughter Kyleigh, my other Megan and Meaghan, Meredith, and Hubs's homeboys Clive and Paul.  I appreciate y'all taking the time to coo over our kid, and to give me real adult conversation as well :)
• Visited the gorgeous Getty Villa in Malibu.  Schooled HD in ancient Roman and Greco art, architecture, and ways of living.  She's been speaking Latin ever since!
• First experience in a pool.  The bebe didn't entirely freak out (no cries, just lots of clings), so we'll take that as a victory point.
• I got to visit my former life's version of Cheers.   Reminisced on the days when, truly, everyone at Q's really did know my name (in my defense, I lived across the street).



The Border Grill is hilaaaaarious.

• Visited the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH -- UCLA!  Hubs and I are both alum (although, we didn't meet until after each of us had graduated), so naturally we had to give HD a tour of her inevitable future.  8 CLAP!!!



Hand to God, that plaque says "We Will Valet Your Stroller."

• Ate amazingly well.  Hats off to Border Grill's margaritas and the Godmother sandwich from Bay Cities Deli.  Also happy hour sushi, which is one of the things I missed most about LA.

Trying on laurel wreath props, getting our Roman comedy on.

HD, humoring our extreme Bruin exuberance (it's her FUTURE!).

Blue and gold look so very good on HD.

Finally, I think we'll make sure that every vacation includes a full length mirror:

Crab-Like, She Be (or, "My Daughter Totally Crawled Today")

It brings a tear to a pirate's eye

When her first mate spreads her wings to...BECOME FRIGGIN' MOBILE.

But let's back up a bit, shall we?

Last year when Hubs and I discovered we were in a family way, I immediately started to read.  [This should come as a shock to no one who has ever had more than 3 conversations with me.]  I'm a list-maker, a person who likes to prepare.  Not that I map out the way things should turn out...more like I believe in planning for every contingency.  So I read a TON of stuff online.  It started with lots of healthy pregnancy websites and then some basic how-to sources for all things baby.  Basically, I constructed my whole new outlook on life according to the Mayo Clinic and various online versions of parenting magazines.  Of course, Hubs loved sharing a 625 square foot apartment with a walking library on all things prenatal.

Yet, I eventually starting craving stories rather than facts.  It finally dawned on me that all kids are different.  And much more importantly, that all the great plans for your parenting style could very well be thrown out the window depending on your child's preferences/desires/dirty little pirate deeds.  I started dipping a toe into the world of Mommy Blogging.  And I discovered some amazing, hilarious, passionate women, and I'm still an avid reader of their stuff.  It's been a great way for me to hear all kinds of crazy (or normal) stuff that kids do and how their parents react.  I'll also admit -- it's awfully nice to have a general idea of a baby's normal development without having to constantly compare my kid to someone that we actually know.  Hubs and I don't exactly hang out with any other parents on a regular basis.  So for now, I'll settle to comparing my daughter's accomplishments to those of the children who's parents I admire online in a totally non-creepy way.  And I'm slowly venturing into the uncharted seas of actually writing about my own experiences as well.  

Which brings me to My Daughter, the charming and devious HD.  As of right now, she's 7 months old.  Current "baby tricks" include nomming solids with her two teeth, "talking" and singing up a storm, constant attempts to feed herself, and rolling to any far-away toy that she desires.  Kid isn't even a year old and she's already got a fierce independent streak.  I've been pondering the past couple of days what my inaugural blog post should be.  And today, in the middle of a stir fry veggie supper and an old episode of Weeds, my HD provided.  The first mate made her first Actual Intentional Forward Movement.  We're totally counting this as for-reals crawling:

HD has a play mat area in our living room.  This evening, Hubs and I watch her roll off onto the hardwood floor in search of a couple of her stray toys.  She then proceeds to claw her way along the floor, dead-leg style, and moves a good 1.5 feet to get to her loot.  Some parenting websites generously refer to this as an "army crawl."  I refer to it as "Baby, let me stop sobbing long enough to run get the camera."  Yup, this pirate cried like a little wench.  And then spent the next 15 minutes trying to get her kid to do it again on film.  It took HD awhile to do it -- not because she couldn't, but because she always stops what she's doing the second she sees a camera is on her.  She preens and poses for any camera, the little ham (no idea where she got that!).  We tried oodles of times to capture it successfully, but the above video is the most action we got.  The rest are more like this:

Regardless, I think it's time for us to go purchase a couple of baby gates.  God help us.