Thursday, October 28, 2010

Moody Skies

I love it when the weather evokes an emotion. This afternoon the sky turned moody. It was warm and the air was still - a rare thing on top of our little hill. Check out this sky.


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So Ada and I went out for a neighborhood Halloween preview. At first she was on fire!! Running and climbing up any stairs she can find. After a couple of blocks she ran out of steam and hitched a ride.


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While we were out, we spotted a little cat running across a roof:


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San Franciscans seem to get really excited about Halloween. Like, really, really excited. Lots of people decorate - so unexpected, especially in our neighborhood. Note: the mayor did not decorate.


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The house up the street from us really goes all out for all holidays but Halloween is one of my favorites!


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Just a little preview of what's to come. We'll be back to Belvedere Street, which is what we always do every year. It's our little family tradition! Should be fun...I'll post some pictures whenever I can.


Meanwhile, have a spooky, safe Halloween!!

All About Family

October in San Francisco is typically when we get to really enjoy the warm weather, blue skies, gentle breezes...it is so beautiful. Over the course of a few weeks we experience an accelerated summer and then we swan dive right into fall. It's one of the best parts of living here and we love to share it with visitors.

Which means: we've been busy. I know, I know: I sound like a broken record. But I'm really not kidding - weeks of wonderful and trying like hell to keep even just my nostrils up and out of the water so that I can take little sips of breath. Reminds me of the days when I could and would spend over an hour in the pool swimming freestyle...back and forth and back and forth...counting the laps in my mind so I wouldn't lose count of how many miles I swam in that one workout.

So I'll pick up where I left off last post. Lots of pictures and few words. For real, if I don't tackle the folders of pictures now, I never will. That would  be sad because there are some good ones.


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Farmers market with Dip. I miss her. You can read her account of our meeting HERE. We shared our taca-flaca-flaca while watching the singing lady. Every weekend with her washboard and harmonica and dancing wooden cat. What a life!



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I made the foolish mistake of thinking I could take an uninterrupted shower. Ada kept whipping back the shower curtain...she was soaked by the time she tried to climb over the edge of the tub. I was crabbing about it, "Oh, you're all wet. Why do you want to be in here?" and so on when I thought, "Geez. Why are you acting like such an asshole? Just change her clothes after she gets all soaked." And so I did. My baby showered with me. Fully clothed. And fully happy.



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On Thursday I got a call, "Hey! We're at Fisherman's Wharf!" and so we went there after our shower. I love in this picture how she is so tiny compared to Pat. I have pictures of Tim and Ada together like this and I love it. He is, like, 6 times taller than her. So sweet.



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At Baby Gap it became clear that the major shopping influence in Ada's life will be her Aunt Stephanie. Ada is already learning how to thumb through the racks... too funny! She danced in the windows of the Baby Gap - and then she realized that her Mom (me) was on the other side of those windows and she suddenly got real sad.



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Uncle Pat and Aunt Stephanie watching the sea lions on Fisherman's Wharf





Last year we never got around to getting a pumpkin for Halloween. We at least made it that far this year. It's possible that next year we'll even get around to carving it. Schedule being what it was, we had to skip the trip to Half Moon Bay and settle for a  "pumpkin patch" near Berkley. It was super lame. Luckily, Ada is still too little to know how lame it really was. She is a toddler so she just lives in the moment, loving it for whatever it is. She loved the goats and the slide and the big orange round things.

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He's a good Dad.



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Ada gets awesome presents. I mean, all the time. Uncle Colin and Aunt Maiken got a rocking horse for Ada and she loves this thing. At first she stood next to it and rocked it with her hand. Within all of 3 minutes she was on it and loving it. Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Pat brought her an entire new wardrobe including a dress with a little black tutu attached - we refer to it as the Lady Gaga outfit. Thankfully, it's not the meat one.


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I might love my kid a little bit.



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Stephanie, Maiken, Colin



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Aunt Stephanie and Ada. We spent a lot of time talking about how Stephanie will help Ada flirt with the boys that Uncle Pat will then scare off with giant guns and stories about water boarding. I can already imagine Tim placing a frantic phone call to his brother whenever Ada has her first date. These poor future boyfriends don't know what they're in for.



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Maiken and Ada.



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Uncle Colin and Ada.



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More family fun.


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These are 3# weights. She can lift them.The funniest part of this picture is that she is wearing a black tutu, has a shiner over her right eye, avocado all over her chin, and is lifting weights. Oh. my girl, who will you grow up to be?



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Fun in the rain.



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Tim, Pat, & Colin



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At the Buena Vista - this family is really something. After this Colin and Maiken went home. Tim and I went back to Pat and Stephanie's hotel and stayed up talking for a few more hours. It could have gone on all night except that I had to work the next day and the nanny really needed to get home.




I mentioned that Moira and Ben welcomed Fiona Lynn. New life....so amazing. I remember those first couple of weeks at home so well. Finding our way, learning what she liked, struggling with breast feeding, wondering if we were doing things "right", being so tired.... now that I'm more comfortable, comparatively well-rested, and I realize that there is no such thing as "right" when it comes to raising babies I can recognize this period of time as one of the sweetest in my whole life.

It may be selfish and I do worry about the consequences of asking too much of the universe, but I can't wait for our family to grow. I can only imagine that the love just exponentially expands.

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Newborn love -  twiggly legs, randomly moving arms, and downy smell. I love it. Fiona is so sweet.



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Life will continue to creep towards "normal" - whatever that is! Normal is a moving target continually redefining itself. We're getting there!!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Square Peg, Round Hole

Tell you what: I keep trying to make this blog post follow some kind of order or express some kind of theme. I can't make it happen. This might be because the theme of this weekend was "hodge podge". There were multiple big events and tons of funny little moments but it was all in little fits and starts and honest attempts to keep several balls in the air at a time. So it's like fitting the square peg of my life into the round hole of a blog post - it ain't gonna happen. So please bear with me and if you are scratching your head at the end and wondering what it all means, well then, you and I are in the exact same place.


Wednesday morning we woke up to this sky:

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Man, sometimes San Francisco really delivers.

We lingered on the steps and waved to Tim as he headed off for work. We looked like a regular old family.

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Ada and I settled in for 2 precious, much anticipated days at home together. They were beautiful, these two days and a befitting preamble for a good weekend too. I can always tell when my wee one needs this time together as much as I do. As annoying as it is to not be able to pee without a toddler climbing onto your lap, I have to admit that deep down I don't really mind it.

A good Puritanical work ethic meant that we had some serious business to take care of  before we could play without guilt. I won't bother describing my projects as things like balancing the checkbook and scrubbing the toilet are pretty lack-luster. However, Ada is quite serious about her little toddler projects around the house. Projects like the great strawberry organization of 2010:

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There is also the great belt and clutch purse organization of 2010.

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With these very important tasks taken care of we were able to play. She is so very industrious and busy, busy, busy in her play that it seems she outgrew all of her other toys overnight. Now, I have a grand vision for my girl this Christmas. I want to get her THIS or THIS or make something like THIS. Until that time she has picked out a warm-up play kitchen. Yes, I bought her another toy. When she woke from her nap, she discovered that the toy she so loved at Target was magically here in her very own home! It was totally worth it to see this face

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It was a beautiful day on Wednesday: warm and sunny with no wind off the ocean. Classic that while the rest of the country is pulling sweaters and boots from storage containers under the bed we San Franciscans are wearing shorts and flip flops. Or, if you're Ada, you are wearing your Hawai'ian outfit one more time before you grow out of it entirely.

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I am achy for fall to settle in around us. Just like that sky above, San Francisco delivered again. The temperatures started to drop a bit, some clouds hung in the sky, and the crisp air of fall now with us. I made pumpkin bread - heaven. I made a soup with fresh beans and kale from the farmers market - delicious! We don't have our pumpkins yet so I went down the street our neighbors house and admired their collection of pumpkins. I am putting tights on the baby even if they don't go with her outfit - cozy! We got a delivery of apples from our neighbor. Apparently, a tree that never bore fruit before is suddenly dropping dozens of apples a day! They are crisp and tart!

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There were visitors too!! One of Tim's friends from college stayed wtih us as he passed through town. It was funny to hear him in wonder at Tim as a father. Given the context in which they became friends, it makes sense. Still, funny!
Then I met Ananda! Some people know her as Serendipite (or Dip) but I know her as my friend who I can be shamelessly silly with. Friday night we had dinner and wine - Tim went back to relieve the nanny and go to bed himself while Dip and I stayed out to play. Such a rare treat to have a girls night out! Nevertheless, I was home before midnight. I drug her to my favorite coffee shop and then to the Alemany Farmers Market on Saturday morning.  Ananda ran the Nike women's half-marathon on Sunday. I would have loved to go cheer for her and Kathi too (damn woman, another PR? way to go!!) but I was working. Boo :( Maybe next year?

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Then there are all those little moments I mentioned - too precious to not remember but they occurred so much in their own time that they just stand alone. My little baby is a jokester these days. I would like to have her baby laughter on a continuous replay. She sounds like heaven to me.

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There was one single point over the past few days when I thought, "Oh my gosh. I might be able to sit down and have a moment." So I grabbed my coffee and the great new magazine Moira (new mom to a gorgeous baby girl!) sent my way. I plumped up a cushion behind me, swung my tired feet up on the couch, sighed a contented sigh, and reached for my magazine when...."Whhaaaaahhh!!!" and just like that my moment was over. I think that half-full cup of coffee is still sitting right in that same spot and is now joined by a bigger stack of unread stuff - most of it is about veterinary dentistry.  I'll get to it - always do :)

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More good to come this weekend. And the weekend after that.