Merry Christmas

We planned on a calm Christmas this year (only my second in California) and were looking forward to not traveling, but things never really go as planned. Dave spent Christmas Eve at urgent care because of a fever and flu-like symptoms and Jake woke up hysterically crying on Christmas morning with a fever of 102. After a dose of tylenol, Jake went back to sleep for a few hours which gave Dave and me a couple of hours to hang out and exchange gifts. This is the first year we've ever exchanged Christmas gifts - I know, weird, right? We get a lot of comments about that from people we admit it to, but usually our Christmas gift to each other is airfare to the East Coast. I was just as excited as a kid to exchange gifts though because Dave really is the best gift giver. I am the new happy owner of a food processor, the TiVo slide remote, iLife '11, and the Wii game"Just Dance" (I will wait until post-baby to try that puppy out). 

Despite obviously feeling pretty crappy, Jake was all into his opening presents. He loved his (giant ass) train table, books, basketball hoop, legos, and any type of car or truck. The only letdown the scale-model Brauder backhoe loader Dave and I excitedly bought months ago and couldn't wait to give him. We thought he'd die when he saw it but he totally didn't care about it at all.  

Today I freaked out and packed up all the Christmas decorations. If it's one thing I don't need if I go into labor is to come home to a living room I can barely move in because of a giant, dried-out Christmas tree and a billion new toys, including one really big train table. 

Our Willow Glen Christmas tree - it's tradition in Willow Glen for everyone to put a tree in their front yard. The trees are delivered the first weekend in December and there are clear rules for setting it up in your front yard, including using these specific bulbs (and a white bulb goes on top). Sounds weird, but it really looks cool when you drive around our little section of San Jose.

My new arch nemesis, the train table. But definitely worth it - Jake loves it.

Even though he was surrounded by cars, trucks, and trains, Jake wouldn't put down his Thomas books from Auntie.

All worn out after Christmas dinner at Grammie's with Grandpa, Kika, and Doug.

One more month

Today marks exactly one more month until my due date, and it was my
last day of work. I'm glad I took advantage of doing little trips with
Jake last month because I'm definitely uncomfortable now - much more
so than I was with Jake if I remember correctly. I thought it was my
size but my doctor said I'm smaller this time around (certainly
doesn't feel that way). Lucky for me Jake is just as content walking
around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights, playing matchbox
cars, and watching TV with me cuddled up on the couch as he is going
on adventurous day trips.

The look says it all

Apparently interrupting Jake to take a quick photo (he just looked so
sweet) while he is busy watching monster truck videos on Youtube is
not the way to get on his good side. (Isn't he still too young to be
this annoyed by me?)

Grumpy griswold house

Jake and I found this house the other night on the way home from
Julie's. The picture doesn't capture how insane it is (music and all).
Jake and I parked the car to take a closer look, made a $1 donation
into the "make a wish foundation" box, and were excited to see a sign
that said "Santa Claus will be here next Saturday! All Children
welcome!". It was so festive! And these people really embrace the
meaning of Christmas! That's what I thought until the obvious owner of
the house came barrelling out of his garage in a truck so fast he
almost hit Jake, so I scooped Jake up. Jake proceeds to yell "hi!!"
and wave at the man who gives Jake a dirty look in response. If I
wasn't so bloated I'd have stuck my arm back in that donation box to
take my $1 back.

Early thanks

After an emotional afternoon visiting our friends and their 2-year-old son in UCSF's pediatric intensive care unit, I'm feeling especially thankful for Jake's health, and extremely ashamed of how often I take it for granted. Hoping with all my heart that our little friend Lucas gets the answers he needs from the specialists at UCSF so he and Jake can play together again soon. 

Thumbs up for pudding

Jake is getting there, but he's still not that much of a sweets guy...
until I recently shared one of my pudding cups with him. (Remember
those pudding cups? They're so good and don't upset heartburn!) This
was his expression about two seconds after I handed him the cup.

Driving the green car

It's funny how you research the top spots to bring your kid to enrich his life (and how much you spend to go there) only to find out maybe he could care less. We brought Jake to see Thomas the Tank Engine, to the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium, got memberships to the local children's discovery museum and zoo, and checked out every park and playground around that yelp suggested as "good for kids." But what does he talk about constantly? "I drove the green car with Daddy." It took Dave and I awhile to even catch on to what he was talking about, but when he wouldn't let it go, it finally clicked and I brought up some photos on my phone of our recent trip to nearby Gilroy Gardens, this kind of run-down, defunct, horticultural-themed amusement park. That was it - he got all excited and looked at the pictures over and over. We took Jake there a couple of weeks ago just to get out of the house and because we had free passes. No planning ahead the night before, no strategy on beating the crowds, no googling like crazy to see if there were discounted tickets. I threw a diaper, sippy cup, and a couple packs of goldfish in my purse and we just hopped in the car on a whim and went - I don't think we even brought a real camera. Hell, I don't even think I took a shower! Yet this is what he remembers, and obviously cherishes. Maybe it's time to rethink that drive to Muir Woods.... 

2 1/2

Jake turned 2 1/2 on Saturday! So hard to believe - he's growing up so fast. I know I'm biased, but he's the sweetest, cutest, smartest, 2 1/2 year old. Ever.

As far as milestones, Jake can count to 10... and is working on 20. Right about '13' he starts going "16, 17, 16, 18, 14...." It's one of those things that is too cute to correct. He also knows his alphabet, but o is sometimes "big circle." He's eating just about anything and everything, and Dave and I were surprised that when we grabbed lunch on Saturday he ate more than the two of use combined! His favorites are TV shows like "Thomas" and "Dora the Explorer" (he asks for TV way too much, though, so we're trying to limit it), going on slides at the playground, anything having to do with cars and trucks, and reading books (mainly books that have to do with cars and trucks). He loves 'helping' by helping me with the laundry and emptying the utensils from the dishwasher. The things that come out of his mouth are funny, and sometimes so sweet, and recently he's gotten a little harsh. His best recent quotes are:

"I like this pink chicken!" (salmon)
"Mommy you bigger than a monster truck!" (kind of true)
"I do it all-my-by-myself! No touch me!"
"... H, I, J, K, L, M, N, "big circle," P, Q, R"
"I love you Mommy. That make you happy." (in response to "Jake I'm mad you did that.." He's totally right by the way, I can't stay mad at him when he says that)
"Mommy, you got pants on?" (When he comes to wake me up in the morning. Don't get the wrong idea - the funny part about this is I don't know where it came from. I do, in fact, wear pants to bed. Every night.)

We celebrated the big 2-point-5 with a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was really crowded and maybe a bit over Jake's head. But we hit up Dennis the Menace park after that which was awesome! It's a huge oceanside park with tons of slides and play structures.

 Started the day out right with pancakes shaped like cars and trucks (I can't take any credit for these... they were all Dave. Best dad in the world!)

 Looking at fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

The jellyfish exhibit

Dennis the Menace Park.

The "big lellow slide" at Dennis the Menace park.

On a real antique steamtrain at Dennis the Menace park

The slides at Dennis the Menace park - check out the end where Jake comes down head first, feet up in the air and some strange man tries to save him by catching Dave.

Veteran's Day

Jake and I enjoyed the mild weather (ok, honestly, to me it feels like it's freaking 100 degrees every day and it's the first time since I've moved out here that I've wanted to be back east for winter, but I digress) and a day 'off' (daycare was closed for Veteran's Day) by exploring a nearby park. We've been to the playground but never on the hiking trails at Vasona Park in Los Gatos. I'm excited that Jake seems to have such a love of the outdoors, and he's such a good little walker, I thought it'd be a low-key, crowd-free "adventure."  I've mentioned before that my little guy is now a talker, so strolling around while having a conversation was so enjoyable.... except where I was trying to piece together phrases like "I went to timeout because Julie was mad" (???)  "because I touched the waterfall" (???). Either way, it was a nice day, and Jake was more agreeable than I thought when I asked him to sit on a bench so I could rest a bit. We watched the ducks for a while and he polished off some fruit snacks. We continued on the trail and circled back around to head back to my car. When we passed the bench we had a originally rested on, Jake looked up at me and said "Mommy, our bench." I know I'm not supposed to be lifting anything over 20 pounds anymore, but I had to pick him up and squeeze and kiss him ... love that little guy.

Jake watching the ducks ("He's swimming under the water Mommy!"). I took this from "our bench" :)

Playing hooky

Jake and I took quite a detour on our way to daycare this morning. I thought I could get away with playing hooky from work since most of my coworkers are celebrating Diwali (turns out I was wrong, but that's a different story) so I decided that while I'm still mobile, I wanted some one-on-one time -- a full day -- just Jake and me. He asked if we could "go on an adventure." After me asking "what, put your pants on?",  I got what he was saying, and it was persuasion enough to pass up Happy Hallow and venture off the peninsula for once. I remembered when Jeanne, Mike, Jack, and Allie visited 7 years or so ago, and we went to the Bay Area Children's museum in Sausalito. It sits in Fort Baker, right at the base of the Golden Gate bridge. I hit the jackpot, if I do say so myself, because Jake just LOVED it. It's a great little "museum" that's set up in old military barracks. It's like it was made for Jake - dump trucks, train tables, boats, and lots of things to climb. When we had to leave, he cried, and not a bratty no-I-don't-want-to-leave cry, but a heartbreaking sob that actually had me thinking that maybe we would just stay there until it closed, or longer! But I talked him into going to see "the big bridge"to get him out of the museum and we got these pictures of him admiring it. I also got him excited to drive over it (he slept on the way up) so it wasn't a total tearful goodbye. Despite finding a bunch of frantic "where are you?" emails from work, it was totally worth it, and I'm hoping the two of us can get in a couple more playdates before January. 

Happy Halloween!

This was the first year Jake really "got" Halloween, which made the weekend so much fun. On Friday, we went to downtown Willow Glen for their preschool trick-or-treat with our favorite neighbors, Adelaide and Delia. It was crowded and hectic, but the perfect place for Jake to practice saying "trick or treat" and "thank you." It also quelled my fear about him not being into wearing a costume - he loved his firefighter costume.




















On Saturday we went to UCSF medical center with Dave's mom. Each year, the NICU has a celebration/reunion for all the survivors. Dave was born there a full three months early 35 years ago. I don't think Jake got the whole "Daddy was born here!" thing, but he loved seeing all the kids in their costumes. I got a big dose of reality, and left feeling immensely grateful for my big healthy two-year-old after seeing tiny little babies that you could see were little fighters.

On Sunday we went to History Park in San Jose. It's a cute little park that's a replica of what downtown San Jose looked like... a long time ago. Hm, maybe the early 1900s? That was fun because we didn't have to worry about cars - Jake thought it was just awesome that he could be in the "street" without holding my hand. He also got to ride on an antique trolley. Perfect for his this train obsession he's going through.

That night we went around the block to trick or treat. A little stressful because we live in a prime trick or treating neighborhood so there were lots of crowds on the sidewalks, but fun nonetheless. Jake caught on pretty quickly and decided that he wanted to go trick or treating "all my by myself!" We said ok, and the first house he hit "all my by" himself, he decided to open the front door and walk in on his own! We didn't know these neighbors, but luckily they got a kick out of him. (He really was the cutest kid out there!)

Adventures in public transportation

Jake and I had the day to ourselves so we headed downtown to the
Children's Discovery Museum. Here's Jake playing in the ambulance they
have set up there (I know, kind of weird). We got our first rainy/

cloudy weekend since last winter so the place was packed. The crowd
started to get to me (surprise) and I was so so hot (surprise) so I
talked Jake into going outside to run around (the museum is set on a
beautiful sprawling lawn). But once we were outside, Jake noticed the
light rail and got super excited and started yelling "Mommy! Train!"
So, I bought us $2 tickets and we hopped on! Now, I've lived within
walking distance to light rail stations for 7 years but I'd never been
on it - but how hard could it be to ride around and get back to my
car? Yeah. So an hour later I've got my two-year-old lost in downtown
San Jose with no idea how to get back to my car. In New York, the
subway goes in both directions... not in San Jose. We managed to get
into a part of town where the train only went North. After a stop in a
seedy fast food joint for burgers, I reminded myself that I had my
GPS, Dave was just a phone call away, and even though I had no idea
where the hell I was, I couldn't have been more than three miles from
our house. So I grabbed Jake's hand and we just walked. We walked by
the art museum, through some great park with fountains, and by lots of
office buildings and banks with the best steps for Jake to jump up and
down on. He even stopped at some giant planters and said "Wow!" It
really is amazing to see things through the eyes of a toddler - who
knew downtown San Jose could be so interesting? After and hour of
walking we found a southbound station and made it back to the car.

Jake hasn't mentioned the museum, but can't stop talking about the
train and his "walk."

Go Giants!

A shot of Jake after the Giants became NL champs!

Weekend in Davis

Two weekends ago, we went up to Davis to see Vishal, Allison, Jay, and Deven. We wanted to spend some time together before I was too big and uncomfortable. We visited my favorite pumpkin patch - it's just a farm up in Davis, and doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the Bay Area pumpkin patches, but it reminds me of Massachusetts. Not crowded, big open spaces for Jake to run, and a hay ride without a two-hour line. It's fun to see the difference just a year makes. Last year Jake kind of ran around, not caring about pumpkins or the petting zoo, but this year he was ALL about picking a pumpkin (he chose a white one), following Jay up to the top of the hay bale tower, and - best of all - checking out the tractors and other farm machinery. 

Santa Cruz

Jake didn't have day care on Columbus Day so I took the day off and we
headed to Santa Cruz after swimming lessons. We went to the beach at
the boardwalk (I'm sure it has a real name but I don't know it)
because it's closest to our house. It was a hit because Jake was
amazed by the boardwalk itself and the rides, even though they were
closed. I pointed out the Big Dipper and told him it was Mommy and
Daddy's favorite roller coaster and we loved riding it and we'd take
him on it some day when he was bigger, and blah, blah, blah... just my
typical babble because it's hard for me to keep my mouth shut and ever
since my little sidekick was born, I've had full-on, one-sided
conversations with him even though I was fully aware he didn't
understand/care what I was saying. Later on in the week when I was
putting him to bed he looked at me and said he really liked the big
roller coaster that was my favorite and would ride on it with daddy
and me when he was bigger. I was pretty touched. Guess I underestimate
the fact that he really does listen to my constant chatter - I think
it's time I pipe down and let him get a word in so we can start having
some two-way conversations.

HOT

Jake's face captured how we both were feeling tonight - day 2 of 100+
degree temps. You know it's bad when you offer to take your two-year-
old for a walk and he says "too hot, Mommy." Got my fingers crossed
that some sort of deep freeze moves in tonight!

Sunday afternoon nap

I joined him this afternoon - can't believe I woke up first. Loving
the big boy bed.

Cupcakes

Dave had a much-deserved night out with friends (and I knew it was going to be a long one when he texted a picture of a big glass cowboy boot full of beer), so I selfishly kept my little man up with me to keep me company. We baked cupcakes - here they are fresh out of the oven. When Jake asked for one, I explained they were too hot to hold because they just came out of the oven. He solved that problem by by sticking his face directly and the cupcake and taking a bite. "Not too hot to bite, mommy," he told me. 

Weekend away

Dave and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary (5 years!!) this weekend. Since Dave can't really get away from work, we stuck close by and went to Half Moon Bay while Julie and Kim took Jake. It came at a good time, the complete fatigue I haven't been able to shake (I told my ob/gyn that I must be dying) seems to have finally subsided and although Dave was on call for work, he didn't get called in. We spent the weekend at the beach, eating at restaurants (a luxury for us, Jake just doesn't do restaurants. Or sitting in general), and here - at the garden where Dave popped the question 6 years ago. He rented it out for us to spend the afternoon in. I was totally surprised (again) and cried. I may be less tired, but I'm still as weepy as ever. He also got me a diamond necklace to match the diamond earrings he got me on our wedding day. Not sure how he had time to do this in between working 300 hours a week, but I am so grateful.

(Deja Vu - although I have my giant pregnant chest in this picture! Just look at those things!)

It was nice to have time to reconnect, but we cut the trip a little short because we missed our favorite little man back in San Jose... especially Dave who has barely gotten to see him lately. Jake made the early trip back worth it.  When we showed up at Julie and Kim's,  I held my arms out to him and he ran right past me, screamed "DADDY!" and jumped into Dave's arms and wouldn't let go. Yes, I cried.

Halfway

My latest ultrasound showed that I'm further along in my pregnancy than I originally thought, so I'm past the halfway point to little Nugget's arrival. New due date sounds cooler, too: 1/10/11. I'll remain paranoid about every little cramp, twinge, and ache until week 37 but I did decide to splurge on some gifts for Nugget on Etsy. (I didn't tell Amy, but I bought these with her and her camera in mind.)

This will be made in the classic gender-neutral colors of yellow and green.

The only downside to this was they did not have a 'Mommy and me' version!! Totally my loss.

Here's to 20 more weeks! Getting more and more excited, but can't help the bittersweet feeling that there'll be another one in the mix now, and it won't just be me and my favorite little sidekick in the early evenings, on Saturdays, and my favorite ... if you work with me, please stop reading here... just the two of us playing hooky on Fridays:

Jake and Artie

A couple of weeks ago Jake and I headed up to Palo Alto to meet Artie, my friend Sarah's 4-month-old Goldendoodle. Artie's half Golden and half miniature poodle (and 100% adorable). When it came time to leave, Jake took Artie's face in his hands and gave him a big kiss on the mouth and said "oh you're so soft." (Yeah, it was that cute.) Later that night I found myself googling the breeder's information. I mean, a toddler and newborn isn't bad enough, we should throw a puppy into the mix, right?

A day with Thomas

Jake's new obsession is Thomas the Tank Engine, so I was excited when I saw that "A Day with Thomas" would be in nearby Santa Cruz. We packed up early Sunday for a day of Thomas activities and a ride on the train!

Problem number one, I didn't check the weather. When we left San Jose it was already sunny and in the mid-80s. When we got up into the mountains it was raining and 60. So we started out the day cold and grumpy (and I was carsick, of course). Problem number 2, like every other event in this god forsaken area of the country, it was PACKED with people. You couldn't move. I laughed out loud when Dave turned to me an hour after we got there and said "This is just miserable." A bunch of 2-4 year olds fighting over trains, parents shoving each other around and giving the dirty 'your kid's not sharing with my kid' look. (This was at the spectacular 'train table' display... neither of the five set ups could compare to Katie Perusse's.)

And the kicker was, we didn't realize people lined up about an hour ahead of time to get on the train, so we piled on last. That meant we were stuck on this little bench in the middle of the car, not even able to see out the sides. Luckily, I'd hit full-on bitch mode at that point and shoved in next to a guy who was taking up an outside seat with his backpack so Jake could see. And for 20 minutes, it was all worth it... the ride actually went through the redwoods of Big Basin. It was really amazing and beautiful.

And then it ended. And we piled off. And we got a glimpse of Thomas and the hour-long picture line from about 100 yards away. Jake still talks about riding on the choo-choo, but I don't think he has no idea the day was associated with Thomas.

Back west

We are still recovering from our trip back East, and learning that the longer you spend a few times zones away, the longer the recovery time is. Jake is doing better than expected, and I've decided to cut myself some slack about his sleeping issues. Most 2 year olds haven't had to readjust to changing time zones 20 times in their short little lives. It really screws with his sleeping patterns (can you tell from the picture of us in Maine? He never sleeps on me). What has helped is he's now in a "big boy bed," which is his crib mattress on the floor (thanks to a genius idea from Aunt Julie).

Besides having the best time visiting family and friends, the good news about this trip was that Jake was incredible on both legs of the flight. I think he's starting to understand that he's on a plane, and stuck on that plane for 6 hours. He slept a bit, played a bit, and ate a lot. Maybe it'll be doable on my own with 2?

Happy fourth

We celebrated the fourth of July in Maine. Here we are on Moody beach, waiting for the fireworks to start with big cousins Emma and Ryan.

Heat wave

We're in the middle of our first heatwave this summer. That means I'm
back to cursing the real estate agents that all said "you don't need
air conditioning in San Jose - it doesn't get hot enough" and Jake
gets to stay up extra late because I'm scared he's going to melt in
his crib. Here he is at 9 last night enjoying an ice cream cone. It
was still in the high 80s, but he insisted on wearing his reindeer
Christmas socks.

Happy birthday!

Jake celebrated Father's Day by enthusiastically wishing Dave a "Happy birthday!" all day long. Here he is in the bike seat he got Dave for a gift.

If anyone deserves a day to be recognized and appreciated, it's Dave. I can't think of anyone else who would work a 12-hour day, race home just in time to give his little boy hugs, kisses, a bath, and read "Clifford the Big Red Dog" about 14 times, just to go back to work. Luckily, I think Jake shows how much he appreciates his dad by the way his face just lights up and he practically tackles Dave when he sees him.

I'm 2!

Over two... it's taken me quite a bit of time to get back at it. Jake left his "one's" behind by giving Dave and me (and his pediatrician) his first real health scare. What started as a case of croup turned into bronchitis and that almost turned into pneumonia. Why he wasn't able to fight off what should've been a mild respiratory virus, no one's sure, but we're hoping it was just a case of getting hit by two bugs at once and not a sign that he has asthma. Anyway, after a variety of heavy meds, Jake was almost back to normal for his second birthday. He was still a little ill on his actual birthday, but Dave and I took the day off and took him to Happy Hallow.

He's been two for a week and I think he's taking it a little too seriously. Boy is he determined... and that leads to lots of temper tantrums and meltdowns. Dave and I looked at each other at 8:00 am on Saturday and just said "All this before 9:00?" But I still can't help but laugh at some of the things that comes out of his mouth. My favorite recent quotes include:

Jake to me: "That your juice?"

Me: "Yeah, it's my orange juice."

Jake: "No, that lellow. Lellow juice"

(so right! orange juice IS yellow!)

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Jake after dropping his thomas train: "Dammit!"

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Jake to his pediatrician at his 2-year appointment: "I wear socks and shoes"

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Me to Jake: "Why are you crying? What's wrong?"

Jake through tears: "I wanna see garbage trucks!"

----

He also recently brought his juice box over to my foot and offered my big toe some juice by holding the straw up and saying "There you go...".

little deuce croup

Jake is leaving behind the last year with a bang. Saturday a fever and breathing problems came out of nowhere, and by this morning he had lost his voice and was in obvious pain. Turns out he has croup, which sounds like something people should have stopped getting in the 1800's, but apparently it's still around "especially for children in day care." I hate when doctors say that. And she said this right before she strapped a big oxygen mask on Jake's face, told us he'd have to have a "breathing treatment" for 15 minutes, and left the room. Fifteen minutes! An almost-two-year old not feeling well with a mask strapped on his face? I tried my best to keep it on him, and I have the bruises on my shins to prove it.

We spent the day trying to follow doctors orders by getting lots of rest (I think we watched "Cars" 17 times), drinking enough juice boxes to fill a small landfill, and taking non-recalled doses of Motrin every 6-8 hours. Sounds like the little guy is going to have a rough week while he recovers from this, but I'm feeling lucky that he's peacefully asleep in his crib right now and hopeful that he'll shake this in time to fully enjoy turning "deuce" next Thursday.

Half Moon Bay

We took advantage of the nice weather this weekend and headed out to Half Moon Bay. We learned important lessons about our little angel:

1. Restaurants are out of the question for the foreseeable future. (Yeah, we were "those" people with the screaming kid who did not want to sit because he wanted to see the "big, big water.")

2. Somewhere along the line Jake decided he does not like sand on his feet. Or hands. That makes visits to the beach tricky, but he got along just fine, splashing in the water with his socks and shoes on.

3. I passed on my intense motion sickness to my son. :( We now know if he says "poop" and coughs, he's going to lose it.

4. Getting the smell of vomit out of a car seat cover is next to impossible.

Fun with iPhoto