Little Murphys

Walking!

2012-02-17T10:13:00.001-08:00

V-day treats!

2012-02-14T00:39:00.001-08:00

Thank you Auntie Kathy for all of the awesome Valentine's Day presents!! Jake went crazy over his new minster truck and Will was still breaking in his awesome first birthday present from you, and now he has even more new toys!

My little ego booster

2012-02-07T23:05:00.001-08:00

I took this picture while driving over the Bay Bridge at sunset. I love bridges, particularly this one, and thought the sky looked amazing. I was trying to be all artistic. It's just been sitting on my phone. Tonight Jake was playing with my phone and said "Wow, this is my favorite picture, Mommy. Good job." :)

Little runner

2012-02-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

Jake ran his first race this weekend - the Davis Stampede Kids Fun Run. And man, did he pull it off! Most of the little kids ran with a parent, but Jake told Dave he wanted to do it by himself at the starting line. He's the one in the hooded blue fleece (no, he doesn't ever take it off, even when it's 65 degrees and he's running!). He was one of the first to cross the finish line!

Best buds

2012-02-05T23:41:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite parts about visiting Allison and Vishal is watching little Deven, 3, interact with Will. He calls him "baby Will," brings him toys, tries to pick him up, and loves stroking his hair and face. Will adores Deven and loves every second of the attention. And at just a pound apart, the whole sight of the two of them together is just undeniably adorable.

Sandbox

2012-01-28T19:06:00.000-08:00

We introduced Will to the sandbox today. Yep, he dug in and started eating the sand so we had to pull him away pretty quickly.

Precious moments

2012-01-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

I always feel bad when people (usually old ladies) approach me and say something about how I should appreciate these precious moments blah, blah, blah. Jake is usually trying to turn the grocery cart into a "race car-t" and Will, who's getting harder and harder to contain, is usually shrieking and trying to wriggle out of the safety belt. I'm almost always annoyed, anxious, and not enjoying the moment at all. And at home? A precious moment is picking the right tv show so they'll both sit still long enough so I can get pasta cooked and bottles washed. But today (day 5) I was trying to get my little sicko down for a nap. It wasn't working. My usual rocking method left him squirming, so I started to decide if I'd just let him be cranky until his afternoon nap or take him for a drive. Then all of a sudden he sat up, clutched my arms with his chubby little hands, and snuggled his head into my chest and fell asleep. I cuddled him for a while and the transferred him to his crib. He looked up, smiled at me with his two big front teeth and rash-covered face, rolled over and went back to sleep. I think, despite him smelling like diarrhea + rash cream + formula, that it was a precious moment.

Day 4

2012-01-19T23:28:00.001-08:00

Will is going on day 4 of being sick. It all came about when I brought him in for his simple, one-year checkup and the nurse asked if he had any issues and I said, "no, he's great!" right before I gasped - his mouth was bleeding bright red blood! The nurse calmed me down explaining his already-diagnosed eczema can cause cracked lips. But then she asked, "Do you know he has a fever of 102?" (Yes, stupid nurse, that's why I answered that he was great.) Then the day from hell started (No, you won't put a catheter in my one year old. Yes, I'd rather make a 45 minute round trip to bring back a "pee bag" specimen.) After a UTI was ruled out, Will got the "oh it's a virus" diagnosis, and spent the last three days home with me fighting a fever. It broke last night and the kid has a rash from head to toe to show for it. We also got our first frost and rain in a year, so we've been stuck in the house. Lots of "Tangled," blocks, cars, (ok, and "Teen Mom"), and phone meetings where luckily Will's coos and squeals made people laugh. Seems like he's back to normal, but I'm not sure I can give the little guy up tomorrow!

Bedtime

2012-01-18T21:24:00.001-08:00

Is there anything sweeter than Jake's face at bedtime? And doesn't the boy on the beach in "Goodnight Maine" bear an uncanny resemblance to Dave?

BFFs

2012-01-15T00:19:00.001-08:00

Will finally met his pal Anika today. Devi and I forced the friendship by putting them in a cage, but I'm happy to report they were fast friends - just like Riya and Jake a few years back.

Happy Birthday Will!

2012-01-12T15:38:00.001-08:00

Can't have my cake until I eat my broccoli... at least mom faced me away from it.

What's this in the coolest wrapping paper??

A boat! Thanks Auntie Kathy!

Now for that cake... Mmm

YUM!!!

Sleepy

2012-01-10T14:06:00.001-08:00

Only my little zen baby would sleep through his first swimming lesson.

Baby

2012-01-09T10:58:00.001-08:00

Only two more days of having a 'real' baby. :(

My little buddy

2012-01-08T18:06:00.000-08:00

On Saturday Jake and I sent race 'officials' into a tizzy when, from about 100 yards or so from the finish, he ran, grabbed my hand, and crossed the finish line with me.

Happy 2012

2012-01-02T23:35:00.000-08:00

My new year's photo shoot went just as well as my Christmas card photo shoot.

Happy new year!

2011-12-31T14:02:00.000-08:00

I made my family ring in 2012 by getting them up at 7 to take me to a race in the east bay. Lake Chabot is gorgeous for anyone looking for a nice hike in Castro Valley. I shaved a minute of my pace... Easy to do when this little guy is cheering for me at the finish line!

Reindeer video

2011-12-27T00:35:00.001-08:00

You really need to see it in all media forms to really appreciate it!

Reindeer

2011-12-27T00:33:00.001-08:00

This year I finally got some pictures that do justice to my favorite Christmas decorations in the world. One street in our neighborhood displays a sleigh being pulled by reindeer. It spans six houses. It's the best and my dream is to one day live in one of the houses, or talk my five consecutive neighbors into doing the same thing.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T08:26:00.000-08:00

Will was a little overwhelmed by everything

Yes! A Monster Jam ramp from Auntie Kathy!

Brotherly love

Figures I'd get shots like these *after* Christmas cards are done

Sous chef

2011-12-22T21:33:00.001-08:00

Will helping me with dinner tonight. (Stainless steel + tile = LOUD)

Look who's home!

2011-12-21T23:46:00.001-08:00

Unfortunately I didn't get video of Will squealing with delight.

Park

2011-12-18T23:25:00.001-08:00

Jake has been asking for "a playground in my backyard, like Katie's" for Christmas. Katie lives back east and has a backyard the size of our entire block. It's kind of set Dave and I into a tizzy and after discussing maybe removing our dying peach tree and measuring every "playground" available at toys r us, we decided its just not possible to fit any kind of swingset into our tiny back "yard." So today I took Jake to the park to remind him of how we can easily walk to our playground. On the way home after a fun-filled couple hours I talked it up -- it's bigger than Katie's! There's more grass than Katie's! Katie's doesn't have a giant (germ-filled) sand play area! He said, "Yeah, but Katie's playground has a dog." Crap.

Neighborhood watch

2011-12-18T23:12:00.001-08:00

Ever since the car bandit incident, Will has taken our neighborhood watch program verrrry seriously.

Big strides!

2011-12-18T18:22:00.001-08:00

Yes that's me breathing heavily/yelping in the background.

New kicks

2011-12-14T22:30:00.001-08:00

It's getting cold and Will seems to be getting ready to walk, so I had to do something about his feet only fitting in socks. As if the poor kid wasn't self conscious enough about his chubby watermelon feet, turns out stride rite only offers extra-wide sizes in stark white booties. Poor Will isn't even one and he's already looks like he's in orthopedic shoes!

Oh Christmas tree

2011-12-14T00:24:00.001-08:00

Warning! Posts this month are all out of order! Here are some photos of us cutting down our tree. It didn't look that big in the forest, but when we got it home it took a lot of sawing to get that puppy to fit in our living room.

Yawn

2011-12-13T00:36:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever sleep 8 hours again. Last night I was up with Jake at 1:30, got him down...up with Will at 2, got him down at 3:30 after a bottle and the two of us watching a gripping 20/20 on 'gender-cide" in India, and then, when I finally think I can go back to bed, I notice someone breaking into my neighbor's car. I chase him off (I wanted to yell "Dude, I'm so f&$#%ing tired and don't have time for this sh#t!!!" but instead I politely yelled "I see you and I'm calling 911!" - from behind my jasmine bush in case he had a gun), and THEN I waited for the cops to arrive so I could give a "description" of the shadowy figure that took off running down our road when he heard my threat (apparently "I'm sure it was a man and he had to be young -he ran so fast!" wasn't good enough for San Jose PD). Then it was up at the crack of dawn for a conference call with Chennai where I had to try so hard to contain myself from asking about "gender-cide." It's only Tuesday and I already feel like superwoman. A totally exhausted superwoman... but an exhausted superwoman with the cutest boys in the world! (Look at that damn face!)

Merry Christmas

2011-12-12T22:24:00.001-08:00

From the best darn garland-applier that ever existed!

11 months

2011-12-11T18:30:00.001-08:00

Will is 11 months old! And no trips to the ER yet, despite a "helpful" big brother. (Here he is trying to get Will to look at the camera.)

Biggest fan

2011-12-11T00:05:00.001-08:00

I treated my biggest fan to a donut and chocolate milk this morning (a thanks for his support!) on the way home from my first ever trail 5k - a race in the Santa Cruz mountains. I planned on going by myself since it was so early this morning, but Jake came running out in his PJs half asleep and said "mommy! I have to go to your race so I can clap for you!" (His PJs are still on under that hoodie). ;)

Standing

2011-12-09T12:15:00.001-08:00

Top, back, and side view of my soon-to-be walker (!!!).

Thank god he's a country boy

2011-12-03T09:25:00.000-08:00

My favorite thing to do when I'm visiting my parents is take a walk alone. There aren't many places I think are more beautiful than that area of Massachusetts (I'd even put it before Hawaii and Fiji). But the past few visits I haven't been able to go any walks because of weather or pregnancies so I was thrilled to get out a couple of times this visit (thanks to balmy weather and an awesome husband). One late afternoon, Jake asked to go with me. I can't say no to that little face so I put down my iPod an bundled him up for what I thought would be a 10 minute walk. But he loved it! And he's only 3, but you could tell he really appreciated it. He commented on how quiet it was, how big the sky was, and how many trees there were. He was a little thrown off by not being able to 'go around the block,' the lack of sidewalks, and how 'big the piles of kitty poop' were (horse crap). An hour and a half later we were making our way home in the pitch black. One of my favorite memories of this trip.

BOS -> SFO

2011-12-02T15:21:00.001-08:00

Hour 1(through about hour 1.5)! All smiles....

Hour 2.5: through vigorous rocking and bouncing in his seat (seat belt sign was on) Dave finally manages to get a cranky Will to sleep. We got 1 hour of sleep out of him.

Hour 3: Jake remained in his Dramamine-induced coma for 3.5 hours!

Hour 6: Landed. We went through an entire box of Baby mum mums, lots of lollipops, two iPhone batteries (almost an entire iPhone when Will got a hold of mine and chucked it into neighboring row 22), gallons of apple juice and water, 3.5 bottles (hey, when your baby's crying on a plane shoving formula into him is your only option), two diapers, and a freaking whole lot of our sanity. The kicker was Jake wailed while we descended (how dare the flight attendant tell him he had to get off his knees and sit down in the seat for landing). And those red eyes? That's totally not the photo, we're all just crazy and devilish after x-country flights. But as I returned to work on Monday, just so happy to not be anywhere near an airport or airplane, a message came through on the parents' email DL asking for advice for a 10-hour layover in Hong Kong with two kids. Maybe I don't have it so bad!

Grandpa Yim

2011-12-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

I feel so lucky to have met (and loved with all of my heart) this truly remarkable man, and I'm so glad he got to meet Jake and Will. We will always love you, Grandpa.

Packing up

2011-11-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a break from packing up for our 6.5 hour flight tomorrow (GAH!) to share some pics from our awesome east coast visit.

Grammie makes the best monster truck ramps/slides

Grampy planned Jake's dream day - we went to the Mayflower and then to Edaville Railroad

Jake's observations about Mass: "Walls are made of rocks, people put stars on their houses, and the trees are broken." (stone walls, decorative stars that everyone does seem to put on their house now, snowstorm of 10/11)

It was so warm we could even take Chase and Kyle's powerwheels for a spin!

Cousins are the best. And no holiday is complete without a photo of children on mom's awesome floral sofa.

Gold help me

2011-11-17T14:59:00.001-08:00

T minus a few hours until we board the red eye for Boston. 'Tangled' is loaded on the iPhones, Cheez its and baby mum mums are packed in the diaper bag, and Jake's backpack has new toys in it. We also have antibiotics, Motrin, and Benadryl for two little sick kids (and one sick mom). Nervous as all hell but I'd be so much worse if Auntie Jeanne wasn't here to help! Will these x-country flights ever get easier??

10 months old!

2011-11-11T19:16:00.001-08:00

Will turned 10 months old at 1:11 on 11.11.11. (No, I will not shut up about his birth date and time.) He looks underwhelmed because he was home with me all day and I have no idea how to care for my own child so he hasn't really napped. As for Jake, lately his hand is either up his nose or down his pants so it's hard to grab a picture of him not doing something rude - sorry.

Honesty is Jake's policy

2011-11-09T10:07:00.001-08:00

I darkened my hair yesterday (main purpose: go longer between pricey hair appointments without 3 inches of roots showing). I honestly didn't think it was all that noticeable. But then Jake saw me, stopped dead in his tracks, and said "Your hair's brown. I don't like it. I like it when it has lots of yellow stripes in it." I can always count on my little buddy to tell it like it is!

Hair cute

2011-11-07T21:38:00.001-08:00

We went and got that much-needed hair cut tonight. When we got home, Jake asked "Why did you say 'Jesus' to the lady?" Why? Because it really irks me when you sigh in frustration, roll your eyes, and snap at my three-year-old who is trying his best to stay still on a freaking HORSE-chair while you use clippers on his ticklish little neck... then I say "JESUS, maybe you shouldn't work at 'Kids Salon' if you have such a problem with kids!" That's why, Jake.

Hey bitchy Kids Salon hair cutter - no tip (and scathing Yelp review) for you.

Christmas card photo fail

2011-11-06T23:53:00.000-08:00

If you're looking forward to our Christmas card this year, don't hold your breath. (Yeah, I know Jake needs a haircut... but do you see that's the least of my worries?)

Boo!

2011-11-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from my little chicken and astronaut! We had a great time trick-or-treating in our prime trick-or-treating neighborhood. I've become one of those people that gives the stink eye to the people that come, park, and take up all the room on our sidewalk and STEAL the candy bowls off of the Murphy's front porch. Hmph.

My little (sweaty) chicken

He's an astronaut, people... not a "space man"

Brothers!

A bee, astronaut, firewoman, and a chicken in a car

Eli ("Bob the Builder"), Jake, & Will.
Any tips for getting 3 year old boys to smile normal?

Jake was a little shy at first - thanks to our neighbors who came out to him!

Halloween parade

2011-10-31T14:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! Jake's preschool had a Halloween parade and party this morning. It was really so adorable, and I finally got to match parents with kids (I'm talking about you, Halen's mom and dad).

Jake parading! That's Halen right behind him. (Yeah, sure, he'll totally be a cop some day.)

I don't know who got him to wear the hat. How cute is he? He's so cute.

Group picture!

Another group photo on the fire truck.

We got to watch circle time today! I love this picture because it looks like Ms Theresa and Ms Lety are mad and they're flipping off the little kids.

That's my boy! Totally not paying attention!

Eating cupcakes, made by yours truly.

I love my little astronaut. Sorry other parents, Jake really is the most adorable, funniest, cutest kid in the class.

Pumpkin carving

2011-10-30T23:40:00.001-07:00

We got into the spirit of Halloween by having a pumpkin carving party! Which actually turned into a "let's get these whining, fighting toddlers inside and in front of Dora so we can all sit back and enjoy a drink" party.

Sunny and 72

2011-10-29T23:06:00.001-07:00

I couldn't believe the pictures my family and friends sent me today of the snowstorm in Mass. Heather kept me up-to-date by texting me pictures as the snow accumulated. She wasn't too happy about snow in October, so just to be mean I sent her this picture back of Will hanging out in the sun. (Will's forehead got into it with the train table and the train table won.)

Oh, Jake

2011-10-27T12:43:00.001-07:00

Jake had me in stitches a few times last night. Which is good for him, because no matter how much attitude he's giving me, if it makes me laugh, I can't get mad (or say "no"). The bad part is, he's smart enough that he's catching on to that.

Hysterical thing #1:

Jake: "I need another popsicle, mommy."

Me: "Jake, you had two, that's enough."

Jake, holding up two sticks: "It isn't enough! How am I supposed to make an "H"!?!" (see picture - yes, he got three to make his H)

Hysterical thing #2:

Jake: "At school, Landon told me he's not my friend anymore."

Me, feeling so bad for him: "I'm sure you're still friends with Landon. Why did he say that?"

Jake: "Because I kept running by him fast yelling in his face "You are the slowest BOY EVER!""

Me, not feeling so bad for him: "Oh."

Hysterical #3:

Jake: "Why does Doc Hudson get so mad at Lightening McQueen in his garage?"

Me: "Because Lightening McQueen was touching his things... just like you get mad at Will sometimes."

Jake: "Mommy, no he wasn't. Lightening McQueen does not have hands."

Jake 5 minutes later: "Maybe he was touching Doc Hudson's things with his tires."

Day out with dad

2011-10-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

While I was stranded in the foothills with Will, Jake was enjoying a day with Dave at Stanford. That's field hockey he's watching (where are their plaid skirts?)

Taking a hike

2011-10-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

Dave and Jake went to a soccer game today, so I decided to take Will on an adventure. I wanted to go for a hike to enjoy the weather, so we headed south to Calero County Park in the west foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains. Will enjoyed every minute of it by sleeping.

So, tip 1: Make sure you don't take the "equestrian only" trail (horses don't like strollers, and people riding horses don't like dumb women who hike on the trails for horses). Tip 2: When you think you're all badass hiking up the super-steep hills, think of how you're going to get your 20-pound stroller (plus 25-pound baby) DOWN the super-steep, dirt (i.e., slippery) trails. Because crying at the top of the hill in sheer panic isn't going to help you. I haven't been that scared since looking down Mount Watchusett's bunny hill in the fifth grade at my very first ski lesson (thanks, mom, for putting me in the 'B group' because 'you weren't going to pay that kind of money' for the A group (beginning) lessons). We made it home unharmed, but take in the scenic picture because I think the backdrop to Will's photos from now on will be our yard or downtown Willow Glen. (At least for a good while.)

Lazy Saturday

2011-10-22T21:44:00.001-07:00

I lost the "you have to get dressed" battle. Again.

Walking and driving

2011-10-19T15:30:00.001-07:00

Will is very serious when he's behind the wheel. (Jake's not smoking; that's a lollipop.)

Big day of firsts

2011-10-18T22:07:00.001-07:00

I had my 9-month checkup (holding steady in the 90th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference) which included my first flu shot, I'm eating cheese, and my mom finally found some shoes she could smoosh my chubby feet into. I'm tired!

Biggest fans

2011-10-17T09:23:00.001-07:00

Jake and Will came to cheer me on at my first post-babies 5K. As I crossed the finish line (in 479th place! Woot!) Jake cheered for me. And then told me everyone was faster than me, even little boys and little girls. Next up is the Clinton turkey trot when I'm home for my t-day visit. When I think Clinton, I think hills so we'll see how that goes. If only the finish line was at my favorite bar in the world, the Old Timer, I'd be all set.

Big noggin

2011-10-16T23:32:00.001-07:00

I don't know why people keep commenting on the size of Will's head.

Buddies

2011-10-14T16:21:00.001-07:00

Braylen and Will at daycare. It's hard to tell from this picture but Will has two weeks and ten pounds on little Braylen!

Creek Drive gang

2011-10-14T16:20:00.001-07:00

Will, Addy (with a giant tomato), Jake, and Delia hanging out after school/nanny!

Picture day

2011-10-12T09:42:00.001-07:00

It's been a stressful two weeks leading up to picture day - I had no idea what to dress Jake in! After narrowing it down to three choices I did a quick consult with Jake's fashionista Aunt, Amy, and this was the final pick! Final cost of getting him in this get up? I promised him a bag of m&m's, a new monster truck, and a trip to Toys R Us to sit on the Batman power wheels. And I still kind of lost... he's supposed to be in a pair of jeans with his desert boots, but I gave up after a minor meltdown (both of us had one). I guess the sweater in 80 degrees is torture enough. Oh but the best part of today was when I walked him into class all his little friends clapped and yelled "Yay, Jacob's back!" (he's been out sick for two days). It was so sweet. Except for little Halen who said "you can't sit next to me." I didn't know I could despise a three-year-old until I met Halen. I did the Ben Stiller "watching you" move where I pointed at my eyes and then Halen's and left with nice thoughts of Jake not messing up his Bumble & Bumble-styled hair and doing a normal smile for the camera!

Will's 9 month photos

2011-10-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

Will is going to be 9 months tomorrow! In case you hadn't heard, he will be 9 months at 1:11 pm. Heh. These are some photos I took yesterday with our new lens and although I think I'll never be able to figure out natural light, I like how they came out. It doesn't hurt when you have an incredibly adorable subject (take that, lady who told me yesterday "oh when my son was a baby he had a large forehead and tiny eyes too, but he's so handsome now!"). Will is just hysterical - he has such a personality and is a little clown. We've always called him our mellow guy, but we're learning now how feisty he can be. He does NOT like the word no, hates sitting still for diaper and clothes changes, and doesn't like it when we take "big boy" toys away from him. He's fully crawling now, and is definitely close to pulling himself up . He has a mouthful of teeth (I think he's breaking #9 right now) and does cute little things like peek-a-boo, leaning his (perfectly sized) forehead in for a kiss, and shaking his head when I say "no no!" These 9 months have flown by, but I'm kind of excited for the toddler phase!

Sick day

2011-10-10T12:36:00.001-07:00

Little brothers are great, until you have a fever and a stomach ache and you can't get a minute of peace and quiet on the couch. (How much do you love the dramatic "I'm sick" pose? He's so my kid.)

Playtime

2011-10-07T13:04:00.001-07:00

Taking advantage of late afternoon sunlight! Sad that daylight savings is almost over!

Will, about to eat a leaf.

They don't call it Creek Dr for nothing! Jake looking for ducks, while I keep an eye out for homeless people.

Jake listening intently to Will.

Action shot! The little Brady fan taking off across the park.

Sent from my iPhone

Peek-a-boo

2011-10-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

One of the many adorable things Will does - playing peek-a-boo with his bib. It's worth having to listen to my annoying voice yell "peek-a-boo!!!" over and over to see him do it.

This makes me happy

2011-09-30T10:39:00.001-07:00

Anyone who reads this blog regularly (yes, I'm talking to the three of you) know that Dave and I don't get out much, but would like to, but my hunt for a babysitter has been an epic fail. To be fair, Dave's parents are always willing to watch the boys, but they're not too close and nights are hard. So for, oh, three years I've been looking for a babysitter/nanny. It's become a joke in the neighborhood because there are a couple of babysitters that everyone uses and swears by. I met them. I didn't like either. And the true test is Jake, who also didn't like either. So I gave up for a while until this dinner pops up for Dave's mom that we really need to go to and really had no one to watch the kids. So I figured I'd start the hunt again and signed up for one of those caregiver sites. CRAZY. In one day I had over 100 responses to my post for "hi, looking for a babysitter for my two boys." (I have to take the post down, but I think I'm well over 200 responses.) It was insane! And people say the weirdest things! But like 10 women/girls sounded normal, so I met with them, and didn't like any of them (including the one who is now habitually texting me asking why I didn't like her). So I thought the site was just a waste of time, but then when I was scanning some responses just to kill time and one popped out. Jessica. (Cue "hallelujah" music.) In a sea of "please hire me I will die for your children and I will die if you don't hire me!!" responses, was this nice, normal "I really enjoy working with kids" response. We met her, Jake did not hide, and I liked her (!!!). Dave and I WENT. OUT. We did! We left the house. Twice now!! Anyway, I know she's as great as I think because Jake reports that Jessica: does things better than I do, NEVER yells or gets 'grumpy' with him, and can make Will stop crying better than I can. And he cried when he woke up Thursday morning because "Why is Jessica not in my bed?!?" But then it's little things like this.. I noticed this in the backyard. Pictures that she must have drawn with the boys. It made me smile so much. See, that's all I wanted, someone to play with my kids, and adore them as much as I do.

Crawling!

2011-09-29T23:20:00.001-07:00

Little Einstein

2011-09-28T23:18:00.000-07:00

Jake's preschool informed us today that Jake's extremely advanced for his class. I know, I know, we all saw this coming... he's my kid, right? Now if we can just get him to poop on the potty, put his shoes on the right feet, and stop calling the Indian boy in class "boy Riya" we can start filling out applications to Harvard.

Going on a squishy hunt...

2011-09-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

At least I think that's what he's saying... it's one of the songs he picked up at school. The best part of this video is how intently Will is listening. Definitely Jake's biggest fan!

Sunny playdate

2011-09-24T21:06:00.001-07:00

Riya and Jake enjoying some running, more running, climbing, and fruit-snacking in Santa Clara today.

Closer to crawling

2011-09-24T00:32:00.000-07:00

Will is so close to crawling that when I turn my back for even a second, he manages to scoot himself into precarious situations, like sterolite containers. If I've told him once, I've told him a hundred times - think *outside* the box!

Screw the baby toys

2011-09-21T23:57:00.001-07:00

My little bruiser has no time for squeaky animals, soft blocks, or teething rings....

Smiley

2011-09-21T23:52:00.001-07:00

Ms. Teresa, Jake's teacher, said Jake is such a happy kid and that he smiles when he naps. :) He kind of has a joker mouth like mine so the corners just turn up, but I'll stick with thinking he's that happy at "school."

New hair do

2011-09-19T16:06:00.001-07:00

Julie's been cutting Jake's hair for the past two years, but now that he's not there during the day, we took a trip to a kids' salon this weekend. I was a little nervous about how he'd react to his first real hair cut, but he flipped over the jeep/chairs (genius) and that they were playing 'Toy Story 3." He was a champ, and he looks A-DOR-ABLE.

getting started...

Not happy that she's blocking 'Toy Story"

Ta-daaaa!!!

The place even had a jumpy house!

Early bird

2011-09-19T00:14:00.001-07:00

I love this shot... all snug in his PJs with the sun rising through the window. I'd like to say we were playing together on the floor, but really, he's completely engrossed in RHONJ. When you wake me up twice during the night and wake up for good with the sun, mommy's going to make you watch trash TV before Jake gets up and takes over. If he could talk he'd totally be saying, "team Gorga!"

Lunch date

2011-09-19T00:05:00.001-07:00

Jake invited his BFF, Riya, over for lunch and a walk to the park today. Riya's my kind of girl - into "Cars," Thomas, and for Halloween she wants to be a "witch with a wand so I can lock princesses away in the tower!" At two weeks apart it's awesome to watch and hear them interact. The best exchange from today? Riya to Jake: "My favorite color is blocks!" Jake to Riya: "My favorite color is train tracks!"

Correction

2011-09-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

He's in 12-18 month clothes! I'm going to give the poor meatball a complex. (nice excuse to post another pic of him, though!... And that onesie is size 24 months, but it's a brand that runs small)

Monster truck ramp

2011-09-13T11:31:00.001-07:00

Dave wins best parent award (again) by digging around in the recycling and making this monster truck ramp for Jake. Jake takes such good care of it, carefully putting it away each day after playing with it. And to be honest, the thing is sweet! I can get some good air off of it (if Jake is being generous and doesn't make me play with the broken monster truck). And... check out our apples!

8 months

2011-09-13T11:29:00.001-07:00

Our little man turned 8 months old on Sunday! At 23 pounds, Will's having a hard time getting himself off the floor to crawl, but he gets around by simply rolling (I'll have to get video of it). That goes for pulling himself up, too. Anything that has to do with supporting his weight he's a wee bit behind on. But he's advanced on a few things! Eating for one, proven by the box of raisins he dug up under the couch that he devoured (I got to him when he had a mouthful, tipped him upside down and frantically started smacking his back and he just laughed and continued to chew them up) and the lilies he ate when Dave and I left him sitting in the backyard within reach of our flowers (quick google search calmed any fears that lilies are poisonous). He has six teeth and two more are breaking through right now. He's in size 18-24 months clothes and it's just bizarre to see him sitting there in an outfit Jake was running around in just a year ago! He's got a nice crop of hair now that's dark blonde and he has beautiful hazel eyes that I think are going to stick as hazel and not turn true brown. He loves music, dogs, and has the best, deepest belly laugh when he's tickled. He's also quite the ladies man. When we drop Jake off at preschool all the little three-year-old girls come running to pet him and coo at him, and he LOVES it. Yes, it makes me a bit nervous but we just keep their grimy little hands off his face and purell those thighs when we get back to the car.

Look familiar?

2011-09-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

We have our neighbors' deaf and partially blind 12-year-old golden for the weekend. Does Freddie remind you of anyone?

Big brother

2011-09-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

Jake holding his "little" brother.

Six years!

2011-09-04T20:02:00.001-07:00

Dave and I celebrated our anniversary kid-free (thank you Julie!!) in Carmel. It was so weird to go for a drive without listening to Kidz Bop.

Driving

2011-08-31T16:13:00.000-07:00

Peeking

2011-08-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

Will is always in awe of Jake....

First day

2011-08-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

Today was Jake's first day at preschool! He handled it like a champ, until they tried to put his name tag on him. Jake doesn't do stickers, stamps, or bandaids and I guess name tags fall into that little phobia of his. So you have a good amount of kids screaming "mommy!!" at this school and my little Jake screaming "no tag! No!" He was able to go without the name tag to his class room, but was prompted again once he got into the class. He cried again, but his teacher... Miss SomethingSpanish (man, I can't remember her name!) picked him right up and put him on her lap. That made me feel great -- one of the reasons I was hesitant about preschool was the weird strict rules (if he has a #2 accident they are going to call me at work because they legally can't clean him up). Jake's so used to getting hugs and kisses at Julie's, but I guess wiping poop is different then lap-sitting and hugs.

Posing in the front yard with is new shark lunchbox from Miller

Doing a true pose in front of the main entrance.

Class 6! With my little guy getting comforted by Miss SomethingSpanish

Preschool orientation

2011-08-25T00:14:00.001-07:00

Jake and Dave walking into his preschool orientation! We got to meet his teachers, Miss Teresa and Miss... SomethingSpanish. We also realized the downside of a nickname - everything from the nametag he has to wear everyday to his cubby is already dubbed "Jacob." Ah well. So while the other kids clung to their parents Jake took off running around the class yelling "You can't catch me!" Miss Teresa looked a little nervous....

I'm totally adorable

2011-08-23T00:18:00.000-07:00

Happy as can be watching "Shrek" on our bed. (We'll get him to be a DreamWorks fan if it kills us.)

Chomp

2011-08-23T00:15:00.001-07:00

If my toes were as cute as his, I'd be chewing on my foot, too.

Happy baby

2011-08-22T16:30:00.001-07:00

Little handyman

2011-08-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

After a few delays, we finally got our laundry room redone. There were a couple little touchups that Dave handled this weekend. Jake put on his Home Depot tool kit, removed his pants, and put on his rain boots to jump in and help Dave out. After some tough child labor, Jake totally deserved a walk to Starbucks for some treats. I wish the contractors we dealt with last week were ok with being paid in whoopie pies and chocolate milk!

Brothers

2011-08-15T23:54:00.001-07:00

I can't lose this pic!

See, he really is a monkey

2011-08-15T23:53:00.001-07:00

Jake climbing all by himself on the rope bridges at Happy Hallow.

One more picture...

2011-08-15T23:51:00.001-07:00

I love this one! It's Jake at Happy Hallow. (I have a glitch in my phone that I can't figure out so I'm uploading as many pictures as I can before I lose them. :( )

Bigger boy seat

2011-08-15T23:49:00.001-07:00

And here's Jake in his new booster seat! Check out the cup holders.

Big boy seat

2011-08-15T23:47:00.000-07:00

When I went to lift Will out of his infant seat on Friday and the seat came with him I realized we couldn't put of switching him to a regular seat any longer. Here he is in his new (Jake's old) Marathon!

Flying friends

2011-08-15T23:45:00.001-07:00

Will loves sitting I'm his crib and grabbing at the animals on his mobile.

He has hair

2011-08-15T23:43:00.000-07:00

Will sprouted a good amount of hair in what seems like overnight. Jake keeps saying "Look, he has hair!"

Happy Hallow

2011-08-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

Jake and I met up with my friend and her daughter at Happy Hallow this morning. Riya is a little female version of Jake so it's so fun to see them together, and Riya's mom and I get to relax because we fully expect a little attitude and a lot of stubbornness from both of them. Besides Jake insisting on calling Riya "Leah" it was a complete success!

Cheater

2011-08-12T14:22:00.001-07:00

I love this... Jake is getting a little help on his alphabet puzzle by looking on the side of the puzzle box. Cheating or pure genius?

August 11 already

2011-08-11T12:52:00.001-07:00

Happy 7-month birthday, lovebug.

Bike racks are fun

2011-08-07T19:57:00.001-07:00

On the weekends, Dave and I both like to sneak in a little alone time with Jake. I grabbed an hour tonight and offered to take him to one of the playgrounds in the neighborhood. But this is Jake's favorite spot... the bike rack and flag pole at the elementary school on our block. At least we always have the space to ourselves!

Back to normal

2011-08-07T19:52:00.001-07:00

Today was Dave's last day of paternity leave. :( I'm going to be in for a rude awakening tomorrow.

Teeth!

2011-08-07T19:50:00.001-07:00

So glad I didn't breastfeed this time around.

Slowly but surely

2011-08-05T23:34:00.001-07:00

Month 6 of potty training. I think he's going for some sort of record. (At least he's trying?)

Naked baby

2011-08-04T23:33:00.000-07:00

Too cute not to post, and you can get a good look at those big, round fat feet of his. I can't even smoosh them into large-size Robeez... thank goodness it's warm enough that he can go barefoot!

Tahoe or bust

2011-08-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

We spent last weekend in Tahoe. I'd been there once before about four years ago with our friends Julie and Justin, and I've been dying to get back ever since. There's really nothing like it - it's gorgeous. And as much as I love Ogunquit, I'm really a lake girl at heart. Maybe it was all those summers hanging out at spec pond. Anyway, I had these grand visions of reading my kindle on the beach while Jake built sand castles and Will napped in his special beach tent. I even went to Target and bought myself a float. I knew things weren't going to go as planned when Will started screaming 2 hours outside of Tahoe and Jake puked all over the car 40 minutes outside of Tahoe. Then he puked all over the condo for the rest of the night (we still don't know if it was car sickness or altitude sickness). Then he decided he "does-not-like-this-house-and-wants-to-go-home" and repeated that in a whiney, sometimes hysterical cry, for the entire three days we were there. There were also mouse droppings in the condo and I was stuck sleeping in a twin bed in a loft up a spiral staircase two floors from the rest of my family (that would've sounded neat when I was 8 or 9). Anyway, we really did have an overall good time and are already planning on going up again next summer.

Will gets jet lagged even if we stay in the same time zone (I really needed that beer!)

The staircase to my chambers

Will at Heavenly

Will and Dave hanging out

Jake at Heavenly

Jake pointing at boats (see the snow on the mountains!?)

Sunset in South Lake Tahoe

Jake was a huge fan of the pool