Good-bye Training Wheels

Ethan is very close to a new milestone: biking without training wheels.   Last weekend, he finally got up the nerve to give it a whirl.  With lots of practice he made it around the cul-de-sac by himself!

Today we went to our nearby park, and he also did great--until he crashed, head first into the concrete.   He scraped his chin, got a fat upper lip and hurt his teeth (luckly none were broken!).   But with some gentle encouragement, he tried again.   I am pretty sure that by summer he will be riding really well!

Holiday Season!

Well, we are ready for a visit from Santa.   Our tree, which we put up the weekend after Thanksgiving, looks great.   We put it in the living rooom this year, and it sits quite nicely in the bay window.   Alaina mostly resists the temptation to pull the ornaments off the tree, though if she is left alone she does grab at them.   We decided to not put the train down this year to avoid it being broken.

   

I finished sewing Alaina's stocking about a week after the tree went up.  And our fireplace is blocked to keep Alaina from crawling in!

This year, we even added some outdoor lights to merry up the outside of our house.  Now all we need is a holiday wreath (the one on the door is a thanksgiving/fall one)--we will wait for the after Christmas sales to get a cool one for next year!

Ethan and Alaina have had not one, but two visits to see jolly old St. Nick, one at the mall a few weeks ago, and another time yesterday, when Ethan and his friend Shelby went to see him together.   Ethan's wish: a curious george t-shirt and an airplane that flies by itself.   We'll see if he is good.....

11 months

A day late, but the picture is from yesterday.   What a sweetie pie.  She has two teeth now, her hair is really growing in, and she has mastered speed crawling.  She is pulling herself up to a stand, but no signs of walking yet.  Even with her mobility, her new favorite word is "up"--she loves to be held.  At the table, she is really getting the hang of table food--so much so that she also will put anything that she finds on the ground while crawling into her mouth--obviously quite dangerous!  I am paranoid she will "eat" one of Ethan's toys. In one month--a year!

Ethan's first letter to Alaina

The other day, Ethan brought this home and proudly presented it to his sister.  It made me smile and I thought I would share.   Sorry it is on its side, I can't figure out how to get it flipped in the proper orientation.

The big 3-6

This week Jason celebrated his 36th birthday.   Both of us have been very busy at work recently (December is always a busy month as people squeeze in procedures before their deductibles reset in January), but we were fortunate to both get off early to celebrate on Thursday night.

As per routine, Jason requested crab for his birthday dinner-and I was able to get some that had been caught that day.  Ethan and Jason were in seafood heaven, while I ate some pasta, and Alaina crunched down cheerios.
Of course, we all (except Alaina) enjoyed ice-cream cake for dessert.

to extend the celebration, last night, we went out with Jason's best friend, Matt and his wife for an adult only dinner, which was also quite nice.

Happy birthday Jason!!

Thanksgivukkah!

This past weekend, we were fortunate to celebrate two holidays in one: Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.  Per Wikipedia, "one physicist has calculated that, if the Jewish calendar is not revised, Thursday, November 28 will not fall during Hanukkah again until the year 79811.  However, since the Jewish day does not begin at midnight, but on the sunset before it, there will be two more years in which Hanukkah and Thanksgiving partially overlap, with the first night of Hanukkah beginning in the evening of Thanksgiving. These will be the evenings of Thursday, November 27, 2070 and Thursday, November 28, 2165."  So maybe the kids will be around for another overlap, but Jason and I won't!
  

  

We had a great celebration with Jason's family.   We enjoyed the traditional Thanksgiving dinner--turkey with all the fixings--as well as some Hanukkah themed additions, such as potato latke appetizers.  And I made Challah for our bread.   Yum!  

Jeremy flew home from Belgium to join in as well, and his visit made quite an impression on Ethan--when we all went around the table to say what we were thankful for, Ethan chimed in that he was thankful for Jeremy coming! Very sweet, and hopefully made his long flight worthwhile!

Alaina enjoyed some jarred turkey and sweet potatoes to mark the holiday as well.

                                     

Our little explorer

With her new mobility, Alaina is really into exploring.  Her current favorite place to hang out is the pantry.   I guess because there is a lot of stuff in there that she should not touch!   She also really enjoys going through cabinets.   Luckily we have the ones on her level full of plastic cups/plates and bowls, so we let her enjoy searching through one to keep her occupied.   It really does keep her busy for quite awhile.   Additionally, in trying to reach the cups on the top shelf, she has shown interest in pulling up to a stand.  I am not sure if that is a good thing or not....but she is growing up fast.

10 months!

Here we are at 10 months!   Alaina's has had a lot of changes in the past month....she has perfected her crawling, and is starting to try to pull herself up.   She has sampled table food, and *finally* sprouted a tooth. She continues to be more communicative and certainly lets us know when she is not happy.  With her new mobility we have found out what she is really interested in , and the answer is: electric sockets!  We have mostly baby-proofed, although still need to install the gate on the stairs--she hasn't tried to climb them...yet...

Soccer Kicks

This fall, Ethan has had his first go at soccer.   We signed him up for a "skills" course with one of his buddies from preschool.   Each Saturday morning they practice dribbling, kicking, and, curiously, singing.

Ethan seems to have a ball and I think he is going to be excited to be on a real team next year.

Halloween Fun

We have been busy and I have gotten behind on posting---but have to get a quick post in about Halloween. We had such a fun time celebrating!

The weekend before, we headed out to a pumpkin patch in western Marin.  It was a beautiful setting, and we were reminded how lucky we are to live here.

Later that day, Ethan enjoyed carving his jack-o-lantern.   He especially loved how it "glowed in the dark" at night.

Alaina's first Halloween was a smashing success.   I ordered her a cabbage patch wig on etsy.com in the first few days of October.   The crochet-er said "guaranteed by Halloween".  Perfect.  Except when on Oct 26 I had not heard from her at all.  I sent a quick email, and was told that she was running behind.   We pleaded, and I guess it worked, as Alaina's wig arrived just in the nick of time on Oct 30.
I have to say, it was completely cute and worth the wait!

Ethan also had a fantastic Halloween.   This year at school, they made Lion costumes.  One of the teachers told me that Ethan spent a LOT of time picking out all the yellow yarn pieces for his mane.  The costumes were cute and we enjoyed his last preschool parade.

For trick-or-treating Ethan picked a Spiderman costume.  Just like last year, we went trick-or-treating with his friend Shelby, who was Ironman.   I don't remember superheroes being so big when I was little, but I guess I was busy dressing up my cabbage patch kids!

  

St. Louis Wedding Weekend

Last weekend, a good friend of mine got married in St. Louis.  (Randomly, my second trip to St. Louis this fall for a wedding!)  This time, Jason was able to get time off work so we both flew to the wedding.   Although we originally planned to bring Alaina, at the last minute Jason convinced me that 2 long plan rides in 48 hours with a 9 month old was not a good idea, and thankfully, his parents agreed to watch both kids for the weekend.

We had a nice getaway, even though it was short.   We were able to go to a movie--havent done that in a long time--and check out St. Louis--Jason has never been before.   We went up the Arch--it was open again after the government furlough--and walked around the park.

The leaves were just starting to change, and we were lucky to have crisp, but sunny fall weather.

The wedding was very nice, and I got to hang out with a bunch of my college friends which is always fun.  I missed the kids though--it is hard when we work so much during the week to be gone all weekend too.  This weekend we are enjoying time together--but next I am gone again, this time to Philadelphia for work :(.
 

9 Months!

Yesterday, Alaina hit the 9 month mark.  She is getting big!  She is getting much more mobile now.  She crawls backwards quite well, and just last week figured out how to get from a crawling position to sitting up on her own.
She is also learning how to communicate.   She can say "mama", "dada", and "more".   She also can wave, blow kisses and clap on command.  We are pretty proud!!
She is such a joy and sweetheart,  and we are so fortunate to have her in our family.  A few days ago, we asked Ethan if he remembered what his life was like before Alaina was born and he said, "I was so sad because I didnt have my Alaina".
Agreed!

Future Plans

Our latest "project" is a big one--we want to start a kitchen and laundry room remodel.   Actually it is more than just a remodel, it is also an addition.  Our master plan is to turn our current galley kitchen/laundry area into a big open kitchen with an island!!  We have spent lots of time planning out the space, thinking about layout and looking at pictures.  Pretty much our  evenings, if Jason and I are both home, are spent in the office pouring over ideas.  Thank goodness for the website houzz, which has provided us with a lot of inspiration.   Our preliminary draft came back last week....we made some changes and are now waiting for draft #2.   The next step will be permitting (which we have heard can take a LONG time).  Then we will get to do the fun stuff--picking out cabinets, tile and appliances.  I am thinking it is highly unlikely we will break ground before the new year, but we will see how it goes.   I know that will be the un-fun part--dust, drafts, and nowhere to prepare meals or do laundry.   But, it will be all worth it (I think) when we get our new kitchen!

Push Ups

My dad does 100 push-ups every day to stay in shape.   Now I think he has some competition--Alaina is beginning to push up on all fours.  She hasn't figured out how to crawl forward yet--but I am sure it wont be long.  For now, by pushing up and then plopping down, she has leaned how to inch backwards.  We are going to have to baby proof soon....In other developments this week she has also learned how to clap.  

(bad resolution photo, sorry!)

First day of School and 8 months old!

Two weeks ago, when we returned from Chicago, Ethan had his first day of school.   It will be the last year in his preschool and this year he is in a special pre-K class, the "Llama" room.
He is pretty excited about being the oldest in the school and we are hoping that this year will prepare him well for kindergarten...

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Meanwhile earlier this week, Alaina celebrated 8 months.   Now that she is 8 months we have finally "finished" her nursery--we had gotten a carpet while we were in Chicago at the Land of Nod outlet--and her name sticker came in the mail this week.

I think she likes it!

Chicago--Hot, hot hot!

We had a lovely visit to Chicago during the last week of August.  Except it was 90+ degrees each day with high humidity.  Wow...hard to even breathe outside.   Ethan loved it as he went swimming everyday--grandpa had a big backyard pool, and we took him to two community pools during the week.

Other highlights included a visit to "big James'" house, great-grandma's house, a visit from the Milwaykee cousins, and a trip to the Legoland Discovery Center in Schamburg.

  

I thought that Legoland was highly overrated and not really worth the admission rate, but it did provide some cool entertainment for the afternoon.

When we returned from Chicago, Jason and I celebrated our 6th anniversary!  We didn't get to go out as our babysitter was out of town, but we have a date next week.

Pissed-off Pear

To celebrate the end of the preschool year in the Cow class, Ethan and his classmates performed a dramatic  interpretation of the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".   Students were selected randomly for their parts, and Ethan was selected to be a pear.   He was not happy about this as he wanted to be the caterpillar, and announced that he was not going to participate.   I found this entirely unacceptable, and told him so.  After many tears, bribery etc, he finally agreed to be a pear.   But he wasn't happy about it.  Grandma and Grandpa Greenberg, Aunt Marcy and I headed to the play, and though his "did his part" he didn't do anything extra.  We nicknamed him the pissed-off pear, which was quite fitting.   Of course we never told him this, and instead lauded his participation.   Ah, parenting!

Summer of Visitors

We have had a busy summer filled with visitors!

First, our medical school friend Kristin came to visit.   She is finishing a fellowship in Palliative Care, and was doing a rotation at a pediatric palliative care center in the east bay called George Mark House.  she was with us for 3 weeks, and has her 2 year old son, Ridley with her for 2 weeks.  Ethan loved hanging out with "Rid-Rid", and still asks about him!  Kristin was here during my birthday and got to join in the celebration.

A few weeks later, Jason's friend Alberto came out from Bilbao, Spain.  Jason met Alberto in college when they both studied abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland.   they have kept in touch over the years (we visited Alberto back in 2009 in Spain), and Alberto finally had the opportunity to come to the west coast.

He took a 2-week English class in San Franscico, and during the last week took a tour to Yosemite.  Jason was able to take him to Lake Tahoe and Sonoma on his other weekends here, so they had a great time!

Most recently, Jason's oldest brother Brandon came for a visit.  He met Alaina for the first time!   It was great to catch up with him as well.

Next week it is our chance to be the visitors:  we are headed to Chicago!