August 12th was a Thursday

Posted on August 19, 2010 by cvc
bday girl
bday girl
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Cameron’s birthday was a work day and although I wanted to take the day off and hang out with her, I couldn’t….Given that, I was thinking at least she’d be with family (it was a Lola day)….But, not two hours into our work day, Tom and I got phone calls from daycare reporting that Dylan was rockin’ a fever of 103! So, we had to collect her from mom’s house and hurry back home to Dylan.

So, once home, Tom was the lucky fella who got to hang out with the kids–he took both kids for a walk while I got a few work tasks done.

All through the day, Dylan was clearly not quite himself, but luckily, he responded well to the ibuprofen–we felt he was well enough for us to proceed with our Thai House bday dinner plans for the Doodle.


We ordered all kinds of “favorites”: coconut juice, pad thai with no peanuts, veggie appetizer, fried tofu, pad see ew, and, of course, mango with sticky rice for dessert!

She ate well and clearly enjoyed everything she was eating!


happy birthday!
happy birthday!
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

The three kids (Taliana, Dylan and Cameron) were having so much fun together, after we finished dinner, we ended up letting them run around the courtyard area in front of the restaurant for a good 30-40 minutes! And when I say we let them run around, that really does include Cameron….She isn’t quite running, but she is really getting pretty zippy on her feet!

After the sun went down and it was starting to get dark, we finally decided we should cease the celebrations for the evening! We think she had a pretty good day…we know we did. She is such a remarkable little girl. Willful, headstrong, and fearless. At 1 year and 1 week, she’s also roaring like a lion, saying “cat”, “doggy”, “woof woof” and “bye bye” (accompanied with cute flappy waving) and she’s added “tree” to her list of signs.

Happy birthday, our dear li’l gal. This year went by so very quickly and you’ve made it such a joy.


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Monday

Posted on August 18, 2010 by cvc

Tom left way, way early on a flight to Long Beach for some important work training and the kids were sleeping so sweetly, I didn’t leave enough time for me to drive them over to Lola’s (Dylan was still feverish on Sunday, so we opted to have him skip school on Monday)!

Luckily, my mom agreed to pick them up from my office instead. While the kids were there, they rolled those big exercise balls all over the place! Cameron, in her usual fearless way, went to explore every room. And, of course, the kids were constantly running in separate directions! Another lucky thing: most of my coworkers came in late that day!

Anyway, despite the hectic morning, I loved having a wee bit of extra time with them…(and later that evening, Tom met up with us at Lola’s house and we had halo halo before hittin’ the road–the kids promptly fell asleep)!


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Cameron’s teeth

Posted on August 10, 2010 by cvc
cameron's teeth
cameron’s teeth
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Cameron has five teeth! She got her three top teeth in pretty much all at once! Her two front teeth came in as did one other on her right side! We’re still waiting for those teeth on the left to symmetry things up!

Anyway, it’s been tough getting a good shot of them. So far, this one is one of the better ones!!


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Fairyland, Flock of Seagulls and a sleepover with Auntie

Posted on August 10, 2010 by cvc
DSC_7893
DSC_7893
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Well, sadly, there are not too many recent pics of the girl, so this one of us at Fairyland in Oakland will have to suffice.

In just two days, Cameron will be a year old! She’s just about outgrowing the Ergo (the carrier she’s sitting in) and even some of her 12-month PJs are seeming small! She’s about to move on up to the next sized diaper, too. So, clearly, she is growing!!

She has such a strong interest in sharing the food we’re eating (and she really does share!), we’ve jumped the gun on wheat and corn (she’s on Day 3)–luckily, with no adverse reactions–and, since she’s mastered drinking from a straw already, she tried her first Jamba Juice (a Peach Perfection made with peach juice and sans strawberries).


DSC_7899
DSC_7899
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

So, to recap this past week, we visited Fairyland in Oakland on Sunday. We thought it would be fun to watch Watty Piper’s “The Little Engine That Could” (still a favorite–thanks Aunt Janice!!) as a musical and admission to Fairyland was included! Since we were going with Heather and Taliana and we all couldn’t fit in one car, we drove to Fremont in separate cars then took the BART into Berkeley (for some breakfast at Herbivore and some Cinnaholic vegan cinnamon rolls! Mmmmmm mmmm!) and, from Berkeley, we took the BART to Oakland where Fairyland is.

We didn’t have much time at Fairyland, but we figured all of the BART-ing around and treats were part of the adventure.

The kids had a great time riding BART as well as the little rides in Fairyland and they had fun using their Magic Key to listen to stories from the blue boxes around the park! They liked the musical as well (short, simple, but imaginative)!


The weekend was actually very exciting. On Friday night (forgive my non-linear storytelling…I remember it better this way!), Auntie Christina and Dre came over (as did Uncle Steve) to come watch a free Flock of Seagulls concert down at the Boardwalk! This is Dylan eating his burrito from Vallarta while we wait for the band to take to the stage (Cameron, meanwhile, fell asleep while Tom was parking the car)!

Not quite sure what Dylan made of the whole thing, but he was stoked to see Teacher Sandy (from his preschool)–she came over to say hi, much to Dylan’s delight (and apparently, he sang “I Ran” for her the following Monday at school!) and to give the circulating beach ball a toss into the air!! Really, I think he’s “a natural” at this whole concert-going thing…!


As you can see, Cameron woke up at some point during the show and she wasn’t all that happy (about the music or about waking up, we’re not quite sure…possibly both!)! But, she gamely hung out. Tom fed her dinner (potatoes, carrots, tofu) and this seemed to satisfy her!


Auntie Christina and Uncle Dre spent the night (Dylan was soooo excited about this!), so on Saturday, we got to hang out with them! We ended the visit with a late lunch at Hula’s and then had Heather, Assaf and Taliana over for dinner so that the kids could burn off a little more energy. Wouldn’t you know, they didn’t end up sleeping any earlier than usual?!?


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Thursday playground pictures

Posted on August 5, 2010 by cvc
such a happy girl!
such a happy girl!
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Dylan has developed a stronger interest in riding his balance bike (hooray!), so we’ve gone to the playground across the street to ride together. He rides the bike, I ride the scooter. On this particular day, I was home sick and I didn’t have the heart to take Dylan to school because he wanted to take care of me! But, after two Madagascar movies and a Thomas video, he had serious cabin fever, so we had to head outside!

As soon as Tom and Cameron got home, they came to join us. As usual, Cameron was so happy to see Dylan (and vice-versa! He still showers her with hugs and kisses!).


L1000013
L1000013
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Even though she’s having a blast, she’s gettin’ pretty tired (these days, she is ready for bed by 8pm even though it takes another 30-60 minutes for her to fall asleep–Dylan isn’t usually ready for stories until 8:30pm and Cameron often cannot sleep through them!).


blue steel??
blue steel??
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

I didn’t get a good picture of Dylan at the playground, but here he is doing a beading project indoors while in his tie-dye shirt, a total favorite these days. Good thing he got to make two tie-dyes at school and that the one “for Cameron” is really too big for her! He rotates his tie-dyes approximately every 2-3 days!!!


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cameron visits the toddler room

Posted on August 3, 2010 by cvc

Today, our little gal got to “visit” the toddler room downstairs. Now that she’s walking, the daycare folk are looking to transition her to the downstairs where’s there’s more to play with and more space to wander around! She’s also now the oldest baby in the infant room! My, how time flies and how quickly things change!!

So, Cameron apparently really enjoyed being down there! She spent the entire morning in the toddler room, including her morning snack and lunch time, and she cried when she was sent back upstairs! She also napped for a mere 35 minutes. Wow.

After getting home, we fed her a nice dinner of butternut squash and chard risotto, mango with sticky rice, and some coconut water, and then I took her out for a run; we knew she’d sack out in the middle of it!


awwww
awwww
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

But, to backtrack a little on our week so far…on Sunday, we celebrated Amirah’s 4th birthday party up in Boulder Creek. It was another pizza party with Tarik manning their homemade outdoor pizza oven and tossing pizza crusts up in the air, and absolutely amazing princess cupcakes made by Amirah’s mom Kristin!

This picture of Cameron and Tom is one of my favorite shots from that day!


cameron being social
cameron being social
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Both kids had a pretty good time. You can tell that Cameron loves bigger kids…and she’s remarkably good at “sharing.” She kindly gave the bucket she was playing with to this little girl, hoping (I’m sure) that the girl would play nicely with her. Sadly, the girl just grabbed all the toys away and went off to play by herself with poor Cameron trying to follow her around and engage her in some play (and the little gal — in her age-appropriate way — just kept on taking things away and taking off!)! Cameron is such a forgiving girl!!


dylan rolling out pizza dough
dylan rolling out pizza dough
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Now, here’s Dylan and Tom rolling out Dylan’s pizza dough. Yep, he made his very own pizza. He chose roasted red bell pepper and kalamata olives for his topping…no sauce!

And, at this time last year, Dylan still had such a baby face. He is growing up quickly, too….


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the Cameron update

Posted on July 29, 2010 by cvc

I just wanted to write a quickie blurb on Cameron as she is just racing towards her 1-year mark at lightspeed! She’s starting to wave to people(!), she knows how to drink from a straw, she loves feeding other people, she loves playing with dolls (she feeds a bottle to Taliana’s baby doll!!), she initiates playing hide and seek, and she clearly says, “doggy” when she sees one!

Last weekend, when we took the Yuba Mundo out for a ride, she refused to wear her helmet, so while Tom and Dylan were riding to the Boardwalk, I took her into PetSmart, you know, the “free zoo.”

We checked out fish, kitty cats, and birds, and every time she saw a dog, she’d say “doggy!” She loves looking at the animals, but she is clearly a little nervous of being near them–she starts clinging a little more tightly and she whips her head this way and that to follow their movements!

It’s hard to believe that a nearly a year has almost passed already. At this time last year, I was just starting maternity leave, dilated and effaced, and we were all waiting eagerly for this little girl to join the fam. She is such a joy to be around (until you take something from her that she wants!) and is so utterly huggable–one of my favorite things is just holding her close–it is seriously one of the best feelings in the world.

So, no picture for this post as I’m still experiencing difficulties with whipping out a camera in time to capture those precious and fast-fleeting moments, but here’s a little video of Cameron playing peek-a-boo with me (taken with my Droid phone…and some time in the far future, our kids will think that this current technological marvel is a clunky and unwieldy beast that produces only low-quality cameraphone vids!).

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a picture from last Sunday

Posted on July 29, 2010 by cvc

I finally downloaded some new pics from my camera. This one was taken at the Boardwalk last Sunday. I just love seeing this guy smile.


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cameron’s a walker + new bike!

Posted on July 25, 2010 by cvc

We had another great week with the kids. On Wednesday, Finley, Cleo and Mariah came over for dinner. Cleo was so sweet interacting with Cameron, sharing things with her and talking with her as if she were already one of the big kids! Cameron wanted to follow her around!! And, so, I think without putting too much thought into her actions, she stumbled after Cleo and realized that, hey, she can walk!

The next day, she was noticeably better and by Friday, when we stopped by Heather’s house, she was out the door exploring every closet and room she could get to. We’re calling it official: she’s a walker!

Getting ready to ride
Getting ready to ride
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

To add to this weekend’s excitement, on Saturday we finally picked up the Yuba Mundo from our local bike shop. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of our’s showed us their whopper of a bike that could transport TWO kids in child seats right on the back. That bike is the Yuba Mundo, a 60-pound steel frame, long-tail cargo bike with a 440-pound carrying capacity! And let me tell you, it rocks!

The idea of riding with both kids on one bike seemed appealing, though challenging. But after reading recommendations by TreeHugger and EcoVelo as well as various other reviews raving about how smoothly it rides and proclaiming how easy it was to tote kids, your spouse, groceries and, heck even other bikes, the idea of trading in some car time for a more environmentally-friendly transpo option just grew and grew on me (and Tom). So, we finally bit the bullet and got it!

Tom rode it home from the store on Saturday afternoon and made it up every hill he encountered, including our very steep driveway! Then, once I refueled from my 14-mile morning run, I took it to the grocery store for my own test drive–even I made it up our driveway, groceries in tow (and tapped out legs)! I was stoked!

Today, we rode it downtown for haircuts (but Dylan refused to get his cut today, so it was just me), checked out the distance to the Boardwalk and explored the feasibility of riding home (an all uphill ride). Everything was awesome (though we were only towing Dylan around and back home from downtown since Cameron refused to wear her helmet). Dylan didn’t even want to get off the bike!

After a successful afternoon of “test riding”, we headed out to catch Circo Brazil, a free circus performance, over at the Boardwalk.

We picked up falafels from Falafel Hut (decidedly mediocre food and service!) and ate them on the beach while we waited for the show to start and for Heather and Taliana to arrive. After the circus (the kids were most impressed by the cartwheels and trampoline acts!), the kids rode a few rides, including the new Haunted Castle ride!

The approach we took on the ride was that it was silly (“did you see those rats in the kitchen?? we wouldn’t want to eat there! Noooo thanks!) so he wasn’t terribly scared. He even successfully persuaded Taliana to ride it with him!

We didn’t have time to bathe the kids tonight so they are super grubby, but we’ll get to that tomorrow!


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1907 night at the Boardwalk

Posted on July 21, 2010 by cvc

Last Monday night, we went to the Boardwalk at Dylan’s request (met Taliana and Auntie Heather there) and we were shocked to find that it was so crowded (it being Monday and all). But, it turns out that we’d forgotten about 1907 nights. This is when all rides, cotton candy, sodas and hot dogs are a dollar! So it turned out to be pretty crowded! I sort of vowed never to do that again, but then just last night, Auntie Cindy and Jason and Tyler came down after their summer camp day was done, so we headed on over for another very crowded Boardwalk experience!

Despite the long lines (the longest I’ve experienced with Dylan in tow), it was fun! I’m glad we went. Tyler is still too little for the rides that Jason wanted to take, so we took him with us and he and Dylan rode Ghost Blasters, the Cave Train and the Sea Serpent rollercoaster.

Dylan is still in awe of his cousins. He was so excited to talk about his favorite rides with Tyler!!


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