Quick Visit to Merced

Brennan and I drove my mom to Merced to spend some time with her sister and her cousin.  This was a great excuse to have Brennan meet our dear family friend Kathy, who is one of my other moms...

On our way home we stopped for a quick hello and visit with Chele, Kathy's daughter and my longest/oldest friendship... forgot the camera...

Grandmother aka Gran

We had a lovely and leisurely day after Christmas.  It was beautiful and we took a ride over to the beach, walked around and had lunch at the Cliff House.  Here B is checking out the ocean out the window while chewing on a spoon!

Christmas...

On Christmas Eve afternoon we ventured out to look at lights and the wonderful village at the Embarcadero Hyatt.

Here's our little guy bundled up in his stroller:

Brennan fell asleep before Justin could read him "The Night Before Christmas" so they read it on Christmas morning.  Brennan is wearing his Christmas PJs that we got for him last year when we learned we were having a boy!

Checking out his tree ornament from Gran (and figuring out how to get.it.into.his.mouth):

Enjoying the tissue paper and a beautiful ornament from Aunt Sharon and Uncle Wendell:

We had a lovely and low-key Christmas.  Grandparents coming and going for weeks!  Wonderful, lucky us...

Christmas Day at Home

We spent the day at home with family and friends...

More Christmas Day...

Here we are...

being silly...

and a yummy dinner...

We took a nice walk around the neighborhood looking at lights and came home for some cookies and coffee.  The End.

Holidays...

Ever since Siobhan moved out of the Bay Area we have the annual tradition of meeting half-way between our homes to have a little pre-Christmas lunch and exchange gifts.  This year we were "plus one" with the little guy along.  He was remarkably easy and loved seeing all the babies at the restaurant and eating his applesauce!

My mom and Justin's mom arrived the Saturday before Christmas and we went out for dinner in our neighborhood to a restaurant who has "family night" every Tuesday, and special themes for Halloween and Christmas.  The Grinch scared Brennan to tears (and many other little ones) with his fabulous make-up and costume, and here we are recovering...

a message from Brennan

 m/.'00-=]/

7LONP99999 k m,kp  j ht 5 4h 5h kthp obo;/j 

  fhƒ ç h

 fc cv   nnn ?

p.s. Yes, in a moment of desperation, letting him pound on the keyboard seemed like good, clean fun!

Cold Day at Home

Our friend Judy came over for a visit and lunch--it was the first time she had seen Brennan awake since the summer!  She has an almost 3 month old grand-daughter, so this was a good preview for what more is ahead...

We walked Judy to her car and got a little (cold) fresh air, and on our walk around the Glen Park village we popped into my favorite shop Perch 

and found an ornament for Brennan's first Christmas--he picked it out...

This is what it really looks like...  My very favorite time of day...

Month Seven

My sweet little boy,

This picture sums up this last month--food, Food, FOOD...  You are loving eating and I am loving watching you, although any that have witnessed can attest that there is the whole "after eating clean-up" that is rather extensive...  You are such a sweetheart and have such a lovely disposition (so many comment on this aspect of your personality), and you are quick to let us know when you are not a happy guy.

You have eaten the following foods this month:  my roasted squash soup, turkey, chicken, yams, avocado, zucchini, prunes, applesauce, carrots, spinach, onions, rice, split pea soup... oh, and peas--you didn't like the frozen peas I pureed very much.  You weighed 18 pounds, 1 ounce at your 7 month appointment.  You can mostly sit up with someone sitting behind you for a little safety net.  You will sit on the couch next to your daddy, and it just cracks me up to see the two of you sitting there talking.

We went to Denver for a visit and our trip home was very eventful.  We carefully selected a time to fly when we thought you would do well, and when the plane was delayed we began to question our decision.  We finally boarded 30 minutes after we should have taken off, and in the meantime it had started to snow (read: deicing needed).  We waited to be deiced and then sat there.  Upon visual inspection by the co-pilot, we returned to the gate to re-fuel, get a lightbulb on the wing swapped out, and then sit while our fuel papers got filed.  We lined up again for deicing, and finally took off 1.5 hours after we should have been landing in SF!!  Luckily your daddy had upgraded us, and this made the trip so much easier.  You were a total trooper and so many people commented what a great traveller you were.  We agree!

We drove down to S. Ca. for Thanksgiving and you slept most of the way both directions!  There really aren't many situations that I have any hesitation about taking you into.  You have had a few nights with sitters this month--Teresa and Brad stayed with you so we could go to the movies, and Catherine and Chris watched you at their house while we went to enjoy a fancy dinner at Gary Danko which was a wedding present from my old bosses.  We have met a few people for lunch here and there, and you love being out.  Now that you are eating real food, anytime anyone eats, you eyeball them incessantly--it is charming, if not guilt-inducing.

Your personality is emerging more, and you have a great sense of humor.  In fact, I will make a fool of myself just to hear your hearty little laugh!  You are such a flirt and just recently will get a little shy/coy when smiling at people.  You are such a snuggly guy and now wrap your arms around my neck when I pick you up--this melts my heart and makes me want to lick you!  You are easily distracted, and want to know what is going on everywhere around you.  You still love your baths, and in fact I have used them when you are being grumpy as a way to cheer you up!

I love you little one, and am so excited to share the holidays with you.  Your presence has allowed me to look at them with new eyes, and your daddy and I have lots of conversations about the traditions we want to share as a family.

Mama

Denver in December-the upside

We spent a long weekend in Denver visiting family and seeing friends.  The night we arrived the weather was very wintery with a little snow on the ground.  Uncle Wendell retrieved us from the airport, and after a yummy dinner and bath (Brennan only), we sat down for a little dessert and Super Whoozit...

Here the little guy is with the big guy after one of his baths--he looks like one of the babies in those laundry product commercials...

Brennan used a highchair that his Grandmother (aka Gran) wisely purchased--it is a very messy process, and here he is with his Daddy faking a bite:

Not so fast big guy, that is MY dinner!

Reading a book (post yet another bath) with Aunt Sharon:

The color in this photo is not great, but the look of utter delight is one of my favorite expressions of his.  In his Broncos PJs (OK to wear AFTER the game, as we are still not sure if they are jinxed!) and getting some crawling coaching from Gran and Uncle Wendell:

Neighborhood Santa visit

The Glen Park Merchants Association had their annual Santa visit this evening.  Here are the boys waiting while another child (who would not get any closer than 8 feet to Santa!!) talked Santa's ear off about robots: 

Brennan had his turn, and he was just as cute as could be...

At this point we had to remove the handful of beard that was on its way to Brennan's mouth, and Santa got this eyeballing...

Brennan and I had a great day, going downtown to visit some friends and running into others on the street.  We also did a little shopping, as we have both Christmas and Daddy's birthday this month!

Super Baby!

Monkeying around with Uncle Jacob and "flying" down the hall.  We spent the Thanksgiving holiday with our S. Cal. family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Buddies...

Here are Brennan and baby Luciano checking each other out and "playing."  Luciano and his mom, Katherine came over for a playdate, lunch and mommy hang out time...

Old MacDonald...

Here he is with Tita Teresa being regaled with "Old MacDonald" at a dinner party that they hosted for visiting and local family and us...

Month Six

Dear Brennan,

The days and weeks (and even months, now!) are starting to connect in a way that I can't remember all the very specific things you do and how you do them.  When you were our teeny-tiny guy everything you did seemed so momentous and amazing, and now I am just trying to keep up with you!  And you are not yet mobile!  I am still amazed by so much that you do--your concentration, your laugh, your eagerness to "help" with your eating spoon, your engagement with people, your smiles...

Everything within your reach or line of sight is yours to grab, and if for some reason you are denied (ex. the placemat under my plate) you protest and are fairly insistent.  The picture above is you grabbing for the check when we were out to dinner for your "half-birthday"...

Have I mentioned that you LOVE the camera?  I am trying to take more pictures without the flash, because all the pictures of you (if you know I am taking one) are pretty much the same (see above), mouth open and eyes wide.  You have such a range of expressions and activities that I would love to capture them before they are gone.

We flew to Montana without your dad to see Nonna (my mom), and your were great on the flights.  You met some of Nonna's friends that she had over for dinner in your/our honor.  We did a lot of just hanging out, watching the leaves fall out of the trees and you enjoyed her dog Tess, although the first few days you both kind of ignored each other but always knew where the other was.  Daddy flew in to join us for a long weekend, and we spent some of it up in Whitefish on the lake.  We wandered around, and on Saturday afternoon more of Nonna's friends came to meet you at the hotel for drinks and munchies.  Daddy and I went out to dinner while Nonna wrangled you at the hotel.  You haven't had a lot of babysitters yet, and I/we are committed to expanding that in the near future...

We had a very fun Halloween--getting you suited up in costume for the party at Dr. Julia's and then out for dinner...  We flew down to LA for a long weekend just before the elections, and even though we spending Thanksgiving with our family down there, it was nice to have some downtime with Grandpa and Grammy.  We got home in time to vote, and it was really nice for the the three of us to go together and then grab a quick lunch.  I don't know if it was a school holiday, but there were lots of kids out with their parents on election day.  The election this year has really opened up what is possible--the diversity of the candidates makes me proud that you will grow up seeing and knowing that our elected leaders can be (and are!!) a reflection of the country we have become.

I love you little one, and I am certainly excited to see what is around the corner every day in your ever expanding world.

xoxo

Mama

PS  You weighed 17 lbs 1 ounce at your 6 month appointment and 27 inches long/tall

Yummm!!

Brennan has been eating some fruits and veggies more regularly, here he is with some sweet potato and zucchini:

BEFORE:  from head to toe

AFTER:  all bathed and in fresh PJs...

A Moment in Time...

Here is the little one watching the election results with us...

And the acceptance speech:

Happy Halloween!

Brennan's pediatrician, Dr. Julia, is just the best...  She and her staff had a Halloween party today so that the families in her practice could meet.  Here we are at the office...

Brennan's favorite book right now is a soft one made of fabric "Fuzzy Bee and Friends" and it goes EVERYWHERE with us, in fact we have both a new one (thanks Wendell and Sharon) and one that was handed down (thanks Dylan and Ellie!).  The rhymes in this book haunt me when I am awake in the middle of the night.  Brennan is the bee and I am the lady bug, while Justin is the beetle bug:

This evening we went to our favorite neighborhood sushi (Sanga), and dressed the part of loyal customers...  Brennan is a sushi chef and Justin and I are sushi!  Hee, hee...

Halloween is fun again!!