Happy Halloween

The part of The Tiger was played this year by Ezra .....grrrrrrrrrr
Did you know that tigers howl at the moon? Well, this one does.
Looking for tiger treats.....
Since E's not yet eating bags of sugary treats, he gets "treated" to doggy kisses from the neighbor dog, Pronto.
Tiger trails to you.....

The Sweet Sounds of Ezra's House

Momma gifted this drum to Ezra last Christmas. Look at our little guy here, just about 8 months old, singing a sweet song....something like, "ga ga."


Well, watch out people, the boy's got a different tune these days.


No commentary needed.













Happy Birthday to Po! This drum's for you.

Pumpkin Time of Year

This will be Ezra's second pumpkin. But, this is the first one he picked out himself. Saturday we set out for a foggy Half Moon Bay, enduring heavy traffic to enjoy a little Pumpkin Harvest Festival at Arcata Farms. We found that E is quite a particular kind of guy about his pumpkins, amongst other things.....
First off, we had to take in all the orange.
We went through mazes of corn stalks to get to this one....The One.
Ezra and his pumpkin go on a wagon ride.
No, wait! No sitting, I wanna push!
And, heck, give me the keys! I might as well drive too!

Over The River and Through the Woods...

To Grandmother's house we go....

Phew! 8+ hours both ways. Just E and Mommy. It was quite an adventure.

First, E was such a trooper. He would sit in the back reading his books (The Very Busy Spider, Trucks, Goodnight Gorilla) in between stops. Grandma lives on the other side of the Sierra Nevadas so we got to see some really beautiful sites on the way.

After treking through the mountains for 8 hours or so, traveling as high as 9000 feet, we made it to grandma's house all in one piece.

We had many adventures playing in the parks and in grandma's back yard.

We went to Laws Railroad Museum and rang the bell of Engine #9. He also got to sit in a little model car and pretend to drive it. Bells and steering wheels....a big, big deal.

We went for a hike up at South Lake where we were able to really hear an echo. We had a lot of fun screaming really loud to hear the echo bounce off the mountains. I am sure the black bears didn't appreciate it. All the way home when E would see mountain ranges he would yell, "echo." It was an amazing hike. All of the aspen trees were changing colors. It was gorgeous.

E got to play with his cousin Sierra. E was enamoured with her! She read books to him and chased him around the house until he fell asleep.




Although it was really hard at times missing Momma and all, we both had a great time creating our little rituals while away. For instance, Mommy would get coffee in the morning at Spellbinder Bookstore's little cafe, Black Sheep. We would sit and read books and E would run around the store greeting everyone that came in. "Hi!"

But, the highlight of the trip definitely was the utensil drawer at Grandma's house. For some reason, Grandma has about 15 spatulas. And, the day we left, I think each one of them were in different places inside and outside the house. Before collapsing into bed one night, there were three strategically placed on the bed. That was also the case for the cans of cat food. Grandma said there were a few cans of cat food hiding out in the rose garden. E likes to reorganize. The world according to E.



We are so happy to be home with Momma and Burton. Momma is refreshed from getting good sleep and time to herself. I think it took us about 5 minutes to wreck all of her hard work cleaning the house. Burton seemed adjusted and ready to deal with E chasing him around the house.

We celebrated yesterday by going to Crissy Field for probably one the last nice days of the year. It was perfect. So glad to have the family together again.

A Day Without E

Normally Jackie writes our posts, but on Tuesday she took E on a mammoth car trip to go visit grandma. So this week has been quiet for me.

I have to admit, going to bed and not waking up until Burton wanted to see his food at 4:30 was a bit of a treat. Turning on the lights to shower was another. But coming home to a quiet and somewhat dreary apartment that looked just as I'd left it that morning was sad. No food under the table. No sand on the floor. No boy running through the place screaming 'NA NEE' at the top of his lungs. Sad. Grandma gets all the good stuff.

This morning before I went to work, I put on his Justin Roberts CD -- I Chalk, Meltdown, Maybe the Monster -- and jumped up and down for a while as I looked at the earlier posts in this blog. Too many days without E.

el cerdito para pee pee en el potty

E's learning about trade these days. In his quest to become potty trained, for every pee pee in the potty we give him a sticker to put on the wall to mark his progress. But, sometimes the sticker does not end up on the wall.

We should have a wall filled with animales de la granja but we don't.

Farm animal stickers end up everywhere but, and ultimately in the mouth.

Hence the fate of el cerdito. Oink, oink.


E looks like the cat who ate the canary. Or, the piglet.









Potty training is on the up and up. Not perfect yet, but E looks us in the eye and signals when he has to go.....or when he is going....tee hee

What A Life This Boy Has

If we aren't at the playground building sand castles, swinging on the tire swing or sliding down the slides....we are......
Wrestling on the bed!
Playing dress-up with our new fancy hats from grandma Elizabeth!
Hanging out with Lily and playing the "big blue ball" game (very serious game...will discuss at another time)!
Having band practice with bandmate, Remy!
Or dancing....especially when Momma Jess plays the Deetar (aka ukulele)

So Much to Catch Up On....Man, We're Long Winded

Prepare yourself, we love to talk about our boy.

Well, it appears we are on the up and up over here. The Coxsackie virus did more traveling this year than we did. When E started feeling better we re-packed our bags and got the heck out of Dodge and went camping. Well, it was more like luxury camping at this great place called Costanoa. We got in on the "Full Moon Special" and enjoyed a few days exploring the tidepools and giving ourselves a little rest and relaxation. E met several wonderful older kids who took him under their wings and let him kick around their "offical" World Cup Soccer balls and chase them around the grounds. I think we developed lots of hope for our future. There are a lot of good little people populating this earth. Hopefully, they aren't populating the earth with Coxsackie as we write.


This place was just what we needed. We had a Swallow's nest outside our cabin, and E would watch it very intensely. By the time we were to leave, the baby swallows were poking their little heads out. The moon was a treat all nights. It was big and yellow and just amazing. Ezra saw lots of starfish and crabs at the tidepools. Of course, he preferred the rocks on the beach just above the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. We have a bag full of rocks that we'll turn into some form of holiday gift. Prepare yourselves.

We decided to go to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk on our way home, and I think we are still debating whether it was a good idea. It felt like way too much stimulation after being in our serene campground. Ezra loved the ride called Convoy. Yup, you guessed it, a ride that consisted of mini-semis that had Pepsi plastered on the sides. It went around a circle twice and there was a pretend steering wheel and horns to honk. After it ended he would repeatedly give us the ASL sign for "more." It was hard for him to understand that we had to get off and get in line again.


We hadn't been to the Boardwalk in a while and had forgotten they pipe in music throughout the park. At one point, The Pretenders "Don't Get Me Wrong" came on, and E stopped and danced. We couldn't resist stopping and dancing with him in the middle of the park. Heck, there is no pride when it comes to being a parent. We secretly hope that he will always be a free-spirit, dancing to every tune he hears anywhere and everywhere. We imagine it will be us Moms that will try to model this behavior, and Ezra will be yet another kid embarrassed of his crazy parents.

As we mentioned, Ezra is signing quite a bit. His Auntie Oona will be proud to know that he signs "all done," "thank you," "elephant" (sound effect included with that one), "shoes," and he is learning more each day. We think he will be able to sign "help" soon. And, yes, he is signing "more." The ulitmate usage of the "more" sign happened after Momma Jess finished playing a song on the ukulele, E then signed "more." Momma Jess feels she was paid the highest compliment ever. Our boy is pure sweetness.


Okay, one last tidbit about E. When we got back from camping, we didn't want the fun to end, so we went to the Discovery Museum and had such a great time, we are now members. This boy was *so* happy. There was this little exhibit of frogs where you pressed this button and bubbles came out of the frogs' mouths....and, good golly, it was like the most amazing thing ever. He kept running back, pushing the buttons, and yelling (We're not kidding about the yelling) BUBBOOOLES! He said "bubble" with such exuberance, we Moms were about to fall down laughing. This boy has passion. We only wish we had a sound bite of it. Here is a picture of him in mid-bubble.


We wish everyone a happy August. Bubbooools!

NYC Postponed

Ah man, there is much sadness around here for a couple of reasons today. For starters, our little man is sick with Coxsackie. Yup....you read it correctly, Coxsackie. He doesn't have the sniffles or a cough. He has Coxsackie. It's not a major thing, but he is pretty irritable and refuses to eat. And, well, you've seen our boy. He rarely turns down the nosh.

We were to be jetsetters today, making our way to NYC to see family and friends. Some who have never met Ezra.

So much to be sad about. Ezra is playing some blues on his new Hilo ukulele. Yes, he calls it his "deetar." And, yes, he is singing the Coxsackie blues.



We send lots of kisses and hugs to you all back East. We all have really big pouty lips and heavy hearts right now.

Straws and Dot Games

Phew! Back from a hot, hot trip to the Eastern Sierra Nevada to see some family. It was so great to see everyone and we should have pictures from it all soon. For now...we are home in the grand SF fog (highs of 70 degrees today) and having fun times. For instance, Ezra is learning to drink from a straw.
How fun it is to sip a yogurt and strawberry shake with a straw.


Apparently, there were moments of tartness.
But, he just kept going back for more.


And, Dear Po and Travis, here is a pick of E playing the dot game. It's still famously popular around here. For those of you who have never played the dot game, it consists of a lot pointing and pushing of the dots on the "dot couch" and saying "this one, this one, this one, this one." Or in E language, "deeta, deeta, deeta, deeta." Good times!

And, lastly, THANK YOU Grandma Pat for your birthday wishes. E loves his bear (his other Christmas bear went to Bishop with us) and thank you for the Australian update. Everyone looks great down under! XOXOXOXOX

Ralph's Damn World

Oh good god....we may be witnessing our first Ezra obsession, the songs from children's singer, Ralph Covert. He points to the little boom box we have in the kitchen and gives us a little grunt intoning the sound of a question, and we answer him....usually by succumbing to turning on Ralph's World for the millionth time THAT DAY.

We Moms are about to swim, swim, swim, swim, swim...to the bottom of the sea.

We give in usually because the look on his face is so gersh dern adorable and he dances when the Swim song comes on. It's so cute...and forgivable.

But, man, we need a new song or two.

2 Syllable Words, a Po Visit and 8 on the Fourth

It's true. Ezra is exploring the world of 2 syllable words. It all started with "teta", the word we use for milky. He would wake in the morning and say tetatetateta over and over again....you get the picture. Then he discovered the"guitar". It's adorable to listen to his new word, pronounced "deeetar" (strong emphasis on the 'eee's). He can also say "gentle" and "bubble", all of which sound little like "deetar" but we get it. He actually said bubble rather clearly last night in the bath. He is genius ya know.













E's Po came to visit from Hawaii over the July 4th weekend. We had much fun playing instruments and being a bunch of goof balls. E made a new friend, Travis, who taught him how to High Five and entertained him with juggling and good drumming techniques.

We had a little Parents' Group over the weekend as well where the babes got to run around naked in the back yard and splash in the wading pool. Naked time is E's favorite.
Then it was off to Napa for the Fourth of July. We missed the fireworks, but E got to see his Auntie Christina and his cool cousins. It was a very sweet day.


We Moms celebrated our 8 year anniversary on the 4th as well. #8 has been pretty dang cool.

First Pride

After walking the entire length of the Dyke March last night with Aunt Oona and Aunt Sarah (so glad to hook up with you two!), we managed to get up and make our way to the parade this morning.

Vamos de paseo en tren to the Pride Parade 2006. Ezra's first of many, I'm sure.

We didn't get to march this year, but we played in the Family Garden set up by Our Family Coalition. It was so crowded! So many families like us all having a proud day.
That's right!