I left my hat in San Francisco

Daddy had a work trip to San Francisco and invited the entire family along. The family spent the work days at the hotel pool and at a nearby children's museum. Veronica even met a travelling companion, Athena, the daughter of Daddy's co-worker. They had fun swimming, drawing, playing instruments, and of course carouseling.

We stayed the weekend and did the normal tourist attractions. Fisherman's wharf and the sea lions were checked off the tourist attraction list quickly. We lingered a bit more at the Palace of Fine Arts and Ghiradelli Square. Veronica mastered the skill of spotting chocolate across the city. She took full advantage of vacation rules at every turn.

In local news, Simon made the full commitment to walking this week. The world champion crawler needed to walk pretty well to make it worth his while. His first word is also coming into focus. Despite generally saying yes to life, Simon's first word is "No" and is paired with a vigorous head shake. And on a not entirely unrelated note, Dr. Ferber made a visit this weekend and Simon is spending night two in the crib through the whole night. 

Daddy Daughter Dude Day



Daddy Daughter Days have always been about greasy lunches and excursions (typically to the zoo). The closure of daycare and some half-way decent weather on President's Day set us up nicely for a fun day. Simon joined the tradition and served as the transition to Daddy Daughter Dude Days. Simon is going to have to work on his timing if he is going to enjoy the full gamut of Daddy Daughter Dude Day. He slept through strawberry milkshakes and cheeseburgers at Dick's and didn't wake up until the carousel was already spinning round and round.

Veronica was in a giving mood at the zoo. She fed the penguins for the first time and fed the budgies for the gazillionith time. The budgies took a while, but we did finally find a hungry one.

Simon's walking has been increasing as rapidly as his weight. Simon just crawls far too well to bother learning how to walk. He is starting to rise up from a seated position and walk instead of depending on his parents to prop him up. He still crawls too well. So fast that he has to lower his head to pick up even more speed. He has run into a few cabinet doors as a result.

Simon's first birthday

Simon may not like walking all that much. He may not like eating all that much. But chocolate, that he could get used to. Simon celebrated his birthday surrounded by family, friends, and frankly... a lot of football. Simon just may have picked the perfect birthday. He's nearly always guaranteed a three-day weekend and conference championship games.

T'was the season

Now that's what I call Christmas! We hit all of our Christmas traditions and added a few more for good measure. When you kids are this good all year long, you pull out all the stops. Well, all except for the full production of Nutcracker, the people that went to see that "must have more dollars". Maybe in a few years when their attention spans approaches the running time. Veronica and Mama did attend a holiday panto called "Sleeping Beauty & the Pea". It was much more her speed than some boring Russian ballet.

Veronica met Santa this year. Which sounds exciting, but that guy will let anyone sit on his lap. Simon didn't see what all the fuss was about. One of Santa's elves visited Veronica everyday before Christmas. He would sneak into the house and leave a present in one of the advent buckets. Sometimes a treat, sometimes a toy, but nothing until the house was tidy. I love that elf and miss him dearly. Veronica built her first gingerbread house this year. I would like to thank the person that created gingerbread house kits for saving us hours in the kitchen. It's quite a product, especially given that it was clearly created by somebody without children since the instructions have phrases like "after constructing the house, wait two hours before decorating". The Woodland Park Zoo introduced Zoo Lights this year. You might think that outdoor nighttime events in Seattle in December would be a bad idea and you'd be right and smarter than us. It was cold and rainy, but Veronica introduced Simon to the carousel and they got to see a real reindeer. They are actually a sub species of caribou, the only member of the deer family in which both genders grow horns, and really can fly. Very educational. There was even an indoor snowball fight with white fuzz balls and snowman building with marshmallow shaped pillows. Very Pacific Northwest.

On Christmas itself, we maintained the tradition of attending a non-denominational celebration... well, it wasn't so much non-denominational as not our denomination. But it's a lovely kid's mass at 4 PM on Christmas Eve. There's nothing in the bible against convenience. Auntie Julie joined us on Christmas Eve and continued the cookie decorating tradition. Veronica knows what she likes when it comes to decorating cookies and she knows how to get it. And this year, Mama got to read the The Night Before Christmas.

As for Christmas morning, Veronica needed a few years to get into the spirit, but Simon jumped right in on his first Christmas. It took nearly 3 1/2 hours to get through everything with breaks for fried English muffins and a full breakfast with scrapple. Big gifts this year for Veronica were a pink unicorn, the cast of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and a variety of Brave themed gifts.

The most surprising gift of all? Simon took his first awkward step Christmas night. He's standing up on his own and will be walking soon. Not surprising given his ability to climb.

Christmas is over now. The tree is at the curb, surrounded by several trees worth of cardboard boxes from all the deliveries. Thanks to everyone that sent presents that fueled our celebration. And thanks to Grammy and Grampa for flying out, er up, for it. Just a few more returns to make and we'll wrap this Christmas up.

Super Halloween

Veronica is getting her trick-or-treating legs. She hit more houses and lasted long into the night this year. Her pumpkin basket full of candy might last past Christmas. Assuming nobody else gets their hands in it...

Veronica's Halloween started out by eschewing her carefully planned Ariel costume in favor of a princess concoction of her own creation. We couldn't be prouder to be raising such a strong willed and independent daughter, but we may need to focus more energy developing her fashion sense.

Halloween night was spent at the Hall of Justice in Sammamish. The whole crew, young and old, dressed as super heros. We were able to put our DC vs. Marvel differences aside and have a wonderful night under surprisingly dry skies. And more importantly, sway Veronica into a more appropriate princess dress.

Simon couldn't have been happier. He was outside, with lots of people, and carried everywhere. Wait until he discovers the candy.

Looking Gourd-geous

 

After a rainless stretch that ran from the 4th of July to mid October, it's Fall in Seattle. That means you have to seize the sun breaks to enjoy traditonal seasonal fun. The family headed north to Edmonds to visit what described itself as a farm, but is better described as a petting zoo. Veronica got to feed the ducks, pet some goats, and learn to keep her distance from stinky pigs. Simon just took it all in. Veronica picked out the biggest pumpkin in the patch.

 

Simon's favorite part of Fall so far? Butternut squash risotto.



Veronica's 4th Birthday

There is still cake leftover and, according to house rules, that means it's still Veronica's birthday. Requesting two cakes is a good way to make one's birthday last a few extra days. Veronica has been saying for weeks that she wanted a vanilla cake with chocolate icing. But just a few days before turning four, she started requesting a chocolate cake with vanilla icing as well. She is wise beyond her years and continues to outsmart her parents.

Veronica's birthday party was at the Little Gym and she invited all of her friends from school. The folks at the Little Gym know a thing or two about kids. They know that they like to be in charge and Veronica planned the party herself. They know that kids always like to go first, love silly games, will jump on anything, and don't let anything get in their way. And why do something fun once if it can be twice as nice.

And the parade of presents hasn't been bad either. Grammy blew Vivi's mind with a line up of princesses. And Aunt Mary, Uncle Bill, and Jenn gave Vivi more than she could ask for, but that didn't stop her from looking for more.

Veronica wrapped up the birthday weekend with a request for pizza and milkshakes. Don't worry, a sugar filled weekend had no adverse effects on her behavior.