10 Months 1 Week - Fun at the Library

Things you should take advantage of but sometimes forget...
Perhaps it's because it's negatively associated with high school and college when you were cramming for tests or writing research papers, but somehow, I think I forgot about the public library!

Well, we've re-discovered the library and it's taken on a whole new breath of life. Our place in the City is about 6 blocks from the local branch of the SF library. At the suggestion of a friend whose boy is about 9 months older than our girls, we went to visit the "Lap Sit Story and Song Time" at the library. My lord, there must have been 20 moms and their kids there all on a giant carpet in an annex room especially for this event. The librarian, a gregarious, energetic, petite Asian lady, knows all the kids and moms by name and greets them with a puppet whom she has deemed the Potrero Library mascot. 30 minutes goes by quickly with about 4 stories and 8 songs that have the kids (mostly birth to age 5) clapping, singing, and waving their arms, smiling to (or at least completely captivated by) the whole experience. I can see why this is so popular!

After the storytime, the girls and I travel to the main library and check out a weeks worth of books. I also find they have a bi-ligual section with many books in Spanish. I check out some of those too, as I think it would be great to read to the kids in Spanish (and practice my skills!). This leads me to an idea about looking for something in Italian. Since I can't read it, I find some kids videos that can do the talking for me. While perusing the videos, I notice they have a video on Infant and Kids CPR and Choking. This is also something I put in our pile - what a great thing to watch and share with other caregivers!

Here's a great bonus: The kids' books, when checked out on their cards, don't have any late fines! So, Ava and Bettina get their first library cards at 10 months old. We check out a Baby Einstein video as well (we don't have "Old MacDonald") and we're finally ready to head home.

Another great tool I never knew about: the SF Library has everything online. You can log on and do a search for specific title or topic. Let's say that you found the book you want, but it's at a different branch. Or, perhaps it's checked out and is also at a different branch. No problem... Just put a hold on it and ask that it be delivered to whatever branch you wish. I have 2 videos and a book already waiting for me.

A funny thing happened while watching the Italian video the other night.... Since I've known Paul I can't get him to utter a word of Italian. He's fluent in both Italian and Genovese (local dialect). Even while visiting Italy 2 years ago, I needed to literally push him to get him to ask someone a question. He will do anything to avoid having to speak it himself, usually answering in English instead. However, while washing the dishes, I could hear Paul speaking Italian to the kids during their video time. Not just repeating what the Italian video encourages or is trying to teach, but having conversations with the kids explaining much more to them. Now, those of you who like to hassle Paul and tease him about the things you all learn from this site (that would be you, Carlos!), please don't ruin my moment here and tell him that I can hear him! I love listening to him find this unique way to bond with the girls.

Other exciting news that happened this week: Bettina's cutting her first tooth! Also, both girls are waving "bye!" They surprized me when their Great-Grandma and Great-Aunt, visiting from Oregon, waved bye and they both waved back! They do this all the time, now.

Daddy Day Hike #3 - The Presidio

Our Daddy Day Hike this month was a historic walk through the beautiful San Francisco Presidio. No longer an active army base, the Presidio is maintained by the National Parks and who keep the 11 miles of historic paths, buildings and trails that have some of the prettiest views of the Bay. We started on the Ecological Trail up to the Julius Kahn playground near El Polin Springs. We picnicked at the playground after the kids swung back-to-back on the swings.
After lunch, we continued through the Cypress Grove to the historic Lovers' Lane.

We encountered a couple of kids selling their "home made" lemonade and cookies from their decorated Lemonade Stand along Lovers' Lane. Who could turn down a couple of entrepreneurial kids?? The cookies and lemonade were good and a bargain at 50 cents!

To see the photos, you can click here.

10 Months - Spring is Springing...and Cruising, too!

Ladybug Girls

Spring has officially sprung and the grass is growing almost as quickly as our girls. So many changes in them this last month, and mostly in their blooming personalities.

Ava is definitely the independent one and a studier and thinker at that. She can play by herself and really find lots of things to do to take up her time. Only when she's tired does she really need Mom. She wiggles more than a jar full of little caterpillars and is constantly kicking. Although Tina's more apt to cruise the furniture (again, neither are interested crawling - it's two-point mobility for them both), Ava takes the risks and has made the larger improvements on balance and standing. She scares Mom to death, but she likes to constantly test herself by taking her hands off the "aid" and stands on her own - no help. Now Mom's more comfortable that she won't fall each time she tries, and instead watches with amazement (not panic) when she stands for 3-4 minutes by herself. In fact, her confidence in this is so high that she will now put both hands on the toy she's been inspecting and focuses now on the object rather than just the act of balancing.

Bettina continues to improve on her "cruising" skills. She can transfer from one piece of furniture to another. This way, she boldly strategizes how to hop from one piece of furniture to the next in order to reach the prized possession in mind (usually the computer or the TV remote control). She moves very quickly and I have to remember not to be gone from the room very long.

They have added asparagus (which the love, who would have guessed?), cottage cheese, chicken and tofu to their menu. You should see Tina's reaction to her tofu... nothing could be any funnier. She squishes up her face like she's just had a sour lemon and razzes and spits everything out! I have to hide it in other foods and she doesn't so much notice. It's a shame she doesn't like it since it makes a great beginning finger food! So easy to just chunk it up and put on her plate. Well, we're also using Cheerios (so many of those!), Ziebeck toasts and chunked bananas. They are having more and more success with finger foods.

No more new teeth for either, but we're hoping it will happen soon for Tina - her drool rash is so difficult to keep in control. We are having to weed out the 6-9 month clothes as they're too small now and the 6-12 month one-piece PJ's (the kind with the feet) are almost getting there too, Tina's so tall.

We are starting to attend a lot of their playmate's first birthday parties, so that's starting to come onto our radar... how did that happen so fast?!?

The Question: To Minivan or to SUV

Well, my trusty Toyota 4-Runner is now up to 202,000 miles. The A/C broke years ago, just before the CD player, so I've been in the habit of driving with the windows rolled down and have started listening to the radio, abandoning my collection of CDs. This worked just fine for me and the kids until about a month ago when the window motors also started to slow, threatening to break as well. Since I rely upon those motors to allow me to store and retrieve my always necessary stroller, it was at this point that Paul and I needed to switch cars. Shortly thereafter, the topic of getting a new car started.

To SUV or to Minivan...that is the question.

Personally, I've always been one to favor the SUVs. They're just more comfortable, taller and, in the back of my mind, I'm still hoping I can pull a horse trailer. However, being open-minded, Paul and I decided that we needed to research 6 different models: 2 were minivans and the other 4, SUVs. A number we decided against right after our first tour of the dealership lots: the Odyssey was better than the Sienna; the Pilot too small with chincy 3rd row seating, the Suburban too big. The Sequoia was pretty much the same thing as the Tahoe, but more expensive. So, down to the Tahoe and the Odyssey.

I test drove the Tahoe and fell in love. The feel was so familiar, it drove smoothly, and I was sold on things like memory instruments and the OnStar system. The back entry, with the Dutch door, also made a lot of sense for the dog. It wasn't until I went to the Honda dealership that I figured out its fatal flaw: in order to gain access to the 3rd row seats in an SUV, you have to fold down one of the seats in the 2nd row. "So, just exactly how do you do that without having to take out a carseat?" I asked the salesperson at the Toyota dealership about the similarly designed Sequoia. He was initially at a loss, but, quick on his feet, he answered, "Like this!" He opened up the trunk and suggested that people just climb over the seat. I was astounded at his unrealistic answer. He may have been thinking older kids, but I was thinking grandparents. How do you tell your adult passengers to just climb over the seat? You don't; it's obnoxious!

The Odyssey is the only car we found that has a solution to this problem. In their 2nd row, you can take out part of the seat, sort of like a leaf in a dining room table, and push the other seats together to create essentially an aisle along the side. They also have the family in mind with other design aspects: build in sunshades on the side windows, Lazy-Susan storage accessible from the front seat or the 2nd seat, the ever-so-convenient automatic sliding doors (love this!), and flat storage of the 3rd row seats so my extra-wide stroller fits easily. It's stiffer and shorter than a SUV and it doesn't come with OnStar or memory-everything, but for the family, especially when you have two or more kids in carseats for the next 5 years, it's really the best choice, we thought.

All being said, here's now the newest member of our Family: our new minivan!

The new Family Car If you need one, visit Kahn at San Leandro Honda - he's a straight-shooter and will make it easy.

9 Months 3 Weeks - Artistic Double Trouble

Trevor seems a bit puzzled by our attempts to forever capture the memory of his little feet.





So, the Twins Group I've been attending, called DoubleTalk II, get together once a week for an activity. Some weeks it's a walk, another for lunch, girls night is scheduled for next week and this week, it was a family activity. It was also my turn to plan. After rainy skies proved a trip to the carousel and park unwise, I countered with a family activity to create a family keepsake. We all visited a store called Color Me Mine in Walnut Creek, chose a piece of pottery (or bisque), and painted it to our fancy. It was rather interesting to have 5 sets of parents and their sets of twins all snuggle into the shop with their strollers, car seats, etc. and try to navigate around the other customers already there and staring with awe at the group congregating in front of them. Most of us did like Gianna and Trevor (above), painting our kids' feet and stamping them on little platters with other sweet sayings. The pieces, after being painted and fired in the kiln, are ready for pick up a week later.


Paul and I did a large, shallow bowl with both the girls' footprints along with their names and the date. The whole experience cost just under $40. Not being particularly artistic, it will be interesting to see what our hap-hazard design will look like. However, it was a bit fun. If you choose to do this sort of activity for your kidlets, I would recommend having a little bit of an idea of what you'd like to do as far as design. It makes the task seem less daunting and you're less likely to get the deer-in-the-headlight momentary-lapse-of-creativity brain-freeze (whew! that's a lot of hyphens!).

9 Months 2 Weeks - Big Sur

Well, this week, the Curletto clan (extended) traveled down to Big Sur, just south of Carmel, for a short vacation. Although the weather forecasted rain, we didn't see a drop until our drive home. We stayed with the Martinez's in a 2-bedroom cabin in Big Sur Lodge, nestled in the middle of Pfieffer Big Sur State Park. Paul and I drove down in enough time to take an afternoon hike through the redwoods to see a little waterfall.

We had a blast horsing around with all the little cousins and took a mini-walk around the complex just before putting the girls down to sleep for the night. The next morning, Paul and I traveled south for another 11 miles to Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park where a majestic waterfall cascades down into the Pacific Ocean. To see all the photos, click here.
Sidenotes on the cabins: pluses - great location; minuses - not enough pots and pans to cook much, the single wall heater is not enough to heat the place and is placed in a terrible place when you've got 4 little kids with you.