Daddy Day Hike #5 - Angel Island

Daddy Day Hike #5 - Angel Island

For Memorial Day Weekend, we chose a very memorial hike among the ghosts of long-ago troops. One of the centerpieces of the San Francisco Bay, once an army fort, a missile base and an immigration detention center, Angel Island, dubbed "The Jewel of the Bay," is one of the more beautiful places to capture a full 360 degree view of the area. As natives, it's rare that we fight the tourist mayhem down at Fishermen's Wharf or Tiburon to catch a ferry out to the old island. So, it had been many years (13 for me and more for Paul) since either of us visited. Grandma, who very much liked the idea of going to Angel Island (it had been 5 1/2 years since her last visit) joined us this time. Fortunately for her, we only had 2 packbacks and 2 kids to carry. She got to enjoy the hike without carrying anything but her camera and water.

We took the 11:30 ferry from Pier 41 and arrived after first stopping by Alcatraz and Tiburon for additional passengers. The Ayala Cove was lively with many picnickers, many with older kidlets who ran straight for the beach with their sand toys. After a short picnic, we started our hike around the 5-mile Perimeter Road. We paused to take in many sites and did take in a lot of photos. We were a bit late coming back and we missed the targeted 3pm return ferry, but caught the next one an hour and a half later. By then, the girls were incredibly tired and, thankfully, there were people with a sense of humor sitting next to us. As Tina literally threw herself on the ground in a sleep-deprived temper-tantrum, I'm sure everyone was glad they weren't on the red-eye to the East Coast! Beside that, it was an excellent day!

For all the pictures of our picturesque hike, click here.

One Year - Stats and Habits

"A Day in the Life of a 12-Month Old"

The above video was taken yesterday morning just before their nap and is pretty much how we spend our time. They wake up anytime between 6:15 and 6:30 (but I let them stay in bed playing until about 6:45). We eat breakfast at 7am after getting dressed and then play until 8:30 when we start getting cranky. Naptime! When they wake up from their morning nap (right around 10am), we try to get out of the house and do something. This day, we went to the Ferry Building to watch seagull and pigeons and meet up with friend Mary for lunch (pictures here). After eating parts of a roast beef sandwich, running after pigeons, watching ferries come in and out, and eating a few bites of gelatto (Mary's treat), it's back home for another nap (2pm). Then, after about an hour - sometimes 2, it's walking around the neighborhood (today to get a key cut) and going on a "flower hunt" where we visit, smell and learn about all the flowers' names around our house. You'd be surprised how many varieties there actually are in a 3-block radius in the middle of the City! Dinner's at 5:00 followed by their bath. By 6pm, they're playing with toys again in their sleep clothes waiting for Dad to come home. They are usually back in bed by 7pm.

Stats: (based on the Doctor's office visit, which Paul thinks is completely wrong!)
Ava: Ava is 29 inches tall and 19.5 pounds which puts her in the 50% for height and the 25% for weight.

Bettina: is 29 1/2 inches tall and 20 pounds which puts her in the 75% for height and the 25% in weight. Neither Paul nor Nonna are convinced there is only half-pound between the two girls. "It has to be at least a pound and a half," they theorize (their own experiment with the in-house scale doesn't do them any favors to disprove the doctor!).

Favorites: For toys, anything that has wheels and that can be pushed around like their ride-on car and push-toy. Tina has just started getting on her ride-on car all by herself. She doesn't push it yet with her feet; she just waits for Ava to push it for her. Tina has started to try to get on her rocking horse by herself which makes Mommy very nervous. It's much taller than her car and she could hit her head very easily.

Ava loves music and carries her new MP3 player around with her. They both LOVE the cell phones that Aunt Kathy and Cousin Holly sent for their birthday.

Somedays, they will be very assertive about their independence. Tina will refuse to eat off the spoon; she'd like to feed herself instead. Ava doesn't want Mommy to carry her; she'd rather toddle around herself. In the same breath, I've discovered that their stranger and separation anxiety has reared it's head again. So, it seems that, even though they're longing for independence, it's still so new, that Mommy needs to stick around in case they get a pang of fright.

With food, we've stopped buying the formula and are with cow's milk now. I'm not sure if it's my imgination, but it seems that they spill more if it in bed, so I'm thinking about going back to a slower nipple - a 3 or 2 - to see if that makes a difference. Another adjustment: I didn't realize how much milk we'd go through. Definatley need the Costco sizes of whole milk for the kids, and lots of it! We go through a gallon every day and a half.

One Year Old!! - The Party

The Family on the girls' first birthday (with lots of icing!!)

Well, we finally made it! The girls are now one-year old. Now we can officially give them whatever we want to eat (minus honey and peanut butter), including real cows milk. Gone are the days of buying formula at Costco(at least for now) and really short are they days their carseats face backwards (Ava still has another pound to gain).

The party was lots of fun with 24 little kidlets (only 4 of them over the age of 4). We had a jump house in the front of the house and a kiddie corral in the back where parents could watch them well. We also had the water table, a present from their Aunt Ainsley and Uncle Patrick, out and the girls with their cousin Antonio just couldn't leave it alone.

Everyone's favorite part of watching the girls' first taste of real sugar and icing proved hard to forget. Here's a video clip post birthday-song and deep into the icing enjoyment:


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There are also lots of pictures of the fun. You can find them here.

I had to start my day at 6am and just barely made it ready by 11:30 am after going to Costco and Walgreens and handing off the Safeway trip to my brother-in-law. But, after 18 balloons, 3 cakes (Safeway gives one free round cake to each kid celebrating their first birthday), tons of drinks, sandwich setups and 2 different salads, I felt ready enough to greet the first guests. I couldn't believe that it took as long as it did. I never would have been able to be ready if it weren't for the help from my mother, sister and her husband (a million thanks, guys!).

I'm really glad that I made in advance a couple of mementos: little hand-painted ceramic plates for each of them to use every year on their birthday as well as a framed "official" birthday photo where each of the guests had an opportunity to sign their name and a short greeting onto the matte. We had also stamped their feet with water-based ink on the matte before people signed to make it that much more memorable. I actually forgot to lay the matte out until near the end, so I'm going to try to chase everyone down so that it is complete. I would recommend these little touches; I think we will really appreciate them later down the line.

11 Months 3 Weeks - Our First Mother's Day

Mother's Day

Saturday, the day before Mother's Day, was the local radio station, KFOG's, annual "KABOOM" (aka SkyConcert) free concert and fireworks show. They take over an entire Pier near the Bay Bridge and literally tens of thousands of people congregate for the festivities. The Dodgers were also in town, playing the Giants just a quarter-mile down the road. As I came over the bridge back from and East Bay visit and noticed all the commotion (i.e. traffic), I was reminded of what I was doing just one-year ago. Actually, it was one-year and a week - KFOG must have hosted this year's party a week earlier than last year.

Last year, I was sitting in the same traffic which was compounded by 2 factors: 1) we didn't have a FastTrak pass which helps speed you through the toll plaza and 2) the traffic was worse as the Giants were playing the A's. So, half of the East Bay was trying to get over the bridge to go to either event.

I, on the other hand, had no interest in attending either event. I'm a Giants fan and love the KABOOM concerts, but I was in labor and trying desparately to get to the hospital to have my babies! Last year was a Mothers-To-Be Day (see my blog posting here).... This year got to be our first "real" Mother's Day!!

Our first Mother's Day was spend, naturally, with both our mothers and Paul's sisters, who are also mothers in celebration. We traveled down to a great park in Palo Alto called Mitchell Park. The park includes shuffleboard courts, checkerboard/chess tables, seven tennis courts, two paddle tennis courts, four handball courts, jogging trails, picnic areas with barbecues, multi-use concrete bowl, toddler playgrounds, children's water park, large dog run and restrooms (the restroom by the toddler water park has toddler-sized toilets and sinks - great for kids; a real challenge for their accompaning adults!). Since you need to reserve the picnic tables in advance, we made a giant layout on blankets and tablecloths on the grass under a huge tree, which actually gave us more shade than under the reservation-only arbor and tables. The kids had a great time running between the water park and the sand box (bad combination!), challenged Paul to a water-balloon duel, and played with grandparents and toys under the shade of the tree. Enjoy our pictures here.

God Bless America (or Eat Your Vegetables)!

It all came together for me while sitting in a circle at a newly-formed book club that the local chapter of my college sorority organized. I'd always wanted to join a book club and, since this one allowed me to meet new people of a variety of ages and agreed to meet after my children went to sleep, I hunkered down and ordered the book 4 weeks in advance (and hoped I'd find the time to read between naps, etc.).

The book was "The Handmaid's Tale," one I'd read in college, but enjoyed enough for a re-read. Start the sorority book club off with a book on women's issues! The group was mostly younger women - women about 2-5 years out of school and maybe another one out perhaps a year or two later. I was, however, the oldest of the group, which didn't bother me much at all. I'm sort of used to it with all the volunteer work I do for the local collegiate chapter at UC Berkeley. It was among this group of young women and their irate comments about how dare this society act the way it does that I realized that I, too, had the same reaction when I read the novel some 15 years ago. And, after remembering that, I also realize that my way of thinking within that 15 years has deepened and matured to understand beyond the demand for "rights." With rights, comes responsibilities.

Moira is the only character that many of the women in this book club conversation could relate to. She's the extreme feminist that fights the system as much as she can, with very limited success, I might add. She is constantly demanding rights but never stands up to claim her responsibilities. People try to help her escape, and disappear or are killed in doing so. They help her because they feel a responsibility to do so. I never found it strange that Moira could not relate to her faceless helpers; it just proved my point that she didn't care to take on the responsibilities - she just wanted the rights.

Environmental issues, abortion and dating (the main topics of the book) have a much different meaning after you're established in a family or after you are no longer concerned that you'll "never meet the right guy." You always know the "right thing," but having those roots and allows you to clear up your moral vision and understand why those rights also require added responsibilities just too burdensome for a single, non-married person. Perhaps as we "grow up," we take our responsibilities more seriously and appreciate our rights a little bit more. As I make this point, a completely different tack than they'd read, in the small circle of women, I also see the parallel with immigration.

How is it that someone can demand rights without owning their fair part of responsibility? It's like a child who demands to have their chocolate-covered brownie before they eat their vegetables. My view is that people never grow up and accept their responsibilities if they are just given all their rights and bonuses up-front. Are illegal immigrants valuable people who provide valuable services? Absolutely, yes! However, unless we want a bunch of temper-tantrum children with chocolate-sauce smeared across their faces, they need to step up to the plate, take some responsible measures to become documented, learn English, and eat their vegetables! (just my 2-cents!)

The Girls Discover Water Tables

Splashing Summer Fun

While visiting friends with older kids, the girls discovered water tables. They had so much fun, they were soaking wet before I could notice. So, they stayed in their wet dresses and continued until it was time to strip them down for the car ride home.

My sister called later that night and asked what to get them for their birthday. My response? Yeah, that's right...a water table. I found another twin mom who's ready to part with theirs and can pick it up for a song. We will have it set up, of course, for the girls' birthday party for other kids to discover. We will have to warn parents, though, to bring an extra set of clothes, or wiser yet, a swim suit.

Daddy Day Hike #4

Daddy Day Hike #4 - Bear Gulch in Woodside

Today was the long-awaited "make-up" day for April's Daddy Day Hike. This month, we traveled down to Woodside to hike the Bear Gulch Trail in Wunderlich park. As always, we followed the directions for the coveted "Best Hikes in San Francisco Bay" book which the girls gave Paul for Christmas. However, somehow, we took a wrong turn and didn't quite follow the correct trail. So, instead of the 2 mile hike we intended, we ended up taking one about 6 miles. The only downside was a bit of diaper rash as the girls sat longer than we expected. They hardly noticed, of course!

It was a nice hike anyhow, with groves of redwoods, grottos of sword-ferns and large carpets of forget-me-not flowers. Thickets of madrones and chapparrel sometimes part to amazing views of the and you can view South Bay. You can view our pictures here.

11 Months 2 Weeks - Little Land-Sharks

When I was in college, one of my summer jobs was teaching swimming lessons at Sherman Swim School. One of the activities we'd do with the children to bridge the gap of concept to practice of swimming was to hold the child 3-7 feet away from the wall and, after practicing blowing bubbles and putting their face in the water, encourage them to swim to the wall. The kids were never sure they were ready, but, after realizing they could, they'd want to do it again and again.

This week, I felt like I was teaching those same lessons on land. The "lessons" paid off; both girls outdid their first steps and have officially graduated into walking. The little land-sharks didn't realize they were ready and didn't think they could do it on their own, but, when left balanced in the middle of the room, each of them walks with ease the 1-3 yards to me or the coffee table. It was fun to send them to Daddy at work. Boy, did he have a lot to say when he came home from work. Proud dad wanted show off and to go right away next door to show Nonno and Nonna (who were equally impressed!). Here are a couple video-links to witness first-hand(just hit the play arrow to start the video stream): Ava:
and Bettina:
The girls want to walk all over the place now, however, most of the time they insist that I stoop over so they have a finger to hold. I hope this phase passes quickly as it's killing my back!! In an effort to expedite, we practice our independent walking daily and their confidence is growing. Perhaps by their birthday party, they'll be toddling along, no longer on their knees (although Ava still refuses to crawl). The last video is of the girls enjoying another great toy I found at the last San Francisco MOM sale (biannual fundraising event for the club). Ava, who likes speed, prefers to push while her sister giggles and enjoys the ride.
This whole change has effected our usual play-date structure. I have typically gone walking in the stroller for a few miles to give the girls some air for their activity. However, we now need to find little places where they can get out and walk as just watching the world go by isn't good enough anymore. So, we are exploring the neighborhood and noting places that are safe and interesting for the kidlets on the move. So far, we've found that the little park next to AT&T Ball Park, along the Mission Bay Creek, is very nice.

Enjoying the sunshine at Mission Bay Creek park with Hayden the dog
The girls like to run along the terraces and tumble in the well-maintained grass. Since it's on the water, the breeze is really great on warmer days. Farley's Coffee shop is still a hit. They enjoy running along the bay window and watching the activity on the street (they love the dogs) when we're able to get a booth seat.

Favorite Spot at Farley's: the booth at the bay window

11 Months 1 Week - More Easter Photos

Cute as a bunny!

Here are some cute pictures we took of the girls after Easter, but pretending it still was. The two girls took turns wearing the Easter Bunny outfit and the cute Easter baskets were from my mom's friend Inga. Click here for more photos; Definately worth looking at.