Merry Christmas!

Halloween 2010

Halloween 2010 in San Francisco. 

The first one where Emma dressed up - look at my littlest monkey!  Last year, she was too young and small (only 2 1/2 months old) to fit into any costume.

In line for some candy!

We went to a neighorhood in San Francisco which is well known for its Halloween trick or treating.  We are lucky enough to live within walking distance. 

We got there early, and by the time we left, it was PACKED, and let me tell you, people in this neighborhood go all out.  Adults were dressed up, there were haunted houses in people's garages, there were tons of decorations, there was a live rock band, and even people dressed up as Shrek and Puss in Boots dancing in their bay windows to the soundtrack of Shrek the movie.  Crazy.

Halloween weekend was super busy - we had a baby shower, a birthday party, music class, and trick or treating.  We were all exhausted, including Emma!

Here she is at the birthday party which was held at a My Gym.  My Gym is like a little gymnastics playroom for toddlers and kids.  Emma is a little young for many of the things there, balance beam, high bars, big wedges and slides, and zip cord, but she liked this:

"Hey, do you want these?  I like to share."

"Why is my lot in life so sad?"

"See you guys, LATER!"

Fall Has Officially Arrived! (Well, for us, anyway)

Yes, I know that the official start of fall has long since passed, but it is hard to believe autumn is upon us when last week it was in the 80s and 90s here in San Francisco.   And although it isn't all that unusual to have a heat wave here in September and October, boy, are we glad that is over.  I love fall, and I still reminisce fondly about east coast autumns with changing leaves and crisp autumn air. 

But, just to prove that fall has officially arrived for us in San Francisco, here's some evidence:

Yup, Emma in her first Halloween costume at a pumpkin patch in San Francisco.  We didn't dress her up last year since she was only 2 1/2 months old at the time.  And by the way, I think it rather amazing that we are able to find a pumpkin patch in the middle of a city.  

Emma had a good time and we were able to meet up with friends.   Emma picked her own pumpkin - she is a strong little one, and actually picked up one of those little pumpkins in the picture by the stem. 

In other news, I finally finished an adult sweater for myself.  All this knitting and never one sweater for me.  I am pleased with it and will post some pictures of me wearing it soon.   It took me forever and a day to finish the sweater because work has once again been kicking my ass (hence the long break between posts).

On the Move!

Back Home

We're back home after an extended weekend trip to the east coast.  We attended my cousin's lovely wedding in Brooklyn, NY.  The venue was gorgeous, although it was a little tough to find and you had to drive through some pretty sketchy areas to find it.  It was right on the water, with a beautiful view of the Statue of Liberty in the background. 

I was really worried about how Emma would handle the long flights there and back.  She has flown before, but that was when she was tiny and didn't move very much.  Lately, she has become super active, and is totally walking on her own and getting into all sorts of mischief.  She actually started to walk (without holding onto anything, without holding anyone's hand, and taking more than a few steps) right before, and I mean literally right before, we were packing our car to head to the airport.  She suddenly got up off her tushie and just toddled along like it was no big thing.  She cracks me up.  Anyway, she was so well behaved on the flights that we got compliments again about what a "good" baby she is.  I put "good" in quotes only because I don't really believe that babies are "bad" on planes on purpose.  And truly, to get annoyed with parents who are probably even more stressed than anyone else on the plane about keeping their baby in check is really not productive, or for that matter, very nice.  And I have to say that I really did feel that way even before I had a baby myself!

Incidentally, on the way back to San Francisco, two passengers in front of us were speaking French, and their neighbor kept bothering them with cooking questions and tales of all her allergies and her daily cooking habits.  I thought to myself that those two Frenchmen were incredibly nice and patient with the overly talkative neighbor.  Then, when it was time to exit the plane, those two Frenchmen stood up, and who could one of them be, but Jacques Pepin (!).  He and I exchanged smiles and he seemed like a very nice person, what with his patience, and even helping fellow passengers get baggage out of the overhead bins. 

Knuckleheads

So, what knucklehead decided that it would be a good idea to hold a mandatory training session on Saturday, starting at 9 AM, to last 4 hours, in a location that would require half of the attendants to drive an hour to the training site?  Oh, wait, that would be my knucklehead bosses.  It was the best Saturday morning ever.

Walking

So, yesterday, while husband and I were at work (boo), Emma took her first "real" steps.  She walked about 10 paces, then plopped herself back down on her tushie.  She has been "cruising" for months (where she holds onto things and walks around), and toddling along while we hold her hands, but she has been really reluctant to walk on her own.  She sometimes would take 2-3 tentative steps, look around, realize that she wasn't holding onto anything, then do a flying squirrel leap for the nearest solid object to hold onto.  Sometimes, she would miss the object and fall. 

My mom called me at work when Emma took her steps and I swear she sounded hysterical, laughing and jabbering at the same time.  I thought she was going to say something along the lines of "HAHAHAHA, I have had it, and I am leaving!" - that is how exuberantly crazy she sounded.  But, in the end, it was only proud grandma speak.