My Little Climber

Lately Max has been climbing up on everything and ANYTHING. Sure, his favorite thing to do at the park now is climb up the stairs and ladders, but he gets much more creative than that. He'll knock over the laundry basket, climb on, and balance like he's surfing. He has a flat-bottomed bowl that he plays with in the bath tub that he likes to turn over and stand on. Trouble. Yesterday he even found a roll of paper towels and tried to climb up on it. Silly guy. But my absolute favorite (yeah right!) is when he opens the drawer under the stove, climbs in, and stands on it to reach the knobs to turn on the stove. How did he think of that? I don't like this phase. I know it's just a matter of time before he starts to climb out of his crib. Then what am I going to do?

Sunday Visitors

We had two very special visitors stop by in San Francisco today. My aunts, Dawna and Lori, had a layover at the San Francisco airport on their way home from a Jazz vs Clippers game in LA. We were so happy they decided to take a longer route so they could see us. Max was especially happy. Not only did he run straight to Dawna when he saw her (those daily lunches while we were in Utah must have done the trick) but he found his new favorite play spot--the airport. There are so many moving walkways, escalators, and elevators. Max's dream. Luckily he had his dad to follow him around and appease his curiosity. We had to stop him from climbing up on the baggage carousel and being taken away by another airport passenger. I could tell he had fun because he slept very soundly the entire night.

I can't believe I've been home from Utah for two weeks and haven't posted any pictures. Our vacation was too short as usual. I learned Max is a musical protege. He loved playing the real piano, his piano, and all of the guitars around his house. He was even permanent spectator during guitar lessons. But if I had to pick Max's favorite thing, it has to be the tent and tunnels at Grandma's house. He even tricked everyone into getting in with him. I think my family's favorite part was learning about the joy that is Baby Einstein. They will be in Max's debt forever! We had so much fun and can't wait to come back again in May!

Muir Beach

Today Max and I had a lucky treat. Since it's break for the school, Blake didn't have to work this morning. He took us on a little car ride up to Muir Beach for some fun in the sun. Or, more like fun in the water. Once we got Max's shoes off, he was in heaven. First all he wanted to do was play in the sand. He loved folding up his toes and getting sand stuck in them. But then, he saw the water! He ran staight in. He had so much fun chasing the water down and back, looking at the dogs and birds, and eating sandy pretzels. He even got daring and took some pretty harsh waves...until one took him. He let us know then, it was time to go home!

Max's Book Club

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Max doesn't have a book club, but he wishes that he did. He loves to read and needs a group to discuss the intricacies of each book's highly complicated plot and symbolic meanings. This picture of him with his books torn off the shelf is a daily occurrence. I love to just sit and watch him read the books to himself. He reads out loud and points to the pictures that capture his interest. Blake and I even like to test Max by starting him at the couch, then reciting a few lines from a book (of course we have his favorites committed to memory) and setting him loose to see if he can come back with the correct book. And he does! I know, my baby's a genius!

So, if Max DID have a book club, these would be his recommendations--

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. This has been one of Max's favorites since the beginning. It has been torn and taped back together countless times. The front and back cover pages have the alphabet on them and Max loves to sing the ABC song and point at each letter. If you get it, don't get the board book, it doesn't have the complete story.

There's No Place Like Space by Tish Rabe. Blake got this for Max while he was traveling in Washington D.C. visiting the National Air and Space Museum and it is surprisingly one of Max's favorites. He's liked it since he was little and still loves it. It's written in Dr. Seuss style and I think he likes the sing-song of it. He also loves when we get to the page with the rhyme to remember all the planets. We say it over and over and over.

Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. A classic, how could he not love this one? I think initially he liked it because the pages rotate between color and black and white pictures, but now he likes to point out all the different things in the room. Plus, it's always fun to imitate the "quiet old lady who was whispering HUSHHHHH..." We used to have the board book as well, but it got left on the plane, so our paperback version has also been taped back together too many times to count; in fact, I think it's in need of repair right now.

Ocho Monitos Illustrado por Steve Haskamp. Our best attempt at trying to bilingualise Max. He likes to knock his cabeza and help "Mama llamo al doctor." One little monito disappears each time you turn the page and now Max likes to stick his finger through the hole and look at it on the other side. So, this is probably as far as Max's Spanish is going to go before he actually becomes lingual.

My Lucky Charms

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I set out to make this day extra special for Max. After all, it is his first St. Patty's eating REAL food and we all know holidays center around food. So, Max had some green milk, green scrambled eggs, green rice, and broccoli today. Everything else was just normal, but I felt like I had made a good effort. I love having Max in our family. It seems like holidays are so much more exciting now and I love trying to think of things (even though they're not a big deal) to do for him. I also tried to get him to give me a kiss when I'd say, "Kiss me--I'm Irish!" but it only worked a couple times. We'll have to practice more for next year! Blake also had some green spirit and was the most popular guy at the park. A little boy followed him around asking him questions about the Celtics. Good thing Blake knew all the answers! Luck 'o the Irish to ya!

My First Little Blue Box

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Well, I guess being 26 isn't so bad after all. At this ripe old age, I have become a member of a very elite club--the Little Blue Box Club. Some of you may be thinking, WOW--Blake really came through with a birthday present this year. But, those of you who are thinking that are dead wrong and should definitely know better. Blake is saving up for my tennis bracelet! :) No hard feelings though. Blake is used to being out-shown by this gift-giver. In fact, this is the third year in a row. Two years ago I received a HUGE bouquet of gerber daisies (my favorite) at work. And right on cue, about an hour later, Blake walks in holding one gerber daisy. Ouch. Then, last year the same sort of thing happened, except Blake didn't even try. I was in Utah and received another bouquet of flowers. Everyone kept asking if they were from Blake. Nope--It was APRIL! Then this year. WOW! I love my silver bracelet and I immediately put it on. And the first thing I did after becoming a member of this elite club--peeled some potatoes and took out the trash. But let me tell you, peeling and putting the little twisty-tie on the garbage bag is much more enjoyable when you have something sparkling back up at you. I am so lucky to have met April, my fellow auditor, and she definitely made my years as an accountant bearable and in fact, enjoyable. Now if only she will move back to the Bay Area we could try to start to repay her for the excellent friend she has been to us. Okay, I could go on and on and on, but I'll leave it at this--THANKS APRIL! The BAM SAN FRANS love you!

I Love to See the Temple FHE

It was beautiful today in San Francisco. Beautiful. The high reached a sweltering (at least for SF) 76 degrees. Now that's the kind of "welcome home" we like. Since the weather was so beautiful, Max and I decided to pick up Blake from work in Oakland--his last day working there--and spend some time in the sun in the East Bay. To celebrate, we went to dinner at our favorite taco truck. Yum. Max couldn't decide if he liked the special sauce, but luckily I came in tow with a peanut butter sandwich. He loved walking around staring at the other diners and chasing the truck's mascot--pigeons. 6 tacos, a 7-up, and an horchata later, we decided our FHE would be about the temple and started the scenic drive up the hill. I love the temple grounds. They are so beautiful. Even Max was interested in getting up-close and personal with the flowers, grass, dirt, and especially the water. The big fountain was a little too high to get into, but the little stream running away from the temple was just perfect. That little guy tricked us though by only splishing and splashing with his hands rather than climbing all the way in. What a good boy. Then we spent most of our time up on the terrace walking around, playing in the grass, and looking at the view of the city. There is a mural on the back of the temple, similar to the one on the front, that I never noticed. It's Christ in the America's, and the front is Christ in the Old World. We decided to stay and watch the sunset--a total Blake thing. He had fun playing with the camera and taking some amazing pictures. It was an FHE success!

Happy Birthday...TO ME!

Another day older and deeper in debt...that's what I am. But luckily I didn't even realize it until late tonight. I woke up to a french toast breakfast and some beautiful singing voices. Max didn't understand why everyone was singing, but he sure enjoyed bouncing up and down to the music. Then just while I was trying to get ready for my lunch date, Max started to act a little fussy so I thought--Perfect, the little monster can take a quick little nap and then he will be good for lunch. Well, 4 hours later, he decided to wake up. I guess it's rough for him too, to have such an old mom. Luckily, our lunch daters weren't going anywhere, so we had a quick lunch and spent some quality time together. Then for dinner (can you tell my birthday centers around food?) we all met in at Old Spaghetti Factory. I love that place and I've never met a person who doesn't feel the exact same way, so I knew it would be the perfect birthday dinner. Max LOVED the mizithra and the rest of us loved watching him try to shove it in his mouth. I think I had the best birthday entertainment ever! Then, back home after presents and really good cheesecake, my day was a success! Well, except I kept waiting for Blake to show up at the door and surprise me. I was sure he was going to, but nope. Hopefully he's saving my big birthday surprise for me at home! :) Thank you so much to everyone for the calls, cards, emails, presents, etc. I feel so loved. Oh, and when did I realize I was older? Well, as I was getting ready for bed, I looked at myself closely in the mirror and noticed a little grey hair. It's all down hill from here.

2002 Video

Every year Blake and I make a slide show of our pictures from that year set to our favorite music from that year. I've been working on our 2002 video this week. We're really not THAT behind, but since it's the year before we had our digital camera, I've had to scan in all the pictures--a daunting task I've been avoiding. The real video is about 4 times longer than this, but I thought this little trip down memory lane would be fun. Enjoy!

Make video montages at onetruemedia.com

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

Okay, okay, I know it's a work in progress, but I thought it would be fun to see Max's song in the beginning stages. He definitely has "clap your hands," "give him what?" and "a great big kiss" down, and I thought he knew "shout for joy" and "pat his cheeks" but our excuse is going to be the camera distracting him. Max loves watching this video over and over again. He thinks the baby is pretty silly. Oh, and our other major disclaimers about this video are 1) Sorry Max looks like a rag-muffin, he didn't have his bath yet; and 2) Sorry my singing voice stinks; oh, and 3) I tickle his leg when I say "knee"--that's why it's so annoying.