Zoo

The zoo was a big hit. The flamingos were the first stop and she was squealing and pointing. She was also impressed with all the different monkeys. She said "ooo oooh oooh" and did the sign for monkey, which is scratching under your arms, but when she does it it looks a lot like she's flapping her arms like a chicken. We went to the petting zoo and she touched a pig and some goats, which was more than I was willing to do. Unfortunately the tigers and the giraffes weren't being shown. She knows the sign for giraffe and we've taught her to do the scary tiger grin when we ask her what a tiger says, so it would have been nice for her to see them "in person."

We tired her out well enough that she slept most of the way to Palm Springs. We got there and were looking for somewhere to eat dinner when a guy at a nice Italian restaurant was practically begging us to come in. We warned him that Casey is very loud and she may try to make an appearance in the kitchen, but that didn't scare him so we went in. We manage to cordon off a small area with chairs and she danced to the piano music (which thankfully was very loud), wearing her colorful plastic chain necklace (the chain that we usually keep attached to her stroller). She ran for the kitchen twice, so we were glad it wasn't crowded. She ate some soup, pizza, and ravioli, so it was a success. The waiter kept bringing us free wine so everyone was happy.

Learning how to eat

No, Casey isn't learning how to eat, it's me. After exhausting trips to restaurants and messy room service meals in the hotel room, I got lucky the other day. Casey and I stopped in a sandwich shop to pick up some sandwiches to go. We sat in the booth for a few minutes while I thought, hm, maybe we can just sit here and eat, it might not be too bad. Then after 3 runs for the door and 1 run for the kitchen, I came back to my senses. I put her in her stroller with half a grilled cheese in her hand and pushed one-handed while I ate my turkey and avocado sandwich. The girl sat still for an hour or maybe more, eating and looking around, totally content. Keep moving - a valuable lesson.

Then we got back to the hotel and ran into our friend with the two kids, and we walked to the grocery store to stock up on milk and then came back and took the kids to the hotel's exercise room. I would never have thought of that, but we're game for anything. The four year old was walking on the treadmill so of course Casey wanted to try it. I held her hands while she walked on the lowest speed. She burned 10 calories! She also liked bouncing on the giant exercise ball has been enjoying running up and down the halls and around the lobby.

That was a few days ago. Yesterday Eric took half a day off and we walked around the waterfront and checked out a kite store. They had a tiny little yard with a fence and a bunch of pinwheel kite things that were blowing in the wind and she ran from one to the next looking at them and playing with them.

Last night we went to visit our friends Susan, Steve, and Kyra (9). Casey was a little shy at first but as soon as they got out the video game where they all play in a band, Casey was playing the tamborine and singing lalala and ooooohyayayah. We had a great time and none of us wanted to leave. I hope we didn't overstay our welcome because we left at 10:30 and Casey was still ready to party all night. One minute later she was asleep in the carseat and I've never had such an easy time getting her out of the car and into bed, still sleeping.

Now Casey and Eric are taking a nap and then we're going to the zoo. Luckily I still have a bit of a cold and can't smell very well. Perfect timing. I can't wait to see her face when she sees all those animals.

We're in San Diego

Right now we're in San Diego. Eric had to go for a business trip so Casey and I decided to tag along. The plane ride was as expected. Too much excitement to sit still or nap. Luckily we had three seats for the three of us this time. By the end I was covered in smooshed-up cookies.

Last night we went to Thai food with Eric's coworker and his wife and their two daughters. The four year old did a great job of chasing after Casey and carrying her back to the table before she could make an escape. She's been practicing on her own sister for almost a year now. On the way home we stopped at the grocery store for milk and Cheerios and the girls all got balloons, so we walked past bars and people drinking and smoking with our two strollers, three red helium balloons, doggie bags, and groceries.

Today we met my friend Shannon and her three month old daughter and picked up some Japanese food and took it to the beach. A picnic always sounds fun, especially when you have a little girl who doesn't like to sit still for very long. I'd forgotten why I don't like picnics at the beach though. Seagulls. They were stalking us for a while and they saw an opening and made their move. They won, but they outnumbered us. I thought they might carry Casey off with them. Casey cracked up when I was screaming and spraying water at them out of the water bottle. I couldn't make as fast of a getaway as I would have liked because I forgot that I'd locked the stroller wheels.

We played at a playground for a while and Casey ran around and played on the slides and waved at Shannon and Baby Lauren.

We're all still recovering from colds and I think I just got an eye infection so we're going to the doctor soon. What a way to end the day.

18 months old today!

Ok grandparents, if anyone asks you how old Casey is, she's 18 months old today. It's so hard to count by months, I can hardly count by years for my own age.

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Casey and Dada both love to read books while they eat. Her ideal meal always includes a book and as soon as all of her food is ready, she asks for one. If things aren't looking too messy, I let her have one or read one to her.

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Casey's friend Arjan came over for a breakfast date today and brought mini corn muffins made by his mommy. Casey loved them! And she had a great time doing whatever he did.

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After Arjan left, Casey had a snack of yaya (yogurt). Besides dada, mama, night night, and banana, yaya is the only thing she asks for with words. You can see that she's been learning to eat it by herself. She was doing pretty well with the spoon until she decided the hands might be a better way to go.

Fake food

This afternoon we went to Target and I bought some fake food and a little hand cart for Casey. It has chicken nuggets, peanut butter, jelly, peas, and other stuff. She loves the ketchup the most, even though she has never tasted ketchup. We came home and spread out a blanket and pretended to eat it all. Then she packed up her little cart and carried it around and brought it back and unpacked it. Over and over. Maybe I can hide the can of tomato paste and catfood now.

All my work...

Yesterday started as a good day for eating. Casey ate a huge breakfast, and then we went to an Italian restaurant with some friends and she turned her nose up at the toddler meal and ate all of my ravioli. I had to order another plate for myself. Eric made a great dinner of salmon and noodles. During her bath we were noticing her big belly and I was congratulating myself for such a good day of fattening her up. She went to sleep and woke up crying about an hour later. Eric went to get her and she puked. All over him. Poor Dada. We knew she was feeling better when she started pointing and squealing at his belly button (he'd thrown his shirt in the washer by then). She loves belly buttons. I don't know what was wrong with her but she seemed fine today.

Trampoline

Eric took Casey to a friend's house today for brunch. I already had plans so they went without me. Had I known they had a trampoline I might have changed my plans! I'm always trying to talk Eric into getting a trampoline, and now that we have a kid we can pretend it's for her. I don't know where we'd put it but we can figure that out later. Apparently Casey had a good time running on it. She doesn't really know how to jump yet, which is one more good reason to get one.

It was a sunny day and we walked to the local playground with our neighbors and the kids got to play on the swings and the slide. Then we went to a birthday party for our friend Max. Casey enjoyed her first Korean food, especially the chop chae (noodles with a little bit of beef), which is my favorite too. Things have really changed in the last year or two because there were a LOT of little kids there. We gave Casey Cheerios instead of homemade chocolate birthday cake, but I don't think we'll be able to get away with that much longer.

Little muffin maker

She brushed her teeth!

Last night Casey brushed her teeth for the first time. Before, when she wouldn't go for the toothbrush, I started using a wet diaper cloth with some baby toothpaste on it and she hates it but she hasn't hated it as much recently. When we went into the bathroom last night she put the cloth between her teeth to try it and I felt kind of sorry for her so I got out her toothbrush. I got her started and then she did the rest. She did a pretty good job too. She always likes to watch me brush my teeth and pretends to brush hers with her finger, but this is the first time she's really done it. It was so cute.

And it's a good thing she brushed too because she had her first piece of See's candy last night. We went to Gymboree with our friend Mary-Mia and her twin two-year-old girls and then Eric and Rod met us for dinner. They like to stop at See's afterwards so who are we to buck tradition? We wimped out a little and got her a white chocolate granny smith apple truffle. I guess I'm worried she'll get addicted to the good stuff. And the white chocolate left much less of a stain on Eric's jacket than the real stuff would have. I gave her a little bite of it and then when I handed it to her she looked at me with her eyebrows raised, and seemed surprised but thrilled that I let her hold it herself. It looked huge in her hand. I can only imagine having a hand-sized truffle!

Two good days in a row

We've had two good days in a row. Yesterday we went out running with the jogger stroller and wow that is a hard workout. Luckily she stayed awake long enough to say "bawk bawk" to the chickens in her high-pitched little voice, and then she fell asleep just past the farm, so I had a nice run. We went grocery shopping and hung out at Starbuck's for a while. I got home and she didn't even cry when I took a shower, although that doesn't mean she wasn't pounding on the shower door the whole time. Then we had a quick lunch and went off to Gymboree where she got to play and made some new friends. She fell asleep in the car and I got her into the house without waking her, and I couldn't help but pat myself on the back because everything worked out so perfectly.

Today we went to storytime at the library. I wasn't sure how she'd do after the craziness during our last trip, but she's usually much quieter in the mornings than the afternoons. I thought I might be in trouble when she fell asleep as we pulled into the parking lot. But we went in and watched the fish for a while and she pulled a few (ok, more than a few) books off the shelves and then it was storytime. It was ok. There were a lot of people there, maybe 25 parents with kids. The librarian read some stories and sang some songs and we were supposed to join in but no one knew the words. During the between-story-clapping Casey let out a few head-turning shouts, and she danced a little to the songs, but mostly she was interested in the fire extinguisher behind the glass. She fell asleep in the car and I got her to bed without even waking her and she slept for two hours. That's more naptime than she usually gets in two naps! Then we met two of my friends for lunch -- one has a new baby and one is pregnant. Casey kept doing the sign for baby and she shared her book with the baby. She was sitting on the pregnant friend's lap and I told her there was a baby in there and she did a doubletake. It was really funny. She fell asleep on the way home and she woke up when I tried to get her out of the carseat. I should have stayed in the car with my magazine. I guess I got a little cocky from my earlier successes.

Is it bedtime yet?

Little girl got her own library card

I find it impossible to understand how the same little girl who won't let me put her down inside our own house can run wild when I take her somewhere she's never been before. We went to the local library today. As you walk in there is a huge wall-sized aquarium and there were so many beautiful colorful fish to see that she needed both hands to point at them all, alternating left and right.

Then we walked in further and she saw the walls and walls of books in the children's section and signed "book" while looking at the room in amazement. I was so excited because I knew she would love it there. We staked out a tiny table and I put down the diaper bag while she started pulling books from the shelves and bringing them to me. Before I could even finish the first page, she would run to grab another book. She really couldn't get enough of them. Too bad she didn't want to read any of them. I kept holding up books saying "a doggie!" or "a baby!" (she's very interested in babies lately after meeting baby Ellie and always points out the baby on her Yo Baby Yogurt containers while making the sign for baby). Then she began running circles around the shelves. And while I was squeezing my big butt into those tiny kid-sized chairs trying to read her a story, she would walk over to other tables and try to listen to other moms reading to their kids.

My choice is to carry her around the house all day or take her out where she will run around and doesn't want to be picked up? Shouldn't she be clingy when we go somewhere new and comfortable in her own home? I know she has lived here for less than two months, but that doesn't explain it.

She has her own library card now. She carried it all the way home.

Daddy's first trip to Gymboree

Yesterday was a big day. Casey went to a birthday party, her first one. That alone is exciting enough, but the party was at Gymboree. There were lots of 3 and 4 year olds, so she couldn't always keep up, but she had a blast and partied hard. Eric got to come this time and join in the chase.

Then we went up to the city for dinner with a bunch of friends we know from Team in Training. While we were walking to the restaurant she kept pointing at all of the lights in the city and on the Bay Bridge. We taught her the sign for light (we think) and she used it a lot. At dinner, every time I tried to give her to Eric, she'd come back to me so she could climb over me to go to my friend Lisa. Lisa had won Casey's heart from the start when she handed over her keys as soon as she walked in the door. Casey had a great time being handed from person to person and trying out everyone's cell phones and crackberries. She didn't make friends with the waitstaff though, because she was running all over the place. We probably left about 10 minutes too late because she cried really hard in the car and couldn't fall asleep. I gave her my phone and kept calling it from Eric's phone, and she sat in her carseat with her ear to the phone crying crying crying.

Grandpa Larry wants to know what we've been doing on the days I haven't posted. The day before yesterday it was POURING here so we missed out on all of our plans. It didn't seem like a good idea to take her out or drive in that rain just to go to a music class or a friend's house or to Gymboree. It wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't stayed home most of the day on Thursday too, after overdoing it on Wednesday.

Wednesday I took her for a walk in the park using the baby carrier and as usual she fell asleep before we got to the farm. So I decided to extend my walk so that she'd wake up at the farm and I overshot a bit. We ended up hiking for over two hours. She loved the hike (discovered her shadow) and the farm (she says bawk bawk to the chickens now) but when I realized it was getting close to noon and we were at the farm and I parked in the far parking lot (1.5 miles away) and I hadn't eaten anything, I stole a few of her Cheerios and we headed for home. That afternoon we went to Gymboree and she fell asleep right when we got there but I took her in anyway. She was falling a lot, even more than usual, and I was tired from the long hike with a 20 pound pack on my front, so a day at home sounded good until it turned into two days.

We did go out once on Thursday to visit some friends. She had a little tea party with her friend Mary Courtney. Picture coming soon.

Baby's first 5k!

Check her out at the Los Altos Annual New Years Day Fun Run! Hard charging for the finish!