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There She Grows

April was a month full of friends, family, events, birthdays and excitement. I am not keeping up with this blog, at all.

So here is a quick and dirty rundown of what made April 2010 a fairly big month for us. Along with our particularly Big News at the end.

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Checking out the stark beauty of La Quinta, where Aunt Jen lives.

Toward the end October we travelled back home to spend a long weekend in the Chicago burbs. The centerpiece of our trip was the wonderful wedding of Amy and Larry, which I got to witness from the stage as a proud bridesmaid. It was full of fun and happiness. And the rest of our time was filled with a whirlwind of friends & family.

To my Angelenos: this is what fall looks like.

And without further ado, here’s our weekend in pictures (and a few videos)…

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Janna has been living in San Diego for a few months now, which is awesome because when she gets time off she can randomly visit us. That very opportunity arose on labor day weekend, the first time we’ve all seen eachother since Lilah was 2 months old! So in essence this is the first time they’ve met, and it was great to hang out.  Jen was here too, and together we discovered Oinkster in Eagle Rock.   OK, Sara told us about it.   But yay: a family-friendly place where one can sit outside, eat delicious burgers with a decadent concoction called Piggy Fries, and drink pitchers of good beer.  Score.

All too soon, Janna had to return to her busy life as a veterinary intern. And on Sunday afternoon, the rest of us drove out to the desert to visit Jen’s new house. She’s recently moved into a spacious and adorable house in  La Quinta, and now has a pool! Which is a very key thing to have in that hot hot heat. It was so fun, Lilah LOVES being in the water.

Two things.

1. My digital camera broke, many weeks ago. It just straight-up stopped working.  This doesn’t stop me from taking photos constantly, it just stops me from taking decent ones.  I’ve been shooting iPhone pics pretty much exclusively since then.  The iPhone is significantly better than no camera at all.

2. August was a really busy month for us and A LOT HAS HAPPENED.

I’ve considered writing one long post about everything but at this point that’s not gonna work.   So, expect some backdating here, because I have to talk about the fact that my sister Sarah Rose and Osman visited us, which was wonderful.  And the very next weekend we went up to Portland and had an awesome 5 days with Traci & Jim, and the very next weekend after that, I left the fam behind and went back to Chicago for some girlfriend party time in anticipation of Witte’s wedding.  With Mike’s birthday ending the month it seemed like every weekend was a major event.  But, there were a few other things I wanted to mention too.  Like our playgroups’ shifting dynamic, new chapters in my freelancing adventures, and visits to Descanso Gardens and Travel Town. Not to mention, all of Lil’s new tricks.   I’ll try to get to everything!

Our playgroup has begun meeting earlier, and expanding our horizons a bit. Instead of sticking to the same old local parks, we’ve been checking out more of the destinations our region has to offer. Mostly on the recommendations of Sarah, our only member with an older kid who has been there and done that.

This month we finally did a zoo playdate, and we picnicked on the rolling hills at Mayor’s Bicentennial Park up near La Canada.  And, we visited Descanso Gardens for the first time. Hopefully not the last, because we barely delved into all there is to see. The sprawling grounds seem to go on and on; check out this map. Starting our playgroup at 10:30 has been tricky with Lilah, who is ready for a nap at noon and gets quite cranky when she’s tired. I’d like to be able to hang for longer and we’re working on that. In the meantime, check out these pics of Lilah having fun with Indie and Zachary exploring the gardens. Read the rest of this entry »

I just wanted to remember a little something that really cracked me up at the time.

Lil and I were on our plane, about to fly to Chicago to begin Sister Vacation 09. Lil is a fairly seasoned flyer for a 2yr old, and I had an arsenal of strategically organized snacks and diversions. But 4.5 hours is a long flight and this was only the second time we’d be flying without Mike. So imagine my dismay when our flight ended up delayed an hour, while we were all seated and sitting on the tarmac. Couldn’t they delay us while we’re still inside the airport, with plenty of space for a toddler to run around and things for her to see and do? Meh.

So I’m sitting there already going through tricks and treats I had hoped to reserve till hour 3… but Lilah was a trooper. Not only were there no breakdowns, she seemed to be having fun with the whole situation. At one point the captain’s voice told us the plane was almost ready, and she suddenly yelled out, “get ready, plane!” I laughed, along with several nearby passengers. Quickly realizing she had an amused audience, she decided to run with it.

“Get dressed, plane!” resulted in more nearby laughs and suddenly she was on a roll. “Get dressed. Brush your teeth!” She was saying this stuff pretty loud so people were starting to crack up. Some guy a few rows back was like, “yeah!” I think she was cheering them up. I thought it was funny she was coming up with all this herself. Then I figured that was over so we start looking at the little airport guys driving around again.

A few minutes later Lil goes, “Put your shoes on, plane!” It cracked me up. And then like ten minutes later, long after I thought this was over she adds, “Get your coat on!” The fact that she came up with all this by herself and really turned this into a running gag was pretty cool, at least I thought so. She may be barely two, but she’s had a pretty good sense of humor for awhile now. Its fun to see her share it with others, and their reactions.

We’re in the middle of a family reunion vacation at my mom’s beach house on Lake Michigan. Its an annual event, and this is Lilah’s 3rd year in attendance.     The first time she was a 2 month old, then last year she had just turned 1 and had a lot more fun.    This year, however, is a whole new world.  Now she can do so much more, and she just LOVES playing with all her older cousins, doing everything she can with them.

I’ll make a photo post at the end of this long trip, but I had to pop into ye old blog to just say (have i mentioned this before?) my kid talks SO freaking much for a just-turned-2-year-old.   I know this has always been a thing, but it seems like she has become even more talkative in the last few days. I just emerged from the bedroom to find her already in her swimsuit about to be taken back down to the beach by Grandma and Aunt Mairz.

She sees me descending the stairs and yells out, “Hi Mama!!!!” I ask her what she’s doing and she says, “Go to beach! Play in sand! Go swimming! Find some rocks! Throw in water, maybe! Sunscreen, all done. Lets go!”  All at once, before I reached the bottom stair.   I was like, whoa!

Here she is doing the Hula Hop with her cousins, who she is having SO MUCH FUN with.

This is  a handy list of kid-friendly activities in the area. It was passed on to me by a friend but originally compiled by Andrea Weiss, updated June 15, 2009. Its a good resource for families travelling to the area.

We’ve been to several of these spots, but most are yet to be checked off my list.  I have added many of our own favorites that were missing from the original list, as well as a few photos of us enjoying these fun times.  When I blog about one of these places, I’ll try to include a link to the corresponding blog entry here. And I’ll continue to add more here as we discover them. Because this is by no means an exhaustive list!  Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »

Another long overdue post… A few weeks ago, my dad came to visit, and it was great to see him. He is a rare guest for Lilah, and I’m so glad for her to have a connection with him. We went to Disneyland, because we could. Those free passes have seriously been our most-used perk of the job.  We also went to the Aquarium, which is always great fun for Lilah.  Here are a couple family photos I really love:

I think we had a really nice time, although I wish I had cooked more delicious meals. Plus, Lilah wasn’t exactly on her best behavior because she happened to be on a nap-strike that week. But I think it went well mainly because I decided not to discuss how much I still lament the things his family members said to me almost a year ago.   Instead he was just able to focus on Lilah. I think they have bonded the last two times they saw eachother and I hope they keep talking.

Lilah had a great time last weekend with Grandma visiting. A rundown of our fun times is after the jump.

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lilah has officially outgrown her infant car seat. she’s 15 months old and over 22 lbs. today we purchased her front-facing seat, which is extremely exciting! i’m about to assemble and install it. this marks the dawn of a new era for lilah, and i think she will love her nifty new graco nautilus, with her forward view and her very own cup holder. but we will definitely miss being able to do this when she is asleep:

update: lilah is obviously quite comfortable riding in her new big-kid seat. loved it from the start (aka the moment i buckled her into the show model on the shelf at target, lol)

my mom was staying in orange county for business, and was put up at the ritz carleton in dana point. it was really nice! lilah and i drove down and stayed with her for a bit, enjoying the hotel and the beach. it was lilah’s first time in an ocean.

lilah and grandma have so much fun together. more pics here.

daddy is no longer in his early 30’s and is now in his early-mid 30’s. don’t tell anyone though.

to celebrate this momentous occasion we went to vegas… and unlike last time, we went without lilah. it was our first getaway from the baby and my first time ever away from her for longer than 5 hours. mike’s parents came to watch her and they had a great time hanging out. we were gone for 4 days and by the end of it i was really, REALLY missing her! on the drive back i just couldn’t wait to hold her in my arms. but i will admit we had some serious vegas fun, staying in a lavish palazzo suite and having the freedom to do what we couldn’t do last time. like gamble, stay out late, be unfettered, be more drunk more often… and most notably, sleep late! that was seriously one of my favorite things about it – very much needed given lilah’s current morning habits. other highlights of our time involved dining. the best was mike’s birthday dinner at carnevino, mario batali’s place in the palazzo. easily one of the best dinners of my life – and one we lingered over for quite some time because we could.

each year my mom and her 4 sisters get together with their families on the beach, resulting in sister vacation™. for the past few years this has taken place at my mom’s awesome beach house right outside michigan city. we had a great time. last year lilah was only a few months old. now that she’s 1, she was able to have a lot more fun on the beach, and playing with all her cousins. here are the photos from the trip!