yerba buena park

Yesterday Nina took Charli and Bella to the Yerba Buena playground downtown, and came back raving about how awesome it was, especially on a weekday when there's no one around, and how much space they had to run around, and how awesome it was some more (she's been there before, but yesterday she was particulary excited, I guess). Well, she made it sound so good that we felt left out, and decided to take Charli there again today. We thought we'd make a little trip out of it by getting some hot chocolate, and some wall anchors, and maybe even a new crock pot. Amazing how these things go together.

Well, Yerba Buena playground is indeed quite cool, and we imagine it must indeed be a lot better on a weekday when no one else is around. On a beautiful Saturday, though, it's packed, and most of the equipment is better suited to kids older than Charli, who are running pell mell through all the open space. They had very cool slides and climbing structures, and it's in the middle of a kid oriented complex where the walkway just becomes part of one of the climbing structures. The railings along the walkways are talking tubes, which are fun - of course we tried them out. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so you get no pictures of the playground. :( However, we do have this lovely picture of Charli in the grassy area nearby, which is where we spent all our time drinking hot chocolate and letting Charli run around without getting run over by 3 year olds. As I have said many times before, Charli likes hot chocolate.

We did get our wall anchors, which will be used to put the gates back up on our stairs - we seem to constantly rip them out of the walls. The gates are only necessary in stages, it seems. We didn't need them for a long time, obviously, until Charli started crawling and trying to go down the stairs before she really knew how. Then we kept them closed for a while. But then she actually became quite good at going down the stairs, and would reliably turn herself around and go backwards, and liked to go down to the landing and then come back up, so we would leave them open unless we really didn't want her to get away. Now she's walking, and she's to the point where she's interested in going up and down the stairs facing forward. She hasn't attempted it by herself, but she's right on the verge, so we need to make sure the gates are up good and strong. :)

We also got a new crock pot, for a zillion dollars. How can a crockpot cost a zillion dollars, you ask? When it has a cast aluminum insert, that's how. Our previous crockpot handle broke off like the first time we used it, so we returned it for a replacement - which had the knob on the lid broken off and glued back on (we opened up the box while we were in the store. Unfortunately, it was the last one left, so we took it). Well, the knob on the lid never fell off again - that glue must have been pretty good. However, the lid did eventually crack in half. Some kind member of my family glued it back together, but our glue was not as good, and it came apart again. Also, I could feel cracks inside the pot when I was cleaning it, so we decided the time had come for a new crockpot. And I was determined not to get another stoneware or ceramic inner. And the only crockpot I could find that didn't have a ceramic or stoneware inner was from Williams-Sonoma. And everything at Williams-Sonoma costs a zillion dollars. And that's how a crockpot costs a zillion dollars.

The inner part is very nice, just on its own. We made a lovely curry in it, and it cleans up very well. In addition, this crockpot is bigger than our last one, but it weighs a lot less, which is nice. It better last forever. It cost even more than our trash can, which we've already said better last until we have grandkids.

headshots

Here are just some random shots of Charli that haven't fit in any blog posts lately, but which everyone should still see, because, of course, they are adorable.


See? Wasn't that cute?

A couple of weekends ago we were out for breakfast and we did a little shopping. Charli REALLY wanted to carry the bag, and then she walked around with it for about 1/2 a block. So cute! Our little shopper! Brian's in such trouble. She tried to go into another store on her own, carrying her little bag. She is also really into shoes - she'll go through her shoe drawer looking at everything, and then she'll sit down and try to put the ones she likes on her feet. She also really liked Shannon's shoes (Jillian's mom). When she came by to drop Jillian off in the mornings, Charli would always go and admire her shoes.

And lastly, here's Charli's favorite toy at Tiny Tots in the Eureka Valley Rec Center. Apparently it's gone now, but maybe they'll replace it with something even better.

new duds

Yesterday Sam and I went through more hand-me-downs for Charli, and once again, she has a whole new wardrobe. I took an entire box of stuff out of her drawers and closet, and we easily put that much back in, too.

I've been thinking for months now that I didn't have a warm enough coat for Charli, so I've been layering her up every time I send her out. Turns out there were TWO coats in the bins that are perfect, and we even have a super warm ski coat (and pants) should we ever have a blizzard and Charli wants to play in the snow.

In addition, we found these SUPER-CUTE pjs! They have a kitty on the butt!

urban hike

We went on a little walk today. It had a lot of stairs. Charli was in the backpack for that part, and I'm glad I'm not the one who was carrying her. We were aiming for the top of Twin Peaks, but we were slow and we let Charli walk for a while, so we didn't make it that far. We made it to the top of some other hill, though, which still got us a great picture. It was beautiful in the Mission when we left, but the top of this hill was freezing and windy, so we stopped for hot chocolate on the way back. Charli, as may have been mentioned before, likes hot chocolate.

Charli's walking is progressing like greased lightning. She pretty much walks everywhere now, and she no longer wants to hold hands. You can hear her as she's trying to get you to let go: "I can do it MYSELF!"

time for change

This is the first inauguration I've ever been interested in watching. Charli wasn't terribly interested, but we made her watch it anyway. I liked it. It even inspired me to work hard for about 5 hours, after which I reverted back to my normal level of effort.

lovely weekend

We've had a lovely weekend with Mambaw and Grandpa. Charli is very into reading now, and loves to bring you a book and sit on your lap while you read it to her. Mambaw and Grandpa (and Mom) approve. Mambaw reads fun Pat the Bunny books. Grandpa reads very serious german books. :) Everyone's favorite part though, which I never got a picture of, was when Charli was walking along and reached up for Grandpa's hand. *sniff* So sweet...

While she was here, Mambaw taught Charli a life skill - putting on lotion:



Now she likes to run around to everyone sitting on the couch and pretend to put lotion on their hands. Then we have to pretend to rub it in.

Charli also likes snuggling stuffed animals now, providing they are very soft. Take, for example, the bunny that Kelly sent last Easter...

We also ate lots of food - we roasted chickens and made pork chops and pancakes and had Little Star Pizza and brunch at Maverick and went to Pork Store, but it is not enough! We realized that we've never taken Donna and Jerry to Mission Beach Cafe or Craig's Place! They'll just have to come back again soon, I guess.

training day

Yay, Donna and Jerry are here!

Today we went to Tilden Park, over in East Bay, and took a ride on the Redwood Valley Railway. It was super cool! The Redwood Valley Railway is a model railroad that gives rides on weekends. It's run by a model train hobby group (I can't remember the name), and they make all the parts themselves and try to run the railroad just like a real railroad. They have several engines, all beautifully maintained, and they have repair trains, and roundhouses, and all kinds of other train stuff for which I don't know the technical terms. Everything is built to scale, including the water towers along the track and any associated buildings. It's crazy. There were even some people out on the line, and I don't know if they were just trying to provide more stuff for kids to look at, or if they were actually hobbyists/volunteers at work right that moment. Clearly, I choose to believe they were working on the railroad, all the livelong day.

So here we are at the station. It's just $2 a ride - a bargain! Everyone gets off, and then everyone gets on, and the conductor says conductor-y things like "All aboard!". Charli didn't really have any idea what was going on, and she was a bit worried when she thought her dad was throwing her out of the train window, but that was just for my photo op. We all squished into one of the closed cars rather than an open car, because I thought Charli would enjoy standing up on the ride, and in these cars she had things to hold onto. Once we got going, she just stood at the side and watched everything go by. She was fascinated!

Here we are standing under one of the bridges so you can get a sense of the scale. As we were walking around afterwards, we found more model trains - these model train hobbyists are gung ho! They have another model train that is smaller than the RVR, with accompanying buildings and such, that you can also ride on, but it was closed when we were there. And then next to that is a real model train (i.e. one that is too small to ride), with a long track and a model town and I didn't see any roundhouse. I think the middle sized model train runs along it, so maybe you can ride the one train in order to look at the other. And as a matter of fact, you can see part of the middle sized railroad from the RVR, so if you're there at the right time, you could ride on the model train and see people riding on the other model train so that they can see the other OTHER model train.

After that, we visited Lake Anza and scared some ducks, which flew away quacking. Charli thought this was immensely funny and laughed and laughed, and we even think she said "duck". She has not repeated it, though, so it's always hard to be sure.

After Charli goes to bed...

Korin is a Guitar Hero!!!

Utensils!!

Just a quick note from our kitchen: at about 7:15 pacific time, Charli picked up food - WITH A FORK - and managed to get it into her mouth!! As you can see there was some other trial and error leading up to this point, but in the end she was successful!

it's a new year

For my new year's resolution, as you can see, I have decided to spend less time blogging and more time with Charli.

Actually that's completely false. I hardly ever blog when Charli's awake anyway; I'm just trying to come up with an excuse for why I haven't been posting at all (one that sounds better than the truth, which is that Kim got me started on those little flash point-and-click computer games, and that's how I waste all my free time now). But now that I'm back, we can catch up on all the news! Because it certainly isn't as if nothing's been happening...

For one thing, we're practically empty nesters. All of our visitors have left, and once again, it's just me, Brian and Charli here. It's quiet and lonely and we have to take care of Charli all by ourselves (it's hard, but we have a lot of space). Fortunately, Brian's parents are coming for a visit in a week, and Sam is coming back while they're here and staying indefinitely, so it shouldn't last long.

Before everyone left, though, on Friday, January 2 - I so wish I had a picture for this - Charli tried her first spicy food. Oops! We were at a place that serves sort of an Indian version of burritos, and my mother popped a chunk of chicken tikka masala into Charli's mouth (she didn't think it was hot). The sauce was spicy (not fire engine hot or anything, but way spicier than anything she has had plain before; I had been feeding Charli very small bits of it doused in raita and she was OK with that), and Charli just had no idea what was happening. She had been very happily eating whatever we fed her, and then THIS. She got a VERY worried look on her face, and opened her mouth up as wide as she could, like she was trying to prevent the food in her mouth from touching her anywhere. Her eyes and her nose got red, but she didn't cry. I got her to spit the chicken out into my hand, but she still wouldn't shut her mouth or make any noise. I tried to get her to drink some of my mango lassi, since yogurt is really effective at cooling spicy stuff, but she wouldn't close her mouth to suck on the straw, so I had to take the top off the cup and just pour some in her mouth. After that she drank a bunch more lassi, and then she was OK, and she ate more food even (so trusting!), but it was really hilarious. Sam said her face was so expressive that it wouldn't have mattered what language you spoke, anyone who looked at her would know exactly what had happened. I really wish I could download some of my brain onto this blog, since even I, who will happily feed Charli sour food so I can take pictures of her while she's eating it, will not subject her to that again just so I can video it and put it up here. You'll just have to imagine how funny it was.

Charli has found some orifices (orifi?). One is cute (belly button). One is not so cute. She likes to find other people's belly buttons, too, and stick her finger in as far as she can, under the pretense that she is tickling you. She also likes to tickle feet, and she likes to stick her finger into my or Brian's ears, which really IS very ticklish. Honestly, she likes to stick her finger up my nose, too, but I'm not very fond of it so it only happens when I'm not paying proper attention.

We got Charli more gear. This one will last until she goes into a booster seat, whenever that is. It's quite a bit bigger than the previous car seat; I love the print, but occasionally while I'm driving, when I look over my shoulder, I get the momentary impression that there's a large animal right behind me.

Charli talks. She says "uh oh" very clearly, and is pretty good with "wow!". We can hear her say "what's that?", "what IS that?", "look!", and "cuckoo clock" (from her favorite song). And she might be starting in on "hi daddy", but it's hard to say for sure. She had a funny conversation with Sam while she was working on her computer:
Charli: What's that?
Sam: Microsoft Outlook Web Access.
Charli: Wow!
(repeat)

This past Tuesday, we started a new share care with a nanny named Carolina, and another little girl named Parker, who is 21 months old and lives just 3 blocks from us. There was a bit of crying at the beginning, but everything went fine after that. On Tuesdays, Parker comes here, and on Thursdays, Charli goes to her house. *sniff* There could be some crying on my part over that, but they are so close and Carolina was really nice and brought them over for a little bit during the day, so I didn't have TOO much Charli withdrawal.

Brian had the first release of his product at work. It was presented during a keynote at the CES in Las Vegas, by John Chambers, Cisco's CEO (wow!). Charli seems to be pretty excited about it, although I don't know if she realizes that Laura Izibor's website is not actually her dad's work, but rather was built using it.

I think we can pretty much say that Charli is walking now. Her record was 12 steps in a row while everyone was here, but it wasn't all controlled all the time. Then after everyone left, she kind of took a break for several days, and didn't walk that much at all. Then yesterday she apparently decided she was good enough, or she had the proper impetus, or she wanted to impress us, and she is, and she did, and we are.