Waterfalls!

Today we enjoyed the last day of clear weather this week, by driving over to Marin County to hike Cataract Falls. The trailhead was about eight miles from Fairfax and the hike was a nice one. The waterfalls were in full force, given all of the rain that we have seen as of late. We got an early start, but by the time we were coming back, there were quite a few people out to enjoy the falls as well. Both Xena and Alex had quite a good time exploring. Alex did some rock climbing of his own, during a little break from the backpack. He particularly loved the mossy trees which were everywhere.

After the little hike, we went back to Fairfax for lunch at the local pizza place and did some window shopping, before heading back home. Great outing and a lovely day. Hopefully we can find some fun stuff to do inside for the rest of the week. Sounds like the rain is already in the North Bay.

Just Like Daddy....

This morning I walked into the living room and found my two boys reading together. How cute! I think that Daddy was shopping for bike accessories, while Alex perused the latest Golf Digest.

So, what has the little guy been up to lately?

That is a question you may ask, and let me tell you, there are many answers! Alex keeps very busy, exploring everything. He loves to climb on things, loves to look in cupboards and drawers which are accessible, to find new and interesting items, such as pots and pans, receipts (a favorite as of late), various cooking utensils, office supplies...you name it, he finds it!

He is a big fan of cheese and now will actually say his word for it, which essentially consists of the "ss" sound at the end of the word. When I open the fridge, he often uses the word, essentially asking for cheese. I grant the request on days like today, when it clearly seems that he is asking if he can have some. He also likes to say "ss ss", which is for Sis Sis, namely his dog sister Xena. He knows that is her name and will often refer to her as that. It would appear that he likes the "s" sound. He also likes to say "hi" and will frequently run up to Xena when we come home and proclaim "hi" to her. He does this when you enter a room as well and often seems to do it when he looks at pictures of people. He uses a sign for all gone too, which is fun to see.

His fascination with birds and animals is fun. Yesterday, I took him to the park in Montclair and we played on the play structures for a bit. He went down the slide on his own, which was super cool. Then the attention focused on the large pond that they have, where he saw quite a few ducks. They are very friendly and basically swim right up to you, probably in search of food. He was quite happy to watch them and of course, was practically climbing over the stone wall to get in with them. Another fascination was the middle schoolers playing basketball. He absolutely loves to watch older kids playing sports or even when they are just talking to one another. Very curious!

Books are something which are always interesting to him, as well. We read to him often and he really enjoys it. He will bring the books to you and loves to turn the pages. He has a picture book of Baby's First 100 Words, which he received from a friend for his birthday, in the car and he just loves to look at that book over and over again. The pages with babies and animals are especially interesting.

We had his one year checkup last week and he is a very healthy boy. He is active, curious and happy and we could not ask for more than that!

Unexpected Lullabies

Tonight, as I was putting Alex to sleep, he was a bit fussy and restless and then Patsy Cline came on, singing "Crazy", and he calmed right down. Note to self, and to other new parents...Patsy Cline may be a good lullaby choice. Thanks to Daddy for loading it on Alex's iPod, because it did the trick!

Friday Farmer's Market

Now I remember....this is why California winters are so great. Sometimes, when it rains we tend to complain here in California, even though we need the water, but then days like today remind me that winters here are pretty good.

It was a nice crisp winter morning with lots of sunshine, so Alex and I headed out to the Farmer's Market is Old Oakland. Usually, we go on the weekend, but since it was so nice, I decided to take him today. Lots of yummy stuff to be had, that is for sure! Alex was really eyeing the oranges and strawberries, and tasted some yummy naan bread as well.

Vermicelli Noodles Are Fun!

I'm a Big Boy!

Can you believe it? Alex is now facing forward in his car seat. Seems like just yesterday that he was in that little bucket, which he hated, facing backward and barely able to see anything. Now he's facing forward, can see us driving the car, watch all of the traffic around us and really feel like one of us. He seems quite happy with the new arrangement, although in this pic it was quite close to naptime, so he was just chillin'.

Laid Back Week

Although it started off a bit rainy, this week ended up to be quite nice. It was Alex's friend Miles' birthday on Wednesday, so we went to their house for a playdate. The boys were particularly interested in the stereo equipment, which is no surprise, right? Alex had fun exploring all of the toys and books at Miles' house and came home with a cool car, which he enjoys having us zoom across the room.

Since the rain subsided, we were able to break out the sandbox, which was one of Alex's birthday presents. I am sure he will gets lots of use out of this new addition to the front yard in the future. It is always quite fun to move a little sand around. Luckily, it has a nice cover, which keeps it dry and closed to any kitties who might think it is something else.

Yesterday, we took a trip to the Oakland Zoo in the afternoon. Alex especially enjoyed the giraffes, which he tried to climb under the fence to see, as well as the meerkats. There is a tunnel to go through to get to a special meerkat viewing area and he was able to see a meerkat come right up to the glass to greet him. Quite fun!

Discovery Museum

Yesterday, after dropping Grandma Elaine off at the airport, we decided to check out the Bay Area Discovery Museum, which is located in Sausalito. It is located in Fort Baker and has a fabulous view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I would highly recommend it to parents with kids from six months or so on up. There were lots of activities, some indoors and others outdoors.

Alex particularly enjoyed the stream in the Tot Spot area. He was "fishing" with his hands and playing with frogs and having a splashing good time! He also enjoyed the cave and the musical instruments and he would have loved the huge sandboxes, had the weather been a bit nicer. The weather did happen to clear up, just in time for the lion dance, which was performed by students from the Marin Chinese Cultural Center. Alex was very intrigued by the beat of the drum and seemed to enjoy watching the lions. He was able to go up and tap on the big drum afterwards, as well as check out one of the lion heads.

We will definitely go back and explore more at the Discovery Museum. Thanks to those who recommended this spot!

At the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito on Monday, they were celebrating Chinese New Year. We were waiting for the lion dance to start, so Alex entertained himself by chasing the pigeons, which seems to be one of his favorite pastimes. This video gives you a glimpse into how quickly he gets around. Sometimes I don't think it is actually appropriate to call it "walking"....I really thinking "jogging" is more appropriate.

Fun With Grandma!

Alex has been having alot of fun this week with Grandma Elaine, who is visiting from Minnesota. He and I have taken her to some fun baby places like Jordan Park, and Tumble and Tea, and we tried to take her with us to swimming class yesterday, but were disappointed to find that it was cancelled due to the holiday weekend. Oh well, maybe next time.

Today we all went to The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, which was a good rainy day activity. The flowers there are always beautiful and since Alex is a big fan of flowers, it was quite a hit. They had a special exhibit, The Golden Gate Express Garden Railway, which was quite cool. There were replicas of a variety of San Francisco landmarks which were made from recycled materials and there were a few train track loops running through it. You can see the Chinatown Gate, the Transamerica Tower, the Ferry Building, The Golden Gate Bridge and the Conservatory of Flowers in the photos above. It was a fun exhibit and Alex enjoyed walking around. Afterwards, we went to the Park Chalet by Ocean Beach for lunch, where Alex found a dog statue which was particularly interesting to him. He seemed to recognize that it was a doggy, just like his Sis-Sis. Quite cute!

It has been fun having Grandma here. Just a couple more days of fun left, before she heads back to the snow.

My First Job

Alex had his first job on Thursday---starting him young! He worked at LeapFrog, the electronic toy maker in Emeryville, doing some top secret toy test research, therefore, there are no pictures of him actually working. :-) He even got a paycheck, which you can see him opening in the second picture--a Target gift card. He was a great worker, I was there as a witness.

Happy Birthday Alex!

Sunday was Alex's official First Birthday party, and it was quite a full day! About 25 friends came over to help celebrate with the little monkey. He was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of people in the house, and all of the activity of a bunch of 2 and 3 year olds, but overall, I think he had a good birthday. He especially enjoyed eating the baked sweet potato fries, which were part of the menu of tri-tip sandwiches, chicken, beef rendang (curry) and rice, mixed green salad and homemade ice cream and cookie sandwiches.

Another highlight was his own little cake, which was frosted with whipped cream and decorated with cut grapes and strawberries, which are two of his favorite fruits. He was quite intrigued by the lit candle and in fact tried to grab it before we actually sang Happy Birthday to him. He took his time digging into the cake. I think that he was trying to figure out if he really should make a mess or not. He had fun eating the fruit, tasting the whipped cream and feeding Daddy fruit as well.

Thanks to everyone for coming to the party and thanks also to those of you who sent birthday greetings via mail and e-mail. Alex received many generous gifts, which I am sure he will have alot of fun playing with, so thank you. We are putting away some of the toys and rationing them, as he has so many that it is hard to enjoy them all at once! He really liked the tail on the sock monkey which Grandma Elaine made for him, as you can see in the photo. It makes a great handle! Thanks to Grandma Elaine for helping Mommy and Daddy get everything ready for the party too--we needed it!

So, now we start on Alex's second year....more fun times ahead! Stay tuned!

Birthday Weekend!

Well, it is hard to believe, but Alex celebrated his first birthday on Friday. He had a fun weekend, full of celebrations, which started on Friday. Some of his little friends and their mommas came over for a playdate on Friday morning, which was a fun time. Everyone had a good time playing with the toys and eating lunch. In the afternoon, Alex and I went to our usual swim time and he had a fun time as usual. He can even hang onto the side of the pool now and pull himself up. He loves the water and really enjoys going to that class every week.

A year sure seems like a long time, but it has truly flown by.

A year ago already?

Dear Alex,

It is so hard to believe, but in just six short hours, it will be a year from the time that I woke up feeling strange, and wondering if I was having true contractions, or Braxton Hicks contractions. After a couple of hours, I woke your Daddy, because by then I realized that it was the real deal, even if it was ten days early. It seems like we should go to The Montclair Egg Shop for breakfast tomorrow, because that is what we did on that morning a year ago. Instead, we will have some of your friends over for a playdate, and then we will go to swim class, so you can splash like a little crazy boy, in the afternoon. Maybe we will hit the Egg Shop on Saturday, when all three of us can go.

A year later, look at you. You just do not seem like a baby anymore. You are a walking, talking (in your own language), curious little monkey. You like to explore every little thing, whether it is when you are trying to "open" things with your own set of keys, or when you try to stuff things in pipes in the wall, or when you peek your head around to try to see what someone is doing, so you can replicate it later. You love to be outside and explore the front yard, and you also enjoy watching me cook. You never want to be left out of any action happening in the house. You climb on things, point and indicate adamantly with your voice, the food that you would like to try (it happened to be the strawberries this evening at dinnertime), and you literally run around the house now! It is so crazy to think that you were just a tiny little baby only a year ago.

You have brought so much joy and happiness into our lives, it is amazing! So, tomorrow we celebrate the one year anniversary of your arrival and look forward to so many more fun milestones in the future. Thanks to everyone for their support, advice, gear and gifts over the past year. We appreciate each and every one of you and look forward to sharing many more special moments in the future.

Happy Birthday Alex!

We love you!

Dada, Mum-mum and Sis Sis