Summer Weddings

Bridemades pre-wedding in Portland. Aaron and Eric were good to put up with all the girlie time that goes on while girls get ready for wedding days.



Yes, we know it is October but I didn't want to get one day more into fall without recognizing that Eric attended the weddings of two of Momma's best friends this summer.

First wedding was in July - Heidi & Shane- Heidi and Eric's Momma have been friends since they were five years old and met in basic classes figure skating.




Eric definitely likes to dance and groove and at the wedding of longtime college buddy of Momma's, Amy who married Brian, he had plenty of girls to dance with.

Molly (the "older" woman from Anchorage) and Anabelle (the sweetheart from Seattle)


Struttin' in his plaid wedding suit and given himself and occasional kiss in the mirror on the dance floor


Dancing and dancing


Amy and Brian cutting that wedding cake that we ate plenty of


The girls all ready to go leave Jen's room at the Lusso and head over to the Fox Theater in Spokane


We are so happy that our family could be part of these most fun weddings of our dearest friends. Major good times had by all.

The only constant is change

After several years of measuring the seasons from the changing plum tree out our back window at 221 17th avenue, we have moved on.

We traded the familiar sounds of the coastal fog horn, the hum of the California 1, and the bumpity-bump of highway 101 for the hum of the BART (off in the far distance), the whistling train, and best of all, the rooster next door.

Before we took the glorious trip to Montana we up and moved everything we own from San Francisco to a quaint island in the bay called Alameda. We are now happy homeowners in a neighborhood where neighbors talk for hours on their front porches and every holiday is a decorative affair. Eric has a backyard he can run in at anytime and a room right off the kitchen so Mom can easily keep track of his every move.

While we loved our neighborhood in San Francisco, it was time for a change. All the signs were telling us so. Our lovely landlords, Moses & Hatsy, sold our duplex, the coffee shop (California Grind) on the corner closed, and the daunting task of finding a pre-school in the city was right around the corner. So when the right house, in the right place, at the right price presented itself we put ourselves out on a limb and jumped in.

Alameda offers many of the things we have always loved in San Francisco, only it also has fewer cars and warm evenings. Our neighborhood suits us perfectly with a great coffee shop, emerging and established neighborhood markets, hardware stores, and odds-&-ends boutiques. The beach and two fabulous parks are also short walks. Eric loves his parks, yard, and new dog friends Bo & Jack.

After experiencing several moves over the years I have learned that "home" is not the walls, structure, or building. You bring home with you where ever you live because home is a sense of being; comfortable, happy, and surrounded by family and friends. We are home for sure.

Oh yeah its your birthday

Today is a big day, Eric's 2nd birthday. Two years have made Eric's dramatic (tramatic) birth fade into our pasts as he illuminates our world with his curly blonde fro and his high energy, enthusastic curiosity.

Today is the day he is 2 - no more adjusting his age by subtracting 3 months - because he is now caught up to his birth date in strength and development. In our minds he has always been ahead (not catching up from behind). Being born a preemie isn't a matter of catching up, it is a matter of getting an earlier start and needing a little more support along the way.

Eric has hit age two at full speed literally and figuratively. Today for example he lead the way on the trail at Monterey Dunes state park yelling "ruuuun Momma, ruuuun Dadda". He also woke up this morning (6:10am) straight away yelling "kids,kids" as he new his cousins were staying with us the Monterey condo and he didn't want to waste one second of fun standing in the pack n' play.


A few months ago the developmental therapist had some concerns that Eric may have bit of a speech delay but, our intuition told us otherwise, and we were right. In the last month his vocabulary has astounded us. Also in the last month he has been putting words together and speaking in phrases. His first phrase was "Amy's house" after staying the night at our friend's house on our road trip. He also continues to be bilingual and speak Spanish, especially when he see Maria.





Turning 2 has brought with it many changes. Eric has a new room in our new house in Alameda that we moved into days before leaving on our Washington/Montana road trip. He is now also old enough to start daycare and be around other germy kids. He starts at a day care next week. They have all his favorite things, trains, books, tractors, kids, and a dog. I think this change is harder on Maria and me than it will be for Eric.

I embrace these worries because these all seem like "normal" mom worries versus the struggles we faced two years ago.

Those struggles have made us better parents who are more present and find nothing Eric does ordinary. We are blessed everyday with the extroidinary moments we share as a family and are reminded not to sweat that small stuff and roll with the newness of each day.

So, how did we celebrate this big birthday. We spent four days in Monterey with Oma and Opa Thies and Uncle Mike, Aunt Susie, Cousin Sam, and Cousin Maylen. We flew kits, played in the sand, visited Dennis the Menis park, and strolled through the Elkhorn Slough State Reserve.

We topped the day with birthday cakes shaped like cars, balloons, and a party of fun and gifts. Today is another celebration for Eric and beautiful reflection into how far our family has come.

Lake McDonald & ice cream

Hiking in Glacier Park


Soo many tractors


Montana bears are cool




Ice cream with Dada and Grandma (whom Eric keeps calling A-m-y) at Apgar Village after a hike along Lake McDonald

Where to begin

I have so much to catch you up on and so many pictures to share from this summer I hardly now where to begin. I have also come to the conclusion that I do not need to choose a voice to write in on this blog so just get used to the fact that sometimes "I"is "Mom" and "Mom" is "I" and "Tara" is Mom and I and or even Eric.

Now that I have cleared that up let me begin in Montana where we are right now.

That is right, after a short plane ride to Spokane with two days at "Amy's house" (Eric now refers to every house as Amy's house - sorry Brian), and an early morning 8 hour train we are at the KOA camp ground in West Glacier.

Giant Wagon at Riverside Park Spokane, WA


West Glacier train station


This is Eric's first trip to Big Sky country to see his grandparents. Eric is now the great repeater and picking up words faster than he can say them. His new Montana words are mountains, trees, tractors, grass, rocks, and trucks. Every red truck is of course Maria's red truck.

On the porch at the West Glacier Diner


We went into Glacier Park and drove the spectacular Going to the Sun Highway. Eric found the winding mountain drive to Logan Pass the perfect time to nap so he would be sure to have plenty of energy to R-U-N the entire mile loop at the Trail of the Cedars. When he sees a trail or pathway before him he declares "r-u-n" and he is off with the quickest turnover you have ever seen. With speed and endurance he is bound to break records as distance runner with a kick.

Taking a break from the run on the trail with Grandma

Promised Pictures

I promised Grandpa Ralph I would post some pictures since I have complete neglected to give visuals from all the activities we had going on last month.

Pictures take a bit of time and between working full time, playing with Eric,buying a house, packing up all of belongings, taking Eric to classes, making it to standing appointments, searching for day care, and helping Maria find the perfect job, I have been a little busy. Oh yes I did just say "buying a house". More detes on that to come For now is picture time.

Getting "cultured" at the Chihully exhibit at the new De Young Museum



Lounging with Panda

Eric takes his a dip in the bear at Lake Wildwood in June


Lunch with Great Grandma Ruth at Lake Wildwood in June

I promised Grandpa Ralph I would post some pictures since I have complete neglected to give visuals from all the activities we had going on last month.

Pictures take a bit of time and between working full time, playing with Eric,buying a house, packing up all of belongings, taking Eric to classes, making it to standing appointments, searching for day care, and helping Maria find the perfect job, I have been a little busy. Oh yes I did just say "buying a house". More detes on that to come For now is picture time.

Fun times

Let's start with Eric's first big road trip and camping experience. 4th of July weekend we embarked on a ten hour drive to Portland for Heidi Ackerman's wedding to Shane Gentry.


The ride started with Eric making sure we acknowledged each and every truck and trailer we encountered. At first we made a game of it and tried to count them but we soon lost count. Maybe the smoke haze from all the fires blocked a few trucks out of sight.

As the sun began setting 5 hours into our drive we decided to pull off at Castle Craggs State Park near Shasta, pitch our tent,get the sleep sacks and sack out. Eric loved it and loved snuggling up in the tent with Mom and Dad. He even slept through the train, which to us sounded like it was driving through our tent. Eric slept so well that we have now kept the tent handy for popping up in Eric's bedroom.

Upon starting the car for our next day's drive we were greeted with the "check-engine light" which lead us to a few small mechanics that didn't have time to squeeze in and engine check. One mechanic was nice enough to tell us that if the light starts flashing stop immediately. Well, with one call to a beholder of an iPhone we were able make an appointment at the nearest Toyota dealership from I-5for an engine check which ended up being 50 miles away in Medford, Oregon. It was a great pit stop equipped with coffee, helpful people, and a toy area for kids.

After the Corolla's check-up we were good to go and back on our way to Portland. We spent our first night in Portland at Heidi and Shane's house who have never had to consider the curosity of a 21 month old who will be into everything within reach. There were so many cool things within his reach at their lovely home that I had to strap him into his stroller and retreat to the outside before Eric had eaten cat food for breakfast and rearranged the martini glasses in the floor-level glass cabinet.

We had a great time at Heidi's rehearsol dinner and all cleaned up for a fun day of wedding festivities in Portland. Eric was happy to spend a few hours with Keeley, Diana, & Lori so Aaron could get gussied up while Mom was tied up with bridesmaid duties.


Eric and Spencer had a fun Friday night dinner at Eric's city flat. Such party boys. Spencer is proficient at teaching Eric the alphabet and how to sing AAABBBEEEBUU as Eric pushes him to run faster.

Eric isn't reciting the alphabet yet but he is certainly into repeating as many words as he can. His most used new words are "Noooo, all-du (all done), Hot-doge (hot doge), aPPle, Tee (truck).

Speaking for trucks I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Eric has found some great deals on tractors, trucks and trailers in the issue of Tractor House he picked up at the 7-11 off of I-5.


Pics to be uploaded soon

Saturday with the crew

Ryan, Spencer, and Eric have been friends since they were born at 24,25, and 26 weeks respectively. We meet up every other month or so the boys can compare notes and get in some bonding time.

Here is our Saturday afternoon at our usual meeting ground, Pioneer Park in Novato

Real estate take over

Since beginning the process of looking to buy a house my blog writing has taken a leave of absence. Mom is addicted to surfing every real estate site out there. Somebody stop me. We have cast a wide net from San Francisco to east bay El Cerrito. Round and round we go. Where we stop, nobody knows.

Packing to go on open home tour is like packing for a vacation. Toys, snacks, meals, extra clothes, Big Ugs, chew guy. Eric is the official kitchen cabinet checker. If he can't open them, we are out of there. It really is enough to drive a person to drink.

Here Eric helps Dad put away the beer.


In addition to the insanity of the housing market we have found time for many, many other spring time activities.

Mom had some girl time in the West Village (Manhattan). Photo with Niki & Jen


Hikes to the China Beach with Chris & Spencer


Play date at Golden Gate Park with cousins Sam & Maylen (we weren't able corralled this kids together for a photo) and a ride on the GG Park Carousel


Swinging with Spencer in Mill Valley



Our first dip in the pool & Lake Wildwood

A ride in Oma's new golf cart

Brunch with Great Grandma Ruth





Eric certainly has a lot to say about all of this too. His vocabulary consists of the first syllabals of many words: Du (Dad), baby, byyyee (bye), wow, bu (bus), duh duh (down), bo (boat), tu (towel), oh oh ah ah (monkey), rrrggh (lion or tiger), eezz (cheese and keys).

He has also proven to us that having Maria teach him Spanish is paying off. His first two Spanish spoken words are agua and ola. Maria has also taught him to blow kisses.


Smooches from us to you.

Happy Mother's Day to all moms

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's I know. Last year, when I was surfing the web for some preemie mom support I found something I wanted to share.

According to Erma this is how preemie moms are chosen. I believe her.

The Special Mother
-Adapted from
Erma Bombeck
Motherhood The Second Oldest Profession

Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressures and a couple by habit. This year thousands of mothers will give birth to a premature baby. Did you ever wonder how mothers of preemies are chosen?

Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting His instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As He observes, He instructs His angels to make notes in a giant ledger.

“Armstrong, Beth, son. Patron saint, Matthew.
“Forest, Majorie, daughter. Patron saint, Ceceila.
“Rutledge, Carrie, twins. Patron saint... give her Gerard. He’s used to profanity.

Finally, He passes a name to an angel and smiles, “Give her a premature baby.”
The angel is curious. “Why this one, God? She’s so happy.”

“Exactly, “ smiles God. “Could I give a premature baby a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel.”

“But does she have patience?” asks the angel.
“I don’t want her to have too much patience, or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she’ll handle it.

“I watched her today. She has that sense of self and independence that are so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I’m going to give her has his own world. She has to make it live in her world and that’s not going to be easy.”

“But, Lord, I don’t think she even believes in you.”
God smiles, “No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness.”

The angel gasps, “Selfishness? Is that a virtue?”
God nods. “If she can’t separate herself from the child occasionally, she’ll never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child who comes in a less than perfect way. She doesn’t realize it yet, but she is to be envied.

“She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says ‘Mommy’ for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it. When her child sees green grass or fall colors with perfect vision she will know that it is nothing less than amazing. When she describes a tree or a sunset to her blind child, she will see it as few people ever see my creations.

“I will permit her to see clearly the things I see - ignorance, cruelty, prejudice - and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side.”

“And what about her patron saint?” asks the angel, the pen poised in mid-air.

God smiles. “A mirror will suffice.”

Enjoy this day and every day on this note:

There are two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as if everything is.
-Albert Einstein (fellow preemie)

East coast trip & Much more

Arrival of spring has brought many new experiences our way including more play dates,bike rides, trips to the beach, and travel. Eric has been making friends and now has a frequent flyer number.

Eric is full of energy - he is running, not walking, from room to room chasing his BA (short for balloon) as we speak.

Here is in the park enjoying tunes & a paddle boat ride.





Speaking of speaking, we were told at Eric's follow-up clinic this past march that he was speech-delayed. We have zero concern over this because he understands everything including the Spanish Maria speaks to him in. His first word was bye, accompanied by a wave. His second word was baby. He now says bu (short for bus), and eeeze (for cheese). I am pretty sure he said all done yesterday.

Once April came we didn't waste a second and headed east to Boston visit the DelloIacono family where Eric got to visit with his Great Papa (94) and Great Nana (90), Great Auntie J and his cousins. Grandpa Ralph & Gram Jeannie also made the trip to Bean-town to celebrate Grandpa Ralph's b-day with the family.



An outing at our local China Beach


Biking in Golden Gate Park


Other news, Mom (me) had her first overnights away from the boys. Work took me all the way to New York City where I made sure to have some fun and see good friends. Dad & Eric did well with the help of Maria and kept myself so busy that I barely had time to miss them.


What is good about all of this? It is all normal, which means that everyone is healthy and doing well. These trips have now been added the list of "big steps" for all if us.

With all this going on you may now understand why it has been so long since our lasting posting.

Hitting the slopes for the first time

Playing in the snow is one Mom and Dad's favorite past times and Eric was as eager to hit the slopes as we were. He even got to see snow fall for the first time and had a prime condo location right on the ski run where he good see all the snow related action: skiers whizzing buy,people waving on the chair lift, and the snow plow all right outside our door.

This location, courtesy of the Clif Company ski weekend, was also much appreciated by Mom and Dad because it made maximizing ski time very simple.

Every time he saw the Gondola he would exclaim "eeeh,eeh" and give his signature hand gesture as if to say "taa daaa". He even got to ride in the Gonodola on the way to the Clif dinner at mid-mountain.



His curious face is him trying to figure the gondola-ride-thing out. "What do you mean we get in it?" Not quite sure what to make it yet. He had a great time at the mid mountain party with all his clif buddies.



He wasn't thrilled about wearing a snow suite and snow boots but, once he got outside he recognized a purpose, or just forgot.

He is a natural in the snow and managed to walk down the ski run in snow boots 2 sizes too big and was very attracted to ski gear.

I am sure if they made gear his size he would insist we take him skiing.



Thanks to Clif Bar for such a great weekend and incredible new experience.

Walking, talking, following Grandpa

The hallway leading to and from the laundry room and Grandma and Grandpa Thies's house is Eric's favorite corridor in the whole house because it leads to his favorite room, the laundry room. Never mind the gorgeous view of Lake Wildwood with boats,ducks, and deer. The laundry room it is.

Here is Eric trying to get Grandpa to turn around and WALK back to the room where his clothes get clean.

Eric & Maria

Every morning Eric and Maria spend a good amount of time on the couch looking out the window at all the action. From the window Eric can see the California 1 bus line go by. On Tuesday and Thursday they await the street cleaner. Wednesday morning is full of excitement with the garbage, compost, and recycle pick up.

There used to be the added bonus of watching the neighborhood eccentric, Cookie, attempt to move her beater car from one side of the street to the other on street cleaning day. This was a good hour of entertainment. Cookie's car hardly ran, had a constant flat tire, and was held together with duck tape. Alas, Cookie moved and her car must have made its way to her new street, or the city decided to remove it on grounds of it being an "eye sore".



Maria is wonderful with Eric and he has so much fun on their days together. We are lucky to have found her. She can even get him to wear his baseball hat. Eric gets so excited when Maria comes in the morning that he squeals and waves his hands until he gets to give her a big hug.




Spencer and Eric have found time for few play dates. Spencer loves pulling all the toys out of the polka dot bin and is full of things to say. He can even say Eric. Our favorite word is the one nobody knows what he means, "ah be-baa". I also love his word for cracker which sounds more like a duck, but by gosh Spencer means he wants a cracker.

Completely belated birthday blog wishes

Cousin Sam turn the big 3 February 3 and cousin Maylen turned 1 on February 9! Cousin Eric and Auntie Tara wished them Happy Birthday from afar due to few runny noses, but Uncle Aaron was there to represent. Here is a little footage straight from the party people.



Eric loves his cousins. Grandma Linda has a picture of Maylen and Sam in a bedroom at her house and Eric always seems to find it and gives cousin Sam a kiss and then one to cousin Maylen.

All right, I tried again

Visitors

FYI

In the words of Yoda, try and try again I have and not has the Ba Bib video been able to re-post. Time I have not.

Moving on. Over the month of January we had some fun visits and an almost-vist to Tahoe.

My goods friends from Delaware continued their west coast trek up the California coast so the could meet Eric. Happy belated birthday Dani V.

Eric loves to entertain and had a great time with his new friends.



He adored Shane and watched his every move. Eric clearly looked up to Shane and sought his cheers and approval for his moves. I think they must have bonded over their hair - curls, curls, and more curls.



Our trip to Tahoe with the Browns was an almost-trip as we anxiously awaited relief from the nasty stomach virus that rocked through the three of us. Miraculously and thankfully, Maria didn't get it. She was a trooper with double diaper changes for Eric and mom and dad unable to get out of bed. Thank you Maria.

Instead of a trip to Tahoe, once we all felt much better, the Browns came over for an early evening of pizza and letting the boys play. Eric was beside himself with excitement over a playmate this rainy day. Spencer investigate every toy and Eric pulled out one after the other and offered a tour of our home. He also showed Spencer how to look outside and what cool things sit in hi front porch.

Catch me if you can

Our home is a traditional San Francisco flat, which means our apartment consists of one very long hallway. This hallway connects the front family room and kitchen with our bedrooms in the back. Eric has hours of entertainment in this hallway from the pictures on the walls to the window where he looks out and flirts with the college girls hanging out in their backyard studying.

He also finds this hallway the perfect straight-away for a good game of chase....
....and he's off



......a quick shoulder check to see if he is actually being chased


.....ha, you can't catch me. Now watch me bee-line straight for the non-secured office.