More Montana visitors: Grandma Lorraine & Grandpa Jerry

We are coming off a recent visit from Grandma Lorraine and Grandpa Jerry where Eric was fully entertained with a present every day and showing them around town. We gave them a taste of Alameda with a trip to our favorite beach, a Friday morning at Crosstown Community Cafe with Cowboy Jared, shopping on Park street, and a visit to the USS Hornet.

On special request we had lunch a Chipolte, rice and beans are Eric's favorite, and Jerry was anxious to try the burrito that his son-in-law, Dan Fritz, raved about. Dan, if you are listening, he almost couldn't eat the whole thing.

Grandma and Grandpa are deprived a local Trader Joes so it was a treat for Eric and Momma to take them the mere 2 miles from house to TJ's. Grandma found some yummy cookies and said to Eric, " Can we buy them?" Eric's response was, "Can we buy it? Yes we can!" This means he is watching too much Bob the Builder I think.

We also took the ferry over to Pier 39 and pretended to be tourists one day without proper clothing (pants, scarves, and fleece) and Eric got to try his first mini donut. He took one, maybe two, bites and proclaimed, "Umm, good bagel!"

We strolled down the Embarcadero in search of the sun and found it just in time for lunch at the Ferry Building.
This was Grandma and Grandpa's first visit to our new house. A little tidbit is that kaddie-corner to our house is the corner where we sat in January 2006, Eric's first social trip out of the flat, while exploring the possibilities of Alameda. Grandma Lorraine was with us and actually even went into the open house on the corner (600 sq ft for 560k). Two year later when Aaron and I starting looking in Alameda again we kept trying to find this neighborhood to no avail until one day there was this open house and here we are. Some how this street called us back.

We took a trip with Grandma Lorraine and Grandpa Jerry to the plant nursery where the loaded us up with a couple trees for the bare spots in the back and some color for the front. Despite the unsusal 90 degree heat that day Jerry was as eager as Eric to dig a whole and get those trees in! Once Eric found that Jerry and Aaron's were getting muddy he backed off screaming "dirty hands". For the most part we really like clean .

Our trees and plants and new shovel are awesome! Thank you. Next time your in town we can paint:)

My goodness

We have been just a whirlwind of activity around here this spring. Trust me, we have the pictures and stories to prove it. We have had the pleasure of house guests and travel ourselves along with the displeasure of some late spring stomach bugs. We have celebrated birthdays, Easter, and attended one Sox's game.

And guess what? Momma just figured out how to post from her "mobile device". Maybe this means more posts. I wish writing this blog paid the mortgage but alas, it doesn't. If you are interested in reading some blogs that help us out in that area feel free to read up on musings of nutrition at Healthy Child Healthy World
or at CLIF or LUNA


Here is a teaser to the adventures of Eric this spring:

A visit from dear Auntie Susan with a lovely stroll to the beach:



Easter Sunday with the cousins

Papa Ralph and Nana Jeanne pop in for the week and to celebrate Papa Ralph's B-day

Playing in the backyard

Visiting friends and sites of New York city

Eric's friend Spencer

I have been meaning to post this one for a while.

Spencer is working on his ab strength.

Meanwhile, Eric pulls up on Spencer's 4-wheeler (right side of screen) to witness this feat of super Spence strength

Walking home

Each day I drive by Eric's day care on my way home from work so I can park the car and walk back 3 blocks to get him. This may seem counter intuitive to some but it is a no-brainer for Eric & Me.

We have been living in Alameda now for 8 months and these walks not only give Eric and me time to giggle, run, stroll, pick up sticks, look at leaves, point out birds, & catch up the days activities, but they also have helped us settle in to our neighborhood of tree-lined streets and front porches. This is a neighborhood where just about every resident will say hello and then some. Most folks have lived here for years and they have been quite welcoming. This includes the neighborhood cats (which Momma is allergic too).

If we decide to walk the east side of the block we are sure to be greet first by Peechu, a very brave kitty-cat who saunters right up to a two-year old boy who really wants to pull his whiskers. "Nice, pet nice," Eric reminds himself out loud before attempting to pull anything.

Then, a few houses down there is Maytag. He is a much more reserved cat and prefers to perch on his porch and give Eric the stair-down rather than get in his face. Try as Eric may, Maytag sticks to his porch.

As we round the corner to our street we are sometimes greet by the neighbor kids playing basket ball in the street, practice drums in their garage, or racing their bikes through piles of leaves. Kenyan lives on the corn and Mckenna across the street. The both love Eric and love to entertain him. Mckenna actually suggested we invest an basketball hoop Eric's size so she can teach him how to play.

Mckenna is a our 12 year old babysitter in training. She is also our sources of Girl Scout Cookies (now without transfats as she proudly pointed out to her dietitian neighbor) and holiday wrapping paper sold through her school.

Continue on up our street and you will soon be reminded of the season. Monty and Peter never disappoint and have a holiday display in their front yard that rivals any retail store window. Currently Eric and I walk by and practice naming the colors of the Easter egg lights hanging from their white picket fence and count the bunny rabbits in their front yard.

As we arrive home we may also be lucky enough to see our neighborhood dogs out for their later afternoon walks. Robbie and her little dog Jack are usually out. Robbie is a retired scientist and is always up for interesting conversation. Jim and his dog Kiki are sure to be by. Jim is retired military and always has stories of adventures (and women) from far off places. If you pet Kiki nice you may earn yourself your pick of the candies in he keeps in his pocket. Jim is also our source for tennis balls. He thinks all kids should have tennis balls and that Eric can never have too many. Good thing Eric got a racket from Oma & Opa for Christmas.

On the west side of our block there are brothers Cole & Nick, Shari & Brian, Clair & her bird & two dogs, Brendon and his dog Bo. We also have Dean, Emily, & Stacey right over the fence who are always cooking up something in their backyard.

Eight months here and it has pretty much felt like home since the first day.
This is that special time of day where we get to connect before we get home and are both tired and hungry. Some days I bring the stroller and we stroll home. Most days I walk and carry him so we talk and snuggle for the first two blocks after leaving Little Lions family day care. Eric says bye, bye, to Rosanne and Joerson, the husband wife duo, and we begin the walk and talk that usually starts with Eric pointing out Joerson's truck and Cashy's Momma's car.

We have lived in our neighborhood for 7 months and our walk home has definitely helped us get to know the place better. You can expect fun things on both sides of our block. We have Peechu and Maytag, resident cats on patrol on one side and the other side opera music coming from Jim's slightly open door. We will usually see Jim and his dog KiKi on their daily walk once we get around the block. Jim is an older gentlemen who has lived in Alameda his whole life and traveled the world in the Military. Anyone who pets KiKi gets a piece of candy.

Common sentences we hear from Eric

Buy Elmo

Eric turn drive

Dadda ride da bus

Momma make da bars

Dadda cut da nails, Momma get da boogers

Eric's working (says this with his wooden tools in hand)

It hard - how do it?

Dat's a Biiiig one
Dat's a little one

No poopoo (don't believe this one)

Just one. (flashes the #1 sign with index finger when he's requesting/demanding either a cookie or a video.)


Eric has discovered the wonders of the iPod. Also, as we drove down the road the other day he said, " iPod Momma" and there they were right on the billboard in front of us.

Book time with the bunny on the bears
Buddies enjoying a treat with their milk

Very Tidy

It seems that it has already been a nearly a month since my last blog. Folks, family, and friends I would love to make a living blogging away but now just isn't the time. In the last month Aaron and I have been logging some crazy work hours, which really just good fortune in this "economy thing". Between working 12 hour days and helping Eric recover from pneumonia we managed to get some skiing, attend Sam & Maylen's birthday celebration, and almost get the new dishwasher in.

Eric is talking A LOT and we love it. He is putting together sentences (in his own way) and surprises me with how sharp he is. Today he looked at a picture of a "man" he colored at day care and said "dat Barack Obama". Sure enough he had colored the President. Colors aren't yet his strong point but in good time.

He is also very tidy and likes things in their place. For example the wrapper from the juice straw goes immediately in the garbage and all trucks get parked in their garage. Yesterday we were at the store blow-dryer shopping (which is right up there with vacuum shopping on Eric "top things to do when it is raining outside) and he hands me something and says, "trash Momma, put in da trash". What had he just handed me? A booger he picked from his nose. Guess he didn't feel comfortable just dropping the booger in the ground.

Whoa 2009

So I started this post a few weeks ago and here we are approaching the end of January already. So Happy New Year AND Happy Inauguration Day too.

Happy 2009 from Momma, Eric, and Dadda. Seriously folks 2009!

Of course this has Momma reflecting on all that 2008 brought to us and all our family and friends. Eric has made major strides this year and I have attempted to list as many as I can think of (in no specific order because if I have to apply order I will never get this posted) and is by no means all inclusive:

1) Mastered walking
2) Identified every single garbage can within sight in San Francisco
3) Speaking two languages
4) Took two trips on an airplane 1st to Boston & 2nd to Spokane
5) Took a road trip to Portland
6) Saw snow and skiers in Tahoe
7) Met is Great Nana Mary and Great Papa Ralph for the first time
8) Camped overnight at Castle Craggs
9) Got to know his cousins: Sam, Maylen, Dylann, and Madison
10) Went hiking in Glacier Park
11) Attended two weddings that Momma was in
12) Attended his first day care classes in San Francisco (didn't go well)

13) Watched hundreds of garbage truck and Odwalla delivary trucks on 17th avenue
14) Attended the Montana Annual Wood Carvers Convention with Grandma and Grandpa in Glacier Park
15) Played at two different water parks
16) Learned to hold his own against dogs: Semi, Barney, Buffy, Rocky, and Howie. "Down Barney, down
17) Learned to go down the slide all by himself
18) Began enjoying the arts with his first visit to the Chihuly exhibit at the De Young
19) Began particpating in the arts by drawing with crayons
20) Learned to count to ten in English and Spanish
21) Learned his A B C's
22) Reached the 25 pound mark
23) Caught up to his birth age
24) Adjusted to some big changes: new house, new neighborhood, the move, full-time Maria care to full-time day care.
25) His first dental cleaning
26)His first bike ride
27) Saying momma
28) Giving high fives & knuckles
29) Learning the names of all the Thomas the Train characters
30) Sleeping through the night - most of the time
31) Attending his first baseball game
33) Going to the Grocery store for the first time (remember, these are big milestones when you start out being shelter from every cough, sneeze, and runny nose out there)
34) Playing in the snow at Tahoe & riding the gondola at North star
I could go on an on. We have had a really good year and are full of gratitude for every moment. 2008 was a special year of growing and learning and moving on. Eric's energy and enthusiasm for everything, often all at the same time (Jack Karouac fans does this sound familiar?) is precious and us thrust is into 2009 game for more.

"They dance down the streets like dingledodies, and shambled I shambled after them as I’ve shambled after people all my life, after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desires of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a common place thing, but burn burn burn like the fabulous roman candle exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “awww”?!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA

We are jumping for joy! Why? Because it is Grandma Lorraines Birthday today!





Enjoy ice cream!
EAT CAKE!

Christmas Eve: Celebration with anticipation

We soaked up the moments like a sponge with Christmas in our new home. Eric has never been present with so many new toys all at once. We dined on Nana Mary's eggplant parm recipe and watch the cousins (Sam,Eric,and Maylen) tear paper and oogle over each others gifts. A great time was had by all (until of course it was time to go to bed).







We soaked up the moments like a sponge with Christmas in our new home. Eric has never been present with so many new toys all at once. We dined on Nana Mary's eggplant parm recipe and watch the cousins (Sam,Eric,and Maylen) tear paper and oogle over each others gifts. A great time was had by all (until of course it was time to go to bed).

Before Christmas....

Turkey Time

We better share with you some our fabulous Thanksgiving activities. These days Christmas season seems to start the day after Halloween making Thanksgiving complete overshadowed.

Thanksgiving (and the Pilgrims) really deserve to be the center of attention on their day. After all, we have so much to be thankful for.

This Thanksgiving we didn't need to ask every family member for a history and physical prior to our visit which really took a load off. Actually, it took A LOT of loads off. This holiday season starting with Turkey day we have been able to interact with the world pretty much like everyone else does and not shield Eric from every runny nose, cough, or otherwise especially since he is now the one with the runny nose. I can actually be in the same room with someone who has a cold with going into a panic. This is good news and has allowed us to enjoy the company of family and friends and let Eric really explore. He loves parties and now says, "Yeaahh, Party!" accompanied by many claps.

We spent Thanksgiving weekend at Oma and Opa's house on the lake. Uncle Susie (as Eric says, Uncle Mike, Maylen, and Sam were all present. Sam and Eric ran circles around each other and loved it. Here are some photos:

Grass Valley toy store with cousins


Early Christmas suitcases from Oma. Maylen is sporting the orange one


Watching movies with Maylen, Sam and Julia & CJ Hoever

Visit to Chico

We had a great visit to Aunt Courtney and Uncle Sean's house. Eric was delighted to have not one, not two, but five doggies to play with. Sean and Courtney had a night of doggie duty with the 3 family dogs and two of their own. Everyone got along superbly





Eric also thrilled to have access to many of Sean's disney movies. Staying with Aunt Courtney and Uncle Sean is COOL. He is still talking about it including saying night, night to Bubby (AKA Buffy dog) and Rocky.

I also want to throw a shout out to Aunt Courtney for giving me the best haircut I have ever had. I know that Sean says this every time she cuts my hair so how is she to really know. Well, I am tell you write here for the world to read that Eric LOVES my doo and so do I.




Aaah Chico

WOW

Last night Momma and Dadda had a rare night out on the town. It was Clif Bar & Company"s annual holiday party. We wined, dined, and danced at a hip art gallery on the west side of Oakland.

Over my eight years working at Clif, they have taken good care of us. The friendship and camaraderie truly made itself evident when many of these friends provided the support that only local friends can during tough times. We were reminiscing with a few of them last night about at the party about when Eric was born and suddenly realized that it was two years to the date of targeted due date and two years that he has been lighting up our home with his smiles and energy. WOW - the time we spent in the hospital with him is so far from our minds today that this once significant date nearly slipped past us.

Eric is now TWO, no more age adjusting by subtracting three month, no more stuttering when someone asks me how old he is, and of course no more sheltering him from every runny nose on the planet. He repeats everything and it getting clearer with every new word. He knows his A B C's and can count to 10 in English and Spanish. He loves tennis, guitars, trains, trucks, and tools. He weighs 25 lbs and is about 33 inches tall. His show size just jumped to 7 and we buy him 2T clothes these days. He is as 2 as 2 can be and then some and we love it.

Here is a pic of Eric and Dadda enjoying our backyard in early November. It was one of those spectacularly warm fall days.

Eric's first Presidential election

This morning there was a picture of John McCain pulled up on my computer news. Eric immediately recognized this man.....as Opa (aka Terry or Grandpa). Apparently not only does my dad think Opa Terry resembles Jimmy Carter, but his Grandson thinks he is John McCain. It must be the hair.

The night of the election Aaron and I listened to our president-elect's acceptance speech with ears wide. Since then "Yes we can" has become a theme for our country. These are words every two to five year old boy in the country already knows. These are not only the words of our new President but also Bob the Builder who is always shouting is motto,"Can we fix it? Yes we can!" Eric refers to Bob as Bob We Can. Aunt Susie and Uncle Mike most certainly recognize Bob's motto too as cousin Sam is a fan of Bob.

Bob the Builder teaches many lessons all with the Yes We Can anthem. Kids teach us so much. Our country certainly needs to hear this resounding Yes We Can more often and we finally have a leader who believes it.

I am proud that we have man as President that can be a role model for our children as a true leader, not just someone who resides in the white house and makes decisions on our country's behalf, but someone who inspires hope and has the ability to inspire the people in our country and others to simply do better. This is the first politician I have seen since I have been old enough to vote that empowers not just government but also the people that government is by and for. That is exciting.

Obama is no savior,golden child, or sole answer to all of the challenges our country faces. He is the right man to lead our government and our people to take care of our country and our people by doing better and living better. Just by running in this election he inspired more people than ever before to vote, whether right or left. For so long so many have felt that as one person they could not make a difference. Obama is inspiring people to get out shout "Can we fix it? Yes we can."

One day I will feel proud to tell Eric that he witnessed that start of a new era November 4, 2008 - where the people began to rise above fear and struggle in the name of hope. After all,(as I once heard a cancer survivor say) hope is the only option.

With that here is a Eric with some good eats.....

Night, Night all done Momma

Momma is back from her work trip to the Chicago and New York. It was a lot of good work, but I am happy to be home.

Since being back Eric has greeted me in the mornings with " Momma night night all done," - translation - Momma get up, get up. Lets play.

Friday afternoon Eric and I went to Fillmore street and celebrated Halloween with some trick -o- treating, pumpkin lattes (for Momma) and chocolate from Bittersweet. We were also lucky to bump into a free photo session for those in costume. Check it out http://kathioleary.smugmug.com/gallery/6427612_xTU8X/1/407193352_S3UmF

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.