Baby Steps

I am not proud that my 13 month old knows what Cheetos are, but sometimes when the moment is right and the camera is on, you have to use whatever you can to motivate your kids.

Travel Town

Yesterday, I took the boys to Travel Town, a little train museum in Griffith Park. Tyler loved being able to climb up inside real steam locomotives. Dylan was wishing he could also climb up into the trains, but at 5'5 (with my platform sandals, that is), there was no way I was going to be able to get him up there safely. Poor kid! At least we could all ride on the miniature train together.

Who is Smarter?

A. 12 month old Dylan, who figured out how to pull out the soy milk so that he could stand on it to reach the crackers

or

B. the mom*, who decided to run and fetch the camera rather than save her child from falling

*And yes, as soon as I snapped this picture, Dylan fell (no worries, grandma and grandpa, he didn't get hurt too badly)

Girl's Night Out

My friend, Tisha, and her family have decided to leave the great state of California and move all the way across the country to North Carolina. Is this a good decision? For them, yes, I think so. For the rest of us living in South Pasadena, absolutely not. Everyone has enjoyed Tisha's ability to organize monthly Girl's Night Outs, weekly playgroup, family activities and so many other fun things. It was decided that not one, but 3 people will have to take over her responsibilities now that she is abandoning us.

In her honor, we had a special Girl's Night Out last week to bid farewell. These nights are crucial to all of us who spend most of our time saying things like, "No, you cannot shove a pencil in his ear!" or "If you finish all of your broccoli, we will let you watch Thomas after dinner!". I am not sure about anyone else, but being able to have an entire conversation without interruption is almost therapeutic. I walked away from the restaurant thinking I had probably had more interesting and entertaining conversations in that one night than in the entire month combined. I apologize to anyone who may have felt that I talked a bit too much. I blame it on the fact that I was not able to attend last month's GNO, so I think I had gone through adult conversation withdrawal. I only hope that we continue this tradition now that Tisha has moved. Otherwise I fear I will be doomed to become that person you dread to encounter in a stinky bathroom because you know you will be trapped listening to stories about dust mites or laundry. Thank you, Tisha, for all the fun! We are going to miss you more than you can imagine!

Here are some pictures from our fun night at BJ's :

Tyler's 1st day of Preschool

Last week we received a last minute call from a local preschool notifying us that a space opened up for Tyler. Other parents had months to mentally prepare themselves and their children for school, but I had only 5 days. Given that Arthur had to wait in line for 4 hours only to find out Tyler would be put on the wait-list, we were thrilled to receive the call.

Today was his first day of school. He was a little apprehensive at first and did not want me to leave. I waited outside the room with the other nervous mothers to make sure all the kids settled down within a few minutes. We took turns peaking in the rooms to check on each other's kids so that our own kids didn't see us spying. When the coast was clear, we decided it was safe to leave.

When I went to pick Tyler up, I was relieved to find that he did not have any major cuts or bruises and that he had not given any other kids cuts or bruises. He was actually in a great mood and told me all about his day. He played with trains and cars and got to go outside to the play ground. He was even excited to tell me about the crackers and lemonade he had for snack. I think he will end up doing just fine at school.

Turning 30 can be Wicked

2 weeks ago, I turned the dreaded 30. How could this happen to someone like me? It just doesn't seem fair. I don't know what I did, but my 20's just packed their bags, jumped in the car, and sped away without even saying goodbye. I looked in the mirror, and it seems that they even stole my wrinkle-free complexion. I really thought we were good together. Breakups are hard, but this one was tougher than expected.

I had a moment to mourn my loss, and then realized I had to get myself together. I did accomplish quite a bit in the past decade. I

• graduated from college
  
• fell in love with and married the love of my life
• purchased my first house
• gave birth to 2 pretty great kids
• ran 3 marathons
• lived on the beach
• celebrated a 5th wedding anniversary
• traveled to Europe and Asia
• bought and still own my first car

So, here's to the start of a new decade with plenty of opportunity to create spectacular memories!

My goals for my 30's:

• celebrate a 10th and 15th wedding anniversary
• watch 2 of my kids get baptized
• go on a safari in Africa
• buy a bigger car
• invent a Transporter to avoid having to drive the 6 hours up to Sacramento
• travel in space

Ok, ok, so maybe the last two are a little ambitious, but a girl can dream. After all, Thomas Edison invented the light bulb at age 31.

To soften the blow of being 30, Arthur surprised me with a babysitter and Orchestra Seat tickets to Wicked (I told you I married the love of my life). Here are a couple pictures:

If anyone out there has any words of advice to a new member of the 30's club, I would love to hear it!