Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
 Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Dear Newbie-18 weeks

Dear Newbie (what I'm calling you this week),

You are 18 weeks along this week. I'm finally FINALLY feeling better. I had a few weeks there where it was seriously touch and go. I'm back to eating meat, mostly. Thanks for giving me a break! Now can you explain the cheese thing? I mean, I love cheese, but I seriously cannot get enough of it right now. Particularly fresh mozzarella. And eggs. I could eat mozzarella, hard boiled eggs and toast with butter for every meal and be a happy camper.

Things are definitely getting real. I actually look pregnant (in a big way. It was like I "popped" overnight)! And I just got our first package in the mail for you--7 brand new cloth diapers, to replace some of the old, ratty ones your sister wore through. So if you are a girl, and 99% of your stuff is hand me downs from Lorelei, you will at least have 7 brand new diapers bought just for you!

I've been thinking about your nursery a lot. Of course, right now it is covered in boxes and presents and Christmas decorations. Then it will be full of birthday stuff for your sister. But then...then it will be your turn and I will finally have the time to actually get stuff going for you! I've been thinking of a woodland theme, but subtle. Lots of natural wood objects, images of deer, rabbits and foxes. Robin's egg blue, gray and a kind of yellow-green (not quite chartreuse). I've got a few ideas up my sleeve...

We'll be seeing you (in about 155 days!)

Love
Mama

November

Favorite Activity: Going to preschool, watching her favorite shows and movies (Daniel Tiger and Pocahontas/Mulan), painting

Favorite Food: applesauce, "shiny bunnnies" aka Annie's gummy bunnies, "square cheese" aka Tillamook colby jack slices.

Favorite word or phrase to say: "Lorelei good helper!"

Cutest Moment: Getting so excited to see "Super Grandma" for Thanksgiving, stealing whipped cream off of her (much older) cousins' dessert plates at Thanksgiving, following her cousin Natalie around like a puppy.

Naughtiest Moment: Epic meltdowns

How Mom's Feeling: Wait. It's December? And I haven't done this yet? This is how my month has been! Crazy! I honestly don't even remember November. Some things happened. Thanksgiving. We survived our first road trip with a toddler. It actually went very smoothly. We made a few stops, came up with some baby names--Zebulon Archimedes and Zelda...something or other :)
The best, and most surreal moment, was sitting on the beach in Ventura on Thanksgiving morning in our bathing suits, building sandcastles. Such a classic southern California Thanksgiving! And now we're almost halfway into December and we've jumped into Christmas (and Hanukkah at work and preschool). Oy veh!

Monday, November 17, 2014

Dear Itty Bitty-15 weeks

Dear Itty Bitty,

(I've decided at this point to call you Itty Bitty until we know who you are. It's either Itty Bitty or Zebulon. And if you're a girl, Zebulon certainly won't work!)

So again, Dear Itty Bitty,

This week you are 14 weeks. Or maybe it's 15. I don't know. And I'm pretty sure that doesn't make me a bad mom. It's just that life is so crazy right now. I'm chasing (literally) after your big sister Lorelei, teaching preschool gardening classes three mornings a week and teaching afterschool Kindergarten 5 days a week.

Your existence is, well, a little surreal. I guess it's why this is the first time I've written to you. When your sister was conceived, we saw ultrasounds of her every week. I was taking hormones and pills and injecting my tummy with meds. And I was throwing up all the time. She didn't (and still doesn't) stay in the background.

You on the other hand, came quickly and unexpectedly. It was almost too easy. I expected the other shoe to drop. But it didn't. And I felt nausea, and I've thrown up (and am still feeling rather sick), but nothing like with your sister (thank god). And suddenly, I'm in the second trimester.

You don't like meat. What's up with that, kid? With the exception of fish, I can't eat beef, pork or chicken. I've gone virtually vegetarian. Which is fine, except I still need to cook meat for the rest of the house. I was thinking I wasn't having any cravings, really, except this morning I realized that I'm completely obsessed with grilled cheese sandwiches and could probably eat one a day. So, you don't like meat but love a good grilled cheese.

Your big sister is very excited about you. We've been watching a lot of Daniel Tiger episodes about having a new baby. She thinks you are going to be a baby sister. Until she thinks you will be a baby brother. It's very cute to see.

Your daddy and I are having a little more fun with your pregnancy than with your sister's. With Lorelei, we were so excited about everything that we couldn't wait to share it with the world. With you though, we're having fun keeping everything a little close to the vest. We waited the full 12 weeks before announcing I was pregnant. And then we did it by dropping clues with music videos. We'll probably find out if you are a boy or a girl, but we might not tell everyone else. Or we might. We're definitely keeping your name a secret. We're not planning on having more kids, so we're going to have as much fun as we can with you!

Time is flying fast. We'll see you in May!

Love,
Mama

Saturday, November 1, 2014

October

Favorite Activity: Going to preschool, looking for the tortoises in the preschool garden, reading in the library before school

Favorite Food: crackers, berries, pears

Favorite word or phrase to say: "Lorelei go to preschool!"

Cutest Moment: After mommy had a meltdown at the kitchen table, Lorelei patted me on the shoulder and said "It's okay Mommy. It's okay to cry sometimes."

Naughtiest Moment: Throwing things at the dogs, then putting herself in time out.

How Mom's Feeling: Exhausted. So, so exhausted. We have officially announced that we are expecting our second little one, and I am so thankful. Now I have an excuse for why I am so tired All. The. Time. I already have a lot on my plate, along with being in my first trimester (which is fortunately just about over). Poor Lorelei has been feeling the effects of a tired mommy. Dinners tend to be a bit later, and on weekends, there has been less fun time and activities and more quiet time. Looking forward to having a bit more energy so we can get back into doing some of our regular fun outings and projects!

So far, Lorelei seems pretty excited about being a big sister. We've been watching a lot of Daniel Tiger episodes, especially the new ones about having a baby sister. Lorelei has been announcing that she is going to have a baby sister, and even likes carrying around a picture of the sonogram. She's also been playing with her baby dolls a bit more.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

September 2014

Favorite Activity: Going to preschool, eating/making challah, playing with Teacher Mark in PE

Favorite Food: Apples and Pears

Favorite word or phrase to say: "Lorelei go to sleep, wake up, play more!"

Cutest Moment: After taking Lorelei to get a physical for work, she has been obsessed with checking my "heart beep!" Thinking this little girl needs a doctor's kit for Christmas (ahem, Auntie Toffy!)

Naughtiest Moment: Trying to ride the dogs like ponies.

How Mom's Feeling: First off, how is it already October 9? When did THAT happen? Anyway, it has been a crazy busy month! Lorelei LOVES preschool. She gets excited about going to preschool the night before. "Lorelei go sleep, wake up, go PRESCHOOL!" It seems like she just spends the entire day doing things she loves: painting, check; blocks, check; cooking, check; playground (with slide, of course), check; water table, check; sandbox, check; jumping around in PE, check. I definitely think she was ready for preschool. She comes home talking about her friends and her teachers. So many of her classmates have a hard time with separation, lots of tears when mommy says good bye, but not Lorelei! In fact, sometimes the other parents will tell their kids to "go find Lorelei. What's Lorelei doing?" Which is usually being at the challah making table or the paint table. She's at school for a long time, which I initially was worried about. But she's handling it like a champ. She starts at 9:15, then goes to nap at 1, then is at Stay and Play until 6. It's lucky that several of her classmates are in Stay and Play with her. And she seems to have made friends in her afternoon class, too. She is always waving at someone and saying "Hi Friend!"

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

August


Favorite Activity: Going to the Zoo!, Watching Winnie the Pooh, collecting leaves

Favorite Food: "Pooh Yogurt" Plain whole milk yogurt with honey mixed in.

Favorite word or phrase to say: "Lorelei good helper!"

Cutest Moment: After getting her hair cut, Lorelei has been practicing "cutting" mama's hair--complete with putting on the cape, and grabbing different tools for cutting.

Naughtiest Moment: Multiple meltdowns when we don't let her do what she wants, bedtime procrastination

How Mom's Feeling: Excited for what's coming next. This was a great month. I started back at work part time, and I've spent the month planning for the year, going on little trips and activities with Lorelei and getting her ready for preschool! I'm going to be wearing a lot of hats this year: Treehouse Teacher, Preschool Gardening Teacher and Room Parent! We've already had one preschool playdate before school started, a welcome breakfast and a classroom tour. For the two weeks before school starts, we have been reading books all about preschool, getting Lorelei excited about storytime, having her own cubby and making new friends.


Friday, August 8, 2014

July



Favorite Activity: Playing with her playdough, going swimming

Favorite Food: fruit and yogurt

Favorite word or phrase to say: "My do!"

Cutest Moment: Tucking her babies into bed, then giving them a kiss and telling them "sweet dreams!"

Naughtiest Moment: Trying to ride the dogs ("Apparently riding the dog like a horse is frowned upon in this establishment"), throwing things at daddy and the dogs (which got her a swift time out)

How Mom's Feeling: Happy...but tired. The end of July marked the end of my stay-at-home-momhood for the summer. It was a fun six weeks, but very exhausting. We did get into a sort of routine, which helped, and we did a lot of fun stuff! Tide pools, Children's Museum, San Francisco Zoo, Pier 39, Tilden Park and a few playdates at different playgrounds, plus swim lessons every Monday morning! I feel so proud to see her confidently (maybe too confidently) climbing into the swimming pool each Monday morning. Her teacher has already told us we can move her up to the next swim level next session.

Speaking of confidence, she has it in spades. Along with independence. Everything is "My do!" She wants no help in picking out her night time diaper, putting on her clothes, walking up and down the steps to the house, or climbing in the car, carseat and stroller. But she will tell me "Carry you" after taking 5 steps and I absolutely cannot do anything else while she is doing something. I have to sit and watch. I think I'm looking forward to preschool starting next month a little too much!




Wednesday, July 2, 2014

June



Favorite Activity: Playing on the iPad, helping mom cook

Favorite Food: fruit and yogurt

Favorite word or phrase to say: "Play Gummies!" or "1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10! Yay!" or "Hold you!"

Cutest Moment: So many! After being gone after a long day (in which I didn't see her for over 24 hours) "I miss you!" and randomly running up to me, hugging my knees, and saying "I love you!" then running away.

Naughtiest Moment: Pushing mommy into the kitchen and telling me to "Do Dinner!" so she can play on the iPad.

How Mom's Feeling: Exhausted. For the last two and a half weeks, I've been doing the stay at home mommy thing, and my hat goes off to all those ladies (and men) who do this year round. It is really hard! And it's a constant struggle to balance the free time/guided play/activities/playdates/screen time. I've found it's easier if we just get out of the house in the morning to do something--swimming, playground, playdate, "adventure", come home, eat lunch, naptime (for everyone. Seriously, I haven't done this many naps in the middle of the day since she was a newborn), then a planned afternoon activity at home (cooking project/playdough/painting/art activity), free time, then either some episodes of a show or a movie while mommy makes dinner, bath time (maybe) then bedtime routine. You can see why I'm so exhausted (and there are parents who do this ALL THE TIME). And sometimes I just think "screw it" and we watch shows in the morning, or she gets extra iPad time, and maybe we'll watch a movie in the afternoon. I'm okay with that.

Potty training is going ok. She backslid a bit when she came down with a cold, and now pooping in the potty is pretty hit or miss. She used to tell me when she had a "poo poo coming!" but not anymore. I try to let it go and remember that she won't be going to college with poop in her pants.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

May



Favorite Activity: Watching her shows, playing with her playdough, painting

Favorite Food: Stawberries

Favorite word or phrase to say: Potty time!

Cutest Moment: When arriving at our friends Sandi, Chris, Grady and Collette's house for a playdate, she got out of the car and announced it was "Grady Time!"

Naughtiest Moment: Sitting on Finnegan to ride him "like a horsey"

How Mom's Feeling: Good. This month was super busy with playdates, family visits and POTTY TRAINING. After spending most of the month practicing sitting on the potty and going to the potty, we spent Memorial Day weekend doing the official potty training. Overall it was pretty successful!

Here is my potty training report:
*For the entire month before this, we sat on the potty, read books about the potty, set up the potty area, picked out new panties and introduced the potty incentive chart
Day 1: Pumped L with liquids, she demanded to wear the new panties (even though I had planned on going without for the first day). Took her to the potty or asked if she had to go every 15 minutes. We had about a 50-50 success rate and went through about 6 pairs of panties.
Day 2: Pumped L with liquids. She was not "into" it at all. Lots of accidents. Took her or asked about the potty every 10-15 minutes. Probably went through about 8-10 pairs of panties.
Day 3: Laid off the liquids. She drank her normal amount. Showed her the Daniel Tiger episode about using the potty twice, continuously sang the song. Took her to the potty or asked about it every 15-20 minutes.) Only one accident in the morning. Went through 2 pairs of panties all day (plus a pull up for nap)
Day 4: Watched Daniel Tiger Potty episode again (it's on YouTube. Glorious.) Normal liquid intake. Asked her about the potty every 30 minutes. Took her at least once an hour. Went on an hour long walk to the park (with travel potty in her diaper bag, just in case). Only one partial accident (poop started in her pants, but she told me right away and she finished on the potty). Dry throughout nap as well.
I'm calling it a win.Feeling ok about taking her to J care tomorrow without a diaper. (I did get a piddle pad for the car seat, just in case!)

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

April



Favorite Activity: Watching Frozen, Listening to Frozen, Dancing to Frozen

Favorite Food: Stawberries

Favorite word or phrase to say: "Let it Go!" or "Snowman!"

Cutest Moment: Every time she found an Easter egg, she would giggle so delightedly.

Naughtiest Moment: Pulling Bummer's ear

How Mom's Feeling: Good. The Frozen obsession is still going strong. However, she has really gotten into play dough, as well. She got a bunch of play dough in her Easter basket, and it has been a daily activity ever since.

Speaking of Easter, I feel like this year she really "got" it. She absolutely LOVED the egg hunt. We had 3--one with our playgroup, one at church and one at home. It was really fun for us too. She was just so excited about finding new treasures.

I feel like this month, her girliness has really started to come through. She wants to wear skirts almost every day (to the point that I got her a few more skirts to play in) and lately has been super into the babies and baby stroller at J-Care. In fact, because of this, I got her new baby doll for her Easter basket, and she just loves her. Sleeps with her every night and loves pushing her around in the grocery cart and feeding her with a bottle. She seems like such a "little mommy".

Sunday, April 13, 2014

March
















Favorite Activity: Playing at the park/Watching "Frozen"

Favorite Food: Stawberries

Favorite word or phrase to say: "Let it Go!"

Cutest Moment: Dancing around the room, a sock on one hand, spinning around singing "Let it go!" from Frozen

Naughtiest Moment: Shoving her cup (jelly jar) off the table, breaking it, when she decided she didn't want her milk.

How Mom's Feeling: Tired. Lorelei is definitely keeping us on our toes. She's completely obsessed with the movie Frozen--along with every other little girl in the United States, I think! She wants to watch it ALL THE TIME. We've successfully completed the big girl bed transition. It was fairly painless. She sleeps the whole night in the bed, and will just start playing when she wakes up. Naps...are a bit trickier. Even with the blackout curtains, her room just doesn't get that dark. So she just gets up and plays...and destroys things. Somehow she is able to rip the paper off the front of her board books, while leaving the rest of the cover. Weird.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

February



Favorite Activity: Helping mama cook

Favorite Food: Grapes, rice, Cheerios, fruit and veggie breakfast smoothies, painting

Favorite word or phrase to say: "Bye Guys!"

Cutest Moment: She now demands to be tucked in like a burrito, with all of her babies placed all around her. When it's time to turn out the lights, she looks at us and says "SHHHHH!!!" very loudly.

Naughtiest Moment: Taking toys away from other children then telling them to "Share!"

How Mom's Feeling: Wait...February is over? When did that happen??? I seriously think I took about 5 pictures with my camera all month. I've got plenty of pictures on my phone, but not much else. I don't even know what we DID this month! It hasn't been particularly busy. We've just been keeping on keeping on. A few tidbits this month: 

-we've enrolled Lorelei into preschool for the Fall. Don't know how she got old enough for that to happen! But she'll be starting in the fall, 3 days a week!
-she's started making attempts to climb out of her bed, so we're getting ready for the big-girl bed transition. Waiting for a quilt from BeeBee and a trip to Ikea for her new mattress and sheets (our crib transitions to a toddler bed, but requires a longer mattress than usual--only sold at Ikea, apparently).
-she's started telling us when she has a yucky diaper or has a poop. The beginning of potty training?

Monday, February 17, 2014

January

*As we begin this new year, I've decided to do a few things differently with our monthly posts. First: no more staged monthly shots. Too dang hard! Now I'll just pick a specific picture encapsulating something fun we did that month. Also, I'm not going to worry about height and weight, number of teeth, number of words and signs and phrases. Instead, I'm going to solely focus on what happened THAT MONTH, mostly so I can remember! So without further ado...

JANUARY




Favorite Activity: Playing in her new kitchen!

Favorite Food: Grapes, cheddar bunny crackers, rice

Favorite word or phrase to say: Big Circles!

Cutest Moment: Saying "Bye Bye Snow" when we left the snow

Naughtiest Moment: Taking toys away from other children while saying "No. LaiLai's!"

How Mom's Feeling: January was such a busy month with Lorelei's birthday and a trip to Lake Tahoe back to back. Lorelei's party was a resounding success. The food was yummy, the decorations were very cute and all the kids seemed to have a great time. The weather was fantastic--even though we didn't go outside. I keep thinking that maybe next year, we'll have her birthday party at a park. This is the second year in a row that the weather has been in the high 60's-low 70's and our house seemed very full! If the backyard was complete, that would be one thing, but odds are, it won't be done for at least another year.

Lorelei and Logan both got to experience snow for the first time this month during our Lake Tahoe trip. Unfortunately, there wasn't much and we actually had to go hunting for some! But find it, we did! The babies were so cute all bundled up in their snow bunny outfits! At first, Lorelei was VERY unconvinced that snow was a good thing. We handed her a chunk and she dropped it and very loudly said "No!" But once she was all bundled up with her mittens on, she got into it and even said "Bye Bye Snow" as we were leaving.




2 Years Old!

2 Years Old!

Weight: 27 pounds


Length: 34.5 inches 


Favorite activity: coloring, cutting up her play food, climbing up and down the stairs, pushing her animals around in a laundry basket, helping mama cook and do chores

Favorite food: tangerines, cookie stars, graham cracker bunnies, grapes

Favorite spot: On the stairs

Cutest moment: helping mama cook

Important milestones: 2 years old! That's pretty big!

Teeth: 15-16

Words: 92 - dada, mama, woof, yes, dis (this), kack (quack), hi, thank you, uh oh, bye, wa (water), pees (please), goat, puppy, ah duh (all done), no, shoe, socks, bawll (ball, but sounds like a southern belle when she says it!), Poppy, BeeBee, Tigee, truck, airplane, cat, cheese, spoo(n), eye, nose, Gamma, book, apple, pear, dip, fork, I do, fly (butterfly), star, circle, triangle, heart, Susan, Sissa (Melissa), Dogan (Logan), Jeshka (Jessica), mik (milk), shirt, pants, pee pee, poo poo, boo boo, fire, potty, Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie, Ernie, car, bus, duck, cow, horse, house, sheep, baa, moo, nee (neigh), woof, meow, oh der (oh dear), up up, tights, lights, Oscar, Grover, Zoe, Red, purple, gee (green), lellow (yellow), hello, bye bye, Lalai (Lorelei), Fi (Fin), Ummer (Bummer), boots, sharp (knife), grampa, Feen (Finn), Ja Care (J-Care), swim, tuk (cup or milk), 

Phrases: I do, Mama shirt/pants/boots/fork, Daddy shirt/pants/boots/fork, Lala shirt/fork/pants, sheep baa, more _____

Signs: 12 (more, all done, dog, please, berry, cheese, grape, water, milk, help, thank you, cat)

How Mom's Feeling: I can't believe we're over halfway through February and I'm just getting around to writing our 2 year post. That is absolutely crazy. But this last month has just been so crazy with birthday parties, trips to the snow and just life! Mostly though, I just can't believe that Lorelei is already two years old! She's been demonstrating some definite "Terrible 2" type behavior--at least for her. She's turning into "not a morning person" taking longer to wake up, and frequently she's whiny when she does. And this is AFTER sleeping 11-12 hours! She's more selective with her hugs and kisses now. While she'll blow kisses, generally, she does not freely give kisses and hugs the way she used to :( She's also WAY more selective about people, even people she normally would smile at. Now, she seems to have a sort of stranger danger/separation anxiety. There are, of course, the people she has no problem with--BeeBee and Grandmama, Mommy and Daddy, Aunt Bonnie, Aunt Mel, Poppy, Grandma Janet and Grandpa Dan, Nick in my office, and Miss Sandra at J-Care. If anyone else tries to talk to her, she'll hide behind my legs or even cry. There's also so much fun stuff going on with her as she begins her third year. Going to the zoo is much more fun. She's actually interacting and playing with other children. And she just LOVES to help mama. Cleaning up, using the big mixer, putting away dishes or clothes. In some ways, it makes things a lot easier. In other ways, it adds more work!


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

The Almost Eve of Lorelei's Birthday

Lorelei is going to officially be two in two days. We've been calling her two years old for the last two weeks and she had her birthday party on Saturday. This blows my mind. How can she be two already? Really? It seems like she was just born. Of course, it also seems like she has always been this tiny, capable and independent person--which of course, she hasn't.

With her extremely impending two year birthday, also comes the TALK. You know the talk...the one about Baby Number Two. I have always wanted two kids. Always. I was an only child and I always wanted a brother or sister, even while I had tons of friends and loving cousins. It would be nice to have someone else who knows our stories, someone to complain about our parents to (sorry, mom and dad. I love you!), someone who was always there. I'm sure a large part of this is due to watching my cousins together, and watching Brian and his sisters. I KNOW their relationships weren't always this way, and that there was fighting and arguments. But I'm looking at the big picture. The thing I always think about is that, well, people grow up and apart. No matter how close you are to your cousins, eventually you all grow up and get married and have families and family obligations and work obligations and you suddenly realize you haven't seen them in over a year, even though they only live two hours away. With siblings, well, you ARE the family obligations! And, as I've seen over the past few years as Brian's grandparents have passed away, parents die. And what struck me most was the way Brian's family came together for support. It wasn't always pretty and nice, but they were there for each other...especially in the time leading up to their deaths. I'm terrified of what will happen when that happens to my parents. I don't have any siblings to fall back and lean on, share the challenges with. It comes down to me. And I know I have Brian and his family and my family and cousins, but it isn't the same.

Brian only wants one. Not that he doesn't love his sisters and the experiences they had. But he's looking at the big picture, too. Just a different big picture. The one that thinks about health insurance for a family of four, college tuition for two kids and (since we could very likely have two girls) the thought of prom dresses and weddings for two daughters. He also is thinking of the opportunities we could give one child. The places we could go, the experiences we could have. And I understand that. By the time I was thirteen years old, I had been to more places than most adults I knew. I had hiked to waterfalls in Kauai, seen the volcanoes of Hawaii, explored ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico and learned how to scuba dive in Bonaire.

Tonight, as I was making dinner, I asked Lorelei if she wanted to play with her new easel. She smiled, said "yes! Chalk!" and we walked downstairs together. I got her settled down there, then came back upstairs to finish dinner. I closed the door to the downstairs bathroom and media room and let Brian know she was down there (he was in his office). Periodically, I walked down to check on her. She was playing with her magnadoodle, coloring at her activity table and drawing on her chalkboard. Perfectly happy. After days spent negotiating sharing and kind words between kindergarteners, which will tend to involve tears, screaming, tattling and walking along the fine line of redirection, the happy, contented silence was a relief. Now she isn't always like this. There are lots of tears and melt downs and demands to watch Elmo and Big Bird. But right now, at this moment, it just seemed so EASY. And I had the thought "Do I really want to rock this boat?"

With the work I do, I've seen a lot of siblings. I know that even though Lorelei seems so mellow and easygoing, that doesn't mean that my next child will be that way. In fact, I've seen a lot of siblings that are the polar opposites of each other! I've also seen a lot of amazing relationships between siblings.

Then I thought about the things we love to do: getting out and exploring nature, going out for lunch or dinner, exploring San Francisco, even just going to the zoo. Going out to eat with Lorelei has gotten increasingly challenging as she's gotten older. What is that going to be like with two kids? Running after Lorelei at the park or zoo is fun, but I can't run in two directions! I like to think that Lorelei will grow up as one of the "City Kids," kids who are comfortable and safe walking around and experiencing San Francisco--who will have gone to the San Francisco Zoo summer camp, will know exactly where to run to see the coolest exhibits at the Exploratorium and will have her favorite tea sandwich at Lovejoy's. Can I do that with two kids? Probably. Is it daunting? Absolutely.

So to answer that question that I've already been asked "Are you going to have a second?" The answer is...I don't know. But I do think I'll be spending a large part of this next year contemplating it, discussing it with Brian. I do know that I don't want to be storing baby swings, and boxes of baby clothes indefinitely, you know, just in case.