Summer Fun

It's June and the sun is shining in Los Angeles. Among the many blessings I'm counting lately is that I get to enjoy summer with the kids while on maternity leave. We spend our days at the park, go on long walks, have picnics outside. It's glorious.


We made a spontaneous visit to the beach one Saturday afternoon. We didn't have swimming trunks, towels or sun block, but that didn't keep the boys from diving in. Alex chased the waves.


And ran when they chased him back.

Alex just had his last day of daycare this week. He's been in a wonderful home daycare for the past year but will be starting preschool part time in early July.

Garrett has been his best little buddy at daycare and Alex is going to miss him.

We brought in cupcakes and had a little celebration to say goodbye to his friends. There are a couple of babies at daycare and I think the exposure to them was great for Alex in preparation for his baby sister. He's really sweet with her and is always attentive to her needs and what she is doing.

We're planning to bring Cassiel here once she's a year old. Until then we're hoping to have a nanny at home with her. I'm actively searching for a nanny and would welcome referrals if anyone has any. I'll be transitioning back to work at the end of July. Fortunately Ale's Mom will be in town then for a couple weeks which will help ease the transition.

And now for news on our little angel....

SHE IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! 9 weeks old and she slept through the night the past two nights in a row. I'm hoping it's a permanent development instead of just a stage, but either way I'm am delighted. I think I paid my dues with Alex who STILL doesn't sleep through the night and the universe owed me an easier baby. Now if only we could get her to take a bottle...

Seriously, how cute is she???!

She now smiles, engages in prolonged eye contact, coos and neighs like a horse. She looks just like Alex when he was a baby. So much so that I sometimes have moments of deja vu and have to remind myself that she's a whole new little person.

Our picnic at the park on Father's Day...
I'm realizing we don't have a single photo of the four of us - must fix that.

Oh look at that.... Cassiel fits in a baseball cap. Uncle Seth is determined to make our children Giants fans.

Aunt Jen graciously letting Alex hijack her juice in exchange for a cuddle...

Aunt Ruthie came to visit us and meet Cassiel! She's living in Seattle and we get to see far less of her than we'd like to. But she just got into the University of Washington and we are very excited for her! Alex is old enough now that he remembers her and was excited to see her.

(Sorry, Ruth, this was apparently the only photo I took while you were here.)

Super Hero Fighting

Alex's new obsession is Spider-Man. It has nothing at all to do with me working with Marvel and everything to do with Papa's love of Super Heroes. Of course I do find it very cute that Alex can name all the major characters of The Avengers and he's not even three yet.

At any rate, the boys love to play Super Hero fighting. They strip the sheets off the bed and put the Spectacular Spider-Man soundtrack on repeat on the iTouch and play....

PS: Alex fell off the bed but wasn't hurt. I sometimes worry that they play so rough he won't know the difference when playing with his friends and will play too tough with them. Eek. But he has SO much fun playing with his Papa. Every night when Papa comes home from work Alex drags him into the bedroom to play. It's very cute.

Cassiel's Open House

Uncle Seth and Aunt Jen generously hosted a "Meet Baby Cassiel" Open House this weekend. Instead of doing a traditional baby shower before she was born we opted for a get together later for everyone to meet her. She's six weeks old now and time is flying already.


Our friends came over and appropriately oohed and aahhed over the baby which makes me happy every time. It's amazing how once you become a parent the greatest compliments you can receive are those about your children.

Alex got plenty of attention too. Although he's still waiting for his birthday party next month where he insists Spider-Man is going to show up. (Note to self: must figure that one out)

Alex got to play with his buddy Owen, who he thinks walks on water! Alex is Owen's biggest fan. It's really pretty fun, but useful too. Alex only took a nap that day because I convinced him Owen was taking a nap too. I know I'm guilty for overusing the Owen influence...but if it gets him to eat his vegetables....I'm sure I'll be forgiven in mommy heaven.

We had homeade cupcakes from master baker Joe Symon. Little Saul Cohen enjoyed them heartily.

There was beer too, which little Olivia was caught trying to enjoy. Alex seems to have developed a crush on Miss Olivia (which may explain why he's befriended her big brother Owen. Hmm...)

There were adults at the party too but apparently I forgot to photograph them. At any rate, thanks to everyone for celebrating our little girl. And a super big thanks to Uncle Seth and Aunt Jen for throwing the party and all the delicious food!

La Brea Tar Pits

A sunny Memorial Day in Los Angeles last weekend and Alex wanted to go to the zoo. We'd just taken him to the petting zoo at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market the day before and he wanted to see more animals. Ale and I didn't have the energy to spend the day at the zoo so we opted for the Brea Tar Pits. Poor Alex didn't understand that the elephants weren't real and therefore not moving.

Cassiel is a champ when we go out. She sleeps for hours at a time in the baby carrier.

Alex climbed trees with Papa...

And played hide and seek in the lights at LACMA...

There's so much to do in LA. For all the drawbacks of raising kids in a big city, we do love the varitey of things to do. Hopefully we're not overstimulating our children. Is that possible?