how is it possible that the last post was on musubi's bday and we've had so much to celebrate. i can't believe that. i just went back to check to see if there were drafts that were saved that were unpublished. how can it be? I have to be better about this. I need to better about this. I will be better about this.
life is just zooming by. so many milestone birthday's. Brian had his big 4-0, dudley had his big 7-0, evan had his big 0-1, and i just celebrate my big 3-?. europe and france was great. i'm very grateful that we have had chances to travel with our family. the house rental was great - pricey, and super generous that brian's parents footed the bill. dylan was a fan of escargot, and apparently not a fan of foie gras. i love that he has a pretty adventurous and has broad culinary palette. snuggabees was super snuggy and just a little doll. both boys were good but traveling back was tough routing through NYC. Flights requiring transfers really make travelling that much more difficult. highlights of the trip: the house, dylan playing ping-pong with his uncles, the wine tasting, the little hill-towns, the chocolate croissants, the special bday cake, family game night, the fancy bday lunch, the car-ride with clara to st tropez, my black dress and fun blazer from vanessa bruno (also discovering comptoir de contonniers). the funny low-lights, not having house-cleaning included in our rental, the treacherous stairs, needing to pick up juice and his friend on our way back from st tropez, only having a few hours shopping in cannes, and dylan sleeping through most of monte carlo and the grand prix. b's catered japanese bday dinner at our house was a big hit. i was probably the thinnest at this time, and have since gained about 3-4 pounds that i haven't been able to lose. it was a great time, and guests stayed until past 1 am.
dylan's day was spent with grandparents on both sides and belin's family at gilroy gardens. he too was happy that puo-puo and gong-gong came up to celebrate with him. the following weekend we went to martha's vineyard, which was another great family vacation. it was really special that we were able to go to the boathouse and the old bowling alley since alan and emma also came back. the house we rented was great, also had treacherous stairs, and was pretty centrally located. it was so nice to go to a place and have other people be so familiar with it. they knew where to get cheap lobster, what beaches were baby-friendly, took us clamming, where to get ice cream, where to go bike-riding, etc. the pie from morning glory was ridiculously good, and the fresh pasta with clam sauce couldn't be any fresher and the lobster rolls were absolutely delish. i'm salivating thinking about it now. dylan had such a great time with all the kids and often talks about going back. we kept dylan's bday small, since the big party of the year was going to be evan's first bday party. it was nice that everyone came over for dinner and i did get the big ice cream pie cake from tin cup.
for evan's party - i thought that our guest list would be smaller, since we didn't so many NY relatives in town, but it ended up being about the same, of not even more people. Aaron still catered the event, but instead of the bbq, we ordered take out from phil's treasure pot in menlo park. I still ordered the princess cake from Schuberts, zach brought the ginger cupcakes from miette, and i ordered the red velvet cupcakes from sprinkles. it was a different color scheme and we had banner flags and fun paper spirals instead of lanterns. he slept through his happy bday song and the cake cutting, but was a trooper. it was again very special that dr katz made it down to celebrate with us. some of his party decorations are still up...but i do think it will be time to dismantle those decorations and replace them with christmas ones.
i took evan's actual birthday off and we had such a nice day! i took him to san carlos library which had a little crafts/event for babies/toddlers and he had a great time playing with the gears and crawling around. we met brian for lunch at a michelin star japanese restaurant, since evan loves udon and noodles. afterwards we came home and and i worked on his baby book. he's such a joy. love the dimples and him blowing raspberries on my stomach, arm and his giggles. it was a day in which i wish time stood still.
evan started walking a little earlier than dylan. at 14 months he's running and doing the cutest squats trying to jump, but hasn't quite figured it out yet. he's losing his baby fat, and at his 1 year appointment, he was only in like the 15%tile for weight. how is that possible? he's starting to say a few words now and his animal sounds are coming along. he knows that dogs say "ooohh, oohh" - he doesn't quite do the "w" for the "whoa-whoa" and does a high pitched sound for cats. he's starting the "baba baobao" and i think his first legitimate word is "ball" more so in english than chinese. i think his language comprehension has also come a long way. he knows commands in chinese like "open" and "close", if you tell him to give something to you, or to someone else, like dylan, or to brian he can. i'm pretty sure he also knows if you tell him to put it back, to put it back. he pushes his fingers together for "buggy, buggy fly" in chinese and likes to play "pull the carrot". puo-puo was here for over a week, and he knows part of the chinese ugly duckling son. he's so cute! his poops are disgusting, but other than that, he's such a good eater and a pretty good sleeper. thank goodness both boys are good sleepers.
dylan figured out how to ride a bike after we got back from martha's vineyard and i was a proud mama last week going to his first pre-school parent teacher conference. the teacher's love him - say that he's the sweetest student, very complimentary. highlights of the conversation was that he's very motivated, has great attention to detail, is the only person in class how can figure out the craft activities without help, and is extremely verbal. he was described as being "lovely." the only thing the teacher could think of is that sometimes he blurts out the answer and doesn't let other children participate. i love that he's doing well in school, and it cracks me up that he's been the teacher's pet at both schools so far. his chinese is excelling and tonight we took a bath and asked me why i have hair on my "pee-pee" in chinese, with the exception of "pee-pee".
i didn't do a weigh in for this bday. after a caloric extravaganza of a weekend, complete with fried chicken, champagne, oysters, eggs benny, a healthy tastings of red wine - i think i should avoid the scale for at least 10 days. i really do love wine country and had a great time. it was my bday this weekend and my favorite part was the boys singing me happy birthday - dylan stopping and evan filling in in the sounds with backup vocals. love it!
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