September 11th

Little patriotic boy.

Twenty-Two Months old

Dear Calvin,

Your biggest change by far this month is your language skills. It's like over night, you just decided you felt like starting to talk. You have started repeating everything you hear. Here are some of the words you've started saying on a regular basis:

• One, two, three, four, five, red, blue, lellow, green (which you say Guh-reen like that robot on Short Circuit. It's the cutest thing I've ever heard), cookie, cupcake, cheese, potty, airplane correctly, hippo, daddy, puppy, and many others I can't remember at the moment. You'll even say "blue car!" when you want to go in Daddy's car instead of Mommy's.
  

At the park across the street, you love this flag pole. You bend down and trace the words. You also point out each individual character of the 2002 and say, "two-oval-oval-two!"

You are very independent and love to play with toys and puzzles on your own, but several times a day, you'll pull me or your dad into your playroom just so you have an audience. You'll point things out to us and explain them in your gibberish.

You have recently rediscovered the Mayflower Little People set that I bought you last year and you didn't care a lick about. You lay the people on the hammock and make snoring noises while they sleep, you put your animals on the outlook deck and have them oink, moo, or baaa at the people below on the deck, and my favorite, you like to take the white male pilgrim holding the apple and the middle-eastern man in his robes holding a bottle of frankincense and make loud kissing noises while pushing their faces together.

You love to draw and color. I can put you in your chair and you'll use your crayons contentedly for 30+ minutes at a time - the longest amount of time you ever hold still. This is a light drawing board that your grandparents gave you for Christmas. You love that you get to draw and make it glow, all at the same time.




You have a thing with cows. Besides dogs, they seem to be your favorite animal. I walked in one day and you were playing with this stable, but only the cows were allowed in. The poor horses, pigs, and sheep were left out in the cold.

At grandpa's house, it makes me so nervous, but you'll crawl under the fence and walk straight up to the cows with no fear or hesitation. I think they don't run from you because you're so small and they're curious, but as soon as I freak out and come after you, they run off and you're disappointed. You have the cutest moo in the whole world. You've also started saying other animal sounds like neigh, baaa, N-eow for a cat, bok bok for chickens, and the funniest little monkey sound. You love animals - in books, on tv, and in person.

You love to jump, no matter where you are. You'll jump off stairs, bleachers, on beds, couches, pillows, or just on the hard ground. You'll squat your legs, jump with both feet a couple of inches off the grounds, and then land squarely again on your feet. The only time it's annoying is when you're throwing a tantrum and you jump up and let yourself fall on your butt while squawking at me. You are a fast runner, a good thrower, and overall very coordinated for someone your age. You don't eat very much and you don't sleep as much as I think you should. I have no idea where you get all of your energy.

Calvin, you have the most darling little personality. You are quick to smile and laugh, you love experiencing anything and everything, and you get smarter every day. I would give anything in the world to wrap you up the way you are and just keep you forever. I'm already panicking at the thought of you becoming a teenager and thinking I'm old and crazy. I love that I am your favorite person, and your world is centered around me and your dad. I love that you snuggle up to me often with huge hugs and kisses, or just to lay on my lap when you need a break. I treasure every second with you, and feel like the luckiest mom alive to have you as my son. Please never forget how to be happy and excited, and always remember how much you are adored.

We love you so much!

Love,

Mom

San Francisco - Day 3 (August 31)

This morning we got up early to get ready so I could catch my flight. Right when we were ready to leave the hotel, Andy got a call from Delta saying that my flight had been delayed for 2.5 hours. We decided to stop and get something for lunch, so we pulled off of a random exit on the way to the airport. Whatever this neighborhood was, it was how I imagined San Francisco to be. It had an artsy feel to it, with eclectic and colorful buildings and clean streets. We found this little Thai restaurant, and it was some of the best food I've ever had. Delicious.

Andy left me at the airport and then headed back to the city for a week of work. I was really sad to go. It sounds cliche', but it's so great being married to my best friend. We had a lot of fun together, and we talked about me staying longer. But as much as I wanted to spend the week feeling carefree with quiet meals and uninterrupted sleep, I missed my little guy even more. I couldn't wait to see him. After spending a day at airports and on the plane, arriving three hours later than I had been scheduled, it was all worth it when Calvin squealed in excitement and gave me the hardest, tightest hug when he saw me. It was a great vacation and I'm lucky to have a husband who insists on whisking me away. I'm also lucky to have the sweetest toddler to come home to after it's over.

San Francisco - Day 2 (August 30)

Here was a homeless man yelling at another homeless man. What a charming city.

Today we after finding a random church, we headed to the piers and Fisherman's wharf. It was a pretty cool day, hence the preppy look for Andy in the only long shirt he brought.

We wandered around a bit, enjoyed the masses of sea lions, and checked out some of the shops on the pier.

This is the restaurant where we ate lunch. We loved it. In addition to tables overlooking the pier, their was a fireplace, and a really nice trendy feel. Andy had crab legs, and I had mahi mahi. It was delicious. We lingered there longer than was necessary.

We had planned to take a drive over the Golden Gate Bridge, but decided it would be more fun to take a cruise through the bay. We bought tickets to a big ferry ride that went directly under the bridge, around Alcatraz, and then under the Bay bridge. It was chilly and windy, but a lot of fun. Here are my favorites from the trip:

Alcatraz from a distance

The Bay Bridge

San Fran as seen from the bay

After the cruise, we ate some chili in a sourdough bowl from a little stand, grabbed a hot chocolate, and then did something else I've always wanted to do... We went on a night tour of Alcatraz Island.

The boat left while it was still light, so we had a great view of the island and all of the buildings, but by the time we were inside the prison, it was sufficiently dark and eerie. The prison is the big building at the top of the hill, and the rest of the buildings are workshops and living quarters. I hadn't realized before that the warden and prison guards, along with their families lived on the island with the inmates. Even lots of little kids. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't go for that, even though they said that since everyone's dad was a cop, it was one of the safest places to live.

Here are some shots from the inside (by this point my camera battery was dead, so these were all taken on my phone. Sorry for the poor quality.):

Isn't he cute in his headphones?

First the island was a military prison, but after it got too expensive, they evacuated it and the American Indians took it over as a retreat. They decided it was too expensive as well (electricity, fresh water, sewage, etc.) and handed it over to the federal penitentiary association, who turned it into a maximum security prison for convicts who kept escaping from other places. Al Capone and some other famous cons were there, so it was cool to see where they were kept.

This was the prison kitchen. I liked this picture because you can see the knife panel where the knives are painted on. This is so guards could immediately tell if one of the knifes was missing.

The night tour was really cool because they do things that they don't do during the day. For example, we sat in the prison while they told stories of some of the escapes that took place and the details of how the cons made it work. Also, at the very end of the day, they show you how the prison doors work. Apparently they were very high tech for the day, and they can open and close individually or together. They call it "the sound of the slammer" and open all of the doors along the row, and slam them at the same time. It was really fun to see it, but I can't imagine that it was a fun place to hang out for years on end.

San Francisco - Day 1 (August 29)

This morning we dropped the boy off at his grandparent's house, and headed for a weekend away. Andy has to work in San Francisco all next week, so he planned a few days for us to be alone before then. We hopped a short flight to SF, and were there in time for lunch. We picked up the rental car, got settled at the hotel, and then found a great little 50's diner where he had a club sandwich, and I had french dip. After that we did the most heavenly thing that we haven't done in ages -- we took a long, uninterrupted nap.


I like these pictures because we have this really nice room at the downtown Hilton, with all of the upgrades, and then in the middle of the room is this ghetto little refrigerator plugged in.

After our nap, we got dressed in our fancy clothes and went to eat at The Market Street Grill. We had heard rave reviews about the place, but after eating there, we decided it was more about ambiance than great food. I had a steak and Andy had a seafood gumbo. They were just okay. The butterscotch creme brulee', however, was divine.

After dinner we crossed the street to the Orpheum theater where we did something I have wanted to do FOREVER. We saw Wicked.

The play was pure magic and lived up to every bit of the hype I've heard about it. Andy said it was one of the few times as an adult that you get to feel like a child and see something you've never seen before. The actors were perfect, the sets and costumes were amazing, and the whole performance was just enchanting.

We had great seats. I wasn't supposed to take pictures, and my phone isn't great, but this shows you how close we were to the stage. Of course the whole row in front of us was little old ladies and tiny Asian women, except for the one seat in front of me which was occupied by a wide, tall man. Just my luck. Despite the blockage, the whole evening was one of the best I've ever had.

The one complaint that we have about SF is that it's really kind of scary. The traffic congested roads are all over the place with no rhyme or reason, the streets were filthy, and there were more homeless people than I have ever seen anywhere. Andy kept saying that he felt like if he looked at someone wrong, he was going to get AIDS.

We had walked to dinner and the theater, deciding that since we wouldn't be coming home until about 11:30 pm, we would definitely take a cab on the way back. The walk was only a mile, but there were a few blocks that didn't feel safe at all. The only problem was that when we came out of the theater, we weren't able to get a cab, and it was pretty cold, so we decided to start walking. We got followed, jeered at, and generally creeped out most of the way home. I had guys calling out at me, and I felt like saying "seriously? I'm 7 months pregnant and you're hitting on me? Life can't be THAT bad!" So we hustled back to the hotel.

Once we got in, I was on a high from the day and didn't feel like going to bed. I felt like some hot chocolate. The room's mini-bar didn't have it, room service didn't have it, the gift shop was closed, and the Starbucks inside of the hotel was closed. We had seen several Starbucks down the street, so I called a few of them and found one two blocks down that was open until 1 am. Andy was not pleased with the prospect of going back out into the scary, hobo ridden streets, but we dressed down and headed out into the cold. 20 Minutes later we were back in our room safe and sound with hot chocolate and an apple fritter. The perfect night cap after a fantastic day.