Roughhousing

Leo likes to play rough. The higher the toss, the bigger the bounce, the happier he is. Case in point - Leo tossing at the park.

Saturday in the Park

Sunny Saturdays in our neighborhood are synonymous with Dolores Park. After a relaxing morning in the house, we packed up junior and met some friends on the grass.










While there, Leo confused our friend Rob's head with an apple. Reasonable enough...

Big Boy on the Shoulders

Leo's getting stronger and stronger in the neck. Next stop: sitting up.

Hangin' in the Garden

Spring has sprung here in San Francisco, so we've been spending some time out in the garden. Leo also got his first sun hat. Funny, ridiculous - just our style.

Storytime with Oma

Oma's been visiting lately, which is great for a million reasons. One is storytime. You wouldn't think that a 4 month-old would be that into reading books, but he really digs it. The books are quite ridiculous - averaging 15 words per tome, with incoherent story lines. But, whatever, this isn't the Times Book Review, it's story time! Proceed..


"Wait, Oma, I've got to read this one standing up."









"Snowy Bear did WHAT?"

Dinner with Leo

We took Leo out to a local hotspot for a high-risk dinner date with Oma. We arrived at 5pm sharp (yes, we're those people) in the hopes that he could hang in there 'till 6:30, his normal bedtime. It pretty much worked out to the "t", which felt like quite the accomplishment.

Here he's saying "So you're really trying to tell me that's better than milk?"





"Dad, this eggplant is lovely and all, but I'm really after that prosecco of yours."












"Yeah, not impressed..."

Morning with Dad

Rob: Good morning, Leo. I'm pretty tired. How about you?
Leo: Sorry, were you saying something?

Morning with Mom

That Caterpillar Just Blew...My...Mind

Fun with Family and Friends, plus Cute Baby

Our friend Pilar came over to see Leo the other day. Also, Aunt Em's is getting in the bathtime groove. And, oh yeah, Leo's looking pretty cute these days.

Reading the New Yorker with Mom

One of Leo's cutest new things is to sit at the table and observe whatever is going on in front of him. In this case, he's reading a delightful new article by Steve Coll on the state of affairs between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. How interesting!

Cruisin' Around the Neighborhood

The three of us hit the town the other day, with a walk down to one of our favorite outdoor, semi-kid friendly drinking spots. Leo pooped his pants almost exactly when we arrived at the bar. We still finished our beers before going home to change him. We are terrible parents.

Road Trip 2009!

Over Presidents' Day weekend last month, Laura and I decided to attempt the impossible: load little Leo into the car and get out of town for 3 days. It turned out to be a fun, albeit humbling experience. Big surprise there.

Our destination was San Simeon, our quarry, Hearst Castle. I've wanted to go there for years, and it seemed like the perfect kid-friendly venue: basically a walk, but with cool stuff to look at. What we learned, in addition to many things about W.R. Hearst's life and times, is that Leo is a creature of schedules, to be interrupted at our peril. This was a valuable lesson, but like many lessons, was costly. For us the cost was that most precious of currencies - hours of sleep.

Here's the play-by-play.

Laura and Leo snuggling at a pit-stop. So far so good!

Ooooh, dinner for three? How delightful.












Bedtime stories - that will help him sleep through the night, right? We'll see...












Well, that didn't go so well after all. Somehow Laura is smiling after being woken up every hour, on the hour, for the entire night. I think that I was weeping in a corner somewhere.










OK, to the car then. One of California's architectural wonders should get everyone sorted out.











The tour is only 1 hour. Here's hoping that things go well.












On the bus, everything seems to be going well.













Wow - check out that pool (plus Leo is sound asleep)!












At the indoor pool, the meltdown begins. With 15 minutes left to go, that wasn't so bad. But not so good either. Better luck next year.

Mom's Group

Since before Leo was born, Laura has been getting together with a network of friends that were/are pregnant at about the same time she was. This has turned out to be a great social and practical group, trading tips and spending time together with the new tots. Recently, we hosted at our house: 15 new babies and their moms. It was quite a scene.