Our Vancouver Visit

A few weeks ago we went to Vancouver to visit Omi & Bapa in their boat. We had lots of fun.

(click images to see bigger)

Omi has her own Japanese restaurant in Granville Island!

We had lots of fun on the giant tree bridges in Capilano.

We crossed the big, big bridge!

There were lots of places to go in Capilano!

Mommy & Finny immortalized in a totem pole!

Photos, Drawings, and Proud Mama!

Here are some photos of my wonderful child! :)

Click photos to enlarge.

Fin gets his first set of full gear. We actually got him a helmet with cage, too. His skates are too small now but he'll be taking lessons on figure skates for a while first anyway.

Fintan doesn't like to draw or color. He loves to trace letters - he knows how to write them all, plus numbers - he is amazing at mazes - but he doesn't like to draw or color. Then today, he called us into his room, and this is what he had drawn on his whiteboard. It should be pretty obvious which are ours that we drew originally, and which are his.

By the way, the black figure is Omi, complete with knee caps and eyelashes and eyebrows; the red one is Mama.

Of course, I'm so proud that he spelled out Mama instead of Daddy. Plus see how he put a boot on the M as an artistic integration of the Mom-figure. Ahhhh, such talent!

Passed out on the couch after a hard day's ... camp.

Farmers' Market day - and look, I can hold a scary bunny on my lap long enough for mom to take a photo!

Opening my new NY Subway t-shirt from Dad!

Mom & Finny at the beach on July 4.

Finny enjoys the beach.

Look, Ma, a fan! Yes, Finny, you have many fans.

Dad & Fin at the horrible Broadway Deli in Santa Monica.

Fin makes some friends (Nirmal and Ikey).

Fintan's First Race!

Fintan started school a couple weeks ago - just two days a week for half day. I am hoping this will help him adjust to going full time in September. The school is a Montessori style preschool with a great reputation and a great facility. He is already enjoying it immensely - and amazingly enough, he is so exhausted when he comes home that he apparently puts himself to bed for a nap! (Now if only we could get this to happen on weekends...)

Since I am racing in my first triathlon in September, I decided to sign Fintan up for the 7-and-under 50-yard-dash. He gets all sorts of cool stuff by participating, and he only has to raise $20 (unlike me, who has to raise $200). He doesn't really know it yet but he's going to have fun. Dad will take lots of photos of him (and maybe a few of me) in Malibu doing this big race, and we'll all have a good laugh and some fun.

Meanwhile, I promise to upload some photos soon. As it is, it's nearly 1am and I really need to get to bed - and any chance of me showing up at my 6am swim tomorrow is pretty much blown. :)

Bunky's Modeling Job (not)

Omi came to visit and Bunky was long overdue for some professional photos, so we went and had a long morning waiting our turn and riding the train... more on that later.

He was a fabulous model, doing everything asked of him, staying in the crazy poses she was putting him in, etc. But ultimately we liked the less-posed photos best. Here is my darling boy looking like a preschool model! (He really loves getting his photo taken.)

Click to enlarge (and print).

Our Big Boy & His New Bed

It's true, Fintan has been sleeping between us in our Cal King bed for over a year. Long story. That time has ended. With much celebration and child-involvement, we not only purchased our little angel his own "big boy bed" and graduated him to "big boy" status, but he has actually slept in it both nights!

It is, perhaps, the ugliest and cheapest twin bed Ikea has to offer, but we (a) didn't feel the need to spend a fortune on a bed for so little a guy, and (b) plan to graduate to a bunk bed in the next few years, because those are more fun. This one is fine - and big enough for mom or dad or grandma to curl up with him and read a story.

I think his favorite part about it is the big maple leaf blanket - it was his shower gift from Sunshine Annie. Now we really get to make use of it!



Here is our big boy snuggling in his new bed. Next to the bed is his rotating train lamp, which he can watch in the dark and dizzify himself to sleep (hey, it worked last night).

As part of our process of transforming him from "our baby" to "a big boy" we:

• made a big deal about him being a "big boy" now starting at least a week earlier
• hyped him up to help us shop for his big boy bed, which he enjoyed
• let him feel a part of the decision (although ultimately he had nothing to do with it, as we ended up going back to Ikea as a last resort)
• let him help us take down and put away the crib
• let him help Daddy build the new bed (safely)
• let him help Mama clean and rearrange his bedroom
• spent a lot of time hyping up how cozy it is
• continued making a big deal about how he was going to be such a big boy in his own bed now
• also encouraged him to use the step-stool in front of the big toilet, so that he could use the "big boy potty" instead of his little plastic potty
• snuggled with him to make him feel secure
• praised him the next morning
• etc.

All in all it's been quite successful so far!

Here's our big boy taking photos out front...

Here's our big boy in his new hockey gear! (he still needs a real helmet but everything's still a tiny bit too big for him)

He can't wait to go play hockey!!! (we'll be taking him to stick-time so he can learn to skate while being distracted by actually hitting the puck, which he does quite well out in the driveway)

Surf's Up! & Other Photos

Don't forget you can click to see the larger image. If you save photos off this blog, you'll want to save the larger image so you can print it or size it however you want. :)

I took Fin to the beach on Saturday.

We just played in the sand and got our feet wet.

He doesn't like walking on sand or grass barefoot.

Such a howlie.

Fin with Santa Monica Pier in the background.

Gremmie in the making.

Fin and Aisling have a playdate.
They got along really well!


Fin and my boss's son Vincent (8)
play at work. I had to bring him because
the nanny had a doctor appointment.

Here's a pic of Fin on Omi's boat having a blast.

Finny and Fergie on the boat.

My first bicycle ride.

I'm cute.

I'm silly.

Little drummer boy.

It's almost pre-school time

So at the very last second I decided to apply to a particular pre-school that I was previously boycotting, knowing full well my perfect child would not be accepted. It's a $100 application fee, so this is not cheap. But after all the other preschools I've looked at (well, three) that are on my way to work, none measure up to this one, and so I decided to go for it.

At worst I lost $100. At best, Fin goes to a good school that is very clean and safe and has a great program, isn't overly academic yet will continue to challenge him at his own level in both areas in which he is strong (pre-reading skills) and areas in which he is still lagging (some pre-math skills and world knowledge). Plus he'll get much more exposure to social skills and structure.

Anyway, after being put on the "waiting list" and expecting never to hear from them again (yet being tempted to bribe his way in), one day I got a call and so we decided to go for it.

He'll start part-time in July, and then work his way up to full time, depending on how we want to juggle the nanny situation and whether mark still has a job and all that. Keep your fingers crossed that he does keep his job for a while longer, because to pull Fin out of this school will break my heart.

Anyway, we have a slew of photos to upload, so stay tuned.