Cobalt decided today that he'd be super-cute. His mother was at a board of directors meeting, so dad had him all to himself. As usual, he did his eating and drinking as soon as he got home.
At some point in time, after he stopped feeding her, Cobalt wanted to just roll around with Teeva on the floor. This was the result.
I don't even think I need to add much to this post, but to say that I'm so happy that Cobalt has such wonderful dogs to grow up with: Abby the disciplinarian and Teeva the playmate.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Shotgun
OK, well its not quite as dramatic as the tagline, but it's still one of the biggest days in my life. Today is our Second Anniversary (and for those of you keeping score, Cobalt is now 17 months old).I still remember the night Kyle told me that we were pregnant...She was commuting to LA during the week for work, so I had just picked her up on a Friday night. As soon as we got back to my apartment she said, "J, I've got something to tell you...". Of course, the first thing that came to mind was that she found someone else...in LA of all places.
Thank god I was wrong! She continued on with telling me that she, er we, were pregnant. For some reason, I think I knew this because on Valentine's day, I remembered having the distinct feeling that I just slipped one past the goalie (or in our case, we had no tender.)
So it was really a no-brainer that what followed was our getting married. Not just because of what would eventually become Cobalt, but that I did truly and deeply love her, and I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.
We then decided that we would get married City Hall, so we applied for our license and set a date. We then realized that we needed rings, and found a good deal downtown on some platinum bands, and had them engraved with our date - 4-16-04, 2pm.
We ended up having a small ceremony, with guests including my mother and brother (dad had to be out of town on business and we didn't give him enough notice). Kyle's brother, Todd, sent a representative (friend that was going to be in SF anyway) along with a photoalbum and musicians. Also included were a few friends, photo-Glenn and Julie and Lisa C.
About a week before our appointment, we decided to have a little dinner celebration, too. We made a list of somewhere around 25 people, and then tried to figure out where to have it. Our first call, to Millennium, proved successful, as they had a room that accomodates up to around 30 people. Just as we were getting
ready to send out invites, we received an invite from lbs to celebrate her birthday on the same night. So after consulting with her, we argreed to meet at the Hemlock Tavern for her birthday, and bring everyone down the street for dinner.It all worked out like a charm, many surprises, a full room, live musicians. We couldn't have planned a better wedding if we would have had a year, instead of a week. Our only regrets are that we couldn't have our entire families there, due to the short notice.
Friday, April 14, 2006
On Reading
Even though Cobalt isn't speaking yet, he sure seems to like his books. In fact, reading is one of his favorite things. I got to thinking that one of the reasons is that we no longer have a TV (well, at least it hasn't been hooked up since the World Series and I have it listed to sell on craigslist.)
Then, I saw this post today by Dutch about how he's gets so much shit for expressing his opinion about moderation and TV viewing. So I thought I'd go a little deeper about it here.
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, in a good Lutheran household. We had the TV on from the moment we got home from school until the last person went to bed. In fact, I had a 12" black and white in my room, and would stay up to watch Letterman and endless hours of M*A*S*H every night. This continued through college. Although my father was an educator, I can't remember ever reading anything for pleasure. Just the thought of reading for pleasure was such a joke. So anyway, I'm a bit bitter about it, and have been for some time now.
Along with improving my reading skills when I got older, I also had to work on my conversational tactics. With the TV on all the time, it was rare that we got past "how's your day, dear?" I don't blame TV or my parents necessarily for that one, but I'm sure it didn't help. I feel that that is more the result of self-esteem issues than anything else.
I regret that I was never pushed to explore a creative side. Now, maybe I'm just not as creative as I'd like to be, I don't know. Afterall, I was given some opportunities, like being enrolled in a Talented and Gifted program between 8th grade and high school, but never really pushed to take advantage of it or explore it. I'm sure part of the blame rests on me, and probably more blame goes to my older brother and his influence on me.
So anyway, I'm hoping that by minimizing his exposure to television, and giving him time, patience and opportunities to explore creative paths, Cobalt will come to realize that there is more out there than just what is considered normal, standard, in the box or whatever the hell you want to call it.
Bring on the Sun
Yesterday, we finally had a nice day, including a long-awaited revisit by the sun. In fact, I wore a sweater to work and was actually sweating!
One of the reasons we settled in San Francisco was the weather. I love it here. Sure there is that rumored quote from Mark Twain about "The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco." Twain may not have said this, but if you ever have to go up onto Alamo Square at around 3-6 in the evening in the summer time, you'll know exactly what this quote refers to. The wind as virtually a straight shot of Golden Gate Park right through to the Hill, where it slams against the western slope.
Last night, however, when we walked up the hill with the boy and the girls, the wind was calm and the sun was shining. And this morning, when I brought the girls out at 5:30am...it's like heaven: the full(ish) moon was setting, large, in the west, while the sun was giving first light in the east. Mornings such as these are better than coffee. The feeling I get when walking the dogs through the quiet park is so exhilarating and zen-like. I feel sorry for Kyle for not being able to wake up in the mornings to enjoy such moments.
So last night, we're up in the park, letting Cobalt walk around a bit. He discovered the shoe garden behind the gardner's shack and found in enthralling and engaging. He found some little stones up the path and brought them over to plant them in front of Mr & Mrs Snowperson. He also tried to pull some of the shoes off their perches, but found them to be screwed down. He loved the little garden so much, that he didn't even want to leave it to go to the playground. And when we went back by (to look for Kyle's watch, which I think we finally lost for good this time), he kept wanting to go up the path to the shack. At last we had to put him back in his stroller to get him out of there and go to bed.
One of the reasons we settled in San Francisco was the weather. I love it here. Sure there is that rumored quote from Mark Twain about "The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco." Twain may not have said this, but if you ever have to go up onto Alamo Square at around 3-6 in the evening in the summer time, you'll know exactly what this quote refers to. The wind as virtually a straight shot of Golden Gate Park right through to the Hill, where it slams against the western slope.
Last night, however, when we walked up the hill with the boy and the girls, the wind was calm and the sun was shining. And this morning, when I brought the girls out at 5:30am...it's like heaven: the full(ish) moon was setting, large, in the west, while the sun was giving first light in the east. Mornings such as these are better than coffee. The feeling I get when walking the dogs through the quiet park is so exhilarating and zen-like. I feel sorry for Kyle for not being able to wake up in the mornings to enjoy such moments.
So last night, we're up in the park, letting Cobalt walk around a bit. He discovered the shoe garden behind the gardner's shack and found in enthralling and engaging. He found some little stones up the path and brought them over to plant them in front of Mr & Mrs Snowperson. He also tried to pull some of the shoes off their perches, but found them to be screwed down. He loved the little garden so much, that he didn't even want to leave it to go to the playground. And when we went back by (to look for Kyle's watch, which I think we finally lost for good this time), he kept wanting to go up the path to the shack. At last we had to put him back in his stroller to get him out of there and go to bed.
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