Normally on this blog my posts run about 2-3 weeks behind "Reality" as it takes me that long to go through the pictures sort them out and write commentary. But I went through the pictures from the Day we went to Russian Gultch State park to find a Beach Day Photo for the I Heart Faces Entry, so here you will find the "Runner's Up" and get a preview of our trip to the beach. Stay tuned for a more detailed post about all the fun we had in the sand and the water soon.
In the mean time, enjoy some close-up's of Holly and tell me if you think I posted the best Beach Face Photo here.
We have been spending a lot of time at the park with Sarah. There are pictures here from both our park on San Pablo, and Willard Park on Derby, or the "Doggie Park" as Isabel calls it.
Sarah has been crawling all over lately it is amazing how grown up she is getting, and prettier every day. her mommy just recently trimmed her hair, it looks so neat and tidy.
She is so vocal too, you know just what she wants and she is very persistant. Now that she is mobile, she will reach, scoot and crawl to get what she wants, its just a matter of time till she woddles for it too.
It is so cool how well Sarah and holly know each other, they wave hello (well Sarah Does - holly smiles and gets excited) and actually play with each other. Holly gives toys to Sarah, and Sarah shares her snacks. They are growing up together and becoming such good friends, There mommies are too :-)
A few weeks back we were invited to the "Play Cafe" off of Mountain Blvd. in the Oakland Hills. 
This is a new Cafe for Mom's and Babies and we were there to try it out before the grand opening, and to do a photo shoot for the marketing materials.
I thought this was about the coolest this ever. "The Swimming Hole" an entire ball pit of balls colored only blue. It was big, and deep too. Holly had a blast jumping in and out.
There was also some sunken treasure. One of the more adventurous older kids found some sparkly green balls hidden in the ocean depths.
After swimming around in the ball pit we were off to shop at the store. Holly loved this little shopping cart and filled it with items.
"More Please" Holly loved snacking on these fun pizzas, Technically a "Chocking Hazard" to I had to keep an eye on her that she didn't really try and eat the pepperonis. There were a few other items really intended for slightly older kids, so for Holly's age the parent would still need to be watchful.
Next Holly was off to watch the trains go by. The older kids were nice enough to share with her and give her a engine to play with.
This little lady bug was a cushy area for which a little baby could crawl and sit and play. Holly enjoyed climbing in and out.
But soon she was trotting over to the kitchen, opening doors, looking into cabinets, turning knobs, and "cooking" up a storm, with the groceries she got earlier off course.
But this little girl knows that she doesn't have to be stuck in the kitchen if she doesn't want to be, and was off to play with Hammers, Nails, and a cool saw. (Another one of those not so "baby" friendly items) but she did OK with it, and really liked playing with the tools.
This back corner was quite familiar and was another section set aside for "little guys" there was a Fisher Price house, and exersaucer and Metal Bead toys, all ones she has at home and enjoyed checking out in a new environment.
I thought this was about the cutest thing, Our little hard hat wearing, shopping cart pushing tike. 
We were invited to this event by our friend Saturina, here in the back ground riding around on a little fire truck.
I can just imagine domestic bliss... or are they disputes. She had fun playing with this little boy, she would put food into the cart, he would put it away. It was a fun game.
After lots of time to play, as a thank you for coming, testing, and having our pictures taken while at play the kiddies were provided with a yummy lunch.
Look at my big girl. this is the first time she has sat at a Holly Sized Table, in a Holly Sized Chair, Drinking Juice and Snacking on Pizza, she is SOO grown up!
She really likes pepperoni and cheese. The sauce was a little hot and she didn't eat the bread so much. These heart shaped plates were so sweet, Mommy enjoyed a bit of pizza too.
We had so much fun playing for the afternoon, and hope to be back once the Play Cafe is officially open.
This is such a neat little park in San Francisco on Chestnut street just a few blocks from the 
I asked one of the 
I was hoping to tire Holly out but letting her run around the park before the show, in the hopes that she might fall asleep, we still had the infant car seat at the time, so i could take her into the theatre in that. Instead she decided she wanted to swing almost the entire time we were there.
She was eying this merry-g0-round and on our way out the kids had dispersed so she climbed in and let me slowly spin her. First she walked 
The play structure was pretty cool, but she was little for it still, In a year it will be perfect. Just the same she liked walking around the bouncy turf checking out all of the kids and did climb up on a few platforms and went down a couple of slides before we took off. We 
We headed over to the movie, and she 
Slides - 1/2 - There were some but she needed help with them still.
The First Thursday of Every Month is book club. Last month we read Our Babies, Ourselves. If by "We" I mean 4 of the 11 moms who came to the last meeting (me not being one of them). I bought the book several months ago and then it got pushed and now I can't find it and didn't want to buy it again, so never got around to reading it. 
This is Melissa and her mom Ruby playing with Orion, Arden's son. I was shocked to have such a good turn out. The previous month, there were only 3 attendees including me, so when 11 showed up I had my fingers crossed that I could host such a large group. 
Holly, Madelyn and Orion, are playing with Holly's little house. It is amazing to see Orion mobile and crawling around. He is about 9 months old now. Madelyn is turning 1 this week. In the back ground here are Julia and David, Pamela and Sebastian, some of the new moms.
Holly was the oldest Baby, which helped turn the chaos down a notch. I also decided to put away some of the toys, like the blocks, shakers, and Lego's. The play date we had last week made such a mess, I knew there would be enough toys without them, and it would help keep me sane to not worry about all the missing pieces. Several of the moms were ones I had not met before and it took a while to wrangle everyone and actually start talking about the book, but eventually we did get around to it. 
Madelyn and Melissa took some time to hang out int he ball pit and had a blast. Here we are finally getting into a circle to begin book discussions, you can see Kai in his cute little overalls, with his mom Sam. The push toys were quite a hit because of all the pre-walkers, they really enjoyed having some support.
Melanie and Julian are new to the group and this was there first meeting. I hope they will be back. Melanie was eager to talk about the book and I think a little disappointed that more of us didn't read it.
From what the other mom's said, the book was only so-so and I won;t likely read it. it was interesting, but more of a primer for attachment parenting and the mindfulness school's of thought. So in a way it was preaching to the choir, as all of us already believe in that style of parenting. 
Vika and Elias I don't think are new to the group as they seemed to know some of the other moms, but I had not met them before. Elias is such a cute little guy. But I didn't really get too much of a chance to chat with her. Most of the time I was hosting and watching Holly and wrangling.
Chloe and Melissa are here playing. Melissa is 13 months old, but she was so big for her age. She looked like she was about 2, especially next to Chloe. 
The kids took a break and crawled into Holly's room to read and explore for a while. They got into just about everything, but that's the good thing about being baby proofed, there isn't anything they can get into that they shouldn't.
What was interesting about the book was the discussion of all the different ways in which people parent in other cultures. The book is about how Culture and Biology influence our parenting beliefs. It seems pretty interesting, but the number of books I have time to read is limited, and there are other's further up on my list.
Holly was so tired when everyone went home. She ended up getting sick that night, and it was the next day we found out about her perforated Ear Drum. She had a low grade fever of about 99 and was lethargic. I thought it was from the long day at first, but then when she started refusing bottles i worried it was something worse. Friday was a holiday, the 3rd, but I talked the doctor into seeing her, thankfully, and she started new antibiotics. Just today she had her two week follow up and she is clear as a bell all healed. I am grateful.
Posts
