Just another day...

Leah's best friend Ruby came to play today having been away on her holidays last week and with friends the week before so it'd been 3 weeks since they'd last spent any time together and 3 weeks at this age is nearly an eternity.

Having watched Ruby and Leah play next to each other and do an amazing job of pretending the other wasn't there it was lovely to see them acknowledge each other with a big smile as they settled down together to pick up and examine pretty much everything. There were even moments where treasured objects were hesitantly offered to one another and then retracted as according to the rules of the game they both love at the moment. Ruby is now standing up and cautiously walking a few steps at a time, Leah is getting much better at the standing without support. They are both babbling away to their hearts content and at times it seemed like one would babble and the other would wait patiently and then answer with a babble of her own. They have very distinctive and unique babbles and it was a joy to sit in the park with them today and hear them chatting away. Of course they're still taking things off one another over and over again but luckily for Erika and me still without any resulting tears. Today's main object of jealousy was a Starbucks cup which was an amazingly funny voice distorter for Ruby and a technical 'lid on the cup' challenge for Leah. Luckily we were able to produce another cup from the depths of one of the strollers to keep them both happily occupied:
We wiled away a few hours sitting in the sun, swimming in our pool and eating lunch in our park marvelling at our smart, funny and of course beautiful girls. It was a perfect San Francisco day.

Ooohhh Apricots!!!

Nothing special this one, just one for my grandparents since my mum said no-one but a close relation is going to want to see pictures of a baby covered in food. In fact that's been her pet peeve for the last 10 years - people who show her photos of their baby covered in food, gross! But of course this is me and I'm cute so this is different. So if you're not a direct relation please feel free to check back in another time, I'll understand.

So...let me tell you about apricots, or apriums if you're lucky to live in SF like me and be able to pick up these apricot / plum hybrids. Well they're small enough for me to hold all on my own, they're squishy enough for me to be able to bite with my four big teeth you can see above, they're delicious and sweet and they make a smashing mess all over me when I eat them. Dad got wise to my love of the squish today and stripped me down to my pants before he let me eat one:
I could see he was getting very distressed by all the orange squishiness running down my belly so I picked up a piece and mashed it between my hands and to really freak him out I threatened to put my hands in my hair. Mum was laughing more at Dad's discomfort and distress than at me so I upped my game and squished some directly against my belly and let all the juice run down the side of my highchair onto my plastic Elmo mat.

I figured that after this mess I'd be heading straight for the bath so had no idea why Mum had to give me the wipeover with the cold cloth so I shouted and shouted. I've learned a really lovely new noise that is very high-pitched and very very loud and I thought bath and bedtime would be the perfect time to start trying it out. It took a while to work but Mum stopped wiping me down and we jumped into the bath together to get me clean. I showed her what I thought of the cold cloth treatment by standing up and peeing in the bath that she was sat in with me. Ha!!!!

We had a nice bath and Mum got the flannel into all my nooks and crannies and I came out all shiny. Dad wrapped me up in my dressing gown which I hadn't worn before but I loved because it's so lovely and soft:
Later peeps, I'm off to bed!

Vancouver baby

I thought it was about time I got around to telling you about my trip to Canada at long last. I thought I'd start with a picture of my friend Buck who I met in the Gastown neighbourhood. Mum and Dad were going to walk straight past but old Buck here shouted out to me so I persuaded Mum and Dad to go inside and take a look around. It turned out to be an amazing cowboy boot store, having never seen cowboy boots up close Mum couldn't help herself but try some on, they were actually very beautiful and for a brief moment she considered buying some but couldn't think of anything she'd ever wear with them so she decided not to buy any. Unfortunately the ones she was trying on got very very stuck on her foot and the shop owner had to come and help her get it off. I have to say although it was kind of funny I was a little embarrassed that Mum had to get an old bloke to help her take her shoes off. I'm not sure why Dad didn't help her, I think he was too busy laughing or something.

On our first full day in Vancouver we went to Stanley Park to visit the beautiful aquarium there, I saw lots of birds, fishies, jellyfishies, Beluga whales, turtles and crocodiles.

After the aquarium I figured I'd be dragged around to look at buildings but Mum and Dad had another surprise for me, we found a little children's farm hidden away. These were the first guys we saw, their new haircuts were keeping them cool in the sun and here they are listening to everything I had to say. After these guys I got to play with bunnies, and mini-goats, a chicken and a goose. It was great fun. My mum says that when Mamgu comes over we can go to SF zoo and do it all again. I can't wait!

So after all that fun I figured the folks were going to see if I fell asleep and sneak me off somewhere really boring but I was wrong again, just down from the farm there was a lovely playground where I got to practice my standing up and play peek-a-boo with a very cute blonde boy who came to see me. Unfortunately he was a bit older than me and because he was a boy he couldn't stop running around, I couldn't follow him so I just stayed here looking cute hoping he would come back which he did several times! Dad was a bit slow to work out what was going on but pretty soon he picked me up and took me over to play on the slides and said something about me not being able to play those games until I'm 18 or something. That seems like an awfully long time to me, I'm pretty sure that boy was only 2, not 18.

The next day it was time for some proper sightseeing so here we are by Canada Place which is now used as a cruise ship terminal.
It was a little bit windy that day but I was in the Bjorn and Mum was telling me rude jokes and making fun of Dad so I didn't mind at all. We were supposed to be walking along the waterfront back to our hotel but Dad had the map and he took us through a building site, up an elevator, across the front of a conference center, back down the elevator, back through the building site then up to the street where we abandoned the waterfront and just went back to the apartment to place chase instead (which I actually thought was a lot more interesting anyway).

The next day was a bit of a disaster. We went to Gastown which was one of the older parts of town but we found yet more building sites (preparation for the Olympics apparently) and a whole lot of dirt. We moved onto a playground which was nice but it really wasn't a nice area, Dad put his sunglasses down and 10 minutes later they were gone. Mum then decided that we would try one last thing to see in the area before heading home, somewhere where we could sit down and relax and get me some food. Unfortunately Dr Sun Yat-Sen's Chinese Garden although very pretty had no grass, just cobbles, so nowhere for me to sit down or practice walking. Mum ducked me into a little room that was pretty empty to give me some lunch but sat around the corner I found this guy:
He told me that it is his job to look fierce but you can see that I wasn't convinced. I just thought he looked smashing and I was so glad my outfit matched!

I had a smashing time in Vancouver, I got to play in lots of playgrounds but really enjoyed the new game that Dad invented which involved chasing me around the apartment growling and grabbing my ankles as I try to crawl away as fast as possible. I get a bit excited and a bit scared and shriek and shriek and shriek. I often had to cool down with a nice cold drink afterwards:
Although for some reason Mum wouldn't let me order the nice sounding 'Kahlua', they mentioned 18 again. Hmmmmm

A not so wanted first...

No adventures today but we did get our first proper tantrum. A few months ago we witnessed Leah shouting at us when we took something off her, today we were on the receiving end of a full body tantrum. We can't even remember what triggered it, something insignificant like Leah not getting picked up the precise moment that she wanted to be and it resulted in her throwing herself onto her belly and kicking her legs and smacking her hands on the floor. Of course being the vigilant and responsible parents that we are we just burst out laughing. Seeing our little baby throwing a "terrible two" tantrum was very very funny but we're quickly researching the correct response so that we can nip this in the bud....any suggestions anyone????

My first Mother's Day

Several months earlier, in an effort to support a friend who wanted to lose a bit of baby-weight I signed up for a Mother's Day 5km race thinking it would be full of mums showing a bit of solidarity and having something of a fun run together. I persuaded Natalie to join us figuring Erika and Paul could look after the girls while we enjoy a gentle run on a beautiful flat course that would take us along the Marina, through Crissy Fields and back again.....and then the competitive spirit kicked in.

I'd been pushing myself to improve on my Run Wild 5k time which was 27m30ish and completed after a night of no sleep and only 4 months after Leah was born. I'd been pushing it on the treadmill during my lunch hour and was confident that I'd be able to comfortably beat my time. And then I got sick. Oh the joys of early motherhood! Leah has been picking up every cold under the sun and a few weeks ago she developed a temperature and had a miserable miserable few days where all she could do was throw her head back and cry. It was awful. Then as she started to get better she got covered in spots...and then I got it. Fever, shivers, spots and then the cough. I was completely out of action for a week and the cough kept me awake at night for another week so the training went out the window.

Anyway, I did my best and managed a 26min 5k but it definitely wasn't comfortable. I had passed Natalie at my mile 2 and her mile 1 and as a result wasn't expecting her to make it back for a good 15 or 20 minutes after I had finished but clearly the competitive spirit got hold of her and she appeared a mere 8 minutes later. How she managed to increase her speed so dramatically only she knows but I wonder if her warm up routine had something to do with it:
We celebrated in style with a donut (OK OK two donuts for me) then the Linden-Naylors headed home and the Weatherall-Denchs headed off to Sports Basement where Paul was in need of some retail therapy having been the person to watch the sporting event rather than the person participating. Several hundred dollars lighter but me sporting a snazzy new sports watch (thank you lovely) we headed home for a fish and chip picnic and general lazing about at the little park across from our apartment block.

A perfect day.

Let me tell you about someone very special

Most of you will by now have spotted this person dotted around my blog but I wanted to tell you a bit about my very BFF (best friend forever for our grandparents!) - Ruby.

Ruby and I first met back when we were only 2 months old. Our mums tried to form a playgroup but week after week it was just the four of us which looking back I think we're all very glad about. Me because I've been able to spend some great times with my pal Ruby and my mum because she was very happy to meet Erika the sassy, hip and irony-loving chick who also didn't fit in with the rest of the mums round here. Not long after we all met Ruby and I started our adventures. Our very first big adventure was our first swim together.
It was October and a beautiful day, we hadn't learned to roll over yet so we were very easy to get in and out of our diapers and swimming costumes (not like now) and our first swim was a great success. Look there we are over there - aren't we tiny? I think this was one of the first times I heard my mum say how glad she was to have met Erika because she might've been a bit nervous taking me swimming on her own but Erika just got on with it and led the way and it gave my mum the confidence to get in that pool and I'm very glad that she did.


This is me and Ruby just a few weeks ago back at the same pool being speckled frogs sitting on a speckled log. You can see how much we've grown can't you?





Once we'd hung out locally a few times and our mums had realised that neither of us girls were going to nap in our cribs at home we began to go a little further afield as our mums started walking the length and breadth of the city in the hope that we'd get some good naps. On the left there's me and Ruby in the Marina in November testing out swings for my first time (another thing Erika taught my mum to do).



I loved the swings and me and Ruby would travel near and far to run our extensive swing tests to see which ones were the best.




It was round about this time that Ruby discovered her roar and I discovered my laugh. She made the best roaring sound I ever heard, and believe me with my mum and dad reading me 'That's not my Lion' every night for 8 months I've heard a lot of roaring that's for sure. She doesn't do it quite so much anymore but I reckon that's because she now has a cool chuckle noise that she makes all the time which makes my mum and dad laugh a lot.

The new year brought some new tricks for me and my pal Ruby. We both quickly mastered the art of sitting up which meant that Mum and Erika could take us out and not have to hold us the whole time to stop us from falling over. This brought a whole new set of adventures for us including tea at the Queen's place on Erika's birthday:
I think Ruby was asking me the correct way to drink tea, which hand to use and how to hold the cup. I'm not sure why she was asking me though, I was born in the USA same as her. You can tell we're great pals because I'd lent her my t-shirt to wear that day, my Mamgu had given it to me but my mum tells me that because I started solids a bit earlier than Ruby I filled the t-shirt out a bit more quickly so I couldn't fit in it anymore. I reckon Ruby looks much cooler in purple anyway! Mind you she always looks cool - she has some great shoes including a couple of sets of cowboy boots and some very hip t-shirts.

Over the last few months we've hung out together pretty much every Friday. We usually find a good playground to go to and our mums test us out on the equipment:

We've been on swings, on see-saws, on strange wobbly horses. We've surfed a giant wave and talked to a giant turtle. We've slid down slides (sometimes even get told off). We've played in the sand and we've paddled in the sea. Sometimes we just hang out at my place and play with my toys. I think my mum worries that we might fall out at some point because I always try and grab whatever it is that Ruby is playing with:

but it's only because I think she's so fab so whatever she's playing with must be the best thing in the room. Ruby's never got cross for me for doing this and that's yet another reason why I love her. She's smart, she's funny, she's cool, she's kooky and she's my very very BFF.

Goodnight!

An Alternative Easter Sunday in SF

I thought I'd show you some of the new friends I made today on Easter Sunday down at Mission Dolores Park. Mum told that these two ladies were a very special order of nuns called The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence who were holding this big Easter Party to celebrate their 30th birthday. Here's me and Ruby with Sister Sharin Dippity Reveal and I'm with Sister Mary Timothy Simplicity - aren't they beautiful ladies?

Ruby and her mums had managed to get there on time to take part in the Easter Egg Hunt but as usual my parents were a little bit late so we didn't get there in time to get a spot but luckily Ruby grabbed me an egg just before the bigger girls and boys grabbed every other egg in the park. Our mums said we can go back next year when we're bigger and stronger and can stand up all on our own.

After the egg thing we all went and sat on the grass in the sunshine:
I'm doing my current most favourite thing which is to walk around and around a stroller, it doesn't really matter which one but Ruby's stroller is particularly good for this. It's great exercise and I can do it for about an hour now. Ruby and I compared notes on our night-time sleep sabotage program. I've been going for the shock and awe tactics with repeated attacks within the first hour with last night succeeding in my spending most of the night cuddled up with my mum. Ruby has been trying the more subversive and ultimately more effective tactic by waking her mums up at random times over the last few nights and keeping them awake for a couple of hours each time. We're both doing very well although my nanny comes back on Monday so I probably won't be able to keep it up until next weekend.

Anyway, I thought you might want to see some more of the beautiful ladies that were at the park. I didn't get so close to these two so I'm not sure what they're names are:
They're being very sensible sheltering from the sun aren't they?

Here's me and my mum in the sunshine with the stupid hat they make me wear all the time:
We only stayed for an hour and a bit, the sun was very strong and some ladies started singing some rather interesting cabaret songs - one was about a woman who manages to turn every boyfriend gay and another was an ode to a husband that is too rude to mention. It was very very loud and Ruby had been holding out on her nap since 8 so her mum's took her off so that she could sleep. I stayed with mum and dad for a bit longer just checking out all the sights and sounds.
Can you see that panda just over my left shoulder? And here's me and my dad in front of the mission checking out all the wonderful San Franciscans:
If you want to see some more photos of today as well as the photos of Ruby and me with the scariest Easter bunny in the world you can go to my mum's photo website: http://gallery.mac.com/ruthweatherall

Happy Easter everyone!