San Francisco Days, San Francisco Nights

We three packed up our bags and headed west last week for a week-long sojourn in California. The impetus for the trip was my dear friend Desi's wedding in Healdsburg, but we decided to extend our trip so we could see friends/family/San Francisco. Here are some of the highlights of our trip:

• meeting our newest cousin/nephew, Taylor and Lisa's adorable two-week-old son, David


• eating clam chowder out of a sourdough bread bowl with Doug and Katrina Spencer at Fisherman's Wharf, introducing Ollie to the resident sea lions


• climbing to the top of Russian Hill with Emily Williams, and getting the insider's tour of SF


• falling in love with the "gourmet ghetto" in Berkeley; we are so jealous that Katrina and Doug live in foodie heaven--a block from The Cheese Board, Chez Panisse (ground zero of the "Delicious Revolution",) and the all organic North Berkeley Farmer's Market.


• walking among the largest* trees in the world in Sequoia National Park (*to be completely accurate, the Giant Sequoias are not the tallest, nor the broadest, but apparently, they take the cake in total biomass...so there you have it.)


• reconnecting with great friends from college (Ryan's and mine)


• dancing until midnight at Desi's wedding (Ollie was back at the hotel with a babysitter)

Ryan and Geoff looking tough in Sequoia
The steps above Emily's cottage on Russian Hill. Ollie loved SF for the infinite stair climbing opportunities, he was inexhaustible!
Emily and me in front of the foggy Golden Gate Bridge
Haidee, Kara and Karina at Desi's rehearsal dinner

Auburn, Desi, me and Kirstin
Ryan and me in my (cute, I think) bridesmaid's dress
Desi looked BEEEEAUTIFUL, here with bridesmaids Auburn and Kirstin

OBX beach trip

We just got back from a long Labor Day weekend in the Outer Banks with Jeff and Maja McMinn. Ryan took some GREAT photos, so I wanted to post a few here. I'll write more about our trip when I have a bit more time.

Cradle of Impeachment

Ollie gives Aunt Abby a whirl in the Radio Flyer
A representative of G.R.I.M- "Grass Roots Impeachment Movement" Abby estimated that this woman was at least 120 years old...but still out there tilting at windmills. Gotta love it.
Locally grown indeed...

Abby came to visit for a few days last week. It was so much fun to have a friend to share my days with. On Wednesday we went out to Carrboro, NC, which is a funky little slice of Ithaca-style hippy counterculture right here in Cacalacky. Carrboro is right next to Chapel Hill...in fact, you can pretty much walk there from downtown Chapel Hill. We went to the Farmer's Market and bought some Concord and Muscadine grapes, some pasture raised pork sausage and some peppers and tomatoes. Abby made an amazing feast out of it all the next night. That night we ate in Carrboro at Weaver Street Market which is a GreenStar-type co-op/natural foods grocery store. We ate outside under some big water oaks and took in the local color...it was a visual feast. There was a Buddhist monk in his burgundy and saffron robes, a gaggle of La Leche moms proudly nursing their toddlers, hipster grad students, and young professionals who rode their bikes to and from work all eating their locally grown, non-GMO organic dinners. Good times.


Abby is so busy so it is a real treat when she is able to get free from work to come down here (only to be put to work by me...I'm sure she's so eager to come back!!) She really was such a help, though...she cooked, she did the laundry, she fed Oliver. More than the extra set of hands, though, I just appreciated her good company. She is so funny and makes my every-day routine seem so much more fun.

Durham Museum of Life and Science

This is a tribute to one of my favorite places in Raleigh...OK, it's actually not in Raleigh at all. But it's only about 20 minutes from our house. We try to go at least once a week, with friends or just Ollie and me. It is so much fun for Oliver and I never get bored (amazing!!) They have a fascinating insect exhibit with all these strange insects and spiders, also there is a butterfly house that is in a beautiful (IPM-managed) conservatory. The plants are almost as amazing as the live butterflies...they have a Theobroma cacao (chocolate tree) that is covered with fruit. Oliver particularly likes the outdoor area where they have all sorts of pipes and drums to bang on. Here are some pictures from some recent visits.

Weighty Issues

I added these pictures after I wrote this post to remind myself of how cute Ollie is and how much we adore him even though we get frustrated and wiped out by our attempts to feed him. Here he is feeding himself pasta sauce. The last picture is a set-up. Oliver thinks his "nose" is located somewhere far inside his nostrils, so whenever we say, "Ollie, where's your nose??" he sticks a finger way up inside...our laughter probably hasn't done anything to discourage this performance.

I took Oliver in to get him weighed at his 18 month birthday (August 17). Turns out he hasn't gained any weight at all this past month. He seems to be stuck at exactly 17 lbs. 15.5 oz. I've been taking him in to his pediatrician every month around his birthday to be weighed on their scale--so we have an accurate record and so I won't drive myself crazy constantly weighing him more often. He has gained less than a pound and a half since we left Richmond 7 months ago.

Before this weigh-in I consciously tried to steel myself for disappointment in case he didn't gain much weight but in my heart I was sure that he had gained at least a few ounces since he seems to be growing out of his clothes (evidence that at least he's getting taller). But even though I had given myself that little pep talk I still started to cry when the numbers came up exactly the same as they had the month before. It is so bitterly frustrating.

He just won't eat. His doctors can't figure it out since he doesn't seem to have problems with his metabolism or with absorption of nutrients. He just isn't interested in food. We have run out of tricks. The "Pandora's Box" distraction scheme doesn't work anymore. He still likes playing with the stuff in the box, he just doesn't open his mouth for food. He doesn't even eat crackers anymore, he just sucks them and spits them out. It is totally crazy. The only thing he consumes is juice with Duocal (powder that adds extra fat and carbs). He seems to like drinking from a straw. Maybe it's because it's something that he can do himself and has total control over. With that theory in mind we are trying to let him drink more calories but he's stopped drinking kefir and yogurt shakes (both of which are quite nutritious and full of protein and great pro-biotics). We could never get him to drink whole milk or formula or even Pediasure. So, we're kind of at a loss as to how/what we should try next. Ryan's suggestion is thin black bean soup. I think I'll give that a try. We can put it in a cup and let him sip it through a straw. Sounds kind of weird but Ollie doesn't know that the rest of the world doesn't eat black bean soup through a sippy cup. We'll see how that works.

First Haircut

We gave Ollie his first haircut on Monday night. Believe it or not these are the "after" pictures! He was getting a pretty shaggy look so we decided to give him a trim in the back and around his ears. Ryan wanted to keep his hair long on top, which is pretty cute, but it's also why it's hard to tell that he has gotten a haircut in these pictures.

The haircut itself was a total fiasco. Ryan has been cutting his own hair (notice his newly shorn locks) for the last few weeks. He is down to the #2 blade every Saturday morning. So, naturally, he thinks he's a pro. And then I think I know what I'm doing, too (based on no prior haircutting experience, just a deep-seated, and in this case misguided, sense of know-it-all-ism.) Anyway, we cut very few hairs, just enough too look sort of strange and uneven in the back. Although, I must give Ryan his props, he did a good job, and any errant clips are definitely my work. The good news is that we didn't cut too much so it's not very noticeable

Ryan starts snipping while Oliver helps out with the clippers (they were off!)
The shirt comes off and Ryan gets down to business
Mid-way through the haircut things get a little crazy...
squirmy toddler + sharp pair of scissors = high anxiety
The inevitable melt-down marks the end of the haircut

Ollie is satisfied with the results and gives that cute boy in the mirror a kiss.

Ollie the Builder

Ollie's favorite activity these days is building block towers. He loves to stack 'em up and then knock 'em down. I tried to get him to look at me and smile, but he was totally absorbed in his building.

He is really adept with his hands. He also loves to put washers on screws and nuts on bolts. In fact, pretty much anything that can be nested, stacked, stretched, twirled, opened and closed or otherwise manipulated is fascinating to Oliver. This comes in handy especially when we are trying to feed him. Ryan has discovered that the most effective way to get Ollie to eat is to distract him by keeping his hands busy. So Ryan introduced "Pandora's Box" which is really an old shoe box that we keep near the table that is filled with fun things to examine like kitchen gadgets, items from Ryan's tool box, an assortment of PVC pipe fittings, tire pressure gauges, a tape measure, nuts, bolts and washers large enough not to be choking hazards (like we really need to worry that he's going to voluntarily put anything in his mouth. ha!) It keeps Oliver busy while we sneak bites of food into his mouth. It's amazingly effective.