Boo

Happy Halloween! Our neighborhood continues to be friendly. This note showed up under our mailbox yesterday with some candy in a little paper pumpkin.

You've been boo-ed!!!
The air is cool, the season fall
soon boo's will come to one and all
The treat that came with this special note
Is yours to keep. Enjoy them both

The fun now comes with friends like you
Now copy this and make it two

Then other here among our friends
Will give some fun that never ends

We'll all have smiles upon our face
No one will know who boo-ed each place

Just one short day to work your fun
Or big ZAPs will strike, so go and run!

And don't forget a nifty treat,
Like something cute or something sweet.

Please join the fun, let's really hear it,
And spread some boo's and lots of spirit.

News

We're settling into Davis really well, having been here just over a week now. Xan has started and is loving preschool and Music Together classes.

This is such a great town for families. Saturday at the farmers' market we ran into two families we had met the week before: one from preschool and one from music.

We are busy, busy, busy working on our amazing, gorgeous new house, but hopefully I will have more updates and some pictures up soon.

We miss all of you in Massachusetts tons. I'll also try to get our new contact info out soon, but if you don't hear from me, just send me an email.

It's too soon to say goodbye

Bill has been on the job interview circuit the past month or so and is now starting to negotiate job offers, which means we could be moving as soon as June.

Today we went to the park with friends who we don't see very often because they have moved to the suburbs. They are expecting their second child in a month so chances are slim we'll see them before then and slimmer we'll see them after in the little time we have left here. I can't believe today might have been our last time getting together and I didn't think to take any pictures! Boo, me.

We will miss you Laura and Xavier! Everyone else, hopefully we will see you a bunch more before we go. We have made many great friends here that I will be sad to say goodbye to.

Call me

Remember when I left my phone in San Francisco last November and hence lost my phonebook? Well my recent phone broke so suddenly and catastrophically that I wasn't able to recover any of the numbers in it.

My phone number is still the same, so give me a call. That way I'll have your number in my phone instead of having to enter it, and we can catch up, with the bonus that I'll pair down the numbers in my phone to people who actually call me.

Boys in the Park

In the pool

Thanks Lauren and Seth for letting us come over and play in your pool!

Puppet Master

Boyfriends

We hosted playgroup today and, as usual, Emil came over to give Xan a kiss hello.

Busy Sunday

A two Tabblo day! First we went to dim sum, then saw the lion dances in Chinatown, home for a quick nap, then Baby Loves Disco, and finally a walk to the North End for cappuccino and pastry.

See my Tabblo>

After dim sum, we watched the lion dances in Chinatown celebrating the Chinese New year.  The lions went to each business, dancing in front of the store, or even inside it, to bring good luck for the new year.  We got pelted with lettuce as the lions "ate" the offerings of fruit and vegetables left by the owners.  The firecrackers and gongs were loud, but didn't scare Xan.   For more on lion dances, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_dance
... See my Tabblo>

I have no idea what they're staring at

Seth came over to play, woot!

Playdate with Seth

Lauren just put up a great video of Xan and Seth playing together last week.

Starting to feel like me again

Last night I did a handstand for the first time since I got pregnant! It was awesome and gave me a total endorphin rush; I felt great for the next hour. It really hit me how much I missed my pre-Xan yoga practice. I went semi regularly after he was born from the time he was 6 weeks until he was 6 months, and that was nice, helping me feel stronger and regain some of my former practice, but many of the poses were inhibited by the baby weight I was still carrying around. Arm balancers, in particular, were much more difficult that they had been, as I was both weaker and trying to lift more. After Xan got more active, I couldn't really manage him in class anymore and the evenings were out due to either family time or exhaustion.

But I think it might be time to get back into practicing. A friend I hadn't seen in a few months recently called me skinny and I realized I'm now back to my pre-pregnancy weight (I gained 53 pounds, 30 of which came off in three weeks, and the rest just sat there for five months, when it gradually started going away). That inspired me to try the handstand and that inspired me to get going again. I won't have time (or the cash) for as many classes a week, but I'm hoping to go to at least one. I'll be doing a baby sitting exchange with a friend the next several weeks, giving me the time to attend. Marissa also had a great idea to do a collaborative moms yoga session with friends to figure out what we can do while baby wrangling. I'll try to get that going in the next couple of weeks.

Baby Fight!

We went to Lauren and Gerald's for some delicious veggie chili and a playdate. Bill kept trying to get a baby fight on camera.

Andala

The coffeehouse nearest us has been closed for more than a year undergoing renovations, but finally had its grand opening a little more than a week ago. We went to that (not realizing it was the grand opening) and got free food while listening to the mayor give a little speech. The food was great, as was the coffee, and the interior was simply gorgeous. Bill and I have been back twice since.

Today my moms group met there and took over the sun room, which amazingly stays warm in this cold weather. This was perfect for us, since it's a little isolated from the rest of the coffeehouse so the babies could roam without bugging too many people and the low upholstered benches and coffee tables are great for babies learning to stand and cruise. We were pretty rowdy at times and expanded to fill most of the space, though one tenacious guy stayed in there with us the whole time. If any of us were worried about being welcome, that fear was put to rest when the owner came over and said how glad he was that we were there, and asked how old each of the babies were. On my way out, I mentioned that we would probably make it a weekly thing and he was happy to hear it.

So yay for Andala. It completely rocks.

Don't toss your maternity coat too soon

I'm getting two winter's use out of the beautiful maternity coat Cyndi gave me last year because now instead of fitting around me and my enormous belly, it fits around me and Xan in the Ergo. I can't speak highly enough of the coat and the carrier (and Cyndi, too - she's pretty cool). The coat wraps rather than buttons or zips, so its girth is very adjustable and it even looks cute when I'm the only one in it.

The carrier, which I realize you can't see in this picture, is just fantastic. I first saw it on Marissa, and bought one when they went on sale at Stellabella, as did another friend of mine. Now most moms I know have one after listening to all of us rave about it. We were even proselytizing to moms at the Museum of Science today, giving a demo and everything. Basically what rocks so hard about it is that it has a waist strap that supports a significant amount of the baby's weight, unlike many other carries, like the cursed Bjorn that hang most of the weight off your back. You can wear it on your front or your back and it's super easy to put on with only two clicks: even Bill didn't mind learning how.

Museum of Science

Marissa invited us to join her and Tess at the Museum of Science today. We had fun in the discovery room for the under-five set, and also looked at the butterflies, which was neat but stifling. She's a member so I got in as her guest and the kids were free, since they're under three. It was a good time, and we're hoping to go more and explore the rest of the place, which is huge.

Baby use #37: scapegoat

Last week I totally farted and blamed it on Xander.

Speaking fo farts, this morning I had a brain fart. I tromped through the rain all the way to my morning moms group before realizing it was canceled for MLK day and had to come back home through the wet again.

Still in a great mood though, because this morning a friend I hadn't heard from in six months called and we're going to lunch at Full Moon, where I have never been due to lack of a car.

Matchy matchy

Grace got him these adorable earmuffs, and they totally go with the ones I got for myself a few years back.

Baby Loves Disco is Coming to Boston!

I thought about making the title of this post an excited AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! because I couldn't contain a happy squee when I found out that Baby Loves Disco will be in Boston. I was jealously reading Parent Hacks latest post about them going to Portland, and decided to click through to the Baby Loves Disco website to torture myself by reading about super cool activities not available to me and wallow in self pity. But look: THEY'RE COMING TO BOSTON, so self pity be gone. Why am I so psyched? I'll just quote from Parent Hacks.

Real music from the 70s and 80s spun by real DJs! Bubble machines! Baskets of scarves and instruments! Chill-out rooms for nursing moms! Diaper-changing stations! Full spread of healthy snacks by Wild Oats! And (AND!) the bar's open for Mom and Dad!

There are three parties scheduled in Boston. The first one (Jan 28) is already sold out, but I just bought tickets for Bill, Xan, and I for the second*. I might even go to the third as well, if we're in town. It should be fun, so come with! I'm planning on inviting the 100+ moms on my mailing list, too. Here are the details on the remaining dates.

Sunday, Feb 25th (also happens to be the day before Bill and my birthdays!)
Sunday, Mar 25th
2pm-5pm
$12 for adults and kids over 1 year old (+$2.50 processing fee)
Revolution Rock Bar
200 High Street
Boston, MA 02110

If you can make it, let me know in the comments and we'll meet up. Eek, I'm so excited! Did you notice there's a bar?

*I actually stopped writing this post in the middle to call Bill, tell him about, get his enthusiastic blessing, and buy the tickets. I wasn't taking any chances (tiny as they are) that my little blog would spill the beans and the rest would sell out before I got a chance to get him to agree to go and I could secure our spot.

This Sucks

Xan being sick over Christmas was a bummer, but we were surrounded by family to hang out with and help with taking car of him. He's much less sick now, just a slightly runny nose and occasional cough, but it is way more painful, because it isolates us in the apartment. We usually go to 2-4 moms groups a week, plus hang out with a few moms individually in between, for a total of more than 20 other women I get to interact with most weeks. This week: 0. I'm really feeling for those moms who don't have other people to spend time with during the day. I don't know how they do it; I'm going crazy over here.