Park Chow anyone?

Fun at the Academy of Science playroom

Let's hold hands!

Nathan holding T's hand because she was scared

Playtime

The boys and I spent the afternoon across the street - first at a birthday, then at friends house for an extended playdate, bath and dinner!

Sidney was surrounded by books (a recurring theme) while Nathan and T were off enjoying a good game of "pretending to sleep" and "opening and closing the door."

Good, clean, and simple fun.

Fog is coming in

N & T at Chrissy Fields

Scott's birthday...

Yet another year for Scott and another great party for the little ones (and their parents!). After the cake, they all disappeared in Max's room to jump on his bed.

What a blast!

Dolores Park

Nathan's School, the Lycee La Perouse, set up a standing play-date every Saturday at the Dolores Mission park. The goal was to allow the newly inscripted students to get to know each other in order to reduce the stress of that "first day of school" in September.

We showed up on the first weekend and realized a few things:

1. We were the only people from the Lycee who showed up
2. A lack of drainage seemed to make water pool under the the kids swings -- and it appeared this had been collecting water for some time. John seemed to say that the water was sewage, but I had my doubts
3. The "big kid swings" were in various stages of disrepair... only 4 of the 6 had both chains attached
4. The edges of the metal slide had raised a bit. Just enough to shave off a paper-thin slice of thigh if you were really enjoying a fast ride down
5. It was Gay Pride weekend, and therefore the Dolores Mission Park was quite crowded with revelers
   
6. There was most likely a lot of revelers in the park the night before, because John stepped in a nice sand-encrusted pile of puke
7. And, finally, we realized that we would not be returning to the Dolores Mission park.

But the view was beautiful!

Jumpies!

Sierra's Baby Shower

Natasha organized a lovely Baby Shower for Sierra at Le Garage in Sausalito. This was Sierra's "first" shower as she had missed her first one (Jack was born 5 weeks ahead of schedule!).

Unexpectedly, I had brought Sidney with me, and needless to say that he was the hit of the party!

After the shower, he and I continued our day in Corte Madera running errands to get the remodeling of his and Nathan's room under way: door pulls, paint, closet stuff...

Fun, fun!

Les Copains

Running Around the De Young

Eva, Nathan and Max had a fun time running around at the De Young.  We had planned to go the Academy of Science, but it was "Member's Sunday," which meant that the members-only line which normally gets us inside in 5 seconds was 30 minutes long.

How's that for special "members-only" treatment?

Nathan's Belated Birthday Party

Nathan's birthday happens to fall on the exact same day as 4 of his friends, so finding free time to host a celebration is not an easy task!

We had a small group over in our small apartment to help mark the special occasion!

Nathan and Max

Nathan and Max love to hang out. They talk about cars.  They make airplane noises.  It's a blast!

We met up with Max at the park today and on the way to lunch, the two of them had a fun time riding around on Nathan and Sidney's stroller and engaging in some pretty serious discussions.

Hannukah at the H's

Joe and Betty invited us to their home to celebrate the 7th night of Hannukah.

On the way in, Nathan was impresed that Papa could carry Nathan, the backback, Lila's present, the braised fennel and the chocolate chip cookies.  For a minute, I became "super Papa."  It was nice.  Alex took a photo to commemorate the occasion.

Sidney was extra comfy with Maman, and Nathan had a lot of fun playing with the older kids.

Christmas Smörgåsbord @ The Moontros

The Moontros invited us over to their house to partake in their self-proclaimed Swedish "pagan" traditions (eating... drinking... what's not to like?)

Scott and Janice slaved away before the meal... and Janice watched the kids throughout most of the actual eating part.  In fact, she overheard Nathan and Max plotting to tip over the play kitchen in the living room.  Obviously these two boys will be trouble as they grow up together.

After we had all eaten our fill, Scott took over and kept both Max and Nathan entertained with countless tickles and giggles!

For the most part I got to just hang out, drink "glögg" and talk with other grown-ups for a change.

This is a tradition I can really get behind!

Break Fast at the H.

As per the now yearly tradition, we broke fast at Deborah's parents, which gave Nathan an opportunity for chasing Amber (their dog) around and touching everything he could get his hands on.

Then, it was time for music...

Sidney just enjoyed being in the sling... Mamie was with us, but Papie unfortunately fellt too sick to come and had preferred staying home.

Vanessa!

Pretty much every week day, Ana (our nanny) takes Nathan to the park.  At the park, she meets up with several other nannies who all take care of kids about the same age.

Today as we walked to the park, one of Nathan's "weekday" friends and her mom was walking near us.  The little girl recognized Nathan and excitedly began saying his name!

Nathan turned, and recognized her, too.  So, I introduced myself to the mother and we had a nice chat.  According to her, it seems that her daughter talks about Nathan at her house as much as Nathan talks about her!

Telephone!

Tonight I pulled out my blackberry to send myself a reminder/note about some cute thing that Nathan did, and when he saw my phone he exclaimed,

"Telephone! Gonna call Janice call Max? Call Max?"