Hi everyone!

We haven’t been posting as much here recently, but the blog is still alive and we’ll still post when we can.

In the meantime, if you’d like to see more Joscelin and Ivy pics, you can also check out Diane’s Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/dianel/

Gil

Our first overnight away from home since March 2020. Ivy’s first time swimming in a pool. She loved it. Felt so comfortable she even fell asleep on me in the pool. Luckily for us it was a heat wave and we had AC and a pool. And we started a new trend of drinking smoothies to cool down too. Two days back home and we’re continuing this trend. :)

Had friend zucchini flowers and homemade gnocchi. Enjoyed ice cream on a bench. Walked downtown on the trail that we accessed from the backyard of the house. Explored a great little bookstore and made multiple trips to Trader Joe’s for croissants.

Went to a friends’ house for brick oven pizzas and playing tag in the grass. Also had fresh poke and more outdoor dining. Eating out every meal was such a treat.

We even got to go inside the public library — another novelty. Lots of firsts this trip. Lots of sunscreen and late bedtimes. And now we have the itch to start traveling again!

On Ivy’s actual birthday, we started the day at her 12 month appt to get the appropriate vaccines. She’s 31.5 inches tall (although they measure her laying down even though she can stand up by herself). Her head circumference is 46.5 cm and her weight is 26lbs 15oz. So she’s 99th percentile in height and weight and her Dr is very pleased.

We gave her a small bite of a sugar cookie that Aunt Jess baked for her. Then we headed to the SF Botanical Gardens with Ba for a day just hanging out on the grass and eating Arizmendi pizza. We haven’t had their pizza in years. Ivy loves just walking around barefoot in the grass, so that’s the gift we gave her. She also loves yummy grown up food, so we cut up a whole pizza slice just for her. And she loves watching her big sister. :)

After 4 hours, we came home and took naps. Then we went down to Ba and Pop’s to open some presents. Ivy loved the envelopes from the cards and the wrapping paper the most, but soon got excited about the new musical toys.

Tomorrow the only plans we have are to recover from 3 full days of outside exploring and to make her birthday cake!

We don’t have a picture to prove it, but this day exactly a year ago we had a pizza party with Ba, Pop and PopPop in the hospital lounge a couple hours after Ivy was born. So I guess it’ll be tradition to have pizza every February 18th!

Another day out and about to enjoy the beautiful weather and celebrate the week. We went on a hike north of the city that ended at the ocean with Joscelin’s best friend! We picnicked on wet sand and enjoyed being with cell phone reception for a couple of hours. ;)

We took the week off to celebrate Ivy turning one!!

Yesterday we went to Filoli Gardens, a 600+ acre estate with a historic mansion (that was closed to tours because of the pandemic). It reminded me of all the mansions and estates on Long Island. There aren’t that many in the Bay Area that have that same look and feel.

It was 55 degrees so sitting on the grass and reading a book or drawing the flowers in colored pencils didn’t happen. But we did get to see the reflecting pool where the kiddos used to race sailboats and the actual swimming pool and the daffodils and all the mini gardens on the property.

We’ll be back in the spring for more blooms and in the winter for the holiday nighttime light tours.

Happy 11th Months, Ivy!

“Are you walking, Ivy?”

“Yes, Mommy. I’m so strong and my balance is impeccable, right? But I’m faster when I crawl. This is pretty fun though. I might just do this walking thing a bunch more.”

Ivy eats Spinach Quiche by herself while freestanding. There are two tricks in one here! 🥰

We took a few days to change up our routine, I guess you call these vacations?! 🤣

We house sat for cousin Patrick in Alameda. First time away for Ivy (at 10 months) whereas Joscelin’s first time not sleeping at home was when we went to a family reunion in St Augustine Florida when she was 3 months.

We discovered the two winding canals on the Bay Farm Island by accident and it was one of the highlights of our trip. We learned a new species of bird: a Coot. We had scenic views of everyone’s decks and docks.

Joscelin was gifted Raddish Kids. It’s kinda like a Girl Scouts for cooking with patches if you cook all the recipes for that month. We brought the kit titled ‘Snowed Inn’ and pretended we were in a lodge and J was the chef. Alpine Pancakes (buttermilk pancake with oats in the batter). It might just be our regular recipe now! Cozy Chicken and Dumplings Soup. Also delicious and just what we needed after all those long wintery walks.

We walked along the promenade too and had great views of the San Francisco skyline. And we played on at least five playgrounds that we’d bump into on the canal walks and we had them all to ourselves. And then Gil read about the fairy doors hidden all around the island, so then we went on a scavenger hunt for all of those. Each one was unique. And today we even saw the alphabet ones although we only found 16 of them!

Of course we had to walk down Christmas Tree Lane to see all the houses decorated with lights. Ivy kept on pointing as if to say “Lights lights, I see lights!”

That exhausted Ivy, rightly so. When we got back we had some hot cocoa and watched “Elf” with Joscelin.

The house came with a Nintendo Switch, which was new to all of us so we squeezed in a little MarioKart. Ivy was mesmerized. Joscelin’s thumbs starting hurting because she was pushing the A button too hard. Gil and I enjoyed a little video game competition.

Needless to say we were exhausted when we got home but we made tons of great memories and that’s what the holidays are all about.

17lb turkey and we made almost all the sides. (Ivy is 24 lbs for reference!) Thankful we are all safe and healthy and our biggest complaint was we ate too much. Grateful to have a couple days to relax and eat some more dirty potatoes. Ended the night with a little Taboo and then watching Ratatouille on the couch after Ivy went to sleep. ☺️

Ivy’s first trip to the beach!! Everyone was keeping their distance and it was a surprisingly warm day so we decided to check out the beach — which we hardly ever do. Joscelin (wearing a bathing suit 2 sizes too small that we bought in Feb and haven’t used since) played in the water and the sand. Ivy ate some sand just as we were packing up to leave. We used sunscreen so we didn’t get a SF surprise suntan — yay!! This was a great quartile activity and we might just make it a weekly habit. ☀️🕶🌊

We went to the SF Zoo. We got there first thing in the morning. Wasn’t crowded at all. First time for Ivy and maybe Ivy’s 3rd time in the stroller ever. :) Joscelin has been once before but maybe it was 3 years ago and she doesn’t remember. Joscelin LOVED the penguins. We saw French monkeys who were doing acrobatics nonstop. And giraffes who were so tall. And hippos and lions which were larger than we ever imagined. All the space to run around made Joscelin ask - “can we come back here next weekend?”

Been meaning to do a proper 8 month photoshoot but Ivy literally can’t keep still. Her favorite room in the house is the bathroom. The trash is exciting. She started eating toilet paper yesterday, luckily Joscelin stopped her! She is so curious about the tub — she bangs her hands on the porcelain even if no one is in the shower.

She loves cursing from couch to coffee table abd from walk to wall in the hallway. She cries when you stop her from exploring inside the fridge but she’s great and keeping the dishwasher door flat so you can empty it.

She loves her applesauce and puréed food. She’s never turned down any flavors or food. And she consumes the same amount of milk even with two food feedings a day, so yeah, she’s heavy. We’ll have her stats in two weeks when we go for her 9 month appt.

She loves babbling along to music. And kicking her foot. Hava nagila is her favorite, I think because of the tempo. She smiles so big when we play it.

We haven’t taught her how to fall asleep on her own. We’re trying but it’s been harder for us this time around because we’re just exhausted from us both working from home and supervising Joscelin’s school activities and playing with Ivy.

Ivy’s laugh is contagious though — thank goodness. And Joscelin hugs and squeezes Ivy whenever she’s not trying to protect her legos from Ivy’s little hands and mouth.

Big sister feeding little sister! Homemade puréed yams = one of Ivy’s favorite foods. Naked and on the kitchen tiles for easy cleanup.

Ivy is 7 months! I’m surprised she sat still enough for me to photograph her at all! She’s cross crawling and scaling walls, doors and refrigerators. She stands in her crib. And stands at the gate. She puts everything in her mouth from plastic eggs to wooden spoons to books and good ole Jenga blocks. She loves zucchini puree and Gil’s corn and chicken baby food. And of course formula as you can tell. ;) She wakes up 3-4x in the middle of the night, which is annoying but we love her still!

Gil and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on September 4! (That makes this blog 11 years old.)

2020 - we took Joscelin and Ivy to Muir Woods.

2019 - Gil and I toured 8 open houses in the Oakland Hills because why not?

2018 - we took Joscelin to eat at Senegalese food at Little Baobab and she loved it.

2017 - Boon + Gable staff treated the 3 of us to a catamaran cruise on the Bay.

2016 - went to NY because I threw Mommy a surprise 65th birthday party and so Gil and I drive to Coindre Hall and recited our vows under the same oak tree we got married under.

2015 - hosted a dinner party for Renee and Ramsey and Anjali and Joscelin got to parallel play.

2014 - Joscelin is 6 weeks old, Ian and Jess visited and then Daddy visited so that night we stayed in, but throughout the week we went out to dinners in the neighborhood with Joscelin napping in the mobi wrap.

2013 - visited Lake Tahoe and spent the night in an eco-friendly hotel that we got a great last minute deal on through Hotel Tonight.

2012 - went to DC to be in Renee and Ramsey’s wedding.

2011 - got married.