mostly greta

greta went in for her 18 month checkup this week (a couple weeks late due to mom's lack of scheduling in a timely manner). overall it was a quick and basic checkup as everything was normal and, as the doctor said, "she is progressing beautifully". that also meant that she was squirming most of the time, making it a bit more interesting getting her temp, checking her lungs and ears, etc.

she is getting closer to average in height and weight (she was solidly in the 25% range for most of the first year). she is 31.5 inches long (50%) and 23 lbs 4 oz (40%). she had two shots. the first one didn't phase her at all (she watched both), but the second one had a bit of a sting that she was unhappy for ~30 seconds. overall, she was a champ, as usual.

in other news, our friend duane was out in the area recruiting/interviewing law students at stanford and stopped by on monday night for dinner. it was, of course, the one night greta was not cooperative and didn't go to sleep right away. we still had a great time catching up and eating one of the biggest tomatoes ever from the garden in a caprese salad. mmm.

also, we learned last night that our lack of luck this year with injuries seems to be linked to my parents as well. yesterday my dad had a golf (yes, golf) accident involving a rouge sprinkler head that left him with a broken ankle and in surgery last night. so far, everything has gone well and he will be out of the hospital today. next they have to figure out when to go home since this happened in maryland (which is a long way from texas). my parents are in good hands as they are visiting my aunt & uncle janice and steve. more crutches and carpooling in the family still. we may just bubble wrap everyone for the rest of the year.

we have secured a babysitter for sunday and are going out for our anniversary! other than that, no official plans for the long weekend. we hope that you all enjoy the holiday and an extra day to enjoy summer!

outside lands

we took our second trip in two weeks up to sf sunday to go to the outside lands music festival in golden gate park. it was going to be an interesting experiment, as it was greta's first concert, and instead of just one, we saw/heard 6 throughout the day.

we had heard that friday evening events (the festival was friday through sunday) were less than stellar and there were some technical issues, which made us a little nervous, but sunday was just great.

we headed out in the morning. our grand plan was to go see our friend ann and greta's friend harriet (who is 5 months younger than greta) and eat lunch and visit while greta took a nap at their place. greta had a different plan, however, and couldn't stand thinking there was something going on while she was sleeping and refused to nap there. plan b - we played for a bit, had some pizza from georgios (one of our sf standbys when we lived there, which happens to be 3 doors down from ann & will's place), and bailed before our sleepy girl's mood turned south. greta napped in the car, so we hung out a bit while she slept and listened to jackie green play on the main stage.

once we got in, we made our game plan. in total we saw:

the mother hips

bon iver (perhaps my surprise favorite)

sharon jones & the dap-kings

wide spread panic

jack johnson

we all had a great time. evan and i came prepared with a big blanket, plenty of food & drink for kiddo, crayons, balls, and various other play things for greta (which made our blanket very popular with the other kids there - great for us as greta made friends and they all entertained each other and were contained).

if they decide to hold it again (despite protests from the neighbors in richmond district who likely couldn't find parking during the entire weekend), we will definitely be in!

quick sf visit

yes, we can still be spontaneous! perhaps not quite to the extent we used to be, but it can happen.

on sunday, we decided that we should venture up to sf for the day. this happens less frequently than it should, but it is a bit over an hour to get there, so it takes commitment. anyway, we set off during greta's nap (she cooperated by sleeping in the car), and headed up north.


our stops started with shopping at union square to try and find a couple things for evan. it was great being in a new environment as greta was fascinated by all the buildings, people and general activity of the city. we were unsuccessful at purchasing anything, but we had fun.

next stop was crissy fields, an area the city redid a few years back, that sits right near the golden gate bridge. they restored a lot of the land to be natural habitat for birds and others and included a long walking/biking path, a few beaches and a big open area for kite flying, dog running etc. a really great place to go in the city and enjoy nature.

greta was thrilled with all the dogs that were out (ours sadly had to stay home due to the other stops). she was a bit hesitant in the sand to start, but then discovered how fun it was in between her toes and trickling through her fingers.


we dipped our toes in the (cold) bay and even found a makeshift see-saw out of wood pieces to entertain ourselves.


we picked up heather for a dinner on the town and went to one of our old stand-bys, the citrus club, located on the ever interesting haight street by golden gate park. we enjoyed dinner and greta behaved and entertained like a champ. she even said good bye and waved to each person we passed waiting in line on our way out.

our last stop was to say a quick hello to ann and drop off a couple things. greta's friend harriet was already asleep, but that didn't stop greta from checking out all the toys.

and the most shocking part... we are going up to the city again next weekend to go to the outside lands music festival on sunday. two weeks in a row - unheard of! we'll keep our fingers crossed that we make it through at least part of jack johnson (maybe he'll play some of his curious george soundtrack songs for greta).

p.s., note the lack of crutches in the pictures! evan is doing great and getting around with the help of a cane. assessment by the physical therapist and a visit to the doctor last week confirmed that everything is healing at a good pace.

the bountiful garden

we are hitting the wonderful point in the summer when we don't have to buy tomatoes and other much used veggies for our household - the garden is officially flourishing! this year, we have cucumbers, 2 types of yellow squash, a pumpkin for halloween, zuchini (after a couple of years of plants that failed), green beans, peppers and tomatoes... lots and lots of tomatoes (6 different plants).


with our bounty we've been enjoying great summer recipes. some of my favorites:

veggie risotto
cucumber salad
tomoto, fresh corn, feta, marjoram salad with a red wine vinagrette
pasta with homemade red sauce from tomatoes picked that day
grilled panzanella salad with assorted grilled summer veggies, fresh tomatoes and grilled focaccia
pasta with grated zuchini and garlic sauted in olive oil and white wine with parmesan cheese

the list could go on...


we make a daily visit to the garden - greta and carson like to keep an eye on things. we are losing about half of our red cherry tomatoes to greta at this point as she loves to pick them, take the stem off and eat them with delight. she's very good at going for the red ones and taking the ones i tell her are just right.




for fruits, we check out the local farmers market and trader joes, but never fear, we are enjoying peach and blueberry season to its fullest. hope you all are enjoying the bounty of late summer as well!

enduring influences

last week, i got a call from my parents letting me know that my grandma alaspa (my dad's mom) had passed away on wednesday morning. the signs over the last weeks and days were preparing us for this news, so while it wasn't unexpected, it was still difficult to believe that such a long and full life had come to an end.

greta and i were able to make it back to wisconsin this weekend to be with family and attend the service in madison. while timing is never perfect and there was a bit of last minute flight searches and rearranging of plans, had it been a week or more ago, it would have been near impossible to leave evan to take care of the dog, house, and himself (given he just started driving solo last week).

the trip was good. greta was a rock star on the flights 95% of the time and she was in good spirits and didn't miss a beat adjusting to new environments and people. my grandmother would have loved having a happy, energetic laughing kid around and that gave me, and i think the rest of the family gathered, some nice perspective. it was good to be with family (we managed to visit with both my dad & mom's families) and reflect on the importance of family and the lasting impact family has across the generations.

as i reflected back on all the memories i have of my grandma vi, it sunk in even more what an impact her life has been on me. she was a strong-willed woman, who was filled with love of family and life, humor, wit and kindness. and the older i get, the more i realize it is examples of lives like my grandma's that surrounded me while i was growing up and into my adult life that give me the perspective of a world not of limitations, but of challenges and triumphs (big and small), love and friendship, perseverance, priorities and perspective that have helped me be a successful happy person wherever life takes me.

i will always cherish the times i had with my grandma and be grateful for the positive influence she (and many others) have had on my life and who i am.

summer fun

sticking close to home this summer isn't all bad. we don't have to deal with high airline prices, travel with very active toddler or trying to have fun while making sure the kid has some semblence of schedule (i.e., avoiding meltdowns). we have had lots of things to keep us entertained right near home...

our neighbors next door (sort of), brian and smita, have a lovely pool that we have invited ourselves over to visit a couple times. smita has also coordinated some of the neighbors with kids in the same age range to have swim "lessons" at their house. there are six of us neighbors (that i know of) with kids between greta's age and 4 months old. it's great to have lots of people close who are in the same boat.

anyway the first "lesson" with the instuctor wasn't quite what we had in mind, so we ditched the instructor and for now, we are meeting thursdays to do mommy & me swimming fun. greta loves the water and being in the pool. she stands on the side and hurls herself into my arms - great fun. she goes under without an issue and thinks it's pretty funny to float (assisted by me) on her back. all in all good times.

we have also taken advantage of the fountains in los gatos during the sunday farmers market, when it's packed with other kids. greta became very bold, running through the middle of the fountains, entertaining my parents, who were still in town.

to complete the trifecta of water fun, we bought a blow up pool for her to frolic in at our house. she has a lot of fun splashing, getting in and out, and putting her head under (our girl has no fear and gets watched like a hawk).

not to say that it's been all about the kid this summer (only 95%). evan and i got to sneak away for a couple of date nights when my parents were in town. we saw the dark knight, which we both enjoyed and we went out for gelato. we also had our mostly annual 4th of july gathering (we skipped it last year). friends and neighbors came over for a perfect weather day to hang out, catch up, eat some good food and watch kids play (how times have changed since the last one). very exciting stuff as far as we're concerned.

next on the list... camping. should be interesting.