July 2016 - San Francisco bound!

I am just way too excited today. I'm finally caught up on this blog, and this post about last month means a ton to me.

Last month we went to San Francisco for S's first time, to celebrate our anniversary, spend some real quality time with Uncle Reggie (Erwin's brother) and just relax together as a family with friends before baby #2 gets here.  It was such a magical trip.  We stayed at a lovely AirBnB house in San Anselmo, CA (which is in Marin).  It had 4 bedrooms - which really means Sanaa had 3 bedrooms and we had one.  The house owners who were away in England had such a warm, welcoming home - even leaving us treats to welcome us.  The garden had 4 levels to it, in that very California way.  And that was just the house.

S bonded with her Uncle Reggie - finding him to be her path to trashy food that Mom (and even Dad!) would not let her eat, her Legos building partner, her guitar friend, her silly face making buddy, and perhaps most importantly for little girls: the other pillar to the strength of her father.  Seeing the 3 of them walking around, playing, etc. was just so heartwarming to me.

I got some much needed time with Wendy/Ben and family, with all of us going to the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito, chased by bees, "losing" Atticus for a few minutes, and watching S follow Tallulah around everywhere, and Miss T indulging her as she has in the past.  It was followed by lunch at a lovely restaurant , letting the dads take care of the kids while Wendy and I looked out on the grass from the porch of the restaurant on a beautiful day in Marin.

Families need trips like this, not particularly scheduled, with lots of friends and family, and in warm, homey places.

Here are some pictures from the month.

But wait!  That's not all.  This was a month where Erwin and I got to get away for the weekend by ourselves and when S found out her favorite big cousin CC was coming to stay with her, she had this to say, or dance as the case may be.  It's just so cute to be that excited about seeing someone.

July 4th meant a block party on our block, and her first time to play out in front since no cars were allowed.  A very interesting dynamic manifested as she brought out her toys to the other kids on the block for the first time.  The girls were the first to come over, play and then leave.  The boys came over later, and stuck around for a lot longer.  As Erwin said "so if I sleep in on a holiday, I come out to my daughter serenading a bunch of boys???".  See below.

And finally, here are some parting philosophical thoughts by S.

(here's a link to the webpage in case you don't see the videos)

June 2016 - The month of big developments in the family

June was a terrific month.  We passed all the tests on the new baby girl we're expecting in December, and had the opportunity to take S to The Cheesecake Factory for the first time to tell her the big news.  (The Cheesecake Factory has a special, yet caloric, place in me and Erwin's relationship as we often used to go there before/after the airport when I would visit him in Orlando.)  Here's a video where she reacts.

June was also big because she flipped her fears on their head and came to love tennis, and I documented it for posterity.  (And so I could just play it for her whenever she tried to complain again.)  See such a video after a great lesson.

(Both videos are available here.)

Erwin and I had the opportunity to do not just one but two special dates.  A day trip to NYC and a night out for my good friend Andrea's wedding anniversary party.  TWO DATES!  Yay :)

Here are a few pics.

May 2016 - Silly face month

May was about two ends of the extremes.  She really seemed to come into her own body with feeling very free with silly faces on camera.  See the first video above, and in what seems like half the pictures from the month.

And then, on the other hand, she started tennis lessons which was like getting her to climb Mount Everest in terms of her fears and concerns about it - while still being very adept at the drills (see second video above).  Week after week, we had 40 min pep talks before, pep talks during, etc but by golly, by the end of it, what I've heard this whole summer is "when is tennis going to start again"?  Mind over matter, child - mind over matter.

(Link to page with videos)

April 2016

April was the start of the warmer months.  We had fun at the Penn Relays and with spending more time outside generally after the cold and snowy winter.  But some days were still cold, so we danced inside...see below (click here to see video)

(By the way, this is the first post being co-created with Miss S!)

We went to our first Jewish naming ceremony, after which Sanaa spent the next few weeks swearing she was Jewish.  And why not...so many of the best people in our lives are Jewish.  We had the first opportunity to participate in a Montessori birthday naming ceremony at Montessori - wherein Miss S was shy so we did all the talking :)   Here are a few pics.