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JP and I are WAY behind on the blog posts.  So much has been happening as of late - we just haven't been able to keep up.  Stay tuned for future posts (and possibly video) on:

1. Evan's transition from military crawling to somewhat normal crawling.

2. GeedaGee's visit

3. Evan starting to cruise (aka walking with support)

4.  Madison playing keep away from Evan.

5.  Evan's trip to Napa (and his first balloon).

In the meantime, JP and I have been keeping busy with work and cleaning up after Madison. Yep, she's at it again.  Every day - sometimes twice a day - she pukes all over the house.   She's puked in our bed (fortunately it didn't soak through all the sheets); she's puked on her bed (too many times to count); she's puked all over the floor;  she's puked all over our living room  carpet (and yes, both Evan and I have had the pleasure of walking through it accidentally).

It's not the normal vomit - it's very watery - but it's gross all the same (especially when you step in it).  We're not sure what's going on with her.  Other than the vomiting - she seems just fine.  Guess another trip to the vet is in order soon.  Sigh.

…..watching them at least (he hasn't tried eating fish yet).  But since my parents are out this week to watch Evan while his daycare is closed between semesters I took 1/2 a day off today to spend time with the three of them.

And we decided to head over to the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Golden Gate Park for a couple of hours.  They recently opened it and Rachael and I have been here previously with my cousin Joe and his girlfriend Judy and had a great time.  I suspected that at this age Evan would probably like the aquarium, and I suspected right.

We had fun checking out all of the various exhibits, but I think we all agreed that seeing Evan mesmerized by the fish was the highlight of the day.  Maybe we'll head to the zoo later this week and see what he thinks about that…

A direct quote from Cecile - the French woman (who happens to love America and know more about America than most Americans I know) that watches over Tucker and Madison every time we go away.  She and her husband, Jean Pierre, run a "bed and breakfast for dogs" up in Sonoma called "Happy Pets Inn".  

It's a working farm where the dogs are allowed to play with the eachother in secure fields every day instead of being locked in a kennel all day long.  When they do go to sleep in the kennel - it's got full heat and/or air conditioning ensure they are comfortable

We've been taking Tucker there for years - ever since our first miserable experience boarding him somewhere else.   About that other place - they kept him outside in the cold the entire time, only let him outside for 20 minutes a day (we had to pay extra for that) - and basically forced him to poop in his own kennel, which sucked because he was just potty trained at the time.   Needless to say I cried when we left him there and I swore we would never do that again (and we haven't).

The french people *love* Tucker.  Mostly because he thinks he's a person and always wants to hang out and cuddle with them the entire time.   When you're a dog lover it's hard not to love Tucker.   There's just something about him…

They also are impressed by Madison.  When we first brought her there, they were concerned because although they wanted to keep Tucker and Madison together - they weren't sure she would do well with the big dogs that Tucker was usually put with (they separate out the dogs based on size for safety reasons).   We left it up to them to decide what to do.  I guess they decided to try her with the big dog group because when we went to pick her up they said "She's tough.  She goes right after the big dogs…no fear." 

Anyway - while we were enjoying Calistoga our dogs were enjoying a little vacation of their own.  I think we all had a good time but we are all happy to be home together now :)

JP already mentioned this on Facebook - but for those of you that aren't addicted to that social networking site yet, I wanted to share the following from our weekend in Calistoga.

As I already mentioned - we went to the pool quite a few times with Evan while we were there.   We only "swam" for about a half hour or so any given time…but we all got a kick out of it.  One of the best things though was one time as we were leaving, Evan made a point of waving to the attractive young women in bikinis as we left.  They were smitten and promptly waved back  

I should note that he did not wave at the not-so-attractive women by the pool the following day…

JP set the bar quite low with our first anniversary (a la Cove Haven and the red shaggy carpet, vibrating bed, starlit ceiling, communal dinners)…but he sure did make up for that with our second anniversary.  

We spent the weekend in Calistoga (the place where we got married) at a fancy new resort called Solage.   We dropped the dogs off on our way up and had a fun-filled weekend with Evan in tow.

It was fun watching Evan explore the grass and have his first experience in the pool (he loved it!).  The resort had a special "family pool" for all the children under 12.   Even though the water was a bit cold, Evan enjoyed it as much as his baths.  He loved splashing and playing with his rubber ducky and even tried to kick a few times. 

JP and I also had a good time.  We had some wonderful food (both at the resort and elsewhere) and lots of good wine.  We made it to the new winery that looks like a castle.  The wine was not so good but the venue was amazing - I just wish we had more time to explore.

JP took advantage of the "spa" part of the resort and treated himself to a mud bath and massage while Evan and I went to a local park and played on the swings (another one of his favorites).  I think JP is now hooked on the massage :)  We both left the resort with larger tummies and alot less stress…and that is a good thing.

A few months ago JP's sister Kerry called to let us know that they had set the Christening date for Henry, the youngest of the Marshall clan.   I don't think anyone had expected that we'd want to travel out to New Jersey for the event, but after a quick discussion - JP and I both agreed we should go.  We had been to all of the other Christenings, and besides - this would be the first time all 5 grandchilden would be together.   We couldn't pass that up.

Fortuntately Evan's ear infections were better before the trip, but travelling with a baby is still a bit stressful.   So much to remember to pack, so much extra luggage, so many worries about whether or not he'll be good on the plane…

Up until last year I was a "premier member" on United - which meant that I got to go through a special (shorter) security line and was always seated in Economy Plus (not that I need the extra leg room - but it is nice).   I lost that status this year because I didn't travel much last year with the pregnancy.   JP and I were not looking forward to going back to being regular customers.   We arrived really early at the airport because we weren't sure how much longer the other security line would be.   United gets alot of things wrong - but one thing it gets right (at least at the airports that I have been to) is the security line.  They pull families aside into their own line and we went trough without any trouble at all.   Our flight out was on time but we all lamented the lack of extra room in the regular seats.  I am only 5'1 - I can't begin to figure out how any average size or remotely tall person fits into those seats.

Evan was a great traveller on the way out and he adjusted to the time change quite well.  The only bad thing about the trip was that we seem to have brought the yucky cold SF weather with us.  I had been looking forward to seeing the sun and feeling warm for a change…oh well.  

It was great to see everyone.  Henry was particularly adorable at the Christening - and we had alot of fun watching all of the cousins together. Jack and Anna were so sweet.  At one point when he learned that Evan really likes musical instruments but we didn't pack any for the trip - Jack made a special point to go down to the basement and bring up all of his own musical instrument toys for Evan to play with.   Anna was always coming over and giving him kisses.   Henry mostly smiled (and drooled) - he's such a good baby.   Julia melts your heart away with her Betty-Boop looks…but she is quite the sassy one - watch out world :)

The weekend flew by all too quickly and it was very hard to say good-bye to the family.  I think JP leaves a little piece of his heart in NJ everytime he visits.   The trip back was a little more eventful - we accidentally forget the carseat base in GeedaGee's car and had to call them to come back to the airport.  This would have been very stressful if it weren't for the fact that our flight was delayed by two hours for reasons not entirely clear (the inbound flight apparently left SF on time).   Evan was a little more ramped up for the flight back and wasn't as good as he was on the way out…but overall he was still a really good baby.  I'm not convinced we'll be so lucky on the next flight we take - but the time with family will be worth it for sure.

9 months later and Evan still looks very much like JP.  Except for his ears.  He has my ears - inside and out.

He's been a little fussy as of late, and we noticed he had a slight fever last night.  He still had it this morning (in fact it was worse), and he seemed disinterested in his food. Then he threw up on me.  Big time.  We took him to the doctor and turns out that he's got another ear infection…actually, it's another double ear infection.  Poor thing.  He's back on the amoxicillin.   

Last time the antibiotic led to a nasty fungal diaper rash and about a week into the treatment he broke out into a nasty red bumpy rash all over his body.  The doctor thought it might have been a viral rash.   JP and I are hoping to avoid these side effects this go around.   We're travelling to NJ next Friday to spend the weekend with JP's family in celebration of our nephew Henry's christening.   It will be the first time that all 5 grandchildren are together…and I'd like Evan to be his normal self (inside and out) when that happens.  

Needless to say I feel a bit guilty.  He inherited this tendency towards ear infections from me.  Of all the things of mine to inherit, this is the worse.  My chronic ear infections and subsequent surgeries left me with pretty significant hearing loss.  I hope the same doesn't happen to Evan - but two ear infections in two months is not a good sign.   Sigh.

i promise to have jp add pictures to the next post (i've never pretended to be the most tech savvy of people)…but for now, the words will have to do.

so much has been going on with evan as of late:

-  we had an awesome play date with delia last weekend.   evan LOVES the swing.   and i could use a liitle more of the walk to and from the playground to whip me back into shape.

-  he's also hinting at crawling.   he gets into the position and rocks back and forth.   i haven't actually witnessed him crawling - but somehow he manages to get from point A to point B pretty readily.

- hence the new fence that we've constructed in our living room.  it's a gate of interlocking plastic pieces, some of which have lights and buttons to entertain evan.  the dogs are not as amused.

-  evan is getting pretty good at pulling himself into a standing position these days…he discovered our coffee table last weekend and i fear we need to remove it from the room this weekend to avoid the inevitable collision.

-  his desire to stand also brought forth changes to the crib.  the bed is now on its lowest setting (per jp "i don't want to have to go through this (lowering the crib) again".  

-  he's eating LOTS of solid food these days.   for breakfast:  rice cereal w/ fruit and yogurt; for lunch:  vegetables, fruit and yogurt; for dinner:  two servings of vegetables.   he always has formula to wash it down and formula in between each "meal".  it's been amazing to watch the transformation between all bottle all the time to eating like a little boy.  he even has his own spoon and puts it in his mouth as he imitates me feeding him.  so cute.

-  he says "mama" and "dada" and lots of other similar words.  i don't think he really knows what he's saying yet though.

-  he had his 9 month check up on thursday.  he's still in the 25th percentile - 19 lbs; 27.75 inches.  but he seems so big to me…

-  we had to move up to the next clothing size.  he's now in 12 month clothes - which fit fine around the waist (ok maybe a little snug) but are a little long.   such is the story of his life to date. 

everyone else is fine - and we're all looking forward to a weekend where i finally don't have to work

when i was young, i used to go outside late at night, lay down on the ground (or basketball court as it were) and stare into the sky at the sea of stars above me.  I would stay there into the wee hours of the morning contemplating my life and anything else that came to mind.  often times i would try to imagine where i'd be in 5 years, 10 years, and so on.   

i don't remember exactly what sort of fantasy world I created for my future self, but i'm pretty sure that i didn't quite imagine this.   i always figured i would be married (albeit alot sooner than i was), and i had a suspicion that i would end up in california, but i wasn't sure about my career, and i wasn't sure about having children.

about the career.  i am embarrassed to admit that i didn't really know what an engineer was until i went to college.  when you said the word "engineer" to me - i first thought of the guy that drives the train.  this is pretty sad considering that my grandfather was an electrical engineer.   anyway, some of the careers that i did consider were:  journalist; writer; architect; doctor; astronaut.  oh yeah - and president.  ha!  imagine me, president of the united states.  i wouldn't touch that job with a 10-foot pole these days…

sometimes i love the idea of me being an engineer.  i like the fact that that our main goal is to solve problems (as opposed to activists who like to complain but don't ever come up with viable solutions).  i also like to play out a scenario in my mind where i go to evan's school on career day and tell them what it's like to be an environmental engineer and all the cool issues i get to deal with (helping communities find enough clean drinking water; protecting the local waterways from pollution; etc), and how proud he'll be to have a mom like me. 

but there is a definite downside to doing what i do.  it's a very stressful, deadline-oriented career path that requires alot of work outside of the 9 to 5.  i've had to work for the past two weekends straight.  i'm exhausted.  i hate that i'm losing the battle of the work/life balance.  type a's and mommy's don't always mix…

about the children.  i never had a ticking biological clock.  i wasn't even sure i wanted children (dogs were just fine for me thank you).  but i knew that jp wanted them…and i also knew that i didn't want to find myself as an old lady regretting the fact that i never had them.  so we got pregnant.  it was the best thing i ever did.   evan makes everything worthwhile…and all it takes is a smile from him to get me going again.

even though it's not quite the life i imagined - i just need to find a world that is a little more evan and a little less engineering and i think i'll be ok.