July 06, 2007

June 2007

Dear Kids,

I’m writing this from the Oakland International Airport while I wait to board my airplane. It seems as though we had a little confusion and I ended up having to wait for a later flight. So with some rare and precious time on my hands I thought it’d be good to document this months activities.

First of all, I spent the last few days in San Francisco working with my friend Kenny on some music for TV he was contracted to produce. I was a bit more apprehensive about this session for numerous reasons including having to play music I’m not that familiar with. After spending two days playing 15 three-minute “power punk” songs my hands were left aching as I was hitting drums much harder than I normally do. I slammed a ton of ibuprofen and got though it and last I heard it was sounding pretty good.

We recorded at the infamous Studio C at Hyde Street Studios where many a psychedelic and classic rock album were recorded back in the 60’s and 70’s. As you walk through the doorway you are greeted with album covers welcoming you into the room as a friendly reminder of just exactly what went on there. If you think about it too much you can easily get intimidated knowing that you are chasing the ghosts of Creedence, the Grateful Dead and Santana. Judging by the smell of stale cigarette smoke and spilled beer, not much has changed since those days. If the walls could talk I’m sure there’d be lots and lots of stories to tell.

While in San Francisco I got to experience lots of my favorite things: friends, burrito’s and baseball. I stayed with your Uncle Erik and Aunt Anna at their new live/work loft on Folsom St. It was fun to get to know these two as a couple and witness their dynamic firsthand as we don’t get to spend that much time together. I’ve never seen Erik so happy and it seems as though he has found his groove.

I got to spend some time with Bill & Bob as we went to our customary Giants game together. They played the Diamondbacks and Barry Bonds hit home run #750. Sadly we missed this as we had to leave early due to Bob’s staff infection in his finger. He went against his doctors orders and went to the game anyway. At this point Bob hasn’t missed a home game in 17 years and a little staff infection wasn’t about to keep him away from his streak, possibly the most hallowed occurrence in his life.

I also got to meet Kenny & Michaela’s little baby boy Teo for the first time. He’s cute as can be with the dimples and the smilin’ and overall cuteness and whatnot. Makes me panic a little bit for the arrival of our little #2 as I have forgotten how it is with the wee babies.

One of the funnest events this month was the visit of your mom’s sister Suzanne and cousin Tennyson. He most certainly lived up to all expectations with the chunkiness and rolly-polly-ness. He is such a beautiful baby and seemed as happy as could be, despite having to travel all the way from Washington DC and having his schedule completely outta whack. It’s so much fun watching your mom and Suzanne be mothers together. I’m sure that they’ve been dreaming of this event for years and years and years. I’m looking forward to seeing more of them at Lake Powell later this month.

Speaking of Lake Powell, summer is in full swing. It’s turning into another classic hot one as we battle the heat inside our brick oven of a house. We continue to discuss how we’re going to deal with it, but we’re hoping we can scrape the money together to get an air conditioning unit installed sometime in the near future. Thankfully we have our two gigantic trees in the yard to buffer the sun.

RUBY-

A couple of weeks ago at Costco we were looking for shelving units when out of the corner of my eye I saw you pointing to your chest with both index fingers announcing to everyone in earshot that those were “breasts”. I wanted to laugh, but restrained and encouraged you that those were in fact breasts and then immediately redirected your attention to other parts of your anatomy. Then last week you saw your mother spit in the toilet wherein you immediately spat. Once again I had to contain my laughter and give you the beans and tell you that that was naughty. So now we as parents find ourselves in constant awareness of what we say or do as you are in full-on parrot mode.

Speaking of which, you are now beginning to string words together. The other morning I was changing you when you made the observation, “Momma sleep?” to which I nodded my head and answered, “yes Ruby, Momma is still asleep.” Then you replied, “okay”. I’m thinking that this is the first conversation that we’ve ever had. Hopefully the rest of our talks will go as smooth.

You also are beginning to recognize letters and numbers. When you open your books you sometimes point to the letters and say, “ABC. ABC.” Then the other night your mom was playing with you and your 1-10 puzzle and she would point to the individual numbers and you could recite them as she progressed up to 10. Needless to say, I was impressed.

You love more than just about anything the time you spend outside. The dirt has a magical spell that draws you in and suddenly the two of you become one. Every night we go through our ritual of scrubbing you down to which you put up a big fuss and then there’s the drama that ensues with all the cryin’ and struggling.

Every so often we are reminded how lucky we are with some of the small things that you do. You eat just about anything on your plate, ask to brush your teeth and obey us when we ask you do things. Having said that, each day you assert your independance a little bit more and you aren’t afraid of saying “no” to us. We are now finding ourselves in the new position of having to discipline you as you no longer get a pass for being too young.

#2-
Your mom is beginning to really feel your presence as you grow bigger and bigger each day. In fact, a couple of weeks ago she was visiting patients and two of them asked her if she was expecting twins. Of course, this wasn’t exactly what she wanted to hear but I guess that it’s a sign that you are progressing nicely. According to one of the pregnancy websites we visit you are now 2.54 lbs. and 15.2” long. Every so often we feel you move and we’re seeing you move around more and more.

We’re doing our best to prepare your big sister for your arrival. We read her books about the subject and she points to your mom’s belly when we ask her where the baby is. I have the feeling however that she might not be too happy with your presence as she loves your mom and wants her undivided attention just about all the time. Hopefully we’ll be able to navigate through the ensuing drama that is certain to unfold.

I think that we’ve finally come to a consensus on your name, providing that you are a boy. We are still scrambling for a girl name despite our tireless efforts. At this point I wish you could name yourself as it would take so much pressure off.

Alright then kids, I gotta run.

Love,
Daddy

Posted by patatomic at July 6, 2007 11:37 PM

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