Happy Thanks for Giving the Crayon to Daddy...

RJ had the first "solid food" meal of his life last year for Thanksgiving. He's lucky this Thanksgiving wasn't his last after getting a little too overzealous with a crayon on our floor. Aside from enjoying time at home playing with mommy and daddy he enjoyed the selection of food this year much more than the rice cereal he had last year (see last year's post: I'm Thankful for Momma's Boobies).






Thanks Mommy for making another delicious Thanksgiving meal despite having a nasty stomach bug and being sick all day.

Take a ride wit me...

This post comes from the unfinished archive -- we started it in October but are just finishing up now.

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Since he was born, RJ has been riding rear-facing. This is the safest way for a baby to ride, and so we continued to sit rear facing as long as we could. The limits of the car seat for rear facing were 35 lbs/33inches tall. RJ is still a little guy, so I know he's not 35 lbs and won't be for a while (he was 20 lbs in June!) but he does keep growing out of his feetie pajamas, so I knew he was getting pretty tall.

We had to play a rare game of musical car seats a few weekends back due to my car needing service and Tracy Honda being really really slow. I decided to measure RJ because he has been frustrated about his less than spacious car rides lately (he's been kicking the seat back for a while). Sure enough, RJ was approximately 32.5 inches tall. It was hard to tell exactly because he was wearing shoes, wouldn't stand up straight when I had the measuring tape out and kept dancing around and ducking! Anyway, since he was so close, and my measurement was probably an underestimate due to the ducking, and he's been frustrated and cramped (thus making the long commute uncomfortable for me too), it was time to flip the seat.



Now all I need is to get him a toy steering wheel to play with in the car. He's obsessed with getting at the real steering wheel. This picture was of him after climbing in through the passenger seat and over the armrest to get to the coveted drivers seat!

Cartunes and Car-eoke...

As of late, RJ has been demanding some musical entertainment from me in the car. I'm not quite sure why I started singing "Row Row Row Your Boat" to him one day on our commute home, but now I seem to have brought out his musical side. Since he first figured out that if he says "Row?", it gets Mommy to sing, the demand for music has not stopped.

Also in the repoirtoire of requests is "Eeeieeeieeeieeieeeieei...." or as it is more commonly known, "Old Mac Donald". Again, WHY did I do this to myself??? Oh well, the literature on education tells me that hearing live singing and being allowed to sing themselves (no matter how annoying 5 minutes straight of just singing "eeieeieeeieeeioh" is) is good for young children's cognitive development.

Then RJ started adding songs that he sings at school into the lineup. Unfortunately, while I know the lyrics to a pretty large repetoire of children's songs (Thank you, 4 years at the Carnegie Mellon Children's School!), I was not prepared to sing "Bear Hunt" when I figured out that all his knee slapping meant that he wanted that song in particular. This led to enough tantrums (even after I attempted to sing what little I knew of it in a really half-assed manner), that I finally asked Krishawn to make me a copy of the "Bear Hunt" CD that they use at school. This CD is fantastic. Not only does it make RJ happy (Only if he asks nicely for "Hut, Peeze" though. I do not want to give in to the tantruming!), but it also has the magical power in keeping RJ's 7 month old girlfriend, Ashlan, calm in the car when we drive her home on Wednesdays. (Her mommy teaches a night class and they live in Tracy too, so I pick up Ashlan and take her home to her daddy, but lately she hasn't been napping in the car and the alternative has been screaming during about half of the 50 minute commute.)

And just recently, RJ started singing all by himself. His first song is "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". And as you will hear, it's actually pretty recognizable!

Reed loves to Read...

In the car:



In his highchair:



On the toilet:



Even in bed:

The Mortgage Mess: We Made the Times

From a NY Times article today:

MOUNTAIN HOUSE, Calif. — This town, 59 feet above sea level, is the most underwater community in America.

Because of plunging home values, almost 90 percent of homeowners here owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth, according to figures released Monday. That is the highest percentage in the country. The average homeowner in Mountain House is “underwater,” as it is known, by $122,000.

...

Many in Mountain House have already taken that option. Banks took over 101 properties in the 95391 ZIP code in the third quarter, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Hey, we were one of the those 101 -- well, we were renting one anyway. The bank took possession of the house we rented roughly 90 days after we were given 60 day notice to quit. After not paying rent for the past 5 months we make our first mortgage payment this month on our new home in Tracy.

Pumpkin Patch Kids...

A few weeks ago, we met up with our friends Sara and Madeline at a local farm for their Annual Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch. You might remember that we took RJ last year and he took a nap in the Snugli. Boy what a difference a year makes!

First, once RJ could be distracted away from the Truck that was being raffled off (the boy LOVES trucks) he picked out a pumpkin.





And then had a fabulous time chasing Madeline through the corn maze, which interestingly enough was depicting a truck carrying a pumpkin.
We also learned that toddlers don't understand the purpose of the corn maze, nor are they detered or disappointed by dead ends, loops, or finding the entrance again. Toddlers also do not understand arbitrary rules and thereby were determined to get us in trouble - RJ kept trying to break off the corn stalks and Madeline tried to run through the corn stalks instead of sticking to the path!

Everybody was Candy Foraging...

Not very original, but RJ was a Kung Fu Panda for Halloween. He didn't quite get the trick or treat thing at first and tried to make off with all of our own Kit Kats.

We only went to our immediate neighbors houses, mostly to say hi because RJ was just as thrilled giving candy away to every kid that came to our porch...

...unless they were wearing a mask. Not a big fan of the masks.

Truck Stop...

RJ's first haircut was on his birthday last June, so now, almost 5 months later, his hair was overdue for another trim. As one of RJ's favorite words is "ruck" we found the most appropriate place for him to get his mullet managed is a place called Sharkey's in Livermore (just opened in August):


RJ loved playing with the steering wheel and the motorized pedal (it's really silly they keep batteries in these things since they're clearly not going anywhere - but it made him happy to make the motor go!). Occasionally he looked up at Elmo on the TV screen (yeah, even after I mentioned that he didn't watch TV, they still had to put in a DVD), but for the most part, he was much more into wiggling and "steering" his truck.

What's up...

A couple weeks ago while riding home RJ spontaneously put together one of his favorite words, "erpane" with a new one "sky". We live near a small airport so we frequently see planes flying when out for walks around town. As if this two word phrase wasn't enough to impress us he followed a couple days later with:

RJ: up, up, up, up

Cheryl: What's up RJ?

RJ: sky

Great. He's a smart ass already.

Madagascar 2

A few weeks ago, Lance and I attended the Madagascar 2 Wrap Party and Screening. RJ got to stay home and play with Kasie that evening as it was an adults-only party at City View at the Metreon. The party was a lot of fun, but the movie was the highlight for me. The CG animation has improved even more and I have to say that the sequel is even better than the first Madagascar movie - and that one was my favorite of all the DreamWorks Animation films.



Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa opens on November 7. You should go see it.

If you have Comcast you can see some video clips and behind the scenes video clips:

No on Proposition 8...

RJ is a very friendly boy. Whenever he sees young girls, he gives them a hug. At the faculty party this year he waited by the door for all the daughters of coworkers to show up and get hugs. Unfortunately this affection got him bit once at school, but even after being love scorned once he still won't shy away from walking up to a random girl at the Gap Outlet and wrap his arms around her.

He's not even ashamed of a little man(equin) love either:

Grandpa's Visit to Calaveras

My father came to visit us over my birthday weekend. On Friday, he initiated the first ever Cal State "Bring your daddy to work" day. While I was in a meeting, he spent the morning observing RJ at school from the observation booth. I got a full play by play of RJ's day afterward! We had lunch with a colleague and then attended a department committee meeting. Unfortunately for him, Fridays aren't usually very exciting for me - I typically have a meeting or two and spend the rest of the time prepping or grading! He probably would have had more fun with Lance at work since they had a Tropic Thunder screening, a crunch party, and Antonio Banderas over for lunch (yes, I'm dead serious!).

Saturday

On Saturday, we went from Calaveras Lane to Calaveras County (interestingly enough, neither is on or near the Calaveras Fault line which runs through the East Bay!).

Our first stop was a tour of Moaning Cavern where we descended 165 feet into the caves. For adventure seekers, we'll need to make a second trip (sans RJ) where we can rappel down instead of taking the stairs, and then crawl through tunnels:



We stopped at Angel's Camp which is notable for any Mark Twain or jumping frog fans:





















We skipped over, the Glory Hole Recreation Area and headed to Columbia State Park which is a restored Gold Rush Era town. Think Plymouth Plantation or Williamsburg but with panning for gold and bowling:







Our last stop was for dinner in Sonora and dessert at an old fashioned soda shop.

Sunday

Sunday we mostly hung out around the house -- but we did sneak out in the afternoon for some wine tasting at Concannon Vineyards as well as some frolicking on their grounds:

On being MIA

You probably all know why we've been MIA for awhile as you should've gotten our change of address email. Moving in mid-September when in Academia is always always always a bad idea, but we really didn't have much of a choice because we bought a house and due to a series of incompetent actions (or rather a lack thereof) on the part of our real estate agent in addition to the fact that buying real estate is a frustratingly SLOOOOOW process, our house was just sitting vacant taunting us while my summer off dwindled away to nothing. Anyway, we're going to try and catch up on the blog and publish some of the posts that we started and just didn't finish due to live. We're not even remotely close to being "all moved in", but I still think that you all need to be updated before I have pictures hanging on the wall and my students get their papers graded! So stay tuned...we'll be back before you know it!

RJ's Second First Day of School

The summer was fun, but the end of summer brings with it the start of another semester. So RJ goes back to school at the Child Development Center and I go back to teaching. The director of the CDC is back from maternity leave so I'm no longer in charge :- ( . RJ is much more of a handful getting out the door this year compared to last:







One of the nice things the CDC does is at pickup we get a daily report on RJ's mood, inputs, and outputs. It is a little insight into his day when we don't get a chance to watch from the observation room:



Since the infant/toddler CDC is only half-day, RJ spends afternoons sharing a babysitter with some friends. It is nice because the babysitters are all current or former teachers at the CDC from last year. On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursdays, RJ goes to Daisy's house and on Wednesday and Friday, Daisy and RJ go to their friend Stella's house. Yes, it's a complicated system, but at least RJ is no longer trying to nap in my office while I try to do work in the dark!

Guess who's pregnant again...

Guess who's pregnant. Relax, it's not Cheryl. My supervisor is going on maternity leave for the next six months so I have been asked to take over as Project Lead for the production pipeline. For those who don't remember what I do, here is a description from a recent job posting for my team:

"The Production Engineering group is responsible for designing and implementing software used in the production pipeline to create animated feature films. Production engineers understand the entire computer animation process and use that knowledge to develop the DreamWorks global animation pipeline."

The Pipeline team is the glue that connects all of the production departments together and build applications that artists use based on the core technologies built by R&D. So, R&D will work on the animation software, but we are the team that helps production build and organize things to animate (called assets), get those assets into the animation software, provide plugins and other systems to solve problems not covered in the animation software itself, and then provide the tools for capturing their work and preparing it as input for the next department to work on the scene. As the complexity of animated movies seems to have no bound, it becomes very important for our department to find not only technical efficiencies but also streamline the artist workflow. This may help explain why I say we work on every movie, but yet can't point to specific artistic contributions that make it in a film.

My new role will be mostly focused on project management and helping to improve the software development process for our team of a dozen developers.

It is kind of interesting that both Cheryl and I have ended up taking over leadership or management roles this year at work. It will be a challenge to keep the balance between work and spending time with RJ.

Happy Anniversary Momma and Daddy

On August 16, Momma and Daddy let me play with my friend Erika ALL DAY LONG. I'm not quite sure why they decided to go hiking up a hot (90 degrees!) hill without me instead of going swimming in Erika's pool with me, but they said it had something to do with me getting squirmy and heavy in my backpack. I don't see what the problem with a squirmy 21 pound toddler is - I have great fun riding up high and getting to see everything in the backpack. There are things to see EVERYWHERE - that's why I keep looking to the right and then leaning to the left and trying to turn around and well, you get the picture...I'm 14 months old...you're just going to have to deal with my curiosity.

But this post isn't about me. It's about Momma and Daddy being married for 5 years. Yeah, 5 - that's my life times 5. Momma has been itching to go hiking since her and Daddy haven't been able to go in two years because of work and being busy and well, me. So Daddy took Momma to Mount Diablo (I've been there!!! Just look!! I wasn't at the top, but I was there! I even ate lunch there!) to hike to the top of the 3,849 ft mountain. They didn't climb up all the way from the bottom, (Remember they haven't been hiking in 2 years) , they just did the Juniper to Pioneer to Summit Loop Trail, which goes up about 1000 ft in a 3.8 mile round trip. Here are some pictures from their hike.

Livermore Valley

North Peak and the Sacramento River

The Bay Area

Then they had a picnic lunch at the summit, where they had a very unwelcome visitor that chased them around the picnic area (literally, they'd run and the bee would chase them) until they finally shoveled their food in and quickly packed up. Momma said that this was not like Barry from Bee Movie or a nice bee that makes honey like Uncle Luke and Aunt Amy's bees!!! This was one mean bee and she did not want to find out that she was allergic to bees like Aunt Amy while atop a mountain. Then Momma and Daddy came home to shower off the mountain stinkies. They were hoping to see me, but I was having WAY too much fun swimming in Erika's big pool. I love swimming. It's so much fun. I just splash and splash and splash. I love my little pool too - it has a tree that squirts water at me! Oh yeah, this is about Momma and Daddy, not me. In the late afternoon, Daddy took Momma to taste some wine in Livermore. Momma really enjoyed the Thomas Coyne port. She was also all crazy happy about the organic wine at Retzlaff too. They had dinner outside at Strizzi's after a recommendation from two of the wine servers and then a yummy chocolate fondue at Simply Fondue. Then they came home, but I of course was already asleep after my fun day playing and swimming with Erika. I think we all had a good time on Momma and Daddy's Anniversary!

Happy 5th Anniversary Momma and Daddy. I love you! Love, RJ

RJ & Momma Explore LA LA Land

On Monday (August 11) Lance left early in the morning to take a bus to the convention center and left RJ and I to explore a little and to switch hotels. After breakfast, RJ and I walked to the Venice Canals, since we hadn't seen them yet and it was a good pre-morning nap activity.

While we were strolling we stumbled upon a location shoot for the TV show NUMB3RS. I could only tell because the little carts the crew were pushing around said NUMB3RS on them. I really only saw a bunch of security and a guy who was dressed like an FBI agent. I doubt that a location shoot needed a real FBI agent, so my guess is that the guy was an actor - I didn't recognize him though. RJ stopped at a playground adjacent to the shoot to see some ducks and meet yet a pretty little girl to flirt with on the swings.Alas neither RJ nor I was "discovered" by a stray agent or director or anything. Heh.

Following our morning walk, RJ napped a little and then we checked out of the hotel and drove to check out the Santa Monica Pier, which is a nice little amusement park built on a Pier. I think in another few months, RJ will be begging to go on all the rides - but for now, he had to settle for Momma holding him on his first carousel ride. Sorry the pictures suck, I was holding him on the moving horse with one hand and trying to snap pictures with the other. At first he was a little scared by it, but soon discovered that it was a really fun thing to experience.

We headed to LA to time nap time for the car ride. As the traffic didn't suck as much as LA traffic is supposed to (it was 1:30pm), I had to drive around a little more so that he could get a long enough nap. The hotel had valet parking, so I couldn't really just park and let him sleep and then check in, so I drove around a little - saw a sign for Echo Park and set the GPS to find it. We parked there and then walked around Echo Lake and stopped at the playground, where he met yet another little girl - although this one was about 7 years old and basically took RJ all over the play structure, helping him with the stairs and everything. She was doing a really good job, so I just stayed nearby and let him play with her. We checked into the hotel and then met Daddy to grab dinner. RJ was a little rambunctious in the tiny hotel room, but found a number of ways to amuse himself. In addition to hiding in the closet and playing with an inflatable beach ball (great travel toy!), he also decided that he didn't need a playground to climb.

This video is not recommended for the faint of heart or for anyone with an anxiety disorder of any kind.




Then, on Tuesday, we checked out of the hotel, drove Daddy to DreamWorks, and then visited Griffith Observatory for the view. We didn't go into the planetarium or anything, but I would like to when RJ gets a little older. We hit Fred 62 in Los Feliz for lunch, but unfortunately didn't see anyone famous. I supposed I will have to hang out in Lauren Graham's neighborhood a little more if I ever plan on seeing her. Then we were back to Griffith Park to attempt a nap.

Needless to say, even with RJ's kick ass sleep tent, a nap in a park is not possible with a toddler. I managed to get RJ into the tent, but then he thought it was a game and tried to roll his tent down the hill. He nearly succeeded too. Anyway, we gave up on napping and played on the massive playground nearby instead. It is a boundless playground, meaning that the whole playground is meant to be safe, accessible, and enjoyable for children of all ages, including those with disabilities. RJ loved it - we were there for over an hour and he didn't even get to parts of it because he was digging the parts he was in so much. It was an incredibly designed playground for a toddler and I could see that even younger and older children alike were having a great time there!

Then we picked up Daddy and headed back home to Northern California.

RJ Goes to Santa Monica...

"All I wanna do is have some fun
I got a feeling I'm not the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard..."
(Sheryl Crow, 1994)

On Sunday (August 10) Evening we drove up to Santa Monica and checked out the Third Street Promenade. If you're ever in Santa Monica, I would say skip the Third Street Promenade unless you're in a mood for shopping. It's an outdoor mall and most, if not all the stores can probably be found in your local mall or downtown area. But, it was a nice little walk in downtown Santa Monica.

We also took RJ to his park. Yes, there is a "Reed Park" in Santa Monica, and it just happened to be on the way toward dinner. Nothing special, it's really just a playground, but RJ is a much easier toddler to take around town if we let him out to play at strategic intervals!

Upon a recommendation off some random local mom's blog that came up when I googled "Kid Friendly things to do in Santa Monica", we ate some yummy mexican food at El Cholo. Not only was the food yummy (RJ dug the rice and beans, and even some of my seafood enchilada), but I also enjoyed my first margarita in over two years. I only finished a little over half (as I still had to nurse RJ at bedtime), but it was sooooo yummy!

RJ Goes to Venice Beach...

Within walking distance of our hotel in Marina Del Rey and just up the coast was Venice. On Sunday (August 10) morning we set out to find a cute cafe for breakfast and to see what we could see.

We stumbled upon Abbott's Habit for breakfast, where we discovered that RJ likes grapes. The one problem was that he really wanted to try the ball-like grapes too, not just the toddler-friendly 1/8ths. Don't worry though - we didn't let him put the whole grapes in his mouth!



Then we walked along the Ocean Front Walk (essentially a boardwalk of sorts). Lance and I got some LA-friendly sunglasses and we visited the Venice Beach Freak Show. See if you can spot the difference between this turtle and a normal turtle.Yep, that is a second head and yes, that turtle is living. Also among the live freaks were a five legged dog, which only walks on three legs, and a two headed snake. I worry a little about the welfare of these animals and hope that they're not being somehow bred for our entertainment, but it was interesting to see them just walking around living life.

We also took RJ to a playground at Muscle Beach Venice. Sadly, Muscle Beach Venice is NOT the Original Muscle Beach, but it was created in the spirit of the Original Muscle Beach. Wikipedia explains why there are two Muscle Beaches within miles of each other. It is pretty cool that there are gymnastics apparatuses and weight machines on the beach! I totally would've played on the gymnastics equipment had I not been wearing a skirt and we weren't already running dangerously close to having a late lunchtime for RJ.So after our cursory glance at Muscle Beach Venice, we continued our loop back to the hotel stopping for lunch at C&O Trattoria, which was recommended by a local we met the day before on the water taxi. It was a good recommendation! We sat outside and watched the people go by on the street.

We spent the rest of Sunday (after RJ's nap) in Santa Monica, which is just north of Marina Del Rey and Venice. The map from the Marina Del Rey post shows you the loop we walked in Venice, outlined in red.

RJ Goes to Marina Del Rey...

RJ and I recently took a trip down to Southern California to tag along with Lance when he attended a conference for DreamWorks. The conference was at the LA convention center on Monday August 11 (Koos' Birthday - Happy Birthday Koos!), but we spent the weekend before exploring the coastal area of Los Angeles County.

We started in Marina Del Rey where we walked around the Marina to Fisherman's Village, which is cute. RJ really enjoyed the live music. He just kept dancing and dancing.
He also enjoyed looking at the boats and as pictured here, riding in the water taxi!

The only low point was that we went to "Angler's Choice" for dinner. Apparently the Angler likes really bland food. I'm sorry, but how does any paid chef screw up a shrimp cocktail??? Defrosted frozen shrimp from the grocery store are better than the "fresh" shrimp cocktail we ordered. Usually, we're good about checking Yelp reviews prior to picking a restaurant while traveling. However, this time we were walking to Fisherman's Village and decided that such a place should be known for their good seafood restaurants. Maybe some of the other restaurants are good, but this one was not. Despite the not-so-good seafood, Fisherman's Village was a cute area and we enjoyed our walk around Marina Del Rey.

This map includes all the points of interest we hit during the whole trip. It also includes the walk we took around the marina, which is the blue line in the Southwest corner of the map.
View Larger Map

What do Journey and Hammer have in common....

Well, only time will tell if we made a colossal blunder or are market geniuses. On 08/08/08 we reached an agreement to buy RJ a house. We have an estimated close date for the first week of September.

Tracy,CA



The house is located in Tracy,CA -- the nearest neighboring town to where we are now. Our commutes will be nearly the same, but it does put us closer to the commuter train that goes to San Jose, the grocery stores, and everything else really.

Pro: 56th safest city in the country
Con: 2,560 miles from our closest relative

Perry vs. Hammer.

I can't decide who would make a better neighbor. Steve Perry, lead vocal for Journey or MC Hammer. Tough call.

Working hard to get my fill,
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin anything to roll the dice,
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues

I'm goin' for all that i can get
Kickin at the top cause I'm too legit to quit...sing!

Oh, yeah, we were talking about a house



Vital Statistics

2378 sq ft
4 bedrooms
2.5 bathrooms
hard wood floors
stainless steel kitchenaid appliances
around the corner from the park
elementary school district regarded as best in town

Deal or No Deal?

We got the house for 95% of asking price with the seller paying for closing costs, points, and home warranty. We also get that little tax credit from Uncle Sam.

We will be paying about 16% less than what the house sold for when it was originally built in 2003. That is about 53% off the peak price paid for another smaller house on the same street back in 2006.

We should also be able to rent it out at market rate and have a modest positive cash flow should we choose to move to a different neighborhood and not be able to sell.

So for now, we're just waiting to close.