We Stand For Change - Barack Obama Anthem

I'm honored to have been part of the chorus for this beautiful song and video. Pass it on and VOTE OBAMA on November 4!

Dancing to the Hipwaders

Dancing to the Hipwaders
Originally uploaded by jessicafm

Last Sunday Bonnie and I took Davey to the Bay Area Discovery Museum's Goblin Jamboree. Working off Davey's new black and yellow rainboots, Bonnie bought a fireman's costume which she then tailored to fit him better and added stripes to the back of the jacket. She also customized the hat beautifully.



David had a GREAT time at the Jamboree. As you can see in this video, he really enjoyed the Hipwaders and especially liked the inflatable guitars that were available for sale. In this video Davey is using a borrowed guitar, but by the end of the day I bought a gold one for him. You can see him here, playing it standing atop the coffee table after we got home that night:



Davey's got the idea that you make a guitar make music by knocking on the neck. We'll work on that. Meanwhile, anyone playing a guitar is automatically named, "Papa," by Davey. Especially when they're singing, too. Aww.

Please Sarah

San Francisco Bay Area women and girls ask you to think before you vote.

On the market

Novato, Oct 15, 2008, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Today our house was on the Novato Broker's tour of open homes for the first time. It was open from 9:30 to 2 and had about 40 brokers/agents come through. 3 more brokers brought their clients through the house this evening and another broker has an appointment to take a client through tomorrow morning.

The house looks really good, I must say. Here's hoping others think so, too!

David's first time cooking

David stirs the softening veggies, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

This afternoon, David was very insistent that he wanted to help me prepare dinner (17 bean and barley soup). "Hup, hup, hup," he repeated. I realized, "Oh, you want to help me cook dinner?" "Uh huh," he replied.

Okay then!

So I pulled up a chair and had him help me wash, cut and stir veggies. What a guy!

It's official - we've put our home on the market

As cute as our house is, we're putting it on the market.

It's adorable and has been a great starter house. We love its walking-distance proximity to the farmer's market, lots of good restaurants and coffee and how close it is to Dad and Linda's house. However, it's simply not large enough for the three of us and we need more space for Mark's car collection and car-related collectibles. So, while it's far from an ideal time to sell our house, it's a really good time to be in the market to purchase a house.

We have our eye on a place and, hopefully, we'll be able to agree on a price.

In the meantime, our house is on the market if you know anyone interested in a great place!

A list of Davey's words

When I was at Davey's 2 year check-up, Dr. Lee wanted to know how many words Davey has. The answer was, "I don't know." More than I can count? Yes, off the top of my head, more than I can count.

That said, now I'm counting. Time to start keeping a list!

Birthday snuggles

Birthday snuggles, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Our big boy is two years old. Wow wow wow!

On Sunday, October 5, we had his birthday party at Miwok Park in Novato. In attendance were lots of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and a few friends. It wasn't huge, but just right for Davey's 2nd birthday party. Everyone had fun, the weather was perfect, there were other kids on the playground, having other birthday parties... David really enjoyed blowing out the candles on his cake and has most definitely got the hang of opening gifts. It was terrific!

Tuesday, October 7, was his actual birthday. Mark and I took the day off work and the three of us, along with Marina, Dad, Linda and Mom went to the newly re-opened California Academy of Sciences. Once inside we went to the cafeteria for lunch (really good food!) and then we broke out a birthday cake that Grandma Julia brought along. Happy birthday to you, Davey! Then it was time to explore the museum and all it had to offer. Davey seemed to really enjoy it, with his favorite parts being the penguins (in the African Hall) and the surf exhibit in the aquarium.

This morning was his 2 year check-up with Dr. Lee. Not only did Dr. Lee say that Davey is GREAT and has a clean bill of health and development, there weren't even any shots. Plus Davey got two sticks (tongue suppressors) and a Train sticker to boot. Happy Davey! And -- after a year of being off the chart -- David is finally back on the weight chart! He's still skinny, but at least he's on the chart.

Height: 34.25" (+2.25" in 6 months ~50th percentile)
Weight: 23lbs-5oz (+3lbs-5oz in 6 months ~4th percentile)
Head: 19.25" (+.125" in 6 months ~50th percentile)

It's a little early for his Hep-A vaccination, so Dr. Lee asked that we come back in early November for that shot. Other than that, his next appointment will be his 3 year check-up.

Developmentally, David's recently begun stringing two words together but, for the most part, he says one word at a time. However, when Dr. Lee asked how many words he has I was really stumped. More than I can count off the top of my head. He's a real parrot these days. He also sings songs by himself and, recently, sings along with others. He loves drumming and dancing to music, loves to draw and enjoys running around and playing outside. Whenever at the playground he has a tendency to stop what he's doing to watch pretty girls walk by and often tries to get their attention or otherwise engage cute girls.

David loves to climb in to bed with us and snuggle or climb up on us to give us hugs and kisses. Smiley sweet and snuggly, that's David.

He's also very much TWO and pushing his limits to see what he's allowed to do and how much he can get away with. We make use of two minute time-outs nearly once a day. This morning he slapped, tentatively, at Marina for no reason. I looked at him and said, calmly, "Did you hit Marina?" He nodded and I replied, "Well you know we don't hit and that hitting means time-out." He calmly walked over to the fireplace, moved his toy cars off of it and sat down in the prescribed spot until I said two minutes had elapsed. Self correcting... this is good...

Physically, oh boy, David is so strong and so flexible. He can easily hold himself up on the rings in gymnastics class or on the monkey bars. He's great at climbing walls, people, and starting to play with climbing trees.

I'll stop glowing now, but oh, I'm so proud of my beautiful boy.

Happy birthday David!

Opening a present on his birthday, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

2 years -- it's remarkable that it's been that long. Happy birthday to our dearest, sweet and, as so many people mention, COOL son David.

Practice makes perfect!

P1220506, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

For several days leading up to his birthday party, Davey practiced singing the happy birthday song and blowing. All that practice paid off when he blew out his birthday candles all by himself at his 2nd birthday party on October 5. My boy!!

Tomorrow, his actual birthday, I think I'll need to make sure he has a cupcake and candle to blow out again...

Sun cream on Davey and chair

Sun cream on Davey and chair, originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Davey sometimes goes to his room and closes his door behind him. I figure that he deserves privacy if that's what he wants. After all, he can open and close the door on his own and his room is basically proofed enough that he can't hurt himself.

Usually when he does this, when I come in I'll find him building with blocks, playing with cars or sitting in the chair, reading to himself.

This time it was a little different.

He'd gotten a hold of the stick of suncream and "applied" it copiously to himself... and the CHAIR.

Later he "helped" Daddy by drawing on last month's shop ledger.

Ah, in just two more days he'll be two.

One day we'll laugh about this.

Actually, I'm laughing now.

A B C D E F G

A B C D E F G
Originally uploaded by jessicafm

It's been a musical morning in Davey's room today. He started out by playing drums and singing a tune of his own composition. Later we turned on the music and he happily set up his drums, played and danced along for a good half an hour or so.

Now he's napping before his birthday party.

Yay!

Drummer boy

Drummer boy
Originally uploaded by jessicafm

I tried giving him different "drum sticks", but he always went back to the plastic broom stick. Okee.