Murder Victim Barbie

I recently bought Rocco a doll at a garage sale. He's torn the poor thing apart. She's missing her foot. Her head is turned around as if she had been possessed by the devil. Her lower body is twisted and the truth is he still isn't done. He is trying to tear her apart. We found her face down in the backyard and Daniel started calling her Murder Victim Barbie. I took a few photos of her NEXT to my beautiful squash. I thought the juxtaposition of damaged barbie and beautiful squash would nicely sum of our lives right now.

Planning his 2nd birthday party

On the 21st of August we are going to have a triple party celebration with Lucas and David. Since all 3 boys were born within 9 days we figured they are too young to know the difference so we are going to have a nice playdate at a park with their friends for a few hours. We are meeting on Saturday morning to plan the event. I can't believe he's turning 2. It really goes by so fast!

Picture 1: Rocco at 22 months
Picture 2: Rocco at 1 week

Camcorder challenged

I bought a camcorder a few months ago and have taken lots of videos of Rocco but I don't know how to download them and never have enough time to read the manual so one day I will post the hidden Rocco files. In them you'll hear him meowing and screaming and saying all sorts of things. If the recent clip were to play you'd hear him saying nothing but "mine, mine, mine." Everything is MINE! He is really into puzzles, legos and boxes right now.

My birthday

For my 36th birthday we had a few friends over for early bird pizza and beer. For those of you without children, that means you eat at 6ish and kick everyone out by 9ish so that you can sleep and function the next day.

I may have already mentioned this but Lena is pregnant. Lucas is going to have a little someone to boss around soon. Lena and David are keeping the sex a secret. The baby is due in late October so Lucas is going to be a big brother very soon. We are all very excited for them.

My birthday went by without too much fanfare. I'm too old to give a shit anymore. I got to sleep in (yea). I went to work (boo), came home and didn't have to cook (yea) or put Rocco to bed (yea). Plus I got to see friends (yea) which doesn't happen nearly as much as I'd like. So all in all, it was great and...a little bittersweet. I missed my mom and I thought to myself that is was a good thing that she gave up celebrating birthdays long ago. It actually made it easier knowing she wouldn't have said Happy Birthday anyway.

Oaklavia Festival

On Sunday we went to the Oaklavia festival which is only in its second year running. They closed down most of the streets in downtown Oakland so folks and families could walk, bike, run, and play in the streets. Unfortunately it was an empty affair. I hope in the years to come it'll pick up speed.

Oakland Zoo

We have a membership to the Oakland zoo and use it all the time! It's perfect for toddlers. Here he is 2 weeks ago with his friend Eva (Rocky's niece).

San Rafael, CA

Yesterday we drove to San Rafael to visit Meg. Meg took us to this AMAZING Puerto Rican restaurant. The food was sooooo good. Afterwards we went to a local plaza and Rocco ran around and played in the fountain. He was so well behaved in the restaurant that I wanted to let him run around an burn off some steam before we got back in the car. Overall he's been so GOOD. He's been so loving and well behaved. Part of it is that he's sleeping better, I'm sleeping better and I am making sure he gets enough time outside to burn off steam. I notice that if I keep him in the house for too long, he goes bat shit crazy and starts driving me insane. So we spend a lot of time outside so he can climb things and jump around. This new plan seems to be working.
In a nutshell, it's about keeping baby boy busy!

i haven't killed my vegetables

i'm so proud of myself! i haven't killed any of my veggies. They are all growing and doing well. I check on them daily and really really enjoy seeing new flowers, buds, and tiny veggies become bigger by the day. I got so excited when I saw my beets take root. Well that day the soil made room for the green lake beans and I just hung in the garden with Rocco watching all the leaves and flowers. Gardening is very satisfying. Never knew I had it in me........

June 1, 2010