Some days, like today, are just bursting with fun from start to finish.
Gelled-up hairstyles + games of catch in the baby pool.
"Babycinos" with friends.*
"Pie" food for dinner. (That's "Thai" for those who don't speak Peter.)
A downtown street party that turns into an opportunity to run through the streets, balloons tied to shirts, with more friends.
And other updates:
I think we've turned the corner on the teething front. After a few nights of "why-can't-I-sleep!" anger and frustration from Lucy, I'm reminded of just how good and easy she is 99 percent of the time. (And how thankful I am that I've yet to have a colicky baby.)
Peter has grown the extra quarter inch or so he needed to reach the pedals on his tricycle. Rumor has it he can pedal as far as "Jungle Park," several blocks away. He still prefers to ride the tricycle Flintstone's style.
We made our last trip to the Academy of Sciences on Sunday, where we tried to see all of our favorites one more time.
It was on this trip I realized exactly why the Academy causes me such stress, even though it should be a place the kids love (full of cool animals, real and stuffed): the railings. Oh, the railings. Every exhibit is surrounded by these metal railings that, to Peter and Lucy, must look like the most perfect playground ever. I can't count the number of times I had to pry Lucy's tight grip off of the narrow bars, while she wildly shook her head and bucked her body in protest.** It's not the most pleasant way to spend an afternoon.
The trip was interesting also because it was the first time Peter realized what was recreated in one of the African Hall dioramas: a cheetah, hovering over his kill. Peter was really perplexed by the small deer, obviously injured, on the ground, and returned to the scene again and again, pointing out that the animal had gotten hurt. ("Animal ouchie, Mommy! Animal fell down.") His innocence remains intact, thankfully, as he didn't implicate the cheetah in any crimes of nature, and we didn't have to talk about death or killing.
Also, Lucy was roughed up while playing a tunnel in the Early Explorers Cove. As far as we can tell, she took a hit across the face by another child who was not playing well with others. She was as upset as we have ever seen her, and was calmed only when Kevin took her into the hall to look at the taxidermied giraffe family.
We spent the rest of our week enjoying the wildlife, both indigenous and exotic. A quick trip to the Zoo with Shannon, Sofia, and baby Sebastian yielded a few new sights, including a fight between one of the baby giraffes and an ostrich, a snacking giraffe just feet away from the kids, a glimpse at the tiny baby gorilla, and a roaring tiger. Peter was beyond excited to show Sofia the dik-dik, but I'm not sure if Sofia was as taken by the little creature as Peter is. (I'm not sure Peter's as taken by the dik-dik, either. His excitement over the dik-dik has waned since our recent visit.) And since we had to do something to shake of the chill of a San Francisco summer day, we stopped at a nearby coffee shop for warm drinks, including Peter's first hot chocolate. He was beyond thrilled with his first three or four sips - you could see him thinking, "what is this, and why haven't I been drinking it all my life?" - but he quickly reached his limit and was more than willing to donate the rest of his drink to Sofia. I'm certain Lucy would have enjoyed the rest, but she was content enough to hold an empty coffee cup and "drink" along with the rest of us.
And, on our weekly hike to the farm, we saw a crazy amount of non-farm wildlife, including a family of deer, a wild turkey with her two turkey chicks, several lizards, and a coyote, from across a field. I'm sure I was more excited about the coyote than Peter or Lucy. All we need to see now is a mountain lion and I'll have seen all of the animals on the "these animals may kill you" signs posted in local parks.***
*A not-so-hot espresso cup of foamy milk, topped generously with cinnamon. What's not to like?
**This said, a friend just relayed the tale of her daughter, feet through the railing, a dropped shoe, and the albino alligator's afternoon snack. I'm glad Peter wasn't there to see it, or he would have been throwing his shoes in the swamp, too.
***To be clear: I do not wish to find myself near a mountain lion, unless it's behind metal bars and/or bulletproof glass. I'm just pointing out that we've seen rattlesnakes and ticks and the Cheerio-hungry squirrels of Cuesta Park.
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