Sunday @ the Park

We spent a glorious Sunday afternoon @ Golden Gate Park, where the boys played in the large sandboxes (again, Rohan ate sand), on the jungle gyms, and the characters (that's a pelican Deven's sitting on).

Rohan is cruising well now - not quite walking, but the off-center photo proves he's too fast for my camera.

Deven is speaking in (quite) full sentences & demanding attention when he calls for us to look at him. He adds -ing to the end of nouns and is still asking "Where's Alex & A-Mia?" - referring to friends we had visit recently.

Smoosh Brother!

Deven's new favorite game is Smoosh Brother. Rohan isn't really thrilled about it; but I think once he can do it back, it'll be fun for him, too. :)

Daddy & Cupcake

Just a cute shot of 2 of Mommy's boys, while eating lunch @ Barney's Burgers on a cool Sunday in Noe Valley.

Muffin (aka Deven) is sleeping in the stroller - that's the silver hood you can see in the right side of the photo.

I can't believe Rohan's 10.5 mos old! :)

What's wrong with this picture?.

Nothing!

I just bought myself 2 new pairs of running shoes shown here (aren't the trail-shoes, which I'll wear for lacrosse umpiring, snazzy)?

What's exciting is that I bought shoes that actually *FIT*. I've been an 8 or 8.5 for running shoes for years; but no longer. Look closely on the boxes & you'll see a 9.

I've heard that women often increase a shoe size after pregnancy. I didn't have any change after Deven, but after Rohan, I have. It's taken me this long to realize it, because I have been running in old, beaten-up shoes for a while now.

Today, though, I had 4.5 hours of lacrosse games, and my feet *HURT*! So, I went to my favorite shop in Noe Valley, See Jane Run, and invested in the Size 9s you see here. I love that I now have a perfectly good reason to buy all new shoes!

Someday...

...I will be able to:
- cook and decorate a cake as cute and YUMMY as Amy's was for Tom's 3rd birthday.
- get to work before 8:15am, fully dressed/groomed/looking like a normal, professional woman, with 2 healthy, happy children (1 @ home w/nanny & share-partner, 1 @ preschool), and a full night's sleep behind me.
- sleep through the night again.
Someday.



In the meantime, enjoy these photos from our park outing last weekend (who said City Boys can't climb trees?). Rohan's close to walking; and Deven - well just continues to melt hearts, when he does things like he did tonight: After being something of a pain (oops, I mean, being himself @ 2.5), he went to Daadi, hugged her tight, and said "I love you, Daadi." When she didn't hear him the first time, he repeated it for good measure.


All together now... "AAAWWWWWWWW!"

Happy Birthday Tom!

Our friend Tom (who we first met @ Baby Boot Camp) is 3, and we were invited to help him, and his Mum & Dad (they're English, Amy & Paul - so she's a Mum, not a Mom) celebrate!

Seems just yesterday, Tom was Rohan's age, and I was huffing & puffing with Deven just 4 mos old, in the jogging stroller. And now, Tom's going to be a big brother in December...wow!

San Francisco Fog

Here are Mommy's boys on a cool San Francisco day, en route to the Noe Valley Farmer's Market.

The Whole Foods Market opened up nearby, but we're still fans of the hippie grocery slightly farther away, Rainbow Market.

Letter to Tammi, Brian, Alex & Mia

Dear Tammi, Brian, Alex & Mia,

We're so glad you came to visit us this weekend from Virginia. We had a *great time* when we took the Muni (J-Church to the N-Judah) with you, to visit the Cal Academy of Sciences for the first time. It was great, and we're looking forward to going back- and we'll think of you when we see the big fish!

Deven has loved having Big Girls Alex & Mia here; & you gals are welcome back anytime to play with Rohan, too. Deven misses 'Aleks n a-Mia' already, asking about you this morning.

For Tammi & Brian's 9th Anniversary, we hope your visit to wineries yesterday was romantic.

Happy Anniversary, you two - we're so glad you came to visit us!

Xoxo,
Katie, Yogesh, Deven, Rohan, & Daadi

Potty Party!

While I wish this were a post about Deven starting potty training, alas he's shown no interest, so I will blog about why I now invite all my friends to a Potty Party: We have a new bathroom! That's 2 total; and what luxury! What a joy! What relief!

The images:
- Into the new bathroom from the bedroom (into the shower, pedestal sink & medicine cabinet in front)
- The new pedestal sink & light fixture (2 images)
- From inside the shower back towards the toilet / bedroom
- Image with the green walls, not "October sky" beige, is the new look of the right side of the current bathroom; note the new medicine cabinet on the wall, and the remote control for the fancy toilet seat (no I'm not kidding) mounted by the toilet.



The main bath is still quite large; it now has the heated-bidet-toilet-seat-combo which has its own remote control (no kidding) and wipes your bottom for you (see link below); the new bathroom is small but quite functional and precisely what I wanted with a pedestal sink, toilet, and 38x38" tiled shower.


WHAT WE GOT RIGHT
- Chose to do everything above-board, to-code, with a solid General Contractor and permits.
- Splurged on higher-end fixtures: Grohe rainshower shower head & handheld shower; Toto toilets and Washlet S300 that wipes your bottom for you, nice Kohler and Robern mirrored medicine chests.
- Saved on tile: ~ $3/sq ft for nice porcelain tiles that look like stone, where we could've easily spent 100x that amount; and it still looks very nice because we had a little bit of a design tiled-in by the contractor
- Bought neutral colors for the new bathroom: (we hope) it'll help with resale value to have muted beige-colored tiles, walls, classic white toilet & pedestal sink, etc.)
- Insisted that the paint-job be smooth (this took 2 painters and a few tries to get right)
- Went away for the 1st week of demolition and major plumbing work (allowing the team to make 1 wall in our bedroom, move/replace the 1 toilet, always having 1 working toilet and saving us from major hassles)
- Thought about space - we installed 2 built-in medicine chests, a built-in nook for shampoo/soap in the shower, and double towel-bars in the current bathroom, as there will really be 4 towels regularly hanging there: Yogesh's, mine, and the boys'
- Made the GC / plumber re-do the shower height and handle height, when it wasn't correct the first time (now we have a nice shower that's higher than standard, and could accommodate a very tall man, like 7' tall!
- Had the GC install grab-bars in the current bathtub and new shower stall
- Made Daadi happy; as we moved her into the new bedroom and she now enjoys the new bathroom en suite to her bedroom. :)




WHAT WE GOT WRONG
- Chose an architect who didn't have strong attention to detail (!?!) and didn't think through every little mark he made. This left us with, for example, a slightly-misplaced outlet in the new bathroom; so should we ever want a Toto Washlet there, too - the wall plug will be misplaced and more-obvious. A deal-killer? No, but a minor thing that should've been done right.

- Changed our mind partway through, from a prefab shower to a tiled-in shower. This delayed the process substantially.

- Went over-schedule and well over-budget. Sigh.



WHAT'S STILL UNDONE
- Outlets: Installing in the walls separating the 2 back bedrooms.
- Tile work: Completing tile- or baseboard-work under the heater in the main bathroom, and tile-work behind the pedestal sink in the new bathroom.
- Plumbing question: Ensuring the 'return system' works as the GC said.
- Baseboard heat: "End caps" on the heater in the main bathroom.
- Lightswitch in the new bathroom - one of 3 switches is still 'bent' oddly.

Would I do this again? Yep. Do you now need to come visit? Yep.

Are we gonna have a POTTY PARTY sometime soon? You betcha!

The Thermostat Leg

Some grandsons get their grandmother's smile. Others get their Naani's laugh, or her unusual toes, or her ability to bargain-hunt and find a treasure even in a sea of worthless tschotskes.

It remains to be seen what other qualities our boys get from their Naani, but Rohan has definitely inherited one already: the Thermostat Leg.

What is the Thermostat Leg, you ask? It's the bare leg that sticks out from any blanket or cover when they sleep - regardless of room temperature, health, time, or clothing - of both my mom's, and my son's. As a girl in the cold winter mornings of Maryland, I remember walking into my parents' room to find my mother snuggled under mountains of covers, completely hidden save the tip of her nose, and her Thermostat Leg. Mom (Naani) swore it was how she regulated body temperature under all those blankets.

Whatever the reason, the fact is her youngest grandson has inherited her Thermostat Leg! He will be completely covered and sleeping, and insist on kicking out a Thermostat Leg, just like Naani. It's not a big deal, except when my face is near where that leg emerges - it can be dangerous when he kicks.

This photo shows the leg in mid-kickout - he prefers being fully covered except that Thermostat Leg.

Like Grandma, like grandson!