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Miguel had the day off so we had the official family celebration of my birthday today. I left it up to him to decide what we were going to do. On Saturday he went to work and asked his co-workers for suggestions. The first suggestion he shared with me was Train Town, followed by Chuck E Cheese. When I shot those down he suggested Filoli Estate and Gardens. Obviously he intended for us to go to the gardens all along and he presented the options in that order very deliberately so that Filoli would seem even better. It worked anyhow: Filoli it was. The house was very nice, though I didn't get to explore it as much as I would have liked what with herding Az through before she broke something. We had really come for the gardens anyhow. I was worried a lot of the flowers would no longer be in their prime since we are quickly heading into autumn but everything still felt very lush. I would still like to come back in Spring some time though, when the light is not so harsh. The gardens are open from 11AM to 3:30PM, not exactly the most ideal time for taking photos. Most of my photos didn't come out thanks to the harsh sunlight, but Az seemed to have had a good time wandering the garden and laying on the grass. She's had no prior experience with the words, "grass" and "lawn" so telling her to stay off of either was fairly pointless.

 

To the house we go!

 

Dancing in the dining room

 

 They're both determined we not ever take a nice frameable photo together. So far the score is Me: 0 Them: 356

Zae is quickly becoming my go-to "Here, take a picture of me" guy, which is nice because I need one. The more photos I have taken the more likely I'll actually end up liking one, right?

 

Like I said, the sunlight was really harsh while we were there so the quality of my photos were all pretty poor. When the kids weren't standing in harsh sunlight they were hiding in the shade.

Filoli Gardens closes for the day in the afternoon so since the day was still relatively young Miguel suggested that we head over to Halfmoon Bay to grab a bite to eat. By the time we got to Halfmoon Bay Az was fast asleep so Miguel went to eat on his own. When he returned Z and I took our turn eating while M and Az waited in the car. We went into the sandwich shop that we were parked nearest to, but it turned out to be one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. The menu was extremely simple, and didn't feature anything fancy at all. I ordered a roast beef sandwich with swiss. However, the ingredients were fantastic. The bread was fresh made on site. While Z and I were eating and watching the family of feral cats and kittens that were drawing crowds of people Miguel and Az joined us.

A cousin of mine got married a few years back in the area that we were lunching. It was at a very cute little house and I wanted to show it to Z to see if he remembered it. For the life of me I couldn't find it anywhere, which was confounding because the street wasn't that long. After wandering about for a bit I realized that we had actually had our sandwiches at the very house. They had done some remodeling of the outside area. Somehow they had managed to make it even nicer than it was before.

We had been hoping to do some window shopping but it being a Sunday, most of the shops were already closed for the night. We found ways to entertain ourselves anyhow.

Z really wanted me to take a picture of him in front of this mural. We never did figure out all of the meaning behind this particular piece of art. When Az saw her brother posing she insisted on joining in on the fun.

I made Z pose for the following picture. He's such a good boy sometimes.

And then Az wanted to join in again.

Oh well, I never claimed that we were cool.

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Thirty two years ago today I popped out into the world. On the anniversary of the momentous day in history I found myself without any plans. Miguel had to work and my friends were all busy. Initially I planned to just hang around the house and take it easy but the night before I realized that I would end up rolling around in my misery so I decided that the kids and I would go see a movie. It had been a while since we'd gone to see a movie in the theater so it would be special for the kids. I invited my mom and made arrangements to meet in Sebastopol. I had to bring Miguel to work and had lots of time before the movie started so we walked around, visiting Whole Foods for snacks for the movie and a toy store because toy stores are always fun.

The theater we were in was tiny, which was perfect for Az. We had chosen the Sebastopol Theater because I was hoping to get one of the baby rooms but it turns out that they discontinued the baby rooms. The tiny theater was almost as good, and not really a whole lot larger than one of the baby rooms. For a while it seemed like we might be the only ones in the theater but then towards the last minute other people walked in. Paranorman held Az's attention. She talked a little, excitedly yelling, "Owl!" when one appeared on screen, but she actually talked a lot less than a lot of adults I know do in theaters. Az was ready to be done about ten minutes before the movie ended, so I might wait a couple months until we try again but I think I can chalk the movie date up as a success.

After the movie we walked over to the children's consignment shop, which is quickly becoming my favorite place to get Az's clothing. I found a few things I wanted, and treated myself to them as a birthday present. Among the treasures I found was a GAP dress from last season. It had sold for almost $60 and I hadn't managed to find it on sale before it was completely sold out. I had been sad to see it slip by then, but thanks to a 50% off deal at the consignment shop I got it for eight dollars. Happy birthday to me. I used to have fun buying myself clothing but as I get older and out of shape it has become more fun finding things for my kids. Everything looks good on them.

There was another thrift shop I wanted to show my mom so we schlepped the kids to the other side of town. It wasn't a very long walk but Az was exhausted by then and not up to walking very far on her own legs so my mom and I took turns carrying her. On the way back she completely passed out while being carried. I need to start lifting weights again so I can handle Az schlepping a little better.

Once we got back the theater where our cars were we said our goodbyes to my mom and went to pick up Miguel. Miguel had some money he owed me so we went to Target where not only did Miguel and Zae get me presents (Miguel got me a new record player and Z got me a couple of Fred Flare food face plates that I've been wanting) but I got to buy a bunch of the toiletries and household necessities we've been going without. Having toothpaste once again was an awesome birthday present in itself.

After Target Miguel offered to take us out for dinner. After driving around a little we ended up at a hole in the wall Thai place that ranks up there as the best in Santa Rosa. I thought I had found the fish dish my grandmother used to order that includes the whole fish, edible bones and all, which seemed like the perfect cap to our evening. It turned out to be something else involving a large portion of a fish rather than the whole thing, but everything was delicious anyhow. We so rarely get to go to an actual restaurant today, just sitting down and not having to cook felt like a huge treat.

Considering the fact that today was not even my official day of celebrating, it turned out to be a pretty nice day. It seemed like Az was confused every time I said it was my birthday since the day lacked many of the things she has come to associate with birthdays, but I certainly wouldn't be upset if every day were days like today.

Z's present and card for me. Z is known for his cards, but this is the first one I've ever gotten from him. It was totally worth the wait.

 

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I had a doctor appointment in Occidental today (as a total aside, it's still odd to me to have the same doctor as my daughter and to see her for everything.) After Z was safely on his bus Miguel, Az, and I headed to the doctor's. Az and Miguel both slept through my appointment in the car, which was probably the best outcome. When my appointment was over Miguel realized he had no way to get to work in a few hours so we started heading in the general direction of his work.

I've heard a lot about the bakery in Freestone but have never had a good excuse to stop there so today I went ahead and made an excuse. Everything I've heard seems to be true, it's definitely a special place. Most, if not all, of the ingredients for their baked goods come from the garden they keep on the side of the bakery. I only had enough money for a cocoanut scone but it was wonderful. I really wish I could have afforded any of the breads being baked fresh while we were there, but now I have an excuse to stop by again. 

Az and I ran around the garden, which was overflowing with fruits, vegetables, and marvelous flowers. It's funny I hadn't heard anything about the garden, because it seems to me it should be as much of a draw as the bakery itself. I took my scone to a couple of Adirondacks at the back and Az and I enjoyed it while watching the wild bunnies hopping around. I really do love living in Sonoma County. 

We still had time to kill until Miguel started work so I decided to head to a park in Sebastopol, where Az pretended to be Spiderman, much to the chagrin of a little boy there who felt like he was Spiderman, and where Miguel practiced trying to give me a heart attack by leading Az to the top of play equipment and jungle gyms and leaving her there. The park has an area for toddlers but of course Az didn't want to spend time there. The much more adventurous, much more dangerous older kids playground was much more her style. I like this particular park because it does offer a lot of things other parks are afraid to in this day of sue-happy things, but man it looks different when experienced with your two-year-old daughter and thirty-year-old boyfriend who both seem determined to break one of the two year old's bones!

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Daddy make cupcakes today. They were good, so good in fact that when we met Z's bus in the afternoon we figured we had better keep on walking around town to work off some of their chocolate goodness.

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We were looking for something free to do to pass the time. Az requested that we go shopping. She always requests that we go shopping, despite the fact that once we are shopping she doesn't seem to want to be there. I suspect that she's usually just hoping to get something new. Today we went to the library that shares a parking lot with the mall. Az was adamant that she wanted to go to the mall but I knew that once we got into the library she would love it. The library by the mall is full of toys, puzzles, and blocks, which are much more interesting than racks full of clothing.

Sure enough as soon as we entered Az was smitten. She played with the toys a little, then moved on to the table of puzzles, then noticed the bin of DVDs where she picked out a Thomas DVD and an Elmo movie, then sat down at the older kid computers where I tried to find something online she'd like, then on the board books, then the younger kid computers to play a Dora game. Rinse and repeat. We got her her very own library card so she could check out her DVDs and a Caillou book I had found while bouncing around the library with her.

The library is such a fantastic community resource, I'm always happy to support it through my late fees and fines. And boy do I, support them through my late fees and fines. Our house eats library books, so I think I'm going to keep Az to two or three books each session but I hope to instill in her the love for the library that I had as a child. Kindles and online resources are fine and dandy, but there's really nothing that compares to a trip to the library.

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"You want some?" Offering Minchi a bite of her post-bath avocado toast. Minchi politely passed.

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I honestly don't know why that cat loves Az so, given Az's over-exuberant attention. It seems like Minchi should be running away and hiding from Az at every chance, but instead she's constantly trying to curl up with her and cuddle. Almost every night Minchi sleeps with us, purring away as she folds into Az. I hope her love for Az continues at least long enough for Az to learn sitting on the cat is not the best way to show her she was missed.

 

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Z was setting up to paint with water colors when his sister took interest in what he was doing. As soon as she saw the paint she said, "I wanna try!" Z graciously let his sister take over the watercolors even though he only had one paint brush. She painted for so long that he never did get a turn, but he didn't say anything about it. The other day when Z overheard me telling someone that he was a good big brother he piped in with, "I'm nice to my cat too!" So I guess I should probably tell you as well.

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At 26 months old Azalie:

• Is speaking quite a few fluent sentences of her own creation. Every once in a while she says something and Miguel and I turn to each other in surprise, wondering how she is suddenly such a little girl.
• She still loves pistachios but her very favorite foods are salad and ice cream. A dinner of salad with ice cream as dessert is heaven for her.
• She is really developing her sense of humor. After laughing she often declares, "That's funny!" And every time so far she's been right.
• She's finally embraced singing her ABCs, though she can only regularly get through A,B, and C. After that she has the general idea down and pipes in with the correct letters every once in a while. She'll hum her way through D, E, and F but call out "G" and "H" split second before I do. She knows where most of the letters go. X is by far her favorite letter; she is always excited to spot anything that looks like an X.
• She can count to four, and occasionally follows that up with "high five!" for five.
• Az is still a mama's girl but is beginning to let Miguel do more for her. Up until now everything she wants or needs has had to be done by me, so I'm enjoying this hopefully new stage.
• Is in the 70th percentile for height, but the 20th percentile for weight. At least she's consistent. 
• Still loves dolls and trucks, and is beginning to show a preference for dinosaurs.
• Knows the names of about 25 body parts. 
• Has a huge crush on makeup. For this month's picture she insisted on bringing a tube of Burt's Bees chap stick with her. On most mornings while I stand at the mirror putting on my makeup she is right next to me, standing on the toilet and putting on her own "makeup."
• Still loves wearing dresses (i.e. tutus) and needs to be distracted a bit to get into pants. Winter's going to be hard on her. When she isn't given a dress to wear she finds a towel or dishtowel and turns that into one.
• Red seems to be her favorite color, as she points out every red item we see and searches for red if she can't easily find anything. She also knows orange, purple, pink, blue, and yellow consistently. There's something about green that keeps her from remembering it.
• When strangers say hello to her she announces, "My name Yazzy." So far no one has come close to understanding her name when she speaks it, but then again hardly any one ever understands it when Miguel or I say it.
• Her favorite shows are Sesame Street (she loves Ernie), Bubble Guppies, Calloui, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Thomas. She does most of her TV watching with Miguel though, whom is really trying to get her to like Adventure Time since it's a show he enjoys. 
• Her most popular refrain these days is, "I waaaant sooome...Iwantsome!" You say this for food, toys, anything you see that you want. Her dad and I have taken to borrowing her way of asking for things too, though so far we've managed to keep it to just in the house use.

Every month really does get more and more fun!

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Tonight we watched Z get his brown belt in tae kwon do. It had been over a year since he had tested to move up in rank so a few weeks ago I had checked in with his main instructor to see if he was eligible for the next testing. The instructor and I went over Z's attendance and he determined that he hadn't made it to enough classes this cycle so he was not in fact eligible. It was true that Z's attendance hadn't been great over the summer because we were often doing other things with our Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings so I thanked the instructor and figured we'd try for next time.

Since Z wasn't eligible for testing I didn't worry about him practicing the current routines. The classes in the weeks leading up to testing are dedicated to the test so I didn't worry about getting Z to those classes. A few days before the test it worked out that getting to class wasn't a huge pain so I brought Z to the class. Az had no patience for sitting through the hour long class so I followed her as she ran around outside. I was able to watch Z through the large plate glass windows and I noticed that it seemed people were clapping for him a couple of times. At the end of class I decided to check in with the owner of the school, whom had taught that day's class. She said that she recommended Z for testing. I brought up the fact that Z had poor attendance the past couple months but she brushed it aside, saying that he had banked enough classes in the year since the last promotion and seemed to know the form well enough to test.

 Z hadn't been practicing and I hadn't allocated any extra money towards paying for the testing since I'd been told weeks before that he wouldn't be participating but I decided to make it work. I know it's not the best reason, but I was largely motivated by the fact that Z was being passed by and left behind by kids in his class. I didn't want him to get ostracized or teased for not moving up.

I did make it work, but Z really wasn't ready for the test. He didn't know the form because we had made very little effort to memorize it. He followed along with one of the instructors and copied his moves when he got stuck. There was only one other student to get such preferential treatment, a man with very obvious disabilities. Miguel pointed out that a lot of parents were aloof towards Z both during and after testing. He was particularly upset by a certain woman and her daughter giving Z dirty looks after testing. I hadn't even noticed because I've gotten used to looks directed at Z. Z is not as obviously disabled. I wonder what the other parents and students think of the fact that Z gets to follow an instructor while they have to memorize everything.

The instructors acted like Z did a great job but I feel like they sell him short on what he can accomplish. Z might always need a little more help than most of the other kids, but he's a very smart kid. He could do most of the form and all of the sparring easily if he put his mind to it. I think next time I won't agree to have him test unless I feel like he's ready. I want him to know that it takes practice and hard work to accomplish certain goals. After this is just the red belt and then comes the black belt, the ultimate in accomplishments. He needs to start showing that he wants that belt.

I invited my mom and aunt D to the promotion because I knew it would mean a lot to Z to have both of them there, Luckily despite the late notice both were able to make it, and came along with us after promotion to get pizza next door. Az was thrilled with the turn of events because it meant she had two of the older women she adored the most and pizza. It might be a couple of years until we go to another of Z's tae kwon do promotions so I'm glad both of the kids were able to live it up this time.

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Creating masterpieces out of nothing but chalk and some concrete, while the cat looks on and tries to figure out how to slip her harness.

 

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Two peas in a pod, wiped out by a day at the park.

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With Z at school Az and I were free to go to the Big Park. Az spotted this little girl quietly playing at the water trough and silently joined her. The two of them devised a cooperative game of bathing the pig and covering him in sand to bathe him again, all without ever exchanging any words. Both of the girls were very sweet and considerate of each other, and continued to play until it was time for the little girl to go. Girl play is so much different than what I'm used to with boy play. There is a lot less sand throwing. I think I could get used to this. Hopefully I get to, after over a decade of nerve-wracking park time.

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Today was Z's first day of junior high. He's still at the same school, where he very well may be until graduating high school, but junior high means a new classroom and teacher, mostly new classmates, and a new more rigid set of expectations. It seems like his new teacher takes preparing her students for high school seriously and expects more out of them than the younger grade teacher did. Last year he was in a class that was roughly for grades three to five, this year kids range from grades six to eight. I'm hoping this will be a good change for him.

While Z was at school Az and I had our first mother-daughter date in a few months. We didn't do much of anything but it was nice getting to focus all of my attention on her. I appreciate that even though Z does take a lot of my attention, I still manage to find opportunities to give Az my full attention. I find excuses to spend individual time with Z as well, which I think is important after almost a decade of it being just me and him. He never complains or acts jealous of Az, but he deserves to still get me to himself every once in a while too. Heck, I need to get in as many one-on-one dates as I can while he even still wants to do anything with his mom. He is in junior high school now you know.

Here's Z heading out the door on his first day of sixth grade, wearing a color changing shirt that very well could have been worn by someone in my own sixth grade class in 1991, standing on the very steps I headed down every morning of junior high. I think our hairdos were even similar.

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Tonight Az requested I go get my camera so we could take pictures together. Her face is covered in her dinner and my face doesn't have the benefit of being covered in any makeup but spontaneous photo shoots with my daughter are pretty much the best thing ever.

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Az's response to me telling her it was time to clean up the dolls and head to bed.

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It was a beautiful sunny day inland so we decided to head to the ocean. Unfortunately it was cold and windy at the beach. I'm always saying that when it's hot inland it's cold on the coast. Somewhere in the back of my brain the scientific reason for this is rattling around, something about the hot air pushing out the cold air or something like that, right? The kids didn't mind the weather of course. Even if it had been hailing I don't think the kids would have minded the weather but Miguel and I only lasted a couple hours until we decided to head into Sebastopol, where it was of course once again beautiful. Miguel made us a couple of homemade pizzas to make up for the shortened beach trip. I think we all won in the end.

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How can it be that she's already big enough for the big girl swings?

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Getting clean and prettied up with her "makeup." Az has taken to carrying around a small bottle of perfume that she lovingly refers to as her makeup. The last of the perfume was long ago used up and somewhere along the line the top of the bottle disappeared but to Az it is her greatest possession. When not clutched firmly in her little paw it lives in a little bag in my purse, where Az can be assured of having it at any time.