we ended the weekend with a homemade meal made by bryan. he executed a very well done eggplant parmesan and was very proud of the dish and its presentation. so i am posting it here. just to brag a little i guess.
Monthly Archives: September 2010
taste of south beach
bacon wrapped hot dog
last weekend bryan, henry and i attended taste of south beach, a collection of neighborhood restaurants peddling their specialties to the hungry citizens of the south beach area in sf. we tasted some delicious food – including chicken tamales, tuna tartar, pulled bbq pork sliders and the monster of a hot dog seen in the photo above. it was a good day for a walk, but a bit warm. it was the first day of five in a row where temperatures were 85 or above. and we don’t have a/c.
but anyways, here is yet another photo of the adorablest of the adorable, the cutest of the cute, that baby whose name rhymes with benry. which is mostly likely what drew you here in the first place.
and one of the man who made him:
further documentation of my presence
in an effort to prove that i am actually present in henry’s life bryan has been picking up the camera more and taking pictures. here are recent playing and bed time bathing sessions. i think bryan got some of henry’s best faces here.
why is 6 afraid of 7?
my baby boy turned 8 months old over the weekend.
usually these posts write themselves. but for some reason i have sat down to write this three times and i have no idea what to say. there is nothing that can convey how i feel about this kid. about how interlaced my life is with his. about how connected i am to him. it is inexplicable. it is terrifying. it is magical.
i am consistently mystified by his existence. that we made him. that i grew him. that i produced him and here he is, 8 months later, all spunky and alive and human. he has interests, he has favorites, he is a person. and i feel so sincerely, deeply and thoroughly lucky that he has come into our lives.
there are things about having a baby that are really hard. they wear on you. they exhaust you. they test you. but that is their job. and it is our job (i believe) to see these things about ourselves and re-examine them. to view our reflection with new eyes and consider. because we shape these little people. they imitate and react to us. they learn how to treat others and themselves by our example. we are their lens to the world.
i have loved every minute of being a mom. but one of the very best gifts it has given me is the opportunity to learn so much about myself. about my beliefs and my feelings. about how i treat myself and others. and how to convey those values. and i am so grateful to my 8 month old son for teaching me all of these things. he is the best thing that has ever happened to me. and i am delighted that he is ours.
i want to be my best for him everyday. i want to be the most patient, the most kind and the most supportive version of myself. which mostly means i have to learn to let go. let go of my frustrations, my hang ups and my expectations. accept that this is what it is. and love. every. minute. and this tiny little 8 month old boy is what has done it for me. everyday is a new opportunity to live in the moment, enjoy myself and my son and to let go of all the other stuff. i have never done anything quite so difficult, but i have never had so much joy in my life. i thank my little boy for all these gifts. my baby, my bubba, my henry. i love you.
(also thank to my lovely husband for taking all of these pictures)
a henry update
i know you guys just aren’t getting enough of this kid. i mean there just aren’t enough picture of him anywhere, especially not on this blog. so here are some random ones from a recent lunch to bath episode. it seems that henry’s baths are all too frequent these days since we added a third meal.
henry has a third tooth break through on september 19. its the top center left.
henry is a pretty good eater. his favorites right now are carrots, squash, peaches, prunes and apples. there isn’t really anything he outright refuses to eat. plus the internet says you have to introduce a flavor to a kid like 12-15 times before they can actually decide if they like it. so we are still feeding him lots of different varieties of fruits and veggies. also, we are going to introduce yogurt this week.
this guy had a really rough time cutting this last tooth. we had a couple nights where he was waking up a lot – one night in particular where he was up at 10, 1, and 4. which was NOT awesome for me.
baths are henry’s new favorite thing. if he is having a particularly cranky day we can either take him for a walk or stick him in the bath and it seems to ease his mood. we got some animal shaped bath toys from his shower (thanks aunt gayle) that he LOVES. he can never decide which one he wants and goes from one to another constantly.
he is still pulling himself up on everything. he has been able to stand by himself for a few seconds a few times now. and he has gotten pretty good at cruising from thing to thing, but he doesn’t even seem interested in taking any steps. i am totally okay with this for now, though.
and lately he will give me these looks and i can already see the angsty pre teen in him. like all “moooooooommmmmmmm, quit itttttttt!”. insert completely obvious and grossed out eye roll here. “i’m serious”.
he is less and less of a baby everyday. more and more a little person. which is really thrilling but also a little heart breaking. sigh.
{pictures taken 9/19/2010}
sf. at night!
i found these photos on the camera that bryan took one night after i went to bed. they were all taken from the balcony of our apartment.
a family affair
on their last morning in town we went out to breakfast before saying good bye. luckily we had enough time for a mini photo shoot. there is a little bit of picture overload here, but i had a hard time editing.
adventures
henry and i joined nana and gramps for a trip across the bay to sausalito for a little lunch. unfortunately we had to skip out on the post lunch sight seeing in order to get henry back home for a much needed nap.
donate
my brother has been hitting the gym in an effort to get into shape for a potential military adventure. along the way he is trying to raise money for some great causes – the Lance Armstrong Foundation (for more info click here) and the Wounded Warrior Project (for info click here). so far he has met 25% of his goal, but it would be completely generous and awesome and lovely if anyone who reads this could help him out a little more. You can donate any amount ($1-$150) and you can do it via credit/debit card. if you can help in anyway, please go here. thanks!
p.s. you can follow matt on his adventures here, if you are interested.
september 12 by 12
we went to crissy field and had a picnic on the beach on september 12th. bryan’s parents were visiting so they got in on the photo action, too.
gen and bryan's big move 
