Monday, July 18, 2005

 

Our New Address

Okay, we've moved. Please change your bookmarks to the following address:

http://www.brookston.org/blog/

I've moved the months of July, June and April over already and eventually the rest of the blog will be moved. The rest of the archive will remain here on blogspot until I move them over.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

 

Another Delay

Sorry gang, there's been an unforseeable delay in the blog move. I hope to have it ready to go when you check in Monday morning. Please check back then. Have a great weekend.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

 

We're Moving to a New Blog Address

I've installed new blog software on our own server. I hope to have transferred this blog over to the new server some time today so there may be no new posts until I've completed the transfer. We'll be running WordPress (rather than Blogger) on our own server. I've very excited about this change and you'll see a slightly redesigned blog.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

 

Number Nine, Number 9, No. 9, #9 ...

Okay, so it's not the Beatles' best song, but it is how many years Sarah and I have been married as of today, our 9th wedding anniversary. Since Sarah's been working crazy hours lately and won't be home until late this evening, I'm taking the ferry over to San Francisco where I'm meeting her for lunch at the Slanted Door, a Vietnamese restaurant that Sarah likes a lot.



The happy couple at the wedding reception, which was held at the Tied House Brewpub in San Jose, California.



No wedding album is complete without a brewery photo. For those of you who like bizarre, Twilight Zone-like coincidences, please note the numbers on the bottom left of the photo: 910, 9/10 or September 10th, which is Porter's birthday. Cue creepy music.



The whole gang at the wedding. My, how we've changed.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

 

A Brush with Toothpaste

Porter found the toothbrush that the dentist gave me yesterday after my cleaning. After voluntarily brushing his own teeth (he even ran upstairs and brought down his toothpaste), he then wanted to brush Buzz Lightyear's teeth. But that still wasn't enough. He then proceded to brush a ball and then one of his school buses.



Porter brushes his ball with toothbrush and toothpaste while Alice looks on, no doubt as perplexed as I was.

 

Looking Smarter

Doesn't everyone look smarter in glasses? The Clark Kent effect?



My, what big eyes you have ...
And my, what a fake smile you have ...

 

Sunny Morning Blues

Tuesday was yet another morning where Porter was adamantly opposed to the school bus coming.



As the bus drives slowly up the hill, Porter turns away, head down, in a futile attempt to pretend it's not coming.



Meanwhile, Alice watches - you guessed it - Teletubbies.

Monday, July 11, 2005

 

Lion and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Alice and Porter went to the zoo today with their grandparents while I stayed home and went to the dentist. Who got the better deal? No contest. Here's the proof.



Riding the train at the San Francisco Zoo.



Riding the lion. King of the beasts meets king of the living room.



While Alice plays with the mama lion and her cubs.



And gets a leg up from mama lion.



Back home again, Porter models a hat he actually wants to wear. Why? Beats me.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

 

Fog City

On the way home from our dinner in the City, the Golden Gate bridge was enveloped in a classic soup of fog, so we stopped to take a look from the observation point just over the bridge into Marin.



Fog makes the Golden Gate bridge nearly invisible as a tanker disappears beneath it.



Sarah posing in front of the bridge.

 

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

While Sarah and I downed margaritas in San Francisco (see previous post), Alice and Porter took a ride on the Wine Train with the grandparents. While this was veteran Porter's third or fourth trip on the Wine Train, it was Alice's first time.



Boarding the train.



On board the Wine Train.

 

A Celebrator Celebration

Our friends, Randy and Pamela, recently tied the knot in Kauai, which is our favorite Hawaiian island. Pamela is the Celebrator's long-suffering (we tease her endlessly) copy editor. Publisher Tom threw a little Celebrator party at Tommy's Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco, the best place north of the border for tequila.



The happy couple, Randy and Pamela.



The Celebrator gang at Tommy's.



Graphics Director Ken and Kathy's delightful daughter Lucy, after downing her own pitcher of margarita's with a straw.

Saturday, July 09, 2005

 

The Birthday Party

Alice's birthday party with the family was great fun and Alice seemed to enjoy herself enormously.



We had a proper cake this time which Porter was very excited about. Alice managed once again to grab a fistful of icing.



Porter excitedly ate a corner piece that was mostly icing.



Then Alice opened her presents.



Alice models her new sunglasses.

 

At the Grandparents

We went to Sarah's parents this afternoon for a family birthday party for Alice. The kids played for an hour or so until everybody arrived.



Alice tried cherries for the first time.



While Porter took a closer look around the house with Grandpa's magnifying glass.

 

Way Freaking Early

The kids woke up way freaking early so I took them back to Porter's room so Sarah could sleep a little longer.



Where Porter and Alice played with airplanes ...



and ate PB & J's and toast.

Friday, July 08, 2005

 

Mallrats

We had an excellent afternoon at the mall where Porter made some great strides in his socialization. After picking up a set of toy rockets, we ambled around the mall before going to the indoor playground by the movie theatres. There was another boy a little younger than Porter by the name of Sky (possibly short for Skyler or Schuyler?). Anyway, initially he aggressively, though not meanly, came up to Porter trying to play with his rockets. At first Porter rebuffed him and his mother scolded him to not play with other people's toys. I thought that would be the end of it since Porter normally keeps to himself. But much to my surprise and delight he came over to me, asked me to unwrap the rest of his rockets (we'd only taken the one he was playing with out of the plastic) and chose one and actively ran over to Sky and gave him one of his rockets, saying "here" as he held it out to him. You could have knocked me over with a feather, it was such a beautiful moment. One of Porter's goals on his IEP was for him to initiate play in a social setting without prompting and here it was happening before my eyes.

The two of them blasted off their respective rockets and flew them around the playground, effectively running an oval orbit around the room laughing together and generally having a good time. They flew their rockets around together even crashing them in to one another from time to time, a clear indicator of actually playing together as opposed to mere parallel play. They climbed up onto large blocks, over the tunnel mound and on top of the giant pencil. At one point, a third little girl joined in on the fun. This went on for almost half an hour as I chatted with Sky's mother. This in and of itself was something of a novelty as I'm usually totally ignored by mothers in parks like I have a large "don't talk to the animals" sign taped to my back. Eventually, Sky and his mom had to leave but Porter kept right on playing. He even offered his rockets to three older women (at least 5 or 6 - gasp) but they turned him down cold. Undaunted, he turned to his sister for solace and picked her and carried her over to me.

And speaking of Alice, as if this wasn't a good enough day already, she had a blast as well. This was her first trip to the mall playground and with her new mobility walked, cruised and crawled her way around the entire area. She climbed onto the pencil, took dozens of trips through the giant newspaper tunnel and followed her brother's exploits with glee. An older girl in an orange shirt dress with no hair on her head (chemo?) and a sweet disposition seemed very taken with Alice and followed her around laughing and trying to play with her. Whenever Alice crawled off, the orange girl would ask her to "come back, come back" and then would run after her. All in all, it was a great day all around.



At left: Porter and Alice play around the giant newspaper tunnel. At right: Sky (far left) and Porter fly their rockets.

 

Friday Routine

As usual we went to Porter's Friday occupational therapy session.



Where Theresa put Porter through his paces on an obstacle course.



And Alice and sat in the waiting room. Well, I sat while she learned to write.

 

Day 366

After begging for what seemed like hours from the time he woke up, Porter wanted to take his airplane out on the back deck. So finally after school we went out on the roof only to have him spend a grand total of 10 minutes there before he wanted to go back inside. So Alice and I stayed and played.



Alice enjoys being one year and one day old.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

 

First Birthday Party

Alice's first birthday party was a big success with pizza and cake for all.



According to Alice's big brother, it's not a birthday party if there's no pizza.



A philosophy Alice heartily embraces. Alice loves crust.



Of course, Porter loves the whole pizza.



Sarah and the kiddles.



What I do with this? Oh yeah, grab a scoop.



Porter steps in to help with blowing out the candle.



"Hey, this is almost as good as pizza!"



"Are you kidding? This is better!"



"Thanks for the party. I could do this every year."

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