Wow, it’s amazing how parenting can really distort time. I can’t believe a year has gone by already. It’s been a wonderful experience so far, and I am very much looking forward to all the years ahead with all the challenges and joys they promise.
I know we haven’t put out an update to DingoPress.com since August, so let’s get right too it!
The most immediate big news is that Olive officially took her first steps on October 8th. Our friend, Carrie, coaxed Olive into taking her first few solo steps in our kitchen at Summerland. It wasn’t until today that I got to see it for myself. I was lucky enough to catch it on film. Above is a look at our little biped.
So that’s the latest big news around here, but a lot has happened since August. I just checked, and I have over 300 photos for the blog. I will have to do some judicious editing. Let’s pick things up from late August and our family trip back to Boston….
Back to Boston
Olive was 3 months old when we first visited Boston. She was cute, but her personality was not much to speak of compared to who she has become. It really is an amazing transformation, and I understand why they call the first 3 months the “fourth trimester.” She was really just a little helpless blob those first few months. Now mom and dad have become the helpless ones.
Our little princess is turning out to be a pretty charming individual. She takes after her mother with an ebullient personality, saying “Hi” to every stranger and strange dog on the trail yesterday while I pushed her to the top of Runyon Canyon in her stroller. She’s also into interior decorating, like her Mom, everyday she rearranges the books and cds on the bookshelf in her parent’s bedroom. Or at least that’s what I think her final plan is going to be. …hmmm
The plane ride to Boston was uneventful. Olive did great. My oldest sister, Jude, picked us up in her fancy new Subaru that she bought from Costco. We happily made it to Nana’s house where Mrs. Littles and Auntie Lee Lee became fast friends after some discussions about just who was in charge of the toys.
Olive is still a little angel, even after her run in with Auntie Lee. That devilish training just didn’t stick this time. Although, she did come back to L.A. with much more confidence saying the word “No”. In fact, it’s her favorite word now. She uses it for just about everything. Sometimes at night Kate and I wake up to Olive just saying “No, no, no, no…” over the baby monitor.
More Babies
Well some other great news we heard while in Boston, and I am pretty sure that it’s public knowledge now, is that my baby sister Renee and husband Ben are pregnant for the first time. Yippee, more babies!
In fact, Renee is pregnant with twins believe it or not! Doubly blessed. It’s great news!
Early Birthday Celebration
My sister Michelle hosted a lovely cookout for us as the first event on our visit to Boston. We invited a bunch of our friends from the Boston area, their kids and all our family members. It was great to see everyone. My sister was a real sport to host the gathering the night before her family was heading out for a summer vacation. Olive had a blast playing with all the kids and collecting all the various soccer balls she could find. At the end, Michelle surprised us with a birthday cake so that Olive could celebrate an early birthday with all her family on the East Coast.
Old Cape Code
After the cookout, we packed up an overnight bag and borrowed Auntie Lee’s car for a trip down to good ol’ Cape Code. We were the gracious guests of our fun friends Paul and Jen Harrington and there cute kidos Ava and Edith.
Olive absolutely loved being with the older girls, and she had her first real taste of swimming in the wild and playing on the beach. It was a blast. Jen and Paul are always so fantastic and welcoming. We enjoyed ourselves completely. They have a lovely cottage in Harwich where we ate our fill of lobster and had a difficult time departing when the time came.
Paul and I used our collective software technology backgrounds to assemble a new grill. Surprisingly, no one was injured.
Mom and daughter where not pleased when finally we had to get up from the cottage beds and head back to Boston.
Around Town
Back in Arlington, we visited with lots of folks around town including some fun cousins.
That’s Jill’s kids Melanie and Meredith. Olive and Meredith really hit it off and although Meredith could just barely carry Olive, she lugged her all around the party that night. It was kind of a funny site to see. Olive thought it was great.
Below from left to right are cousins Melanie, Abby, Meredith and Molly.
Back at Nana and Auntie Lee’s house, Olive was having a grand old time playing with all of Nana’s toys. Come to think of it, Nana and Lee were having a pretty good time themselves.
Staying at Nana’s house was great, but there were some moments when her mental state was questionable as evident in the photos below.
She claimed the weapon was not loaded.
Romi, Timo and Sophia’s House
Romi and Timo hosted a fun party at there place over the weekend. We saw lots of our pals from Boston along with all their cute kids. Timo cooked up some yummy food on the grill and Romi setup a beautiful altar in the yard for us to perform a ritual for prosperity. Many of the party goers joined in, and we had a fun time. Hopefully the gods hear our requests and this year we will all prosper.
We also got to see a lot of the east coast babies up close and personal.
Our hostess, Sophia, is happy to see us but cautions. Josie and Olive meet again, below, and find they share a common love of basket type objects.
We also got to meet our new friend Hunter up close for the first time. He is just a wee one, and cute for sure, but his sister Katia is going to be the real heart breaker in this family.
It was also great to see Bob and Emily, Jeremy, Laura, Ben and all the other old folks. I guess when the kids are around you just plum forget to take everyone else’s picture!
Back in Arlington, we met up with Kate’s friend Alison and her son Euan. Olive and Euan had a blast hanging out at Spy Pond. There are lots of cute pictures from this session, but here’s the one I like:
At the end of our second week, we headed up to Maine for a visit with the Maine folks. We went to a lovely park outside of Portsmouth, NH in a place called New Castle. We met up with a bunch of family and some old friends. My sister Renee’s childhood friend Ellen was on hand with her kids Annie and Luke.
That’s Molly in the wheelchair, Luke in the way back then from left to right is Melanie, Meredith with Bryce, Renee holding Olive, Ellen and her little’s named Annie in the front.
Molly has a rare disease called CDG Syndrome, but that doesn’t stop her from having a great time. In fact, she has a blast at these family events. It’s always great to see her and spend time with her because she is just a happy, fun loving girl. She learned how to say Olive’s name pretty well after spending a few days with her.
Olive felt glamorous and popular. She was looking for someone to fetch her a Daiquiri and rub lotion on her skin towards the end of the day.
We finished up our time back east with a fun trip into Boston. We wound up walking all over the city. Olive tried steamers and corn on the cob for the first time at the Barking Crab on Fort Point Landing. It’s a great place for basic seafood in Boston. It’s a fun location.
We spent some time chillin’ in the Boston Common.
We went to check out the swan boats. We got there too late for the boats, but still in time for the swans.
Well, that was our trip to Boston in late August of 2009. It was fun. Olive loved it and came back to LA a changed woman. She knew how to boss people around and that saying “No” and pointing at stuff could allow you to accomplish just about anything if your parents tend to fall over themselves trying to do your biding. Good times.
Bye-bye Boston. Until we meet again!
Half Way
This brings us to the half way point in our blog. If you are at work reading this, maybe now is a good time to actually pretend to do some work.
The Actual Birthday
Olive’s actual birthday turns out to be on September 22nd. That was a Tuesday this year. Last year she was born in the wee hours of the morning on a Monday. This year we slept a bit later and then opened gifts from some friends.
Olive’s Grandpa Trent, his wife Bev and there son, Uncle Nate sent Olive a great big box. The box was filled with individually wrapped doll house furniture and cute dolls. It was all great stuff and Olive absolutely loved unwrapping it all. Kate caught some of her “oooing” and “aaaahing” on this video:
The Birthday Celebration
The Saturday following Olive’s birthday, we invited all her friends and admirers over to Summerland for a day time cookout and cupcake eating party. It was a blast. I fired up the old Weber grill and Kate got the house in tip top condition for hosting lots of people under the age of 1 year. It was pretty cute to see all the little people partying it up!
Olive’s Uncle Bernard got her a special gift. He asked me to provide him photographs of Olive’s family members. Then he worked with a friend of his to have a story he wrote illustrated with all the family members as stars in the book. It was a great gift and one we will keep as a special reminder of this time. The book is called “Olive Paradis and the Ever-Widening Circle of Love.”
Pretty cute. Thanks Uncle Bernard!
Max and Aunt Alice came over early to help us setup and Olive helped Mom out with the baking of birthday cup cakes. It was a fun time for everyone.
Several days after the birthday party, we received a package from Auntie Lee back in Boston. We had sent her some measurements and she sent Olive the most adorable poncho and hat. Olive was very pleased with herself when she tried on this outfit. She request the use of our cell phone so she could call some friends.
After the parties, she relaxed in her room with a stuffed animal party.
October Weddings
After Olive’s Birthday party, I was given permission to head down the coast near San Diego for a camping bachelor party. Our friends Casey and Julie were scheduled to be married at Yosemite on October 10th. It turns out that my Niece Kate was also scheduled to be married on the same day in Maine. Sadly, my Kate and I over estimated our vast supply of wealth by just a touch, and after the big trip to Boston and some other surprise expenses, we were not able to make it to either wedding.
There’s my niece Kate and her new husband Shawn. My sister Renee was the officiator at this wedding and our good friend Uncle Bernard was the officiator at Casey and July’s wedding.
Kate and I were home cleaning closets and re-arranging our sock drawers while these fantastic events where going on. We were sad to miss them, but real happy for the excellent couples getting hitched.
All our love and best wishes go out to Kate and Shawn and Casey and Julie!
Marathon Niece In San Francisco
As a consolation for not being able to make either of those fantastic weddings, we scraped some funds together and booked ourselves a weekend getaway to San Francisco. We had a dynamite excuse for this trip. My oldest niece and godchild, Megan, was running her first marathon.
That’s Megan with Olive at Kate’s Kitchen in the Lower Height district. We had a nice big breakfast and spent the day before the race together. It was great to see Megan. She is a hot ticket and she worked really hard to get herself in shape for the marathon. The race was Sunday morning, so we got together early on Saturday and did a small tour of San Francisco.
We strolled down Height Street and into the park. Our first destination was “The Conservatory of Flowers.” This place is an amazing green house built at the turn of the century. It houses one of the oldest and largest house plants I have ever seen. The plant is a philodendron. It’s 100 years old, and about two stories tall.
The rest of the green house sports some amazing micro-climates as you move from room to room and the flowers are amazing. If you are in town, you should definitely check it out.
After the Conservatory, we sauntered over to another amazing museum I have been wanting to check out called “The Academy of Sciences.” This recently opened museum also features a bunch of micro-climates and all kinds of amazing animals, fish, plants, and insects from around the world. We had limited time, so we focused on a tour of the rain forest exhibit which was just amazing.
In the rain forest exhibit, you walk from the floor of the rain forest up to the canopy. At each level, they present an exhibit of the various reptiles and insects. The entire place is filled with exotic butterflies just flitting around and landing on people like colorful little fairies. But once at the top, you take an elevator down below the floor to the aquarium exhibit which is outstanding.
The Big Race
We stayed at the St. Francis in Union Square. It just so happens that this is exactly where the marathon starting line was going to be. So Sunday morning before 7:00 AM we were roused from sleep by the sounds of some 20 to 30 thousand people running and cheering. I took some grainy video of the start of the race from the hotel room. It’s not the best footage, but you get a sense of just how big this race is.
This is the annual Nike Women’s Marathon. They run from down town here out to the embarcadero then up the peninsula coast, under the bridge and down ocean beach. Apparently some 14 Million dollars was raised to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This is a charity dear to our heart, seeing as if our dear sister Jill is a leukemia survivor.
There’s our champion above, no worse for the wear after running 26.2 miles in just about 5 hours. Good lord! I get tired just sitting at my office desk for less time then that. Needless to say, I was quite impressed by my godchild’s accomplishment and I can only chalk it up to hard work and excellent spiritual role models. Blessed be!
We all went out for a big lunch after the race and then said our goodbyes. Great job Megan! You are a real hero, and I am glad my little one has such amazing and inspiring older cousins to look up to.
One More Thing
The holiday of Halloween is coming up. In the catholic tradition, the following day is called “All Saints Day” and out here in L.A. folks from Mexico celebrate “Dia de los Muertos.” The ancient Celts and modern neo-pagans call this time “Samhain” and all of these traditions celebrate this time as the final harvest, Summer’s end and a time to remember and communicate with those who have left us.
With Samhain in mind, I’m remembering my father, John, who passed away around this time last year. It was on November 4th to be exact, but I left to spend my last few days with him on Halloween night. It was just a few weeks after Olive was born. My dad was a deeply spiritual man. He loved everyone he met and gave them all the benefit of the doubt without question. He was a committed husband and father. I have thought about him often this last year raising my little daughter (he had 6 of them!).
When last we met, he promised that he would watch over my little one. I have to say that he has done an outstanding job so far, and I pray that he keeps it up!
I wish I could be back home with my mother, sisters and the rest of the family to celebrate his life and honor his passing from the hardships of this world. When we were kids, he would sing to us in bed. His voice is one of the strongest memories I have from childhood. In particular, I remember him singing a version of “Scarlet Ribbons.” I know he was a fan of Harry Belafonte, so I put this little video together below in honor and memory of Pa. With much thanks and appreciation for looking after my little Olive from your place in heaven over this past year.
Thanks for reading this far everyone. Have a happy and safe Samhain.
Until we meet again,
Jack
