Bathtime Splashes

In Memory of Great-Uncle Dean

Elizabeth's Great-Uncle Dean was an avid backpacker and hiker. Mom wore her Lower Trail t-shirt in his memory while in Carmel this weekend.



September 9, 2009 -- T. Dean Lower, 91, Presbyterian Village at Hollidaysburg, formerly of 224 Ruskin Drive, Altoona, and 815 N. Juniata St., Hollidaysburg, died late Wednesday afternoon at the home after a brief illness. He was born in Williamsburg, son of Thaddeus A. and Anna G. (White) Lower. He was twice married, first to Jane Young, March 23, 1942, in Winchester, Va., and she died March 30, 1987. He then married Jane Patterson Kazmaier June 2, 1988, and she preceded him in death May 16, 2008... Mr. Lower was a 1935 graduate of Williamsburg High School. He graduated from Dickinson College and then Yale Law School in 1947 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He was a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of WWII. He was an attorney for 53 years without interruption, being admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in July 1949 and retiring Jan. 31, 2002. Dean was instrumental in the development of the [Rails-to-Trails] Lower Trail and Lower Lookout, which were named in his memory. He was the first recipient of the Philanthropic Award given by the Central Pennsylvania Community Foundation.

Man-Walk

The much anticipated "Man-Walk" took place today. Jason and his good friend Jay (Will) Choi set out with the boys in Golden Gate Park while the moms enjoyed pedicures. We met back at home, where nearly 4-month-old TJ and nearly 10-month-old Will dropped trou to show off their chub.

Aunts All Around!

In August, Will got a full dose of aunts across generations, not to mention uncles and cousins. We enjoyed a wonderful visit with Aunt Linnie, who came all the way from India to see us! While she was here, we headed up to Santa Rosa to see Will's Great-Great Aunt Bobbie and also had dinner at GiGi's in North Beach with Uncle Kit, Aunt Heidy, Second Cousin Betsy (or is it cousin once removed? We decided to promote her to Aunt status!) and Betsy's boyfriend, Nathan.

Will is sitting up very well these days and considering crawling. We say "considering," because really what he is doing is figuring out creative ways to get to his toys without actually having to crawl. This includes rolling - this kid can roll fast! - as well as Mom's personal favorite, his ability to fold himself in half. In this technique, while seated with his legs in a V-shape in front of him, Will can bend so far forward that his belly touches the floor! You can achieve a remarkable reach radius when you're this flexible!

A few pictures from Aunt Linnie's visit and Will's reaching techniques are below:



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We also hopped on a plane to Tulsa, OK to visit the Misner side of the family. We were surprised to discover that Tulsa has many rolling hills, and enjoyed our tours of several neighborhoods, the parks and downtown. Will met Aunt Katie, who traveled to Tulsa from Maryland, for the first time, and also got to see Aunt Karissa, Uncle Matt and Mimi and Poppie. But the icing on the cake was that Will met his new cousins, Alex (7 months) and Lydia (2 1/2 months), for the first time!

Here is a photo of the proud grandparents with their adorable grandbabies:


























Will picked up a few new things in Tulsa from his cousin Alex, including a penchant for saying Da-Da-Da-Da, much to Dad's delight (though it is somewhat indiscriminate). Not content with just one consonant, we now hear a medley of Ba-Ba-Ba-Bas, Fa-Fa-Fa-Fas, Ka-Ka-Ka-Kas and La-La-La-Las. Think Ba, Ba Ba, Ba Babara Ann...; Fa, la la la la, la la la la...; De doo doo, de da da da. Hmmm, perhaps we have a mix CD in the making! There are some Ma, ma, ma mas mixed in, but much to Mom's dismay, the Ma series is usually employed when he's getting a little sad! Looking at it in a positive light, perhaps he knows that Mom is always happy to give him a snuggle when he needs one.

It's especially cute when he makes these noises under his breath while concentrating on something else, and he often rehearses the full sequence in his crib when he wakes up in the morning.

A few pictures from our visit to Tulsa are below:



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Snuggling with Kitty Marybeth after Bathtime

Montana in July

We've just returned from a wonderful visit to Bozeman, Montana, which culminated with the wedding of our friends Nicholas and Anna. We've enjoyed visiting Uncle Kit's vacation house in Montana for many years now, but having Will with us made this visit extra special. You may recall that Will visited Bozeman in Mom's tummy back in September of last year.

One of the things we enjoy doing in Montana is, well, nothing. A whole lot of nothing, in between hiking and skiing (in the winter!), visiting Yellowstone, fly fishing, rafting, watching the tennis tournament of the moment (usually Wimbledon or the U.S. Open) and exploring downtown Bozeman's shops and museums - if you count curling up and reading a good book or taking a nap while listening to the breeze or the fire crackle as "nothing," that is. We quickly discovered that you can't do "nothing" with a baby around! Which meant that we did some extra exploring.

After a classic American 4th of July at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds, our week included a swim at Bozeman's Bogert Pool, a visit to the Tuesday Farmer's Market, a nature talk with Nicholas and Anna's naturalist, a trip to Clyde Park for burgers, a mountain bike ride for Jason and stroller hiking on Kit's property. We also really enjoyed exploring Bozeman's urban trail system, which is extensive and something we had never done before. Our favorite hikes were in Triple Tree Ranch and along the ridge at Burke Park.

Wedding Day for Nicholas and Anna arrived, with the setting amidst an evergreen grove dubbed the Ring of Elders. It was a special way to end a week in one of our favorite places!

Some photos from our trip are below:



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Happy 4th of July!

We arrived in Bozeman, MT just in time for the 4th of July fireworks at the Gallatin County Fairground. Because it's so far north, the fireworks didn't begin until 10:30 pm! Will, an hour behind on San Francisco time and fresh from a quick snooze in the car, enjoyed his first fireworks.

Happy Father's Day!

We got off to an early start to Jason's first Father's Day with breakfast with Uncle Kit at the Pork Store Cafe on Haight Street. Jason is still craving his Corned Beef Hash. After a nap (for Will) and some lunch at home, it was off to the trail by Land's End at the ocean in San Francisco. The weather couldn't have been better. Check out our Father's Day photos, below.



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Food, Fish, Friends and First Loves

Will's culinary experience has taken a great leap forward with the introduction of solid Food the past few weeks. "Solids" really means all sorts of pureed fruits, veggies, and even meats and pastas. Dad points out that "Tomato Pasta Dinner" looks more like the extra sauce in Spaghettios than actual dinner. Nonetheless, if the only thing you've ever tasted is breastmilk and formula, this is one giant leap for Will-kind. So far, there hasn't been a puree that Will won't try. Carrots are a real crowd-pleaser, while spinach elicits a somewhat perplexed look, as if to say, "Let's be honest, here. Would you want to eat this?"













In the Fish department, we recently took advantage of the Neighborhood Free Days to visit the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Will was enthralled by the aquarium during the coral reef tour, and had fun swatting at the butterflies in the rainforest section! Our intrepid explorer also checked out the scene at the Bay Area Discovery Museum.













Will has some new Friends on the horizon, one of whom he hasn't even met yet! Natalie C. (the bump in pink with mama Carrie, below) will make her appearance come September. As for TJ C., whom we welcomed in mid-May, the boys and their parents met up for drinks at Axis Café a few weeks ago (sidenote: Will sat in a high chair in a restaurant for the first time!). Beyond being adorable, TJ has hair worthy of Don King. Will, undeterred, gave his best shot at the look.






















Finally, what would babyhood be without a First Love? You may remember Sadie B., who just six months ago was surprised to discover that the newborn baby sitting in his carseat amongst her toys was not just a stuffed animal. My, how their love has grown! Will has a look reserved just for Sadie that can only be described as baby ga-ga.

Will at 6 Months

We had a wonderful time with photographer Nina Naylor at Will's 6 month photo session. She really captured Will's personality and the sweetness about him that is so hard to put into words. While we have many of our own photos of Will, when we saw these, we fell in love with him all over again (yes, we know, we're biased!). We hope you enjoy some of our favorites:



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Nina has moved to New England! In fact, Will was her last Bay Area photo shoot. For blog readers in the Boston area, you can find her contact details at www.ninanaylor.com.