Memory Lane

Yesterday afternoon we loaded the boys into the car and took an impromptu trip down to Stanford University. Scott attended a football game there this past fall, but I hadn't been back to the Farm since 2001 when my sister graduated.

It was a picture-perfect, sunny, summer day and the campus had never looked better. We walked all over the place checking out old haunts and new construction. The whole experience made me surprisingly emotional. On the one hand, I was so excited to be back and to reminisce with Scott about college memories and the early days of our courtship as well as to point out things to the boys ("Look, kids, another fountain!"). On the other hand, I also felt very nostalgic and a little bit sad. Boy has life changed since I was an undergrad at Stanford. I'm a stay-at-home mother of two now, and my life is constrained by the small daily necessities of caring for babies and keeping a home. Don't get me wrong, I love my life and I wouldn't do anything differently, but the stability and sense of calm that I have found as a wife and a mother and a woman approaching middle age (34 years old???!!!) certainly come at the expense of the exhileration and freedom of my college days.

I LOVED being in college. I loved the sudden independence, the fascinating new friends from all over the country, the constant intellectual revelations, the sense of open possibility about myself and my future. Just think -- back then I had nobody to take care of except for myself! My God! The delicious decadence of it!

Clearly, I can't go back to that world, and I wouldn't even if I could. Any day of the week, I'd swap a lecture on T.S. Eliot and a late-night philosophical debate in the dorm for the beautiful faces and warm hugs of my two little boys. But there's always a twinge of sadness in contemplating things lost and left behind, in trading a sense of becoming for a sense of having become.

Henry at Tresidder Student Union

Memorial Church

Max and a Rodin Sculpture

Max walks the wall

Cooling their feet in the fountain outside of Memorial Auditorium

A perfect "Stanford" activity on a hot day

In front of Green Library where I spent SO MANY HOURS!

Scott's Favorite Pizza Place in Menlo Park (yes, it is still really good!)

Max voices his thoughts on Stanford University

Annual Well Visit With the Pediatrician

Things have come full circle here at The Rumpus. I started this blog almost exactly a year ago after an epic visit to the doctor with my then two-year-old and four-month-old. At the time, I swore never to schedule dual appointments again, but the pain of any experience fades with time and the convenience of "two birds, one stone" eventually won out.

I'm happy to report that this year's visit was a much smoother affair thanks to more mature children and snack-traps full of crackers. Both boys appear more or less healthy although Henry's left ear is a still red even a month after the initial ear infection and Max has apparently lost some weight. The doctor wasn't unduly concerned about either issue. Henry isn't in pain and he doesn't have a fever, so the ear will probably clear up on its own in time. As for Max, he is continuing to grow taller and he does, in fact, eat, so the weight thing is probably just a blip caused by his VERY active lifestyle these days. I've put him back on whole milk as a precautionary measure and selfishly, I have to say that it is nice not having three different kinds of milk in the fridge at any given time!

For those of you interested in statistics, here's the breakdown for the boys:

Max was 32 lbs (54%) and 3' 2.75" (74%). Henry was 24lbs 6.4oz (44%) and 2' 8" (70%).

Of additional interest, Max is stinkin' flexible:

and Henry is stinkin' cute!

Max's 3rd Birthday

I don't have much time to write because the boys are waking up from their nap, but I wanted to post a few photos from Max's third birthday. We had a wonderful party at the park followed by a family BBQ. Max loved his new weedwacker (just like Daddy's!), his t-ball set, and all of the other exciting gifts. Talk about birthday excess! Jeez! This kid does not want for anything!

We feel so lucky to have such a smart, adorable, funny, curious little boy.

Happy Birthday, Max!

The Big 3-4

Max works on the birthday cake

The birthday "girl" and her two boys

The serenade (I look like an idiot in the beginning because I thought

Scott was taking a still photograph!)

Happy Fourth of July!

Nothing says "Happy Fourth of July" like a hometown parade, and Alameda competes with the best of them. We enjoyed taking in the excitement with our old friends, the Freunds. Afterwards, we had lunch together, got messy in the sand and water table, and crashed for a good nap. Later this evening, we're off to a BBQ with new friends here in Alameda. What a great day!

The Gerber Men

Max looking cute

Henry sporting the "Joel LaLone eyebrow"

The Freunds

Henry and Mama

Alameda has a poet laureate???!!

Tall Uncle Sam

Max and Ben

The boys watch the parade

A Jewish band on the tiki bar float? Their sign said "Happy 4th of Jew-ly"

Family photo

The big-kid table

The rest of the lunch crew

Henry and Alex get soggy