Max Eats Chinese

Papa Ron, the King of flea-market treasure hunting, took us to the giant once-monthly flea market in Alameda. We had a great time walking up and down the aisles and checking out the various offerings. Plus, the views of San Francisco across the bay and the cool mammoth container ships in Oakland were simply to die for! Max could have watched the container ships loading crates for hours.

After the flea market, we stopped at a local Chinese restaurant for lunch. I don't know if Max has ever had Chinese food before, but it was a huge hit. He enjoyed the hot and sour soup even though it was "really spicy" and he couldn't get enough of the Chicken Chow Mein. The problem, however, was that he couldn't use chopsticks and he also couldn't figure out how to wind the noodles around his fork. Another child might have picked them up with his hands, but Max has a weird fastidious streak and he doesn't like getting food or water on his hands. So, he went for an unorthodox technique that wasn't pretty, but it did get the job done:



As I'm sure Max would agree, the food in this place was amazing. There were hundreds of people there for Dim Sum and we were literally the only table of non-Chinese folks. That's generally a pretty good sign and this restaurant did not disappoint. We're so happy to be back in one of the culinary capitals of the world. Now, if we could only afford to eat out more often...

Halloween

The G. family had a great Halloween this year! It is so much fun learning to appreciate holidays anew through the eyes of a child. I can't tell you the last time I carved a pumpkin, but we did it this year with Max and he had a blast. Trick-or-treating was also a big hit this year. Max actually lasted much longer than we though he would (probably an hour) and this was no small feat given that we had to walk up some pretty steep hills in Papa and Nana's neighborhood and almost every house had 10-20 steps in the front. Whew! At least we were able to work off some of the calories from the Halloween candy (or so I like to tell myself). Another fun Halloween event was the rockin' party we attended last week at our friends Megan, Jeff, Ben, and Alex's house in the city. Thanks, guys, for having us over!

Below you can find a little footage from the Great Pumpkin-Carving Extravaganza 2008:

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we had a great time picking out pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch. Can you believe how similar Scott and Max look in the unposed photo below???!!!

Back in Cali and Back Online!

Well, after two agonizing weeks without internet access, my new best friend, the Comcast man, arrived today to lift me out of my technological isolation. There is so much to report that I couldn't possibly explain it all, so here are a few highlights:

1.) We successfully moved out of our house in Alexandria and moved in with Scott's Dad and stepmother in Oakland. They have been extremely generous, and so far the cohabitation is going well (at least from my perspective. Maybe there's a reason that Ron left on a "business trip" last week and that the two of them suddenly decided to go down to LA this weekend. Hmmmm...too much time with the crazy grandsons, perhaps??!!)

2.) We bought a house in Alameda and will be moving in in late November. I hear there's a housing crisis in this country, but that certainly wasn't our experience! We made offers on two houses and both times there were two other offers. On this most recent house, we emerged victorious, but probably overpaid a bit in the deal. Oh well. Who needs cable TV, organic groceries or dinners out? I think it will be a great house for our family for many years to come and I love the location. Photos to follow soon.

3.) Max has not settled into the big-boy bed routine particularly well. It takes close to an hour to get him down at night and most nights he hops out of the bed and comes into our room several times. This is exhausting and frustrating for everyone, but Scott and I remain hopeful that our patience will hold out and he will eventually get the idea. Otherwise, we're slapping a lock on that bedroom door in the new house and Max can take it up with his psychiatrist sometime in the future!

4.) Henry has completely transformed in the past two weeks. He's grown hair, sprouted five teeth, taken to eating Cheerios, and learned how to crawl! His crawling is more like an inchworm or a 1980s breakdancer than any traditional form of crawling, but it is still purposeful forward locomotion and he is getting better at it by the day. God help us all!!!!

5.) California is gorgeous. The weather has been picture perfect since the day we arrived and we have been enjoying driving around, visiting San Francisco, Berkeley, and Stinson Beach, and reconnecting with old friends. We really miss everyone in Alexandria, but we are excited about our future here.

I promise to post more soon. Everyone please keep in touch!

Max, Henry, and one of our movers in Alexandria.

Henry in our empty living room in Alexandria. So sad!!!

Max at Dulles. Thank God for the portable DVD player and Finding Nemo!

Henry chilling out on our Virgin America flight. This was before we both fell asleep and I let him roll off the seat and fall onto the floor. Yup. I win the Parent of the Year Award for sure.

Henry discovers Cheerios! And Mommy gets a few minutes of peace to prepare dinner.

Henry basks in the California sunshine at Stinson Beach.

Henry eats sand at the beach, clearly taking after his Aunt Nicolle.

The G. family enjoying our new life in California.

Henry's First Time in the Sandbox

I took the boys to our favorite park, "The Pit," this morning for a little outdoor fun. I decided to put Henry in the sandbox for the first time and he loved it! He really enjoyed raking his hands through the sand, watching his big brother, and sneaking the occasional taste. Between last week's tuna casserole incident and today's sand hors d'oeuvres, I would say that Henry is off to a rather unorthodox start in the food department.

L'Shanah Tovah!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Max's Political Commentary

Two recent unsolicited comments from Max:

1.) "John McCain is a good man. Not president."
2.) In reference to conservative pundit Bill Kristol on Fox News Sunday -- "What that guy talking about?"