A Busy Weekend

On Saturday, the Salvateenies celebrated their 13-month birthday (I am told we can keep counting in months until they turn two...).  Little did they know what a very full weekend they had ahead of them!

On Saturday, we all headed out to AT&T Park for the Giants Employee Party.  We were late arriving, but we were able to set up a little picnic near first base (or what would have been first base during the baseball season - since the field is currently home to Cal football, we were about mid-field on the 5 yard line).

Max showing off his Giants socks

Caroline is pointing out there is a roast beef sandwich next to her

Going for a bigger part of the sandwich, she still won't let go of her chocolate milk!

Look how happy she is now that she has a whole sandwich roll!

But there's still more sandwich to covet!

Max's first garlic fry

Get it in there!

Daniel tries a fry himself

It may not look like it here, but the garlic fries were a big hit

First taste of watermelon

I think he liked it...

Caroline's first taste of tomatoes - not sure she liked it

Daniel stretches for more garlic fries

Got it!

Yummm

Max offers to share his watermelon...

...with the pretty girls, obviously

Caroline's hair is SO curly in back!

Daniel's digging in to get some more garlic

He thinks it's finger-licking good!

Playing patty cake with the girls

She is not a cleean eater

Proving boys can make weapons out of anything:

Watermelon rind becomes a slingshot

Watermelon rind becomes a gun

The breeze felt good

"Aaahhh"

Max's Frankenstein impression

"Let's play ball!"

I think she might be ready for apples!

Off for a crawl on the grass

Uncle Kelly took a break to play a little football

Daniel got a cuddle from Mallory

Max had a serious talk with Maureen

Caroline was yawning

So she grabbed for a can of hyphy energy drink - uh oh!

After the picnic was over, we drove back across town to meet our friend Kate at my alma mater, where part of the 75th anniversary celebration included a tour of the public art work on display in the halls and exterior of the building.

The babies were very well behaved, even if it doesn't look like it here

It was a long day, though, and they were tired

I couldn't pass up the chance to get a picture with them in front of the greatest high school campus view ANYWHERE

And as if that wasn't enough, on Sunday it was time for the 'teenies' friend Junior's 1st birthday party!

This is what Junior did when I told him to smile

Max loved the chips

...and the guacamole, which got a Max handprint in it

Daniel had his share of chips, too

Caroline and Junior's Aunty Sarah hit it off!

Daniel stole Cheerios from another little girl

Junior's cousin Neveah helped Caroline check out the sound system

Niveeta made sure Max's chin was clean

Junior was not nearly as messy as he could've been!

Caroline made up for it for him

Daniel enjoyed the cupcakes, too!

Max looks like he's burping, but Caroline's eying that empty cupcake liner and hoping for more!

Caroline is pointing out that she needs another cupcake

Oh well, goldfish crackers will have to do

Daniel's not complaining

Hanging out with the birthday boy

Somehow Caroline got ahold of Sam's camera

which she thought was really yummy

And then, all of a sudden, she was up on the present table!

And getting ready to dance!

And here are the mommies - congratulations on a great year, Sam!

Another Zoo Outing

Last week was "Zootoberfest" at the San Francisco Zoo.  This is a new event and the zoo is open  for members "after hours" (from 4-9) with live music, activities for kids, and special food.  Somehow it felt weird to eat ribs at the zoo...but they were yummy!  We met up with Sam and Junior and my friends Alyssa and Tony joined too.  Sadly, I forgot the camera, but that's what cell phone cameras are for, right?

We wandered through the African Savannah (the most brilliant habitat in the zoo) and over to the gorillas.  Tony was trying out his new zoo key and had just gotten the little box to start telling us about Silverbacks when the gorilla sitting in the enclosure in front of us decided to make a commentary of his own and chucked his feces right at us!  Luckily, Tony threw himself in front of Caroline's stroller so it didn't land on her!

The poop that was headed for Caroline

After that excitement, we decided to get some food and sit for a bit.  I went off in search of milk, and ended up buying some nice steamed milk from the espresso vendor.  Tony held Caroline while I poured the bottles and then fed her.  When I first handed her off, I said, "Tony, you hold Caroline..." and he responded by asking, "Umm...how?", but I think he did a fine job overall.

Caroline isn't complaining!

We decided to go to the petting zoo and, since it wasn't teeming with little kids, we actually rolled the babies through, too.  Tony took advantage of the chance to brush a goat and pet a sheep.

and pretend to ride a horse:

Alyssa took pictures of her new sheep friends:

while Caroline mostly enjoyed the new tray on her stroller, which she apparently thinks is a foot rest!

Max and Daniel were not terribly impressed by the barnyard animals:

We made Tony pretend to be a butterfly, which was a little mean because he'd done a big bike ride that morning and the squat he had to do to line the antennae up made his quads really burn.

So Alyssa agreed to be a peacock - especially because she was so excited to see them out and about, just running loose in the zoo!

I don't know if you can tell, but she's wearing an elephant-print dress and a giraffe necklace - this is a girl who knows how to embrace a theme!

Sam and I will be back in a few weeks for the annual "Boo at the Zoo" Halloween celebration.  Can't wait!

Catching up

Whew - it's been two weeks already?  Time flies when you're teething!  Actually, it doesn't.  But more on that later.

We celebrated the end of the babies' first baseball season by taking in one last game at AT&T Park.  We got there early so the babies, who hadn't been to the ballpark in over 5 months, could see everyone they'd been missing.  First, they headed up to the Press Dining Room to see Maria and Eva.

They also enjoyed eating bits of bran muffin that Daddy fed them.  Next, they went down to the Press Box to explore.

Daniel, looking for game notes

Caroline can find toys anywhere!

Look at my pretty orange and black outfit!

Daniel, chilling in the stroller

Max, making friends

Daniel even got a baseball from Ed Montague!

After the press box, we went out into the stands.  It was way too hot to sit in our seats upstairs, so we went for a tour around the Promenade and then mingled in the lower boxes with some friends.  I'm not sure what happened in the game, really, because we didn't get to watch much of it.  The babies did incredibly well, so we left in the seventh inning stretch to avoid pushing them too far.

I think Daniel had the best time of any of them:

Plus, he gets to show off his new car seat!

Next season, we'll be sure to scour the entry plazas looking for the Salvateenies' commemorative brick on the "Walk of Champions"!

Over the weekend, we had to make sure the babies got extra clean so they'd be ready for our photo shoot on Baker Beach on Sunday.  

The new game is "throw all the toys over the side!"

Daniel, showing proper stretching posture

Reading in the tub!

You caught me!

Here's a sneak peek of what  the family portraits will look like:

For the photo shoot on Sunday, the weather was mild and the babies were in good spirits.  We weren't quite sure how we were going to schlep them all over the beach for pictures, but when we opened the door to the car, my dad magically appeared!  He'd been at the Castro Street Fair and had some gifts for the babies from the "Young Punks" booth.  We quickly drafted him into service as a baby toter and distracter.  The most bizarre of his duties was as a prop - literally.  At one point the photographer sat us on a low tree branch to get a nice view with the bridge in the background.  Joe was nestled in on one side of the branch with a baby on his lap and his arm around my back to steady me.  I sat next to him with one foot propped up on a branch and a baby on the knee, and the other baby on the other knee.  The only problem was, there was nothing for me to steady my other leg with!  So my dad sat down in the sand and scooted himself down out of the shot, holding my foot in place.  I'm pretty sure we would've tumbled out of the tree otherwise.  I'm sure when we see the pictures, I'll look terrified!

After the weekend's dramatics, the weather turned wet and cold and Caroline's teeth decided it was time to join the party.  She spent much of Monday being generally unhappy.  Monday night, she cried so loudly that she woke Max up, which almost never happens.  Joe took charge of her to calm her down, and I took Max in the living room.  Joe's calming effects got Caroline snoozing in our bed within ten or fifteen minutes, but Max had decided he was enjoying his slumber party and didn't sack out until 5:30!  This meant I got about 45 minutes of sleep all night.  Not fun.

Tuesday was another day of pain, both for Caroline and her sleepy parents.  She and Max woke up a few times during the night, but there were hours of uninterrupted sleep and it felt like things were improving.  Until Wednesday.  Caroline cried all day Wednesday.  I understand why - three of her upper teeth are pushing through, and they're HUGE.  But it was still a lot of crying.  Wednesday evening she wouldn't go to sleep at all, and when I tried to put her down, she woke Max again.  This time we both got up with them.  Caroline was howling at the top of her lungs, and Max would cry the instant you let him go.

After drugging her with Ibuprofen, teething tablets, and orajel, I finally broke down and called the advice nurse, who, hearing her in the background, asked how long she'd been having these problems.  When I said it had been about 3 days, the nurse's voice turned judgmental as she said "And she hasn't been seen by a doctor yet?"

"No," I thought, "she's teething."

But the nurse assured me that "just teething" would not cause the level of irritability she was hearing over the phone (I assume she meant Caroline's crying), and after a brief consultation with the on-call doctor, she decided I should either bring her to the ER or call back after 6am for an appointment the next morning.  I was still harboring fantasies that I'd be able to go to work on Thursday, and I knew it would not be a good idea for Joe to take all three babies in to the doctor that morning, so I packed her up and took her to the ER at 2:30am.

20 minutes and a $50 co-pay later, the doctor diagnosed her as "teething" and we were given her next dose of ibuprofen, along with instructions that we could supplement with Tylenol between ibuprofen doses if she was in pain - which is really all I needed the advice nurse to tell me.  Thanks a lot.

Caroline in the ER waiting room

At the time, I thought the blurriness was my eyes...

Of course, she flirted with the nurse and doctor

 When we got back, she took about another hour to settle down, but Max still refused to sleep, and after the second sleepless night that week, with two crazy, sleepy babies, I ended up having to call in sick for the next day anyway.

Teething continued over the next few days (we're not out of the woods yet!)

Caroline, sucking on a teething toy

Daniel and Max showing off where their teeth are

And on Friday, Max got into an argument with one of his new toys and ended up with the second shiner of his young life.

(that onesie, from the Young Punks, says "Pooh is my homeboy")

That's two black eyes in the first 54 weeks, while neither Daniel nor Caroline has had one - I think Max might need to curb his enthusiasm a little bit.

The good news, though, is that my school pictures came this week!