Chipotle

It seems that someone we know has fallen out of love with chipotle, our go-to place for healthy, inexpensive dinner. We went anyway tonight. On the way over, she asked if she could have dessert, I said that if she ate all of her beans she could have dessert. She decided to goof off and "jack around" as we call it. The last photo was taken after I told her to stop jacking around. What finally worked to get her to eat was setting a timer on my phone and telling her the beans had to be eaten before it went off. Ta-da! Dinner eaten. Vegan chocolate chip cookie and a clementine for dessert, after sitting on my shrinking lap and painting with her watercolor set. A pretty fun night after all.

Holiday weekend

It was pretty restful and fun. We hung out with friends and just let them take care of (me). These pictures are out of order, fwiw.

View of my favorite city from the Marin headlands

Stickers for baby brudder

"Now I'll put them on my baby."

Singing Little Mermaid as we head out

Lunch break and coloring

Golden Gate park, I heart thee

At the base of the Bay Bridge

Marin Headlands

Golden Gate park

Hill walk last night. So pretty. 

Gorgeous foliage.

Thankful

Not much longer now, the guests will be here in about 6 hours. Lucia helped me set the table last night. I don't want to speak for Pete but we are enormously thankful for our friends and family. And most of all, a healthy baby in my belly. Beyond thrilled.

Oh good grief

Someone has learned the I am adorable pose. Lord help us.

Yes, exactly like that.

Lucia told me quietly this morning that she didn't like when I talked to Daddy. I asked why not; she said it was because she has to wait a long time for her turn. Given her recent propensity for interrupting every single conversation, we're trying to teach her to wait her turn, and it must be excruciating for her. But, I told her this morning, each of us all have to wait our turns to wait, and it's hard sometimes for all of us, not just her. Because we're all members of the same team; just like her soccer team (she plays soccer at preschool). She said, "[Our family team is] just like a soccer team, only with a TV."

Yes, exactly like that. So funny. 

Hit & Run

Found my car like this this afternoon. Someone has crashed into it sometime this weekend or earlier today. This could have happened anywhere, but this is just another thing that has happened to it in Oakland.
A new fender is no more than $100, but it will have to be painted also. However, Im not interested in having any paint work done as long as I have to park it on the street.
Having filed the police report, the next thing I will have to try is bending the fender back out - or I cant drive the car!
I'm mostly bummed nobody cared to leave a note and that it didn't happen on the passenger side fender because it has attracted a lot of small dents already. This fender was clean.
I hope the alignment is OK, or this will be a lot more expensive should there also be damage to the suspension as well. From the looks of it, it seems like someone has backed into it.

Pride

Lucia announced at the dinner table last night that yesterday she learned how to write the letter R. "I twied and twied and twied, and finally got it!"

So freaking cute.

New top!

So its that time again, rain is here! My top has been a bit leaky in the last few years, but since it doesnt rain here all that much, I have just parked it in the garage on those days. However over the summer the rear plastic window really started getting difficult to see through, it looked like a frosted window, more suitable as a bathroom window. I tried to fix it, but it didn't really work. A new top was ordered - with a real glass window this time, and I also had it tinted. The top is made of black canvas that's sandwiched over a rubber core and with canvas backing. Needless to say the new top looks awesome and it also cuts down on the wind noise quite a bit compared to the old thin vinyl top. Here are a couple of before and after shots I took today. 

The new top looks super clean, as if grafted from a new Porsche or something, and the rest of my car looks a bit tired now in comparison... 

There was several open holes and gaps in the old top, as seen in the image above - directly above the seat you see a tear with daylight shining through. You can also see how frosted the rear window was. Not safe!!
An added bonus with the tinted glass is that, at night, cars behind me dont blind me as the rear view mirror.

Happy Halloween!

We went trick or treating in an charming little neighborhood between ours and her school with her classmates. The school had a "parade" which wasn't really much of a parade but mostly a walk around the yard. Oh well. Lucia seemed unimpressed and just wanted to get to the trick or treating part. Also, her teachers put her costume on her and forgot her bun (the horrors), crown and glass slippers. Tsk tsk. But we recovered. We liked going with the nicer boys in the class instead of the catty girls. I'm amazed at how early the cattiness starts, but have seen it first-hand. Lucia doesn't get wrapped up in it and is able to stand up for herself, but being sensitive, I know it bothers her. Anyway, we laughed with the fellow parents as we tried to get the boys to pose for this group shot. They were totally all over the map. Meanwhile, Lucia sat there nicely like duh, we're taking a picture, sit still. Boys and girls are so dramatically different; it's so hilarious to watch.

We went up and down one block and hit nearly every house, turned around and went down the other side of the street. Lucia said that her "bee bag" was full and she couldn't fit anymore candy and wanted to go home. Ok then! I'm still battling the residual effects of a cold, so I was all for that. We all ate candy in the car on the way home. She's already talking about next year; she wants to be Tinkerbell. Ok then!