Quarantine

I forgot to mention, Nikos is very into sharing lately. He loves to share his toys, his food, anything, with you! This weekend he shared his cold with us. While he seems to be over it Taki and I are dying here. Of course this is my busiest time at work out of the whole year, so I really don't have the option of taking the time off. Never mind the fact that last night in the middle of the night I found myself actually hocking a loogie right onto my pillow...inches from my face. EWWWWW. I woke up enough to toss the pillow on the floor and resume sleeping with a different pillow. Anyway, the cold started for me on Sunday and has progressively gotten worse and Taki just came down with it last night. Grrreat.

I DO NOT like green grass and ham...I do not like it Nikos I am

On Sunday Nikos and I headed to the airport to pick up Grammy and Pop-Pop on their way home from their cruise to Mexico. We then headed out for some Antioch heat and playtime with the cousins.

Even in the Antioch jungle, Nikos is not a fan of grass. At least his left leg isn't.

Latest cousins shot - we got all of them to look at the camera! Maile - 4 years 9 months, Nikos - almost 11 months, Mason - 2 years 5 months and Kira - 5 months.

Grammy "snorkeling" with the grandkids. I'm not in the picture because I was busy swimming around pretending to be a humuhumu, pink fish, great white (!), hammerhead and a dolphin.


I tried to explain to Maile and Mason how we saw on Mythbusters how sharks do tend to leave their prey alone when it is accompanied by a dolphin but I am not sure if they fully appreciated my story.

Cheers!

Friday night happy hour! While Taki hits up Schroeders in the city, Nikos and I get ready to wine and dine Cecchin style.

This photo is dedicated to Vernie and Mason, who he is desperately trying to emulate with his hairstyle.

Marco, Brooke and Nikos pose for the camera.


Brooke sits on Nikos lap for the first time - I think Jack would have broken this up but he wasn't in the room at the time.

After a slight mishap with a wine glass, Ally (Ali?) sips her wine from one of Marco's bottles. Avery takes this moment to model a very Berkeley baby wrap.

Nikos models a poncho handmade by Linda (Sarah's stepmom)'s mom. Marco was nice enough to lend it to Nikos since I forgot his warm clothes. Bad mother.

Apparently Jack and Jeff forgot that the camera they absconded did not belong to a stranger but to one of their fellow partygoers.

Oh what a difference a year makes.


Brooke's first gang sign? Either that or she is giving the "L" for Lutheran. Hopefully she doesn't do that the day they try to get her in to Corpus Christi. (sp?)

Brooke and Nikos chill on the Cecchin's deck.


Flashback to them chilling at my parents' house in Antioch last September...look how much they've grown!


Saturday while Taki and Jeff worked on the deck Nikos and I visited our first preschool (eek!) Garden Day Montessori, where our neighbors Nico and Lucien go, had a silent auction and fundraiser. Nikos and I took a tour of the school and are going to put his name on the wait list to see if they have space next summer.

Being on his best behavior to impress the daycare wore Nikos out and he fell asleep after we got home. I took the picture because it is the first time we have ever seen him fall asleep (at home) on his tummy. Wahoo!


After Nikos woke up from his afternoon nap we headed over to Picante with Katie, Jack and Brooke, Sarah, Jeff and Marco and Guillaume, Lucien and Nico. We had a great time with great friends and great margaritas!

Dinner and a Movie (Not Necessarily in that Order)

Last night we hit up the Baby Brigade for our fourth movie with Nikos - Leatherheads. The night started out well with us winning the raffle which included a snack box of cheerios, a 10% off coupon for a local baby haunt and free passes for two for another Baby Brigade movie. Wahoo! I was very excited and in fact yelled Wahoo out loud. Ahh, it's the little things. Nikos babbled for a little while and then fell asleep about 30 minutes into the movie. This time I got smart and just passed the little sleeping bundle over to Taki halfway through the movie. Phew!

Taki tore his eyes away from the riveting (ha!) movie long enough for me to take this picture. Contrary to popular belief, and his blatantly partially open right eye - enlarge the picture if you don't believe me - , Nikos is really sleeping. I know, freaky huh? One day his girlfriend is going to be totally weirded out by this. That and the snoring...which he is already exhibiting. Like father, like son...


Tonight was our first Date Night courtesy of our neighbors. (And yes Melanie, that pile of stuff in the corner behind me is all for you!)

On alternating Wednesdays we put Nikos down to bed and then our neighbor Robin comes over to hang out while he is sleeping and Taki and I get to hit the town. On the opposite Wednesdays I go over to their house and hang out while Kate sleeps and they get to enjoy a night off. It works really well since both kids tend to go to bed between 7-7:30 and not wake up for 10-12 hours. (Sorry, I had to leave the computer for a second and go knock on wood.) On top of that, our houses are so close that I can take my laptop and still be connected to our wireless network while I am at Ken and Robin's house. Ha!

Anyway, tonight Taki and I went to Rivoli in Albany - every year I want to make it to as many East Bay restaurants that make it on SF Gate's Top 100 listing and this year Rivoli was the first one we hit. Dinner was fabulous and while we were enjoying our dessert and after-dinner drinks we were getting quite a kick out of the spring/winter couple next to us (is that what you call it when the guy is old and the chic is young?) At one point, the guy actually said, and I quote, "In two years, if I don't make it to Guatemala than I have no business calling myself a man." What?? I almost choked on my chocolate tarte and I think Taki snorted a little sundae up his nose. Oh wait, it is called May/December, huh? Details. Anyway, I think the next place we will try is Wood Tavern in Oakland. Anyone been?

Rub a Dub Dub

While Grammy and Pop-Pop are on a cruise to Mexico, Nikos enjoys a boat of his own in the kitchen sink.

A little CPR for the seahorse.

Taki decided that this was the moment that I needed to take a picture of Nikos with his first Cubs tickets (we head to Chicago to catch a game in May). As you can tell, Nikos seems a little disinterested - maybe when the August Yankees tix arrive he will show a little more enthusiasm.

Oh look - a green baby shampoo and body wash - just in time for Earth Day!

The Boys of Summer

Grass, Jumpy Castles and the PoPo

Today we celebrated our neighbor Lucien's 6th birthday with a block party that included a jumping castle!

This is Niko's second time sitting on grass and he is pretty unhappy about it. He tried it out the night before at Jack and Katie's house. As soon as I sat him down he immediately picked up one leg so that it wasn't touching the grass and tried to raise the other leg as well - then he started to cry. Well, here's proving that his first experience wasn't a fluke.


Apparently we should have expected this because Taki detested grass as well and cried whenever he was set down on it. Sissy.

Next we decided to put all of Niko's time in the jumparoo to good use -- in a big kid jumparoo!

Nikos was then arrested for jumping too high in the jumping castle - crazy kid. Okay, okay, really the PoPo stopped by to say hi to everyone and to enjoy a little good PR. When they first walked up I thought they were strippers (what kind of party IS this...) but no, real cops. They found it quite comical that I asked if they were strippers and yet they were still nice enough to pose with Niko.

UPDATE: Apparently a jumpy castle takes it out of you! Nikos went down for his second nap at 5:30 last night (usually he would only nap for a 1/2 hour to an hour at this point) and he slept through until 5:30 this morning! He then took a bottle, went to sleep and got back up again at 7:30 (his usual wake-up time). I am thinking of investing in a jumpy castle for the backyard!

East Bay Happy Hour - D'Angelo Style

After a long week of work we headed over to Jack and Katie's for a weekly happy hour. Jack and Katie hosted us with wine and cheese for the adults and lots of fun toys for the little ones. We got to get a preview of their newly landscaped fabulous backyard as well as enjoy the downstairs living room. (Our Oakland friends are all very fancy, they have a living room on each floor.)

Jeff and Marco relax in the Oak-heezy. Is there a hypen in this word?

Brooke officially enters the mohawk competition (previously a domain owned by the boys) with the remnants of the littlest ponytail ever. Meanwhile Nikos tries to distract her by offering her one of his asterisks.

Nikos and I chill by the kid-friendly coffee table. This picture was doctored in order to appear on this blog and not be flagged as x-rated. Note to Taki - thanks for giving me the heads up before you took the picture. Hello?!

Next time I will make sure to get pictures of everyone, since it looks like Jeff and I were the only ones at the happy hour (with all three kids).

Sand and Swings

On Tax Day we took our little deduction to the park to enjoy the sand and the swings. After I scooped him out of his stroller and realized he wasn't wearing any socks I put mine on him so he wouldn't freeze his little toes. The results were a bit comical. He enjoyed the swings but wasn't sure how to feel about the sand.

Third Time - Still a Charm

Testing our luck, last night I took Nikos to another movie at the Parkway. Working off the success of the two previous outings, I threw caution to the wind and went solo - well, solo without Taki. Nikos and I met up with Sarah and Marco to watch The Other Boleyn Girl. The night went really well (albeit differently than the two previous movies where Nikos fell asleep after about 10 minutes). This time Nikos was up for about the first hour of the movie, giggling up a storm. Who knew he found adultery and beheadings funny? I think he was just trying to compete for attention with Marco, who was an angel but did let out a steady stream of loud gas that caused our fellow movie-goers to erupt in giggles. So, while Taki and Jeff forze their but butts off at the Giants game, Sarah and I enjoyed pizza, a pitcher and a movie. Fabulous.

Sarah and Marco after the show.

Out like a light...apparently he is immune to the charms of Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman.

Mirror Mirror On the Wall

In the interest of full disclosure - I did have to try this with a few different sets of photos until I got it so he looked like me. Ha! - Heather

40 Degrees Warmer Than We Were Last Weekend...Seriously

What a fabulous weekend! It was in the mid to high 80s this weekend in Berkeley so we enjoyed spending as much time outdoors as we could. We went for a few walks and on Sunday afternoon we met up with Jeff, Sarah and Marco to enjoy a few drinks and lunch on the sunny patio at Raleighs on Telegraph.

For some bizarre reason I forgot to have the waiter get a shot of the four (eek six!) of us but I did take some cute ones of Nikos obsessing over the fountain.

Method Photo Shoot

At Taki's new job they take each employee's picture and a picture of something that means a lot to them. For his item Taki had the photographer take a picture of the Nikos dogtag necklace that I gave him shortly after Nikos was born (on the back lists all his stats). Here's the shot that the photographer, Andre Shaw, took.

Laughing with Pop-Pop

One of these days I'll hold the camera the correct way when I am taping him.

PA!

This past weekend we traveled out to Pennsylvania to celebrate my Grammi's life at her funeral service. Although the trip was difficult it was great to be around so many family and friends that we haven't seen for awhile.

Nikos and Kira were champs on all four flights (two each way) and they didn't complain once about it being FREEZING and in the 40s the whole time we were there. What? Isn't it Spring? I must admit Melanie and I did some griping about how cold we were. Responsible person that I am I only brought heels and flip flops for myself (don't worry Nikos had his Uggs!) Of course, I feel like I must now mention that I forgot to bring a blanket for Nikos because I know Mel will bring it up in the Comments. Well, now Nikos owns a very cute blanket from Target's mod baby collection. Gotta love Target.

Kira and Melanie are all smiles on our first flight of the day from San Jose to Denver. This photo was taken before Kira fell asleep (for the whole flight). Nice.

Across the aisle, Pop-Pop, Nikos (and his giraffe rattle) and I settle in. Love the weird banana peel action in the background.

My dad was very patient, I think he had to ask every passenger in a three foot radius to retrieve the rattle in the first five minutes of the flight. Nikos just loves to see how far he can toss it! Nikos stayed up for the entire flight but didn't cry at all. It was touch and go for awhile and involved me standing in the aisle for a few minutes but all was well with a change of scenery. Fellow passengers actually commended the kids as we got off.

As we wait to de-plane Nikos laughs in the face of his "Infant-in-Lap" status and enjoys his own seat. (Notice the costume change. I actually just took off his outer onesie since it was HOT HOT HOT on the first flight and he was burning up. I thought I better point this out so I don't get called out for faking scenes and shooting retakes like The Hills.)

Thrilled to be adding another state to the list of two he has been to in his life - California and Washington - I know, I know, when we were in Tahoe for Thanksgiving we didn't cross the street to go to Nevada. Argh. Anyway, add Colorado to the list. You count airport layover states, right?

Positive thinking caused me to change Nikos into his pjs for the next flight to Philly.


Hmm, here is another one of my dad and Nikos. Apparently I did no work watching my child on this portion of the trip.


The afternoon after our arrival we gathered at Aunt Beth and Uncle Ray's house to enjoy family and food.

Mich, Heather and Nikos


Kevin and Kristin play house with Nikos. We were trying to figure out their relationship to him. 2nd Cousins? Cousins Once Removed? Regardless, he liked them - I mean, look at that adorable smile.


Here we remember Grammi by enjoying a game of Liverpool Rummy. We had a great time laughing and telling stories over the card game. The tale of finding Jesus at the King of Prussia mall still has me in giggles.

Nikos helped me remember if I was supposed to be saving sets or runs. He is quite the card shark.

Aunt Sue (aka Loyal Blog Reader) does double duty, watching both Kira and Nikos.


My family is so awesome! They planned for us to pick up pizzas from Nat's Pizza - my favorite pizza place ever! Of course I demanded that I go along to pick it up so I could get a picture of Nikos in front of the pizzeria.


Here's a picture of the last time I was there - Taki and I made a quick stopover in the Philly area after our honeymoon in Aruba in September '05. Love this place!


Are you wondering what has his attention? Eavesdropping on someone else's conversation perhaps?

Ahh, like mother like son.

Little Drummer Boy.


King of the Castle (Pizza Castle that is.)


And now a shout out to my loyal blog staff, it would not have been possible to stage this photoshoot without their diligent efforts. Kevin, thanks for driving and narrating along the way "Here's CB West, there's my best friend's house, hey we just passed our swim coach" and Kristin thanks for suggesting different poses for Nikos. Sorry we didn't take you up on your offer to ask the counter guy if we could go back in the kitchen.

Back at home (and apparently after a meal of butternut squash since he still has the remnants on his nose - bad Mom!)

Uh oh, where is his loyalty here? Don't worry Giants fans, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Taki and I agreed that he would be an SF Giants fan and a Philly Eagles fan. Basketball and Hockey are still up in the air although I think the Flyers have a shot.


Here's a shot of Uncle Joe and Auth Beth's awesome kitchen - I am jealous of their exposed brick.


Nikos get a kick out of Uncle Joe telling him that there were no infant pictures of Pop-Pop because he was an ugly child. Ahh, the city of brotherly love.


Cheers!

Enjoying the luncheon for Grammi are Uncle Ron and Aunt Barb (all the way from Delaware) and Uncle Joe. I think Nikos is plotting to steal Aunt Barb's baubles, he has become quite the jewel thief in training (as Jess Ward pointed out).


I join the picture. I wish you could see Nikos' whole outfit - he had a tie on! Yes, people were actually referring to him as "the little one with a tie". He had a braided belt on as well. Ha.


Later at Aunt Beth's house the three oldest girls from Aunt Sandy and Mich's Kids' Week pose with their children - how weird is that!! Mel and Kira, Nikos and I, Jess and Peyton (who is NOT named for Peyton Manning or the chic on One Tree Hill thank you very much).

And here's a fun shot of us from Kids' Week in July 1983. Aww. We are so grown up now. Too bad I didn't get Greg in the picture from this weekend - I think he has changed the most!

The night before we left we had a mini photo shoot with Kira and Nikos. Here is the comparison shot of Kira (4 months - 13 lb 11.9oz, 25 in.) and Nikos (10 months - 15lb 10.3oz, 27.5 in.). Ha.

Nikos' foot on left, Kira's on right.


On our last day in PA my dad indulged our (my) food cravings. First we stopped for a soft pretzel and then off to Dunkin Donuts. Sadly, Mel deemed my taking a picture at DD too lame so it I can't show you photographic evidence of that one.


Nikos grubs a pretzel piece.

And to all a good night...Nikos on the flight home.

He slept four hours and 30 minutes of the four hour and 40 minute flight from Chicago to San Jose. One of the flight attendants commented that the kids were so good and "did we give them anything?" Ha. I hope this bodes well for our flight to Chicago next month and Aruba in June!