Monaloca

Come one come all – the official “Hot Flashes” launch party is this Friday at Book Passage in Corte Madera. I’ll be reading a short excerpt from “Salt Melts Like Snow,” and my whole family (Joey, both kids, my folks) will be their to “cheer” me on.

To learn more visit the new “Hot Flashes” website.

Event info:
Friday, September 28, 7pm
Book Passage: 51 Tamal Vista Way, Corte Madera

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We had our first “big family” vacation last week: My folks rented a house right across the beach in Capitola. Our family joined my sis and hers, and Grandma and Grandpa Weiss watch the chaos and delight of four kids aged three months to four years.

Some highlights included trips to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, where we all – even little Meli – rode the carousel. We also enjoyed sand time on the beach and walks around the tiny downtown. Once the kids were down for the night, the four of us new parents left Grandma and Grandpa in charge and walked across the street to a cozy wine bar.

I posted some vacation pics on Flick’r. Enjoy!

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Hints of fall have started to touch the air: today Berkeley is all high fog and cool breezes. The crisper weather reminds me how fortunate I was to have a summer baby. What would I do without our daily marathon-like walks to all corners of the city?

Some of my new-mom friends have just returned to work, and before long others will join them. I’ve always planned to restart my contract in mid-November, but as of today we still don’t have childcare lined up. Never mind that we paid application fees last February for three daycares. Apparently nine months might not be enough lead time for a spot. Today I found out we’re still number six on the waitlist at our top-choice center. Another told me “maybe in January” and the third hasn’t returned my calls. Hmmm… maybe we don’t want Meli there after all.

In the meantime, we’re still having fun around town. Just last Friday Melina had her first swim “class” at the Berkeley High warm pool (see pic). She was completely wide-eyed at the whole experience!

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On Saturday our little girl reached three months, which apparently is a time of growth leaps and developmental bounds. She’s no longer a newborn, but a full-fledged, smiling Gerber baby.

Some of Melina’s personal tricks of late (both individually achieved and parent-induced) include:

• She has near-complete neck control. Just look at her sitting in the Bumbo chair, and in the Ergo carrier with Joey!
• We purchased a BOB jogging/trail stroller that she uses without the infant carrier seat. We’ll still use the Snap ‘n Go and carrier for errands around town, but the BOB will be a much nicer ride for long walks and hikes, and was great for our trip to Tilden Park’s Little Farm and Jewel Lake today.

  

• This morning she rolled over for the first time! She was having some tummy time with me playing with her legs and helping her roll from front to back then back to front. I then left her alone for a spell and voila – she flipped from belly to back all on her own! It didn’t seem to phase her in the least, and I’m not sure it will happen again any time soon, but it was still very exciting.
• She’s all mouth and hands… She gabs and blabs a ton, loves to suck on her fingers and fists, and holds onto anything within close reach.

  

• She still an incredible night sleeper, often going from 7pm to 5am without a peep, then again til 8am after an early morning snack.
• She laughs. Not little giggles but big, throaty, straight-from-the-belly LAUGHS. It’s awesome. Joey made her laugh first about a week ago, simply by making silly sounds. Now she belts them out for everything from funny words to physical activity to me pulling the vibrating elephant on her play gym. This new trick of hers is my personal favorite, hands down.

  Hear her chuckles on youtube!

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On Sunday we hosted a Labor Day weekend BBQ for a bunch of our new-parent friends – mostly people I’ve met through several moms groups.

Melina got to hang out with buddies from my pre-natal yoga class that she’s “known” since she was in utero (see four of them lined up in the pic – they have a two-month age range but are all almost the same size!), plus some new friends from a faciliated group we’ve been attending. It was a great occasion to get all the dads together, too!

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Late last week I had an appointment in San Francisco so left Jelly Bean home with Daddy for the afternoon. They had a blast, reading stories, playing with games from Daddy’s store (see image) and of course changing a poopy diaper or two. I also had a great time relishing the late summer sunshine at the Ferry Building and taking a long walk without a stroller. I felt a little naked at first, but got used to it pretty quickly and was back with the little girl within a few hours. Oh – and she seems to be off her bottle strike (yippee!) – at least for now.

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