Summer!

Prism's birthday marks the beginning of the summer, and also the beginning of our "weekends" together on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Mitch is a teacher so he gets a few weeks off during the summer. These weeks allow for all of us to enjoy traditional "weekends" on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. (Mostly, Wednesdays, since Prism normally is in preschool on Tuesdays.)

This Wednesday, we saw freight and passenger trains near Jack London Square, took a ferry ride to San Francisco, hung out with the sea lions, caught the cable car and rode along the Embarcadero, and headed back on the ferry. Here are a few photos and videos:

Sorry she was counting to three...



Preoccupied with a game on the iPhone

I'm on the ferry to San Francisco!

Watching the sea lions

Under the Bay Bridge

The San Francisco skyline

Routines

Recently my parents revealed that they forgot the morning oatmeal ritual. When I was a kid, my mother would give us a large bowl of oatmeal cereal for breakfast. My father ate an entire bowl. I, when my parents weren't looking, took my bowl of oatmeal and gave it to my dog.

The last time my parents visited, I made a bowl of steel cut oats, thinking that they would like it. Prism loves it. To my surprise, they didn't, and not only that, they didn't remember ever eating "cooked oats." How could they forget? I certainly didn't!

So before we forget, here is our current routine...

7:00am - I say, "Good morning!" Give Prism a hug. She says, "I'm still resting, Mama." I tell her that I'm in the kitchen (drinking coffee).

7:30am - Mitch returns from the gym. He puts on kids' music. 15 minutes later, Prism jumps out of bed, squacks like a monkey, and gives one of us a huge hug.

Sometime after... "Let's go to the bathroom!" "No, I don't have to go to the bathroom! I need a vitamin!" Then, about 30 seconds later... "I need to go to the bathroom..."

Breakfast - Joe's O's, oatmeal, or flake cereal. Or, sometimes, scrambled eggs. I drink another cup of coffee, and make her lunch.

"Mama, can we play a game?"

"No, sweetie, we're getting ready for preschool."

"Nooooo!" etc etc.

Clothes on, drive to preschool, she takes her lunchbox and puts her hand on mine and then to her heart.

Off to work!

Prism's birthday - part 2... plus some

Prism and Jasper eating the birthday cupcakes

Between the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, and the news of Governor Sanford's dalliances, Honduras, Iran's elections, and the Bernie Madoff sentencing... well, here's some more local news of our young lady Prism.

Her birthday gifts included several new games! Now, our evening ritual includes a game of Go Fish, Cariboo, or Caterpillar. She's at the age where now one can take turns!

The other day, she wanted to leave from the dinner table without eating her vegetables. "I don't want to eat the vegetables!" she declared.

I said, "No vegetables, no tea and cookies." Suddenly, she took the fork, and ate a full bite of her vegetables. She then exclaimed, "Umm, this is good!" I responded, "Do you want some more?"

She said, "No thanks."

Then she said, "Now I can have my tea and cookies!"

***

As of a week ago, Prism started the pee-pee dance routine. When you ask her if she needs to use the bathroom, she declines. Mitch and I mentally count to ten. By about eight, she bursts, "I have to go to the bathroom!" and proceeds to pick up her legs to dance until we get to the toilet. It's pretty funny to watch.

***

Pictures and video from her third birthday party below. We went to her favorite local park and invited her classmates, neighbors, and local cousins. It was a lovely time. The cupcakes were a hit! (See last entry.) Then I ran off to work :)

Here's Prism on video being sung Happy Birthday. It was a windy morning so the candles were already expired, but we all played along anyhow for her wish:



Below is Prism on her favorite swing with her favorite non-parent, Pablo:

Prism and mutual friend Jasper eating cupcakes

Natalia, Ben and Baby Lorenzo

Prism and Bear

Her favorite swing and Mom at 9am on a Sunday in her power suit. To me, an odd pairing.

Prism and her favorite "uncle" Pablo

The birthday dessert presentation (chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, and fresh seasonal berries)

Wise kids and grown-up tastes

On Saturday when I was working, Mitch called me over spilled milk. Really! But here's the best part, the real reason I'm writing this entry: It starts with a movie called "Meet the Robinsons," Prism's latest favorite movie about a boy scientist orphan who invents things like time machines and hippocampus scanners to find his mother.

I've mentioned before that Prism has a memory like an elephant, and can recite entire scenes.

So on Saturday, Prism apparently threw a carton of milk leaving a trail of white goo. It's understandable that Mitch got a bit angry. Five minutes later, he was still fuming. She looked at him and said, "Daddy, Let go of the past and keep moving forward."

***

The week before Prism's party, I tested a recipe for cupcakes on my colleagues during our weekly sales meeting. The recipe was from comedian Amy Sedaris, and a lovely Buttercream frosting from Martha Stewart that includes boiling sugar and using egg whites (a bit complicated). My colleagues thought it was perfect.

That evening I saved a few for my soon-to-be-former neighbors, who came over for a final dinner before moving to San Diego. In all there were two boys and two girls between the ages of nearly-three and six. When dessert time arrived, I brought out the cupcakes. They rushed to each get one, licked the frosting, then every single one of them returned the cake to their moms.

So for her party I divided the cupcake batter and added chocolate to half. And the buttercream? I made the frosting from the confectioners sugar box. With that recipe, you take a box of sugar and a half-pound of butter and mix it with some milk. (The taste to me...yuck.)

This time, on her birthday, the cupcakes were gone, with the kids lingering for seconds. I guess adult tastes differ from children's!

A new kind of party

As I'm finishing up the prep for Prism's Third Birthday party, I realize that this time around the party is for her. It's not for Mitch and me, or our friends, but it's for PJ and her community -- neighbors, classmates, and those friends of ours who spend a lot of time playing with her or who have children who do.

Even my best friend isn't attending. It's a kid's party, and one that starts at 9am and ends when I have to rush off to work (11am).

And the cake? I would have preferred fresh berries, or carrot cake. But I made chocolate cupcakes, because this party isn't about what I like to eat :)

Prism Turns Three - part 1

Choo choo! Prism at the Dennis the Menace park in Monterey


I will never forget our day with Prism when she turned three.

On Wednesday, June 17, Prism celebrated her third birthday with both parents on the same day at the same time. It was a rare treat for all of us.

We took a day trip to Monterey. Our first stop was Carmel Beach. I'll let Mitch tell you what we discovered (video below -- you may need to go to the blog web site to view it click here):

Yes. As soon as we got to the beach, Prism asked me to help her take off her shirt. Then she took off her pants and underwear. Finally in her birthday suit she grabbed my hand and said, "Come on, let's GO!"

For the next hour and a half she streaked across Carmel Beach. I estimate that she ran about three miles nonstop and then took to the hills to show her bum to the wealthy houses above. Unforgettable.

If you can't see the above video click here to the Web site.

Carmel is a charming town full of boutique shops and a really big toy store. If you ever visit Carmel, read the posted "Hours" sign at Thinker Toys. Anyhow, Prism fell for this tiny plastic fan:



Next stop, Monterey. We have a family membership at the Monterey Aquarium and decided to take her there for her birthday. It is one of her favorite museums. This time around, she especially liked the hammerhead shark, the sea otters, and the penguins. One penguin actually paid attention to us visitors, so much so that I swear it was telling us that it wanted OUT.

Hanging with the hammerhead shark; playing hide and seek with Mitch in one of the many children's exhibits.

We ended the day having lunch at a place that served her current favorite seafood (video below). Our daughter doesn't like green things in her food but on special occasions she asks for, um, OYSTERS:

It was one of the best days so far with my family.

This past Sunday we held her birthday party at nearby Roberts Park; we'll post those photos in a separate blog.


Daddy; PJ and Mama; Prism buttering a piece of bread; Prism, exhausted, finds a bench at the Dennis the Menace Park.

Jackpot!

The East Bay is full of families who have to recycle their toys. Two weeks ago I found a play tent, which until now was her favorite personal room (inside her bedroom).

Someone alerted us to a multi-block garage sale and we scored her birthday present -- a bicycle, which only needs inner tubes -- and this "egg chair." It has a convertible top. It spins. She loves it!