4th Anniversary

Four years ago tonight, Dylan and I tied the knot at Pacific Union Pocket Park at MCASD La Jolla. To celebrate our 4th anniversary, we hired a babysitter for Connor and had dinner at the ocean terrace at George's at the Cove, with a brief stop first at our wedding park. We arrived at the park right at 6:30pm, which is exactly when we got married on April 30, 2006. A museum photographer happened to walk into the park just as we got there, and he agreed to take our picture:

We walked into the park through the same entrance as we did on our wedding night, and left the park through the same exit, tracing our walking route to George's, right along the cove.

We arrived at the restaurant just in time to enjoy the last bit of warmth of the day, and a gorgeous sunset over the ocean, complete with swaying palm trees and frolicking seals down below.

After a round of cocktails and artichoke bruschetta, we ate crisp and flavorful salads, then dinner: Loch Duart salmon with peppers, fennel and polenta for Dylan, and the herb crusted halibut with sweet corn, cherry tomatoes and snap peas for me. George's never ceases to amaze us with their impeccable meals - amazing flavors, beautiful presentation and a lovely atmosphere.

Mid-way through the dinner, I excused myself and stole a minute to head downstairs to the room where we ate dinner on our wedding night. The restaurant has been completely redone since, and although it is now a different looking room, it still occupies the same space. I cast my gaze upon that space for a just moment, remembering the details of the wedding dinner, reflecting upon the life we have built together since, and feeling extremely thankful that Dylan and I continue to prioritize each other and our togetherness over all other things. By the time I returned back upstairs, the waitress had brought complimentary raspberry champagne and we were toasting to each other, to our anniversary, and to our future.

New Word of the Day: Bubble

Connor has figured out how to say "bubble" after several days of experimenting with various "b" sounds, mostly while reading the bathtub page (filled with bubbles) of "Big Dog and Little Dog Go for a Walk". Just like most things, he appears to be a bit cautious with his spoken words, preferring to perfect them internally before sharing publicly. He is currently working on "balloon" and "sun". I know this because when we look at books with balloons, his finger presses them while he quietly says "ba..ba..ba". When we look at a sun he tentatively says "sssssss" and then gazes up at me shyly.

Swim Lessons

Now that naps are more flexible and awake time is longer, Connor has gotten involved in some great activities lately. His favorite thing so far, hands down, is swim lessons at Murray Callan. He started last Thursday afternoon, and I could not believe how happy it made him to be in the water. I think I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time because the smiles and giggles from Connor were contagious. He loved our instructor, Martina, and seemed to really enjoy the feeling of gliding through the water. We also have lessons on Monday mornings at 8am so that Dylan can get in the water with Connor too. This morning I was able to take a few pics, and also document on video Connor's first venture with his head underwater.

He did great and appeared to be unfazed by the whole thing. He's our little fish!

Artichokes

Our artichoke plants are yielding delicious 'chokes for the first time after a month of neglect while we were away.  We had our first ones last week and they were awesome.  These guys will be boiled tonight and dunked in lemon butter, alongside our salmon burgers and salad.

Connor Food

Feeding Connor these days has become an incredibly fun adventure.  He can basically eat almost anything we eat at this point (cut up into pieces), so introducing him to new things has become an awesome and endless experiment in our kitchen.  I love food, and it makes me happy to see other people enjoying food, especially my baby, so I am all over this.

Recently we found out that Connor goes wild for tomatoes and blackberries, avocado and hummus - even salmon burgers (salmon and herbs formed into a patty, then grilled or broiled).  And his most recent crush - peanut butter, spread on toast, between bananas, or stirred into plain yogurt.  He normally ends the meal with a piece of whole wheat toast, cut into chunks.  I call it toast-o like they did in Japan and that gets me a big smile every time.

Flow Running

Running has been a hobby of mine since I was twelve years old and discovered it as an activity at summer camp.  I realized quickly that I was sort of a natural - running came easily to me and I loved the feeling of the hard work it took to keep going even as fatigue set in.  In middle and high school, I enjoyed outdoor and indoor track, finding my perfect race in the 600 yard dash. 

Over the years I have run several times a week for fun, and even competed in the occasional 5k, 10k and half marathon.  But my style of running has evolved, and now has its own distinction from most long-time runners.  I like to call my style "flow running".  What it means is that I run several times/week without a specific goal in mind.  I don't know how long I will run for, how many miles it will be or even exactly what my route will be until I set out the door and see how I feel.  This may sound crazy, but it really works for me, and helps to keep things fresh since I don't get locked into a routine.  Some days I may run three miles slowly, other days I may run nine miles at a good clip.  I trust my body and flow with how it is feeling.  I give myself a break on days that are harder for me, and watch myself pass the limits on the days that I can churn it out, like our first day back from Japan when I breezed through eight miles after not running for close to a month.  Most importantly, I never leave a run feeling negative - each time I put in the best effort I possibly can, and on the last few steps before reaching my house I take a minute to really feel my body and to remember why this is my hobby - because I love it!

First Birthday Party

Yesterday was Connor's first birthday bash, a joint party with his best bud, Alden.  It was an afternoon get-together at Alden's grandparents' house and so much fun to get a bunch of friends together and see the kids enjoying themselves.  This time around (as opposed to last time around) Connor decided that cake is good thing, as evidenced by the pics below:

He and Alden enjoyed vegan sweet potato spice cupcakes by Darin & Melissa, and I agree with the boys that they were amazing.  After the party, Andres and Emily (who drove down from LA) came back to our place for lasagna, salad, wine, some great conversation and silly times.  This morning Andres made us chilaquiles for breakfast (yum!) and we said goodbye, something we hate doing with those two.

It was a great party weekend!!