Someone Told Me It's All Happening at the Zoo ...

So it has been an unacceptably long time since I have last posted.  And I sincerely apologize to any of y'all who may still be following along.  At any rate, I'm back and am picking up where I left off some 5 weeks ago.


Back in September we visited the Los Angeles Zoo (and Botanical Gardens) with some friends.  At the time we purchased a group membership so that we could return for free.  So last month we decided to take Max and Charlotte to the zoo on a particularly nice afternoon.


Can you see the giraffes behind Charlotte and Max?  (Hint: there are three of them.)

10 December 2011

What's a trip to the zoo without chimpanzees?  (We did not put our babies close enough to them for a good group photo -- didn't seem prudent.)

10 December 2011

The four of us spent a good deal of time near the elephant viewing area.  The elephants were nowhere to be seen, but Max and Charlotte got to run around a bunch which was a welcome break from the confines of the stroller.

10 December 2011

 Charlotte poses in front of one of the elephant displays.

10 December 2011

 
But Max thought the sticks were much more interesting.

10 December 2011

Speaking of sticks, I find it oddly bizarre that Max is fascinated with sticks, knobs and buttons, while Charlotte loves shoes, dolls and clothes.  At no point have Jenn or I encouraged such gender-specific behavior.  So, whence is this coming?  As a scientist, this sort of thing really makes me want to start running experiments with my children as subjects.  And, as a scientist, the only thing that keeps me from doing so are the inherent problems with small-number statistics.


Jenn shot a video of Charlotte getting up close and personal with a resident of the petting zoo.  Like most any kid, Charlotte loves animals.

What makes me laugh most about the video is the fact that Jenn stopped filming when she did because Charlotte couldn't help but to get too friendly with her new pal!


Of course, no trip to the zoo is complete (or even possible) without a quick bite to eat (and a beer for Daddy!) at the zoo restaurant after seeing all of the neat animals.

10 December 2011

Just two more trips before we break even on our annual zoo membership dues!

--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)

Santa Who?!

While I was off at the AGU meeting socializing with the other nerds scientists, Jenn, Max and Charlotte were out on the town.  And Jenn took Max and Charlotte to visit Santa Claus for the very first time!  (I can't believe I missed it.  Though, in Jenn's defense, it sounds as though it was a very impromptu affair, born of a desperate effort to occupy two bored, fussy children.)

Now when you think about it, this tradition of putting our children into the laps of some stranger (often) sporting a fake beard and dressed in a red suit so that they can reveal their hearts' desires and so that we can take cute pictures is pretty bizarre.  The oddity of this strange ritual was probably best depicted in a Christmas Story, perhaps the funniest movie ever (not just the funniest Christmas movie, mind you).  It's also made pretty evident by the picture below:

5 December 2011

Looking at this picture, I can't avoid the thought that Charlotte and Max were both simultaneously asking themselves: 'Who in the hell is this guy?!'  It's actually the cutest picture from that photo session, in my opinion.  Max just looks confused in the other pictures.  And Charlotte looks eager to be anywhere else.  Perhaps next year they'll have bought into the hype and will be begging us to take them to see Santa.  Maybe not.

At least this Santa's beard appears to be genuine.

--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)

Charlotte and Max Head North for the 2011 American Geophysical Union Conference

Last weekend Jenn, Charlotte and Max traveled with me to San Francisco, California, where I attended the American Geophysical Union's annual Fall Meeting.  It was a quick trip, as I only attended the planetary science session on Monday (including the poster session in which my poster was presented).  But we did fly up early so that we could visit with Jenn's aunt Judy in Oakland, California.


Max and Charlotte were enthralled by the singing of their cousin Meredith (a.k.a. Missy).  (Well, second cousin, but who -- aside from me, of course -- is picking nits?)  Jenn and Missy's mother, Stephie, were pretty amused, too.

3 December 2011

The day before the conference began we met up with my friends Jen and Adrian and their new baby, Alexis.  While I was busy getting a jump on the conference registration Jen and Alexis posed with Max and Charlotte.

4 December 2011

Alexis gets a piece of Max while we all stopped for a meal.

4 December 2011

Charlotte gets her first close look at an Australian (Adrian) and discovers that they're not so bad after all.

4 December 2011

Adrian poses with the young ladies.

4 December 2011

This isn't exactly my kind of picture, but I know this picture of Alexis and Charlotte "kissing" would provoke too many oohs and aws to forgo including it in this post.

4 December 2011

As seems so common with babies, Max and Charlotte really got a kick out of spending time with another baby.  And I was so happy to meet Alexis myself.  I'm just sorry that it took so long!


Following our breakfast at the wonderful Cafe de la Presse on Tuesday morning, Jenn posed for the babies in downtown San Francisco (please note the awesomeness that is Charlotte wearing her pink hat).

All in all, it was a great trip!  We got to see Aunt Lauren in Oakland, as well as Missy's brother Garrett and Missy and Garrett's dad, Mike.  And we also spent a lovely evening with Jenn's friends Chuck and Betsy.  The Fall AGU meeting is always held in San Francisco.  And it's such a fantastic time to visit the city.  I sincerely hope that we can make this an annual Christmastime tradition for us.  (A tradition which, I note on the off chance that there are any NASA program managers reading this, would be much easier to uphold if one my grant proposals were to be funded!)


--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)

Thanksgiving

Though this was technically not Charlotte's and Max' first Thanksgiving, it was Jenn's and my first Thanksgiving with them that we'll be able to remember concretely.  While we know what we did last year, we were still within our first two weeks of parenting and desperately trying to sort out our new lives.

This year we had Thanksgiving dinner at the home of our cousins Paul and Janetta.  And Aunt Lauren came down to spend the long weekend with us!  As you can see below, we all had a blast.

Max and Charlotte enjoyed Thanksgiving turkey in their portable high chairs.

24 November 2011

The next day we went to Griffith Park where we rode the train,

25 November 2011

and Max and Charlotte took their first pony rides.

25 November 2011

Max was sad for the train ride to come to an end; Charlotte was fond of the ponies.

Max and Charlotte spent some quality time with Aunt Lauren.

26 November 2011

And, for at least a few days, Rufus (foreground) and Lucy (leaning against the wall) enjoyed having another member of the pack around: Bailey, Aunt Lauren's puppy.  Everyone, toddlers and terriers alike, got along together just great!

26 November 2011

So I've obviously got a backlog of posts to clear; it's been a busy few weeks since Thanksgiving.  Sorry about the delay.  And I promise that there will be more updates over the next few days!

--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)

Max and Charlotte Get Cold-Blooded

Charlotte and Max (and Jenn and I) attended a birthday party thrown for the son of one of Jenn's girlfriends last Saturday.  The party was a hit, with not one but several highlights.  Among them were some special guests escorted by a local reptile wrangler.


Charlotte made a new friend, an African spurred tortoise.

19 November 2011

And Max met a Chinese water dragon.

19 November 2011

Personally, I was much more comfortable with Max and Charlotte hanging out with this guy than with the Burmese python.

19 November 2011

They both liked the reptiles.  But I couldn't help noticing that Max seemed more intrigued by the trees.  He's fascinated by the plants outside our home, too.  Is my son perhaps destined to be a botanist?  More importantly, why do I feel compelled to make such wild extrapolations and to try to see the future?


--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)

Birthdays #1

Last weekend Charlotte and Max celebrated their first birthday!  So much has happened to us in the past year that it seems hard to believe that Jenn, Rufus, Lucy and I welcomed Max and Charlotte into our lives just 12 months ago.  And we're not just happy but proud that we have made it this far.  So it seemed appropriate to throw a big party to celebrate!  Grandma Judy and Grandma Cheryl came to celebrate with us, as well as Aunt Pat and my sister Lauren, among so many others.

Charlotte and Max get in the party mood (and learn to use a toothbrush).

7 November 2011

 
Max gets his first taste of birthday cake ...

12 November 2011

... and Charlotte gets hers.

12 November 2011

People often ask about the differences in Max' and Charlotte's personalities.  Well, to answer that I draw your attention to the difference between Charlotte's piece of cake and Max' piece of cake (or what was a piece of cake).  I don't know exactly what that says, but I think it says something.  And you've heard of milk mustaches?  Well, all on his own Max has invented the icing mustache at the tender young age of one.

12 November 2011

We hung a few old photographs of Max and Charlotte around our living to decorate for the party.  They're still up.  Here are a couple of those old photographs:

A happy Charlotte when her hairline was at its nadir.

1 April 2011

Max after one of his first meals of solid food.

15 April 2011

That blue spoon is history, having been stolen and chewed into many tiny pieces by one of the terriers (my money is on Lucy, but we'll never know).

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us.  And thank you for all of the gifts they received!  (Max and Charlotte are now the proud owners of the wheelie featured in this post, as well as one that is shaped like a tiger.)  Charlotte, Max, we love you so much already and look forward to years and years of fun birthday parties.

--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)

All Hallow's Eve

So what did Max and Charlotte dress up as for their very first Halloween?

GNOMES!

31 October 2011

Jenn made their costumes, of course.  Charlotte loved wearing her gnome hat.  Max ... not so much.  (Hmmm ... I wonder where he gets that?)  And I, for one, am so excited for them that they have such an artistically inclined mother who will help them with oodles of fun art projects as they get older!  (The previous comment is meant in no way to be taken as an indictment of any mothers with whom I might have grown up.)

We hope y'all had a Happy Halloween!

--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)