Two Turn Two

Max and Charlotte celebrated their second birthday about a week and a half ago.  It was not the grand affair that their first birthday party was, but it was exciting nonetheless!  Just as we did a year ago, we had a party with plenty of friends, presents and birthday cake!  This year we held a smaller party at the neighborhood park in the late morning/early afternoon (thus avoiding difficult bedtime conflicts and extensive post-party clean-up).

Charlotte posed with Brenda for a few pictures ...

10 November 2012

... as well as Brenda's daughter, Gabby.

10 November 2012

Many thanks to Brenda and Gabby for bringing the Elmo birthday cake!  I'm sure it needn't be said that it was a big hit.

10 November 2012

I hear it was delicious, but I never did get to enjoy a piece (not that I'm complaining or anything ...).

Chalotte and Max consider what they're going to do with all that cake, while Dean (left) and Reed (right) look on.

10 November 2012

Charlotte gets together with the big girls: Livi (left) and Annie (right).

10 November 2012

In the meantime, Max was having fun on the playground.

10 November 2012

Not pictured but also in attendance were Grandma Judy, Geraldine and Chris, Kim, Cindy Jo and Ronan, Henry and Czarina and their son Peter, as well as Max and Charlotte's playground friend Quinn and Quinn's nanny and parents.


Charlotte and Max inspect some of the cool new presents they got.

11 November 2012

It is quite clear that Charlotte now grasps the concept of "the present", as she kept asking for more, even long after that particular well had run dry.  I don't know if Max really got it; he was too busy playing with his new toy garbage truck.


The night before their birthday Grandma Judy, Jenn and I took Max and Charlotte out for a tapas dinner at a new Spanish restaurant in Old Town.  (No, really!  They pounded down jamón and marinated olives.)

11 November 2012

After dinner Max blew out the candles on their birthday desert, as Charlotte was (fortunately, from a self-preservation standpoint) a little too scared of the burning candles.


And the fun didn't end there!  We had a small celebration on their birthday at home.

12 November 2012

Grandma Judy sang "Happy Birthday" to Charlotte and Max.  And lit the candles on their birthday tart (with berries!).

12 November 2012

Max had to blow out the candles again, as Charlotte hadn't yet gotten over her fear of lit candles.

Happy birthday, Max and Charlotte!  We (and so many others) love you more than words can express!


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

All Hallow's Eve 2012

Last year, Jenn conceived of and created Max' and Charlotte's Halloween costumes.  This year Charlotte and Max conceived of their own costumes.  Jenn "just" created them.

31 October 2012

31 October 2012

Charlotte elected to be a pink bunny; Max wanted to be a piggy.


While trick-or-treating on Oakland Avenue, Max and Charlotte (and Jenn and I) ran into our friends Peter, Czarina and Henry.

31 October 2012

Max, Charlotte and Peter, dressed as Humpty Dumpty, investigated up close the inflatable jack-o'-lantern and ghosts which had been the objects of Charlotte's and Max' obsession over the previous two weeks and which, until this evening, they could only inspect from the safe distance of our car.

31 October 2012

31 October 2012

I just couldn't decide which of these two ridiculously cute pictures to post.

31 October 2012

So Jenn didn't just create one or two handmade costumes.  She put together three costumes, as we decided that Max didn't love the color of his first piggy costume (the first one was less pink).  Amazing!

We all had a great Halloween, even though Max and Charlotte didn't really get into the swing of trick-or-treating.  They were quite content to run around in their costumes.  But don't think for a second that candy wasn't part of the experience.  I didn't get a picture of Charlotte during the sugar-fueled high that kept her awake well after 10:00pm.  That's a good thing, I think, as we can focus on the above pictures by which to remember Halloween 2012!  I wonder what they'll decide to be next year ...

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

PS -  Thanks to Peter's mom, Czarina, for sending us these beautiful pictures of Charlotte and Max!!!

Oh, Hi!

That's how Charlotte and Max pronounce the the name of the town Ojai, California: oh-hi!  That is, of course, the appropriate pronunciation, but it sounds extra 'specially cute coming from them.  We spent last weekend in Ojai, staying with our friends Jefferey and Haigaz.  They purchased a great place in Ojai, which they've renovated and turned into something pretty special.  Max and Charlotte (and Jenn and I) had a wonderful time!

They posed for us sitting in a gorgeous old oak tree on Jefferey and Haigaz' property.

22 September 2012

22 September 2012

Charlotte points out the cameraman (yours truly) to Mommy.

22 September 2012

Charlotte and Max got to pick figs, apples, oranges and tomatoes (perhaps Max' favorite food after strawberries).  Jefferey peeled and cut one of the sweet, sweet oranges for Max.

22 September 2012

Max and Charlotte explored the property, being careful to look out for the black widows which are supposedly lurking about (well, we watched out for them).

22 September 2012

Charlotte and Haigaz recline in one of their relaxing hammocks.

23 September 2012

Jenn, Charlotte, Max and Jefferey enjoyed some of the local musical talent -- a bluegrass band -- playing at Ojai's farmer's market on Sunday morning.

23 September 2012

Don't let the fact that Max was eager to hop into our car and drive away persuade anyone into thinking that we didn't have a wonderful time!

23 September 2012

It was a short visit, but in that time we got to do lots.  (Lucy and Rufus spent the time at Camp Foothill Veterinary Hospital.)  I'd like to thank Jefferey and Haigaz again for their hospitality.  And I hope that whirling dervish of activity that is Max and Charlotte these days doesn't discourage from extending it again.

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

Welcoming a New Resident to Southern California

What's that coming in low over the hills where I love to go cycling?

21 September 2012

Why, it's the space shuttle Endeavour making it's way to the California Science Center, which will serve as its retirement home!  (Notice the two fighter jets escorting Endeavour and the Boeing 747 on which Endeavour is piggybacked.)

21 September 2012

As part of it's grand entry into Los Angeles, California, it performed a flyby over the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

21 September 2012

Not being JPL employees, Charlotte and Max didn't get this fantastic view of the shuttle.  But they saw the "biiig plane" as it flew past our neighborhood.  And Jenn saw the shuttle from Los Angeles, too.

21 September 2012

And there it goes ... flying off to its United Airlines hangar (thanks, Angie!) at the Los Angeles International Airport.  The next time we see it -- and we'll have to go at some point, it'll be down in Los Angeles (conveniently located right off I-110).

21 September 2012

Speaking of flying, I neglected to post these pictures of Max from our trip to Seattle, Washington (well, our return trip, specifically).

4 September 2012

As we boarded, Max was invited to sit in the cockpit.

4 September 2012

With all of those buttons all around him, I can only imagine that Max must have thought he'd died and gone to heaven!

4 September 2012

Unfortunately, Charlotte wasn't extended the same courtesy; plane corridors are narrow, and we had to take our seats.  But we'll have to make sure that she gets to be the co-pilot, if only for a few minutes, on our next plane flight.

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

Max and Charlotte in the Emerald City

Over Labor Day weekend Charlotte and Max made their longest journey yet: all the way to the Emerald City!  (No, not that Emerald City, though I was a big fan of L. Frank Baum's books as a child.)  Max, Jenn, Charlotte and I met up with Grandma Judy in San Francisco, California, and flew up to Seattle, Washington.  Jenn's brother Dan and his family recently moved to Seattle from Indiana.  So we took advantage of Jenn's hiatus week to visit them in their new home.  And we got to see plenty of my friends who live in Seattle.  (Seattle is one of those hip towns that have found favor with my friends.  What's wrong with Pasadena, California, y'all?)


Jenn takes a "self-photo" of herself, her mother and Charlotte on the flight between San Francisco and Seattle.

30 August 2012

We stopped by Pike Place Market, of course.  Charlotte poses in front of a fishmonger.

31 August 2012

Charlotte and Max got reacquainted with their cousins Alicia (left), Clara (right) and Roberto (not pictured).

31 August 2012

We stayed at a hotel in Seattle's Lower Queen Anne neighborhood.  Charlotte practiced ordering room service.

1 September 2012

And we visited the Seattle Aquarium, which was pretty cool.  Jenn and Charlotte are checking out the fish ladder display, in which you find yourself standing below a window looking up towards a school of young salmon.

1 September 2012

The aquarium also has a really neat submerged dome, in which you can sit and find yourself surrounded by a bunch of marine life.  (If it had had a place to sleep and a bar in the center, I might never have left.)  Max tried touching the underside of a starfish through the glass.  Charlotte tried licking the underside of a starfish through the glass.

1 September 2012

1 September 2012

I thought the halibut swimming around (look just above the starfish Max appears to be touching) was very cool.  There were dogfish, sturgeon and several large enormous salmon swimming around, among other fish.  Other highlights included the octopus, the jellyfish, the tide pool display in which you could touch starfish and anemone (Max + water = happy boy), the otters and the seals.

Alicia, Clara and Charlotte had some quality time near the otters.

1 September 2012

1 September 2012

1 September 2012

And Max showed Clara a neat statue of a seal that he came across.

Alicia reads Eric Carle's Mister Seahorse to Max in the aquarium gift store.

1 September 2012

Eric Carle is one of Charlotte and Max' very favorite authors.


While we were in Seattle my friend Ammi and her husband, Adam, held a Labor Day Weekend barbecue.  Roberto and Max shared a meal on Ammi and Adam's back steps.

2 September 2012

They were terrific hosts, including their daughter Leah, pictured with Max and Charlotte below.

2 September 2012

It was a great party, and was a terrific chance to catch up with a lot of my friends.  And Charlotte had a lot of fun playing on Leah's swing set, which Leah graciously allowed my daughter to monopolize for the better part of an hour!


And what were Lucy and Rufus doing while we were partying away in the Pacific Northwest?

6 September 2012

Haircuts!!!!  And I think they look awesome.


So welcome to the West Coast, Dan, Anna, Alicia, Clara and Roberto!!!  We're all happy that we're at least in the same time zone now.  We look forward to seeing more of y'all.  And I anticipate seeing a lot more of my friends who live in lovely Seattle (as well as those who live in nearby Vancouver, British Columbia).


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

Summer 2012 Summary

How time flies!  It has suddenly become quite a long time since my last post.  My apologies.  So I will briefly try to summarize what Max' and Charlotte's summer has been like.

They love the water.  (I'm not sure I can understate that, particularly in Max' case.)  And, with high temperatures in Pasadena, California, typically well over 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the summertime, it made sense to get Charlotte and Max a kiddie pool, of which they made frequent use to keep cool ...

4 July 2012

... and look cool.

4 July 2012

Speaking of looking cool ...

4 August 2012

I know I'm a bit biased, but I firmly believe that my daughter has the coolest bedhead ever!

2 August 2012

We spent a couple of days at the beach at our friends' house up in Oxnard, California.  Livi is showing Max and Charlotte that the ocean is pretty cool and not to be feared.  Though the surf was pretty rough that day, and Charlotte was justifiably nervous about the ocean, they enjoyed it more than they did on their last visit to the ocean.  (On their next visit to the ocean (early August), we would actually have a hard time getting them out of the water!)

8 July 2012

8 July 2012

Before heading back to Pasadena we went back up to the Santa Barbara Zoo, where we got to feed the giraffes!

9 July 2012

9 July 2012

Check out the long, black tongue on that giraffe!!!

We had a visit from Grandma Cheryl who came from northern Virginia to see us.  And Aunt Lauren traveled down from northern California (mid-California for some of our esteemed readers with an Australian perspective on American geography)!  That was a lot of fun for all of us.

19 August 2012

Grandma Cheryl and Aunt Lauren spent lots of time with Charlotte and Max and even got sit in on a bedtime story.

19 August 2012

We all enjoyed Charlotte and Max getting to know Grandma Cheryl a little better and getting to see Aunt Lauren again.  We hope they can both come again soon.  After all, Charlotte and Max didn't learn to say 'Grandma Cheryl' (Gwamma Teh-wul) and 'Aunt Lauren' (Law-ween) for nothing!

In late August Max and Charlotte got some new tricycles and tried them out on the lane.  I patterned my teaching style after that of Gordon in the Sesame Street skit "Abby Learns to Ride a Trike".  (They've become quite the Elmo fans!)

25 August 2012

25 August 2012

But they didn't quite get the gist of it.  Still, we're excited to teach them and time is on our side.

They're doing a lot now that they weren't doing at the beginning of the summer.  When I returned from a ten-day trip to Europe in late June, I immediately noticed that their capacity to repeat sounds they'd heard had increased dramatically!  Now they can string together multiple words to form two- or three-word sentences.  Recently Max was coming dangerously close to climbing out of his crib!  So, to avert a broken neck, we installed toddler rails on their cribs.  As a result, Max and Charlotte can get in and out of their beds at will.  This has several consequences, not all of which are favorable to Jenn and me; it's a game changer.  However, they have learned how to sleep in a bed despite their new freedom and now get a full night's sleep with a minimum of coercion from Mommy and Daddy.  They've been watching Sesame Street, too.  Their new favorite episode is "Elmo's Potty Time"!  And, perhaps not coincidentally, Max has even started using the potty!

So, yeah, we've been pretty busy ...


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