First Haircut and Golden Road Brewery

Hank had his first haircut this weekend and thankfully it was 100% tear free. We decided not to take him to one of those places where your child sits on some kind of animal and watches television while he or she gets their cut. I can understand the appeal of something like that but I just chose to have the lovely woman who cuts my hair trim Hanks. She has a little boy almost the exact same age so she was totally flexible and had no problem crouching down on the ground and cutting his little curls as fast as she possibly could. Believe it or not two other kids got cuts that very same morning at this little Echo Park salon. At one point Hank did sort of give her a serious glance and eyed those scissors with some concern but I am not ashamed to admit I gave him my iphone at that point to distract him.

It didn't seem like much right after the cut but today his hair seemed much shorter! I kept stealing glances and wondering who this big boy is? 

This morning we checked out Golden Road Brewery. If you live in Los Angeles I think this is a great place that is definitely worth checking out. It's sort of in no mans land in an industrial stretch of Glendale that actually isn't too far from where I work. There's a lovely beer garden/restaurant connected to the craft brewery next door. I have to confess I am not much of a beer person but beer people tell me this is quality stuff. More importantly you can sit outside and enjoy some delicious food all while watching the trains whiz by aka kid heaven!

Fourth of July

There were no fireworks, sparklers, or anything like that yesterday for us. We didn't even indulge in barbecued hot dogs or hamburgers, perhaps I shouldn't even reveal that we went to a neighborhood restaurant for salads on Independence Day! Instead, we chose to celebrate the history of train travel in the United States. Yep, we were all about trains in all of their glory and I have to say it felt kind of patriotic. I think I've mentioned before that we live right next to Griffith Park. One of the many amazing attractions the park has is the Travel Town Museum where you can climb on old steam engines and ride their little train around the grounds. It's great, and it was not crowded at all yesterday. Hope everyone else was blessed with a lovely holiday, guessing yours probably involved more holiday fun and less choo choo magic.

On Not Sleeping Again

found here

This photo pretty much sums up where I am at today. Last night Hank woke up at 2:00 am convinced it was time to giggle and play. In the last week or two we have totally regressed on the sleep front. It is pretty heartbreaking because it took us a LONG time to conquer the sleep issues and get our son sleeping through the night. Hank was very colic-y in the beginning so our first few months were spent endlessly rocking, swaying, and living on one of those giant exercises balls bouncing for what felt like most of the night. Colic eventually passed but Hank didn't sleep through the night until long after he turned one. Full disclosure I am 100% the reason it took so long to get Hank to sleep. My husband pushed us many times to help him through some form of crying and I would end up crying, and give up after a try or two. Sleep is so necessary.  I have read quotes like in the first year parents lose two months of sleep, and boy do I believe it. I tried many failed attempts to get him to sleep through the night with minimal tears but ultimately we had to succumb to a version of crying in order for him to sleep for more than two consecutive hours. This was painful and hard but he always woke up a a happy boy, and the benefits were that my husband and I would find ourselves going to bed and sleeping for up to eight hours in a row! It seemed like a miracle. Hank has never been a late sleeper so most days he wakes up at 5:30 am which would bother some parents but I will gladly take it if it means he sleeps through until then. Why then in the last week or so is he suddenly resistant to be left alone to fall asleep? Skills he had mastered long before he was sleeping through the night? Does this mean he is simply more aware and therefor fearful? Is a new nightlight the answer? Should we put some books and toys in his crib so that he can entertain himself at 2:00 am or 5:00 am if need be? Why is sleep so hard for some kids?

Fourth of July and Sparkler Photos

It's almost the Fourth of July! I am not quite sure how that happened because it feels like it was just the beginning of June yesterday. Growing up the Fourth was one of my favorite holidays, which is funny because in my adult life I have rarely celebrated. Hopefully now that I am a mom we will get back into the spirit of the fourth. We spent every fourth at my Dad's lake house. Someone in our extended family would inevitably drive over the border into Indiana and buy massive amounts of fireworks (because they are legal in Indiana in case you didn't know), and my Dad and his cohorts would put on their own show homemade show for us kids. It's probably a miracle that no one ever lost a finger. It wasn't as massive or impressive as the local town shows or the one put on by the city of Chicago but our firework display always had an air of anticipation built in since we weren't quite sure what would happen. The kids in my family were never really allowed to help out setting off the fireworks (thank goodness!). The only pyrotechnics we got to indulge in were with sparklers. Hank isn't even quite two yet so he probably isn't quite ready for sparklers. When he is I am sure he will love them. There is something pretty magical about them. We even had them at our wedding. 

Someday I want to try and recreate one of these incredible sparkler photos where you make designs or words that have become so popular these days. All you need to do is set your camera on a very low shutter speed and make sure that it is stable and experiment. 

from here

from here

from here

"Unzipped" + BBQ = Heavenly Weekend

This weekend was wonderful. I think perhaps it takes a weekend to settle back into life in Los Angeles after you've been travelling so much, but this weekend we finally relaxed and took advantage. Saturday we hosted a bunch of good friends for a little backyard bbq. There was delicious grilled chicken, fresh summer corn, homemade cookies and gazpacho and seven naked kids running around and cramming themselves into our little plastic pool. It was so great.

Saturday post-bbq my husband went out for a bit and I was left to my own devices after Hank fell asleep. I wound up watching "Unzipped" on Showtime Women (who knew this channel existed....the movie selection on this guy is amazing!). I remember seeing this movie at a little art house theater near my house with a friend in high school and being swept away by the glamour of it all. Let me tell you this movie stands the test of time. Every single major model of the nineties is in Isaac's show that movie centers around - Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Carla Bruni, Kate Moss, Shalom Harlow, Christy Turlington, and a fresh from Oklahoma Amber Valetta. It's fascinating just to see them all and how they interact. Watching the story of his collection emerge is also amazing. Perhaps it's a sign that the nineties are indeed back that so many of the fashions didn't feel that dated - and OK others did hello bright blue fur lined coat I'm talking to you. I highly recommend revisiting this movie if you can. Yes, maybe it's a little silly but it's really fun to watch. It's fun to compare the New York of 1994 to the city of today. 


All in all it was a great weekend. 

Hank's favorite spot at the bbq was next to the bowl of peanut butter pretzels

The Little Engine

My mom had the foresight to save a few precious books from my childhood. A few months ago she brought me my old copy of "The Little Engine That Could." It still has a lovely inscription in it wishing me a Merry Christmas from 1979. I wasn't sure if Hank would like this book just yet. There's a lot going on and the passages are a bit verbose for a 20-month-old. But who knew? He actually adored it from the first time we read it. He often requests that we reread it several times in a row. My husband and I often summarize the passages or pick and choose which parts to read but he loves, loves, loves this book. The illustrations are so wonderful. I particularly remember pouring over this page, which Hank also loves.

Don't the oranges and apples look so enticing? He yells "apple, apple." I highly recommend this book for little ones. It's a classic. Plus have you ever noticed that all of the engines that say no are male but the little engine that saves the day is female! Just saying. Perhaps Watty Piper was an early feminist? 

Sans Husband

This weekend Mike will be in Vegas whooping it up for his good friend's bachelor party. That means Hank and I will be flying solo this weekend so I am trying to think of some fun activities for us. To be honest my husband isn't always as much of a fan of a super-planned weekend as I am so since he is gone I can plan, plan, plan without fear of cutting into his relaxation time too much. So get ready Hank. So far I am thinking we will go here  because we just became members and here  because frankly it's the most lovely botanical gardens ever. Seriously if you live in Los Angeles and have not yet visited the Huntington Gardens you should stop reading this and go now. We also have plans to have a picnic with the other moms I know who are flying solo this weekend, and maybe just maybe Hank and I will get our flea market on this Sunday at the Pasadena City College flea, which isn't as big as the Rose Bowl but definitely has some treasures.

Huntington Gardens 

Huntington Gardens 

Huntington Gardens 

Lake Geneva Heaven

Less than two hours from Chicago there is a magical town just over the border in Wisconsin that my family has been going to since I was little. Lake Geneva, WI has always been my father's favorite place, and over the years it's become my favorite place (and my brothers and sisters too). I spent so many weekends here growing up. When I was a teenager I didn't want to go as much for fear of missing out on fun weekends in the city with my friends but even if I protested a bit I would always end up having an incredible time (and this past weekend was no exception). The weather was very brisk and our visit was a lovely whirlwind but somehow we managed to slow down here for a few magical hours. Sunday Mike and Hank took their first solo trip back to Los Angeles together while I headed to nyc for the first time in ages to catch up with friends, meet new babies, and have a work meeting or two. It was wonderful and exhausting but the highlight was definitely spending a magical day/night at one of my favorite places in the world. I hope Hank loves it as much as I do someday. Here are some gorgeous pics my sister's boyfriend snapped:

My Brother David carrying my nephew Dexter and Hank and me during a walk

Making new friends 

Horse

My sister Tessa and her boyfriend Brandon (the photographer whose gorgeous pics I stole)

My adorable nephew Dexter says hello

Family Portrait 

Dexter and Evan 

Mike, Brandon, My brothers Evan and David ready to check out the hot tub

The Weekend

This weekend we enjoyed the beautiful weather in Los Angeles. We got amazing backyard furniture. We basically spent the entire weekend in our yard. Here are some pictures taken with my Iphone (trust me they don't do the weather or our new furniture justice!):

The Man of my Dreams

This is on our honeymoon in the Napa Valley of South Africa

Although I frequently mention my husband on these pages I am not sure I have really given my readers a true sense of who I am married to. First of all he is a very talented reality show writer/producer whose new show Wicked Tuna just happens to be debuting this weekend (Sunday night) so here is my plug to check it out. He is not only smart,  funny, a great friend and a wonderful dad to our son Hank but he also is not afraid to be silly when it comes to taking pictures. In five years that we have been together we have been to lots of places - Argentina, South Africa, Spain, Mauritius, etc and everywhere we go he wants to take the silliest photos. Hopefully he won't mind me posting some of them.

My Little Ham

When I was in Chicago we took my son to a well known Chicago photographer. Marc Hauser actually took pictures of me and my siblings when we were little. My Mom saw a groupon coupon for him recently and quickly snatched it up so we could take pictures of Hank. I wasn't quite sure how Hank would do. It's strange to be placed in front of a big camera and lots of lights but wow, he did great. In fact the folks who worked there remarked that usually kids freak out, but that Hank was quite the ham. Here are some of the best pics:

I think he might even be smizing in some of these. Tyra would be impressed.