Central Park, San Mateo

We enjoyed a lovely Saturday, spending the afternoon at Central Park in San Mateo. Also a favorite hangout of the young Cecchin kids. For the whole slideshow, click here

Here are some highlights



Uncles Timmy and Jeffy on same train approx. 25 years earlier


Same park! Tommy then Meredith (approx 28 years ago...yikes)








Both Toms crashed out in the back of the minivan after the park!


Black and white pictures by Bil Paul - scanned by Gma C (thanks!)
Again, I think you'll enjoy the full show!

Inquiring Minds - Cloth Diaper Update

Yes, Heather, our adventures in cloth diapering continue! Things were going very well toward the end of the summer and we got in a great routine. Then I got a new detergent that was supposed to be better for the diapers. A month later I realized the recurring diaper rash Tommy was having was because of that detergent. So we lost a month of "savings" by needing to use disposables more often and trying a couple of different kinds of diapers (thinking Tommy was possibly allergic to the fabric). Why it took me so long to realize it was the detergent is beyond me! I guess I figured a super natural, nothing added detergent couldn't possibly cause a skin reaction! Now we're back to the original detergent and no rash at all! Tommy started day care in the middle of this rash situation so I never brought up him using cloth diapers there. So... he's an evening/weekend cloth diaper guy right now.
I do wash them. The diaper service ones are all the "old school" prefold diapers that you have to pin and wear a cover with. The ones we use are pocket diapers - basically a cover with velcro that I stuff with these microfiber inserts. Anyway, so I just wash everything myself; it's super easy!
As far as saving money, it's definitely a long term investment. But I can say our trash has gone way down and that's good! I can see it being a big money saver in the long run if we ever have more than one kid in diapers. Especially since I bought some disposables last week for daycare and found they'd gone up $5 a box since the last time I bought them in August!
Anyway, long story short - I love them. They're really soft and really easy to use once I got the hang of the way to care for the diapers so they keep their absorbancy and don't get stinky!
Happy to answer other inquiries to the best of my knowledge!

Are you ready for some hockey?

My newest web addiction is a site called Diaper Swappers which is mostly dedicated to information about cloth diapering but also other parenting topics. There's also an area where WAHMs (Work At Home Moms) can sell their wares. I've bought a couple of diapers that these very talented moms have made and a couple of wetbags (for storing wet diapers) from a WAHG (...Grandma). Most of these talented women do things with knitting, etc so I was searching for one that could make Tommy a hat in Sharks colors and I found one! She actually had this as a sample because she's from CA and her family are Sharks fans! Now that it's hockey preseason time, here you go!

Note, I had to practically hold the child down to keep him from taking the hat off!

Here's one of the cute diapers I got. These are seriously the only pictures we've snapped in the last week!


(we snapped those pics in Marco's room a couple of weeks ago! Thanks Marco!)

Poor Cali

We continued our week of doctor's appointments with Cali and Dr. Vice. Dr. Spice Vice (actually her name). It's probably a hot spot of something but Cali loves herself a skin ailment and loves to scratch herself to bits so thus, Cali's first cone head (can't believe she's never had to have one before!). They shaved her face to get a better look at the damage. So she's on the 'roids again and gets to wear this lovely accessory new for Fall until it heals.

Outta My Way!

Ok, it was actually not the stampede I'd imagined. Nobody putting their unborn children on waitlists. It was just like any college faire you've ever been to... except with more stroller traffic. There were a lot of pregnant women there but there were also a lot of parents with kids older than Tommy. The school's all have variations in starting ages, wait lists, and all that. We basically walked briskly through - spending the most time at the Round Table Pizza table. As Greg said, "if they have a preschool, send him there!" Nope, just free (for the price of admission) pizza. There were other organizations besides schools there including some with activities for toddlers so that was awesome. We gathered many fliers and brochures from schools in the Sunset including the one that rents space from Holy Name (location location location!) So we shall see. We're not in a rush, it was just good to gather this info. Above is the picture I promised. It does include a pregnant woman who walked by just as a clicked.

Below is what I did to my new car today.... I don't want to talk about it :(

Cardiologist Appointment

We had our appointment with the cardiologist this afternoon and everything went great.  She confirmed that there is a murmur that she wasn't particularly concerned about.  It was making some funny sound that she wanted to get more info about so they did an EKG.  Tommy was a trooper and managed to sit still enough for them to get it done and everything came out perfect.  We'll go back in a year for a follow-up when he's bigger and more participatory but other than that, he's just fine!

Dinner in Oakland

Here are our photos from Sunday's dinner in Oakland. Thanks to Jeff, Sarah, and Marco for hosting us all. Homemade pasta, meatballs, and all that good stuff.Marco showing how they "roll" in Oakland

Tommy during the 2 minutes he wasn't crying.

Academy of Sciences

Here's our very mini preview as the camera battery was on its very last legs and these are the 2 we got.

The building is beautiful but the exhibits were just a little disappointing. Some of the favorites from our youth are gone: Earthquake simulator, dolphins! But what they have is gorgeous. It's much more Earth, climate, sustainable planet centered. So the better focus comes at the cost of some of the variety of sciences they used to cover. Still, Tommy enjoyed it and it was free. Very toddler friendly. Many of the big tanks have glass to the floor. The penguins looked great but we'll have to get a pic when we go back next week.

Home sick

Well Tommy has enjoyed 4 days home from daycare this week thanks to a nasty virus. I've spared us all photographic evidence of the runny nose (putting it politely) and the grumpy feverish boy. I'll also spare pictures of the sleep-deprived parents. I stayed home Tuesday, Aunt Maureen saved us Wednesday morning so we could both go to work. Tom stayed home Wednesday morning and went in around midday thinking all was well and his fever was gone. Tommy, loving to prove us wrong, rode that fever back up and in we went to the doctor. I was expecting an ear infection but nothing. Just a nasty virus says the doc, and contagious too so no daycare today. Fortunately, Paula says none of the other kids were out this week so Tommy didn't contaminate them when I sent him coughing and runny nosed on Monday! We hope that today and this weekend does the trick. It's not fun for either of us to have to set up work for a sub - sad that going to work is easier than staying home and doing nothing!

Hopefully Tommy will be well enough to join us at the exclusive Teacher Preview at the new Academy of Sciences tomorrow. He's very into "peng-gins" right now. We'll take pictures of that!

Lucky me, I get to proctor the dance at school tonight. This will likely entail walking around the dark sweaty Commons with a flashlight reminding children to "leave room for the Holy Spirit" (I'll do it!) and to refrain from dancing past a 45 degree angle. Now where is my protractor? I promise NO pictures of that!

Good publicity for Amy's babies

This article about how awesome the Oakland Zoo today was the topic of The Poop blog on SFGate. I thought our East Bay friends would enjoy...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/parenting/detail?blogid=29&entry_id=30083#readmore

Here's a pic from last December of Tommy and Amy feeding the giraffes

This is what Amy looked like on Labor Day when she stopped by to visit. She's literally been kicking some butt and is wicked strong!

Wonderful Weekend - Monday

We wrapped up this great weekend with a BBQ at our house on Monday. When I suggested having people over for a BBQ, I figured we'd bust out some burgers or hot dogs and it would be a piece of cake. Tom, on the other hand, decided to go recipe crazy and grilled whole chickens, made a pasta salad, and topped it off with homemade, from scratch, little black and white cookies. To all who came, we enjoyed seeing you. For those who couldn't make it, we'll see you next time!

Wonderful Weekend - Sunday

Sunday we joined Tim, Sara, Joey, & Clara who were joining Sara, Lorenzo, and Kami for a picnic at Chrissy Field. A couple of Tim's buddies from Davis came with their kids too. Tommy and Joey had a great time playing in the great weather and Kami was an awesome extra set of eyes & hands. She's going to start charging us soon! I'm sure Sara C will have more pics of this soon. Here are a few of ours:

Wonderful Weekend - Saturday

This was a 3-day weekend and we had a delightful one.



Despite our short commute and the fact that we work just a few blocks from each other, we got a second car. Well not a car exactly...

IT'S A MINIVAN!!

Tom denies that "we" bought a minivan, but rather that I bought a minivan and now he has the Jeep all to himself! Regardless, it's nice to have another set of wheels.

Saturday evening, Tommy joined Nana G and Aunt Jen (see photos below)

Rockin' At Nana's

Nana bought Tommy a rocking chair at Ikea on Saturday. Aunt Jen assembled it (sorry no pictures of that!) And Tommy rocked. The truck book is a gift from Tommy's Aunts Barbara and Jen.