Why be like Mike?

...when you can be like Brooke? When the D'Angelos say "jump," we say, "How high?"

The D'Angelos buy a house in Oakland... we ditch Berkeley for greener, hillier pastures.

D'Angelos have blue-eyed baby... check.

We need a pediatrician. We go to the D'Angelo's doc.

D'Angelo's daycare has an opening? We snatch it up!

That's right, Marco is changing daycares. We're a little sad to take him from where he is since they've been really great, but the new place is a whole lot cheaper, Brooke loves it and it's not in the mountains of Oakland. I mean, seriously, driving there daily is really taking our lives in our hands.

We will put Brooke's genius to the test. Is Brooke simply smart and fabulous? Or is it her daycare teacher, the smart and fabulous Alba? We can't wait to find out. Here are some shots of Marco and Brooke through the years... err, year... err, last seven months.

Next... how will I look as a blond?

Helllooooooo lady.

Anniversary to me... anniversary to me.

Since Marco chilled with the D'Angelos for the evening (let's call it what it is, a trial run for two kids), we hit Garibaldi's and Vine wine bar. Fab!

This next part is probably only interesting to my parents, but here goes... We started with prosecco, a fritto misto (including lemon slices, must do) and a calabrese green bean appetizer (spicy!) Jeff had the lamb and I had the thumper pasta which both paired fabulously with our ZD Chardonnay.

A great time - cheers to Jack, Katie and Brooke (the responsible one). Here's their evening.

Seven on the come out.

This baby is seven months old! Marco In Review:The boy is a machine... an eating machine. He's dense, and I mean that in the thickness/weight way. He feels like a bowling ball.

He usually takes about four 8-ounce bottles a day, plus two meals. At lunch and dinner times, he devours two number two food containers, plus rice cereal. He's had just about every mushy blend I can get my hands on (no teeth yet)... bananas, apples, pears, peaches, apricots, blueberries, oatmeal, peas, greenie beanies, carrots, sweet potatoes, corn, mixed veggies and garden veggies.If he likes what you're serving, he rhythmically bangs on the tray demanding more, more, more, more. If he doesn't like what you're serving, he still eats it, minus the banging. A good glec to be sure.

A few of his favorite things are that freaky crib gloworm thing, being startled and then laughing, the jumperoo, being tickled, banging cooking utensils while we cook (no knives yet) and a song about a shark attack. He has a really sick sense of humor.Although Marco has slept through the night very inconsistently starting at a month, over the past few weeks, he's really fallen into a sleep-through predictable rhythm. And it's great!

He's "creeping." That's the book's classification for the movement that's not yet "crawling." And in other giant gut accomplishments, he can sit for short periods and almost get himself into a sit. Not shown here. :)Jeff swears he says "ball" when he gives him a baseball and the other morning when he woke up, he called out "MA-MA!" These are, of course, symptoms of our overactive imaginations, but it's fun to hear him making noises and trying his best to communicate. Daycare says he's always talking and listening, and if he's cranky, they just have to talk to him. I was the bigger person and let that "you and your husband talk a lot" insult slide right off my back.

We have been blessed with a happy, charming baby who amazes us everyday. He loves to laugh and play, boasts an incredibly social personality and just fits into our lives perfectly. We feel so lucky!

Baby, it's warm outside.

This weekend after EBHH we headed to Sacramento for a practice swim and visit with the godcousins. Can we call them that?

Grammy hosted us for the day and Marco did a lot of swimming. He's on a strict high-calorie regimen in training for his open water swim at the Islands in a couple weeks. Check out the pecs. Seriously, folks, I mean, he wore himself out. I hate to admit that Marco's not a spitting image of me, but does anyone else see the cousin Joey resemblance below? It's not my standard M.O. to post photos of myself in a bathing suit, but if you know my mother, you have to appreciate that she served me a beer in the pool in a crystal glass. I mean, really. It's like the Ritz Carlton West Sacramento. And who knows, West Sac (whoop whoop) might just get a RC. I mean, they already have a Lowe's and a Target. It's not exactly the cow town I grew up in. And speaking of cow town... we headed out to Dina and Darrin's... Here's us with the babies... Lia wanted to hold the "baby." I think she was a little disappointed that he was so big and didn't fit into her dolly stroller. Is anyone wondering why Lia is so tall and blond? If not, then me neither.
And Ben Lee (part 2) was learning to skate... on the carpet... in this halfshirt.

Would the Real Michael Phelps Please Stand Up

Does anyone else think that the greatest olympian of all time looks like Shrek? Thanks to Grochol for lending us his size 14 dogs. It helps with the comparison.

Who do ya look like?

I don't care what the masses say. These babies do not resemble Rick and Jeff. They look like their Mommas!

Lucky little devils.

And for your enjoyment... a flashback to January... Marco and Willa born on the same day and both about a week old here.

Miss Manners.

Miss Manners says when you're eating before your company comes over and your attire includes a white linen shirt, disrobe prior to your meal. She always says that!

Of course he still managed to get food on his shorts...

My my my my my boogie shoes.

We had a roller coaster last week and weekend. I think we'll be in recovery for awhile. 8.8.08 finally brought us Vic and Danielle's wedding! Cheers to them! Jeff was a groomsmen and I bought new shoes for the event.

Momma's night out, new shoes and a couple glasses of chardonnay made Momma think she could dance. And dance I did! When a couple kids [to read: 21 or so] took their modified electric slide to the dance floor (spin added) I pachawed them and went toe-to-toe with Gus' modification "taking it to the floor."

The kids said, "Check it out! That's sick! We got to do that!" as they proceeded to mimic my move. Please note: sick is good. I was oh oh oh so proud. As I sorely shuffled through the rest of my weekend with tight muscles and bruised knee, I say "I'm sick."

I am really reticent to post this sad video Roz took of the last move of the night which I baaaaarely make it up from, but here goes. (Thankfully, it's dark.)

Roz and the groom.

Roz and Simon had a night out without the babies too! I regret that we didn't take any pics of Marco and Quincy together Wednesday night because he's already training for Mr. San Francisco 2029. He's following in his father's footsteps as an eating machine and at two months already tips the scale at over 15 pounds! Marco had an adventurous long weekend too... starting with an evening with the Romioses (his first non-family, non-daycare babysitting adventure) while Jeff and I were at the rehearsal dinner. I pinched him before I walked out the door so that Heather and Taki could get a real glimpse into being parents of two.

Grammy Pammy came out from Sacramento for the rest of the weekend and we had a great visit. She even got up once in the middle of the night with Marco! What? I could get used to this. I obviously need a live-in nanny.

Sunday, Jeff got all freaky-starter-dough-baker on me and turned out pizzas, rustic bread and carrasou (the Sardegnan cracker-like bread, delicious). The Moores came over with Converse high tops in tow for Marco. He's already asking when he can go to his first punk show.

Marco watches Daddy cooking.

So, get this... despite Brian being one of my oldest friends, a total blog stalker and a new resident of my hood, I had NO IDEA what a sucker for babies he is! He was rolling around on the floor and making googoo faces the whole time. Marco, of course, was unimpressed, since he has such a dry sense of humor, but the efforts were appreciated. We ate, drank, enjoyed the sun and toasted the hood as the best weather in the world.

Please note: Brian says that he's never heard of someone doing the electric slide to be cool. ???

Point A to Point B

I hesitate to call this "crawling," but he's getting where he wants to go. In the past few days, after returning from the room, I often say, "How'd you get over there??"

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

Marco and Clara learn to share (and prop each other up).

Show me the monnnnay.

Ulises was in town being a big wig sports agent last night. We have a gentlemen's agreement that if (when!) Marco signs his big league sports contract, Uli (aka Jojo) will be his agent. He came over for Jeff's homemade pasta. Jojo "never holds babies."
I know. Marco is just that charming.

Boys will be boys.

In a hazing ritual that was about 10 years too late, while golfing in Twain Harte Tim, Jeff and Mike "got" an unsuspecting Tom with the exploding golf ball. Ah, boys.

Twain, twain, twain. Twain of Fools.

The cousins pose at the family Twain Harte weekend in their cousin shirts... (from left to right) J.Cecchin 01, T.Galvin 02, C.Cecchin 03 and M.Cecchin 04. Marco was thrilled to spend the weekend in Twain Harte with the family. Sure, he's heard about courageous Uncle Tim and his bat adventures, but he didn't know it could be so much fun.

We spent a long weekend at mybigcabin.com in Twain Harte with the whole famdamily. Marco was on his best behavior... trying to impress the family... sheer exhilaration... complete exhaustion... all of the above provided courtesy of cousins, G-ma, aunts and uncles.

We felt incredibly blessed (you know I never say things like this) to be a part of a large [to read: loud] family with kids Marco's age. The weekend sped by with a series of beach trips, meals, chocolate dipped cones, record-breaking naps and family fun, family fun, family fun.

These photos were on two different days. Ha! Marco did not grow tired of the beach or the string on Daddy's lifeguard hat. Marco loved, loved the water, which was really fun. After the initial water shock (no swim diapers allowed!) he giggled, smiled and squeaked his way through his water outings. We removed him when he started shivering - hee! He even shared a floatie with cousin Clara.

I cannot express how horrible my photos are, but I'm holding out hope that G-ma, Aunt Sara and Auntie M got better ones. Check back for updates on that. We forgot Marco's hat to the beach one day, luckily, he is totally man enough to rock Clara Jane's red and white checkered hat without batting an eyelash. Uh, a manly eyelash.

He took his midday naps in a swing on the beach (thanks for the loan Brooke!)
Okay, not sure what's funnier in this pic... Marco in Daddy's lifeguard hat, his giant belly protuding from his swim shirt or all the watermelon stains on Jeff's shirt. As it turns out, Marco is a messy watermelon eater.

Here's a close-up of the backs of the cousins' shirts. The first pic didn't really do it justice. Marco got it for Christmas from Auntie M and Uncle Tom before he was born.

2-2-2. Marco took two, two-hour naps two days in a row. What? Is this my baby? LOVING all the cousin action that poops him out! Before Heather posts, I'll go ahead and beat her to it.... "Have more kids!" Uh...not exactly what I meant.

Marco in G-ma's beach tent.

Joey towing the wagon of toys on the beach.

G-ma and Marco. She didn't even object to his totally hardcore, footy skull pajamas.

Jeff with nephew Tommy, both in familial position "02." I can't say enough good things about Joey, Tommy and Clara Jane. What a well-behaved group of kids! Joey is hysterical, Tommy a genius and Clara an angel.Eating with cousin Tommy. Marco had his first Cheerios this weekend, I'm sure that's some sort of American tradition... entering a decade of Cheerios in our car. Before you ask, yes, Tommy eats shirtless and Marco eats in a Hawaiian shirt.

Great weekend. Looking forward to 09!

More accounts.... Auntie M and Aunt Sara (including pics of my boys in complimenting shirts.)