And another thing

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And this is when I'd like to find the slow down button

Jasper is going to be one in 12 days. I know. What?

He is my angel baby. I get lost in his sky blue eyes. Don't get me wrong, he has his moments. He can be very demanding. He doesn't sit in his high chair for more than 2 min. He wants to stand up. He wants to climb every thing. He wants my fork. I eat every meal with my fingers. He takes the utensils and throws them on the ground. He wants another one.

Jasper is close to walking but I think another month or so before he does it. He crawls like a mad man and he's much more interested in climbing than walking. He just wants to get the highest point of the tallest thing in the room.

Things in general are still hard but they are getting easier. I mean the day to day, there's a struggle at the center of it. It's always a struggle but there's a method most of the time, to the madness. I feel like we're heading into that sweet spot. That place where both kids are still kids but they aren't babies. We aren't there yet by any means but I'm feeling less like, "let's hurry up and get there." and more like, "let's slow it down. This is going too fast."

We got sick for the first time this cold and flu season. Yes it started. Cold and Flu season is here already. Davey got his famous cough and we've started taking him to an allergist who prescribed breathing treatments with a nebulizer. This is a little machine that turns medicine into vapor that he inhales through a face mask. It was hard to get him to do it in the beginning and now it's still hard but he's getting used to it. It's pretty sad sitting next to him while he breathes on this thing but not as sad as him coughing uncontrolably for weeks on end. The allergist tells us that he is having an asthmatic reaction to the viruses he's getting. The asthma takes the form of a cough. The good news is that he doesn't have full blown asthma and she feels it will clear up in 2-3 years. I've spoken to a few parents now whose children had a similar situation when they were Davey's age and now they don't have any problems with asthma so I'm hopeful that she's right. For now he's off the treatments because his lungs are 100% clear but if he gets even so much as a sniffle, we hit him with the treatments and this is supposed to stave off the virus from going down into his lungs and settling in. In other words he'll just get sick like a normal kid would get sick for a few days. I'm hopeful that this winter will be easier than last because of this new diagnosis and treatment plan! Fingers way crossed.

I went to a back to school night for Davey's pre-school last night. It really hit me as I was going through the paperwork, "wow this is real school. I mean he's started his acedemic career." He will be in school now FOREVER. A long time. And that means that in a way, Deron and I are in school too. We have to engage! It's good stuff. I really like his school.

They offered babysitting during the open house and I had dropped Davey and Jasper off there while I went to the meeting. They did it at the toddler center next door where Davey used to go to day care last year. When I went to get them I could hear music pouring out the windows as I walked up to the building, "my Sharona" BLASTING. There were about 30 toddlers in there all dressed in costumes dancing to My Sharona. Jasper was sitting in his stroller taking it all in. It was so fucking hilarious. Davey had a cowboy hat on and chaps. I said, "Are you a cowboy?" duh. and his little buddy who was dressed in a full on dinosaur costume screamed, "I'M A DINOSAUR!!!!" Davey didn't want to go home. I had to drag him out.

Slow down button please.

Tonight Dup is taking Davey to his second Karate class. Our neighbor Nicholas takes Karate at a Dojo near by and Davey has shown interest. Also in the last 6 months he's just really gotten into "fighting." Everything turns into a sword: as straw, a bat, a spoon, a stick; all equal swords. So I thought this might be a good way to let him channel that energy. A place where we could say "yes" to it. Well he loved the class. It's a lot like herding cats but the teacher is very very good. I was amazed at his patience and balance of kindness and discipline. They did stretches, jumping jacks and then they practiced a series of kicks. They kick bags not people but on Fridays they put these little kids in pads and let them pummel each other. On the way home Davey told me that Karate is his favorite thing to do and he doesn't like basketball. Then he told his imaginary friend who is a dog, "Sorry, you can't go to karate. No dogs allowed. Sorry. Teacher says. That against rules." I was dying. So Dup is going tonight to see what all the fuss is about and then we can decide if we'll go all in. It's $75 a month but then you have to buy the outfit, bite guard, cup (do they make cups that small? omg) It adds up. I'm for it but as Dup is fond of saying, "where is the money gonna come from?" And so it begins. It's always something with these little guys. They say kids are expensive and they're not kidding.

Dup if you're reading this, don't forget the camera today when you take him. We need photos of our little Karate kid.

Dave gets Oprah Pregnant.

I can't get this to embed properly but if you click this link, it will take you right to it.

One of my fav sketches of all time. You've probably seen it but it's worth revisiting because I just watched it for the 100th time and laughed my ass off. The quitting scene is so simple and genius. I think about it all the time.

"Take a memo... Kiss my ass. Now send that around to every one."

anniversaries

I forgot to draw attention to an important anniversary, our second year in Los Angeles which was July 14th. Bastille Day. If you have to ask me why we moved on Bastille Day, well then, you really don't deserve to know the answer...

I've spoken many times here about how glad I am we made the move and how much I love living here so I won't go into that too much. I think that when you move to most places, especially a big city, it takes a year to really feel settled and like you know your way around but with LA, i think it's more like 2 years. It's just so big. We're slowly getting out to see even the most obvious tourist type of stuff. We recently went to Olvera Street, which was fun and kind of eh but nostalgic for me because I went there as a kid. We walked around Union Station which is really beautiful.

This year I'd love to visit the Getty and go to the Hollywood Bowl. Both are hard with the kiddos though...

Last weekend Dup and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary. woW! six year of pure bliss my friends. And by pure bliss I mean, I get drunk and yell at him a lot but we work it out the next day.

Seriously though, having the second kid and dealing with a very strained budget has been very difficult this year but we have weathered the storm. Dup!! I love him.

One upcoming anniversary is 2 years in our condo. wow again. I've mentioned before that when we moved in I said, "five years" as in how long it would take for us to get the place to an acceptable living space. That doesn't mean a dream condition, just acceptable. I think that was a very fair assessment and it's probably exactly how long it will take. Money is tight and any extra money I get usually goes into some home improvement project. It's taking a long time. But if you look at the before and after, we've come a long way too! I am painting the living room ONE WALL AT A TIME. it's a huge pain. huge pain. but it's s-l-o-w-l-y happening. I'm hoping by the end of this year it will be done. After that, the bathroom. There's a lot of painting to do for a seemingly small space. I have a feeling it will be like painting the Golden Gate Bridge and when I'm finally done it will be time to go back to the kitchen. Ah Life!!! These are good problems to have.

Speaking of good problems to have, let's talk about another upcoming anniversary and that is the birth of my precious little Jasper aka TROUBLE!!! He's getting into anything he can these days especially if it's dangerous. He likes to find the most dangerous thing in the room and crawl over to it and sink his teeth in. Dup has found him half way up the stairs 2 x now. He is pulling himself up and pushing around his little walker. He'll be taking his first steps by Oct 13th, his first b-day. We decided that instead of having a big party where we invite the whole family and spend a crap load of money (and he won't remember it) just so that we can get a photo op of him shoving cake in his face, we're going to go to Disneyland as a family. FUN!! I'm so excited. Dup and I both love Disneyland and so does Davey of course. We've shown him a lot of the Disney movies and he watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse a lot so he's familiar with the old characters too.

Willis and Lia are probably coming with us and did you hear the fantastic news that they are engaged?? They came over and told us in person, which was so touching. I screamed so loud that I made Jasper burst into tears. We are so happy for them. They are going to have to most beautiful children with the curliest hair. That's a photo of them taken by Davey. It looks like they are coming down the hallway from the after life or something. They look super happy. That's how they react to Davey with those smiles and energy. I love them for how they love our kids. It's so sweet.