You, Me and Little D's blog

Happy Birthday Grandpa Jack!

     

On the right is a photo of my dad, Jack when he was around 6, a passport photo from when he immigrated from Sicily to America.  When I saw it it looked familiar to me.   And looking at the photo on the right you can see why.

 

I am not at liberty to reveal my dads age, but let's just say you couldn't guess it by looking at him, and that's a tribute in that he looks and acts younger than he is.

 

Desmond has the Cimo lips and deep, intense eyes, like grandpa and papa.  However what's amazing his that all he has to do his smile and he transforms into his mother, Heidi.  This ability to physically be both of his parents is something that I love so much.  Heidi and I see so much of ourselves in him and yet he is just now - at 18 months - trying to establish his own identity.  

I wonder if my parents saw those same similarities in me and then the evolution into my own persona?

 

At what point do we as children try to distance ourselves from our parents?

 

And at what point do we come full circle and appreciate and emulate the things about our parents that we may have taken for granted when we were young?

 

My dad may not be perfect, and I am certainly not perfect, but without my dad, I wouldn't be, and neither would that wonderful little guy Desmond.

 

So happy birthday dad and grandpa, for all you've given us and all we have yet to receive.

 

Year 2 AD - The Holidays and the more

 
So much has happened since our last post and I meant to update sooner but…the best laid plans of men…

We enjoyed a nice pre-thanksgiving in LA.  We spent time with Auntie Jennifer and Uncle Mark and Grandpa Jack of course.  We had an impromptu birthday celebration with family and friends and Desmond got his first baby/baby kiss from the beautiful Soraya Rose.

 

Thanksgiving was wonderful as usual as we spent it with the Spanier/Sterling clans at Uncle Brook and Auntie Keri’s in Danville.  All of us learned that, according to Great Grandma Flo, you should never tell your child to say cheese in a photo because the smile looks fake.

 

On November 27, 2010, Desmond became an official biped.  We were at our friends Marla and Priscilla’s house for a post-thanksgiving thanksgiving party and Dez began taking more than a few steps across their living room.  Since then we haven’t looked back (instead constantly looking in front of us to make sure Dez is headed in the right direction).

 

Christmas time was busy as there were events or plans for every weekend in December, including a visit to the Dickens Faire with Auntie Paula, Uncle Don, cousins Travis and Galen; a visit to the Swedish Christmas celebration in Martinez with the Spaniers; Christmas in Aptos with Grandma Jacci, Grandpa Tad, Auntie Jessica Uncle Mo and cousins Sahsa and JD and a New Years day Xmas celebration with Grandpa Tom, Nona Francesca, Brook, Keri, Mason, Brandon and little Jack.

 

The big trip over Christmas was our visit to Texas to see Aunties Julie and Jacqueline, Uncle Jeff and cousins Jared and Jessica.  These were the last of the remaining Cimo siblings that had yet to meet Desmond and we were all long overdue for a visit.  Needless to say papa was so anxious about the flight to Dallas his shoulders were rife with tightness and pain.  Oh ye have little faith pops as Desmond exhibited nearly perfect flight behavior, eliciting praise from our fellow travelers about what a good little co-pilot we had.

  

Our time in Texas was spent primarily with food in front of us or in our mouths.  The weather was quite chilly but the most important thing was that we got to spend time with one-another.  Hopefully it won’t be so long between visits.

 

As we embark on 2011 we look forward to new accomplishments, embrace any challenges and continue to grow as individuals and as a family.

 

Losta love

THd

 

this Blog is a lot like that Hobbitt movie...

behind schedule

Lots has been going on since last post. hope to have new posts complete with holiday 2010 round up and more up soon.

Needless to say year 2 is off to a stupendous start and I hope my Parents can keep up.

- dez

YEAR ONE COMPLETE

Hard to believe that it's been one year - here's the proof in pictures.  This little guy has brought untold joy and happiness into our lives and we hope has brought some small measure of the same to all he has met - family, friends and strangers.

We know that we are barely into this journey and we know that there is so much more ahead - both work and play.

Desmond's presence in our lives has caused us to put more effort into making every aspect of our lives better.  He's made us better people by increasing our patience, by allowing us to teach and learn, by testing our will, but most of all by simply looking and smiling at us.  There is nothing a smile from this boy cannot cure. 

And he has strengthened the already strong bond of love and respect that we have for one-another. 

Man this kid can do anything....well he hasn't completely learned to walk, but hopefully that will soon follow.

He has his mothers smile and his daddies’ intense gaze, but he is totally himself.

We are looking forward to our pending visits to Los Angeles to see Grandpa Jack and Aunt Jennifer and Texas to finally meet his aunts, uncle and cousins there.

And we are excited for Thanksgiving with the Spanier clan here.

Most of all we are exceedingly happy to have what we feel is the physical embodiment of our love, in the form of our little guy.

Happy Birthday Desmond, Dez, Dezzy, Scooter 2, Pooper Doo, etc. etc.

Love,

Mama and Pops

 

Rocktober

  

To celebrate our anniversary we took a day trip to Point Reyes and Stinson Beach.  

Needless to say we had a blast, as you can see.

Desmond got to play in the water, and we all got to spend time together on beautiful day in the most beautiful place in the world. 

Summer Summary

 

As summer ends (and our san Francisco summer begins) I guess now is as good of a time as any to look back at what lil D did.

 

We began our summer with a weekend at Indian Springs in Calistoga.  Mama got pampered and Dez got to float around in the warm mineral pool though his enjoyment of seemed quite tempered considering how much he loves “tubby time”.  Also dez got his first tastes of gourmet food at Sol, where he consumed a variety of tapanades and some delicious halibut with ravioli in a shitake dashi.

  

       

 
  

 
At the end of June, Desmond gained a new playmate when Zehpyr Ash Feury was born to our friends Jess and Sean.  Both mamas are guaranteeing that these guys will be fast friends.  We also celebrated Heidi's birthday with a nice little picnic at the Golden Gate Park.  she even got a surprise visit from one of her oldest friends Jill Bailey, who came down from Portland with her daughters.

      

 

4th of July was spent in Grass valley and Donner Lake with Grandma Jacci and Grampa Tad.  While daddy and Dez didn’t get to make the fireworks they did get to experience a rare moment of daddy being able to get Dez back to sleep.  Then in Donner, Desmond got to spend time with his cousins Mason and Brandon who showed him what a good time can be had at the lake; we’re looking forward to more of these moments.

   
 
 
 

 …so we ended up at Donner a month later with Brian, Marla and Priscilla, and the water was warmer thus we spent even more time in it.  As usual we cooked fabulous food and the boy enchanted us all with his mere presence.

     
 
 
 

as the summer neared end, we attend a fabulous dinner at Marla and Priscilla’s, went to a birthday party and Nate & Christina McFadden’s home and finally got around to heading up to Camp Meeker to see Auntie Paula, Uncle Don and Cousins Travis and Galen.  Uncle Jay cooked us a nice spread and we vowed to do that more often.

 

The final gift of the summer came with the arrival of another cousin – Jack Thomas Spanier; Desmond will not be short of male cousins/friends.  Here’s hoping that somewhere somehow they’ll be a shot of estrogen in our kin at some point.

   

 

The progress report has Desmond on the verge of walking on his own (he’s crawling all over as well as making daddy walk him), lifting himself up, standing for more than 10 seconds and babbling nonsense.  The most amazing thing though remains his amazing temperament and his ability to charm the pants off of almost everyone he meets.  The boy just doesn’t melt down much if at all.

 

Heidi and I are more in love with this kid every day.  We couldn’t have imagined nor asked for a more amazing child than we have.

 

We hope that all parents can enjoy the same experience with their kids that we are having with lil D. 

A typical day out and about with Mama

 

Today Desmond went with mama to visit our friends Camile and her beautiful daughter Adele.  They went for some delicious pizza at Arizmendi and to the park to play.  After that they went and purchased the expensive bed we've been contemplating for the past 3 months (and Desmond crawled under the chair just because he can).  All pretty typical stuff for them, well except purchasing the expensive bed part.

I feel extremely lucky that Desmond has a mama that is able to and readily takes him out into the world with her.  I know it is hard on those parents that do not have the option to stay home with their children and watch them grow.  Don't get me wrong we are making sacrifices in order to do this, but that fact that we at least have that choice is priceless.

Oh and that's the first time he's sat front-facing in his stroller; no more car seat insert...yay!!!

On the cusp.

 

 In the month that’s passed since our last post Desmond has decided to give us a glimpse into what’s just around the corner with advances in his mobility and communication skills - commando crawling and multiple letter enunciations.

 Now he isn’t full on crawling; it’s still a combination of quick rolls and the occasional commando pull-crawl.  But I feel like any second I am going to look down and he will be in full crawl mode, using his arms and legs to move.  For some reason he chooses bed time to practice this, which is a clear indication that as soon as he can he is going to crawl out of our bed and into some late night mischief.

 He also now is beginning to demand for us to hold him up so he can stand (propped up of course) or pretend to walk.  On one hand it gets a bit frustrating since he seems to be more demanding.  On the other hand the sooner he becomes mobile on his own the less damage to my arms from carrying him.

 As for talking he’s getting close.  He’ll start out with a “Ca” and then a minute later he may say “at”.  We assume that he is trying to comply with our prodding to say “Cat” every time he becomes fixated on one of our cats.  The other day he actually said “Gat” but that’s not one word from the urban dictionary I choose to recognize.  Maybe if Snoop was your pops.

 So next time we meet here I’ll be able to tell you his first word and all about his first steps and how they ended on his “end”.

 

Do as you do…not as I didn’t.

I realize it’s still quite  early in the game, but what parent of a baby doesn’t play through the scenarios of what and who their child will become.  We obviously all have hopes and dreams for them.  Probably hopes and dreams that are somewhat different than our parents so as to not put the same kind of pressure on them that we may have had placed on us (even if unintentional).

 

The one thing I hope to impress upon Desmond is for him to do the things in life he truly wants to do.  Now this isn’t advice I will tell him while he is a wee spry lad, but the gist of which I would hope to dole out to him during specific instances until he is ready to take the whole of that statement to heart and truly understand it.

 

I could just see him at age five riding his bike miles away to the playground or park of his choosing because he wanted to go down that specific slide – “you told me to do what I wanted to do?”

 

Instead it will be to find the things that he seems to gravitate to and cultivate them.  Yes these things can change on a dime and one should not give in so lightly to the whims of a child.  But I do want to foster in him a desire to do something as opposed to not doing something.  I want to build a foundation in him that is based on hope and optimism not fear and pessimism.

 

Do what you want to do and don’t just avoid doing things because you are worried about being hurt or let down.

 

It’s another way of saying don’t be like me when I was a child; enjoy life and be yourself.

SEVEN

Today Lil D turns 7 moths old. I know the first year or two of a child’s life seems so micro-managed when you break it down into months (0-24). But at this stage they really are milestones. There are definitely things that Desmond can do now that he couldn’t do just one month ago. For instance he is now mobile – he’s not crawling or walking but he is rolling. All you have to do is set him down and he immediately begins rolling to his right. We have to make sure that there’s some carpeting or cushioning on the floor when we do this because he pretty much will fling his head and the weight of it sends it plopping hard to the surface. I can see now that he is not far off from crawling and or walking and we are so unprepared for those (among other things we’re unprepared for).

He’s also working on tooth number two as tooth number one begins to settle in. He eats his solids pretty regularly but hasn’t sworn off mama’s milk (and probably wont for sometime, and why would he). He’s starting to “talk”; makes lotsa indecipherable sounds at high volumes, occasionally letting out a “baba” or “puh”. Maybe he’s saying mama or papa, who knows.

And as any of you that have met him know he’s one happy and pleasantly disposed baby; he simply loves attention and being around people. This is probably one of the most amazing things about him. He never (or extremely rarely) gets fussy or cries around others. He allows others to hold him and interact with him. I imagine this may change the more mobile he gets. At that stage he’ll want to wander and explore so being grabbed and picked up by others will no doubt trigger some resistance.

But for now we’ll enjoy it and see where the next month leads us.

Oh and as you can probably tell by the photo, Desmond loves tubby time with mama.