Jaime Family Dinner

Since Jaime was in town, all of the California Blank siblings went to Brian and Annie's for dinner. I know I've acclimated to the family because 9 adults and 8 cousins felt like a smallish gathering.

Scott was in his lion outfit from my mom

looking cute as ever.

He really loves being around people and observing them.

Grandpa let him suck on watermelon.

He slept in Grandma's arms.

All five of the siblings together.

Jaime used to be my YW leader, her husband, Jonathan, was my Sunday School teacher, and I babysat  Cassie and Jill. It was fun seeing their family again.

Scott enjoyed the rest of his Sunday afternoon the best way possible--with a nice nap.

20 Weeks

This little chub has found his feet. He flails about until he gets a good grip on some tasty toes.

Way too awake late at night, but he's such a happy little guy.

His hair is really filling in.

We went swimming at Amanda's pool. He was not happy about being put down.

Once he was up, all was instantly well again.

He definitely prefers John over me. And everyone else.

Probably because he lets him do this.

They're best buds.

When I put Scott down for his nap, I heard him cry out, then stop. I thought he'd fallen back asleep, but he started crying again and then stopped again, so I went to see what was going on. He was awake, but stopped crying occasionally to lick his crib.

He still smiles easily and plays by himself on the blanket as long as he can watch something going on around him.

 Of course he prefers that we just play with him.

 He uses his hands and feet to play with the bouncy seat rattles now.

 He loves chewing on Sophie the Giraffe. Her squeak kept him entertained pretty well during our road trip last week.

Scott's buddy, Lincoln, came over to play while his mom had an appointment.

 Scott stopped playing with his feet long enough to see what Linc was up to.

 Lincoln's head is in the 99th percentile for his age and Scott's is in the 13th. It cracks me up to see them together because they're similar-sized except for those noggins.

 Scott loves reading time, especially with his Disney storybook.

 John does great voices and keeps Scott on edge the whole chapter.

At this age, Scott is interactive and even more fun to play with. We love the stage he's in.

Linc's Birthday

Scott was invited to his first birthday party.

 He slept through a lot of it.

 Lincoln needed a little coaxing on the cupcake.

 Then he went to town.

 They had quite the spread of desserts.

 We went swimming, then relaxed while we watched Lincoln open presents.

 His dad helped him out.

 We had a fun time celebrating with the Naylors.

HMB SUP

Back for Valentine's Day I bought John a google offer for stand up paddleboarding in Half Moon Bay.

We were planning to take Alan and Joseph, since Karen was going SUP at girl's camp, but then she missed camp to visit her mom so we invited her along, too.

I made an early morning reservation and we were the first ones there. They were given brief instructions, then left to explore.

Scott loved it, obviously.

Getting their wetsuits on was a struggle, but in the cold water it was helpful to have them.

Looking official and ready to go!

Scott and I watched from the beach.

I love the foggy, overcast weather. No sunscreen, no burning, no sweating. Scott was bundled up and enjoyed the misty morning with me.

Off they go. I was impressed Karen could carry that huge, heavy board by herself. I probably would have dragged it.

They paddled out around the boats

and into the bay.

Scott and I ran (well I ran, he rode) down to the next pier to wave to them.

Scott was excited when he spotted his dad out there.

Then we ran to the next one and saw some cool wildlife.

There was a playful seal who poked his head up occasionally,

a one-footed seagull with incredible balance,

and some pelicans.

Scott liked looking around.

The further pier had a few friendly fisherman. One said he'd take our picture because these were important memories to keep.

Another told me it was good I was exposing the baby to fishing early so he'd grow up loving it. 

After their excursion, we drove over to see a potential beach house rental for Crapo Christmas 2012.

One of the neighboring houses had this cool boat motor mailbox.

 

The house is down the street from the bluffs, which Joseph climbed down.

John enjoyed the view from the top.

Then we went to the tidepools, also within walking distance from the house.

There were lots of walking and hiking trails there that we'd like to try next time. Scott didn't much care what we did.

Then we went to get seafood at a restaurant that claimed award-winning clam chowder. John and I split a bread bowl of it to see.

We would definitely have given them an award. Hopefully it'll work out with the beach house and we can eat there again at Christmas.

My favorite part was probably wearing jackets in July. If it weren't an hour commute for John's work I'd move there tomorrow. I know I'm weird, I just seriously love this kind of weather.