Date night at Gemelli’s

Kar and I had decided to go on a little date Friday night (with LT) but hadn't decided where we'd go. When I left work we were still undecided. We were going to figure it out when I got home but in the short 15 minutes it took me to commute, little Mr. LT had arranged a date of his own! With LT in my arms we walked the few blocks to one of our new favorites, Gemelli's on 43rd and Tenn, to meet little Mis. Mia (oh, and Steve and Anna too).

I haven't used (abused) this blog as a forum for my aspiring restaurant review career in quite a while but wanted to take a moment to give Gemelli's the nod. Honestly, I don't generally even like Italian restaurants all that much but everything I've had at Gemelli's has been really excellent.

The staff is friendly and great with the little ones. We've only been there a few times and already they seem to know what we usually drink and what our preferences are - a nice touch for a neighborhood restaurant.

About the only problem I see with Gemelli's is that, because it's so close, we could end up spending a lot of money there. It's actually pretty reasonably priced for good Italian food but still more expensive than the abundance of good Mexican food around. And the ambiance at Gemelli's just sort of calls out for you to stay for a bit and relax over a few drinks. So we usually do and it starts to add up. We'll have to try not to go all the time.

I read in Westword that Gemelli's is part owned by the former owner of Poggio's which only further endears it to me. In our lives before LT, Kari and I would walk the dogs down to Poggio's to get coffee on Friday mornings before work and I have very fond memories of the place. As I understand it Poggio's closed due to skyrocketing rent in the 32nd and Lowell area - it's really a shame to have lost the little cafe but if Gemelli's is its second life, then it's not all bad.

Anyway, back to the date...

LT and Mia had a little moment during dinner.


This may have been another little moment or Mia might have just been trying to snatch LT's blueberry. Although it would be a pretty big deal if he let her have the it, because he *loves* his blueberries and doesn't part with them easily.


Most of LT's friends have recently, or are just about to, turn one year old. So lately LT has been practicing his game face to make sure he's ready for birthday party season.


Well-mannered as she is, Mia politely showed interest in LT's latest pursuit and even tried out a game face of her own. Slowly at first (above) but after just a little practice...



She's clearly a natural!

My dog is funnier than your dad

My dog is funnier than your dad.

Highlands Hillbillies

One week ago we officially finished trading in the carport for 1/2 a duplex. True, it is a nice duplex. But it's a duplex nonetheless. I guess no matter how hard I might try, I'll never completely escape my trailer trash roots.

Before and after shown here at left and right respectively.


Anyway, we really like the new place - even if it is an 'attached' home. And we haven't had any noise problems from the other side yet (maybe that's 'cause no one lives there?).

LT seems to like it too and even hosted an impromptu play date at the new 'plex last week.

Which gave him an opportunity to work on his party game face.

While Riley showed off some new skills.

In general the afternoon was just good old-fashioned baby mahaym (LT is trying to eat a strap from Emily's shirt).

Isaac and LT hung out for a while sitting back-to-back. Perhaps LT is still looking for a good wingman.

Dylan stares down Bowen from behind the glass. I guess now that he has a dog of his own, he figures he can handle big ol' Bo-dog. Maybe we could work out some kind of a trade here - Dylan can train Bowen and LT can help Dylan kick the pacifier habit.


Once they realize I'm there taking pictures they both stop and pose for the camera.

Master Gardener

Bri nicknamed me the "master gardener" a few years ago because for while now I have been telling him that I am going to plant a beautiful garden and grow vegetables. I have yet to do it. What little I do manage to plant, usually dies quickly from a lack of attention. My only hope, until LT came around, was my mom who would plant flowers for us and I would do my best to keep them alive. LT, however, may be the key to my dreams of being a master gardener. Together (with the help of Diane and her mom), LT and I managed to put ONE rose plant (given to us by MC, Isaacs mom) in the ground today. Hey, its a start towards my career of master gardener.

LT's first picnic

On Sunday, Bri and I took LT on a bike ride to a park to have a picnic (avocado and banana for LT and PB and J for Bri and I). He had a lot of fun making a mess!

LT is always very serious when he has his helmet on...

But when you take it off, smiles appear. He never gets upset having his helmet on, just serious.

How Big am I?

LT looks so old in this shirt.

Mr. Mt. climber

I had no idea LT could climb stairs, but when we moved in, he headed straight for the stairs, and straight up them. He has a unique style, but its actually incredibly fast.

Bo Snacks

Bowen and Hailie love our deck, especially watching for cats from above. Luckily, for them, our neighbor and friend, Diane, has two cats. Bri calls cats "Bo snacks" because he probably would eat one if he was faster.

First dinner party in the new house

My parents brought over dinner tonight and hung some pictures on the wall for us (thank you mom and dad!) LT was extra tired from his early nap with Papa, but he managed to be a good sport and sit through dinner with us. He even signed "more" for the first time (and did it many times in a row!)



Here he is showing off another new skill that started today, hitting himself in the face when he's extra tired. Its a nice one....

Meditation course

Brian's work had a free meditation course today that they let me come to. It was pretty informative and one of the better presentations on meditation I have seen. Papa watched LT so both Brian and I could be gone. When I returned, he said, "Landon was such a good boy, I took him to the coffee shop and he just played and even when his hat fell down over his eyes, he never complained. He fell asleep on our walk home" He is still sleeping next to me right now. Can we attribute this to his parents calm meditative state from afar?

Fried Rice

Brian's roomate in college, Jason, I met in one of the more unique ways. I was visiting Bri at Amherst. He lived in a suite with 2 other guys (individual bedrooms, but a common area that was shared). Bri was in class one morning and I woke up to Jay yelling "YES, its FRIED CHICKEN". I had no idea who was yelling and even less of an idea of what this strange person was talking about. Brian kindly explained his roomate's querkiness, Jason loves Fried chicken and that was what was being served for dinner that evening. No one was home at the time he yelled, and he had no idea (maybe even to this day) that I was there. Needless to say, the memory has stayed with me for this many years. Tonight, I made LT Fried Rice (without the fried part) and Jason's voice returned as I served it to LT. LT may yell in the same tone when he's in college about FRIED RICE. The kid LOVED IT! (I actually took this video after about 10 minutes of him shoveling it down because our camera was out of batteries, but he was still pretty interested in eating the rice as fast as he could).






And of course... the clean-up crew (including LT).

LTs first retirement party

LT and I went to Vaughn (a school in Aurora that I used to teach at) to help a friend celebrate her retirement. LT happily was held by all the women I used to teach with. Here he is with Sophie and Faye (2 of my favorite teachers). Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of Terri with LT(whose retirement party it was), but she took him all around her party with over 100 people and he was not at all afraid of being without mom.

Water!

Matching

LT and I have (almost) matching t-shirts. I've been meaning to get a picture of us wearing our outfits together for a while but hadn't gotten around to it. It just happens that we got this shot in the Mexican hospital with LT wearing only his t-shirt and a Mexico Mickey.

Adjusting just fine

Bowen and Hailie have settled right into the sunny spot in our family room.


Lan continues to play with Bobby's truck during dinner time and occasionally eat some food (although he shovels in the avocado.)

Should we just pack LT too?

He seemed totally content in the box with the sheets and towels.

Boys will be boys and girls will be girls

Today Renee, Sofi, Landon and I visited our friend Tracy who had a baby boy two weeks ago. Sofi went straight to the baby and gently played with him (practicing being a big sister I guess), while Landon went straight to the electronics, CDs and cords.

Time goes too fast, I feel like it was just yesterday I was watching LT lie in his bouncy while an 11 month old crawled around, thinking, "he will never be that big!" Now it is LT crawling around while I watch a younger baby lie peacefully in his bouncy.


Sofi must have gone through a growth spurt in the 2 weeks I didn't see her because she looks like a little girl now instead of a baby.

Dog leashes, dog beds and lamps

Those seem to be the hot new toys this week for LT.

Feeding Bo Dog

You can see why the two of them get along so well! And as Kari points out, they've had no trouble picking up their little routine at the new house.

Some things just don't change

We are officially in our new house and sleeping here. Landon seems to have settled back into his routine of feeding Bowen during meal times (and Bowen seems to have settled right into being fed).


Bowen has found a few windows that are just at his height to stand guard.

Playing with Diapies

Our house is complete chaos at the moment with the packing. While I was packing a box, LT managed to break into a pack of diapies and put one under each hand to enhance the slide/crawl ability on the wood floors. I couldn't capture him with both diapies (too fast I guess). After the excitement of crawling with two diapies wore off, he found a tupperware top to replace one of the diapers.

Mexico Mickey's

Bri and I must not have been thinking clearly when we left our villa in Mexico for the hospital because it was only at the last second I even grabbed the diapie bag. Maybe we were blocking out how bad LT really was and didn't want to face reality, but we thought we would head there for an hour or two and be right back. Little did we know we would spend 60 hours in the hospital. After the first night, we were already out of diapers (and with an IV hooked up to little LT, we knew we would need more quickly). In our broken English/Spanish, we requested a pack of diapers from the nurse. She asked what size LT was and we said Stage 4. Somehow, communication broke down because she returned an hour later with Stage 6. LT looks pretty ridiculous in them, they cover all the way to the nipples, but at least they don't leak. Somehow a few of the diapers came home with us. Bri calls them the "Mexico Mickey's" 'cause they're from Mexico and have Mickey Mouse on them (isn't he brilliant?).

First Mother's day

Landon and I have fun together everyday, but today we celebrated Mother's Day. Our day started with LT sleeping until 7:30, followed by brunch with my parents, Steve and Madeleine and Bri's mom at Gemelli's. After brunch, Bri and I headed up to Mt. Galbreith in Golden. When we got home, we enjoyed the beautiful weather in our front yard for one of the last times. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family, and little LT makes things that much better.

Family pic at brunch.

Bri and his mom with LT.

LT seemed to enjoy himself on the hike.

So much that he wore himself out and took a 12 minute nap (record breaker, huh?)

Crawling for leaves in the front yard.

Trying to capture the dogs and Landon is difficult to say the least, but hey, at least they are all in the picture.

Bo and Haisie love to stand guard in the corner of our front yard. They will miss the front yard, but Bri and I look forward to embracing the comfort of a backyard and not always having to reassure people that our dogs ARE in fact friendly and WON'T jump the fence to attack despite their fierce barking and jumping.