10/11/07 The Grownup Kid

This morning, he got up, got dressed, went downstairs, poured himself some cereal and milk, had breakfast, put his shoes on, and was all ready to go at 8am.

Gabriel, that is. Not Dave, the adult, but Gabriel, the kid. I'm loving this!

I left a bowl and glass out for him last night, and talked to him about getting his own cereal in the morning, and he did exactly that. I also left out a bowl and glass for Julian, since there's a good chance he'd want to do the same thing, and that Gabriel would either help him or hinder him, either of which could result in Julian having breakfast, or the boys getting into a huge fight and ending in a huge mess. As it turned out, Julian just putzed around in his room, but that could be different tomorrow.

I met up with my Mom friends for our old hike at Rancho San Antonio this morning. We let the kids out at the farm, and they walked and ran most of the way back. Julian and Allison explored a puddle, and Julian and Andrew fell for the old trick of waiting until I count to 3 before running off together (and I take a photo at "2" while they're still holding).


Oh my gosh these boys are cute!


We met with our architect this afternoon to pin down some details, and made some really nice tweaks to the design. And I have enough now to take to a kitchen designer. Yippee! I'm starting to get nervous about how much this is going to cost, but I don't see an alternative. The design is necessary and wonderful, it has to happen. It's the finishes (fixtures, tile, cabinets, flooring etc) that can really bleed a project.

Katrina was in rare form tonight, playing happily and watching Dad & brothers playing baseball outside while I made dinner. Then we all sat down to dinner together, and incredibly, she ate! No fuss, no pushing away, no spitting out, no tricks, no distractions (unless you count all the obnoxious noises the boys were making). She quietly opened her mouth and accepted numerous bites of rice and chicken. I didn't even bother pushing a vegetable, I was so relieved. Before bedtime, she even nursed peacefully. Life is so much better this way.

I haven't had a good long run at Rancho in a while. It was so glorious there today. Tomorrow morning when I'll take a now-familiar 7-mile route. I can't wait!

10/11/07