Seven months old!

Davis is 7 months old today! This first year is flying by just as it did with Carter. Davis continues to be an easy-going baby who is quick to smile. His favorite things these days are any toys he can put into his mouth (Carter calls them "chew toys", as if he were a dog.) and of course, watching Carter. He loves to sit and play nearby his brother. This tends to be a war zone as Carter is bad about pushing Davis over for no reason at all. Ahhh, life with an older brother! Sean somehow survived three older brothers, so I guess Davis will make it too.
He continues to taste his way through the baby food fruits and veggies and so far, has eaten everything we've given him. Peaches were not a favorite, however. We have noticed his Eczema seems to be getting better so have held off on the Dermatologist for now. His newest trick is getting up on all fours and rocking, as if he is getting ready to crawl. Carter didn't crawl until 9 months, so I will be curious to see if Davis does before then. I thought he was cutting a tooth two months ago & still no tooth, so it's really anyone's guess.
I have to say, most days I feel Davis is being neglected compared to how we were with Carter. It is just so much different with your second child. They kind of get what's leftover...not that that's my first choice for him, but he gets overlooked so that I can care for Carter (and vice-versa). A few weeks ago, I had to remind myself to start doing baby signs with him and I am still not very consistent. One of my girlfriends has a daughter (her first child) that is four days younger than Davis. Her daughter is already saying four words!!! I felt horrible because Davis is nowhere close to saying "Mama" or "Dada". I hope that we are able to give each of the boys enough attention to make them feel special and loved at all times. It is a daily challenge and one that I am constantly trying to improve on.

We love you, Davis!

Best friends (most of the time).

Carter being silly.

Botanic Gardens picnic

Today was so beautiful that the boys & I headed to the Botanic Gardens for a picnic. We had so much fun wandering around after lunch that the boys are taking an extra-long nap this afternoon to recover! Works for me!

Carter munching on blueberries and Davis munching on whatever he can get his hands on!

This is the aftermath of the blueberry incident at the end of the video (below). Carter was not too happy about it, but ate them anyway.

One of many Moore sculptures featured at the Gardens right now.

Carter enjoying the serene waters (yeah, right!).

Patiently posing for Mom.

These boys are so funny together!

Davis was not too impressed.

San Francisco city tour

Let me just warn you, we took a TON of photos. Lucky for you, we only go on vacation once every four years or so! Just be glad we didn't invite you over for a slide show.



The Baylink ferry...our transportation to/from Napa and San Francisco.

Sean enjoying the wake from the ferry.

View coming into the city (from the ferry, of course). We took a "Hop on, Hop off" city tour on an open top double decker bus. It was great, especially since we didn't want to rent a car. You will notice the top of the bus windows in many of these pics.



A view of the Bay Bridge from outside our hotel. Incidentally, we stayed at the Harbor Court Hotel in SF. It was a trendy boutique hotel in a great location. (Owned by the Kimpton group that also owns Hotel Monaco in Denver.) *Unpaid endorsement* Join their (free) "In Touch" rewards program for awesome hotel deals at their super cute locations across the country.

Night view of Sean in front of the Bay Bridge.

Coit Tower, donated by Alfred Hitchcock's daughter & where some scenes from "Vertigo" were filmed.

The building on the corner is the only one that did not burn in the 1906 fires that ensued after the big earthquake. Our hotel was farther down on this block, right across from the Ferry Building.

The mess of cables that somehow power the city buses and trolleys.

Courthouse

Museum in Golden Gate park with roof-top garden.

Famous Hippie neighborhood from the 1960's.

The "Painted Ladies" on the right side of the street. These Victorians are historic and expensive.

View of the opening scene from "Full House".

Our tour guide Thaddeus (in red) posing in front of this life-sized cutout of the entire "Full House" cast that some random guy had in the park that day. Thaddeus told us he's never seen it there before. Bizarre.

Funny sign we passed on the way into China Town.

Gates into China Town.

Pyramid building (I forget the real name).

Beautiful Redwood tree park nestled amid the skyscrapers in the city.

The Ferry Building & an old, restored Cable Car (green) in front. We took this down to Fisherman's Wharf a couple of times. The other option was to walk along the Embarcadero.

Where our tour bus dropped us off for Lombard Street. See it at the very top of the photo where it looks like all greenery?! It was quite a hike.

Made it to the bottom of Lombard Street, the "crookedest street" (although the locals disagree).

Bottom of Lombard St.

Half way there!

Made it to the top!

Success! (Too bad you can't see the view of the street & bay behind us.)

Walking down from Lombard towards Fisherman's Wharf. What a view!

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I would just like to send a HUGE thank you to my mom (Mimi) for watching the boys for five days so that we could take this much-needed vacation. We had an absolute blast and did not once worry about the boys, knowing you were in charge. (We did, however, miss them!) I know they are lovable, but not always easy to take care of, so thank you for all you did to make sure things ran smoothly while we were gone. We love you, Mom!

Alcatraz

We were lucky enough to get last minute tickets to tour Alcatraz. I honestly did not think it would be as cool as it was. We did the audio tour and really enjoyed hearing about the history of this island.

The view as we approached the island.

Guard tower.

The shower room. Yuck!



Prison cell sans prisoner.

Sean as "the prisoner". I was too creeped out to go in any of the cells. Notice the audio tour player hanging around his neck. We looked like big-time tourists!

Three rows of prison cells stacked.

Window at the end of one row of cells that gave a clear view of SF.

The island is 1.5 miles across the bay from SF.

View of the remains of some building & stairs.

This is the cell where the most infamous jail break took place. You can see how the prisoner dug out around his vent (over the course of a year or so). He escaped into the plumbing behind the wall & up onto the roof to freedom. He and his accomplices were never found.