Los Angeles Central Library

After our long journey to Santa Rosa, we wanted to do something with Tessie that would allow us to avoid strapping her into the car seat. So we strapped her into the Urban Assault Stroller (above) and headed for the train.

The library (above) and the Lodwrick M. Cook Rotunda (below):
We timed our visit to L.A.'s Central Library so that Tessie could attend a children's puppet show scheduled for the afternoon. First, though, we saw the exhibition of Julius Shulman's architectural photographs (which make my efforts above look particularly weak). Shulman photographed most, if not all, of Los Angeles' significant architecture of the 20th century. (There isn't a whole heck of a lot of pre-20th c. architecture in L.A., either, so I guess I could just leave the "of the 20th century" part off of the previous sentence.) Even if you aren't interested in architecture, there's a very good chance you've seen some of his photographs.

Tessie slept through the whole thing, though, so she still hasn't seen any of his photographs. She also slept through all but the very loudest part of the puppet show, which was also the finale of the puppet show, so she was only wide awake after it was all over. Alas. Well, being wide awake in a library with no pressing demands on your time isn't such a terrible thing:

This picture didn't turn out the way I intended, but I like how it captures the challenge of keeping up with Tessie:

Christmas, part 2

Our Christmas visit to Santa Rosa continues:

Tessie found lots of new things to play with at her cousins' house, including her cousins. She enjoyed basketball:

the piano:

and trimming the Christmas tree:

...but the most fun of all was knocking over Adam and John's Lego creations:

But of course the highlight of the visit was opening gifts on Christmas Eve. (Yes, on Christmas Eve. I was raised in an open-gifts-on-Christmas-morning family, Hannah's is a open-gifts-on-Christmas-Eve family. This is probably the greatest challenge in our relationship.)

Last Christmas, Tessie was only 4 1/2 months old, so she didn't really 'get it,' and slept through most of it as well. This year was different. She seems to really like all the decorations, especially the colored lights. And of course she loves the gifts. Here she is reading a new book and wearing a new hat:
She's still a bit too young to fully understand the holiday; we haven't yet introduced the concept of Santa Claus, and have not taken her to a mall to visit him. Maybe next year.

Christmas, part 1

This Christmas we travelled again to Santa Rosa, California, to spend the holiday in the home of Hannah's brother Martin, his wife Sunjae and their two sons, Adam (age 8) and John (6).

It's a long drive to Santa Rosa. We left Pasadena on Friday afternoon and spent the night in Westley, which is near the I-5/I-580 interchange east of San Francisco. Tessie had spent an awful lot of time strapped into a car seat by the time we checked in to her hotel, and thus had oodles of energy to expend before finally falling asleep around midnight.

The next morning we completed the drive, stopping for lunch in downtown Santa Rosa at the Third Street Alehouse. (Recipe for their Parmesan Garlic fries: 1 part potatoes, 1 part Parmesan cheese, 2 parts diced raw garlic. Yikes.)

One of the highlights of our visit was a trip to the Lawrence Hall of Science, on the UC Berkeley campus. The octagonal building looks like a Star Trek set (and may once have been one), with a large plaza in front that offers stunning views of San Francisco Bay.


Inside are exhibits, including Tessie's favorite interactive toy, the Gravity Well. As soon as we saw it we knew she'd love to play, and in fact she delighted in retrieving the balls and throwing them directly into the center of the well - no mucking around those circuitous elliptical paths for Tessie; no, no, no, the sooner it goes in, the sooner it falls out and she gets to throw it in again!
That's Uncle Martin beside Tessie:

Other exhibits included live animals and a "Wild Music" special exhibition. The two boys are (l-r) cousins Adam and John:

What she says in the video is "All done, all done." This sems to mean a variety of things; frequently it indicates that she's no longer interested in whatever is being offered, be it food, an activity, or nap. It also seems to have many other meanings which we have thus far been unable to decipher. In this case, it probably meant "Please stop pretending you have any musical ability at all, Dad. You're embarrassing me."

Coming soon: Christmas, part 2!

Griffith Observatory

In advance of Christmas, the Canadian Grandparents came to town. Before they headed out of town, to meet up with us later in Santa Rosa at Christmas, we all went to visit the newly renovated Griffith Observatory in Griffith Park.

Both the park and the observatory are named after the same man, Colonel Griffith J. Griffith, who made his fortune in mining. Griffith donated land to the city of Los Angeles to become a park, then, instead after shooting his wife in the head (she lived), he made a large cash donation to fund a publlic observatory within the park. Too bad the tradition hasn't continued; imagine the great public works O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake and Phil Spector could have sponsored.

The observatory was closed for a few years for a major renovation and only reopened last year. Not only was the exterior restored to its original and beautiful Art Deco apperance, but an entire basement level was excavated beneath the front lawn.

Parking is still an issue, though, but at least the walk from the overflow parking area has a view:

The restored exterior:

Tessie arrives with her entourage:


Tessie didn't take long to figure out the Foucault pendulum in the central exhibit hall:

Then it was on to the periodic table. We noticed, after Tessie left it, that the plutonium sample was missing. We fear she may be plotting something.

Then it was on to her latest achievement: stairs. These steps were low enough that she could manage them on her feet rather than having to rely on her hands as well. She's really becoming quite mobile, hence the harness.

Then it was on to exploring the Virgo Cluster, depicted as part of an enormous mural in the new basement level:

Christmas Party

Tessie's day care had a "Winter Formal," with all the little ones dressed in their finery. Tessie remained unencumbered by any semblance of Christmas spirit:

She did like the alligator rocker, though:

Yoghurt Redux

Free advice: never give your child a name that rhymes with "messy."

More yoghurt, blueberry this time. Tessie's latest game involves spooning food with her right hand onto her left, then either licking it off or just squishing it through her fingers.

She also seems to have devised a new form of language. This was shot (obviously) before the yoghurt was served:

Tessie + Yoghurt = Mess

Tonight's menu: diced pork, cous-cous, peas and squash, followed by yoghurt with strawberries for dessert. The pork was a hit, the peas and squash were tolerated, and the cous-cous was a flop. Dessert was a hit:

At some point, after I put the video camera away and before I got out the still camera, she got yoghurt in her hair:

Tooth status update

Molars! We think! It's getting a little hard to tell, as Tessie usually only opens her mouth to shove food in. She doesn't seem to like having us examine her too carefully, so some of the above diagram may be slightly inaccurate; we'll try to adjust it when she permits closer inspection.

Planes of Fame

On our way back from Thanksgiving, we stopped in at the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino. I enjoy looking at classic planes, and it's even better when they are in flying condition. Many of the aircraft here are in flying condition and have been used in a wide variety of motion pictures.

I wondered what the highlight of the museum would be for Tessie: when we saw a P-51 Mustang taxi out, take off, and it fly over the adjacent airfield, touring the galleries (i.e. hangars) with their vast collection of WWII aircraft, or maybe, just maybe, it would be the water fountain between the rest rooms:

A [Classified] Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at the home of our friends, the [redacted by Homeland Security]s. They welcomed us into their home in [a classified location].

Seriously, Greg G. is my old roommate from USC; he and his wife Linda now live in Chula Vista with their three kids, Monique (age 11), Ryan (7) and Caitlin (3). He is a Public Affairs Officer for the US Navy, hence the 'secrecy'. Our hosts prepared not one but two turkeys (one roasted, one deep-fried), and put out a tremendous spread of food.

Tessie loved the food, but needs to work on her table manners:

The Gs made us part of their family for a few days; Monique kicked my butt at PlayStation Quidditch, Ryan kicked my butt at Wallball on their backyard sport court, and Caitlin didn't kick my butt at anything, but she was probably just being polite.

Tessie works her magic on the gruff military man:

Tessie really enjoyed having other kids around to play with. We're looking forward to spending more time with the Gs, but probably won't be able to until the new year.