Trains and Monkeys

The last couple of weeks have been as hectic as any, and yet we don't seem to have much to show for it. We're getting ready for winter, I suppose, blowing out the sprinkler system, trimming some particularly threatening tree branches, listening to Cal give a sound drubbing to Colorado State (42-7) and then a more modest win over ASU (24-14). Oh thank heavens for live streaming KGO radio on the iPhone. It's almost as good as listening on an old fashioned transistor radio!

Alex has been enjoying his green ride-along train lately.



Sometimes he puts his feet up on the steering wheel and leans back against the back rest. It's startlingly casual.

It may have been the best $4 second-hand toy ever.

Now here is a picture of a little boy in a box:

For lack of time or energy to do much else in the evenings, I've been playing my guitar a bit more. Alex calls it the "gii-car" or "geet-car". I'm no better now than I ever was, and probably worse. But Alex doesn't seem to notice, especially when I let him strum and pluck the strings. Once last week he even pulled out his big green alligator xylophone and played along with me.


I'll be honest with you. We are exhausted most of the time. Money is really tight. We don't see all that much of each other, between work and school and commuting. The house is falling apart and is a perpetual disaster area of dirty dishes, baby toys, and paperwork. We have pieced toghether a patchwork web of small blessings, contingencies, and outs that get us by: Ryanne (the world's greatest nanny, fills-in-all-the-gaps, stays late, Alex's #1 fan), frozen meals (Bertouilli's frozen pasta skillets are a nice treat when they're on sale), walks around town, parks with swings and slides, kids videos from the library (Richard Scarry's Best Videos really are just that), and now we have a newly minted babysitter Priya who can watch Alex when she hasn't got too much homework.

So we get by. We're definitely not DINKs anymore. Let's not talk about 401(k)'s right now.

Auntie Ali sent Alex a ridiculously cute monkey costume for Halloween.
It even has a banana. Can you believe it?

Here's what makes it all worth while: