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Darby spent Christmas day putting everything she got on at once while doing rounds and rounds with each of her toys... outside for a round of hockey, inside for her little people castle, outside for basketball, inside for some art time, and so on.

52 : 43 (part 5)

Ewan had a Christmas full of Ghostbusters... legos, yahtzee, pajamas, clothes, etc. This year the excitement really built for Ewan, but he could not quite make it through the night to catch Santa in the act!

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Another month, another bow.

Darby Moira - 2 Years 8 Months

52 : 42 (part 5)

Afternoon movie dates are one of our favorite activities, and when it involves Star Wars we are all the happier. This week we snuck Ewan out of school early and took him to the city to see Rogue One! We had a fun lunch and headed over to Alamo Drafthouse for the movie, the novelty of having warm popcorn and fresh baked cookies delivered to our seats may never wear off.

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So the Santa fear of a few weeks ago persisted to Charlie Brown... we had a lovely family brunch date followed by an afternoon at the San Francisco Symphony where they did a special performance of A Charlie Brown Christmas. The kids loved the Symphony Hall, all of the Christmas trees, and the music.

52 : 41 (part 5)

In keeping with their annual tradition, Ewan and Auntie Marianne built a gingerbread house this week, actually a small village of 4 houses. Every year Ewan gets more specific in his vision for the house(s) and he also gets sneakier about eating the frosting and candy. Ewan always has fun with his Auntie and he was definitely in almost 5 year old form.

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Daddy had a birthday, we made a cake, and Darby sang the loudest of all of us to the man of all of our dreams. Happy Birthday Kevin!

52 : 40 (part 5)

Mama saw a special offer on tickets for the Lion King musical in San Francisco so she snagged them and took Ewan for a special date in the city. We took BART in, spent the morning shopping for a little girl that we adopted for the holidays, looked at the decorations in Union Square, went to the Cheesecake Factory for pizza (Ewan chose the spot and the menu), and then enjoyed the show. Ewan was mesmerized by the musical and seems to have memorized the songs and catchphrases immediately.

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We expected our Santa experience to be pretty seamless this year so when we got to Santa's Village and Darby was a bit tentative about the old guy we were surprised but settled with her sitting to Ewan's right while Santa was on his left... we took the pictures and while Mama was picking the winner with the photographer Darby warmed up and climbed up on Santa's lap so we did a quick reshoot.

52 : 39 (part 5)

Ewan is old hat at this Santa business now, he confidently walked up to the old guy and sat right next to him. When prompted Ewan calmly and succinctly explained to Santa that he wants the boy Ghostbuster Lego set and that Darby wants the Little Mermaid Duplo set. Darby was a bit uncomfortable and Ewan was an all-star big brother so after we got home from our visit Ewan got to put the star on our tree!

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It seems that Darby's life may have been made this week... it wasn't Legoland or swimming in Palm Dessert or Thanksgiving or seeing friends and family... it was definitely lunch with her idol Ariel.

52 : 38 (part 5)

This year for Thanksgiving we went on a road trip adventure that kicked off with a day at Disneyland, then Legoland and Carlsbad, followed by Palm Desert for Thanksgiving, then family and friend time in Camarillo, and wrapped up with lunch in San Luis Obispo with Great Aunt Chatie and Uncle Ken. The family also had an additional traveler with us for this adventure... Bunny Robin Ray the Bat Rays pet that goes home with a different student/family each weekend. We were very happy to show Bunny Robin so much of California, and were happy that there were no mishaps and that he was safely returned to the classroom.

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Getting Darby's 2 year 7 month post out of the way because this lady has big plans for Thanksgiving next week... more and more to say, more and more to do, and more and more opinions - especially about her clothes and hair.

Darby Moira - 2 Years 7 Months

52 : 37 (part 5)

This weekend we found a sure fire way to exhaust Ewan... 4 hours with Auntie Holly and her pup Henry. Mama and Daddy took a few hours to enjoy a quiet brunch and explore the city, and this boy, who is resisting naps more and more, was asleep within 5 blocks of departure. He played hard, ordered and ate a turkey sandwich (his first), and discovered the beauty of Google Home.

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When your Grampy turns 70 you meet him in Mexico for some all-inclusive fun... sunscreen, quesadillas, and smoothies 24/7!

52 : 36 (part 5)

Another stamp in the passport to celebrate Grampie's 70th birthday! 5 warm days in Puerto Vallarta meant a lot of sunscreen, beach exploration, and tons of swim time. The highlights of this trip for Ewan included the water gun that Grampie got him, smoothies by the pool, and getting more comfortable in the waves.

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This girl's Ariel addiction came to life this Halloween! Darby loved every sequin and every second of being a mermaid.

52 : 35 (part 5)

After months of planning Ewan officially became a Ghostbuster... for Halloween. He loved his Daddy made costume and will likely not want to wear anything else in the foreseeable future.

52 : 34 (part 5)

After months of begging Ewan went to work with Mama again this week... He got the VIP treatment with BART, a trip to the mailroom, unlimited iPad time, kitchen snacks, infinite tape and staples, plus two doggie friends.

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Darby my Darling -

2.5 already! I have become that Mama, I know I say this all the time, but I have no clue how time has passed so quickly. This year, 2016 I mean, is whirring by us... Probably because we are having so much fun!

In the last 6 months you have changed so much, but at the same time not at all. You still have an amazing disposition, love school, and play rough, but you are much more verbal, physically capable with things like climbing, and even more stubborn about your independence. You seem to be growing like a weed, but since you are now on an annual schedule with the pediatrician we do not know for sure, but last time you asked to see how strong you were on the scale you were up to 34lbs. You seem to sustain on milk, cheese, yogurt, and bananas these days, but you will occasionally surprise us by requesting three servings of steak.

One thing that has changed this year is that you are much more affectionate, you request cuddles, hugs, and kisses regularly. When you kiss us you grab our cheeks and pull us in to you for a big wet one, which is the highlight of any day and can immediately turn a frown upside down. You continue to be very polite and are the first to yell "bess you" when anyone sneezes. Your go to accessory is sunglasses (aka sunnies), you prefer pigtails, and you are creating quite the tutu collection, you seem to find them where ever you go.

As much as we have avoided pink and princesses we can feel them infiltrating our lives, we still don't offer them, but will not deny your sweet requests... still no Barbies, no way. Your current princess addiction is Ariel from The Little Mermaid, which inspired you to request a mermaid costume for Halloween next week. You also constantly request Ariel's "Part of Your World" song, which you sing along to loudly. Our favorite line in your rendition is "gadgets and gizmos gamore", please never say galore properly... gamore forever and always.

Kisses Gamore, 

Mama

Darby Moira - 2 Years 6 Months

52 : 33 (part 5)

This weekend Ewan enjoyed watching the rain and spending time with his Auntie M! Always up for a fun date, Auntie came over for bowling, arcade games, and pizza. 

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No better feeling for our Darby to represent on her classroom's emotion board... Although it would be more accurate if it said "HANGRY!"

52 : 32 (part 5)

Ewan has sat on this tractor every October since he was born, and it is safe to say that this year he was more disappointed than ever that he couldn't actually drive it! He picked out some great pumpkins, had a yummy BBQ lunch, and enjoyed driving through the tunnels between San Mateo and Sonoma.

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On our annual trip to the Stanly Lane Pumpkin Patch Darby insisted on a tractor picture without her brother, had to carry her own pumpkin, and requested multiple trips down the hay bale slide.

52 : 31 (part 5)

This week Grammy and Uncle Jon visited and Ewan got to show them his favorite things: Philz, the library, swimming, bowling, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Can't think of an agenda more perfect for 4.5 year old Ewan.

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A little fever sent this little lady home early from school this week... Well it actually sent her to a preview event at the SF MOMA as Mama and Daddy had an afternoon date planned. Darby was in great spirits and she got a little 1 on 2 with the parents.

52 : 30 (part 5)

Man date! This week Kevin surprised Ewan with an outing to his favorite restaurant, upside down triangle, AKA BJ's. Dinner was followed by Wild Kratts Live in the city... Safe to say Ewan's mind was blown!

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Living off of cheese, milk, and bananas... this girl is full of spunk and is stretching from a baby into a girl. In need of a new wardrobe (no more 2Ts), including bigger shoes to her Mama's delight. At 2 years and 5 months, Darby is oddly polite, always offering her "scuze me", "tank you", and "peeze". Insistent on her independence and our good night songs.

Darby Moira - 2 Years 5 Months

52 : 29 (part 5)

Two things Ewan insisted on yesterday -
1) Dressing like a soccer player
2) Only getting a treat if he could get one for Baby Darby too

He also insists that when he grows up he will have 10 kids with his Baby Darby and she will have 5 sets of twins so she can "pop'em out 2 at a time." So much that is disturbing about that, while still being cute, such is 4!

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Looking so big at the kid computer station at the library! Darby did not want her turn to end, but did let her brother teach her a thing or two about how to use the AWE terminal. Between the technology, the puzzles, and the books and DVDs we can check-out, the library is turning in to a favorite Saturday morning stop!

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This girl inherited her Mama's love of celebrating... and cake.

52 : 28 (part 5)

Dear You-You,

You are the sweetest kid in town. Some people talk badly about 4, but we are loving it. You are creative and curious, you are loving and independent, you know what you want and we are your biggest fans. This year you have really started to come in to your own and while you seem more and more ready for kindergarten it is so impossible to think that at this time next year you will be there.

You like to measure how strong you are so I know that you weigh 51.4 lbs today and that you think you will be Daddy's size in a couple years. Your favorite pastimes right now are art and playing Ghostbusters. You are convinced you will be a Ghostbuster when you grow up and watch the live-action movies, and the cartoons, as often as we will allow. You sustain yourself on milk, pizza, cheesy noodles, and yogurt, but do make the odd request for fish since we went to Mexico.

By the time you turn 5 you will have at least 1 more stamp in your passport and are sure to have asked a million more questions... we want to take you everywhere and teach you everything Bud.

I ain't afraid of no ghosts,
Mama

EP - 4.5!

52 : 27 (part 5)

Ewan turned four and a half today and we happily celebrated with our traditional half cake and some singing. He was excited about celebrating this week and was generally hilarious, we jotted down a few highlights immediately because we never want to forget this phase...
- Asked mama, "Can we have a meeting to talk about something I want to build?"
- Mentioned over dinner, "I want to change my name to College."

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We think this is a flash forward to a fifteen year old Darby. Today she is well on her way to threenager status even though she technically has 7 months to go. She will stop you if you interrupt her when she is talking, is very clear on her opinions, doesn't hesitate to tell you what she wants, and still has very real bouts of hangriness. She is sassier everyday and we LOVE it. 

52 : 26 (part 5)

His big eyes are not the only thing that get us... One night this week I was getting ready for bed and grabbed a hair tie, Ewan asked what it was so I started to explain I use it to tie my hair back so I can wash my face, and he looked me in my eyes and said, "you just look so beautiful when you do that!" Mama heart melt.

Ewan is also quite the philosiphizer. This week he was not feeling to well, and we asked him how he was, to which he replied, "I feel like a polar bear in a snow storm!" We still are not sure what he meant, but the good news is he is feeling better.

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This weekend we participated in Walk for Wishes, a fundraiser to support the Make A Wish Foundation. Our family was very excited about the $800 that our favorite people helped us raise, as well as the morning walk. Darby was stoked to ride in Wagon the Dragon for 5K and insisted that we bring baby, who is appropriately named Baby. 

52 : 25 (part 5)

This week we took Ewan to a special showing of Finding Dory at Pixar Studios in Emeryville, he loved the movie again AND was happy to get to take his Baby Darby this time. The sculptures on campus blew Ewan's mind and he loved hearing the people that worked on Piper (the short at the start of the movie), and Finding Dory, talk about the creation process and seeing some behind the scenes footage. The proceeds of the ticket sales benefited the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which added to the awesomeness of the night! As we were leaving Ewan said, "When their next movie comes out I am gonna see it here!"

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2 years and 4 months! Summer is almost over and we are all wondering where it went, but all of our tanlines surely show we have enjoyed the season. DeeDee has become a fearless swimmer and while there is no shortness of sassy she is definitely overflowing with manners as well, yelling "bless you" from the office when she heard Mama sneeze. Time is feeling really fast these days...

Darby Moira - 2 Years 4 Months

52 : 24 (part 5)

Do this week's photos confuse you? Yeah us to... turns out Ewan wanted to transform himself, and his Baby Darby of course, in to cheetahs! Turn your back on this one for a few minutes and you end up with a house full of wildlife. 

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With a big brother that loves to bowl it was only a matter of time before Darby took on the pins herself. She insisted on carrying that bright green six pound ball to the ramp herself and did a great job, and all of her toes survived! Although slightly embarrassing to admit, it requires documentation, that Ewan and Darby beat Mama and Daddy through 7 frames of our first game. 

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Lionhearts is a sports program that the kids have once a week at school. Ewan always tells us random tidbits, but Darby is not really old enough to tell us much about it, but this week's photo is proof she loves it!

52 : 23 (part 5)

Supporting Ewan's goals is important to us. His current professional goal is to be a Ghostbuster so of course we took him on a date to see the new movie, according to him it is "the sometimes scary one with all the girls." He obviously couldn't be bothered to look away from the screen.

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This post was delayed a week as we were exploring Cabo San Lucas when Darby turned 2 years and 3 months... this photo was therefore taken a few days late and Darby is obviously tanner, blonder, and more relaxed!

Darby Moira - 2 Years 3 Months

52 : 22 (part 5)

Ewan has added Mexico to his list of favorite places. He loved the sunshine, the smoothies, and the slide... not so loved was the constant sunscreen application. In this week's photo Ewan is proving to us that he is tall enough, but not too tall, for the slide!

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This week Darby got her first stamp in her passport when we flew her across the border to Mexico for Mama's birthday. She was a star on the plane, loved the pool, questioned the ocean, and continued to hate having sunscreen applied (I swore to her she would thank us). A highlight of vacation for Darby was definitely sleeping in a big bed, sometimes on her own and sometimes sharing with her brother. It was a sweet week away that we all needed.

52 : 21 (part 5)

Visiting Mexico this week for Mama's 35th birthday and this kid has proven he understands vacation.

52 : 20 (part 5)

After one too many bad haircuts at the kid places Mama called in the big guns! Ewan enjoyed his first salon visit, although he was VERY confused by all of the foil that was in Mama's hair when he arrived.

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The Botanical Garden in San Francisco is a special place for us. When we went for our annual picnic for DeeDee's birthday this year we became members and have been looking forward to more visits since. A few weeks back we got a postcard for an event called Flower Piano, where they place 12 pianos throughout the gardens and allow people to play them, they also have scheduled performances. We had a leisurely picnic of salami and cheese and listened to some great music... definitely looking forward to Flower Piano 2017.

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After a couple tough movie experiences, which led to Daddy wandering the halls with DeeDee, we took a break from movie going with her. Since she has been excited by "The Secret Life of Pets" preview every time we saw it we decided to give her another chance at the theatre and she did so well. When the credits started to roll she yelled, "I DID IT!" she was so proud she made it all the way through.

52 : 19 (part 5)

This week Ewan started in Bat Rays, the 4 to 5 year old class at his preschool. We had been building up to this change, and counted down the days until his transition to the classroom was complete. Before his first official day we went to the cafeteria at Kevin's work for breakfast and then Ewan went with us to drop off Darby and then we dropped him off. It was fun to explore as a family the new arrival routines - he wrote his name on the check-in sheet (capital E and now lowercase wan), answered the question of the day on the whiteboard (how many time zones are there in Russia, he answered ONE, which he wrote on the board with our help spelling), and then he showed us his new cubby. Mama made him pause for a few pictures and his pride and excitement was so apparent. When the day was done and Daddy picked him up it was ruled a very good day with no table jobs (tasks done instead of recess when a child does not listen). We are hopeful for a very good year and can't believe Kindergarten is next!