Four Month Update

Today was Emerson's four month checkup. Everything is looking good. One stand out stat we received was his 75th percentile for height. He weighs about 14 lbs 7 oz.

Emerson pretty quickly rolls over to his left side when you set him on his back. He'll hang out on his tummy for a bit before getting upset. He doesn't seem to want to roll over on to his back, so we usually pick him up  or roll him back over. Related to this - he has excellent neck strength. Though he can't sit up by himself, he can definitely hold his head up just fine.

It's really easy to get Emerson to smile. He is making more laugh noises now which is also really fun. Another thing that gets him to smile without fail is the Super Man. I lift him up over my head with his body parallel to the floor. I look up at him and he smiles as big as he can. It's the best.

Let's see... what else? Oh, we found out he likes the pacifiers with the funky shapes. Nooks. That was a golden thing to figure out. It calms him, keeps the drool off his body, and keeps his fingers out of his mouth. After all, it seems next to milk, knuckle sandwiches are his favorite meal.

I suppose lastly is he now has more hair than his dad!

Emerson rolling over!

Surprise Anniversary Family Roadtrip

Last weekend, we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. To celebrate, I took the family on a surprise roadtrip. I'm good at keeping secrets, so no one knew!

Kataneh couldn't stop bugging me for clues as to where we were going. How do I pack? Is Emerson going? What do we need? We better not be camping? Do we fly there? etc

We started off by driving south. As we went right by Kataneh's parent's house, I think she thought we were dropping off Emerson. We zipped right past and headed on the 17 S towards Santa Cruz. 

Our first stop was the Monterey. Before going to the aquarium, we ate at Bubba Gump's. Not shabby! Finally, we made it to the coolest aquarium there is. It is a beautiful facility and we have been wanting to go to see their great white shark. The shark weighed 43lbs and was 4 feet 7 inches long.

Emerson slept most of the time, as he does when his is comfy and warm in his Ergo carrier. He did wake up to check out the jellyfish. 

Next, we headed south stopping off here and there for a picture in Big Sur.

Towards the south of Big Sur, we pulled over for a hike at Salmon Creek to see the waterfall.

After that, we pushed on down to Cambria where our good friend's parents let us stay at their second home. Thanks Loganbills!!!!! It is an awesome house with killer views of the ocean. Very comfy and a prime place to relax. We ate at Main Street Grill (great tri tip sando) and just hung out at the house.

The next day, we went to Hearst Castle. I didn't want to do the typical tour, so we got the 'Upstairs' tour where we saw bedrooms and the library. The last time I was there was when I got to swim in the outdoor pool! 

Pretty cool. It's interesting that Hearst separated men and women if they weren't married and closely monitored the limited amount of alcohol he served. While on the short tour, Emerson pooped twice. We laugh: Emerson said 'here's what I think of this place.'

After the tour, we went just down the road to the beach for Emerson's first beach experience. We dipped his feet in the sand and let him soak it all in. It was windy, so we didn't stay too long.

Next, we headed back to town, thinking we were going to regroup and head to SLO. We saw a wine tasting shop in town, so we did that and then didn't feel like driving far, so we just went back to the house to hang for while before dinner.

During this time, we sat on the balcony, watched the sun, chatted and witnessed Emerson rolling over for the first time. 

Once we were set, we went to a great dinner at Robin's in Cambria. It was perfect because Emerson slept the whole time. 

We went back to the house, laid low and went to sleep. All in all, it was a very relaxing weekend!

Is that a meth lab you have, or did you just have a baby?

Sometimes I wonder.

Labor Day Weekend

We had an amazing Labor Day weekend! We went to Big Sur and then Los Gatos to celebrate our niece's, Mina, 6th Birthday.

Our Ripplewood cabin

Last year we were invited to join my best friend, Kate, and her family to Big Sur. Every Labor Day weekend her family rents cabins up at the Ripplewood Resort. Her Aunt Catherine and her Uncle Doug got married at Ripplewood and have been going their for 30+ years. We were so happy to share this beautiful tradition with them and take Emerson on his first camping adventure.


I thought cabin camping was a good ease into real (tent) camping for Emerson. He loved it! When it got too cold we would put him in his seat in the cabin while we listened to music and chatted around the campfire. Each cabin was fully equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, and heater. Both nights we had delicious dinners (lasagna, tri tip, caesar salads, and ceviche for an appetizer). 

Amazing dinners!

On Saturday, Catherine, Maggie, Kate, Emilio and I went to Andrew Molera park and did a nice hike while the rest of the crew hung out at the campgrounds. Later we went to the Post Ranch Inn for some cocktails while Catherine and Maggie graciously watched Emerson. Kate and her family are all such wonderful and welcoming people and because of this, Emerson loved his first camping experience with the O'laughlin/Kilkenny family! 

Hike to Andrew Molera Park

Post Ranch Inn

Sunday, on the way back from Big Sur, we went to Los Gatos to celebrate Mina's 6th birthday party. The entire family was there including my cousin Bita, Halie Manijeh, and Amoo Shahi from LA. We had yummy kabobs and Mina had fun hanging with the fam! Her favorite gift was a Tinkerbell costume from Disneyland. She couldn't wait to try it on! I wonder if Emerson is going to be into dressing up in costumes like I am....

Tinkerbell

We tried

Emerson dancing.

I hope Emerson wont be too embarrassed to go dancing with his mom.