Shots of LA

Los Angeles Public Library
The United Way building (posted for our friend Will)
And I bet you thought the Jewelry District in LA would be pretty fancy...
It's not.

Family Picture

The only family shot we got on our entire trip.
... and another one of Rock's super cool parents.

Walt Disney Concert Hall

I once saw an article in InStyle magazine where Cindy Crawford (I think) posed in a bunch of awesome dresses in front of the newly constructed Walt Disney Concert Hall. Figuring I'd never live anywhere near LA, I forgot about it. Then, when we were living in DC, we saw an exhibit at the National Building Museum about the construction of this fabulous music hall and Fix and I (at that time on our way to Seminary) agreed we had to go see it at some point.

Alas, we never managed to do so while we were living in California. So, on this trip to LA, we insisted on going to see it.
Some outside shots through the car window.
The coolest part about this building's funky shape/design is that the concert hall has AMAZING acoustics. This is where the LA Philharmonic performs.
Oops! I forgot to flip this one -- the right side above is the bottom of the picture. It's a shot of the elevator/stair area looking up to the various floor levels.
Originally the structure was a lot shinier but apparently it was blinding people working in buildings nearby, so they had to go over the whole building and buff it up We wandered around the outside of the building and found a few outdoor stages as well as a garden (featured in the next post). From this vantage point we could look out over a lot of downtown LA.

Reuniting with Dad

In addition to seeing the Colemans, we were reunited with Rock's Dad in LA!
Rock was delighted to have 'that funny guy' around again!

Stephen, Carrie, Molly and Oliver!

The best part of visiting LA was seeing our dear friends. We were so excited to meet baby Oliver and see Stephen and Carrie and Molly again. We were so thrilled to see them we couldn't sit still for a good picture... here are our best attempts.

p.s. You may notice that Rock's mom got a MUCH NEEDED haircut while she was in Escondido. Having come to peace with the fact that she is (as Dani, her hair stylist once said) a hair perfectionist, she realized, as most new mom's do, that she needed to cut down on hair-styling time in order to have more time to look after Rock. This new 'do is a lot easier to do! Yay for Dani!!!

Trains are Fun for Everyone!

Because Rock's mom is not as observant as she was before she had a little boy to distract her, she somehow lost her license after going through security. Okay, so that's not fair. She never really had her act together before he was born. But now she has a good excuse for losing her driver's license.

Anyway, since she had no driver's license, they couldn't rent a car to go up to LA. Thus they had to ride the train. Although it was initially stressful trying to get tickets and catch the train, the trip was very pleasant once Rock and his mom got settled.
Rock slept for a lot of it.
But woke up with enough time left in their journey to enjoy the seat next to mom.

Kuno

Daria and Jeremy are some of our best friends in California. We were so excited to finally be introduced to their little boy Kuno (named after his great-grandfather). He shares a birthday with Owen from the Quammune and he tried to teach Rock how to crawl while we were visiting. It was not successful... yet.

Rich

The second Quammune baby that Rock met was Rich. They had a lot of fun playing on the floor together while Rock's mom caught up with Rich (Rich's dad has the same name -- how confusing!!!) and Melissa.
Rock especially enjoyed Rich's tiny head.

Umbrella Stroller

Isn't this an awesome umbrella stroller? We are so grateful to the family from church who gave us this stroller. It was great to have something little to fold up and take with us on the trip.

Professor Super Baby

Apparently, in California, if you have a pink washcloth to wear on your head, you are a professor. And if you have a red and white piece-of-fabric/cape, you are a super hero.

At least that's what Gwen says.

California Siblings

Hostess Gwen and Host Elijah were very good 'siblings' to Rock while were in California. We were so grateful to have them around to keep us entertained until Rock's dad could get into town.
They made Rock a crown to wear....
and played endless rounds of peek-a-boo...
and wheeled his stroller around the back yard....
and even taught his mom how to dress like a princess.
They are also skilled at taking pictures of themselves.

Pacific Standard Time

Rock never quite figured out the time change so we got to spend several EARLY morning hours together. Although I tried to explain that mommy likes to sleep in past 4, he thought it was 7 am and time to play. So, I blinded him with my flash as punishment for waking me up so early!

Aimee, Flora and Owen!

Besides meeting our hosts, the Wagners (more pictures of them in future blogs), Rock's first visit was with our old upstairs neighbors at the Quammune. Owen (above) is three months older than Rock but they were about the same size.
We enjoyed catching up with Aimee while the kids were asleep. A little while after Owen woke up, I got to get Flora from her crib. It was a little bit disconcerting for her to be woken up by a 'stranger.'

Airplanes are fun for Everyone!

Although he had a total meltdown waiting in line to get on the plane (it was so bad that mom ended up crying too), once we got seated and Rock could eat a little, he was a wonderful travel companion. It helped that we had three seats to ourselves as the flight was not very crowded. After some playing, he slept for the majority of the flight.

6-Month Check-up!

The day before we left town we went to Rock's 6-month check-up. It was actually a very depressing day. Unfortunately, we found out that Rock is NO LONGER IN THE 95th PERCENTILE! He has slowed down and at 21 lbs. 11 oz. and 28 inches is now only in the 90th percentile. Disappointing, huh?
Seriously though, we were happy to hear that Rock is still healthy and strong and continuing to grow. Above he shows off his incredible flexibility.
He was glad that Mom and Dad brought along Meester Frog for his appointment.
Meester Frog likes to give him keesses.

Fun on the Floor

Before we left town, Rock had a fun time playing with Nana Kerry and Papa John.
And contemplating the rug.

Peas

Yes, they somehow managed to get in his eyebrows.