Greg and Dante in Thompson Square Park

My Little (well 22 year old) brother came to visit this weekend. He hasn't seen Dante since Xmas (2 months old) but Dante somehow new he was family and immediately warmed up to him. For a ten month old, this is big, because Dante is in this picky stage where he wants his mommy, daddy and nanny. He's not so eager to let others hold him. But with Greg, no problem. We hung out in Thompson Square Park and enjoyed the warm Summer day.

Paul Van Dyk in Central Park

We met because both of us were on a disastorous Paul Van Dyk bus tour in Miami in 2005 during WMC immortalized as the Poison Vapor Diesel bus. So in a way Paul is responsible for Danted coming into the world. I was hoping we'd get to introduce Paul to Dante (shades of fanboy mania aside) since we've already told him the story of our meeting on that bus but he hasn't yet seen Dante in person. That didn't happen but nonetheless we had a great time at a soggy Central Park Summerstage where Paul played a great live set with guests.

Google 80s Party: August 16th

Google had an 80s themed party yesterday and transformed the cafe into a shiny disco ball. I couldn't resist showing off *The D* so I had Nanny Teresa bring him to the office. I dressed him in a CBGB's onsie and spiked his hair with blue hair gel. He munched on cucumbers, carrot sticks, played with the tinsel and had a blast looking at the shining lights - and so did I - everyone smiled and remarked that Dante should win the costume contest. I found these Yellow Devo glasses and put them on D's face. They didn't bother him at all - he left them on the rest of the night, posing for pix.

14th Street Y Pool on August 15th

Our little water monkey got to try out a new toy that Rahav picked up in Atlantic City. Now Dante can float and kick in the water all by himself. He delighted in the freedom his blow up whale offered as he kicked and cooed and maneuvered himself all around the YMCA pool. Daddy was close by, of course, while mommy snapped photos :-)

Fire Island: August 11th & 12th

Another sunny, beautiful weekend in Fire Island with friends. The water is super warm now and Dante loves loves loves the ocean now. Actually, he's fond of all things water. This past weekend Rahav's friend Sylvana and my friend's Kirsten and Alessio joined us for the weekend. We went to a BBQ and dined on *brownies* kobe beef and other deliciously fresh meat and veggies and fish on the deck. (Click Here for online photo album)It was a perfect Fire Island weekend. As always, Dante enjoyed the crowd and had no problem catching his ZZZs in the middle of the action. I love that he's so mobile and easy to take around!

Fire Island: August 4th & 5th: Ten Months Old

There were a lot of firsts for Dante on Fire Island this weekend. He'll be ten months old on Monday and every day he blossoms and becomes a bit more aware of the world each day.

- First time he picked blueberries. They line the Ocean Beach pathways and D figured out how to pick them instantly and gobble them up in his mouth. Once that light went off, he wouldn't take them from our hand anymore and insisted on picking them himself.

- First time he pet a deer. A mother and baby fawn spied us picking blueberries and came over to partake in the feast. Dante giggled and laughed when they approached and stretched out his hand to pat momma deer on the head.

- First time he went into the ocean without protesting. Little by little I'd put his feet in the sand when the tide approached and eventually splashed in the water and got excited when the tide rushed in and out of his ankles. He wasn't sure if it was him or the water moving to and fro.

- First time he felt roses.

- First time he played in a hammock

Visiting Mom's Office July 28th '07

We stopped into the Google office on our way to the Chelsea water park. It was a unbearable hot and humid July day in New York City. My office is on the chilly side and has yummy snacks - so we stopped in to fill up, cool down and spin on my desk chair. I'm giddy cuz my desk is pimping with the new 8-core Mac and two 24" monitors.

Later that day found this wonderful water park in Chelsea on 24th and 11th Avenue. It was perfect for Dante and Newton to crawl and splash around. the floor was covered in this soft sparkly blue padding and Dante was fascinated by the waterfall. To show you how BIG Dante is for his age - the boy next to him is 14 months old.

Dancing D

Dante loves to dance! lately he's been pulling himself up on the TV stand and grooving and bopping to VH1 hits that I play in the morning. The other day he bounced to the beat while Rahav played Guitar Hero (Hard mode of course :-)

Check out the video

Dante Dancing to Guitar Hero: July 23rd

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July 21st - PS1

This is the first weekend we've been in NYC in quite some time. The weather was perfect too - not humid and low 80s - there was no reason to head out to Fire Island with gorgeous NYC weather like this. When I first moved to NYC in 2001, I spend many Summer Saturdays at PS1 but haven't been in two years. So, I took Dante to PS1 this weekend while Rahav worked the Siren Festival and we had a blast. It was jammed packed for the Martinez Brothers. Of course, Dante loved it and everyone loved him - he hammed and flirted about and stole the ladies attention away from the countless roving men.

Dante in his Crib

D's started to pull himself upright in the last week or so and we've had to lower the height of the floor in both cribs. The first day the height was lowered in the studio a couple of days ago he did THIS and I made a note that photos would HAVE to be produced.

Nine Months is definately a growth milestone - We need to do a major toy overhaul. He's "over" most of his baby toys. Hail to the god Craigslist to out the old and scout out the new. His toy mat used to pacify Dante for hours. Now that he's mastered turning on and off the music & lights - he's bored. Same with the infant swing - now he likes to grab the bars, stop movement and practie pull-ups with a wily grin. His crib mobile has no chance of survival now that he can stand up, grab it and rip it to shreds. I'd give his bouncy seat another month or two tops. Clothes - we'll that needs to be overhauled as well as he's wearing clothes for 12 - 18 month olds. Luckly for me that I loved the clothes in Spain and Morocco and went a bit crazy :-)

The three of us went to a parents party and our new friends Debra and Jon who have a nine month old named Newton. We felt toy envy and realized we're totally out of the loop on what's cool for kids at the moment. Dante has a blast playing with all these super cool toy trains, drums, crawl houses etc. Time for a trip to BuyBuybaby!

9 Month Doctor Visit

Dante got flying colors at his nine month doctor visit. Height 30" / Weight 21 lbs / Head Circumference 46". Gross motor skills wise - Dante has mastered crawling and has his mind set on walking. One thing I see about Dante is that he's a very focused little boy when learning a new task. He doesn't get frustrated with failure and will try and try again until he gets it right. Such as pulling himself up on furniture. Once he discovered he can stand on his legs that's all he wanted to do. In one week he went from pulling himself up in his crib to cruising and balancing on all the living room furniture. His concentration is equally amazing and is not one to get distracted by room noise if he's engrossed in something else.

I call this picture his Moses picture. I took it in Fire Island at my friend Christina's house. We found a laundry basket filled with sheets and put d inside - he loved it and was content staying there all day if we let him - only to be heard every once in a while when he cooed :-)

Marrakesh and Spain: June 28th - July 7th 2007

Each year, mom, Tera and I take an annual girls trip to an exotic location. So far, we've been to Greece, Iceland, Nova Scotia and France. This year we chose Marrakesh, Morocco and Southern Spain. My college friend Shaunna chose Marrakesh as her wedding destination and we couldn't pass up the invitation and tag on a side trip to Madrid, Sevilla and Granada.
photo album from Marrakesh

Last year, both Tera and I were pregnant on our Greece trip. This year we thought it would be fun to bring along our babies to show that having kids would not slow us down. So, Tera brought four month old Megan and I brough nine month old Dante - and it worked. Both babies are easy travelers. This brings Dante's country tally to six (France, England, Jordan, Israel, Morocco and Spain). We ended up renting fabulous posh apartments in the city center - equipped with cribs and elevators to make us all comfortable. We took it easy and spent our days strolling the city streets, hanging out in lush gardens and palaces and museums. We even took the babies to a flamenco show in Sevilla but left them with mom to catch a bullfight.

Dante Started Crawling: June 28th 2997

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June 4th: San Francisco and Yosemite

The first week of June is the busiest of the year for me work-wise. Google has an annual sales conference that I do lots of videos for. It keeps me crazy busy! This year Rahav was our conference photographer. He brought Dante out to San Francisco so I could see him during the few mintues of downtime we had that week. We found a lovely nanny to watch him at the hotel. When the conference was over, we rented a car and drove to Yosemite for an amazing weekend of biking, hiking and sight seeing.

At the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Dante refused to look at the camera and would turn his head away from the camera, even when Rahav switch positions. I had to capture it on camera - he was totally playing games with us :-)



In Yosemite We rented a cabin in Curry Village in Yosemite Valley and used it as a basecamp for hiking, biking and exploring the park grounds. The first day we rented bikes and put Dante in a bike trailer and pulled him everywhere - he was cruising in style. We biked to Yosemite Falls, El Capitain and and took photos of Half Dome at sunset.





Day two we hiked to Vernal Falls and had a picnic lunch. Rahav swam in the freezing cold water just above the falls drop off.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND - Dante spent his first weekend in Fire Island over Memorial Day. It's a special place to both Rahav and I and where we settled on Dante's name five days before he was born. Rahav spent many Summers on Ocean Beach and introduced me to this peaceful, magical place two years ago. Both of us have been eager to share it with Dante. We know he'll grow up loving this tiny island for its beauty, serenity and wilderness like qualities nestled only a few hours from NYC and accessible only by ferry boat.

The weather was beautiful, breezy and warm and Dante enjoyed feeling and eating the sand. I thought I'd let him have at it and then he'd learn not to eat sand. Well, it backfired as he actually enjoyed and indulged in feeling the sand on his gums. He's also teething and has a stuffy nose. He slept peacefully for hours at the beach. The sounds of the crashing waves and the cool ocean breeze helped him relax.

My friend Ooana grew up on Fire Island and was the first person to welcome Dante. She'll be a great mentor and teach Dante the special nature of being a kid on Fire Island. She had a huge part in my fondness for the island and my desire to share its magical qualities with Dante.

Our Little Pierrot

I Love the outfit that Dante is wearing in this pix - it reminds me of a french pierrot print. Plus he has the cutest smile. Alas, it's probably the last time he'll ever wear it. It's 80 degrees outside and quite a tight fit around his chubby legs.

These kids playmats are quickly making me dislike Mozart all the twanging music over and over gives me a headache. Dante has discovered how to turn on the playmat lights and music - it's cute to watch him get excited about doing a task all by himself.

Dante's Chart

A friend of Christine's put this together.

First Mother's Day: May 13th 2007

Springtime is finally in NYC which brings everyone to the park in droves. I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day with Dante, Rahav and his mum. We BBQ'd chez Rahav and fed Dante lots of new foods.. Yogurt, Avocado and Mango Mango Mango, his favorite. Funny that Mango is the ONE food I craved throughout my entire pregnancy and now Dante can't get enough.. which came first.. the chicken or the egg :-)

Here's pix of our relaxing day in Thompson Square Park on Saturday, May 12th.

Dante on my shoulders makes me Happy

Photobooth rocks.