In early December we flew to SF for Robb's conference. That first week we stayed in a beautiful B&B place right downtown Palo Alto called Cowper Inn, that we had actually never noticed while we lived in the area. As Robb left for the city every morning, Nikolas and I enjoyed the breakfast downstairs in the coziest dining room that definitely felt like it was at a friends' house and not at a hotel, and where I could have spent hours browsing the newspapers and books and sipping tea (it was a cold week!) only if Nikolas had the same patience too. Oh, I have to mention the homemade granola that we had there every day--the best I've had so far. Breakfast was also a great opportunity to meet and chat with other guests and hear each other's stories. One nice lady, Meredeth, and I decided to go hiking Stanford Foothills together, with Nikolas in the stroller. Last time I hiked there was a month before Nikolas was born! It was much easier to haul the belly up the hill that push the gigantic stroller, I have to say...
After the morning hike or a stroll around downtown and on to either Stanford or the Stanford Shopping Center, we would meet someone for lunch. First, there were the IC guys: Gilles, The Linh, Jason, Ron, Tim, Dan, Luke, the new Greek guy and the Asian girl whose names I already forgot, outch! (did I forget anyone?). There were some good laughs there :). Then Will and Laszlo met us for coffee in downtown Mountain View, my old usual coffee shop, which was also very pleasant and energizing ('energizing' and 'Will' in the same sentence? True though :)).
Then we met with the Yugoslavian girls, Svjetlana, Ceca, Sanda, Maja and Marija, and although the lunch was a bit rushed, it was great to see everyone. I saved the Friday lunch for Phil and Kishore at the Faultline Brewery, of course, just like in the good old times.
We spent a few hours at Google too, having coffee with Matteo and Ugo and showing Nikolas his primary business competitor a few years from now :)
So mommy definitely got her share of socializing this week, yet poor Nikolas spent most of the time bundled up in blankets and a hat and stuck in the stroller on a car seat going from one place to another.
Other than going crazy over Cheerios and some cables on the floor at Google, he was forced to resign to the fact that there wasn't much play for him in the plans, and he took it incredibly well. He really didn't fuss at all. I actually envisioned that we would spend a few hours every day with either Nurit's Dani who lives almost around the corner from our B&B and Ceca's Marko. We visited Ceca a couple of times where the kids got to play together, in a very friendly manner too, while I got to catch up with my friend.
However, Nurit, Dave and Dani were just about to leave for Israel, but we did see them the night before they left.
Nurit made my life much easier by letting me borrow the booster seat and some toys for Nikolas for the hotel room. Oh yes, traveling with a curious child is a major project. We arrived from Florida with 3 suitcases and a bunch of bags, and that was just the BASIC stuff, no toys, no unnecessary outfits, just the basics. We even shipped most of the ski equipment before we left. So now, the first time I tried feeding Nikolas his oatmeal, both of us and everything around us got covered with the sticky stuff. Next, try letting the kid play in the hotel room without toys--let's see: there are outlets, wires, brochures, trash bins....so Nurit, thanks again!
After the conference we spent a couple of days at Steve and Laurie's. We were reminded by how much we missed hanging out with them! The kids were great with Nikolas. This time they could actually play with him and not just try to hold him as a little baby. Nikolas got his first lesson about how to go up and down the stairs between the family room and kids' play room.
Here is Jenny pushing Nikolas--he was having a blast in his new 'car':
By the way, Robb and I got a special treat from Steve and Laurie: Nita watched all the kids, including Nikolas, while the two of us went with Steve and Laurie to their friends' Christmas party in Los Altos. How fun!
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