Fiona from the Block

As June 1 approached, so did our move. Fiona bid a fond farewell to 1763 Spruce St., the only home she'd known since birth.

And with the help of a LOT of WONDERFUL friends, the Gongs moved a short distance away to our new place in South-West Berkeley, aka the "Berkeley Flats."
As far as Mama Gong is concerned, the "Flats" comes just at the right time; pushing our new double stroller up all the hills in our old neighborhood might have broken me.

Fiona found moving to be a lot of fun. Especially the boxes, which are great to sit in...
...and even better when made into a clubhouse!

As the most fashionable Gong, Fiona quickly determined that a change of address required a changed look. The day we moved in, we were informed by the neighbors down the block that we'd moved to the "semi-hood." (Disclaimer/explanation: we LOVE our new neighborhood, our new house is the best we've lived in to date, our friends Tommy & Celeste and their baby are virtually across the street, etc. But yes, compared to North Berkeley, the Flats are definitely rougher around the edges and more diverse. Which we consider a very, very good thing). The next day, Fiona found one of her old baby hats and insisted on wearing it all afternoon. In our opinion, it definitely gives her that tough, do-rag look, and has us wondering if she's secretly running a cracker-dealing gang after hours.
But the next day, it was on to new headgear: a bandanna for planting with Mama.
Moving had other perks; our new layout and Fiona's ever-increasing Big Girl status inspired several new purchases, such as:

A Fiona-sized table and chair for creative work...
(she doesn't always like to be disturbed in her creative endeavors)

...and a bathroom step-stool for a better tooth-brushing experience.

Yes, life is very, very good. Especially when it all comes together and a girl can eat breakfast at her new table, wearing a bandanna.

Miscellaneous Fun....

Still attempting to get caught up on the past month! Much has happened. Fiona:

welcomed back Grandmommy & Granddaddy from their Mediterranean cruise!
continued to make some interesting sartorial choices. Here she is wearing FOUR sweaters on one of the hottest days we've had this spring...

...and modeling Dadoo's tie.
is becoming far more daring at the playground. Note the tricycle and the BIG GIRL SWING!
Coming next: THE BIG MOVE!!

Fiona's First Swim

Still getting caught up on these posts....

A few weeks ago, we had some VERY hot weather here in NorCal -- made worse by our lack of air conditioning (for you East Coasters, almost nobody here has residential air conditioning).

Thankfully, our friends Steve and Kathleen live in an apartment complex with a POOL, and kindly invited us over for a swim! (Actually, I think we invited ourselves over. See a trend with the prior update? We're always inviting ourselves over!)

This was Fiona's first time in a swimming pool and she took to it like, well, like a fish to water!

Of course, every good pool party ends with a barbeque! Thanks, Steve & Kathleen!

May-May & E-E

Well, we've now successfully relocated to SW Berkeley, hence my (again) long absence from posting. Thanks to a LOT of help from friends, the move went incredibly smoothly and quickly. In fact, we're more or less settled in, and loving the new place already! (Pictures to come).

The WORST thing about the move, without question, was that it required us to put a 10-minute drive between us and our now former neighbors Eric and Amanda. Eric and Amanda are the best neighbors one could ever hope to have, the sort of neighbors who somehow KNOW when it's been a long week and show up with a lasagna. At our old place, we could -- and often did -- shout up to their windows and have what I'm sure were irritating public discussions for all the other neighbors.

Needless to say, because she is a good judge of character, Fiona adores Eric and Amanda, whom she calls "May-May" and "E-E." In addition to shouting at their windows, we'd also taken to dropping in on them unannounced, and it got to the point where Fiona couldn't pass their driveway without requesting a visit. (Now that I think about it, they might be happy that we've moved!)
In their final act of neighborly kindness (apart from Eric helping us move for 4 hours), E-E and May-May had Fiona over for a playdate, allowing Fiona's mom to pack for the move. From the look of things, everyone had a wonderful time.
We love E-E & May-May, and hope they'll now drop in on us unannounced!!

Visitors

The Gongs will all be moving to a new place in Berkeley this Saturday, so we're currently living amidst the boxes and preoccupied by packing and address forwarding and the like. I am so tired that I can't think of anything witty to say, but the photos keep piling up and the fun events keep flying by, so I need to keep up! Therefore, with very little fanfare, I present to you the following photos and commentary:

We've been truly blessed to have had several special visitors over the past month. First came Dahna and Sarah, college friends from DC (you may recall our visit to their great apartment over the summer). Fiona was so wired after a morning with these fun ladies that this is the best group photo we could pull off:

Then came Jon and Joy Channell and their sweet new baby, Kate. I was Joy's "mentor" (quotes added because she's way more mature than I am!) when she was on staff with the Navigators in NYC, pre-marriage and -baby. Jon & Joy live in Tuscaloosa, AL now, so it was really special to see them in the Bay Area! Fiona and Kate bonded over their hand-chewing techniques.

And then came Nana and Boom. Fiona had a blast with them (and vice versa!), and they were incredibly helpful to our whole family during a crazy weekend that included a major Project Peace fundraiser and the beginning of moving logistics. They did a LOT of fun things with Fiona, many of which I didn't capture -- unfortunately, the ones I did capture all seem to be focused on eating/drinking, but we did more than that! I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Fiona still asks about them every day.

Mothers Day

I know that Mothers Day is the cause of much angst in our society, what with all the expectations and emotions that it entails. It's certainly the cause of much anxiety in my husband, who's always afraid that he'll "mess it up." But I have to say, my 2nd Mothers Day was absolutely perfect!

It started with brunch at Cafe Cacao: chocolate-banana pancakes. Yum! As you can see, Fiona was ready to dig in to my stack, but I did manage to get a few bites.
Then it was off to Children's Fairyland, a great little park right on Oakland's Lake Merritt. This was our first visit -- first of many to come, I'm sure. The 1950s-era park is set up with various scenarios from fairy tales and nursery rhymes, and Fiona loved every minute of it.

Navigating the card maze from Alice in Wonderland:

On the merry-go-round:


In the "crooked house":

She had so much fun, this is what she looked like when she woke up from her nap later that afternoon:
You'll recognize that hairstyle as a "classic Erick."
So, there you have it. A great Mothers Day, the highlight of which was just getting to enjoy time together with my husband and daughter.

Whirlwind update....

Alright, mea culpa (again!) for being a delinquent post-er! Much is going on at Casa Gong these days: 10 weeks until the arrival of Kiddo 2, Erick's winding up his 3rd year at Cal, I just helped throw a major fundraiser for Project Peace, and we have started to pack for our move (to another place in Berkeley) at the end of this month! And, of course, Fiona has had a VEEEERRRY eventful month. Some random highlights:

Our ex-cat (Miko) came to stay with us while Grandmommy and Granddaddy were away. For the first time, Fiona is actually LARGER than Miko, which totally changed the power dynamic. Fiona started out gently....
...which quickly changed to some major bossing-around ("Noooo! Down!" whenever Miko jumps on the dining room table), and the realization that maybe, just maybe, she could actually LIFT Miko.
Suffice it to say that Miko has been acting out a bit lately, and will be happy to return home to Foster City this week!

Fiona has continued her obsession with large shoes.

A major change, however, has been her attitude towards goats! Those of you who followed this blog last summer may recall that Fiona was showing the makings of a full-fledged goat phobia. Well, I'm delighted to inform you that on recent visits to the Tilden Park Little Farm, Fiona has allowed herself to get within a celery-stick's distance of large, aggressive goats. We celebrate her ability to conquer her fear!

More to follow soon -- really!