Here are the only noteworthy things that happened to us during my most recent blogging hiatus. There are only seven:
7.) We went to SLC for a week on business. Sorry family and friends who live there for not visiting. It's not because we don't like you. It's because we didn't rent a car and we barely had time to sleep let alone venture outside of the hotel/convention center/RiteAid 5 block radius. Here we are the the hotel playground and/or stairs.
6.) Gunnar, who was sent to the earth to destroy it (starting first with our apartment) erased hundreds and hundreds of our geneaology photos from our computer's hard drive. AHHHH!!! Both Chris and I were pretty devastated. It's hard when babies ruin things because it's really your fault not theirs. So when you get mad, you're really getting mad at yourself. Fortunately, through the power of Apple's Time Machine, Chris was able to recover all of them.
5.) I lost my wallet waaaaaaaaay uptown near the Bronx last week and didn't realize it until the next morning. So, I canceled all my credit cards and felt grateful at the fact that I had been too lazy to put my drivers license back after showing it to security at the airport. Still, it's an icky feeling to loose ones wallet and in certain parts of this city it's easy to think that maybe instead of being lost, it was stolen. And if that's the case, then it's easy to want to loose a little faith in the goodness of people. But before I could do that a nice young man called us to return it. Wow. All that was missing was the cash. Hey, it is New York.
4.) Chris, Gunnar and I all went to the Children's Museum for a 'family date' followed by a yummy and caloric trip to the Shake Shack.
Mmmm. Ketchup covered Cheerios.
3.) Jeffery R. Holland came to NYC and held a special conference just for our stake today.
2.) Gunnar has a favorite new hiding place. The first time he hid here I had no idea where he was. I ran up and down are apartment 3 times screaming his name and was about 2 minutes shy of escalating into total hysteria and/or calling 911 when he popped open the cupboard door and said, "Hi."
1.) We've decided to stay here in NYC for Thanksgiving and go to WA and CA for Christmas and New Years. That means I'm cooking this week . . . oh boy.
I only mix politics with religion, work, friendships AND marriage with extreme discretion. I mean, who wants to get into an argument about tax cuts on your way to Sunday school? Things can get a little hairy sometimes. People are passionate about politics these days and dare I say, more educated on the issues than in elections past. Plus we have record voter registration all over the country! About time!!! Honestly, I don't care who you vote for today - I'm just glad you voted. (You did vote right?!! RIGHT?!!!)
Okay. Permit me a moment on the soap box . . .
It frustrates me when people don't vote. I'm not trying to attack you if you didn't or don't plan to. Well, okay - maybe I am. It's just that we are so incredibly fortunate to live in a democracy where EVERYONE is allowed the opportunity to voice their opinion and cast their own ballot without fear of persecution - or worse. When we don't take advantage of our freedoms, rights and priviledges, we belittle the sacrifices and injustices of others and are poor stewards of the gifts and responsibilities we've been given. The whole world is looking at us today. We each really need to do our part. VOTE.
Stepping down now . . .
Chris and Gunn and I are leaving town today so we 'absenteed' our ballots this time. I decided who I was going to vote for a few months ago but Chris didn't know up until yesterday. For awhile I thought we might end up canceling each others' votes out (ha ha) but surprisingly - and after much discussion, deliberation and even argument on occassion, we ended up casting our ballots for the same ticket.
Who, you might be asking, did we vote for?
Well, in an attempt to preserve the peace and harmony in our friendships with YOU, we will not be disclosing who our votes were for. Feel free to guess. If you're right we might tell you. One hint though: we are both registered as Independent.
Good luck and happy voting today!
There are certain psychologists who believe that the costumes we choose for festive occasions like, oh, I don't know - Halloween, can indicate subconscious beliefs about our views of the world around us and ourselves.
That said, please don't read too much into the fact that I dressed Gunnar up like a wild gorilla...
...and put myself into a giant banana suit...
...or that Chris went in his usual get-up of a frightening 8 foot tall witch/dude with long scraggly hair...and a giant axe.
First we went to the American Museum of Natural History for their annual Halloween party. It was pretty packed though and since Chris had to work, Gunn and I braved the throngs of strollers and mini dinosaurs and cinderellas on our own.
He was extremely confused at first. I didn't mind so much because this feeling generally renders him paralyzed and silent until things are deamed 'cool' again. The confusion was shortlived though and after about 10 minutes he wanted out of the stroller to dance and exlpore.
Which reminds me, I am totally buying a leash for that kid. Don't judge. You try pushing a stroller while holding the back of a running toddler by his gorilla suit. I should have dressed him like a monkey. Then at least I would have had a tail to hold onto. It was rough. Gunnar, however, thought the whole thing was hilarious and was laughing up a storm as I awkwardly struggled along behind him. Fortunately, I ran into one of my friends who helped me get our stroller parked so I could chase after my endangered species without pulling a hamstring.
We spent a little over an hour at the museum. Gunnar paid no mind to the Halloween goings ons but loved the North American animals exhibit. We saw wolves, beavers, bears, dear, rabbits, porcupines etc. To Gunnar they were all, "ooh, dog!"
Here he is crawling under the bar to get a closer look at an antelope
After that we met up with Chris and ventured down to 69th street trick-or-treating hotspot to see the 3 avenue long row of haunted houses and guy dressed as Batman repelling himself down the side of a brownstone (sorry no pics, our camera was having issues).
By 7:30 pm, Gunnar began his meltdown. So we took him home and put him in his cage (i.e. crib) to sleep.
Then Chris made his annual transformation (check out his freaky feet and fingers - those are new to this year's outfit). I dropped the monitor off with the neighbor and (still in my banana costume) walked with him through Harlem up to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
While walking in his stilts, Chris started getting some major leg cramps. They were hurting pretty badly so he asked me if I would go to the store and buy him a banana.
For real. It was pretty embarrassing. Ten people laughed at me. One guy called me a cannibal.
Anyway, Chris and some friends ended up going down to Times Square and scared the crap out of everyone. He'll probably write more on this and maybe add some video. He didn't get home til 4:00 am. Halloween's his favorite time of year.
And why not? He gets to be taller for one day, I get to be every 6 year old's favorite fruit and Gunnar gets to be a wild animal...just like every day!
Last week, Chris, Gunnar and I all went to the Bronx Zoo. It was actually a first for all of us. I've taken Gunn to the Central Park Zoo a couple of times but this was his first real zoo. It was a lot of fun and a lot cheaper than we thought it was going to be (only $2.00).
They asked if we wanted to make a donation and I thought that was in addition to 2 full price tickets. I was like, "sure - we'll give a couple dollars," thinking I was being all generous and altruistic and such. Then I got the receipt and felt like a total schmuck. Chris thought it was hilarious and made a point to tell everyone how cheap I was that day. 
We walked through the main part of the zoo for awhile but the children's zoo ended up being the most fun for all of us.
Gunnar was absolutely captivated by this little wallaby (a.k.a. baby kangaroo - the zoo rangers seemed to get really annoyed at having to correct all the children who thought they were kangaroos).
First Gunn tried to climb the fence. Then he tried feeding the wallaby some dead leaves he found on the ground. He ended up giving them to me for safe keeping when he realized the bait wasn't working. 
Here's Gunnar's first tete-a-tete with a fish. He's still figuring out how glass works, I think.
After having him pose for this pic we decided not to get him wet or feed him after midnight anymore.
Gunnar was really hesitant about touching that snake and the glass was so clear it almost looked like it was going to strike out at us. So, I pushed his little hand toward it to show him it was safe. On second thought . . . maybe not the best 'mommy' thing to do.
He was even more freaked out over the alligators though. I guess it's one of those instinctual things. 
It didn't take too much prodding from us to get him to warm up to the gators though. Our boy is definitely a lover, not a fighter. And he's not especially discriminate about who or what he shows love to these days. We were in a lobby and he kissed a strange man on the mouth a few weeks ago and yesterday I found him kissing the door. I don't know.
The petting zoo was really fun. Gunnar wasn't as aggressive with the goats this time though. He's starting to learn consequences and that if you stick your finger into something, something bad might happen to that finger.
One of his favorite parts of the whole trip was the miniature sink for him to wash his hands in. He stood there for about five minutes.
It was a great time and since the zoo is only about 30 minutes from our place via the #2 train - I'm sure we'll be back often.
Gunnar has been trying his hand at day trading.
He'll soon be a regular on my new favorite blog.
Our card reader for the camera got fried and smells like an old vacuum cleaner. This means no pics til the new one comes. It's also the latest reason for our recent lack of posts (who wants to read a blog without pictures?). I know this isn't a good excuse for not posting - but it's easier than coming up with good literary content :)
Last night while on a date with my wife I learned it is not a funny joke to pull your cell phone out of your pocket during dinner and say, "Oh, 27 missed calls from the baby sitter."
. . . on a sunny Columbus Day weekend, a 9 1/2 lb baby boy by the name of Christopher (yes, as in Christopher Columbus) Scott Peterson was born . . . and the world, or at least Pasadena (and my world), became a better place.
Sorry, I was too lazy to scan one of his newborn pics - but wasn't he a cutie!
Chris isn't much for the fanfare of birthdays these days. I generally ignore his requests for no gifts and no cake and no party but this year I decided to go easy on the festivities and keep it low key. Homemade gifts instead of store bought ones. A giant birthday candle in his chicken milanesa dinner instead of in a "fattenings" rainbow chip birthday cake. And a back massage while we watched The Office instead of a party with Blackwolf the Dragon Master (I seriously hired this guy one year).
Blackwolf the Dragon Master. This is not a joke.
He's actually leaving right now (around 10:30 pm) to go longboarding with some friends up at the Cloisters. Secretly I think he'd rather go to bed but I convinced him he was too young to do that. Thirty-six is the new 29.
Anyway, I hope you had a great birthday my love! And I hope you know that when my b-day comes around in 6 months I don't mind fattening birthday cake(s) or parties or presents at all.
Gunnar was doing one of his signature dance moves: an arms in the air spin with both eyes closed. It gets a moderate to low difficulty rating and he generally pulls it off. Just not this time. I'm guessing that the double ear infections (diagnosed earlier that morning in the doctor's office) threw off his equilibrium . . . because he punched the coffee table with his face.
Immediately there was screaming - the bad kind. You know what I'm talking about if you have a kid. And immediately after that came the blood. Looking back now, it wasn't a lot of blood but it was enough to spurt down his face and to cause a mini meltdown in me. I freaked out. Especially when I saw the huge goose egg swelling up between his eyes.
I immediately ran to the freezer and grabbed the ice pack, then the baby tylenol, then a towel to put over the ice pack, then to the medicine cabinette again for something to clean the wound, then to the fridge for his bottle. It was about this moment when I noticed that Gunnar had stopped crying completely. And then I thought, "Oh crap. My baby has a concussion!"
So, I ran downstairs to the neighbors apartment to get another mom to help with some level headed feedback. She played peek-a-boo with Gunnar and the icepack while I called the Pediatrician. And she immediately said, "take him to the ER." So I grabbed him and a diaper bag full of a lot of things we didn't need and jumped in a cab headed to the hospital.
The triage nurse quickly took our info and shuffled us along to what they call 'Fast Track'. I must have first time mom written all over my face because everyone we met there made a point to say that I 'hadn't seen anything yet' and that they expected me back to the ER often with this one. Nice.
Fast Track is an area where everyone is put into tiny little rooms without doors along a hallway while they wait for the doctors and nurses to come by and treat them. If you are ever having a bad day or feeling too sorry for yourself, fake an injury and go there because I gaurantee you will find at least 23 people with something way worse than what you're dealing with.
By this time Gunnar was laughing, making friends with other wounded children and no longer bleeding. He was having fun.
The youngest doctor I've ever seen then came by and told us that we would have to put an anesthetic patch over the wound and then wait for 45 minutes and then clean it and then stitch and/or bond it closed. About five minutes later an older looking nurse came by and told me that Doogie Houser didn't know what he was talking about and cleaned the wound right there. She came back with another doctor who confirmed that the cut wasn't deep enough to constitute even a bandaid.
But they made us get an x-ray anyway. This was by far the most traumatic part of the entire hospital visit for Gunnar. I had to cover him in a lead blanket and strap his arms and legs down while the technician repeatedly tried to get a good shot of his forehead from the machine. It took a long time because Gunnar likes to shake his head "no" now when he's saying "no" and that's what he was doing for a good 5 minutes. No fun. But it was good that we did it because found out that he has a tiny little fracture right between his eyes. So sad.
Three hours and a hefty deductable later, we were walking back home to our apartment, another 'first' under our belts.
