Peter is 3/4 of a year old!

Well the little guy turned 9 months old today, and he has developed some disturbing new skills in the past month. He can actually CRAWL, crab-like, all the way over to me now to pull my tail. It's a milestone that I am not particularly pleased about, but his parents are certainly excited. And terrified. The baby-proofing of the apartment has begun. It's mostly stuffed wolves and pigs that currently block him from such interesting targets as the wires that connect the printer to the wall and...my cat box. I've heard rumors about gates, but haven't seen any yet. Hopefully I'll be able to jump over them. I might even lose some weight. Especially if the kid keeps stealing my cat food.

Erika and Martin celebrated by going out to dinner at their favorite restaurant, Range. The food, while always consistently good, was so amazingly good tonight, that Erika spent the whole meal just raving about it. Listen to these cocktail descriptions: Erika had the "Girasol" (Spanish for sunflower): manzanilla sherry, elderflower liqueur, and saffron cardamom bitters. Martin started with the "Stallion": beefeater gin, barolo chinato, orange curacao, bitters. Exotic. Perfectly balanced. Outstandingly delicious. Then there was dinner. And wine. And dessert! Erika ordered a coconut bavarian with basil seed gelee and tangerine sorbet. A pink lady apple and quince tart showed up as well, and not a trace of either was left at the end. This restaurant is so creative, so masterful, and simultaneously so down to earth and unpretentious. It's a rare gem.

In other news, it is raining in San Francisco, which has effectively ended Erika's stint of bicycle riding to and from work. On the 4th round trip, she even managed to make it home without ONCE taking a wrong turn. One out of eight trips...it's a start. She might even take it up again once the weather improves. What a sensory trip. The smells alone were enough to provide an entirely different experience of the city: rotting seafood in Dog Patch, a taco truck at the end of the day in the Mission, a biodiesel truck loading up at a restaurant South of Market... And the sounds...who knew how many birds live unnoticed in San Francisco? Not just pigeons!

This weekend Jana and I will have the house to ourselves again, as Erika and Martin take Peter on his first flight in the Apache, up to Nevada City for yet another house-hunting trip. He is all ready to go with a little tiny headset and teeny baby earplugs and a nice warm electric blanket. Should be interesting. Stay tuned...