This is Bruno waving his little heart out while on a parked trolley at the Castro Street Fair.
reminder - he’s only 2 and half now. my son’s gonna be huge when he grows up!
i got a LittleBigPlanet beta key!
i have been really slammed at work lately. our department is down to one full-time system admin (me) and though work jets by – the stress is really taking a toll. not sure what the future holds but we’ll see.
bruno has a fever today and whenever he has a fever i can’t stop worrying. he threw up too. i know it’s part of being a kid, but it still drives me bonkers.
the wedding is almost here. there is not too much left to do and it’s all very exciting. i had sent a invite to my parents, knowing they would decline. they did. i called them to ask why. then my dad said with a chuckle, “you just don’t seem to get it. You keep trying but it’s never going to happen.” i think it was right then that i finally closed my heart to them. and really, that’s a good thing.
been spending lots of time with my brother. that’s actually been really good for both of us. his transition is really taking and now there are no remnants of my sister left. he’s still got a tough life but he’s grown more and i think has a more solid foundation.
so, it looks like the next few months are going to be a lot of changes happening. all good and i am ready for the direction next year is going to take me and my family.
p.s. got my passport back. they kept my old one, which sucks. so many places and no more proof.
yesterday, the new update for the zune came out, both on the software side and the hardware side. the more and more that they add to this little player, the more i love it. in case you don’t know, the zune is microsoft’s portable media player. after years of sticking with the ipod i decided to switch. there were a few reasons, the first being that as soon as i bought an ipod, the next version would come out with a bigger screen, or color or a touch-screen. the other problem i had with the ipod is that buying music from the itunes store locked my music to itunes or the ipod. which would be fine if i owned a mac, but i don’t. i am a PC guy and don’t want to switch especially since i want to hear my music on my xbox 360 while i play games. so when my last ipod died i bought the second generation zune. 
i knew that the first generation software and hardware had a lot to be desired and even the first iteration of version two had its flaws (no auto playlists?!), but eventually through updates it got all the bells and whistles that the ipod/itunes had and i was happy. with the release of zune 3.0 i got to say, this player is so sweet. it does everything i want it to do and more. the best part is that i signed up for the zune pass, which is like getting all the music you could ever want for about 15 bucks a month. i can finally not feel guilty about getting music though “shady” avenues. there is also this great feature called the zune mix that is sort of a rabbit hole that lets you click away on an artist and find other influences, other artists and even other zune users. then you just click a button and the music you find is automatically downloaded to your computer and the player - and you can even do this wirelessly from the player itself. btw - i am totally loving vampire weekend, which was a band i found just clicking away. another feature is that the zune has a built in fm radio and there is a new feature that lets you press a button when you hear a song on the radio you like, the zune goes out to the store, finds it and then offers to download it to the player for you. how cool is that? so, if you are a windows person and looking for an alternative to the ipod i say go and get yourself a zune and buy the zune pass.
hey I found this cool link to getting a new or renewing your passport. this makes it easy-peasy.
I’m off to getting mine renewed at 11 today. hopefully it will get mailed out before the end of October!
let’s see. what’s going on.
tony went to get our rings cleaned and refreshed for the wedding. turns out i lost a diamond out of mine. he says the clerk at Tiffany will call us back with a price. hopefully it won’t be too expensive.
i was super sick about a week ago. feeling a lot better now but still have a phlegmy cough. how glamorous!
Also found out my passport has expired so now I am rushing to get it renewed before the honeymoon. sigh. also, the picture on my passport from 11 years ago has mean thinking. i have had some hard living… double sigh. when i get the new passport i’ll scan them and show you.
Bruno is talking up a storm though he still doesn’t make too much sense. I mean, he does get some 3-4 word sentences out that we understand. Like when he says, “I want to hold you” which means, “Pick me up”. He’s also saying “remember” a lot. Things like:
It’s the potty, remember?
The green car, remember?
Watch Cars movie, remember?
i think he’s trying to make me think I am suffering from Alzheimer’s.
today we decided to go to the matinee of The Castro Theater’s presentation of Sing-Along “The Little Mermaid”. We met up with John and Mark and had a wonderful time.
Before the movie they had a costume parade of all the kids who dressed up for the movie. The announcer was really funny announcing over and over, “Here’s Ariel” and “Here’s another Ariel” and “Here’s four Ariels”. There were also some funny queens behind us - steady making comments. After the twentieth or so Ariel was introduced, some girl comes on stage as Cinderella. The queens behind me said, “You really missed the mark again, Mom…”
They also handed out goodie bags with item that you could use during the movie. You can see Bruno is wearing the crown and pearls, shaking his glow stick. They also had a fork in the bag as a prop. The conversation behind me:
Gay #1: “oh… I get it. The fork is the dinglehopper from the movie!”
Gay #2: “we got that about five minutes ago…”
Gay #1: “Bitch, don’t make me go ghetto on you with my dinglehopper. I am real like that.”
Bruno loved the movie, even though it was probably his fifth time seeing it. After the movie we all walked home with our crowns still on. but one of the best parts of the trip home was, well, this is going to be a parent’s wet dream. we were walking down the street and this family was having a little sidewalk sale. i wasn’t really interested but tony stopped and looked around and said, “victor. don’t make any sudden movement, but look over there.” and there sitting by a pile of used toys was a brand new STOKKE KINDERZEAT. flipping in the wind was the price tag which had faded in the sun. i thought i read $75, which would be a steal for the chair being that it retails for $250. the guy comes over and says, “oh the price. it’s $15.”
tony and i look at each other, acting like we are considering the price and agree to buy it. as we walk away with our amazing purchase we talk through clenched teeth, “did you check it for damage? does it have the stokke insignia?” we race walk home with it and after some cleaning of dust and dirt, we now have the most awesome high chair/desk chair for our kid. as bruno ate his dinner in it today i told him how he’ll have this chair until he goes to college and then we’ll put it in storage and bring it back out when he has his first kid.
the last few weeks have been nuts. work has been hard but actually all good. i got a few big projects done and feel like i am making some headway again. plus some of the stuff i finished is really good resume fodder.
at home, both bruno and i got the flu. we’re over it now but today tony started. good thing we get sick in shifts so one of us can take care of the other.
been busy with wedding stuff. we need a photographer. that’s it. then we are done with all of the planning. next is paying all the bills and actually getting married. i can’t wait. tony’s been really amazing in getting most of the work done. yes, i have been the lousy fiance who hasn’t helped very much.
bruno’s potty training is coming along. slowly. during the week, he wears undies and at night a pull-up. over the weekends it’s kinda tough to stay on the schedule because since he’s still only two - he doesn’t quite get how to tell us that he needs to go. so, we have probably been doing the wrong thing here, but when we have to go somewhere far from home on the weekends, we are putting him in a pull-up. but whatever. he’ll learn. it’s not like you see five year olds in diapers. heh… gulp.
the electronic gods have been busy lately. first, tony lost his phone at dore alley fair (don’t ask) and then he washed and dried his nano at the laundromat. so this weekend he got a phone replacement and a new nano. i felt left out so i got a blackberry curve. OMG - i love it! i have it all set up with work and home emails, synced with Outlook and all the little blogging tools i need. the thing is like a mini laptop computer.
in the downtimes i have been playing through god of war and lots of geometry wars 2. looking forward to the weekend. that’s it for now!
So this is my first post coming to you via the blackberry curve. How awesome, huh?
Here Bruno is doing the song “Tomorrow” from Annie. Usually one night during the weekends we blow up the aero-bed, throw on a bunch of pillows and covers and watch TV. We order pizza and call it family night. Bruno was aware of the camera so he isn’t singing with as much gusto as he usually does.
Sparkle, Bruno! Sparkle!
yesterday when i went to daycare to pick up bruno his caretaker, Aggie said that bruno was ready to wear underwear. she said that for the past week she had been testing him and putting him on the potty at 1 hour intervals and that he’s been able to stay dry in his pull ups. so yesterday she put him in undies and kept up with the potty. he stayed dry all day - even after this nap!
i brought him home and immediately asked him if he had to use the potty. i pulled down his pants and realized that Aggie had sent him home in underwear! it was a bit of a shock because the stroller walk home is about 30 minutes and he didn’t have an accident.
so this morning tony packed him a bag with a couple extra pair of underwear, extra clothes and a couple pull-ups for Aggie to have on hand.
for bruno’s birthday in april a few of his uncles had bought him underwear from small paul. they are so cute and bruno is so proud to wear them. the other plus to all this is that i can call the one pre-school that i wanted him to go to and tell them he’ll be ready by september. they had a rule that the kid had to be potty trained.
bruno potty trained at 2 years, 3 months. i think that’s on target.
guys (and gals), thank you so much for all the well wishes for tony and my upcoming nuptials. we are excited and feeling a little stressed about the whole thing but I guess that comes with the territory in planning a huge event.
in the meantime, Bruno has been talking a lot more lately. he also has a new favorite movie. his first favorite movie is Cars. he watched it almost daily. he has the Cars matchbox cars and recreates moments from the movie with them. he has Cars t-shirts and Cars pajamas. most of the time when you ask him what he wants to do the first response would be, “Cars movie TV?”
that all changed this weekend. in case any of you forgot - I am a gay man. I would love that my son would grow up with an appreciation of the movie musical (and stage - when he’s older). so what would be the most age appropriate movie musical for a child of two?
ANNIE
I had it on my Netflix queue so I fired it up on the XBOX and we watched it. then we watched it again. then on Sunday morning we watched it once more. later that day i bought the DVD and when we got it home, Bruno held the box and stared lovingly at Annie as we watched the movie one more time.
ah, the pride swelled in my chest when Bruno was dancing around in front of the screen and then without missing a beat stopped and sang. “We got Annie!” and then started dancing around again. if this goes the same direction Cars went, he’ll be tap dancing around the house in a red afro and a dress.
hey, a father can dream…
the dvd we have has some special features like an act-along (?) with Annie track - which is a whole post unto itself and an extensive sing-along track. Bruno chose that we all sang “tomorrow”. when we got to the end, Bruno held out the last note (…only a daaaay a-waaaaaay!) with his arms opened wide, after which he slapped his arms to his sides and whispered, “thank you!” and bowed.
i’m sorry. i have been sitting on this information and have been waiting on how to tell you all about it. that’s why i haven’t posted much lately.
so, with marriage being legal for same sex couples here in california, tony and i have decided to tie the knot. tony has been busy with most of the setting up and i’ve helped as much as i could.
the big day is october 19th and we’re getting married Swedenborgian Church in Pacific Heights. it’s a quaint little stone church with hardly any windows so they light the place with tons of candles. it also has a working fireplace. i have a feeling it’s going to be really beautifully lit for the ceremony. we also have an organist to play during the ceremony.
there’s a nice garden area and a rectory composed of three large rooms that we’ll be holding the reception in. we had a tasting and picked our caterer. holy shit - the food is going to be good! the caterer is also taking care of the cake and the flowers, so that’s two less people to hire. we are in process of hiring a pianist and a photographer.
lastly, we are actually going on a honeymoon. we were thinking that we couldn’t take a long one because we couldn’t find someone to babysit for a week or more. fortunately, tony’s sisters in el dorado hills volunteered to watch bruno for the week. so, we are going to the atlantis resort in puerto vallarta. we are SO excited about that part. the last real vacation we had was only a few weeks before we got bruno. we need this!
i’ll keep you updated on other details as they come. i got to tell you, it feels really different now that marriage is legal.
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