They say that with a kid, you no longer have vacations; you take “family trips.” So with Westley now almost a year old, we took our first family trip down to Monterey. It certainly was no vacation, starting with the whole family coming down with sinus symptoms and chills last Saturday. Luckily, little patient zero was in good spirits, so we drove to Fremont for an HK-style lunch of baked pork chops and noodles with one friend, then visited another friend in San Carlos for dinner. At our Palo Alto hotel, we put Westley and his pack-n-play in the bathroom overnight, but we did not account for midnight bathroom needs and a chilly room. The next morning, we ate with my aunt at a Vietnamese buffet. Westley sampled indiscriminately but managed to survive to reach our beach bungalow in Pacific Grove that afternoon. The rental turned out to be our best decision, as we were able to set up play areas for him and could even put him to sleep in a separate room. We dined at Monterey’s Fish House, where the chowder was redeemed by the cioppino and Sicilian holiday pasta, then had a round of Scrabble before bed. Since the forecast predicted rain for the rest of the week, we jammed our outdoor activities into Tuesday. After breakfast, we hiked the Cypress Grove Trail, then had lunch on Old Fisherman’s Wharf at Sandbar and Grill. After crab club and fish sandwiches, we fed our chowder cravings with free samples along the wharf. We enjoyed the butterflies at Monarch Grove Sanctuary, then drove a scenic 17 miles to Carmel-by-the-Sea, where we browsed art galleries and fairy-tale architecture before dining on excellent tapas at Mundaka and ending the evening with Pandemic. We took the next day more slowly, with a late morning nap after breakfast. The no-stroller rule at the Fish Hopper took us by surprise, but we still enjoyed the pasta. We exhausted ourselves in the afternoon watching marine wildlife with Westley, so we retired early and I cooked instant noodles for dinner. On Friday, we were banished to Red House Cafe’s back room for breakfast, but took our time afterwards to pack and nap before leaving for Santa Cruz and our ocean-view room. Westley tolerated the winds at the Natural Bridges State Beach and a nice dinner at La Posta. But our attempt at another game of Pandemic by headlamp with Westley in the same room did not end well. After a night of all three of us co-not-sleeping, we were happy to receive hand-delivered hot chocolate in the morning. Since the owners of Picnic Basket closed shop to attend the Women’s March in D.C., we ate at Zachary’s for breakfast and had hearty feijoada at Cafe Brasil on the way to Half Moon Bay. The scenic coastal drive up US-1 afforded multiple photo-ops, including Pigeon Point Lighthouse. However, we were more impressed by the view from our penthouse suite at the Beach House. After fresh handmade pasta at Pasta Moon, our sleeping arrangement improved dramatically with Westley sleeping in one corner of the bedroom with no line of sight to the living area, where we saved the world yet again from pandemic. After brunch at a friend’s new house, we headed home, stopping in Berkeley for a set of glasses and Richmond for 99 Ranch and Daimo. Westley had a blast exploring new places and seeing new faces during this trip. We concluded, however, that we are not ready for him to travel with us internationally this summer.
This weekend was a confluence of celebrations as my son and I both celebrated our lunar calendar birthdays, which also coincided with my actual birthday this year. On Friday, I brought Westley to his first visit to an allergist to confirm his peanut allergy, then enjoyed cake and balloons from my clinic staff in the afternoon. We braved the crowds the next day to celebrate Chinese New Year with Melody’s cousin at Asian Pearl, making sure our baby gets properly indoctrinated into the habit of collecting red envelopes and ordering dim sum. On Sunday, I volunteered my birthday morning at the Paul Hom clinic before joining Melody for delicious soup dumplings at the aptly named Journey to the Dumpling in Elk Grove. The festivities were not over when I returned to lab on Monday, when I found out that I received the Genentech AMD Fellowship from the ARVO Foundation. I took my technician Eric out for Chengdu Style lunch to celebrate the grant and his acceptance to grad school. With Westley’s recent move to the toddler room at daycare and advancement to more solid foods, we were excited to share more of our meals together. His increased mobility, however, also necessitated new corner protectors for our furniture and baby gates at the top and bottom of our stairs. He has also attained the new skill of pointing with his finger, which has somewhat improved our ability to communicate with him. It’ll be interesting to see what else he can come up with next.
