June 30, 2005

Went to Tumalo State Park today with Maya and Dean and Lydia and Grant for a picnic and some river play.

Serena loves to do her standing in the river. She likes to stand up using no hands in somewhat deep water and see how long she can hold there.

Dean and Grant love to dig in the dirt/sand at the shore and move water from place to place. They are very busy with their work the whole time. They also like to wrestle with each other. Serena, hangs back and practices her standing.

June 29, 2005

Today was our first day of "sleep coaching" with Serena. (Aren't parenting euphamisms useful?) Until now, she has been sleeping with us at night and we have been walking or nursing her to sleep for each sleep episode, night or nap. We have enjoyed our sleep time with her, and the nursing and walking have been peaceful, pleasant, quiet times together. The only problem is (and many of you experienced parents may already be nodding your heads), she cannot go back to sleep unless we recreate the same conditions in which she fell asleep. So, if she wakes up at night, we have to walk her around the room or I nurse her back to sleep each time. And lately, there are many, many wakes-ups - and the walking and nursing back to sleeps are getting longer. Needless to say, we are all getting progressively less sleep. Jim and I promised each other that if the sleep thing wasn't working at some point, and we were actually losing significant sleep unnecessarily, we would change it. And here we are... as many have told in their stories in the ten or so sleep books I have now read (ugh!), this sleep transitioning thing might be the hardest thing we've had to do so far as parents. And we're just beginning. For example, today I lay on the bed next to Serena's "crib" (it's a play yard - we didn't get a crib, thinking we wouldn't need one) while Serena alternately whimpered, cried, and stared blankly for one long, grueling hour. She was so tired that she'd start to nod off sitting up, waking herself up as her body started to tip to a side, back or forward. Then, she'd whimper again for a bit and do the nodding off thing again. She just refused to lay down. It was incredibly frustrating, heart-wrenching - and, I have to say, a tiny bit funny to watch. She did finally go to sleep - for about twenty minutes, then simply would not sleep another wink. Off to an auspicious start...

I just finished reading Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety. It is a fascinating, well-researched book on the sociological evolution of motherhood since the early 60's (a bit on the 50's) and how it's become the religious institution that the author argues it is now. I have found it to be really challenging (it challenges some of my basic philosophies about being a mom) and enlightening, and sometimes annoying. I'm going to a book group meeting tonight at which we are going to discuss the book. It's going to be a lively talk, I bet.

Serena showing off her shades. No, she won't actually wear them. But she loves to play with them. She especially loves when we put them on us then she puts them on us then we put them on us then she puts them on her then she puts them on us then we put them on us...

June 28, 2005

Serena took her very first step today at Barnes and Noble while her daddy and I were there, mouths hung and eyes wide. We could tell it was about to happen. We were chatting with 17-month-old Max and his dad, who were playing at the wooden train in Barnes and Noble kids' section (funny how we always learn all kinds of details about the stranger-kids we meet: their names, ages, sleep patterns, favorite foods, and we virtually never learn even the names of their parents. It's like that when you have dogs, too.) Serena was holding on to Jim's knee then she just let go and took a step to move over to the train table. My heart skipped a beat and, don't tell him I told you, but I think Jim's eyes watered.

June 27, 2005

Check this out! I can stand AND put on my hat!

Also, I can stand AND clap! Nothing can knock me down - nothing!

Taa-daa, Daarlliing!

June 26, 2005

We watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind last night. I'm pretty sure it's the coolest, most creative movie I've seen in many many years - maybe ever. If you haven't seen it, go rent it immediately.

Today was our annual end of the year UU picnic. Jim worked last night and was arriving home as we were waking in the morning, so it was just Serena and I at the picnic. I don't have any pictures, unfortunately, but Serena was by far the filthiest kid by the end of the day. Just covered in our special Central Oregon dusty dirt. She loves to just crawl in and around in it, and I can't resist letting her explore the beautiful wilderness in which we live. As a result, I was the filthiest adult, in my (when will I learn?) white t-shirt and khaki shorts. Every time I'd pick her up she'd leave a new imprint of dirt somewhere on me. Other parents who shared the "kid blanket" area with us agreed we were like Pigpen in Peanuts.

June 25, 2005

Today was Women and Babies Wellness Fair. Serena and I did a short talk/demo on babywearing and our particular sling, as well as the Ergo Baby Carrier we use. Serena loved having everyone looking at her at first, then she got bored and squirmed like crazy to get down while I was trying to do the demo. One of the risks of using a live kid in a presentation. Luckily, it was an informal group and we acheived our main goal of showing how you can use a sling with a kid of her age, and squirminess.

June 24, 2005

This one's for you Auntie K! (I was on the phone with Auntie K when I took this picture. I promised I'd put it on the website.) After her first nibble, I did take this chicken breast and cut it into appropriate size pieces for her to eat. It was just kinda funny to see what she'd do with it first. She was relatively unimpressed overall.

June 22, 2005

Happy Birthday, Auntie Tina!

This is Socks. She is Serena's new and absolutely adored bedtime lovey. It was amazing to watch her fall in love with Socks and it's so sweet to see how she snuggles and plays with Socks while she is falling asleep and waking up. She gingerly holds Socks' little... well, socks, and chews on them or plays with them with her fingers. The hard part is, I'm sensing that Serena is wanting Socks to be around more than just at bedtime. I am afraid, 1) we will lose Socks somewhere, which would already be devastating, and 2) Socks will get disgustingly dirty and smelly - and she is not supposed to be washed (only surface washed.) So, we're practicing saying "See you later, Socks!" with a big kiss and dropping Socks back in bed after we do some initial waking up snuggling. It's going okay so far. Keep your fingers crossed. Anyway, between beads and pacis, it's hard to enough to make sure we leave the house with Serena's favorite accessories when we go out!

June 19, 2005

Happy Father's Day!

After a yummy breakfast at Nancy P's, we went on a lovely hike today at Big Eddy, which is a place along the Deschutes River where many kyakers practice their white water skill. It has a pretty tough spot where the water literally piles back over itself and makes for some serious maneuvering. It's also a beautiful place to hike along the river and see critters, varied Central Oregon vegetation, including cool wildflowers, and giant bumblebees (next to whose home we happened to park our picnic.) It was warm and sunny all morning and into the early afternoon.

Then, suddenly, as can happen on any mountain town day...

We had thunder, lightening and torrential rains that flooded the streets within minutes, trapping cars and closing roads. Dramatic. It was cool to us because we were cozy at home and spent from a wonderful day in the sunshine.

June 18, 2005

Auntie Angie, Uncle Kirk and cousin Matt were here for a few days on their travel moving from Louisiana back to Alaska. We had lots of fun hanging out with them and catching up. Here's Serena and Auntie Angie sharing a sideways "loves-kiss" kind of thing.

June 15, 2005

As I was getting ready for dinner with Maya and Dean, Serena found my jewelry box. Here she is putting on every necklace she can find. She would study each item and determine those that she thought could fit around (or on) her head. Mostly, she was good at it, though she did briefly try with my watch.

We went to Zydeco with Maya and Dean for Dean's 1st Birthday celebration. The rib bones were a big, big hit with both babes.The actual baby back ribs were a gigantic hit with me. Zydeco - DELICIOUS!

June 14, 2005

Well, it's probably time to document the historical record here. It's official - again - there's another heartbeat in my belly. We went to the doctor today and heard a very strong 151 beat-per-minute heartbeat that wasn't mine (good thing, because 151 beats-per-minute would be alarming if it were mine!) It was actually our second appointment. At the first - at 9.5 weeks - we also heard the heartbeat. That time it took some tension-filled moments of searching for the heartbeat. But then there it was - the little teeny 1/2 inch baby was acrobating around and made it's way to the doppler just before we were about to give up until next time. Apparently, it's pretty unusual to hear the heartbeat that early.

We were certainly surprised by the news as we thought we'd start trying for another baby a bit after Serena turned one year old. Instead, in Kauai, after a passing wave of nausea and the realization that I was about four days late - and two pregnancy tests to double confirm (one in the bathroom at Wal-Mart, no less) - we were convinced that, yet again, fate had decided for us. As the sheer shock has worn off and we've had a chance to let it sink in, we are absolutely thrilled about it. Scout, as you might imagine, is not.

Our newest baby will be born around December 17th. Anyone up for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas in Bend? Looks like we'll be home for the holidays...

June 11, 2005

Serena woke up at 5:40 this morning and insisted, against all attempts at nursing and pattting persuasion, it was time to get up. So, we strolled down to Nancy P's for a delicious chai latte and pastry. I figure, getting up that early is worthy of a special treat. Extra special treat on the walk home - there were five hot air balloons in the beautiful, crisp morning sky overhead because Balloons over Bend is this weekend.

Today was Grant's first birthday party. Seems Serena totally LOVES chicken drumsticks and watermelon. LOVES them. She also loves cake.

June 9, 2005

Serena has the gnarliest diaper rash I have ever seen. The nurse at our nurse advice hotline at her doctor's office said she should have four baths a day with lots of baking soda and to keep her diaper off as much as possible. As you might imagine (though probably don't really want to), not wearing a diaper can be a messy situation. We're experiencing all kinds of fascinating predicaments - and doing LOTS of laundry. Serena is staying chipper through it all. Of course, she's not doing the clean up and she gets to go commando all the time, which she loves - little Free Spirit.

The morning paper.

June 7, 2005

Happy Birthday, Auntie Kehau!

Where did this girl get her affinity for accessories?! It certainly wasn't from her mama - or her daddy. I'm afraid she's going to have to search outside this household for fashion chats and fun shopping. Auntie T - expect some phone calls.

Talking on her cell phone. Hm.

Serena's been chewing on her fingers a lot lately. So, today I felt around in her gums and there was one molar all the way in and two making their way in! That will make eleven teeth - wow.

June 4, 2005

The Babycenter update said that our "one year old" is likely feeding herself with a spoon. So often I read those updates and I realize we've never even tried some of the things they say she could be doing at a particular time. So, I gave her the spoon and here's what she did. Brilliant, I tell you.

Nana and Al came to visit for a few days. Nana has her own type of "cat voice" (high pitched, sing-songy voice one could use with a cat - the term originated with Graunty Tricia as mentioned below) that Serena really takes to. She had lots of fun eating with Nana.

June 2, 2005

Within just a few days, Serena has begun walking with her new walking toy. Check it out.

She's also working well on her basketball game, in spite of Scout's defensive plays. Click here to see just a sampling of her game.

(We got a very cool new digital camera that takes little video snippets - fancy, huh?! Thanks, Papa!)

May 31, 2005

Our 3G's left today. It was sad to have them leave as we've had such a lovely time during their month-long visit. Their leaving had a special twinge as I thought about how much Serena will miss them. They had so very much fun together, the four of them. Graunty Tricia with her high-pitched "cat-voice" and songs ("Here we go to the rodeo, here we go to the rodeo!") that made Serena beam and laugh anytime Graunty Tricia would walk in the room. Graunty Jeanne with her fun dancing at every song or musical toy - Serena had a regular and enthusiastic dance partner. Grammy with her ever-available cuddles and willingness to take care of Serena (okay, WE are really going to miss that, too!!) It was as though she had never been away with how quickly and completely Serena fell back into swing with Grammy. They all provided such constant entertainment for one another (them for Serena as much as Serena for them.) I know Serena is going to wonder what happened tomorrow, when the house is so much quieter and it's just the four of us again.

At Anthony's restaurant for "goodbye lunch" - ugh, even that's sad sounding.

In spite of this face, she kept eating the lemon.

Riding her new walker/riding toy.

May 30, 2005

She loves to crawl back and forth over the transition strip in a doorway. What is it about that? Her friend Grant loves to do it, too - so it must be a thing.

Snuggles for Grammy.

Loves for Mama (see her patting my shoulder?)

Loving the whinnying, galloping rocking horse at a store here in downtown Bend. At $265 to own your own, we've decided we can go visit this beauty anytime we want.

Serena's favorite latest trick is to practice standing without holding on. She pulls herself up on whatever is nearby (chair, cabinet, person's pant leg) then lets go and waits to see how long she can stand there before she falls. She was increasing her time quickly and regularly, until she started clapping for herself (since we usually provide great applause for the amazing, super-human feat) and sending herself off balance immediately.

May 29, 2005

Jump and swish on the way. Just warming up and teaching dad some form.

May 28, 2005

Happy 1st Birthday, Serena!

Serena had a lovely, fun birthday party today. She had five kid-friends over: Sequoia, Aurora, Grant, Zoe, and Parker (Dean was supposed to be here but he slept right through the party time.) They all just played with Serena's toys and ate fruit then cake while Moms and Dads chatted and watched.

I think Serena had a fun time, though she was very quiet and would every so often just kind of look around at all the people. She didn't look scared or bothered - just sort of curious, like, "What are all these people doing here?" She revved up a bit when the first few families left so I think she was just overwhelmed. Once the place cleared a bit she started showing off her tongue roll sounds (which she does with Graunty Tricia mostly, and they mostly sound like a hard German back-of-the-throat khkhkh sound.) She also did her clapping and kissing for the audience.

Here are some pics from the festivities:

She's staring at all the people who just sang her a song and are all staring at her.

Forgot to take a picture of the cake before we cut it... it's a whole-wheat, organic, applesauce-yogurt carrot cake. Turned out pretty yummy, if I might say so myself.

Here's Serena smashing her hands into her cake then getting it all over herself, like kids do at one-year old - hee, hee. She's such a dainty little eater! I should say that her style of eating is dainty. She can actually put away an impressive amount. She actually ate most of that piece of cake - just in her nibbly way.

We had this brilliant idea that we'd get all the kids to sit together for a picture. Ha-ha-ha-ha! Parker got away before we could click the camera and the other two babies just barely made it this long before they took off. Serena just kind of sat there, again wondering what in the world everyone was doing in her living room playing with all her toys.

Super cute hat she got from Parker and his mom and dad for her birthday.

Here's a quick self portrait taken on our back deck after the party, before the thunderstorms.

Starting to do the "furniture stroll" from the couch to the coffee table at Grammy's. See her cute b'day dress? Grammy bought her that in Kauai. We actually had bought her another b'day outfit but the weather turned out so hot we had to go to plan B. I'm so glad because this dress was so cute on her! I thought putting dresses on her while she's still crawling would just frustrate her (her knees getting caught on the skirt when she tried to move around) but this one must be a good length or fullness or something.

Incidentally, after a quite warm day, we had thunderstorms and very heavy rain this evening. It was dramatic and somewhat appropriate since my first visual of the world outside the hospital room on the morning Serena was born was watching the pouring rain pat against the window in our room.

I can't believe it's been a year since Serena was born. This has been, by far, the coolest and most fun year of my life.

May 27, 2005

We did Serena's first birthday present opening party from her 3G's this evening. This hat came in a set with a darling little denim skirt. Sweeeeet.

Slow dancing with Graunty Jeanne.

May 26, 2005

Looks like a film backdrop... taking a walk along Crater Lake.

Grammy has a big purse full of fun things to sort and play with. We were all waiting for our table for lunch when Serena pulled the camera from Grammy's purse, tried to put the strap around her neck (of course - it could be a necklace!) then put the camera right up to her eye like she was going to take a picture! (Okay, her forehead is more accurate, but she had the idea!) So funny how we don't even realize what she is learning by just watching us!

Clapping and singing with Graunty Tricia to "Little Charlie" by Ella Jenkins on the car ride home from Crater Lake. I got the little (big) luxury of sitting in the front seat and taking a nap (you know how I LOVE those car naps!) while Grammy and Graunty kept Serena entertained (and vice versa) for the three hour car rides each way.

May 25, 2005

We stayed overnight at Crater Lake this evening. It was a fun way to spend my birthday. We all had a lovely dinner in the lodge then after we put Serena to bed, Jim and I got to take a romantic (if short - it was very cold at night!) walk along the crater rim. The sky was crystal clear and the sun was still setting behind the crater mountains, so the snow had that ethereal look it gets when there is just enough light to brighten it against the outlining effect of the darkening sky. Then we went into the lodge lounge area and ordered hot chocolates (which took three comedic tries by our bless-her-heart server to get them actually hot) and talked for a while. It was like a true-blue, real date. He got me (among beautiful cards and other gifts) a gorgeous necklace with the japanese symbol for "mother" in it.

Serena is giving Daddy a kiss in the lounge area at the lodge.

Serena sat in restaurants for a total of at least two to three hours each day the last two days while we were at Crater Lake. All she did was laugh, eat, and charm the wait staff and restaurant patrons. After a while, she sat on the floor and looked at books with us while we finished our dinners. I'm pretty sure that she has been to more restaurants in her first year of life than I had even stepped foot in by the time I was 21.

May 24, 2005

When I go in to get Serena after a nap, she lays her head on my shoulder and pats my arm. She also does this if I say, "Give Mama loves, please." Sometimes she just crawls over to her Graunty or Grammy and gives them surprise "loves".

May 21, 2005

Pre-bath naked time. As long as she's got a necklace on, all is right with her world. This is her very favorite necklace right now. That's a cookie cutter as her pendant. We have a friend who has predicted she may become a rapper, indicated by her taste in jewels.

May 17, 2005

Eleven months and 19 days

Grant came over today for a few hours while his mom, Lydia, got her hair done. Of course they share toys - and they put the same toys in their mouths. But for some reason I just try so hard to get them to stick to their own pacifiers and bottles. Here is the outcome of my labor: Serena is drinking Grant's water bottle and Grant is drinking Serena's water bottle. When I tried to switch them, tantrum ensued. Here's one small indicator of the kind of "control" that is useful in my parenting experience... ah, letting go seems to be the universal solver of all anxiety.

Any loose clothing, towel, or other floppy-enough item is a potential hat. And any strappy, beady, stringy type thing is a necklace.

Reading Spot's First Walk. She loves to lift flaps in books.

Jim bought me these beautiful purple tulips for Mother's Day. They even had gorgeous purple stems when they first arrived. Here is what they look like now. Aren't they cool and artistic, even in their demise?

May 16, 2005

All we do now is go out on dates! Well, for the last two nights we have. It's so wild to just go out without Serena. Tonight we went to the movies with Maya and Brian while Serena and their son, Dean, stayed with the 3 Gs. We left while the kids were still awake and we were sure there'd be some kind of tearful episode when the kids realized we were gone. Apparently, they never really even noticed. In fact, they ate dinner like champs then Norma gave Serena a bath and put her to sleep. That simple! We were jamming around trying to get home, certain that she'd never go to sleep without our usual routine. We walk in and she's sleeping peacefully while Dean plays happily in the living room. Hmm. By the way, we saw Crash. Super-intense movie.

The night before, we went out with our friends Terry and Harold. They were staying with us this weekend with their dogs Deke and Ramsay. We went to Kanpai for dinner, where I had the most delicious scallops I have ever tasted. Unfortunately, the entree only came with five little scallops. Luckily, the server didn't get our order timed right (the entrees came out then the sushi much later) so she comped us an amazing granny smith caramel apple tart with creme fraise. That coupled with a nice caramel latte and biscotti at DiLusso afterward helped fill me up adequately (though I could have had at LEAST one of those apple tart things to myself, frankly.)

Here's Harold, Terry and their boys, just before they headed to Smith Rock for hiking then home to Pendleton, OR:

May 14, 2005

We bought file cabinets and drawers with desktops to get our office in some kind of order. Jim and Norma spent all day today putting together the drawers. It looks magnificent now. Serena was an enormous help.

We watched Meet the Fockers last night while we ate pizza and wings. (The pizza and wings thing is an Ohio bunch Friday ritual. It's really yummy, but I still just can't seem to figure out how pizza got paired with wings all in one meal.) The movie was pretty funny. Frankly, though, if I could do it again, I'd probably not watch it with Grammy and Graunty Jeanne. They were fine with it, but the movie is just peppered with blatant sex humor. Jim laughed at times, but he stayed pretty busy, head-down working on setting up the file drawers (as you might imagine, under the circumstances.)

May 13, 2005

Serena is a big ham. She loves loves loves attention from new people. When we go to a restaurant now, she will literally stare at the people at the next table over until they look at her and start smiling and chatting her up. She'll charm them with grins and waving and unbelievable eye contact... and more eye contact... and more eye contact and smiles and grins. It gets to be a bit tricky because I know they want to get back to their eating and visiting, after they play with her a bit, but I don't know how to get her to stop staring at them! She's still too young to explain it to her - and she doesn't seem to care when I try!

We went to Sunriver today to do some shopping and have lunch. We had a lovely lunch at Cafe Sintra then the three G's walked over to the shopping center while Jim and I drove around for 45 minutes trying to get Serena to fall asleep. Jim says she eventually fell asleep, but I had no idea since I was asleep after the first five minutes of driving. I swear, I get in the car, put the seat back, put my arms up over my head and everything gets all warm and cozy, I just fall into the most blissful slumber. I identify really strongly with those babies that fall asleep in their car seats all the time. Heaven.

May 6, 2005

We know that most of you are far away and won't be able to make it to Serena's first birthday celebration, but we want you to know you are very much invited. So, here is your invitation to the party:

Jim has some kind of magic sleep touch for Serena. More than half of the time that she goes down for a nap or bedtime, I lay down with her to nurse. She nurses peacefully and nearly falls asleep. Then, with all her might, she pulls herself into a downward dog position and begins her pre-sleep gymnastics. When this happens, I know she's not going to go to sleep anytime soon with me. So I say, "Want me to get daddy to walk you around?" Then I say, toward the monitor, "Daddy... we're ready for you." She looks at the door and waits. Jim walks in, picks her up and cuddles her into his arms (just like a snuggly baby hold) and she cozies down peacefully. He walks around and sings to her while she falls perfectly peacefully asleep. I've tried doing the exact same thing he does (the hold and the song and all) and she just wriggles around in my arms like crazy. It's also just about the only way she'll go back to sleep if she wakes up prematurely from a nap. Thank goodness Jim works from home so often, otherwise we'd be spending lots of time wrestling around to get to sleep! It's actually unbelievably sweet to watch this magic between them.

April 30, 2005

Serena loves when we do dishes. In this photo, I had just taken her out of the bath and Jim was doing the dishes. She let out a big screech-laugh and took off toward the kitchen, leaving her towel in her wake. And this dishwasher-stand is what transpired next. She sometimes clinks the plates together, sometimes takes out all of the silverware, and sometimes just attempts to climb up onto the dishwasher door.

Serena has eight teeth now, which she has taken to grinding together quite aggressively. You know how it makes your skin crawl when someone scratches a chalkboard (doesn't it give you a chill even when you HEAR about someone scratching a chalkboard?!), well, that's what happens every time she does it. And she seems to be taking an increasing fancy to it. The doctor said she has really really big front teeth so maybe they're just distracting and she's not sure what to do with them exactly. I wish there was some way to EXPLAIN to her that the sound is overwhelmingly chilling and maybe she could stop doing it.

I just read the Miles Report where Jenn said she intended, upon beginning the Miles Report, not to make it a bragging thing. Hmmm - it hadn't much occured to me that it could look like that but now that I think about it, I guess I do brag quite a bit about Serena in this website. It feels like I'm just telling it like it is, but I suppose it could look kinda brag-gy. I'll have to keep that in mind. However, it's hard not to brag when she's just so darn cute... (hee hee!)

April 28, 2005

Eleven months

April 25, 2005

When Jim gets home from working, Serena always gives a big giggle. It's mostly because she's excited to see him - and also, she can't wait to get ahold of his hat.

April 24, 2005

We had a reunion of our Bradley Birthing class. It was cool to see all the babies with such a variety of personalities and at various stages, in spite of their relative closeness in age. Check out the cool kid-room this family has in their house! Serena was funny. She just mostly wanted to hang out near her daddy and play with one toy the whole night. The other kids were tearing around, trying out all kinds of things and taking toys from one another. She just sits and watches them all intently - and plays with her one toy. It may or may not be related that she is the only girl.

April 22, 2005

It's so nice to be home. We really missed Scout! We had four pictures left on the camera, so here's our family self-portrait:

April 12 - April 20, 2005 ~ Kauai

Ten and half months

We met Jenn and Miles during our three hour layover at SFO on the 12th. It was really fun. We went to the International Wing of the airport to get some lunch. Miles had this very cool school bus toy that he set up on the back of the booth at which we sat to eat. It was the perfect height for him and Serena to stand on the seat and play with the bus. Serena loved to bus so much that Miles (and Jenn) gave it to her for her travel to Kauai! She played with it A LOT while we were there, and on the plane. It has a cool little "STOP" sign on the side of it that opens and closes, which can provide many minutes of entertainment.

When I was carrying Miles around at the airport he kept pointing to various signs. We'd go up to the sign and he'd point to the letter "o" on the sign and say, "O!" Super super smart little guy! (Since he's my nephew and not my own son, I can blatantly brag about Miles, right?)

This is the living/dining/kitchen area of our condo. It was a really nice, cozy spot to hang out for a bit over a week.

Here are a couple angles of the view off the deck of our condo. In the bottom one, Jim and Norma are returning from Jim's boogie-boarding adventure. Norma couldn't get one intelligible word out to describe Jim's boogie-boarding moves, she was laughing so hard.

Roosters "cock-a-doodle-do" ALL DAY on Kauai! They're everywhere - just roaming around. It's one of those things that's hard to imagine, until you are there and experience it. Serena has this book called "On the Farm" that she got from her Uncle Greg that she plays with when she wakes up in the morning at home. It's one of those books that you push various areas of the book and it makes a sound. Well, the first and most commonly pushed button in the book says, "COCK-A-DOODLE-DO! Deedle-de-da-di-DI!" So the entire first night on Kauai, in our sleep, Jim and I both would add the "Deedle-de-da-di-DI!" to the end of each rooster crow. It spun in my head all day long the first few days. (Incidentally, it doesn't even sound like "cock-a-doodle-do", when a rooster crows - where did that come from, anyway? It's more like - "Berk-a-berka-beerrr!"... well, sort of like that.)

Serena did great napping, in spite of the intense heat and humidity on many days.

One of her new swimsuits - and her fancy new gold shoes from Grammy. Unfortunately, the shoes are just momentary decoration at this point as she seems to prefer to chew the velcro strap over wearing them.

This blow-up airplane was a great find for playing at the beach. Here Grammy and Daddy swing Serena and her new plane across the water at the baby beach in Poipu. The cool thing about these baby beaches is that the surf has been blocked by big rocks, so the water is gentle enough so that kids and babies can swim and play in relative safety. The waves were pretty serious many places we went, so frankly, I found the baby beaches very comfy for our own swimming.

Close up of plane fun.

Serena loves cruising around on the sand.

And she really thought playing in the sand was cool. This is at Poipu beach, under the umbrella that we could never quite figure out how to set up. Jim and I went for a romantic stroll soon after this picture, leaving Serena and Grammy to hang out in the sand and play under the protection of the umbrella... until a gust of wind ripped the umbrella away and flung it down the beach. Luckily, there was a hunky young guy nearby who retrieved the big bulky umbrella and gave it back to Norma. Needless to say, she closed it up and put it away for the day. We actually never used the umbrella again.

More sandy fun at Secret Beach.

Waimea Canyon is one of the most amazing sites on Kauai (aside from just the zillions of gorgeous beaches everywhere.) Of course, getting a picture of it is like trying to get a picture of the Grand Canyon and hoping it will give a sense of it's grandeur, immensity and overwhelming beauty. Impossible. This particular adventure was in jeopardy for Serena and I because I was afraid that the whole day of driving would be too much for her and we'd have a crying baby all the way back down the mountain. We finally decided to take two cars in case Serena and I had to bail early. Turns out that Serena did great and I slept for much of the travel.

Here we are at the very end of the long road to and around Waimea Canyon. The promised view is described as "Where heaven meets earth", with stunning view of the canyon against the backdrop of the crystal turquoise ocean. I guess we are in the more "heaven" area because we can't see the earth through the heavenly clouds.

That's Kathy, on the left. She and her husband, Randy, live on Kauai. Kathy and Norm are good friends from Ohio. Kathy and Randy moved to Kauai from Ohio just over a year ago. Yep, they just sold their house in Ohio and moved to Kauai! How cool is that?! It was so excellent having them there to give us pointers on where to eat, what to see, where to shop, etc. Also, they're pretty fun people and Randy grills a mean burger.

Checking out the koi fish in the waterfall and pond at the Hyatt during a delicious lunch. One interesting thing we noted in Kauai (interesting is my euphamism), is that they take FOREVER to serve you in many restaurants. The whole "Hawaii time" thing is very real and alive. In fact, we had to leave one place after waiting forty minutes and STILL not having our food. And it was just a bar/restaurant kind of place, which wasn't even very busy!

Daddy and Serena strolling the beach. We just had a really nice, relaxing, strolling-the-beach kind of trip. It was lovely. We've decided next year we will have an even more relaxing time because we'll know which beaches we like, where to eat (and get served within a reasonable period of time), and we'll have seen many of the tourist sites. Maybe that's why people begin vacationing in the same place year after year - each year would be more relaxing.

April 11, 2005

"Mmmmmpppwwwaaa!"

Here's Serena's pucker up kiss "see you later" for our trip.

April 9, 2005

Serena said her first word yesterday! It's giraffe! When you say "giraffe", she says, "ra-ra"!

Well, she says "Mama", but I'm still not totally sure it's actually in reference to me.

Here she is in the bathtub with her giraffe mama (she comes with three babies, which are also in the bath but you can't see them- they are: Selena (mama), Lena, Meena, and Teena):

Also, a funny story about that fish she's holding. When my sister, Kehau, and her family were visiting, my niece, Wendi, was hanging with us while Serena took a bath. She looks over at this fish and says, "Is it just me, or does that fish has a STRONG buggar?" (How do you spell buggar? - hee hee, Jim just read this and said you spell it b-o-o-g-a-r, which now makes perfect sense!) It was SO FUNNY because that is a WORM hanging off the fishes mouth, but it does look like a buggar (b-o-o-g-a-r)!

Another funny story about this fish is that when we were in Red Bluff Serena was taking a bath in my brother's room because we only got a shower. I'm doing the usual, "AND NOW, ARRIVING ON THE SCENE IS... CHIPPER!" and I toss the fish into the water. My brother, Greg, says, "Isn't that Nemo?" Huh? Oh, wow - I guess it does look a lot like Nemo! Clearly I have to get hip on the kid characters! We still call him Chipper because that's how we know and love him.

Lots of gadgets in the tub. Makes getting out of the tub more and more difficult all the time.

The latest new thing is dancing. She waves her arms in the air, back and forth (a bit like waving "hi", but both arms, full swing) and rocks forward and back. She does it either when she hears a good beat, or when you say "Dance!" It's fun not to be the only one dancing around when the music is on now.

We're off to Kauai on Tuesday. Our flight is at 7am and we have to drop Scout at her Inn before hand. We are already sad about having to leave her for almost nine days. Jim keeps scheming to pack her in a bag. I have to watch him, as you know if you know how he is about Scout. He might do it.

Anyway, we're getting all packed for the trip. Serena has her three swimsuits - pathetic! Have you SEEN how cute little baby swimsuits are?! One even has a big whale on the tummy. Another cool thing about our trip is that we get to meet Jennifer and Miles at SFO for our three hour layover.

See you all in a couple of weeks (it'll probably take a few days for me to get to updating once we get back)!

April 7, 2005

Happy Birthday, Jim!

Serena went to see Dr. Bailey today for her Well Baby check up. She's looking healthy and strong, though she seems to have her daddy's metabolism/focus on food. She's 16 lbs, 12 oz, which is 9th percentile. She's 24.5 inches (? can't remember exactly, but she's in the 32nd percentile.) We say percentile schmerentile (which is actually pretty hard to say - try it) - she looks and acts very healthy. Dr. Bailey isn't worried and neither are we (though I have to admit, it's hard for me to understand her total disregard for food! Well, she loves loves loves avocado, cheese and Annie's Cheddar Bunnies, but not much else.)

While Serena does pretty well with her shots, we have decided we will not be planning any shots for either of our birthdays again. We get so sick for the hour before and hour after that it's just traumatic. Serena, on the other hand, cries for less than a minute (it's a mean cry, mind you, but it passes quickly.)

We had delicious Baldy's Barbeque for Jim's birthday lunch then Toomie's Thai for dinner. We had cheesecake for dessert. Yum - it almost felt like MY birthday!

April 5, 2005

Serena had her two buddies, Grant (front right) and Dean (front left), over for some hang out time today. They ate a lot of bananas, avocado and pizza crust and generally traded climbing on, patting, grabbing, and taking toys from one another. Grant's mom, Lydia, and Dean's Mom, Maya, hung out here, too, which was great fun. We shared mom stories and ideas. We used to talk about other stuff, but it's hard to remember what it was... (we do talk about some other stuff, now - but mostly we talk kids. I guess that's just what happens. I like it nonetheless - they're fun.)

They also traded sharing pizza crust with Scout (Dean here.) Scout thinks kids are getting cooler all the time.

Serena and I went shopping today at my favorite store here in Bend, called The Curiosity Shop. It has gifts, cards, books, CD's, crystals, jewelry - all on the theme of self-discovery and spirituality. We always visit with the shop owner when we shop there. We were looking at cards when a woman walked in. She smiled and talked to Serena, as often happens. Then she said, "She is just so present. She's just right here - so focused." Since the shop owner has been saying similar things since Serena was just a few months old, a discussion ensued about how babies have different ways of being and how they think Serena just has this very alert, present, knowing way about her. The shop owner suggested that Serena might be one of the Indigo Children. I have heard about them, but don't really know much. I understand they are supposed to be the new generation of kids that "know things" and have wisdom way beyond their years (scary.) Then, another woman walks in and the shop owner says, "Well, we have an expert here now." (she mentioned her name so I looked her up - she's a local author, therapist, hypnotherapis Jane Meyers)The new woman came over to say "Hi" to Serena. She had really deep eye contact and looked very intensely into Serena's eyes, though she was smiling and warm. Serena stared back and gave a smile. The woman said, "She has such a sense of presence about her." Now, isn't that wierd? I can't tell you how many times since Serena has been about two months old that I hear comments like, "She's so alert (present, aware, focused, has such direct eye contact)" - all variations on this theme. It will be really interesting to see how this evolves as she grows up. It's just so fascinating how kids' personalities can show up so very early.

April 3, 2005

Today was our Child Dedication/Naming ceremony at our UU congregation. It was really cool. Our minister did this talk about how important kids are and how much joy they add to our lives and our fellowship. Then she went down the line and said, in various ways, to each parent/child "What is this child's name?" then, of course, you say your kid's name. Rev. Jeanne says, "Serena, you are unique and beautiful in this world. You are a great gift to this congregation. We welcome you as a vital and wonderful part of our congregation." With Serena she also added, after we said her name, "Serena - aptly named."

Here's the downward dog move Serena likes to do. In this case, it is while reading "Where is Baby's Belly Button?", which she got as a gift from our friends the Benzian's. She loves the flaps in this book. Of course, the downward dog move makes it hard to open flaps and turn pages - but she hasn't made that connection yet. So, we wait until downward dog evolves into more of a cobra move to switch pages and lift flaps.

Speaking of downward dog, napping and bedtime have taken on a whole new flavor with Serena's newfound mobility. It will be very clear she is tired and I will lay down with her in bed to nurse. She nurses for a bit and gets even more sleepy... all will be looking peaceful and easy for a nice naptime... then, she'll get up on her knees. She might still be trying to nurse while on her hands and knees(as you might imagine, the angle can be a bit painful, with three bottom teeth and her two top teeth recently cutting through) and at the same time, ramping up on energy as she remembers she can move around so readily. She'll sit up, then fall face forward, full-weight right into my face. She'll get back up on her knees and rock back and forth then lunge into my belly. Back up on her knees, she'll ram her face into mine and stay there for 15 seconds, just pushing her face into my cheekbone. MIx in one or two downward dogs between each of these other moves. All the while I am trying very hard not to laugh! She's clearly very tired, but she just hates to miss any opportunity for movement! It's getting less funny as the going-to-sleep routine is stretching from 15 minutes to 35 or 40 minutes. Thank goodness for the sling, which virtually always works for putting her to sleep. I just sling her up and walk around the room. My only challenge after she falls asleep, is to get the sling off with her in it and not wake her. Sometimes it takes two or three tries.

April 2, 2005

Pre-bath naked time.

Pulled up to standing on Mama's leg during naked time.

April 1, 2005

One Year Old! (April Fools! - hee hee - she's just over 10 months)

So as not to confuse things, I am doing this update all on this new April page simply so you don't have to click back to March to see the last few days of March updates.

On Easter (March 27th), Jim was really sick. He had that flu-like thing that Serena had and lots of other people have been getting. We missed him being in on it all, but had a nice first Easter. Serena and I went to UU in the morning and had a delicious breakfast before the service. Serena was digging the watermelon and I was digging the huge, thickly coated chocolate covered strawberries. It was the first service where Serena was actually making noise and a bit antsy. A number of people came up to us afterward and said things like, "Jeez, I didn't even know she could cry at all!" Not that she had been crying, exactly, but she got annoyed a few times at having to just sit there on my lap. Now that she can crawl, hanging out on our laps has lost much of it's attraction.

We came home and Serena took a nice nap. Jim was feeling better so we went into Jim's sick room and gave Serena her Easter "basket", which was actually an Easter bag with just the one toy in it. Jim got his Easter basket, too, but fancy beer and jalapeno peanut butter cookies weren't whetting his appetite like they normally would.

Serena with her Easter toy.

Have I told you that we're going to Kauai?! I am so excited. Since this will be Serena's first beach experience, I can't wait to see her play with the sand (or eat the sand, as Grant did on his recent trip to Kauai with his parents.) Serena's Uncle Aaron and Aunt Jennifer sent her some fun tropical pants for the trip along with a really cute massage t-shirt. I also have a bunch of fun Hawaii gear from when my Auntie Jan sent Serena a virtual baby shower in a box after she was born. We have a book of nursery rhymes made into Hawaiian versions and a little moo-moo looking outfit. And with her new whale swimsuit and the seersucker green shorts from Grammy, she'll be so ready for Hawaii they'll think she's a local. I'll post pictures so you can see it all. We leave April 12th and we'll be back April 20th.

Serena turned 10 months on March 28th. She feels like such a big girl now that she's crawling. Her favorite thing to do is to crawl up to her daddy (or a pile of pillows, or anything with structure to hold onto) and "stand" with her legs straight, though her body stays bent over. She doesn't pull up on things too much, though she has just discovered that if she holds onto her daddy when he's laying on the floor, she can pull herself to a standing position. She'll do that ten times in a row for kicks.

Here are some ten month old pictures (actually, she's ten months and one day in these.)

Another fancy trick (she humms as loud as she can while doing this)

"And then I said..."

Mohawk

On the evening of March 30th, we went to an attachment parenting workshop, Serena and I, with my friend Lydia. There were a few other babies there, but most were younger than Serena (which itself is strange, as she used to often be the youngest baby when we'd be places... ah, my baby is growing up!) The other babies either fell asleep or just rolled around near their mom. Serena, on the other hand, tore up the whole place, crawling from one person to the next, chasing their water bottles, shoes, papers, random wrappers... I had my first hint of what's to come in caring for a moving kid! One thing I found a bit uncertain was just how much to let her explore and get into other people's space and how much to intervene and bring her back to my area. It was a parenting talk, and an attachment parenting one at that, so this was less an issue than it would be in just normal circumstances. I want her to explore as much as she wants, and I love watching her interact with other people, but I don't want to impose on other people's desire for peace and space. I just tried to check in with people when she'd hang out near them for an extended period and offer to take her back near me if they were finished. I think it went okay.

Do you remember the "Ha Ha" game from The Brady Bunch? Yesterday, Serena and I were laying in bed while she was waking up from her morning nap. She likes to sit up then tip over onto me and cuddle a bit on my tummy, then sit up again and repeat - repeatedly. On one of her tipped over renditions, I started laughing. Then she started laughing. So I laughed harder. Then she laughed harder. Pretty soon we're both cracking up! Just like on the Brady Bunch where they all lay on the floor with their heads on each other's tummies. One person starts laughing (hence the "ha ha" game title) and as the next person's head bounces on the laughing person's belly, the bouncing head person laughs because, well, their head is bouncing. So they have someone's head on their belly, which makes that person laugh, which makes the next person whose head is on that person's belly laugh... you get the idea. So then everyone is just cracking up. It's really funny. If you've never done it, I really recommend you try it. It works!