Long Song Playing

December 18, 2004

I'm not sure exactly what has brought it on, but tonight's a bit of an intense emotion night for me. Maybe it's because Serena seems to have her first cold (or is it teething - how can you tell?!) and she's not napping. She'll only nap when we hold her. And there's something very sweet about that, in a way. Oh, it's frustrating - don't get me wrong. I greatly look forward to her naps to get stuff done and have a bit of freedom (arm and hip freedom, at least.) She's just so sweet and surrendered when she sleeps, though, and holding her during that is such a reminder of her complete innocence. She's so unencumbered with the junk we accumulate over the years - material, mental and emotional. It strikes me most when she has had so few naps, a runny nose, seems to be having teething discomfort, and yet she just smiles that huge "you are fabulous!" smile when I come into the room. Just tonight, for example, she kept sneezing and I had to wipe her nose many times. She clearly doesn't like it and fusses when I do it. Regardless, she was just cracking up almost hysterically when I'd run away from her and around a corner then come running toward her in her high chair. Just abandoned laughing - and many would argue that's not even that funny! And when we were taking her bath tonight she was splashing everywhere and having a great time (even as it got in her eyes and up her nose) and it occured to me how passionately I want to protect this abandoned bliss she experiences. The thought that someday some jerk might break her heart, or she might fall and skin her knee, or she might lose the spelling bee or a soccer game just breaks my heart. Really. It's pretty emotionally raw to love something so out of your control so much.

Oh, I know many good things will happen for her, too. And I can't wait to share in those and root her on. There was this article in Brain, Child magazine a few months ago about the dangers of over-complimenting your child. They say some parents are passing out big giant hullaballoo kudos when kids do stuff that's just ordinary and not worthy of such praise. Funny thing is, when Serena does something that could be described as ordinary, it just feels really cool to me. So, I can see how it could happen you start slobbering all over your kids over the things they do. I'm not concerned about it. We'll praise her like crazy.

Speaking of cool, ordinary things Serena is up to, she now sits up in many environments! Dun-du-dun-na! (See, I think that's really cool, and it's also quite ordinary, I suppose.) It started with propping her up in the cart at Costco. She loved being able to see our faces while we shop and still interact with every other customer in the store who would give her eye contact. (Grammy got her one of those cool cart protector/cushion things you insert into a shopping cart so she is buffered and doesn't get all germy, so cart touring has just upped a notch.) Now she sits by herself and plays with her toys (as you've seen in earlier pictures). And the most recent event is that she is sitting up in a high chair. So, we got her her own high chair and it's really fun:

We celebrated Serena's first ever Christmas a few nights ago since Norma was leaving on December 17th. As far as Serena is concerned, wrapping paper is the ideal gift.

Serena "opening" her darling little froggy jumper from Grauntie Jeanne. Funny we didn't take a picture of the actual jumper - it's soo cute!

We do love hats! And check out how this one from Grauntie Tricia complements and hi-lights her ears!

As you can see, Scout LOVES her new bandana from Grauntie Tricia.

Serena and I are flying to California to spend Christmas with my family there. We leave this coming Tuesday. Jim and Scout are going to drive there on Wednesday. I am really excited to see everyone and especially excited because her Auntie Angie and Ucle Kirk and cousin Matt will be there and Serena will get to meet them for the first time. Also, my brother Greg and nephew Ryan will fly into San Francisco and we'll get to spend a couple of days with them. Serena has a lot of really fun cousins. I'm excited for her to get to hang out with them.

Another cool thing is that Scout's first family (we got Scout from my Auntie Kathy while she was in Texas. She had to find a new home for Scout so she flew her to Oregon to be with us. Lucky us.) will be in California. Scout's first sister, Sara, is so excited to see her. I can't wait to see how Scout reacts when she sees them. It's been about two years and I bet she will recognize them immediately and go bonkers.

Our house is mostly complete. Here are a few pictures to give you a sense of it. We have more coming soon. They are finishing the exterior paint today (they had to wait for a day above 50 degrees) and last minute details while we are in California. I am indescribably thrilled to have this project almost finished. I am also overwhelmingly grateful for this excellent home.

The kitchen stayed the same, except for a bigger window. (We did get a new fridge, which has filtered water on the door - so cool!)

Here's our master bedroom looking from the master bath door through out onto the back deck and backyard. That's Serena's co-sleeper on the right, with her butterflies above. That's where she takes her naps (when she's not napping on us.) The door edge you see along the right side is the door into the bedroom, which comes off a small hallway between the kitchen and the master bedroom. There are two skylights above the bed, which hold beautiful views of the pine trees by day and stars at night.

Here's where I sit right now - in the office. It's at the top of the stairs, then you wrap a left U-turn. We're still deciding what to do about storage cabinets and a desk system.

This is the view from the backyard looking at the deck off our master bedroom. I am really looking forward to spring and summer morning coffee on that deck! Can't you just imagine? I can smell it now - brisk, cool, pine scented air mixed with the darkest roast decaf (breastfeeding) coffee I can find. Mmmmmm.

During the course of this update, Serena woke four different times. I was able to put her back down for a few minutes a few times, then I gave up. She is sleeping peacefully slung to the front of my body while I finish writing. It's awesome. One of Jim's employees had a family emergency so Jim had to go to work unexpectedly, so Serena and I are going to go let Scout out for her last break of the evening then snuggle into bed. Six thirty AM comes much too quickly.

December 15, 2004

Six and a half months

Serena had her first teething cookie:

As a result, Scout thinks this whole Serena thing is looking up:

December 11, 2004

I was talking to my brother, Greg, the other day about websites and we were discussing the possibilities of any random person finding a person website intended for just family and friends. So, I decided to search "Serena Franco". Who knew there was a shoe that shared her name. That reminds me of when I was searching for a website url and wanted longsong.com and learned it was a pots and pans website. Anyway, the good news is that this website didn't come up in my searching. Not that we have a bunch of top secret stuff here, but it feels kinda creepy to think of other random people just reading it.

December 10, 2004

We picked up our pictures. Here are a few fun ones from our Ohio trip:

Serena kicking back at the Redmond, Oregon airport, waiting for her first plane ride. You should have seen the crowd behind us in this room, cheering on this picture!

Do we look like movie stars (or politicians?) getting ready to board our private plane?

Thanksgiving evening and Serena figures the Christmas season has officially begun - might as well dress for the occasion. Dannielle and Serena hit it off nicely, in spite of their obvious hair differences.

It was, after all, Serena's first Thanksgiving. Barbara, Grammy's very close friend, got Serena this fancy bib to celebrate the occasion. Cute. (The bib's cute, too - hee hee)

Can you tell that Serena is now sitting up?! One day, she couldn't sit up. She'd fall right over. Then, a few days pass and we don't really try sitting up. Then, suddenly, she can sit up. Crazy! Except for when she leans too far to the right, left or front to reach a toy, she doesn't even fall over. She even catches herself if she starts to fall to one side. It's like a whole new world of exploration has opened up for her. (And, frankly, a whole new level of freedom for me since she likes to sit up and play with toys now.)

So now she suddenly sits up in the basket at the grocery store (with significant "just in case" padding all around her) and on Tuesday she sat for the first time in a high chair. She thinks it's all great fun because she can see our faces, as opposed to being in the sling and facing out away from us all the time.

Another thing she likes to do now is drink cold water out of a bottle. She still has never gotten into having a bottle of breastmilk, but she thinks it's fun and yummy to drink water out of it (or suck on the side of it, as shown)

We tried her first real food nibbles. She had one little taste of banana the other day, but the jury still seems to be out on the banana thing. She seemed to warm up toward the sweet potatoes we tried yesterday. She still isn't "begging" for food when we eat, like they say kids will do when they're ready. So, we're just taking it slow and thinking of it as fun exploration.

Don't worry, the lights weren't plugged in! Does every kid love any kind of technology and wiring?

We put up our Christmas tree last night to the sounds of Harry Connick Jr. Christmas music. We even had egg nog. It was fun to hear stories from Norma about what Jim was like at Christmas as a kid. They did this cool thing where every year she and Bob gave Jim an ornament for Christmas. That was "that year's ornament". She gave all of those ornaments to us now and we have all these fun ornaments from over Jim's growing up. There's a bear sliding down a slide, a golfer, an apple... lots of variety. This year she gave him a butterfly ornament, to symbolize Baby Butterfly (Serena's utero nickname). We got Serena her first "that year's ornament". It's a giraffe.

December 6, 2004

We're expecting Serena's two top teeth any day now because this is what she does with everything she gets her hands on. Plus, she's been a bit grumpier the last few days and has cut her already slender 42 minute naps down to 28 minutes. She really likes a cold spoon to chew on.

We woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow this morning. Here's the view out our bedroom sliding glass door (yea, they still haven't finished painting the exterior of the house - much harder now with the freezing temps):

Today was my last day of teaching for a while - until who-knows-when. I have a bittersweet feeling. I really enjoy teaching and I will miss the classroom conversations and the satisfaction of seeing people become more effective and comfortable in their speaking. And, I am excited and grateful that I get to hang out with Serena full-time.

December 1, 2004

We just did a photo session of Serena for her Half Year documenation (just a few days tardy.) Check her out: (sorry they're a bit dark)

Serena loves to drink water from a glass, play with her pacis (pacifier) - grab it, drop it, put in in her mouth upside down, backward, set it away from her then reach for it - anything that involves it, watch Duke and Gonzaga basketball on TV, (oops - shouldn't have let Dad edit this entry) walk anywhere in the sling facing out while people smile at and talk to her (this is her FAVORITE thing above all else!). She cracks up laughing when we talk in any kind of funny voice or if I shake my head so that my hair flies everywhere - either so it tickles her or even if I'm not touching her with it. She is very ticklish and she'll start laughing and cringing if you start to wiggle your fingers in a tickle motion and move toward her. We sing: "Tickle bug, tickle bug, hunting Serena. Creeping, creeping over her jammies (or body if she's not in jammies). ONE - TWO, catch 'em like this, tickly tickly tummy kiss (of course, followed up by a tummy kiss.) We got that from Baby Bug magazine, which her Grauntie Tricia has sent to her.

November 28, 2004

Happy Half Year Birthday, Serena!

We're low on digital photos, so for those of you who skip all of my (riveting?) commentary and go straight to pictures, you will be a bit disappointed this round. I will fill in pictures when our film gets developed in a few days. Something to which you can look forward :-) (There are a few pictures below)

It's funny how quickly I can let go of perfect momhood. This morning when Serena was ready to get up at 6am, and I was barely functioning, I gently placed her in her exersaucer and we turned on Animal Planet. She was mesmerized and I got to make some coffee and read the paper. It was a cool, educational show on cougars (or something like that), though, so that's something right?

Serena is a superhero baby. The trip to Ohio isn't exactly fun, but she was just awesome on all SIX plane rides! She did her usual 35-42 minute naps every two hours, ate whenever offered, and laughed and chewed around. Audrey (I really like that name, Audrey...), a little girl about seven years old on our flight from Minneapolis, was sitting across the aisle and one seat back. Serena was standing on my lap, looking over my shoulder (always searching for anyone who might be giving her eye contact and smiles) when Audrey started to make fun voices and sounds for Serena. Serena cracked up laughing at her for about ten minutes straight. I mean, really belly-laughing. It was so excellent. Why is it that kids can always make babies laugh better and easier than any adult ever can?

The other funny thing about the plane rides was watching people try to not look at Serena when they were sitting next to her. I sat next to a few men who thought they wanted to just keep to themselves on the flights. I think they were 1) nervous when they saw me sit down next to them with a baby, imagining screams in their ears the whole flight, and/or 2) not wanting to encourage conversation for fear I'd be one of those people on a plane that talks to you the whole plane ride, often oversharing and boring a person to tears. Anyway, their stoicism lasted about ten minutes. Serena would stare them down until they'd give her eye contact, then when they would look at her and somewhat reluctantly say, "Hi" (hoping it would appease her?) and she'd flash them the Serena Star Smile, they would melt and chat her up a bit.

We got to see lots of Ohio kin during our visit. It was so fun to share Serena and watch her enjoy her family. Here's a picture of Serena with Mary, Jim's Cousin, who is a regular reader of Serena's exploits. (Unfortunately, you can't see her face, but you can see how nicely she and Serena hit it off!)

We had a delicious and fun Thanksgiving. Did you? Grammy had the house all set up for our visit, which made it all so relaxing and easy. She borrowed a portable crib for Serena's naps, a swing, and a fun little floor blinking lights and knobs and twisters thing (from cousin Danielle, who turned two in September) for entertainment. It felt really cool to have people pulling all this baby stuff together for Serena. Plus, since Jim's room is virtually in the same condition as when he left for college, we got to read some of his old books from when he was a kid. They even had that old book smell - like antiques (sorry Daddy.)

Grammy also bought a car seat to keep there in Ohio, which will work all the way up to a booster chair. She says car seats are more personal and she wants just Serena germs on her own car seat.

Here's Jim and Serena hanging out on Grammy's floor in Ohio. Serena has her Strong Legs going here. Doesn't she look so much like a little PERSON?! (I know she IS a little person, but it's just crazy how it evolves!)

One more funny Ohio story. We went to Elder Beerman to get me some shoes (thanks for my "foot warming", Grammy - she's always "warming" something!) and it was time for Serena to eat. I nurse her many places and take great pride in my discretion. Usually you can't tell whether she's nursing or sleeping in the sling. I'm talking with the woman working in shoes and she says, "I see someone is having a snack." I look down and there, for all to see, is my breast! "Oh, I am so sorry!", I say. "I didn't realize I wasn't covered." Yeeks. (See, I had on a button up blouse and I usually wear t-shirt type tops and I wasn't adept at public feeding in that blouse - APPARENTLY!) I am a big proponent of breastfeeding wherever your baby needs to eat, but I also always use the argument that you don't SHOW your breast when you breastfeed. Seems I do!

November 21, 2004

We're off to Ohio tomorrow morning. We have an 8am flight. Serena's first plane ride will actually be three planes and three airports. When we try new experiences in this crowd, we don't kid around. We're pretty confident all will go fine. The only special precaution we have been told to take is to be sure she nurses on take off and landing to head off any possible ear pressure issues.

OK, Serena here - I've been waiting long enough to get my views heard! Here's my main concern right now: whoever came up with the "this bag is not a toy" stamp they put on plastic bags knows nothing about good times. NOTHING! If there is a plastic bag in the room, then clearly, I should be playing with it. I mean, really - all that crinkly noise AND good taste, too?!? Bring it on. If there's no plastic bag, there's got to be a tag somewhere. That's second best (though a far second.) OK - I feel much better. Back to you, Mom!

Can you see her teeth? Two now...

We thought she might look uncomfortable in the above pic, so here's a shot just after. See, perfectly happy.

Scout and Serena are getting closer... but still not too close.

Unless Daddy's around.

This is the scene at our house when we have 10,000 things to do before we leave tomorrow morning. Gotta smell the roses, right?

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

November 12, 2004

Five and a half months

The other morning I was feeling around in Serena's gums to see if they were getting swollen or giving any other indication of pre-teething when I felt this little row of sharp edges! A tooth?! Unbelievable! She had been power-nursing about every two hours the few nights before but I thought maybe that was because we have been moving and stressed out trying to figure out what to do with our contractor. You know, they say kids can feel things, even when you try hard not to expose them to it. Seems that was actually her coping method for some teething discomfort. The other one in that lower bottom center pair hasn't arrived yet, but we expect it any day since she continues to chew on everything she can grasp. I'm looking forward to it's arrival because I'm afraid I'll develop callouses if we keep up the every two hours thing. Of course, then there's the whole biting thing, which really makes me nervous...

Serena loves to take a bath. When I lay her on the towel to take off her clothes, she starts kicking and flailing and squealing. It's awesome. I love it, too - we always take a bath with her, either Jim or I. First we do the work part, getting her all clean and washed off. Then we introduce, one at a time, her two boats (Poipa and Melona) and, as a finale, her rubber duck (Diggy). She works very hard reaching for each one and putting it in her mouth, then reaching for the next one and trying to get both in her mouth, then trying to herd in all three of them somehow and get them in her mouth. It works out nice because after all that hard work of chasing the toys, she's usually exhausted and ready for bed.

She's also discovered her feet with great delight. Were we all this flexible once?

Papa just left this morning after another very nice visit. We were staying at his house and were supposed to move back into ours when he arrived. I could tell he was pretty angry with our contractor. One day when I went charging out of Norma's house to tell our contractor what I thought of things that day, and I was taking kind of a while to come back, he came over to the house. I could tell that his protective instincts were in full gear and he wanted to take care of the thing for me. He was very cool, though, and hung back. I have to admit, even though I'm pretty grown up, it feels good to know my dad still has my back if I need him.

Papa also feeds us quite well when he visits. After three weeks of Grauntie Tricia's delicious Midwest cooking and a week of Papa taking us out to eat, we are going to have to do a cleansing fast (sooo just kidding - the only fasting we do is with an E!)

I just want to share this picture, even though it's from about a month ago. A very good family friend in Ohio, Jane, sent me this beautiful bracelet that says Serena. It feels very special to wear a bracelet with my little girls name on it. I love anything with her name on it. I wear it just about every day. Serena loves to look at it, touch it, pull on it (I have to be careful of that) - I have noticed that she loves shiny jewelry. Hm. Anyway, I also just love this sweet close up of her perfect little baby face.

In remodel saga news, it looks like we are actually going to get to move in. In fact, we are spending our first night there tonight. They aren't completely, absolutely finished - still some touch up stuff and a bit of trim work, but I just want to get in there and start getting reaquainted with our things. So, we're moving in - ready or not!

We were actually supposed to be moving in last Friday, but here's an indication of the state of things on that day (this is our master bath shower and bath, which I have to say looks very cool now.) There was no way we were going to move in and have people crawling all over us in our home all day. Things look much better than this now. I'll post some pictures once we get settled in a bit. Ooh, I can't wait to get back on high speed internet - we've been on dial-up all these months. Can you imagine?!

This is Chuck. He did our tile. He's a genuinely nice guy.

November 6, 2004

We had our first snow some days ago. Here's the view out Papa's condo office window (where we have been staying):

Our house was going to be finished for sure Friday (two days ago.) We even had the contractor sign an agreement that said they'd credit us $250 per day for every day after Friday that the job wasn't complete. Guess if it's complete...

November 1, 2004

Happy Halloween (yesterday)!

Serena was a Jack-O-Lantern for her first Halloween, thanks to Grammy Franco.

We actually spent the bulk of the day driving home from Portland, where we spent a fun weekend hanging out, eating delicious food and checking it out as a possible relocation spot for our friend Nancy Jane. Serena was mostly a trooper on the 3.5 hour car ride, with one small twenty minute meltdown on the last leg of the trip home. She's just so good, it's very strange when she gets upset. The funny thing is, she'll often stop crying and start laughing within seconds if I sing to her (yea, yea, I can imagine the comments my family is making to themselves now - but, SERIOUSLY, she loves it!) Had I known I'd have such a ready fan in my own child, I'd have birthed one a lot sooner! Her favorite songs are: There are Many Pretty Trees All Around the World, You Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song, and anything where you put "cha cha cha" between each line (such as, "I swing in my grapevine swing, CHA CHA CHA - Laughing as the little birdies sing, CHA CHA CHA...)

If you're ever in Portland, you must go to Typhoon for Thai and Bush Garden for Sushi. At Bush Garden we had our own room with those rice paper doors and we got to sit on the floor, only they had a hole in the floor for a feeling of being authentic AND good old western style comfort! Plus, the Hamachi was deliciously buttery. Amazing!

Scout had her first weekend away at the For Paws Inn, an interactive dog kennel. Since we usually take her with us everywhere, or she stays with friends she knows and loves, it was really hard for us to imagine leaving her somewhere unfamiliar. Jim and I both had such anxiety and worry. Of course, when we called to check on her they said she was having a great time, playing with the other dogs and sleeping and eating beautifully. When we picked her up, she was thrilled to see us, then took off back into the kennel area to see if treats were flowing.

More on what's happened the last few weeks, during our web-absence:

Serena rolled from her tummy to her back, to a grand applause from Mom, Dad and the 3G's. She had no idea what was the fuss, and didn't replicate it after that day for another two weeks. Now, she has it pretty well handled. Good thing because every time she would roll from her back to tummy, which was often, she'd get mad and need to be rolled back by one of us. Now she can handle that herself... oh, my little girl is growing up and becoming independent...

On October 25, Serena had her first round of shots. It was awful - for us anyway. She did scream - she was really MAD - but then she was fine in about one minute. Jim and I, however, were basket cases all day. She weighed in at 14lbs 6oz (50th percentile) and was 25.25 inches long (80th percentile.)

Jim and I went on our first date sans Serena. We went to Bluefish Bistro and we both had to-die-for halibut. Then we had the most incredible chocolate dessert. It was really fun to just get to have conversation and look at each other and not worry about Serena. We both love hanging out with her a lot - and it was nice to get some time just the two of us. Of course, as soon as we finished our dessert we were forcing ourselves to walk instead of run to the car to get home to see her. Pathetic. Also as you'd imagine, after much wind up about going out without her for the first time and concern that she'd wake and miss us something awful, she slept peacefully through the whole thing. The 3G's determined it the most boring babysitting job ever.

Serena is making all kinds of new noises, practicing her squeals and consonants as well as vowels now. It's fun to notice her literally testing out a new sound and sometimes smiling in approval.

Serena loves to drink water out of a glass so we got her a sippy cup. She has just figured out that she can suck on the sippy cup mouthpiece and she'll get water, which she thinks is cool. She still really prefers a cold glass of water over her sippy cup. She literally devours the rim of the glass and when I try to pull it away she holds on really tight, ramming the glass into her mouth.

She really is a Fuss-Monkey baby. When she nurses, she has this path she travels with her arm from her eye to her ear up to my face then back, over and over. I have to hold her hand and almost pin in near our cuddle in order to get her to settle and get sleepy sometimes.

October 26, 2004

Wow - it's been nearly a month since I've updated! A busy, busy month it's been... Once again, Serena is about to hit a monthly marker and it feels like only days ago I was writing that I couldn't believe she was going to be four months old. In two days, she'll be FIVE months! Yeeks!

A lot has happened. We have moved out of Norma's house and into my dad's house for a while and we left our computer at Norma's, which is one of the primary reasons for my lack of updates. I often update late at night when Serena is asleep and Jim is at work.

I have been keeping track of some stories and events to share (and, of course, pictures, too!) so I'll just try to share a bit at a time as I can...

Here are the pictures. I'll add stories as I find the chunks of time:

Early October - This was Jim's sweatshirt when he was a kid. His mom and dad had ones to match and Norma says he used to always try to get them to wear the sweatshirts all on the same day. Jim's cousin, Judy, sent it to us for Serena. Norma gave this sweatshirt and a sweet little plaid jacket to Judy for her son, Jeff, when he was little (he's in his twenties now, and much much bigger.) Judy saved the two items for Jim to have for his kids. Isn't that precious?

Early October - Here's one of many sweet little outfits my Auntie Jan sent to Serena. I just think she looks particularly cute in this one... can't help but love a baby in overalls.

Mid-October - Serena has made herself quite at home in Papa's cozy Bend condo. It's amazing - fire is mesmerizing from very young, evidently. She can stare at the fire in the fireplace for many long minutes, at total peace.

October 19thish - Serena was up, fuss-monkeying around between us from about 3am on this morning. She lays there and flaps her arms and legs, slapping alternately at Jim and me. I had to work and was just exhausted. Finally, I picked her up and handed her over to Jim and said, "Please - you do something. I just want FIVE minutes before I have to get up." Here's what he came up with. Clever.

This exersaucer has brought such joy and concentration for Serena, it is just awesome. She LOVES to just make her way around the circle, grabbing, chewing and twisting the various little toys. This was her early Christmas present from the 3G's (Grammy and Grauntie Tricia & Grauntie Jeanne.)

Better go home and feed our little girl... stories to accompany the following pictures soon...

This cat just showed up on Papa's deck the other morning. She was meowing as if we were just supposed to let her in, like she was our cat. She's a really pretty cat and she and Serena seemed quite taken with one another. Then Scout arrived and went ballistic at the window trying to get to the cat. Needless to say, the cat left and we haven't seen it since.