Parenthood Strikes

tooth loss

2012-01-29T14:01:00.000-08:00

Aria lost her third tooth last night in the bath. Bottom left canine.

Why? and Bath Math

2012-01-25T18:49:00.000-08:00

A couple neat things happened in the last few days.

First, Audrey went full-bore into the "WHY?" stage. She's suddenly asking about everything. She asked me why the sky is blue. She asks why we're wearing what clothes we're wearing. She asked Hosie why she's a girl. She asked why a tree is called a tree. So we're entering that time where you have to bend your mind around all these inquisitions. Sometimes, we're lying in bed at night, and I think she's asleep, when suddenly, I'll hear this little tentative whisper: "Daddy?" I whisper back: "What, honey?" "Why do you always call me sweetie pie?"

The second thing arose out of a question that Audrey asked Hosanna earlier today. They were all taking a bath together (hair washing day!), when Audrey said "What does even mean?" So Hosanna started explaining that "even" has two meanings: even vs. uneven, and even vs. odd. Hosanna made an example using a bunch of farm animals, showing that four animals could be split into an even number of groups of two.

So then, later, Aria was downstairs playing with some other toys, when she stumbled upon the concept of division. She came into the kitchen and said: "Mommy, I figured out that 12 is 4, 4, and 4!" So then Hosanna got out some Legos and showed her how 12 could be divided into three groups of four, four groups of three, two groups of six, etc. And that, my friends, is home school. Aria learned math in the bath. Learning happens at the kid's pace, in unexpected places, in ways that will constantly amaze you.

(By the way, Aria's reading this over my shoulder as I type it. Yeah. The kid can read.)

Crissmuss

2011-12-30T21:57:00.000-08:00

I'm on the best vacation of the past couple years. Lots and lots of time sitting at home and doing nothing much of anything. Seeing lots of old friends and hanging out with my family. Plus two trips to San Jose to see my parents, my sister and her family, and other friends too. My parents had their 50th wedding anniversary in there somewhere and we threw them a big party. In short, it's been a really good, relaxing time, and just what the doctor ordered.

I didn't take too many pictures this year; I wanted to be more involved in the proceedings this time around. But, here's one little video I got a couple days ago. For Christmas we got the girls another play contraption for the yard. Aria has dubbed it "The Stirrer" because she invented a game where it stirs up their food. Here they are showing it off:

Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Aria's play

2011-11-05T18:28:00.001-07:00

Aria has been taking a drama class for the past few weeks. They are doing a play called "Stone Soup," in which Aria plays Martha. She wasn't satisfied with this role, however - she doesn't get very many lines. To rectify this situation, Aria decided she would write her own play, and make roles for all of her friends. Hosanna helped her write the words by telling her how to spell them; in this manner, Aria wrote the first few lines down herself. Then, she finished by dictating the rest of them to Hosanna, who wrote it down. All of the words are Aria's.

CHARACTERS

Crystal: Aria
Rainbow: Autumn
Narrator: Hosanna
Flowers: Audrey
Martha: Danielle

Narrator: Once Upon A Time, there was a mommy named Crystal and a mommy named Rainbow, and a big sister named Flowers and a little sister named Martha, and they were really healthy.

Crystal: We have to go to the store to get bread for our toast that we dip in our lentil soup.

Martha: (Upset) We have to go to the store? Oh! I don't want to go!

Narrator: So she cried and she screamed when Crystal put her in her car seat.

Crystal: (Mad) So I said that we were going to the store and you are getting really upset because you are really hungry, but we don't have any food.

Rainbow: (A little mad) Yeah, we don't have any food, and we are in a struggle to get to the store.

Flowers: Yay! We're going to go to the store!

Crystal: We need to get a whole bunch of food.

Rainbow: Finally we are going to the store.

Narrator: So they played games while they were going to the store.

Martha: There is a red car.

Flowers: I see a white car.

Crystal: And I see a blue car.

Rainbow: I see a brown car.

Narrator: And so they played a lot of games and Martha was not upset.

Rainbow: We are finally at the store, but it is dark outside, so we have to get just a few snacks and eat all of them up. And then we will go right to bed.

THE END

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

Misc pictures from Halloween 2011, where Audrey was a bumblebee, Aria was Tinkerbell, many pumpkins were carved, and we all had a blast. I have decided that there is nothing in the world as entertaining as taking my kids out trick or treating. Audrey got so excited anytime there was any moving decorations, while Aria spent a lot of the night in sheer disbelief that people were giving her candy for free. After trick or treating, we went to the Pumpkin Path at the local Waldorf school. They put on quite a show there, and the girls both loved it. It was Aria's second year going there, and Audrey's first time. We went with Autumn, Danielle, Amanda & Virgil.

Also, a couple misc pictures from earlier in October, when Hosie did the girls' hair and they were being super sweet:

Audrey's 3rd / Aria's 6th birthday party

2011-10-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the 10th anniversary of 9/11 by paying no attention to it at all. Instead we had a birthday party. Now that's patriotism. So the happy park of Funderland was overrun by cute girls and boys, including: Autumn & Danielle (accompanied by Amanda & Virgil), Juliette & Amelia (with Debra), Tobin (with Manny), and Jenk & Tavi (with Kyle). And of course, Nana & Uncle Gabriel were there too.

First we got a table in a nearby park for lunch & cake...

Then we spent a couple hours on the rides...

Then back to the park for presents. We asked everyone to bring toys they were tired of, so no one had to buy anything and they got to clutter bust a bit in the process. It was a big hit.

In particular, the dinosaur that had been hiding unused in the back of Tobin's closet for a couple years became Audrey's #1 favorite thing in the universe. She carries it around everywhere now, saying it's her baby.

Hey, there were even some pictures of adults!

And finally, when it was time to head home, Audrey & her new baby were tuckered out:

The rest of summer

2011-10-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

So, the rest of the summer came and went, thank God. I couldn't wait for it to end. I was still recovering from the whole Uncle George thing, I was having a career crisis and mid-life crisis all at once, and then to top it all off I crashed really hard on my bike in the last week of July, smashing up my face, arm, and leg. It was really ugly. I didn't feel like doing much besides hole up in my house and wish everyone and everything would just go away. And pray for summer to end.

Now it's nearly November, and I've finally hooked the camera up to the computer to see what the hell happened while I wasn't paying attention. Hadn't done that since July 24th. Turns out, there were some good moments. And I'm going to talk about them for a bit now, as a reminder to myself that I am blessed with a beautiful family, an extraordinary wife, and a charmed existence. (Seriously, the crash should have broken limbs and/or nose and knocked my teeth out. Very lucky, me.)

Way back in early summer we bought some K'NEX kits. If you haven't seen these before, they are for building models of roller coasters. They are really fun to build. Kind of like Lego, but a bit more advanced. The girls have found so many oodles of creative things to do with the pieces, but this one is my absolute favorite by a mile: Aria placed them on a table like notes on a staff, and turned them into a melody. Watch:

Then one day in early August I caught Audrey "reading" a book to herself. This girl is crazy about books. She yanks them off shelves, devours them, and yanks more. Some days she'll go through every single book in the shelf. I feel very lucky to have finally caught it on camera since she doesn't like to be filmed.

I was doing a little bit of music earlier in the summer. As a gag gift for Dave's birthday, I made a techno cover of "Ten Years Gone" by Led Zeppelin. Although the whole thing was tongue in cheek, it was a good introduction to Logic Studio for me - it's been sitting on our computer for years and I've barely used it.

At some point during that time, Audrey got on the mic and we got this picture of our budding superstar:

Hosanna took the girls on a camping trip in late August, along with her friend Amanda and her daughters Autumn and Danielle. The girls had a great time - especially making S'Mores over the fire. When they got back, Aria drew this picture of their trip. It is a self-portrait: Aria is at the campfire, with a bag of marshmallows at her feet, and one on a stick that's she holding in the fire. The sky is blue and the grass is green, and all is well.

One of the sillier things that happened as a result of my bike crash is I finally learned what I look like with a full beard. I couldn't shave for several weeks while my face healed up. I was too embarrassed to take a picture of the wounds, which in a way now I sort of regret, but here's a picture of the short-lived beard. I couldn't wait to shave it off; it was hot, itchy, and abominably uncomfortable. I think Aria took this picture.

For their birthdays this year, we got Aria a bike and Audrey a trike. They love them. Aria loves to get out and ride the bike at the park or around the block, whereas the trike has become something they ride around in the backyard (or occasionally, around the house).

Happy Hollow

2011-07-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

We were in San Jose for my 20 year high school reunion. While there we got to take the girls to Happy Hollow with Grandma & Grandpa.

Winter & Spring 2011

2011-05-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

This year has been pretty weird so far, what with me having to work six days a week until the beginning of April, and then my uncle George abruptly passing away just a couple weeks ago. But, we did manage to have some fun along the way. Here are some of the better memories of that time.

Cats being cute:

We bought a family pass to Fairytale Town so we could go whenever we wanted to:

We had a trip to Funderland in late February:

The girls learned a lot about the solar system and even drew a model of one in the back yard. This work was entirely unaided by any adults:

At Aunt Lynn's in Eugene, Aria got super big sisterly and offered to help Audrey get her pants on. It was an adorable moment:

Finally, on Mother's Day weekend, we planted our garden, with a lot of enthusiastic assistance from Aria and Tobin. Even Audrey planted a couple things:

And last but not least, I convinced the girls to pose together on the couch yesterday:

Aria lost her first baby tooth

2011-03-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

Aria's first baby tooth fell out this morning while Hosanna and the kids were in San Jose visiting my parents. I was sad to miss it.

She's pretty shy about the whole thing. Doesn't want to mention it at all, and doesn't want you to talk about it either. But since she's laughing with Audrey right now I'm getting a pretty good look at it. It's really cute.

Aria's first tooth is loose

2011-02-23T19:16:00.000-08:00

Aria got her first loose tooth today. Hosanna called me at work to tell me. For some reason, I teared up. And Hosanna choked up too. Our little baby is growing up...

If anyone's counting, it's the lower left front tooth.

So this is the new year

2010-12-31T23:45:00.000-08:00

Time to say so long to a year of intense change and upheaval. A year whose highs were unbelievable, and whose lows were gut-wrenching. A year in which:

I finished and left my long-term project assignment at the California Child Support Automation System, leaving behind many good friends and esteemed colleagues, and some of the best years of my career.

I moved on to a new project at the California Public Employees Retirement System, bringing with it an unprecedented level of responsibility and stress, not to mention relentless overtime hours.

My sister fought through breast cancer, beginning in early spring.

My mother fought through oral cancer, beginning in the fall.

I lost over forty pounds from July through December.

We completed Baby Step 3 in the Dave Ramsey program, meaning we now have all our debts paid off except for the house and have an emergency fund with six months of expenses in it.

We tried enrolling Aria in Kindergarten at a public open school, but after it became apparent that it wasn't a good fit for her or us, we made the decision to home school her.

Audrey completed the transformation from toddler to little girl, leaving behind nearly all vestiges of babyhood - and we suddenly find ourselves in a new era of parenting.

Oh yeah, and way back when, at the beginning of the year, I became a Sun Certified Enterprise Architect.

It's hard for me to have any perspective or feelings about what the upcoming year will hold, because for the moment, I'm just dog tired. I'm tired from working so much, emotionally drained from the roller coaster of my family's cancer battles, physically exhausted from the work of getting into shape and losing weight, and almost totally checked out mentally after my work has thrown me a seemingly endless array of unsolvable problems. Oh yeah, and I'm sick to death of budgeting and "living like no one else so that later we can live like no one else."

Despite all that, I'm immensely proud of what we've achieved this year. The word "grateful" doesn't begin to express how I feel about having a healthy family that is, for the time being, cancer free. I love my kids more than ever, and I am feeling even more connected to my amazing wife. I'm incredibly thankful to be employed at a job that I still like a lot, especially during this time when so many others are having a tough time finding work. And I'm overwhelmed with thankfulness that God gave me the strength and willpower to get my flabby ass in gear and finally lose weight.

So, over the next couple weeks, it will be time to set goals for the new year, and start figuring out how to get to the next level. But for now, I'm just going to reflect on how far we've come, stay thankful, and try to rest.

Happy new year everyone.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T08:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was a bit hectic. I'd been working so much and we were really stressed out. But, there were still some great moments. Hopefully these pictures caught some of them.

Video of the kids rocking on the new see-saw and singing Rock-A-Bye-Baby.

Video of Audrey singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."

Aria at five

2010-09-25T21:24:00.001-07:00

In keeping with the birthday theme - a few words about Aria, who just passed her fifth (!!! how time flies !!! ) birthday.

She's been learning how to cook more things. I've previously talked about how she can make her own mac-n-cheese (except for boiling the water) and pb&j sandwiches. Now she's also learned how to make a tofurkey & cheese sandwich (she likes to spread the mayo & mustard and cut the tofurkey in half), toast with butter and yeast (she puts a LOT of yeast on it), and she even helped Hosanna make the birthday cake.

She has really started to stretch herself physically lately. She goes all over the playground now, climbing up everything with ease; she even wants to try monkey bars, balance beams, and rope ladders now.

She's in a big dinosaur phase now, which is really fun for all of us, because dinosaurs are freakin cool. She knows all about the difference between a brachiosaurus and a diplodocus, and can easily pronounce Compsognathus (and knows its the one that's the size of a chicken). She likes to bury the pieces of her dinosaur skeleton puzzles in the sandbox, then excavate them like an archaeologist. Oh, and she also likes to play the game where she's a T. Rex ("It's not a tyrannosaurus, it's a T. Rex") stomping around the house, growling and making scary noises. Or sometimes she likes to be a baby T. Rex, and have us be the mommy and daddy T. Rex. She's got several dinosaur books and she loves to read all of them over and over and over again.

She has a growing circle of friends that she really likes to play with. She likes all of her cousins, and has especially been enjoying getting a lot of play time with Tobin since he moved out here earlier this summer. She says that Tobin and her friend Autumn are her best friends. Aria and Autumn are like two peas in a pod. When Autumn comes over, they run off and go shrieking all around the house; they play puppet shows together; they play in the back yard; they play games they make up; and so on. When Tobin comes over, they usually make a "couch mess." This involves throwing all the couch cushions all over the living room, or making them up into a big pile that they can jump on, or making a fort (usually involves some parental assistance).

Aria's favorite place to be is still at home, in the living room, where she still loves playing games, drawing on the easel, playing piano, wrestling on the floor, and doing Ring Around the Rosie. But she does like to go to places too. She likes Fairy Tale Town quite a bit, as well as Funderland. She likes going to the library. She likes going to Autumn's house, and to her new friends Will and Shawn's house too. And she likes going to lots of different playgrounds.

Aria's gotten a little bit more used to Audrey being around, and even likes playing with her to a certain extent. Now that Audrey is talking more, Aria's starting to understand that having another kid around all the time might not be all bad. But, she still wishes that she could have more alone time with Mommy, and feels like Audrey gets all the cuddles. She hates that Audrey is constantly getting into her stuff and messing it up. (And really, what big sister doesn't know that complaint?)

She is composing at the piano now. She made up a T. Rex song. It doesn't have words, but it has a consistent melody that she plays the same way every time. The songs she is making up involve two hands. They have bass and melody, and a steady rhythm. One of her songs even involves her beat boxing along with it. She sings sometimes pretty loudly, with a wide vibrato. Her favorite key seems to be D minor.

One night, not too long ago, Aria and I were having a bit of a difficult bedtime. She really wanted Mommy, not me, and I was getting frustrated. Eventually when Hosanna left the room, Aria screamed and started chasing after her. I had to resort to blocking the door, because I just couldn't come up with any other way to let Hosanna get out of the room and take Audrey to bed. Aria cried and cried, and finally sat down in the bathroom as far away from me as she could get. After a little while, I started telling her how I just didn't know what else to do. That I didn't like having to keep her away from Mommy, but that some nights Mommy needs to put Audrey to bed, and that (in so many words) we're stuck with each other. I think I explained this to her a lot better than I'm writing it now, because after a little while, Aria got up, came over, and sat in my lap.

After a little while, it occurred to me what might be bugging her. I asked if she was mad at me for being at work so much. (I've been putting in a lot of hours at CalPERS the past few weeks.) She nodded and said yes. I said I was sad about it, that I didn't like being away so much. That I missed her all the time, and that I wished I could be home with her more. She relaxed a bit, and cuddled me more. Then she started humming a song. It was different than what I've heard her sing before. It was distinctly pentatonic. It went up the pentatonic scale, sort of swam around the upper octave a bit, then dropped back down. I just listened, in rapt attention, because it was a very beautiful melody.

After about thirty seconds, she stopped singing and said to me, "Do you know what that song means?" I said, "No, what?" She answered, "That song means I'm starting to like you more."

Audrey at two

2010-09-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

Audrey just passed her two year birthday. I thought I would write a few words on where she is at in development and personality at this milestone.

Her use of language jumped to new heights in just the past month or two. She now regularly uses sentences of ten or more words, and has a very large vocabulary. For example, a couple weeks ago, she bumped her head. Through sobs and tears, she exclaimed: "I was playing on the couch mess, then I fell off the couch mess, and I bumped my head on the couch mess!" (Then, when I said, sympathetically, "Oh, you bumped your head?" she threw back her head, closed her eyes, and wailed "YEAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" This is a signature move. )

She doesn't seem to have any confusion about pronouns like I / me / your / her / his / etc. She switches back and forth among them with ease, and usually gets them right. For example, just now, she was trying to push Hosanna out of a chair, and she kept saying "That's MY chair, Mommy!" Hosanna said, "This is your chair?" Audrey responded, "Yeah, it's MINE." This has been true for a few months. It never really seemed to be an issue for her.

She also uses possessives - for example, the other day, I was putting her in the car, and accidentally put her into the wrong car seat. She looked down and around for a second, then exclaimed "I'm in Aria's seat!"

Her pronunciation is still about normal for her age, even if her grasp of language is pretty far ahead. She sometimes gets extremely frustrated when she's trying to say something complicated and we just can't understand her. The person who seems to understand Audrey the best is Aria, so we frequently ask her to translate.

She has developed a kind of sing-song, questioning manner, too. She says things with this lilt to them. Swear to God, she sounds like a kid from a TV commercial or something. Example, about a month ago, Aria bonked her head or something and was crying up a storm. Audrey came in the room and said "Aria? You hurt?" in this gentle, sing-songy way. Then, just a few days ago, when I was leaving to go to work, she said "Bye, Daddy. I love you, Daddy." It melted my heart.

Lest you think she's all sugar and spice now, I'll hasten to note that she's still enormously active, and usually, LOUD. Most days, she wakes up bright and early - around 7 a.m. - and within a few minutes, chirps (or shouts) "I wanna go to the bay-bound (playground)!" She loves yelling. LOVES yelling. She likes running around. She wants to climb EVERYTHING. She still gives us heart palpations at the playground when she climbs up the highest thing and then dangles herself off it ("Look at ME, Daddy!"), although thankfully, she's developed at least a small sense of fear recently. And her absolutely favorite thing in the world is to SWING. She wants to swing and swing and swing and swing and swing and swing. All day, every day, "I WANNA SWING!!!!!!!!!"

Outside of physical activity, her favorite things to do are 1) Read books, and 2) do puzzles. At least two or three times a day, she comes over to her book shelf, pulls out every book one by one, and flips through the pages like a hurricane. It's like she can't get them fast enough, can't get enough of them. "Read this to me, Mommy!" "Read this to me, Daddy!" (Then, if you don't answer quickly enough, "READ THIS TO ME DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!") Her favorite books are still mostly board books, like the Sesame Street letter books - Natasha's Nap or C is for Cookie, etc. She loved a book we got from the library called Higher, Higher, about a little girl on a swing. She also loves We're Going on a Lion Hunt.

We have numerous wooden puzzles in the house, and Audrey can do any of them easily. The most complicated is a wooden U.S. map puzzle. Audrey can do the whole puzzle by herself, and knows most of the names of the states. If you say, for example, "Where's Missouri?" she can pull it out of the pile, say "Here's Missouri!" and put it into the map. If she doesn't know the name of one, she'll hold it up to you and say "What's this?" When you answer, say, "South Dakota," she responds "Oh. South Dakota." Then a couple times later, she'll remember it.

Audrey still nurses frequently, including at least once in the middle of the night. She's so active that it can drive Hosanna crazy. She's nursing but flopping around all over the place, little hands prying everywhere: poking Hosanna's tummy, pulling on her moles, jabbing her belly button, pinching her arms, etc.

Audrey likes to play the piano some. For a little while, she was making up a song on the piano called "Rubber, Rubber" (after the name of our cat). She likes to sing little songs. She knows the alphabet song, and sings it all the time. She likes to sing Ring Around the Rosies (and do the whole running around / falling down thing too), and the Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Oregon trip

2010-08-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

We went up to Oregon last month to visit our friends Derick and Daphne and their four kids. They live in Canby, which is southeast of Portland, out on a farm. So we jumped into our beater van (which we have dubbed "Big Frank") and drove up I-5. It was sweltering when we left - it was 105 degrees when we passed through Redding. We stopped in Shasta City so the girls could play at what would be the first of many playgrounds we'd hit on the trip. We also got some water from the headwaters of the Sacramento River - a great find.

That first day we made it up to Ashland by early evening. We stayed at the Village Suites, which wasn't a bad hotel - it was relatively inexpensive, quiet, and had a nice courtyard where the girls could play.

The next day, we went out to Lithia Park in Ashland - right near downtown. It was warm, but not nearly as hot as in California. The girls loved the park. There was a lot of climbing and swinging.

After lunch, we got back in ol' Frank and headed towards Eugene. We took the long way so we could go to the Wild Safari on the way. We saw all kinds of exotic animals there - rhinos, giraffes, a hippo, various deer-like animals whose names I forget, bears, yaks, and so on. But what we all liked the most were the cheetahs. Especially Aria, because the cheetah is her favorite animal now.

Finally, we made it to Eugene, where we would stay with Aunt Lynn for a couple nights, read a lot of books, see the sights & sounds of Eugene, and - of course - go to a couple playgrounds.

Lynn had just moved up there a few weeks ago, but already had her place nicely settled. She offered to let us take over her bedroom and office so we all had plenty of room to sleep. Now that's love, when someone will sleep on their own couch for you. :)

After leaving Eugene, we headed straight up to Canby without any stops, and arrived at Derick & Daphne's in mid-afternoon. And boy, were they ready to entertain our little girls. Right out of the gate, they brought out a huge box of play clothes, which their three youngest kids (Jacob, Sammy, and Claire) shared with Aria and Audrey.

Then it was on to the play set and trampoline, where the kids would spend the next three days blissfully playing their hearts out. It was perfect weather - mid to high seventies and clear skies. We all had such a blast!

Our gracious hosts:

One day, we drove in to Portland to go to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science & Industry - kinda like the Exploratorium in San Francisco). This is a place that I remember from my childhood and I was interested to see if I remembered anything. A lot has changed, but there are still some exhibits that are the same - like the marble roller, some of the robot displays, and the giant funnel you roll marbles down.

Most of the exhibits were a bit overwhelming for the girls, so we spent most of the time in the play area upstairs. But, we did manage to get in to see some dinosaur bones, and check out the marble roller for a while too.

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Derick & Daphne and their beautiful farmland. None of us wanted to go home. But we had a hotel booked in Ashland, so we piled back in the van, and drove back to the hotel... with a stop off at - where else - Lithia Park. Only this time, it was pretty hot out, so we spent most of the time in the stream.

The next day, we drove straight back to Sacramento. We had intended to stop in Shasta City again, but Audrey fell asleep about 5 minutes before we got there. Not willing to disturb her nap, we just kept driving. She didn't wake up until we were past Redding, at which point there's really nowhere to stop until home. The kids were rather disappointed (to put it mildly) that we didn't stop at another playground on the way home, so we tried to get out to one the next day. Only problem was, we were back in hundred degree weather. Turns out playgrounds are a lot more fun in mild Oregon summers than they are in wretched Central Valley ones.

What a difference a summer makes

2010-07-12T21:07:00.001-07:00

Last year at this time, we were struggling mightily with Audrey's sleep schedule, and wildfires all across California had filled the skies with thick smoke. We were stuck inside all the time, trying to cope with our severe sleep deprivation, while at the same time starting an aggressive financial plan that gave us little to no money for extras. This year, we've been blessed with stunning weather, blue skies, and a far from perfect but certainly much improved sleeping situation. And we've paid off every debt except for the house, and we've almost finished building our savings up to a six month cushion.

It feels like we've gone an eternity since last summer. It feels like three or four eternities since Audrey was born. To be honest, her entire first year is a complete blur to me. I'm glad we took a lot of pictures, because otherwise I think I would have no memory of it at all. Now here we are, settling down into some kind of normalcy again. The girls are playing together more. Audrey is talking a lot and is able to tell us more about what she needs and wants. Aria has taken things to a whole new level of creativity and action. It feels like we're a family again, instead of four people trying to figure out how to live together. We still have lots of work to do on so many fronts, but we can look back at the last year and a half and see just how far we've come. That feels really good.

It wouldn't be a blog post without some pics of the kids, so here they are. :)

Aria's first trip to Funderland - she bravely rode a ride all by herself:

Synchronized sliding!

Audrey wants a cuddle with Mommy:

Aria can make her own Mac 'n' cheese now after Mom or Dad boils the noodles. She can also make her own peanut butter & jelly sandwiches!

Audrey tearing around the playground:

Aria doing her best impersonation of a monkey:

Swimming at Nana's house is a huge relief on 100 degree days:

Both girls love to play Ad's drums, but I only got a good picture of Audrey, unfortunately:

New pics and video

2010-06-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

The kids together:

Aria with her new scooter:

Audrey at the kitchen counter:

Daddy and Aria:

Aria is silly, and Glue's about to pounce: (picture taken while I'm lying on the floor looking up at the cat tower)

Girls being girls:

Hosanna composing:

Aria's drawing of a cat:

Aria plays a new song on the piano:

Chicken Pox

2010-04-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

Audrey came down with chicken pox last weekend. It's been a relatively mild case as far as the pox themselves go - she only had five of them on her back, and they didn't seem to bother her at all. But, it was accompanied by a fever, terrible congestion and a bad cough that is persisting seven days later.

After a couple days, Aria picked it up too. She didn't get any of the pox on her skin though; she just got all the other symptoms (fever, runny nose, cough). We think she may have had a very mild case earlier, and maybe this is just an immunity booster.

So, the past week has been pretty rough. They've both woken up multiple times most nights since it came on. Audrey has woken up late at night a few times and been unable to go back to sleep for an hour or more. And, it has brought back Aria's night terrors as well, which we haven't seen any sign of for about six months.

Audrey made a few more strides this week, even while super sick. She learned to sing Twinkle Twinkle - the whole song, words and all. She sang the complete alphabet song today. And she can count to ten.

Aria is regularly wearing training underpants during the day. She is almost always going pee in the potty when we're at home, except if we're slow to get her nighttime pullup off in the morning. She still only wants to poop in a pullup though.

Up to the present day!

2010-02-21T21:50:00.000-08:00

Yay, no more catching up! :) So that's the good news. The bad news is that our camera broke, so no pictures for a while again until we get that sorted out. I don't know if we can fix it or if we'll have to get a new one. Wah.

The big news in our lives right now is that both Audrey and Aria have skyrocketed into new phases over the past few weeks.

At almost 4 1/2 years old, Aria is firmly into the "Why?" stage. It's unbelieveable how many questions she has. For example, tonight I was reading her The Sneetches at bedtime - a story we've read dozens of times before - and after nearly every sentence, she had a question.

"Why does that one have a smile, but his eyes are sad?"

"Why didn't that one play ball with those other guys?"

"Why is he leaving with all their money?"

"What does 'trip' mean?"

And so on. We've noticed that she'll keep pressing for details until she's satisfied that you've given her every nugget of information that you have. She'll accept "I don't know," but she won't accept anything that smacks of "just because." It's pretty awe-inspiring, actually, to watch this new phase of learning. It's much more proactive than she has been before. She used to be content to just sit and watch what was going on around her, just soaking things up; but now she's pushing us for knowledge.

The other thing Aria's doing is exploring more music - not at our urging, I should hasten to add. She's started making up more songs and singing along with songs that we're listening to. Hosanna also finally figured out how to record into our computer using Logic Studio (which we bought for this purpose over a year ago, but haven't ever devoted much energy to until now) - and has recorded Aria singing some lullabies along with music that Hosanna recorded. They're really fun to listen to. It's also really fun watching Aria take part in the creative process - she's already got opinions about what sort of thing she thinks would sound good.

As far as Audrey goes, now that she's about 18 months, her big expansion has gone into several worlds at once. First, her vocabulary is increasing quite a bit. She regularly uses the words Mommy, Daddy, Aria, Nana, Up, Down, "want dat," "don't want," "other side" (when she's nursing and wants to switch to the other breast), among others. She also is fascinated by letters. She can't say them all out loud - so far, that's limited to A, E, I, O, D, N, and maybe a couple others - but she knows them all by sight. Meaning, we can put a group of letters in front of her, and say "Where's a T" and she'll always point to the right one.

She has a voracious appetite for books. Sometimes, I mean this literally - she's been known to chew them up. But mainly, I mean that she tears through them with an urgency quite unlike anything I've ever seen. At bedtime, she can easily go through ten board books. She's not patient enough to listen to the story most of the time, but she wants to point at various pictures and find out what they are called.

Big hits with her right now are:

Bear in a Square - she likes to find the bees and go "BZZZZZZZ." She can find all the shapes on some of the pages, but not on all of them yet.

Hippos Go Berserk - she likes to point to the numbers.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - she turns almost immediately to the page in the middle where the caterpillar eats all the different kinds of food, and then points to them all, over and over and over again, hearing you say all the different names.

Whatever Aria's reading. (Which, guaranteed, Aria won't be happy about.)

Audrey is also continuing to be very active physically and is constantly pushing new boundaries in that realm. This weekend, at the park, she was climbing up and down the circular steps that go six feet off the ground and are spaced about two feet apart. She's climbed up onto the bathroom counter and the kitchen counter. She's up on the dining room table about ten times a day. She's climbed onto the backs of the toilets, over the fence into Aria's safe zone (resulting in a "MOMMMMMYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!" from big sister), and onto the piano (making a curious kind of music along the way). I don't even think about it anymore when she goes up the stairs - the thought of her having trouble with them is laughable.

The only thing Audrey seems to have a fear of is she doesn't like certain big guys. For example, she's not too keen on Uncle Manny for some reason, but likes Uncle Adamen and Uncle Gabriel.

Audrey is also showing some musical signs already. Today, when Hosanna played Twinkle Twinkle on the piano, Audrey sang along "deet deet deet," matching what Hosanna was playing in rhythm. She continues to dance anytime music comes on. And at bedtime, if I sing some lullabies to her, she'll tell me which ones she likes and which ones she doesn't.

She is still not sleeping through the night by any measure, but it has gotten a little bit easier lately. Most nights now have three wake ups. She goes to bed about 8. Usually there's one around 10:30 or 11, then one somewhere around 1 or 2, then one around 5. Hosanna and I are in a rhythm now where we are trading off shifts, and we both more or less know when it's our turn to go in. I've mastered the art of falling asleep in the glider with Audrey on my lap or shoulder, so the middle of the night wakeups aren't killing me quite as badly as they used to.

Of course, Audrey is teething again now - getting all four canines in - so the nights when a tooth is cutting through have been more disruptive and difficult for us. Overall, though, we feel like she's slowly, slowly, slowly moving in the right direction.

The other biggest thing in our lives right now is dealing with how the sisters deal with each other. We are expending a LOT of thought and energy trying to find good solutions to common problems such as: how to keep Aria from hurting Audrey when she's mad at her (which is frequent); how to keep Audrey out of Aria's stuff; how to get Audrey a nap without sacrificing activities for Aria; how to give them both the attention they crave without sacrificing the other; etc. It's a new road for us, one which we're barely getting our footing on now.

Catch up #9: Christmas

2010-02-21T21:21:00.000-08:00

Like Thanksgiving, Christmas this year was also a small, mellow time at our house. We were too tired to think about going anywhere: Audrey was still waking up 4 to 5 times a night, and I was working downtown on a different project that required longer hours and a longer commute. In short, it was a stressful few months, and we didn't have much energy to give to the holidays this time around.

But, even so, we had a pretty nice time at our place. The kids were REALLY excited about Christmas. On Christmas Eve they each got to open up a present; Audrey's turned out to be this stacker (which is one of her favorite toys now):

Then, after we explained to Aria that the sooner she went to bed and went to sleep, the sooner she would wake up and it would be Christmas (and she could open the rest of the presents), she stood up cheerfully and announced to everyone: "Well, it seems my bath is ready now. Good night!" And went up to bed. Never seen aything like it. :)

Aria got pretty excited because she got some cars from the movie Cars, which has replaced Finding Nemo as the Big Thing in her life.

Tobin joined us for the festivities too, and although he doesn't often like to have his picture taken, he graciously allowed me to snap this shot of the three of them together - for which I am eternally grateful. I can't believe how much Aria looks like Hosanna as a kid in this picture. The likeness is stunning.

Catch up #8: Thanksgiving

2010-02-21T20:58:00.000-08:00

Scenes from a mellow Thanksgiving at our place:

Audrey likes to eat it AND wear it.

Aria entertains us with Babushka dolls.

The table:

Yummy food:

Catch up #7: The arrival of Rubber and Glue

2010-02-21T20:39:00.000-08:00

Most of you already saw this on Facebook, but just to reiterate for posterity: On November 16th, we went to the SPCA and picked out a couple adult cats to rescue and take home with us. Going to the SPCA was such a fantastic experience, not only because we felt good about rescuing the animals, but because we got to meet so many different kinds of cats, and spend time getting to know them; so we were really confident that the ones we brought home were a good fit for us.

Their SPCA names were Mr. Man and Mr. Dreamy, which didn't really work too well for us ("Which Mr. is this again?"). After a few days of debate, we settled on calling them Rubber and Glue. Rubber is the orange one, and Glue is the cream one.

Now about these names. We have this book, Corduroy's Halloween, which for a while Aria was wanting for bedtime practically every night. It's a lift-the-flap book. There's a black cat which appears under a flap on every page. I don't know how this came to be, but at some point, Aria started calling it Glue the Cat. Maybe it was because one of the flaps ripped, and someone said we needed to glue the cat? I really have no idea. But the name stuck (ha ha). And so then it was natural that Aria wanted to name a real cat Glue, and so then Rubber was a no-brainer after that, because of "I am rubber, you are glue..."

For the most part, the cats are pretty happy here. Except of course for scenes like this, which happen pretty frequently:

But then, to make up for it, they get this:

The only down side of these guys is that they have quite a taste for human food. The SPCA people didn't mention that, but then again, they probably had no idea, since the cats aren't around human food at all there. It's a bit of an annoyance having to shoo them off of the counters all the time.

catch up #6: Halloween

2009-12-29T23:22:00.000-08:00

We had Hosanna's nephew Tobin and his half-brother Aidan up for Halloween this year. It was the first year that Aria was really, really, *really* into trick-or-treating, as well as the first year that Audrey was walking for it. With all four kids going door to door, it was the most fun I've experienced on Halloween for years. They LOVED it and their excitement was very contagious.

We carved two batches of pumpkins, but only got good pictures of the first set. The kids got to carve too. Even Aria got in the action - she drew the picture on, then Nana carved it for her. (Hers is the small pumpkin on the left.)

Aria was pretty stoked about her dragon costume, which Hosanna found in a thrift store for super cheap! Notice the cookbooks all piled up on the shelf behind her - we had to do that to keep Audrey from ripping them up.

Audrey was - what else - a little angel. :)

On the left is Tobin the ninja, and in the middle is Aidan as Jango (NOT BOBA!!!!) Fett.

catch up #5: San Jose visit / playing in the park

2009-12-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

In early October, we took a trip down to see Grandma & Grandpa, and quite unexpectedly ran into Lisa and her kids at the park.

Here's Adamen and Audrey (can you believe how big he is?!?):

Audrey enjoying the thrill of swinging:

Grandma pushing Aria on the swing:

Audrey's not too sure about the crawling tube. She tried to stand up inside it and bumped her head.

See-saw silliness:

One of my new favorite pictures - it reminds me of a goofy cartoon that my Dad used to draw when we were kids:

catch up #4: sleep?

2009-12-17T06:45:00.001-08:00

Audrey's on-again, off-again sleep schedule continues to dominate our house, resulting in scenes like this being all too common. This is from early October, but it just as well could have been last night. I've learned that when tired enough, I can fall asleep just about anywhere, in any array of bizarre positions:

This is just one of those areas where our decision to do things a little differently makes it harder on ourselves in the short run. We just can't imagine letting her cry alone in her room though. It's not in our nature. So instead, we get up and go hold her, rock her, nurse her, whatever it takes to get her through the night. She tends to sleep in small chunks, anywhere from 1-5 hours. On very rare occasions she's made it all night without waking up at all, but they've been few and far between. An average night still has three wakeups between 10 pm and 5 am. Hosanna and I trade off as much as possible. It's strained our relationship a bit, frankly, because it's really hard to muster the energy to work together as a team when we're both bleary-eyed, grumpy, and desperate for some time off.

We stick to it though, out of the conviction that in the long run, our approach will pay dividends.

catch up #3: Aria's 4th birthday

2009-12-17T06:33:00.001-08:00

On Aria's birthday weekend, we first had a small party with her good friends Genevieve, Annalise, and McKenzie:

Some adults were hanging around too, trying to nab some cake or something. From left: Catherine (the friends' mom), Aunt Lynn, and Nana.

The next day, the bay area crew came out, including Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Jason, Machen, & Adamen.

Aunt Lisa read Aria one of her new favorites, "Room on the Broom" ...

... and general silliness prevailed:

Puppet show!

catch up #2: visit from Aunt Jane & Uncle Jim

2009-12-17T06:29:00.001-08:00

Hosanna's Aunt Jane and Uncle Jim were in our neck of the woods on September 12th, and stopped by for a quick visit. Aria dazzled them with her book skills:

catch up #1: pics from Audrey's birthday

2009-12-17T06:18:00.001-08:00

We finally have the computer issues solved, so I'm going to do a flurry of catch-up posts to show what's been happening around here for the past three months.

To start with, here are some pics from Audrey's first birthday party, which we had September 8th at Lisa's house in Santa Cruz. Lisa graciously offered to host and make Audrey's cake.

At first, neither mom nor kid was too sure about this whole thing:

Now Audrey makes the furrowed-brow face that means she's not too sure about what you're feeding her:

Warming up to it:

Oh, it turns out cake is yummy?!?

explanation

2009-12-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

Quick explanation of why there's been no blogging for such a long time:

Principally, it's because we're still having a problem accessing the external hard drive where our iPhoto and iTunes libraries are stored. I've been a little tired of writing lately, so without the pictures to share, I haven't found much inspiration. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.

Secondarily, it's because we're tired.

Lastly, it's because of Facebook.

Yeah, we should probably just blame it all on Facebook.

In honor of Audrey's first birthday:

2009-09-07T22:32:00.001-07:00

Joy

The face of my baby Audrey, sleeping restlessly on my chest at 2 a.m. on the couch. She's a perfect angel, so divine, and so powerful.

The blissful peace of resting on Mama's lap, nursing for a long stretch while being rocked in the glider.

The discovery that she can walk just as easily as crawl. The awareness that she can climb stairs. The fearlessness on the playground. The sheer lack of restraint in the bathtub. The yearning to go everywhere and do everything NOW, and damn the consequences.

The gentle evening walks around the neighborhood, me holding her in my left arm, while she points her little fingers at everything new and asks "Da?" "Tree. Car. Bush. Mailbox. Kitty cat. Doggie."

Holding her favorite book in the car - in truth, it's plastic, so it's the only one she can't chew up - and endlessly exchanging with Mommy or Daddy or Aria: "Da?" "Hello Bee, Hello Me." "Da?" "Hello Bee, Hello Me." "Da?" "Hello Bee, Hello Me."

Her mysterious attraction to the walkway outside Trader Joe's.

Her four unique food groups: Leaves, Bristles, Rubber, and Chalk.

The sly smile as she takes every toy out of the toy box and throws them all over the room in less than ten seconds.

The giggles and squeals of sisters running through the living room, around the corner, up the hall, and careening into the kitchen; next caroming off each other into the living room, then over to the piano, where they bang out a duet of pure explosive creativity before starting the whole cycle again.

The huge smile on her face first thing in the morning when she wakes up in between her parents... no matter how groggy or grumpy they are about it.

"Helping" Daddy clean the kitchen by banging on the sink, climbing into the dishwasher, slamming cupboard doors shut over and over and over, and exploring the items in the door of the fridge.

Gleefully playing naked in the sprinkler in the back yard, not even caring as big sister keeps turning the water up higher and higher until it's spraying well up over her head.

This year has been so hard, so full of multiple challenges that we have never faced individually, as a couple, or as a family. But we've pulled together and, for the most part, met what was thrown our way. As the year winds down, and summer is on the verge of flaming out, we are full of optimism and excited about the future. And we love our baby girl like we never before imagined we could love anything.

Technical note - the hard drive containing our iPhoto library crashed, so no pictures for a while until we get that straightened out. (Yes, it was recently backed up, although we may have lost a couple months worth of stuff.)

Day trip to Upper Lake Clementine

2009-08-03T23:45:00.000-07:00

So on a happier note, we had a fantastic trip today out to Upper Lake Clementine. It's a spot on the American River just outside of Auburn (on Foresthill Road for you locals). The water is shallow and warm, with barely any current. No alcohol allowed, either, so it's a great family spot. Since we were there on a weekday there weren't very many other people.

Prior to the trip, we equipped ourselves with some new gear - tevas for us, crocs & a life vest for Aria. The first life vest we got was a bit small though, so we put it on Audrey to see what it would be like. As a result, I admit, we ended up having some laughs at her expense:

We ended up getting a different one that fits Aria much better. Here she is contentedly sitting in the lake. She played out there for a couple hours.

It's shallow enough we could even do "boat rides":

Audrey got to play in the water for a while too, but then eventually got tuckered out. (Not pictured: Nana, the champ who rocked Audrey to sleep, then got in the car and drove back to her house for a second babysitting shift with Tobin.)

night terrors

2009-08-03T23:26:00.000-07:00

I took a few days off so we could regroup and try to come up with a better plan to handle our family's growing sleep issues. Of course there's Audrey's continued night wakings: she still wakes up every 1-2 hours, all night long, even now after 11 months. But then, in the past three weeks, Aria also started getting night terrors.

Night terrors is a crazy phenomenon. It goes like this: Aria's in a very deep sleep, but sits up and starts crying - seemingly uncontrollably, and pretty loud. I come in the room, but she doesn't see me. I talk to her, but she doesn't hear me. I reach out to try and hold her, comfort her, anything, but it just makes her more upset and she pulls away like my touch burns her. And it just goes on like that for 15, 20, or even 30 minutes. Then eventually, she just lies back down, whimpering a bit, and then goes back to sleep like nothing ever happened.

The first time it happened, I completely panicked. I had no idea what was going on. I thought she must have had the most terrible nightmare, and I felt so helpless sitting there, totally unable to help soothe her. The second time it happened, Hosanna was with her, and she was pretty close to taking her to the emergency room. When you don't understand what's happening, the whole thing is pretty damn scary.

So, we did some reading, talked to our doctor, and talked to our midwives, and found out just what this is all about. It turns out that:

a) She's not awake at all during these attacks. She's actually in a very deep sleep. She's literally sleeping through the whole thing. The next morning, she won't remember that it happened at all. It doesn't interfere with the amount of sleep she got or anything.

b) It's a hereditary condition. Turns out I had it when I was a kid, too. It affects about 2% of children.

c) It's usually caused by overtiredness.

d) You can prevent the attack by gently waking her up about an hour after she falls asleep, to keep her from slipping too far into the deep sleep cycle during which the attacks happen.

So that's it. The past few nights we've been trying to get her to bed earlier, with modest success. It's much harder during the summer. It's really hard for her to sleep when she knows it's still light outside, no matter how dark we make her room. And, we've been waking her up after an hour. Sometimes that goes better, sometimes it doesn't go so well. For example, tonight when I went in her room, it was really dark in there, and she had moved off the bed and was sleeping on the floor. So I ended up stepping on her. Not exactly a gentle waking. :( She did manage to go back to sleep shortly thereafter, thankfully.

So, once we knew all this, we moved Aria's bed back into her room, and things are a bit more back to normal as far as she is concerned.

As far as Audrey goes, we're just doing whatever we can to keep getting through it - trading off nights, trading off half-nights, trying to get her to last longer between nursing, etc. We're also working on getting a bedtime routine together for her. It's just really hard to get both kids to bed early enough. Audrey's so loud, we literally have to get her out of the house most nights (e.g. take her for a walk around the neighborhood) so she doesn't keep Aria from falling asleep.

We're usually able to get Audrey to bed at a decent hour. But the middle of the night is still pretty rough. When I have her for the night, I'm able to rock her back to sleep fairly easily whenever she wakes up, but it's so hard to put her down without her waking back up. Half the time she ends up just sleeping on my chest for a lot of the night. And of course, when Hosanna has her, she ends up nursing a lot, mainly because Audrey's just so big now that it hurts Hosanna's back too much to walk around with her and rock her all night. We'll see how it goes. I continue to pray that this will get easier when all of her freaking teeth come in.

Audrey walks amid turmoil

2009-07-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

Audrey did her first real walk yesterday, taking as many as thirteen tottering steps across the living room floor. And happily, Hosanna got it on video:

This amid what has otherwise been a very turbulent couple of weeks, during which neither Audrey (constant teething, general restlessness) nor Aria (nightmares, feeling sick) has slept very well. We finally brought Aria's bed into our bedroom because we couldn't handle the constant comings and goings from her room, and because she kept saying things like "I don't want to be away from my family" when we'd put her to bed. After the move, Aria's mood improved a ton, but none of us is sleeping any better. So I guess it's still a work in progress.

The dynamic when Audrey started walking was very eye-opening. Hosanna and I were obviously very excited, but the more Audrey started walking, the madder Aria would get. From her perspective, all that was happening was we were paying attention to Audrey instead of playing the game with Aria. After the walking, Aria was more aggressive to Audrey than usual: pushing her over, grabbing toys away, yanking her hands off the couch, etc. It was really hard to watch. I really feel for Aria in these situations, because Audrey has exploded her world in so many ways, and you've got to think that she knows exactly what Audrey walking will mean: "Now she's going to be in my stuff even MORE." But at the same time, I'm so excited for the growth Audrey is going through, and just love watching her develop and explore the world in a way that's so different from how Aria went about it.

In other news this week, one more of Audrey's teeth came through - the final bottom front one. It didn't stop her teething behavior very much though, so more may be coming.

way too tired...

2009-07-21T23:08:00.000-07:00

...to write anything useful. The last few weeks have been ass-kicking hard. Audrey is still sleepless. Is she getting molars now? We don't know. I've had a LOT of coffee in the last month. Way more than I ever imagined I would ever drink.

Latest pic is one of my favorites. Too bad Audrey's face is a little washed out.

My amazing daughters.

2009-06-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

By popular demand, here's Aria with her babushka dolls:

...and here's a proud papa showing off Aria's art gallery:

(editor's note: I've been informed by those in the know that the flamingo actually preceded the squirrel and the chipmunk.)

Lastly, here's our insane 9 month old (!) showing off her physical prowess:

Audrey walks!

2009-06-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Audrey took her first couple of steps today. Hopefully, we'll have video coming soon.

Oh, and the last tooth on the top broke through yesterday morning.

Big week for her. :)

big girl underpants

2009-06-15T21:24:00.001-07:00

Hosanna bought Aria her first underwear today. When I got home from work, after I pulled the car into the garage, the door to the house flew open, and Aria came racing out screaming "Big Girl Underpants! Big Girl Underpants!"

quick camping trip

2009-06-01T23:10:00.000-07:00

Anyone remember that during Hosanna's pregnancy with Audrey, we tried to go out to Gerle Creek and camp - but got severely rained out, and stayed the night in a hotel in Pollock Pines instead? (Original story here.)

Well, we tried again. This time, the weather was stunning, and we did actually get to camp out for a night. Here are a few pics that tell most of the story. The only things not pictured are:

a) the mosquitoes (lots of 'em - primary reason we didn't stay a second day)

b) Audrey got another tooth (2nd this week!) - this time it's her left top front one. The other top front one looks like it's not far behind, too.

wow, I'm actually writing something

2009-05-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

If you're wondering why I haven't written anything in a while, it's for two reasons:

a) I have been working a lot, including a lot of overtime in the evenings.

b) Audrey went to the next level, and it is exhausting trying to keep up with her.

What do I mean by "the next level" exactly?

She's crawling everywhere at lightning speeds. We literally have to run to keep up.

She's way mouthier than Aria ever was, so we have to watch her at all times lest she choke on a piece of fuzz, or a leaf, or one of Aria's toys that's lying around.

Her favorite toys in the world are a) anything involving electricity - power strips, power cords, electrical outlets, etc; b) dirty shoes; and c) whatever Aria has an interest in at the moment.

She's constantly climbing up the stairs.

She can stand up with a lot more confidence now, and her favorite game is to have you walk her around all the time.

So anyway, we're tired. Big fucking surprise.

Here's a random, disorganized set of pics. These aren't the most recent, there are a bunch in the camera that I haven't uploaded yet. It might be a while.

My lovely wife snapped this pic at about 8:30 a.m. after a long night.

Aria is still having her art lesson every Friday.

This new baby carrier RULES.

New double stroller / bike trailer. Still resolving some technical issues getting it hooked up to my bike, should hopefully be solved this weekend for a test run. Works ok as a stroller - it's a bit bulky, so you can't take it to the mall, but it's good for a walk on the bike path or around the neighborhood.

Fun day at the park. Audrey always looks so serious!

Aria's really starting to get around on the playground:

another tooth, finally

2009-05-25T18:25:00.001-07:00

After weeks of painful waiting and rivers of drool, Audrey finally has another tooth. One just broke through on the bottom, to the right (her left) of the two she already had. Still none on the top.

Milk

2009-04-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight Audrey made the sign for milk (squeezing her hand as if milking a cow) when she wanted to nurse. Pretty cool. We're hoping she's really learned it and that it wasn't just a fluke.

Funny coincidence - as I logged on to the computer to write this on the blog, I got an email from Mom with the subject "Milk" - only she was talking about the movie. :)

Crazy night

2009-04-18T22:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday night was pretty crazy. I had an urgent defect due Friday morning at 9 a.m., but didn't get started on it until about 10 p.m. because I spent way too long at the grocery store. Finished it up at 1:15 a.m. Went to bed in the guest room at 1:30.

Shortly after 3, Hosanna came in with Audrey, who had been wide awake for a couple hours. Hosanna was clearly at the brink of insanity and couldn't take any more. So I got up, threw on a sweatshirt & sweatpants, got Audrey and went downstairs.

Since I was working late, I hadn't cleaned up the kitchen yet. So I washed dishes like a zombie, with Audrey in one arm. She was perky, content, and most maddeningly, cute as a button. She's got this astonishing talent for turning on the charm when you most want to be mad at her.

About 3:30, I finished up the dishes and started the dishwasher. After a few minutes, the sound started lulling Audrey to sleep. By about 3:45, I managed to rock her to sleep. Her head was on my chest. It had been a long time since I was up late rocking her to sleep. In a weird way, it made me really happy to be doing it again, despite being upset at being awakened after such a short sleep.

About 4 a.m., I managed to sneak over to the couch and half-lie down, with my legs up and my head propped up on a pillow. Amazingly, Audrey didn't wake up. In the old days, the second my ass hit the couch, she'd open her eyes.

About 4:15 (I'm guessing here), I fell asleep.

About 4:45 (another guess), I woke up to the sound of Aria crying really loudly. I got into a little bit of a panic. I didn't know if Hosanna heard the crying; it seemed to be going on for a long time. But I couldn't move, because Audrey was still dead asleep on me, and I didn't want to wake her up. At some point I heard Aria say "I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO GO AWAY AGAIN!!!!!" Then I finally heard Hosanna moving around up there, and a few moments later, the crying dies down. The whole episode was probably only a couple minutes, but in that sleepy state, time seemed suspended, and it was impossible to tell how long things were really taking.

About 5:15 (really wild ass guess here) I fell back asleep.

At 6:00 a.m. on the nose, Audrey woke up and wanted to nurse. I took her upstairs to find Hosanna and Aria both awake in the bed, chatting away. WTF? Turns out they were awake since the crying happened. Hosanna told me then that the crying was actually the second time Aria woke up - the first time was while I was downstairs doing the dishes, and Hosanna went in her room for a while and then left.

So I handed Audrey over to Hosanna, climbed in the bed with my clothes on, and closed my eyes. By about 6:30 a.m. we were all asleep in the bed together. First time that's ever happened. It was really crowded, but we were all so exhausted that we scarcely noticed.

At about 8:00 a.m., Audrey woke up. Hosanna got up with her, leaving me and Aria in the bed. We fell back asleep and woke up at about 10:00.

So when I added it all up, there was a total of six hours sleep in there... never mind that half of it was either dozing half-upright on a couch or squished in a bed with three other people. Just one of those nights, I guess.

Easter catch-up

2009-04-12T23:01:00.000-07:00

It's Easter Sunday again. As I write this, Audrey is pulling open our filing drawer in the office, presumably in preparation for pulling all the papers out and eating them. Aria is downstairs, getting ready for an easter egg hunt and playing with the little toy boat that came in her easter basket. Nana and Aunt Lynn are here too. It's a nice family day. So we figured we'd celebrate it by... um... getting dressed up and taking pictures?!? OK, why not:

Audrey is crawling everywhere now. I had a lot of trouble getting video of her when she was first doing it, because Aria would insert herself and her "woobie monsters" into every video I tried to take - which was cute, but frustrating. But, I was able to persevere and get some token footage at least.

This is when she was doing the soldier crawl:

And here's one of the first times she did a real hands-and-knees crawl:

She's also pulled herself up to standing several times already. Here's a picture of her first official standing up moment. She's in the cosleeper. We put her in there sitting up, so she had a head start. We thought she was going to try to hop out. (We put the cosleeper away shortly afterwards.)

Here's the first time she pulled herself up from lying down:

A couple days ago, she pulled herself up on the piano stool, then maneuvered herself over to the piano.

Speaking of the piano, she LOVES to bang on it. She will do it for an hour if you let her. She doesn't get tired of it.

She also loves to go to town in the bouncy chair. Now admittedly, I'm not the most experienced with babies, but I have never seen one go this nuts in a bouncy chair.

Oh. And it wouldn't be a discussion about Audrey if we didn't talk about her sleeping, or lack thereof. There are still plenty of nights where she doesn't stay asleep for more than an hour at a time. Her napping is haphazard at best. And sadly, the days of her napping on me are just about gone. But occasionally she'll let me shush her into a nap. A recent day when Hosanna was out for a while was such an occasion. Aria took this picture of us:

We're slowly introducing some solid food for her. She's still only marginally interested in it most of the time, although occasionally she will eat a few spoonfuls of rice cereal. Here she's trying out some pureed carrots for the first time.

So with all this talk about Audrey, you might wonder what Aria's up to.

Well...

She's turning somersaults:

And writing songs:

And finding creative ways to write words (this spells "Sheep", starting with the backwards S on the left):

And occasionally finding the time to help Mommy change a diaper:

And today, she got a special Easter basket, with bubbles, a special pencil, and yes... some candy...

...and an easter egg hunt.

Audrey's six month checkup / crawling update

2009-03-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

Audrey had her six month checkup a few days ago. The doctor says she is in great health.

length: 28" - only 1/4" gain since January, interestingly.
weight: 18 lbs 9 oz - 1 lb 3 oz gain since January.

In other news, she's doing a "soldier crawl" now, where she pulls herself along on her tummy. She's pulled herself a few feet this way, so I guess that means she's officially crawling now. I have video of it that I will post later.

In other other news, her new favorite thing to do is to yell. She's doing it pretty much all day now. And she's freaking LOUD. She's so different from Aria, it's really trippy.

Crawling update

2009-03-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

Seems like Audrey will be crawling any minute now. Last night she was pushing herself up much more smoothly & quickly - her arms look much stronger now. And she was just starting to move her knees forward a tiny little bit.

One other thing happened yesterday that I have to mention. When I came home from work, I came in through the garage door as usual. Audrey was in her high chair at the table. When she saw me, she gave a huge smile and started kicking her feet like crazy. She's never done anything like that before. It put a smile on my face ten miles wide. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was one of the happiest moments of the past six months for me.

Growth spurt!

2009-03-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Aria's height 2/2/09: 3 feet exactly.

Aria's height 3/11/09: 3' 1"

No wonder she's been so hungry all the time lately.

First tooth

2009-03-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

Audrey's right front bottom tooth is just starting to poke through today. Certainly explains her crazy behavior over the past few days.

the many moods of Audrey

2009-03-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

First thing in the morning: chillin.

Mid-morning: the short-lived independent play time.

Mid-morning II: attempting to crawl.

Late afternoon: growling at Daddy, with bonus spitup scene!

Late afternoon II: growling at Mommy, and getting cranky.

learning to crawl

2009-02-27T09:15:00.001-08:00

Last night Audrey got up on her hands and knees for the first time. She did it a few times, then got tired. Hosanna and the girls were having a "three girl bath" and Audrey almost fell asleep in it. I had gotten her out, and fully expected her to throw a hissy fit because of the interrupted nap. Instead, she flipped over and got up, looking like she wanted to start motoring around the bathroom.

*** Update: 2/28 - visual evidence:

catching up

2009-02-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

Lots of developments in the past couple months, so I'll just jump into them.

Audrey:

We made the first attempt at giving her solid food on January 19th. It was rice cereal made with breast milk. She was patently uninterested in it - she couldn't have cared less. We were surprised, because she had seemed really interested in the food that we were eating up to that point. We haven't tried again since.

Further proof that Audrey has inherited my body type: she got some kind of weird rash on the back of her leg toward the beginning of February. It covered an area about two or three inches long. It was definitely itchy - she would start scratching at it immediately anytime we took her pants off. It was a bummer not only because she was itchy, but she didn't sleep as well while she had it, either. It's finally gone now, thankfully.

One day last week, just for the heck of it, Hosanna was checking the weight & length limits on Audrey's infant seat, and discovered that she was already two inches too long for it. (!) Yes, she outgrew her infant seat at 5 freaking months. So Hosanna thought she'd just move Audrey into Aria's car seat, then move Aria into the bigger one that we inherited from Lisa. Oh, except that one has printed in huge letters on the back: "Do not use this car seat after December 2008." Car seats expire?!?!? Oh. So there we were, back at Goore's to buy Aria a new car seat. On the plus side, we were able to give the infant seat to Tracy & Mike. Hopefully they'll get more than 5 months of use out of it. ;-)

Audrey's language is developing. She's got several regular consonant sounds now: mama, dada, baba, and nana all come every now and then. On at least one occasion, I swear I have heard her say "num nums," and although I thought "she can't possibly have said that," I gave her to Hosanna and said "humor me and nurse her," and sure enough, she nursed. So the jury is out on that one. At least once, though, she has cried "Mama!" when she was upset, and there was no mistaking what she wanted.

So then, on to Aria:

A couple weeks ago, Aria started involving an imaginary friend named Linda in many activities. Linda seems to live in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Linda likes to jump onto the woobies on the bed, Linda likes to draw with us, and Linda sometimes comes to eat lunch too. There are other things Linda does, but only Hosanna has seen them, so I don't know them all. I find the concept of Linda absolutely fascinating and I really love it when she comes up.

Aria's bedtime has changed a bit for the better in two ways. First, she started becoming a bit more aware of needing to go to the potty before she goes to bed. This is by no means a regular thing, but every now and then, she'll say she needs to use the potty before we get her night time pullup on. Around about the same time as she started doing this, she also started asking us to leave her alone in her room after we finish the bedtime routine, instead of having one of us stay with her as she goes to sleep. She'll say "OK, you leave the room now, and don't come back until daytime." And we are happy to oblige. This is pretty consistent now, knock wood. She's only had us stay with her a couple times in the past three weeks.

Aria recently started a new bedtime habit of reading "books" to us instead of the other way around. Aria has invented four books. They are called Cows Cows Cows, Bears Bears, Waters Waters, and Books Books Books Books. Cows Cows Cows starts like this: "In the beginning, there was a cow. Then, it became a lot of cows." Then she just kinda babbles a bunch of stuff which is alternately made up words and real words. Sometimes she'll add something like "then the cow ran into your head!" or something. On the plus side, Cows Cows Cows is incredibly entertaining, and it's a joy to see her expressing her creativity in this way. On the down side, Cows Cows Cows can drag on for a pretty long time, and if she wants to read all four of these books to you, you are in for a long night of oratory.

More pics:

Here's Audrey laughing her head off at Aria running around outside her swing. Sometimes, when she really wants to, Aria can really entertain the little one.

For a sadly very short time, Audrey was playing a very fun game with me: she would sit in my lap facing out, then look up backwards at my face and laugh. Repeat over and over again. I loved this game. A lot.

Here was a really special night where Aria not only got to have a bath in the sink (which she LOVES), but she got to eat some fries there too. :)

And here's Aria getting her first art lesson from Miss Linda from the art center. (Note: Linda the imaginary friend showed up before Miss Linda was ever talked about around our house. Total coincidence.)

Hosanna got these amazing, still somewhat rare shots of the kids having fun together.

In non-kid news, our amazing brother in law put in a shower for us in our guest bathroom, which previously just had a bath in it. Thank you, Jason!

Finally, here's a video of the two kids getting a train ride. Gratuitous silliness.

and Audrey's first word is...

2009-02-01T08:57:00.000-08:00

"Mama." Last night she said it plain as day to Hosie, twice. It wasn't one of those accidental coincidences either: Hosie said "Mama" to her, and she said it right back.

She also made a pretty good attempt at "Dada" after I came into the room. :)

Audrey's 4 month checkup

2009-01-22T19:13:00.001-08:00

Audrey went to the doctor today. She's in great health.

Check this out. Her length is 27 and 3/4 inches now, at 4 and 1/2 months. Anyone remember that she was 22 and 3/4 inches at birth? She's grown 5 inches in 4 1/2 months.

That's over an inch a month, folks.

Whoa.

Doc says her length is in the 99.75th percentile for her age. She's average for an 8 month old.

Her weight is now 17 lbs 6 ounces, up from 10 lbs 2 oz at birth. Right. A measly gain of 7 pounds 4 ounces in 4 1/2 months.

What's so weird about all this is that she doesn't eat as much as Aria did. Really.

update

2009-01-16T06:48:00.000-08:00

Several neat things have started happening now that we're past the holiday stress. For one, Audrey has become a bit more mobile. She can now roll over to her tummy and then keep rolling over to her back. In this manner she can move a few feet if she's determined enough. I left her on the blanket in the living room to go do some laundry or something. When I came back, she had moved over to the bookshelf, and was pulling books off onto herself. There's a powerstrip right there, so I thought, well that's not a good idea... so I picked her up and moved her about six feet away. Went into the kitchen for a bit. Came back, you guessed it, she's right over there at the bookshelf again, chewing on the powerstrip. So we've got to watch her a bit more carefully now eh?

Aria's vocabulary is still growing. She's learned some big words, although she does get them confused sometimes. e.g.: Me and the girls were driving around a few days ago so Audrey could get a nap. (Yes, it was a desperate "the baby won't sleep so we're going for a drive" manuever - desperate parents everywhere will relate I hope?) Audrey did fall asleep, and Aria and I were just chatting. She saw a bird or something and started talking about owls. Then she said "We're diagonal. But owls are nocturnal." It took me a minute to realize she meant we are diurnal. She had just learned both di- words.

On the not-so-exciting front, Aria is in a stage where she absolutely refuses to get dressed under any circumstance. So anytime we've got to go out somewhere there's a fierce battle to get her clothes involving her shrieking, kicking and crying. Um, yeah.

Oh, and speaking of shrieking, Audrey has a new high-pitched glass-breaking one if you leave her sitting alone for too long, or if she doesn't like the clothes you are putting on her, or if she's tired, or if she just feels like shrieking. On one hand, it's amazing that a kid so small can make that inhuman noise. On the other hand, I'm not going to say I hate it, because I don't hate anything about my children, but I really fucking hate it and I hope she stops soon.

Obligatory video: In a rare moment of sisterly love, Aria reads "Hello bee, Hello me" to Audrey. ("Hello bee, hello me! Hello frog, hello dog!" etc.) Note that Aria is now pronouncing her Ls - until a couple weeks ago, she was saying them like Ws.

holiday madness

2009-01-09T21:57:00.000-08:00

The holidays came and went. Fun was definitely had, but we all got sick towards the end of the year, so the last few weeks haven't been very fun. Me, Hosanna & Aria are all mostly better now, but Audrey still has it, so she's very fussy & not sleeping well. Which, of course, means we aren't sleeping well either, so we're extra cranky.

Today was Hosanna's first day teaching lessons out of our house. She decided not to go back to the Children's Creative Art Center, largely because it was too complicated with the two kids around, and she really wanted to stay home with them anyway. So she's starting one day a week teaching at the house and we'll see how that goes.

There is so much to say about how crazy this time is, and I am frankly just too damn tired to write about it. So here are some pictures instead.

Audrey rolls over!

2008-12-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

Hosanna just called me to say that Audrey just rolled over for the first time. For a few days now she's been almost doing it, but kept getting held up at the end by her arm being in the way. Guess she finally solved that problem. Funny though, when Hosanna called, Audrey was starting to cry, because a) she's on her stomach, which she hates, and b) her arm is stuck under her. Lots to learn still... :)

at the playground

2008-11-24T10:41:00.000-08:00

Aria's really branched out in physical activity over the past few weeks. We went to the playground this past weekend and she's doing all kinds of stuff she didn't do just a month or two ago: climbing up ladders, sliding down slides by herself, climbing up the slides, running to opposite end of playground without one of us going with her, etc. She's still very cautious around other kids, but a little more willing to play near them now than she was before.

These pics were taken on my cell phone because I forgot the camera, so apologies for bad quality.

In other news, Audrey is cute. (Thank you to Janis & Michael for the great outfit!)

the story

2008-10-30T23:21:00.001-07:00

Aria made up a story today. I think that's the first time she's done this.

This is the story. I know it pretty well because I think she told it to me about 25 times at least. And she made me tell it back to her a few times too.

"It's a warm summer's night, and Stellaluna is there. And then there's the wind, and it blowed off in the distance, and then it blowed into the plug, and then it blowed into the cup, and then it goed down the drain."

Stellaluna, of course, is the fruit bat in the excellent, excellent book of the same name that Lisa gave her. The other items are all various things located near the bathroom sink where she brushes her teeth: the "plug" is the electrical outlet, and the cup is a cup that just happened to be sitting near the sink.

When she tells this story, she always moves her arms along with the wind, in the same way. She also sometimes varies it a little. There were a couple times where instead of a warm summer's night, it was a warm, sultry forest (like the opening to the Stellaluna book), but the part about the winding blowing in the distance, then into the plug, then into the cup, and then down the drain is always the same.

One time, after telling the story, she looked at me and said "Did you know Stellaluna goed down the drain?"

4000 bike miles

2008-10-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

My bicycle's odometer went over 4,000 on my way home from work today.

The last 1,000 has been almost entirely commute miles.

RIP cubs fan

2008-10-07T09:13:00.001-07:00

Just saw this on my way in to work and thought it was pretty funny:

For historical context (and for non-baseball fans): the Dodgers just swept the Cubs out of the first round of the postseason. We were watching the first game of that series, and the instant the Cubs fell behind, the stadium full of Cubs fans went deathly quiet. This is during the FIRST GAME! By the end of it you would have thought they were all going to go out and hang themselves. "Oh well, wait til next year" my ass... you guys are never winning another world series again. :P

(By the way, the other gravestone reads "Marcus the Carcus (sic) lies here.")

it's my last week of family leave...

2008-09-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

...so naturally I wanted to pack the fun in, right? But of course mother nature decided that Hosanna and Audrey should get sick instead. They have big colds and are trying to out-snuffle each other. There are few things in the world as pathetic as a sick infant. What can you do? She doesn't even know how to blow her nose. You end up scaring the crap out of her with the bulb syringe and staying up all night desperately rocking her, hoping against hope she'll somehow be able to sleep.

I'll say this about the late, late nights with a baby: the insanity aside, those times are among the most intimate experiences I have ever had with another person. Late at night, when the rest of the world is sleeping, there are no distractions, there is just your sleepy self and your baby, trying to understand each other. And inevitably, at the end of a crazy amount of hard work, the baby will fall asleep on you, and you will somehow work your way onto a couch or chair and doze off; and in these quiet moments your hearts become glued together.

follow up, plus random silliness

2008-09-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

Following up on the last post: I would like to thank everyone for the nice comments, pep talks, and advice you gave us. Just the "don't worry, you're doing fine" comments were worth their weight in gold. So thank you very much.

I'd just like to add that I wasn't really trying to whine "poor us" all over that thing, although in reading it later, it kinda looks that way. I was really trying to a) amuse & entertain, as always, and b) educate those of you with no kids who wonder what the hell we do all day and why we are sometimes cranky. ;-)

Oh, and a special comment for Ambrosia: do not worry... it is all worth it - many, many, many times over. :)

One other item of gratitude: HUGE thanks go out to the lovely, lovely people at the Holistic Moms Group who have brought (or will be bringing) us dinner - Kelly, Kim, and Majica. It has made an enormous difference. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Meanwhile...

Aria got a couple new word friends for her birthday. First Bee, who here gets an introduction along with the others...

...who were later joined by Dog at Aria's birthday party:

Also, earlier in the week, Aria and I got out her paints and made a big mess. Watching this makes me wish I could be three years old over and over and over again. I can't get over how entranced she is in the feeling of squishing the paint through her fingers.

a day in the life

2008-09-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

Aria is awake. She's out in the hallway, holding her woobies and whimpering "I want Daddy." I groan, roll over, and look over at the clock. 8:30 a.m. I start calculating the hours of sleep in my head: Let's see. Went to bed at 11:30. Audrey woke up to eat at 3:30, so that's... um... 4 hours right? Back to sleep at 4ish. Then she woke up again at 5. 1 more hour. Then we just dozed off and on from 5 until now because Audrey never really went back to sleep. So what's that count as? I don't even know how to count that.

"I want Daddy."

I pull myself together, get out of bed, and go collect my daughter, two woobies, Pig, Bug, and Teddy Bear into a big floppy pile. Hosie is getting up too - since Audrey is still awake-ish there's no point in her pretending to sleep anymore. We go downstairs.

Everyone is too tired to make a real breakfast, so we just get cereal. Aria doesn't want milk on hers today. "I don't want milk. It gets soggy." Oh. Um... okay. I give her a bowl of dry cereal then. She eats maybe four or five pieces and that's it. I'm so groggy I can barely get her out of her jammies and diaper. Amazingly, she doesn't fight it when I put her into a clean diaper, shirt, and pants: she's distracted by some toys on the coffee table.

Hosanna has nursed Audrey again and she's finally gone to sleep. Audrey, I mean, not Hosanna. Now Hosanna says "it would be nice to get out of the house and go to the cafe again." Which does sound like a good idea, because we have been really cooped up for a while. But I'm intimidated - we haven't taken both kids out of the house together yet.

10:15 a.m.: After hemming and hawing for a while, I finally decide I'm up to the challenge of taking the family to the cafe. But we have friends coming over this afternoon. "What time are they coming?" I ask. "1:00", Hosanna answers. Now anyone without kids will laugh at this, but at this point, I'm honestly wondering whether we can make it to the cafe and back in two hours and 45 minutes. Hosanna reassures me that we can do it. OK, I say. I just need to go upstairs to get my socks.

10:30 a.m.: I got distracted by !@#$% Facebook on the way to my socks. I come downstairs. Hosanna says "Wow, that took longer than I expected."

Now I realize we need to pack up the diaper bag for not one but two kids. So while Hosanna gets herself ready, I start collecting kid accoutrements of every shape and size: diapers, spare clothes, burp cloths, receiving blankets, toys for Aria, etc.

10:45 a.m.: We have finally packed the diaper bag, and have gotten Audrey into her car seat and into the car. But Aria, who just ten minutes ago was really excited about going and picking out her own bagel, has suddenly decided she doesn't want to go. If we even come near her she screams "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and starts to writhe like a snake. Situation is precarious: one kid in car, one kid being obstinate. I am getting a little freaked out.

10:55 a.m.: Aria still won't budge. Audrey has woken up and is starting to cry.

11:00 a.m.: Audrey is fully screaming now. I get a juice box out of the fridge and give it to Aria, muttering a silent prayer that I'm not now setting the expectation that if she throws a fit, she will get something sweet as a reward. She digs into her juice with gusto, forgetting all about the fears of getting into the car for the time being.

Thankfully, as we pull out of the driveway, Audrey calms down. Maybe, I think hopefully, this is a good sign that later in life she'll nap in the car easily.

11:05 a.m.: We arrive at the coffee shop. I get out, go over and get Audrey out of the car. Hosanna puts on the sling, and we get Audrey into it. She's sound asleep now. I go over to the other side of the car to get Aria out. As I reach down to unclip her restraints, she quite suddenly slaps my hand away and yells "NOOOOO!" again. Um. OK, I think, what's going on now?

11:10 a.m.: Aria just absolutely does not want to get out of the car. Hosanna and Audrey have gone in to the cafe: since Hosanna is still recovering from the delivery, she can't stand up for long periods at a time, especially not while holding an extra ten pounds. So I'm left with this choice:

a) I could impose my will on Aria, and yank her out of the car with force. After all, I'm the parent, I'm bigger, and this is a damn inconvenience. The result of this will most certainly be that she cries all the way into the cafe and creates a big scene.

b) I can stay here with her in the car until she's ready to get out. Sucks for me, because I'm hungry and want to go order. But, avoids a scene, and is more considerate of her needs.

After a couple minutes of deliberation, I choose b), get in the front seat, turn on the radio, and listen to some baseball.

11:30 a.m.: Finally, I hit on the motivation that appeals to Aria: I suggest that she might like to get out and run through the parking lot with me. Her eyes light up and she says "Yeah!" So, we get out, and run over to the coffee shop. Getting in through that door feels like running through the yellow tape at the end of a marathon.

Hosanna hasn't ordered anything yet. She was waiting for us, always thinking we would be getting out of the car any second now. So now we're all pretty hungry and grumpy.

11:45 a.m.: Bagels finally arrive. Aria tears into hers with gusto, and finally it dawns on me what the problem was all along - she didn't eat enough breakfast. No wonder, I think. But I was too sleepy to figure this out three hours ago when it would have been useful information.

Meanwhile, Audrey has been sleeping happily in the sling, blissfully unaware of the drama.

12:05 p.m.: We start thinking we should head home. Aria is done with her bagel and talking excitedly about going and playing with Pig and Bug. OK, I say. I just need to clear up some of these dishes and get the rest of Hosanna's bagel wrapped up to go.

12:08 p.m.: We're all ready to go, except Aria is suddenly behaving very peculiarly. She's standing next to her chair, animatedly playing a new game where she runs her hand up and down the arm of the chair and says "We go up the stairs, we go down the stairs" over and over again. The game seems harmless, but she's being so intense about it, and is so resolutely ignoring us, that something seems amiss.

12:15 p.m.: The answer is: Aria has pooped. We've managed to coax her out of the coffee shop, but now we're in a pickle. We have to either change her diaper in the car, which she hates, or make her sit in the car seat with a mess in her diaper, which she also hates. Either way, it ain't going to be pretty. Hosanna says, "Maybe we could change her standing up in the back seat?" But I'm worried that Audrey is going to wake up again. My nerves are frayed enough. I don't think I could handle changing a reluctant toddler's poopy diaper while an infant is screaming nearby. So I make the decision (all by myself, I should add, without involving Hosanna at all - never a good idea) that Aria is going to have to get in her seat and be uncomfortable for the few minutes it takes us to get home.

Aria doesn't want to get into the seat, so I pull out a parenting tactic that I very, very rarely use, and absolutely hate doing: the "I'm going to count to three" deal. I do the count, and she doesn't get in the chair, so now I have to follow through and put her into the chair against her will. This makes her predictably pretty angry. I hate it but don't see any good alternative.

12:25 p.m.: We have made it home. I get Audrey out of the car quickly (thankfully, she's still asleep), then return and get Aria. Now, finally, I can really attend to her. I get her out of the car, tell her how sorry I am that she had to be uncomfortable for the ride home, and explain to her why we had to do it that way. I take her out to the living room, let her pick out a place where she would like me to change her (she chooses one of her nice soft blankets with a pillow, but only if I put down a receiving blanket on top of it, because she doesn't want to get poop on her blanket), and change her as gently and lovingly as I possibly can. When it's all said and done it seems as though she's forgiven me.

12:30 p.m.: I sneak upstairs to play on the computer for a while.

1:00 p.m.: Our friends arrive. I don't notice because I am groggily entranced in Facebook, craig's list, and the new version of iTunes (with Genius Lists!).

1:30 p.m.: I finally come downstairs and meet our friends. They are a young couple in their early twenties. They are great people, and I really like them. Talking to them today is like talking into another dimension though. I'm having a pretty hard time relating. Audrey doesn't wake up for them, so they are left with the impression that babies are pretty easy. After all, all they do is sleep!

2:30 p.m.: I suddenly realize that we all need lunch, before everyone gets grumpy again. I throw together some PB&J sandwiches and get out some crackers & cheese. Again, Aria starts wolfing hers down. I am feeling really guilty about not getting her fed on time. I really need to get focused.

4:00 p.m.: Our guests have left. I am totally shredded. Audrey is still sleeping, and Hosanna & Aria are having a quiet moment on the couch. I lie down on the floor and close my eyes for a bit.

5:00 p.m.: My naptime is over. Although I have done little but drift in and out of sleep, I actually feel refreshed. I play with Aria for a while while Hosanna nurses Audrey.

5:30 p.m.: I get dinner for us. It's leftovers for me and Hosanna, because I just don't have the energy to cook. Aria is still eating her PB&J from earlier. I get some apple for her too. She eats it, but only if we bite the "skin" off first.

6:30 p.m.: Hosanna's mom comes over. After a few minutes I again take the opportunity to slip away and play on the computer some more.

7:00 p.m.: Time to start Aria's bedtime. But I'm playing Scramble and don't notice.

7:15 p.m.: Still playing scramble.

7:30 p.m.: Holy crap, is it really this late already? OK, I'll just finish this round.

7:35 p.m.: Hosanna calls upstairs: "Michael? Aria needs you! She's pooped again and she wants you to change her!"

I finish my round, then run downstairs in a panic. Aria's diaper is so heavy it's practically falling off. I get her diaper off, get her all wiped up, and suggest she just go upstairs with me and get in the bath since she's already naked. Amazingly, she is excited about it and goes upstairs without further ado.

Meanwhile, Audrey, who has been awake for a while, falls asleep again.

8:05 p.m.: bath time is over. Time to brush teeth, get on a new diaper, and put on jammies.

8:15 p.m.: Now we're in Aria's room for the third and final piece of the routine: read books. And of course, she wants to read the same three books again tonight as last night, including "The Sneetches & Other Stories" by Dr. Seuss, which she has wanted every single night for seven straight days. Now I love this book, but I'm starting to get pretty freakin' sick of it.

8:40 p.m.: Reading time is over. Turn out the light. Aria is still pretty restless, so I tell her a Word World story in the dark.

9:15 p.m.: Aria fell asleep fairly easily after the story, thankfully. So I'm out of her room on time tonight.

Hosanna is getting ready to come upstairs with Audrey. Audrey's been asleep for nearly four hours and Hosanna finally decides she has to wake her up so she'll nurse.

10:00 p.m.: Hosanna's in bed. Audrey's asleep again. By all accounts, I should get in bed and sleep for my life. But I had that late nap and I'm wide awake, dammit. I go downstairs and watch some TV.

11:30 p.m.: I finally come up to bed and manage to fall asleep.

3:30 a.m.: Audrey wakes up to nurse. Afterward, she is wide awake. And no wonder. She slept almost solidly from 6:00 p.m. until now. Hosanna nurses her, then I get up to walk around with her. I am so freaking tired I can barely see straight. I go downstairs and put her in the swing for a while.

3:45 a.m.: Swing is not working out this time. She's too awake for it. I pick her up and start carrying her around some more. Hopefully I can keep her occupied so Hosanna can get another hour of sleep or so.

4:15 a.m.: I am going crazy. Audrey's squirming all over the place, but doesn't seem to be hungry. I've changed her diaper and burped her ten times over. Who knows what the frig she needs. I deliver Audrey to Hosanna again, hoping against hope that if she nurses again she'll fall asleep.

4:30 a.m.: She's done nursing already, and not looking even remotely tired. Sigh. I get up again, take her back downstairs, and walk around with her some more.

5:00 a.m.: Now Audrey is getting really hungry and starting to cry a bit. I take her back up to Hosanna where she nurses vigorously for about ten minutes, but yet again, doesn't fall asleep.

5:15 a.m.: I take Audrey back downstairs. I sit down in the cheap Ikea chair that sorta rocks a bit if you bounce in it, put her on my chest, and commence bouncing.

6:00 a.m.: Audrey has finally fallen asleep. Despite how tired I am, it was actually pretty nice to have her cuddled up against my chest for that long. I go upstairs feeling exhausted but warm and happy anyway. I put her into the co-sleeper. She's out cold. I get into the bed, snuggle up against Hosanna, and prepare to fall asleep at last.

6:02 a.m.: Audrey is stirring.

6:05 a.m.: Please God, Please God, don't let her be awake.

6:10 a.m.: OMFG, she's awake. She's really awake. WTF. WTF. WTF.

6:15 a.m.: We get Audrey out of the cosleeper and put her in the bed next to Hosanna so she can nurse. She's lying on top of a receiving blanket in case there's spit up. We learned that lesson pretty early on.

6:18:00 a.m.: I figure I'd better check Audrey's diaper since we're still awake and it's been a while. Yep, she's pretty wet. I take the diaper off and go over to the changing table to grab a new one.

6:18:15 a.m.: I return with the new diaper, only suddenly Hosanna and I discover at the same time that in the fifteen seconds since I took her diaper off, Audrey has let loose a colossal amount of pee onto our bed. There must be a quart of it here. Holy. Fucking. Shit. FIFTEEN FUCKING SECONDS!

Hosanna and I spring into action. Clamping the new diaper onto Audrey (a purely symbolic gesture at this point since she's clearly done now). Ripping off sheets and mattress pads. Getting new sheets out of the closet. Getting a new onesie out. Throwing all the peed on stuff into the washing machine. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Hosanna, ever the optimist, says "Hey, at least we didn't have a boy. If we had, that pee would have been a fountain all over everything."

6:45 a.m.: Crisis is over, but Audrey's still awake, so am I, and so is Hosanna. Fuckin A. Hosanna settles down with her to nurse again. I am doubtful I will be able to go back to sleep for anything meaningful before Aria wakes up. So what do I do? You guessed it, come over here and write it all up in the blog.

8:00 a.m.: I'm done blogging now. The garbage trucks are here, ensuring that I couldn't go back to sleep now even if I wanted to.

8:30 a.m.: Aria will wake up, and it all will start over again. :)

More cuteness

2008-09-05T14:43:00.000-07:00

I hope that satisfies the cuteness appetite in everyone for a while. :)

I would like to say this: Home birth ROCKS. Having Audrey here in our home where we were at ease and comfortable was everything we hoped it would be and then some. Our midwives were just incredible. Tosi and Rachel are both so skilled. For nearly all of the labor, they did what was necessary to keep Hosanna comfortable, and attended to her every need, all the while staying in the background and allowing us to experience the event as a couple. Then, when Audrey's head started coming out, they sprang into action, and skillfully helped Hosanna get the baby out. They were patient; they never panicked; and they reassured us that everything was normal even when they were working very quickly to take care of Audrey right after she came out.

When Audrey came out and was healthy, Hosanna and I both cried with relief and happiness. The weight of waiting to see what would happen just lifted from our shoulders. Finally, we could relax and just enjoy being parents again.

Also, the postpartum care has been magnificent so far as well. Tosi came by yesterday and checked both mom and the baby. She talked to Hosanna at length about the experience and reassured us both, again, that everything was going well.

So I would like to give a HUGE shoutout to the midwives at Birthstream (www.birthstream.com) and thank them immensely for the magnificent experience they gave us. What a blessing.

welcome Audrey Elizabeth

2008-09-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

Audrey Elizabeth was born at 8:58 a.m. today at our home.

Weight: 10 lbs 2 oz.
Head circumference: 14 1/4 inches.
Chest circumference: 14 3/4 inches.
Length: 22 3/4 inches.

Active labor started about 3:30 a.m. and lasted about 5 1/2 hours. Hosanna did most of the labor in the birth tub, but after the head came out, they transferred her to the bed so they could get those big shoulders out more easily.

Present at the birth were mom (obviously), dad, Hosanna's mom, uncle Gabriel, and the team of Birthstream midwives: Tosi, Rachel F, and Rachel C.

Aria slept through the entire thing. She woke up just after Audrey came out and started crying. She came in, took a couple looks, got scared by all the people and asked for me to take her downstairs. She's still down there. I guess there's plenty of time for her to bond with her baby sister.

Hosanna was amazing. Just amazing. I am so proud of her.

No complications, no NICU, no insanity. Just a beautiful birth and a beautiful baby.

no news

2008-08-25T00:37:00.001-07:00

No, we haven't had the baby yet.

I just wanted to say that I really, really, really SUCK at this waiting game.

This is a bird in the trees song

2008-08-19T22:43:00.000-07:00

Some more about Aria

2008-08-10T16:30:00.001-07:00

No, we haven't had the baby yet.

It's been a while since we did an Aria update. So to begin with, here are some pictures she personally selected from yesterday's photo shoot:

And just in case anyone forgets that other people live here too, here are some of the rest of the fam:

And here's the second picture Aria has ever taken. This one was with a little help from Daddy, since the first picture she took was of her lap. :)

Aria's here in a chair next to me, and something tells me she's not going to let me type for long. So here's a quick-like summary of her favorite activities right now:

1 - Making turtles with the playdough that she and Mommy made together.

2 - Making anybody put on the fish puppet and read books, talk about stuff, etc.

3 - Losing, and subsequently (hopefully) finding, the little fish toys. Along the way, the fish want to go over the human bridge from the coffee table to the couch and back about 1,000 times. Sometimes the bridge is a bouncy bridge and the fish have a bit of trouble making their way.

4 - Writing words on the computer. She can now type Mommy, Daddy, Aria, Nana, Zoo, Slide, and some other words by herself. In fact, she can turn the computer on, click on the shortcut to the word document, and start typing words all by herself. She also knows about caps lock ("to make the letters big" or "to make the letters small"), delete ("to go backwards"), arrow keys, and enter key.

But don't take my word for it:

5 - Listening to music. She can also open iTunes all by herself, press play, and go forwards & backwards until she finds the songs she likes. For some reason right now she is obsessed with fish, so she likes "Dance to your Daddy" ("You shall get a fishy / on a little dishy") and of course "Fish" by Mr. Scruff (she cracks up when he says "and I'm out like a trout").

6 - Likes to go in the game closet and get any game with lots of little pieces - e.g. Scrabble, Stratego, Boggle, Backgammon, Chess, etc - and strew them all over the living room. Also likes to throw playing cards everywhere.

7 - She likes to make the Boo Blinkers (some plastic pumpkin lights) talk to each other, take naps, etc.

8 - Does NOT like to leave the house too much, under practically any circumstance. Yesterday we decided to take a walk to the ice cream shop (ICE CREAM, for crying out loud!) and we practically had to drag her out kicking and screaming. Because, of course, she's got a pretty good idea that there might be some ice cream in the freezer, and why do we have to go OUT to get it when we could stay and have it right HERE?

9 - Exception to above rule: Likes to go and visit her friends McKenna (8), Annaliese (5), and Genevieve (2), who live in Loomis, just north of Roseville. Today we went to their house and Aria spent nearly two hours playing in the hot tub.

10 - Watching Word World.

11 - Making big drawings with sidewalk chalk is still one of her favorite things.

12 - Running through the sprinkler with no clothes on.

13 - Playing with a big bucket of water.

The home stretch...

2008-07-24T23:20:00.000-07:00

What a hectic summer it has been. We are now getting close to 36 weeks, at which time it will be safe for us to have the home birth, and I must say that Hosanna and I will both be so happy to get there. The past few weeks have been a long, hard path. From the emotional aftermath of losing our cat, to the fact that this pregnancy has been much harder on Hosanna than the previous one, to the absolutely horrid weather we have had recently (e.g. a week of 105+ degrees while the sky was filled with smoke from the Butte County forest fire), to the fact that the transmission went out on one of our cars... I could go on here but I guess the point is made.

My mom once told me that the biggest thing she learned during her pregnancy with me was that she had to ask for help - she couldn't do everything herself. I have had a pretty hard time learning that lesson myself. I have been killing myself trying to be superdad - trying to take care of Hosanna, trying to take care of Aria, trying to keep up with work... all the while not taking care of myself as I should. The second pregnancy is just crazy that way. During the first pregnancy, we had all the time in the world to reflect on how our lives were going to change. This time, I feel like I have scarcely had ten minutes to myself in months. I know that's not literally true, but it's what it feels like.

I've also had a really tough time becoming emotionally connected to this pregnancy and to our new baby. I think this has been because I am just so scared of something happening to the baby after it is born, like what happened with Aria. The experience of having to take her away from Hosanna and rush her to the NICU immediately after she was born is something that really hit me hard. That, and the similar (though much worse) experience my sister had with her second chlid, have had me very scared about what is going to happen at this birth. Well-meaning family and friends have intensified this feeling in me by expressing their concern about the home birth. Statistics show that home birth is actually generally safer than hospital birth, but because it's just not the normal way of doing things in America, people are understandably uncomfortable.

So needless to say, Hosanna and I have been grappling with a lot of issues over the past few weeks, and I won't sugar coat it: it's been really tough. With all that said, though, I am incredibly grateful right now for several things: we have our health; we have an amazing family, particularly my mother in law who has been such a tremendous support that I have no idea what we would have done without her; I have an incredible daughter who every day is reaching new highs and teaching me new things; and I am somehow lucky enough to be married to one of the strongest, most passionate, most incredible women on the big blue earth, who I love more than I ever imagined I could love someone.

Charlie

2008-06-07T23:46:00.000-07:00

It is one of the saddest days in our house that I can remember in a long, long time. Our beloved cat Charlie was diagnosed earlier this week with terminal kidney failure, and today I had to take him to the vet and have him put to sleep. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Charlie was an incredibly kind, gentle, patient, loving soul who brought so much joy to us in the five short years that we knew him. We miss him terribly.

Goodbye, dear friend.

catapulted into the third trimester

2008-05-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago Hosanna literally woke up one morning and said to me "ugh... I feel like it's the third trimester. I'm achy, I have acid reflux, I'm extra tired, I have a headache... in short, I feel like shit." We went and looked at the calendar, and it was the start of the third trimester almost to the day. This pregnancy has been like that.

Aria, on the other hand, remains as chipper and awesome as ever. Here she's being contemplative with me in the back yard:

We had big plans to go camping over Memorial Day weekend, but we were unfortunately caught up in a bunch of bad weather. The trip ended up being more of a scouting expedition for a future camping trip. We had originally thought we would go to Wright's Lake - which is just north of Pollock Pines, a little town on hwy 50 east of Placerville - but when we checked at the ranger station we found it was closed. The ranger directed us to a place called Gerle Creek instead.

After a total of about 4 hours of driving from our house, we finally got to the campground just as a heavy downpour had started. So much for the 20% chance of precipitation the weather report had promised. It continued to rain heavily all afternoon and most of the night.

We walked around and took some pictures of the lake, which is a really beautiful place, but ultimately had to abandon the camping idea and dejectedly climb back in the car.

One neat thing we saw was a new growth forest that has sprung up on the site of a huge fire that happened a few years ago. The pines in this picture are all just a few years old. It was the strangest looking forest I have ever seen.

So we ended up going back to Pollock Pines and getting a hotel. The funny thing was that Aria was totally content the whole time - she didn't have the faintest idea anything was wrong with the plan. Me, Hosanna and Kathy were bummed though. We ended up eating pizza at a kitschy family joint (complete with red white and blue "Unitd (sic) We Stand" banner), then watching the A's beat the Red Sox on the TV in the hotel.

There was a pretty cute moment as Aria & Kathy lay in bed together reading books. Aria has "Hop on Pop," which she has memorized a fair amount of now. She was turning the pages and saying the words. I know she wasn't actually reading it, but man, she almost had me fooled for a while.

One other Aria development is that her drawings are starting to become more complex. Lately she has been drawing pictures of boys and girls - example below. She's also obsessed with drawing Uncle Adamen's head everywhere; unfortunately I don't have a picture of that at the moment.

more about bikes

2008-05-05T22:54:00.000-07:00

1) I hit 3,000 miles on my cyclometer three or four weeks ago and am just now remembering to post it up here.

2) If you live in Sacramento, this is Million Mile May - log your bike miles here:
mayisbikemonth.com

Hosanna's birthday + our weekend escape

2008-04-06T23:25:00.000-07:00

The birthday party

Friday was Hosanna's birthday, for which we had a small dinner party with Gabe, Kathy, and a couple of Hosanna's friends, Jessica and Charlie (no relation to our cat). We made a couple big lasagnas, which Aria helped me assemble. She loved helping to make them, and she also loved eating the cheese and sauce along the way. :)

I put Aria to bed that night, making it two in a row for me. I had promised I would do that for Hosanna's birthday, but perhaps more importantly, I needed to do it again to make up for the night before, which was positively the worst bedtime experience we have ever had. I don't care to retell the experience here except to say that both father and daughter had tears during the ordeal.

Meanwhile, as Aria and I were upstairs, Hosanna got a pretty nice dinner with her friends, followed up by a round of Cranium, which is a surprisingly fun game. It's really four games in one: it has word puzzles like spelling, jumbles, etc; trivia questions; art stuff, e.g. drawing a la Pictionary and even sculpting with little balls of clay; and music/theater stuff like impersonating an actor or trying to identify the song your partner is humming. All in all, it's very challenging. Gabe was the hero since he can draw or sculpt anything, but we found that even those not artistically inclined had a really good time.

The weekend getaway

The next day, Hosanna and I packed up an overnight bag and headed out to Santa Rosa for our first ever overnight trip away without Aria. She was staying at our house, where Kathy and Aunt Lynn were on deck to look after her until Sunday afternoon.

We had this trip planned for several weeks, but it turned out to be especially good timing since the past week was particularly horrid for both of us from both a work and parenthood perspective. (Shocker: it turns out that being a parent is really hard work.) In short, we really needed a couple days off.

We arrived in Santa Rosa about 1:00 p.m. Had a great lunch at Pearson's Deli, then went to Annadelle State Park for a 3 hour hike. Spring there is so magnificent, as I hope the pictures show:

Hosanna was a champ - even 4 1/2 months pregnant, she made the 5-mile round trip hike up to Lake Ilsanjo and back with no problem. A little slower than usual, perhaps. :)

We enjoyed a long, deep conversation together during which it felt like we were catching up for the past several months. It's funny, because all those years that my sister was telling me how hard it is being a parent because you don't ever get any uninterrupted time to think, let alone hold a conversation with somebody - it's just impossible to understand what that is all about until you experience it yourself. (Suffice to say, I understand what that is all about now.)

As we walked along the path and drew in the beautiful scenery, we both realized just how badly we had needed this bit of time together. It was very romantic, very relaxing, and very much what the doctor ordered.

After the hike was over, we went and checked in to our room at the Hotel la Rose, which is in Railroad Square right across from A'roma Roasters coffee shop. We got up onto the king-size bed, switched on the TV, and had a blissful, quiet cuddle while watching the Star Wars movie marathon on Spike.

We rounded out our evening with dinner at Jhan Thong Ban Bua, the best Thai restaurant in existence, then back to A'roma's for dessert and decaf. Then a bath in a jacuzzi tub, and then we fell asleep. Only bummer is that I forgot to turn off my cell phone and got a wrong-number call at 3:00 a.m. which scared the piss out of me. Thought it was Kathy because something was wrong with Aria. Or maybe it was my work calling. It was from a 916 area code. Here's a tip. If you actually need to call someone at 3 in the morning, I suggest you make REALLY DAMN CERTAIN it's the right number you are calling.

Anyway... next morning we had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, then headed back home. Aria was in a fine mood. We suspect that the break from us was as good for her as it was for us. She had a great time with Kathy and Lynn - she got to play in the mud! and go to the park and go down the slide over and over and over again! - but she was also excited to see us again.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Later that afternoon, as Hosanna was taking a nap, Aria gave me a spontaneous concert on the piano, which I had the good fortune to catch on camera. There are so many ways I could gush about it, but ultimately I think I will leave that to Aria's own voice. :)

Charlie was also pretty excited to see us again...

...and within moments, Aria was back onto her singular mission: torment, annoy, and vex the cat.

ave maria

2008-03-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hosanna has been playing/singing the "Ave Maria" by Gounod (sp?), which is sung over a Bach prelude. Aria LOVES this piece. Every time Hosie starts to play it, Aria comes and lays down on the blanket by the piano, and just quietly listens.

One day, Hosanna was looking for a performance of it on YouTube, and found this rendition by Bobby McFerrin:

Bobby McFerrin is now Aria's hero. She wants to watch this video at least twenty times a day, and everything else we can find by him. It's amazing what an impact this piece has had on her.

Once, while Kathy was babysitting, Aria announced "I'm going to sing for you." She went and stood in the doorway between the family room and the laundry room, on the little piece of carpet we have there that covers up the TV cable. She then started waving her arms around like Bobby McFerrin does as he is directing the audience, and started singing the Ave Maria. At first, Kathy couldn't figure out what it was, but later she put it together.

Also, sometimes she sings the song to herself as she is lying in her crib at night, just before she goes to bed. She's literally practicing this piece, and we can hear her getting better at it as she learns the words and even some of the pitches and musical phrases. We try not to get too caught up in the idea that she's already showing all this musical talent (we're way too biased being her parents and all), but it does seem like she is showing a pretty good ear already.

All I can say is, the joy this piece has brought to us is limitless. What magic, to share music like this with her. And hearing her absorb it and then sing it back to us is unbelievable.

My Grandma Ruth would have been very pleased to know that, so far, Aria doesn't care for rock music too much. When I try to play the bass or guitar, she always says "That's too loud, Daddy." And she always asks us to turn off the music when we have rock music on. She wants to hear Raffi, or something classical. As Grandma would say, she only likes "the good kind" of music. :) This association to Grandma is furthered by the fact that Aria sometimes has facial expressions that look just like her. It's pretty crazy to see her mirror someone from three generations before her.

free pic

2008-02-25T22:42:00.001-08:00

I am just not having time to put up a bunch of pictures. But here's one that I really like.

#2 is on the way

2008-02-17T20:05:00.001-08:00

Yes, it is true... Hosanna is pregnant again.* :) Our next child is due in late August. Another summer baby. Quite possibly, another Virgo too.

We found out on December 13th, the day that Penelope Mayer was born. When I got up to go to work, I had a message on my cell phone from Doug - he had texted us at about 4 a.m. with their good news. So I rushed upstairs to wake Hosie up and tell her. I remember she was mildly grumpy at first when I woke her up, but then she got excited when I told her about little Penelope.

I ate breakfast and went on my way to work as usual. Just as I was pulling in to my parking spot outside the office, my cell phone rang. Hosie had just taken a pregnancy test and it was positive. :) I sat in the car and stared into space for a while. Then I went inside and started a hectic day. Every ten minutes or so, the thought that I was going to be the father of another one startled me. Then I would get drowned in my work again.

We were giddy about it for the first day. Then, both of us experienced a couple weeks of sheer and utter panic. Well, I'll be truthful, my panic lasted probably more like a month. Very different from the way I felt before Aria was born. Then, I had no idea what I was getting into. Now, I knew exactly what was coming: the months without sleep, the late night feedings, the rocking the baby to sleep for hours on end, and so on. I am not exaggerating to say that I was completely, absolutely terrified in the first weeks of this pregnancy.

Of course, eventually, it started dawning on me that there were other things ahead that I knew exactly what to expect that got me really excited: Holding the little one up against my chest. Hearing its first words. Finding out whether it is a boy or a girl (we're waiting until its born). Seeing it smile. Seeing it learn to crawl/walk. And this time, it will be even cooler because Aria will be there to share in it too. So, yeah, I've been getting more excited about it, when I have a few moments to rest and reflect (which hasn't been often).

Hosanna's morning sickness came pretty early on this time, and it seemed to be worse than last time. And, of course, this time around Hosanna is with Aria all day instead of getting to rest. So she is very, very tired all the time, and feeling sick. It's been tough watching her go through it. And of course, I have been having to step up and take on much more of the load, e.g. making more dinners, doing more bedtimes, etc - all during a time when my job is on a stressful wave again. So it's been a little bit tough the past few weeks.

So the big decision this time around is that we're going to have a home birth with midwives. Neither of us wanted a hospital birth - it's just not the environment we believe is a place for healthy people to go (after all, you aren't sick when you are having a baby) - but we weren't totally satisfied with our experience at the birth center, either. The idea of having our next child in the warmth and comfort of our own home just really appeals to us. After researching it extensively we are convinced that it is as safe (if not more) as a hospital birth, and it gives us much more flexibility in choosing our style of care.

We selected a team of midwives after interviewing two different ones who were recommended to us by other mothers who have had home births. They offer a full range of care options, from traditional western techniques like ultrasound, doppler, and whatever medicines we might want to use, to all the homeopathic choices that you might think of when you hear the word "midwife." Their philosophy is to give the parents the whole range of information and then let them choose their care. Which is exactly what a good doctor should do.

Hosanna had her first appointment with them on Tuesday. We heard the new baby's heart beat - and just like the first time I heard Aria's heart beat, it completely took my breath away. 144 beats per minute - like a little hummingbird, going flub flub flub flub flub. Hosanna's tummy is barely showing, but yet there it is, a tiny little human floating around in there, with a heart that beats. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

Through all of this, Aria has grown enormously on every front. She continues to amaze me anew every day. We're collecting a range of funny quotes that she's come up with, e.g. "Ohh, I farted all over the bed!" or "I haven't seen food in a while!" She can count to thirty, arrange her alphabet blocks into the alphabet, recognizes the written words "Aria", "Mommy", "Daddy" and "Nana", and is even starting to come up with some abstract concepts. For example, this morning when she woke up, I had just been having a dream about her. Hosanna brought her into the bed where I was, and I said "I was just having a dream about you." She thought about it for a second, then said "Oh! What was in your dream?"

So, needless to say, I am still hopelessly in love with my little girl, still madly in love with my wife, and still a tumult of conflicting emotions about becoming a father twice over.

So this entry was a lot of words. Next one will have lots of pictures, I promise. Things I need to put up here include the visit to Lisa & Jason's from last month, the bike ride I took with a bunch of Santa Rosa friends a couple weeks ago, and various degrees of Aria cuteness. It's just been tough to get on the blog lately because I've been very, very, very busy. :(

(* Notice I did not say that "we" are pregnant again. Because, dammit, I'm not the one over there throwing up. I'm not the one who can't drink alcohol or caffeine anymore, not the one who gets tired ten minutes after waking up, not the one who will eventually be passing something the size of a small bowling ball between my legs. Yes, we are the parents, yes I am doing everything I can to take care of my family, but Hosanna is the pregnant one, not me, not "us".)

grooming

2008-01-01T14:41:00.000-08:00

oh girl.
yeah.
I said, "oh girl."
Dang!
You don't look half bad.
You clean up pretty nice.
What'd you do - take a shower?
Use some bath salts?
Well anyways... you smell like apricots.

- Strong Bad
"Let's Get Started On Doing All Those Awesome Things I Suggested"

Yes. My one and only New Year's resolution was to shave and get a haircut. Success!

christmas part 2

2007-12-31T23:15:00.000-08:00

My parents, sister (Lisa), brother-in-law (Jason), niece (Machen), and nephew (Adamen) came over for a post-xmas visit. They stayed for a couple days. Aria has been pretty sick for a while, unfortunately, so she wasn't her usual chipper self for most of the visit. She spent most of her time coughing and sequestering herself in Hosanna's lap.

By the third day of the visit, though, she finally started feeling better, and started playing in a fort with Machen.

Meanwhile, Jason repaired our couch (broken leg required reconstructive surgery), one of our dining room chairs (broken support beam required new dowels & re-gluing), and got us started on taking apart our huge desk where the previous owner stripped all the screws.

Jason also brought up their XBox 360 and Guitar Hero 2. Me, Adamen, Machen, and Hosanna played it a bunch. I spent entirely too much time trying to beat "Trogdor" on hard (yes, including one night until almost four in the morning). Ever since they left, I've had "Surrender" by Cheap Trick jammed in my head. (Please... someone... make it stop.)

Hosanna gave everyone an impromptu recital, now available on video for the first time! Yes, this is my kick ass wife! She's playing part of the piece that I only know as "The Grieg." (If she were here, I'd ask for the real name of the piece, but she and Aria are going to bed now.) [editor's note - actually, it's Sonata Pathetique by Beethoven. I wasn't even close.]

I especially love the new ending - it's so avante garde, don't you think? :)

Adamen was especially enthralled - you can hear him laughing in the video.

christmas in yosemite

2007-12-27T16:57:00.001-08:00

Christmas in Yosemite is where it's at. The pictures speak for themselves.

Humans at play:

Here's the cabin we stayed in. It's at the Yosemite Bug Hostel in Midpines. This one is called the Barn Studio. It has central heating, a small fridge, a kitchen with a great stove, and some pans & utensils. (Hint: bring your own knives, spatulas, and sauce pans.)

Here's a virtual tour - complete with everyone dancing & having a great time.

more about sleep

2007-12-26T22:31:00.000-08:00

Aria fell asleep in Hosanna's arms tonight. She's feeling a little sick and we wanted to let her enjoy the closeness rather than go through the usual routine. Once she was asleep, she was out like a rock. We even changed her diaper (including taking her jammies off & putting them back on), then Hosanna lifted her up off the couch, carried her upstairs, laid her down in the crib, and covered her with a blanket... all without waking her up.

Manny was watching us with amusement as we were breaking down her sleep stages: "Do it now, she's past the twitchy stage and moved into the deep breathing stage." "No, we can't do it yet - she's not into REM yet!" etc.

We had Christmas in Yosemite and all I can say is, it was stunning. More later when I can get some pictures up.

date, interrupted

2007-12-20T23:20:00.000-08:00

Hosanna & I had a big date night. Got all dressed up. Went to a holiday party at my work, followed up by a movie out. We talked, we laughed, we held hands in the theater. Nana put Aria to bed. We got home in such a light mood, for the first time in a while. At the risk of sounding trite, all I can think to say is that it was really, really nice.

As we were getting ready to go to bed, we noticed that all the lights were on in Aria's room. So I just popped in there to turn them out. I've done this dozens of times before. This time, that little light on the nightstand makes a tiny little click. Boom, Aria wakes up. She starts crying. Our date night has evaporated into reality. And since, for whatever reason, Aria only wants Mommy this week, I am banished out of the bedroom while mother & daughter go to sleep. I will go fall asleep on the couch, wake up in a couple hours, go move Aria back to her crib, get in bed, and contemplate my sleeping wife.

These kind of nights are lonely. They are the nights that remind you how much it means to be married and get to crawl into bed with the one you love night after night.

doug & jenn's new baby!

2007-12-13T09:30:00.000-08:00

Doug & Jenn had their baby! Check out their blog!

the trumpet shall sound?

2007-12-09T23:43:00.000-08:00

I pulled my trumpet out today for the first time in, um, I'm ashamed to admit how long. At least since we moved here. I took requests from Aria for a while. Many renditions of Hickory Dickory Dock later, she wanted to try for herself. And then the camera came out...

Earlier this week Aria was also clamoring to put her fairy costume back on, so Hosie snapped a couple pics of that as well...

sick family thanksgiving / what's worse than diapers?

2007-11-25T20:02:00.000-08:00

Aha... yes, as the title of this post implies, the whole family was sick for Thanksgiving. I had a week off, and to celebrate, I got sick on the afternoon of the Friday of my last day at work, and didn't completely get better until... um... today. Yep, so I spent all nine days off being sick. Cool!

Aria & Hosanna thought my being sick looked so awesome & fun that they decided to join up on Wednesday too. So, on Thanksgiving day, instead of travelling to San Jose to be with my family, we ended up staying home by ourselves. Hosanna had made a big pot pie we were going to share with ten people, and that was pretty much all the food we had in the house since we had thought we'd be out of town for a few days and all the grocery stores were closed. So we sat around being sick and eating pot pie. Hopefully, I won't associate pot pie with being sick for the rest of my life.

I had a lot of time to reflect during the week at home. One thing I was thinking about is how people who don't have kids tend to use diapers as the example of why they don't want kids / don't have them yet / don't want anything to do with kids. Now I'll freely admit that before we had Aria, I felt exactly the same way. I didn't change a single diaper before I had a baby of my own, because, well, YUCK, why would I want to do that? It's YOUR kid, YOU change it.

So here I am now, and I have changed Aria hundreds of times, and because she is my daughter, it is no big deal at all. So I have to laugh when someone at work says "Oh no, I don't want kids yet. I'm not ready for diapers." Because really, diapers are one of the least stressful, least difficult things for me about being a parent. Yes, they're messy. Yes, they can smell really, really bad. But they are a known problem with a very simple and known solution, one that takes as little as one minute to resolve.

So for anyone who is interested, here's my list of five things that, to me, are much more daunting parental tasks than changing diapers:

1. Trimming fingernails. Nowhere in any parenting book that I read did it warn you that infants have razor-sharp claws and are entirely capable of scratching your eyes out without warning. But just try and trim those things. First, they are microscopic. Second, she's squirming around like crazy. Third, you *will* screw up and draw blood, which the baby will most likely not even feel, but will cause you to panic for an hour and spend the rest of the day feeling like pond scum. And unlike many things, this job only gets harder as they get older. I dare you to try to trim the fingernails of an aware two-year old. Ha! Good Fucking Luck.

2. Figuring out what the hell is wrong now (AKA soothing the unsoothable cry). Sooner or later, your child will scream for a long, long time, and you will have no fucking clue what is wrong. And it will mess with your head BIG TIME. Once, when she was about 18 months, Aria screamed bloody murder at me for a half hour when I got her out of her crib after a nap. I tried everything I could think of to try and figure it out, and absolutely nothing worked. Finally, by complete chance, I happened upon the stuffed animal (or whatever it was) that she had wanted all along, and she just stopped crying instantaneously. Half an hour is a long, long time for that. (And yes, we are blessedly lucky that with Aria's even temperament these sort of episodes are relatively rare.) Still, I could have changed a poopy diaper fifteen times in that period, and would gladly have done so to avoid the stress and feeling of total incompetence that the inability to soothe her brought on.

3. Bedtime. I've written elsewhere about bedtime challenges. Suffice to say, it's a moving target, and although it can be a wonderful experience of closeness with your child, it can also be a complete nightmare that makes the worst poopy diaper seem like a walk in the park.

4. Changing the crib sheet. This one is so innocuous, I feel silly even admitting it. But I truly hate this job. The crib is so full of weird bedding (bumpers? dust ruffles?), and everything is so freaking small. Nothing in the world makes me feel more like a ham-fisted oaf than trying to fit my sausage fingers in through those tiny little slats to pull a sheet off the tiny mattress. And it's at a weird height so it tweaks my back every time I do it. Sure, you can shortcut the affair by taking the mattress out of the crib altogether (as my lovely wife pointed out to me recently), but you're still going to have to tie up all those bumpers when you're done. Blech. This is one chore that I would gladly trade a whole day of diaper changing to get out of.

5. Cleaning up my potty mouth. The horror of trying to undo twenty years of this bad habit is daunting indeed. Once, before Aria was born, I went to visit my sister & her two kids for a few hours. As I drove home, I leaned out the window and screamed obsceneties out the window for a couple minutes, just to have the release from trying to hold my tongue. And now here I am, I can't say any of that "stuff" in my house EVER AGAIN. And I have to ask my friends not to, either. It's hard! We are all uncouth heathen with terrible minds, and we cannot be trained! Give me your worst diaper, just let me be free to say Fuck again! Argh!

(That's all I could think of for now, but I'm sure there are others. Parents: feel free to submit your worse-than-diapers lists in the comments!)

peas porridge hot

2007-11-13T20:43:00.000-08:00

amazon recommends I get a life.

2007-11-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

Even Amazon.com knows now that all I do is parent and work. Of the first 15 items they recommended for me today, 8 are Sandra Boynton board books and the other 7 are code monkey manuals.

But hey... at least that list shows "work/life balance" though...

Halloween!

2007-11-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

This year Hosanna made Aria a little fairy costume. She spent hours and hours on it, and I must say, it turned out quite nicely. :)

It was Aria's first try at trick-or-treating. She wasn't too sure about it at first, and there was a little while where we weren't even sure if she would let us put the costume on her. But then, kids started coming to the door, and she saw them in their costumes, and she saw us giving them treats, and next thing you know, she's clamoring to put on her fairy costume and go out trick-or-treating. :)

We're not real wild about the candy thing, but we let her have a little snickers bar. She loved it, of course. She was wired until 10:30 p.m. Luckily she had had a good nap earlier.

She sang a lot that night, and luckily I was able to catch some on video. Unfortunately the light's not very good, but c'est la vie.

Adamen also spent many hours on his costume... growing out a hick mustache and mullet. He even straightened his hair in the back. Note the giant belt buckle and American flag shoes.

As for the rest of us... Hosie spent way too much time on Aria's costume to bother doing one for herself - she finished it at about 7 p.m. on Halloween day - and I am way too lazy for that stuff. I bought the candy and ordered the pizza, does that count?

One more pic for good measure... since Hosanna agonized over the wings, here's a close up of all their majesty:

I exist

2007-10-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all. This blog is supposed to be about parenthood, but I have not given much on the topic as a Mother. Two reasons. One: I am a computer moron. Two: I am a mother, after all. Weaning your child just means that instead of having a child attached to your boob 24/7, you have a child attached to your leg 24/7. It's actually easier to get around with the boob option, believe it or not.

I want to say a few things. First, I have always wanted to be totally honest and frank about what this is really like, so I'm going to share a dark moment with you. One night about a month ago, I went to bed feeling fine. Lying there for a long time, I realized I didn't want to sleep because I didn't want the next day to start. I couldn't face the thought that I would have to wake up and start all over again with being a mother. Well, things went downhill from there. I finally started sobbing from guilt and shame because I was thinking that if something happened to me and I died, at least I could get some rest. Seriously. I knew on some level that all parents have bleak moments, but I felt that, surely, no parent would have such morbid thoughts. But they do. We all do. It's normal. And I wake up every morning to a beautiful, sweet daughter who lights up when she sees me.

It's worth it.

Tonight, she reads to us

2007-09-28T00:02:00.000-07:00

At bedtime tonight, Aria picked up the Mother Goose Board Book and proceeded to quote the entire thing to us, page by page, with scary accuracy.

best buddies / big sur trip

2007-09-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

Well, the century went pretty well. The training plan Adamen had set up for me was bulletproof - I give HUGE props to him for motivating me and giving me the right program to make this happen. I finished the ride in just under 8 hours - 7:54:03 to be precise - easily beating my goal of 9-10 hours. I raised just under $1300; overall, riders raised an astonishing $3 million. All of that goes directly to the charity, since the expenses were all underwritten by corporate sponsors. :)

My colleague Michael Green put together an online photo album with some pictures he took during the event. You can see me in a few of them, along with some other people from Accenture who rode and/or volunteered.

While I was riding, Hosanna took Aria to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which they both loved - especially the river otter exhibit. Then they braved the drive down the coast with the hundreds of cyclists. Honestly, I think the cyclists had it easier in some ways.

After a night in San Simeon, during which I slept VERY well :), we drove back up to Big Sur, where we spent two nights at the Riverside Campgrounds & Cabins. We got a small cabin with a kitchenette and had a blissfully relaxing time. Too short though. Here's a sample picture from the vacation. There are many more I'm putting onto Snapfish now, if you'd like to see them just email me and I'll send a link.

Highlights:

- Hanging out in our cabin. We got #11 which has a small kitchen. We spent a lot of time lying on the bed and looking out the skylight at the trees. So relaxing, and so good to have the three of us sharing it together.

- Hike up to Pfeiffer Falls and Valley View trail - beautiful scenery. Aria was enchanted by the trees hollowed out by forest fires. She kept talking about them for the whole rest of the day.

- Hanging out on Pfeiffer State Beach - we built sand castles and marvelled at the views.

- Dinner at Nepenthe - a splendid view of the sun setting over the ocean, plus amazing food. Aria and I had a great bonding experience afterwards as I walked around with her and showed her the grounds.