Mother's Day in San Diego

We started off Mother's Day with some serious excitement: a flight to San Diego! After our last airplane flight, I wasn't sure that I could face another flight with Natalie, but she did great. Well, okay, she did really well (oddly, she actually did better on our late afternoon return flight - perhaps because the flight didn't interfere with any of her naps but "merely" delayed her bedtime?). Anyway, here's Natalie getting hydrated before we board.We arrived in San Diego in time for a lovely Mother's Day brunch. This was quite the festCheck out the picture with Oma, Grandma Pat, Aunt Pru, Aunt Polly, and cousin Emilia! (Also, dear family, I have a couple of frames of this picture - through the magic of photoshop, I can actually produce one where everyone looks decent and is looking at the camera, but that will take time).
I had a lovely Mother's Day. Mike and Natalie gave me a wonderful bakery box, complete with home-made tequila sea salt marshmallows, espresso shortbread, moonpies, etc. If you ever need to send a little gift to someone, this is one awesome mail-order bakery!

Natalie enjoyed seeing her extended family.This was also the first visit that I feel like Natalie really "got" the beach. She wasn't afraid to take off running, chase birds, break for the water, eat sand, collect rocks, roll in the sand, etc.One super-sweet thing that Natalie did one day one the beach was to run around giving hugs in turn. So, she'd run to Grandma Pat, give her a hug; run to daddy, give him a hug; run to me, give me a hug; and then repeat the whole thing. This lasted, like, 5 minutes. So sweet!The beach was, of course, beautiful and lovely.Natalie also still enjoyed the swings. Interestingly enough, she seemed to have a real sense about which end of the beach had the playground, and she would eagerly walk in that direction.Here are a few flower pics. You know, for variety. Because I used to photograph things like that back in the day.You know what lives at Oma's house? A kitty cat! Natalie was SO EXCITED about the kitty cat - at least every ten minutes, she'd need to run and look through the window at it resting on its special chair. And whenever someone new arrived (or awoke), she'd eagerly show them the kitty cat all over again.Here are a few Oma pictures.It was also really fun to see Natalie discover my grandmother's house. I feel like she had the same sense of wonder and excitement and magic that I felt as a kid when I explored that house. That is one special house - interestingly, I have much more emotional attachment to that house than I do to my own childhood home.(special note to cousin Jesse regarding the above picture: that is a New Yorker. I'm just sayin'.)

One other thing Natalie discovered was stairs! Oma's house had just enough stairs that were just impossible enough to close off that Natalie really got some good practice - she can now go up and down stairs with pretty minimal assistance!And then, having packed a lot of living into six days, we headed home.

In other news....

Well, I feel like after a title like that, I'm supposed to have something very exciting to say. I don't, alas. It got miserably hot here for a few days, and then the last few days have been deliciously cool and rainy. My veggies might be a little stressed by the quick change, but I'm loving it. I'll take cold rain all summer long, thankyouverymuch.

In celebration of the cooler temps (as I write this, it's 45 degrees, and we have the heat on!), I made some delicious biscuits. I know Mike is the biscuit king in this house, but I got a bee in my bonnet for biscuits to go with our roasted red pepper soup last night. I made this recipe (thanks to my brother for buying me the source cookbook for my birthday) using Ford Farm Cheshire cheese, fresh ground black pepper, and oregano from our garden. Serious yum!Anyway, what have we been doing?
Well, back when it was warm (too warm, even), we went to an outdoor environmental festival here in town. I know, right? But it was actually very nice. We were among our people. We also picked up a free reusable shopping bag there. Natalie made good use of that.I think she just had some of her blocks in that bag (which was quickly relegated to the garage, where all bags like that live, given her proclivity to wrap things around her neck).

Natalie does, however, like to pick things up, carry them off, put them down elsewhere, move them around, etc. She is always very busy. In fact, last week, we had some garden center coupons go missing. I desperately wanted to find these since they offered an amazing deal on some roses that I wanted to plant in our backyard (this was my Mother's Day present from last year, so my goal was to get them in the ground before Mother's Day this year). We searched high and low. I don't have to tell you where we found the coupons, right?(Uh, we've also been missing her shoes since Friday. I can certainly tell you where they aren't.)

Speaking of finding things, please find the baby in the picture below.How about now?Or now?Natalie's had a real language explosion in the last week. New words include: door, flower, bear, monkey, duck, bear, moon, jeans, shoes, cracker, Grrr (for Gramps) and, uh, pear and phad thai (as a family, clearly we have our priorities straight).


Also, since we're doing videos, here's an older video of Natalie giving gentle touches to (and kissing!) doggies in a story book (credit for the book goes to Jen Em).


Natalie's reading tastes have progressed since then. Or, she is clearly her Gramps' granddaughter.Also, here's Natalie modeling a sweater I knit for a friend's daughter. I haven't given this gift yet, but I don't think that family reads the blog, so it's okay to share it here now (I hope). Anyway, this is sweater using the same yarn I used to make my first baby sweater (which was for the older sister in this family). I sort of made up the pattern as I went along, adjusting an existing pattern that called for very different yarn. Hence, it looks a little funky, but I think it's passable enough.Hang loose until next time!

About that cabinet....

Q: Is Natalie still playing in her cabinet?

A: Yes, yes she is. For those who might not remember, we cleared out one cabinet in our kitchen and filled it with Natalie-safe items. Our thinking was that she could "cook" or whatever when we were working in the kitchen.

Natalie is, as we've discussed, a climber. So she often climbs in the cabinet. We know this, and we're used to this. Here's an old shot of Natalie doing her thing.Here's a more recent shot of Natalie and the cabinet.Notice that small shelf? The one up to the left of her shoulder? (this is called foreshadowing)

So, the other morning, the three of us were in the kitchen, and then - suddenly - Natalie was gone. It was weird, though: we could still hear her happily chattering to herself, but she was nowhere to be found. She wasn't in the living room, the laundry room, or the pantry. I opened her cabinet, peered in at the bottom, and saw nothing. Still, the chattering continued, but we couldn't find her. Panic mounted. I started checking all the rooms again.

And then, just as I was about to loose my keep-it-togetherness (this is a family blog, no?), Mike looked again in the kitchen cabinet, this time crouching down to take in the whole space at eye level.

And guess what we found?I know. I know.

I think that whole incident (which probably lasted all of a minute) took at least ten years off my life.

Weekend with Bubbe / Atlanta

So, two weeks ago, I finally got my baby-free getaway with Miso. And Bubbe got a weekend with Natalie and Mike.

Here are some Bubbe-Natalie shots. (Above, Natalie doing her camera thing).

Natalie loves her Bubbe!
While Mike, Natalie, and Bubbe played together, I had a wonderful time in Atlanta. Miso and I were nominally there for Stitches South, a knitting convention. Mostly, we were there to see each other, having missed each other in early February. We did do plenty of knitting, though - and we each took a class at the convention (I may have finally mastered turning the heel on a sock, with some thanks to Miso for some follow-up teaching).

We also spent lots of time browsing the giant marketplace. I succumbed and bought some beautiful yarn to make a sweater for myself (also, when I finally finish the sweater, I pledge to look happier than the model in that link). Miso also won a skein of yarn, which she very generously gifted to me; I plan to make a gift hat with this yarn, just to keep the good mojo flowing.On the Miso-is-amazing front, check out the gloves she made me:I know, right? The most darling part of this is that the yarn comes from Seattle, and it is called Green Lake. Be still, my beating heart.

I'm a member of a knitting social networking site (I know, right? Luckily, if you actually know me, you'll know that nerdy pursuits are, um, to be expected). When I was expecting Natalie, I joined a group on the site for other women expecting babies in the summer of 2009. Since I'm a little socially isolated here, these women have quite literally become my support group. It helps that we all have children that are the same age. And it helps that through the magical technology of message boards, we can share our pictures/stories/rants/triumphs asynchronously. And it helps that they are truly kind, wise, and wonderful women. A handful of them live in Atlanta (if I'm right, the other regional concentration is Seattle. Sigh.). Anyway, we had a little Atlanta meet-up.
Since one cannot live by yarn alone, we also ate! First, the coffeeshop where Miso and I went every day:They just don't make 'em like that in Fort Worth, you know?

As some of you might know, Mike and I are big fans of the TV show Top Chef. A few seasons ago, a chef from Atlanta made it into the final round. Miso and I went to his restaurant, specializing in local and organic food. And it was good.

Our other exciting brush with dining fame was at Peter Chang's. The New Yorker readers among you may remember the article about the mysterious peripatetic Chinese chef - we actually ate his food!And it was good. And, in a moment of exceptional spouse-hood, I actually wrapped my leftovers in a zillion layers of ziplock bags, put them in my suitcase, and brought them back for Mike (the food was all vegetarian, and it was just from the same afternoon). No leaks!

Lest you think all we did was eat (and knit!), Marianne and I also took in a little history and visited the Jimmy Carter Presidential library. On the downside, this wasn't the MLK history tour I'd perhaps envisioned; on the plus side, at least we didn't visit one (of the multiple!?) Gone With the Wind museums.The grounds of the museum were also beautiful. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by how green and tree-y Atlanta was. I mean, there was also a fair amount of traffic and sprawl, but Atlanta also seemed green, urban, and eminently livable (especially in April!).However, at the end of the weekend, I was very happy to return to my crew:

"Regular" life (catch-up at 21 months)

So, we've had a little excitement in our lives (a visit from Bubbe Brenda, a solo trip for me to Atlanta to see Miso), but, rather than write about that, I want to just do a little catch-up post about Natalie and our lives. You know, since this has, effectively, become our digital baby book.So, Natalie remains sweet and wonderful and darling and we adore her. Before our trip to Hawaii, she started on a real streak of progressively earlier wake-ups. Upon returning from Hawaii, we tried to just shift her to, like, mountain time. So her new bedtime is an hour later than before, and she sleeps - on average - about 25 minutes later. So, um, yeah. At least we've learned to really appreciate those 25 minutes.When we go into pick her up, she always two things: immediately demands the other parent, and points to either the cat or the dog on her alphabet wall hanging and announces its name. Okay, occasionally, she also points to the zebra and calls that either kitty or doggy, but, well, at least we're in the quadraped universe.Although she doesn't yet know zebra, her animal vocabulary is improving. She can identify bears and bunnies (although context is key there, as those sound a lot alike). She knows and loves birds - and will even identify them upon just hearing their chirping. She knows cows and will moo if you ask her what cows say. Today I think I caught her saying "fish". She loves animals; I don't think she's really realized that people can actually have dogs or cats that live in their homes. The thought would, like, blow her mind.One super-cute thing she does when she sees something she likes is to wave "hi" (the wave is more like a sideways opening and closing of her hand [kept close to her stomach] than a sort of parade/greeting wave that others would describe as a wave), say "hi-eeeeee" to the object in question, and then lean in to kiss it, while making the "mmmmmm" sound. Adorable, no? Sometimes she'll kiss us, but this routine is usually reserved for, say, kitties in books or her favorite toys.

And what are her favorite toys? Well, tote bags, of course.And hats. The girl loves accessories.Also, we found a golf ball a few weeks back on a walk around the neighborhood. And then we found another. And then we found a sort of squishy, floaty ball in Hawaii. These are, literally, her favorite toys at the moment. We didn't take the golf balls to Hawaii (coals to Newcastle, anyone?), but the morning after our return, she found the golf ball in the living room and happily greeted it and waved to it.

I've been taking Natalie to an informal weekly stroller workout. Most of the time, she's awake and alert. Sometimes not. I have no clue what will happen come summer, but it's been pushing 95 degrees here some days, so I'm sensing that my stroller striding days may be taking a seasonal vacation.

Natalie's been eating more foods. Her use of the spoon and fork is sporadic, but we're getting there. In addition to all the new fruit she tried in Hawaii, she's been sampling dates, matzah, dried cherries, crackers, and, uh, other stuff we can't recall. This is all in addition to her new favorite food, cheese. In fact, she's been known to request a cheese course at the conclusion of each meal. We also think she's developing words for water ("wa") and milk ("melh").In the words department, a big word she's been using lately is her own name! She calls herself "Nani". In fact, today I took a picture of her, and then she rushed over to me and wanted to see the picture displayed on the screen on the back of the camera. When I showed it her, she pointed to the picture and said, "Nani, Nani." Too cute!

She hates having her hair washed. So much so that sometimes she'll even try to climb out of the tub. Unrelated to her bathing woes, though, she loves water. I picked up this water table at Costco, and I'm hoping that we'll get a lot of use out of it this summer! (We've since moved it outside, leaving the xylophone and yoga ball inside....).Since it's spring in Texas, it's also time for the annual bluebonnet pictures. Just to set to the stage, here's last year:And this year:
Although our part of Texas is rather devoid of scenic beauty, this is the one time of year when it's really very beautiful here - suddenly everything is green, and there are wildflowers everywhere.(full disclosure: the flower pics were actually taken a few weeks ago, but I didn't have a chance to get them up until now. Happy spring!)