Fast friends....

This picture speaks volumes to me...it perfectly sums up what our days have looked like since Morris came to stay.


Rhea and Morris downright love each other...always clamoring to be next to one another and playing together so sweetly. This has actually made things surprisingly easier around here as everything is more exciting to Rhea as long as she can gaze at her good friend. Mealtime, playtime, and most especially bath time have all become enhanced for her as evidenced by her even cheerier than usual disposition.


It seems she might even be picking up some Swedish! Well Swedish babbling really...though for all I know they could be real words. My favorite of all though is to watch her head whip around and her eyes light up when she hears Morris yell from his room for her at the crack of dawn. Makes that early morning reality just a little bit easier to swallow.

Oh Christmas Tree......

The tradition stands....though members of our tree hunting party were suffering from varying levels of cold, flu, pregnancy, and sheer exhaustion...we dragged our sorry butts into the Santa Cruz mountains and found ourselves some trees!

We abandoned our plan to leave at the crack of dawn the day after Thanksgiving opting for the more reasonable hour of 1:00. This gave Bert and I time to clean up from the day before, Heidi more time to sleep in, and Hai Nhu time to try and recover from her killer bug.

I think this tree telling tale is best told through pictures. Here we are on the hunt...

Now the perfect tree has been found...and Papa gets to work!

Our sweet "little" tree...waiting for the ornaments and lights...

Rhea "helping" us with the lights...

Getting to work with the decorations...

And of course the finished product...

Giving Thanks....

There is just so much in our lives to give thanks for right now...our health, our love for one another, our good friends and family. I feel as though there couldn't possibly be another more lucky than I.

As I sat at our Thanksgiving table surrounded by some of our dearest friends...Rhea perched in her high chair beside me feasting on her first Thanksgiving dinner...I was struck with the certainty that she will always be loved and supported by these people...our somewhat rag tag (and fabulous) created family.

We have adopted a tradition of going around the table and sharing with each other some of what we feel thankful for...it always brings a fair amount of groans before we begin...but as we get rolling and people start sharing it quickly becomes my favorite part of the day. All sentimentality aside...there is a tangible power in the collective thankfulness.

When it came time for my turn to share I felt so overcome with it all that I could barely get into words how much that very moment, my life, and those that touch it mean to me. I happened to be nursing Rhea when the baton (well a wrapping paper roll we were using to magnify our voices and provide some comic relief) came my way. As I held her in my arms and looked around the table I worked through that tongue tied feeling and did my best to share. I'm not sure if the words came out perfectly or if the magnitude of my gratitude was properly expressed...I just know that I felt loved and understood and completely content. And for that...I am thankful.

Da Due

I know, I know...my November posting has been nothing short of pathetic. I am working on a couple of posts but I'm finding that as I wait to record things as they happen..because I'm working on her 11th month letter and want things to go chronologically...then I miss so many moments. It's a vicious blog cycle...

I decided to post a quick entry to get back into this blogging game. Rhea has been changing so much over the past few weeks it's almost difficult to know where to start. One thing that remains constant through all these changes...Rhea's super sweet relationship with Stashu. She loves patting him so much that she now pats all things she loves. It started with Stashu...moved to me...then Bert...and yesterday she was patting Milo. I will leave you with this picture of Rhea and her most favorite playmate. The other day as she was showering him with her special brand of love I was talking to her about how much she loved "her Stashu" and I swear she called him by his name twice!

Da Due. I think it might stick.

Happy Halloween!

What a celebratory week it has been! Starting with our first trip to the little neighborhood pumpkin patch earlier in the week followed by our group pilgrimage to the mother of all pumpkin patches in Half Moon Bay with John, Hai Nhu and Evelyn and Ken, Naomi and Milo on Sunday. Hai Nhu captures all the day so nicely in her post which you can read here. I will say it was great fun and Rhea could barely contain her excitement at being out in the "country". She loved it all...the goats, the ponies, the birds, the pumpkins and the excitement of the playground.

Today was Halloween proper which we celebrated with a baby party at Monica's. This Halloween brought with it a couple of firsts...

Well of course there was Rhea's first costume...and I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture but the reason she looks so intent is she is carefully standing on her own. Now this isn't quite a first, but the length of time she stood...shifting her weight and finding her balance was the longest ever. All of this standing and balancing led up to her REAL first which were the unassisted steps/lunging she later took towards her Papa. Of course she would choose to try out walking when all dressed up at a party.

It's funny...Rhea's sleep has been extremely screwy the past few nights...she has been waking up at 5:00 a.m. and this morning she was up at 4:30!!! or should I say (@!*#!!) Those of you who have been reading this blog from the beginning might recall my revelation that when Rhea has an especially difficult time sleeping, she is usually brewing up some kind of new skill. Perhaps the prolonged difficulty with sleep she has been having this week is because walking is such a HUGE undertaking. And while these first little steps are amazingly exciting...I find myself hoping she will hurry up and master this skill because honestly this whole crack of dawn thing is growing tiresome.

Of course my minor complaints aside I can truthfully say that the weary to the bone feeling fades into the background when we have this little love to show for all our hard work.

Birds eye view.....

Rhea's favorite spot these days is her perch atop the creaky old desk chair in the office. A spot that allows her optimal viewing of all the happenings below. I remember when we first moved to Haight St. being equally fascinated with this view...we used to call it watching "Haight T.V." and we would spend hours hanging out, talking, and laughing at the craziness of Haight St.

The novelty eventually wore off and we looked out the window less and less...actually wishing it would slow down out there and tiring of the never ending freak show that is our neighborhood.

Rhea has brought back the joy in looking and again I find myself spending endless time reflecting on the world below...we yell to the birds, bang on the window to try and get Gus's attention at the produce store, and watch the buses zoom by. I am constantly narrating the scene below and have to wonder what she makes of the perspective of all those "little" people.

All these fun endeavors aside, our favorite window activity is saying goodbye to Papa at the back door then rushing to the front of the house to wave goodbye as he rides off on his bike to start his workday. We say "bye-bye Papa...come home soon to us"...and he always does.

This one is for Grammy....

Grammy had left a comment on one of my previous entries requesting a video of Rhea in all her yelling glory. This one captures the spirit of her vocalization pretty well. You all also will have the added bonus of checking out her crazy groovy outfit. A care package from Grammy arrived and she is "trying on" some items right over her new PJ's. That girl can pull anything off!

Archy Bonker

Rhea has always been a baby ahead of her time...she held her head up early, sat early, crawled early, pulled herself up early...cripes she was BORN with a tooth! Seems like since the day she was born we have been marveling (as you all know having read about all that marveling) at her skill and the depth of her determination to master new things. I think we once thought that all of these early developmental markers were a sign of her superior physical prowesses...tangible proof of her smashing good genes. While I am still sure the girl has a solid genetic makeup...I am more inclined to think that all of these before her time skills are more likely the direct result of an iron clad will.

aka: she is stubborn as hell. I know..surprise surprise.

Our girl knows what she wants and when she wants it. It's the getting it that she sometimes struggles with. She is single minded in her pursuit of whatever it is she is pursing and god help the person, cat, pillow, lint (you name it), that comes between her and her intended path. She is a little bulldozer and if you try and intercept her mid task (such as her knocking the cat water over for the umpteenth time, or trying to sample the dry cat food) she will immediately squeal...arch her back in an attempt to wiggle out of your arms...and throw her head back with such immediacy and force that she bonks it at least 45% of the time. Her frustrated complaining then turns to the real cry of a baby with a hurt head...which really is heartbreaking.

I keep thinking she will learn that when she arches her back well then she hits her head and therefore she should probably cut back a bit on all that flailing. You know the ol' if A than B scenario. But I think she attributes the head bonking more to whoever or whatever has intervened with her desires (which nine out of ten times is of course me) than with anything she herself is doing. Least that's the way it seems when she looks at me all mad and pathetic with those accusing tear filled eyes.

We now affectionately call her Archy Bonker...a nickname, with the above description as background, I do believe speaks for itself.

Honestly though, I wouldn't trade any of it..not even a bit....because the sound of her happy squeal when she pulls off something like this.....


Just makes it all make sense.

Fall is here....

It was a glorious fall day today...simply inspiring weather. And what were we inspired to do you might ask?


Why visit the pumpkin patch of course! Rhea was in pumpkin heaven...dirt, straw, lots of other kids, and most importantly...big ol' Turkeys she could talk to. She enjoyed it so much we promptly made plans to make a trip down south to a "real" pumpkin patch this weekend. More pictures to follow I am sure.

10 months...

Dear Rhea Sue,

Oh my sweet girl...what a month we have had with each other. As I write this, you are snug in your little nest of a bed on a rainy Friday morning. Though you are feeling the affects of an autumn cold...you have still managed to brighten my morning simply by being.

This past month has been filled with changes and growth and as I try to distill this down to a manageable summary, I think it is best described as a month full of new connections. It's as if so many things just all of sudden started to make sense for you. This ability to make new connections seems to have happened across all areas of your life. You have new ways to connect with the people you love, your cats, and your own happy world of climbing and dismantling and mastering. To watch you tackle each new idea that comes into your head with such ferocity and intent is really inspiring. If I put a fraction of the effort you pour into learning to turn on a light switch or trying to climb the bookshelf into the areas of my life that need some attention...I would probably have a doctorate and be giving lectures instead of trying to ignore the CEU classes I'm supposed to be taking.

You are one tough little cookie and you often have the bruises to show for it. Your Papa and I joke about your rough and tumble nature (most of the jokes centered around how much of a Papa's girl you are in this respect) and I often find myself somewhere between amazed at your abilities and impressed at your skill, to petrified at the many tumbles you take on the road to perfection. I do my best to keep any over the top reactions on my part out of the equation...but it is a fine line between helping you understand what is dangerous and encouraging you to stretch your physical limits. Then there is the part where I get to watch you experience the natural consequences of all that stretching. I haven't seen any gray hairs yet...but I expect they will probably hit all at once. I'm hoping for a nice hip pattern..perhaps a snow white shock right at my part.

A few highlights of the month:

Dancing! You do this little bouncing at the knees dance when you hear music these days...in fact I caught you doing it yesterday when a car with especially loud bass went thumping by out on the street (Urban living at it's best...worst?).

Yelling! We helped Naomi celebrate her birthday recently...it was a fun early dinner at a pizzeria and we were surrounded by happy LOUD children. You were quiet during dinner as if you were taking it all in...but the minute we got you into the car you yelled the whole way home. You were so pleased with your new found skill that you yelled through your bath, through your bedtime routine and two hours past your bedtime you were still rolling around the bed happily yelling. It was quite a night...and you still love yourself some yelling.

Reading! You have found the wonder of reading...you have favorite books with favorite pages and squeal your delight when the fuzzy little kitten predictably asks you to feel his soft fur. It is honestly a joy to watch you discover books and some of my favorite moments include our time before bed when you are sitting heavy with exhaustion in my lap helping me turn the pages of your nighttime stories.

Snuggling! There has been a shift...though it is hard to find the right words...lets just say you have become a little bit more of a snuggle bunny. Nursing for comfort not just because you are hungry and seeking out the warmth and safety of our arms when things seem just a little too hectic.

Rhea, as always, I am struck with the beauty that is you. I still find myself marveling that you are ours...that you are our daughter. We are so very lucky.

Love,
Mama

Dum dum dum dum dum dumadum dum dum dumadum dum....

While I'm busy percolating a more substantial post (don't think I haven't noticed Rhea's 10 month birthday occurred this week...) I will leave you all with some fun pictures of our highly successful Sunday brunch.

It was a wonderful day which acted as the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. What camel you ask? Well the camel that has been carrying all the holiday good cheer I have been trying to keep at bay at least until after Halloween. Somehow this gathering felt like holiday party foreshadowing...and anyone that knows anything about made-for-tv movies or fluff novels knows that you pay careful attention to foreshadowing...or else you will wind up on the wrong end of some otherwise avoidable catastrophe. It could be a crazy chainsaw carrying loony...a conniving murder plot...or not having the appropriate Thanksgiving place setting ornaments (you know the ones that carry a fall theme but will still look appropriate on your Christmas tree the following week)...you see where I am going with this. It would be reckless of me NOT to unleash the holiday cheer. You are all forewarned.

Sunday with the Grandparents...

Rhea woke to an early morning call with her Grammy. Watching her listen to her Grammy on the phone is heartbreakingly cute. First comes the recognition of the voice streaming through the phone and next comes her insisting on looking at the phone as if to figure out where exactly her Grammy is.

Then after her first nap we jetted off to San Rafael to visit her Nana and Grandpa. Grandpa Bob made a delicious lunch of BLT's with heirloom tomatoes and fancy pancetta. Rhea's favorite activity of the day consisted of trying to rouse the cat from it's sunny spot in the garden. Here is a picture of Rhea joining in the feast by snacking on an apple picked right out of the yard.

It was a very tasty day.

All her peeps.

As the "the month of sick" becomes an increasingly distant memory...we find ourselves socializing at long last. A few pictures of Rhea and her minions.

It's a beautiful life...

It is Saturday evening and we have just gotten our exhausted and sun kissed girl down for the night. The few hours before my own bedtime stretch out before me...full of the promise of the ability to do whatever I feel like. I have that satisfied feeling of knowing my girl is snug in bed and I will have a little bit of quiet downtime...however I always seem to find myself spending this "quiet time" missing my boisterous girl, thinking back on all the cute things she did throughout the day, and sifting through her pictures or trying to write an entry here. Ironic isn't it.

Tonight all of that "quiet time" spent missing the "not so quiet time" led me back to reflecting on what a full and wonderful week we had together.

We began our week at a baby shower for Annees and Ashi which was hosted by the very talented Ken and Naomi. Those two really know how to throw a family friendly bash and by the time we left we were filled with good eats (including a bagful of treats to take home with us), good stories, fond memories of the days of old and the realization that as fun as those old days were..nothing really compares to the perfection of the here and now.

Early in the week Rhea and I spent some quality time with Shannon and her little girl Havana. Those days with Shannon were good for both of us...good adult company for me and lots of power walking to help soothe little Havana's difficult gut. Shannon is inspiring in her mothering...level headed and compassionate while managing a little baby that needs so much soothing. I'm glad Havana found her way to Shannon who has the ability to remain steady as a rock while maintaining a sense of humor about it all. She knows these challenging times will pass and that her little girl is going to come out on the other side of all these growing pains one tough cookie.

Midweek Rhea and I spent with each other...playing with her toys, taking walks through the neighborhood, and lots of tackling of the cats. During Rhea's naps I tried to slowly chip away at the housecleaning. It is challenging to try to manage an increasingly mobile baby, her need to be by my side most always (finally hit a bit of that separation anxiety), and the never ending chores that seem to multiply inexplicably. I honestly cannot figure out how two adults and one small child can generate so much mess. Mind boggling. That said by Thursday night the house was straightened the carpets vacuumed and the kitchen cleaned and I felt as if all was right with the world.

Yesterday Rhea and I hosted a "playdate" with Monica and her little baby Maslen and Shannon and Havana. It was a dreary rainy day and the flat felt cozy and warm filled with babies, tea and homemade goodies brought by Monica. We spent most of the day together and the babies took turns eating sleeping and playing. Rhea loves babies...and she pretty much wanted to express that sentiment with as much excitement as she does with the cats. Needless to say I was extremely diligent with the monitoring and Rhea (much to her frustration) was given countless tutorials on what it actually means to be soft and gentle. She looks like such a big girl in this picture...she was so smitten with Maslen (and he with her).

And today...we spent a relaxing day at Catherine's soaking in both the sun and the tangible amount of love Catherine has for all of us. John, Hai Nhu and Evelyn met us there and we were joined by another family a little later in the day. Rhea, true to form, was the first one in the pool and stayed in there until I started to get concerned that her skin would wrinkle right off. She is like a little polar bear cub...loving the cold water and fearless in her pursuit of fun.

I am signing off basking in the feeling of absolute contentment. It truly is a beautiful life.

Lest you think I was kidding...

I have a funny little video here highlighting some of Rhea's hijinks this morning. I love this clip...some wild monkey flapping punctuated with contemplative examination of her doll's moving eyelids. It gets a little slow at the end as the doll eyes prove too tantalizing to ignore...I know you die hard Rhea fans will persevere.

I realized that I have been taking quite a few videos lately...this is in part a testament to how difficult it is to get a good picture of her because she is ALWAYS in some kind of motion. All that movement just translates better in video. Believe you me I have countless blurry, eyes half open (or closed), mouth contorted in mid squeal, non-post worthy photos just taking up memory space on the computer. Video also helps capture the nuances of who she is right now...the laughing, squealing and excitement at all things new (and of course the wild monkey flapping and eye poking).

Mount Greyshag

Here is a quick clip of Rhea climbing the stairs the day after she figured out she could. I spent her first nap obsessively vacuuming the stairs...not a vertigo friendly endeavor to say the least but a job that needed to be done. The video is a little dark because it was late in the day...but you all should get the drift.

Cruisin and a'bruisin

Well my goodness...another eventful week here in the land of "lets catch every virus and realize every possible symptom of that virus, however random and atypical". We could also call this the land of just minding our own business and getting a little too cocky about "feeling better" after our month of ailments.

Last week I came down with a sudden and very extreme case of VERTIGO (do yourselves a favor and just read the first paragraph of that hyperlink or you are in danger of thinking I might be suffering from any number of deadly disorders). It was disorienting, scary, and ridiculously unpleasant...sparing the nauseating details, I will cautiously report (knowing full well I could be tempting fate here...) that I am almost back to 100% feeling fine. But I am going to keep this posting relatively short as prolonged typing makes me feel just a bit wonky.

Vertigo be damned it just had to be recorded for prosperity that our girl has been moving and growing in leaps and bounds over this past week. And I mean that literally...there has been leaping, bounding, and all manner of climbing, balancing, teetering, tottering, barreling, steamrolling, falling, bruising, scraping and bonking. This girl is ON FIRE!

I am as amazed at her skills as I am at her single minded determination. Just this past week she has perfected climbing over any number of items..including pillows I strategically place in her way in a meager attempt to slow her down. She can climb stairs like a pro...figured that out yesterday as she successfully scaled Shannon's very steep wooden stairs in pursuit of a cat. And will not take no for an answer...even if the no is coming from her own fingers and limbs. She desperately wants her body to catch up to her minds desire for movement. This makes for all kinds of grumbling, complaining and downright screeching when the frustration of it all just becomes to much.

That said...there have also been unforgettable moments of success in which she pushes herself right up to her baby limits and just a little bit beyond.