Papa's Day!

Well I know this post is just a wee bit late....but I figured as long as it happened before the week was up then I was doing pretty good. Lets just say it has been Papa week in these parts!

It is hard to believe a year has passed since Bert's first Papa's day!


We have all changed so much over this past year...growing...physically and emotionally, individually and as a family...you name and it has changed. But perhaps the most rewarding change of all (and one that I have had the pleasure of having a front row seat for) has been the beautiful and ever evolving Papa/Daughter relationship.

I knew before we even decided to get pregnant that Bert would be the most amazing father...he is loving and nurturing, generous and sincere, has an amazing sense of humor and an almost unreal capacity for love. Yet somehow, even knowing all of these things, I was still blown away with the dedication he has brought to this most important of jobs. I was not prepared for the magnitude of love I would feel when Rhea went bounding into his arms or the joy that the two of them laughing together could bring me. Rhea truly loves her Papa...and not only does she love him, but she trusts him wholeheartedly. She knows her Papa is going to be there for her lovingly, consistently and predictably...which is quite frankly the most important thing you can do for your child.

I decided to compile and share some of my favorite moments from the past year...capturing a picture from each month. This is somewhat of a lengthy post...but given all of the pictures it is pretty light reading :)

June 07...Papa and Rhea lying on the bed in the spare room endlessly blowing the mobile hanging above them. This is a job that takes patience, perseverance, and a good set of lungs.


July 07: This photo was taken by Bert on his cell phone and captures the oh so precious moment that occurs right after he arrives home from work. You can see how tickled they both are to be together again.


August 07: Rhea and her Papa during a visit to Eddie's Mom Janene. It was a beautiful and special day in which Bert was able to share his love of being a parent with another parent that had been so important to him growing up.


September 07: While this looks like a beautiful warm day the sunshine is a bit deceptive...Rhea has inherited a tolerance for cold water that will serve her well when she finally gets old enough to get out on a surf board.

October 07: Here they are playing at that crazy lil' pumpkin patch (where we actually just celebrated Milo's 4th birthday...more pictures to come of that adventure when I get my hands on some)! Rhea was just starting to really toddle around and required lots of hands on to keep her from careening off of various mini structures such as school buses and log cabins.


November 07: I just love this shot...I think Bert looks so handsome. Maybe this is just a gratuitous hot Papa shot. Hubba Hubba.

December 07: This one was taken at Rhea's first birthday party....this is Rhea running (and you have to remember running at this point involved lots and lots of effort on her part) down the hall to give her Papa a hug. I honestly get a little teary when I see how much love is on Bert's face.

January 08: This one speaks for itself...


February 08: I could put together an entire album of these types of pictures...the ones where Bert is holding the camera in front of the two of them. I'm sure this was taken on one of the early morning weekends when Papa was letting this tired ol' Mama catch some extra Z's.

March 08: Papa and Rhea on the beach in Pescadero. This girl is so fearless when it comes to water and has no problem getting sandy, dirty and freezing cold all in her pursuit of the ocean. She makes her Papa proud and her Mama very diligent!

April 08: Now I know this one is not a Papa/Daughter shot...but this is Rhea at the farmers market an early Saturday morning outing she takes with her Papa. There is something so "Papa" about this as you see this tiny little girl weaving in and out of the crowd happy as a clam.

May 08: This is Papa and Rhea with the exact same expression, same gesture, and same longing for a salami sandwich. This was the house we stayed in while vacationing in Santa Cruz with Josie and Alex...what fun that was!


June 08: Lastly the girl and her Papa at a Fathers Day baseball game! It was a picture perfect day enjoyed by all and Rhea weathered her first (of many I'm sure) game with excitement and good humor. She has a mouth full of strawberries in this shot which is why she looks a bit crazy. I love that Bert has his glove on in this shot...and that he really hoped he would be "bringing home a ball" for his girl that day.

All this reminiscing reminds me to give thanks for the life we have together and the love we share. I look forward to the year ahead and can only imagine the adventures we will find there...

I love you Papa and Rhea, Mama

Underwater world....

I have been meaning to post these pictures of the trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium we took when Josie and Alex were visiting. I love the somewhat "otherworldly" quality of these photos and hope you all will too.





The one with the shark is particularly cool...and I love the silhouette with Rhea and Alex. It was such a special time spent as a family and I find it difficult to describe how touched and grateful I am for the love "the kids" have for our little girl. It's as though things have come full circle in the most magical of ways.

And the beat goes on.....

We are closing out the first week of June and it is hard not to feel as though time is just slipping away from me. I can clearly remember my Mom commenting as we were growing up at how quickly the time passed and she would warn me that it would only speed up the older I got. Mom if you are keeping track...which I know you are...you can add this to your ever growing list of "Things I Was Right About". Sad but true...I am older and the time goes faster.

Rhea turned 18 months this week and my oh my what changes we have seen. This girl of ours already has a very distinct sense of humor and absolutely LOVES to make us laugh and loves even more to make herself laugh. Just this morning I awoke in a decidedly dicey mood (I think the teething of the past week and the resulting lack of sleep had caught up with me) Rhea took one look at me and threw herself on the floor and started thrashing all about making funny faces. When I started laughing she continued with even more gusto cracking herself the whole while. It was just what I needed to take some stock and realize that just because my body felt slow and tired it didn't mean my mind had to follow suit.

This month has brought an increase in communication...verbal, nonverbal, telekinesis...well maybe not telekinesis but I swear sometimes it feels as though that little bean is actually sending me messages and somehow I am picking them up. In fact the other day as we were in the waiting room at the pediatrician, another mother commented on my skill at deciphering and responding to the steady stream of "uh..uh...uhhhh's!!" that Rhea is constantly expressing. I feel like we are in such a good rhythm together these days which is a very good feeling.

Rhea has very specific preferences for all kinds of things these days...I'll try a little recap to capture some of her all time faves:

Favorite foods...blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, goat cheese, goat milk, goat yogurt, and a puzzling and near fanatical love of capers.

Favorite books...Good Dog Carl...The Wheels on the Bus...anything that features Babies on it. Just this week I received a mailing asking for a donation to an organization that helps repair cleft lips in developing countries. There were several pamphlets included which showed before pictures of babies with very severe cleft lips. Rhea just loved lose pamphlets and carried them around with her pointing and saying "babies...babies". When Bert came home from work I had to warn him not to be surprised when she showed him her "babies" as I didn't want his potential reaction to color the way she saw those pictures. It warms my heart to think that what she saw was the sweetness and "baby-ness" of those pictures instead of the "deformity" they were highlighting.

Favorite activities...going for long walks with her Mama, walking the neighborhood and stopping to smell the flowers, bike rides with her Papa and playing with Auntie Mary's cat Plika who often comes over for "kitty daycare". She loves music and dancing...just yesterday during one of our long walks she started bopping her head in tune with the music coming from someones Ipod who was walking behind us. She has quite an ear. She still loves animals of all kinds and barks at dogs in the park and tries to catch the birds with everything she has. She squeals with delight when the doorbell or the phone rings and is quite a social butterfly.

Things she could do without...hair clips/headbands/any type of contraption aimed at getting that wispy hair out of her eyes. Her reaction makes it seem as though I am actually using tacks to try and tame that hair. Attempts to take a measurement of any kind (on the wall to record her height, her feet at the shoe store, her height and weight at the pediatrician). Washing her hair might top this list. The girl does not like to be "messed with" and has a very distinct sense of personal space. But I will say that she rebounds quite well from all of these affronts and once the offending person/accessory/shampoo is out of her sight she is back to her sweet self.

All in all I continue to be astounded by the amount of wonder and beauty that is present in the minutia of the day to day...and feel honored to have this vibrant little person so enthusiastically pointing it all out for me and making sure I don't miss even the smallest bit of it.