Groovin'

Melina has just started groovin' to music, even the little tinny tunes that come out of some of her toys. She just sort of starts shaking whenever she hears music. At first I wasn't sure if it was dancing, but I'm pretty sure it is.

Also, she sings along with any machine that makes a continuous hum (vacuum cleaner, coffee grinder, concrete cutter rented by husband). The amazing thing is that she usually hums on key, which makes me think we have a talented little songbird in our midst.

Other recent accomplishments include going up and down stairs (she's been doing that for a while), "cruising," walking out in front of me (holding on to both my hands), doing the sign for "milk" (even though I'm not sure if she knows what it means), babbling in ever-evolving ways, and having miniature temper tantrums when she doesn't get her way - for example when I won't let her crawl off the end of our very tall bed.

Thanks, mom and dad!

My parents returned to France today after spending six months taking care of Melina while I worked part-time. Just wanted to say thanks for all of your help, including folding baskets of tiny baby clothes, doing our dishes, changing dirty diapers, putting up with Melina's endless efforts to fight sleep, and helping her learn to walk! We're all looking forward to seeing you again in October!

Melina's three birthday parties

Melina turned one on the 26th. Amazing. First of all, amazing that a year has gone by so quickly, but also amazing that the first three months, which never seemed like they would end, did in fact pass. Amazing that Melina has changed from a cute little blob to an extremely cute, opinionated, spirited little person. Amazing that we managed to keep her (and ourselves) alive despite a year of sleep deprivation - and amazing that the day after her birthday, she slept for seven hours straight for the first time since she was 3 months old!

We had three different birthday parties for her. The first was a joint party with a friend who was turning 39. We had a big barbeque at Mt. Tabor with lots of adults and children, and games, and cake, and hot dogs, and presents for little Miss M. The second birthday (her real birthday) we went out for Ethiopian food with her grandparents and aunt and uncle from California. (We picked Ethiopian because Melina likes it and because this way we could all eat with our hands). We were planning to have cake afterward, but the guest of honor fell asleep so we had a third little party the next day where she got to mash up cake. Lemon cake, for posterity.

This is a photo of Melina with my coworker Mary, probably taken a moment before she ripped the hat from her head.

Adventures in the culinary arts

I think Melina does just about every obnoxious thing a dining baby can do in this video, short of upending the food tray. Unfortunately you can't hear her loud belch at the end.


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Welcome Gwen and Maya!

My friend Becky, and my other friend Raf, just had babies within days of each other. We went down to Corvallis to see Becky's little baby Gwen on Saturday. All wrinkly red eight pounds of her. Melina, at 11 months old, is a giant in comparison. It's really amazing how much they change in one short year! I hope all of the new parents and babies are doing well. I haven't seen little Maya yet but I have a stuffed pink frog who is eager to meet her.

I left, and returned, and we all survived

Last week I had to go to Sacramento for work for two nights. I was pretty sure that either the plane was going to crash, or an angry constituent of my government agency was going to off me, and Jeff would have to raise the baby alone. Fortunately, none of that happened, although there was some major flooding that didn't quite reach the hotel. I managed to get nine hours of sleep the first night and seven and a half the next night despite a 7:30 staff meeting. And I went out and had three lemon drops with my coworkers. Granted, I was very sad to leave little Miss M at the airport, and happy to see her when I returned, but she didn't seem phased at all by my absence, and Jeff did fine. Maybe it's true that the change will do you good.

Query

Query: why would an anarchist buy two jars of raspberry jam (and nothing else) at 9:30 at night? The unsmiling guy in black behind me seemed very serious about his jam. My theories are that a) somebody is making window cookies and forgot the main ingredient; b) he is very poor and survives on jam's high sugar content; c) he really likes jam; or d) he's on a strange diet, similar to the one Jeff is on where there is pretty much nothing else he can eat. (Actually, Jeff can't eat jam either. It has sugar.)

Um, I found my keys.

When you have a baby nobody warns you that you're going to start losing your keys. At least, that's my excuse. Today I ripped the house apart searching for my keys (which happen to have a tiny, workable Visa card attached to them). I searched through my purse, searched the diaper bag, the baby carrier, my rain jacket, my fleece jacket, my fleece vest, my grocery bag, my purse again, Jeff's car, my car, the diaper bag again. I found two binkies and four used cloth diapers that had been fermenting for days. But I didn't find my keys until I was at the grocery store and looked in my purse for the THIRD time. My purse is an eight-inch green ball with handles. There they were in the pocket.

And now a word from Melina

mjmmmmjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjcxrwewxd mjcedj mjj jjjjjx/xys4rew3 d nkk2,3n k./

Melina's First Word

...is either "kitty," which she pronounces "k...t....k...t..." in a faint whisper, or "mama," which seems to mean "I'm unhappy, so pick me up," or "byebye," which she hasn't actually SAID yet, but has inferred through hand gestures and tones.

Uh, oh, I just heard her sneeze. Nap's over.