The chicks

Here are the chicks. It's hard to tell the difference in the photos, but Maisy is slightly darker. She's the one standing on my hand. The other chick is Sue's.

A hike with Melina

We went on a little "hike" today in Forest Park with Melina. It was the first time she's actually walked most of the way herself. It was very muddy, but she was wearing her ladybug rubber boots and maneuvered through the mud like an expert - until she tripped and fell full-length and we had to carry her back to the car. She didn't complain, though. Her main interest was in finding "baby snakes" (earthworms). We found one at the beginning of the hike, and she was pretty intent on finding another one, but we never did. Oh well; there should be no shortage of baby snakes on the sidewalk after the rain we're having. By the way, she also calls shaved carrots "snakes."

Our first chicken!

I've been thinking about getting chickens since I was in grad school, and today I finally took the plunge. For the past month or so I've been researching them and feeling Jeff out to see if he would put up with a chicken coop in the backyard. Finally my friend Sue decided to go get a chicken of her own today (she already has two) and I went with her. I got one! It's a fuzzy, yellow, one-ounce buff Orpington. I'm also planning to get a barred Plymouth Rock and a golden-laced Wyandotte, but the feed store wasn't selling them today. I'm ordering my chicken coop online (I realized I would never get around to actually building one)... it's all very exciting. The chick I bought today will be named Maisy, assuming that she actually IS a hen and not a rooster (it's hard to tell at this stage, but she should be a hen.) She's staying at Sue's now with her co-chick (unnamed as of yet). In a week or two we'll bring them over to my house. After 5 weeks they can go outside, but first they will stay at Sue's so they can cuddle up with her chickens for warmth. Eventually when the weather is a little warmer they will be permanent residents here.

Jeff and Melina came over to admire the chicks at Sue's. Melina laughed at them at first and touched them very gently, but I think she actually got jealous of the attention we were paying them. But I think she will enjoy watching the chickens grow up. Buff orpingtons (and the other breeds I'm getting) are all supposed to be calm, affectionate and gentle birds. (Although I did notice Maisy was pecking Sue's chick in the head. Sue assures me this is normal chicken behavior, but I'm afraid I somehow picked out an exceptionally aggressive chicken.) Will post photos soon.

What do you love?

I thought this video was kind of charming.

The Pukes

Melina has had a bad case of the pukes lately. About four days ago she threw up once; I didn't think much about it. The next day she drank about a gallon of orange juice, ran around screaming for a while, then barfed it all up in the Fred Meyer parking lot. I really didn't think that much about that either, since the huge amount of OJ seemed to be the culprit. Well, the next day she threw up three times in the morning while I was at work, and actually fell asleep on the stairs, which is unheard of. I came home and spent the rest of the day with her alternately sleeping on my chest and throwing up. We went to the doctor yesterday and she seemed a lot better, only tossing it twice in the morning. That was the last time she puked... until this evening. We decided to go out to dinner - luckily to a loud, dark pub. Melina was happily sucking down milk and french fries when suddenly she seemed to get something stuck in her throat. She looked surprised for a second and then launched a white tide of barf onto me, the table, and the floor. Miraculously, only two people at the bar seemed to notice, and smiled at me sympathetically. Jeff ran to get wet towels and did most of the cleaning while I sat there in great discomfort.

Ten minutes later Melina was running around outside playing hide and seek with daddy. I don't get it. The doctor did say that she might seem OK for a few days and then throw up again. I think the choice of meals was probably too rich for her, and partially choking on a french fry didn't help. Let's hope that's the last we see of the contents of her stomach for a while.

Potty training foreshadowed?

I thought it was worth noting that yesterday, for the first time, Melina asked to be changed. She looked at me and said, "Change? Change Mina?" and let me to the foot of the stairs and up to the changing table. This is the first time she has ever seemed to actually notice or care that she was wet. Good news on the potty-training front. (Not that I've even given that much thought yet).

Timba-tim

"Tim" is Melina's word for "some." In the past several months she's used several variations on it, like Tim? Tim? Tim? and then Timba-tim? Timba tim-tim? Tim timba-tim?

I just wanted to record this before she gives it up. It happens fast. Now instead of saying "oatie" she says "horsie," which really just isn't as cute.

Putting words together

Melina has learned so many new words lately that I can't even keep track. Now she's begun putting them together. Her very first sentence was "Old bobble." As in, "this milk tastes sour and I think it's been sitting around a lot time. How could you let me drink this?" Other memorable sentences include "kitty night-night," "daddy broken" (not sure exactly what that one means), "more quesadilla" and "play toys? Play wadu (water)?"

Her two great obsessions right now are playing with water in the sink (standing on a chair topped with a phone book - good thing she's coordinated) - and drawing on things, preferably with a felt pen. She seems very disappointed when she opens up the can of crayons and doesn't see any pens. She will write on ANYTHING and likes to try writing on different textures - Tupperware, walls, cat fur, wooden toys, etc. Luckily, they make washable ink felt pens these days. They *usually* come off.

She has also started learning words about concepts. The first one was "scary." She thought the pumpkin face on her old Halloween candy basket was scary. She also thought that my friend's poster of Jake the Alligator Man was scary, which it is. Then came "funny" (lots of things are funny) and today she's using "broken." Pretty much anything that doesn't work exactly the way she wants it to is broken, like a yellow crayon drawing on brown cardboard. You can't see much, so it must be broken. Or a pen that doesn't come apart like pens are supposed to do. Broken.

Preschools!

The other day someone asked me if I had started thinking about preschools yet. Uh, preschools? Isn't it a little early? No. The very next day, our nanny (part-time) announced that she was taking a job with Google, and I was thrust into a new nanny search and a quick education on daycares and preschools.

Turns out there are a lot of cool preschools in Portland. Some of them are co-ops, where parents work one day a month or so doing various odd jobs. Some of these charge very little and some of them charge a whole lot ($750 a month for three days a week of care). There are also lots of private preschools. Some have gardens, some have chickens, some teach your kids new languages, some focus on science, some are organic, some seem to be completely unstructured. Others have lots of rules. Most of them won't take kids under three, which was a problem since Melina is only 21 months now.

After a lot of research, I found both a nanny who I like, who will begin working with us in February, and a preschool that Melina can enter next fall. (I had to sign up this week to get a spot!). They have a garden, and organic food, and a guinea pig, and an emphasis on arts and reading and playacting and child-led activity (apparently this is the Emilio Reggia approach - or something like that. It was new to me last month and I haven't quite figured it out. Emilio Reggia is a town, not a man named Emilio.)

Anyway, it looks like Little M's environment will be changing quite a bit in the next year. I'm going to miss Youngsoon and Norah, her 2-year-old, and I'm sure Melina will too. I think our new nanny is going to work out great, though, and I think that she will really enjoy the preschool when she gets there. She seemed right at home when we went to visit, and spent most of the time threading beads onto pieces of wire, and pretending to pour tea.

A new adventure!

Garage progress!

Just before we went to Hawaii, Jeff finished the foundation for the garage. Here are some photos.

This is the full-size cement truck with its hose running back to the garage. If you click on it you can see the clever name of the cement pump.


Here is Jeff with his friend Simon.






It takes a village to raise a foundation.







The actual pouring of the cement.







Eventually I will post some photos of the final product - an actual foundation. Now he just has to build the garage. The scary part is that even as I write this he's in the den looking over house plans, planning to add a second bedroom to our upstairs.

Hives!

Well, it's good to know that at least one person besides my parents is reading this, so I am inspired to write again (so soon!). Melina woke up this morning with a huge red blotch on her face. At first I thought maybe it was from a blanket she was sleeping on, or maybe she had gotten into my makeup bag. When I saw other blotches all over her body I started doing research on the web and came up with Fifth Disease (a very common, benign baby problem) or rubella, which also isn't a big problem unless you've been hanging out with pregnant women, which in fact we have. So I called the doctor, and over the phone she diagnosed it as hives. Apparently rubella was wiped off the face of the earth (or at least the US) last March, and Fifth Disease looks different. The interesting thing is that Melina was hanging out with another baby with hives a few days ago. I didn't think hives were caused by a virus, but apparently they can be.

This evening I decided to give Melina a bath because I thought it might make her feel better, and she loves baths. Bad idea. Apparently the warm water made her itch even more, so she started crying miserably, and then when I took her out of the bath she cried even more because she wanted to stay in. Finally I gave her a little Benadryl and she spent the rest of the evening looking slightly dazed.

Hawaii

We spent ten days in Maui over Christmas, just north of Lahaina. We rented a condo with my parents - a very nice condo, although perhaps a little small for five people. All in all, it was a great trip, with much snorkeling, dining, walking Melina around, playing on the beach, taking surf lessons, swimming with turtles, driving up to the top of Haleakala (the volcano), and whale watching. Melina did great, except for a brief period where she learned that screaming in a restaurant could get her a lot of attention. Christmas dinner (at a very fancy restaurant) was kind of a low point for that reason. Actually, it was just weird to spend Christmas in Hawaii, where it doesn't seem like Christmas at all. I think next time I would go for New Year's instead, or go in January or February when the rates are lower.

I usually write more details about our trips, but I was too busy during this one to spend much time in contemplation. Also, since I was with my parents (and I always think they're the only ones who actually READ this blog), it seemed kind of redundant to write more here. But maybe there are other people out there reading this? If so, please let me know!

I am fighting off some sort of cold right now, so if this post seems listless, that's why. Maybe I will post more details later. For now, here's a photo of Melina with her big pineapple.

Bloggers' guilt

OK, so I haven't updated this blog in more than a month - a month full of Christmas preparations, stress, travel, adventure, visiting parents and many errands. I guess that's why I haven't updated. December was really a pretty overwhelming month. To top it off, Melina got chickenpox on the day we were having a Christmas party, three days before we were scheduled to fly to Maui. I had a complete meltdown thinking we wouldn't be able to go to Hawaii, and I had to call all of the party invitees to tell them about the chickenpox. Turns out it was a VERY mild case of chickenpox, and we DID have the party anyway, and we went to Hawaii, and I DID survive December although at times it felt like I was going to blow a gasket.

Uh-oh

Today (while eating a surprisingly spicy dish of Thai fried rice) Melina let out a well-rounded fart and lit up with a big smile. "Noise?" she said. "Yes," we said, that was a noise. A fart, to be exact. Not to be done at the dinner table, but apparently humorous enough to be repeated. For the next five minutes she kept screwing up her face and trying to push out another one. Jeff was in hysterics. Finally she succeeded and just beamed with pride. I can see an embarrassing moment in our dining future.

A personality develops

It's really interesting to see how Melina's personality has developed over the past six or seven months. She's really starting to be her own little person. Compared to other kids I've read about, she seems pretty easy (not many tantrums at all - I can only remember one that would have embarrassed me in public). At this stage, she's very mechanically inclined. She spends a lot of time trying to figure things out, and practices certain skills until she's mastered them. Because of that, she doesn't have a lot of accidents or falls.

In the past month her obsessions have been plastic buckles (like the kind you find on luggage or backpacks), keys, jumping, and shoes. For a few days she spent huge amounts of time trying to fit buckles together and then demanding that they be opened again ("Open? Open? Open?"). Now she has pretty much mastered that skill and is trying to figure out what she can open with my keys. I set up a chair next to the front door so she can practice putting the key in the lock, but she's also happy trying to open the cat's red plastic travel-carrier or, sometimes, the cat himself. She also enjoys trying to fit my keys down the heating grates. Often she will abscond with Jeff's keys and pretty soon you'll hear the car alarm going off because she's pressed the panic button. Oh, the joy of hearing that beep-beep-beep!

And that shoe thing. This kid has a lot of shoes, mostly because she got a bunch of hand-me-downs that are her current size, and her mama discovered that Marshall's is a great place to find baby shoes. Melina just learned the word for "boot" and has figured out how to get her boots on by herself. She gets annoyed and says "no" if you try to help her with this process.

So far, she doesn't seem too interested in creating art (unless you count music and dance). She would rather chew on crayons or take pens apart and put them back together. She's amazingly good at taking off and replacing pen lids. Yesterday we spent half an hour trying out every pen in our pen jar, but she was more interested in figuring out how they worked than actually drawing anything with them.

She does love music, and she has always been into dance. She likes drumming on my doumbek (a middle eastern drum) and has a very unique way of rolling her shoulders around when she dances. In general, she seems very physically oriented. She loves jumping up and down (she just learned the words "up and down") and also just figured out how to jump up in the air, which apparently is a two year old skill. She likes to jump off the bottom step of the stairs, climb up the narrow ledge along the grass in the front yard, and walk down stairs by herself without holding anybody's hand. (She'll say "no" if you offer to help). I think that's pretty impressive for a 19-month-old. She also loves being swung around by her arms. She'll always ask for more, saying "'gain? 'gain? 'gain?"

She's pretty cheerful most of the time (unless she gets really tired) and gets over disappointments and upsets pretty easily, if you distract her. She's definitely sociable, and isn't usually very clingy except around strange men. Once she warms up to them, though, she starts flirting like crazy.

If she continues on this current trajectory, she will be a beautiful, flirtatious, independent mechanical engineer who loves rock climbing, dancing, and collecting fashionable footwear.

Garage Update

Here's a recent view of our "garage," which Jeff has really started working on now that it's freezing and pouring rain all the time. He thinks it's better to spend the weekend cold and miserable than to waste a beautiful summer day on manual labor. (This picture was taken during one of the last sunny days of October). Actually he HAS made some progress on it lately. He is done digging (and refilling) the foundation and has laid out the wood and rebar that will be needed in order to pour the concrete. The next step is to add some "forms" (more wooden things) and have it inspected before the concrete truck comes. Note the fully grown vegetation on the pile of dirt.

Polio vaccination

Let it be noted for the record that Melina got her polio vaccination today and didn't cry at all. What a brave girl!

Who's this Tim you keep talking about?

For some reason every time Melina wants a snack (especially one that's not very good for her) she says "Tim? Tim? Tim? Tim?" It's very strange. I've asked Youngsoon if it's some Korean word, and apparently it's not. I have no idea where it came from.

The Abominable Snowbaby

The search for a Halloween costume

I had a really hard time trying to come up with a Halloween costume for Melina. I'm not really into all the cute little pumpkin, princess, and kitty costumes you find on the web (thought I did find a very cute hedgehog costume that cost $60). Since she had a little fake fur coat, I thought of dressing her up with that, some big sunglasses, and a tiara, and having her go as Princess Di. The only problem is she rips off the glasses and tiara every chance she gets. Then I tried making her a little dress out of a silver emergency blanket and duct tape - she could go as a Martian Queen. Unfortunately, the crinkly sound of the emergency blanket seemed to scare her, and she wouldn't even let me put it on. I spent an entire evening searching the web trying to find cool baby costumes, but nothing grabbed me (or if it did, it cost over $50 or was unavailable in her size). Finally I went to the fabric store and found some fluffy, fake white fur. Last night my friend Sue and I made her a little fur dress and hat, which I put on her this morning. She didn't rip it off! And the Abominable Snowbaby is born! I will post pictures when I have them.

The nickel saga

Last Sunday Melina was playing by herself with an old teapot when I chanced to look at her and see something metallic in her mouth. It was a nickel. I put my finger in (trying not to get bitten) and suddenly she gulped it down. It stuck in her throat for a second, I patted her on the back, and down the esophagus it went.

I'm not usually much of a worrier (except when it comes to poisoning... that's my #1 fear) but this kind of freaked me out. I called the doctor on call and left a message; then I called the nurse at Providence Hospital and left a message; and then, not hearing from either one for way too long, I asked Jeff to call his friend who is in medical school. When we finally heard back from them all, they said the same thing - wait for it to come out. The Providence nurse had me give her food and water to make sure everything went down alright, and the naturopathic doctor recommended giving her roughage to move things along in the digestive tract. Meanwhile we had to sort through her poop (with wooden chopsticks) and wait.

After 36 hours, Youngsoon was the lucky one who found it. It had turned blue during its trip, but was otherwise unscathed. Apart from the scary swallowing incident, it didn't bother Melina at all. I cleaned it off (and sanitized it) and I'm going to paste it in her baby book.

A few days later, Jeff said, "you know that flashlight she was playing with the other day? I think she might have swallowed the light bulb." Here we go again. Fortunately, he found it on the floor a few hours later.

Melina's 18-month stats

Melina went in for her 18-month checkup last week. Her percentiles are still the same, which is a good sign. She's at the 20th percentile for weight (21.9 pounds), 50th for height (31 inches) and 90th for head circumference! Apparently that means she is going to be smart. Time to bring out the infant flash cards. Just kidding.

New words

Melina is picking up a lot of new words lately. Here are some of the ones I remember:

Egg (and it's not like we talk about eggs a lot)
That (dat! dat!)
Toy
Bike
Hat
Pumpkin
Apple
Pear

I know there are a lot more, but I can't remember them now. I have them written down in the kitchen so I'll update this when I'm back at home. She has also been counting to three ("wun, too, twee") as we go up and down the stairs, and - which is pretty scary - she is starting to walk upstairs without holding onto anything except the wall.

Melina's running preferences

I have been running about three days a week for the last two and a half months, and Melina has accompanied me (along with my friend Isabel) on many of the runs. I notice that she gets bored at the track (as do I) and prefers going in neighborhoods, where there are lots of squirrels and doggies and kitties to look at. She likes to chew on an apple (or other snack) while we run, and bumpy roads (like Leif Erickson in Forest Park) sometimes put her to sleep. If she cries, I have to hang back and let Isabel push the stroller so Melina can't see me, and if that fails we start singing Old MacDonald, which sometimes helps. She also likes to watch high school football players, who practice at Grant Park. I think she must be getting used to being strapped in the jogging stroller, because now she climbs up into it herself and tries to strap herself in.

Miss Fussy

Little M is approaching her half birthday, which brings her closer to the Dreaded Age of Two. Although my mom says she enjoyed my "terrible twos," and I have been trying to keep an open mind, I can see that little meltdowns and full-on tantrums are a thing of the future. On Tuesday I had to pry Melina off a toy at a used-clothing store (we were leaving) and she had pretty much the biggest tantrum so far. Screaming like a balrog (that's the big fire-breathing dragon that nabs Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings), arching her back, kicking out with her little feet... I was glad I was the only customer in the store. I guess this is completely normal and predictable, but I feel I need to learn more about dealing with tantrums when they arise. Also, Melina needs to get more sleep.

Baby boot camp

This week I felt like Melina's swim school was a little too militaristic. There was a new teacher (hopefully a sub) who was just a little too hard core - after all, these are one year olds, and it's not like they HAVE to learn to swim by age two. She had them repeat an exercise where they swim from their parent to the wall five times in a row, which was way too many for Melina's taste. Also, Melina has decided that she HATES the blue noodles they use to float the babies around the pool. This is probably because she slipped down between the noodles and went underwater, where I grabbed her a little too roughly and freaked her out. I don't know if she will put up with the noodles at all next week. On the positive side, she is starting to jump into the pool voluntarily and is definitely holding her breath when we do the underwater hokey pokey.

All in all I have mixed feelings about the swimming classes. Since most of the other kids took the infant class, they are more comfortable in the water than Melina, but the sub, at least, did not take that into account and didn't even ask about Melina's swimming experience. There's also not much explaining of theory or why we're doing certain things or, well, anything at all. There's no explaining. I'm not sure if we'll re-enroll her when this term is up; I guess I'll have to see if she's enjoying it by then. At least now she knows to hold her breath underwater - that's a step in the right direction.

And more new words

Melina has been adding a lot of new words lately, and for the past few days everything she says is followed by "mama?" As in, "wadu, mama? Oatie, mama? Kitty, mama? gaga, mama?" (Water, horse, kitty, snack?). It's pretty cute but I feel like I'm supposed to comment on everything she says. Oh, and she also calls Jeff mama, so it's not like it's especially about me.

Here are the latest new words. Often she will repeat something right after I say it, but not use it again (like "Tony," the cat next door). These are words she has repeated pretty frequently.

Horsy (oatie)
Bunny (buhh-ee)
Mine
Up
Down
All done (accompanied by waving hands)
Banh (Korean word for bread)
Water (wadu - said for all beverages and beverage containers, as well as lakes, rivers, puddles, and sprinklers)
Thirsty (I'm not completely sure about this one)
Eat (this is a new one)
Pee-pee
Poop, poopy (though these don't actually coincide with BMs)
Binky (beenty)
One, two, three (sort of; said when walking down stairs)
Train (sometimes this means train, sometimes plane)

...and she's also doing the sign for help, though she does it more for Youngsoon than for me.

Swimming lessons

Melina began swimming lessons last week at the Salvation Army pool. The first class was a bit harrowing; apparently at age (almost) 1.5, Melina is already behind the curve when it comes to swimming underwater. There were only a few other babies in the class, but they were already zooming around under the surface like pudgy little penguins. The class involved several dunkings, which did not amuse Miss M. She didn't cry, but sort of stared at me with an outraged "you must be joking!" expression. Then the instructor tucked her under one arm and dove under water for a good three or four seconds, which seems interminable when your BABY is under WATER. Jeff was standing on the sidelines watching (Melina kept trying to crawl out of the pool to go to him) and he said I looked really stressed out.

The second class was a little more enjoyable. Melina seemed to mind the dunking less (though I did get the "you must be joking" look - a faint smile, combined with a shrinking away from mommy). We successfully performed the underwater hokey pokey (push your baby down to the floor of the pool, turn her around, and pull her back up). I think I cheated. Melina was still the only one who had not taken the earlier aqua babies class, but she seems to be catching on. Now I just have to memorize the words to the Wheels on the Bus...

Various musings

I realize I haven't been writing much here lately. Since we haven't had any vacations or other outstanding moments, there have been no obvious reasons to write. But meanwhile Melina continues to grow, and develop a personality, and learn words, and form preferences, and assert her will.

"No" is now one of her favorite words. I really do try not to say "no" too often, but it's hard. Melina says "no" now whenever something isn't going her way. She also says "uh-uh" and shakes her head. This is handy when I'm trying to feed her and she doesn't want something, or when I'm reading her books before naps. She seems to be tired of all her books (as am I). Time to go to the bookstore.

I am still experimenting with ways to get her to nap. (Jeff puts her to bed at night, and his system seems to work pretty well). For naps, it's a little harder. Usually I read to her, rock her until she seems sleepy, then put her down in the crib awake and go lie on the bed. She used to cry for a few minutes and then go lay down, but now she stays up and plays (and even laughs). She kicks the side of the crib, drops her binky, jumps on the mattress, stands on her head (sort of) and does all kinds of other distracting things to keep herself awake. Meanwhile I'm nodding off on the bed reading Lord of the Rings while my stomach growls. Usually I get fed up and either pick her up and rock her some more (she often falls asleep after that) or go downstairs for a few minutes, at which point she screams bloody murder and tires herself out. Then I go back up, lay her down, and she often falls asleep.

Her hair is getting longer, and I've managed to put it in little pigtails a few times. I'm not really sure what else to do with it. If I let it grow without cutting it, I'm afraid it will turn into a mullet. If I cut the back, I won't be able to put it in pigtails. I could let the bangs grow out a little more, or not. It's a dilemma.

Olallie is proving himself to be one of the most patient cats in the world. Melina loves to lie on him, and Norah pulls his tail and covers him up with our sheepskin rug. Still, he hangs around - I think he likes the attention. I've never seen him do more than complain a little and walk away.

My stomach is growling again and I don't know how long it will be before Miss M wakes up, so I better go take care of it.

Sleep update

Melina's sleeping habits have gotten much, much better since we implemented our version of the Sleep Lady Shuffle. Now Jeff puts her to bed every night (which I like!). He reads to her and gets her calmed down, then puts her in the crib awake. He lays on the bed so she knows he's there, and usually she goes off to sleep without a cry. Lately, she has been sleeping from around 8:30 (or whenever Jeff gets her to sleep) to 6:45 or 7:00 a.m., when she wakes up for a snack and then (sometimes) goes back to sleep. She rarely wakes up at night now, though last night was an exception - she woke up several times, I think because she didn't get her regular naps in yesterday.

Last night I tried doing the Jeff routine for the first time by myself, since Jeff went out to dinner with a friend. I tried putting M. down the way I usually do (by rocking her and getting her to go to sleep on my lap) but it was taking forever and she was playing games with me, pinching me and pulling my hair and asking for the bottle and tossing down her binkie. Finally I got fed up and put her in the crib and lay down on the bed. She cried for a while (maybe three minutes), so I started singing a lullaby. She stopped abruptly and flopped down in the crib, stuck a binkie in her mouth, and lay there silently. After about 10 minutes she got up and cried again, but only for another two minutes or so. This pattern repeated several times (she was fine as long as I kept singing) and I was up there for quite a while, reading a book about a bunch of hostages, including an opera singer, being detained in a south American country. I was feeling a little like a hostage, constantly being forced to sing, but finally she fell asleep and I crept out.

Today for her second nap I tried putting her down as usual. (She usually goes down easily for her first nap). After a while I got fed up with her games and plopped her down in the crib. This time she cried for less than a minute, lay down, stared at me through the bars for a good 15 minutes (kind of unsettling) and went to sleep. I'm amazed that this worked for a nap - I never thought it would. I'll try again tomorrow.

Melina's Vocabulary

Here are Melina's current words (though I'm sure I'm forgetting some. She seems to pick up new words every day!)

Mama
Dadda
Doggy
Kitty
Hi
Bye
Shoe
Ice
Baby
No!
Birdy ("beebee" plus sign for bird)
Key
Gaga (this is a Korean baby word that means "snack," picked up from her sitter)
Berry (buoy)
Banana (naynay)
Book (boop)
Peek-a-boo (bee-boo)
Airplane ("aaaiii" plus pointing up in the air)
E I E I O (from "Old MacDonald") - sometimes just E I O
How I won... (from "Twinkle twinkle little star")
Uh-oh
Cool
Hot (ha)
Cracker (kacka)
Mine (apparently she said this to Youngsoon yesterday, but I haven't heard her)
Car (ka)
Water (Awa - sounds strangely like "agua" - maybe she was Spanish in a past life)
Bottle (bobble)

That's all I can remember at the moment, though I'm sure there are others. I like how her vocabulary reflects what's important to her in life. Notice the lack of words for "Iraq," "work," and "responsiblity."

Jennifer's projects

Melina is having her now-usual two-hour morning nap and I have had a huge cup of coffee (after spilling coffee and grounds all over the kitchen counter) and am buzzing with caffeine. Caffeine usually gives me a creative boost, and since Science Friday is on the radio talking about grafting fruit trees, I'm thinking it's time to graft some apples onto the pear tree out back. This pear tree is in the prime of life and produces copious fruit most years - the only problem is that I don't really like pears, though Melina does. (She has started picking pears off up the ground and biting into them, with varying results. The other day I found a big worm crawling across her hand that I think had been living inside the pear she was eating).

I've looked up grafting on the web (here's a nice blog entry about grafting) and it appears that I will need to start this project in November or December, when I will have to order "scions" (cuttings) from a reputable scion dealer. Looks like I should start with quite a few because it's not guaranteed that they'll all succeed. Then I have to figure out how to actually graft the cuttings onto the tree - fortunately there's plenty of advice out there on the web. Eventually I should end up with a tree that bears both fruit and apples - maybe several kinds! Sounds like a good early spring project.

Other projects I'm contemplating: printing onesies and small children's teeshirts with various designs. I've been meaning to do this for a long time, but have been discouraged by the flood of printed onesies I've seen since I got the idea. Does the world really need more onesies printed with cute sayings? I need a more original idea. I'm working on it. It would be fun to develop something to sell at Last Thursday, the local monthly art festival.

Another project: Landscaping the planting strip (also known as the hell strip) between the sidewalk and the street. I've found some good landscaping ideas and Jeff is behind the idea, but I need to find out what plants would survive our hot summers and rainy winters. Next step: trip to the nursery.

Another project: Holding a Northwest Earth Institute course at my house this fall. They have courses on raising environmentally aware children and on bioregionalism. Several of my friends are interested. Next step: Call them and find out if I can hold the classes less than once a week (the schedule they recommend).

Another project: Sign Melina up for swimming classes. They start September 5, but are held on Saturday mornings at 10:00, and I'm not a morning person. Still, the baby needs to learn to swim.

See what caffeine does to me?

Current obsessions

Melina has several new obsessions that keep her occupied for most of the day. First, she likes to move things from one place to another. I think this is pretty normal behavior for a one-year-old. She will open the buffet cupboard in the dining room, take out one of the green 1970s dessert glasses that lives there, and march it into the kitchen, where she sets it down carefully in the middle of the floor. Then she goes back, finds another one, returns to the kitchen, and sets the second one down. I've seen her do this with up to six glasses. Sometimes if I'm lucky I can get her to put them back, but that doesn't always work.

She also loves shoes. She can say the word "shoe" now ("tchoo") and eagerly sticks out her foot when a sandal comes near. I took her into a baby shoe store and she was overjoyed by the selection. She also loves playing with my debit card. I see a scary convergence of these two interests in the distant future.

Another thing Melina loves is climbing. She had been an enthusiastic stair climber since she was about 9 months old, but now she will also trot up hills, even steep ones, and climb onto chairs and tables. She has fallen a few times, but often she doesn't cry when I think for sure she will. She seems to be a pretty tough cookie.

And then there's the obsession with berries, which I wrote about below. Melina seems to have an innate ability to identify huckleberry habitat, at which point she pipes up with "buoy? buoy? buoy?" When we're at home I've given her enough blueberries to turn her into Violet Beauregard. Lately she's been throwing the blueberries on the floor, though, which means that this obsession is on its way out.

Our Olympics Vacation

Last week we took a little trip up to Olympic National Park in Washington. Here’s the trip log.

Day 1: Portland to Pacific Beach

On this sunny Sunday, all bright-eyed and fresh, we packed up the car and headed up I-5 toward the Olympic Peninsula. Melina was tucked away in her now forward-facing car seat and spent most of the drive making little noises to herself and playing with blocks. I had made reservations at the Pacific Beach state park, which we reached around 5:30. Signs along the road continually warned us that we were in a tsunami danger zone and pointed out escape routes. For some reason I was feeling particularly paranoid about tsunamis, so I was comforted to see that our campground was directly at the end of an escape route. Also, we were the only car in the campground that did not have a big motor home attached to it, so I figured we could make a quick exit if we needed to.


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We were completely surrounded by RVs. Since the campground had electricity, there was no generator noise and it was actually very quiet apart from the sound of the distant waves. We had an ocean view, and during the hour and a half that it took Jeff to get Melina to go to sleep that night, I sat out in one of our dilapidated camp chairs, sipping rosé wine and watching the campfires on the beach and the stars above.

Melina enjoyed the beach, although she refused to walk on the soft sand and asked to be carried. She used a crab shell as a little shovel and ran the sand through her hands, occasionally stuffing it into her mouth. Although she seemed afraid of the soft sand, she showed no hesitation at walking directly into the pounding surf.

Day 2: Pacific Beach to Lake Quinault Lodge

In the morning, we packed up our things, vainly attempted to get Melina to take a morning nap, and finally headed out. We stopped at a gas station with an attached Korean deli, where I ordered fried rice while a restaurant safety inspector stood talking to the Korean owner and pointing out one minor health violation after another. Since my fried rice was cooked directly under his nose, I figured I was OK.

We drove about 30 miles to the Lake Quinault resort area, then continued on the Quinault River road in another vain attempt to get Melina to nap. We drove down to the end, into the national park, with its huge moss-draped trees and wide, braided Quinault River. Finally we turned around and checked into the Lake Quinault Lodge.

I was a little disappointed by our room at first. The carpet was stained and wrinkled, the ceiling was low, bushes obscured our view of the lake, and the fireplace was fake – not even gas, but one of those cheesy lighted things that vaguely resembles a fire if you look at it out of the corner of your eye. Then my good hotel karma kicked in and, before we were finished unpacking, the toilet in the room upstairs overflowed into our bathroom. This meant that we were moved into an upstairs room with higher ceilings, a new carpet, and a nice view of the lake. Hooray for overflowing toilets!

The restaurant at the hotel was quite expensive (entrees started at around $20), so we ate across the street at the Quinault Merc, a classic general store that happens to be for sale (for $375,000). I fantasized about buying it and upgrading it a bit to take advantage of the yuppie trade, like the Mazama Store in the Methow Valley. With some soymilk, a good logo, and high-quality outdoor and fishing gear, you could really turn the store around. As it was, the store was solidly traditional, with a menu limited to fried foods (although they did have gardenburgers), ice cream, and espresso drinks (which seem to be mandatory anywhere near Seattle). For four days we pretty much lived on BLTs, gardenburgers, French fries, grilled cheese sandwiches, and tater tots. I don’t think Melina minded much, but I was definitely craving some greens by Friday.

Day 3: North Fork Quinault River

On Tuesday we did a five-mile roundtrip hike to Wolf Bar on the north fork Quinault River. The trail was easy and almost flat, leading under huge old-growth cedar, spruce, and alder trees, and lined on both sides with huckleberry bushes. When we got to Wolf Bar (a long rocky sandbar along the river with a beautiful swimming hole at one end) we ate lunch, skipped rocks, and tried to prevent Melina from eating pebbles. At one point she found herself a stick and, like a monkey eating ants in Africa, dipped it in the sand, licked off the sand, and dipped the stick back in the sand to gather more. The problem was that if you took the stick away from her, she would just find another stick and start the process over again. The only solution was to pick her up and keep her away from the ground. Jeff found a way to skip stones while holding Melina. He also took his obligatory dip into the freezing glacial melt, and we explored the sandbar downriver. I found what I think may have been a cougar track (too large and round to be a dog; to small and round to be a bear). On the way back, Melina started complaining about being in the backpack, so we devised a system of feeding her huckleberries every minute or so to keep her occupied. Luckily, there were enough huckleberries around to hold out until we got to the car; but Melina got greedy, learned how to say berry (something like “buoy”) and demanded berries regularly for the rest of the trip.

As we drove home, a bobcat or a lynx ran across the road in front of us.


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Day 4: Beach 4

On Wednesday we went to the imaginatively named Beach 4 in Olympic National Park. It was a very nice beach with tidepools and rocks, and Melina found lots of new things to put in her mouth. Almost immediately, she managed to consume a tiny snail she picked off a rock (I later identified it as a black turban snail). Apparently these were a staple food source for coastal tribes, but I didn’t know that at the time, and I spent most of the day imagining a life-flight helicopter landing on the lawn at the Quinault Lake Lodge at 3:00 a.m. to ferry Melina, green and paralyzed, to a Seattle emergency ward. This momentarily overtook my fear of tsunamis.

Day 5: Quinault Lake Lodge

On Thursday we ate breakfast in the lodge, taking turns walking Melina outside on the expansive lawn. After this we briefly considered and rejected the idea of renting a canoe (Melina hates wearing a life jacket) so instead we sat on the rocky beach, vainly trying to prevent M. from consuming handfuls of sand. Jeff went for a swim in the lake. Afterward, we took another five-mile hike on the network of trails south of the lodge to see the “Big Spruce Tree.” The trails were very well maintained and signed, and there was lots of impressive old growth to see. The spruce tree was indeed very big, and Melina looked like a doll sitting at its base.

On the way back, Jeff realized that the deli at the Quinault Merc was about to close, so he ran back the mile and a half to order us a pizza so we wouldn’t have to pay for an $80+ meal at the hotel. This left Melina and I alone in the forest, where my suddenly overactive imagination had me battling sasquatches and wildcats, arriving bloody and mangled at the country store just as the pizza was being taken out of the oven. Of course, this didn’t happen, although we did see a bunny on the trail.

Jeff did arrive just in time to order us a pizza, which we at on the lawn at the lodge, washed down with a nice Coors Light.


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Day 6: Quinault Lake Lodge to Graves Creek Campground

Friday started out poorly, with me in a bad mood due to the impending end of our vacation. After several stops and another BLT at the Merc, we drove down to Graves Creek campground. There, we were assaulted with mosquitoes, and had to settle for a second-rate campsite far away from the river. We rallied, though, and went for a short hike to Irely Lake. Melina demanded buoys along the way, and showed mild interest in the tiny frogs hopping across the trail. After a fairly easy one-mile hike we arrived at the ancient-looking lake, where a large green dinosaur would have fit right in with the spindly dead trees rising from the water.

After our return to camp we fed Melina dinner while trying unsuccessfully to shoo away the mosquitoes. Jeff made a fire, I made dinner (Indian food from cans), Jeff put Melina to bed, and I did dishes illegally in the bathroom sink by the light of a flashlight.

Day 7: Home again

On Saturday we decided we had had enough camping among the mosquitoes, and headed home after another dip in Quinault Lake and one last deep-fried meal at the Merc. There’s not much to report about this day, other than Melina’s shocking collection of mosquito bite welts, and the relief of taking a shower and finding that our house hadn’t burned down while we were gone. We managed to extend the vacation a bit on Sunday by meeting up with some friends at a local pool and then having a picnic in the park.

All in all, it was a nice vacation.

Baby's first haircut

We finally got around to getting Melina's hair cut yesterday. Jeff needed a haircut too, so we took Melina to Supercuts and she sat on his lap while the haircutter did the deed. I was a little concerned when he just twisted her bangs up into a little rope and whacked them off. He also trimmed the back, which luckily still retains some of its curliness. But then he told Jeff that some kid had needed seven stitches after he squirmed too much during a haircut. Not what you want to hear! Anyway, Melina's bangs are now super short and blunt. I'm thinking of taking her somewhere else where she can get some more styling done, but she doesn't have much to work with. Luckily her hair grows pretty fast at this point so she should look somewhat normal soon.

Little Random Vector

We've taken to calling Melina "Random Vector" because now that she can walk you never know what direction she's going to go in, though she still tends to gravitate toward stairs. We took her to daVinci Days in Corvallis and spent most of the time following her around as she randomly weaved from here to there. She's getting faster every day, though I wouldn't say she's running yet. One of her favorite things is to carry around crayons in her sweaty little fists. She carries them from one room to the other, occasionally writing on the walls in transit. Luckily, they're washable. She also likes to move things from one place to another, occasionally handing them to you and then taking them back again. This is a pretty fun age and we're enjoying all her energy!

Melina has a little meltdown, and recovers

Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video SharingHere's Miss M at the Country Fair having a little meltdown when I take a sharp stick away from her.

Melina's Country Fair, Part I

Well, we got back from the Oregon County Fair on Sunday, all hot, sticky, dusty, mosquito-bitten and exhausted. Needless to say, we DID have fun, although it was a little more demanding than last year. For one thing, it was hotter and more crowded than last year (it rained then), and Melina weighs about 12 pounds more than she did back then. When you're carrying someone around on your back most of the day, 12 additional pounds makes a difference. She really got into walking while we were there, though. Instead of giving up and crawling when she fell down, she started standing up and walking and seemed determined not to crawl. She also enjoyed picking up sharp sticks off the ground and walking (or running) around with them in her hand.

We camped at Zumwalt as we usually do. Like last year, we arrived with 15 minutes to spare before they closed the gate for the night. Luckily Erica and Brianna had saved us a good spot in the quite section of the campground. Last year we had my parents' VW bus, but this year we had their large LL Bean tent (which was a bit of a challenge to put up for the first time in the dark). It was big enough to accommodate a double air mattress and Melina's crib mattress side by side. This made sleeping much easier, since Melina does 360-degree rotations all night long. There was much time spent in the tent reading I am a Bunny, chasing mosquitos and spiders and yellowjackets out of the tent, and wishing the neighbors' drum circle wasn't QUITE so loud. Luckily Melina sleeps pretty soundly once she actually falls asleep, and she was able to sleep through some surprisingly loud goings-on, like the little two-stroke utility truck driving by several times a night, and a seaplane that kept landing and taking off nearby in Fern Ridge Reservoir.

Melina's Country Fair, Part II

The fair hadn't changed a bit (does it ever change?) There were the usual packs of performers on stilts, outrageous getups, drummers, little girls with fairy wings (we got some for Melina), painted breasts, quirky performances, and beautifully detailed costumes. We spent most of our time near Chelamela Meadow, a big open space where people practice juggling and poi. I bought some new practice poi and was inspired to start working with fire again. Jeff got a 15-minute massage that was so intense that he actually fainted for a moment and woke up not knowing where he was. It passed quickly, but apparently he really needs to get some bodywork done. He got another massag the next day (he didn't faint) and decided to get regular massages in the future (he has a lot of problems with his upper back and shoulders). I got a short massage too, which was nice after carrying Melina around all day.

It was a challenge trying to feed Melina without a high chair or booster seat. I did carry a spoon and sippy cup around with us, and Melina got her share of rice, beans, smoked salmon, ice cream, and other treats. She kept up a steady refrain of "aiiiith? aiiiith?" (ice? ice?) and probably sucked down her own body weight in ice cubes.

We ran into quite a few people that we knew this time, including our friends Richard and Chris (who always go), two friends from IFCAE, Richard's son, my coworker Stuart, Becky's husband Dean and their daughter Lena, Becky's brother Mike and his fiancee, and probably others that I don't remember. Erica also ran into lots of people she knew from working at the Saturday Market.

As I said earlier, the fair was pretty crowded. There was a bigger crowd than usual on Friday, and we spent most of the day wandering around without ever settling on anything. On Saturday we waited until after Melina's second nap and headed over to the fair at 3:00. It was sold out (20,000 people!) but we had three-day passes so we got in. By that time, it was less crowded and more manageable. Sunday was pretty pleasant, too. I think the key to enjoying the fair is to pick an area (like Chelamela meadow) and stay there instead of wandering around all day.

By 5:00 Sunday we were ready to go home. We made the long walk through the dry grass back to the car (with a brief forays to retrieve a lost binkie and walk the baby around so she could burn off energy). We squeezed ourselves and all of our purchases, camping gear, and dust into the car, waved at the parking volunteers with their crazy hats and costumes, drove past the handpainted signs, and made our way out onto the road and back up I-5 for the slow transition back to everyday life.

Melina's blossoming vocabulary

Although she doesn't look like it in this photo, Melina is becoming quite the talker. At last count she has mastered 16 words, or semi-words. They are:

Owwwww? This means meow, and is usually followed by kitty.

Ooof! Ooof! This, of course, means dog. She hasn't quite mastered the word "doggy" yet, though she said something a lot like it today.

Mama and Dada (sometimes Daddy). "Mama" sometimes means what you think it should mean, and sometimes means "feed me." Lately she's also been saying Monnny, which might mean mama or might mean something else. We're not sure.

Iiiiii? This seems to mean ice, sometimes, but at other times it just means "gimme."

Nana. Banana.

Key. Key. Or maybe "kitty."

Hi and Bye.

Aiyyyy? (said pointing up in the air). This means a plane is going overhead.

Cookie. I think she actually learned this from Norah, the sitter's two-year-old daughter!

HowIwon.... This is the beginning of the second line of "Twinkle, twinkle, little star," and she repeats it over and over and over. And over. It means she wants you to sing the song.

Uh-oh. This means something has fallen on the floor, usually because she dropped it there on purpose.

Cool! This is the newest word. I guess I must say "cool" a lot, because now she's saying it. It's pretty funny to hear a 14-month-old saying things are "cool." Though I don't think she has the slightest idea what it means.

Ha! Ha! This means Hot! Hot! It's another thing I say a lot, but I'm not sure if she's really grasped the meaning yet.

Melina's big weekend

Melina had a big weekend. First off, she transitioned from walking while holding onto a supporting adult with both hands, to walking holding onto one hand. And then, suddenly, she let go of that hand and took three big steps before sitting down in the grass! For posterity, that happened in Eugene on Saturday, June 17. Next, she successfully left a message on Jeff's cell phone from my cell phone, without me even knowing she was doing it. And then she pushed through a new tooth (her upper left eye-tooth), clearly said "binkie" (only once!) and started learning the words to "Twinkle, twinkle, little star." (She repeats the "How I wonder" line over and over... as in "howIwunooooh, howIwonoooo..." This is when she's not repeating "Owwwww? Kitty. Owwwww? Kitty. Owwwww? Kitty.")

And that's not all. Last night she went to sleep after five minutes of half-hearted crying. She looked at Jeff sitting on the bed, figured it wasn't worth crying any more, rolled over and went to sleep. Yay! I think she's finally getting it.

Unfortunately she also had one misadventure, which was to fall over a support bar on her high chair and hit her head on the deck. After a few minutes of hysterical screaming, she was back to her normal self. I was a little worried about a concussion, but she seems completely fine. Phew!

By the way, this is a photo of her opening a birthday present. It's a few months old.

The new French tent

Here's a video of my mom putting up a new tent that she and Dad bought in France. They couldn't make it much easier...


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More progress!

Last night Melina went to sleep after 15 minutes of crying. She woke up later and went back to sleep without crying at all. Yay!

Unfortunately, she also has a bad diaper rash (due to her new habit of pooping at night), and is hoarse from all the crying. She missed me a lot when I went down to Foster City for work, so she's extra clingy as well. Poor little baby!

Progress!

We are actually making progress on the sleep front! Do I hear angels singing? For four nights Melina cried for about an hour and 45 minutes, then woke up an hour later to cry for another 30-60 minutes. It was very disheartening. Then, on Sunday, she cried for an hour the first time, then went back to sleep after about 10 minutes the second time. Then last night she cried for half an hour the first time, and 5 minutes the second time. I think she's finally getting it! I'm actually in Foster City, California, now for a meeting, so I've been missing all the action (which I do not regret). Maybe after tonight we'll be down to 15 minutes... or even less! We can hope!

Sleep Lady Shuffle

At 13 months, we have finally decided to do some disciplined sleep training, because Melina is not sleeping through the night, and, even worse, wakes up every 40 minutes between 8 and 11:00 p.m., and takes about 20 minutes to fall back asleep each time. Actually, her night wakings aren't that bad (I don't mind waking up at 5:00 to nurse her) but lately it takes so long to get her to fall asleep (and back asleep) that one of us is constantly with her in the evenings. She obviously does not know how to soothe herself or fall back asleep on her own, and it's driving us crazy.

I own 5 or 6 sleep books. Here's a summary of what they say, or at least how I interpret them:

Dr. Sears Baby Book. Co-sleep until the baby doesn't want to co-sleep anymore, or until it drives you crazy. "Cry it out" methods break the bond between parent and child and are unnecessarily harsh.

No Cry Sleep Solution. Agrees with Sears; offers different ways to get the baby to sleep without any tears. (We tried these, but either we weren't doing them right or they didn't work for Melina. They require a huge amount of discipline that we probably don't have.)

Good Night, Sleep Tight: The Sleep Lady's Guide to... something or other. It's a long title. Basically this one says it's OK to let the baby cry as long as you are right there suffering along side her. Gradually you move yourself away from the crib until you're out the door and the baby is sleeping through the night. You're supposed to apply the "sleep lady shuffle" (waiting with the baby) every time she wakes up during the night.

Sleeping Through The Night: This one says to let the baby cry it out by herself, with you checking on her occasionally, but you only need to do it the first time she goes down every night.

Ferber: can't remember the title of the book (I don't actually own this one), but it's the oldest of the "cry it out" manuals and has you go in to check on the baby at regular intervals while they cry, then space the intervals out longer and longer.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: This one is has the strictest approach, called "extinction," which kind of gives me the chills. You put the baby in her room, close the door, and let her cry without checking on her until she falls asleep.

After reading all of these (or parts of them), we made up our own approach. For the last three nights we've been putting Melina down at 8:00 or so (her usual bedtime). We sing to her, rock her, etc., until she's almost out, then put her in the crib. Then we wait in the room about 5 feet from her. Jeff usually watches soccer with his headphones on and when I did it tonight I started out reading by her crib and then moved over to the bed to work on the computer. Actually she seemed to cry less when I was further away and when I didn't look at her. Anyway, for the first two nights I didn't think I could take crying, so I went out shopping and bought an extremely expensive bra at Nordstrom (what was I thinking??) and two installments of Lord of the Rings DVDs at Borders. (It's probably good that I was on duty tonight).

Anyway, we're doing this only until 11:00 p.m., instead of all night. It may take a little longer since we're not doing it every single time she wakes up, but since we are both working it saves us from becoming sleep-deprived zombies. I figure if we do it consistently every night, she WILL learn how to put herself to sleep, and that will carry through to the night wakings.

For the first two nights, she cried for an hour and 45 minutes each. Tonight, with me on duty, she cried for an hour and a half. Actually she didn't cry the entire time, but fussed a bit and sat quietly for a while too. Finally she just laid down and fell asleep. It's kind of disappointing that it didn't take 15 minutes tonight, or three minutes, as other people have experienced, but at least it took LESS time. So maybe we're getting somewhere. It's hard to be very hopeful when it still takes more than an hour to fall asleep.

The only thing that really helps me through this is that I know it will help her (and us) in the long run to know how to fall asleep, and during the day she has been the same happy, talkative, social little baby she always was. I haven't noticed any difference at all in clinginess or temperament, apart from being a little more tired.

I'll keep you posted about how it goes for the next couple of days.

New words

Melina is very clearly saying "kitty" these days, and today she pointed at a banana at the grocery store and said "nana." It's a veritable verbal explosion!

E-nagger: The Garage Project

In order to gently encourage Jeff to make progress on the building of our garage, I've decided to post some photos as the garage progresses. This way, he will be shamed into working on it if several months, say, pass without any change to the photos. (And he agreed to this!)

So here's a photo of Jeff cutting trenches in the driveway pad with a rented backhoe. Unfortunately I can't find the "before" picture I took, but this is fairly early in the process.

Here's the pile of dirt that's been sitting in our backyard for a month or so now. Note the weed growing out of the dirt.




And below is Jeff trying to figure out how to use a saw that he borrowed from a friend. He bought a 10'x10' canopy to protect him from the elements while he's out working. Yay, Jeff!

Tune in soon for more progress!

Melina's first plane trip

Just got back from a short vacation in Nevada, where we met up with Jeff's dad and stepmom. Despite several near disasters, we had a relaxing and fun time.

The first near-disaster came just as we were leaving to go to the airport, and I realized my car key had broken in half - there was just a short stub left on my keychain. Jeff found a replacement key in the basement and we managed to drive to the airport. However, once we got there we realized the replacement didn't open the trunk, where all our luggage was stowed. (It just occurred to me that the key must have broken off after we packed all our things in the trunk!). Jeff had disabled the automatic trunk latch, so I had visions of missing our flight while we waited around for a locksmith to arrive. Luckily we managed to get in through the passenger seats, and we made it comfortably to the gate.

At the gate, we were picked out for a special security check. This meant that they had to go through all our bags, which were full of baby food, diapers, toys, and all the myriad accoutrements of a traveling baby. It also meant they had to frisk Melina, our little terror suspect. She took it well, holding out her arms to the security lady to be picked up. Then she grabbed her badge on its elasticized cord and snapped it back in her face. Way to go, Melina.

On the plane, Melina entertained a family of women behind us and spent most of the time trying to crawl around in the aisles. She didn't seem to mind the takeoff and landing, although she studied the safety card extensively.

In Vegas, we got a free upgrade on our room at the Monte Carlo (probably because they knew Melina was a high-stakes gambler), so we enjoyed a very nice luxury suite. Melina napped, and Jeff went downstairs to find us food. He came back with salads from McDonalds, which he was destined to live off of for the next several days. I have to admit that their new salads are pretty good.

The next day (after Melina's naps) we found a Whole Foods market, where we stocked up on tofu, fruit, and quinoa cakes for our little organic baby, and then drove to Mesquite. Mesquite is one of those desert towns that really shouldn't be there. It's far too dry (though they have their own spring, which produces hard, unpleasant tasting water) and it's hot, hot, hot. Of course, golf courses and developments are springing up everywhere. We stayed at the Casablanca Resort, a big pink building with a casino, a buffet, cafe, fancy restaurant, spa, Starbucks, and a very nice pool with a waterfall, waterslide, and plenty of palm trees. For the next three days, we alternated between reading in the hotel room while Melina napped; sitting by the pool; swimming with the baby; drinking froufrou drinks; visiting Starbucks for iced coffee and green tea; and losing small amounts of money at the slot machines.

On our second day we drove up to a corner of Zion National Park and went for a hike. The trail was at 6,000 feet so it wasn't too hot. We tried out our new Kelty backpack, which worked very well. Melina (who has suddenly become very conscientious about greeting people) waved goodbye to every hiker we passed. (She hasn't quite gotten "hi" down yet). We hiked up to a cool grotto in the red rock cliffs, where the sound of dripping water and screaming ravens echoed through the canyons.

On Sunday, Mother's Day, I treated myself to the "Dead Sea experience" at the resort spa. First I was rubbed down with salt, then I was steamed for a while, then I was covered with mud, then showered off, and then anointed with sweet-smelling lotions. I was given a bathrobe and a full day pass to the quiet gardens and pools behind the spa. Needless to say, it was very relaxing, and I realized that I need to do it again. Soon.

At the end of the trip we left Mesquite and went back to Vegas, where we did not receive a room upgrade, but found ourselves adjoining a loud neighbor through a thin wall. We moved rooms, dragging our eight pieces of luggage with us. That includes the plastic booster seat, the car seat, the Kelty backpack, the cooler full of tofu and other half-eaten baby food, the backpack full of toys, the diaper bag, the baby, and our own luggage.

Once settled, we went out on the town with Melina. We met up with Jeff's dad & Alba at Il Fornaio, an Italian restaurant in the New York, New York casino. Melina behaved herself fabulously and we had a really nice time. On the way back, Melina was awed by the bright lights and neon. Throughout the whole trip, she showed an affinity for the slot machines, and was repeatedly told that babies are not allowed to loiter near the slots.

On our last night, Frank & Alba watched Melina for a few hours so Jeff and I could go out on the town. Since we weren't organized or motivated enough to buy show tickets, we were free to roam the strip, and ended up at the top of the faux Eiffel Tower at the Paris casino. From there we could see the fountains at the Bellagio and the strip in all its glory. The next day, after hours of trekking down the strip, across pedestrian bridges, and through casinos, we went to the Shark Reef exhibit at Mandalay Bay, which was very well done. Basically, it's an aquarium of predatory fish and sharks, set inside an ancient, sunken stone temple. I'm glad we went.

The trip home last night was unremarkable. Melina fell asleep as the plane took off (thank God) and woke up as the plane landed. She cried a bit, but it was manageable. Jeff took off to retrieve our car, ending the trip with the same small near-disasters that we began with. First he went to the wrong parking lot, then when he arrived, the battery was dead. Luckily he got a jumpstart and picked us up at 11:30, just as Melina and I were about to blow our mutual gaskets.

All in all, it was a relaxing trip. Melina did great, although we are still somewhat sleep deprived, and traveling with all her luggage can be exhausting. I feel a little more confident about going on plane trips with her in the future - though not too soon.

First year appointment

Melina had her one-year well-baby appointment yesterday. She continues to be a skinny little stringbean with a big head. Her official stats are: 90th percentile for head size; 75th for height; and 20th for weight. The doctor said that based on her current height, it's likely she'll be 5'6" as an adult. It's strange to have this glimpse of the future Melina. Will her hair be blond, red, or brunette? Will her eyes ever decide between green, gray, brown or blue? Will she be a Democrat or a Green Party member? The doctor couldn't tell me.

Today we leave for a short trip to Las Vegas and Mesquite, Nevada. Given Melina's nap schedule, I expect to be spending a lot of time reading in a hotel room, interspersed with trips to the swimming pool. It will be her first plane flight, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of her with her favorite chew toy, a bottle of Infant Tylenol.

Four molars

Poor baby M is getting four molars at once. They look wicked, too - little wicked sharp points poking up through her gums, three per molar. This afternoon she just cried and cried, which is really unusual. I gave her some Tylenol and that seemed to help. She has 12 teeth now, which is a lot for a one-year-old.

An Interview with Jennifer Margulis

Jennifer Margulis is the author of the new book Why Babies Do That: Baffling Baby Behavior Explained, an entertaining look at some of the most frequently asked questions about our mysterious little family members. Jennifer is also editor of, and contributing author to Toddler: Real Life Stories of Those Fickle, Irrational, Urgent, Tiny People We Love, a compendium of thoughtful and funny essays by moms and dads of toddlers. Jennifer is the creative nonfiction editor of the online journal LiteraryMama and contributes to the Mother Talk series of literary salons. I interviewed her about her recent book and how she gets the time to write with three little ones at home.

Octopus Jenny: Tell me a little about Why Babies do That and how you got the idea to write the book.

Jennifer M: The publisher actually invited me to write this book. They have a series (Why Dogs Do That, Why Cats Do That, etc.) and they wanted to branch out into baby books. The editor was actually expecting her first child and I think that was one of their motivations. But the idea behind the book is to inspire and inform parents, especially new parents, about baby behavior. Babies are bizarre little creatures, they do a lot of weird stuff, and this book helps explain why. So it's meant to be both informative and reassuring (and fun to read).

O.J.: How did you learn the answers to these questions?

Jennifer M: I spent several months researching the answers, talking to specialists (psychologists, doctors, researchers, and moms--who are the ones who know the most). I have also worked on a child survival campaign in Africa and have three children of my own. So I brought my professional and personal experience to the book as well.

O.J.: What was the most interesting thing you learned about babies while you were researching the book?

Jennifer M: That's a hard question to answer. I learned so many interesting things. Perhaps the most interesting was about head banging. I had no idea it was so normal or common (I have three children and no head bangers) and that even babies who are getting lots of attention may bang their heads. The American Academy of Child Psychiatry has reported that up to 20% of otherwise normal babies will bang their heads. I mentioned this at a talk I gave and there were so many people in the audience nodding in agreement--all parents of head bangers who were otherwise normal, healthy kids.

O.J.: Tell me a little about your other book, Toddler.

Jennifer M: Toddler is the book I wanted to read but couldn't find on the shelves when my girls were little. I had my first two children 19 months apart and to say I felt like I was going crazy is a gross understatement. My "easy" baby morphed into a really challenging toddler and my second child came out screaming and screamed for what felt like forever. I wanted to see how other parents tackled the toddler years--I was so hungry for real-life stories from real moms and dads. How to books never really helped me (though I read them and continue to read them) but I always appreciated reading about other peoples experiences. That's why I like to read blogs, too.

O.J.: You mean my little angel could become... difficult? Say it ain't so.

Jennifer M: Not your baby, of course!

O.J.: Do you have any favorite blogs you can recommend to parents of young ones?

Jennifer M: There are so many good blogs out there for new parents. I really like “So Close,” “Fussy,” and “Suburban Turmoil,” but there are dozens of others I enjoy reading as well. (And if you visit the blogs that are stops on my baby blog book tour, you’ll find all the best ones!)

O.J.: Based on reading Toddler, it sounds like your mom was, um, a challenge. How does she feel about the book?

Jennifer M: She said: "ripped jeans, floss in my teeth? Sounds like an accurate description of me!" and she has bought books for everyone she knows, and continues to give them as gifts. My mom is very upfront about her shortcomings and never pretended to be a good mom, or to like being a mom. She's an internationally known microbiologist, one of the only women ever elected to the National Academy of Science. She's been awarded a presidential medal of honor. So at least she has a legitimate excuse for neglecting us!

O.J.: Any other books in the works?

Jennifer M: I'm working on a book about West Africa right now, and I just found out that my family and I will spend next year in Niger. I got a Fulbright Fellowship and I'll be researching the book and teaching a class or two at the university in Niamey.

O.J.: That sounds fantastic. How do you think your kids will handle the transition? Are you doing anything special to prepare them?

Jennifer M: I think it will be easier for my little ones than for my husband, who doesn’t like the heat. We talk about it all the time, we’re learning French together, we play pretend stuffy games about going on airplanes and being in Africa. It will be a huge change for all of us but it should be a fascinating experience.

O.J.: How's your blog tour going?

Jennifer M: It's wonderful so far. It's great to see what bloggers write about. Fussy's entry was hilarious and I had a PR person in Portland (whom I've corresponded with because I'm working on updating a guidebook) who reads her regularly tell me she was buying the book for a friend. It's amazing to be able to go all the way to South Africa (So Close is on the tour. Her stop was May 2nd) and Western Australia but stay in my pajamas!

O.J.: Finally, how DO you find the time for all these projects with three kids? Some days I can barely find the time to make myself a bowl of cereal.

Jennifer M: It's not easy and if you could see my house right now (it looks like a train crashed in the living room--the kids decided to make a fort with the couch and... well, I'll spare you the details) you wouldn't be so impressed. Seriously, housework is the first thing to go. In order to be a productive writer (and this is the way my husband and I support our family of five) and an attentive mom, I really have to prioritize. I don't get enough sleep and my house is often a disaster (which is honestly hard for me. I used to look forward to cleaning my apartment on Saturday mornings when I was in my 20s!).

I also write magazine articles, my weekly column in the Ashland Daily Tidings called "Tales From the Crib," and a monthly travel article. And I consult with other writers to help them get published. Writing is my job. If I don't do it we don't eat. I think that's the secret. Also, I have a very supportive husband who also works from home and we switch off with the kids as much as possible to give each other time to write. I really care about being a good mom though, which is why I'm often sleep-deprived. Even if I have a pressing deadline, I wait until the kids go to sleep before I finish any work leftover from the morning (morning is my time to write, afternoon is my husband's). My other secret is dried mango. I swear it makes you smarter and more focused and I eat dollar-depleting quantities of it when I'm on deadline.

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.