Good Fortune

Sorry for the delay in posting there has been far too much work going on here and not enough play. We are all doing well and looking forward to a rapidly approaching trip to the southern hemisphere. We still are wondering what we were tinking paying good money for the pooprtunity to be on a plane with an 11 month old for upwards of 14 hours at a stretch but I guess our idea of fun has become a little warped.

ANyway, Fiona is wonderful of course, still has just the two teeth. she spends a lot of time playing with them.

Fiona went with us on a date to the chinese place, she had her first fortune cookie, our three fortunes that night were:
1: You are a traveler at heart. there will be many journeys
2: Pain is not a bad thing; it is simply something one attempts to avoid.
3: You are a bundle of energy, always on the go.

I think that they were picked especially for her.

She continues to make attempts at being bipedal though if she needs to get somewhere fast she crawls. I will miss the crawling, Watching her little bum go off down the hall is priceless.

ANd just to brag, Fiona has slept through the night 10+ hours for more than a week now. We continue to make offerings to the gods in this regard.

Louise and fiona on the cliffs

Fiona's first fortune cookie

Teething

Looking at fish at the chinese place with her dad.

Single Parenting

HI All, Devon has been away since Saturday and I honestly cannot figure out how single parenting would work. I need a break more than I have ever needed a break, of course Fiona is sick and teething and in the limbo of switching between three and two naps a day so it has been, let us say, "interesting." Last night I put her to bed a full 30 minutes earlier than usual because she made the grave mistake of rubbing her eyes while I was looking for any excuse to put her to bed early. I just needed a bit of a rest too. Devon gets back at noonish today, thank goodness!

She is still wonderful, even if she has driven me mad this week. Here are a couple of pictures to share, the top on is just to display how marvelously round she is-look at that tummy, the second is one of me around the same age from a slide that Beryl gave to me. It seems that we both enjoyed swinging well enough.

Hope that you are all well,
Love
Louise

One month and counting!

That is one month until our trip to Australia and New Zealand. Fiona has her passport and she even has a monogrammed bag that is her's for the plane. We have been having a hectic but lovely time since our last post. Devon keeping busy with grants and papers and preparing a talk. Fiona has takrn her first few steps, that was about a week ago but since has decided that crawling is more efficient. that's fine as we aren't quite ready to see her growing up so quickly.
Fiona is getting quite good at waving hello and good bye and does so often. She still gets up in the night for milk and companionship and we are hoping to break her of this little habit ASAP, but we are both helpless to avoid her charms. Here are a few pictures of her recent escapades at the park and in the livingroom. Love
Louise

Snowboarding

Last weekend Devon, Fiona, and I went snowboarding up in the sierras, Fiona had her first babysitting with Terry as Devon and I went on a few runs together. What a wonderful break for us and Fiona had a lovely time too it seems.

She is doing very well, she can stand by herself without holding on for about 15 seconds as of the last couple of days. Its amazing to see her changing so much. Walking can't be too far away now.

Love
Louise

Tooth number two

Tooth number two is here, tooth one is growing taller, Fiona spends a lot of time touching her teeth, picking at them with her fingernails, she looks for things to chew on. Here she is with a coaster and a sock.

Fiona getting the camera

I was trying to get a video of Fiona doing something else but this is what I got instead.

Still almost walking

Well a few days on (sorry for the hiatus) and we are still at the almost walking phase. It is trying on our nerves as we watch Fiona come close to whacking herself on all sorts of things from new and perilous heights. It's wonderful to watch her get the hang of it though, holding on less and less and balancing on her own more and more. Not too long from now she will have been out in the world longer than she was inside...sort of a strange milestone but meaningful to me.

She really likes being read to and has some favourite books already: "Time for Bed" (see picture) and "Chica Chica ABC's" The latter was from Devon's cousin Lisa and co, I imagine that particular rhyme is still in their heads too.

She still doesn't quite sleep through the night as regularly as we would like but I'm sure that those days will slip away too. Last night she woke up three times, not really hungry, but wanting comfort. Neither of us (me or Devon) has much in the way of parental will power at night so she seems to be ending up with us on the rough nights. Each night we steel ourselves to be strong about her cries and whimpers, we're pretty much suckers at this point but are OK with it.

Not much else going on here, just staying warm and looking forward to spring travels.

Love
Louise

Almost Walking

Fiona is walking along slowly holding the edge of the couch now. It's hard to believe that she's so "competent" when it seems, not so long ago we brought this little angry bundle home from the hospital. At the same time it is hard to imagine that we ever were without her....funny that.

Hot Tub!!

Even though this is not strictly a Fiona-related entry, I think some blog readers would like to know that today, January 6, 2007, at 2 in the afternoon, the solar heated hot tub reached 106 degrees F!!! We immediately commenced the inaugural soaking during Fiona’s afternoon nap, and it was worth all the effort already.

Some may remember that this project was conceived about the same time Fiona was born, when Nanna Jane was here, and construction actually began in July, but progress was slow (see other blog entries for possible reasons for delays).

Nice that it finally worked, even with the cold Santa Cruz January --below 40F at night!!! Brrrr!

Happy New Year

Hi Everyone,
I hope that you have all survived the holidays and are beginning to enjoy a wonderful new year. We had a quiet new year here that had Fiona in bed at her usual time and Devon and I passed out at 10:30 in advance of the witching hour. Fiona woke up at 12:30 for a feed and as I picked her up out of her crib I wished her her first happy new year.

She's lately figured out that she can pull herself up in just about anything , stable or not. This isn't really a problem except that she wakes up in the night and instead of staring at the ceiling and going back to sleep she remembers that she has this wonderful skill, climbs up and stands in her crib, she doesn't know how to climb back down yet so then she cries, nay screams for assistance which doesn't go over well between midnight and say 7AM. So if anyone has any advice please lend it now, we need it.

Love
Louise

PS the picture is of fiona helping her dad light the fire on new year's eve, notice the standing prowess.

First Tooth!

Just in time for the new year....Fiona has her first tooth poking through.
more later, love louise

That's gotta hurt!

Fiona learning to walk-- we don't need no fancy walker!

Fiona's 1st Christmas

Santa left a heap of prezzies here for Fiona, We had a wonderful day here with John and Vicki. Lots of good food, a warm fire, mimosas for breakfast. This is Fiona in her fancy strawberry hat from our good friend Dina (which came in equally lovely wrapping paper) and her "Santa Rocks" shirt from her grandad Ken. Well post a video shortly of Fiona figuring out the bipedal thing christmas day. She's been pulling herself up well for a week or so but moving forward is new again.

Hope everying is well,
Love
Louise

Where do you keep your giraffe?

As you can see Fiona is doing well, She's figured out how to bring her giraffe along wherever she goes. It's been cold and we have been avoiding lighting the fire beause the wood stove is too enticing for fiona but we invested in a "Fiona proof fence" so we can now leave the room for brief stretches and know that she can only marvel at the fireplace from a distance. We're looking forward to Fiona's first Christmas. John and Vicki will be up from Pacific Grove, we have a pear tree as a christmas tree this year, hopefully we'll be able to have a couple of pears from it next autumn. We hope all of you are warn and well, wherever you are and we'll post a christmas message on the day.
Love
Louise

Crawling Video

Dancing

Well we found the camera, These things can take a little while, so today as promised i will post the crawling video. We're as stoked as ever in Casa Pearse...Spent the morning, before nap-time, dancing in the living room. Fiona loves to dance!

Forward!

Hi All, I still haven't found my camera but as soon as I do I'll get a video of Fiona crawling forwards. She's getting better and better at it by the hour. It is amazing to be able to watch her learn the moves she needs and to see what sort of things excite her to go forward. My shoes are high on the list of tantalizing treats. She occasionally gets turned a little sideways and crawls more like a crab than a baby. Watching her little self crawl just makes me want to pick her up and cuddle her for being so wonderful, but I know she needs to practice.
Love
Louise

December already!

Well before we even realized it we have rolled into the middle of december. We are all doing well, Fiona has started to crawl forward a little. She is still much more efficient going backwards but despite this makes heartwarming attempts at forward motion. We still spend a lot of time just watching and playing with her. I have temporarily misplaced the camera and once I find it will post some photos again. Were looking forward to a lovely christmas here in Santa Cruz, a storm is brewing today and the fire is blazing in the fireplace. Devon is looking forward to a big ocean swell due in tonight.
Oh, I almost forgot, Fiona is now eating the occasional "cheerio" (wheat free organic of course), and today munched on some chunks of banana herself. She's pretty good at getting things to her mouth but a piece of slippery banana can put up a good fight.
Take care,
love
louise

Boxcar movie

Here is the movie to go with the last photo of Fiona...Driving around the living room floor with her dad in front of a warm fireplace.

Boxcar Baby

Hi All, back to still pictures for a little while: Devon and I both remember making cars out of boxes when we were little. What fun to drive Fiona around the livingroom!!!
She's still only crawling backwards but around here we take what we can get.
Love
Louise

The Dummy Trick

Here is Fiona showing her dummy placement skills, usually if you put two dummys in front of her she gets caught in a loop exchanging one for the next, of course when I try to catch it on video she needs a prompt. Check out the "almost crawling!!"

Multitasking

As you can see Fiona is Jumping and giving attention to the written word as well.

Video

fiona learning to reach out

I'm branching out and giving moving pictures a try. This is Fiona last month working out how to sit and play she's better at it now, I'll post another video soon. If it works and y'all can view without trouble I'll keep posting them as well as photos. Let me know how it works (you'll have to play your own theme music because this is a silent movie.
Love
Louise

Forward Progress

Hi All,
We are enjoying our first rainy weekend of the season in Santa Cruz. Indoor life isn't too bad though. Fiona is getting more mobile by the day, At the moment she sits up and jumps along on her bum which propels her forward. She also makes a little extra forward motion by bending and straightening her legs alternately while sitting up. She almost never does face plants from sitting anymore, she even caught herself mid fall this morning with her hands. She still thinks that clapping is done with your feet, It mat be a shock when she learns the rest of us use our hands.
As you can see by the photo she has a lot to keep her busy in the sun by the front door. She is content to play by herself for long periods until something is too far out of reach and requires parental assistance. Mostly, we are equally busy watching from our tasks and marvelling at how lucky we are.

Love
Louise and Devon

Date Night

A special thanks to John and Vicki who came over to give Louise some rest yeaterday afternoon and to babysit Fiona for an evening date for her parents. Having them here we took advantage of a chance to duplicate a moment from 32 years ago when Devon, John, and Ken Pearse posed for a photo in the living room of our house. A few things are different in the recreation but here are John, Devon, and Fiona Pearse. Note The absence of a beer-gut, some house remodeling, the renewal of "muttonchops," and Fiona's inability to copy the pose from the original in the recent picture. Even so a good time was had by all.

self pacification

Fiona is getting better and better at putting her dummy (pacifier) in by herself. It's not always the right way up but it seems to work.

Big Pants

When Jane was here when Fiona was born she made several pairs of overalls for Fiona. I thought that they were impossibly big for the tiny baby we had then. But, here is fiona fitting into her big pants. Thanks Jane for thinking ahead.

Love
Louise

Happy Halloween

It's Fiona's First Halloween. She doesn't have much idea about it this time around. She Liked the pumpkins though, Maybe she'll get to eat a little of one of them after they are cooked.

Six months already!!!

It's been six months since Fiona was born. Half a year and we still don't know what we're doing, but were having a wonderful time doing it.

Fiona had her six months immunizations today. She weighed in at 17 pudgy pounds.

Take Care

Love
Louise

Back from So Cal

Hi Everyone,
We're back from Laguna Beach. Fiona clocked her longest car trip yet at 8 hours each way (think Fiona and Devon in the front of the truck and her mum in the back seat pumping milk and handing it forward).
It was a lovely weekend. Her first wedding, that of Brent and Jen her second cousins (we think). She did well with the ceremony but a little less well with the reception. It turns out if Devon and I want to dance we need to leave her with a babysitter, loud music and clapping aren't her cup of tea. On the bright side, she got to meet a lot of relatives that hadn't seen her yet. The whole Buchsbaum clan and Jim and Mary Jo Nathan from Chicago. She Enjoyed Laguna beach and joined her usual drinking buddy, Devon for a pint at a Laguna Brewery. As always it was wonderful to stop driving and sleep in our own bed last night. Luna who stayed home to "hold the fort" was happy to see us home and was more spritely than usual.
As she is now officially six months old, this morning Fiona had her first "solid" foo: a tablespoon of rice cereal mixed with her usual milk and fed to her with a spoon. She needs to work a little on mouth's coordination but she enjoyed her meal and we look forward to introducing her to more and more variety there is a really ripe banana waiting for her. Ready the bibs!!!

We hope that y'all are well.
Love
Louise and Devon and Fiona

getting ready for adventure

Hi Everyone,

A new sdventure waits. The family, without luna unfortunatly, will be driving to Laguna Beach in southern California to go to Devon's Cousin's wedding. We're thinking it is about a 6 hour drive, past experiences have not deterred us yet so we'll leave here tomorrow morning and try to be flexible along the way. While we're in Laguna Beach Foina will get to meet a good chunk of that side of the family including Jim and Mary Jo from Chicago. Devon of course will get some paddling in and I would like to get to see the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. The weather should be lovely and so Fiona And I will try to squeeze in some walks.
She's not crawling yet but spends a lot of time complaining about not being able to get around when she's on her tummy, she still drools quite a bit but there are no teeth showing up, and she still loves her daddy.
Take care,
love
Louise

luna and spoons

Hi everyone. our crazy schedule marches on with all of us in tow. Fiona is doing well despite missing out on a couple of naps yesterday and driving her tired mum to the brink of daycare.

Here are a few of new pictures. One showing how Luna's life will change once Fiona starts getting around on her own. Fiona adores Luna and has mare a few moves to try to get Luna's ears into the tractor beam of a mouth she has.

Tha other two pictures are of fiona trying out her new spoons. She's getting the hang of them before we atart loading them up with real food in a few weeks. For the time being they are a delight all on their own.

Love
Louise

Big Sur

Today is Monday and we got back yesterday from an autumn weekend down on Big Sur at a place called Sand Dollar Beach. It's only a couple of hours drive from here, down one of the most spectacular roads around. Fiona wasn't the best sleeper on the trip but we all had a good time. Perhaps the memories of her waking up all night will fade and we'll just remember the beautiful smiles and walks on the beach. Anyway, Devon went surf kayaking with some friends and Fiona and I enjoyed the beach, luna had some un fettered romping on the beach as well, though not as much as she would like to have had. Notice Fiona's fancy backpack... She's getting pretty heavy, so ways to carry her that don't leave her mum and dad aching are a plus.

I hope that you are all well and enjoying a change of seasons wherever you are.
Love
Louise

Between Louise working nights, and me working days, it seems like most of what we do is catch up on sleep. This week was extra busy with our friends Claire and Chad staying with us while they packed up their lives in Santa Cruz to move, like all good friends, to Oregon. We sent them on their way on Saturday, and then went to the Farmer's Market to stock up on summer veggies to make into baby food. This is actually planning ahead, since we haven't started Fiona on real food yet, but as you can see Louise is really looking forward to not being Fiona's sole food source!

Off to work, sleep, repeat,

D

night duty

As you can see fiona is getting better at sitting and can get her feet right into her mouth. But what I don't have a picture of is how rested I feel today. Devon has had a few nights in a row of it. Fiona slept from 10 until 6 straight though last night and the night before she did the same thiong for Devon while I was at work. It is wonderful and even if it a phase she is going through we'll enjoy it while it lasts. Our schedule with me working nights and Devon on Days is a bit odd and we don't see eachother as much as we'd like to but it's not for forever and knowing Fiona is safe in her bed at night makes it possible for me to drive off to work.

I hope that y'all are rested too.

Love
Louise

Finding feet

Hi All, We survived our first week of louise working nights. Luna got the most sleep, Fiona got the second most sleep, follwed by vicki and john, coming in last, louise. But we are all well, Fiona learned to sleep in the crib at her grandparent's house. The first night was rough apparently, the last night was lauded as a good one by John and Vicki.

As you can see Fiona has discovered her feet which is much better at nappy changing time than finding her bum which was her old trick.

Thank you for all your positive thoughts this week, they really must have worked.

Love
Louise

still standing

Fiona is stillenjoying her exersaucer. Sometimes she gets frustrated at her inability to get everything in her mouth the way she want to but it still gives us enough time to prepare a meal or run to the toilet.

We're getting ready for a crazy week next week. Devon is going away for the first time since Fiona was born, and it also happens to be the week when I start working the 11-7 shift at the hospital. John and Vicki are coming to the rescue, or rather we are going there. Fiona and I are moving the show down to Pacific Grove for the better part of the week. They'll look after her on the night shift and I'll try to nap when she does. I know we'll be OK. Devon for his part is looking forward to long stretches of uninterrupted sleep and two handed time in New York.

I'll try to give a mid chaos post but I'm not promising.
Love
Louise