Beach Bums

Today was a beautiful day in Santa Cruz...as good as it gets really. No fog, warm and sunny, gentle waves lapping at the beach. We took Fiona for a play at the beach after her afternoon nap. Everyone was in a good mood. We rode our bikes there.
Of course the day started off well for Fiona getting a little reading in unencumbered by her potty. This happens to be The Comic News she's reading and Fiona is wearing her new blue backpack (thanks Grammie)
After this and a couple of meals and naps we were off to the beach here are a few pictures:

Big Day

Hi All, it was a big day here, two very short naps and a trip to the used baby store and the pool. I don't have pictures of most of it but Devon cam e home from work and took over on the baby duty. I sat. Needed it. He got to read "Siesta" and play with the puzzle. Fiona is not too adept yet with the puzzle, has a bit of trouble lining things up but generally knows where the animals should be.
As for the books, she has quite a library and brings certain books depending on her mood. Some she is looking for certain things on each page and others she just has a favourite page that she jumps to every time.

Here are some pictures:



Puzzle
THis is fiona's self portrait, she pushed the button.

Hungry Gorilla

Recently, Vicki brought over a calendar for Fiona to see pictures of of gorillas. This one is of a gorilla signing that it wants to eat. When Fiona looks at the picture she responds to it by giving her own sign that tells us that she is hungry. Empathy. I'm not sure, but she sure seems brilliant to me.
Here is Fiona from this morning taking advantage of Devon who was lying on the floor not reading, she climbed up on him with her nappy in his face, and put the book in his hands. Subtle eh! I'm not sure if Devon could see much of what he was reading but Fiona babbled along with the turning pages in a sing-song voice not much in the way of words but reading none the less.

Snakes!

Fiona keeping busy riding in her ar seat with a collection of toys.
Fiona riding on Devon's Back while chasing snakes inland from Pescadero with our Friends Jeff and Melissa. Fiona got to touch a snake and a lizard (not the rattlesnake!!!), We kept her out later than responsible parents really should have, but it was a wonderful place and the company was good.

More soon.

Redwoods

I don't have a photo of yesterday but here is what we did. We had a wonderful time. We took Fiona on her first (on foot) hike in the redwood forest. It was wonderful. Giant Redwood trees reaching up into a summer evening sky...The smell of redwood dust mixed with the scent of the laurel trees warmed by the setting sun riding on a gentle breeze from the ocean. Devon and I have hiked that trail lots of times together but walking with Fiona between us holding a finger from each of us we felt so lucky. She made a point to step on every rock in the trail, picked up sticks, occasionally teetered towards the poison oak(making me nervous), she tossed stones into the creek, pointed into her ear as she listened for birds, and squealed with delight at the other dogs on the trail or when Luna rejoined us after a jaunt through a meadow...and then Fiona had to rush home and go right to bed.

I hope you are all well,
Love
Louise

V Day

So today Fiona was wandering around in the yard (naked as a jay bird) when she stopped, grabbed her potty, and placed it carefully in front of a good patch of flowers. She sat down, without putting her feet in the bowl, and after a couple of minutes VOILA....her first solo, poo in the potty. We had a small celebration before sending it down the toilet, this may be the start of something. we'll keep you posted.

First Artwork

Hi All, life bustles right along with fiona honing her walking skills. She has recently taken to turning in circles as if to make herself dizzy, she walks backwards and sideways, and is getting increasingly proficient at opening doors and cupboards. Here is her first foray into the art world.
I can see that we are going to need a place to keep her pictures soon, the fridge just won't be big enough!
love
Louise

Cherry Plum Bum

Hi All, we are in the warm lovely days of June when the cherry plum tree in our back yard produces fruit. Last year the crop was poor, affected by a late freeze and wind storm, this year it made up for that by producing a bumper crop. We collect them in huge buckets and are processing them as fast as we can. Devon is about to resort to fermenting them. As it turns out Fiona loves cherry plums too. Her bum however has a little problem with the after effects of lots of acid fruit. It s difficult to keep her away from them as they are all over the house and yard. As you can see she helps herself, pits and all. I suppose that it's good that she likes fruit so much. Just wish she was old enough to help with the pitting.

Love
Louise

Fiona in the morning

Lately we have been enjoying sleeping in more often, don't get us wrong, Fiona still wakes up at sparrowfart but we have a trick: Stock the farthest places in the house with the most loved toys, and in the morning when she is itching to get onto the bed and rub books into your face remind her gently that her penguin, her ant, the ball, nay Luna is in need of finding and off she goes for a few minutes allowing her parents to eek a few more minutes of sleep out of the night.
We hope you're getting more sleep than us,
Love
Louise

Wishful Thinking

Hi all, It has been a long time since I posted anything new, but we have been well and enjoying our start to summer here. We were busy agonizing over a car purchase for a few weeks in there and finally got a new family station wagon. with lots of bells and whistles and a backseat for Fiona and a place for Luna too.
The new car is very plush compared with what we have been used to, we also got Fiona's little green potty which is a bit of wishful thinking but we hope that she has potetntial in this area. For the moment she spends a lot of time running around in the sunshine "sans pants" being surprised by her piddles when they happen.
I hope that she is making connections in this area, learning to sit on the potty can be a challenge, it's surprising the ways she choses to sit on it not knowing the custom, feet in the bowl are never a good idea.

Love
Louise

Whirlwind

Here are a few pictures of Fiona's Aunty Ju's whirlwind trip to Central California. We visited her In San Francisco, rode a cable car, Froze ourselves in the fog at Fisherman's Wharf, saw the golden Gate, winetasted in Santa Cruz, shopped downtown, and got to Monterey for the aquarium. A whirlwind but wonderful to have Family visiting.
Love
Louise

Aunty Ju and Fiona making pink friends in downtown Santa Cruz. What a wonderful day!
Fiona, Devon, Ju, and Louise outside the Mark twain Hotel in SF.
Fiona Riding with us on the cable car. At this age she isn't allowed to hang of the outside like her mum.
Fiona helping with a big cup of Horchata, note the new use of her straw skills. Incidentally Horchata, a mexican rice drink spiced with cinnamon is her first drink that wasn't milk or water.

The purse

Fiona carting her purse around. Actually, is is mine. She was playing with it one day, inadvertantly got it over her head and is now enamoured of being able to carry it around and stash toys in it. Very funny to watch.

Also Funny...to watch is Fiona sharing her bottle with her "Ugly" baby a recent yard sale find. She thinks it's lovely and can point out it's teeth, tummy, fingers, feet and ears, we're working on the other bits too but those are slower.

Our schedule is much more civilized now that we have fiona's babysitter "Nataly" coming a couple of times a week. Fiona is still a bit hit and miss with the sleeping business but we're doing OK with it.

Thanks for checking in,
Love
Louise

What a difference a year makes...

Last year on Mothers Day my mother Jane was here, Devon's mother Vicki, and I with Fiona walked along beautiful west cliff drive together. I was still feeling a little tired considering the newborn schedule, i was nervous about having Fiona out in the big world, but it was a lovely day and I will remember it as my first mother's day forever. This Mothers Day Devon is away and Fiona and I are hanging out (with Luna too of course), it's been warm and sunny in the afternoons and Fiona has been enjoying her naked outside time, splashing in whatever water she can find. What a difference a year makes, I'm still tired a lot of the time but I really feel as though I'm getting the hang of Fiona now, at least for this week.

Thanks for checking in,
Love
Louise

Back to real life

Fiona in her New red dress suit from Jim and Mary Jo Nathan

Fiona nad her dad going for a ride on "Fiona's Bike"

New Found joy in playing oursiide, the warm weather helps.

Fiona's upgraded car seat, now she can look forward in the car!

So we've been settling in for the better part of three weeks and Fiona is doing well though she has yet to sleep through the night. This has been somewhat exacerbated by a little cough and the long daylight hours here as we head towards the solstice. As always despite the lack of sleep we will be keeping her and continue to love her. Fiona has been walking exclusively since our return and she continues to show her mighty will, sometimes at the most inopportune moments. Yesterday I was at the grocery store trying to talk to the baker about a cake for a party...Fiona spotted a display with a large cartoon character in the store and nodded her head furiously pionting and climbing up mummy in an attempt to get to it. A few gentle "no's" led to screaming and we left the store withough making any headway ont he cake. Oh well, I suppose that this is the start of discipline for us. Devon and I are venturing into very unfamiliar waters here, and any advice would be appreciated.

more soon
love
louise

Tempest in a toddler

Hi all, I havent' got any new pictures off the camera lately but there are some good ones coming. I love this one, Fiona asleep in Byron bay on our recent vacation. Since we have returned home Fiona has discovered tantrums which was a shock to us. I have no idea where she figured out how to do it. If she isn't getting her way she sits down and leans forward far enough to repeatedly bang her forehead on the floor. It is quite a site though I have been trying to ignore these little tempests when they occur. I hope that she can't knock anything loose in her head and that she finds a more constructive way to deal with frustration soon. In the meantime I'll try to capture one of these evens on camera, look for it here soon.
Love
Louise

PS: the first top tooth is peeking out quite far now and the walking has become in no uncertain terms her prefered method of travel.

Byron Bay

After a visit to Brisbane to meet Grandad Ken and his fancy new bike, we were off to the beach for the final leg of our journey. This time we went to Byron Bay in NSW. Fiona's Aunt Ju, Uncle Ben, and cousins Charlotte, Ollie, and Annie-Rose came along and we met up with Nanna Jane and Uncle Alex too. Fiona was thrilled to have three cousins to play with, or to be played with, and a good time was had by all. Why couldn't the ocean in Santa Cruz be the same temperature as in Byron Bay??
Building sand castles on the beach.
The back deck of the beach house, place of much relaxing.
Fiona being cool with her big cousins.
Home in time to eat her 1st Birthday cake!!

We have been busy getting fiona back on pacific daylight time, difficult to explain the concept of jet lag to a one year old at midnight but we're doing well and happy to be home. Thanks for reading.
Love
Louise, Devon, and Fiona

ps, lots more pics of the fam in Bryon are HERE

Kapunda!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After New Zealand we were off to Kapunda to see the rellies there, and of course do some work on Nanna Jane's house too. While there we took advantage of having Jane to babysit, and we parents went wine tasting by bicycle in the Barossa Valley. Other than that little tourist trip, we spent most of our time relaxing with family, throwing horseshoes, and eating meat pies.Fiona getting to know Nanna Jane and Buddah.
Cycling through the vineyards.
Fiona's favorite passtime--playing at the park!
Nanna Jane and Great-Grandma Beryl getting serious about the horseshoes.

New Zealand!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi All, Sorry for the delay in the trip report, we have been distracted with re-entry into our life this week and we were just having too much fun to blog while we were travelling.

We started out our trip with a wonderful holiday in New Zealand to recuperate after our first plane flight with Fiona. (We don't recommend getting on a plane with an baby in your care but the trip made it all worthwhile) Camper van, sheep, surf and sand, bungee (just for devon) plenty of parks and slides and swings, one waveski competition, a few meat pies, and a good dose of volcanic activity made it a great time for all

Louise and fiona lounging at the beach
Fiona and Devon looking at the national symbol
Fiona having her quotient of sand

short but scenic hikes are our new specialty with Fiona along. Notice devon contemplating the Kayaking that could have been done.

hello from kapunda

Hi all, we have arrived in kapunda SA and doing well....will post more tomorrow. Louise is hammered now, now allowed to type. more later. Love, Devon.

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