Going Somewhere?

Uh-oh, spaghetti...

O's...
Actually, it was penne with meatballs. We're trying to share more of our meals with Mather these days. She enjoys bagels with cream cheese and lox, english muffins with melted cheese, and all kinds of fruit and soft vegetables. Needless to say, a bath was in order after dinner tonight. Mather got these cool new bath toys at our playgroup gift exchange...


Over the weekend, we pondered whether a 13th lunaversary post was in order. I guess this is it. Updates from Mather's world include a few more words:

Socks (accidentally left off of last week's list) Socks are one of Mather's favorite toys. She puts them "on" her feet without putting her feet into them. She can also occupy herself at a sock drawer for a good 1/2 an hour... pulling them out, putting them back, etc., etc., etc.

Slide (new as of today) Dan called me at work this afternoon, he was at the playground with Mather. It went a little something like this, "Mather, do you have something to say to your momma?"... "SLAW"... "SLAW"... "SLAW"!!!

Mommy (pretty solid, as of this weekend) So, it's Saturday morning and Dan's on morning baby duty. I'm catching a few extra z's in bed, only to be awoken by, "Ma..... ma..... mommy!" Well, that got me out of bed pretty fast.

In other news, or lack thereof, Mather still only has two teeth! We swore she was teething for about 4 weeks - tons of drooling, a drool rash, a drool cough, crankiness, finger chewing, and the symptoms went on and on - it has all subsided now, but still no more teeth!! She's also staying well grounded with her crawling and cruising. She'll stand for pretty long stretches of time, but hasn't built up the confidence to take a step unassisted. There's a theory that your baby will either be a walker or a talker... we've got ourselves a talker here!

We'll try to shoot some video for you soon.

Gaining Words

Since starting to say "cat" (which now starts with a C), Mather has added the following words to her vocabulary:

Puppy (for both her stuffed dog...and poop)
Banana (pronounced Nanana)
Cheese (new as of today -- sounds like "she's")

and her favorite: Hi!

She says that all the time to strangers as we walk down the street. And they always say hi back!

Puck, R.I.P.

This is the final update in the continuing saga of Puck's life. He was never able to regain his weight after his arduous outdoor adventure. It was quite possible his internal organs were failing. He passed away Saturday.

Fortunately, he was able to go in peace and comfort. He seemed to enjoy his final weeks at home; still seeking out companionship and purring whenever he got attention. He and Mather even forged a nice little friendship before he went.

Birthday, round two

The Mather Birthday Season is now complete.

Mather and I met up with Grandpa Cary and Sheryl in San Diego over the weekend. We first enjoyed a bit of history with a visit to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Then we spent a little time bumming around Balboa Park. We all took naps in the late afternoon and our day ended with a wonderful dinner... Mather was well behaved even though it was WELL past her bedtime.

Sleepy girl snuggling with her Grandpa.

On Sunday morning, Mather donned her party hat once again. We had a lovely brunch with Grandpa, Sheryl, GrandMather, Great-Uncle Steven and Great-Aunt Joan.

Let's get this party started!

Wriggling worm... can you say "naptime?"

Mather traveled well. I don't know if she'll ever fall asleep on an airplane, but she was pretty content to play with crackers and tear up magazines. Her next expedition will be a trip to visit Grandpa in Las Vegas right after Christmas. For now, she'll keep her feet on the ground and pose for some beautiful pictures, enjoy...

Mather's First Word!

Mather has flirted with saying "Dadda" and "Momma" but she never really means it. Much to our chagrin, neither of us got to be her true, identifiable, consistent first word.

Click here to find out what it is!

Someday she'll figure out it starts with "C" instead of "G".

Birthday Festivities

On Thursday night, Mather got to tear into her gifts...

Christmas is going to be fun this year!!

On Saturday, we partied...

Here's the birthday girl with her buddies Isabel and Taj.

We hosted a birthday brunch. Mather enjoyed a marathon morning nap and was fashionably late, of course. Many friends came over to help us celebrate. There was lots of food, drink, and merriment. And, there was cake!...

Check out the birthday hat!
(thanks Nanna)

"Hmm, do I eat it, or play with it?"

"I guess I'll eat it!"

"Here, Dad, you finish the rest."

There will be a belated birthday brunch with my parents in Southern California this weekend, and that should round-out the Mather Birthday Season!

Birthday Girl!

Mather has come a long way in a year. Take a look at a retrospective...

November 1, 2006: Her first birthday

November, 2006: Snuggles help in the first month

December, 2006: The best stocking stuffer I've ever seen

January: Behind blue eyes

February: 28 days? That doesn't make sense!

March: Trying on her first dress

April: Introspection must start around this age...

May: Time for big girl food

June: Ready to play in the grass

July: Ready to play in the playground

August: Dog days of summer? Jump in the pool!

September: Ready to play during mealtime...

October: Picking a pumpkin!



One year in the books! We're looking forward to what will come in the next one.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATHER!!!

Arrrgh! Me Hearties.

What do you do with a pirate baby,
what do you do with a pirate baby,
what do you do with a pirate baby,
Early in the morning.

Roll her round and tickle her all over,
roll her round and tickle her all over,
roll her round and tickle her all over,
Early in the morning.

Arrrgh! Happy Halloween me hearties. The poor deckswabber has been sick so we won't be taken her to no parrrrrties, but she'll still be wearin' her best piratical garb. Tomorrow marks her big oh-1!

You can click on the collage above to see it full-sized.

Climbing to the Chimes

Mather's favorite activity at the Children's Playground in Golden Gate Park is climbing up the play-structure to a set of sturdy chimes.

Momily report

News from the eyes of Momily...

Mather has graduated to her "big girl" carseat. She will probably be in this seat until she is 4 years old.

First time in the infant seat

Last time in the infant seat

New seat!
She'll get to face forward once she is one year old and 20 pounds. She'll hit the one year mark in just a few weeks but the 20 pounds will probably be another few months.

Last weekend, Mather attended her first ladies tea hosted by the lovely Dr. Katie Brown. We were encouraged to wear old prom and bridesmaid dresses - I tried, but no luck on the prom dress this time around, instead I wore the outfit that I wore to Katie and Chris' wedding. Mather wore her dressiest (and silliest) outfit...

Pink Poodle Skirt!

Pink coat with black trim, and a polka dot ribbon closure.

Speaking of silly outfits... I put a pair of pants on Mather's head the other day, and she didn't take them off!!

Mather is also advancing in her culinary pursuits. As of yesterday, she is no longer a vegetarian. She enjoyed some of her dad's famous roasted chicken. And she's tackling bigger pieces of food these days, like whole steamed baby carrots, and whole bananas...

It almost looks like she's eating a burrito!

"So this is where they keep the good stuff!"

I'd also like to announce belated happy birth days to Celia and Ruby...

Celia Lenore Halter, born in the early wee-hours of September 21st.

Celia is the daughter of Daniel's former schoolmate
(and our down-the-street neighbor) Heather and her husband Terry.

Ruby Brixton Simon, born October 8th.
Daughter of my childhood friend Todd and his wife White.

In closing, I offer you this very sweet picture of Mather eating a cracker...

Dad Days

I've got a few amusing photos to share with you guys. First off (above), Mather has developed a very endearing habit of pressing her cheek against mine whenever I carry her up on my shoulders -- I've been holding her this way since February, but she really enjoys it now, and we can go for blocks. It's fun, but she'll kick or tug my ears when she wants me to go faster...


We also roughhouse now. I've been a Daddy Jungle Gym for a while, but before that just meant she'd crawl over me. Now we'll play on the floor or with her in my arms, and she'll smack me, headbutt me, grab at my ear and teeth and giggle the whole time doing it. In return I'll flip her around, hold her upside down, tickle her...this isn't how you can play with an infant. She's growing into something more, and she's become something pretty fun. In fact, she's graduated from the swingset and shaded grass at the playground and now crawls on the play structure on quiet days.


Not to mention her attempts to stand. Hands free. Each day she goes longer, and each day she learns how to plop down that much more safely...

About the only thing Daddy really shouldn't be trusted with is bathtime. Daddy bathtime leads to mohawks...

Eleventh Lunaversary

Mather has made it to eleven months today. Thirty-one day countdown to her first birthday! In the meantime, please enjoy our latest movie, Stand!!!.



Run time - 3:09

One Down, Eight to Go

In a stunning turn of events, Puck has returned to us alive. As reported on this blog, Puck disappeared in early August, and given his age and condition, was assumed gone forever. On Saturday I received a call from my father, who in a garbled message reported that he was driving down to pick me up because he was having a hard time figuring out if a cat rescued down the street was in fact Puck. My mother was out of town.

When I saw him in the flesh, I was amazed. He had been in a backyard about four or five doors down from my parents house. He had apparently ended up on the wrong side of an unsurmountable fence, and then somehow managed to survive seven weeks out alone. Mind you, he has been an indoor cat his entire life. When it rained that same Saturday morning, it was the first time he had felt rain in his life. Over the past week and a half the resident there had been leaving catfood out for his own missing cat, which we can assume Puck was eating, but that doesn't explain his first five and half weeks.

He was wet and emaciated and had a stunned expression on his face, but it was clearly Puck. When we got him back in the house he immediately started purring, despite his still obviously weak condition. Neither my father nor I told mom he had been found. When she walked upstairs and saw him curled up on a comfy chair, she was stunned.

Puck then, Puck now

He has since been to a vet to get an official diagnosis: he lost seven pounds (he's down to nine -- so that was nearly half his weight), he has a horrible flea infestation (his neck is actually bleeding), his claws are worn down to nubs, and he has lost a significant amount of hair. How well he will recover is unknown. We aren't sure if Ash even recognizes him -- so far she's keeping her distance. But Puck is happy, warm and comfortable now. He purrs whenever anyone approaches him.

Hooray for Puck!

Playing catchup

Ooops!

Apologies... it's been too long. We've been pretty busy.

Daniel's been immersed in the San Francisco Fringe Festival for the past three weeks. In addition to his lighting technician duties, Daniel saw 16 shows. We are big supporters of avant garde and experimental theater. The fringe festival provides us with a great opportunity to see a ton of shows - some good, some bad, but they were all free for Daniel with his "staff" pass. I even managed to see 7 shows! Daniel precariously balanced schoolwork, daddy duties, and as much theater and late-night fraternizing as possible. He will now hibernate and sleep for three weeks to make up for it.

Mather's been battling another cold. She's had a cold just about every three weeks since the beginning of June. Our pediatrician explained that it's a fact of life for kids in daycare. The upshot is that she'll be immune to every bug by the time she's three. Thankfully, PediaCare makes a decongestant that works like a charm. Today is her first full recovery day. Hopefully she'll stay healthy until October.

On September 8th, Mather completed weaning herself. She happily nursed that morning, and then refused every offer of milk since then.

I was so proud of all my frozen milk. Mather drank every last drop.

Memories... the first bottle.

Tonight's bedtime bottle.

She drinks 4-5 bottles of organic formula everyday, and lots of yummy food. Her recent favorites are mashed-up figs in yogurt and mixed steamed bite-sized vegetables (carrot, corn, green beans & peas). Her pincher grasp is well developed and she'll try almost anything. She hasn't been too keen on tofu or pasta, but we'll keep trying.

Mather's mobility has taken great leaps forward over the past few weeks.

This picture is from July, but it's very fitting.

She confidently moves between standing, sitting and crawling in order to get herself EVERYWHERE! She even figured out a "real" crawl instead of her belly-scooting maneuver. I think the carpet at daycare helped with that. We were remarking this evening on how fast she's gotten. I think the cat is going to stay under the bed for the next few years.

GrandMather is coming to town this weekend. It will be her first opportunity to see Mather play with the new toys that she got for us.

Supercool wagon walker (wooden!) with blocks stored in the "hood"

"Busy Zoo" activity center (also wooden!)

We promise to post again soon... don't abandon all hope.

Mather has a new game

Meal time -- be it breakfast, lunch or dinner -- is easily Mather's favorite time of the day. She loves finger food, from berries and vegetables to cheerios and rice puffs, as well as our various concoctions from le petit appetit, our bible of baby recipes. She has found a new, and decidely odd, way to express her joy.

It all started when I noticed her leaning over. She often leans while she eats -- I suppose she just likes to be comfortable -- but she seemed to have an odd little tilt. She caught me looking at her and suddenly dipped her head all the way to her left, smiled, and laughed. I laughed out loud, and she was even more amused. After she had righted herself, I dipped my head to my shoulder. To both of our amusement, she mimicked me mimicking her.


Now it's a mealtime game (and occasionally we do it outside of meal time). Sometimes Mather leads it, sometimes one of us does. She'll also do it for the parent not feeding her -- I can do it from across the room while Emily is feeding her dinner, and she'll still dip her head. It always brings a smile and a laugh.

10th Lunaversary

We've been lacking in posts lately, so here's a big one to get you all up-to-date.

Dan started school on the 23rd. There are some very large papers on the horizon... grad school ain't easy. It takes a lot of work to be a "Master"!

Mather is back in daycare for two days a week. The transition was a little rough. She is so mobile, and so unsteady. It is hard to keep her out of trouble these days. We caught her in the midst of some mischief in the kitchen the other day...

Those snacks had been sealed in a container in her diaper bag.

She's also proving that anything can be a toy...

The soap goes in here, right?

We headed to the mountains last weekend with my friend from college, Erin, and her family and friends. Mather got to spend a few days with her buddy Parker Jane.

I'm bigger than you are!

Mather is showing P.J. her coffee table standing skills.

Daddy Jungle Gym!

The highlight of the weekend was our trip to Pinecrest Lake. We rented a party boat for a few hours. Then we headed to the shore for some swimming.

Mather got to debut her sunbathing outfit. It's a silly onesie/skirt combo.
Thanks to Grandma Julie!

The girls suit-up, and Mather won't sit still!

Cuteness!

Mather is out for a ride on the giant clown fish.
(It took me about 30 minutes to blow it up)

Mather's first surfing lesson.
P.J. is snuggling with Erin - the water was a bit cold.

Those were the good parts of the weekend. On a different note... Mather had a lengthy episode of inexplicable vomiting, her first ever, a few hours after we arrived on Friday night (altitude sickness??), but by Saturday morning she was fine. And, we got a flat tire on our drive home. Fortunately, Mather was able to stay entertained while we waited for AAA:

Alright Daddy, you do the pedals, I'll do the steering.

We made it home safely, without Mather at the helm. Then we wished for another vacation, to recover from the first vacation. Fortunately, we're just hanging around for the Labor Day weekend. And we can't go very far away, even if we wanted to - the bay bridge is closed.

Daniel is gearing up for his annual theater immersion with the San Francisco Fringe Festival. He is a light-board operator for two shows this season. He is attending technical rehearsals for most of the afternoon today.

I (finally) got Mather down for her morning nap. All she wants to do is stand. We put her down for a nap only to find her standing in her crib moments later. Needless to say, it is pretty frustrating. She's probably teething again, too. Lots of drool and plenty of crankiness. Here's a good shot of the bottom two:

And she's keeping up with her oral hygiene:

Mather just woke up from that nap. She's probably standing in her crib, waiting for me... that's all for now!