Wii Play Games on Christmas

My dad and Chris take to the lanes...

Taking a break from the usual Mathery goodness, I just wanted to post some photos to prove that my parents took part in - gasp! - playing a video game. This was the first time in their lives. They gave me a Nintendo Wii for Christmas, the revolutionary game console system predicated on movements over button-mashing. The Wii comes with a game disc with miniature versions of various sports, including golf, bowling and tennis. The game controllers, called "wiimotes", are motion sensitive and you hold them in your hand and move as if you were playing the real sport - swinging a tennis racket or a golf club, throwing a bowling ball, etc.

...and the court.

My father has spent his life as an intensely competitive person, and it didn't take long for that intense look to come across his face as he found one more avenue with which to best his children. And best us he did, at least in the bowling (my brother-in-law posted the best score, but dad beat both Elsa and me). He also scored a couple wins over me in tennis (though I've come back strong). My mother was even induced to pick up a controller long enough to channel her father through three holes of golf. She even admitted to liking it afterward.

Mom lining up her shot.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas ransomedoff fans!

Today was the big day, Mather's third Christmas but the first one where she really participated. She was delighted to see all the stuffed stockings this morning.

And all those presents under the tree!

It was a full Ransom house for Christmas this year. Elsa, Chris and Cora came to join us from New York. Cora is now five months old and super-dooper cute. Here she is, posing with the Christmas stocking that I knit for her!

And here she is again, with GrandFather and Uncle Daniel...

And here she is opening her first Christmas gift, with only a tiny bit of help from her Dad.

Whereas all the help that Mather needed was her new chopsticks to help her bust into the big gifts under the tree!

Perhaps it would have been a little quicker with my new poultry shears - watch out!

Ah, the sweet sound of success... or is that the clunking of the horse and rider? (check out the cool new socks - not knit by me) This kept her occupied for quite some time while we continued opening gifts.

These are pretty cool too. Chris drew caricatures of the family to hang from a mobile above Cora's crib. Here are the three of us:

Another big winner was a tiny picnic set that Nanna picked out for Mather. And she got new gloves - she opened 4 or 5 presents all while still wearing them. Her first inclination was to look around for her bicycle helmet because Dan wears gloves when he rides his bike.

Cup of tea anyone?

Bicycling with Mather

I've always joked that I was born into a bicycle the way a Mongolian child of the steppe is born into the saddle -- riding from birth. My father is an ardent cyclist and used to carry toddler-aged me around on a rear-mounted bike seat, even in snowy Boston. Learning to ride was one of the pillars of my childhood, and I was very proud as a child to have never needed training wheels. To follow up on the analogy, when I'm on a bike, it feels like a natural extension of myself, supposedly the same way a Mongolian horseman feels about his steed.

With our move out to the Sunset, it became a much longer trek back and forth to Mather's daycare, which was still in the Haight. She and I would take the train together in the morning, but Mather would often lack patience on the train ride back home, when it was getting dark and she was tired (ie, she would throw a fit in front of all the other train passengers. Not fun.) So we were thinking about alternatives...and a bike seat seemed like the way to go. After all, I can ride nearly the entire distance between our house and Mather's daycare in Golden Gate Park, which is pleasant, and the girl certainly loves to go fast.

I bought a rear mounting bike seat and had the bike shop install it (I certainly didn't trust myself to the task!). While I was there, another dad with his daughter -- about four -- was buying her a new bike helmet because she had outgrown her old one. He heard me talking to the mechanic about children's helmets and offered me her old one -- for free! It fits Mather perfectly, and she's very enthusiastic about wearing it (sample dialog: "Daddy has helmet, Mather has helmet!").

Riding with a passenger does take a little getting used to. I don't typically talk while riding, but Mather talks the entire time ("bumpy!" or "I see stars!" when we're riding at night). She also kicks me in the posterior from time to time. I guess she wants me to go faster. I also ride much more carefully than usual. I don't take big risks when I'm riding by myself, but I do cut corners and I go pretty fast. Not when I've got Mather. It's a leisurely ride. But it's fun, and she loves it. And it sure beats a temper tantrum on a crowded N Judah.

Momily Knits

Momily's knitting circle friend Jenny commented on Mather's knit hat in the last set of photos. Since Momily is too gracious to toot her own horn, I thought I'd quietly jump in here with photos of three of her creations.

This is the first hat she knit for Mather, when she was still learning how.

This is Mather's custom-made Raggedy Ann "wig" -- a knit cap with yarn woven in and out to make "hair".

Mather's favorite, her "stripey hat". She's got a serious interest in all things striped, and all things purple, so making this hat was the obvious thing to do!

Thanksgiving in Las Vegas

The three of us took off to Las Vegas/Henderson, NV for Thanksgiving with Grandpa Cary and Sheryl. Cary made a fantastic turkey, and Sheryl mastered a vast array of sides for a great Thanksgiving meal. Em and I found a little time to sneak out at night and hit the blackjack tables -- unfortunately, the tables hit back -- and we also found a great Henderson playground for Mather to show off her new "apple shirt" (she's been asking to wear it seemingly every day since we got it).

"This way!"

Yes, she did try to go down the "bumpy slide" as well.

Preschool Tour #1

On Friday morning, Momily, Mather and I took a tour of the Sunset Co-op, our first pre-school visit. We are starting to consider Magoo's future! It's amazing how much time has passed and how much she's grown up and changed.

Sunset is a parent-participation co-op, which means that tuition is kept low by having member parents assist the paid teachers in managing the students. The advantages of a co-op preschool are many: they are more affordable, there is more parental involvement, and they create a tightly knit community. I went to a co-op preschool myself*, and a number of the families we met then remain amongst my parent's closest friends.

Sunset Co-op was thoroughly charming. The interior is a riot of color and play areas: there is a bouncy-room filled with mattresses, easels ready for young painters, a clay table, a playdough table, books, puzzles, a play kitchen, chests of dress-up clothes, hammocks, just tons of stuff to explore! The building is a bit old, but they will be rebuilding it next year. The yard is fantastic, with colorful old play structures, a wickedly twisted climbing tree, swings, and an inspiring salt-sea air and vibe (the co-op is across the street from Ocean Beach).

Since we were there for a "school" day, we got to witness the morning ritual: the kids arrive and start playing in the yard, then they check in with the school director and mark their attendance on a big chart, then there is a circle time which marks the official start of the day. All the students sing a welcoming song in about ten different languages (English, German, Gaelic, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Czech, Russian, a couple more).

The child whose parent brought the snack for the day receives the honor of "child of the day", so he got to call out roll and name some of the activities available for the day. Then the kids dispersed to various play stations around the facility, guided only by their own desires and inspiration. This is play-based learning. The kids get to choose an activity, and can pursue it for as long as they wish. Parents and teachers are there to keep everyone safe and to provide materials and project concepts, but there are minimal restrictions.

Mather was a little shy but really came out of her shell for the chance to paint. She put quite a bit of work into her first of many masterpieces:

The only downside to the Sunset Co-op is that it's only a part-day preschool -- either 9-12 or 1-4. It doesn't solve the complete daycare need. And of course, it requires a lot of hours from the participating parents. But we like that. We've submitted an application.

*My own preschool is upcoming on the tour itinerary.

Mather's Owie Update

After a cranky day yesterday, Mather was back to being herself today. The bruise is smaller, but darker in near the eye. Here's the latest:

A Sad Rite of Passage

Not all is always well in Matherland. Yesterday, she took a hard fall off the top of her diaper table onto the floor. She landed face-first. I had been reaching for a shirt from her drawer after changing her, and didn't realize she was off-balance.

Mather and I were alone with together, with Emily far away in Half Moon Bay. The thud was, for lack of a more palatable word, sickening, and Mather was crying almost instantly. That was actually a good thing, a quick confirmation that she never lost consciousness. I held her in my arms and tried to soothe her, but she was horribly upset. She did manage to choke out her desire for both her binky and her sleepy bear, so I grabbed those from the crib.

After a little while, the pace of the crying slowed a bit. However, she was clearly groggy and not herself, and one eye was starting to swell up and blacken. After consulting with Em on the phone, we were off to Kaiser. Instead of going to the ER, I went straight to pediatrics. That worked out great, since they slipped us in between two of Dr. Newell's scheduled appointments. She's our regular pediatrician and we love her. She did a great job of keeping Magoo calm while she had to poke and prod her. She's a big reason we've stuck with Kaiser the last couple years.

While Mather was still a bit addled, she was slowly snapping out of her funk. When Dr. Newell needed to see her walk, I was nervous - I hadn't let Mather try to stand on her own two legs yet. But with the promise of a toy chest at the end of the hall, our adventurous girl was off to claim her treasure, clad only in her diaper (dignity is a foreign concept). She walked as well as she ever does (there's always a bit of a wobble...) and even wove around nurses, strollers and other kids.

We've kept a close eye on her since the fall to watch for any signs of head trauma, but so far, so good. The black eye hasn't really darkened or gotten worse. When Momily came home from work, Mather pretty calmly told her that she had a "big owie". This morning she was pretty oblivious to the injury, even when she looked in the mirror (she thought her belly button was far more interesting than some silly bruise).

In many ways, injuries like this are a rite of passage, as tough as they are to witness. Mather survived her first cold (it came at six months old), her fair share of lesser falls, and her first cut (as an early crawler she came across a food processor blade and thought it was a cool looking toy). Obviously, it's a huge reminder to be more careful when Mather is high up, but in the end, I might have been more upset and affected than she was.

And hey, I've already had two black eyes in 2008. It runs in the family.

We've got a lot of other updates we should cover soon -- we've moved, for one, after successfully closing the sale of our Page Street flat. We've started our first experimentations in potty training, and just celebrated our anniversary. So we'll write about all those things soon.

Happy Birthday Mather!

I have balloons!

I open presents!

I eat cupcake!

Ubiquitous toddler cake face.

Happy Halloween from Raggedy Ann!

"Trick or treat?"

Separated at birth!

"How do I get this open?"

It takes a lot of work to keep this 'do going.

HOPE

Are You Dancing?

Run time - 0:50.

Chase!

One of Mather's favorite games -- since the day she learned to walk -- is "chase". It's just about as simple as it sounds. However, she's getting faster and faster, and instead of doing it in a cramped apartment, the best place to play it these days is in a big grass field.

Mather chasing me.

Me chasing Mather.

Mather in full flight.

Catching our breath!

More Mountain!

Earlier this week Mather climbed her very first mountain, from bottom to top, on her own two feet. Her first mountain may well have been mine, since it is adjacent to my childhood preschool. Since my own toddlerhood, the Ransoms have always just referred to it as "Rocky Mountain", though according to official SF maps, signage and the all-important Google Earth it is in fact "Corona Heights".

We were out for a walk - well, she was in her stroller - looking for something to do that day. And a burst of nostalgia brought us back to Rocky Mountain. When we got to the bottom, I offered to pull her out of her stroller (which never would have made it up the twisty trail and wood-beam stairs) and asked if she wanted to "climb a mountain". Her response? "Climb mountain!". So off we went.

It didn't surprise me that she'd want to try. She's always been adventurous and outdoorsy. What surprised me was just how well she performed. She didn't settle for getting to the top of the trail - she insisted on clambering to the top of the sharp, jagged rocks that lend the peak it's official name. With her hands in mine, she took outrageously long, upward steps, pulling up her own weight, judging her route, and reaching the very tippy-top before finally plopping down on her bottom to enjoy the view.

Like any seasoned hiker, she knew that we should eat our snack at the top...and I had foolishly left the cheerios in her stroller. So we clambered on back down, with her once again taking every step. When we got to the bottom, I was ready to put her back into her stroller and let her eat her cheerios. She, however, grasped the bag in one hand, turned around, pointed back to the top, and said "MORE MOUNTAIN!".