Portland

Oh Luthien, this time I actually have an excuse for not writing sooner. I've been wanting to tell you all about our Portland trip for awhile now, but both of our computers have been dysfunctional. After some serious blessings at the Apple store, we finally have one computer back, and are expecting the laptop back very soon, free of charge (thank you Jeffrey!)


Portland was all I had hoped for and more in many ways. There were only a few things we missed out on considering you are only 1 and can only last for so long doing 'touristy' things and eating out all the time, but that was to be expected. We definitely hope to (and will!) move there in the near future. We're pretty sure you loved it as much as we did. We stayed with Rome's cousin Chelsea/husband Mike in their beautiful home.


Here is a picture that doesn't quite capture my sheer delight (and suprise) upon taking a glimpse at little Oliver when we first arrived. He is 4 months old in this picture, and bigger than you! He has the most amazing baby personality I have ever seen: calm and content ALL the time (very different from you)!


One of your favorite pastimes: climing their two sets of stairs! The other favorite activity which I do not have pictured here was pushing around their walker toy- it's a step above ours because it is a dog and barks when you push it. You kept stopping to sign and say 'dog' every time you would hear the toy bark!



One day we took the "Portland Aerial Tram" up 3,300 feet- at the top is OHSU. If the clouds weren't so thick that day we would have had a great view of all the mountains, but nevertheless the city view was spectacular (and don't worry, the weather issue does not deter us from wanting to move there)!


We also toured the Lewis & Clark college campus. It was a beautiful, old, heavily wooded campus. Dad fell in love. Here are a few pictures of you sitting with Henry while Dad looked around. I love this one because Henry looks very studious- totally appropriate for the setting! By the way, you are signing "dad."



Also love this gem of Henry- he's quite the ham!



And I just had to include this one to show just how much fun you had with the boys (your second cousins I suppose?) You adored both Henry and Oliver and got excited each time you got to see them. By the way, the mismatched outfit was not intended- your first outfit got too hot so I put you in a onesie we bought that day. Yeah, the temperature actually changes in Portland throughout the day/night, something we're not accustomed to here in Phoenix!

On Sunday we went hiking at Multnomah Falls (part of the Columbia River Gorge). I don't have any pictures from the bottom but I will say that Dad's sweatiness and your confused look are appropriate- it was only about a mile and a half hike, but it was VERY steep. You loved the whole experience- especially when dogs passed by. I think you thought it was funny that you were so much taller then them!

Enjoying part of the falls:

You and I relaxing by the rushing river- of course you wanted to jump right in...

So we let you!

After the hike we sat down for a bit and talked with a long-time Southeast Portland resident. You LOVED his little pup. This picture cracks me up because the dog looks as though he's attacking you, yet you're laughing- so typical for you!

One day we met up with a friend of mine from graduate school, Elissa. She also lives on the southeast side of town, and was kind enough to give us a tour. This would be the perfect place for us to live- very charming, lots of locally owned businesses and restaurants, tons of antique and book stores, and young families galore. She took us to this little kid friendly cafe. Kids can run around and play with toys/musical instruments, the whole time while being serenaded by an indie-pop type kid music artist. Only in Portland! She played her own songs but also played some classics that you loved.

After our lunch outing and tour, with Elissa:

This next sequence of pictures is the 'goodbye' with Chelsea, Henry, and Oliver. I love how you and Oliver interacted:

The friendly hug...

...followed by a passionate kiss

And then the classic half embarassed/half proud expressions. "Okay, that was kind of weird and

gross..."

Another classic: Henry's 'chokehold' kiss. He did this multiple times a day, it was so cute.

One last shot of the adoreable threesome:

We left Portland on a Tuesday in the late afternoon, so beforehand we ate some yummy local organic food and then made a stop at the Rose Garden- miles of beautiful flowers.

Again, what a fabulous trip, and much needed retreat!

Things we failed to capture on camera:

1) Powell's Bookstore (largest used/new bookstore in the world!)

2) The BEST farmers' market in the posh nearby town of Lake Oswego (puts my favorite downtown Phoenix market to shame)

3) The delicious meal created by Chelsea and Rome following our trip to the market

4) Right next to the farmer's market: the most amazing French bakery ever. What more could I ask for?!

5) More of Chelsea/Mike's fabulous house (not to mention the baby deer that came right up to their back deck!)

There you have it Luthien, more recent updates to come!

Walking

Hi Luthien-
Just wanted to write a quick note to tell you that you've officially started walking as of Friday 8/14/09! You are still not as confident in yourself to use walking all the time, but you really can do it! You walked from one end of our little house to the other, and then kept getting up in the middle of the room to try again. You are not as interested in walking as you were the first day you figured out you could do it, so now we try to coax you to do it. You prefer to do it only when you feel like it- you hate being told to do things (just like someone I know)...

Love you!
Mom

Catching Up

Dear Luthien,

This time I really promise to make it brief. I've been one post behind for some time now and am hoping to resolve that by sharing some developmental updates with you along with a few recent pictures. Then I can tell you all about our trip!

First, I forgot to tell you about these adorable barrettes that one of my very best friends, Emily got for you. There are about 5 different barrettes with a magnet attached, and a bunch of bottle caps that stick onto the barrettes. Emily thoughtfully picked out the least girly/loud styles of bottle caps, much to my delight. Your hair is still a bit too fine to use them in their intended manner, but for now we love using them for play purposes- sorting, sticking/unsticking, putting them in and out of their box, etc. I didn't take the time to account for lighting in this photo, and only a few bottle caps are shown, but the one on the top right is an adorable baby giraffe in neutral colors, which I love :)

Here is a picture I caught of you eating. We are really working on fattening you up. Your most recent measurements at your 1 year checkup were:

Weight: 16 lbs 2 oz (as usual, my mouth dropped as I read the numbers on the scale)

Length: 28 in

Head: 17.75 cm

Here, I have zoomed in on one of your quirky new behaviors. Actually, ever since you were very small you have always been very protective of your hands, and have positioned them in a very specific manner. You can probably notice it in previous pictures I have included. This position use to be curling up all of your fingers, including your thumb, so that they were facing your palm. The newest way in which you hold your hands involves bending your middle finger so that it stretches and curls back your index finger, as pictured below. The only picture I have is the lazy version of this. Normally it is much more exaggerated. Crazy girl!

Here we are at our new favorite monthly ritual: character book readings at Changing Hands Bookstore. I had not heard of this series, Skippyjon Jones, but of course you LOVED it because it involved books and a cat. You listened so intently throughout the reading. I was sad you didn't show off your 'meowing' ability, but loved watching you enjoy the whole thing nonetheless. You did not like getting to close to the giant kitty, but loved watching him from afar.

Even at a very close, but safe distance you loved him:

After the reading you and a couple friends (Mary Elise and Josiah) searched for a few books.

Here is picture of you sitting with Harry Truman in your big girl throne, an activity that is requested often as of late.

And lastly, I couldn't resist sharing this picture. You and Roofus had recently woken up, hence the squinty eyes.

Just a few more notes about the past 2-3 weeks:

1) As I mentioned above, you can 'meow' like a cat. It's the cutest thing anyone has ever heard, I'm sure of it. Other animal sounds you can do are a bird and a monkey (a high pitched squeal for both), although these aren't quite as consistent yet. You also love to pound on your chest whenever you see a monkey/gorilla.

2) You are signing 'mama' and 'daddy,' and saying the words as well all the time. You are saying 'dog' (which you also sign) and 'cat' a lot more now. I have noticed I always model the multi-syllabic version of common words, like 'doggie,' probably because some children have an easier time this way. Although now you are able to say doggie both ways, you seem to have a preference for the shorter versions. That being said, your two newest words are 'bunny' and 'button,' which you say as [badi] (or something similar) for both. It's the cutest thing because you get such a laugh when you say the /b/ sound. You build up a ton of air behind your lips and then blow it out really hard as you say the sound. You can also say 'hi' now, which sounds so cute because you really exaggerate the /h/ sound (although very recently you've been sticking to the wave-only method of greeting again). Of course you love to say 'no' more and more every day.

3) You understand so much of what we say lately, especially if it is a 2-3 word phrase. You also understand more and more of what goes on in your books, even when they are line drawings vs. photographs. I find it so amazing that you can recognize certain line-drawn objects that you've never previously seen illustrated in that particular manner.

4) You are SO close to walking! Ever so often throughout the day you'll stand up in the middle of the room with no support, and sometimes you'll take about 3-4 steps on your own (especially, it seems, if you have a new audience).

Okay, goodnight little one. There is always more I could tell you but I think this gets us up to speed enough for now.

Love,

Mama

Birthday Part II

Luthien,

Why must there be a "part II," you might ask? Well, you see mom went a little crazy for your first birthday party, as evidenced by your invitation (note: I promised dad it would never happen again!):

It all started with the fancy invitations, made by our good friend Angela, a talented graphic designer. Of course, only mom could have come up with what it actually says on the invitation, and she started to regret it once it was already in print.

A "healthful" lunch will be served...? Did she remember how many people she invited, and that she could not take off any days from work to prepare since she's saving her time up to go to Portland 2 1/2 weeks after the party? (yes, you heard me right- we can't wait)!

Okay, I have to switch tenses again which I'm totally against, but the 3rd person is getting tiring...anyway, I had to remind myself why I wrote that, and actually planned to serve 40 people a healthful, made from scratch meal. You see baby girl, I have always been into nutrition and eaten healthfully. However, since your birth, and especially since you started eating, I have been on a quest to further my knowledge on this topic. I can say that I have actually been surprised- no, shocked- about the things that I've learned, and grateful for the changes we are making in our diets as a result. I won't say anymore on this but just know that we have (and are still in the process) of changing our diets radically, and we couldn't feel more right about it. And I have you to thank for pushing me to do this! So, back to the invitations- the lunch was supposed to be a reflection of the things I have learned, and who better to share your knowledge with than 40 of your closest friends and family? Now, on to the rest of the party...

We had to do something with water since you love it so much. For the longest time I did not want to have it at your Nana/Grandad's house only because you spend so much time there, and I wanted to do something different (not to mention they don't have a pool). Then I started thinking about how any water-related place we would go to, there would be no refuge from the 110+ degree heat. So I came up with the idea to do your party "kiddie pool style" as it says in the invitations. We set up 3 different pools, 1 being a splash pad, and I also got a misting system for Nana/Grandad's patio to keep the adults cool. So, here are the pools, pre-kids:

I think the kiddie pools were a hit with the kids- your favorite was the splash pad:

Next, the food. What you are seeing mostly is garnishings for the gazpacho:

The menu consisted of the following. Flax crackers with homemade hummus or dilly cream dip for an appetizer. Second course (although everything was served buffet style): gazpacho, a cold soup (which I should have written on the menu). Optional garnishes included cilantro, pine nuts, avocado, feta, and chopped tomato. Main dish: curried chicken salad with fresh spinach and wrapped in whole wheat lavosh (okay the lavosh bread was not homemade). Side dish was farro with fresh figs. Okay, okay, I had also planned on making this dish but ran out of time, and at the last minute called True Food Kitchen and ordered a batch. The wraps were the crowd pleaser, followed closely by the two dips. The healthiest dishes- farro and the gazpacho- well, lets just say we had leftovers :) For a "drink" we made a watermelon strawberry slush that was also a real hit (thanks Kara)!

Let me just take a moment to tell you how wonderful your dad is. He had a Crohn's attack the week of the party, which thankfully turned out not to be as bad as some of the past episodes. He worked all day Friday prepping and making ALL the food for the party. Yes, the meals/recipes were my idea, and yes I stayed up until midnight two nights before doing all the shopping, but as it turned out I felt embarrassed at the lack of work I actually did. I'm so grateful to have an excellent cook for a husband, who takes my ideas and executes them perfectly every (okay most) times.

Now, on to dessert. I'll try to make this quick since as usual I end up writing too much. Friday night was rough. You were teething and having a difficult time sleeping, and I had planned on making the cupcakes at this time. I had practiced the recipe the week before and they were great. After making 4 dozen cupcakes that night I finally had the sense to actually taste what I was making. They were inedible. These cupcakes were already pretty muffin-like, so the added density in my final product that night was just plain bad. So, with the help of a morning Trader Joe's run, Nana and Aunt Stefanie, we whipped up some cupcakes in the final hour before your party. Not from scratch and not very healthy (although much better than Betty Crocker), but by that time I didn't really care. I think the final product turned out quite nice, but again I felt a bit sad that I did not contribute more to the actual making of the food at the party. At least I made the frosting...

You were still teething the day of the party and were not very well rested by the time the guests arrived. You did well in the pools, but once it was time to come in, eat, and do the rest of the festivities you were a little over the whole thing. We scurried to sing and have you eat your cupcake, which meant I was holding you during the singing and you ate the cupcake on a blanket on the floor. I don't think you would have wanted to sit in your high chair anyway, so it worked out well, just didn't make for the greatest pictures:

Of course we did not get the traditional cupcake eating picture because you were totally uninterested in it. Your cousin Amelie had no problem eating yours. It was good proof for all that it's not the taste of the healthy food I feed you that's the problem.

Present opening was a blast, but definitely overwhelming. You were more interested in the actual presents than the paper, which was fun for a change. You especially loved the button ribbon on your present from Clint and Angela, and mom appreciated the wrapping of course:

Needless to say you passed out shortly after the party was over. Mom forgot to hand out the party favors, so we've been eating a lot of fruit leather since and plan to plant a lot of seeds. It was a fun day Miss Luthien, enjoyed by all (I think). Like dad said, we won't be doing this type of extravaganza again. It was good while it lasted.

LOTS of developmental notes to follow. I can't believe how you're growing! (Cognitively speaking, not quite physically :)

Love,

Mom

Birthday Part I

Dear Luthien,
I knew this would happen. I wanted to write about your actual birthday before your party occurred but I did not get around to it, and now I must recount both days...
It was nice to have you all to ourselves your birthday weekend- everyone went out of town since it was over the 4th of July, but we stuck around and found some fun things to do. On Friday evening we went to a free night at the Phoenix Children's Museum. It was a long wait but well worth it- tickets for even babies cost $9, I didn't even look at what adults cost! I wish we brought our camera to document your favorite parts of the museum: #1 was playing at the sand table. You actually liked this sand because it was very fine and dry- we made designs with cookie cutters and watched the different colored lights illuminate the table. You were totally into it. They also have a fun baby/toddler area with tons of climbing equipment and various activities. Your favorite was climbing up the stairs and looking down at daddy's face through the clear parts of the floor below you. I was crying laughing watching the two of you look at eachother through this clear floor. Anyone who knows dad even remotely well knows he can make some pretty funny faces. The next day we went to a book reading at Changing Hands, a long time Tempe bookstore that we love taking you to. Curious George was there to share his stories, and you LOVED it. I didn't think you would be as into seeing a giant monkey as you were. You also listened and behaved very well during the reading. So cute! That night we barbecued and had our own little 4th of July celebration. Unfortunately the fireworks part didn't work out the way I wanted it to, and it reminded me why I want so badly to move out of Phoenix. To make a long story short we tried watching the fireworks on our roof, but as soon as dad got up there he saw about 5 scorpions. We hopped in the car and started driving, but the traffic was so bad that the fireworks ended up starting, and the only place we could get to was Tempe Marketplace, one of Arizona's many (and newest, most popular) strip malls. You and I watched the end of the fireworks with a million cars racing in front of us, while dad tried to find a parking spot. We will have to plan better next year, and I'm sure you will enjoy it more anyway since you likely will have more energy at that time of night, and more understanding of what is going on.
I should probably interject with some pictures now. We didn't get pictures of any of the activities I have described, but here are a few random ones from the same weekend...


Dad was really proud of this outfit he picked out for you. He loves gray and brown together so much he doesn't even mind the bit of pink you are sporting. Actually, I have to say that dad is better at picking out your outfits than me! He's always been good with women's clothing, something I love about him. You haven't been wearing too many bottoms now that you have your cloth diapers and more baby legs, which is fine by me!



Here you are pushing your little walker around the house. I think I mentioned this before but this was the first time you did it using only one hand. The other hand is tightly clenching one of your favorite flax crackers. Grandad has said your cracker is kind of like your pacifier. You've never really used a paci but in the past few months you seem to always be holding a cracker. You hold on for dear life to it and take little nibbles throughout the day. Sometimes you prefer to give it to Roofus and then request another, a habit we are trying to break :) I love that you look like such a grandma in this picture!

Now, on to your actual birthday. We had your Uncle Rhett over for dinner and practiced a few of the recipes out we planned on making for your party. I have since found that I am one of very few people who like eating Gazpacho, but that's a different topic. You didn't like it at first but are liking it more and more as you give it a try. These pictures are a bit out of order but here you are playing with your presents. I mainly included this one because I love the way dad looks :)

More of you playing with your gifts. I can't remember if I've told you this but one of your very favorite things to do is taking off and putting on tops of containers, bottles, etc. We found this cute wooden "condiment set" where you can do this to your heart's content. Plus you don't get as frustrated because they're a bit easier to take on and off then other things. Again, no pants/skirt, sorry!

You LOVED this book we got you! It was funny, because at that point I hadn't really even sung you the song very much. I think you loved those round wheels mostly (although your circular obsession has lessened a bit, you still tend to gravitate toward round things). Now you love to dance and hear us sing the song that goes along with the book.

I love this picture. You can see your delight, immediately when you opened the present:

And here you are with your cupcake. You wanted to grab the flame so badly. Mom accidently bought trick candles, so after we sung to you and blew it out once, dad had the idea of letting you "learn" about the heat associated with the candle. You eventually did touch it and were very sad, until you realized that meant you could play with ice cubes. As far as actually eating the cupcake, we will never have the classic 1 year-old birthday picture with smeared icing on your face. I shouldn't have expected it. You ate two pieces of strawberry but would have nothing to do with the rest of the cupcake. I am happy my daughter chose the fruit over the sweet, however, I did work hard to make sugar-free (cane, at least) cupcakes for you! My crazy, picky girl!

Love, Mama

P.S. I'll write separately about the party.

California...(Birthday news to come)

Dear Luthien,
I've never been very good at writing titles, and I'm not sure how appropriate they are for this purpose so I hope you don't mind if I leave them out for the most part. Anyway, I want to tell/show you a bit about our California trip. We went to San Diego to visit your Aunt Carlie and Uncle Kade while they are living there this summer. We drove with your Nana and Grandad. We also planned on meeting up with Uncle Beau/Aunt Maria and your cousin Georges, and Georges stayed with us while Beau and Maria vacationed up north for the weekend. Before I rant (for the second time) about how I do not think road trips with little children should exist, especially when the travel lasts more than 7 hours and the whole trip only lasts 72 hours (sorry Rapier family!), let me just say that seeing your sheer delight at the sight of the waves on the beach made it all worth while. You are most certainly our water baby (although not an aquarius like your Dad). Although you love our man-made pools in Arizona and frequent them oft, it became obvious that nothing can compare to the natural-ness of the ocean. You got so excited with every wave, every seagull, every taste of the salty water. You could care less that the first day we went, it must have been about 50 degrees outside (although somehow the water felt warm compared to the chilly air and wind). You are still particular about certain textures, so I will say that you still are not sure about the sand. You don't mind when it's dry but that wet stuff- just plain weird. Here are a few pictures of you discovering the wonder we call a beach:








Your first encounter with the sand:



Here is a picture from the next day, nice and sunny, at the beach in Santa Barbara (yes, we drove to Santa Barbara Sunday morning, left for Phoenix at 5:30 that evening and mom went to work at 7:30 a.m. the next morning, why do you ask?) I love the old lady look you've been sporting lately. These were the cheapest, velcro style sunglasses we could find a few months ago and it just so happens that you LOVE them. Crazy girl. I think most babies would rip them off but you don't mind a bit, and I don't blame you. AZ sun in the face is not fun.



Here you are all tuckered out after a few hours at the beach; a rare sight to see. Wish we could go every day...



And a few more from the trip...Here we are at the pool. I had to include this one because it looks as though you are posing for the camera. Sorry about all the pictures of just the two of us! Really, there were more people on the trip!



I think you look so grown up in this picture. Something about your teeth and your hair, and perhaps your jacket :) Did I mention you are getting 6 more teeth all at once right now?! At this point we're all used to it- you've been steadily getting teeth since about three months.



I have to include this sequence involving you and Georges. You two were so adorable together. Here he is admiring you as you give his favorite stuffed animal a tight squeeze (one of your favorite things to do):

Next, he reaches in to take back what is rightfully his, and you quickly protest:

More protesting...actually, mini tantrum- as he can't help but show off his capture:

But alas, triumph! Actually, sweet Georgie willingly gave you his toy, and you can't see very well but he is giving you a kiss and saying 'sorry' for the whole calamity. Another example of how you are your Daddy's girl. For now we will consider it cute, but we are trying to teach you that you can't always get your way. Hard to do when you look at that face:



My baby Luthien, let me also just say Happy Birthday! On Sunday, July 5th you turned 1. I can't believe how fast you've grown. I will share more on this very soon. Your birthday celebration is not happening until the 18th, and I will have more to tell you then, too. A few notes before I end: You are so close to walking. You have the coordination down, I am sure, you just need the courage to take those steps without support. Your cautiousness is from your mother. You have, however, been walking short distances with only limited support, like holding on to one of my hand's. The past few days you have been repeating so many words, such as "keys," "amen," and "eye" very clearly. This evening you signed "milk." And you have been imitating the animal sounds for lamb and cat. "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is one of your new favorite songs. "Itsy Bitsy Spider" has always been a favorite, and lately you are really mimicking the hand motions well.


Good night little one, please let Mama sleep tonight.
Love, Mom