a snapshot of a growing wonder

A good friend and I exchanged emails recently and I wanted to share some of my correspondence so you can see a glimpse of all the wonderful new things Eva is doing this week. Could you imagine an adult doing this much changing and growing in just a few days? Babies are really remarkable!

Eva: wow, what a growing, changing, human being. How do I even begin? She is just changing every moment. I am SO glad I get to see it all happen; I can't imagine not being at home full time to see it all unfold! She is starting solid foods and really likes the food of the week: pears. Food falls out of her mouth and sometimes she doesn't use her tongue right and the whole mouthful of food goes out instead of in :) She is getting up on her hands and toes and really getting around. Eva can't get her knees up yet though so it's more scooting than crawling. She loves finding computer cords and chomping on them whenever we have our heads turned. She loves slapping things with her hand, like her own thigh and the tile flooring. Also, she has a knack for finding "wet" sound areas and talking and hearing her own echo. She loves pushing her feet up against the person holding her and she cranes her neck around to see everything. She is so curious! It makes breastfeeding in public difficult at times. Oh, I love seeing how mellow she gets on a full belly. She had bad acid reflux as a baby and I think it's subsided. So just starting recently she will let me hold her flat on her back (like a traditional baby cradle hold) and after a good meal she will relax and gaze at me. It's unbelieveable, Lou. It really is.

Gotta go, she's talking and waking up from her nap. The other day she was making her first escape attempt, eek!

....and later...

Oh, there is so much more Eva is starting to do... I just have to share:

Eva runs into her own image when she is crawling towards the mirror. I often wonder if she thinks that it's her or if she thinks it's another baby. She also crawls right into furniture so we moved our coffee table out of the living room.

She's not sitting up yet but she is SO close.

She laughs when we give her kisses now and understands tickling (last month she just kinda sat there).

She loves to see her dad at the end of the day. When she's left alone with him she doesn't act up or miss me, she's really secure when he's there.

She can spot something from about 5-10 feet away and scoot to that spot in about 30 seconds!

Her belly is the softest and sweetest thing I've ever felt. Same goes for her tongue. I'm in such awe that it is so pink and perfect.

Her grasp is getting better but at times it takes her a few attempts (and a scoot closer often) to actually grab something... she's working on depth perception. She has been spotting food on the kitchen floor lately too, just specks, and will try to grab them. It's so funny! Her hand moves the speck of dirt and then she looks where it used to be (*confused look*) before she finally finds it again.

Today I saw her on her hands and toes with her butt in the air and she grabbed for a toy (balancing on three limbs!) and put it in her mouth. It was great!

I think she really likes the feeling of a q-tip in her ear and is really still and patient when I'm cleaning them. If only diaper changing was so interesting and fun!

She doesn't mind the rain at all. We go out in it and she tries to lap it up like a puppy :) !

...Well, off to more adventures with the little one!

teething

Teething is a journey. There are bad days and good days. This morning there were crazy bursts of tears and moments of sweet carefree laughter. Teething pain sneaks up on us and steals us of naps and of the small order we have in our house. You won't get to hear more about teething or other things because... Eva's crying again because of teething. Ironic?

voting

It's Election Day and Eva got to go to the polls with me. We had a cuteness factor of over 100% because our neighbor brought his 8 week old black lab too. I bumped into the woman who lives in the apartment below us, Pat, and cast my vote! That makes it sound simple, but here in CA it means casting tens of votes with all these measures they have. I did some last minute researching this morning during Eva's nap. So to my American friends, don't forget to vote!

hotness

Being hot is like my winter. I want to stay inside and hide from the heat. Yesterday and today Eva and I have spent our first days inside all day since... the hospital (and maybe the few days after that too). It's meant being more creative with our time since we can't rely on the natural entertainment of trees, bushes, and friendly strangers.

Sometimes Eva watches me cook and I explain it to her. I keep telling her that she's going to grow up to be an amazing cook. This is what I think they call brainwashing because both Donovan and I hate cooking and secretly hope that Eva wants to take over, say, in three or four years? :) Sometimes we also Skype family and chat which is always fun.

What do you do on long days inside?

coincidence?

I was needing to get out with Eva the other day so we walked to our local coffee shop and she fell asleep in the carrier, bonus! So I read some local news and enjoyed the "ooooh, look at that baaaaby!" comments from friendly folks. Then a great coincidence happened. A brand new mommy (5 day old baby in tow) and another new mommy walked around the corner together. They both said hi to me too and we all started chatting. Turns out new mommy, Sierra, was out for the first time and her dad was in town. And semi-new mommy, Heather, and her two and a half month old baby were on their way to an appointment, only 1.5 hours late! Being a mommy is hard sometimes. But they had just met each other moments before and then they bumped into me. Coincidence? I think not.

We exchanged emails and phone numbers and off Heather went. We decided we would meet another time to talk more. Then last week I emailed them all. We are getting together this morning at my favorite neighborhood coffee shop (yes!) and chatting about babies and such (double yes!). We even are considering doing a babysitting swap so we can all have free babysitting sometime. Score!

screaming

Have you ever sat with a colicky baby and felt powerless to help them? They cry uncontrollably and there is nothing you can do. Oh, it is so sad for all! Have you ever been stuck in traffic and wished and hoped the light would turn green? Me too!

Eva HATES the car.

I know, I know. You have visions of infants being lulled to sleep by the motor and parents gaily driving around town with a baby knocked out in the backseat. That is not so. I guess Eva is a social person. So the idea of riding in the backseat without a friendly face is her worst nightmare. And she will go on and on for 30 minutes at full scream power to let you know it.

Today this came to a head because I was stuck in construction traffic so the short jaunt from Berkeley to home took about 30 minutes. 30 minutes from my worst nightmare! Eva screamed the whole way.

At first things were quite calm and collected. I said things like, oh, I know, baby! I leaned back and touched her forehead. I tried rolling down the window for entertainment. Then I turned on some music to soothe her (or drown her out, I'm not sure). Then things got a bit more intense...

After 20 minutes of screaming I usually start sweating. The hormones that rush through your body when your infant is screaming in sadness/pain make you sweat and your heart race. People tell me it's a good thing to have these hormones, but my body says, EEEEKK, stop the screaming, now! I resorted to running orange lights, attempting to put something in her mouth to chew on (she's teething), tapping loudly on my steering wheeling, begging in a loud/mad voice for her to stop, and eventually plugging my ears and humming loudly.

So if you see a crazy mom in a minivan running lights, be kind. Or if you stop at a light and from the rearview mirror you can see the parent in the car behind you is going crazy, remember this blog post. It's a crazy, crazy experience.

Eva's now sleeping off the screaming tantrum. It feels all perfect and peaceful now. But in those moments, wow, I feel pretty crazy!

Hee Jung

Our friend Hee Jung came for a visit last weekend. It was SO fun. We went to an AMAZING Korean restaurant. I'm a bit scared because it was so good and so close to our house. I want to go there daily! It is such satisfying food. And the courses are so well planned out. I love it! When can we go again?!

We did some local things with Hee Jung nuna (a term I recently learned, meaning older sister). We went to Lake Merritt and took a stroll. We went to my favorite coffee shop and talked espresso. I love that Hee Jung knows about shot times and the effects of different brewing on overall taste. We had two rounds, I won't lie :) We also toured the Cal campus and walked around Tildon Regional Park, my favorite! It's so beautiful there! It sounds busy but it was somehow soul filling and relaxing just to be together and to talk and to really be heard. I have a special place in my heart for my colleagues from Fuller. Especially my soul friend, Hee Jung! Thanks for coming to visit me, I know it's a long drive!