Santa Barbara Blabeys

Maritt's 2 Year Pediatrician Appointment

2011-11-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

We started off Maritt's 2nd birthday (post-breakfast of Nutella on whole grain toast with banana slices and milk, having been greeted by purple, yellow and butterfly balloons in the kitchen and an early rendition of 'happy birthday' in her crib) with an early morning visit to see Dr. Brennan for Maritt's 2 year check-up.

Here are the stats:
Height: 34 3/4" (75%)
Weight: 29 lbs (75%)
Head Circumference: 48 1/2 cm (75%)

As he said, "well that's just about a proportional as it gets!" =)
He said she looked great, seemed well. Was growing wonderfully, etc.

She was a MODEL patient. Cyanne was there to offer moral support, as well (but did keep asking me when Maritt was going to get a shot, if she was going to cry, and then when she, Cyanne, was going to get the lollipop)....

During the exam, Maritt sat quietly on my lap and looked intently at Dr. Brennan the entire time.
She let him listen to her chest, back, in her ears to see if he could "find some ladybugs in there" (that was a new one; thought it was clever) (though Cyanne piped up with "there aren't ladybugs in Maritt's ears! that's silly." =)), looked at her teeth, shined the light in her eyes, felt her tummy/legs (Cyanne said "What are you doing to my sister, Maritt's, legs?").
Not a peep!
Rather uneventful (which is good!) though I did ask about her wheezing/breathing difficulty whenever she gets a cold so he said he'd note it & just to keep an eye on it.

However, with any history or possibility of wheezing, that meant she got the inject-able flu vaccine, not the nasal spray so Cyanne was rewarded in the end when the RN came in and gave Maritt a shot in her thigh.

Which, I was impressed, did not make her cry. She just sat there and then said, get this:
"More! More!"
The RN turned back around and said, "wait, what did she say?"
And Maritt then said again, "More! More!"
Clearly, the first time she'd ever had a kid say she wanted "more" shots.
Too funny.

Cyanne picked out a purple lollipop for herself and a red one for Maritt.
All the way to school in the car, Maritt kept saying "yummmm!! good!" And I'd say "Does it taste good, Maritt? Is it sweet?" and she'd say "yeah, good! GOOD! Is sweet, Mommy." =) She was a happy camper.

So, turns out it wasn't too bad a start to her birthday...

Always glad to get a great report from the doctor.
Keep on growing, Maritt!
You're 2!!!

Cooperstown Trip - Part I (Thompson's Lake)

2011-05-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

After arriving in Albany on the red-eye, we were all ready for the peace and serenity of Thompson's Lake. We spent about 24 hours there before heading to Cooperstown for the weekend of festivities around Anna and Aaron's wedding. This was our first visit to the Lake since most of the renovation to the inside and outside of the cottage was completed. What an improvement! It's always wonderful to return to the Lake: so relaxing, so simple, so many memories.

It was fun to share all of it with Cyanne and Maritt and slowly introduce them to the timeless joys of the place. How strange and wonderful to be standing on the rocks, sitting on the porch, and eating at the picnic table with my daughters. Here they were now walking on the same boulders I had climbed so many thousands of times before, beginning when I was their age, introduced to it all by my father who had also walked the same ground when he was their age. Incredible! Here's to starting a new generation of memories at Thompson's Lake.

Maritt settling in quite nicely soon after we arrive:

The water was seasonably high with spring snow melt and leaves were not yet out in full. Looking over toward the swamp:

New growth emerges...

The newly extended porch facing the pump house. The porch now wraps around three sides of the house.

New stairs on the road side.

Enjoying the view of the lakefront.

Yes, within minutes, Cyanne was throwing rocks into the water: a timeless tradition.

Of course, Maritt also had to join in.

Pausing to take in the view.

Yay, we're not stuck on a plane anymore!

Preparing for Maritt's inaugural row boat excursion...

Safety precautions were not so popular.

Testing the chilly waters the next morning...

Cyanne takes a final look around before heading to Cooperstown.

Whitney's love note to the Lake. Still on the refrigerator, 7(?) years later...

Synonyms

2011-05-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

Each night, Cyanne has created this ritual or tradition for herself of late. She brushes her teeth (or, more exactly, she tries and we then finish the job), goes to the bathroom, and then climbs up in her bed to shut off the light.

She then says, "Stand next to each other. Close your eyes!"
So, Tom and I stand next to each other.
"Close your eyes, I said!"
"Okay, okay!" we say.
"Put your head on each other's shoulders...." =)
We stand there, eyes closed, my head on Tom's shoulder.
She then turns out the light and says "Okay, guys. Open your eyes now! Now I do my big jump!"
"First, a little jump, and then a BIG jump."
She does a tiny little hop-like move.
And then prepares for the big jump.

Now, Tom and I being who we are started giving her different words to use for "big."

She now says "Okay, I do a humongous jump! An enormous jump! A Gi-gannn-tic jump!"
She's got them all down - And says each very clearly!
Good job, Cyanne!
=)

We are all about big words and synonyms in our house.

Next, we're bringing out the big guns and pulling out the OED.
Otherwise known as a very big book.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

It was a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!

We went for a beautiful walk at one of our favorite spots: the Ellwood Bluffs. It was cool, bright blue, clear skies, and a nice ocean breeze.

Cyanne & Maritt had a fantastic time "walking" each other...

Maritt loved being led along and/or pulled by her big sister:

Inspecting fun creatures and bits of woods and plants in the dirt. Dirt... always, always fascinating!

Running...

And more running, "Waiiiittt!!! I'm coming!" Maritt's picking up speed rapidly and is trying hard these days to get her feet moving quickly. She's getting better and better at 'running' after Cyanne.

I have two loving, beautiful, funny, healthy, sweet, smart girls who I adore. I am a very, very lucky mother. I remind myself each day how blessed I am. While I'm so curious to see how they grow and blossom, I'm always wanting the time to slow down a bit - they are growing up so quickly!
Thank you Cyanne & Maritt (with some help from Daddy... =)) for a wonderful Mother's Day weekend.

Maritt imitates Farrah Fawcett's hairstyle

2011-04-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

After a bath, I took these photos of Maritt because her hair made me laugh. She totally had the Farrah Fawcett feathered-whisp-y look going on:

Look at those layers: =)

It's getting longer and more feathered by the day =)...

Old Friends

2011-04-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Yasmine's 34th birthday at The Stonehouse Restaurant at San Ysidro Ranch tonight with Yasmine, Sam and her Dad.

Yasmine & Michael -

It was a fantastic evening spent reminiscing and telling lots of stories celebrating a wonderful "old" =) friend! There were a few nose pets thrown in for good measure which Sam found both entertaining and horrifying at the same time... Something never change =).

Afternoon Photographs - Two Girls

2011-03-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

A few photographs from an afternoon playing in the sun.
Both girls have some pretty amazing expressions in these:

Maritt loves her bear:

I think these are wonderful of Cyanne =):

Swinging with the bear:

I love this photo & her expression:

Taking turns up the ladder:

Pensive Maritt:

Getting very good at climbing up the rope ladder:

Visit from Nanna & Grandpa!!

2011-03-23T12:40:00.000-07:00

We were thrilled (and I do mean counting-down-the-weeks-and-days-thrilled) to have Nanna & Grandpa visit with us. They arrived March 10th and stayed with us until the 21st when they sadly departed in the early morning to head back to Cooperstown.

We all had a fantastic time while they were here.

Tom put Richard to work (really, he asked for it... =)) in a multitude of ways: finishing up the swingset. Thanks to him, there are now handles, ropes, flags, a chimney, and dormers on the set. It looks like a proper swingset now!; Pulling vines out of the poplar trees; hanging a new light fixture in our dining room (we can now see in there again!); hanging pictures and photos in many different rooms... and on.... and on... To say he is a super, project-oriented, cheerful, and motivated helper or handyman is an understatement. Really, I think we'd be hard-pressed to find anything he couldn't do. Or at least would try and see if he could do it.

Anne was a HUGE, HUGE help with the two girls and helping us do all of the things that we need to do on a daily basis to keep the house running, children fed, entertained, clean, and of course, happy and smiling. They had a wonderful time reading, playing, and exploring with her. They put together puzzles, dressed up, read many (many) books, "cleaned-up", picked oranges, avocados, & tangerines (and then, for Maritt, proceeded to carry them all around) and generally, climbed on and over chairs, up and down stairs, swung on swings, and ran up and down the road again and again... One of Cyanne's most common refrains the entire week was "I show Nanna... I show Nanna!"

Grandpa playing games trying to catch Maritt on the swings at a park. She loved it.:

Wheeee!!!

But, so as not to seem like all we did was put them to work while they were here "on vacation," there were a few fun outings and field-trips during the week:

On the 11th, Richard celebrated his 65th birthday and Maritt celebrated her 16 month birthday. 16 months for her and 780 months for Richard!! (Forgot to make the signs but here are the 2 "birthday" buddies). We had a nice dinner for his birthday culminating in a flour-less chocolate cake that said "Happy Birthday Grandpa!"

"Birthday" Buddies:

We went to Tucker's Grove park for a birthday party for Cyanne's friend, Sarah, from school:

This looks to me like Cyanne is 'teaching' Maritt the ways of the playground or who's boss. You decide:

Tom's response to the next photo: "Really, the slides were steeper than they looked!"...

Really - Who doesn't go to the playground in a tutu, princess headband, and sparkly shoes?

Maritt met a cupcake. She won.

A trip to the wharf and Sea Center on a beautiful SB day:

A visit to the Santa Barbara Farmer's Market downtown:

Someone had an excellent ride:

What kid doesn't love playing in water? Better yet, a super clean, hygienic, public fountain in the middle of Paseo Nuevo!... =)

Ms. Cutie-pie.

A driving tour around the Santa Ynez Valley with a trip up to see the wildflowers on Figueroa Mountain, wine tasting at Star Lane and other vineyards in Buellton. There was definitely evidence of recent wildfires in the area:

A few nice meals out (with and without semi-antsy children) at Jeannine's for lunch and then Hollister Brewing Company and The Beachside for dinner. Also, Tom's parents babysat for us on Saturday the 12th when we went to the Laguna Blanca Auction at the Bacara. It was a wonderful night out for us made all the better knowing that the girls were home having a great time with Nanna and Grandpa!

Nanna came to Cyanne's ballet class (twice!) and watched her twirl, point her toes, dance and follow the instructor's directions (sometimes)... Cyanne looked pleased as pie to have Nanna watching her dance all around the studio.

A few photos from an evening exploring the yard and newly mulched orchards:

Running up and down the hill:

They got a good taste for our routine and life here, I think. They experienced just how funny, empathetic, talkative, sweet and opinionated Cyanne is now. How smiling, sweet, climbing, daredevil & monkey-ish and entertaining Maritt is. And how sweet and gentle they both are... with the occasional bout of crying. =) Maritt and Cyanne seemed to have a wonderful time with them and, after they left, asked when they were coming back and asked "why Nanna and Grandpa have to go on two planes allllll the way back to Cooperstown?" She's already talking quite a bit about Anna's wedding in two months.

Playing. (she just looks like she has to go the bathroom... =)).

Picking avocados with Nanna:

Maritt & Grandpa had quite the discussion and sharing/bonding session over an avocado. Who knew a piece of fruit could be so fun and entertaining??

"See, this is an avocado.... It's green... and is kind of like a ball..." =)

She got it!

Best Buds. (Note the rapid hand movements and 'gentle petting' by Maritt):

She LOVES her doggie:

Cyanne trying on the flower girl dress she's thrilled to be wearing in Anna & Aaron's wedding in Cooperstown in May!:

We had a wonderful time with them and truly appreciated their coming all the way out here to visit with us, spend quality time with us, get to know Maritt and Cyanne that much better and just to know (quite well now) just how it is we spend each and every day.

A few shots from the morning of their departure:

I'm quite certain that Anne and Richard can close their eyes and picture the pace of each day - the mornings: food on the floor, strawberries and bananas cut up, milk being poured into sippy cups, the smell of coffee, the sounds of happy, chipper, rosy-cheeked kids and Super Why or Curious George on in the background, cats meowing, and the general hustle and bustle that accompanies the start of every day. The evenings: dinners being prepared, bubble baths given, chases around the rooms to put on jammies, bedtime stories and lullabies.
In fact, I'm sure they can...

Maritt saying: "Waaaaiiiiittttt!!!!! Stop!!!!! Don't Go!!!! Come back!!!!!!!"

"Where'd they go? Did they really drive away?"

Cyanne & Tom watching them drive down Cathedral Oaks towards the 101.

Heading back up to the house. All quite sad to see them go!

But Maritt, ever the helper, helped close the gate =). She's strong & quite determined...:

We love you both very much and want you to come back and visit us very, very soon. The one thing we can promise is that it will not be boring... =) But, in the meantime, we're coming to see you in two months! We can't wait!

Pumping & Feeding

2011-03-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

Ah, as of March 8th, the pump has been put away yet again. That morning was the last time I pumped for Maritt... So that was basically almost 16 months of pumping. I'd been pumping every 3 hours, then tapered off at nighttime, then was only pumping 3 hours during the day, then eventually stopped the pumping during the day (at 15 months), and the last month, was just pumping in the morning and at night after Maritt went to bed. And now - yippee!!!! - the pump and the requisite 15-20 minutes is finished!

I'm so very glad I did it both for me and for her.
I'm still nursing her in the morning and evening but I have a feeling that will slowly taper off as well. She's still quite interested at those times but I keep telling her, the less you do it during these two times, the less there will be until there is none left...

I do cherish those times with her - the quiet of the morning when Cyanne and Tom are still sleeping and the darkness of her room at night, the sounds of ocean waves coming from her sound machine, her two bears squished together with us on the pillow as she nurses. I love just looking down at her face, rubbing her back, and playing with her hair. It's a wonderful experience and I love the time with her.
That said, she's getting to the point where, soon... she will be done and I'll have to find my moments with just her another way =).

Baby GAP Model

2011-03-02T15:11:00.000-08:00

I am biased. This I readily admit.
But man, Maritt's cute.

Today, Tom dressed her in jeans, a white onesie, and a couple of cute tops and she looked just like those kids on the posters in the GAP store.
Seriously...! =)

Cyanne's Sense of Style

2011-02-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

Cyanne has entered the stage where she loves to pick out her own clothes and outfits for the day. She gets so excited. She loves dresses. She loves sparkles. She loves shoes. She often runs back to her room saying "today, I'm going to wear a dress!"

The other day she chose this outfit: Pink sneakers, rainbow tie-dye socks, hot pink capri's with star pattern rhinestones on them, a brown and white tie-dye, bubble skirt style, long-sleeved dress with a pink heart-shaped peace sign made of rhinestones on the front, a purple rubber band, a green frog clip and a brown headband in her hair. She was so proud. =)

In these photos, she has on the same brown & white dress but mixed it up with turquoise leggings and a patterned sweater jacket.

Pretty darn cute if you ask me!

Maritt's 15 Month Check-up

2011-02-14T21:58:00.000-08:00

Maritt started off Valentine's Day with a visit to Dr. Brennan to see how she was doing at 15 months. Not exactly the most fun start but hey, we learned some fun new information and she was a trooper.

We'd been a little worried as she'd had a cold for over 3 weeks but he said it was likely just back to back viruses. Her ears looked good and she is getting lots of teeth/molars in, hence the hands in her mouth all of the time.

He said she looked great - growing well, and was right on track. We should keep talking and reading to her a lot to increase her vocabulary. We said she could basically say Dada, Bear, Book, and sometimes Mama and 'titi' for kitty. She's great with her signs and frequently uses "all done" "more" "milk" "thank you" "please" and "hungry/eat."

The one thing she's doing now that cracks us up is she emphatically nods yes for yes and shakes her head for no. It's extremely handy when we're trying to see if she'd like something. She'll nod very clearly for grapes, nix the carrots - or whatever it is. Very helpful, Maritt!

She has great motor skills - she uses her fine motor skills very well and is walking/running and climbing everywhere. I think trying to keep up with Cyanne is a huge motivator for her. =)

Here are her stats:
Height: 31 3/4" (90% !!!)(she's tall!)
Weight: 23 lbs, 3 oz (50%)
Head Circumference 47 cm (75%)

How we currently have a tall child is a mystery to us =). Well, there are tall genes in our families... Who knows, maybe Maritt will be taller than both Tom and me.

She did a great job. She got 3 vaccinations and yes, one was the "stinger" they always talk about. She cried but recovered quickly. It's sad though, the escalation in the crying. She totally knew something not so good was coming. She started hugging me more and more tightly and trying to scoot away from the nurse who had the tray of needles. I don't blame her, frankly... But, with each shot, her cries got louder and more distressed. But, after a quick few seconds, it was over and she held her Bear. Then, all was well... Ah, that bear. She loves him.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Maritt - Words Update

2011-01-31T15:16:00.000-08:00

Maritt's words are coming on more and more each day.

She now says "uh oh!" each time she drops something or (intentionally) drops something off of her tray or a table. "uh oh" there goes the 30th cheerio on the floor! ...

Book

She can basically say Dada and Mama. Dada comes out clearer.

Bye-bye sounds like "buh buh" and is accompanied by the most adorable queenly wave.

Kitty = Titie

Dog = Dah/Duh

She's working on it!

Cyanne's Words

2011-01-31T15:10:00.000-08:00

We were trying to remember the other day the many different words or versions of words Cyanne has used. Here are some which she used to say and some she still says. Some are too cute that we don't rush to correct her =):

In the past:
Bananas = Bayas
Tomatoes = Ma-tae-toes
Straw/Blue/Raspberry = Straw/Blue/Raspbaby or babies. "I love Strawbabies! They are soooo juicy!" Conveniently, we don't eat many blackberries. This is somewhat entertaining, though =).
Water = Agua or Ah-wah
Blabey = Baby. "My name is Cyanne Baby!"

Still:
Hamburger = Hang-a-burr
Carrots = Carricks
Sandwich = Sam-wich (though my guess is this is a fairly common one...)

For fun (she knows it's not right but likes to say it anyway):
Sister = Sis-tee
Maritt = Mini, Mareitch, Marebear, Po-po, Bo-bo, Po-Peach, Bo-beech, Mary/i (The current favorite as of 2011 is "Bo Bo" for Maritt).

Cyannese

2011-01-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

Cyanne must have some Russian in her we didn't know about.

We are now "Daditch" "Momitch" and for Maritt: "Maritch" or her new nickname for her: "Po-popitch" (sounds like Po-popeach). She's making up words constantly. I keep telling her we need to use real words otherwise Maritt's going to be speaking some form of Russian-influenced Cyannese...

It's very entertaining for us though. She will hit Maritt on the head and say "Hi, bo-beech!" (note - Tom and I chuckle at times when this is said otherwise =))...) "Hi, Po-Popitch!" "I love you, Po-popitch!" She likes to add -itch to most words.
It sounds like she's speaking some odd form of Russian.

Maritt looks at her and mimics her... I think we're going to hear all sorts of "words" for her other than Da-da and Ma-ma and book.

Painted Nails!

2010-08-16T23:45:00.000-07:00

Cyanne requsted I paint her fingernails and toenails for the first time.
Man, I love having a girl =)...

She was beyond excited.

Tom went to his "church meeting" and, after we put Maritt down for the night, Cyanne and I sat together on the couch in the living room and had a fantastic time.

She was super serious and listened to me very intently about not moving, not touching anything while the polish was still wet, and learned how to blow on her hands and nails to make it dry faster.

She was fantastic!

She ended up with very sparkly, pink nails!

She talked about them the rest of the evening: "Mommy, you like my nails?" "Mommy, you paint my nails!"
"Mommy, look, my nails so sparkly!"
"Careful Mommy, don't touch. It's wet."
"Is okay to touch now? Is it dry yet?"
And more...

(Showing off her finger and toenails the next day as we got to school):

Such cute little fingers & toes:

It was one of the most fun evenings we've had hanging out together.
She said she couldn't wait to show Tom when he got home =).
The first thing she said the next morning was: "I show Daddy my nails. Daddy, look! My nails!"
(as well as all of her classmates)...

3 tomatoes

2010-08-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

We were walking out to the car this morning to go to school. Cyanne runs off to the garden and says "Wait, one minute. I coming back!"
So, I'm waiting by the car. Tom and Maritt are over near the garden and I hear her talking about which tomatoes to pick.

She comes back to the car and says:
"I'm ready! Let's go to school! I pick 3 tomatoes! One for Olivia, Nico, and Irene. They're ready and are soooo juicy!"

It was so sweet and thoughtful.
She had picked one tomato for each of her main caregivers/teachers at daycare. I asked if she wanted me to hold them for her and she said: "No, Cyanne do it. I hold them for Olivia, Nico and Irene." =)

When we got to school, she walked into the room and handed Olivia the tomato - and put the other 2 aside for Irene and Nico for when they came back into the room.

I was so touched by her thoughtfulness. Also, I was amazed that she didn't pick one for herself or eat one of the ones she'd picked. She held them in her little hand the whole drive in. One of her favorite activities is going to the garden and eating little tomatoes right off the vine. Not only did she not pick any for herself but picked one for each of the people who take care of her every day.
It was so sweet. Cyanne is such a sweet, thoughtful, caring little girl.
I love that girl.

Lego Towers aka "Castles"

2010-08-11T15:51:00.000-07:00

Legos are big around the Blabey household these days. I often find Tom, Cyanne and Maritt sitting together on the floor putting the blocks together and frankly, it is hard to tell who is happier.
Maritt is either sitting there, chewing on one or two or is crawling towards Tom and Cyanne to check out what they are building.
Tom and Cyanne are working together to building tall, colorful towers, arches, or, as Cyanne calls them, "castles."

"Look at my castle! It's soooo tall!"

Cyanne concentrating, Maritt "helping...":

The way Cyanne shows how much she loves Maritt: the tap-tap on the head:

Here are some very cute photos of the proud builders together and note how much taller than Cyanne the "castle" is!:

Maritt - making sure the legos taste okay:

"What, don't you eat them too?"

Just a few funny random shots:
Tom & Maritt

Cyanne loving her summer watermelon:

Guy's Visit to SB

2010-08-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

We had a very nice, surprise visit from Guy, Tom's cousin! He drove up from Manhattan beach to spend the afternoon and evening with us. I think Cyanne and Maritt had a great time hanging out with him and checking out another great relative!

Here are some photos of the visit:

Thanks for visiting Guy, it was wonderful to see you!

Picking Blueberries

2010-08-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

We ventured up past Gaviota just before Buellton to pick blueberries this afternoon. Pick blueberries in Southern California? you say... Indeed!

It was a beautiful drive up there and Cyanne enjoyed the incredible views of the ocean, birds flying, cows, horses, and most exciting - driving through the tunnel or as she saw it, "going through the mountain!"

It was a neat little spot. They have over 14 different varieties of blueberries. There were a lot of blueberries on the bushes we found.

She loved carrying the buckets from bush to bush:

Cyanne had a fantastic time running up and down the rows. And she ran far! Tom (with Maritt on his back - she took less keenly to the blueberry picking adventure as 1) she's not allowed to have berries yet, and 2) every time Tom bent over to pick, she'd be turned slightly upside down...) would be quite far away down the row and she'd run all the way to him "Here I come, Daddy!!!!" and then, after picking a few with him, would turn around and run the 100+ yards to me, barely out of breath and ready to do it again. And again. My money is totally on her doing a sport that involves running or being a runner someday...

I love this series of photos - she started off way down the row with Tom and ran all of the way to me - it was a long way!:

Getting closer - and going very, very quickly!

"Hi, Mommy!!"

She ate her share of blueberries: "so juicy! so sweet!" "Mommy, look! Look! Look at all the blue-babies in my bucket!"

I think Tom and I had a secret desire to take her just so we could hear her say "blue-baby" over and over again while she was there =)... This is one of those fantastic mispronunciations I am in no hurry to correct.

After about an hour and a full bucket of blueberries later, we were ready to head for home.

We will be back and next time, hopefully, Maritt will be able to eat and pick her way through the rows too!

9 Month Check-up - Maritt

2010-08-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

We had a great 9 month check-up with Dr. Brennan.
He said Maritt looks great though she's a wee bit orange. Apparently, all of the veggies and other things she's eating these days are loaded with betacarotene. So... our 'lil carrot is rather orange =). I think Tom thought I was seeing things because I kept saying, "um, don't you think she looks, well, just a little bit orange or yellow? We're both such fair, pale people... she should be too!" He finally believed me after Dr. B came in and said that was the first thing he noticed about Maritt. =)

Here are her stats:
Weight: 19 lbs, 2 oz (50-75%) (up from 16 lbs 3 months ago)
Height: 28" (70-75%) (up from 26 3/4)
Head Circumference: 44 1/2 cm (50-75%) (up from 43 cm)

All in all, he said she's growing beautifully and seems to be a very healthy, happy baby.

She then got 2 shots. And amazingly, she cried for fewer than 5 seconds after the second shot. Seriously. She then started smiling through her tears. Even the nurse said "Wow, well this never happens to me! I never get smiles afterwards like this!"
As always... Maritt is one of the smiliest, happiest babies.

Things Maritt is doing now:
Maritt is crawling. She's got a good inchworm-type movement going and a rough crawl down.
She gets beyond excited when we pull her up to standing which she can almost, almost do herself. She now loves to hold onto chairs and the bathtub as we get it ready for their bath.

She's using the big carseat and facing forward in the stroller - her first time face-forward was August 1st at the zoo).

She's loving her puffs, bigger pieces of fruit, pieces of bread, cheese, and even turkey. I was eating a turkey sandwich the other day while feeding her some puree and puffs. She wanted nothing to do with the puree and would just stare at me as I took a bite and open her mouth at the same time. So, I gave her some of the bread, cheese and turkey and she could not have been happier. She's clearly a fan of "real" food - not this puree business.

She's growing too quickly - slow down wee one!
Next thing I know, we'll be taking "Mini" for her drivers license test.

Crawling!

2010-08-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Maritt is now officially crawling!
Yay Maritt!!!!

And now... off to baby-proof the entire house!!!

Fiesta 2010!!

2010-08-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

We had a great time enjoying Fiesta this year. While we did not venture downtown, we made it to the Mercado del Norte (Mackenzie Park) twice, ate our share of mexican food, and cracked several cascarones or confetti stuffed eggs!

On Wednesday (8/4), I picked Cyanne up a little early from school. We'd been talking about Fiesta and the "fair" at Mackenzie all week as we pass driving to and from her school each day. And boy oh boy, was she excited to go. So, when I walked in and said "Cyanne, do you want to go to the fair with Mommy?" she jumped up, ran and got her lunchbox out of the refrigerator, grabbed my hand and said "Let's go, Mommy! I ready for the fair!"

So, we went and had a fantastic time together. We went on the carousel a couple of times, walked all around, smashed confetti eggs on each other's heads ("I crack on Mommy's head! Now, Mommy, do it to Cyanne!"), shared a churro ("yyuummm.... this is good, Mommy!" "I share with you, Mommy.") and then... Cyanne went down a HUGE slide.

It was this inflated shark. We'd walked by it when we first got there and I asked if she wanted to go and she said no. We came back later on and watched the kids - mostly 8-12 year olds - go down it and finally, she seemed like she wanted to do it.
I told her I'd wait for her at the bottom "on the grass part, Mommy" and that convinced her.

She took off her shoes and began the climb up. Now, I'm not sure what affected me the most. All of a sudden, my little girl was climbing up this big, inflated "ladder" - and it was big! She did such an awesome job. She looked so little doing it though. She kept turning around and looking at me and saying, "Mommy? You there Mommy?" And I'd say "I'm here, Cyanne! Good job!"

She finally got to the top and it was so high I couldn't even see her - all I could see were her little ankles when I put my head way up and into the slide.

I hear this little voice: "Where are you Mommy?? Where are you? You down there Mommy?"
"I'm waiting right here Cyanne, I'm here!"
And then I see her little body jump out and slide down - she went so fast that when the slide flattened out, she flipped over twice and landed right where I could catch her at the bottom. She was scared - as she herself said - and started to cry. I was alternately so, so proud of her and also somewhat scared that she'd just done it.
I couldn't believe she did it - it was huge.
And also, it just showed how much trust and faith she puts into me and Tom. Or, I guess, I just realized how much she relies on us.
I know, you're thinking - all of this from one 3 second slide? But it really hit me for some reason.

Here's the photos of the inflated shark when we went to show Daddy the next day:

This is where she came out - note the 'ride at your own risk' sign =):

It was really steep!!!

Surveying the other kids who shot out of the slide:

Eating yummy Mexican food in the mercado:

Smashing the requisite egg on his head:

This was the most fun Cyanne had had in long time. She and Tom went down this slide four times. Then, I ran out of tickets... She had a fantastic time. Sheer glee. And the look on her face when she went down with Tom - absolutely priceless. She completely trusted him and wanted to do it with him. Fantastic.

Here they go - getting ready to sit on their 'potato sacks':

"You ready to go, Daddy?"

Confetti in her hair:

Smashing another egg on Daddy's head (he was a good sport):

"Mini"

2010-08-02T13:42:00.001-07:00

Cyanne has many names for her little sister.
The current one and seemingly favored at the moment is:
"Mini"

"Here you go, Mini!"
"Don't eat the book, Mini!"
"That's mine, Mini." "Yours, Mini."
"Mommy, give Mini some milk!"
"Mini, let's take a bath."
"Where's Mini?"
"Mini sleeping?"
"Chew, chew, chew, Mini!"
"Lucky, no lick Mini!"
"Mini eat carrots? Oh, Mini too little? Hmmm. Mini like the peaches?"
"Mini is sooooo tired! Look, Mini's rubbing her eyes."
"Only Mini go to sleep? Not Cyanne?"
and on and on... =)

She also calls her what sounds like "Men-at". I then say the same sound back to her and she says "No, Mommy, Men-at." "Maritt?" I say. "Yep, Men-at" she says. =)
Clearly, it's a tough name to pronounce for the younger set.

So, Cyanne has changed from calling Maritt "Minute" to "Mini".

It cracks me up. Perhaps, one of these will stick and she'll keep calling her her own special nickname.

It is known to happen in the Blabey family: Tom couldn't say "Margaret Heath" for his little sister so he eventually ended up with "Mart-ta-teeth" which became "Mart."... So, one never knows...!

Visit to the Zoo

2010-08-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

We went to the Zoo this afternoon and everyone had a grand 'ole time.
Cyanne, dismayed by the nasty, barely inching-along traffic on the 101 S on a Sunday afternoon said "Daddy, drive faster! I want to go to the zoo!" and the timeless classic: "Mommy, are we at the Zoo yet?"

To build up her excitement, we asked her what animals she was looking forward to seeing when we got there:
Cyanne: 1) Elephants, 2) Giraffes, 3) Monkeys (followed by the monkey sound), and 4) Birds. I said I wanted to see the meerkats and she said, "okay, we see meerkats for you too, Mommy." =)

She also wanted to ride the train but alas, the last ride of the day was sold out so we watched and waved as it went by.

It was a gorgeous late afternoon. Bright sunshine, cool ocean breeze. The Zoo was a beautiful place to be.

This was Maritt's 1st time sitting in the stroller like a "big girl." She's always sat in her infant carseat but this time, we put her in and she LOVED the view. And, I'm guessing, loved facing and moving forward for a change.

We recently switched her over from the Graco carseat to the regular big carseat in the car... so, it looks like we're done with the infant carseat!

It was Maritt's second trip to the zoo and I think she really enjoyed it. She kept staring at the elephants and seemed intrigued by the flamingos. Though honestly, I think she was more intrigued by all of the kids running around her.

Cyanne's been practicing standing/balancing on one foot these days and so she and Tom studied the flamingos, their one-legged stance, and decided to practice it when they got home...

Tom & Cyanne checking out the meerkats:

View of the bird refuge:

Kisses!

Pointing out the birds and the train as it went by:

On the way home (and they've done this a couple of times before) Cyanne was entertaining Maritt by playing peek-a-boo.
It was the most adorable, smile-inducing sound ever.

Cyanne: "Peek-a-boo, Mini!" and she'd cover her face with her pink blanket and then remove it.
Maritt: squeals of laughter. Over and over.
It made me smile just listening to it.
And also, we were commenting, that it is really one of their first times actually playing with each other as Cyanne knew Maritt was laughing at her, she was entertaining Maritt, and it made her laugh too and continue to do it.
Just absolutely adorable.
I could listen to those sounds forever.

Wonderful afternoon at the zoo...

Blue Dress:White Peach

2010-07-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

One of the main activities these days is walking down our road to the peach trees, grabbing a ripe peach off the tree, dusting it off, and taking a bite. Cyanne (and Maritt) does this every day. "Let's go eat a peach!" is a familiar refrain.

Cyanne with her peach, one bite in:

"They're SOOOO juicy!" she'll say.

"And sweet!"

She's also looking so big these days... She's growing so fast!
Slow down, Cyanne!

It's pretty incredible to have your own produce section on your property. We've been very lucky this year with incredible fruit on the trees.

Rosemary blooming along the driveway:

Memory & Directions

2010-07-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

I know parents often talk about how smart, cute, adorable, smiley their kids are. And, I'm sure it's all true. It must be because I do it too.
And, here I go again:
I am constantly amazed at both Cyanne's memory and her intuitive sense of direction (Daddy gets all of the credit for that one).

For example:

This morning, we passed a truck carrying a large load of lumber.
Mommy: "Cyanne, look at all of that wood!"
Cyanne: "Mommy, it's lumber. I saw lumber with Nanna in Cooperstown!"
Now - not only did she use the correct word but she recalled seeing a truck with lumber on it which she saw only once while driving with Anne in Cooperstown in the beginning of June. I haven't used that word since nor reminded her of seeing it.
I was impressed.

Same car ride in to school:
Cyanne: "Look! The train tracks are empty. No train on the tracks. Must be someplace else. At another station picking up people. But, Grandpa says rail. Grandpa no call them train tracks. Rails. But, I like train tracks better. Train tracks better, Mommy?"
Richard/Grandpa had had a conversation with her about train tracks one morning we were visiting... she was listening.

This past Sunday, Cyanne and I went on a playdate at her friend Rafaela's house (with Cami and Cali, too). She had never been there before. On the way there, she kept saying "No Mommy, the other way, don't go this way" until I told her it was a new place and we had to go a new direction as we'd never been which elicited an "oh... okay."
So today, as we were whizzing past the Patterson off-ramp off 101 at about 75 mph, she points to it and says "Mommy, that's the road we use to go to 'Falella's house!"
Again, impressed.
How does she remember a random, concrete off-ramp that she's taken only once before? And, where it goes to?

Each time we pass the exit for My Gym, Cyanne says " My Gym. Up there. To the left. Pool to the right" as the Club and pool are up on the hill to the right. She also sometimes mentions "Gammie's house" which is also off to the right.

There were a few other things she's said recently that have just blown me away.
She has an incredible memory and a memory for the smallest details.

She also always points out the street that her friend Cali lives on which we have only visited once almost every time we drive by it on the way to school in the mornings.

She has a clear, strong sense of direction. I'm glad as I lack this certain trait though Tom has it in spades. He has one of the best if not the best sense of direction I've ever experienced and hopefully, it seems as though Cyanne has inherited some or a lot of it. She is going to give him a run for his money in the direction department!

Fun with the camera/new lens

2010-07-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

One of the things I enjoy most is taking photos. I treated myself to a new lens - there was an "occasion" but now I can't recall what it was but in any event - it merited a new lens/present for me =). I recently purchased a 50 mm 1.8f/stop lens that allows me to take better portraits of the kids and anything else. It's a fantastic portrait lens and creates the effect, depending on the settings, of blurring out the background while keeping the subject in very clear focus.

Here are several that we liked - okay, many we liked:

Photos of Maritt in her room:

Such a sweetheart.

In the afternoon, we spent a couple of hours outside on Sunday enjoying the gorgeous weather and I took the opportunity to take some photos of my two best models.
Cyanne, ever the elusive, mostly non-smiling one and Maritt, the smiling, rolling, constantly moving, toys in mouth one =).

Cyanne - We were talking about how, in some of these images, we get glimpses of what she might look like in 10 years...

I love this one:

Playing together outside:

Loved this one, too. I have my camera, she has hers:

Pure joy:

Inspecting knees, legs, and toes with Daddy:

Having two beautiful girls makes the job much easier on the photographer...

Laguna Blanca Shirt - Class of ....?

2010-07-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

When Maritt was born, we received a very nice package from Laguna. Martha, Delene, Will, Sherri and others at the school had sent us a very cute, very little LBS shirt with LBS on the front and "someday...!" on the back.
Very cute and very sweet.
We shall see!...

Maritt - wearing the shirt & hanging out in an industrial vacuum we had at the ranch... long story but my mom thought she'd vacuum up the thorns outside. It ended up being a rolling around toy for Maritt. =)

More Maritt & Cyanne - July 2010

2010-07-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent shots of Cyanne & Maritt.
They really do seem to love each other and are starting to have fun playing together:

Maritt - loving dinnertime! Fun chew toys:

Sister hugs and squeezes:

Reading National Geographic with Daddy:

Some of the vegetables and fruit we've had recently. Lots of green beans and beautiful peaches, plums, and pluots:

Maritt & Tom -

This was just a funny expression for Maritt. Must've had an itchy nose:

Cyanne's Swim Lessons

2010-07-16T16:05:00.001-07:00

Cyanne started taking swim lessons from Bobbi at La Cumbre Country Club this summer. She's been learning quickly and has gotten quite good at the crab-walk along the end of the pool with her hands, kicking with her feet, using her arms to try and swim, and going under the water.
She was very proud of herself for swimming from Bobbi to the steps all by herself.
They spend quite a bit of time working on blowing bubbles and learning how to breathe (or not) while in and under the water.
She's getting better!

Though the tough part for us (and the reason we really want her to learn how to swim) is she shows very little fear and will just jump in... That is why she needs to learn how to swim!

We meet my parents up at the club every Thursday evening for the family swim/BBQ nights.
Cyanne has her lesson at 4 PM and then we have dinner.

Here are a few photos -post-swim and during dinner.

Our little sunflower - (I love this swim cover-up):

Maritt checking out the baby pool:

Cyanne's standard dinner of fruit, french fries, salad, and, as she says, her "hang-a-burr"...

Oh yeah, and my parents insist on getting her chocolate milk so now we "joke" she has an association with swimming and chocolate milk... I know, grandparents will do what they will.

Feist's 1234 Song

2010-07-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

Cyanne currently loves Feist's "1234" song.
Each time we get in the car she says, "Mommy, the 123 song! I LIKE that song! Mommy likes it too! Mommy, I want 123 song!" until I put it on.

It's very cute - she sings along with the tune and some of the words and obviously, the counting.
Though it distresses her because in the song, she sings "1,2,3,4,5,6,9 and 10" and skips 7 and 8. Each time, Cyanne starts to say "7" and then stops and skips to 9 and 10.
Part of me thinks this is bad as it'll mess up her pretty darn good counting skills but then I think, she won't forget about 7 and 8. You can't really forget 2 numbers...

Sesame Street had the 1234 song on and used 4 penguins by the door, 4 chickens just back from the shore, 4 monsters walking 'cross the floor. And from there, Cyanne has loved it.

She's clearly inherited my tendencies to listen to songs over and over and over. Tom does not do this really and he makes faces when I want to listen to songs over and over. I occasionally tell her the Ipod is "not working right now" (to which she says very clearly, "is not working Mommy? Why not working? need new batteries, Mommy? Mommy fix the ipod.") if I need a break but, we eventually I put it on. Now, it's Cyanne who is relishing listening to the song over and over and with each listen, she sings along a little bit more, sings the lyrics a little bit more, and dances around in her car seat a little more.

I think we'll keep playing it on our drives in the car. =)

Maritt - Happy 8 Months & An Update

2010-07-11T15:31:00.000-07:00

Happy 8 months, Maritt!
Amazing how quickly the time is passing around here.

You had quite a day today being baptized this morning and spending the afternoon and early evening "walking" on the beach with Mommy, Daddy, Cyanne & Lucky.

A few things about Maritt these days:
Food:

She's eating up a storm. She loves her solid food and, unlike Cyanne, loves her pureed vegetables. Even more so than the fruit ones. The first couple tastes of any food whether she's had it before or not elicit hilarious, scrunched up faces like she just sucked on a lemon. Then... she decides (usually) it takes good and she wants MORE. She loves mixed veggie, green beans/peas, carrots, squash, pear, sweet potato, applesauce... funny though, the one she really doesn't seem to like is the pureed banana and really, I don't blame her. It smells rather funky and not like a real banana. Real banana however, she loves. Can't get enough of the bananas.

We've given her fresh peaches, plums and apricots off of our trees which are very full right now.
We'll pick a fruit, be holding her on our hip and she'll lunge forward to grab it with her hand and pull it back towards her mouth.
We have to watch her because she's quick! She'll take big slurp-y "bites" and have a big smile - followed by juice all down her chin.

She also likes to "talk." She makes all sorts of sounds and in varying decibels... She grunts when she gets excited, cries when she's tired or upset, chirps, blows raspberries, and generally enjoys making noises and sounds almost all of the time. We are working on the sign language with her as it was extremely helpful with Cyanne. And, given how she's been so far, I'm sure she's going to love and want to communicate with us what she wants before she can actually verbalize it.

She loves:
watching all of us, sitting up and playing with toys, putting just about anything in her mouth, eating, drinking milk, going outside, playing peek-a-boo, being tickled, the anticipation of being tickled, banging the pots with spoons, reading books/chewing books, her soft, crinkly books that she chews on and sucks the labels on, and being held or snuggled.

She adores:
the cats. Max and Sonsie - when they walk into the room - make her squeal with glee and she starts to rock back and forth and her hands open and close rapidly. Oh, to grab a tuft of cat fur... We'll bring her right over to them and she is one happy little girl manhandling those kitties.... And she loves Cyanne - when Cyanne isn't "bonking" her on the head, that is.

She doesn't much care for:
sleeping, sleep training, being left alone in a room, banana puree, having her face wiped off, Cyanne's shrieking noises, Lucky barking when she's right next to him, or firetrucks going by with their sirens on. Other than that... she seems to like pretty much anything. =) She's one happy, pretty easy-going baby!

This is mostly so we remember but, at 8 months, she's eating about 4-5 servings of solid food and drinking about 15 ounces in a bottle and breastfeeds in the morning and in the evenings when I come home from work. She sees me and boy does she get excited to have some food...
She sleeps from about 7:30/8 PM to 6-7 AM - this varies wildly depending on her inclination to 1) go to sleep and 2) to stay asleep. Fingers crossed though, she seems to be getting the hang of it.

She greets us with BIG smiles and bright, happy blue eyes in the morning.

We can't wait to see what this next month has in store.
We love you, Maritt!

Maritt's Baptism - July 11, 2010

2010-07-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

On the way to the church for Maritt's Baptism - Sunday, July 11, 2010.

These first two amuse me -
I turned around and took this one of Cyanne, in the car, on the way there.

And then, said: "Cyanne, smile!!!" Et voila!
(She was super excited to be wearing her 'fancy pink flower shoes' for the big event. She made sure they went well with her green dress)...

Somebody's excited!!

Pastor Judith performed the baptism just as she'd done for Cyanne. It was a very nice ceremony. It started out just Tom, Maritt and me but then Cyanne decided she wanted to join us. My parents were there as well - we missed Nanna and Grandpa but knew they were there in spirit.

I suppose this is where some of the 'guilt' of 2nd child vs. 1st child comes in. For Cyanne, we had a big party at our house after her baptism, sent out actual paper invitations, had several family members at the church to witness the ceremony... For Maritt, it was, well, much less of an event but was equally special to all of us. We'll make it up to you somehow, Maritt =).

Daddy & Maritt:

Maritt is a sweet, gentle, always smiling little soul:

The oft-elusive family shot:

So, so sweet - dress & bonnet:

This is a nice shot of the baptism gown. My mother made the dress for Cyanne for her baptism. It is made of antique lace that my mother had from an antique wedding dress she'd bought and been saving for many years. She had kept the gown as she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. When we asked her to make a gown for Cyanne's baptism, she remembered the antique wedding dress and thought it would work well - and it did! It is an incredibly beautiful baptism gown. She also made the accompanying bonnet. I think it's very special they were both able to wear it and that one of their grandmothers made it for them. Hopefully, they'll be able to keep it and maybe use it themselves in the future... many, many years from now...

(note: cyanne barefoot in the background at the front of the sanctuary... =))

All done & changed back into her 'street clothes' =):

My parents/Bubba & Gammie at Brunch at Marmalade Cafe. This was the more intimate post-baptism celebration we had this go-round:

Enjoying some "solid" food! Squash puree, maybe? I swear some did actually get into her mouth. =)

After brunch, we went for a wonderful walk at Haskell's Beach. It was a gorgeous afternoon and a perfect way to end a special day.

This is one of my most favorite photos of Cyanne ever.
It is as though she is clicking her heels together with pure glee. Such joy and innocence captured in one moment.

We had a great time walking on the beach, looking for shells, creatures, feeling the sand in our toes, throwing Lucky the ball/toys over and over, watching the birds fly around, smelling the salty air...

Go, Lucky! That dog loves the ocean... He'd swim until he couldn't swim anymore.

Cyanne's Beach:

Ms. Contemplative:

Happy Maritt... Quite a day for you!

Peaches!

2010-07-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

The two peach trees down the road from the house are LOADED with fruit. Tom's pruning efforts and extra care and attention to them this winter really seemed to make a difference. We have many more this year than we did last year and they are incredibly delicious!

Starting to get bigger:

There was a LOT of mulch dumped in the road to boost up the soil around the avocado trees. Cyanne was fascinated with the amount of it. And the smell... =)

This gives an idea of just how much and how high the mounds were - almost as tall as we are!

Amazing, beautiful peaches!
There was one white variety and one yellow. The white was was just amazing to eat fresh. We'd all stand there and eat peach after peach, right off the tree.

Maritt loved eating them, too.

Super juicy! This is so much better than that Gerber peach puree! There's no way I'm eating that stuff again!! (I did puree some of these peaches and saved it in the freezer for her for when these are all gone... One of my first times actually making baby food =)).

The trees and fruit were really pretty.

Lucky, guarding the trees from the squirrels. Tom's metal bands around the trunks did deter them as well but Lucky is a pretty effective guard dog... he's a lot quicker than he looks... =)

Sleep Training - Round 183....

2010-07-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I exaggerate. A little.
On Sunday night, July 4th, we bit the bullet (again) and tried to start sleep training Maritt. Again.
We went with a modified Ferber. I let myself go in a little more frequently and didn't so rigidly stick to his times, I picked her up a few times on a few nights, and tried to calm her before it escalated to a point of no return or kept going for hours on end.

So... a few days into it now, we hope it's working and she seems to be getting the concept. She still cries for anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour before eventually succumbing to sleep. We still go in and reassure her. Tell her we love her, sleep is a wonderful thing, all is well in the world - that kind of thing... and then leave again hoping she'll fall asleep.

We had just reached a point where we could no longer sustain the process and steps it took to get her to go to sleep. The rocking, shushing, bouncing, and pacing the room, move to put her in her crib and her waking up as soon as you got her about 1 inch above the mattress... only to have to start again. Over and over. Tom and I grew quite frustrated and knew we needed to try again.
I also realized that if Maritt woke up Cyanne, it would just be for a few nights (hopefully) while she learned to sleep and then everyone would be better off after she figured it out. So, while I'd initially been extremely concerned about C waking up, I knew that if she did, she'd fall back asleep and it would be okay.

So, we tried it the night we got back from LA and have been doing it ever since. As all of the books say, consistency is key.
We've been trying hard and so far, Maritt seems to slowly be getting the hang of it.
Fingers crossed it gets easier and easier and she turns into a fantastic, awesome sleeper that Cyanne is now. We hope both of them learn and continue to realize what a fantastic thing sleep is =).

Yasmine & Sam's Wedding - Day 2

2010-07-04T21:45:00.000-07:00

We woke up and realized we were:
1) not at home,
2) alone,
3) programmed to wake up early even when the girls weren't there,
4) without Cyanne and Maritt, and
5) could do whatever we wanted, when we wanted! Yippee!...

We got ready and took a nice walk to Urth Cafe where we had a delicious breakfast, fantastic lattes (mine was a bird!), read the paper, and talked. It was fantastic.

After breakfast, we put on our pool clothes, sunscreen and headed up to the rooftop pool.
It was a gorgeous, warm, sunny day - a perfect day to sit out and relax by a pool. The fact that it happened to be a pool on the roof of a tall building in LA with views of the city didn't hurt.

Sam & Yasmine -

Tom - enjoying the private cabana - "Now, this is the life..." =)
Though, do note, while he was reading his magazine, I was reading the Ferber sleep training book. =) We're coming for you, Maritt!

If you look carefully, you can see the Hollywood sign in the distance:

View of the lower rooftop bar area (where we had drinks the 1st day, incidentally):

View of the pool - looks inviting, no?

The pool, chairs, lounge chairs, and any available space quickly became filled. There was a person at the door to the rooftop area with a clipboard with names (you had to be on the list to be let up) and a count of the number of people on the roof. It was totally full! Lots of bikinis, big sunglasses, hats, and drinks. I definitely felt like I was a long, long way from Santa Barbara =).

Towards the end of the afternoon, we knew it was time to go. We had a fantastic time but knew we needed to get home. We headed back to Santa Barbara feeling amazingly refreshed. We were very excited to pick-up Cyanne and then to drive back to the house to meet Maritt.

We caught some of the 4th of July fireworks set off from Girsh park that night after both girls were asleep in their beds:

Yasmine & Sam's LA Wedding Celebration (and a night AWAY!) - Day 1

2010-07-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

Tom and I took a big weekend trip down to LA to celebrate Yasmine and Sam's wedding. And... we did it without children! We left Cyanne with my parents (she was returned to us in one piece, thankfully... =)) and had the amazing Erin watch Maritt. It was really hard to leave them both as we had only ever left Cyanne alone over night once before (right before Maritt was born and we stayed in SB) and had never left Maritt before. But, we knew that they were both in good hands.
So, onto the 101 S we went! My cellphone was in hand the whole way though, just, you know, in case...

Yasmine and Sam were celebrating their wedding which took place on May 29th in Santa Barbara with a reception in Los Angeles. We stayed at The Thompson Hotel which was very modern and fun (and had a gorgeous rooftop pool but more on that later.)

It started with a brunch hosted by her friend Jenna and me at Cecconi's in West Hollywood.
We had delicious appetizers, champagne, martinis, and celebrated in the gorgeous private Butterfly Room with artwork by Damien Hirst as a backdrop. I think Yasmine took 50 photos of those butterflies... =)

It was a great time with a wonderful group of women:

While we were at the lunch, Tom joined up with Sam and some of his friend and went to the Beverly Hills Hotel for lunch and two bottles of champagne!...

Afterward, we met up and relaxed for a little while on the outdoor rooftop bar/pool area, had some cocktails, laughed with some friends, and then went to get ready for the reception.

It was still so completely, totally surreal for us to be just with each other and not with Cyanne and Maritt. I kept feeling as though I was forgetting something or, in this case, someone, whenever we did anything. That, and the fact that I got to have a drink and read a few pages of a book, in the sun, undistributed was almost foreign to me! It felt sneaky or like we were getting away with something... but it felt good! =)

The reception was at the Sunset Tower Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. The tables and chairs were right next to the pool. There was a beautiful view of downtown LA from the pool deck.

View of downtown in the distance (through the ever-present LA haze):

Listening to toasts:

Yasmine's parents, Maryam and Michael, with two of her college friends:

Me with two of my fellow co-workers - Shereef (a good buddy of Sam's) and Arthur Gaudi - estate planning/probate attorney/teller of outrageous stories extraordinaire (check out that suit!) The man is "retired" but still sports a 3-piece suit to the office 4 days of week...

The party getting into full-gear - lots of drinking, laughing, and dancing:

The happy couple!

Yay, Mr. and Mrs. Zodeh!

Cooperstown - Final Day - June 2010

2010-06-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Spending lots of time with Grandpa in the kitchen. Cyanne, by the way, loves those stools in the kitchen.

Spending time with Grandpa on the front porch in the rocking chair.

Discussing the railroad tracks. Apparently, Grandpa calls them 'rails.' =)

Running on the grass...

We took a wonderful afternoon trip to Otsego Lake to go swimming at the 'beach' there.
Cyanne had a fantastic time swimming, digging holes in the sand, and creating streams back down to the lake.

She was a busy bee and very task oriented =).

Walking along the dock with Tom. I like how this one give you a perspective of just how forested the other side of the lake is.

These were really nice photos - Nanna & Maritt.

Maritt is flying like a plane! She loved this!

We had a fantastic trip to Cooperstown and, as it always does, went way too quickly for us. Cyanne had a wonderful time with her Nanna and Grandpa. Tom and I love spending time with Anne and Richard but love even more seeing them play and interact with Cyanne and now, Maritt. It's just such a special thing to watch and we love spending the time with them. We just wish it was MUCH more often!! Cyanne keeps asking when we can go back to Cooperstown and see Nanna and Grandpa. She loves it there - as do we. It is such a treat for us to have two other people around to play with the girls and to help us in the usual things that happen in the day. We love that we can actually sit on the couch and possibly read something while Cyanne is running around exploring with Nanna or Grandpa. =) It's quite a treat.

But, now that we're back home, we were talking about what a wonderful time we had and how much we miss them!
We'll see them next in Alaska for Mart's wedding...

We can't wait to go back to Cooperstown for Anna's wedding in May!!

Cooperstown - More... - June 2010

2010-06-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

One morning, Anne and Cyanne went over to the site of the new grocery store across the road/railroad tracks from their house. It was very intriguing for Cyanne as they had cement mixers, trucks, tractor/back-filler types things beeping, moving dirt, and looking otherwise very interesting!

Off they go, down Grove Street!

Checking out the sheep at the Farmer's Museum. There were lots of baby sheep as well.

"Look! A baby one!"

Making cookies with Nanna!
Let's just say Cyanne was really excited about the chocolate chips... and she did pretty well not eating too much of the batter!

The two bakers!

Searching for little snakes, bugs and other fun creatures...

Nanna & Cyanne wearing their cooking aprons. Cyanne is wearing Anne's apron that she was given as a young girl.

She had fun wearing it!

Cyanne spent hours running up and down the hills in the backyard. Tom had a lot of fun running around with her, too...

Cooperstown - Lake Visit - June 2010

2010-06-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at the Lake.

Anne & Cyanne - watching the swimmers dive off of the raft:

Tom & Richard had a great time swimming & jumping off the raft.

The most perfect sized Adirondack chair for Cyanne!

This makes me laugh. Cyanne's pose is quite entertaining.

First time in the rowboat with Daddy!

We eventually lost our swimsuit =)

Maritt hung out with me in the shade under the trees, relaxing and enjoying the view.

Practicing her kicks - "BIG splash!":

Getting covered in sunscreen!

Before we went to the lake, Nanna traced Cyanne's outline so we could see just how big she is - and maybe, decorate her!
She took it VERY seriously!

Cooperstown - Day 3

2010-06-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Before Devon, Mike & Henry headed back to Boston, we went to Fly Creek to feed the ducks, ride some tractors, and try some fudge and caramel apples... Always a good time!

Ducklings!

Cyanne rejected Tom's attempt at a kiss:

Even in the rain, they rode their tractors!

These must be some of the most well fed ducks and geese in the state of New York...

We tried several times to get good group shots... Is rather hard with toddlers!

We loved the visit from the Powells and were so happy they were willing to make the drive from Boston to see us. I love the fact that Devon and I have known each other since we were in kindergarten and now, we are able to spend time togehter - with our children!
It won't be another 3 years until we see you guys again, I promise!

Cyanne & Mommy - playing with the camera:

Picking peonies with Nanna!

Their neighbors have this beautiful row of peony bushes. Just beautiful!!

I love this photo. Hanging out with Grandpa.

Maritt's first taste of ice cream!

Oh boy, it's COLD! It was so funny watching her reaction. She didn't quite know what to think of it. It was sweet but it was cold! She made these funny faces and semi-shivers:

Cooperstown - Day 2

2010-06-20T15:56:00.000-07:00

We had a great time the next day running around the house, playing in the yard and on the porch, running up and down the sidewalk, going to the Farmer's Museum, and going to the playground just down the street from the house.

Really - inside, she's smiling =):

Red light, green light!

They had a blast with a bubble machine we brought (thanks, Clare!):

The Carousel at the Farmer's Museum:

Feeding the baby goats!

They were vigorous suckers! I had immense sympathy for their mother... and her nipples! =)

One of Cyanne's absolute favorite things: running with and chasing after Tom. She loves to be chased by him...

"Daddy, get me!" "I get you, Daddy!"

Playing on the playground:

Ms. Maritt decided it would be much more fun to come over and join the big kids than take a nap so Nanna brought her over to see what was going on.

I think Maritt's 1st time on a swing! She LOVED it!

They had a great time looking at each other:

Whee!!!!

I love Devon's face here =):

Cooperstown - Part I (Travel to NY and Visit with the Powells!)

2010-06-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

We were SO, SO excited to go to Cooperstown. We adore going and staying with Tom's family and look forward to it for months and months. This time, I used it as a way to teach Cyanne more numbers: "It's 10 days/9 days etc. until we go to Cooperstown to see Nanna and Grandpa!"

We took our usual flights to Cooperstown. We arrived at the SB Airport in time for our 8 PM flight. Both kids were dressed in their jammies and were ready to sleep. Ha, who am I kidding... we would try...

Cyanne at SBA:

Hanging out at O'Hare at 5 AM. Remarkably, everyone was in a pretty good mood. Starbucks for me and Tom helped quite a bit. The kids had a great time people watching, per usual...

Cyanne with her two must-haves: Puppy & Blanket. All is right in the world when she has these two with her.

Hi! I'm getting teeth!

They both did a great job. We flew from SBA-LAX-ORD-ALB.
Yes, it's always 3 flights...!

Sleeping from ORD - ALB. Peaceful silence...

I love how Cyanne used Maritt as a pillow:

My perspective:
So precious.

When we arrived, we were met by Anne & Richard at the airport - We were all very excited to see them!

Onward to Cooperstown!

The day we got there, in the afternoon, Devon, Mike & Henry came to Cooperstown to see us!!! I'm almost embarrassed to write this but it had been since June 2007 that I'd seen Devon. Henry was 3 months old and I was pregnant with Cyanne. I was so excited for her to meet Cyanne (and now, Maritt!) and for us to see Henry and spend some quality time with Devon & Mike.

Cyanne and Henry had a fantastic time together.
Running up and down the hill in the backyard:

Tom likes to flip Cyanne around - she's squeals with glee. Part daredevil, part cheerleader, part gymnast. It's amazing to watch.

Henry, Cyanne, & Tom running up and down (and up and down) the hill. Perfect way to wear out the kids... (and the adults).

Bath time!
Let's just say they had fun together =).

On to the rest of the trip!

Playdate at Cami's House!

2010-06-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

Cyanne had a blast at a playdate at her buddy Cami's house.
She had a LOT of fun playing with Cami, Cali, and Cami's sister, Ella.

Here are some photos of their fun playdate:

Cyanne trying to get some apple juice from Lori (a treat for her as she really only ever gets it at playdates and birthday parties!):

Neat view from their dining room:

Cyanne & Cami drawing:

Cami & Lori:

Yay! Cyanne loves her buddies!

Jay's Visit to SB

2010-06-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

Jay visited us for a weekend before he left the West Coast for Jackson, Mississippi!
Cyanne & Maritt loved hanging out with their Uncle Jay.

Tom & Jay had a great time hanging out at the BBQ.

Grilled filet mignon and asparagus:

Dining out on the deck:

They took a fun hike with the Cyanne walking & Maritt in the backpack up in the hills and then we had lunch at a restaurant outdoors before Jay headed back up the coast to San Francisco.

Someone's a fan:

We loved visiting with Jay & hope he comes back to see us soon!

Pigtails

2010-06-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

Cyanne was looking especially cute on the way in this morning -
She let me put her hair in pigtails!
=)

So, so cute.

I Madonnari Festival

2010-06-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

Tom, Cyanne, Maritt & I went to the I Madonnari Festival today at the Mission after school/work this evening. This is one of my favorite Santa Barbara traditions - I am always amazed at the drawings the artists create.

Here are some of our favorites:

Dancing on the steps of the Mission:

This next one was done by the current art instructor at Laguna Blanca:

This one was so realistic - it looked just like a photograph of a little girl:

A cat eye - if you look closely, you can see the reflection of a bird in the cat's eye. Clever...

A little art for the little one:

Peonies!

2010-06-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

One of my all-time favorite flowers is the peony.
Here are some beautiful ones we got recently. They smell incredible. Each time we walk by there's this gentle scent of clean, light, floral scent.

(as an aside, I love the fact that when I see them at Trader Joe's or my friend Lara sees them, we immediately text or email the other to let them know they are in and to get them before they are all gone! Thanks, Lara!!) =)

Yasmine & Sam's Wedding Brunch

2010-05-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

The next morning, there was a very nice brunch at the Biltmore where we were able to celebrate with the new Mr. and Mrs. Zodeh =)... as well as the rest of their families.

Maritt came along to join in the festivities:

Yasmine & Sam's Wedding - Santa Barbara

2010-05-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

Yasmine & Sam were married May 29, 2010 at her parents house in Santa Barbara - it was a gorgeous day and a beautiful ceremony.

Here are some of our favorites from the celebrations:

Champagne to celebrate!

Beautiful flowers:

The dress!

More wedding flowers:

Maryam, Yasmine & Michael:

YM and her parents:

Beautiful view:

This is Yasmine's - Weav, stop taking photos of me! - face...

View of the SB Harbor:

The ceremony: (it was a hot, bright sun!)

Michael's toast:

The happy couple:

Us.

Yasmine & her Mom - two beautiful ladies.

Yasmine always chooses some nice shoes... =)

The end of the evening...

Happy 6 Months, Maritt!

2010-05-11T15:33:00.001-07:00

Maritt is 6 months old today - May 11th, 2010.
A whole 1/2 a year!

A few things about Maritt:
She loves cats. And dogs.
She is sleeping well - fingers crossed...
She's pretty keen on the whole 'solid food' business. She loves her squash, veggies, sweet potato, carrots, pears all mixed with a good heap of oatmeal.
Pureed bananas - not so much... But, the real deal - she loves those! She also loves the fresh peaches and plums we have coming off of our trees!

Someone is super cute!:

She loves her sister and loves watching her do pretty much anything.
She also makes big eyes with her Daddy. She's definitely a "Daddy's girl" =)

She smiles. ALL of the time. She is one of the most smiling babies I've ever seen.
She's just overall a very happy, good disposition, easy going baby.
She only cries when she's exhausted, hurts herself, gets smacked by Cyanne, or is teething... but really, that's about it.

Lucky & Maritt - post-walk:

She's doing a great job with her fine motor skills - picking up small objects and food bits with her fingers and daintily putting them in her mouth.
Moving well...
And making lots of sounds =)

All in all - a great 6 months so far!
Yay, Maritt! We love you!

Maritt Sleeping Update - New Room & Crib

2010-05-11T15:28:00.001-07:00

Maritt has slept through the night to varying degrees for the past 4 nights.

Count 'em: 4!

I am so excited... I just pray each night before I go to sleep that she sleeps through and we hear her lovely little small voice talking around 6 or 7 AM...

We moved her down to her own room (Cyanne's old room) Friday night as Jay was going to come visit (for what turned out to be the world's shortest visit... =)) so that was our impetus.
We also knew we were going to go without the swaddle, per Dr. Brennan who told us it was time to let it go... Might as well make several major changes at a time, right?!

Maritt in her big crib!

So, we put her in this seemingly huge crib with just a fleece sleepsac on and gave it a shot.
That night, she slept, with a few peeps (she'd then fall back asleep on her own), from 9 PM until 7 AM!

Oh, joyous, joyous day.

So, we have been doing it since then. Her naps are about 2 hours, one in the morning and one in the afternoon - and then she goes to sleep anywhere from 7:30-9 PM and sleeps until 6-7:30 AM!
We have had 4 nights in a row!!!!

Great job, Maritt. Mommy and Daddy are beyond thrilled. Really. You have no idea.

Please, oh please, keep up the good work =).

Seriously though, dc-ing the swaddle, putting her in her own room, the cooler temps in the rooms downstairs, and the different bed/mattress really seem to have made a big, excellent difference.

YAY!!!

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful day today. It started off fantastically well as Maritt slept all night last night! She went to sleep at 9 PM (ish) and didn't wake up until 7 AM (ish)!! I honestly could not have asked for a better mother's day gift.
(She did it Friday night, too! Way to go Maritt!)

We had a nice morning and while Maritt took her morning nap, Cyanne and Tom gave me my mother's day gift which was a very fun ITouch! Our Ipod that I'd bought for Tom (er, me) when they first came out is on its last legs so Tom decided to return the favor and get me one to use. I can also share it with Cyanne and upload some of her favorite shows (i.e. Elmo from "Sesame eet"...) and some fun toddler apps for our upcoming trip in June. Will be a good lesson in sharing - for both of us... =)

It was the sweetest thing. Apparently, all week at school they had been teaching the kids how to say 'Happy Mother's Day.' Cyanne got it down and I was told happy "mudders" day several times today! So, so adorable.

We had fun during the day and then, after naps, headed up to the pool so Cyanne could practice her swimming.

After swimming, we headed over and had a very nice dinner at the Club.
I then got a very sweet card written by Tom with Cyanne and Maritt's help, of course. I am a sucker for cards and he has learned some excellent card writing skills over the years... =) Thanks honey!

Tom was also able to talk with his Mom and Cyanne wished Nanna a happy mother's day. She's also getting very good at saying I love you. So, Nanna also got an "I love you, Nanna!"
She'll run up to us, throw her arms around us and say "I love you, Mommy!" or "I love you, Daddy!" " I love you too, Mama!" My heart just melts when she says that.

Happy Mother's Day all!

Pre-Mother's Day Evening

2010-05-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

We had a great evening tonight. It has been my favorite kind of weather: cool, blue skies, high cumulus clouds, and very, very, very windy. It feels so much like the Lake, as Tom & I keep saying.

We went to Stowe Grove Park for a little running around and swinging this afternoon.
Cyanne had a great time and Maritt was mesmerized by the kids running around, swinging, and yelling.

"Higher, Daddy!"

Then, as an excellent pre-mother's day treat, we went on a family date to Hollister Brewing Co. where I was able to have my Classic Margarita. This is one of the things that makes me very happy =). However, being surrounded by my three favorite people in the whole wide world makes me even happier...

Hmmm.... eating? drinking? coloring? What to do?!

We then went and enjoyed some frozen yogurt. Cyanne and I shared a bowl but she thought it was all hers. She proceeded to pick out all of the mini-Reeses Peanut butter cups. When I would have one on my spoon, she'd chime in with "No, Mommy. That's Cyanne's!" =)
So, we shared... Maritt even got a bite or two of Daddy's. That is, when she convinced him to share, too.

It was a beautiful, fun evening out. I am a lucky, lucky Mom indeed.

Cyanne's 1st Swim Lesson

2010-05-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Today, Gammie picked Cyanne up from school and took her to her 1st swim lesson at La Cumbre with Bobby!!

They arrived at 4 PM. Bobby took charge and Cyanne did a fantastic job. She blew bubbles in the water, kicked her legs ("flutter kicks"), and practiced her arm strokes. She also began to learn about holding the wall/side of the pool aka "crab-walking."

Bobby said she did a great job!!

Cyanne came home saying "I blew bubbles! I blew bubbles! Big kicks! I made big splashes in the pool! Lots of water! Water, high, high in the sky!" over and over =).

And now, one of Cyanne's constant requests is going to the pool.
Every time we drive by the La Cumbre exit on the 101, Cyanne (who has her father's incredible, amazing sense of direction, which is great) says, "Pool, Mommy! Pool! Up there!" pointing to the hill where the Club is...

So, each Thursday at 4 PM she has a standing lesson with Bobby until she is officially "pool safe." I think she's going to get the hang of it pretty soon!

Good job, Cyanne!!!

Playdate!

2010-04-25T22:07:00.000-07:00

Some of Cyanne's favorite people are her friends from preschool. Today, we had 3 little girls over for a playdate. She was so, so excited to see Cami, Cali and Rafaela.
They had a fantastic time exploring the deck, garden, avocado and orange trees, Cyanne's room (toys are always way more fun when they aren't yours...), eating snacks and drinking apple juice on the kitchen floor, "gently rocking" Maritt in her swing, wandering down the road, and petting Lucky, Max & Sonsie.

Babies are fascinating:

And so are "big kids":

Cyanne had an absolutely fantastic time with her girlfriends =)

Exploring the garden & eating tangerines or, as Cyanne calls them currently, "baby oranges or tan-ger-eenes."

Exploring the road:

Maritt joined the "big girl" playdate for a little while:

Alas, the group shot is always a challenge:

"My tummy doesn't feel good..."

2010-04-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

Cyanne was feeling really badly this morning.

Proof is that she took a nap - on the couch - mid-morning - with all of the usual chaos going on around here.
And, slept for an hour or more...

Poor baby:

You have WHAT in your eye?!

2010-04-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

I'll start this post by saying that Cyanne is such a trooper a lot of the time. She really is. She's a very good girl. And honestly, she does it at times when you'd think she or any normal toddler would get scared or freak out.

We'd noticed this black speck - it looked like a piece of pepper - in her left eye - for about a week. It never moved. It didn't float. It just stayed, stuck, to her eye right below her iris. I noticed it because I spend a lot of time looking at her and into her eyes. Yes, I gaze into her eyes often =).

I kept waiting for it to move or float away but it didn't. Tom held her one night while I put saline on my finger and tried to get it out. No luck. So, off Cyanne went to Dr. Brennan who, after looking at it w/a light, decided she needed to go to the ophthalmologist. Off to the specialist!

While with Dr. Brennan, Cyanne was amazing!!! She just sat there on my lap and let him shine this bright light into her eye. I was so, so impressed.

(BTW, she's now 23 pounds!)... She had no problem standing on the big girl scale. Helps that she gets to stand on a Nemo fish sticker...

The next morning, Tom took her to see the eye doctor. We'd told her before both appointments that she was seeing the doctor to look at her eye so she wasn't surprised or concerned. Again, she was amazing!!! Even the doctor said he couldn't believe she was acting so well.
First, he tried getting it out with a swab. And then, he had to use small, metal forceps because it was a PIECE OF METAL that was attached to her eyeball.
Poor Cyanne!
She'd had a piece of metal on her eyeball for at least a week. It had some redness around it but thankfully, hadn't fully embedded itself in there.
But though all of that - no tears! Even when he used the forceps to grab the piece of metal...

She only started to cry when he put dilation drops in her other eye...
But then, she had dilated eyes all day and of course, it was a very sunny SB day. So, she kept saying "no sun! no sun!"...

Another experience. Another time when Cyanne has proved to us, yet again, that she is capable of some pretty amazing behavior. Good job Cyanne!!!!!

Rolling Over!

2010-04-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

Maritt is doing a good job of rolling herself around! She moves quite a bit and is often 90-180 degrees rotated after a minute or two of being down on the mat.

She has been able to roll from her tummy to her back for a while now but just this week, started rolling from her back to her front.

We've seen her do this a few times now - I'm sure she'll start doing it more and more which means change is afoot...

Jumping!!!

2010-04-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Oh, how Cyanne loves to jump.

She jumps everywhere.
From chairs to the floor. From sofa to sofa. From rug to rug. From step to step. From the car to the road. Over things. Quickly, and without any sign of fear. She says "look Daddy! I'm jumping!" all of the time.
Also, at school she says "bringa!" which, apparently, means jump in spanish. "Look, Olivia, bringa, bringa!!" followed by a big jump... =)

We were outside on a beautiful evening and Cyanne started jumping from the top step on the deck down to the lower level!
She jumped the full 2 steps without hesitation.

This made for much, much fun for her and Tom for the next 30 minutes at least:

Jumping Videos

Another Jumping Video

(those should be 2 links to YouTube videos!)

Easter Weekend - Part II

2010-04-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

Sunday, we started off the day with some Easter chocolate. I'd ordered Tom some chocolate from Burdick's in Cambridge where we loved to go when we lived there. He was quite excited to get his big chocolate truffle egg!

He and Cyanne dove in... she has developed quite a love of (very dark) chocolate like her father, thanks to my parents...

Next, we went to the Easter service at First Presbyterian Church.

It was a very nice service. We had reserved 3 Easter lilies in honor of Nanny so it was nice to see those all around the church and be reminded of her. I sat there thinking of the many times I had accompanied her on Easter mornings in years past. I remember her getting all dressed up for it in her pink suit and pearl earrings and necklace. And, as I said to Tom, I know she'd have been so happy and pleased knowing that we were there, in her church, listening to the Easter service with our two little girls, thinking of her, and saying a prayer. If she's watching from up above, I know she had a smile on her face watching us there, carrying on a tradition that meant so much to her. I only wish she'd been able to meet Maritt. I know she would have been so touched and pleased knowing we named Maritt after her grandmother from Norway.

The church events start with... guesses???.... another Easter Egg hunt! So, all of the kids ran off and searched the grassy area. Cyanne was getting a bit more adventerous at this point and managed to find a few more eggs - again with Tom's help.

We then went to the service and she did well - up until the point where she slipped on the pew and hit her chin/face into the wooden back of the pew in front of us. I'd like to say this happened during a hymn so her wails blended in but, alas, it did not.
Tom and Cyanne left and I stayed in the sanctuary with Maritt.
We then moved to the back so I could feed her while T and C were doing crafts and exploring the church.

Apparently though, going to church made quite an impression on Cyanne because she has since mentioned it quite a few times to Olivia, her teacher, and she sings this little song and says "Mommy, Daddy, Minute! - church! Ladies sing songs. Music!" So, she must've really enjoyed the organ and the choir... We will try and take her again.

After church, we ended up at my parent's house Sunday evening for another... easter egg hunt!!.... and dinner. Maritt finally go to wear the 'fancy' dress my Mom got her for Easter (navy velvet with pink and white embroidered flowers).

Cyanne had fun - she'd gotten the hang of this whole easter egg business by this point. This time, she had the lawn all to herself and went briskly from egg to egg.

Please note the Blabey tongue-out look of concentration:

Feeding the fish in the fish pond. Apparently, there is a fish in there that Cyanne helped pick out at Petco with my Mom... She really likes feeding the fish both at my parent's house and at Nanna & Grandpa's house in Cooperstown. Lucky, well-fed fish!

My mom and Cyanne like to dangle their feet in the pool. Cyanne says it's "really cold! really cold!" =)

We also walked down the street from their house to visit a horse named Samson. She LOVES visiting him... she feeds him apples. So, we paid him an easter visit and gave him some fresh apples as a treat. She couldn't understand why he was more into his fresh hay and alfalfa he'd just received... =)

It was a very nice dinner and a nice way to end the weekend.

Easter Weekend - Part I

2010-04-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

We had a very nice Easter weekend.

Saturday the 3rd, we started out bright and early and headed to La Cumbre to do their annual Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch.

Maritt surveying the scene:

Let's just say that this is a no-holds-barred event. It is a free for all for people under 3 1/2 feet tall. They divide the driving range into two areas. One for the 0-4 age group and one for the 4-8 age group. Thank goodness Cyanne is still on the side with the small kids though even some of those were pretty damn impressive when it came time to go.

The bell sounded and they were off. And... what do you think Cyanne did?
She stood, frozen in fear, and Velcro-ed herself to Tom's leg. I stood there, camera in hand, foot rocking Maritt in the car seat on the grass, waiting for Cyanne to run off, frolic and search with the other kids but no... Tom took her by the hand and slowly helped her make her way to the eggs.

She did find a few but many fewer than other little kids - to such an extent that one little girl seemed to take pity on her and came over to her, said "here, you can have this one" and dropped an egg in her basket =). Good sharing little girl!

It was funny though because there were a few "golden" eggs hidden below the hay and I think the parents were more excited than then kids as they held gift certificates for the Club... I think parents were thinking free drinks by the pool or sandwiches at the snack bar. Either way - there was a lot of "Go, go, go! Get the golden egg!"...

After the hunt, we made our way over to the Clubhouse where we had a nice brunch.

Dad/Bubba, Maritt & Tom:

Cyanne did fairly well. Luckily for her, she'd say, they ran out of high chairs so she got to sit in a "big" chair which was exciting for her but it also meant she could get out of it at any time. So, she did. Of course...

She also had fun playing in the curtains and looking at these two little boys playing with a toy snake at the table next to us.

All in all - a fun morning!

Wonderful afternoon of friends, margaritas and ranch exploration!

2010-03-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful afternoon today. Daalia, Will & Laith, Terri, Adam & Owen, and Victoria & Gwendolyn (we missed you Bill!) came over to hang out and have the kids have a little playdate.

While the kids played and ran around, we got to (semi) relax with blood orange margaritas (from Tom's little prize tree near the deck) and some snacks. Oh, and as not to be left out... the kids had apple juice. This is quite a treat for Cyanne as she never gets juice otherwise.

Gwendolyn was so observant checking out the scene:

The kids had a great time running around, playing with/practicing how to blow bubbles (it's a lot harder than it looks =))...

Fun with stairs & rocks:

Terri and Daalia are both expecting so Adam and Will got a brief refresher in newborns, thanks to Maritt. =)

Owen tried to give Cyanne kisses...

They picked oranges and avocados.

Ventured down the road to check out the chickens...

And had a few falls, spills, and tumbles! It's rough out at the ranch!
Thanks for coming over guys... we had a great time!
(and thanks to Terri for some of these great photos =)).

Cyanne & AnnaTake On Goleta Beach

2010-03-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

Ah, we love it when the Gustafson's come to visit!

Cyanne has a blast seeing Anna. She still talks about Anna's 2nd birthday party at the Herbert's house just before Christmas. Not only did she get to see Anna but there was lots of Elmo involved... and cake! Invariably, when Cyanne sings "Happy Birthday," it's often Anna's birthday.

We usually get to see them for breakfast and a little time to play. Anna apparently associates Cyanne with pancakes.

But this time, we met at Goleta Beach so the girls could play on the playground, check-out the beach and ocean and then head over to dinner at the Beachside.

I have no cute photos of them playing... let's just say it's enough to try and wrangle a toddler while avoiding "big kids" who almost take out your 2 year old... But take my word for it - they had a good time going down the slide, swinging on the swings, and jumping all around.

Here are some shots from dinner.

Yummy spaghetti! (how cute is she?!?)

It's a challenge to get them both smiling at the same time. Anna is much less camera-averse than Cyanne. But, we did get it eventually!

I can't wait to show them these photos when they are 18... =)

Come back soon, Anna!! We love seeing you (*and of course, your fantastic Mommy & Daddy too) =)

Middlebury Class of ... 2031?

2010-03-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots of Maritt decked out here Middlebury gear.
Here we come class of 2031...

And this photo cracks me up every time:

Lots of Smiles & Ladybugs

2010-03-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

A few random photos of Cyanne, Maritt & Tom.
Maritt... smiling, as usual =)

And Tom and Cyanne releasing some of the ladybugs he got to help rid his roses of other less desirable insects!
Cyanne was very intrigued by all of the ladybugs on Daddy's hands - crawling all over...

Happy 6th Anniversary!

2010-03-25T23:45:00.000-07:00

On March 20th, we celebrated 6 wonderful years together!

We spent a very nice day with Cyanne and Maritt and then had a delicious dinner at the newly reopened Wine Cask downtown.

A few photos from that fantastic day, 6 years ago...:

And oh, how our lives have changed in such wonderful, amazing ways since then...
Most of all - the two new little additions we have added to our family.
We love our little family of four.

In the buff...

2010-03-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

One afternoon, Maritt and I were hanging out inbetween diaper changes practicing some tummy time. She's rolling from her stomach to her back pretty frequently - and trying hard to go from her back to her tummy. She gets about half-way over and stops.

Her is our cute little girl...
Such a cute little body =)

Who me?
What? I'm practicing my swimming strokes.

Maritt - Sleeps through the night!

2010-03-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Last night.... wait for it.... wait for it...

Maritt slept through the night!!
Hooray!!! Yippee!!! Joy of joys...!!!

She slept from about 10:30 PM until 7 AM.

She's 4 months and 2 weeks old.

I woke up at 6 AM due to the painful, rock-hard engorged milk factories on my chest but was elated when I looked at the clock and realized that she hadn't woken up during the night.
Fantastic!
I'll take engorged breasts any day if it means that Maritt sleeps through the night.

This was the 5th night of sleep training.

It was still difficult to put her down last night as it has been since we started sleep training. We started the process around 8:30 PM or so. We'd given her a bath with Cyanne, read them books together, fed her, wrapped her up, and tried to put her to sleep but she wasn't giving in. She cried quite a bit - we would go in at various increments. We waited longer periods in the beginning as per Ferber's book (i.e. 10 min., 12 min., 15 min.) but she kept crying harder and harder. I went up and tried to burp her again which helped - and then we re-wrapped her.
Opened the window as all of the crying was really making her hot...
And then, when she cried, I'd go in more frequently and reassure her - every 3-5 minutes. I think this helped because she eventually fell asleep around 10 PM.

And stayed asleep!!!

Oh, my fingers are crossed she learns this is the way to go and does it again tonight.
I can hope!
And, as Tom said, now we know she can do it!!

Way to go Maritt - Mommy and Daddy are so, so thankful. And appreciative.
Good girl!

Sleep Training - Update

2010-03-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

So... we've been sleep training for several days now.
Maritt, unlike her sister Cyanne, has not succumbed to the wonderful thing that is sleep so easily.

With Cyanne, we never went past 3 nights of sleep training. She'd figured it out by that point. Granted, she was 6 months old and Maritt is only 4 1/2. Also, Cyanne never went past the 2nd 10 minute timed session...

Maritt, on the other hand... Well, let's just say that she doesn't seem to want to give in as easily. Does this portend a stubborn streak? A night-owl? Only time will tell... But for now, we're the bosses and we say it's time to sleep!

But, each night has been rather difficult. Rather than finally giving in to it after several timed periods, she continues to cry. At points, she quiets down and Tom and I look at each other and say "maybe... is she actually asleep? please...?" and then she lets out another wail. And we sigh and continue to stare at the monitor.

Maritt is now totally hoarse and is about to fully lose her little voice. =(
She cries and cries, we go in and reassure her after the set periods, she cries more... we go back in.

Last night I just couldn't take it anymore and went in, picked her up, soothed her, bounced her, and nursed her until she fell asleep. I know, I know. This is just what he says not to do but really, she sounded so pathetic with her little, hoarse, sad-pitched cries. I caved.
But, we and she will eventually figure it out.

Naps on the other hand, interestingly or oddly enough, haven't been difficult. We put her down "drowsy but awake" and she falls asleep... Nighttime - you are a different beast altogether.

We will figure this out.
We will. All 3 of us.

Meanwhile, Cyanne, the super sleeper, is sound asleep in her crib with puppy, blanket, and big bird. We love the fact you're such an awesome sleeper Cyanne. It brings us endless joy... you have no idea.

Sleep Training

2010-03-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last night, we started sleep training Maritt.
We are using the Ferber method as we did with Cyanne.

Oh, the poor girl but we keep telling ourselves it's for the best. She needs to learn how to go to sleep on her own. Up until this point, we have been either rocking her to sleep, bouncing on the ball for hours, or nursing her until she is asleep. We then move her to her co-sleeper where sometimes she wakes up and we start over again or sometimes, she stays asleep until she wakes up to eat.

We are dealing with two issues this time (whereas with Cyanne, it was just helping her learn how to fall asleep on her own). With Maritt, we have to 1) teach her how to fall asleep on her own and 2) wean her off of her nighttime feedings. She needs to learn that she eats during the DAY... not at night.
So, the sleep training is really a two-fold endeavor.

She actually did pretty well last night.
She cried for the first several timed segments. 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and then - she fell asleep 2 minutes into the 2nd 10 minute segment.

Tom and I were lying on the guest bed upstairs (we've moved into the guest room to have Maritt sleep alone in our room. Apparently, she can smell the milk when I'm around and thus, wakes up hungry and ready for a snack...) and looked at each other and were very glad that she'd finally fallen asleep.

On to day 2 tomorrow...

Four Months Old!

2010-03-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

Well, 4 months and a week...
We didn't quite get Ms. Maritt on March 11th... but here she is:

Who-hoo, they've got me dressed as a boy today! :)
Good thing I like elephants!

Bathtime!

2010-03-08T13:52:00.000-08:00

Maritt's aunt Mart sent us a very neat baby gift: a bath tub! We have found it to be quite useful and a fun way to give Maritt a bath when we don't want to 1) put her in the bath with Cyanne or 2) want to give her a bath when only one of us is around.

For some reason, almost every bath Maritt has taken has been with Cyanne which requires either Tom or me holding her while the other one gives her a good rub-a-dub. So... this tub enables us to do it when there's only one of us here which is handy.
That and it gives her her a reassuring feeling of being in a smaller, warm space.

She really seems to like it!

Thanks Aunt Mart!

A mother's viewpoint

2010-03-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

There are moments when I am overcome by how precious Maritt is. Her adorable face, beautiful hands, dark eyelashes, downy hair, small dimple, and rosy cheeks and lips. Her rhythmic, even, quiet breathing. Her peaceful face while she is sleeping.

Tom and I have spent hours upon hours holding Maritt in our arms. Those moments are some of the most precious.
Here is my perspective.

We love you very much Maritt.

The Arrival of Spring

2010-03-03T14:30:00.000-08:00

Spring has clearly come to Santa Barbara. The plum and peach trees are in full bloom around our house. They are just gorgeous when they are in bloom, full of pink blossoms

And just for fun - here's a comparison shot of Cyanne & Maritt. I don't know about you but I think they look like sisters... =)

Cyanne at 5 months. Maritt at almost 5 months (a week and a half shy of 5 months):

Cyanne:

Maritt:

The jasmine are also in full bloom. The scent coming from all of the little, white flowers has to be one of the most amazing scents. Strong, pungent, floral - a deep, heady perfume.

Daddy's sweet girl:

L.L. Bean Ad

2010-02-26T12:59:00.001-08:00

As anyone who knows me well will attest, I like my fleece. It all happened when I went to Middlebury. I'd wager to say I didn't own a fleece jacket until I set foot on campus... and then look what happened. I wear them all of the time. To Tom's great dismay, when it's cold in our unheated house, I even sleep in them. I like me some fleece, what can I say?

So, it was a natural thing for me to buy my children.... fleece!
And oh, the options! So many colors, styles, thicknesses... A virtual wonderland of children's fleece clothing options. And they make pants too!

We've been dressing Cyanne in fleece jackets since she was 3 months old and low and behold... Maritt is 3 months!

So, Maritt had her first trial fleece run in this jacket that Cyanne used to wear.
Turns out (more in the matching vein) that Cyanne has one in her size too.

So..... my attempt at an L.L. Bean ad =). I'm so tempted to email the company a few of these.
Pretty darn cute, no?

Matchy-Matchy Pajamas

2010-02-26T12:51:00.001-08:00

I knew I would do this once I found out we were having another girl. I bought Cyanne and Maritt the same pj's or, I should say, Cyanne got the "big girl" version and Maritt got the "baby" version.

I was worried I'd have a hard time convincing Cyanne to wear these. She has been obsessed and that might not even be strong enough - with her "Prin-tass pajamas" which are these footed, white, fleece pj's that have sparkly pink ballerinas on them. Ballerinas, princesses - whatever. To her, they are princesses. She will not wear any other pj's unless these are in the "washing machine..." (we usually have to check the dirty clothes hamper and/or the actual machine to verify that they are, in fact, dirty). And then and only then, can we convince her to wear her "purple flowers" "frosty" or "animals" pj's.

So, knowing she has a great love for anything princess related, I convinced her that these were pj's that had the princess's horse on them - the unicorn!
It makes sense, no?
I thought so. Was persuasive logic... =)

Anyway, she now likes them (this also causes me relief because the "Printass" pajamas are 2T and getting very tight. These are a 3T so at least we'll have something to wear for the foreseeable future, but I digress).

So, one morning, we had Cyanne and Maritt sit together during the morning Elmo viewing:

Cyanne wanted Maritt to sit right up close to her and in these, between her legs so she could give her a "biiiiggggg hug."

And then, as with all things, when Cyanne was done, she was done. Maritt was cast aside... =) "All done, Mommy. All done."

Cyanne's Photo & Gummy Maritt

2010-02-22T15:12:00.000-08:00

Cyanne was playing around with the camera today.
Here is her shot of Daddy & Maritt.
Notice the angle upwards =):

And, a few shots of a very toothless Maritt. I had thought a tooth was coming in - it was a false alarm. Though... I'm sure they are on their way given how she gnaws and sucks on her fingers and hands at all times - not to mention the copious amounts of drool! =)

Smiling - as always...

Max and Maritt

2010-02-21T15:32:00.000-08:00

I enjoy putting Maritt down next to Max while he's sleeping. He may not find this enjoyable, but Maritt and I do!

He's such a relaxed, mellow, cool cat though.
He wakes up, checks out the scene and if he likes it, falls back asleep. If he decides, hey, I don't think I want to be lying next to a baby with unrefined motor skills who keeps (gently) hitting me with her arms, I'm getting up.

Maritt & Two Tigers:
Lying on Cyanne's big tiger in her room:

(top 2 photos taken 2/20, bottom 3 taken 3/20)

Ellwood Beach Walk

2010-02-21T15:03:00.000-08:00

Before the rains came tonight, we decided to let Cyanne and Lucky burn off some energy. We went for an afternoon walk out to the ocean at Ellwood Bluff.

Our little runner:

This is one of our favorite places for a walk. Wide open spaces. Green grass. Huge stands of eucalyptus trees. Incredible ocean vistas.

Cyanne ran and ran and ran... It was windy! And we could see the storm clouds approaching. Cyanne was disappointed we didn't actually walk down to the ocean but we knew it was going to rain - and soon. We made it out to the ocean and back just in time. The rain drops started falling just as we reached the car.

The mustard grass is blooming everywhere now:

Tom dressed as The Wild Thing

2010-02-19T21:30:00.000-08:00

Oh, the things we do for our church and Cyanne's daycare/preschool located at the church. First, we were Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus (Maritt) for Christmas during the Christmas Eve service. Now... Tom gets to dress up in a HUGE Wild Thing costume from Where the Wild Things are for a preschool fundraiser.

I promised people photos.
Here you go!

Let's just say Cyanne was PETRIFIED of Tom. I kept saying, "Cyanne, that's Daddy in there. Let's go over and say hi." And she looked completely terrified and would reply, "No, Mommy! No! Where Daddy go??" over and over.
Poor girl. Though really, you can't blame her. I mean, just look at him. If someone told me that was my Dad when I was 2 I'd probably freak out too.

Here's a photo of Nico, one of the caregivers/instructors in her class holding her up to talk with Tom. Tears were shed...

All sorts of little kids came up to him, grabbed onto his legs, and stood around him to take their photo with the "Wild Thing." =)

Tom couldn't see anything so he had to be led in and out of the room.

I think I can safely say these two things: Never in my life did I envision myself playing the role of Mary in a Christmas church service and never in Tom's life did he envision himself dressed up as the Wild Thing with children clamoring around him.

Oh, how your life changes when you have children... And yes, I know this is just the beginning.

Animal Video

2010-02-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

Anne sent Cyanne a very entertaining video about an orangutang and a hound dog that become best friends. Cyanne has watched the video numerous times now and requests to see it over and over.

Here she is - still watching... =)

And, not wanting Maritt to be left out, here are Tom, Maritt & Cyanne watching the video together:

I think Cyanne & Maritt may have inherited their father's tendency? ability? to zone out while watching the TV or, in this case, a video on the computer. =)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a very nice day today. Cyanne helped me make Daddy some Double Chocolate Chip brownies for his Valentine's gift. She did an excellent job stirring and mixing up the ingredients.

And, of course, Maritt and Cyanne were decked out in pink.
Here are a few shots of Maritt, covered in hearts =).