Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve together. The day before Christmas Eve we used our many Babies R'Us credits toward a Baby Bjorn. We've tried other carriers, but this one gives Jonie the opportunity to look out as we walk, which she digs. We started our day by walking down to Peet's to get some coffee.

Then we did some cooking. Anne made a strada in advance of Christmas morning breakfast. She also made ginger pots de creme for the dessert at the dinner party we're attending. Note Jonie in the background being a helper while we worked in the kitchen.
Her patience didn't last forever.
So we took a nap.
And then went to a lovely dinner party at our friends Phoebe and Hannah's house. They made wonderful Syrian food, and we had a lovely time.
Then we worked on Jonie's stocking.

Some Jonie Fun Facts

1. According to her one month well baby visit, Jonie is in the 97th percentile for length.

2. She has a birth mark on the inside of her left thigh.

3. She likes to smile at you the first time she sees you. After you've been smiling in her face for a few minutes, she is over you.

4. Most of the time she prefers to sleep in her car seat, rather than laying down flat.5. At the moment, her favorite toys are an elephant with a bell inside, and a sock monkey (thanks auntie megan and uncle jonathan!).

6. Her bowel movements come in pairs. If you try to change her after the first one you will either have to change her again, or deal with a very unfortunate incident on the changing table (learned the hard way).

7. She likes baths, but prefers to take baths with mom or dad rather than get bathed in the kitchen sink.

8. She loves to go on walks and falls asleep in no time. Here she is bundled up for a walk with dad yesterday. (Thanks Alex for the handmade mittens sent all the way from Latvia!)

An Early Christmas Miracle!

Our lives have changed forever! After weeks of violent protest, Jonah has finally begun to not only sit in her swing, but nap in it. She took two (count 'em: two!) naps in her swing yesterday. It was a revelation. We didn't manage to get any pictures of the sleeping, but here she is looking very tiny in an already pretty small swing.
This means that we actually get to set her down and do other things while she quietly stares at her giraffe and/or zebra buddies, and drifts off to sleep. A miracle.

Grinner!

Jonie's Buddy

Jonie has a new buddy. It is her right hand. When she lays on her back, her hand comes into view and she is immediately fixated on it. Her little eyes cross as she stares at it. And then, just as unpredictably as it arrived, it leaves again. But then it comes back! She loves it. We've named it Buddy. We don't have any photos of the two of them right now—some friends had our camera and just delivered it this evening—but we'll have some up soon.

Her other trick: smiling! Yes, she is a grinner. Again, stay tuned for photos. Here are just a few in the mean time.

Tubbin' with dad. Jonie loves her bath time.

For Mom & Jenn

I learned today that my mom and sister check this blog about 750 times a day. And that they have begun to measure our parenting based on how many pictures we post each day. So, even though our camera is at our friends' house right now and so there are no NEW photos, I'm going to post some older pictures (you know, from a few days ago) that haven't made it to the blog yet. Feast your eyes, mom and jenn.Milk drunk Jonie.
Sleeping after grouching.
Contemplation.

Come on!

dad time

Even though sometimes when she screams I feel like I'm losing my mind, mostly I love this.

Visitors

In addition to lots of family visitors, we've had lovely visits with our wonderful friends. They're our family, too.
Sandy and Shawna.
Sonya came over for some gingerbread pancakes topped with her homemade poached pears in apple cider. Delish.

Laura and Jonah in deep conversation. Jaime and Simon were along for the visit, too! We'll get photos of them up soon.

Thanks, Anna

On Monday, our amazing doula came over to visit us and to meet Jonah for the first time—they didn't really get a chance to get to know each other after the birth.

For those of you who have not heard our gushing over Anna, let me rehearse it briefly here. Anna was amazing during our labor and birth. She walked in the hospital room and completely took charge: lowered the lights, pulled hot and cold packs out of her magical doula bag, got two kinds of juice plus water and a bendy straw for Anne, and gently but firmly directed Anne through the most challenging parts of labor and delivery. She was present when we needed her, and slipped quietly into the background when Anne and I were spending intimate moments together. In addition to all of this, she reminded me to eat and drink and took some amazing photographs of the labor and Jonah's birth (we'll keep those photos for our private collection). She took care of everything and left Anne and I to work together, left me to be present for Anne and not worry about anything else. As incredible as she was during the labor and delivery, she was even more remarkable after Jonah was born and was taken first upstairs to the NICU at Alta Bates and then transferred to Children's. She laid a steady hand on Anne and spoon fed her yogurt, to get her strength back up. She was able to be with Anne when I was not, and there is no way to express how grateful I feel for her calm presence.

It was wonderful to have her in our home, and to let her hold our little miracle baby, so strong and happy after such a rocky start.

Thank you, Anna. For everything.

More grandma & grandpa love

This weekend my dad and step-mom came down from Oregon to meet Jonah. We met for coffee, visited the farmers' market, ate some burritos, and did a lot of hanging out around the house. On Saturday night, they played babysitters while Anne and I had a nice dinner out. This grandparent visiting is pretty great. Jonie agreed.

The view over Grandpa Doug's shoulder.
Happy Jonie stretching out on the couch.


Proud Grandpa.

Proud Grandma.

Christmas Tree Hunting

When I was a kid I always looked forward to the Christmas tree hunt. We'd drive out to a tree farm, get some hot chocolate, and run off into the rows and rows of trees looking for just the right one. Anne and I began cutting down our own tree last year, and we did it again this year, beginning a long tradition of Christmas tree cutting with Jonah. She mostly slept through it this year.

Anne and Jonah, intrepid tree hunters.
We found it! This year Anne decided that she did not want a Douglas Fir. (Oregonians, please don't count this too heavily against Anne's character. In spite of not wanting a Doug, she is still a good person. I can't prove it. You'll just have to take my word for it.) She wanted a Cedar, but we compromised on a redwood. Other than its being very prickly, it is actually a beautiful tree.
Jonah was riveted by her first tree. She was so impressed by her dad's handy tree cutting skills that she passed out.
Anne contributed to the effort by trying to find a vanity shot that featured all three of us.
All in all, it was a great day. Yeah, Christmas!

Grandma Love

My mom got to come down to spend the weekend with us. She had come down while Jonie was in the hospital, but on that trip she was only able to hold her once. That just wasn't good enough for Grandma Val. Once again, she made the drive down from Salem, Oregon. But this time the two got to spend some good time together.



Here are a few photos from today, just to round out the post.