Don't Try Anything Sneaky...

Jonie's got her eye on you.

More Oregon Photos

Here are a few more photos from our Oregon trip, courtesy of my mom.


Hot tubbin' in Jonie's new suit.


Grandpa Tom. Nothing makes a baby look smaller than being held by a tall guy.


Jonie and Uncle Sam getting acquainted in the morning.


Oh, that's love.

Just Love These Photos

Auntie Abby loves the layers.

Oregon!

We just got back from a long weekend in Oregon where Jonie met many of her people for the very first time! It was a momentous trip for other reasons, too. My nephew Noah took me for a ride in his car for the first time since he got his driver's license, we got to meet both of my brothers' girlfriends for the first time, and we said goodbye to my step-dad's father, who passed away on the day we arrived in town. Art was a warm and friendly man who always had a smile on his face. He'll be missed by everyone in our family.

Jonie was an angel on the plane: sleeping the first half and nursing during the second half of the trip, both coming and going. Shee was incredibly patient with being handed around to all of her new admirers. And there were many.

Grandma Val could hardly contain her joy.

Okay, she wasn't always patient. Cousin Noah was a good sport, though.

Good face time with Grandma Carrie.

Happy Grandpa in a rocker.

Jonie and Auntie Jenn seemed to have a special affinity for each other.
This shirt didn't last long on Uncle Colin. Shortly after this photo, Jonie let one rip all down his back. (Somehow I didn't get a photo of Uncle Sam. Once mom sends one to me, I'll get it up here.)
In addition to lots of family time, Jonie got to meet some friends, too. Jonie really enjoyed tooting on Meg's lap. That is a special kind of affinity too, I guess.
We spent the last few days of our trip bunking at the Megan, Anne and Adah household. Jonie needed a bath, so everyone decided to help.
Our lovely hosts made us a delicious banana creme pie. Jonie was excited to get it in her belly (eventually).
Jonah's personal milestone is that she found her hand over the weekend! She has been shoving it into her mouth ever since. A love affair has begun.

A Little Smile For You

Follow Up

Today we had a visit from our social worker from Children's Hospital Oakland. It is standard practice for every baby who spent time in the NICU to be offered free developmental assessments and follow up from the hospital for up to three years. Our social worker, Fran, was a doll. She explained all that the program offers. It is basically up to the parents to decide how much care and assistance they need in concert with various specialists from CHO. All of it is totally free (pretty amazing, right). She explained that they are particularly interested in following kids who have undergone brain cooling because their long-term results are so varied. She asked us a series of questions in order to get a general sense of how Jonah is doing.

Does she open her hands? (as opposed to leaving them clinched) Yes
Does she visually track objects? Yes
Does she startle at loud noises? Yes
Can she be consoled through feeding or rocking/bouncing? Yes
Does she make eye contact? Yes
Does she coo? Yes
Does she engage toys? Yes
Does she sleep well? Yes

In case there was any doubt, these were all good answers.

We'll have a developmental specialist come to our house in about a month to do an assessment of Jonah. As Fran explained it, she'll throw a blanket on the floor, bring out some toys, and play with Jonie for a while. Fran will also check in with us at that point to see if we have any developmental concerns or want to be seen by any other specialists. As it stands, we have a follow up with the neurologist who saw Jonah at the NICU and an audiologist in May (not sure what that is about since she passed her hearing test before leaving the hospital).

After meeting Jonah fresh from her nap, Fran more or less (unofficially) confirmed what we already know: we've got a healthy little girl here. She is currently in the throes of examining her hand and trying to figure out how to get it to do things. Once or twice this has resulted in a full fledged grab of her favorite toy: crinkle-gator (thanks Grandma Duke!).

All of these free visits and assessments and forms of advice are great. I guess. There is a part of me that just wants to grab my baby and tell the doctors to leave us well enough alone. In many ways I have tried to leave that time in the NICU in the past. On the other hand, if there is some reason that she needs extra attention, I want her to get it sooner than later.

For now, I am immensely enjoying our baby girl. And enjoying learning to parent with Anne, a new step in our relationship to each other and our lives in the world. All good things.
I mean, look at that belly. How could I complain?

The fix

We know what you're here for, baby cuteness. I'll save the narrative and give you exactly what you want, your Jonah photo fix, including photos of bath time with Auntie Abby and a pic of Jonah in Cousin Noah's tie-dyed onesie (thanks Auntie Jenn!).

playing

Jonah has been really playful lately. We've been singing the ABC's and a few other songs when she is in a good mood (ie, after a long nap and a good feeding). She has also become really chatty and her goo's and gaa's are getting longer and more insistent. We've been having a lot of fun.

Gualala

After Christmas we headed up highway 1 to the little town of Gualala (just north of the line between Sonoma and Mendocino counties) to join our friends Jaime, Laura and Simon at Jaime's mom's cabin there. It was a lovely few days of relaxing, eating (a lot), walking on the beach and soaking in the hot tub. A few photos:
Jaime and Jonah. Nice chicken hair on the little one, eh?

Jonie lounging in her favorite chair.

It just so happened that Laura was dressed just like Jonah, and Jaime was dressed just like Simon. Weird? Yep.

Christmas Day

We're running a bit behind on the blog posting. So here goes Christmas: short on text, long on photos.

Jonie's gift to us was her longest sleep to date: 7 hours! It was a wonder. She wore her Christmas outfit to our Christmas Eve party and slept in it for all those lovely hours. On the bright side, she was all dressed up as soon as she woke up.


Annie made us a fabulous breakfast: strada, warm cabbage salad with pecans, bacon, and toasted cornbread planks. Delish.

After breakfast and skyping, we opened presents. Jonie went first. We read each of her books in turn.
Here she is surrounded by her booty, and running out of interest in the whole thing.
After presents, and naps, we enjoyed a lovely walk around the lake. It was a great first family Christmas.