The Tweedles

16 month newsletter

2009-06-24T23:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Beatrix,
Today you are 16 months old! To celebrate we went to the mall and bought you some new shoes. Apparently you now have the same sized foot as your average 12 month old. We're very excited! It's actually getting easier to buy you shoes. When you first started walking the shoes you fit were crib shoes which aren't so good for playing in playgrounds and such. But now you are firmly in walker shoes, hurray!

15 months!

2009-05-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Beatrix,
Today you are 15 months old, and like every other month I marvel at how quickly time has passed!
This month you are making crazy connections with language. We use a lot of baby sign language and you have been making connections and forming 2 and 3 word phrases. Things like "more milk please", "strawberries please more", "baby please". Mostly you know to tag please onto anything, making your Mama proud, but I'm sure not making much sense to you at all. You also know "thank you" and are finally signing it regularily, although I might have to prompt you. Today you signed "bird" and pointed to one, which was a little shocking because it's not a sign that I use with you regularily. You are verbalizing a lot, with all sorts of consonants and vowels. Your favourite sound right now is "gno gno gno", and as always "mama mama mama!". It's quite adorable, please don't stop.
You seem to have decided that eating is no fun. I really have to work to get much of anything into you, but we work it out somehow. I can always get you to eat berries and other fruits, which is good, but I think it's giving you a bad diaper rash! Sometimes if I give you a fork or a spoon you'll eat, but not always. You've also seem to have broken up your love affair with peanut butter, which is also sad.
In other news your teeth are still all growing and are sharp as ever, and to my delight, you've learned that they're for biting! (But not Mama's fingers, which you don't) But I can give you food things and ask you to bite them. Like an apricot, or to my delight artichoke. We have so much fun with it. I put the leaf in your mouth, you clamp your wee chompers on it and I pull the leaf out all cleaned of it's yummy yummy flesh. Daddy think's we're werid, but I think it's wonderful that you love artichokes like me.
You continue to walk, and refuse to hold my hand, which is a little dismaying, since I need you to hold my hand in the street and in parking lots. I especially love your baby sprint. Oooo watching your wee little bum wiggle as you sprint to something, makes my day!
I think that you've become more imaginative with your toys, especially your dollies. I will find one in your potty, or having a nap on a blanket on the floor, or sleeping in a hammock I made for them. You like to brush their (non existant) hair and you try so hard to put diapers on them. Poor Shepard (the boy doll with the lamb) has been subject to your fashionista persona, he's often half undressed, his shirt just hanging off of his wee lamb.

more later mama's tired

509 Things

2009-04-28T20:01:00.001-07:00

Remember this?
So I did it! Today I hit 509! I know I said I would do it in a month, but I didn't. I could have, but I didn't.
I was totally ruthless with my stuff, Adam on the other hand has a strong connection to a stained lab coat, a bright orange traffic vest and a too small suit. He insists to keep the first two in case he needs a costume and the suit because it will be better to have it altered than to buy a new one.
Let work on him together okay? A new suit that fits him is the best idea. Not one that fit him when he was prepubescent. However, I was able to throw away all of his horrible acrylic sweaters which made my skin crawl when I touched them.
On my side of the closet, it's nearly bare. I got rid of all of my work clothes, old dresses and anything that I haven't worn in a year and don't fit. I have lots of room to shop now, I mean Trixie's clothes are less cramped now.

Even after everything is all done and I've hit the 500 mark, there is still a lot of purging that can be done, so I'll make another goal of 200 things before the end of May. Let's see if I can do that! Same rules apply as before.

Also? I challenge anyone else to try for 100, I bet you can do it!

A day in the life....

2009-04-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

Of Trixie.
Today was a good day, she woke up, and found the remote and pushed random buttons until she turned it on, then proceeded to watch PBS Sprout. (which we let her watch in the morning for a precious extra few minutes of sleep, it's the only TV we approve, it doesn't have a lot of scene changes) Anyhow, apparently she's figured it out.
Then this evening she peed in her potty which is good 'cause she's been on a bit of a potty strike. So we let her go diaperless 'cause she likes it and she has a prickly heat rash on her bum. About 10 minutes after the potty she wanders over to me and I get a poopy whiff.... And I notice that her socks are poopy. Oh dear. I called Adam over and we embarked on a poop hunt. Chachi was no help finding the poop. Eventually, I found the poop. She had stood in her pile of blocks and pooped.
Yeah, that's what I said.
Later at dinner we were eating cucumbers soaked in vinegar and she loved them, taking forever to get through one disc of a cucumber, then after finally finishing her second, she decided she wanted the vinegar. So I let her, thinking she'd stick her finger in it and then decide it was far too sour. Yeah, so uhm, no. She drank the vinegar, made a face and went back for more. (she never had more than a teaspoonful.)

Goofy goofy girl.

14 month newsletter

2009-04-24T23:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Beatrix, the light of my life.

Today you are 14 months old! 14! It's a lot isn't it?
I feel that this past month was broken into 2 halves, the first was just you growing and being cute, cute, cute, with more cuteness. Then the second part? Holy crazy! First you learned to walk, and now you will do nothing but walk, unless that is if you are baby running. It's quite adorable, but because of your only walking rule you have hooker knees. They are rather bruised up and a little trashed! They don't seem to bother you though, and while I cringe and your knees take the brunt of a fall, you get up and wobble away. I thank a sorts of lucky stars that babies don't have knee caps! And the other crazy development of the last two weeks? Only you cutting a whole mess of teeth! As of today you have cut 3, nearly 4 teeth. Oddly the first two you cut were your top front teeth. You have quite the adorable little smile now, although I will always miss your gummy grin. Now when you give me your open mouthed kisses, they're not just slimy and gooey, there are little sharp bits that gouge into my cheek. See? The adorable that abounds? Cheek gouging kisses!
Earlier this month my older brother Rob and his wife Kelly and their son Liam came to visit us and you had a great time with them. Granted Rob and I don't know each other that well, we weren't raised together and didn't meet until our teens and then there was a long break where circumstances kept us apart, but now we're in touch and you have another Uncle and Auntie. Their son Liam, is only 6 weeks younger that you, and the two of you were the most adorable little partners in crime while we were dragging you two all over Northern California. I don't think that there have ever been two happier and better behaved babies, ever! Such little troopers, sitting in the car for long rides, taking all of your naps in car seats and waiting patiently while Mama, Daddy and Auntie and Uncle tastes lots of wines in Sonoma and Napa. Such troopers. You were rewarded though, we took you guys to lots of children friendly places and you and Liam had lots of fun playing. I think that you two will be friends for life, and that makes me so happy!
Your eating this month hasn't changed much, other than you love to dip stuff. I think your favourite thing to eat is celery sticks and hummus. You dip the celery into the hummus, suck it off, and repeat. Eventually you end up eating some of the celery, but mostly you consume hummus. There may have even been a time where you might have drank some hummus... clearly I shouldn't turn away from you! You still get a couple of bottles a day, but I only give them to you when you're about to go to bed and when you wake up in the morning. I am not too keen to take them away from you. If I were able to breastfeed you, I wouldn't be weaning you anytime soon, so I see no reason to take your bottles away. I do find it amusing though how you get so confused if I give you milk in a sippy cut instead of a bottle. If you're a little cranky you will absolutely refuse to drink your milk until I put it in a bottle.
Your pottying has taken a bit of a back seat to your walking. But Daddy and I are still determined. I have been known to let you walk around naked so I can plop you on the potty regularly, and you have been known to reward me by peeing on the floor. You're so precious! Like a flower.
You love to play with your dolls, and you have 4 that you really love, Baby, Dolly, Shepard and Other Baby. As you can see we're real creative with the toy's names around here, however you do know who's who and you'll being me the requested doll. You also give love to Duck (Donald), Dog and I'm teaching to disregard Elmo, who's eyes you like to poke at. Daddy and you still play with your blocks and demolishing towers is still a favourite game. I continue to buy you too many books and you continue to read them all, which makes me so happy. We always have a big pile of books on the floor for me to trip on, but you spend a lot of time surrounded by your books, so I don't get upset.
In terms of the words you have, you say "Mama:, "Dada", "BAAAA" which is ball and always shouted, I've heard you say "Chachi" and "cat". You still say "duck" and various other words that I can't remember, along with all sorts of singing and yelling which is mostly what comes out of your mouth, and always in a happy way. Your signing has taken off. While the sign for 'milk' seems to have dropped off your radar in favour of "AHHHHH!" and pointing, you do sign 'more', 'cheese', 'cookie', 'thank you', and rarely 'please'.
All in all I'm realizing that toddler hood is pretty amazing and I love to see you explore and create the world around you!
Love Mama

13th Month Newsletter

2009-03-24T23:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Beatrix
I write this as I listen to you breath heavily over the baby monitor. You have a wee cold and have lots of gurgly snot to have anointed me with on the 13th month anniversary of your birth. Fun abounds around here!
Today you celebrated by letting me feel your gums, letting me notice that you have nearly cut your first tooth. You only struggled a little as I checked for the ever elusive teeth, that have been taunting us, but not making an appearance. You also blew kisses at Paula Deen on TV, which made me both sad and happy. Sad because you notice the TV now and I can't use it to be my grown up companion in the house when there are no other adults around, and happy because YAY Paula Deen cracks me up and you love her too!
Along with your mad kiss blowing skills you've picked up some other party tricks this month. You continue to sign for "milk", but the other day when you were having your first taste of peanut butter you finally signed "more". You've also finally learned the sign for "water", "thank you" and I am sure that you sign "please" sometimes, often followed by "milk" which can mean anything that you can consume. Also much to our amusement, you point and whine, which makes every parent proud. Although truthfully watching you point at things is so cute. Your little forefinger extended and your wee thumb just sticking out the side. So sweet. You're pointing at everything now, since you've discovered that it's a great way to get your intentions known. I can ask you where something is and you'll point to it, like balloons, Bonsai, Chachi, your baby etc. and you'll point. You've also learned about buttons and love to push them, using your pointer. Your favourite is to push the button to open the garage door, and when you do this you squeal with delight, pointing at the door going up. Then you point at the button again to make it go down, then up again, or vise versa if we're coming home. I'm sure our neighbours think we're crazy with all of the garage door up and downing that goes on around here. I've also taught you about light switches, more buttons with cause and effect, FUN!
On the walking front, you're so close. You walk well with a walker and do just fine only holding onto one of my hands. I am convinced that you can walk, but you're a little scared. You only seem to like standing on soft surfaces, like the bed or sofa. You have taken a few steps between your Daddy and I when I've walked you over and let go of your hands. You'll only let me do this a couple of times before you catch on and fall down and won't play the walking game anymore.
You're still a good eater, as in you will eat anything, but you don't eat a lot. I still give you a bottle to supplement your food, I'll keep doing this until you are happy to eat more. I figure that had I been able to breastfeed you I would still be, probably until you weaned yourself, or well after your 2nd birthday, so I am quite happy to still be giving you a bottle. You tried peanut butter for the first time the other day and you loved it, proving that you are your father's daughter. You still love berries and all manners of fruits and vegetables, making me grateful we live in California where I can find any type of exotic fruit or vegetable and expose you to them all. So far you haven't rejected any of them.
This month your Daddy and I bought a new bed which was much needed since the other was getting rather small. Now you have all sorts of room to roam around in at night, but you seem to prefer being right next to me, which is okay with me. It makes me happy that you choose to be that close to me. In terms of your sleep, I think you're transitioning to a one nap a day schedule, which is a little difficult because you don't want to nap at all. I can get you to nap in the car though, so I often find myself sitting in the car in the garage playing games on my phone while you sleep.
This past month has been a lot of fun. I love to see how you're changing and how you've become so much more interactive with me. Like this morning when you woke up you gave me some morning kisses, like you do everyday, the signed with both hands that you wanted milk. It made me giggle that you were so adamant that you wanted milk, NOW! Last night you were pointing at the bowl of oranges and whining for one and when I didn't respond fast enough you pointed at your pointing arm with your other hand as if to tell me that you were already pointing and therefore I should be acting quicker. I love how your little mind works. You amaze me everyday, and I am so blessed.

Love, Mama

Culture Shock.

2009-03-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

I've been in California for over 3 years and I still find myself totally exasperated by culture shock. It's the silly little things that just make me want to pull my hair out.
For example, when I ask where the bathroom is, I am often met with a look of total confusion. I get frustrated because if you used common sense one might be able to deduce that bathroom is a synonym of washroom or restroom! It's not often that people can make that deduction, and it's so ingrained in me to say "bathroom". Another one is "toque", no one has a clue what a toque is, this totally drives me crazy! And to be totally belligerent I say toque whenever I am talking about a toque.
Even after 3 years my feathers still get ruffled when I thank someone for something and they respond with "uh huh". AHHHH! The correct response, the POLITE response is, "you're welcome"! Now I am sure that some people are going to tell me that I should adapt to the American way, but sorry (pronounced sO-rey, not sari) these are the little things that are totally in me, and I think aren't outrageous (okay I'll give you the toque thing) so it's unlikey that I'll change them.
Oh and finally, go check the mailbox, there should be a cheque in it!

Wedded Bliss

2009-03-07T18:41:00.000-08:00

Today as I opened up my MSN and went on my merry little way opening my windows and about to close the "news" window that MSN gives me I noticed a little blurb about Jon and Kate of "Jon and Kate Plus 8" getting a divorce. So I read it and dismissed it because I know not to believe everything I read, and plus I like to live in this little bubble where marriage is sacred and real and not just something to throw away. But I noticed another link about Tyra having a divorce party on her show. Then another about divorce parties, wherein people celebrate being giant failures. Then the topping on the cake, is the cake, quite literally. And to use another cliche, here's the nail in the coffin.
Now I'm not really shocked that there is an industry for this. It was pointed out to me a mere few days before Adam and I were married that 50% of marriages fail, so naturally there should be an burgeoning demand for such a lame excuse for a party. I'm shocked that the people who are having these parties are proud that they're divorced, not hiding in the corner, in shame. I could be really prude and think it's a little deranged that there are actual party planners for divorce parties, but... well I just outed myself as a prude....
Personally I don't think that divorce is something to be celebrated, I don't care how trendy it is. I think that marriage is something you work at, not run away from when it's tough. I'm not going to assume that Adam and I will never have issues or that there won't be tough times, but I think that we both have the cojones to fumble through the hard times, because we've both committed to each other, for ever. Period.

Bringing back Date Night.

2009-03-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

Last week Adam and I went out (with Trixie) and had Indian. Trixie loved the rogan josh which I was shocked about 'cause it's spicy.
Then tonight we went to uWink and it was fun! There are games that you can play against the whole restaurant, or just against the people at your table. There are plenty of games to play alone too.
Adam really liked that you order everything from your terminal, your food and even your water, it's rather efficient! You can also pay through your terminal and they can email you your receipt.
The down side of the whole restaurant is that you are occupied staring at a computer screen that there isn't much interaction going on with your date, it would be a great place to go with someone that you didn't want to talk to though! An alternative to the movie date! Heh.
Anyhow fun stuff. I was amazed that Trixie lasted for 2 hours there, but I think that the Cheerios helped!

500 things

2009-03-05T23:37:00.001-08:00

Since Spring is knocking on our door... (do you hear that Spring? Knock dammit!) I figured I'd get a jump on spring cleaning, kind of like really premature nesting, you know since I'm not even a little bit pregnant right now. So I've decided to get rid of 500 things before the end of the month. In order to hold myself accountable I thought I would share this goal with the whole world, all 3 of my readers!
The rules:
-everything counts as one, but papers do not (I have thousands of sheets of scrapbooking paper I'm sure) ergo a pair of socks is two things-- 500 is a BIG number!
-I've told Adam that if I get rid of 20 books I should get a Kindle, he's mulling that over
-I'm going to donate as much as I can, and clothes that are undonatable will go into my scrap bin, but will still count as removed from the house
-I should count the stuff I bring into the house against my 500, but I'm not (my game- my rules!)
-I will not save clothes, I will be ruthless. I figure that if I lose weight after baby #7 I should deserve new stuff, ya know? Also Adam may not know, but I'm going to be ruthless to his side of the closet too. Uhm, Honey, those polyester sweaters which make my skin crawl? GONE! And if you really have a deep connection to that too small wool suit, it will be in it's best interest to hide it, the world does not need to see 2 inches of ankle and wrist at formal functions.
-I won't get rid of baby stuff, after all I need to have babies #2-7 first!

I've decided to do this because Trixie is starting to take up more space and we only have 1600 square feet, and I have a lot of clothes that I just don't wear any more. After all lovely dress pants that I wore to the bank are just not suitable for playgrounds and sand boxes.
I also want to make more room in our bedroom so that Trixie can have a play area in there to allow for us to have a couple more minutes of sleep in the morning. Trixie o'clock is frighteningly early!

wish me luck! Also I dare you to try as well!

12 month letter minus one day....

2009-02-23T15:55:00.000-08:00

Dear Beatrix,
One year ago today I went into the hospital after talking to my midwife because I felt a little off, and since I was nearly 41 weeks pregnant it was a good choice. While I was in the hospital the doctors, nurses and student doctors deemed that I was fine and were going to send me home to continue to wait patiently for your arrival, but then one doctor thought to do an ultrasound to check how you were doing. Low and behold you weren't doing all that well. Apparently you drank all of the water you were swimming in. So all of my hopes and dreams for a lovely home water birth were dashed and I was forced into labour. I was excited to meet you, but terribly sad that I was going to have to meet you in the hospital, not at home where I planned for us to have a lovely first moment. Finally after many hours of painful labour you were plucked from my tummy through a big ol' hole the doctors made to get you. When I first saw you I thought you were so beautiful, but I was so shocked at all of your hair, that I commented on that first! But sweet baby, it was love at first sight. And you know, I love you even more now, and I loved you a whole lot then!
So this last month has been busy, just like all of the other ones. You are even more mobile, which i didn't know was possible, but you can motor like it's no one's business! You've also started furniture walking, and walkig holding on to someone's hands. It's kind of funny to me that you're walking like this becasue you don't really want to stand unassisted. Sometimes you'll stand on the bed, but you don't like to stand on a firm surface, sometimes you're a strange girl, but I still adore you. Oh and also when I say walk, I mean run. You don't want to walk holding my hands, you lean way into it and run! When I keep up you stay upright and walk with no assistance, i think you just like the security of having Mama there.
My sweet baby tomorrow you turn one year old! I have been having a lot of nostaligic moments over the past few days, remembering when you were really little and the drama surrounding your birth and first week of your life. Mostly I remember how I felt to be your Mama, and how i felt holding you. How you were warm and wiggly and so perfect. Now you're still warm, and so wiggily and so perfect. I love being your Mama so much! It's the best thing I've ever done with my life, and I'm so lucky! I think that some of my friends have to work after they have their babies and i am so happy that i don't have to go back to work and that i can stay at home with you and play and have fun every day. You know, I think that you're pretty happy with that arragnement too!
Lately you've been grabbing my face, with your hands on both sides of my cheeks and laying a juicy kiss on my cheek, eye, mouth, chin, where ever it lands. Even though those kisses are slobbery and gooey I love them! You still play with my hair, and now you're convinced that it will make a good snack! You have started to use sign language consistently now, although you mix up your signs. You use milk and have started to use thank you also, and you know, please, potty, poop, eat, water, more and dog.

more later.

11 month letter

2009-01-24T23:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Beatrix,
Today you are 11 months old, which is a scary age for your Mama. That means you only have one month left of babydom before embarking into toddlerhood and leaving your poor Mama crooning to herself in the corner, wondering where the time has gone. So baby dearest, to prevent this, how about you just stay a baby and then your Mama will stay sane. Good idea? No?
This month has been a busy one, like all of the others, but it seems each one gets more and more busy. You are so much more active now, so I am constantly chasing you around trying to stop you from eating dog food, chewing on dog toys (you love Chachi's rawhides), or drawing in your own spit on the floor. (I think you're an artist in the making.) You are such a little busy bee and you are into one activity and off to the next with the next heartbeat. I think you have the energy that old people (like your Mama) talk about bottling and selling.
However in between your busies, you are so sweet. I love that when I go to bed at night, you roll over to me, reaching with your arms and legs. You seem to sleep best with your feet dug into my back and your fingers entwined into my hair, which sounds uncomfortable, but it's not.
When you wake up in the mornings you are so happy, but beyond happy, it's like you exalt each new day by dancing around in bed and using your poor sleeping Mama as a set of bongo drums, with which you bang out your happy song. It's hard to stay a grumpy sleepy Mama when your smiley drooly self is planting open mouthed kisses on my cheeks, imploring me to wake up and play.
When you're playing with your friends you're starting to show some signs of sharing and playing WITH your buddies rather than beside them. You love to give them toys, snacks or even pebbles in the playground. When another baby steals a toy you take it in stride, moving on to the next one. You are able to hold your own though with the other big babies your age. You can get into the baby melee just as well as the others can and have as much obnoxious fun as they do, as you all try to pull the ride on toy in different directions, each happy to at least be touching the toy.
I still think that you're a musician in the making. You love all music, and will dance to anything, which still includes my off key renditions of "Twinkle Twinkle", or some random made up song of the day. You kazooing skills continue to amaze everyone, and I am especially touched when you kazoo on Chachi's hollow bone toy or a toilet paper roll! I've let you play with a recorder and after some kazooing attempts on it, you realized that if you breathe into it you can make noise with it, so I'll hear the recorder drone with your in and out breaths for about two minutes at a time. (After which you lose interest and move on to the next toy)
I think you're moving away from spoon foods rather quickly to all finger foods or foods off of Mama's fork or fingers. I don't much blame you since baby food is rather horrid, but you know, some days when Mama is tired and you need to eat, it's just easier to give you a jar of something. I still mostly just let you taste and experiment with food, although we're starting to ramp up the amount of calories that you consume via food, rather than from your bottle. You're adapting really well, although you do love your "milkies". (which by the way is the only baby language word we use with you.)
I continue to use baby sign with you, and I know you understand what I sign to you, but you haven't really started signing back yet. I am optimistic that it will come. And frankly if it doesn't, you've started to be quite vocal and I think you could be an early talker. You can say "Mama", "Daddy", "duck" and "Chachi".
So my dearest, in your last month of babydom, please understand why your Mama will look at you with that longing look. I just love you so much, and you are so amazing, and I can't believe that you were once that tiny sick little baby in the NICU, when now you are a strong, healthy and amazing big baby now!

love,
Mama.

Partying post baby.

2009-01-11T20:25:00.000-08:00

We had a James Bond spy party today, and it was interesting. First because a lot of my friends have babies we need to have it earlier in the day so that the babies aren't in prime breaking time. Secondly because of the nature of Silicon Valley (or maybe just us) there was an assortment of friend groups which added some flavour to the party. To make of the groups of friends comfortable I tried to have a more than one couple from each group, so that there were mini groups and make it not awkward for anyone. However I fear I may have failed a little. All in all the spy game was fun, although short. When we've played it in the past it lasted longer, but this was done in a matter of minutes! It's like Christmas dinner, so much planning and preparation for a short little blurp and done.
So I think I will write this party off as a social experiment- what happens when several social circles collide, and they have to kill one another.
Interesting....

blooging? blogging???

2009-01-08T23:34:00.000-08:00

What is this pastime that people speak of: blogging?
Oh isn't that when you regularly write stuff for people to read and comment on? Hmm I might be familiar.
BUT, how does one manage this with a small person always trying to climb their leg, or doing cute things like being a kazoo savant?
Me thinks I need to just get up and do it!
Anyhow I have about 10 posts floating around in my head, and I will get to posting them, when said small person isn't crawling up my leg.

10 month newsletter

2008-12-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

Dear Beatrix,
Today you turn 10 months old! Now if years were metric, you would be a year old! But, gratefully they are not, and you are still a little baby, although in 2 months I may have a heart attack when I have to admit that my baby is a year old!
This past month has been busy for you, as they have been! You've learned to crawl and it's opened a whole new world to you, full of pet hair, dust bunnies and Mama's feet. You started crawl when we were in Wellington which is the capital city of New Zealand, you quickly perfected your crawling and when we got home a week and a half later you mastered pulling up to a stand in literally one pull up and now you boldly stand just balancing with one hand on something. Last Friday you learned to crawl up stairs, again with no learning curve. You tried a stair, tried again and then figured it out and climbed the whole flight right then, now when ever you are out and crawling around the house you make a break for the stairs, which do not have a gate on them yet! So, here I am, chasing you all over the house in an effort to prevent you from breaking your sweet little head.
Your babbling has become more complex this month. You have lots of bababas, mamamas, nanans, dadadadas and an interesting gnagnagna, along with many other odd sounds. You also love to sing. Oh child you love to sing. And by sing I mean yell, a lot, and loud, and long. But it means you are happy, so I let you. You call me Mama and you have said Daddy a couple of times, very purposefully and at Daddy. I think you're a genius.
I've realized that you're not my tiny cuddly baby, but you are still a sweet baby, you love to give me kisses and they are now transforming from open mouth drooly wonders to closed mouth MMMM kisses, where you will say mmmm and bump your mouth on mine and say mmmmaaahhhhh. It's quite sweet and it melts my heart every time.
The other day you started dancing, which was the cutest thing ever, but again everything you do is cute. It was odd to see you dancing 'cause I don't dance with you, so it's just something in you. Maybe you're the next big singer? But please don't be like Britney. (I'll tell you all about her when you're older.) When you started dancing you were sitting and just rocking your hips in an abrupt manner, now you'll dance standing which is a quick series of mini squats. It's awfully cute to watch your little cloth diaper bum bounce to some random song in your head, or my off tuned "Twinkle, Twinkle".
You still insist that my hair is the only lovie that you'll consider, and I've come to grips that I might be bald by the time you're two. When it comes to play time, you love plastic drink bottles, cloth blocks and balls. I love that you are fascinated by simple toys and I wish so much that you'll continue with that and really develop your imagination. You're also fascinated by books, which is also a blessing for me. Oh the fun we'll have with books as you grow up. I've already made plans for all of the books we're going to read together!
We continue to work on potty training with you. So far you've been really good, going on the potty and even the toilet several times a day, which is great for my laundry pile, YAY for less diaper laundry! I still have grand designs for you to be in training pants by the time you are one, now I just hope that I can find some for 12 month old babies!
Tomorrow is Christmas, and I am so excited to see you open your presents! We bought you some simple toys, and I've decided to wrap a box of Kleenex for you, I think that you will really love unwrapping it and pulling the tissues out and tearing them up. There will be many photos!
Good night my darling, I am so excited for tomorrow!
love Mama

I heart Jon Stewart.

2008-12-10T21:07:00.000-08:00

Watch him chew up and spit out Mike Huckabee.

end of NaBloPoMo

2008-11-30T23:34:00.001-08:00

finally!
It was a long month and I nearly made it. I only missed a couple of days, but in 3 years of doing this, I've never missed before today. Shameful, I know.
YAY it's December, bring on Christmas!

Rugby stuff

2008-11-30T02:11:00.000-08:00

If you're tuned into the rugby world you know that there has been some chatter about how the Haka has been received lately.
If you're not tuned into the rugby world, or if you are a total rugby novice, I'll explain.
So first of all, the Haka is a war posturing "dance" traditionally done by the Maoris to get their adrenalin going and to freak out their opponents, and it was adopted by the All Blacks, who preform it before every match.
So as those of you in the know, know, when New Zealand played Wales last week, the Welsh team decided that they were going to take a couple of moments before the game started, after the Kiwis did their Haka, and this caused chatter in the rugby world. Many are wondering if perhaps it's unfair that the Kiwis get the time before the match to do this, and the other teams don't. Then the game today between the All Blacks and England... while the All Blacks were doing the Haka the English spectators sang "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" so loud that you couldn't hear the Haka at all.
So the controversy begins.
Personally I think that the All Blacks should continue to do the Haka and if other teams have issue with it, they can either answer to it with their own response Haka, which would be showing the Kiwis respect by doing it. (the Irish did this in 1989 and it was well received) Or perhaps each team could come up with their own thing to do to pump themselves up. In any case I think that the Haka has become an institution in rugby and I think it needs to stay, and being given the respect it always has been given.

On to other much more important issues:
isn't he yummy?

Whiney!

2008-11-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we bought heaps of wine, but in that haul were some bottles of ice wine. So those of you in the know would be all shocked that I bought ice wine in New Zealand, I was. But, young grasshopper, I would reply, it is possible to make ice wine, even in the warm parts of New Zealand. Yes, technology, even the ancient kind, you know the kind where you apply cold to something and it freezes!
So apparently it is possible to make Ice wine in NZ. They just cheat! I asked a few places how they did it, one place picked their ice wine grapes at the same time as all of the other ones, then froze them whole for a couple months to dry them out and concentrate their sugars then pressed and made wine. This results in a more acidic, yet sweet ice wine. It's light like a Canadian Late Harvest, not thick on the palate and really sweet like a traditional ice wine. Also, so cheap! Like $8 US a bottle! I liked it, but it does pale in comparison to Canadian late harvests or ice wines. The acidity that it has is interesting, and it helps to cut the overt sweetness. They can achieve this by picking the grapes earlier.
Another way that it was made (I learned) was to pick them a little later then freeze and crush. Results in a sweet ice wine with less acidity. Still not as good as the Canadian counterparts, and still cheap cheap cheap. The last way I learned was to pick early or late, crush then freeze... I didn't notice much difference in the freeze then crush vs the crush then freeze, still not as good as the Canadian stuff.
I also found a Late Harvest in NZ, which is left on the vines and gets a mould or a fungus (I can't remember which) and the mouldy fungus dehydrates the grapes leaving them sweeter, and makes for a late harvest. I've also had wine from Napa like this, sold as a late harvest. Here's it's also called a Nobel wine, or if you get a cheeky sommolier a rotten wine. It's more expensive than ice wine here, and still not as good as a Canadian Late Harvest.
Now a little confusion, Late Harvest in Canada (as I learned) is when the grapes are harvested late, and thereby frozen, but not as cold as ice wine. So they are harvested at perhaps minus 8 rather than minus 13, which makes them a late harvest. However here it can be the result of the mouldy fungus, and the same in Napa. So it's not a true late harvest, which I understand to be the result of actually harvesting the grapes late, when they are frozen. Perhaps I have issues with it 'cause I am Canadian and proud of our wines, like the French are of their Champagne. So I will call a late harvest a late harvest and the rest are merely rotten wines... unless of course they are Nobel.

On another note, Chardonnay.
Those who know me know I love an oaky Chardonnay, and the oakier the better. But I'm noticing a trend that there are less and less okay Chards being made, with wine makers trending towards a less oaky, less buttery Chard, which is disturbing. So I think I need to start a movement. If you want a fruity, light white wine then drink a Pinot Gris/ Grigio or a Sauv. Blanc, but please don't mess with my oaky Chardonnay, I do love it so!
(That being said, I did have a buttery un oaked chard, which was quite good, but would have been so much better with the oak.) (to make it buttery they add an enzyme, fun with chemistry!)

Finally another wine after my heart, port, or fortified wine to call an apple an apple. We found a lovely one, which was oaky and fruity and so lovely....

Hmm after all this talk of wine, I think I'm off to have a glass or two or three....

Wine-oh!

2008-11-29T00:18:00.000-08:00

Okay first of all business....
I've missed a couple of posts, I'm ashamed. So very ashamed. It's hard to keep up with this daily posting thing, while on vacation in a country half of the world away and keep track of what time it is at home, oh also? Sketchy internets.

Okay wine.
I loves the wine, oh yes I do.
So today as we were leaving Napier (in Hawks Bay, big ol' wine country in NZ) we decided that we would hit up a couple wineries. So at 10 am we go to the first one, taste 4 or 5 wines, buy a bottle and go to the next one, expecting the same, 4or 5 and go to the next place. Except... at the second winery there were 10 tastings with a fortified wine at the end, and since Adam isn't much of a port man I finished his too, so that's 11 tastings. It's safe to say I'm tipsy. It's noon. So on to the next winery, I taste 5 more wines and we buy one or two bottles, and I can't remember 'cause I was a little more than tipsy; in my defense, the wine was good!
To combat the tipsyness we stayed there for a very posh and pricey lunch and then head off towards Gisborne, but I manage to convince Adam that we need to stop at a couple more wineries. Heh heh heh. We stopped at one, and I had many more tastes. Then I slept most of the 3 hour drive back to Gisborne.
So our grand total of bottles of wine bought so far this trip is 18. Our luggage is going to be heavy!!
(also lets note how relaxed the US is about bringing booze into the country!)

Wellington

2008-11-26T19:16:00.000-08:00

We're in Wellington! It's the capitol of New Zealand. We drove down yesterday with a short stop in Naiper to see the how the city is all art deco-ey. When we got to Wellington there were no hotel rooms anywhere, so we went to the closest town, Lower Hut and there were no rooms there, so we went to Upper Hut and finally were able to find a room.
Today we're at Te Papa which is the museum in Wellington. Some parts of it were really amazing, of course I loved all of the Maori exhibits....
We're off to stay in a posh hotel tonight then back towards Gisborne tomorrow with lots of winery stops. I wonder how many bottles of wine I can take home, so far we have 9! (the tariff in the USA is 10 cents a bottle if you are over limit)
(sorry short, on pay internet with an uber crappy keyboard!)

Gisborne Airport

2008-11-25T00:02:00.001-08:00

Adam here...

So we arrived in New Zealand, and caught a connecting flight to Gisborne where Dea's folks live. After we land, I notice this!
WTF!

That's the runway at Gisborne airport, a real commercial airport with dozens of flights a day. And crossing the runway is a train track. An active railway, that carries trains every day.

Who designs this stuff?

Adam

9 months

2008-11-24T19:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Beatrix,
Today, my sweet baby you turn 9 months old! And what a crazy month it's been! You've been very busy, on all aspects of development. You are trying so hard to learn to crawl, and you have certainly mastered moving backwards, and as of today you have crawled forwards a couple of crawls or steps as they may be. I suspect that I will soon have a very mobile and active baby on my hands. Even without the ability to move forwards all that well you are quite good at getting around. Initially you would spin on your tummy, but more recently you have been kind of scooting and pushing yourself around backwards. Not always to an intended place, but where ever you seem to end up is good for you.
In terms of your eating, you've decided that pureed foods aren't at all acceptable, and you much prefer finger foods. And really, my little darling, that is okay with me. I wouldn't want to eat pureed foods all of the time either! Your Daddy and I have exposed you to all sorts of different types of cuisines, and you love them all. The most shocking one that you've had has been Indian, and you ate it up, surprising everyone in the restaurant! Just a couple of days ago we gave you some really watery apple juice and you seemed to be a little confused with it, but you soon learned that it was good stuff... liquid ambrosia, as one of our friends calls it.
You still love bananas and all things banana related the best and I can always get you to eat them. Often for breakfast you and I will sit on the floor and share a couple of waffles and a banana.
We've been travelling again this month. Right now we are in New Zealand visiting your Nana and Papa. You adjusted very well to the time change, much better than your Daddy! And since we've been here you've had lots of fun and lots of kiwis! I think that you might be a little New Zealander at heart!
You have started chatting more, but not using a lot of hard consonants yet; a lot of mamas and dadas, but mostly you love to sing. You sing at everything, at your toys, when we're in the car, if you hear something humming, and along with Mama. Also with the singing, you love it when I sing, even though I am always flat, you seem to love it. If you are fussing I just need to belt you "Twinkle Twinkle" or "The Grand Ol' Duke" and you immediately stop fussing. It's quite adorable, and frankly, makes me feel so special.
Your potty training or potty learning continues to go well. In the 3 months that we have been doing it you have had only a couple of poopy diapers, I would guess less than 5! Everyone is quite amazed that you are so smart and that you are learning so quickly, but we know that you would do better if I was better at noticing when you are peeing! We'll figure it out though, you and I, we will.
We're still working on your signing, and we use several signs, and I know that you know them because you'll get excited when I make a sign, and rather than you signing back, you flap your arms. I am sure that like your pottying, you'll start using your signs more and more. I did notice this month though, that you do use your milk sign often, I just wasn't noticing it. Silly Mama!
You have developed quite a sense of humour and will laugh at so many things. Your favourite thing to laugh at though, is Daddy and his funny faces. I think that perhaps you might be a little comedienne in the making! Chachi also never fails to crack you up, especially when you two are playing tug of war. It's so sweet!
Trixie, my little darling, you are the sweetest baby and I am so happy that you're mine!
Love always,
Mama.

Honey Hive and Meadery

2008-11-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

Today we're going to a mead brewery. I've had mead before and didn't much like it, but I do love honey and perhaps this will be yummier mead.
Trixie is 9 months old today here, but not yet in North America... which totally doesn't make sense, I know.
Well, I'm on paid internet, and therefor I have no time. Perhaps I'll have to do another nablowrimo in January so that I can have more time to prattle on and on....
Until we meet again....

Yummy Hangi Dinner

2008-11-22T21:39:00.000-08:00

Last night we had our Hangi dinner, and it was so good! The Hangi is the method that the meal is cooked in, like a luau, it's traditionally cooked in a heated pit, however ours was cooked in a geothermal oven since we're in an area that is full of volcanic activity. Anyhow, it was good, not good for a vegetarian though! Our meal had 7 different kinds of meat in it, so kind of a cholesterol fest! (well not really, there was shrimp, mussels, fish, chicken, pork, lamb and venison). We also had Pavlova, rum pudding and bread and butter pudding. So good! After the dinner there was a Maori concert which was pretty amazing. Trixie was mesmerized by the dancing and singing. Then Adam and my dad were called up to learn the Haka, which was a funny, funny sight.
All in all I want to go to another one, not 'cause of the food, which was good, the but concert was so much better!

And so concludes my review of the Hangi.