Recent Favorites (aka Hoooo's Sleepy)

Forgive the uncreative title, but we are really really tired. Alma has not really been sleeping well since we returned from our trip. And for a good reason: her two bottom teeth have come in! Very precocious baby. We've tried to take a picture of them but it's difficult (too much tongue).

Anyway, she's been waking up a lot at night for the last three weeks, leaving her parents functional zombies. We don't know if it's because she has more teeth on the way or what, but are we consulting our "baby sleep expert" reference library in hopes of finding the answer. So far no luck.

What else...she is getting really big! Last week she weighed in at 16 lbs, 7 oz, and was 27 1/4 inches long. That is "off the charts" for her age and quite a lot for us to carry around. She has outgrown two of her carriers, her co-sleeper bed and is not far from outgrowing her car seat.

In other news, we had the first non-traumatic bath yesterday. She even enjoyed the rubber duckies in the tub. For those of you that have witnessed her previous baths, you know that is something to be thankful for.

Despite our complete exhaustion, Alma is blossoming. She is more expressive and "herself" everyday. I just hope we have enough energy and presence to cherish this time.

July Babies

We went to our birth class reunion last weekend and met the other five magical babies who landed on earth this summer. It was really fun to see how all the other parents are doing, and totally amazing to see their little ones. Here's Alma with her buddy River -- they are born just two days apart! No pressure Alma, but I think he's dreamy.

The Wine Train

To celebrate our first wedding anniversary (hooray!), we decided to book a tour on the Napa Valley Wine train, an old-fashioned fancy dining car that takes its passengers deep into the wine country. Now, you may think it was odd for us to take a trip on the wine train since we don't drink alcohol. Well, it sort of was. But we've decided the train is the best way to travel with the baby - spacious, relaxed, no driving, and a meal -- so we thought it could be the perfect thing.

It's hard to describe exactly what was so odd about the wine train. The scenery was beautiful, with the grape leaves in their fall colors, and the train itself was pleasant enough. I think the oddity came from participating in Tuesday afternoon tourist culture. As soon as we entered the large hotel-lobby looking "station," with old-fashioned plush benches smattered with middle-aged tourists and three gift shops, we realized we were in for an experience. With the old West themes, wandering photographers, and a robotically-delivered "seminar" on wine-tasting, we realized, as Hannah put it, this was a "Disney ride for adults." (To get a sense of the banality, we think this video really says it all. Note Alma's face looking around as if to say: "Whose idea was this, anyway?")

And so it was. Slow, pleasant, with a constant food intake, it should have been perfect for a nursing mom and, well, me. But instead we felt like teenagers just a little too old to be at Disneyland. Probably several glasses of wine would have helped us feel more at ease. (Where's the Kombucha train, people? It could run from Fairfax...)

Anyway, we took our pretty-good gourmet meal - that tasted suspiciously like every other pretty-good gourmet meal I've ever had -- and camped out in the back of the car to reflect on a busy and overwhelmingly grace-ful year of marriage.

Alma Noor was in top form as usual. Orating, playing, and giggling away, she never lets us take things too seriously and is a constant reminder that life is funny, frustrating, amazing, uncomfortable, luminous, and so much more ... sometimes all at once.

Morning Light

On Katie's Couch

I love this look. What is she thinking?

Happy to be home

Laughing at Dad

Family

We're headed East for a week to visit family (you!), so we enjoyed a beautiful California hike this morning before getting on our first plane flight with baby tomorrow...stay tuned.

Election Commentary by Alma Noor

Yes, we dressed our child up as a reindeer

It seemed like a dignified choice. Thanks to Katie for the costume!

Cute Faces