viva mexico

Jack took his second international trip last week. We went to Mexico for my brother's wedding in Rocky Point -- about 60 miles south of the AZ border. There are no airports in rocky point so one must drive across the border. I was reluctant to do this with a child due to the large war going on between mexican drug cartels and all people in mexico. I knew Jack would love the beach, the pools and the adventure so the two of us went. Jack was so excited to get on an airplane. When I woke him up at 530am to go, he wouldn't get up until I said, it's time to go to the airplane. He shot up like a cannon. He was a great traveler. We had to fly then drive for 4 hours to rocky point. He patiently sat through the parties (at least for a while). He was so happy to be outside in the water.

We have gotten into our fall routine. Jack started going to preschool three days a week. It's a longer day for him. He seemed to adjust to the new schedule without any problem. I have noticed changes in his personality. He goes to a montessori school which encourages independence. He is more interested in doing things for himself. He has also become increasingly uninterested in following instructions I give him. For example, whenever we need to either leave the house (or any location) he refuses. Unfortunately, these stand-offs end with me carrying him to or away from whereever we are while he screams. When I carry him, he says, "I wasn't listening?" So he seems to get it and doesn't like the consequence but doesn't want to change his behavior. I am not sure what to do. Friends bribe their children with food or others threaten punishment or time-outs. None of these things modify J's behavior in any way. Hmm.

While the days Jack doesn't have school are harder, I enjoy them more. When it's just me and Sonia, we play a little, she naps, and I usually run errands or do housework. Jack makes everything more exciting.. for better and worse.


We went to a farm a few weeks ago for the rides and pumpkins. Here we try to get J to pose for a picture. Per usual, he refuses. I am laughing here but I do that less these days..



Sonia is moving to one nap a day so we can hit the parks more often. However, she still eats the bark which makes the experience much less fun.



One lovely fall day we went on a canoe ride with our neighbor.

Weekend with the grandparents

After Sonia's party, we headed to the Olympic Peninsula. Had a lovely time with the grandparents who are always so hospitable and happy to see the grandkids (even though their house becomes messier and chaotic).

Happy 1st Birthday Sonia!

Most days of the year I have no memory of what I was doing on that day a year earlier. It's funny how I well I remember September 12 and November 17.. the day before Jack and Sonia were born. I remember everything up to the point they were born.. then it's all a blur.

Jack was at my mom's on September 12. My water broke at 8 am. Ryan and I spent the day walking around .. trying to induce labor .. I spent a while trying to find an acupuncturist (with no luck). Ryan drank quad shot cappucinos.. figuring he would be up all night. At around 6 I ate a white bean and kale soup. At 8 we went to the hospital per the request of the midwife to get monitored. They suggested I stay since I was having contractions. I declined as I could not feel them. At 9, I headed to my friends' house to socialize and get my mind off the next day.. convinced I'd be induced the next morning (since that was my experience with Jack). The hospital staff insisted the second time was different and they have been right about that through today.

It's been completely different the second time. Sonia is her own little gal. She is walking .. she says mama! dada! and yea! She climbs everything.. explores everything. She doesn't sleep that well.. she still gets up almost every night to eat. And she eats a lot. Very different from her big bro.

We had a fun birthday party on Saturday at a nearby park. We had the party with one of our neighbors who turns two today as well. Lots of neighborhood kids came. It was a beautiful day.. much like one year ago today.

This year has been hard in so many ways but Sonia has been a breeze. She is full of joy and energy. We are all so happy she is here (even Jack most of the time)

Here is Sonia for an hour at the party. A neighbor suggested I take this picture in order to compare it to her 21st birthday. Then we felt terrible condoning alcohol consumption in our children.



Our neighbor also born on the 13th. Not enjoying being photographed. There were a couple of us taking his picture.



Unlike Jack, Sonia was not interested in her cake:


Our beloved friend, doula, and babysitter:


A week earlier, we attended the wedding of our former nanny and family friend, Gen. Lily was the flower girl and we miracuously got Jack to pose with her

me&sonia

I have a hard time getting pics of sonia and don't have any of the two of us. My friend Jenny has been watching my kids once a week (all summer!) so Ryan and I can go out. We've had such a great time .. such a gift to have such great child care. Jenny has a much nicer iphone than I do and snapped these pics:

Summer

Well, I had intended to update the blog more frequently. This has been an unusually stressful summer. We moved out of our home into a rental to start our big construction project -- unfortunately our construction still hasn't started. Also Ryan's company was acquired by a much bigger company -- it turned out fine but he had to interview for his job .. lots of instability.

Other than that, the kids are getting bigger .. older. Jack is very verbal now. He is very expressive.. although he went through a tough phase where he melted down almost constantly over small things. I think its part of the process of individuation (or whatever child development people call it). It's important but not so fun for others. We have eliminated videos from our life because he could never accept that video time was over. Life has improved since. Sonia is starting to walk. She is very active and into everything .. Jack was a much mellower baby. We have to child-proof our house now.

We enjoyed the warm, sunny summer days (when we had them)

We visited our friends' cabin in the san juan islands with my college friends.. here's jack with one friend's kids:



We hit some of our favorite water spots with friends:









We visited the Olympic peninsula with the grandparents. Here's sonia enjoying a picnic at the beach:







We camped on the kitsap peninsula (well we went to the camp for the day as Ryan had to leave town for work and I could not get the camping stuff together). Jack had a blast in the inflatable boat of one of our friends ( I can never get him to pose):







I went to Virginia for 5 days with my bro and sis to meet my dad's family and visit the place he grew up -- including his child hood home. It's amazing how many of his family members remain in this very rural area. Everyone knew and loved my dad -- It was fun to hear the stories -- A favorite was the time he flew one of his airplanes over the river that winds through the town and over the family home.


Here is the "river" It's much smaller now:


the homestead (built by my dad's dad and his brothers)





From the left, my cousin's husband, my cousin (the youngest looking 59 year old I have ever seen), my aunt (who is 79!) and my bro and sis


Family photo on moving day -- also my birthday:






The company that acquired Ryan's paid for the employees and spouses to go to Hawaii for three days. My mom and stepfather watched the kids (only way we could have gone). We had an amazing room on waikiki -- and had a great time surfing (body boarding, longboarding, stand-up paddle board - the perfect place for such activities) and just hanging out.

Ryan at Makapu beach:



Me at Hanauma Bay


View from our room


Always great to come home

Hiatus

I can't believe how much time has passed since my last post. I didn't mean for that to happen. In the last two months, Sonia has started pulling herself up and she now crawls very quickly. She is into everything and everything goes into her mouth if it fits.. she'll try for a while even if it doesn't fit. She's eating a wide variety of foods -- I have stopped breastfeeding too. Jack is now using the potty. It's so awesome! We talked about it for a few weeks and tried underwear every now and then but he did not seem to get it or be interested at all. Then one day he was interested and we haven't had any need for diapers since. Jack got into a preschool near our house (his current school was only for one year) and he'll start going 3 days a week in September. It will be a big shift but I am hoping it will make his transition to fulltime school easier once I start graduate school next summer. There is no transition plan for Sonia. I rarely leave her with anyone (unlike Jack when he was her age) and she gets very upset if I leave the room when people come over to visit. I have a year to work that out.

We are still doing all the same things: lots of time at home while Sonia sleeps. Jack seems to like her more now. When she wakes up from her afternoon nap, he runs into her room and jumps into her crib with her. She thinks he is very funny. Jack is more and more talkative. He sings a lot. He prefers to watch a variety of videos on youtube (on my phone) instead of the Dora videos he used to watch on the portable dvd player. He got bored with Dora I guess. Now he loves Madeline and the Eiffel Tower. I liked those books too but as an adult, I find them a little dark.

We started a new ritual -- once a week the three of us take the bus to the neighborhood library. We get some books then get back on the bus. This is really a thrill for Jack. Every time we take the bus Jack says 'hello bus driver!' and starts to tell him or her where we are going. The bus drivers are always so happy to see Jack -- it's very sweet. How many people are that enthusiastic to ride the bus?

Jack and I have also started taking solo excursions to the Seattle Center. We ride the bus to the monorail. Then we go on some rides, ooh and ahh at the space needle, and visit the science center. Jack loves the dinosaurs and the mercury capsule. We watch the space shuttle on youtube a lot. I hear the museum of flight is trying to acquire one of the space shuttles to put on display. If that happens, we'll be at the MOF all the time.

We are out and about in the neighborhood a lot -- hanging out and watching all of the construction. Our neighbors are building a retaining wall which is now quite a spectacle too.

Time is just flying by.

On our way to the trampoline


At the zoo with friends


With dad


After nap


Making cookies of J's favorite things during Sonia's nap

What we've been up to

These days, we spend a lot of time at home. It feels even harder to get out of the house because Sonia is now eating "solid" food and meal time has now doubled in length. Then after everyone has eaten and diapers are chaged, Sonia is ready for her next nap. We put together puzzles, make forts, draw pictures on the chalkboard, read books and do a lot of cooking -- muffins, cookies .. here we are making smoothies.



What Sonia does while we cook:


We did get to the tulip festival. Jack was far more interested in the puddles and not at all interested in posing for pictures in front of flowers.




hair cut

Sonia eating movie

Freedom

Fun in the Sun

Ryan had Friday off so we headed off to the Olympic Peninsula. Went to our favorite beach in Pt. Townsend then to a lovely and very tasty cafe for lunch. We had a sweet moment at the cafe when the waitress was checking in on us. She asked Jack if he liked his lunch and he said yes, then he said "thank you for our food." We enjoyed the beautiful sunny weekend.

Kickin Chicken

Big in Japan

Today we went to the museum of flight. There was a large group of Japanese tourists there and many of them wanted to have their picture taken with Jack -- because of his hair.


I didn't take a picture of the photo shoot. Instead, I got a pic of the dreamlifter taking off from boeing field. A big hit with J.



We have been at the park a lot lately with friends because the weather has been so awesome.



Sonia is always good company

Deep Breath

It seems that telling stories of tragedy that befalls other people is a popular pasttime in our culture. I never consciously noticed it until I had kids. Now, I notice. For some reason, I pay attention to every story that involves children. For example, a friend of my mom's told a story of a little boy (jack's age naturally) who walked out of the house one night after everyone fell asleep and froze to death. These stories are everywhere and my first reaction was to fret.. then think how I am different than those people... I would never leave doors unlocked right?

But that didn't work well.

Then I remembered something one of my midwives said when I was pregnant with Jack. A friend had lost her baby at the end of her pregnancy when I was 20 weeks pregnant and it sent me into a panic. When I told the midwife she said she would never be able to reassure me that things were going to be ok. You can't google your child and find the answer she said. But, she said, the course of life for most people here is that they are born, they grow up, they get old and they die.

I probably repeat this to myself once a day. Whenever I hear a terrible story or almost miss something that could have hurt my kids, I think, the normal course of life for most people here is that they are born, the grow up, they get old, and they die.

And I know she's right because social security will be insolvent soon because we have so many older citizens.




Can you picture them old? I try.