Baby Yoga

I am so grateful for my weekly Mommy and Me Yoga class.  Having a group of supportive mothers and a chance to move my body is so important to me.  Plus, our instructor, Ali is the "Baby Whisperer" ... here she is holding two formerly fussy babies who immediately fell asleep in her arms.  She holds the babes (usually just one at a time) so that the moms can focus on their yoga practice. 

Auntie Kate and Uncle Neal

Kate and Neal visited us this weekend.  It is always so fun to see them.  Not only to they always feed us good food, but they also feed our souls with good energy and love.

We also got to see Matt and meet his lovely girlfriendl.  Alma decided (a.k.a. Aunt Kate decided for her) to lay in the middle of the table during brunch.  It actually worked out really well since Alma isn't fond of being held for too long.  This way, she could kick her legs, enjoy some "alone time" and still be the center of all of the action.

Kate encourages us to do lots of odd things ... here Joshua is carrying both Alma and me while we waited for the subway after we had dinner downtown at Lolita. 

Welcome Spring!!

The little Japanese cherry tree that is in front of our house is blooming.  Hooray!

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In other exciting news, congratulations to Joshua for winning The Romero Center's Social Justice Education Award at their yearly Romero Lecture Series for all of his time and energy spent talking to groups about the work of CCOP in Camden and about other social justice initiatives throughout the country. You deserve it, babe!

Why I love my Wife

In the time that we have had this website on several occasions Laura will write a post about me and our relationship.  Since she has already gone to bed for the night, this is my meager attempt to do the same for her.  Here are just some of the countless reasons why I love my wife.

1. Her devotion and constant loving care of Alma (night and day). I don't know how she does it.
2. She likes to watch UFC with me.
3. The fact that our first date after the birth of Alma was to see Henry Rollins; keep in mind our first date ever was to watch semi-pro wrestling at a bar in Seattle.
4. The fact that she let's me sleep in on the weekends, even though the reason I'm so tired is because I stayed up playing video games.
5. Her constant support and patience with my work and the ever changing schedules.
6. How she sings and dances in our hosue with Alma and Simon.
7. Her commitment to family and keeping in touch with friends and loved ones through this website, thank you notes, letters, and gifts.
8. Her intentionality with parenthood and married life and the desire to be the best mother and wife she can be.
9. She laughs at my jokes, even when others just stare at me. I love making Laura laugh.
10. And the best: she loves me and all my sillyness, my moods, my frustrations, and everything else.

Date Night and Tummy Time

A week ago Joshua and I went on our first official date since Alma was born.  Sure, we have been out to eat together, but Alma was always sleeping in the sling with us at dinner.  This was an official date with food, a show and everything!  How exciting!  It was great to reconnect and be reminded of how much fun we have together. 

Above is a photo of Alma being changed by my mother.  Alma loves laying on the changing table.  Below is my father feeding her.  They were great babysitters.  Thanks again, Mom and Dad!

In other news, Alma has been loving tummy time and our adjusted version of tummy time called "FLYING BABY"!!!  She rolled over for the first time (from tummy to back) yesterday, which seemed to surprise her as well as me.  She is very vocal when on her stomach ... see the video below.

We have been spending more time in the kitchen now that we purchased a second-hand highchair which can be rolled around and reclined.  She seems to like watching, although her attention span is short.  Simon is already getting excited for her to eat "real food" so that he can help with the crumbs.

And I just had to share the below picture of Simon because it is so sweet (and sad?).  Every day when Joshua is leaving work, he gives me a call. Simon has figured out this schedule and after the phone call he sits and stares at the front door until Joshua gets home.  Every day it is at least a half hour of waiting.  So sweet.  Simon loves his Owner Man.

Visitor's Log

Alma has met so many great people recently, it is tough to keep up with all the photos.  Since I'd rather be spending time reading books to her (FYI: She cannot get enough of Brown Bear Brown Bear!), here's a quick run-down on the people (and some things) we have been visiting....

Heather, Amanda and Dominic

• Our neighbors, Erin and Randy, at Randy's Surprise 80's-Themed Birthday Party

(Joshua and I tried to go for the preppy 80's look.)

• Patrick, Carrie and Mrs. Hoffman ... Ha! We didn't actually get a photo with our friends because the owner of the Chinese restaurant where we were eating lunch stole Alma to show her granddaughter.  Too funny!!

• Col and Mrs Tierno -- I can honestly say that no one has made Alma happier than Colonel Tierno.  He was clapping his hands and loudly yelling "BABY!" at her and, surprisingly, it delighted her to no end.

• CCOP Folks --  Alma has already been to a CCOP action that was focused on strengthening state law that prohibits drug dealers from hanging out in the same location. 

• Shanti the cat -- May seem like an odd thing to include, but it was only recently that Alma was able to focus on Shanti and watch her.  As you can see, Shanti and I have been having a little battle over who is the rightful owner of the tummy time quilt and the baby's burb rags.

• Simon the dog -- Alma was able to focus on the cat sooner than the dog, but she is now far more interested in watching the dog.  And I've finally figured out how to walk the dog and the baby at the same time, which is great now that the weather is getting warmer.  Below is a photo from a few weeks ago when Simon was still using the left over snow to cool off when he was playing fetch at a local high school field.

• The Moby Wrap and the Ergo Carrier -- I've invested in some new ways of carrying Alma since we do so much walking these days.  They seem to be working well and the joy of having a little baby head on my chest is almost too much to take.  Here she is in the Moby Wrap wearing the hat from Mapel.

3 months

Our little Alma is officially past the "fourth trimester" and is well on her way to transitioning from infant to baby. 

Here are some of her stats:

• Alma can easy pop her thumb into her mouth.  It acts as a soother and we often hear her sucking her thumb vigorously in the middle of the night.  Actually, she sucks on her left thumb and/or the first two fingers (pointer and middle) of her right hand.  Often times, she uses the hand that isn't in her mouth to push the other hand further towards her tongue.
• She is technically sleeping through the night.  At the most, she has done 8 hours in a row but, on average, she wakes once or twice every night.  We hope that her sleep will lengthen further; just as we have seen a gradual progression from sleeping in 1/2 hour stints to 7 or 8 hour blocks, we think this number is still growing.  What's funny is that a month ago when we attended a family function, I was excited that Alma had just started sleeping in two hours segments.  When someone tried to make me admit that that was awful, I was adamant (and truly believed at the time) that two hours was sufficient and I was happy with that.  Now, with a little perspective, I realize that I was crazy at the time.  Like, certifiably insane type of crazy.  With more sleep, I feel like I'm finally starting to come out of the fog I was in since Alma was born.  I'm not going to say that I'm fully out of the fog just yet ... 
• She is happiest in the morning.  The morning smiles and giggles are the most genuine and loving.
• She has started to realize that her hands can grasp things.  While she doesn't seem to know exactly how they work, she seems to understand the concept of grabbing things.  Today, she saw one of her shirts which seemed to spark her interest.  She put her hand on it (all-be-it, the back of her hand) and then opened and closed her hand repeatedly.  It is so incredibly fun to watch her try to figure this stuff out. 
• Alma LOVES baby yoga and massages.  Every morning I give her a massage, do some light stretching of her body and then do my own stretching while she watches.  She nearly flips out with excitement (kicking her legs, smiling and making her cute squeak noises) when I begin our daily routine.
• She also seems to enjoy being read to.  Honestly, I thought that reading to babies would be simply reading out loud while they did their own thing.  But the first time I tried to read to her when she could see the pictures, she was extremely attentive.  So now, we spend about an hour a day laying on our backs and reading.  She seems fully engaged the entire time and often "reads aloud" with me with her gurgles.  Too fun!
• She is still nursing every two hours, with many days when it is difficult to not have her nurse more frequently. 

In other news, two days ago Joshua and I celebrated five years as a couple.  We met at a climbing gym and many of our "dates" the first year we were together were either at that climbing gym or at a yoga class.  We have always done yoga classes together and occasionally practice at home.  Now when we practice at home, we have a little yoga mat buddy who seems to love watching us ... although, she often wants me to take a break and snuggle before the workout is over.

Video of the Day: Alma at 11 weeks

Yes, that is Whitney Houston singing in the background of this video.  Simon gets to choose the music on Mondays and he is a huge fan. 


(from February 22, 2010)

This concludes video week.  Some of them may have seemed a little slow but they are thrilling to us!

Video of the Day: Why It Was Great to Have Hayden Visit

Having seen me "wear" Alma all week, Hayden decided to make a similar sling for his favorite stuffed animal, Lambie. Side note: The very well loved quilt he is using as a sling is the quilt I made him when he was a baby. This brings me an incredible amount of joy.

(from February 20, 2010)

Video of the Day: Canada Wins the Gold, Alma Falls Asleep

(from February 28, 2010)

CCOP Sad News

It is with a heavy heart that I write this. Yesterday afternoon Br. Jerry Hudson, O.F.M, Franciscan Brother at St. Anthony of Padua in Cramer Hill went home to God.

The entire St. Anthony community, Br. Jerry’s family, and friends, are asking all of you to keep them in your prayers during this most challenging of times.

For those of you who had the blessing to know or work with Br. Jerry, you knew how his tough exterior and sarcastic nature where just a shell that housed one of the most loving and wonderful hearts that you could ever get to know. And yes, he would hit me for saying this.

Brother Jerry’s smile glowed…that is if you could get him to smile, but on those “rare” occasions you would see his entire face light up, revealing that big ol' heart inside. The best example of this is when Laura and I introduced him to Alma. When told Alma was in the room, he stopped in the middle of his sentence, turned away from us and scurried over to Alma. At this point his face was just one big smile, his eyes lit up, and he and Alma just cooed together for several minutes.

Over the past 3 years I had the opportunity to work closely with Br. Jerry and had seen that he lived and breathed his ministry and serving God’s people. He was a man of few words but his words spoke truth, justice, and love. He loved Camden and for the years he was here he worked hard to make it a brighter and happier place.

CCOP, our family and all of Camden will miss him.

--Joshua

(photo: Joshua and Brother Jerry clearing out growth in the backyard of "Ron's House" in September 2007)

Video of the Day: Alma at 9.5 weeks

(from February 11, 2010)

Video of the Day: Alma at 8 weeks

Since I have a slow week (read as: not much planned paired with a baby who likes to nap while on my lap) and some videos I'd like to share with the grandparents, this week I'll be showing one video every day. Enjoy!

Today's selection was filmed a few weeks ago. What a cutie!


(from February 1, 2010)

To Nana and Padre's House We Go

Alma and I went to Carlisle to visit Nana and Padre for a few days.  It was great to be spoiled by the grandparents.  Here's Alma emerging from the sling after a restful mid-afternoon nap with her grandfather.

Here she is showing off her patented tongue-filled smile.

And her serious face.

Nana arranged to have a few friends over for a mid-afternoon tea party.  Alma also took a nap in her sling during that party but woke up to say goodbye to her guests. (Did we mention that she likes her sling?)

On the way back to Philadelphia, we stopped by Lancaster to visit with the Yoders.  Auntie Kate and Uncle Fun were also visiting from Pittsburgh.  It was so nice to see all of them. 

While Alma and I had a fun trip, we were excited to get back to Philadelphia and Joshua, who we both missed.  Alma was also very excited to see her beloved ceiling fan and recessed lights.  She actually giggled the first time she saw them again after the trip ... I guess even she likes the familiarity of home.