Merry (Fake) Christmas!

Since we went to Oregon for Christmas, we exchanged gifts with one another before we left.  Simon enjoyed hiding his new bone throughout the backyard. 

 We also went to the Christmas market in Bethlehem to meet St. Nick. Alma wasn't too pleased and clung to me as never before.

Camden Aquarium

The day before Alma's birthday we went to the Camden Aquarium with our best mama friends.  Seeing these great women and their kiddos is one of my favorite things to do!  I'm so blessed to have them in my life.    Plus, we saw a scubba diving Santa which was so neat!  Watch out, Santa, there's a shark!!

New Dining Room Light

I've been lusting after this lamp from Crate and Barrel.  But at $1,199 it just wasn't going to happen.  Until I happened to see a similar lamp on sale at Lowes.  Hooray for our new lamp!  Or more specifically, hooray for a $70 version of the lamp!

New Squeaky Shoes

Even funnier than Alma's walk while wearing these shoes (she seems to want to step out of them) was the time that Alma and I went to Petsmart to purchase some food for the pets while she was wearing these shoes ... the puppies who were shopping there were so excited for the walking chew toy!

Neverending Birthday

Due to Joshua having to be in California for a work conference on Alma's first birthday, we ended up creating three first birthday celebrations.  The first was the day before Joshua left for his trip:

 While she ate the strawberries, the cake ended up here ... on the floor ... then in the dog's stomach.

The second was on her actual birthday when my parents came to visit for the day:

And the third was a smallish family gathering when we celebrated my two favorite ladies -- Alma and Nana:

(She ate the cake!)

Happy birthdayS, Alma!

Saint Nicholas

One of the things I would love for Alma to learn about is the saints.  They are all so dynamic and interesting.  It is great to have certain ones to look to for guidance and as examples.

Joshua and I grew up with certain saints who were part of our daily's vocabulary.  Silly rhymes added a sense of the spiritual to the everyday.  For example, "Tony Tony turn around, something is lost and can't be found" = praying to St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost things or "Mother Cabrini Mother Cabrini, find a spot for my little machiney" = praying to St. Frances Cabrini for a parking space.  Moreover, we knew the basics of a variety of other saints.

Alma's middle name is Kateri after Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.  Joshua and I loved Kateri's story of hardship, dedication, resolution and faith.  Just as Kateri left her tribe to follow the Jesuits, we hope that Alma can find her passion in life and be fully present to where life leads her.  Idealistic babble in some ways, but that is the beauty of saints.  They can be there as examples and support. 

We already have a large figure of Saint Francis in our dining room.  When she was a year old, Alma would wave to it when she was going up for a nap or bedtime.  This inclusion into her daily routine felt natural and inclusive.  During quiet times of our day, I try to tell her stories of the saints.  I'm excited to hear her thoughts about them in the coming years.

One of the saints who I would like to have a large part in defining is Saint Nicholas (Santa Clause).  I read this great description of him a while back and I think it is how I would like to spin his tale in our household.

Nicholas loved the Christ Child and wanted to give him gifts. But he lived long after the Christ Child did. Nicholas wondered if maybe there was something of the Christ Child in every child. So he began to give gifts to children on Christmas Eve. He was shy, and so he gave his gifts in secret, leaving only the present and the delight of receiving it behind. When Nicholas was old and full of years he died, but somehow the gifts kept coming. Sometimes they were left on the front porch, or came through a window or even down the chimney!

How great to focus on his generosity rather than his judgement, all his cool stuff (reindeer, flying sled, home on the North Pole, elves, etc) or all the stuff he gives you.  Maybe I'm also seeking this guidance of the saints as I begin my own Christmas wish list and realize how it simply consists of wanting to be surrounded by loving, positive energy.  And being tempted to give everyone on our list a nice pair of cozy socks that can be our way of loving them in the everyday instead of trying to impress them for a fleeting moment.

You've Come a Long Way, Baby!

As one of my high school friends, who recently had a son, wrote on Facebook, "Anyone know how to make time stand still and hurry by, all at the same time?"  That seems to be the perfect summary of the first year of parenthood for me.  This year has had its challenges that, at times, seemed neverending.  However, it has also been the year when I tried to live in each moment.  There were so many times when I willed the clock to slow down so that I could soak the experience into my long term memory.  I am so grateful for the experience of parenthood and all of the conflicting emotions that come with it!

Updates from the last month:

• The weekend before her first birthday, Alma took her first steps.  The joy on her face as she walked between Joshua and me was great.  She is so comfortable standing by herself now and seems like she will be zooming around soon enough.
• Often times, the loudest noise coming from the room where Alma is playing is her new doll's head bashing into things.  Alma loves dragging her around and throwing her on top of the coffee table so that she can gently make her eyes blink.  Concussion much, baby doll?
• Alma has figured out how to get the rings on the stacking stick. Now she's been working to figure out how to get the wooden blocks into the shape sorter.  Watching her figure out how these toys (and the world in general) work is amazing and inspiring.  I wish I had that much tenacity!

• For a few days, all Alma seemed to say was "duc-a, duc-a".  It sounded like Dr Evil from Austin Powers.  Joshua and I spent a lot of time doing the Macarana. 
• Hanging out in the children's section of the library is the best way to spend the afternoon with Alma. They have great toys, games, activities and books.  Alma gets so focused on certain toys that I can sit, zone out and read magazines.  It is a nice break for both of us.
• She has started blowing kisses, which seems to be both her way of showing affection and saying thank you.  Since we do the sign for thank you when she gives us things, she will now often give us something and then blow us a kiss.  So cute!

• Peekaboo has never been a big thing with Alma (she looks confused) until this month when she has started loving it too much.  She does a little crouch to hide behind the coffee table that is beyond cute.
• Alma is teaching us that everything can be worn as a hat. Hats, blankets, shirts, stuffed animals, food, anything. 
• In the last few months, Alma has become more schmoopie. The more she sucks her thumb, the more she wants to hug with her head on my shoulder.  Each embrace is such a gift.
• Love watching Alma look through her books.  Usually they are upside down.  She talks to each image.
• At the beginning of the month, Alma was imitating what we say in a much more immediate fashion. It was neat to hear her echo version.  Towards the end of the month, she stopped doing this as often.
• Alma still loves the cat and dog with fierce affection.  For example, one day when Alma was upset and crying, Shanti walked by. Alma started petting her and calmed down.  It will be great to see these relationships continue to grow. 

• We have been calling Alma "pumpkin" since we was a wee babe.  But now "Bruised Banana" might be a more accurate nickname based on all of the bruises on her head.  Not only is she a little accident-proned, but she also bruises very easily.  Poor kiddo! 
• She can now go up and down the stairs by herself.  We hang out with her when she does, just in case.  Luckily, our stairs are very wide, deep and carpeted so they are conducive to mastering them.
• We just finished another round of swimming classes.  Alma's love of the water is absolute and a joy.
• Alma has a set bedtime schedule which seems to work well for all of us:
• Last dinner (since there are sometimes more than one dinner): 6:30 pm
• Last family play time: 7:00pm
• Bath: 7:15pm
• Bed: 7:30pm
• Wake up: 5am but usually go back to sleep until 6:30 or so
• Molars are on their way -- they poked through on her birthday -- but, like the others that have come, they seem to come and go a few times before they are fully in her mouth.  These molars have created a laughable amount of drool. 

Incoming!

A year ago today as we gave birth to Alma, Joshua and I quietly, repeatedly and excitedly exclaimed "INCOMING!"  We are so grateful for the little peaceful bomb that landed in our lives on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

Katherine Grace

A year ago today, Joshua and I were getting ready for the arrival of our first child.  We were overdue and scheduled for some testing on Monday that we knew may lead to an induced labor (or so said our OB).  We spent the weekend cleaning the house, packing our hospital bags, decorating for Christmas and still debating the merits of different names for "SweatPea" as Joshua often typed our baby's pet name ("Sweet is spelled with two E's, Dear"). 

Looking back, we were surprisingly casual about the arrival of the baby.  I loved being pregnant and was feeling sad that I would have to transition to the next stage of motherhood.  However, ever the curious one, I was excited to experience childbirth.  Joshua and I had taken a great birthing class (thanks, Vickie!) and I had been listening to Dottie's hypnobirthing CDs during all of my naps -- honestly, I couldn't tell you what happened in the hypnobirthing CDs beyond the introduction, but I had great naps with them! -- and felt as prepared as I could be for the process.

However, our ease with every other element of preparation was clouded by my fear of naming the baby.  I was so tired of thinking of it.  I've been thinking about what to name my future children since kindergarten. Honest.  I remember talking about names with my best friend Linh.  Here I was just days away from having my first child and I couldn't land on a solid name for the life of me. 

To get my mind off of things and to take me away from the list of names I kept pouring over, we went with our neighbors Randy and Erin to get Christmas trees for our respective houses.  As we were driving in the car, we chatted about how our preparation was going.  Eventually, among all my cheery feelings about having a baby, I admitted that I was beyond frustrated with figuring out an appropriate baby girl name.  I vented something like, "I just wanted to name her Katherine Grace and be done with it.  That's a good solid name, right?  Who could argue with that?"  Everyone agreed that Katherine Grace would be a great name.  But I sighed, "That name just doesn't feel like the name of my child."  The conversation moved on to other topics and we all went home to set up our trees.

The following night my water broke and I spent the next day giving birth to a baby girl.  As Joshua and I sat together marveling at her in the delivery room, I said, "She looks like an Alma Kateri to me."  He agreed but we decided to sleep on it before we made the name official.  My parents eventually joined us in the birthing suite and also cooed over our darling, with Joshua and I being absolutely private about the possible name of Alma Kateri. 

After meeting their granddaughter on her birthday, they went back to our house to watch after our pets and ready things for our arrival home with our new bundle.  That night, my father ran into our neighbors and told them the good news of the day: "They had a girl!"  To which, Erin replied, "Oh, Katherine Grace!"  My father, confused, said something like, "sure" and went back into the house.  As he tells the story, his mind started racing.  He knew the name of the baby!  Should he tell my mother and ruin the surprise?  What should he do?  So, like the loyal and trustworthy man that we know him to be, he kept it quiet and marveled all night that he had a new granddaughter, whom he thought was named Katherine Grace. 

The next morning, as Joshua and I snuggled in with our daughter and my parents entered the room, we excitedly declared, "We would like to introduce you to Alma Kateri!"  My father, now even more confused, smiled brightly and joined with my mother in loving both the baby and the name. 

My father waited until Alma was nearly six months old before he told us this story.

Blowing a Kiss

While I was finishing up my work on the computer in the kitchen, I captured a chatty Alma who was willing to blow a kiss to the camera. Too cute! She always seems to go silent and still when the camera comes on so I try to sneak in some videotaping with the laptop's webcam.