Jailbird

This is how The Bird greets me when I walk into her room to retrieve her from her nap. This was at 10:30 this morning. She is always standing and ready to go! All she needs is a friendly adult to lift her up by the armpits, set her down and she's off to eat paper, clap, suck on a zipper, open books, close books, rip books, slap books, (right now she's flipping through my hymn book with her butt in the air) make-out with herself in the mirror (I've been trying to get a shot of this forever), rifle through the blinds, slap the floor, hang her tongue out and pant like a dog.

Crawl Attack

Adam is feeling well enough to play his favorite game with The Bird: crawl attack!

Long Weekend

Adam had to take a few days of furlough, so we tacked that onto President's Day and - voila! - we had ourselves an extended weekend of rest and relaxation at his grandparent's home in St. George. It was glorious!

Sienna had her first introduction to the piano.

Adam got to have an incredible view while doing his recuperative riding.

Sienna played with her great grandpa.

Snuggled with dad when she became sick.

Smiled for grandma when she let her have full reign over the reading glasses.

And dirtied all glass surfaces in sight.

Four Surprises

It's raining today. But that's not a surprise anymore. Sienna and I went for a refreshing walk. I think we will do that again this afternoon.

The real surprises this month, besides Sienna's masterful crawling skills and Adam's very unfortunate luck on the bike are as follows:

Sienna not only pulls up on furniture now. She pulls up on people. This was a surprise to me. She follows us around like a little doggie and then climbs on us. It is my new favorite thing. It makes me feel like she really does prefer us. After the 6-week smile milestone, this is the first real milestone that says, "Mom, Dad, I like you."

She can balance on her knees. Who knew she'd be doing this? I certainly didn't. But she does. And she's a champ at it.

She claps! One day, after weeks and weeks of slapping the floors and walls, she figured out she could make the same sound by putting her two hands together. She will clap after you clap, too. Another sign that she is finally starting to understand this world she lives in and maybe even enjoying it.

Her top two teeth are here. Como what? And they are going to be gappy. So cute!

Things my Baby Girl Can Do that I Can't

Hello all! I'm back for my annual guest post. Here is a short list of things a nine month old baby can do that a fully grown man with a broken clavicle and rib cannot:

1. Roll over
2. Crawl
3. Laugh
4. Raise both arms above the head
5. Smile (and mean it)
6. Get through the day without heavy use of opiate based pain medication
7. Sleep longer than 3 hours at a time
8. Sleep comfortably on one's stomach
9. Sleep comfortably on one's back
10. Sleep comfortably on one's side
11. Sleep comfortably
12. Sleep

Here is a short list of things both a nine month old baby and a fully grown man with a broken clavicle and rib can do with assistance from a beautiful woman in her mid to late twenties:

1. Eat
2. Bathe
3. Dry off
4. Dress
5. Brush hair
6. Get in and out of bed
7. Get up and down stairs
8. Get the remote control from the TV stand

Here is a short list of things a fully grown man with a broken clavicle and rib can do that a nine month old baby cannot:

1. N/A

Hugs on Hold

Adam's first race of the season was last Saturday. It was in Santa Barbara, about 4 hours away, so The Bird and I stayed home. Here's a photo of him at the starting line.

Five miles into the race they were going downhill at 40 mph when the guy in front of him went down and Adam had nowhere else to go but over him, so he literally rode over his back and flew off the front of his handle bars, landed on his right shoulder, skidded on the road on his right side, and finally came to a stop on his back. He broke his collarbone (the same one he broke in a cycling accident 4 years ago in Boston in which a person opened their car door, he veered to miss it and went flying off the bike) and a rib in his back.

Poor guy! He is more mad than anything because his whole season is probably over already. He tried to give that guy a piece of his mind but it was kind of hard to do while pinned on a back board with his head fastened straight ahead.

The ambulance came for him after about an hour and took him to the hospital. The Bird and I headed to go pick him up, but he ended up feeling good enough to drive home himself. (He's a master at stick shifting with his left hand from the previous collarbone incident.)

Here are his battle wounds:

You can see the bump on his collarbone in the one below:

Lots of road rash on his leg, too, but I will spare you his bodacious man thigh. You just might get jealous.

Dear Julian, No More Squished Corner Tables, Please

We took a day trip yesterday to the tourist trap, Julian, Calif. to see snow and eat pie. Adam and I visited Julian when we were newlyweds and let me just tell you, this time was much different. In a sentence: Julian is not family friendly. Also, we are not accustomed to snow and cold. It was a day of just trying not to whine and complain.

Here's the entourage: 6 adults, 4 kids, 2 cars. The morning opened with a 15 minute cry from The Bird and then a peaceful 40 minute slumber, followed by an hour of spitting. Thank you for that shower, Bird.

At least she is super cute and especially so when cuddling with her cute daddy:

After looking around anywhere, ANYWHERE, for seating, we finally got in to this BBQ joint. I ordered ribs.

Conversations afterward included:

"I hated my beans."

"Me, too!"

"Me, too!"

"Me, too!"

"That potato salad was flavorless."

"Just like everything else."

"Even the BBQ sauce, which, in a BBQ joint, is the only thing that HAS to be good."

"Those biscuits were the worst!"

"Did anyone like anything?"

But by then, I was too bitter to admit that I really loved my ribs. The wait was long (20 minutes was too long with the appetite I was harboring), the table was squished in the corner, the bathroom locks were precarious and there was nothing even resembling a changing table (don't ask Adam where he changed the Bird; it haunts me still), Sienna would not eat a bloody thing (who can blame her when at home she has warm cuisine, and on the road she gets gelatinous vegi beef from a can?) and after all of that I had to change her again after a fresh one (do you mind if I just say poo here?), so I hiked back to the car, bonked her head twice once inside, lots of crying, major stench .... and .... and ... it's cold outside and there's snow. Life is hard.

The Malfatto clan. They make traveling with kids look like a cinch.

Romance, by Christian:

My darling little matching duo again:

Finally inside Mom's Pies. After complaining as much as possible that Julian was much too cold for waiting outside in long lines for pie.

Staking out a table in THIS joint? Don't even bother.

Stuffing down a piece of apple crumb pie before The Bird has her way with it.

At last! A table. A very small one, squished in the corner (again!). I scarfed my cold boysenberry and grabbed The Bird for another hike back to the car for feeding time.

A good feed indeed. The Bird is out and we head home.

She loves her bird puppet! (Thanks, KarieAnn!)

Sleep is good. Julian, not so good.