So I think the excessive napping is probably due to her molars coming in. It must be Tashi's way of dealing with pain--especially since she cries now upon waking more often than not--and sometimes even points to her teeth. The problem is that she napped so briefly at daycare on Friday, and now I'm starting this month of fulltime work, so I'm a little concerned about how she'll make it through the day at daycare. Maybe the longer day means she'll nap twice again...? We'll have to see. We've held off on giving her Tylenol, and sister recommended Motrin. I think we'll wait till it seems like her night sleep is being disrupted, and so far (knock wood) she's still a solid 12-hour sleeper. And she's been eating fine, as usual, too.
Despite the approximately four back teeth coming in (we can't be sure anymore--our only way of telling is when she's laughing or crying, no longer can we stick a finger in and feel around) Tashi rallied for a couple outings this weekend. We went to sister's on Saturday late afternoon to say hello to her in-laws visiting from India. We hadn't seen sister's family since Thanksgiving. Then Sunday was Leo's first birthday party at Soda Bar in Prospect Heights. Yup, it's a bar, but apparently they have Music for Aardvarks classes so it was pretty kid-friendly. We also saw another blog pal there, Luke, who is nearly exactly one year older than Tashi (Nov. 9, 2006). Leo's dad, Luke's dad, and I all worked together in Hong Kong--gee, it must be 10 years ago now, I just realized. Wow! Both days Tashi had only one nap despite us putting her down for two, but she did just fine. Dara, Leo's mom, mentioned that she knew people or at least someone whose kid did two naps till they were 16 months. I mean, I'd do two naps as long as I could, why not?
I'm at my maximum for Vimeo uploading so I can't include part two of this video just yet. I've been wanting to capture how she loves to pry apart pages of books. But every time I get the camera out she loses interest (naturally). Here's part of it, anyway. (And yes, she pretty much wears sleepers all day--at least in the morning till she's done with an attempt at a first nap!)
Literally 'old sleep,' this is a term Lela uses to describe the need to catch up on sleep. I think that's what Tashi's been going through the past couple of days, but especially today. She did more than three hours of naps yesterday and more than four (!) today--even with the drive back north. Although she didn't nap in the cowmouflage during the drive, it was clear she was needing one by the time we got home--and she went straight down from 3 to nearly 6pm. Yipes!
As is our custom, we didn't do much of anything at Waipo and Ahgong's but catch up on sleep, eat, and watch Tashi do laps around the house and up and down the stairs. It's so fun seeing her understand certain words, like looking for the cat when we said Xiaobai. Husband and I did go out to dinner one night (sushi nearby, surprisingly good); saw Slumdog Millionaire (worth the hype); went running; ran errands; and did obligatory trips to various malls (where I took a cue from brother in a bid to defray own tax bill). Brother was around for a couple days but not sister, who has been in Florida with her extended family. But because we got Waipo a digital frame for Mother's Day that updates automatically when any of us uploads new photos, we were able to see glimpses of sister's trip, which was pretty neat.
We are at Waipo and Ahgong's for a few days in between holidays. Tashi remembers the house from when we were here last, at Thanksgiving, which is great. Not freaked out by unfamiliar surroundings, she goes right down for bed and naps (although we seem to be rapidly going to a single nap, for real this time, much to my dismay). Our drive down in the fog was pretty laborious, an extra 45 minutes, but once we got here we got to do our usual--laundry for mom, taking advantage of babysitting for dad, and Xiaobai for Tashi.
Tashi was so needing to take her (only) nap when we set out yesterday afternoon. She immediately fell asleep, though the new car seat means her head lolls about rather alarmingly since she is no longer supine. Every time husband had to brake hard, her head would slump forward. I ended up using some cloth diapers (clean of course) to hold her head in place. I thought she'd outgrown the need to wake up when we are going below 60 mph, but she woke up when the traffic got really bad. Then once the sun set she was quiet, and I was hoping she'd fall asleep again. I'd given her a rice cracker--which is fast becoming a Tashi security blanket--and in the dark every now and then we'd hear a little crunch from the back seat.
A few things I wanted to mention: Happy Boxing Day Birthday to husband's cousin Adlai; a shoutout to old Bangkok friend Jefe and Susie who came to visit from California (and with whom Bret and I enjoyed a delicious meal at The Spotted Pig) (see Bret's writeup here); and a note that our Christmas-related photos are in this Flickr set.
Tashi skill-o-meter: When we say agua or water, she'll reach for her sippy cup. Same goes for hat. She understands! Time to stop using curse words.
We just got finished with two days at Auntie Roxana and Uncle Greg's for Christmas Eve and Day. Tashi wanted to narrate the visits:
Christmas Eve dinner. Mom's cutting up food for me to eat: chicken, avocado (Lelo's favorite), yama-imo (Japanese sweet potato), and yummy roast pork. I'm wearing outfits Mom bought a year ago on sale from Pottery Barn kids--size 12-18 months--who knew I'd need size 18-24 at this point? I'll probably only be able to wear them this once, so we're in the (St.) Nick of time.
I took a mammoth nap this morning--nearly 3 hours--so I managed to power through the rest of the day. Our own Christmas miracle, Mom says.
Christmas Day. Banging on Uncle Kevin's coffee table. Where's my gift!
We opened gifts at home before heading back to Jersey, but I'm more interested in the ribbons. (Mom says, Note the stash of Amazon boxes--how we did all our shopping this year.)
I'd napped for two hours but managed to push through the rest of the day again. Having lots of distractions (and food) helped. I got lots of great books, clothes, and my first doll. It was great hanging out with my cousins Amanda and Drew especially since they do things like pick up my sippy cup every time I drop it. Over and over again. Maybe on purpose just a little.
Mom wasn't sure merino wool would be the best romper material to crawl in, but it did great on the nice smooth wood floors. Here I'm trying to taste some of Lelo's coffee before we went on a walk together. I made it through two days with one nap each--I'm sure I'll be spending Boxing Day recovering. Merry Christmas everyone!
I've been trying to not make this the all-allergy blog (just like I tried to avoid it becoming the all-sleep-issue blog--ha!), but there are a few things I wanted to mention.
+ Allergist said the fact that Tashi's relatives have some food allergies (that we just learned about) isn't that big a factor. It's more about me and my fall hayfever--that makes any child of mine 'high risk.' (Yes, lots of people get hayfever...)
+ Bret mentioned in his blog about running into Allergic Girl, who blogs about her travails with food allergies. That connected me to this New York magazine article about what it's like to eat out in nice NYC restaurants with food allergies, and how accommodating (or not) the staff will be. The funniest line is from the waiter at one establishment who admitted he was relieved the dinner was over without incident. Bonus: The article was illustrated by Peter Arkle, husband of friend Amy. The two-piece orange painting over Tashi's crib is Peter's work. So is the flying cat in the hallway.
+ The Times reported about a recent study that says children born in the fall are more likely to have asthma (an allergy). The attention-grabbing headline: Scorpios Get More Asthma, but Astrology Isn’t to Blame. Tashi is a Scorpio. Apparently the reason may be that as winter arrives, the fall babies are susceptible to a severe winter virus which puts them at a greater risk for asthma.
+ Andrea (Annabear's mom) got us these great labels from Mabel's Labels, a Canadian company, that announce Tashi's peanut allergy; dishwasher-proof, they're all over her food-storage containers. I just noticed they do cute disposable wristbands for when Tashi is in a new social situation (like a party) where all the parents may not be aware she has a severe allergy. At some point we'll get a Medic Alert bracelet too.
+ And finally, I heart our allergist because he EMAILS. When have you ever been able to communicate with a physician (who is not your own father) by email? (Am trying my best not to abuse it.)
On the occasion of her 13-month birthday, Tashi finally got to meet her cousin (twice removed? She's the cousin of her Abuela) Alicita who was visiting from Florida. Alicita's been an early, avid reader of the blog but hadn't ever met Tashi, so it was a big deal. This is a photo I took of them while Tashi was downing water--she was very thirsty--and when I tried to take away the cup for the photo, she started wailing, leading to the smaller photo. Alicita is sympathy wailing.
Tashi impressed everyone including me by the amount of food she ate over the course of several hours: prosciutto, avocado, yam, grapes, bread, rice cakes, ropa vieja, black beans, and gouda (all almost exclusively with her left hand--just like Leo). That night when I changed her for bed her tummy was a big round ball. Tashi also impressed her mom and dad by powering through the afternoon without a nap. I knew she could do it because at daycare she often just sleeps an hour a day in a single nap, sometimes ending before noon. So armed only with a 1.5-hour a.m. nap, we headed to Abuela's to see Alicita. There was enough to keep her occupied and entertained--besides the food, she really thinks her Abuelo (Lelo) is funny--that she never really got cranky and tired-seeming. She passed out on the way home but then rallied again before bed. Though I've kept her home from daycare today to let her recover (and it's also 19 degrees out), the fact that we were able to do something for six straight hours without a nap opens up a world of possibilities!
The night before husband and I went to see Vampire Weekend at Terminal 5. As I've mentioned before they're recent Columbia grads so we were a couple decades older than most of the crowd. We were also slightly crushed when we showed up after a burger at Druids (where husband will be showing come January) at 830pm (doors opened at 7) only to see that two other bands were playing first, and VW was due at 10pm (!!). I usually go to bed at 10pm. But, like Tashi, we powered through and the show was good fun.
So the main things about this video, taken by husband over Thanksgiving weekend: + It is Tashi's first bath with her cousins, and with people other than her parents. It was beyond cute, if a bit wet. + It is PG. Husband worked very hard to make it PG. It wasn't easy with three squirmy kids, two of whom can walk. + It showcases sister's eldest, Rohan, who continues to be the most exuberant little boy I know. + It's expressly for Jee, a new devoted reader of our blog. Thanks, Jee! + It proves without a doubt that my sister and I have the same voice. I honestly can't tell who is saying what. Can you?
I was just chatting with Dara about mittens and gloves for babies. I haven't figured out a way to make them stay on Tashi's hands--she immediately pulls them off. I've seen photos of friend's babies with them on--how do they keep them on? Tashi gets upset when even the sleeve of whatever she's wearing--the coat, shirt--is over her fingers. We've resorted to using the plastic cover over the Maclaren to keep her warm, but that's a serious pain to put on and take off all the time. I'm thinking of making it so the gloves are stuffed into her sleeves... but I have a feeling that won't win her over. Meanwhile, I have been hunting for those clasp things that attach the mittens to the sleeve. Need to add it to Tashi's wishlist!
She's really into her hands and fingers. Besides sticking them up her nose, holding onto her tongue, or separating board-book pages, we've noticed lately that, while she still finds every tiny thing on the floor, instead of sticking it right in her mouth she'll hold it out for you to take. She'll even crawl across the room with it in her hand to put it in your hand. She does this at daycare, too. At Waipo's the favorite toy is putting plastic toys into a bin, and taking them out again. Over and over again. Maybe this will mean she'll like cleaning up.
Tashi walk watch: She loves to crawl over to us to scamper up our legs while standing up. This is a little painful for husband because then she likes to pull at his leg hairs. She's getting better at keeping her balance with one hand holding onto something, and was doing a lot of cruising over the weekend at Waipo's. When Hector was over here for Tashi's birthday, I saw him go from a crawl to standing up, just by straightening up his back and his legs. I feel like Tashi wants to do that--her crawls sometimes are with legs more straight... but we'll see.
A photo from our weekend at Waipo and Ahgong's. Tashi and her cousins Arjun (left) and Rohan are working on leftover turkey, pasta, and broccoli. Arjun later shared the kiwi (sliced into rounds, per his direction); the beer wasn't included.
Tashi food-o-meter: turkey (of course!), pumpkin bread (that I made; it contained egg and we gave her some, a little nervously even though she hasn't had an egg reaction before--she was fine), lamb (baa)
We are en route to Waipo and Ahgong's house later this morning (timed to Tashi's a.m. nap--hope it works!). Sister and family made the trip by train yesterday afternoon. We're bringing a month's worth of laundry and pumpkin bread--more travel-ready than pie.
We of course have lots to be thankful this year. Here are a couple videos of Tashi's standing-up dance with Daddy (and Daddy's music). I like her shoulder wobble better, but this early upright dance might mean she can eventually bhangra like her cousin Rohan. Happy Thanksgiving!
We finally got around to uploading photos from husband and Waipo's cameras from Tashi's birthday party. Here's the Flickr set. This is the cake I made--two rounds and cupcakes for the paws and ears, and Oreo cookies and some cooked soba noodles for the detailing.
When Waipo visited earlier this month, she went to swim class with husband (mom, as usual, went for a run in the park). So now we have some photos from the class. She always gets a big smile when she sits in one of the plastic kid-size chairs around the side of the pool. Her expression is like, I'm sitting in a chair! Wheeee! We'll have to get something like it for home.
I'm a bit overdue noting some of the things Tashi likes to do these days. Besides the clucking (so far haven't been able to capture on video) and the spork self-feeding (in video above), she's fascinated with turning pages of her board books and will spend a good amount of time either flipping through them really quickly--resulting in a very abbreviated reading session ("In the great green room there was a... a pair of mittens... good night nobody... noises everywhere")--or in trying to separate two pages stuck together. She's also started cruising a bit, which is holding onto a piece of furniture and making her way down it, and--this was a while ago but I hadn't noted it--in gently lowering herself to the ground after standing. (Very key.)
Husband's art show was this weekend, and the very cold weather Saturday night meant it was a hard-sell for our friends though the event itself was well attended. (And much fancier than we thought--paintings there for sale were in the four figures!) We had a late (for us) dinner afterward at Mamajuana with Chris and Vicky who heroically came to the show all the way from Brooklyn. We had our cat sitter babysit and gave him a decent tip when we realized if you factor in time spent, his taking care of our cat is actually more expensive than taking care of our child.
Today we went back to the show, meeting Abuela and Abuelo there, and also had an impromptu playgroup with Murph and Phil who live with their three kids in the complex the show was in. Stopping by their place was instructional for me in terms of Tashi's peanut allergy--there was a half eaten PB&J sandwich on the table, and trail-mix bars in the kitchen, and I did have to ask the rather paranoid question of whether there could be stray peanuts at all on the floor. Of course there weren't, and I felt sort of silly asking, but if anything other parents are completely understanding about it.
Yesterday after swimming we stopped by Roosevelt Hospital to see Emily and Miles, who had their baby boy Theo early on Friday a.m. (22 hours of labor--I'm so proud of Emily!). He weighed 6 lbs 12 oz. Theo at a day old was so teensy it reminded me again how amazing it is they come into the world so fragile. He's got a good head of hair and latched on like a champ. Emily and Miles were among the first to come visit us at the hospital last year (and they signed up for the whole package--same OB and doula) and a year later, here they were with their own baby.
Here's a quartet of recent videos. The first three are very short and from Waipo, who is a little bit of the Lars von Trier school of filmmaking. (Rohan might need his motion-sickness pills.) First, Tashi goes to town on her banana and Cheerio breakfast, and then the next two display how Tashi figured out her limited set of upper and lower teeth solves the problem of getting from place to place with a toy. The last one I shot (I'm also a little Lars): Tashi chases a birthday balloon around the front hallway and kitchen, and figures out how to hold onto it.
(By the way, I want to rave again about Vimeo. They do have a weekly free upload limit, but other than that, it's genius. I just altered the video player size and then updated the stills for each of these and it couldn't be easier.)
Tashi skill-o-meter: Clucking her tongue, a new favorite, and using a spork, a nifty skill also recently acquired by Tashi's blog pal Leo.
Since being back at work, I've had less time to update the blog, but I did want to share this photo from yesterday. Trish and I had gone at lunchtime to see the Haunch of Venison show right near the office on Sixth Avenue, and at midday the sun hitting the maple trees made even the Fox News ticker look pretty.
Daycare was closed for Veterans' Day yesterday, so Waipo looked after Tashi all day but didn't seem any worse for wear. Waipo said, She's very polite with me, smiling and easygoing. It only seems like she gets cranky when Mom's around! I would love to know why this is. Tashi's new thing is placing items in your hand and then picking them up again. She also is fascinated with the balloons we hung up in the apartment for her party.
Otherwise being back at work has definitely gotten me out of Inwood. I've managed to go out to Caselulla with my boss and an ex-colleague, the MOMA, the Haunch show, and a Bret outing at Paris Commune all in the past two days, which is more going out and culture I've had all summer.
Work itself is still odd, sort of a holding pattern while the powers-that-be figure out stuff. It's a little like The Office--corporate PR emails that make no mention of impending layoffs, oddly chipper farewell emails from people who were fired, generic group emails about lost cell phone chargers or reminders to turn off the overhead projectors in conference rooms, etc. I'd forgotten how much meetings often are about sitting in a room watching someone type on an overhead projector screen, and how much work generally is about socializing. After a summer of navigating playgroups, classes, and different nap schedules for Tashi and her pals, it's definitely an alternate reality.
This video captures a little bit of the melee that was Tashi's first birthday party. We had about 45 people (8-10 of them shorter than 2 feet tall) in the apartment, so it was pretty crowded, hot, and loud. Tashi was fine at first but then as more people arrived, she started to complain, which made me wonder if she disliked sharing her toys... but I think it was just all the people. At one point she seemed so unhappy I was questioning the wisdom of having a party for her, period, but I guess the flipside is she won't remember either way, good or bad! Andrea mentioned that her and Alex's Annabear didn't much enjoy her first birthday party, either, which made me feel better. It must be the crowds, though lately Tashi's been particularly mom-clingy, to the point where she'll be happily playing or eating or crawling around with Waipo or Daddy, then sees me, and starts to seriously howl. I guess it's like some weird sort of compliment?
For us parents it was fun to have all the kiddies together rambling all over the apartment. The many toys we have (every single one a hand-me-down, mainly from sister) got a workout. I very purposely didn't invite anyone with kids who had to travel from outside our immediate neighborhood, unless they were family (or recently moved from the area). Given the lousy weather we had I'm impressed how many made it. Thank you! (Especially to Tashi's cousins Rohan and Arjun for the birthday video.)
Waipo has been here since Wednesday helping out, thus proving once again that the optimal parent-to-child ratio is at least three to one. Though I managed to make the (panda bearish) cake, both sets of grandparents took care of the rest of the food--bocaditos, pastelitos (both carne and guava), and chunks of pineapple. We also went to our favorite meat market and got a big spread of cheese, soprasetta, and prosciutto, which the birthday girl loved.
Outside the apartment in the hallway we set up parking for strollers, shoes, and umbrellas, and Waipo had the very good idea of having everyone write name tags. Brother was in charge of the coats, we had plenty of beverages, and husband figured out music so Tashi could do her dance. Today, the day after the party, Tashi has seemed like she's trying to recover from all the activity and has been cranky and out of sorts, with a runny nose besides, but she sure enjoyed ripping apart some gift wrapping.
It's Tashi's birthday! In approximately 1.5 hours one year ago, I managed to finally push Tashi out and we welcomed her into the world. It's astounding really--it went by superfast, and everything is still changing every day. She may have even done the sign this morning for cereal (which along with banana she devours every morning for breakfast, post-boob).
We (Waipo and I) have Tashi home with us today. Fridays, generally speaking, is my work-from-home day, but I'm making a cake before the work day really gets started. Tashi has already celebrated her birthday by sleeping in to the late, late hour of nearly 730am (!).
This is probably the first and last time I have carte blanche as to what Tashi is for Halloween. Next year I'm sure she'll have an opinion. We got this great baby heifer costume from Nina Ping. My intention was to dress up like a milkmaid, so I could milk Tashi for once instead of the other way around. But I didn't get my act together in time, alas.
We're down in Philly this weekend for the last part of husband's birthday--seeing Robin Williams at Tower Theater. (Robin Williams: sweaty, raunchy. Crowd: white, old.) Going to the show near Waipo's house made it less expensive than in Atlantic City and also took care of the issue of child care. Unfortunately for husband--and this is something we couldn't have predicted back when I got the tickets--our visit coincided with the Phillies' World Series Championship celebration. For a Mets fan, this was pretty close to torture.
Along with giving high-fives, Tashi seems to have learned to pet a cat instead of merely grab its fur, thanks to husband. At Waipo's house, she's been touching Xiaobai with an open palm. Meanwhile, Ahgong has created a file of clippings about peanut allergies. Seems an early exposure to soy milk or formula could spark a future anaphylactic reaction to peanuts. So can peanut oil in baby products. Either he or Waipo are planning to write about our experience for a national Chinese-language newspaper.
Ever since Tashi's come home we've never had anyone but one of us or my mom put her to bed. Ever. Coming up on a year, that's sort of remarkable. But now I can say that we have finally hit the milestone of a sitter putting her to bed. It's cheating a little because the sitter was Miss J from daycare, who has put Tashi down for a nap at school. It was funny watching Tashi trying to process Miss J coming home with us, but then when I getting ready to leave the apartment she barely noticed I was gone! Just like daycare. Miss J said she cried just a little bit when she went to bed, right at 629pm.
I'm happy about Miss J working out because she will be an option for us on those rare but inevitable occasions when neither husband nor I can do pickup. Miss J can bring her from daycare to our house and give her a bath if need be and put her to bed. It's a relief having this option.
The occasion for the sitting itself was a wine tasting class I'd gotten husband as part of birthday gift. Years ago Riza and I took Kevin Zraly's Windows of the World Wine Course (using money earmarked for education that we'd gotten from the company after our magazine was shut down), and you can return to take classes as an alumnus and even bring a guest, all at a slight discount. I picked wines of Burgundy and the Rhône Valley, mainly because the date worked best and also because Châteauneuf-du-Pape is one of my favorites. I'd forgotten how much of a wine evangelist Mr. Zraly is--high, high energy and with a rapid-fire teaching style. He said at one point, Now there comes a time when you want to properly store your wine, so you'll find you have to get rid of the kids.
Here's a photo Waipo took from when she stayed at sister's earlier this fall. The boys are always all over Tashi for at least the first 15 minutes we get together. Arjun is trying out Rohan's Halloween costume for this Friday.
Here's a video [updated via Vimeo] husband took last weekend when he took Tashi out for about an hour while I worked. It's yet more evidence of how much she loves the swing. While she was in her green bear jacket today at the place where we always get bagels after swim class, someone said they liked her costume, and I said, actually it's her regular coat.
Tashi's been waking up before 6am which is sort of brutal, but except for one morning I haven't been going in to get her. Husband goes and tries to soothe her back to sleep, but it seems to work less well. This just means that by 8am when she's en route to daycare, she's plenty tired (as is mom--I need that a.m. nap!), and she did in fact manage two naps one day, and not just one long nap. She's also officially pulling herself up onto everything, but not cruising yet, which is when they use furniture to move across the floor--like holding on to a couch and making their way down it. Since she's gone from no pulling up to pulling up all the time in the space of less than a week, husband's convinced she'll be walking by her birthday in two weeks, but I still think she has a little ways to go, based on seeing how other babies have done it. Or, I am in denial.
I hosted what will be our last Friday playgroup and we got only one regular to show up. I think the timing for the playgroup is the problem--4pm is just too late, and if you always run late like I do, 5pm is even later to embark on a playgroup outing. But Christina and her new baby Amina, from Ethiopia, and Kelly and Quinn came by, all from our building. I'll post photos of the three girls soon. (Quinn, who is three months Tashi's junior, is fully pulling herself up already.) This playgroup is one I joined when Tashi was literally just days old. Waipo and had brought Tashi out in the sling, which she promptly fell asleep in. Those were the days.
In work news, I start back a week from Monday. I managed to log on to work email for the first time since January, which was a 25-min process of getting in. Fortunately for me, email if not filed away is auto-deleted after 30 days, so cleaning up my inbox was relatively painless. The first week of November is shaping up to be pretty busy. Besides work, there's this giant election and Tashi's birthday. Speaking of birthdays, it was sister's on Thursday. Happy Birthday, Auntie Joanna!
I've become sort of lazy about editing down video, as this is five minutes long, but at the same time I like it because it's Tashi steadily taking out all the toys in a box and examining them one by one. Cracks me up. It also captures what we think is the first time (at home) she's lifted herself up on her legs (to get at something in the box, naturally). I know a lot of other babies have been doing this a while, but Tashi has been pretty good about getting everything she needs from up on her knees or even her butt.
We had part two of our flu shot yesterday, and Tashi woke up with a runny nose that may or may not be related. Her 11.5-month stats: 21 lbs 3 oz (60th percentile), 29 inches (forgot to check percentile). She gained over a pound in the five weeks since part one of the flu shot, which put her back into the 60s percentile-wise. Last month she was smack dab at 50th. The doctor also showed me how to hold her in order to encourage her to stand more on her legs. Which is something I'm not exactly sure I'm ready for, walking.
Last night we went out for an early birthday celebration for three people from work whose birthdays are Oct. 23--which also happens to be sister's birthday. So sister came out too--yay! Four people with the same birthday (all different years) in one bar, it was kind of remarkable. Unfortunately this meant it was a late night for Abuela and Abuelo who babysat and had taken the bus in from New Jersey. At least I was able to thank them with the men's Citizen watch I won at Dara's fundraising event last week--Abuelo really liked it!
Tashi's been going to daycare for both naps which she sometimes takes, sometimes doesn't, this week. Two quick things about sleep we've noticed that are sure signs she is sleepy. One is that she will be crawling around and then suddenly lie down on the floor on her belly, butt in the air, and start sucking her thumb. She did this a few times for Abuela. The other is that as I'm carrying her toward the crib to put her down, she'll push away from me toward the crib wanting to get into it, and when I lay her in it she immediately flips over and goes for her thumb. I never thought I'd see the day where she was arching her back to get into the crib!
So, we hadn't told anyone, but we started Tashi modeling. Here she is on her first shoot. Oh, and also, we forgot to mention she's standing on her own.
Just kidding! This is a photo Ginny found and sent to me, from an online retailer. It looks just like Tashi, at age maybe 18 to 24 months, doesn't it? Even the ears are the same! I couldn't resist posting it.
Our weekend was pretty mellow. On Saturday just swimming (remembered her suit this time), and then to sister's to see Waipo. Sister and her husband had gone to California for a wedding, so Waipo came up to watch the kids, with nanny Pat's help. Sunday I had work to do, so husband was on full daddy duty, taking her in the a.m., out for a walk in between naps, feeding her, giving her a bath, and reading her books before bed (you know, a typical day for mom when baby is at home). We also went out as a family toward the end of the day to take some photos in the beautiful late-afternoon light along the river.
On Friday another mommy who has an older baby told me that the transition from two to one naps for her took about two months of back and forth. This makes me feel a lot better about how haphazard the nap thing has been. This weekend she went back to two pretty full naps, though on Friday her a.m. nap was 30 minutes at best. Also, I had grand plans of starting her on a fuller daycare day today, to give her two weeks before I start work to ease into it, but at 710am, she was already lying belly-down on the floor, thumb in mouth, a sure sign she's ready for a nap. (She did this a couple times when Aunt Jenny came to visit Friday afternoon, too.) As daycare doesn't open till 8am, I just had her do her first nap at home, as usual. We'll try again tomorrow. I swear she has a sixth sense about this. But it could also be that she is waking before 6am again (545am, 555am, etc). I don't go in to get her till after 6, but I really want to tweak her sked so it's 7 to 630 or 7 instead of 630 to 6.
Tashi food-o-meter: prosciutto, which she loved. Also, actual apple, in small pieces. Very handy having teeth on the top and bottom.
And, today is Ahgong and Cassius!'s birthdays! Happy birthday to both!
It was husband's birthday Saturday so we had a bit of a birthday bonanza weekend, starting with Friday night: steak on the Upper East Side at a restaurant called Parlor Steakhouse that my friend Ben represents. When faced with the prospect of trying to get a reservation for eight people on Friday night in New York City, I emailed Ben an SOS. He happened to have a client that fit the bill and which managed to seat us at 9pm. It was delicious and great value, especially for steak. We also got a mainly raw seafood "tower" for eight that was sort of insane.
Saturday after swimming (I ran into Tish and family in Central Park--she'd just finished a half marathon!) and Tashi's second nap, we headed out to Abuela's. Abuela had made ropa vieja, husband's favorite dish, and one whose tastiness is directly proportional to how long it takes to make. Tashi crawled around and had her Spanish lesson, but then even with all the distractions needed to crash by her usual 640pm. We put her down in the spare Pack N Play in husband's old room, and she wailed very loudly for about 20 minutes before quieting down--and sleeping through a typically raucous dinner. Aunt Zuni brought the birthday cake, an Argentinian dulce de leche with peach that was impossible to stop eating.
Then we went out and did something we've rarely done since Tashi's arrived--went out to see a movie in Edgewater with Alex, which we used to do a lot. (It's kind of nuts but seeing movies, especially newly released ones, is a hundred times more pleasant in NJ than in NYC.) We saw Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and all three of us said the main character reminded us of husband! It was cute and funny, and we were a good two decades older than the rest of the audience.
Here's a video husband shot a few weeks ago at sister's house. You'll notice it ends abruptly when the wires become more interesting than the klezmer music. (That's a fake chip she's holding onto at the beginning, too. Part of a large collection of plastic food her cousins have.)
I've been meaning to allude to current events so that--should Tashi ever be able to bring herself to read this--she'll be able to put it in context. Aislinn gave me a good entrypoint. She said, Like the markets, Tashi's naps at daycare will correct themselves. This was before the $7 billion-plus bailout though. The Tashi equivalent to that might be the fact that a caregiver actually sits with her as she's lying down on the crib and pats her back till she falls asleep--much more luxurious than at home!
I've gotten into the habit of ringing sister after dropping Tashi off and on my way back down the hill. She said she'd run out of ways to describe what had been happening in the markets for her job covering them: meltdown, catastrophe, downdraft (a new one for me).
The bailout is being called transformative. Tashi's naps aren't exactly that, but she is seeing an updraft--made it to 45 minutes on Monday.
Tashi had her first swim lesson Saturday. It involved a precisely timed morning of waking, boob, breakfast (banana), play, nap, boob, dress in swimsuit, put on swim diaper, pack bag with towels, and drive to midtown.
Once in midtown, mom ran off to run Central Park (yay!), and dad headed for the pool for the 30-minute lesson. Obviously at this age it's more about making her comfortable in the water than it is actual swimming (though I can't help but think of that Nirvana cover) and husband said she did great. I was just relieved the pool is heated as advertised. At some point I'll get photos.
When we met with the doctor last week, he mentioned that Tashi was 'gate-keeping,' meaning she looks to me (or husband) when meeting a new person to gauge our response. Since he mentioned it, I've been noticing her doing it more. But when I mentioned this to husband, he said, Hm, I handed her right over to Manuel, the instructor, so I could get in the pool, and she was fine!
We also saw sister this weekend, as Waipo was visiting while sister's husband is traveling. This is the first time we'd been to their place since Tashi could crawl. She went into every room and I suspect will love going over there for all the toys. She gnawed on all the plastic food her cousins have for their toy kitchen, so much so that when I tried to give her a real rice cracker to replace the plastic rice she was chewing, she didn't want it. The downside was that she howled loudly before dropping off to sleep, even though she'd slept there before.
Emboldened by solo Tashi car time, on Sunday husband took her to meet Abuela at Pier 90 where she was arriving in the ferry terminal. She'd just gotten back from a cruise down from Canada with Abuela's cousin Alicita in Florida.
Tashi food-o-meter: Fresh figs. One of my favorites--hers too, apparently. We also started brushing her teeth with baby toothpaste (no fluoride, finger brush). She didn't seem to mind it. Husband pointed out that she likes anything we put in her mouth, which might be true. The video is of her eating Greek yogurt (with ground flaxseed). She does an involuntary shiver when she eats it, I think from the tartness? It cracks me up, as does her bedhead hair, now that she's getting more hair.
A few months ago, we went to my mom's house in New Jersey to make picadillo, filming it for our second Cuban recipe video. Picadillo is another one of my favorites. It's a beef dish consisting of low-fat ground beef, onions, green peppers, tomato sauce, salt, garlic, oregano, cumin and white wine. We had it with white rice, fried ripe plantains and black beans. Here is the video taking us through the entire preparation of this dish. I had a tough time cutting it from 15 minutes to the required 10 minutes maximum allowed by YouTube. Watch at the beginning for a shot of Tashi--and you'll see how long ago we shot this video!
Tashi made the wall of her new daycare! She's on the bottom right (closeup below). When I came to get her the other day, Miss A was on her hands and knees trying to photograph Tashi. I don't know who actually puts these artsy craftsy things together, but it was something cute I noticed when I informally toured the daycare with Aislinn a few months ago. The yellow paper reads, What will I be when I grow up? And while the boys and girls were given occupations that didn't diverge from gender lines, Tashi got to be a lawyer in a women's suit.
Fridays are daycare-free, so far, so we signed up to do sign language again. (Coincidentally, our Friday playgroup is also disbanding regular meetings--people's schedules weren't matching up as well as they had been.) I think Tashi will get more out of sign language class as a 10-month-old vs. as a 2-month-old. Now she's one of the oldest babies in the class and I spent most of it pulling her away from the beguilingly lit stereo and cable box. (The hostess for the class has an immobile 5-month-old.)
After Tashi's nearly two-hour nap (following four days of super-short 30-40-minute naps at daycare), Kelly and Quinn came over late in the afternoon. Kelly helped look after Tashi while I had to do a phone call (thank you!!). The girls are getting closer in size. Soon that 3-month-difference will mean nothing and Quinn will be able to grab Tashi's hair back.
Tashi food-o-meter: Her new favorite thing is string cheese. I brought one for the walk up to the class today, intending it to last the walks there and back, and she downed the whole thing on the way there. The teeth, she's finding, really come in handy. She really likes to feed herself, to the point where she pulls out food I've spooned in and then reinserts it (usually making it back in). Also, I think she does have allergies--but to ragweed, just like her mom. That explains the runny nose coming and going.
Seven years ago I was running in Central Park and listening to the news on WNYC on a Sony Cassette Walkman (with headband-style headphones) and then, since I lived in Hell's Kitchen, walked to work in Midtown at Sports Illustrated Women, where those of us who made it in sort of stumbled around stunned all morning, and then went home. Husband was on a bus from Rockland County going into work at the same company, though we didn't know each other, and then the bus turned around and by the time he got home the towers had fallen.
Seven years ago I don't think I could have conceived that I'd be spending the anniversary of 9/11 walking up a hill to my baby daughter's daycare. But that's what we'll be doing. I'm meeting sister tonight for dinner, not to commemorate anything in particular but to make an effort to see each other solo once in a while. I'll have to ask her what her eldest Rohan knows about what happened seven years ago. He wasn't yet born but is now old enough, I think, to know about the news. I wonder if his kindergarten would address such a thing. I can't imagine they would, but they probably have some age-appropriate way to answer any questions.
