Monkey See, Monkey Do.

Noah has a tendency to wake up around 4:30/5:00 am in the morning looking for a bottle. For a while I tried to wean him from this feeding...but given that he is a little underweight we haven't pushed it too much and continue to give him a bottle in the early morning.

Now, usually David is already up around this time and watching the market, so when Noah is up and shoving his Nuby Sippy Cup in my face I usually call out for my hero: "DAVID...DAVID! We need a bottle!"

Then a bottle magically appears and Noah falls back asleep and I no longer have Noah sitting atop my chest with a bottle to my face like a mugger on the streets of New York.

Well...Monkey See. Monkey Do.

Noah has eliminated the middle man and has gone straight to the source. Now in the mornings he calls out into the dark for his Hero. His Deliverer. His Milkman..."DAY-MID! DAY-MID!"

First time he did it, it just cracked me up. Now, it's become a bit of an issue and sometimes David has to re-educate the little man and tell him to call him "Dada".

How much information is too much information?

So, David hasn't mentioned anything yet...but he hasn't checked the blog recently. I was thinking to myself...David, being the very proper and dignified human being that he is, will not appreciate my use of his name and 'toilet plunger' in the same sentence.

And it got me thinking...how much information is too much information. I tried to put myself in his shoe, but frankly I have never been very successful at this exercise in empathetic transference. Certain infractions never seem as bad when I am the perpetrator.

So, Dear Reader, I seek your guidance in this ethical dilemma.

~*~

Unbearable Cuteness of Being

How do I get through one night without you
If I had to live without you
What kind of life would that be
Oh I, I need you in my arms
Need you to hold
You're my world, my heart, my soul
~~~
Without you, there'd be no sun in my sky
There would be no love in my life
There'd be no world left for me
And I, oh Baby, I don't know what I would do
I'd be lost if I lost you

I cannot find the words to describe how deeply in love I am with my child. There is nothing quite like the feeling and there are so many moments when I am overwhelmed with this new found love. Noah is now 14 months old and each and every day he gets cuter and cuter. I find myself falling hopelessly in love with him as I watch his personality emerge.

It is a fascinating experience.

All of it.

Changing me from the inside out.

I remember people asking me how I felt about becoming a mother when I was pregnant with Noah; I never knew that this was what it would be like. I never knew what to expect and so didn't have a response to the question. Certainly, there are challenges--and the sheer physical exhaustion leaves you a fraction of a functional human being!

Oh...but what Joy :)!

I often am surprised by the depth and magnitude of love that continues to evolve inside me as I build a relationship with Noah. I see this in David, as well, as I watch him partake in the joys and responsibilities of fatherhood. I can actually see the love between Noah and David growing with each passing day as they develop a deeper relationship and attachment to one another. The two are inseparable and Noah follows his father around like a eager young pup. I love watching the two of them together and I hope that Noah grows up to be as wonderful a man as his father.

Now...my blog would not be complete without a funny story about Dave, now would it?

I was lying in bed with Noah, watching him in his peaceful slumber. Every now and then his eyes would flutter ever so slightly and I would nuzzle the soft down of hair on the crown of his head. Babies smell so sweet.

It was a beautiful and precious moment. The radio was playing in the background, and you could hear LeAnn crooning in the far distance "How do I live without you...How do I breathe without you...". I laid there in the half dark just watching my beautiful baby. It seemed as though we were frozen in time. In my mind's eye I could see Noah growing up and the years just rushing by. The reality of the shortness and brevity of life filled me with heart ache and a sense of urgency to do more with Noah, to be a better mother, to cook him better food, to read to him more, to play with him more, to sing to him more...

Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open and the hallway light poured into the room like floodlights on a prison tower.

Enter Dave.

I sit up, shocked by the intrusion and David walks into the master bathroom muttering under his breath that he needs something. I can feel Noah stirring out of his sleep.

He emerges with toilet plunger in hand and quickly passes me an apologetic look. Normally I would get mad but he looks so funny--standing there with evidence of his compromised situation. No need to pour salt on open wounds. He quietly left the room, gently closing the door behind him.

I could hear a flush somewhere behind the doors and walls that separate us.

All is well with the world.

Smörgåsbord [ˌsmœrɡɔsˈbuːɖ]

Smörgåsbord [ˌsmœrɡɔsˈbuːɖ] is a Swedish word which refers to a type of Scandinavian meal served buffet-style in Swedish cuisine.

Allow me serve you a smörgåsbord, a chronological buffet of noteworthy events (atleast, by my standards) that have been keeping our family busy these past couple months.

JULY:
* Family vacation to Portland, OR/Seattle, WA
* Noah's First Birthday
* Dave's Softball Tournament (Big Daddy Dave came home with Best Offense...or maybe it was defense?)
* Giants - still hopeful chance for playoffs.

AUGUST:
* I got a really bad sunburn at the Google Picnic. David made us stand in line for two hours to get some Google teddy bears for Noah. That's where my sunburn came from.
* Went to Outside Lands Music Festival and watched Jack Johnson LIVE in concert.
* Julie and Andre came a visited with us.
* My sister moved down south to start her PhD program.
* Another softball tournament
* Trip to Argentina
* Giants - dismal prospect for chance for playoffs.

SEPTEMBER:
* Had a TERRIBLE ant infestation. Which, I'd like to add, I decimated, destroyed, obliterated with my homemade ant bait.
* I made homemade cinnamon rolls for the first time from scratch. I should add that it wasn't the most successful attempt.
* I made homemade veggie/fruit wash.
* Finally installed shelved in the laundry closet.
* Babyproofed the house.
* 22 weeks pregnant. Me. Not Dave.
* Giants - maybe next season.

If I forgot to tell you that I'm pregnant--well, now you know :)

So that gut that you keep staring at...it's a baby.

Noah's First Birthday

Dearly Beloved,

Our family would like to send heartfelt thanks and gratitude for the outpour of love, support and generosity that you have all bestowed upon Noah and us as we celebrated his First Birthday. It was an amazing event thanks to you all and we are still opening gifts!

We wish that all of you could have made it but thank you for sharing with us in this celebration from near and far! We truly have wonderful friends and much repayment to make in the years to come.

The party itself was quite a production! I believe we had guests upwards to 150 in attendance! I only wish I could have recorded David at the end of the day as we were processing the day's events; he said: "That was more stressful than our wedding day"!

And I would concur.

Nonetheless, things went smoothly (or we hope that it did).

For those of you who are not familiar with the traditions of the Dol Celebration, a number of items are set infront of the child. Each item symbolizes the child's future. On Noah's table we set out the following:

Baseball Bat
Baseball
Bible
Rice
A spool of thread
Pen
Notebook
Cash

Can you guess what Noah picked?

I was told that David smiled from ear to ear like a proud parent when Noah grabbed the ball and bat :).

Enjoy the pictures and once again, thank you all. We love you very much!

Dave, Grace & Noah

Engrish

Kat in Argentina sent me an email that tickled me pink and made me laugh so hard I almost peed my pants (apologies if that conjures up an unsightly image).

It was so funny, I decided to share it with you all and hope you pee your pants too :)!

David...you gotta love the man.

So last night David, Noah and I were lounging in the bed. Our tummies were full. Giants were up 4 to 1.

All was well with the world.

Noah and I were reading "The Little Red Barn".

We looked at the horses and 'neighed'.
We looked at the dogs and we 'woofed'.
We looked at the chickens and we 'clucked'.
We looked at the pigs and we 'oinked'.
We looked at the cows and we 'moo-ed'.

But then, we came across a pigeon...and we..."(sat in silence)".

What sound do pigeons make? Noah turned to look at me with expectant eyes waiting to hear what sound pigeons make. It has been years since I've seen or made any acquaintance with any pigeon, so my mind came to a blank. In quick desperation I turned to David.

David, what sound do pigeons make?

You know what he said?

He said, "Eee!"

A quick, short, staccato "Eee!"

Now, I'm no city gal, and I must give David the benefit of the doubt given that he was born and raised in San Francisco his entire life, but I'm pretty confident that pigeons don't go "Eee!".

Maybe mice, or bats or squirrels...but I have never in my life heard a pigeon go "Eee!" -- in California or elsewhere, so we can eliminate the possibility of regional dialect.

Now, my concern is not the fact that David does not know what sound pigeons make -- further thought and I was able to recover from the dark recesses of my mind that they 'coo' -- but my concern is that he's been reading with Noah and teaching him other unorthodox and bizarrely inaccurate information.

This is not a singular isolated event.

The other day he was singing nursery rhymes with Noah:

I'm a little teapot,
Yes, I am.
I'm a little teapot,
Yes, I am.
I'm a little teapot,
Yes, I am.
I'm a little teapot,
Yes, I am.
The End.

That IS NOT how the song goes.

But it's funny, so I just let all these small indiscretions go. I'm sure one day, Noah will abruptly turn to Dad and correctly inform him that pigeons "coo" and introduce David to the anatomy of a teapot.