An Older Video Unearthed!

So here's an older video I am just getting around to posting.  This is from April 12, about two months ago, which in baby time is like a million years ago. We finally managed to capture on video Emma standing up. She had been pulling herself up to stand for a couple of weeks prior with varied success. Now, a million years later in baby time, she can pull herself up easily and walk if she is able to hold onto something while walking. Her favorite thing to do right now is to hold onto the bars of her playpen and patrol the border by grabbing the rails and walking around the pen.



In the video, you can also partially see the hideous haricut that husband gave her at the end of March. Her bangs were poking her eyes, so he cut those, which came out ok, but what you can't really see is how he went TOTALLY overboard on the sides. Her hairstyle came out with uneven sides, one side much, much shorter than the other, resembling a sort of lopsided Moe from the Three Stooges bowl cut.  Even he fully admitted the error of the cut immediately after he gave it to her. In fairness, it is pretty difficult to cut baby hair. Her hair has finally evened out now, but for a month or so she had a bad hair day, everyday. Poor thing.

Emma Kicks into Overdrive

Look at Emma, kicking into overdrive and trying to break out of her playpen/baby jail:



What was the trigger you might ask?  Do you hear the strange static noise in the background?  It was husband blowing his nose.  Emma does this almost any time she sees husband blow his nose.  Very strange.

Also, for the past month or so, Emma has developed her own sort of baby sign language.  We have not taught her any baby sign language (although I know that is a popular thing these days), but she seems to have created her own.  Whenever she wants to be picked up from her crib, she will start tapping her chest in short bursts.  When she wants to eat something you are eating, she starts to smack her lips and points or reaches to the food.  And recently, within the last two weeks, she has learned the art of :fake crying when she wants something..  She will sometimes even reach up and rub her eye, all drama style, while she tries to get your attention with her fake crying.  It is so amazing to see her learn something new and to witness her process all the surrounding information in her world each day.

Our Vacation in Mendocino

This past Memorial Day weekend we took a family vacation up the North Coast to Mendocino. 

We stayed in a vacation rental house with gorgeous ocean views, redwood decks and a hot tub (and perhaps the last place on earth with no internet or cell phone access)! 

We went hiking on the headlands, visited a lighthouse and beach, and yes, even a local yarn store.   We saw the local flora and fauna, all while keeping the mood lowkey and relaxed. 

Emma felt sand underneath her little bare toes for the first time:

She rode around in the Ergo:

We all had a great time, and I will put up some more pictures soon!

My Foray into Crochet

Here's Emma in my Cheri crocheted cap: 

It's got a little brim and a crocheted flower on the side: 

I wanted to make Emma a cotton sun hat for the summer months.  I really like the result (it's a little big on her) but I think I will also make something with a floppier brim. 

I learned how to crochet before I learned how to knit, and I find that crocheted items are a lot faster to create than knitted items, but I still like knitting more.  My mother, an excellent crocheter and knitter herself, helped me make this hat.  Having not crocheted in years and years, but skills were rusty!

I actually think this hat could be made for a boy, too, just remove the flower and use a different color, and it would look sort of like a newsboy cap.

Hey, You!

Hey! Yea, hey, you!  Come over here.

 Last night, grandma made delicious sukiyaki.   And last week, my doctor told me I could eat most of what mommy and daddy eat, so I got to try some, too. 

But, this morning, I felt a litle strange, and I thought, "What could this be?"

So, that's why I am calling you over here, to tell you, that "Oops, I did it again, I pooped my pants."

But, don't be mad at me, I'm just a baby!

It FILED!

My life can somewhat return to normal, at least for a little while.  After a long series of fits and starts, the IPO that I was working on filed today at market close.

Oh, the Irony!

I have been working like a madwoman for the past 10 days.  In fact, while I had this morning "off," as a "reward" for my good behavior, I have to go back to work again tonight, most likely until dawn.  What makes this particularly difficult is that right now, the work is located offsite, about an hour's drive from San Francisco.  So for the last 10 days, I have been working about 16-18 hours straight, not counting the 2 hours drive time to and from the site.  So if you calcuate: very little sleep+very little family time+ very little Emma viewings = very bitter woman.

The irony of all of this lies in the fact that last month, I asked if I could move to a part-time schedule so that I would be able to have more time for Emma and family duties.  Ha!  So here I am, being paid for part time, but doing more than full-time work.  And having to cancel plans, and having my first mother's day as a mother myself being ruined, since I have already been told that we will be working all this weekend from morning till dawn.

I know this post sounds so complainy, but honestly, I can't help but feel this way at the moment.  I know that others say that this is the profession I have chosen, and it comes with the territory.  Hell, I tell myself the same thing, too.  But, somewhere, there has got to actually exist this elusive notion of balance between work and life.  I guess the good news is that this is only temporary and the end is in sight.  Once this passes, I will (I hope) be on my part-time schedule and have more sanity in life.  I am crossing my fingers.