Trip to Rattlesnake Ridge

On Saturday I went hiking with Eva around Rattlesnake Lake with my friend, Shanna, and her baby, Olivia. Both Shanna and I needed this break outside since I've been baching it the past week (slang for no hubbie) and Shanna is a CPA in the midst of tax season. The weather was beautiful, sunny and in the sixties once again. We are getting incredibly spoiled here in the northwest with this unseasonably mild weather! Rattlesnake Ridge is one of my all time favorite hikes in the area. The glacier fed lake is surrounded by lush mountains, driftwood lines the shore, and stumps of trees punctuate the sylvan setting. Usually I hike to the summit of the mountain and take in this setting from above but with a baby in tow I was definitely content to hike the trail around the lake instead.

Eva absolutely loved the hike since there were dogs everywhere. She's fascinated by dogs so she enjoyed watching Suki, the Tomko's Brittney Spannial, fetch random driftwood sticks along the way. There was also abundant wildlife to watch as well. Canadian geese were along the shore in addition to other birds that I wasn't able to identify. Eva couldn't get enough of the fresh air and stimulating sites. She only started to get a little cranky towards the end when she was tired and cold from the the wind. On the way back home I expected her to cry the entire way in her car seat but she hung in there like a champ. I heard babbling and then before long she conked out.

The most amazing part of the trip was what happened when we got home. Usually when Eva falls asleep for 15-20 minutes in the car I she wakes up the moment we get home and then refuses to go down again. This time she STAYED asleep and so I put her car seat in her bedroom while she continued napping. I know this sounds like a pretty minor change but not in terms of what it could potentially do for our quality of life. Eva's dislike for her car seat and inability to nap anywhere but home have kept us homebound for the past ten months. I tried the same variables today after Palm Sunday mass and it worked again! She continued sleeping for another hour once we got home. Let's hope these two incidents were not anomalies. );

*I forgot the camera in the car so I have no photos of this trip. Sorry!

UW Cherry Blossoms

I'm enjoying the many perks of my new job as a SAHM. We've had BEAUTIFUL weather here in Seattle the past few weeks. Yesterday we enjoyed a balmy seventy degree day with sunshine. Eva and I made the trek to UW to meet dad for lunch at work. Fortunately, our visit enabled us to view the cherry blossoms in the UW quad. They are breathtakingly beautiful and our pictures don't convey how stunning they are. If you live in Seattle, you definitely need to take some time to visit the quad before they blow away.

We also took Eva to Ivar's and she did suprisingly well. Now that she can eat finger food, we can distract her a bit. Eva enjoyed the view of the water and couldn't get enough of her perch on the window sill. She was completely entranced watching the people dine on the deck. It was a great day though the car ride back was pretty rough. We pushed her afternoon nap a bit and I paid for it. Duly noted.

I look forward to many more sunny days to enjoy with little Miss Eva, the walkin' machine!

Trip to Houston, Texas, and Eva's First Steps

We had such a good time in Houston with Colleen, Sebastian, and Valentina. Colleen and I grew up like sisters in a lot of ways so we were thrilled when we found out that our babies were only six months apart. Even better, they are both girls! Valentina and Eva had a great time together. I knew that Eva would be walking within days of the visit since she looked up to her toddler cousin with admiration as she wheeled around her shopping cart and played in her little kitchen. Sure enough, the day that we got home Eva took her first steps into the proud hands of her mama. It was an incredible gift to me since Tuesday was also my first official day as a Stay at Home Mom (SAHM). One of the reasons that I decided to stay home was to ensure that I was right there in the action when Eva achieved these developmental milestones. I am so proud of my baby girl! She's living up to her name now!

Eva's First Flight

By now our daughter's fiesty personality is infamous in these parts. I'm not going to lie to you; both Jeff and I were anxiety ridden before the flight to Houston. In fact, Jeff had to down half a bottle of Pepto Bismal before he even stepped foot on the plane. We've only had Eva fall asleep in public a handful of times since birth and it always followed a major meltdown. Also, ever since she started crawling, she has zero interest in sitting in our laps. From our perspective, the flight was a recipe for disaster. But we also knew that we had to do it sometime and Houston seemed as good as a place as any for our innagural flight.

Thanks to advice of my moms' group compadres, Jeff and I were well armed with an arsenal of new toys and treats to entertain Eva with. The toys helped but our true lifeline was the finger food. Eva usually gets cut off at some point with the amount of Cherrios or Pirate Booty that I dole out to her. But on this flight she received an endless supply. I thought for sure Eva would turn into a giant Rice Puff. Before long, however, even Pirate Booty couldn't sustain her. Baby Eva clearly needed her afternoon nap. I tried nursing her to sleep but, as predicted, she was way to keen on exploring her new environment. Eventually, she did fall asleep though the nap only lasted 20-25 minutes. All in all, I would call the outbound flight a success.

Now, the return flight was another story. The time change coupled with a missed nap started to wear on Eva. On the day of the return flight, she woke up at the equivalent of 3:00 PST, a good 3-4 hours before she usually rises. By the time we got to the airport and checked in, she was already starting to meltdown. She kept fighting it for a good two and a half hours. None of our bag of tricks would help; she wouldn't eat, drink, or play at all. We tried pacing the aisles in the Bjorn but not even that worked. About an hour into the flight we had to stay in our seats because of turbulence. Honestly, at that point, she was wailing and flailing her arms about resisting any of our attempts to soothe her. Yes, we were THAT family on the plane getting an abundance of dirty looks from passengers. There came a point when I quit trying since nothing seemed to help. I knew that she had to wear herself down. About that time a sweet grandmotherly flight attendant came over to help. (Yes, it was that bad). Her attempts to pacify Eva helped for a moment but before long Eva shifted gears into the full throttle cry again. I asked the flight attendant what time it was. When she said that we had another three hours to go I almost lost it. Through the grace of god, Eva finally collapsed and slept for a good forty five minutes. I wept in jubilation.

Despite all the well intentioned folks who said that Eva would sleep on the plane, it just wasn't the case. Eva has always been so sensitive to external stimuli. I learned this lesson within a few days of having her when she wouldn't latch on if there was any outside noise or commotion. Albert Enstein defines insanity as: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This is definitely the case with our baby and naps. Even though the return flight home was harry, I still think it was worth it for the memories and encounters with her baby cousin, Valentina. We had a great time with my niece and her husband and continue to recount the memories with deep fondness and appreciation. Thank goodness we have a two month respite before our next flight!

The Park

We've been fortunate to have some beautiful winter days here in Seattle. Instead of the habitual grey, dreary skies, we've had a fair amount of sunny days with highs in the fifties and sixties. Jeff and I have taken advantage of this unseasonably mild weather by taking Eva to the park on the weekends. She absolutely loves the swing. We've developed quite the routine with her by wearing a hat or sunglasses that she wrassles away from us mid swing. Eva giggles and shrieks with delight when she pulls one over on us and commandeers these items. It's also a great place for her to soak in all the people and action with the kids on the playground. Eva's so into the action she won't even play our game unless there isn't anyone to watch. She doesn't want to miss a beat!

Some Interesting Things About Eva

So, I am totally addicted to the website Baby Center.com. The website sends me weekly updates about what your baby is doing developmentally. Every time I receive the emails I think to myself, "That is TOTALLY Eva right now! This week's focus is on your baby's budding personality. Well, boy or boy, our baby's got some personality! Some call it vim and vigor, others call it spice. All I can say is that her personality takes my breath away both literally and figuratively. And it has flourished and fully blossomed in the last month. Eva demands a crowd wherever she goes. She knows all the staff at our local organic market and loves to hear her voice bellow throughout the aisles. I get looks from shoppers that range from, "Oh, what a cute, spunky little baby you've got there" to "Why aren't you doing anything to get her to stop screaming? Can't you control your little skawker?"

I took Eva to the infant lab at Bellevue College last week for a visit to their playgroup, which is a part of a Parent Education class that I hope to attend with her. The staff warned me about the tendency of many babies to get overstimulated and even cry at first with all the activity. Literally as they were saying this Eva had crawled over a circular padded octagon in the center of the play area and had thrust herself on the babies googooing and gaggaing in the center. She had her hand in their faces and had commandeered their play area and toys within seconds. It was so amazing to see my Alpha baby girl insert herself into the environment. I've never seen her so happy and stimulated. I could just see her sizing it all up. "There are kids here my own age and TONS of toys! They sing, feed me snacks, let me spill food all over myself! Did I mention the toys?? MOM! Why have you been holding out on me. THIS is AMAZING!" By the end of the two hour visit she had licked, coveted, and interacted with every thing and person there. I had to tear my little extrovert away.

Now, there is also the other, shall we say, dark side to Eva's personality. Her latest curve ball has been violent outbursts when she doesn't get her way. Her whole body goes stiff and she arches her back and neck and screams. This usually occurs after a bath, during a diaper change, or pretty much any moment when she doesn't get her way. In a moment of reckless abandon after a bath I gave her the comb that she was pining for so that I could get her diaper on. I then heard a gagging, choking noise and realized that she had crammed the entire comb down her throat and it appeared that she had also chewed two of the teeth off the comb. I rescued the comb from her throat and immediately called 911. In the end all was well. Turns out the comb already had a few teeth missing; I just didn't know this to be true. It was quite a moment for me since I had to sit with the feeling that all was not well for quite some time. My take-away from this incident is to never give your child an object that you are reluctant to admit doing so to a fireman. Amen to that, sister.

In summary, I really do adore Eva's feisty personality. It's forcing me to be a creative parent and present everything as a game to my little (but mighty) willful one. That moment at the infant lab at Bellevue College was a proud momma moment for me as Eva flourished in her element: she was a confidant, social being who wanted to BE and EXPERIENCE everything at once. Inhaling the comb is just, well, the other side to that personality trait. We can't inhale everything that we see. As Eva's parent I am here to be the filter for her until she can safely comb her way through life on her own without any teeth missing. And, until that day comes, I hope all of you seasoned parents will help Jeff and me down this path. We're going to need all the help that we can get!