Monkey See, Monkey Do

I often think of Joaquin as a small animal.
Joaquin is now a little copycat, a little monkey do, a little parrot.
If I turn off the stereo with my toe, since he is in my arms. He needs to wiggle down and try to turn off the stereo with his toe. If I blow my nose, he blows his nose.

He has learned several more words.
I left him parked in the grocery store and returned from picking out mushrooms to Joaquin exclaiming "apple" over and over again. Indeed he was in front of a very large display of no less than 6 varieties of apple.
He says egg, and stuck. He was sitting in Daniel's lap tonight and I looked at Daniel and wondered- did he just say milk? But then he signed very clearly the sign for milk and I realized he did.
He says "all done" as he signs all done. And he says bye, bye. Quite a few words.
Daniel is now admitting he may take after my side of the family when it comes to language. We took him on a hike on today's gray January afternoon and he babbled to himself when he was not eating or sleeping. Granted most of the time he is not eating or sleeping, he is babbling to be let out of the stroller to walk.

Mama Love

Joaquin does say mama these days. Not really to refer to me, but more as a mantra that makes him feel good.
I am posting below a screen shot of my computer desktop. I swear Joaquin posted that picture of me himself. I had open a folder of my pictures on my laptop since he likes looking at his family and himself. As he was typing wildly on the keyboard he managed to set this photo as the desktop wallpaper.

That's me, several months pregnant at the wedding of my good friends Erin and Emil. mamamamamamamamamamamama.

Baby Song

On Saturday morning, I was awoken at 7:45 to the sound of Joaquin singing the tune Frere Jacque in baby language from his crib. Daniel and I listened with love, holding on to the beautiful, ephemeral moment.

Not a Cretin

It's the Monday before Christmas. I am not getting any work done at my office so I may as well just write for my blog. I have been really kicking butt at work lately but sometime last week a fog set in and I no longer feel like concentrating on renewable energy procurement plans and the like. I just want to drink hot cocoa and play with Joaquin.

Have I written about my campaign to get our house painted? Probably not because while on-going it was not a pretty topic. The old paint on my rented duplex was chipping down to old layers of paint and bare wood, spreading lead dust about. I know, I had it tested. After a year of conversation with my landlords, I had to play hardball and threaten to call the housing inspector. "If you don't like the house you can move" was his reply. I was all rage and shaken after that call. But lo and behold, he send house painters within the month.

The house was inconveniently painted during the first week with Brenda, our babysitter, starting to care for Joaquin at the house. Brenda plus her daughter Sophia, and Joaquin has to be sent over to a friends house for the first week of scraping and sanding. But the house was repainted a fresh white with blue trim. And I decided to bury the hatchet with my landlords and even sent them a thank you note.

Joaquin always gets in the car with Sophia. She gracefully tolerates.

Brenda is a fantastic child care provider. She was a school teacher in Guatemala. I am thankful to have her in my life.

I have worried that Joaquin has been exposed to lead paint chips and dust. I did what I could to minimize exposure contact in the days before the house was painted. We became a no shoes house to keep from tracking paint chips in. And I painted the doors and thresholds to the house since that, and window frames is where the majority of the contamination comes from. I have intended to get Joaquin a blood test for lead levels.

But now I feel that is perhaps all moot, and my precautions were suffice. Because Joaquin is developing at such a rapid pace. He is adding new words at an early age. He uses sign language more than most babies I know. He is singing tunes and climbing shelves. If I say so myself, he is one smart little cookie. Somehow this surprises me.

He speaks

Here is a running list of Joaquin's first words.

Aqua
Hot
Truck (ckuck)
Car
Bottle (baba)
Vroom - the sound a car makes

The last three he learned in the last 2 weeks.
Recently he has been singing 'where is thumbkin' in baby words. so cute.

He can also sign several things.
He signs light everytime we see one, which means he constantly pointing out lights.
More, sometimes I want
Milk
Bicycle
Dog
Bird
All done

Wish I could capture a picture of him signing.

Stroller Racing

I think we had our first toddler tantrum today. It was at a Target department store, how classic. Likely Joaquin was hungry, but in the few minutes he was in the store, he decided he wanted to push the shopping cart. He loves to push strolllers and shopping carts. I mean obsessively loves to push shopping carts.
On our last plane trip, he joyfully spent most of his time in the airport pushing his stroller up and down the long waxed hallways. That was to the amusement of hundreds of fellow air travelers. The stroller appears to be moving by itself because he is too small to either look over the top or even the sides. Periodically he sticks his head around the stroller to get a direction bearing. This and his focus bring laughs. Not that Joaquin noticed. He was pure intent. Drive that stroller. I am sure he didn't hear the folks calling out "hey Mario" as in Mario Andretti the famous race car driver.
However, at Target the shopping carts are heavy and even with his expert stroller maneuvering skills he could not get the cart to budge. His quick frustration was followed by some loud crying and laying down on the floor. The laying down on the floor is the big difference in a toddler tantrum from the crying of the past. That, and knowing the exact cause is a desire inside his little soul. I laughed.

Joaquin entertained himself with stroller racing at the assisted living home of his great grandpa. Here his skill with a walker had competition from some of the residents. They thought he was adorable but perhaps also fearful as his reckless driving can be threatening to an octogenian.

Joaquin Walking

Joaquin began walking just 9 days after his first birthday on November 13th. He and I had just flown 6 hours from NYC to San Francisco. We were at home ready for bed after a long day of traveling and he took four or five steps in the hallway. Each day he has steadily walked more since. Sometimes he looks like a little Frankenstein with his stiff legged steps, but mostly he is the cutest thing I have ever seen.
My mom and I took a hike to Tennessee Valley Beach in Marin County on Wednesday. Joaquin also took his first hike, which we captured here.





This last week he has been a little joy. I took a few lessons from Brenda, the lovely woman who watches him three days a week and from my mom on getting him to stay in his high chair. The tips were 1) no having snacks outside the chair 2) be ready with good foods 3)ignore some of the nonsense. After a bunch of meals carefully orchestrated with serial introductions of new foods to keep him entertained. Decoy spoons and bowls to keep his hands busy. And getting in as much food as fast as possible. And switching from a free standing high chair to one attached to the table. And voila, mealtimes are no longer a struggle. So between easy meals, easy bedtimes, fairly easy naps and his joy at any time we play, the days have been sweet.
We had a little rough spot when he and I first returned from a week in Connecticut. Daniel stayed at home to work. When we returned Joaquin was quite happy to see him, but he was also thrown into despair every time Daniel said goodbye for the next week. Joaquin's world would go still for a moment as he took in Daniel's absence. Then his face would crumple with all points of mouth and eyes turned down while letting loose a plaintiff "wah". He'd add a decidedly dramatic and anguished drop of the head to the table or floor which ever was at his disposal. After about a week of such he seems to feel reassured that Daniel will promptly return from any goodbye. However, if Daniel is home, in the midst of playing he will suddenly remember his papa and head directly for his arms.

Ode to Ice Cream

After a full eleven months without ice cream, I broke my fast of frozen dairy confections (and all dairy cheeses) with a slice of chocolate layered with fudge and oreo ice cream cake with frozen whipped cream frosting from the notorious Ashley's ice cream in New Haven.
Oh it was so good.
I took just a small slice on Andria's birthday as we celebrated her 27th. But she and Quito decided to leave the three-quarters remainder at my mom's house where I am now. That night and multiple times of the day since the ice cream cake has called for me. It's a soft quiet voice announcing how delicious it is. I have answered the call several times each day.

Happily Joaquin seems to no longer be spitting up breast milk after I have consumed dairy. I have been carefully monitoring his progress in milk product digestion. In the last month, I have slowly been trying out bits of cheese or cream to see how he fares. Until this week, large amounts of cheese still set him off. For the several weeks he has been eating goatmilk yogurt with no ill affects. I am so happy to return to the world of cheese and ice cream. I am also happy to have a baby that is easy to feed- with goat cheeses and goat yogurt being fairly ubiquitous in Berkeley.

Agua

Much to my surprise, Joaquin is talking. He first word is aqua. It's undeniable. He says it when he sees a glass of water. When I take a drink of water. He doesnt really ask for aqua but then again water isn't something that gets him excited like banana.
We think he also says hot but he doesnt seem to use that word always in the right content. Maybe he is also also saying "dis" for "this" when he points to something that has struck his fancy.
I am surprised by these words because he does not say mama or papa. I thought it would be months before he spoke to us. Especially because he is really communicating with sign language. Buts thats another posting- coming soon.

Happy Birthday Joaquin!

I am not getting to post on this blog as much as I would like. Here is a picture of Joaquin at his first birthday party. I threw a french toast breakfast brunch in the backyard. It was an amazingly warm, yellow sun fall day. The five or so babies played with his toys. Joaquin ate french toast (his favorite food) and worked at turning off the ipod player. There were no new toys for Joaquin to interest him. Maybe a dozen friends without children came to celebrate with us. I enjoyed the party more than any event I have held in a long time.
Happy Birthday Joaquin!

October cold season

I survived the month of October. Joaquin was sick almost the whole month. The month went something like this: cold, cold with mouth blisters, fever, cold. He was a fussy and needy baby.
I have purchased more cold and flu products in the last few months than Daniel and I combined have purchased in the last decade. I am now a familiar of saline nasal spray. First Joaquin hated having the salty mist up his nose. It took two of us to hold him down and depress the pressurized canister. After going through a whole can, he has grown to like the mist. When I approach with the can he holds his head still in preparation. After both nostrils, I spray some mist into his mouth which is what he really likes.
Fortunately, Joaquin also no longer minds when I wipe his persistently running nose. I wipe my nose first and make funny nose honking sounds that make him laugh. He does a funny imitation of my little comedy routine. From this little bit we do together, he now laughs when anyone sneezes.
October was also a socially busy month. With great anticipation, we held invitations to Melissa's wedding and camp-over and to a retreat to the eastern Sierras in a house rented by my co-worker and new mother, Gwen. Joaquin attended both events a touch under the weather. I enjoyed myself both places but the traveling took its toll on us. We did get some great pictures here.
October also brought Joaquin's eighth tooth. Between the teething (each new lower tooth seems to cause him agony) and the colds, Joaquin ate very little. Just strawberry yogurt and french toast inspired him to eat. I worried that I had ruined my chances at a good eater by too much family-farmed maple syrup and sweet soy yogurt but as the end of October rolled in, with his first birthday and feeling fine, my ravenous little bird has returned. Joaquin happily scarfs all foods well flavored.

Here is an wonderful photo that my friend Dean took of Joaquin as the sunset at Melissa's wedding.

Joaquin is wearing his stunning Creme Bebe sweater from Manhattan, a gift from auntie Clararose.

And a few from the eastern Sierra, outside Bishop, CA.

Boys Night In

I went away from Joaquin for our first night apart last night. I spent the day on a wine-cycle for Melissa's bridal shower with eight of my very oldest and closest friends. The event included a sleep-over at Ginnie's house in Calistoga. I didn't miss Joaquin as much as I thought. I easily reverted to my old role of girlfriend, though possibly I am much less helpful as I enjoyed relaxing in whatever chair I found myself. Last Thursday while at work however I missed my smiling explorer so much. I preemptively missed him. Joaquin or Sillyboo or whoever he is to me at that moment is such a joy these days, I am reluctant to pass him off.

But Daniel was a willing and capable papa. In fact, he took Joaquin to the local lake for a swim with Chasin and Brian (also left alone for the night). And he organized a night of Baby Daddy Poker. Baby Daddy Poker is a semi-regular gathering of men with babes around 1 year old. The host rotates. The buy-in is low. The beer gets opened 5:00 pm (or so I gather from pictures.) The babies have their own set of cards to rumple and chew. Here is a great shot Daniel captured.


Click on the photo to see many babies you can count? Can you spot Joaquin?

I returned home with 12 ounces of milk in my purse. Joaquin was asleep in his room. When he woke from his nap, I found a smiling baby in his pen ready with baby hugs that encircle my neck. For once, Joaquin lay blissful content nursing in my lap. One little free hand reached out gently for my shirt and some how Joaquin seemed to realize that these moments are a treat.

The Intrepid Explorer

Joaquin flashes his jack-o-lantern smile. New meaning to toothy grins.


Joaquin is crazy for bikes. In particular for the wheels. I get bored before he does with spinning the tires and climbing around a parked bike. So I bought him a used tricycle. I figure its better without a greasy chain to turn his hands black. Here are some great 10 month pictures.

Here is Joaquin at our friends' Sarah and Renee's wedding. We set up camp but after foxes burglared our car and took our stroller for a joy ride and one night of wakeful sleeping and a very grouchy morning mama, we moved into a sunny room and enjoyed the festivities.

Menus Chez Claudia

Here is a sample of a weeks dinner menus

Sunday: Wedding Dinner for Sarah and Renee
grilled vegetables, cheeses, potatoes, tomato salads, bread, wine, cupcakes

Monday: Take out from Herbivore
seitan sharwma, potatoes, steamed chard, ceveche,

Tuesday:Zucchini mushroom frittata, Heirloom tomato and basil salad, lentil soup

Wednesday: Pasta with arugula and cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomato and basil salad, garlic garbanzos, chocolate chip cookies

Thursday: House of Curries
Chana Masala, dal saag, rice, naan

Friday: Salsa scramble eggs and toast

Saturday: Dinner at Ben and Ingrid's
squash coconut curry, yellow dal and rice, cucumber tomato salad

Daniel and I are competitively not cooking.

Ten Months

Fridays I stay home with Joaquin. Fridays are my favorite. Full of simple joys. Like this simple recount of a happy friday when Joaquin turned 10 months old.
The day was a lovely one. The family woke and had breakfast and we had a quiet morning and then Joaquin went for his morning nap. I was getting antsy to head to San Francisco to see my friends Jolie and Chasin because after two hours he was still asleep. I packed his lunch, his ergo carrier, diapers, water and snacks and he snoozed for another thirty minutes. Finally I heard him stir. After nursing, I packed Joaquin into his infant bike seat and we rode down the street to the BART train station.
Joaquin surprised me by sitting calmly in his bike seat. These days is the constant explorer and sits for nothing. But that Friday, he sat in his bike seat while the trained rolled to San Francisco. The train was fuller than usual for a noon time Friday because the Bay Bridge was closed for construction. That meant there were many women aboard to smile and coo at him. Joaquin returned their affections and even offered his newly learned wave, fingers facing in, to two sisters one of whom was newly pregnant. The ride was a breeze.
From the Civic Center station, we rode to Jolie's house. Chasin, our 13 month old friend and pictured on the 4th of July in this blog, was in his high chair so Joaquin joined him in the extra high chair Jolie keeps in her kitchen. The boys ate some lunch. Chasin always likes to eat Joaquin's food. Then we turned the boys loose to play with toys in the living room. Joaquin was usually shy. He was quite ready to jump into the fray with ever-friendly Chasin yet.
Our plans had been to ride to the beach but a fog was visible to the west. So instead we rode to a park in Noe Valley. The ride was fun. Two mamas, two babies, two bikes. The boys were happy passengers. They crawled around the park.
Joaquin started to get sleepy and it was time for us to head back to Berkeley so we all rode to the 16th street BART station. Jolie helped put Joaquin into the Ergo backpack carrier. I knew he wanted and needed to sleep and that was the best place. So walking my bike, with baby on my back I entered the station. On board the train, Joaquin fell asleep and stayed asleep until we re-entered the sunlight in Berkeley. He was a wonderful companion.
In the early days I had some doubts that mothering was what I wanted to do. But these days are who I always envisioned a baby- leisurely days of easy fun in sunny parks with mama friends. Lets hope this happy phase lasts.

More Vermont Photos

Click on the photos to see full pictures. Problems getting them to fit right. ce


The Sherwood Family


Emma with lily pad

Quito and Andria

Bianca and baby and ducks on Lake Raponda

Canoe life

Daniel and I have longed dreamed of bringing our family to somewhere beautiful to be together for family time. We both have the challenge of having two families each so there is a lot of family to visit with limited vacation time to do so. This year we gathered our families at a Lake Raponda near Brattleboro, Vermont. Lake Raponda was strategically located between Daniel's family in Ottawa and my family in New Haven, CT. Our dream plan worked. No less than thirteen family members came to enjoy the lake and the baby. David, Lucie, Camille, Erik, Caroline, Emma, Nathan, Susie, Bianca, Michel, Carlos, Andria, and Clararose. I am so thankful for everyone who made the drive. For Joaquin, the week was heaven. Here are some pictures. More to come from Susie's camera.

Full versus Busy

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I am woken by Joaquin calling or crying from his room. Sometimes the sky is still gray and the clock reads 6:00 a.m. Other days I am already in a wakeful sleep when his first noises wake me. First thing I do is nurse Joaquin in my bed. If its six and I am tired, my sweetheart takes Joaquin to the coffee shop two blocks away to let Joaquin watch the ceiling fans and sip an early coffee. Then I get up, get dressed, dress Joaquin and one of us starts to feed him breakfast. At 8:30 Brenda and Sofia, our babysitter and her toddler, come in to take over. Daniel drives me to the carpool and I am off to San Francisco. Then I become solar evangelist and policy wonk. At 6:30 I return home and do a reverse order of the morning.
Wednesdays, Fridays, and weekends are a shuffle of fun and life maintenance while entertaining a munchkin on my hip.

I have often used the word busy to describe my life, meant as a positive response describing a lot of self subscribed activity, but I never liked the word. Somehow it also alluded to the notion that I was too occupied to appreciate what was at hand. And perhaps I bristled the most at the connection between busy and business. That somehow busy meant the substance of life had become business, not pleasure.
Now that my hands are so literally full. I could easily respond that I am busy.

But that's not how life feels. Life feels full. My hands are full of pudgy, delicious, squirmy baby. My mind is full of observations of firsts- was that a first baby kiss? a first wave, first tuna sandwich. My mind is also full of solar policy details, then add to that the many family connections that have been strengthened with the arrival of Joaquin. Somewhere pushed from the forefront are my old delights like my girlfriends, music, nature observations whose return I anticipate. And laced throughout every thought are the must-do errands of life.

My heart is full. I looked at that little face that I look at with wonder easily 50 times a day as he was drifting to sleep in his stroller this morning and my heart swelled to where I could feel the warm of tears in the back of my eyes. My love for Daniel has grown and my gratitude for his nature knows no bounds.

Life is full. Sometimes this is hard for my friends and co-workers without children to understand. I am sure I did not understand last year this time.

Nosedive

Happy Camper

Since Joaquin learned to crawl, he is the happiest baby. No more Colonel Fuss-Fuss as we used to call him. Now the world has become one happy jungle gym. Joaquin climbs and tumbles to his delight on my bed, on the sofa, in the park, on the sidewalk. He is a joy. And he is still an excellent napper. At least two one and half hour naps a day. Sometimes one of those is 2 and a half hours and then I miss him. We haven't thought of a new nickname to take place of Colonel Fuss-Fuss. His current nicknames are Sillyboo and Joaquinito. And of course Nosedive for the recent rock kissing moment at the Yuba River.

Last weekend we camped at the Yuba River. It was just delightful. Warm and sunny and clear water. We walked up stream from our favorite swimming hole and camping spot (near Bowman Lake Rd off highway 20 east of Auburn, I wrote about it here last year) and played in warm shallow pools. Joaquin loved the water. Daniel and I were happy to be outside. After Joaquin went to bed in the tent, which he thought was one of those giant birthday party bouncey houses, Daniel and I sat under a full blanket of stars on a moonless night. I havent felt so happy in a while.

Sunday, we joined friends downriver for a inner tube run. The day was a perfect set up for both Daniel and I to join in on the fun. We all hiked up river. At about halfway, we set Daniel and Joaquin up on a nice river beach. I continued to hike further upstream with my inner tube and our friends. Then I got to jump in the warm water and float and ride little rapids downstream until I came to Joaquin. He was asleep buck naked on Daniel's chest under an umbrella. A very cute scene. Daniel handed me the baby and it was his turn to ride rapids and float. Joaquin and I hiked back down river to a popular sandy beach called the Mothers. Because a lot of little kids like to swim in the gentle current of the shallow pool. Mothers beach is near the hippy enclaves of Nevada City and North San Juan Ridge so the beach party consisted of naked bathers, shakahachi player, drummers and joyful kids. Joaquin and I played in the water for hours.

Recently I realized when Joaquin is happy, I am happy. Is life that simple?

Wish I had taken some pictures at the Yuba River but with all the water and the sand, the camera never left the backpack.

Claudia turns 33

Another birthday for me. Thirty three is no youngster. But I feel like I have a lot to show for my still tender age.

I decided to have a Backyard Cinema Party. The idea came from the backyard cinema I attended for my young friends Sophia and Mickey last month. The party was great. With the help of Jolie and Brian, I rigged a white bed sheet up high under the live oak tree in the backyard. I had the genius idea to duct tape change- quarters and nickels- to the bottom of the sheet to weigh the fabric down.
I set a table with soda, beer, rum, peanuts, M&Ms and fresh popcorn made on an electric popper in the backyard and tada! a great cinema was had. About 20 friends of all ages showed up. Joaquin feel asleep at 7:00 so hardly anyone got to get a peek at my cutie but it did make it easier for me to enjoy the night.

We watched part of the silent star Buster Keaton's the General which has a great steam locomotive chase scene. Followed by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which was the perfect movie for the big screen under the stars. The second movie went until almost 1 a.m. Mickey and Sophia made it past midnight. Most friends had gone home. I was happy to sit with my original number one boy and enjoy the film. Daniel even surprised me with chocolate hazelnut cake from La Farine.

The next day, Saturday, we took it easy and I received two great presents. First, Daniel and Joaquin took me to a frame shop. I thought I was getting a framed picture of Joaquin, I am a mama now after all. But the gift was much better. Daniel had taken a canvass painted by my grandfather Frank Duminil and had it stretched onto a wooden frame so I could hang it. Last year my Abuelita carried the painted roll of canvass from Paris to Berkeley for me. The second gift was from my pop. Daniel and he conspired to get me an Xtracycle. The Xtracycle is an amazing cargo bike that I have wanted for years. Pictures to come.

It was a lovely birthday that ended with a rare July evening rainshower followed by a beautiful double rainbow.
A rainbow is a blessing. I will accept that blessing for me and my tender family as I walk less than sure-footed through the new terrain of mama, baby and family.

Crawling

And then, finally, Joaquin learned to crawl. I thought he would crawl at six months. He looked so eager on all fours. Then he learned to sit and suddenly forgot about being stuck on his belly facing the floor. A few weeks later again he spent hours on all fours pushing up from his belly onto his hind legs. He got the hang of some locomotion but only in reverse. I would heard him crying out and come in to the room to find him stuck under furniture. His head still free but his butt and legs tucked under the couch. And he didnt know how to go forward.
Many times a day he tried this routine. 1. Lay flat on belly. 2. Push up to hands, chest off the floor. 3. Then get his feet and legs over him, butt high in the air. 4. Then stuck. No idea how to move his hands one pace at a time. From butt high in the air, Joaquin learned to push back to sitting. This is super satisfying. Suddenly, Joaquin could sit anytime he wanted. And if he was sitting and fell over, he could put himself back to sitting. It was a great development.
It seemed any day he would crawl. Daniel and I started crawling around the living room to show him how to move his hands. He seemed to getting tips. Then one day just before my birthday, he crawled a few paces for my cell phone. Here is a video of one his first successful attempts at crawling.


Now he can crawl at will, but slowly. And cautiously since his heavy head still bonks the floor sometimes. However, if my laptop computer is the goal all caution is thrown to the wind.
People tell me it only gets better. I have to let that reassure me because I want to hold each day with him as long as I can.

Fourth of July

We went camping in Bolinas, a small eco-hippy village about 50 miles north of San Francisco on the coast for the fourth of July weekend. We camped in the backyard of a friend of our friends. Bolinas is a beautiful, magical town with a tiny mainstreet, a beach, and surrounded by organic farms and hiking trails.
I feel lucky that now Joaquin loves riding in the car (after four months of screaming through ever ride excepting when I sang Two Little Kitty Cats). He slept the whole ride this morning.
We saw dolphins or more likely porpoises in the water on Saturday morning. Our family loves the ocean. Daniel likes to surf and sleep on beaches, I like the beach ecosystem and Joaquin loves the sound of the waves.
Joaquin learned to pull himself to standing on this picturesque bench. He seemed so pleased with himself. He wanted to stay there all night. We visited the bench again with his lifelong friend, Chasin. A good time was had by all.

Hey Joaquin remember that time...

Joaquin Seven Months

Joaquin is turning into a lot of fun. He loves toys. He needs to be playing with something at all times, unless he is in motion strolling or riding in the car. His favorite toys are keys and crinkly paper.

Here are some great shots that I took with Daniel's iphone. Our camera is useless. Everytime I get out our big, excellent SLR digital camera, Joaquin stops what he's doing and becomes very curious about the strap, the lens cap and the zoom. He makes the same funny quizzical face in ever photo.
So nothing fancy camera phone shots are the best.

An old friend of mine and an older friend of Quito, my brother, recently had a baby. Ben has Sylvan just 7 weeks older than Joaquin. Sylvan and his family live just two miles away. Sylvan is the most angelic baby I've ever encountered. And precocious too. Sometimes it makes me feel bad, but mostly I love that we have a weekly babysitting trade and he's so dreamy. Joaquin is going to be lucky to have such a good friend to grow up with.
I never knew that the four leg holes in babyswings were for two. Its too cute.
Like the good little boys they are, they love the trucks in the sand yard.

Morning Coffee

Now that I am a working mother. That term comes with a lot of sociology and strong feelings. Mine are still to new to be formed.
Daniel and Joaquin drive me to my carpool most mornings. There is a coffee shop at the carpool stop where we often get a coffee. The coffee shop has a great red sofa where Joaquin takes it all in.
Joaquin also had developed lightening fast reflexes. We call him graby-graby because he wants everything in sight, including my glasses. I am surprised to find out that he does seem to understand the word gentle and is these fierce when he goes for my earrings or glasses.
As I head across the street to the carpool pick up, Daniel and Joaquin enjoy the coffee shop for a few minutes before they head off to drop Joaquin at the babysitter.

Father's Day

Joaquin and I were very excited for father's day. Mostly, I was excited about giving presents. I had thought of gifts that I knew Daniel would love. The best was to be a new pocket knife. When I met Daniel he always had a pocket knife at his ready. I liked that. He would come to the rescue. While other men were helpless to fix a jammed ... or slice a mango, Daniel would come to the rescue. Then rushing to catch an airplane, he had to surrender his knife.

One Wednesday, Joaquin and I rode the bus across town to buy Daniel at new swiss army knife at the Wilderness Exchange. Joaquin, now a master sitter, sat on the floor drooling onto miniflashlights, while I examined the various sections. I picked a nicely pocketable one. And Joaquin and I trekked back home. That night I asked Daniel if I could give him his gift now. He said no. I had to wait.

The next week I was invited by my friend Christianna to paint father's day mugs at Brushstrokes in Berkeley. At first I wrinkled my nose- a paint-your-own-pottery place. There is a hilarious music video about those place called Lazy Monday. (Actually its a response to an equally hilarious Saturday Night Live music video Lazy Sunday.) Why is there an assumption that paint-your-own-pottery places are kind of pathetic? Anyway the thought of babyfoot stamped onto ceramics was just to cute for me to pass up. Actually Brushstrokes is really cool. I would go back. I like painting and its a great studio with a wide selection of paint brushes and paints. And my mug was quite fetching, if I say so myself. Joaquin did a good job of foot printing and of course having adorable toes.

At last Sunday morning arrived. I planned to make breakfast with Joaquin and let Daniel sleep in. Joaquin decided to sleep in until 8:20 that morning. He's been a regular 6:30 a.m. early bird of late. So I rose alone at 7:30 and went to wrap the pocket knife. Suddenly I couldnt remember where I hid it. I started looking around in my usual hiding spots and I couldnt find it. Not anywhere. Lost.

I laughed as I told Daniel. He did drink breakfast tea from his new mug- his world's best dad mug as he calls it.

The day turned into a lot of fun. We worked on our outdoor kitchen with our neighbor, listened to an outdoor concert with friends at Stern Grove in SF, and stayed for a city barbeque with fellow parents Jolie and Brian and their babe, Chasin. Joaquin has quite a joyful cooperator. It was a day to remember.

Epilogue:
Daniel found the pocket knife himself in my messenger back as he scrounged for bridge toll money on Monday night.

Firsts

First backward crawling last week. First swing ride ( he laughed so hard!).

Here is Joaquin's first strawberry. Possibly one of the best strawberries I have ever tasted, at Full Belly Farm in Guinda, California.

Hmm, what's that?

That's good

more, more

Observations

I am now a working mama. 3 days a week I travel over or under the bay to San Francisco to become a solar policy advocate. So no time for long blog posts while I find balance.

#1 Sea Otter Pup
Joaquin recently perfected his art of rolling over. Now he can roll left or right, tummy to back or back to tummy at will to reach an object of his desire. He reminds me of a sea otter pup when he rolls onto his tummy to get a toy and then rolls on to his back to examine and play with it on his tummy.

#2 Sitting
Joaquin is picking up a new skill every few days right now. On Saturday, May 23rd when my friend Carol came over to take me for a trail run, she asked if Joaquin could sit. I said not really he falls over. Then I plopped him into sitting position and he sat by himself from then on. He still topples over now and again. It happens in slow motion, so he's easy to catch and it's kind of funny.

#3 Thank You Thievery Corporation
There is a music group called Thievery Corporation. I love their world influenced electronic beats and dub sound. And so does Joaquin. But I am totally astonished at the power the song Lebanese Blond has over Joaquin. Just now he was tired and fussing. I laid him in his little pen and he was writhing around, fussing. I start Lebanese Blond within 4 minutes he is sleeping like a dog. The song has been a magic switch for putting him to sleep for about 2 weeks now.
Its not a bad song to have to listen to over & over. Here it is if you want listen.

Joaquin & his auntie Clararose