Sense of Wonder

The weather has been so amazing that we've spent a lot of time outside these last few days. I've noticed Rosa mesmerized by what she sees on our walks...clouds, leaves, palm tree tops, sky, who knows what else! It makes me want to help her keep her sense of wonder strong as she gets older. Thanks to Di T for the inspiration!

Here's a picture of Rosa under a tree, awestruck by the millions of leaves above her. She's now asleep on the blanket taking her first dirt nap (as Dad likes to call them).



Rachel Carson quotes:
• If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.
• One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, 'What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?'”

Michigan J. Frog

At the park with one sneaky baby. After having to do some damage control (Rosa likes to wait until we're out on the town to make a mess), I put her on her stomach while I tended to something on the stroller. When I turned around I found her like this:



That sneaky baby! She rolled over without any notice. No grunting, no giggling, no "tada!" She's like the looney tunes frog who only dances when no one's watching. I'll catch you next time Baby!

prenap routine

Rosa's presleep sounds...she grunts and grunts a real deep guttural grunt, pulls pulls pulls on whatever is nearby, and then often swiftly passes out. She is hilarious. And, is it just me or does she look way older in this picture. Eek! Stop growing so quickly!

Swing low sweet Rosa

After a long week of rain and clouds, it's been nice to spend time in the great outdoors. Today, the great outdoo

rs consisted of a visit to the library (new books yay!) and trying out a new park near our house. It's got a sweet playground, with one side for big kids and the other for little ones. Rosa was diggin it! She rocked back and forth on a springy thingamajig (see pic left), down a static-inducing slide, checked herself out in the mirror (see pic right), AND braved the toddler swing. I'll let you decide whether she liked it or not (see video).

rollin with my homies

For Ong Ngoai's birthday gift Rosa decided to roll over for the first time! I wasn't able to capture it on camera (...yet) but here is a clip of Ong Ngoai playing with Rosa when we were visiting CT in February.

Discovering feet

Note the deep focus. She's already a little yogi.

4 months! happy birthday

Today is Rosa's 4-month birthday (wootwoot!).



Here's the Rosa update:

• Smile...I hope she never outgrows that full, open-mouth smile that's plastered on her face when she sees her dad.
• Laughter and sounds. She loves to tell us about her dreams and aspirations. Sometimes, after a long day, she needs to vent a little. We also caught her saying "aow u oo" which means "I love you," in case you don't speak baby.
• Busy hands, needy gums. She gestures with her hands and has figured out how to get something from point A (her hand) to point B (her mouth). That's right, we are now entering the put-everything-in-my-mouth phase.
• Standing. Rosa loves to grab our fingers and push herself up to standing. And she has the cutest, proudest smile on her face when she does it.
• Bald spot. For some reason she loves to shake her head before falling asleep - her last attempt to stay awake, I guess. As a result, she's developed that baby bald spot.
• Sleep. Rosa will now sleep for one 5-hour stretch (on a good night). She's a champion napper during the day, though she'll still choose to be social over getting sleep.
• Here are the numbers: 24 inches long (71 percentile) and 13lb 14oz heavy (57 percentile).

We just got back from her 4-month visit at the doctor's and she got a couple shots. She seems a little more uncomfortable than the last round of shots...better go sooth the birthday girl.

the Quiet Book and Screen-Free Week!

Good friends of ours gave us a wonderful book, The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood. It is fantastic. Each page describes a different kind of quiet. Among my favorites:
- First look at your new hairstyle quiet
- Right before you yell "SURPRISE!" quiet
- Best friends don't need to talk quiet, and
- Top of the rollercoaster quiet

The illustrations totally make the book.

I came across a review of the book on the wildmind buddhist meditation blog. You can read the piece in the author's own words, but it made a good point in that we often look for something flashy to entertain us when there is beauty is silence, in daydreaming, and in creativity. It got me thinking about how much time we spend on screens (yes, I appreciate the irony of making this comment while blogging on my laptop). Especially after getting a smartphone, I am almost always within arm's reach of a screen.

Serendipitously, I walked by a poster for Screen-Free Week and think it would be a great challenge to take on. So from April 18-24 don't expect any blog posts, emails, witty facebook status updates from this mama. More on this later, but if you want to join, holler back!

Happy St. Patty's Day

curse of the 4am feeding

Rosa's been a real trooper with her sleep. Once she goes to bed for the night she'll sleep for a good 5 hour stretch before needing to eat. And most nights we feed then both instantly pass out again.

...not tonight! Some nights my body becomes awake enough to realize it's hungry so here I am. Awake! And to top it off, we apparently need to go shopping for exciting snacks. I'll have to settle for a granola bar for now.



And now, your moment of zen:

never gets old

When she's awake, we play.
When she's just fallen asleep, I stare.
When she's really asleep, I look through pictures and videos of her.

Can't get enough.

RosieRadio: Someday My Prince Will Come by Miles Davis

narcoleptic baby

Among the many wonderful traits of Rosa is the fact that she is a champion sleeper (in fact, she's asleep on me as I type this). Yesterday we went to story time at the library...slept through that...then she woke up in time to see some friends. We walked down Lincoln Ave...slept through that...and grabbed food at Aqui's...slept through most of that.
After trying to make the back-breaking Baby Bjorn carrier work (fail), we bought a new carrier, the Beco Gemini (sexy name!). And among the many wonderful traits of the Gemini is the newly discovered use as a sleeping mat! Huzzah!

pull my finger

playtime with Daddy O

The most thrilling, heart wrenching, side slapping, make-you-want-to-baby-talk two minutes and forty seconds you'll ever experience!

...or it's kind of a lot of the same, but she was on fIRE! Watch as little or as much, though there is a cute reaction from her toward the end when Mike blows on her face. Plus, sounds like she sat on a squeaky toy. Good times.

music together

We went to a Music Together class where we sang songs, played with instruments. Rosie must have really loved it. During the noisiest part (instruments on parade) she fell soundly asleep.

Venting

Rosie's debriefing me on her day. Usual baby drama.

Laughing!

So up until now Rosie has had momenta of brief chuckles. But tonight her Auntie L was able to get in a good run. The best laughs were, of course, not caught on tape but we still managed to capture some sweet moments.