6.30.15 - Air conditioning

Today, it was like this:

Which made me realize I need to add this:

6.27.15 - Happy little girl

Right now I'm sitting in bed and Clara is lying on a baby blanket on the floor, and she's happily cooing to herself incessantly. It sounds like she's talking to herself and that she's pretty excited about something. It is absolutely adorable.

I also love how, if I cross her line of sight, she breaks into a huge grin like she's so happy to see me--even if I was just there 3 minutes ago, haha. She does the same with Jack when he first gets home from work: as soon as she seems him she starts grinning hugely. What a happy little girl.

I don't hate every GoT character.

6.20.15 - Birthday picnic!

Today was the day for the real celebration of my 30th birthday. I invited a bunch of friends to join me for a wine and dessert potluck picnic in the park, and I was really looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, the day got off to a rocky start. I got up with Clara for her early morning feeding, and after she ate and I changed her, I started to feel kind of dizzy. I put her in her crib and thought, "Maybe after a couple more hours of sleep I'll feel fine."

But a couple hours later (when Clara woke up again), I was even dizzier than before. In fact I couldn't walk without stumbling and I felt like I was going to be sick. However, I'm including this non-joyous incident in my joy inventory because of how it got resolved. (1) I called Jack and he was able to come home from work immediately to take care of Clara, which was a huge relief. (2) I called Mom and she sent me a link to a video showing different positions I can try to get rid of the vertigo. (3) The positions worked! That was a huge relief. And (4) it was interesting to learn the physical reasons behind the vertigo and its resolution (basically a calcium crystal breaks loose and moves to the liquid in the ear that normally tells you when you're moving your head; as the crystal moves through the liquid it makes you feel as if you're head is moving when it's not; trying the different positions helps you move the crystal back out of that part of the ear.)

Anyway, I was so so relieved to not feel sick anymore, and even more relieved that I wouldn't have to cancel my birthday picnic. So in that sense it was a good start to the day.

The weather had originally called for a high of a whopping 103, but luckily it only got up to the low 90s, even less in the shade where we set up. It was actually pretty nice out.

There was a ton of delicious food: bruschetta (Bryon and Ellen), Nutella rice krispies (Erin), pies (Janice), black bottomed cupcakes (me), a chocolate covered cheesecake (Gennilyn), apricot with gorgonzola and walnuts and honey (Shane and Max), ribs (Sarah), tons of fruit salad (with pineapple!) (Rachel and Ben), and chips and salsa (Shannon and Mike).

Leonard and Choque beg for ribs.
(There were about 6 dogs at our picnic.)

There was also plenty of wine, and I enjoyed some Moscato and some rose and got a nice buzz.

We brought stuff to play Tichu...

Jack and Clara's matching Tichu outfits say
"Don't Break The Rule" on the back.

wall ball...

Clara's first wall ball experience.

and the Paper Game (or "Index Card Game," in this case).

Reading Paper Game results. Jack falls off the slack line in the background.

Shannon also brought a slack line, which she, Jack, Shane, Max, Henry, and Ben especially liked playing with.

Jack, Shannon, Rachel, and Mike played a few games of wall ball, including one game to the word "Molly," which Jack won. However he lost on super game point to Shannon for the game to "#badknees."

I didn't do anything very physical, but I really enjoyed playing the Paper Game and eating so many delicious things and visiting with everyone, especially Ellen, who I wish was not moving far away. And almost everyone took a turn cuddling Clara, who still doesn't mind who is holding her one way or the other. It would be great if that lasted.

Shane and Max got some baby cuddles too, I just didn't get pics of it.

Our picnic was near a playground, so Clara got to experience swings for the first time ever. Look at her overjoyed face:

And, despite the potluck food and wine, some people also brought me gifts. Ellen delivered a prettily wrapped gift from all the siblings and Mom: a 2Tb external hard drive (and a Starbucks gift card). Gennilyn got me some gift cards and baby wipes, haha. Erin got me a gift card and some baby-themed scrapbooking stuff, which was really cute. Sarah got me a gift card too. And they all wrote really nice notes in the cards they got me, which I love. I'm not very interested in store bought cards that just have someone's signature or "Happy Birthday!" in them. But these cards had longer, thoughtful messages. Ellen delivered Mom's card and I read it aloud and Erin said it was going to make her cry. Mom talked about how the overwhelming feeling of love I have for Clara is how Mom has felt about me since Day 1. <3 It was all very touching and sweet.

After the picnic, Henry and Sarah came back to our apartment and played Tichu for awhile--Sarah and Jack won. Sarah had to head back, but Henry stayed and he and Jack and I talked at length about the recent Game of Thrones finale (Season 5) and everyone we love or love to hate. That was really fun too.

Overall it was a great day. I'm continually touched by how many friends I have and how generous they are and how loved they make me feel.

6.17.15 - Birthday Wishes

Every year one of my favorite parts of my birthday is seeing all the well wishes I get on my FB profile. I particularly look forward to the more personalized or funny greetings. Here are a few from this year:

This year I also thought of a new tradition: I asked everyone, as a birthday gift to me, to list three things making them happy today. It turned out great! It was really enjoyable reading about all the good things happening in people's lives. Here are only maybe half of the responses I got:

And finally, here is my own list of how well the day went:

6.15.15 - Sense8

6.13.15 - Andrew's visit

Today my old friend Andrew came over for lunch. I haven't seen him since January at my CA baby shower, and before that I don't even know when's the last time I saw him. But I love it when you see a friend for the first time in so long and you pick up right where you left off. The same familiarity, no awkward silences or missed beats.

He was kind enough both to buy lunch (Buca di Beppo) and to bring two bottles of wine for my upcoming birthday party, which he'll sadly have to miss. Jack was home on lunch break when Andrew got here so they got to see each other briefly. Then Andrew and I talked (okay, mostly I talked and he listened and laughed) for probably two hours or so, and it was great. One of the things I love about Andrew is how easily he laughs. He makes me feel hilarious!

It was so nice to catch up with an old friend. Hopefully he starts coming through this area more often.

6.8.15 - June Colorado visit

Clara and I went to visit Dad, Jill, and the kids for a weekend. I was nervous about traveling alone with Clara but overall it was fine. On the flight out she slept through check-in and security, woke up long enough to eat a bunch and get changed, then slept from takeoff until baggage claim! I couldn't have asked for more.

Jill picked us up and I enjoyed a visit with her on the ride back to Dad's house. Then Sola and Harrison finally got to meet Clara. Sola in particular was delighted, and I told her she could kiss Clara's cheeks as often as she liked as long as Clara didn't fuss about it. She took full advantage of that, haha.

The trip was short but sweet. It was nice for the grandparents (and Sola) to get to enjoy taking care of Clara. It's also always nice the kind of food they have at Dad's: skinny cow ice creams and full fat fruity yogurts and goldfish crackers and pistachios and all sorts of things I love.

My favorite part of the trip were the times when we would sit on the front porch for hours visiting. Their neighborhood is beautiful in the summer: so many huge green trees all along the street and so many houses with picket fences. The adults would sit and sip drinks and eat snacks and watch the kids play with bikes and dogs and the fountain and so on. We (the adults) would also take turns holding Clara and letting her sleep on us, and she seemed quite content with all of it.

Even this afternoon before I left for the airport, Dad and I sat on the porch swing chatting while Clara dozed and the other kids played with water guns and the fountain. It was so pleasant.

On the trip back I had probably half a dozen strangers remark at what a good baby Clara is. Those remarks make me feel so lucky, because I feel like it's just Clara's personality, more than training from Jack or me.

And then Jack was waiting for us at the airport when we got back. He couldn't wait to hold Clara and talk to her again. <3 So lucky to have him as husband and dad. He's in the other room right now just hanging out with her while she coos.

Dance compilations

So fun and inspiring. :)

(If this link ever breaks, it's "Tanlines - All of Me: TV show dance compilation")