2.27.16 - Traveling home

Dad plays with Clara before we get ready to go.

Dad drove Clara and me to the airport. I'm glad he did because it's about an hour and a half drive and it gave us a chance to visit one-on-one without much distraction. And he was in a pretty good mood and our conversation was interesting and pleasant and maybe even important. We talked about the problem of evil and politics and some of our family dynamics. I got to tell him some stuff I've wanted to talk about for awhile but just hadn't had the opportunity. It was really nice, actually. Plus he had picked up some Kangaroo Coffee before we got on the highway, which was a good pick me up since I hadn't gotten great sleep last night. Clara slept the entire drive too.

Holding my hand while she sleeps.

The flight home went fine too. Traveling with a baby is still a lot more work than not, but Clara is such a good kid. Chill throughout all of security and waiting at the gate. And even though she didn't end up falling asleep on the plane, it wasn't that hard to keep her busy with bits of different kinds of food, her 100 word book, wrappers, magazines, a bottle of ibuprofen (basically a rattle to her), just any new object really. I also held her while she half stood on the chair arm and peeked at the guy behind us, and it gave me a chance to kind of take a "break." Whenever the seat belt light was off I'd stand with her so she could see more, or I'd walk her up and down the aisle to keep her entertained.

The 100 Word book was especially cute. Recently she's started pointing at the pictures and saying "ba! ba ba ba! ba!" like she's reading the book herself. But today was the first time she grabbed my pointer finger and used it to point at the different pictures. So I'd say the word of whatever picture she pointed at, and that seemed to make her really happy. Figuring things out...

Laughing at her image in the selfie camera.

Mom-daughter airplane selfie.

She fell asleep during landing and stayed asleep until we got to Jack. I love the arrivals section of airports even if no one is waiting for me specifically. You see so many eager smiling faces and so much delight and hugs. It's very sweet. In this case, though, Jack was waiting for us, and he couldn't wait to hold sleeping Clara, which was also sweet.

And it was nice to be home. The weather was great--we drove home with the windows down. It's nice to be in my tiny car again instead of the big Highlander. It's nice to feel like this is home, and the highways are familiar and everything is familiar. And Jack had straightened up the whole apartment before picking us up, which makes the homecoming that much more comfortable. AND he had leftover pizza from a nursing meeting he went to yesterday, bonus.

Back in her own crib.

2.26.16 - Rocket snippets from the trip

2.20.16
Everett: I don't like root beer.
Rocket: Do you know what the best part of root beer is??
Everett: What?
Rocket: The BEER part!

2.23.16
Rocket: Monica, can I tell you something?
Me: Yeah.
Rocket: There's "easy peasy lemon squeezy" and "easy peasy mac and cheesy"!
Me: Hm, I'm trying to think if there's any other ones.
Rocket: No, there's not.
Me: Maybe we could make up some together.
Rocket: No, thanks. They wouldn't be real.

2.24.16
Rocket, who is 5-years-old, upon discovering Fruit Loops in the pantry: "I haven't had these in YEARS!"

Rocket: One time there was SO much snow we could make three or four...or five...or SIX....snow cones.

2.25.16
Overheard at kindergarten: "If you squish someone's heart they'll die." 
Rocket, very casually: "Oh yeah, that's easy to do."

2.26.16

I have a board book for the song "What a Wonderful World," and I often sing it to Clara before bed.

Rocket sits with us and listens in, and he is really bothered by the lyrics "I hear babies cry, I watch them grow. They'll learn much more than I'll ever know." The first few days he said they won't ever know more than us, and I told him there might be new inventions they learn about that we don't know about yet.

Even so, tonight when I was singing that part he just exclaimed, "That is so *weird* that you think that!"

Also, Rocket loves King Bidgood's In the Bathtub. I read it to him and he tells me that the "part is coming" where the court says, twice, "Oh, who knows what to do? Who knows what to do?" And then when I finally read that part he just grins and grins, haha. Dunno why he likes it so much but it's pretty cute. Also, since we read the story so much this trip, as I read it to him he points out details of the pictures he's noticed throughout, like that the King and Queen have little figurines of themselves in the luncheon. It's really enjoyable to read to someone old enough to be so interactive, and makes me look forward to when Clara is that interactive.

2.22.16 - Game Grumps

2.20.16 - Reading to Clara and Rocket

Tonight I was reading to Clara while Rocket was getting ready for bed, and he asked if he could listen to some stories too, so I said "sure." Clara and I were just "reading" her 100 First Words book, which is really just her looking at the pages and pointing, so I just let her keep doing that while Rocket got ready. He asked how many stories I had left to read and I told him at least four and I said I'd wait for him, and he very very quickly changed into his pajamas while he recapped how he has already brushed his teeth and taken his allergy medicine.

Then he crawled into bed with us and sat next to me with his head on my shoulder. Very sweet. Clara was sitting in my lap and resting against my belly. I read them Toot, King Bidgood's in the Bathtub, Blueberry Girl, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and It's a Wonderful World. They both seemed to enjoy it, I certainly did. At the end Rocket went to his room, then came back down the hallway to give me a hug. <3

Later, after I put Clara to bed, Rocket called to me to tell me he might just stay awake all night. I said that was fine as long as he stayed in his bed. Sure enough he was asleep in 15 minutes or less, haha.

Clara "reads" to me.

2.15.16 - Study buddies

I'm grateful for Erin, who makes me laugh a lot and who is helping me get my thesis done by arranging thesis writing sessions for us. We edit each other's work and help each other figure out specific wording and just keep each other company. It's much more pleasant than working on my thesis alone.

2.12.16 - Clara is happy to see me

I absolutely love when the nanny brings Clara home in the evening. I walk out to the car to get her, and as soon as she sees me she starts grinning hugely and babbling excitedly. It's wonderful.

Sister Mary Clara and I skyping with Ja-Ma the other night.

2015 Dates

1. Jan 7 - Into the Woods
2. Jan 12 - Elephant Bar
3. Jan 18 - Selma
4. Jan 26 - Starlite Lounge
5. Feb 2 - American Sniper at the drive in
6. Feb 8 - Elephant Bar
7. Feb 13 - McKinley Park picnic
8. Feb 18 - 3 Fires Lounge
9. Feb 24 - Yogurt Agogo and walk around Capitol Park
10. Feb 28 - Panera BreadCo
11. Mar 1 - Buca di Beppo (trying to fit in more dates before Clara is born)
12. Mar 13 - Osaka Sushi while Mom babysat
13. Mar 22 - Ju Hachi while Don & Merlene babysat
14. April 3 - Elephant Bar while Dad & Jill babsat
15. April 18 - Ju Hachi and Revolution Wine and hotel while Ellen and Bryon babysat
16. May 8 - Wrap & Roll while Julianna babysat
17. May 27 - Woodstock Pizza while Shannon babysat
18. June 3 - Elephant Bar (with Clara in tow, but she slept through a lot of it and was very chill)
19. June 22 - Starbucks and walk around Davis while Shannon babysat
20. July 15 - Jurassic World at Davis theater while Shannon babysat
21. July 27 - Elephant Bar, can't remember what we did with Clara
22. Aug 7 - Fuji Sushi (all you can eat) while Shannon babysat
23. Aug 26 - Sushi Unlimited while Shannon babysat
24. Sept 6 - Inside Out while Mom babysat, and the movie was *amazing*
25. Sept 15 - Froyo and walk around Sac State, Clara slept in the stroller most of the time
26. Sept 19 - Gunther's, again Clara slept through much of it
27. Sept 27 - Ju Hachi while Don & Merlene babysat
28. Sept 29 - Pieology to celebrate Jack doing well on his nursing test, Clara slept through almost all of it, enjoying not-smoldering weather
29. Oct 2 - Burgers & Brew for Jack's birthday, again Clara slept through over half of it
30. Oct 17 - PoPo Garden (Chinese food lunch), Clara slept again, unbelievable
31. Nov 8 - Fuji Sushi and Cream (cookies) while Shannon babysat, enjoying chillier weather
32. Nov 23 - Burgers & Brew, Clara was awake so this one is iffy, but she enjoyed sucking on a pickle
33. Dec 23 - Lewis & Clark's in Old Town St. Charles while Mom babysat