evohr.org

Wednesday, January 31, 2001

Sitting practice, as of a week ago:



In the meantime, both have gotten much more skillful.
3:50:00 AM

As it turns out, it's an even smaller world than that. Yesterday, another one of our friends sent us mail to let us know that she'd noticed that our site was mentioned recently on Matt's blog:

"This is why I like working on Blogger. [...]

A million people could complain about Blogger being slow and their ftp or archives not working, and I just keep thinking of sites like this, and how amazing the stuff we're doing is, and it makes it all worth it."

Thanks, Matt!
3:10:00 AM

From the small world department...

One of our few grownup outings this fall was a dinner sponsored by the union at Kathy's new job. While in "faculty wife" mode, Paul discovered that one of the other spouses there was also "in the business," leading to a conversation like this:

"What do you do?"
"Oh, I work at a small startup."
"Yeah, what's it called?"
"X. You probably never heard of it."
"Hey, aren't you the folks who do Y?"
"Yep, that's us."
"Wow, I use your stuff to do Z!"
"Really? That's so cool!"

(then repeat the above, changing X, Y, and Z)

And that's how we met Matt, one of the creators of Blogger, the software we've used to run this site since its inception.
3:09:00 AM

Tuesday, January 30, 2001

For some reason, Bryn decided she was in quite a hurry to get started on her day today. As always, she was quite prompt about feeding from Mommy and letting Daddy peel off all those overnight layers.



But as soon as she got into her first diaper of the day, she scooted off:



Catch me if you can!
8:08:00 PM

Thursday, January 25, 2001

We knew it was only a matter of time.

When the kids were born, we got a small three-legged end table to use for various feeding-related stuff. It's not the most stable thing in the world, but it's a handy spot to park the kids' feeding records, a storybook or two, or perhaps the bottle you just finished.

As the youngsters have gotten more and more mobile, we kept telling each other that someday they'd knock it over. Thus, it's been a while since there was anything heavy or breakable on it.

Boom. Sure enough, ...



... within seconds of the moment yesterday that Bryn kicked it over, both babies sprinted over and started rummaging through the wreckage.
11:45:00 AM

Wednesday, January 24, 2001

To: Daddy
From: Maya
Subject: Re: Get with the program

---

Sure. No problem.

Just try not to take too long, OK? I've already invested 10 minutes in getting this far.

I can't promise to be as patient next time.
4:10:00 PM

To: Maya
From: Daddy
Subject: Re: Get with the program

---

Good point. I'll get right on it.

On a related subject, I'm currently in the middle of rereading the sections on childproofing (and multiple-proofing) in the parenting books.




Before you abscond with them, would you mind letting me finish?
4:04:00 PM

To: Daddy
From: Maya
Subject: Get with the program

---

Not to be fresh or anything, but I did learn how to pull up to a standing position yesterday. Remember?

You did a very prompt job of lowering the mattress in my crib when I started crawling. Is there a reason you haven't lowered it another notch yet?

That siderail may be at shoulder height now, but time flies when you're having fun.
3:55:00 PM

Tuesday, January 23, 2001

Then this afternoon, who do we spy peering out from behind the fence?



Yep. It's Maya, who's figured out how to pull herself up to a standing position for the first time.




This kid has only known how to crawl for just over two weeks now. Yikes!
11:43:00 PM

Last night, we discovered how to keep Maya from toppling over when she sits up -- break out the camera!



Evidently, balance isn't a problem at all. You just have to hold her interest so she'll stay there.
11:41:00 PM

Monday, January 22, 2001

Balance and motion. It's really interesting to see how each of the kids works through similar problems. For example, take sitting up. For quite some time now, both girls have been taking stabs at this fundamental baby skill.

Yesterday was the first time we caught Maya sitting totally upright on her own -- a big step from all the leaning and lounging she's been doing for a while now. So far this morning, she's repeated that feat almost a dozen times. Of course, part of the reason she's done this so often is that she only stays for a maximum of 5 seconds before she topples, and usually nowhere near that long. From sheer repetition, she's long since learned to use her hands to break falls. She's actually better at kneeling straight up, especially if she has a prop, but even so it's not long before she crashes to the ground. (As long-time devotees of hardwood floors, it's amazing how grateful we are for the thickly-padded carpets that came with the house.)

By contrast, Bryn has had the balance thing down cold for over a month now. Once she reaches a sitting position, she can balance there quite happily for 5 or 10 minutes at a stretch, reaching for toys, etc. Ditto for high chairs -- Maya still tends to slump, but Bryn sits straight up and pounds the tray with gusto. Bryn's only issue is getting there in the first place. While her sister crawls and climbs with abandon, Bryn hasn't quite managed forward or vertical locomotion. However, that won't be long now, given all her rocking and spinning and backwards scooting.

Different strokes for different folks, huh?
1:36:00 PM

Friday, January 19, 2001

Yippee! We're all quite excited that the girls have a new cousin, Justin Philip Goode, who was born at 6:30 pm today (Eastern time). Vital stats:

• 8 lb 1 oz
• 20 3/4 inches
• curly light brown hair
• blue eyes

Congratulations, Jen and John!
2:33:00 AM

Tuesday, January 16, 2001

Bryn has recently been practicing her kissing skills on various adults in the household. At first, we mistook that wet, open-mouthed embrace as a comically misguided attempt to nurse, but it soon became clear that she was deliberately choosing faces to bestow her affection on.

This morning, she finally decided it was time to plant one on her sister. Awwww, how sweet, huh? However, being conscientious parents, we made sure to carefully watch the two skulls for potential collisions. (Maya's been known to reach in and "liberate" Bryn's binky, and Bryn loves to pat her sister's hair.)

Whoops. Guess who should have been watching Bryn's arm? As Maya quickly let us know, Bryn's kissing was a lot more successful than the accompanying attempt at a hug. It took a few minutes of soothing before the crying and vigorous head shakes abated, and then Maya went down for a long nap.

When she got up at lunchtime, her eye had started swelling, and it kept leaking tears, so we made the obligatory "tell me I'm just paranoid" call to the HMO. After a bit of phone triage, they squeezed us in for a 3 pm appointment ... with the Chief of Ophthalmology, no less! (We always knew that Maya was special, but wow!) By the time the appointment rolled around, the swelling had subsided significantly, but to be safe we went in for expert confirmation. The verdict?

Just a scratch. Yes, it's on the cornea, but that's the fastest-healing tissue in the body. Moreover, babies excel at generating tears and new tissue, which makes them especially resilient. (Adults with the same injury would be writhing in pain until they got enough Vicodin in them to knock them out.) Given what the doctor saw, by this time tomorrow, Maya should be totally healed.

Sorry Maya, no dashing eyepatch for you!
8:10:00 PM

Monday, January 15, 2001

On Saturday, we played the kids' new CD, Bananaphone by Raffi (think Harry Connick Jr. meets Barney). Evidently they really liked it, because before long we caught them dancing with Grandad.

Whether he was doing the jitterbug with Maya,



... or waltzing with Bryn,



... one thing is clear:

  

a good time was had by all.
9:31:00 PM

Last Friday, the babies went in for their 6-month checkup, which was blessedly uneventful. The pediatrician continues to be quite happy with their progress:

• Maya: 15 lb 6 oz, 27 in
• Bryn: 17 lb 10 oz, 26 in

The only downside was that there was almost an hour wait to get their vaccinations (five each), by which time the Tylenol had started to wear off.

Fortunately, that should hold them for another four months, when they're due for only a single shot. Still, now we know better than to take a Friday afternoon appointment, huh?
9:29:00 PM

Thursday, January 11, 2001

Voracious readers. As a family who loves reading, we really want to teach our kids to appreciate books of all kinds. Tonight at story time, they each demanded a book of their own. Bryn wanted "Wintry Play" and Maya chose "Merry Friends" -- two Pooh books that were Christmas gifts from Grummy and Farfar.

  

Although these titles are short on plot and character development, both babies found ways to thoroughly enjoy their reading experience.
10:45:00 PM

Wednesday, January 10, 2001

First sprint. Last night, after being informed that her first crawl had been mentioned here as being "only" three steps, Maya decided to show us what she can really do. Would you believe a distance of ten feet straight ahead at a speed more like a sprint than a crawl?



Believe it. Look out world, here I come!
4:37:00 PM

Good morning! The current time is 7:25 am. Torrential downpours are scheduled to commence in 25 minutes:



(California weather is sometimes wacky this way.)
4:28:00 PM

Tuesday, January 09, 2001

Too many pictures! As a special bonus, a second slide show (of our trips this fall to Año Nuevo) is also online.
12:04:00 AM

Monday, January 08, 2001

First crawl. Anyone who saw us over the holidays probably noticed that Maya has been spending a lot of time lurching back and forth on her hands and knees.

Well, now it's official. If you define a "step" as a single coordinated hand/knee maneuver in a forward direction, then Maya just crawled three (3) steps.



Go Maya!
5:56:00 PM

As promised, the slide show of the babies' first Christmas is now online.
4:47:00 PM

Whoops! Now that the 12 days of Christmas are over, we'd better get cracking and get those pictures posted. In the mean time, here are a few tasty morsels to tide you over.

Our very first Christmas tree, reflected three times:



Maya got so excited about her first Christmas that she just couldn't stop rolling.



Hats by Aunt Liz, baby elves by nature:



Enjoy!
2:28:00 AM

Friday, January 05, 2001

Too many stripes to count, Maya?
3:32:00 PM

Thursday, January 04, 2001

Ring out the old, ring in the new. We've missed our chance to get Father Time to pose, but the babies are quite happy to fulfill their role.

  

For pictures taken a day apart, our models here have managed to strike amazingly similar poses -- right down to that cute pointing gesture with their left feet. Perhaps that's just their way of saying ...

Happy New Year!
5:08:00 PM

© 2000-10, the evohrs