Category Archives: Regional

We Survived

We survived the first day. Claire is on a milk strike. She won’t accept milk (plain, chocolate, or strawberry) offered in any container that is a sippy cup, tumbler, or with a straw. The times she requests milk disintegrate into tantrums and crying, with her pointing at the fridge crying, “Milk! Milk!” and swatting away what is offered in the cup. Claire has developed a habit of saying “I saw-wy” when she gets hurt; it’s her way of communicating that she is hurt. At one point she ran to me crying and saying, “I saw-wy! I saw-wy!” and it was very hard for me to stay stoic. Much of the day she wanted to be in my arms. I expected this. It’s very upsetting to lose a beloved ritual and object. I provided all the cuddling she needed, and Husband and I talked to her about how the Bottle Fairy came and did this because she’s a big girl and can do it herself.

However, the day wasn’t really that bad. When she didn’t get milk the way she wanted, she asked for other food. She also requested yogurt. By the end of the day she had eaten 16 ounces of yogurt, along with many servings of fruit, cinnamon toast, vegetables, chicken, bologna, and a hot dog. She also compensated for the absence of milk by drinking a lot of water, so there’s no risk of dehydration. (And what goes in must come out. She produced six very toxic diapers! Oy!)

We went to three open houses in an area of San Jose that I wasn’t certain I’d like, but one of the houses I did like well enough. We’re still debating our options. After that trip we took Claire to a park we like a lot — it’s always very busy with families playing — and then treated ourselves to a bad-for-us dinner at Popeye’s.

Claire loves her rocking horse. She spent the day riding it and by the end had learned how to mount and dismount by herself. Husband also brought home a discarded keyboard for her to play with, and she’s very happy to “press the buttons” when she’s not rocking.

happy with horse

Quick Update

Claire’s fever broke on Thursday, and yet she still isn’t quite well. She never fully bloomed into a cold (no sneezing, coughing, runny nose), but her voice is hoarse and she is cranky, cranky, cranky.

Meanwhile, it was 71 degrees today; our average is 59.

If Only I Were A Ladybug

Husband is a researcher. For months he has diligently tracked the housing market to see if house prices will enter a range we can afford. In the past couple of weeks, we have taken field trips to various parks in San Jose neighborhoods to see if we like the area, and to see what our money could buy. Unfortunately, this also means a much longer commute for Husband. He works in Mountain View, although this is not a given forever. Yet we cannot afford to buy a house north of Santa Clara.

So far, we’ve learned that the house we want (about 1,400-1,700 square feet, two baths, and a small yard) we can’t afford in certain neighborhoods (or we can only afford a town home, but those rarely have yards), and the houses priced so that we could buy are in neighborhoods that are run down or downright scary. It still galls me that $500,000 can only buy a shack. But we will continue to look, to eliminate areas and narrow down a few regions we might afford. Then we’ll see what happens to the market. It continues to move in our favor, but we’re still talking scads of money. Since we already pay $2,200 a month for rent — and since we know it will go up again this year — we might be better off at least getting some equity built up (though it will take many, many years for that to happen).

I took the photo below at the San Francisco Zoo. If only my housing issues were as simple as a ladybug’s. This looks like an inviting place.

sf zoo leaves 1

What’s Cooking?

The first week of January is nearly past! I have only a few minutes to write this post, so it’s a bit scattered. I signed up to participate in Creative Every Day 2009, so here’s my first post about it. For Christmas I received some culinary items: a jumbo muffin pan, four really heavy cookie/jelly roll sheets, 6 tart pans, 4 mini loaf pans, and 2 mini cake pans, along with a book called Small-Batch Baking. I really enjoy baking (even more than cooking), but most baked goods are indulgences. And as we should know but have forgotten, an indulgence is a treat, something enjoyed specially; however, the quantities most recipes create are many dozens of cookies or large pies and cakes that a family of three does not need.

This morning I put the loaf pans to use by making more pumpkin bread. I’ve found that large loaves don’t get consumed quickly enough, and another point to baking small is to reduce the amount of temptation to overeat. I was really pleased with the results and look forward to making more goodies. The recipes in the book make very small amounts; for example, a recipe for a cake makes 2 little cakes (slightly larger than a jumbo muffin) or a half a dozen cookies.

I’ve also decided this year to get creative about food in a different way. I received three other books, some of which provide ideas to ponder and one of which also has recipes. One of my relatives has undergone a significant weight loss, and she and I discussed eating habits and the need to remain healthy, and how excess weight impinges on health. Eating differently — heathfully and in less quantity — is also a creative response to environmental issues.

I realize I have, for too many years, consumed food mindlessly in quantities that would shock a large percentage of the world population. As I watch my daughter learn to eat and to feed herself, I’ve felt my conscience poked and prodded. She follows her natural hunger and satiation. It’s been so long since I stopped at satiation. I know what hunger feels like but often eat as recreation, and I often eat beyond simple fullness. So many people live on much, much less. And in fact, as my relative and I discussed, our sense of proportion is extremely skewed. We have grown accustomed to large servings and lost the understanding of how truly little a body needs to thrive. By reducing how much I consume, I can save our family money, and some of that money will go to organizations such as Feeding America and Heifer International. So the books I will be reading are:

All Through The House

After reading three different versions of The Night Before Christmas about 20 times each today (which I did willingly and happily), sweet Claire is now asleep. She is too young to understand who Santa is or what Christmas is really about, but our little parrot spent the day repeating Santa and (with prompting) Merry Christmas. It comes out sounding more like Mewy Cwithmah. Quite charming!

She sampled two spoons of my clam chowder. A simple supper of French bread and clam chowder on Christmas Eve is a family tradition from my childhood which Husband has enjoyed adopting. As I write this, I’m listening to the radio, a classical music station with symphonic Christmas music. A small glass of eggnog is at my side. Husband is upstairs wrapping the rest of his presents to me. All of the others are wrapped.

I’ve also explored Norad Tracks Santa. It’s a lot of fun even for adults. Click on the small presents and a little box with a photo of the location pops up. There are places — little atolls and countries — that I never knew existed. There’s also video footage of Santa traveling and a narrative about what he’s doing. Oh! I must remember to leave out cookies and a glass of milk for Santa too.

Sweet dreams of sugar plums, everyone!

Change In An Instant

I just learned today that my good friend who has a two-month-old baby (Baby G) was in a bad car accident on Saturday. Her baby is fine and so is her husband, but she was moved to a hospital in Oakland for surgery. She has a smashed kneecap, a smashed tibia, a broken rib, and a broken collarbone (which needs a pin put in). She’s in surgery today for her knee and collarbone. At the end of the week she may go home if she can maneuver herself into a wheelchair, but if not, she’ll have to go to a rehab facility for awhile. Her came mother-in-law came from out of town and is watching the baby right now.

She called me today to let me know and unburden herself. We’d given our infant car seat to them, and that was what Baby G was in when the accident occurred. It will need to be replaced, and she said they’d be getting the same one. My friend was trying to be brave, to focus on the fact it could have been so much worse. Yes, it could have been, yet it is also pretty bad right now. She is without her child. She is pumping her milk in an attempt not to lose it. She has a long road to physical healing. She will have to somehow care for her baby and herself once she’s home, and she’ll need a lot of support (professional and informal friend support).

It’s the kind of thing that happens all the time to someone. It’s just not someone I know. So I’m a little aquiver from the news.

So Much Fun

We had a lot of fun in San Francisco. We started later than planned and took the car instead of Caltrain, because Claire was cranky and had a slight fever in the morning, and Husband has been sick. I wanted to see how things would settle out. But it seemed okay to leave them, and we arrived around 10:30. It was very chilly and breezy, but the sun was out, so we walked from the AT&T stadium (where we parked) up the Embarcadero for awhile. Then we caught the MUNI and went to Fisherman’s Wharf.

We ate New England clam chowder in a bread bowl, then did some shopping for gifts. Then we hiked a few blocks to look at some art at Lahaina Gallery (my eyes almost popped out of my head when I heard the prices). We looked at a couple of works by Dario Campanile — Il Banchetto (which I really liked) and La Tazza Blu. We also looked at originals and prints from James Scoppettone (the photo on the site doesn’t do justice to the vivid painting). Since we didn’t have a spare $17,000 for the original or $3,000 for a limited edition canvas giclée print, we left without purchasing anything. Then we walked to Ghirardelli Square for hot chocolate and yummies.

Then it was back to the Wharf for dinner and a little more shopping. We ate at Neptune’s Palace and saw the sunset. We had a perfect view of the bay and Alcatraz. From the angle we sat, the island looks like a large tanker ship. Then we got a trolley to MUNI and took that back to the car. We were home by 7:15 p.m., in time to see Claire a little while before her bedtime.

She and her Daddy had a good day together, but he was exhausted. We were originally going to take a little day trip today to the coast, but since it’s cold and might rain, we might just stay home and bake cookies instead.

Here’s a photo from the other day. It was close to dusk, windy and cold, but we had to get out of the house for some fresh air. This is a sweet shot.

looking for leaves

After Eight Years

For the first time in eight years, I feel hopeful about the future of our country. I am thrilled with the historic presidential election results.

In his famous Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln urged every American to take on “the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far nobly advanced.” That work remained unfinished, though, for a century and a half. For despite decades of civil rights legislation, judicial interventions and social activism — despite Brown v. Board of Education, Martin Luther King’s I-have-a-dream crusade and the 1964 Civil Rights Act — the Civil War could never truly be said to be over until America’s white majority actually elected an African-American as president.

That is what happened Tuesday night, and that is why we wake up to a different country. Yes, the struggle for equality is never done. But we can start afresh now from a whole new baseline. Let every child and every citizen and every new immigrant know that from this day forward: Everything really is possible in America.

–Thomas Friedman, Finishing Our Work

It’s not looking so good for Prop 8 and Prop 4 here in California, though.

Art Every Day Month – Day 2

My effort today is less art and more craft. (Not that knitting isn’t art, but a simple dishcloth is pushing the concept; now a lace shawl or something akin — that is art.) However, this is what I created today. Recently Husband purchased a knife sharpening kit and sharpened all our very dull blades. This has made cooking much easier and more fun; however, we learned the hard way that we cannot wash the knives with my hand-knitted dishcloths. One of them was shred to bits, and so this one replaces it.

art every day month 08 - day 2 - pink dishcloth

I spent a lovely afternoon visiting with a relative — a second cousin on my father’s side of the family. She was a fascinating person to talk to and before I realized it, I’d been there nearly four hours. I learned a couple years ago that I had relatives in the Bay Area, but without a premise for contact I didn’t pursue it, and I was busy, so the time wasn’t right. My parents recent visit catalyzed the connection.

Claire had a rough day today. I felt her gums, and she has an upper left molar coming through, plus the rest of her gums are very puffy. She has new words, though: all done, bird, cracker, excuse me (coo-mee), gate mouse (mess), pear. She mimicks what she hears really well.

It Was Fun

Claire’s still a little young to understand Halloween, hence the lack of a fancy costume this year. Among the many animals she likes is the owl, so she was happy to wear this outfit. We went to Westgate Mall where the majority of stores participated in trick-or-treating. The place was hopping! Next year we may go out into the neighborhood, but since it’s raining here today, this seemed like the best plan. She doesn’t have much interest in sweets generally, though we did give her little bits of gummy bear, and she ate them. Her favorite prize was the large brown leaf she found on the floor, which she clutched in her right hand as we made our rounds.

halloween 08

I Have Been Remiss

This has been a busy week, in part because we welcomed a new little person into the world. Our friends, M&K, gave birth to a beautiful daughter on Tuesday, October 28. (M&K are Claire’s godparents/emergency backup parents.) Because I don’t know how public they want this information to be, I withhold particulars at this time. But she is healthy and beautiful, and in about a year she and Claire will be active playmates.

And to all: Happy Halloween!

massive carved pumpkin

Massive pumpkin at Uesugi Farms

A Busy Brain

Claire understands more every day and demonstrates it in many ways. Here are some examples.

  • The other day we were getting ready to leave, and I was searching for her sippy cup. As I looked around I said, “Where’s your cup? We need it to go bye-bye.” I continued to scan the living room muttering that I had just seen it somewhere. Then I turned around, and Claire was toddling back from the kitchen with the cup in her hands, and she walked over to the diaper bag and laid it on the top.
  • When I ask her if she needs a dry or clean diaper, sometimes she nods yes. When I tell her we need to go change her diaper, she walks over to the stairs and waits for me to open the gate.
  • Claire will stand at her bookcase and pull books off the shelves one after another as she searches for the book she wants read to her. Sometimes I’ve suggested a book (Let’s read Trucks!) and she finds a book about trucks and hands it to me.
  • I started asking her to say “please” when she wants a book re-read to her. A couple of times she did say it, but then she decided to resist. She’ll shake her head, say “No,” and emphatically make the sign for more. If I persist in telling her to say please, she gets mad and upset. I’ve decided that when it comes to saying please, I’ll start with modeling the behavior for her. I also don’t want to get into a fight with her about saying please at this age, especially over reading books. And while I think she understands the concept of “no” to some degree, I also think she gets confused. There are times she says no when she clearly means yes.
  • When she hears a plane (or helicopter), she declares Pane! Pane! When she hears the rumble of a loud truck engine, she says Ca! Ca! (her word for truck). Also, when she sees a plane in the sky, even when it’s very small because it’s far away, she becomes excited and shouts her word for it and babbles. Sometimes she mistakes a bird in flight for a plane as well, but she’s starting to make the distinction. The other day she pointed to a black bird and said crow (though the “r” sounds like “w” still).

She’s also added new words: bag, bear, bow-wow, bubbles, bus, crow, foot, neigh, ooo-ooo (monkey), pop, poop, quack, sneeze, tummy, tunnel.

i want this one

I want this one!