Sunday, October 30, 2011

Happy Halloween!

It's a bad economy small baby... So we've dressed you for Halloween as... the bear market!  It's... funny?  We'll explain when you're older.




At the end of October


Sara Bela, you were born two months ago! You have changed so much, but your alertness and sweetness only continue to grow. This morning we got up around 7ish, a,nd despite a bout of projectile vomiting (!) we were able to get out of bed and get you changed and dressed without waking up your dad. He was up late picking our housemate Shy and his partner Smoot up from the airport, so I was glad he could sleep.

We then had a fantastic morning with you smiling and laughing a lot at patterns -- like the contrast of the letters and the red rectangular border on the Altoids boxes that are lying around the living room, the shadows behind me when I was dancing to jazz music in front of you, and the black and white pictures in a couple of your favorite books.

Then you slept in your carrier after getting tired, and I made cheesy gluten free biscuits for our returning housemates and for Josh, who can't eat wheat-flour bread. (Here's hoping you don't have the same allergy!)

You listened to a lot of music this morning -- jazz radio, The Ex's Turn (a favorite CD in this house), and a little NPR news (I'm addicted, sorry lady!).

Now I'm typing this up while you hang out with your dad. Sounds like you are waking up -- I'll see you in a minute!

Love,
your mama Hannah

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Napping on my chest

The days of you napping on my chest are limited and precious.  You curled your warm head under my chin.  So grateful!


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Sara Bela likes patterns and can track them!

We were so delighted by how much Sara Bela likes her new mobile -- and to see her seeing and tracking patterns!  See the last 30 seconds especially for eye tracking extravaganza.

laughing action shots!




you're getting kind of laughing-ready, little!

Glowy baby


You are very long -- and you glow in the right light. You are very beautiful, and often very attentive and calm to the world around you. We should all learn from you, small Sara Bela!

I gave you a bath last night with your fancy calendula shampoo -- Josh was ready with your duck towel to wrap you up so you wouldn't get too cold after. I sat with you in the tub and let you nurse as we scrubbed your hands and head and all your parts.

We sang: "Ohhhh ducklet, oh duck, oh ducky ducky duck duck duck," over and over. It's more like a chant, actually.

Then you were glowy and lovely.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Sara Bela at eight weeks!



Sara Bela is now eight weeks old!  I can barely believe it.  It's been a whirlwind adventure of wonderment and cuteness.  She's doing wonderfully and I'm amazed every day at how much she's become her own person and the simple but amazing things she can do.

Right now, she's lying on her back in the new play mat/gym contraption that her (great!) Aunt Leslie gave her while we visited family up in Toronto.  We were shocked to see how much she absolutely *loves* this psychedelic contraption full of eyes and colors and a mirror.  She often shows off two of her new skills when on her back: showing her excitement by waving her hands and legs, and smiling!  Oh yes, she can smile -- and her social smile is incredibly effective at making adults swoon.


Sara Bela Smiling in Her Entertainment Center

One slightly bizarre aspect of her love of this playmat is her obsession with the portrait of the three people you can see in the lower right hand of the image.  She can stare at this portrait for a very long time, and will come back to it again and again.  I'm not sure why ... but one theory is that she loves rectangles.  She's always loved staring at windows, to such a degree that we often talk about her dear personified window comrade "friend window".

Smiiiile

In other developmental news, Sara Bela is getting way better at sticking her hand in her mouth.  Here is some documentary evidence with her Safta Susie:




We've been up to many adventures since our last blog posts, but the two biggest have been our time at Occupy Philly and our trip to Toronto.  Before our week long trip to Toronto, the highlight of many of our days was travelling down to Occupy Philly at City Hall.  During one amazing night, we participated in Kol Nidre (the beginning of the Yom Kippur holiday) at the protest -- I have a deep sense memory of Hannah breastfeeding while standing during the prayers, the sounds of the occupation and a helicopter in the mix.  It was an absolutely beautiful and powerful spiritual experience for us.  A big theme of the service was Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel's famous quote: "When I marched at Selma, my feet were praying."  After Kol Nidre, we walked over to watch the Phillies game which we had worked to make sure would be projected at Occupy Philly.  (The city was not involved, despite rumors to the contrary.)  That was also amazing, despite the tragic resolution of the game.  We've been inspired by all of the energy and optimism from old and new activists in Philly.  Hurrah!

Some Occupy Philly photos:


Baby Revolutionary Fashion
Kol Nidre at Occupy Philly: you can see us in the middle (I am wearing Sara Bela)

Baby Bloc at Occupy Philly family area
Sara Bela & Marco (w/ Hannah and Alicia)

Sara Bela is bored by General Assembly

We just came back from a trip to Toronto.  The drive up was difficult, as Sara Bela became very unhappy every 45 minutes or so and we would stop and hold and feed her.  We thought about giving up on the idea of driving!  But a helpful worker at a rest stop restaurant helped me adjust our car seat to fit her less tightly and she was much happier.  Hannah was a champ and sat beside her and kept her happy and fed ... and by the drive home we had smooth sailing and Cadet Bela was happy.

Our time in Toronto was wonderful!  Sara Bela got to meet her great grandparents, Joyce and Sam, who were absolutely in love with her (of course!):
Sam meets his great granddaughter

Joyce couldn't get enough


as well as her great aunts and uncles and cousins:
Linda was bouncing up and down like a cartoon
Jonathan and a stunned looked Sara Bela
Ben was so sweet with her
Leslie smooches Bela

Here are some bonus photos from the last few days!

Benny snuggles Sara Bela at Clark Park
Bathtime!

Bela has Houdini-like mastery of breaking free of her swaddle




Sunday, October 23, 2011

Peoplehood

Sara Bela had a great time today at peoplehood.   She loves being outside, all the noise and music, and her Rachie and Eileen!


Saturday, October 1, 2011

Cadet Bela's aviator cap


Jeggings in the wild!

Here is a photo of Sara Bela wearing the jeggings (faux jeans  leggings) that her Rachie and her Safta bought for her yesterday!   We are sitting in Clark Park after a lovely morning taco date with Noah and Leah.  We had an easy night last night, with Cadet Bela only waking up at 1am and 5am and then at 9am!  She was wonderfully alert last night and really seemed to enjoy looking at things.  Mars and Stinson baby sat last night!  Sara Bela cried her heart out for the first part but she slept (like a baby) after they and Shy (who is so wonderful with her) fed her a bottle.

Bela went to her first meeting yesterday at MMP with her mom!  She learned all about fundraising.   I worked in a nearby coffeeshop reading developmental psychology papers about High Amplitude Sucking, a method used to get a glimpse of what tinies can tell the difference between and what they prefer.  I'm making a pacifier with a digital out.   Her space captain training continues!