May is almost over, and I have not blogged the entire month. I have several good reasons. The first week of May was my last full week of maternity leave, so I pretty much just held Annabel the entire week and went on our beloved daily walks in the park. I also did a couple of things I swore I would do during maternity leave but didn't do in the beginning (because I was figuring out what on earth to do with a baby), didn't do in the middle (because I had plenty of time left to do it later), and didn't do at the end (because I was savoring every second of my remaining days with my baby). I think I accomplished probably three things on a much longer list. Regardless, I'm going to try to breathe some life back into the blog since hopefully a few of you are still checking in on us. [crickets chirp] Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Have I run you off with my delinquency? Well regardless, here's what we've been up to, in somewhat chronological order, since we last checked in.
1. Annabel has been sleeping in her room by herself. The first night she did so, we were under tornado warning all night, and there is a big tree close to her room, so I stayed up all night. Everything was fine, of course -- though I was pretty sleepy the next day. Annabel is still the cutest sleeper in the house.
2. Fox ran his 10th marathon on April 30. Pretty amazing. That's 262 miles in races alone, not counting the thousands of training miles. Annabel got to cheer him on for the first time -- she was still in utero for his last marathon. It was a nail biter for Annabel, because she expected Pops to win. He did not. We had a good time though, and Annabel got to hang out with Fox's parents and grandparents.
3. Much to my dismay, Annabel slept through her first Kentucky Derby. For the first time, I questioned if she was, in fact, my child. I love the Derby -- actually, the entire triple crown, but especially the Derby. I always watch it. We went a couple times in law school. When I was in middle school, the honors kids got to go on a trip the first weekend in May. It was really fun - the trip rotated every three years among Atlanta, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. We would go to a baseball game and an amusement park, but it meant I would miss the Derby. I would have my dad tape it for me (you know, because we used VCRs back then) and not tell me who won (you know, because we weren't on the internet at all times and places, so things could still be a surprise). Then I could watch it when I got back from the trip and enjoy the excitement. I think about kids now -- I suppose they would just stream it on their iphones while on the honors trip (though perhaps there are no honors trips now due to liability issues. [insert lawyer joke here]). Anyway, the point is, I love the Derby. Annabel does not yet (though she is wearing one of my old school onesies from the 70's... okay, the very, very end of the 70's, like one of the last six weeks or so. She is not in 80's clothes. There will be time for that later). I have also made myself sound super-old in this paragraph -- dang kids nowadays with their iphones and streaming media. I think I'll put on some clothes from the 70's and yell at them to get off my lawn.
No mint juleps were consumed by this baby
4. I went back to work Wednesday, May 11. I'm not going to lie, it was hard. While I was at work, my dad taught her to say "mama," so when I got home from the office and sat down to a homemade dinner (thanks, mom), Annabel said "mama." Instant tears.
5. Here comes the really exciting part of the blog. On May 14, the Foxes Three headed to California. I had agreed to go to the International Trademark Association annual meeting in San Francisco for work. Annabel came with me for nursing purposes. Fox came with us for babysitting purposes. We made a family vacation of it. I am now abandoning my numbering format for more traditional paragraphs. It should make the trip narrative flow more naturally.
Annabel was a champ on the plane. Nothing makes you as popular as showing up for a five and a half hour flight with a not-quite-four-month old baby. You can actually see the fear (and a hint of "what the crap do you think you are doing") in the other passengers' eyes. Annabel was great, though I would rather give birth again than have to nurse on a plane. The space is so small, Annabel is getting pretty big, and even though nursing covers are great, there's still that guy two seats away from you reading a science fiction book. It's just not a good situation for anyone. However, we all survived. And the flight back to Atlanta is almost an hour shorter, so that's good.
We spent Saturday and Sunday doing some sight-seeing around San Fran. I had conferences Monday through Wednesday. We had already done Wine Country for our vacation four years before, and though it's awesome, it seemed somewhat inappropriate for a baby. So we decided to to head south and see what it had to offer. We settled on Santa Cruz and the neighboring town of Capitola (which was the first resort town on the west coast). Here are some pictures of the fun that ensued.
San Francisco's City Hall -- stunning. It has been the site of some very important and dramatic events.
Annabel went swimming for the first time in the hotel's indoor pool. How could you not smile when you look this cute in a swimsuit?
Chinatown!
Kerouac alley
Outside the best bookstore in the world. Funny story - San Francisco is not really a "baby" place. People look at you as if you've brought some alien being into their midst. I believe they may have forgotten that at one time they were also small babies. Anyway, City Lights is a tight space with a lot of stairs, so we took Annabel in by the counter and took turns with her while the other of us walked around. I waited with her first and noticed there were City Lights onesies. I asked the cashier what sizes they had. He told me they only had one size, so I asked (quite logically, I thought) "What size is it?" He looked pointedly at me from behind his hipster glasses and said "You just need to know how big your kid is." So I let it go. Fox came back to watch Annabel while I perused the store. I went straight upstairs to my favorite part -- the poetry room. I was looking at the wares when I heard someone huffing and puffing up the stairs. I didn't turn around, as I thought it my be impolite. After what seemed an eternity, the person passed by me, took out a set of keys and opened a door in the back. He was tall, had white hair and a white beard, was wearing jeans and sneakers with thick, white soles (like Vans, perhaps). I could only see him in profile, but immediately my breath caught in my throat. It was Lawrence Ferlinghetti. But it couldn't be. He was like 90 years old. Would he still be coming in to City Lights? I hung out alone in the poetry room, waiting for him to return so I could get a proper look. After about five minutes, he emerged, relocked the door and turned to see me staring at him. He smiled a very gentle and knowing smile and said "hi." I stared, dumbfounded at him, clutching a book of his poetry in my hand and said "hi" back to him. Then he started down the stairs. Of course I followed him, kicking myself for not saying something more. But what do you say? "Are you Lawrence Ferlinghetti? Hello, last living beat poet and founder of the best bookstore in the world. Thank you for being involved in an amazing literary movement. What was it like? Tell me everything you know. Will you sign my book? Will you have a cup of coffee with me? Will you smile at my daughter?" Instead, I watched him walk to the front of the store, past my daughter and husband, say bye to the snarky cashier, and open the door into the San Francisco sunlight. I ran to Fox and said a series of "ohmigosh, holycow, didyouseethat."
Bay Bridge
Pier 39 and its fantastic sea lions
Prior to this trip, Fox had not gotten to spend a ton of time with Annabel. He has been really busy at work, and since I was off work, I had plenty of time to tend to Sweet Bug. However, on the trip, he was going to be in charge of her while I was in my meetings. I know he was a little nervous, but they ended up having a great time.
He even took her to the San Francisco MOMA, where she enjoyed some large paintings.
We went to Golden Gate Park where Fox News attempted to interview us about San Francisco. We told them we weren't from there, and when they heard our accents, they agreed and let us be.
Hanging out at Haight-Ashbury with Owley
We headed to the Santa Cruz boardwalk, which though closed (it opens Memorial Day) was really fun. We couldn't ride the rides with a baby anyway, and we enjoyed walking without a lot of people. Here is the bridge from Lost Boys. R.I.P. Corey Haim.
We spent the next day in Capitola and celebrated Annabel's 4 month birthday. She got to play in sand for the first time ever.
We also went back to Santa Cruz (it was all of 5 miles away) because it is one of the most naturally beautiful places we've been.
It was such a great trip! I recommend Santa Cruz/Capitola to anyone who wants a really laid back and beautiful place to visit. We were pleased to learn that Annabel was a great traveler. We got lots of compliments from passengers on both planes. Speaking of planes, we had the most exciting diaper change of all time on our way back to Atlanta.
I'm actually pretty scared of flying. I am not proud of this. I like to think of myself as tough, but really I do have a couple of big fears. Flying with Annabel was great for me because I was so preoccupied with having her nurse during take-off and landing to prevent the change in pressure from hurting her ears that I didn't even think about being nervous (for those of us who are afraid of flying, take-off and landing are the scariest). On the flight over, we did a couple quick diaper changes at our seat. However, on the flight back, we had a serious poop situation (I'm sorry I have to talk about poop, mom. The story really doesn't make sense if I don't.) that required us to go to the plane's bathroom. So all three of us headed to the front bathroom. The flight attendant told us we couldn't wait up there for the bathroom to vacate, so we should go to the one in the back of the plane, which we did. We waited there for its previous occupant to leave. When it was empty, we folded the changing table down, Fox held Annabel under her arms, and I opened her diaper. The flight started getting really bumpy. I got out some wipes. Then the flight got a lot bumpier, and the captain came on and said, "Flight attendants, return to your seats." I started to breathe a little harder. Then the plane lost a little pressure. The toilet beneath the changing table flushed. The captain came on the loudspeaker and said "FLIGHT ATTENDANTS RETURN TO YOUR SEATS NOW!" I started breathing a lot harder, and at this point, I'm starting to cry a bit. I have never slapped a diaper on Annabel as fast as that moment. Then I grabbed her, half clothed, and sprinted to our seat, abandoning Fox to pack up the diaper bag and figure out what to do with the dirty diaper I had stuffed into a barf bag. As soon as I sat down, the captain came on and said that we were through the worst of the turbulance. It figures. Annabel was fine throughout the whole ordeal. I, however, will take a pass on future harrowing diaper changes. That is an adjective that should never be applicable to the changing of a diaper.
I hope everyone out there has a fantastic week, and I'll check back in sooner next time. One final note - a big congratuations to Aunt Jordan, who just graduated with her master's degree. We're all very proud of you!
She decided to be nonphotogenic for once. Attagirl, be like your mom. Do something awkward when the camera is around. Even awkward is cute on her though.
