Whale!

First, let me begin by saying that whale’s breath is gag-inducing. While it is not the grossest or worst smell I’ve ever encountered, it is nevertheless kind of awful and is hard to describe. How do I know this? Well, today my mom, her friend Lisa, Fiona, and I went on a whale watching trip.

We left the harbor at 9:30, expecting rough seas and no sightings, but within a short period of time we encountered a pair of grey whales (actually, two different pairs, but we only followed one). We followed them for quite some time, watching their spouts, occasionally they came out of the water enough to see their mouths, and even their tails. Then, they changed direction and we continued on, toward another spray. This time, it was a large humpback whale. We saw the spout a few times, then thought is swam away, until it surfaced RIGHT NEXT TO THE BOAT!!!! And there it stayed for a long time, playing with us, saying hello, rolling over, swishing it’s tail, spraying, blowing bubbles, and generally entertaining all on board. It was AMAZING! Unbelievable. It actually pushed against the boat at one point, and was so close, a person could have touched it. And that is how I learned that the smell of the spray is called “whale’s breath” and it is far, far worse than dog’s breath. The naturalist next to me told me the smell is caused by a combination of oil around the whale’s nose and something in its lungs or sinuses that causes the awful smell. Here are some images and a video that is a composite of everything I got. I’m sorry I am yelling like an idiot. It was just so exciting!

I think the whale was following me because I was not standing in the same place all the time, yet it kept popping up right in front of me. And when I sat down with Fi, it swam away. I’m sorry I did not get the whale’s goodbye as it departed. It turned, dove down, and showed us it’s magnificent tail, but I was holding Fi and could not get to my camera. Sad face.

Fiona was not that excited. She liked the gray whales and spent some time snacking:

She was a little overdressed here, I think.

Anyway, when the humpback whale came up near the boat, it startled everyone, Fi included. It really scared her, as did the bad smell. At one point, after a particularly nasty spout, she started crying, so she spent a good deal of time leaning on me or my mom:

 

I just hugged her and rocked her. Later, on the way back to the harbor, we came upon a half mile long pod of common dolphins. They were so fun, but Fi did not want to see them. Then we happened upon an even larger pod. The boat was not very crowded, so I took this video while sitting down in the middle of the deck:

We were surrounded by dolphins. It was so awesome! I only wish Fi enjoyed it more.

At the entrance to the harbor, we saw Coastal bluenose dolphins. It was a great day for sightings, two pairs of gray whales, a friendly and playful if stinky humpback whale, and lots and lots of dolphins. The water was pretty calm, the sun was shining, the boat was half empty, what more could you ask for? Even the crew was ecstatic at our smelly friend. It was a fantastic day and I am sorry that my dad, who was sick and for whom the trip was planned for in the first place, and John, missed it. At least I got some video. And it was much, much better than the last whale watching expedition, on which most passengers vomited multiple times and we only saw the spouts of two gray whales at the very end. We definitely plan to go again this summer, when there are more humpbacks and also blue whales.

Happy sailing!

Fiona's First Dentist Appointment

Today I took Fiona to her first dentist appointment. The day began with a walk to the park, where I learned that Fiona can climb ladders to get onto platforms and can swing on the swing by herself as well.

 

Then we went to the dentist. I prepared Fiona for her first visit to the dentist by telling her about the appointment earlier in the week. I told her how much I like going to the dentist and we practiced playing dentist by lying on the couch and counting each other’s teeth, and opening our mouths wide and saying “aah”.

We were helped by Christina. Christina showed us around the office (there were murals and toy machines), gave Fi some stickers, and showed us to our room. Christina asked me a bunch of questions about Fi’s eating and brushing habits, and put some sunglasses on Fi so the light wouldn’t blind her. There was a monitor with “Finding Nemo” on, but I don’t think Fi watched very much of it. She was too busy watching Christina clean her teeth.

 

 

  

Fi did everything that was asked of her, lay quietly while her mouth was worked on, and even let Christina brush and floss her teeth. Later, we met Doctor Sunny, the actual dentist, who looked in her mouth, counted her teeth again, and declared that her bottom teeth look fantastic, her upper arch is forming beautifully, and she is considered an early teether because she has all 20 of her milk teeth (and got them by the time she was two years old). Her teeth come together really well and are nicely spaced. He said Fi has the classic tooth set up that they show in pictures, including the photo we saw of the “good” mouth.

Dr. Sunny noticed some signs of early pre-decay (best way to put it) on her upper front teeth. He said it is completely reversible, but we have to be more vigilant, especially because both John and I do not/did not have very good teeth when we were children, despite good oral hygiene habits (yay heredity). Basically, we have to start brushing Fi’s teeth for her (she does it all herself after we read the toothpaste tube together). We need to lift her lip and really get in there. And we need to stop giving her milk after she brushes her teeth. The milk is going to be a tough one because milk and water are part of her bedtime routine (get undressed, brush teeth, bath every other night, pull up, jam jams, milk and water, lights off, hugs and kisses). She is going to have to drink it before she goes to the bathroom to brush. He advised my to stop the binkie use too, because it is starting to affect her teeth, but only slightly right now. In the future it could be a problem. I am not in a rush to do it, and told him it will have to wait until at least the summer because I am not going to deal with giving up the binkie while I am still working.

All in all, I was not surprised by any of the news that her teeth are developing nicely, or that we need to help her brush them, or that she needs to give up the pacifier. Dr. Sunny and Christina both emphasized what Fi’s school told us about juice (not to give it, or only sparingly with meals), eat lots of fruits, avoid sugary and sticky snacks (no problem, Fi snacks on cheese, nuts, and fruit), and continue to brush regularly. We opted to skip the fluoride treatment because apparently they made it taste good and I knew Fi would try to drink it.

After the appointment, Fi got four quarters from Dr. Sunny and got to put them in the toy machines. She got a whistle, some bracelets, and a little rubber duck that is patterned like a soccer ball. She played with the duck on the way home and we talked about it. We came home and had a nice lunch, and then Fi took a nice long nap!

I’m so glad she had a good experience at the dentist. I have been very lucky to always have good dentists so I view such an appointment as a positive thing. I love the way my teeth feel after and I hope Fi learns to feel the same way. I am also inspired to have Family Flossing Time, when we all floss our teeth each night before bed. I do that anyway, so I am hoping this encourages John to get in on the act as well.

Spring Break is almost over and I’m sad because I’ve really enjoyed my week home with Fi. And I know she has too, as can be shown by her napping and good behavior lately. Plus, I had class last night and when I got home, I got the biggest welcome ever. Fi ran around, jumped, and hopped into my arms, threw her arms around my neck, all the while chanting “Mommy’s home! Mommy’s home!” And who wouldn’t feel 20 feet tall at that kind of reception?

Smile!

April 1

Headline Ventura: Fiona becomes brunch for bench! Film at eleven!

Or, Fiona learns Mommy once wore plaid and stripes together, hides head in shame!

I’m not going to write a joke post in honor of April Fool’s Day. I’m not that clever and I don’t care about April Fool’s Day at all. I’m glad I was not teaching because students always want something exciting and this is one thing I put no effort into and don’t really acknowledge. I feel like some people treat it like a holiday and it is NOT a holiday. Plus, I’m just superstitious enough to think that whatever nonsense/fake thing I make up will somehow come true in the worst possible way. So this is just a regular post that I am writing because I miraculously have the time.

What really happened is that Fiona likes to take the cushion off the bench and make it into a bed with blankets. We were getting ready to leave the house and she said she was tired and needed to sleep on the cushion. I told her she couldn’t, so she buried her head underneath it because she thought it was funny. And then she stayed there so I could take a picture. Fiona is starting to learn to pose for Mommy. Should I be worried?

Fi and I did very little today. We walked to the tortoises and played in the house, and she didn’t want to do any of the things I suggested, including leaving the house or going to a park, so I called John and asked if he minded a visit. Fi perked up at the idea of seeing Daddy at work. We went to his workplace and when Fi saw him walking up to meet us (we had to go to a building “off campus” and get passes) she ran to the glass door and yelled “Hello Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Hello!” I tried to explain that he probably couldn’t hear her yet, but she was not deterred. I didn’t take a picture.

Here they are, Daddy and Fi, so cool with their shades:

We got to see John’s office, where Fi pretended to do work:

 

In this picture she is saying, “Haha Daddy, look how messy your office is! Mommy is going to make fun of you!”

 

We had lunch and I gave what is possibly the simplest explanation for anything I ever explained. Fi asked why Daddy had to work and I told her it was his job to go to work. Yup, there is a bit of wisdom right there. I felt like the greatest genius that never was with that comment (maybe this is a joke post after all).

Fi informed me tonight that she is going to work tomorrow. If she is lucky, we will go to the zoo tomorrow.

Fi is really into naming things lately. The swings at the park are Cindy and Squeaky. Her little doggy that she pulls around is named Poosso or Poossoo (I think it is supposed to be Pootzer, but please don’t ask me why because it might cause me to hide my head under the bench cushion). She also figured out how to zip up her jacket all on her own. She knows how to unzip and can zip up if we start it for her, but today, for the first time ever, she was able to connect the two ends together and zip. She had lots of fun “threading” the little pin into the slider and zipping her jacket and even practiced while sitting on the potty. In all seriousness, I consider it a developmental milestone.

Fi napped in the car today so I had a very long drive during which I listened to music and quietly sang along without scaring anyone. She was very pleasant in the afternoon and made herself laugh a few times, which is always a joy to hear and see. Although, I’m afraid she might be inheriting my (and therefore my dad’s) sense of humor, in which case she will be the only person who will be laughing at her jokes later in life. Maybe I will laugh at them too, because I love her so much.

PS John loves her too! Also, he was the one who took her on her class field trip to the teaching zoo and took the photos. I was at work that day. John kept calling it the training zoo and Fi corrected him, telling him it was a teaching zoo. Fi frequently corrects John, and I guess me too, but I have soooo much less to correct (now there is the April Fool’s joke right there)!

Eggs n’ Things

Today, we dyes Easter eggs:

  

 

It’s the first time we tried it at home. I didn’t add vinegar or lemon juice as the box suggested, just water, so our eggs are not as bright as they could be, but they still turned out really neat. Some had cool designs because we drew on them with markers first, others were sort of marbled because I added a little oil to the dye. It did not take very long to dye all 11 eggs (lost one when it cracked open during boiling two days ago) and nothing was stained in the process, other than the eggs. The clean-up was really easy. I intended to hide them in the back yard while Fi was napping, but two things prevented me from doing it.

1) It was raining:

 

2) Fi did not nap. This is that means she napped only twice in the last week. Yesterday we drove to my cousin David’s for Passover and Fi slept in the car on the way.

Please, oh please tell me she is not giving up her nap. I really need that time in the afternoons to do work like grading papers, making answer keys, planning lessons, and writing tests. The two hours between when she goes to sleep at night and when I go to sleep at night are not enough time to do everything for my job, let alone my studies. And, while Fi is generally good natured, when she hasn’t had a nap, she is a ticking time bomb and I never know what is going to set off long periods of whining, crying, and yelling. Those afternoon hours are also my only break in the day, when I am not dealing with someone’s child, my own or someone else’s. I NEED that time. I use that time to make phone calls for such things as doctor appointments and dentist appointments and other things that require a little quiet. And I just can’t believe that a week ago she was taking three hour naps and suddenly she doesn’t need them anymore (so she says, “I don’t need to nap, Mommy, let’s play”). It doesn’t seem right to me. All of her transitions have been gradual, so I don’t believe she just dropped the nap like a sack of potatoes all of a sudden. That leads me to wonder what is really going on with her?

Eventually John took her to the park and I hit the eggs at that time. It was fun to watch Fi’s surprise at finding the eggs.

Maybe it is the after effects of the chocolate seder from last weekend:

Yes, a Passover seder using all chocolate ingredients. It will be much cuter when she is older.

Could it be the excitement for Fi’s first time in a kayak?

 

We went to check out the new REI in Oxnard and John spent quite a while discussing kayaks with my friend’s husband who happens to work there. We found a life vest that fit Fi perfectly. She insisted on holding the paddles, even when John was in the kayak with her. We definitely plan to buy some soon as both John and I love kayaking and think Fi will like it too.

Could the no-napping be the prerogative of the princess?

My little cousin Lindsey loves to dress Fi up whenever we visit her. She has many different dresses and shoes and hats and purses just for dress up. Fi likes playing with Lindsey and it helps her come out of her shell.

Nah, most princesses don’t push their own strollers.

Yup, she’s still doing that.

Well, here’s hoping that Fi’s hiatus from napping is only temporary. Otherwise, I am going to have to start staying at work later so that I can grade papers and do other stuff. It’s not the end of the world, but I am not sure I’m really ready for this phase.

March

March has been a busy month at work and school, but relatively calm at home. Fiona’s class took a field trip to a teaching zoo. They saw some interesting animals like this giant tortoise that Fiona informed me was “ginormous”.

She also got to see a coati, an animal I’ve seen in the wild in Costa Rica (it was less than three feet away), some monkeys and lizards, and other stuff, and rocks:

And the ever elusive dinner-making husband:

The rarest animal of all!

Fi also got to see a fire engine and hold the hose at school. Her school does so many wonderful things. April’s focus will be on spring, and I hear they will be growing caterpillars and watching them turn into butterflies, as well as experiencing a science lab for the first time.

Fi makes picnics for us and brings us food from her kitchen. Sometimes, Baby needs to drink water in the sink:

 

She likes to sit on the swing sideways:

Here is Fi in the BOB after a run recently:

I’d like to compare it to a photo of her from December 2010, when we first got the BOB, and February 2012, a little over a year ago:

 

I can actually see she’s grown. She grows so slowly that I don’t really notice until she can suddenly reach something that she couldn’t before, so her clothes seem short, or I look at old photos in which she wearing the same thing she is now, but the fit is very different, like these photos:

Never mind that the jacket fits a year later, she actually grew!

I got the letter for Fi’s NICU Developmental Follow Up Clinic this week. I thought they forgot about us and I wasn’t calling to remind them because the evaluation is not free (thanks Aetna) and because I am not in a rush to take Fi to the basement of the hospital to be evaluated. I know she is doing everything she should be doing at her age, I don’t need someone else to tell me. The appointment is in two weeks. John thinks we should do it so they, and especially the neonatologist, can see how cute Fi is, but I think Fi is going to clam up when we get there, as is her typical M.O.

Some things Fi is doing, beside “reading” to us, is writing and recognizing words. John wrote “mommy” on the wall and asked Fi what it said. She knew it right away. She also recognizes her name in writing and the word “Daddy”. One day, she was writing something and then said “Mommy! Mommy! I wrote you!” I looked to see what she did and indeed she wrote an M. Today, she was able to connect the zipper on my hoodie and zip it. She can climb vertical monkey bars, jump, dresses herself entirely independently, including color coordinating outfits, puts on her own socks and shoes, sets the table for dinner, cleans up, and knows how to handle telemarketers.

So, I don’t need someone who hasn’t seen her in a year to tell me she is or isn’t developmentally on track. On the other hand, it would be nice to have her weighed and measured and to have our opinions of her validated by professionals, as long as Fi actually does some of the things I know she can do.

In other news, I have no reproductive news to report. We took a break from trying and I took advantage of the time to exercise and focus on work and school more. I’ve been swimming a couple of times a week and running whenever I can. My mile is back under 10 minutes finally (it was closer to 8 before I got pregnant with Fi) and I can fit into all of my pre-pregnancy clothes, including some pants I thought I would never wear again. For the last four months, I’ve felt physically good. I’m back to my pre-Fi weight, my stomach is flat(ter) and I can make out the outlines of muscles in my shoulder, arms, and abdomen. I feel a lot less flabby. It’s been really good. I realized that this was the first time since November of 2009 (when I got pregnant with Fi) that I wasn’t sharing my body with anyone. I wasn’t nursing, anything I ate or drank affected only me. I miss nursing still, but I love the feeling when I’m running as hard as I can that at any moment, with the next step, I will lift off and fly. Good new running music helps too.

So no, as far as I know, I am not pregnant. I hope to be again someday and I appreciate the silence on that topic. I promise that when there is news to tell, I will tell it gladly.

Until then, I will continue with my research (coming along swimmingly), teaching (rocking some classes, not so much others), drinking ridiculous quantities of jasmine green tea, sleeping on my stomach, getting up in the middle of the night when Fi has a random fever (like last night), and swimming and running, and wearing my non-stretchy, skinny cut, size 2 black corduroy pants that I wore with boots to a Specials concert recently. Oh, and going to concerts, and beer (well, I hardly drink, but having one once in a while is quite nice).

Happy Passover to those who are celebrating it right now and Happy Easter to those who celebrate it. I’ve been bread free since Monday night and I can’t wait to dye those eggs I boiled today.  Ah, the benefits of a mixed faith household! Le chaim!