Visiting the cousins

Up here in Canada we have been spending many busy days with the Paynes.  Yemaya is not used to all the noise and busy bodies here, so she naps more than usual.  Sometime she cries and if we walk her into a quite room she is happy again.  She is a little spoiled by her quiet life in California.

Last night we had our first experience with a vomiting infant.  Despite the fact that she is quite the spitter-upper, I was horrified by the amount of vomit all over me.  My sister in law agrees that child spit up soaked through to your underwear is the worst!  She seems to be recovering well, and we only had to wet vac the carpet and couch so far.  Luckily anything that Yemaya could slime up, one of her cousins has probably slimed before.

Long trip north

Well, we made our 14 hour trek to visit family in Canada and for
Yemaya to see her native land. It was long and Ari and I watched
movies instead of sleeping on the plane. By the time we got to the
train station Ari could hardly see straight. I however was still awake
like a champ. By Christmas day we were almost back to normal. Ari set
his alarm so not miss all the little ones fun. The next morning the
whole house was up at six with Ari's alarm. Good thing we didn't all
sleep through.

I said I would never

I used to see parents give their keys to children to play with, and
for what ever reason I thought that there was something bad about
that. Well, now that I have a baby and want to eat lunch without
anyone in my lap, I have changed my mind. Of course, letting a child
play with my iPhone... I don't know about that. Owen "helping" me make
a video of Yemaya was just good sense. And Yemaya is too small to hold
the phone anyways.

The Yellow Sweater

The legend has it that this sweater took nearly 30 years to complete.  The design is fancy and intricate and the acrylic yarn was hard to come by, but it was the ribbon detailing that really took the last 29 years or so.  But at last my mother finished it at Thanksgiving and my daughter will now been seen in a sweater meant for the previous generation of Finger girls.  We have some ideas of putting her in a green outfit underneath and making her look like a flower.  The first fitting did not go so well, but she has since been able to wear it without crying.

Why is she crying?

The other day she was screaming in the car the whole way from the store home.  She was fed and changed, so I had no idea what was wrong...until I went to get her and saw this...

I would be mad too if I puked all over myself.  I made the photo nice and big so you can see the detail.

Photos and more soon about all our adventures in Denver (if my sister Kate ever emails me some pics).

This one's for Deirdre

Deirdre has the best taste in clothes!  And she hasn't even spit up on it yet.

She reads

Our New Sail

So we hoisted the new drifter and it is quite something.  We bought it off Craigslist for $400. (Plus it came with 4 bins of miscellaneous junk thrown in that the sellers wife foisted off on us.  I am very excited about all the junk.  Ari and I have a bet about how much I can make selling the junk.  He thinks $75,  I say $100.)  It seems to fit fairly well, which is a bit of a surprise because both my husband and the seller seemed a bit unsure of all the dimensions.  We have not actually used it to sail the boat and there are some concerns that it might not tack well between the jib and jib topsail stays.  But who needs to tack when trying to go upwind in light air?

The whole process of hoisting a sail was a bit more difficult then I would ever have imagined.  Ari has been sick for a few days and keeps getting out of bed acting like he is doing fine.  And then he will say things like "I feel a little woozy."  So when I proposed the sail hoisting project I thought he was feeling better.  Only to discover halfway through that he is still feeling sick and light headed.  So, I feel a little guilty that I let him go out on the bowsprit twice.  Also, when I suggested hoisting the sail the baby was asleep, and she of course woke up as soon as we got the sail on deck.  So I lay her down in the cockpit on a sail bag, and Ari or I would go back and check on her when she started complaining about how boring it was by herself looking at the sky.  In our efforts to hoist the sail, with Ari not thinking clearly because he has hardly eaten in two days and me half thinking about my poor baby in the cockpit, we (I) first hanked the sail on to the wrong stay, and we hoisted it up before we realized what was wrong.  But at last we got it up on the right stay, and it is glorious!

But, does it really matter how many sails your boat has if you are too scared (and messy) to take your baby out sailing and you live on your boat?  Yemaya will be 4 months old this week and she has been sailing three times!  Twice on a 30 ft catamaran and once last night on our Santana 22 just up to Jack London Square and back.  And perhaps soon we can take her out on Macha.  I guess as long as the boat doesn't heal very much I can hold her safely underway.  But when Macha is powered up by the afternoon Bay wind, I am worried my little one and I will not have very much fun sliding around in the boat.  But who knows, perhaps we can just play on the sole and come up when things are calm and we will not be in the way.  And maybe we will figure out the whole car seat lashed down below thing too.  Since she can't really move herself around yet I worry about leaving her in a padded berth where she may get smushed in a corner with out really being able to get herself out on her own.  But soon she will be older and stronger which will help me be braver about the adventures we take her on.

We have refrigeration

So, for the record I am fine living with out refrigeration.  I have read Lin Pardey's book "The Care and Feeding of a Sailing Crew."  And I know that most stuff does not need to be kept in the fridge.  But Lin Pardey is not a breast feeding mom who wants to leave her baby with her husband in the evenings from time to time.  So after much discussion and a some difficulty we have bought and wired in a small fridge.  I can not wait to fill it with milk and lots of other things.  Ari can't wait for cold beer (I mean as long as there is a fridge, we can drink cold beer).  I'm sure that it will fail at some time, but until that day...I am so happy!

Yemaya at the Claremont Hotel

She loved the king sized bed and had a very relaxing day at the spa.  She said she is happy to return anytime.  

Baby Monkey

Well in case you missed it the first time around... Yemaya was a monkey and Ari and I were on Safari.  We went on a Halloween Parade with Deirdre, Naomi and her family.  Yemaya missed out on most of it because she apparently thinks her Halloween costume is for sleeping.

 

A Macha Halloween

I can't wait!  My favorite holiday is coming so soon.  Today we went to this Alameda Parents Group and carved a pumpkin.  We have no candles so I made a little alcohol burner with tinfoil to light it up.  The flame is a little bluer and not as bright, but took some nice pictures.  The jack-o-lantern is in honor of Ari's study of celestial navigation with a North Star nose and Waxing and Waning Moon eyes.

Yemaya's new berth

Well, she is almost too big for her basket now.  So we finally cleaned up enough so that she can sleep in her very own big girl berth.  Last night she made it through the night all by herself in her big bed (despite the scary howling wind).  I had to put on some white noise to cover up all the little bangs and howls from the wind.  As I told Ari last night, "Scary Wind Storm" was not one of the tracks on the, "White Noise for Babies," album that we use.  Here she is taking a nap, as cute as can be. 

And here is a video so you can hear the scary wind that we have been having for the past few days.  Ari reports being land sick at work because of all the bouncing the boat is doing.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to buy a BIG genoa sail last weekend.  Pictures to follow once we get it up. There have been strong winds for a few days, so that will have to wait. 

On the way I saw a sign for the pumpkin patch, and I love Halloween!  So we stopped in to see the world record corn maze, and it was decimated by a previous storm.  We did how ever see many pumpkins bigger than Yemaya.

Cute hands

Yemaya can do all sorts of things with her hands now. She can get her
thumb in her mouth, put toys in her mouth and hold on to her parents
shirts. She likes to feel Ari's beard when he gets her in the mornings.

More baby video

I'm not sure they should give video cameras to new moms.  But she sure is cute.

Monkey

It's raining, so I dressed her up warm in her monkey suit. She
couldn't be cuter.

Drip, drip, drip

So we knew there was a leak in the bed...but it really does suck to wake up to a drip on your toe.  But good news, it was not just one drip, but at least two!  The rain is suppose to let up soon.  So we should have a chance to fix a few of the leaks before the winter is really here, and before a few more leaks spring up.

Dock Baby

The first storm of the season is coming and we had to turn the boat around in the slip.  Because I have nightmares about the boat getting away from us when we are warping it around, the baby can not be on the boat when we are moving docklines.  So instead, we placed her on the dock in her basket where she would be safe.  Notice  the "safe" cans of diesel next to her on the dock. 
But she was happy as a clam, babbling away and watching the storm clouds roll in.  

We went to Fairyland

This was the best day ever.  We had lunch at the new Lake Merritt Boat House.  The food was nice, the beer was yummy, and no one got attacked by a seagull, goose or pigeon.  Afterward we took a walk and ended up going to Fairyland, a wondrous place for all children (except Yemaya, I think she could care less).

First we saw all the animals.  There were bunnies, ducks, donkeys, goats, and geese. 

Then we saw the castles.

Then we changed diapers and outfits, due to a code brown, and feed in front of the castle.  It was totally worth the $14 for us to get in.

We tried to take her on the train, but she was too sleepy and screamed when we picked her up because she just wanted to sleep in her stroller.  So she slept down the yellow brick road.

We are bad, or stupid, parents because then we took our happily sleeping baby into the musical fairy tunnel.  Where of course she woke up, and surprisingly was not too mad about it.  The tunnel is actually really cool.  There are bells, chimes, and some kind of rolling thing.  The acoustics are neat and there are fairies on the walls.  It is the kind of place a five year old would love.

All in all Fairyland was fun.  I think even by the time she is a year old she can get a lot out of it.  Ari and I enjoyed ourselves and were happy to spend a Friday afternoon together as a family instead of Ari being at work. 

She talks...sort of

Cute and ready for winter

Hip Mama

So, in my short time in motherhood here in the Bay Area I am quickly learning what the important hip  "must have" baby products are.  Some are actually useful and nice, but I'm not sure that babies with out Sophie Giraffe are really any worse off then those who have one.  But in case you are wondering what every new mom needs, even if she doesn't, here is my list.

1. Babe Au lait (formerly Hooter Hider)

These come in about a million hip fabric patterns and are good for my friends who are anxious about breast feeding in public.  They have a piece of boning that helps hold the fabric away from you so you can see the baby.  I just made one myself last night, rather than paying $35.  My mother taught me to be cheap and not spend money on things you don't need (and even those you do), so I have a hard time buying a yard of fabric with a strap for $35.  It was easy and took about an hour and cost about $9.  I haven't used it yet, so I'll report back.  I used directions I found on the web.

2. Sophie Giraffe

I was given Sophie as a gift from another mom.  She told me at the shower that it was the most popular baby toy.  At my first mom and baby yoga class 12 of the 15 babies had one there.  It is rubber and made in France, so I guess that is how you know it is hip.  Yemaya has not shown really any interest in Sophie or any other toy for that matter, so I can't give you my review yet.

3. Aden + Anais Swaddle Blankets

They have cute little animals and such printed on them, which I'm sure adds to the hipness factor.  They are a lose weave cotton (although I don't think they are organic, and they are made in China, despite the designed in the USA on the tag) and much bigger than the average baby blanket.  My aunt remarked on the absorbing quality as well (good for copious amounts of slime that comes out of my daughters mouth).  I was given the cow one as a gift by a parent at my school.  After many months I have come to the conclusion that I need more than one (because of the aforementioned slime that goes stale if left unlaundered for long).  And because of my mother and the cheapness I cannot bring my self to pay $20 for a yard of cloth (although a 4 pack is only $44), do you see a theme here.  I have been to the fabric store and searched online and I can not find a fabric like them, so I may just break down and buy some soon. 

4. Trumpette Baby Socks

They look like shoes, but they are really socks.  How cute!  I swear that my mom friends mention these more often then any other baby product by brand name.  They all swear that they are the only socks that will stay on.  I have only put socks on Yemaya about 10 times, but they do seem to stay on.  Now that it is fall she will be wearing her ballet slipper and converse socks more often.  I do not know why we talk about sock so often, but apparently as a new mom socks can come up in just about every conversation.

5. Lovies

These are those cute little blankets made of something soft with an animal head, and sometimes arms and legs.  Apparently if you don't have one of these your child will be very sad.  And my friends say that their pediatricians said it is okay for the kids to sleep with them.  I very much doubt that there is a Lovies and SIDS study out there, but whatever the doctor says.  Yemaya has one that looks like a monkey that she has shown some moderate interest in holding accidentally for short periods of time.

6. Ergo Baby Carrier

This is the baby carrier I do not own.  We have 2 slings and a Baby Bjorn, but the really hip and earthy moms all own this one.  It costs about $100, and some are organic.  I keep looking at them in the store and will probably buy one soon, they are quite hard to find used, and when I do find them they sell just below retail.  People report them as more comfortable when the kid is bigger.  And just look at the picture, that mom is hip.

Just in case you were worried that I was bought out by corporate America, my blog has not been sponsored by any of these companies, but they are all free to send me free things if they want.  Also, Mom, I love that you taught me to look at what things are really worth and to not throw my money away on junk.

Laundry Day

Having a baby is great. The stroller can hold laundry on top, below
and even in with the baby. Look close and you might see a little
Yemaya somewhere in there.

She laughs

Today was the best day. Ari made her laugh in the car by shaking a
rattle and smiling. I only heard it, but it made me want to pull over
and see it.

Babies in a row

Here is Yemaya with her first friends, the babies in my new mom group.
They are so cute lined up in a row.

The innocence of babies

Well, the minutes are ticking away until her first doctors appointment with shots.  Here is a video of her innocently looking at her mobile and cooing, not knowing what she is about to have done to her.

Anything with monkeys is funny

She wasn't happy about it, but it sure was cute!!!

Not matching sweatsuits...

Ari and I keep our clothes in these storage bags on the shelf next to
our bed. The idea being that they might stay folded (if you bother to
fold them when you put them in) and you can find what you need.
When I was putting my clothes away this morning one of the bags was
laying on the bed. I started to get annoyed because I thought Ari had
put his pants in one of my bags with my pants. I opened up to remove
the pants that I assumed were mine only to realize they were all
Ari's. Apparently we both own one pair brown cords, and two pairs of
jeans. If I took up wearing only black T-shirts we would be one step
from the matching sweatsuits that my aunt is always worried we will
start wearing to the airport.

Our little tree frog

The only outfit she will wear from now on.

Stroller Strides

Today we went to this excercise class called stroller strides.
Basically Yemaya slept in her stroller while I run, walk, and do silly
things with one of those rubber bands. It was fun, and I meet a mom
who said she lived on a boat with her parents when she was three. She
said she remembers taking a water taxi to and from their boat anchored
near Santa Cruz.
I'm not sure that I really fit in with a lot of the moms who were
there though. The best way to describe them might be the "Sex and the
City" with babies crowd. I over heard two moms talking about how long
it has been since they shaved their legs and joking that it wasn't
long enough yet for them to fit in in Berkeley. I guess it is good
that I wore pants today!

We went to the zoo

Yemaya saw her first real giraffes, elephants, tigers, and zebras.  My moms group took a trip to the Oakland zoo, but we only saw a few animals because of all the feeding and diaper changing (of babies not animals).  I can't wait to go back with Yemaya when she is a little older, because she was unimpressed by the whole zoo thing.

Good Sleeper

Yemaya has started sleeping through the night!  (The picture is of nap time though)  Almost a week of 9pm-7am.  The first night she slept that long Ari asked me if I we should get up and check on her.  I told him no way!  But, what I haven't told him is that get up and check on her almost every night still. 
One of my mom friends with a similar aged baby asked me what I do to help her sleep, and the sad truth is nothing.  We just got lucky in the baby lottery and got one that is a "sleep monster" as Ari would say. 
My mom says that I slept through the night at six weeks.  Ari's mom says that he was a very difficult baby.  I haven't asked about how he slept as a baby, but I am guessing it was not good.  Ari and I are glad that our baby seems to have more of my baby temperament then his.  There are lots of other ways that I hope she is like Ari, such as being curious, smart, funny, and energetic, but I am glad she is more like me in this case.

Solar Cooking

Disclaimer:  There are no babies or mention of babies in this post. 
Ari bought us a solar cooker a few weeks ago.  He found it on some boat website I think.  It is called Hot Pot and comes with a metal reflector and a glass bowl and lid that a black bowl fit inside.  So far it has just been taking up space on our boat.  In fact, Ari was quite surprised when I used it today.  In his own words he said, "I just assumed you thought it was another one of my crazy ideas."  Well, it was not a crazy idea at all.  More like a miracle in cooking.
I decided to start with something simple and that would not be inedible if it didn't really cook all the way.  I picked veggies enchiladas as my first solar cooking project.  (To be honest I have made some kind of solar cookies at some workshop I went to, but I was only sort of involved.)  True to my boat cooking principles I like to see how many "bilge ingredients," canned goods, I can use in a recipe.   These enchiladas are about half from the bilge, half fresh.  I did not use the pickled asparagus in the end because I felt like it was plenty of food, but I know it would have been great too.  I took maybe five minutes of prep including cutting the mushrooms, broccoli, cheese, and red peppers, and then making the layers.  The five minutes of prep puts it in a special category of good boat cooking in my mind.

We had some errands to do during the day and I intended the enchiladas to be dinner.  The recipe I used as a guide suggested two hours of cooking.  The book also suggested that you can sort of use the sun as a timer and turn the solar cooker so that when you put it out the sun is not directly hitting the cooker and it is turned towards where the sun will be when you really want it to start cooking.  So, I put it out about 11:30am (see the first close up of the cooker) and turned it so that it would be in direct sun what I guessed would be a few hours later.  We returned from errands around 3:30pm and Ari was already hungry because he had gone without lunch.  The enchiladas looked cooked and when we took off the lid they smelled yummy and I stuck my finger in and it was HOT!  (I want to buy a little thermometer that I can just put in there with the food.)  The cheese on top was starting to brown and the top tortillas were a little crispy.  I was surprised how wet the bottom layer was, but I read that all the water will come out of the veggies in the cooking process.  The lid is tight so none of it evaporates.
I served it up with sour cream and salsa.  Ari said it was the best, and only, solar cooked meal he has ever had.  And it really was great.  A few bites were too hot to eat with out blowing on them which really surprised me.  I will definitely make solar enchiladas again.
In case you want to do some solar cooking of your own here is my recipe for what it is worth.  But, I recommend using what ever you have in your bilge. And for you land lubbers out there I sure your cupboard has some cans dying to be used as well.

Solar Veggie Enchiladas

5 Corn tortillas (I recommend 6, but that was all we had)
1 small can green chillies
1 small can enchilada sauce
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/2 jar roasted red peppers (about equal to one red pepper)
4 brown mushrooms
1 small bunch of broccoli
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Salsa
Sour Cream

Cut up all veggies and cheese into small pieces.  Lay down two tortillas in bowl.  Put half of each of the veggies in a layer in top.  Pour over half the enchilada sauce and sprinkle on one third of the cheese.  Lay down two more tortillas.  Layer on the rest of the veggies, pour on the rest of the sauce, saving just a little to go over the top, and one third of the cheese.  Lay down the last two tortillas and sprinkle on the remainder of the cheese and enchilada sauce.  Place solar cooker in the sun for 2 hours or more until the cheese is melted and browning and the inside is hot.  Serve with salsa and sour cream.