Sailboat race

"Breeze in the face, breeze in the face, just enough for a sailboat race."

This is the little song that Ari sings to Yemaya when it is windy.  She loves the wind, it makes her laugh and kick her feet.  I like to think that it reminds her of home.

Ari and I did actually go out for a sailboat race a few weeks ago (before life became too busy to do anything).  Our boat was not the fastest, and in fact we thought it might be the slowest, until we heard the horn go off for another boat 10 minutes after we finished.  It was dark by then so we couldn't really see them.  Ari says we need new sails to go faster, I think we should save money and not worry about winning.  Different philosophies I guess.

Walking with dada

Standing Up and Family Comment Winner

She can now pull her self up to standing all on her own!  Are we in trouble or what?  The baby cloth has to be all the way up now because she can pull up and lunge herself over it. 

She loves standing, but it really makes her mad when she falls or can't quite pull up to see something she wants.  She will just sit and cry and whine until she get what she wants or can pull herself up.  Did I mention that I think we have a stubborn and tenacious daughter?  We have no idea where that came from.

 

 

Also, we cleaned out her toy bag, and this is her laying in the middle of all of her toys (minus the singing dog that lives in the car).  I think this may be one of the best moments of her life.

The family comment contest has come to an end.  Thank you to all of you who participated. Congratulations Pop, you came in first place with seven comments, and will be receiving a Yemaya photo album (hopefully before she turns one).  Kate, you were a close second with five comments and will be receiving a good second place prize (I'll come up with something good I promise).  Thanks to all the non-family members as well for your thoughts and ideas.  I love hearing from you all on my blog.

Also, we had a nice visit with Grammie, but didn't take a single picture to post here.  Thanks for coming out!

Kids aboard books

One of my readers (yeah!) Lara asked about what books I read about having kids aboard.  I've been meaning to post my list for awhile and to see if anyone else had other suggestions.  I read them all when I was pregnant and we were thinking of living aboard.  They are now somewhere in storage, so I will have to recall from memory what I liked about each.

Adventuring With Children: An Inspirational Guide to World Travel and the Outdoors by Nan Jeffrey


I really liked this book a lot. Nan Jeffrey had twin boys, and another baby later I think as well.  They traveled by sailboat as well as many other adventures.  This book definitely made me feel like there was no reason to be afraid of giving it a try.



Cruising with Children by Gwenda Cornell





Babies Aboard by Lyndsay Green






Kids in the Cockpit: A pilot book to safe and happy sailing with children by Jill Schinas



 The three listed above have somewhat similar advice, but each has it's own gems.  They are quick reads, and were worth it to me.  I like to be informed!


All in the Same Boat : Living Aboard and Cruising by Tom Neale

 This is the only one I found written by a man.  It was good to read about kids aboard from a father's point of view.


Cruising for Cowards: Strategies, Boats and Equipment Preferred by Experienced Cruisers by Liza Copeland

We read this one in the beginning of our cruising dreams.  It is not all about kids, but I think there is one chapter in there that was really good about kids aboard.  The rest of the book was a good read for someone who has never been cruising before (like me).  Simple and practical tips and some good stories.

If anyone else out there has suggestions of good books I'd love to read them.  I figure I can't be too prepared. 

A day at the beach

Yemaya loved the ducks, digging with the tools, and her very first
taste of sand!

Baby Safety (Part Two)

This post is for you Dad.

Part one was the baby gate cloth, and lee cloth for her berth (which does need some redoing already, now that she has figured how to poke her head out and look at us when she is suppose to be asleep, which lead to the worst bed time ever last night, but that is not the point here).

 Baby gate cloth half up.

Part two took place today and over the weekend.  I installed baby latches on our only two cabinets.  They both have things in them that it would be best for Yemaya to keep out of.  In addition, the latches they have on them are not the best underway, and have been known to open up when we are really healed over on port tack.  The new baby latches should help serve as a nice back up when the primary latches fail.  It is strange that I live in a world where I need secondary latches.  Yemaya and I learned an important lesson during the instillation, she hates power tools.  I had to stop after each latch to comfort her, so it took quite awhile, and I'm glad it is done.

 Baby Latch

We also purchased a kid harness and tether from West Marine this weekend.  There was a brief discussion in the store about how we could make our own and maybe save a little money, but we quickly came to the conclusion that it would never happen while our daughter was young enough to need the harness.  Today, I tried out the harness.  It took a bit of fussing, on my part and Yemaya's, but once I got it on, it looked good.  I could pick her up from it in back, and she played on deck harnessed and tethered.  I still have to work out exactly how long her tether can be and where the best place to tether her is, but it seemed like it will work.  Her harness is now ready and waiting by the companionway hatch for the nice days of spring.

Happy harnessed baby!

 

Baby Bath?

She has a little baby tub on the boat, but this worked just as well and did not require heating up any water on the stove.  I'm on the look out for a tub(and by that I mean plastic bin) that is big enough for her to lay down in.