Visiting Ann and Jason

Matt had a few weeks off between jobs, so we decided to head up to Eureka to visit Matt's parents. We decided to take it slow and make a few stops on the way. I had always wanted to go to San Luis Obispo, so we made our first stop there. I booked a cute hotel and a room with a hot tub, with dreams of a cute dinner and stroll in town followed by a leisurely night for Matt and I will Keira slept. We got stuck in LA traffic on the way, so the drive took nine hours rather than 5. I was really disappointed, and Keira was NOT happy about being in the car that long.

Keira's first time at Pea Soup Anderson's


Keira and Matt next to a Yarn Bomb in San Luis Obispo


The next night we stayed at Ann and Jason's house. It was great to see old friends! We put the baby the bed and had a normal dinner like old times. They had just bought a house, which was adorable. Their neighborhood, Land Park, is awesome -- I had no idea there was anything like that in Sacramento! The streets are lined with leafy trees so it was cool even though it was the middle of summer. They lived a block from a really big park and were close also to the zoo and a place called Fairy Tale land. The neighborhood felt peaceful, but was only a five minute drive from midtown! To top it off, Sacramento is much more affordable than San Diego. I spent the rest of the week trying to convince Matt to move to Land Park.

Ann, Jason, Keira and Matt in Land Park


Jason showing Keira how a guitar works


All of us in front of the Jason/Ann house

Surprise visitor from Shanghai

Our good friend from Shanghai, Nina, is on a seven month world tour. She started in the Netherlands (her home country), then traveled through southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Now she is tackling the US! She made a brief stop in San Diego, so Matt and I attempted to be good tour guides. We took her to Cabrillo National Monument, Mexican food at Bahia, and then for ice cream in La Jolla. She thought La Jolla cove was "really a special place" and she was excited to see all the seals and crabs in the tide pools.





I hadn't been to Cabrillo Monument in years. It reminded me how many beautiful and interesting sites we have in San Diego. I need to go back and revisit a lot of places!



Keira's first dip in the ocean. She didn't like it at all.



Nina taking photos of the seals.



One of Nina's comments about the US was that there are lots of homeless people. It is sad that that is one of the most noticeable things to her in her first weeks in the US.

Father's Day

Today was Matt's first Father's Day! Keira made a very cute card for Matt. The front of the card said "There are lots of great fathers in the world", and had her hand and foot print. The inside of the card said "Butt you're the best!" and had a butt stamp. I think this is the only year that we will attempt a butt-print Father's day card! We also gave Matt a photo book with pictures of Keira's first four months of life. I am pretty sure that Matt loved his card since both he and Keira tried to eat it while I was taking their picture.




Matt requested a soccer day: He played soccer in the morning, and then we all went to watch a game of the San Diego Flash. It was Keira's first soccer game! We all had fun, but it was extremely hot. I brought a hat for Keira, but I should have brought one for Matt. His head was as red as a tomato at the end of the day. Then, Matt grilled himself a giant steak and ate the whole thing.








We also visited Keira's Nana (aka Rohit), but I didn't get any pictures. I think Keira, Matt and I had too much sun.

Keira starts solid foods

Keira has been a really easy baby. When she started sleeping through the night on her own accord at 2 months old, I was ecstatic. But at 16 weeks, she reverted to waking up every two hours to eat and be cuddled. I love cuddling Keira, but I definitely don't do well without sleep. I mentioned the sleep problems to our pediatrician at Keira's four month well-baby check, and he said that she wasn't getting enough calories during the day and that we should start solid foods. I was hesitant to accept his advice, because all of my work at Unicef and Oxfam was based on the WHO guideline that children should not get ANY supplementary foods until they are at least 6 months old. Dr. Gerber told me that there is new research that the ideal time to start complementary foods in order to prevent food allergies is actually closer to 4 or 5 months. He said that this is especially true people of Scandinavian descent. So, I bought some rice cereal and prepared it for Keira!

I have to say, I do think she was ready, because for the past few weeks she has been fascinated with my food and was always trying to grab my spoon!



I would say that the rice cereal has been a success, because now Keira only wakes up one time every night rather than two or three times. Plus, she is really cute when she tries to eat, and it is a nice change form preparing and washing bottles all the time!



Is she the cutest thing ever, or am I just her mom?



I sure hope she doesn't have any food sensitivities like me and her Great-Grandma Janet!