Help from Uncle Sam

Sam had some business to attend to in LA, so he decided to make a weekend of it and spend some time at our house. Lucky us! Sam might've regretted his choice because he spent the entire weekend trimming the trees in our back yard. It was a huge help -- Our yard feels so light and airy now, and the view from our bedroom is much better!



Sam also hung a baby swing that I had bought


Keira loves her swing! She is quite a daredevil -- the swing has a really wide arc because the tree is so tall, but she still loves it.


Bye, Uncle Sam! Come again soon.....There are four more trees in the front yard! (Just kidding....next time you should come and chill out on our couch and not work at all.)

Pools and popsicles

Auntie Maya and Malini came over to swim with Keira in her baby pool! First, Keira modeled the adorable bathing suit that Auntie Malini gave her.



We weren't sure how Keira would react to the baby pool, but we think she liked it! She seemed very serious: What is this watery substance? What happens when I kick my legs? Does it taste good? She wasn't smiling but she also wasn't fussing.



We really worked up an appetite after all that time in the water. Auntie Maya agreed to carry Keira in the Baby Bjorn all the way to the popsicle shop.



Mmmmm, strawberry balsamic goat cheese popsicle! Wow, Keira, that's a really adventurous choice for your first popsicle. You've got sophisticated taste, baby!



The rest of the day, Keira's breath smelled like goat cheese.



Keira moved on from the goat cheese pop to a "dog pop." Don't worry -- it's just made out of carrot juice and apple juice!

Keira at 5 months

At five months old, Keira seems poised to crawl. Everyday I wait for her to have the "lightbulb moment" when she figures out how to coordinate all the movements she has been practicing for the last few months. At this point, she can move backward in an inchworm fashion. She also likes to lift her arms and legs when she is on her tummy, then push her torso up with her arms, then lift her arms and legs into the air again like an airplane. I am not sure if she is just playing, or if she think that will move her somehow....One thing is for sure, she will be crawling any day now.


She has also starting saying "ma mam ma ma ma" and sometimes "uummmmmmm". M is her first consonant, probably because of all her aunties! I would like to think she is saying mama for me, but unfortunately she doesn't yet attach a meaning to the sounds she makes.



I feel like she is growing so much older. I am excited to see more of her personality, but sad that time seems to be going so quickly! She has started sitting in the child seat of the shopping cart at the grocery store. She looks really cute, but she also looks so mature that it makes me a little bit sad. I am sure I will laugh at myself later for thinking my 5 month old seems mature!

Keira's first swim in a pool (and a brush with the law!)

On our way back from Humboldt, we stayed the night at the Holiday Inn Express off the 5 near Pea Soup Anderson's. (I think the town might be called Buellton, or something like that?) I am so excited to have found that hotel: It is the perfect stopping point halfway between Eureka and San Diego. The town itself is nothing but gas stations and a few hotels, but the Holiday Inn was actually quite nice and peaceful. When you are in the courtyard of the hotel, you can hardly tell you are in a dry, dusty highway rest stop. It will be perfect for future trips because Keira can get her energy out in the pool at night and in the morning, they have free breakfast that is actually good, and the room isn't too "motelish".

We decided to take Keira for her first swim because she had been stuck in the car the entire day before (7 hours)and would be facing a similar fate again.


Matt and Keira contemplating their swim.


Keira isn't quite sure what to think.



After they got in the pool, a police officer came charging into the pool area. At first I thought he was upset that Keira was just wearing a diaper. (I wasn't quite sure how to dress her and decided that just a regular diaper would be ok!) It turns out that the man standing in the background of the picture near the fence had been swimming naked before we got there. Things got sort of awkward because the cop was yelling about how he was swimming naked near "that nice family over there". We hadn't seen him swimming naked. I heard him telling the cop he was at the hotel with his mom because he was trying to come down off of heroin. Wow! What a great hotel we picked, lol! Actually, the hotel was great and I didn't feel weird at all there. His mom was a really sweet looking older lady. He kept calling her "mama". the whole thing was odd. Maybe he was just messing with the cop about the heroin thing? Weird.


Ok Mom, I guess I'm ok with this "swimming" thing!


Mom, I love swimming! (I think Matt is looking over at the cop and the naked guy!)

Bonding time for Keira and Grandpa Massey

Pud'n Fest 2011

Every year, Matt's friends put on an event called "Pud'n Fest". The first Pud'n Fest consisted of events occurring in a baby pool filled with pudding. This year, the Pud'n Fest theme was "pop" and the pool was filled with popcorn. Everyone was supposed to bring a food according to the theme, so we brought Pop Can Chicken. It was definitely a day filled with silliness. It was really great to see old friends and reminisce about the old days before we all had kids. Wow, I can't believe I just wrote that! Weird.

April Winkle carrying Keira in the Moby Wrap

Svea Winkle (Keira's other new BFF)

Keira and Dad in front of the party house

"Remind me why I'm sitting in a pool of popcorn?"

Pool filled with popcorn

Dad after the popcorn wrestling match...Eeeww!

April and Matthew live in Scotia, which is an old mill town. The whole town belongs to the mill. Mill workers used to live there, but now other people can rent homes there. The mill is still the center of the town, and it is the view from the Winkles' living room. The town is surrounded by mountains covered in Redwoods, so it feels very secluded. April says that their house is haunted!

Keira's first trip to Humboldt

Keira took her first trip to Humboldt at 4 months old. It was a very exciting trip! She didn't like the drive at all, but she had a good time once we got there. Keira got to...

....play scrabble with Grandma...

...ride on Lenny, her favorite dog...

.....have of photo shoot on Grandpa's fur rug...

....go to the Eureka Zoo with Grandma...

....spend an evening at home with Grandma and Grandpa while Mom and Dad had their first date night...

....meet her future BFF...

...hang with the boys...

...see the "tall trees" that Dad is always talking about....

...meet Uncle Sam for the first time...

....ride in Grandpa's boat...

It was a great trip! See you next year, Grandma and Grandpa!