Happy Hanukkah

Eli's first Hanukkah began tonight. Slightly out of traditional order, we first gave him his gift, a caterpillar menorah where each segment of the body holds the candles. It's brightly colored in yellows and greens, and I think he liked it. We put it inside a gift bag, thinking he might be able to look inside and pull it out, and he kind of did. But mostly he just wanted to chew on the bag.




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We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo

I took Eli to the zoo on Monday--technically his second trip, but the first where I thought he might be able to see something.

Despite being well rested and well read, Eli was a grouch. Fuss buster. Cry baby. Pick your term. As I was thinking I might have made a mistake by going there that day, and wondering how loud he would have to scream for the zoo to kick us out for disturbing the animals, we made our way to the African Savannah.

We walked onto a viewing deck where there were two giraffes eating. I guided Mister Fuss Busters eyes to the giraffes, and he fell totally silent. For five solid minutes, he was completely and utterly transfixed by the giraffes. He just stared, and nothing else mattered. It was amazing. One might say I was just as transfixed on him as he was on the giraffes.

Terrible picture--iPhone has its limits--but this was to neat to skip documenting.




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Cousins!

We were really excited to be able to spend the weekend with Ryan and his family. As you can imagine, hijinks ensued:




Eli is in the middle in his usual position with toes pointed in the air. The rest are his cousins Spencer, Ava, Tyler, and of course, Eli's twin cousin, Carter.

We got a lot of good time at some local parks. We went to an apple orchard for cider and donuts. Ryan gave us a tour of Detroit, which is much more interesting than I know you're thinking of right now. Lunch at Zingerman's, where we had a brush with moderate fame in Ed Helms. It was a great weekend and we are glad we had the chance to see them.

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Sadie 2001-2009

I thank her for all she gave me.







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Sad Sadie News

Sadie has advanced kidney failure. When she saw the doctor four months ago, everything was fine. I finally picked up that there was a problem when I realized she had stopped eating. The disease is terminal, although the timeline is highly variable. My sense is that the best we can hope for in time would be measured in weeks, but days is more likely

She's hospitalized right now to get iv fluids, which will make her feel better. The doctor will teach us how to give her the iv on our, so she can be at home. We are, in short, entering end-of-life care for her, making her as comfortable as possible.

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The Cowgirl Eats Some Pumpkin' Eli

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Two From Zion

The second part of our Utah trip was to Zion NP, which has a couple of the most unique hikes you'll find in a national park. The last half mile of Angels Landing extends out on a fin of rock and has many chains to protect you and help you on the exposed route that can leave you walking a three foot wide trail with 1,000 foot drops on either side. The other is The Narrows, where you hike in the Virgin River into a narrow canyon that's 50 feet wide and 1,500 feet tall. Susie got to do all of Angels Landing and close to two hours in The Narrows, but neither was appropriate for little Eli (Ive done each hike on previous trips)

Here are two pictures from Zion. The first is just some adorable cuteness, and the second is Susie and Eli on the first hike we did in Zion to Hidden Canyon. Yeah, the fall colors were awesome.






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Bryce

Last Thursday, we boarded a plane to Las Vegas then went straight up to Bryce Canyon NP. I can't say that much for our lodging--it advertised "clean rooms" and if that's how they want to separate themselves from the competition, something is wrong. But the park is fantastic.

We spent three days in the park. On our first day, we hiked down from Bryce Point into the amphitheater that's so famous and went on the Peekaboo Loop, so named because you wind all around the rock formations, always coming around a corner and seeing something new. The picture below is from that hike.

On day two, we did a hike down across the cliffs, but a less well-travelled part of the park. In the 5 hours we were out there, we didn't see a single other person. We did see towering cliffs of reds and oranges and pinks and whites. There will be no pictures posted to the blog from this hike.

Our third day was a short hike since we were also travelling to Zion that day. Again, we walked along the cliffs in the farther reaches of the park.





Eli has been a great hiker, the star of the trail as always, but he's actually been very difficult when it comes to eating. For now, we are going with teething.

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Head, Fingers, Knees and

Before Eli was born, I was talking to Mark about what he liked about being a parent. One thing he said is that, through them, you get to experience everything for the first time once again. From riding a bike, to swimming in an ocean, to your first "chapter book", all things we enjoy as adults, but never with the enthusiasm that our kids have.

A couple days ago, I decided to give a good introduction between Eli's hands and his toes. I brought his towes to his hands and as he clasped them, his eyes opened as wide as saucers and he grinned, suddenly aware that the feeling in his toes were caused by his very own hand. For about five minutes, I'd bring his hands to his feet he'd grab on for a bit, then let go.

The next day, we practiced a couple more times. And the day after that, I walk up and find that he had grabbed his toes all on his own. Now, he's an old pro.




The bad part is that now he always has these toys to play with, even when he should be sleeping.

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Family Vacation, Part III

In Yosemite, we hiked up above the Wawona tunnel to Inspiration point and Stanford point. It had snowed a couple days earlier, and snow was still on the ground. Our highest point had snow, some wind, temperatures about 45 I'd say, and an excellent view.

The Wawona tunnel is almost a mile long and it's situated such that when you come out the end, you look straight up the heart of the valley. So there we were, sunset bathing El Cap, Half Dome, Bridal Veil Fall, and Eli had his head turned the other way, tracking each and every car that went in and out of the tunnel.




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Family Vacation, Part II

When you go into yosemite from the northern route, the road goes to about 6,000 feet before hugging the mountain and dropping to the valley far below. This is beautiful anytime, but it's simply incredible when you do it at night and the moon is rising over Half Dome.

Our hike on Monday started on the valley floor, and went up the Merced river to Vernal falls. There's a granite staircase that runs a long ways on the canyon wall as you climb past the falls. The trail is called Mist Trail, for during the spring you can get soaked by the spray from the huge waterfall. But now it's a relative trickle (and yosemite falls is totally dry, which is very sad).

We went about half way up to Nevada falls, but the failing light and frigid temperatures forced us to turn around.






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Family Vacation, Part I

We started off with two nights on Stinson Beach, where our house was right on the beach, complete with a cordonned area of sand to keep the riff raff out. Eli got to put his toes in the water, which went about as well as you would expect for 55 degree water. We took a couple of long walks along the beach, playing in the waves as we could.

Due to a very bad night with Eli, I did get to see something that I may very well never see again: a beautiful full moon setting over the Pacific. Now, who can tell me why this is something I may never see again?




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Out with the Old, In with the New

Today is my last day of staring at this for eight hours a day:




And the start of me staring at this for 24 hours a day:



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Mom Got an iPhone!

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Happy New Year!

On Friday, I left work early and met a friend who was staying in Japantown. (The friend's name is Michael, wife's name is Susan, and son's name is Elliot.) Susie and Eli joined us for a relaxing stroll among the sushi restaurants and the Benihana, and Michael took this excellent picture of us.



That night, we all went over to a friend's house for dinner to celebrate Rosh Hashannah. Everyone had fun except for Eli. We're glad we didn't go to the synagogue.

In totally different news, the two directors at work who run our antitrust practice are leaving and starting their own firm, effective at the end of the month. I'm sure they'll make me an offer to join them, but they haven't made it yet. I can't stay at my existing firm--everyone will lose their job, even if they don't get an offer to join the new firm.

I don't think this should affect my family leave plans, so I'm still going to have an awesome rest of the year.

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I Can Explain

My Boss: "Did you know that you're wearing your shirt inside out?"
Me: "No, but I can explain."
Boss: "I was just pointing ot out to be polite, but if there's actually an explanation, I'll bet it's interesting."
Me: "Well, this morning, Susie shook me and said, 'Did you know it's 8:45?"
Boss: "Did you know?"
Me: "No....But I can explain."
Boss: "This sounds like we have a theme for the conversation."
Me: "Well, I was up with Eli three times during the night, for a total of more than two hours. It was the same for the couple of nights before."
Boss: "Wait, you told me Eli was a very good sleeper--6, 8 hours no problem."
Me: "Well, I can explain....Actually, I can't explain this one at all. For the past two weeks, we get maybe 2 to 4 hours. Eli works in mysterious ways."
Boss: "Maybe he's afraid of sleeping through his alarm and showing up late for work."
Me: "Cute, but I didn't sleep through my alarm. I turned it off."
Boss: "You turned it off?"
Me: "This I can explain. I didn't want to wake Eli."
Boss: "You were worried about waking up a baby who already wakes every two hours?"
Me: "We have a rule in our house: You break it, you bought it. I didn't want to end up dealing with him, and then being late for work."
Boss: "But you were late for work."
Me: "Ok, I'll admit to a certain lack of foresight, but-"
Boss: "But you can explain."
Me: "Exactly. It was 3:00 AM when I made the decision to turn off my alarm, and I wasn't thinking straight."
Boss: "So you got the extra sleep this morning, and despite this, you ended up with your shirt inside out."
Me: "As I said from the beginning, I can explain."
Boss: "And the reason is...?"
Me: "The reason is...fine, I have no reason."
Boss: "Don't worry. I've got four kids and you can keep blaming them for random stuff like this for years to come."



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Angels Camp

Mom and Dad were here in SF from Tuesday through Friday. Then they left to stay in Angels Camp for the weekend, and they were kind enough to invite us along. It was over 100 there, so our little boy who likes to be outside needed something cooler. Up the Sierras we went!

On Saturday, we went to the 7,500 foot level, up Ebbetts pass, to Mosquito Lake. It was a cool 81 degrees there. We did a hike of 5 or 6 miles out to Heiser lake, and a beautiful view out to the central valley. Here's Susie and Eli by Mosquito lake as it got dark.




We're in Calaveras county, so note that Eli is appropriately dressed in a froggy shirt.

When we go hiking, Eli's favorite thing is to look at the trees. So of course on Sunday we had to go to Calaveras Big Trees state park that has two big groves of Sequoias. Big, fat, trees. We all loved them. We also had a nice time playing in a big river in the park. I made it all the way in to the snowmelt river, Susie got her legs in, and Eli got his feet in, which was more than enough for him.

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Bon Voyage

Susie and Eli left to join her family in Martha's Vineyard for the week. 6 hours later, I walked in to our corner store and the manager looked at me and asked, "Michael, what's wrong?" I'm not sure it was a good idea to let them go for a week. I made Eli promise not to do anything new.




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The Favorite Cousin Competition

We have a very strong first entry in the "Favorite Cousin Competition". As part of a bar mitzvah present, Zach's grand parents gave him a trip to San Francisco to see the Phillies play. Since we just happen to live here, they spent some time with us as well.

I'll be honest. From a teenage boy, I'd be satisfied if they looked at Eli and said, "He's cute. I'm going to check Facebook now." Zach did this, of course, but then he came back. I know he'll deny it, but he and Eli got along pretty well. He held him, played with him, watched him, all on his own volition. Then--and he'll surely deny this most of all--he even sang along to Raffi to keep Eli calm. Ain't it great to be crazy?




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Wiggle Time

Susie and Eli are away for a couple of days. In Eli withdrawal, I have finally tried to figure out how to get our videos to the computer in a usable fashion. Here is my first attempt, raw footage at its finest.

Giants 7, Phillies 3!

I invite all friends and family who like Drumsticks to come and visit.

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Another Smile

I guess we first noticed it some time last week. In between the sleeping and the eating, we've started to get more awake, alert, and non-crying time with Eli. He's started having daily wiggle time, spending as much as 30 minutes, hanging out and wiggling. I think we're getting some verbal interaction as well. We coo, he coos, that kind of thing.

His sleeping pattern has been different lately, going to bed "for the night" around 8, then sleeping for 6 hours or so. The bad part of that is it seems like I haven't gotten to spend much time with him this week. I've missed all the wiggling.




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He's on Candid Camera

In a way, he was smiling weeks ago. OK, those were just facial ticks that took the form of a smile. But now thy're real. You can see it not only in his mouth, but in his eyes, too.

Then today, while I was singing The Electric Company 1-12 song as set to the pinball machine, he gave me a big smile and let out an enthusiastic "coo!" Maybe that was just a verbal tick, but I'm going to go ahead and call it his first laugh.


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Round and Round

We were at a barbecue in Golden Gate park, and I had Eli in the Moby carrier. He was getting restless so I started walking around to calm him. Along came a group of 8 mopeds, and the only person who hates the noise of a moped more than me is Eli. I walked back toward the kids' park, and there it was: Es un encanto!




Eli got his first carousel ride. Round and round, up and down, he was quickly back to sleeping like a baby.

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More Visitors!

Susie's cousin, Brad, came to visit for the weekend, and we had a great time. On both Saturday and Sunday, we managed to roll out of the house by 2pm to go get breakfast. Saturday we went to a reunion of our birthing class to swap stories, and to make us laugh (one woman, after describing a terrible birth said, "but they did let us keep the placenta!)

On Sunday, we took Brad on what may be our favorite hike in the area--from Stinson beach, up Steep Ravine to Pan Toll, and down Matt Davis. The excitng part was getting back to the beach just moments before they closed the park and locked us in. It was touch 'n go.




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Susie's brother and his wife arrive on Wednesday. Larry has kindly offered to change all the diapers while he's here.

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Feeding

Here's all the equipment for breast feeding.




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Ellis Peak (Yes, with Two Ls)

We spent four days up near Lake Tahoe over the weekend. On the first day, we hiked to the top of Ellis Peak. It's a 6 mile hike with about 1,500 feet of climbing that takes you to a 9,000 foot peak overlooking Lake Tahoe and the Desolation Wilderness. It is a stunning view.

We've discovered that Eli really likes hiking. In all of our hikes, I slipped him into the Moby wrap and he fell soundly asleep. At the turnaround point, we'd feed and change him. He'd stay awake for half an hour, watching the trees and the sky go by, then fall asleep for the remainder of the hike. He's really impossibly cute:


How perfect is that?

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Green Eggs and Ham

I've owned Green Eggs and Ham for maybe twelve years or so, and there's a story behind that. One summer, I visited my brother in California. While reading stories to Allie and Megan, one of them pulled out Green Eggs and Ham. I said that it was a great book-one of my favorites.

This is true. There are 50 different words in the book, 49 of which are monosyllabic. (Can you recall the one polysyllabic word?) Geisel revolutionized the children's book, for which we are all thankful.

A few months later, Tiffany has my name for Christmas. Allie and Megan insist that she get me Green Eggs and Ham because it's one of my favorite books. So I got the book and it travelled with me lo these many years, from Utah to New Jersey to Portland to California. It's even survived several book purges. Although truth be told, I don't think I ever read it....

Until today.




It's a great thing when your children, nieces, and nephews take those first steps outside of themselves and try to fulfill the needs of other people. Some other time, I'll tell the story of how 7-year old Megan became concerned about my dating life, and tried to marry me off.


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June 21: The Longest Day of the Year

02:30 - Feed Eli
07:00 - Feed Eli
10:00 - Breakfast in bed (Michael)
11:00 - Breakfast in bed (Eli)
11:57 - Diaper change
11:59 - Diaper change
12:20 - Load everyone into the car
12:49 - Dead stop in traffic
12:50 - Realize we didn't know about traffic from 6 Flags and NASCAR event
13:45 - Eli crying, stuck in traffic on a very long overpass
14:05 - Pull off at Chevron station to feed Eli
14:35 - Get gas (Toyota and Eli)
14:50 - Sonic burger for lime slush (Michael)
15:05 - Trapped in parking space by drive-through line
15:15 - Leave Sonic, back on road
15:50 - Arrive at Bothe-Napa state park (normally a 1 hour 20 min drive)
16:00 - Feed Eli
16:40 - Change diaper
16:50 - Start hike
17:55 - Eli crying, stop to feed
18:05 - Realize that mosquitos are swarming all of us
18:06 - Eli bit on face
18:06 - Daddy slaps Eli, but gently
18:08 - Start moving again to keep away bugs, Eli still crying
18:38 - Eli, still crying, is too hot for the wrap
18:40 - Michael carries Eli in his hands, extended to keep him cool, for final mile of hike
18:40 - Continued crying (Eli...mostly)
19:00 - Finish hike
19:01 - Feed Eli
19:45 - Oregon-style pizza in Calistoga
20:45 - Drive home, without incident
22:20 - Arrive home
22:21 - Feed Eli
22:45 - Diaper change
22:47 - Diaper change (C'mon!)
22:50 - Start trying to put Eli to sleep
23:55 - Eli falls asleep

Bath Time!

We gave Eli his first real bath today. No more sponge baths for my boy. The best part, he loved it. After a couple minutes of what looked to me like utter confusion, he settled in and really enjoyed splashing around. Yea!








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Calming

I can always get Eli to calm down and stop crying. I just hold him in my arms, sit on the yoga ball, and bounce like there's no tomorrow. With only one failure--a truly epic failure--Eli is calm by the fifth bounce. But bouncing on a yoga ball takes a toll on your neck and back. You can't spend the whole day doing it.

I realized that so far, Eli has never soothed himself. At whatever level of agitation he's in, he will only become more agitated, cry even harder, unless we pick him up and soothe him. If he isn't asleep and he isn't being held, you should brush your teeth fast because you do not have much time.

He was fed, diaper changed, well-rested, so I decided tonight was a good time to let him cry for a while. I put him in his swing and let him scream for ten minutes. I calmed him down, then put him in his bassinet, where I let him scream for 7 minutes. Ok, that didn't work. But, I then held him and put him to sleep with virtually no bouncing. That, I think, is progress.

Some babies need to be held; others seem independent from the start. Neither end is perfect, but somewhere in between, for every baby, is the sweet spot. Eli's just so sweet all over, his is a little harder to find.



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AB 324

Allow me to interrupt your regularly scheduled Eli news and pictures to report that the bill that has been the focus of Susie's work for the past two years passed the California Assembly!

To recap, her bill would require that state and local agencies determine eligibility for assitance based on an alternative to the archaic federal poverty line. Her alternative is based on actual cost of living numbers for your county. It doesn't require that the state spend any more or less on public assistance; it changes the metric so those who need help the most will be the ones to receive it.

So we are very proud of Susie getting the bill passes 44-15. Now things move to the Senate where it will probably pass before being vetoed by Arnie.

Well, OK, I can't help myself:




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It's Not a Competition

While we were in the hospital with Eli, Susie of course was stuck in bed because of her recovery. She would feed him and at some point while she was holding he would do what babies do, cry. She'd hand him to me, my instincts from soothing the triplets would kick in and I'd march and sway around the room until he fell asleep.

At one point, Susie had tried for some time to get Eli to stop crying when she finally gave up and handed him to me. After a few moments bouncing in my arms, he calmed down. I looked at Susie and I could see she was sad. I also knew why she was sad.

I said to her, "It's not a competition; it's a partnership." In less than five minutes, I got to soothe the two people in this world I love the most.




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Sadie, Meet Eli. Eli, Meet Sadie

I made the big introduction today between Eli and Sadie, and it went just as I expected: Eli couldn't have cared less if Sadie was a cat or a cucumber. Sadie sniffed Eli three times then walked off.

Sadie, though, is doing better. The cultures showed that it's a "routine" urinary tract infection, so she'll have a full two-week course of antibiotics and will be fine. She's still glum, but improving.

They Sleep

Susie is sleeping soundly, Eli is, at last, sleeping fitfully, and i'm here, waiting to wake him up for his next feeding. By the time he's fed, cleaned up, and soothed to sleep, you are basically ready to start the cycle right over again.

So this is the circle of life that all those animals were singing about.




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Correcting the Record

I keep saying that he was 8 lbs 4 oz, when in fact, as this picture proves, he was 8 lbs 7 oz.




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Eli Smith Mitton!!

He was born at 6:40 this morning, 8 lbs 4 oz. He's doing very well, and Susie was a rockstar: all natural!

More later.....



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Check this Out

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We're Off to the Hospital!

She's in a lot of pain, but she's doing great, and still moving forward.

Now it's Time!

She started having contractions at 3:30 AM, and they're still going. We're at home and will be for a while, I think.


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To the Hospital

We had to go in to the hospital tonight, and unfortunately, it wasn't an exciting trip for Susie. Instead...



For the past week or so, Sadie hadn't been herself. She was very quiet, kept to herself, and slept a lot. On two occasions, I had cereal and she couldn't have cared less. It is difficult to convey just how unusual that is. But we had been nesting for the past week--thowing out mountains of stuff, moving things around--and thought that she was upset by so many changes.

Then tonight, she peed blood on the floor. So off we went to the hospital. We need to get some tests back, but it's almost certainly a urinary tract infection, treatable with antibiotics, which we're now giving her. She'll be OK. The poor kitty is going to have some big adjustments to make very soon, so this just doesn't help.

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Almost

Time is almost out around here. In fact, last Friday we thought time really was out. We had reason to think that Susie's water was leaking, and while that turned out not to be the case, we were told in no uncertain terms that we had to go to the hospital. So we did.

The biggest thing we learned from that day was that we sure had a lot to do to get ready this baby. A lot of things happened over the weekend, but I think I can sum it all up that we took two trips to the dump, and each time the Camry was packed with things that I really do not know how we managed to accumulate them all. Purging.

So let's finish with a picture of Susie as we were about to head to the hospital. Still looking good and, as long as there is no heartburn, still looking happy.






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Santa Susie

As promised, I present Santa Susie!



That is not a bowl full of jelly.

Seriously though, Susie hosted a girls' night tonight, where she cooked for seven people. She stopped working and she's supposed to be slowing down, but....

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One Hundred Warm-Ups, and Now the Main Event

I've supposedly been preparing for eight and a half months. There were the ultrasounds, with their vague but recognizable images of noses, hands, and feet. There's the simple "lub-dub, lub-dub" running a 150 beats per minute, a steady cadence to match the pace of life when we are parents. We've gotten baby room furniture in all its stately woodenness, car seats, burp cloths, baby bottles, diapers, and two big bottles of hand sanitizer. Most peculiar of all, I can feel and watch my baby on Susie's belly, as it writhes around, seemingly in a wrestling match with someone. I don't know what's going on, but I don't like seeing a foot sticking out of my wife's stomach.

And yet...and yet, eight and a half months have passed and it still didn't feel real.

Then, I received a gift from Scott: Four books by Sandra Boynton. For those who don't know, she is the J.K. Rowling of the pre-verbal demographic. I've read her books to my nieces and nephews a hundred times. I will not forget, for example, reading "Doggies" to Alex, who I could always have laughing in stitches by the time we got to the end. Reading these books, yes, I am that good.

I looked at those books, and it was real. The baby was no longer shades of gray on a screen, rumblings in a stomach, or utilitarian devices we use to make our way in the world. I get to hold my baby on my lap, read to him, make him laugh, and answer, "I'll read it once more, but then it's time for bed."

I love my nieces and nephews, and I've loved every time I've read to them. But with the collection of Boynton books on my dresser, I can't help but think that each one of those readings to my nieces and newphews was a warm-up to the main event.


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A Tale of Two Rooms

With just over three weeks to the due date, it's time to start getting the baby's room ready. First step, totally empty out the spare bedroom of everyhing. Stick the Roomba on the room. And wait for the movers. They came today, so it's finally starting to look like a baby's bedroom.


Susie's getting comfortable in the new rocking chair. In the lower right, you can see the Roomba resting after a job well done. It's funny that the baby's room has the best furniture in the house. (For those who were part of the debate, the crib rail doesn't lower.)

Oh, one other thing. We cleared out everything in the room before the furniture came, so what did we do with all that stuff? I present our living room:


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Pt. Reyes Weekend

Susie and I spent a long weekend up at Pt Reyes. For those who don't know, it's a national park about an hour north of the golden gate bridge. If you look on a map, you'll see two thin bays, one from the north and one from the south. The San Andreas Fault runs right along that line. Pt Reyes itself used to be part of the Tehachapi mountains near Bakersfield. In the 1906 earthquake, Pt Reyes moved 20 feet--yes, 20 feet--to the northwest. If you visit, there's an earthquake trail and at one point you can see a fence that broke right on the fault line, shifting about 20 feet over.



Once I figure out a system for the new camera, I'll get some better pictures. For now, this is of Susie on a hike we did out in the area of Pt Reyes that mostly doen't have trees, and very much has an Ireland or Scotland feel to it.


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Phoebe and the Synchotron

Phoebe's at Lawrence Berkely Labs doing research with a device whose name ends with "tron". I think it does x-ray imaging, but i'm hazy on the details. Anyway, there she is with one of her students who is helping. They joined Susie and me for a walk around Lake Merritt in Oakland. It's great that she's here on work every few months or so, but we liked it better when she was living here. We miss her.

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A Sad Farewell

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Larry and Susie at Dolores Park

Larry is in town this weekend for some meetings. We met him for lunch then hung out for a while in the park. In the background is Mission Dolores which gives our neighborhood its name.



We don't get a lot of days where the temperature goes above 80, but this was definitely one of them today. It was nice yesterday when we went car shopping; if it had been cold today I would have had a very upset wife.