Happy New Year!

We’re back in Athens.  Our return trip, accomplished in 11½ hours, was another rousing success.  We even discovered a fantastic taqueria just off the highway in Durham, NC that will undoubtedly become our halfway-there lunch spot for future Athens-DC excursions.  We are now staring down the last two days of freedom left in our winter break.  I go back to work on Monday, Ellen will be getting ready to return to full-time PhD work and teaching, and Safia will begin a two-days-a-week daycare.  We’ve come to notice, quite acutely, just how profoundly life’s transitions affect our day-to-day functioning. 

While we were in DC for the winter holiday, Safia did some growing up.  She continues to make progress on her “crawling.”  She is not yet on hands and knees, but is getting increasingly proficient at getting to where she needs to get.  She is getting more comfortable on two feet, and just loves to tentatively explore the world of bipedalism, mostly with shrieks of wonder and giggles.  Safia has also learned to wave hello and goodbye – quite possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. 

Ellen and I, as always, are trying to figure out Safia’s sleep patterns.  We seemed to have things under control before we left to DC, but predictably, right when we arrived, her sleeping routine got all discombobulated.  Trying to go off her cues, we noticed that she might be trying to consolidate her three naps-a-day to two naps.  Logically, if she consolidates naps, the naps she takes should get somewhat longer to accommodate.  Her naps, however, are no longer – 30 minutes on the average.  So that leads us to wonder what in the world is going on.  She has also had a harder time going to sleep at night, likely the result of only sleeping a combined one-hour throughout the day.  We have conceded that traveling is hard on babies, and once we get settled back into familiar routines and spaces, she should settle into a rhythm.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t hard, though.

Anyway….this is the last post of the year.  We hope all is well with all our loved ones and friends that have supported us through this crazy, crazy new experience.  Thanks for the advice, babysitting, listening ears, food, laughs, drinks, hand-me-down clothes, sympathy, empathy, and loving hugs.  See you all in 2012!

Made it!

Safia at 8 months

Safia was a complete rock star.  I can say, with all honesty, that the prospect of driving from Athens, GA to Washington DC with an 8 month old was completely daunting.  Sure, we had done it before, but she was a very different baby then.  Last time we did it, she was a mere 3 months old - different sleep patterns, different eating patterns, different awake activities.  Now, at 8 months, we were dreading a scream-fest and were now willing (however reluctantly) to entertain the idea that this drive may have to be broken into two days.  We strapped Safia into her car seat and were on the road at 7am, and she screamed endlessly, certainly a message to us that she was the captain of this ride.  After 45 solid minutes of wailing, a breakfast feeding in the car seat, and a quick stop for breakfast biscuits for us adults, we all settled in for the haul, and Safia did great.  What is ordinarily a 10 hour drive, sans baby, was accomplished in just over 11 hours and we couldn't have been more delighted.  We arrived in DC to happy grandparents and aunt, a crazy dog rumpus, and fabulous Thai food.  Let the relaxing begin.

We arrived here in DC on Monday, and we'll be here about another week.  We have indulged, gluttonously in great food and company.  We are being spoiled by the generous babysitters that watch after Safia so Ellen and I can recall, for brief and fleeting moments, what life was like before we had the responsibilities of child rearing.  Urgent baby yowls and yelps at 5-in-the-morning, however, quickly return us back to reality, but having so many willing and helping hands around has made all the difference.

Since we last wrote here (and it has been an exceedingly long time, sorry) there are many new Safia-related things to report on.  She continues to not be the greatest napper, but we take what we can get.  She is not quite a proficient crawler, but she is army-crawling like a champ.  Really, what she wants to do is walk.  It seems she is determined to bypass that whole crawling thing and just move around like everyone else.  She has learned she can pull herself up and can stand, wobbly and shaky, but proud as can be.  Safia is also still a champion eater - devouring shocking amounts of food, and we're now working on self-feeding.  Safia is still very clingy, but her new-found love of locomotion has afforded us some freedom from the cling.  That's about it...below are some of our favorite pictures from the past month (including a Thanksgiving feast with my mom and brother).  Hope all is well where you are, and Happy Holidays!

Fall Fun

Safia at 7 months

Things in the Yen-Kohl household continue to move at a rapid pace, it's been hard for me to keep up with it all.  Safia continues to change each day, but we also feel like we have somewhat of a normal pattern.  She's been going to daycare two mornings a week, which has given me some much needed time to try to get work done, which continues to be easier said than done.  January is fast approaching.  I will go back to work and Safia will go to daycare two full days in addition to her two mornings a week.  We're all looking forward to it with some trepidation, but I am looking forward to having more space.  

Space seems to be my theme these days.  Safia is still being really clingy.  I know it's a stage, but it seems like it's lasting forever, especially when I am trying to get things done.  We've had breakthroughs, where she'll play on the floor and entertain herself, but one of us, preferably me, has to be near.  I've been trying to relish the cuddles, because I know it's not going to be long before she's going to be staking out into the world, and my arms are going to be the last place she wants to be, but it's hard sometimes when there are things I have to get done!  

Cradling one of the last tomatoes
of the season from our garden

With that said, Safia is sitting up with confidence and she gets up on her hands and knees and wiggles around, but she hasn't quite figured out how to crawl yet.  We're enjoying our few last weeks/days of an immobile baby.  The process of baby proofing the house is a daunting task. We've decided to take the wait and see approach, do some minimal babyproofing, but wait and see what she gets into, what we need to move, what can stay.  I'm not sure it's the best approach, but it's the one we're going with.

Feeding freenzy

Safia continues to love eating, it's the one thing that Rube and I approach with confidence.  She eats unbelievable amounts of food.  We, and anyone who watches her eat, for that matter, are continually impressed and are left wondering where she puts it all.  We're working on self-feeding, and she gets a kick out of actually getting the food to her mouth.  We do, too, and she's beginning to look for applause after a successful self-feeding...seems we've got a performer on our hands.

Safia feeding herself bananas while Rube cheers her on 

Dad, I'm ready for my next bite

As we enter into the holiday season we have lots of firsts on our hands.  Safia rocked her first Halloween and was the star of our family costume (we went to a wedding).  She went to the pumpkin patch and carved her first pumpkin.  She voted for the first time, it was only a local tax issue, but we talked at length about the democratic process and the importance of participation.  Next up: Thanksgiving.

Safia and David 

At the pumpkin patch

This is my pumpkin!

Pumpkin patch fun

Two little jack-o-lanterns

Now she's a Georgia voter
and has a sticker to prove it

Missing My Girls

I've been embedded in bachelorhood for going on five days now. Ellen and Safia have ventured to Baltimore because Ellen was giving a presentation at the American Studies Association Annual Meeting.  Ellen's parents, being pretty darn close to there, made it logical for her to extend her trip just a wee bit longer. 
However, now that Ellen and Safia have been gone for a number of days, now, there is something glaringly obvious: The house has been very quiet for too long.   I miss my girls.  Ellen has been very good at sending pictures to keep me updated on everyone's progress, but I still miss them.  I find myself scrolling through pictures and reminiscing.  The further back I go in our picture album, the more I am amazed at how much has changed through the course of 6 months.  Below is a run-down of the pictures in our album that bring big smiles to my face.  Note: pictures may, or may not be repeats from this blog (they're oldies, but goodies) and they are in reverse chronological order. 

One-day old: getting ready to go home from the hospital

amazement - 1-day old

hours old

Interestingly, after scrolling through those pics, I think I miss my girls more, not less.

How are Things?

Safia at 6 months

Safia checking out a picture of Ellen's family

It's been so long since I've sat down for a blog post that I hardly know where to start.  Safia is getting bigger and bigger and more fun and more fun everyday.  I know Ellen said it previously, but it bears repeating: Safia seems to have turned a major corner, and is soooooo much easier, and I'll go right ahead and say it....fun to be around.  The lion's share of the credit goes to Ellen, as she did the hard work of getting Safia on schedule with naps and eating and bedtime, and it has resulted in a drastic reduction in frustration, confusion, and disgruntled-ness.  Countless friends and supportive advice-givers assured us that 6-months was a "golden age," and although I thought it would never come, here we are, and it's pretty sweet.

Some notables:

1.  Safia grabs at everything.  We now have to clear everything from her radius of reach lest it be thrown on the ground or stuck into her drool-tastic mouth.

2.  Safia is very clingy right now.  Her preference is to be held by Ellen, of course, but she'll tolerate me if Ellen's not around.  Put her down in a swing?  Put her on a playmat to roll around?  How about the bouncy chair with toys?  Nay!  She must be held.  A google search for "clingy 6-month old" turned up a plethora and an abundance of similar quandaries regarding this phenomenon.  Turns out she's at an age where she is developing her sense of object permanence and is grappling with separation anxiety.  Whoa.  Tough to be 6-months old.

3. Safia is an eating machine.  She devours carrots with conviction, eats squash with spirit, ingests green beans with gaiety, and feasts peas with passion.  The quantity of food this little girl can pack away is impressive.

4. Safia has discovered Zoey (the dog) and Zoey has discovered Safia.  Whenever Zoey saunters into the room, Safia goes nuts - laughing, lunging, and flailing around for her.  Zoey, predictably, loves to give Safia kisses during feeding times.  I think this is going to be a wonderful partnership between these two little puppies.

5. Safia went to doctor for her 6 month check up, she's healthy and growing well.  She's 16 pounds, 7 ounces (in the 50th percentile), she's 27 inches long (in the 90th percentile), and her head is 17 and 1/2 inches around (95 percentile).

I often get asked, "How are things?"  I'm really pleased to respond, "Things are great!" and to know that I'm being honest.

Cute Photo Shoot Outtake #1

Cute Photo Shoot #2