Thank You!

 I apologize for the long delay in blog posts! Things have been pretty crazy here. We are in the process of buying our first house (we close Dec 15), and have recently returned from Owen's first trip to the East Coast to visit his NJ family/friends. I'm pretty sure Jen was more impressed by the Fall foliage than Owen. It really was amazing to see the rapid development that's been happening with Owen, almost overnight. While we were in NJ, it was like someone flipped a switch in his little brain. All of a sudden, he is clapping, pointing, giving high-fives (thanks Weipz boys!!), saying "bye bye" while waving, and responding to brief directives like "Can you close the lid?" or "Can you put the blocks in the box?". It's amazing!! He isn't walking yet, but he stands unassisted (when he's not paying attention to the fact that he's standing unassisted), and cruises all around town holding onto whatever's even remotely stable.

While we were in NJ, we celebrated quite a few wonderful events. Even though we were a week early, we had an East Coast first birthday party for bub. He was less than thrilled with the Happy Birthday song, and even less enthused about the cake. He did, however, love the 4-wheeler that Uncle Brett and Aunt Pam got him.

Cousins!!

Later that week, we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Monetti/Weipz clan, just like when I was  younger! In fact, I hadn't had Thanksgiving with my whole family since I was 8. Once Brett went off to college, he was rarely around for the holiday, so this year was EXTRA special. It was easily my favorite Thanksgiving (although last year's was a close second. Who doesn't love going into labor on Thanksgiving??).  Owen participated in his first Thanksgiving football game, and even scored a touchdown (or, rather, was used as a pawn so I could score MY only touchdown).

Just another Weipz boy ;)

Uncle Brett, Aunt Pam, and cousins Bella and Darby were in town for a joint baby naming ceremony for Owen and Darby. In the Jewish faith, a baby naming is somewhat like a baptism or christening. It's the child's official welcome into the Jewish faith community. It's also where the baby receives his or her hebrew name. Owen's hebrew name is Kaleb Hershel after a good friend, Kyle Sattin, and my great Uncle Harold. Since Owen didn't do so well with all of the birthday party attention, we were a little nervous about how he'd do standing in front of 100 people at the naming. He was a ham, though!! At one point, he looked out into the crowd and started waving at people. It was hysterical! He also opted to take his shoes off and attempt to eat them, as well as kick off cousin Bella's yamulke.

Stay tuned, as I'm sure we'll have much to fill you in on over the next month!

Save me, San Francisco!

Jen and I commonly chat about what we think/fear Bub may do when he's older that will really unnerve us. Jen, for example, decided to go to Europe after college with her younger sister without a plan or much money to speak of. I'm sure Brenda was thrilled about that one. I went more of the piercing/tattoo route, and gave my parents more than their fair share of ajeda. Suffice it to say, we feel well prepared to handle these specific issues. We also won't mind if he plays his music loudly, dyes his hair, or joins a band. In fact, we'll most likely encourage it. So the list of things Owen may one day do to drive us crazy is largely unknown to us at this time. We are both positive that he will be creative, and come up with new and innovative ways to send us over the deep end, but for now, we can really only think of two: joining the military and/or becoming a right-wing conservative.

With those fears in mind, we are doing everything possible to raise him in a truly liberal household. Some may choose to refer to this kind of parenting as "Berkeley parenting".

We are insistent that he not be defined by society's definition of gender, and, instead be able to look/dress/act/play with anything that feels right to him. He has an African-American doll dressed in pink that he picked out at Macy's. He also happens to be growing his hair out at this point.

He is also sporting an amber necklace when he isn't sleeping. Apparently the natural oils found in amber can seep into the skin and help with chronic inflammation associated with (among other things) teething.  

Nudity is highly valued, as in all good hippie homes.

We read books such as "The Skin You Live In", "I'm Not Too Young to Help the Earth", and "Whoever You Are" that focus on the importance of self-worth, and the interconnectedness of all things. We even went to visit a daycare down the street that offers baby yoga daily. The fact that he's being raised by two women with strong liberal tendencies in the Bay Area is an obvious bonus, as well. We realize though, that even with all of our precautions, we don't know (nor can we REALLY control) which choices he will make later in life. All we can really do is offer him a strong foundation of good feminist/liberal/humanistic tendencies and offer him a safe place to discuss ideas, feelings, and experiences, while being ensured that he will be loved "no matter what he does or who he is" (from our book "I'll Still Love You")... as long as he always registers to vote as a democrat. ;)

We are Fam-i-ly! I've Got All My Cousins with Me!

We have had such a crazy August, it's been almost a month since our last post! We've had visits from Cousin Bebe and Steve and Kara and Ricky, as well as a whirlwind trip to LA, Bakersfield, and then LA again! In the past month, it's been amazing to see how much Owen has been growing and changing.

 He now sits up entirely by himself, and appears interested in books. His favorite book is currently DOG (a fun book from our friends Phil and Gail).

He can pull himself into standing position, and does so whenever the opportunity arises (although he's still not too sure about how to sit down gracefully from this position).

Owen has been more and more interested in "people food" (you know, as opposed to the dog food we typically feed him). He now gets angry if you eat in front of him and don't plan on sharing. He has also mastered the two finger grab, and only uses his entire fist to pick things up occasionally. Our current teeth count is 5 (his 5th poked through just last week)!!

On our recent trip to LA and Bakersfield (and then back again), Owen had a chance to spend some quality pool time with all four of his cousins! At this point, he's the only boy in the mix!

Owen had a great time with Brooke and Sophie in Bakersfield.

 Whenever we were out by the pool in LA, Owen had to be in the water. Sometimes this meant that there simply wasn't enough time to grab a bathing suit.

Bella absolutely adores Owen! It's so sweet!

After a nice day in the pool, there's nothing like relaxing on the couch with your favorite balloon and watching some good old fashioned Sesame Street. 

Baby Darby wasn't too sure about Owen. 

While we were in LA, we went to Bella's 5th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese! I don't know if Owen or Jen had more fun. 

Uncle Brett is pretty sure he can turn Owen into a motorcycle junkie. Little does he know, this is the last time Owen will ever be on a bike. ;)



We got home last night, and are kicking off a week with Grammy and Papa. Once we've had some sleep and return to a somewhat normal routine, we'll write a more witty post. For now, this will have to suffice!

Feeling Hot! Hot! Hot!



 This past weekend, the three of us went to Austin, Texas. You may be thinking, "Who in their right mind would choose Austin in August?" I assure you it was work-related. We are planning our 2012 conference, and my job was to go pick a hotel. Since I had lived in Austin for about a year in 2003-2004, I was excited to take Jen and Owen to the city full of "hippies and homos". What I managed to forget was how ungodly hot Texas can be in the summer. Nonetheless, we packed as if were going to visit Aunt Beast in China, and headed to the airport!

 Owen had a GREAT time before we even got on the plane!

We were nervous about how he'd do on his longest flight to date (3.5 hours), but he was a rockstar! Before we even reached a comfortable cruising altitude, that baby was passed out on Jen's chest where he remained for a solid 2 hours!

So part of the fun of choosing a hotel to hold a national conference is that the hotels REALLY want to impress you. We wound up staying at The Driskill in downtown Austin in a complimentary suite. I'm pretty sure our room was bigger than our apartment, which worked out well seeing as how we spent much of our visit escaping from the heat in luxury.

While I was out scouting hotels, Jen and Owen spent the morning at Austin's Children's Museum (conveniently open only to babies on Monday mornings!).

Later that day, we did the only reasonable activity for when the thermometer hits over 104 degrees...we went swimming at Barton Springs (by "we", I mean Bub and I. Jen felt it was her moral obligation to remain fully clothed and photograph the event). This kid cannot get enough of the water! He doesn't care if he's in a tub, a pool, a river, or a lake. As long as he can splash those little hands, he's a happy boy!

 

If we're being honest, there may have been another reason we chose to visit Texas at the height of their Hell-like summer. Best Friend (also known as Aunt Sarah) just so happened to be visiting the city at the same time. The last time Aunt Sarah saw Bub he was barely holding his head up on his own! Oh how things have changed.

 

So what have we learned about traveling with a baby? Let's make a little list.

1) Don't be foolish enough to think you can maintain a "typical" schedule while traveling. While it's a great goal, flexibility is a necessity!

2) Don't schedule your trip so the baby (and his parents) only has one day between flying. This creates a VERY antsy baby on the way home.

3) If you are going to bring your laptop so the baby can watch a DVD on the flight, be sure to bring the external drive which plays the DVD.

4) If you are going to be dealing with a time change, don't plan on sleeping...much.

5) Just bring the baby into bed. Fighting with the pack-n-play will only end in sleep deprivation, screaming, and possible complaints from neighboring rooms.

6) If you're going to be traveling to a city where the average monthly temperature is over 100 degrees, don't go.

In all seriousness, we did have a nice time despite the heat, and look forward to returning to Austin when we can enjoy all the city has to offer!



Hello, I love you

This was a monumental weekend for Bub. For the first time, our little guy reached out to the world and said hello. More specifically, he waved to Aunt Katie.

And why wouldn't he??  Aunt Katie and Uncle Daniel (or as we lovingly call him, Uncle Smores) recently moved to California from New Jersey, and have been staying with us while they get settled. From the first time they met, Aunt Katie and Owen have had a special bond. The two light up when they see each other. Whenever Aunt Katie walks into the room, Owen begins frantically flailing his arms and legs with anticipatory giggles. I'm pretty sure they have a secret pact involving bedtime. Aunt Katie suddenly turns into the tickle monster most nights right around wind-down time, effectively pushing off bedtime by a good 20-30 minutes.

And when Mommy and Aunt Katie get together around dinner time, WATCH OUT. Mama was outside watering the flowers when this mess began. Who knew yogurt and applesauce could be so much fun?

In all seriousness, though, the wave was a big deal for us. We are now even further away from the little ball of mush we brought home from the hospital, and one step closer to having a boy on our hands. While we relish in his achievements and growth, it's hard to watch it all happen so fast! Owen is beginning to mimic! He is communicating! Don't get me wrong, he has been making his desires known for some time now with a whole range of vocalizations that we refer to as his velociraptor noises, but this is the first time he SAID something. He was saying "Hi guys! I'm here. I'm picking up what you're putting down. Even though you haven't been actively teaching me to wave, I've noticed that you do it, and so I'm going to do it too." It's exciting!! It's a whole new world for us. One of Owen's favorite things lately is watching us throw our arms in the air as we say "Arms up! Arms up!". We all do it now, just to get him to give us one of his cheesy grins. One day soon, he's going to do it right back to us.

A new day has dawned in the Hopping-Winn household.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

As we write this, Aunt Beast is officially on a plane, more than halfway to China. She'll be meeting Michael and his parents in Hong Kong, where they will take a taxi to the border, and enter their new (temporary) home of Shenzhen. We have to keep reminding ourselves that she will return to the States, and that this relocation is merely part of her journey. As hard as the move is for us, we delight in the fact that she is being true to herself, and following her heart and her dream of living abroad. It's all we can hope for any of our loved ones. If this had been 10 years ago, this move across the world would have been even more difficult to swallow. With the advent of Skype, G-chat, and Vonage, we'll at least be able to stay in touch more easily. Though thousands of miles away,  she'll be able to see some of Owen's first steps, hear his first words, and relish in her nephew's developmental milestones. We will be able to virtually tour her new apartment, meet new friends, and remain connected. That being said, this is still SO hard for us!

Even though Nicole's feelings about camping generally include "I love NOT camping", we convinced her to meet us out by the Russian River for the day since it was her last weekend in the Bay Area. 

 Owen was able to spend a little more quality time with his Aunt before she departed.

And Orion was able to live it up on the beach before spending a long flight in a kennel sedated with doggie Xanax (she will do absolutely fine, we are sure of it!).

 Really, though, this has been the most difficult for Jen. Nicole is her best friend, and the two have grown even closer as adults. Even though Jen understands that this move is a wonderful and exciting piece of Nicole's process, she mourns the loss of Nicole's physical presence in our lives.

But she is here. She's in the cheap trivet Jen bought while visiting Costa Rica that Nicole regularly voices her disdain for. She's in Jen's red fleece that Nicole has no problem reminding Jen she wears in most EVERY outdoor photo. She's in the numerous outfits she's purchased for Bub that he has yet to wear. She's in the crappy terribly tasting Kashi cereal we know have in our cabinet, and the Costco sized peanut butter we inherited when she moved out of her San Francisco apartment. While she won't be coming over for dinner in the near future, our relationship with Nicole, and Owen's with Aunt Beast, will take on a new dimension. It will grow and change, just as she will while she's living abroad. It's all part of the process, and through the tears we can see that. We wish her well, and can't wait to get that first email upon her arrival in her new home.