A visit to the Bay Area

In the middle of November Cara and I undertook another adventure - a flight down the the Bay Area to visit family and friends. C originally thought he would be able to join us, but ended up having to fly to a meeting in Europe instead. But mom and Cara managed the flight down to Oakland just fine, where we were met by a very eager Grandpa. Cara was clearly delighted to see him and began waving her arms and kicking her legs soon after she realized who that smiling man was.




We had a busy schedule trying to spend time with the many people in the Bay Area that we are close to. The main focus of Saturday was a lunch-time Chinese banquet hosted by Grandma and Grandpa to introduce Cara to the extended family. It was quite the event with aunts, uncles and cousins running everywhere. Cara charmed everyone, although was still reticent about letting anyone other than mom or Grandpa hold her. She even got an early birthday cake, but didn't quite get the idea of blowing out the candle. Next year!



Sunday the focus was on visiting some old friends. Three families with children and dogs gathered in Berkeley for a day of kid-oriented play and a chance for the adults to catch up. The main event was a trip to the Tilden Park Steam Trains and we all got to ride behind a steam engine! Although I think for Cara the best part of the day was playing ball with one of the dogs, Ginger. We ended a busy day with dinner at Picante, a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Berkeley. Cara loved the pinto beans which mom sacrificed from her plate. A tired girl fell asleep in the car on the way home.




We had the following morning to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa and watch the squirrels that hang out in their backyard (lured by many peanuts). Cara had refused to nap the previous afternoon and hadn't slept so well on Sunday night, so she was a little less cheerful than usual. After a quick lunch we regretfully headed out the airport for our flight back to Seattle. Fortunately the flight home was uneventful and we both slept well back in our own beds.

Teeth and grandparents?

The lack of any upper teeth appearing wasn't exactly worrying us, but we were wondering when Cara was going to get some more teeth in. We had long since given up on chewing and drooling being indications of a tooth about to emerge as Cara had been chewing and drooling for over three months with no new teeth. Little did we realize we were missing a key factor - the presence of grandparents (who were visiting when her first teeth appeared)!

C's dad made another brief visit at the beginning of C's trip, providing some welcome support, and I had arranged for my parent's to visit towards the end. We were all initially disappointed that Cara seemed more reticent than usual to meet new people and she took awhile to decide that she really was okay with her grandparents. When we went for a hike on Sunday she seemed especially irritable, even before we all got cold and wet. As I was trying to comfort her I noticed a white area in her upper gum - another tooth! So now we know the magic requirement for new teeth.




Once her tooth emerged Cara cheered up considerably. The weather also improved so my parents were able to get out for some sunny hikes as well as having some fun with their granddaughter.

The last hike of summer

I've fallen horribly behind on this blog. C was travelling for most of the last month and a half, and time got a little tight.

So for the first part of my catch-up, here are some two-month old photos of our last summer hike on Mount Rainier. We had absolutely perfect weather with no bugs. And Cara had a great time. She's gotten big enough that being in the back carrier is more comfortable, and it has the advantage of a built-in sunshade (that works as a raincover in less clement weather).



We were joined in this adventure by Auntie D and our friend R. We were all delighted to walk out of the woods to a beautiful view of Mount Rainier. Cara announced her excitement by bouncing up and down in the backpack and waving her hands - nice that she has such good taste!

The trip back down through the woods was cool, with some fog coming up from the valley below. But Cara's enthusiasm for the trip didn't diminish, and she chatted loudly for much of the hike out, to the amusement of the other hikers on the trail. We're looking forward to understanding what she is saying, since she sure does have a lot to say to us.

Around the house

From this blog you might think that Cara leads a charmed life, constantly playing in the great outdoors. While she does enjoy being outside, in reality she spends most of her time at home making do with the toys we give her. And the toys we don't give her...

Kitchen implements are always fun, which we hope will translate to a daughter who enjoys cooking as much as we do. And have all our mountain trips spurned her delight in going up stairs? Only time will tell, but Cara does seem to be training for climbing. In reality, almost anything is fun to explore, including J's purse. Luckily she sometimes plays with her own toys too.

Not a loss but a gain

Sorry for the break in the posts. Another shift in all our lives, as J had to return to work at the end of August. We were a little worried at how Cara would take not being around mom all day. Losses in her life have occurred every three months so far as she shifted from nursery to foster home to our family. Would she see J returning to work as another loss? Well, from all we can tell, she doesn't seem to be grieving at all, but rather she celebrating having a loving nanny, Ms. A, as a notable gain to her circle of doting adults. Ms. A takes her to the park every day, never drags her to Target, and will happily help Cara explore a cardboard box for 20 minutes without running off to do a load of laundry or check her email. Not bad at all.

Although not quite perfect. After two wonderful weeks of having Ms. A's undivided attention, Isabel came on the scene. We're sharing Ms A. with another family whose daughter is just 1 month older than Cara. So Cara is beginning to learn the difficult lessons of sharing toys, people and space with another little girl. And hopefully also learning the joy of her first friend.

Life's a beach

Not all of Cara Hsiu-Wen's outings are to the mountains. While it is a bit of a drive to the ocean, Seattle is bounded by Puget Sound to the west and has several nice parks with beaches. A few weeks ago we took Cara to Discovery Park, along with a visitor from Norway. They were both impressed with trip, although at slightly different scales. Our visitor enjoyed the calm Puget Sound shore and pleasant cobble/sand beach. Cara was more intrigued with the cobbles themselves. They bang together nicely, are a little salty and can also bang on a log. She told us a lot about her opinions on rocks.

We're looking forward to next summer maybe actually getting Cara in the water (but on a warmer day!)

Another day in the mountains

After the success of our first hike the obvious question was where to go next? The Snoqualmie Pass area has lots of nice hikes, but the Mountain Loop highway is only a slightly longer drive. The trail up to the meadows on Forgotten Peak only slightly longer than Melakwa Lake. And maybe her auntie, Auntie D, would be able to carry her for part of the hike? A little more of a push, but Cara Hsiu-Wen keeps proving herself up to new challenges.

The drive up gave Cara the opportunity for a nice nap, again ending just as we turned off the highway for the trail head. A diaper change, some sunscreen and general optimism at the lack of bugs and we were off. When we reached the falls and the creek crossing we discovered that our appraisal of the bug situation was incorrect. A planned stop for Cara to have a bottle and crawl around a bit was cut short by the swarm of deer flies that immediately descended whenever we stopped. Cara was somewhat less than thrilled with the program, but let Auntie D carry her and after some fussing fell asleep for the remainder of the hike up.

The endless switchbacks finally gave way to the open meadows of Forgotten Peak. We saw few people on the trail and almost no one on the meadows, so we hunted around for a prime location, part shade and part sun to stop for lunch, savor the views, and Cara stretch her legs while us sherpas rested ours. There were no bugs and a light breeze made conditions perfect for a leisurely lounge and some photo taking.

But the long trail down awaited us. Reluctantly we packed up our bags and Cara and headed down the buggy trail. We paused only briefly on our descent for some food, swarmed at each stop by biting flies. The lack of crawling time left Cara a little irritable on the drive home, but with the radio to distract her she eventually fell asleep and we enjoyed the satisfaction of having completed a fun day out in the mountains. Somehow Cara remained bite free, although her mother was less fortunate and required liberal amounts of calamine lotion to soothe her itching legs. A worthwhile trade-off as we continue to train our mountain girl.