Playing in the kitchen

This summer, while away in Japan visiting family and friends, Cousin Mei left her kitchen for Cairo to play with. Every day Cairo is whipping up a new and interesting meal. One of her favorite meals is mustard soup. It is amazing what Cairo can make with her imagination. Even though there is no real food there, she does a great job at pretending it is. If she drops a bowl with "food" in it, she says "my clean mess," picks up the invisible, pretend food, grabs a towel and wipes off the surface, and then, sometimes, rinses the food in the sink.

This kitchen, with its various nooks and crannies, provides multiple places for Cairo to put things. For example, you can often find her current sippy cup in the cupboard and her baby doll in the oven. Yikes! If you can't find the phone, just look on the side of the kitchen and she has put it away there.

I hope that someday Cairo enjoys cooking real food as much as she enjoys cooking her pretend food.

Blueberry Picking

Jill, Erik, the babies, and I all headed out past Redwood Valley for a morning of berry picking. Blueberry picking in the summer is one of our favorite things to do. We especially LOVE to eat them. This year Cairo got to take a much more active roll in the picking of blueberries... w few in the bucket, a few in the mouth, a few in the bucket, a few in the mouth. She did a really great job at picking only the blue ones. Jonah had a great day out in the sun as well. He was attached to Erik in the Baby Bjorn and just hung out. :o)

Now, we have a few large ziplock bags of blueberries just waiting for us to enjoy in the freezer!

Jonah at 5 weeks

Jonah may be five weeks, but he looks older than that to me. His size, compared to Cairo at this age, is drastically different. We are guessing that Jonah is pushing 13 pounds, something Cairo didn't reach until she was 4 months old! Plus, he still has this dark head full of hair, sticking straight up in the center, unassisted. Where Cairo was long-legged a lean, he is short-legged and tubby. Cairo had huge, high cheeks. His are chubby, low cheeks, almost jowls.


So far, Jonah has given us a few smiles and made a few cooing sounds. Mostly, though, he grunts and squeaks. He has big eyes that just stare, unblinking at whatever has caught his attention. Commonly, he stares wide-eyed at the pictures on the wall behind our couch. He seems to be a pretty serious little guy. He commonly furrows his brow, as though he is deep in thought or put out with the current situation. He is pretty laid-back and can easily sleep through loud noises- such as Cairo. He is getting pretty strong. Sometimes he arches his back and makes it almost impossible to hold him.


Jonah is still a good boy, but he is definitely starting to make his preferences be known. His most vocal preference is the I-want-my-mommy one- he is definitely a boob man. He likes to stay toasty warm and spread out when he's asleep. Lately, he hasn't been so keen on his daddy, preferring, instead, to cuddle close with mom.


He isn't crabby very often, but he does have his moments.

Boo-boo lip-


We still haven't established much of a routine, though he is getting a bath around 8:30 pm each day. Every time I think a pattern is starting, he changes everything. I am really looking forward to having things a bit more set during the night. He has been sleeping 4 and, very occasionally, 5 hour stretches during one part of the night. Then, he's wide awake and wants to cuddle for an hour or two before going back to sleep for a couple more hours. I sure do miss solid sleep. Luckily, I know that a full night's sleep will be back in a few more months.

A rare binky moment-

Just like Dad

Cairo LOVES her Daddy and likes to either mimic what he's doing, be his shadow, or "help." Here are the two of them working on their "puters," as Cairo would say.


This morning when Erik was writing up the grocery list, Cairo got out her paper and crayons and did the same. Erik was asking me about certain items and Cairo picked right up and did the same. Any time he needs to do something, so does she.
Cairo: "Want some mustard, Mommy?"
My response is, "Yes, please." She then writes it down on her list.
Cairo: "Want some soup?"
Mommy: "Yes, some booger soup."
Cairo: "No [as though I am teasing her, which I am]. Mustard soup."
Mommy: "Okay" and she writes it down.
Cairo: "Want some bread?"
and this continues on.... Cairo will also cook in her play kitchen while Erik is making dinner. She, of course, always bring us samples of what she's making up.

Cairo is definitely a Daddy's girl. It is fun to watch her, watch him and see the wheels in her head start to turn. Cairo doesn't seem to have too much trouble seeing me leave to go somewhere without her, but if her daddy is leaving her to do something, the waterworks start up and there are crocodile tears everywhere! That's okay, Jonah's mine!

Ferndale and the 4th of July

We've been heading down to Ferndale just about every weekend to spend some time visiting with the family down there. Cairo and Jonah don't get to see their great-grandparents all that much during most of the year, so we want to try and give them plenty of chances to visit during the summer.

The Dedini's


Jonah cuddling with Grandma Dedini


Since the Fourth of July fell on the weekend this year, we spent part of it down in Ferndale visiting and having dinner at G &G Tipple's house. Unlike normal, Cairo did a great job gobbling up her food. She did an even better job when a big bowl of ice cream covered with raspberries was put in front of her for dessert. At first she was going after the ice cream, until Erik told her to try a berry (she is more used to blueberries and strawberries). She couldn't stuff the berries into her mouth fast enough, electing to finish off the berries before the getting back to the ice cream.

Other than going to Ferndale, we didn't do much for the Fourth. We had every intention of going out and doing more, it just didn't happen. Our original plan was to go into Arcata to watch the fireworks, but we were a little tired and decided to stay at home instead. Cairo hasn't been fond of popping or unexpected noises lately- like a fire popping, a cuckoo clock going off, and the bang of fireworks (they make her a little nervous). Instead of making her sit in bed while fireworks were going off on the street, we had a family slumber party in the family room and all fell asleep watching a movie.

Next year we will try again... and I will try to actually pull my camera out and take pictures!

SURFING!!!

(or at least that is what Cairo calls it)

Cairo has been enjoying her time outside. She has recently started to work on her surf skills. Cairo was excited when Erik brought down his old skateboard from up on the shelf in the garage. She went straight to it and yelled, "Surfing. My surf!" (We are still working on the word "I", everything this is "my" this and "my" that.)


This night, we made sure Cairo had her helmet on (maybe she should wear it all the time) and Daddy and Alvin (one of her new favorite people to play with) pushed her back and forth in the driveway. As time progressed, Cairo became more and more comfortable on the board. She got to the point that when she was sitting on the board being pushed, she would start letting go of the board. What fun.

Meanwhile, Jonah and I played the adoring audience. Well, at least I did. Jonah thought that it was time for a nap.

Attack of Cairo

Beware of the two-year-old monster lurking in our house. She attacks when you least expect it!




Speaking of our monster, she has decided over the past few days that bedtime and nap time is a game. We put her down, she gets up- "Hi Mommy, what doing?" We put her back to bed. She gets up again, "Hi Daddy, what doing?" Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Yesterday, after putting her back in bed ten times (yes, ten... I am way more stubborn than she is), I pulled out the portacrib and caged her in there for her nap. I wouldn't say she got the winning point, but she did get me back pretty well. Apparently, she had the need to go fishing in her poopy diaper during her confinement- a first for her. When I went in to get her, she was very upset and there was poop all over her hands and the sheets. What fun. I don't think that either of us enjoyed it and I am hoping that we don't have a repeat performance.

Cairo did enjoy the bath that came with cleaning up, though. Once the bath was over she insisted on going outside with Daddy. Of course, I made sure she wore her sunhat.... she kept peeling off any other piece of clothing I put on her, including her diaper. Oh the freedom of being two!