Obon

Violet is 11 weeks old now, and she is such a joy! This weekend, we visited Madge and her daughter and son-in-law. Madge is a longtime family friend of Sarah's maternal grandparents. Here is Violet getting ready to go, and a picture with Madge and Pat:



On Saturday, we went to the West LA Obon festival at the Buddhist church. It was a great community event, with DELICIOUS food and games for the children. There was also a fun dancing display. The availability of cultural celebrations and learning experiences like this is one of the reasons why we love LA! To learn about Obon, visit http://www.wlabt.org/activities/activities_obon.html. Here is Violet with Mom in the church, and with Dad in the garden:

Quick update on Violet's 2 month appointment Friday, 7/11. She is now 21 3/4 inches, and 11 lbs, 13 oz!!! That puts her in the 75th percentile (or between 50th and 75th)! At her 2.5 week appointment, she was in the 20th percentile at 7 lbs, 7 oz, so we're glad to see her grow. She's pretty chubby, and mostly wearing 3 month clothes. Our doctor said that breastfed babies are usually pretty chubby at this point! She also got her shots, and that was terrible. She screamed and cried like we've never heard (so did I), and she felt pretty rotten all weekend. I wish there were a better way to vaccinate! Here's a picture from last night (sorry it's not great quality) and a short video.

Violet's 2-month Appointment

Quick update on Violet's 2 month appointment Friday, 7/11. She is now 21 3/4 inches, and 11 lbs, 13 oz!!! That puts her in the 75th percentile (or between 50th and 75th)! At her 2.5 week appointment, she was in the 20th percentile at 7 lbs, 7 oz, so we're glad to see her grow. She's pretty chubby, and mostly wearing 3 month clothes. Our doctor said that breastfed babies are usually pretty chubby at this point! She also got her shots, and that was terrible. She screamed and cried like we've never heard (and so did I), and she felt pretty rotten all weekend. I wish there were a better way to vaccinate!

Here's a picture of a 12 lb Violet from last night (sorry it's not great quality) and a short video.

Violet Smiles!

Today is Violet's 7 week birthday, and she is smiling! I've been suspicious for a few days now, but she is definitely smiling and almost laughing now. It is so cute; she's missing out on naps becuase Mom is so bedazzled by her smile!

Here's a smile from yesterday:

Celebrating her 7 week birthday:

Bummer, she still cries, too:

"Studio" Pictures

Last week Violet and I went to JC Penny's to have her first official (6 week) photographs taken. I finally felt confident in my ability to get both of us clean, dressed, and buckled in the car in a reasonable amount of time, so I made an appointment. The photo studio seemed to be really organized, because someone called me the evening before our appointment, and reminded us to be there ten minutes early for our 10:20 "call time"... which is 10:10, right? So Violet and I arrive at the photo studio clean and dressed, with a diaper bag full of ironed outfits for baby at 10:07. Score one point for New Mom! I made it on time to an appointment!

The photographer showed up at 10:25 to open shop.

Why did I stay? Why did I wait around, you ask? (Unless you've tried to get a six-week-old to a portrait studio, because then you know.) Because it was, in actuality, a TWO day event to get the timing right, the stroller in the car, the baby clean, the outfits ready... we were there, and I wasn't leaving until someone took pictures of my cute little baby. So the photographer, without apologizing, took pictures of my baby long, long after our appointment... after two diaper changes, a spit-up disaster, and a feeding.

We waited for about 15 minutes while she uploaded all of our pictures, then we picked the ones we wanted, then we left. And I had a nagging feeling... the pictures were cute, but... I could do that, right? And save myself some stress and a day of traveling? So here is MY attempt to take "studio" pictures of Violet from Monday.



And next time we go to Penny's, I'm taking Erik, too.

Cute Six Week Pictures

That's all, really... I just wanted to post some pictures of six-week-old Violet!

Congratulations, Locke Grads

For the last three years, I've taught 11th and 12th grade English at Locke High School in South Central Los Angeles. I learned so much more than I taught, and I have my students to thank for that. With Violet's birth and Locke converting to charter status, I will not be returning next year, but Erik, Violet, and I did go to graduation to wish my seniors good luck and say goodbye. It was so hot! I felt really bad for dressing Violet in PJs... but she was sound asleep when we left the house!

To my illustrious scholars: Congratulations! You have overcome, and I look forward to hearing of your future successes. You have made me so proud. If you can humble, teach, and inspire one person so deeply, imagine what you will do for multitudes in the future.