Kokochi

Update about those fits

Since noticing Tesla having little fits, I felt that it wasn't just her...that she was definitely reacting to me. And I realized that she probably wanted more one-on-one time. Usually, when I come home from work with her, I'm rushing to accomplish a lot before her bedtime: feed cats, start dinner, feed her, feed us, maybe give her a bath, etc. I know I'm hustling her along, and that can't be fun, especially when she wants to have quality mama time.

So I decided to include her in my activities...have her give the spoon cat food and feed them, have her watch me while I cook, have her help clean up. She seemed to enjoy that.

Tonight, we went out to dinner. When we came home, daddy gave her a bath (no shoes needed!), and we had about an hour before bedtime, so we played. I read to her on the sofa, I held her while she drank milk, and was with her 100%. When I said it was bedtime, she didn't resist at all. We held hands, walked down the hallway, said nighty to daddy, and down she went to bed. I lay next to her to snuggle, and it was her who said, "light off." No resistance whatsoever. Lesson learned: more undivided time with Tesla!

Shoes in the bath

Recently, Tesla has been having strange fits...where she basically loses it when we push to do something, like eat, take a bath, change diaper, or leave the house. Very much like a tantrum for sure, but it seemed that even she was surprised, and then worn out by it so much that she'd be in a daze after the fit.

I've been quite perplexed, trying to figure out what it is that ticks her off, and what we can do to help. It's not so much about communication since in the midst of a fit, her demands would be contradicting, like, "I want this!!" but then, "no, don't like that!!" Once in the middle of it, we basically had to sit by her calmly, waiting for her to get through it.

Today, I wanted to give her a bath, and was pretty careful in my approach. I realized that she's been obsessed about her shoes, so much that we've been letting her wear them in the house (big no no chez nous) and even once, I let her wear them to bed. It suddenly dawned on me that pretty much each time she had a fit, it was because she was engrossed on putting on/off her shoes "by herself" (she would announce, "I did it" when she got her shoes on), and I interrupted her with my need to get her to eat or take a bath. So...I decided to let her take a bath - which last time resulted in a 45 minute fit where both Dav and I consoled her the whole time - with her shoes.

Voila. Easy bath. Yes, her shoes were in there. All wet. And tub water no longer squeaky clean. But no fuss. And when she came out, she forgot about her shoes. And we got her to sleep in her crib vs. our bed which she has been taking a liking to.

Never imagined that I'd have my baby take a bath with shoes on...but Tesla tells us her way.

Birthdays!

Tesla's second cousin Ava had her 2nd birthday. This was while we were still at Burning Man. These pictures are from Ava's mommy, and since we missed the party, I was glad to have these. I just love how Tesla gets to grow up with her cousins, and enjoy being spoiled as part of the youngest generation of the giant Callaghan family. Being cared for by granny and Uncle Ed, and the 3 cousins (Ava is far left) riding the merry-go-round Tesla doesn't look particularly chirpy with granny and auntie Anna, but I think she was just camera-tired ; ) Tesla and her cousins!
Cousin Maria-Rose had her b-day too. I particularly love the pictures of Tesla with her great-grandmother, and the one of Ava kissing Tesla.

Russian River weekend with Rachel and Cesar

Rachel and Cesar are moving to Massachusetts. It's difficult to see them go, and I've been in denial. That's a whole other story for another post. However, while their house was open for viewing to buyers, they rented the most adorable cabin up in Russian River and we got to spend 2 luxurious nights with them (hot tub, Rachel's cooking, fresh air, Russian River right by). For one afternoon/evening dinner, Brian & Tameeza, Kerry and their friend joined too. Overall, it was a very relaxing weekend with nature and friends. The river was just a block from the cabin. Tesla thoroughly enjoyed splashing around, and we didn't have to worry too much because it was shallow and calm. You can see this in the first pic where Cesar and Dav are looking at something in the hills while Tesla is thigh-deep in the water. Tesla eating breakfast with a make-shift bib, and a mirror portrait of Tesla on my back as I tried to lull her to sleep even though she wanted so much to hang out with everyone. Dinner table set, and the lovely dinner Rachel cooked. A super friendly Korean exchange student ,who had arrived in CA just a week earlier, stopped by our beach to say hi in his canoe (he was with friends just a few beaches up). Tesla was initially hesitant, but she got in and tried rowing a bit.

The last pic is the kitchen window view of the hill and roots. Very solid and comforting.

And here are some cute videos of Tesla having so much fun at the river beach. And morning in the cabin while Tesla eats breakfast.

[update] And here is a video Dav took of Rachel and I cooking together. No sound, unfortunately, but I'm very happy Dav caught us two having a great time together.

This visit was before Tesla got sick, and I wonder if she got some bug from splashing in the river water. Plus, one time she was completely wet around sun down and shivered, "coooold" when I peeled off her clothes for something dry.

Animal theme Sofia birthday

Catch-up again from a while ago, but here are few pics from Fia's fabulous birthday bash. The theme was animal costumes, so I glued leftover fur we had (being us, we have tons) to Tesla's clothes, and voila. She didn't seem to mind. I wore my giraffe outfit, and Dav was a dinosaur. I have other pictures, but they are of all the kids running around naked in the kiddy pool so those are private :)

Be sure to click on the cake that Michelle made to see the details. See the furry ears on the barbie? So much fun to do such things for kids!

even when sick...

I had to come home early from work today because Karla called that Tesla threw up. I'm glad I did because Tesla continued to be sick. She threw up in the car all over herself coming home, then later twice on both of us and the sofa while we chilled in the living room (each time with a full clean-up and change in between).

Now she's laying in her favorite spot, in our bed. I keep checking in to see if she's fallen asleep, but she's just lying there half dozing, but half not. Just now, I leaned over, caressed her hair, cuddled blankie around her, gave her kisses, and whispered, "I love you" to which I heard a faint whisper back, "I wuv u..."

Not that I truly cared, but now it's totally OK that she barfed all over me...: )

dance party

Last night we went to Sofia's for dinner, and when we arrived, she had on a cute ballet dancer outfit. She kindly brought out a pink tutu for Tesla that matched her pajamas. So until bedtime, we put on classical music and the gals danced around.

At times, Tesla looks like she's doing capoeira, but it's her version of elegantly raising her legs while dancing.

Daddy joined later, obliging Sofia by wearing her tiny white butterfly wings. Daddy also did a puppet play with Fia's toys. When bedtime rolled around, Tesla was more than ready; she actually walked up the stairs to her regular bed at Fia's all by herself!

Tesla and Sofia entertain us during brunch

We had brunch with our neighbors last weekend, and we chose a place with no lines and kid-friendly on 24th street, Sunshine Cafe. M brought lots of artsy stuff to keep the kids busy. Tesla wore her Hello Kitty backpack. I love watching Fia and T together. A lot of times they seem to do their own thing, but they do love being together.
Jeremy plays a lot with Tesla, and I got to catch T's face when they were playing a game where he made faces, and she copied.

Treasure Island Music Festival

Last Saturday, we went with M and J to the Treasure Island Music Festival. Bumped into Randy and Robertta too. The line-up was fantastic. My highlight was Hot Chip, but overall, it was all amazing, and I felt so lucky to have a full day of great music. Since BM was rather busy, having this whole afternoon to enjoy music with Dav was special...almost like a snippet of BM. We shared a babysitter with M & J from noon til night. Special!!This year they had more non-music stuff to check out such as art exhibits and shops. The graffiti artists caught my eye, and I enjoyed checking in on their work throughout the day. One guy worked all day.

The graffiti was part of a marketing event for new spray paint called Montana, and although it was marketing, I thought it was smart because they were supporting the artists, giving art to the event, and educating people about their product but also about graffiti.

They had a table where Mel Waters was doing renditions of people's names. I went by several times, wanting one for Tesla, but there was a line so I passed. Then later in the afternoon, I found no one. Dav and I were on our way to Amon Tobin, but I couldn't resist, so I told Dav I'd meet him later...and I'm glad I did. It was cool seeing Mel Waters take his time to figure out how to do Tesla's name (on canvas), and I chatted with one of the company people who had spent time in Japan (she recognized a character I have dangling from my phone that only exists in Japan so to know it, you have to have been there). And the final rendition was worth it. I'm going to frame it for T!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

In their million gallon Outer Bay tank there were tuna, hammerhead sharks, and giant schools of fish. We sat there and marveled for quite some time. I'm going to eat a lot less tuna.

More catch-up from when my mom was here:

We went to Monterey with mom and Elida. Rachel and Cesar were going to come, but Rachel woke up sick that morning. Our plan was to check out the aquarium, then drive along the coast a bit to enjoy the beauty. In reality, we spend all our time at the acquarium, and since I had scheduled a gift massage at Kabuki for my mom, we had to leave to make it back in time. I was pretty bummed I didn't get to show my mom the coast as she wanted. Plus, it was too much driving for one day, especially for Tesla. We should have spent the night.

Still, the acquarium was worth it. The jellyfish were amazing. Elida's set is here.