Hannah Leibovitz

Hannah was the art director for this photo shoot. She arranged everything on the couch and the chest, including some things behind Jane that weren't even going to be seen.
She also had Jane sit with her arms held out. Jane didn't get it "right" at first so Hannah had to show her...

Hannah fixing the set, and Jane's thinking, "Now, what am I doing here again?"


"Hold it like this, Jane."


"No, out like this." (can you see the sigh on her face?)


"That's it, Mom!"


I should have asked her about it, what to call it, or the symbolism behind it???

(Yeah, the pics are bad. I should have taken time to get the settings right on my camera. The girls ask me to take so many pictures, sometimes I just click so I can oblige them. Oh well. )

In Portsmouth, RI

Too cold to do this today...



So, we went bowling.



Good times.
Still, too bad we had to get in and out of the cars to feel the biting chill. Brrr!
Maybe the Truscotts will let us hibernate here???

~•~

Rhode Trip

The girls and I drove up to Portsmouth, Rhode Island today to visit the Truscotts for the weekend.
My friend Julie has really tough pregnancies so I decided to come and provide any and all services I can to her. She deserves it.

We are looking forward to a long weekend away from the city.

~•~

Good Morning!

Trying to pretend there's not a huge camera taking pictures of me with bed head and face so I can enjoy morning cuddle time.

~•~

On a Sunday afternoon...

Minna is sleeping and I need something to keep the girls quiet so they don't wake her. So we make a movie.

What's up, Claire?

Claire is up, apparently. She has been standing a lot and for long periods of time, even on this bed (which looks like she's about to slide off of. Sorry. That tilt bugs, but I had to snap fast and leveling it would crop off that cute little head. OK I'm done).

Back to the babe, she doesn't seem like an infant anymore. She has made so many milestones and shamefully, with all the blogging I do, I haven't documented everything.

So, I mentioned she stands, and well. We have seen her take a shaky step here and there, but she's not walking yet. My prediction is that she'll be walking in the next couple of weeks, though, and definitely before she turns one in March.

Claire is VERY vocal. Sometimes she uses her chords to yell out for our attention or in protest, and sometimes she uses them in a more preferred manner by actually saying words. So far, she has just said "Da" for Dad (Woody is also "Da", who looks enough like Dan, I suppose) and "Du" for diaper. Seriously, I can tell the difference. She knows what she's talking about, too.

She is also communicating with a few signs like "eat", "all done", "bath" and "diaper". She also is progressing with word recognition. I love it when I say "kisses" and she just smiles big. She knows those are the best.

Claire still only has two teeth, and she doesn't have the amount of hair her sisters had at this age. I know because I haven't been able to put that little hair sprout on top of her head yet.

Claire is not the roll of chub she was last summer. She has slimmed throughout her body, a little too much for the likes of our pediatrician- she dropped from the 50th to the 10th percentile in two months. I'm not worried though. She seems healthy to me.
She is also in the 50th percentile for height and head- she's following Jane's height patterns.

I think that's about it, except that she likes to shake it to a groovy beat.
She's just awesome.

~•~

Video: A city journey

VIEWER ADVISORY:

Before you push that little play button, you might want to know what to expect.

The video below is not an account of what we did at a particular destination, which is what we usually do. The destination plays just a small role in this little feature. Instead, I wanted to highlight the journey to and from that destination, a journey which represents most of the other journeys we take into the city. After watching, you might agree that it is indeed a journey.

I wanted to have a record of the things we do to get into Manhattan and with kids. That means a lot of walking, subway transfers, carrying the stroller up or down stairs, and chasing our children down the sidewalks before they get lost in a crowd. It also means seeing a lot of interesting people, places and things.

I should mention that we had some company join us (Dan's cousin Micah and his wife Cheryl) which made all those challenging things a lot easier since we outnumbered the girls. Plus, they took some video of all of us-- together! Thanks.

So, if you haven't moved on to another blog by now, and you're wondering what in the world I'm talking about, you are free to watch and enjoy.

Something to do

When I was in Utah last weekend, my SIL, Shara, was telling me how she can't do enough things for/with her nearly five-year-old daughter at home that will keep her engaged/interested/entertained.
That's how Dan and I feel about Hannah lately. She seems... bored, and we all know what boredom leads to: undesirable behaviors.

I keep thinking of things I can try with her or buy her, but that's not always the answer, is it? She's already in Pre-K five days a week, but we need her in classes of something, anything. So then we consider the cost of such a thing and we are back to square one-- home and BORED.

What's that got to do with the bowl of water and random contents, you ask?

It was the most entertaining thing for Hannah today to guess whether or not something would float in water. She loved it and was so entertained.

We tried:

an almond

a necklace

a mason jar ring

a Pez dispenser, sans candy

a straw

an empty bottle

a plastic spoon

a clothes pin

a small plastic dish

and an apple

She loved the experiment and she kept trying to do it secretly after I told her we needed to clean up. That's me, stifling her inquisitive spirit.

When Dan came home she tried to tell him about the "operation" she performed (she had forgotten the word experiment). Then, she came in to where I was taking a bath (uninvited) to test out the bath water's properties in keeping things afloat. She didn't seem to notice that I was practically yelling at her to give me privacy. So focused, she is. Dan had to come and escort her out. Sorry if that was TMI. We're not a private blog, are we.

Anyway, at least I had something for her to keep her entertained

Eventually, and probably soon, the cost of some extracurricular activity is going to be insignificant compared to the benefits of having her involved in something.
Now I know why my parents always had us in sports, dance and music lessons, even when they could have used the money on groceries. It kept them sane. Oh, and they probably did it for us kids too ;)

~•~

Non-Asians cooking Asian

*This is another "I liked the food so much I wanted to blog about it" post.*

He had a glorious Asian feast last night. Heavy on glorious.

We went out to Long Island where our friends the Harts and the Riches live. We like to go visit them in their little village and take the chance to get out of the city.
Ami already had things going when we got there, so we helped by making spring rolls-- cook, roll, cook again.

Look! There's me!

I try to make an appearance on the blog every once in a while.

The spring rolls were everything we had expected them to be (delicious), the recipe coming from our very own Enny, spring roll master extraordinaire, from our ward.

Ami made her version of a Thai chicken, coconut soup with mushrooms and lemongrass. It was heavenly.
She also made some pork dim sum (I keep forgetting what she called it). They were divine.

The meal was complete with sticky rice and a Chinese Chicken Salad that Monica made.

Needless to say, we stuffed ourselves silly, but we still managed a rich, warm, chocolate dessert with ice cream.

Unrepentant glutton I was. I can't speak for anyone else.

Thanks for taking pictures, Dan and Ami.
~•~

Jane's "see my eye?" face

Jane's face and eye looks happy and pretty normal until she pulls her "see my eye?" face.



That was two days ago, a week since the incident.
It was hardly noticeable when I looked at her today- a huge improvement from the deep shade of purple on day two-, but she still does the face.

~•~

My 365 Days of Grateful project

I have been getting a little more personal on my photo blog by writing and showing something I am grateful for every day for 365 days.

This announcement is mostly for my parents as I have been putting up a lot of pictures of the girls, and I know they live for those. The more the better for them.

My P.O.V.

Pretend like you are my head/face while watching this.



That's my life with Claire. She just can't get enough of me, or too close.
I can take it.

Funerals and Family

I have returned from my long weekend in Salt Lake City.
There is so much to say that I don't know what to say.
At this point in my post, you can stop reading. I won't feel bad.

•••••

When my parents told me last week that my grandmother and uncle had passed away, I knew right away that I would be getting on a plane to attend their services. There was no question. I am so grateful to have been able to go. I flew with Claire and left Dan with the other two girls.

It's hard to sum up the details and feelings of the events leading up to and around the funerals- it was all quite an amazing experience, actually. If I had to say something about what impressed me throughout the weekend it would be the strong family ties that resurged, the amount of support we give to and need from each other, and the reminder of who we are to each other. I love having such a big family.
In one day, between two extended families, my parents, siblings and I reunited with,

6 aunts and uncles (7, if you count the uncle that passed)
29 cousins (and their respective spouses, if applicable and/or present)
37 great-grandchildren

The numbers would have been even greater if everyone could have made it out. We all had such a good time catching up and reminiscing.

While both services were well-done, sad, uplifting and inspiring all at once, they had slightly different feels. My uncle's funeral saw more tears of sadness because his death was more untimely and unexpected. My grandmother's funeral saw more tears of laughter as we remembered and celebrated her life and character. Of course, there were sad tears as well because she will be missed, but I laughed so much. It was a great farewell.

My uncle and my grandmother both left amazing legacies. I am happy to be a part of them.

~•~

The eye- Day 2

Jane's swelling had gone down significantly over night. She didn't look so bad this morning.
Then, I had her close her eyes.



What a shiner!
At least it's a nice dark even shade of purple which matched her outfit today.

Jane has an idea on how to make her purple eye more attractive...



~•~

Jane's third eye

Jane took a spill today. Quite a spill.
She was running toward a concrete set of stairs when she slipped and BAM!
Her eye swelled up practically on contact. I freaked out a little because it was big so fast and it seemed to be growing bigger by the nano second. I was just watching it as if I were anxiously waiting for a balloon to pop. Burst and spray blood is more like it, in this case. Ewww!

We came home, and I was encouraged by the fact that the goose egg hadn't grown during our walk home. On the other hand, it hasn't gone down since the incident either because she won't let me put any ice on it. She won't let me touch it or even look at it. In fact, she denies that it is there, that she doesn't have "the biggest owie ever" (Hannah). The only way I got her to pose for the pictures is because I offered her ice cream. I don't do that every time I want my kids to look at the camera, mind you. She was just so sad, and all sad kids with the biggest owie ever should get ice cream.

Here's the profile...




So, so sad :(



~•~