Threeplus1

Camping Day 3

Published by on June 20, 2011 | Leave a response

Ah day 3.. we were underway now, really finding our groove. It takes a few days to get the crusties out, don’tchathink? To stop the mind from thinking about things before and after — to just be there. Before starting off, we had a walk on the cliffs by the ocean. Ada saw seals and pelicans off in the distance. We looked at various flowers, Hamid finding one, me another, Ada copying, telling us ‘stop mommy, daddy’ so she could show us another flower she found. We started driving. The early drive was amazing because we were really there…

We drove paralleling the Trinity River. With our new found routine, we stopped about two hours in, when Ada woke up. We found a shady tree and pulled off the highway where we could see the river down a pathway. Walking to the river, it was clear, fast moving, greenish-blue and beautiful. We stood at a sandy entry spot situated at a big eddy. Hamid took off his shoes & put his feet in & Ada was very curious about Daddy without his shoes. We saw butterflies, talked about the animals that might live at the river, and saw little gold sparkles in the sand under the water of the river — the first time any of us had seen ‘gold’ in a river, the pieces the size of a sand grain. We walked further down the river bend to stand on rocks over some big rapids. Hamid and I found ourselves talking about the best way down, to navigate and avoid the holes and swirly stuff, a throwback to our days in Oregon.. and the novice kayakers we once became.. eons ago. A love affair with the Pacific coast got us here so many years ago…

We did the pop-top/lawnchair thing for our lunch, feeling pretty proud of ourselves:

What's in the cooler?

Pickle eating a pickle and Papa Pickle too!

Yummy lunch..

Ahhh put your feet up...

But… the reason why we came this way was to go swimming in a lake! It had gotten pretty hot and dry, a big shift from the coast. The a/c in the VW worked okay but not well. Swimming!!! We built up the idea of going to a swimming with Ada (an attempted distracting conversation for the hour it took to get there) & Ada was excited (even though she didn’t know what swimming in a lake really was). We found our spot at Whiskeytown Lake, Oak Bottom Marina. The lake, beautiful. The area, a bit of a scene with a lot of boat, houseboat, recreation culture. But the beach was perfect for what we wanted – a good little sandy beach, to spend an hour and take a dip.

Ada was thrilled. We all were. We all went out to our knees… cold, brr!!! Hamid decided he wasn’t so sure his participation was fully necessary in the underwater, torso-submerged part, but after some cajoling and threats of future regrets, he dove in too. We sucked in air, laughed, splashed, and generally felt like we had won the lottery all around. Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash… underwater, underwater, underwater… brr, brr, brr…and run, run, run…to the towels. We dried off on the beach pretty much 5 minutes after we went in. We spent the rest of the time: watching the (too tame) geese, digging with the (famous) plastic rake, and watching Ada wander the large perimeter of the beach.

Ada (and the second one Ada & Hamid) heading to the lake:

But.. as our day came to a close we were a bit sad. Our reserved campsite ended up being a paved parking with large RVs (and streetlights). We had no food for dinner. We cut our losses and headed to Redding. Wahhn wahhn… In the parking lot at the restaurant, and later at our hotel, we felt sad. It had just been so fun being in camping mode. How great it is to be insulated from the noise of life, hanging out with the ones you love. Only one more day.

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Camping Day 4 – The last day

Published by on June 19, 2011 | Leave a response

Our last day was Father’s Day. We did not want to miss out on any remaining fun. So, we ditched the hotel breakfast and made breakfast in the bus. We cut diagonally across two spots in the hotel parking lot, and called it our camp-spot. Hamid went back in the hotel for coffee, and this was the mini-Father’s Day celebration he returned to. Yummy.

Hamid & Ada reading on the bus

One horse town

Happy on our last day!

We had a fun swim in the hotel pool. Then packed up and hit the road. We tooled along, made good time, made some of our own adventure — stopping in a one horse town with some shade (the VW a/c wasn’t doing much!), a popsicle stop mid-way at some random gas station. But… nonetheless… soon were home in Berkeley by 6:00pm. Memories of the day and our first camping trip. Here’s a few images of our last day below. Happy Summer everyone! Lov, R, H & A

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Misc Camping Gallery

Published by on June 18, 2011 | Leave a response

The bus official chef

The happy benefactors

The happy camper

The petite camper

The fun

Ada, Ada! Having fun! When can we come back again?!

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Oh, Mr. Garbage truck, where is my Christmas tree?

Published by on June 10, 2011 | Leave a response

Ada loves talking about the garbage truck. We have been running to see it on Thursdays for almost a year. We hear it coming, and Hamid, Ada, or I say, “Garbage truck!”, and with quick eye contact, we run to the front door (formerly swooping her up), go out on the porch (usually in bathrobes/PJs) and wave at the garbage men — watching them (2-3 guys) do their amazing work. They are fast and quick, and amazingly coordinated and synchronized as they wheel a maze of multiple- drives & cans, a truly athletic spectacle! Ain’t no joke!

Garbage truck is a big part of our world & imaginations.

We talk about garbage truck driving around town. We see pickle, cracker, fish, and carrot driving cars, riding bicycles, and generally popping up, as we go about our business. It was the start of our first jokes, looking out a restaurant window 3-4 months ago, when we saw ‘pickle driving a car’. So garbage truck (& pickle and co.) are a big part of our lives here.

But Mr. Garbage truck is also curious because he took our Christmas tree! How weird that is?! Way back in December, Ada loved our Christmas tree. We got rid of it like everyone else in January. We put it out on the curb & we told Ada that the garbage truck took it, not thinking much of it. The next week she saw the garbage man pick up neighbor’s Christmas tree. How weird? What was that?

We did not realize it would require (now ongoing 6 months) of explanation. Its June, and Ada really still really wants to know: “Mr Garbage truck, where is my Christmas tree?”. Anyone have a good answer to this question? We try saying we’ll get another one in six months, when it gets cold out at Christmas time. But she’s more fixated than that. Its specific, “When is the Garbage truck going to bring it?”. She wants to know and ask them, “When can I have it back?”

She asks a lot. Now, with her newest vocabulary of a week or two of mastery, she’s told us, “I really like my Christmas tree”, “Can we get another one?”

Oh Mr. Garbage truck, where did you take our Christmas tree?

You know, Ada’s right. That is a good question.

What a weird, modern phenomena.

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My Gorgeous Daughter

Published by on May 13, 2011 | Leave a response

Hi world, treat me well.

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This is Ada napping (i.e. trashing her room)

Published by on May 9, 2011 | Leave a response

This is Ada napping. Can’t you tell? No?!, me either.

This is Ada napping (kind of)

Ada’s ‘big bed’ and dexterity have recently led to her discovering that she can, actually….aha!… ‘get up’! Our lives are forever changed. So far nights are fine. So far mornings are fine. (Actually, she calls out, “Mom-mmmmm-eeeee, mommmy, MILK! mommeee MILK!, mommee BOOK!” Starting at about 6:45am. Its quite demanding actually. There will be no late sleeping in this house!)

But, naps…another story. I can hear her trashing her room right now. Thud, thud, jostle, jostle, she tries the knob. Thwap! Thwap! Diapers strewn all over. Pajama & sock drawer: Boom! boom! Opened & slammed — contents emptied on the floor. Items attempted to be worn & quickly discarded. I may find one extra shirt on her next time I go in. Wipes dot the floor. She’s even plugged in a lamp. (Note to self: must re-childproof this weekend. Did anyone ever emphasize that childproofing is a process, not something ever acheived?).

I guess this what they call the stage of quiet self-play. (Somehow this sound more peaceful in writing!?) I think I see two cute eyes peeking out of the door at me.

Second mental note: Add childproof door knobs to that list. Appreciate her.

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The question game

Published by on May 7, 2011 | Leave a response

So Ada and I have been playing the ‘question game’ for awhile now. It started because she eats her blueberries so fast, if you don’t look quickly, you’ll miss it completely. We had this little cart in the kitchen with sliding drawers that you could push all the way through. One morning in January, eating breakfast, I took her little bowl of blueberries, put it into the sliding drawer, and pushed it out like a cash register drawer. Ching! “Take one!” She thought it was hilarious.

We added questions: “What does a cow say?”, “What is the puppy’s name?”, “What is something you eat for breakfast?”. It was our new game. We would go on and on. She loves it.

It has evolved since January. We play in the car. We play in the dining room. Mostly, it is a little white ramekin of berries with a tea saucer on top after dinner. We tap the top of the saucer, tap! tap! tap! Ask a question. It cracks open like a little mouth. ‘Take one!”. The questions now more complex. She asks, “Next question”. Sometimes we ask her to ask a question. (Her favorite is, “What do you drink in the morning?” “Coffee!” Okay, so Hamid has influenced on her on that one). We’ve covered most the topics we can think of. The challenge now is novelty: Rhymes, names, events, what color is…, who’s who, etc.

Our most recent adventure was when Baba Bazorg was visiting. Baba Bazorg, Ada, and I were sitting around the dining room table after lunch. Baba Bazorg had asked a bunch of questions. I had asked a bunch of questions. We asked Ada to ask Baba Bazorg a question. She paused. Fidgeting. I asked her again, “Ada, ask Baba Bazorg a question”. She turned her head and said to us uncategorically, “I’m thinking.” We are stupefied. We raise our eye brows at each other. Baba Bazorg and I both wonder at the same time, “Did she just say, I’m thinking”? When/how did she learn to say that? We don’t say that very often (I can’t even remember an instance). It wasn’t simply parroting. Baba Bazorg works with children on language acquisition, and tells me how complex it is to learn abstract verbs. Wow. She was thinking. And she knew it.

I am really blown away, transformed in fact, by how fully formed we actually are. We have a lot to learn in this world, but we are full human beings from the beginning. We don’t simply get filled up. This is pretty cool!

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Remember those books with the worm with the little hat (and tennis shoe)?

Published by on May 3, 2011 | Leave a response

Ada has a new book. Remember those cute Richard Scarry books? Dogs, cats, animals driving cars shaped like pickles, carrots, pencils; and little cut-away buildings showing animals doing city activities and jobs? They are really fun at this age (2 and 38 years). Ada takes in a quiet moment of reading alone:

We’ve re-dubbed the Things that Go book “The Morning Book”. We take it out while making breakfast. It is a great solution for giving everyone a special activity, which is fun and connected, versus the grumpies that can emerge when we cannot “pick you up!”. Did you know that each page has a little worm with a little German/Swiss style hat? The lowly worm.

He wears one tennis shoe.

The Lowly Worm

(On a funny note and acknowledgment: I was googling ‘little dogs and cats in cars’, ‘street scenes with cut away houses’, and ‘veggie cars’, and feeling pretty silly — and ineffective– when I finally remembered, “Hey! there was a little worm with a German hat”, which immediately yielded Richard Scarry. My kind, and clever, friend Kerry also weighed in at 11pm, responding to a late night text message. She immediately knew Richard Scarry! Even with the poor description on my part. Thank you Kerry! Thank you little worm!)

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Working on “sss”-words

Published by on April 18, 2011 | Leave a response

We’ve been working on “s” words. They are rather hard to say, since they always involve a double consonant. So we practice, over and over & Ada loves it. She will ask & try over and over until she gets it.

Us: Say “stool”
Ada: “toowa”
Us: Say “ttt-ooo-lll’
Ada: ‘tt-oo-wa’
Us: “ttt-ooo-lll’
Ada: ‘tool’
Us: good! Say ‘ssss’
Ada: ‘sss-tool’
Us: good job! good effort!
Ada: ‘more! more ss-words!’…

So we’ve been working on: spoon, stool, school, squirrel, squiggle, stand, snake, smile, small. Double consonants are hard!

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Ada and her Baba Bazorg

Published by on April 18, 2011 | Leave a response

Ada’s Baba Bazorg came for a visit & they had a blast laughing, jokes, and stories. They went to the beach, a farm, a community dinner, and rode the cable cars in San Francisco, all in 3 days! He even humored Ada by spending almost a half an hour in our closet, after Ada would put him in there over and over to ‘hide’. She would proceed to come and find him, surprised every time! A willing playmate! Ada will be talking about Baba Bazorg and his visit for a long time!

Ada loves her Baba Bazorg

Ada & Baba Bazorg at the park

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