Less than Twelve Parsecs

I thought the first time Mara takes a standalone step, without holding on to a large item or person, it would be epic. It its way, it was. I had imagined it would happen one of these mornings, during her playtime. She would look up suddenly with that decisive look in her eyes. All would become silent, except for the clock on the wall which would seem to also measure our heartbeats. Mara would get up to standing, brows furrowed with concentration, then she would ever so slightly lift her right foot up, keeping her weight on the other. A soft drumroll would suddenly be heard out of nowhere as she moved her right foot forward, and most likely trumpets sounding some sort of victory march as she would gracefully land one step ahead of where she was standing a few seconds ago. Now here's what really happened. I was holding Mara in my arms in the backyard, watching the birds flying in and out of the trees. Mara glanced down and noticed a stick on the ground.  A STICK

We stopped buying toys several months ago when we realized the best playthings you can give a baby are right around your kitchen. For example, these silicone covers by Charles Viancin are gorgeous and highly functional - they seal cover round bowls in the microwave, in the fridge, even in the oven for this lasagna bamboo leaf cover. They were quite fun for Mara to chew on during those heartwrenching teething times. Spatulas and spoons and ladles, whether wooden, silicone or thermoresistant nylon, are all safe to use around food, thus quite safe for the baby to play with (although you might want to leave the knives out of the equation for a while). One of our favorites is a silicone whisk  that is so much fun for Mara to see and handle. She can bang it on counters safely because it has a soft impact, and all the little wires are joining together to make interesting visual effects. Most importantly, every time we see her with it, one of us exclaims: "Mara is into some Whisky

You might have read before about our cute little dining table where Mara gets her meals most of the time. The table is on two yoga mats to contain the mess, but it relies on the baby to also stay only in that area until we are finished eating. Easier said that done, you would say. Mara is actually pretty good about it, provided that: - she is hungry - the food is tasty / interesting - you can see interesting stuff out the window while eating - Mommy or Daddy is around so she can show them the food bits and/or feed them too - there are no other big distractions, such as other people visiting or a toy begging to be picked up. Given the above, the baby will regularly stay at the table. During every meal, Mara forgets a few times and starts to turn away, but when you ask her whether she is all done eating she turns right back to the food. Two weeks ago, we had an episode when this didn't happen. I won't state what this says about Mommy's skills at cooking that day,

We spent our 4th of July with various friends that we hadn't seen in a long time. Here's the main look of the day At the farm we made friends with a little goat. On the way to a chili cookoff event, Mara helped Daddy hold the  umbrella . That huge umbrella was tremendously useful to have on a very bright day in California, we were so glad to bring it along! Nose scrunchies as usual And a big crowd gathered here for the Chili. Mara's all-pink attire was completely haphazard: - Daddy had picked up the onesie at random that morning, - Mommy could not find any other hat for herself, and donated it to the baby when our umbrella was elsewhere, - a friend handed over the pink beads necklace which occupied the little hands for a very long time. The evening was marked with a quick walk up the hill from our house, where you can see a magic view of all of Silicon Valley. Plenty of other people seemed to have the very same idea of a 4th of July e

It's been about ten days since Mara started to crinkle her nose at people. It gets a laughter every time, from parents, grandparents who were luckily visiting, even strangers at Panera. We stopped at the Santa Cruz campus this weekend, on a very cool tree trunk bench. Passersby going to a children learning in nature conference all got sweet greetings from the crinkle-nosed baby who was practicing her stance on the bench. How to get from the ground all the way up a tree trunk bench, and beyond. Cute Even cuter!!!  Mara is showing off her bear walk. This is the more advanced version, where you are also holding a stick. Bears haven't figured that one yet, which is why Mara is far superior to them. This is when Greg found out that Grandma had been secretly feeding Mara sweet stuff. The forests near UC Santa Cruz campus are quite gorgeous. This image was literally 30ft away from one of the dorms. On the way back to the main road there

From about 8-9 months Mara went through a phase where she liked to dual-wield things. I was only able to capture a few photos/videos, but here they are! Dual wielding our badges She's getting closer She's here! Here, Mara is dual-wielding some collapsible measuring cups. And here she has two instruments/shaking toys. And some more shaking And a two minute video of her with the shaking toys Mara at 10 months. Dual wielding watermelon isn't always easy, and often requires a pine needle in the mouth.