Grandma Shirley's pictures of Viv's 1st 1st birthday

It's the 1st 1st birthday because there will be a 2nd 1st birthday as well. One more for the next visiting Grandma. We figure, she doesn't know the exact date she was born yet, so no harm no foul -- we'll have the birthdays in the same month when family's in town.

On to the pictures, all taken by Grandma Shirley.


Birthday onsie from Grandma Shirley!


Amidst the presents, a very intent child.


Our girl having a good time.


A lovely photo of one of babycake's favorite activities, window gazing. Actually it is of two of her favorite activities, window gazing and stair climbing. I love the light and mood of this one.

Enjoy celebrating milestones,

Bp

Grandma Shirley Vivian Pictures, Oct. 12th

Holy crap it's been a month since we last posted here. Sorry folks, we're working on it honest. We're a patch cord away from being up with our new (graciously gifted -- thanks Mr. Pitts!) camera.

Grandma Shirley is visiting right now, and came bearing gifts. I'll get right to the pictures:

10/12/09 Viv in her chair



Vivian loves this chair. It came graciously via our neighbors, and is called a Prince Lionheart Bebe Pod. She loves the ability to sit up and be on her own. It holds her in wonderfully well, and is supposed to be really good for her muscular and neuro development. She also likes drumming on the little foam pad-thing in the middle. It's been great.

10/12/09 Viv's Toy Chest



Grandma Shirley, my sister Tammy and step-dad RJ all worked on this toy chest for Vivian. Mom delivered it on this trip. It's customized with not only snazzy paint and murals, but has a pinch-proof gap cut into the front and a nice hinge that will keep it from slamming up or down. It's going to be a real treasure.

10/12/09 Viv's toy chest - side bee


10/12/09 Viv's toy chest - side


10/12/09 Viv and Boris1



Mom got these pictures of Vivian and Boris sharing a cubey toy. Boris is going to be "that cat" for Vivian, I suspect. I predict being dragged around unceremoniously, and playing dress-up in his future.

10/12/09 Viv and Boris2


10/12/09 Viv and Boris3


10/12/09 Viv and Boris4



There ya go people, sorry to starve out the Vivian Fan Club for a full month, we'll endeavor to do better in the future,

Bp

Videos instead of photos -- Papa takes Viv to the Zoo

Ok so since our camera doesn't work and needs replacing, I took the little flip video and made some talkies.

My friend Tony suggested we go to the zoo with Girlie before he lands a job (cross your fingers everyone) and isn't available for this type of week-time fun anymore. Here are the videos that I took.

8/25/09 Vivian's outfit for the zoo

This is what happens when the father is left alone to dress the daughter. I like the gangster hat, with the jaunty puffball on the top and the Lorax in the front. As for the bumblebee leggings -- stripes go with stripes, right?

Portland Zoo 8/25/09 Lorikeet Aviary

I think the Lorikeet Aviary was the highlight of this whole day at the Zoo. You can buy little dixie cups full of 'nectar' to feed the birds. The birds are outlandishly, garishly colored and really brash. They weren't wallflowers that's for sure. A number of times Tony and I would be talking, about 2' away from each other, and a Parrot would fly right through our line of vision, buffeting our faces on the way through. The people watching, or rather the kid-watching was the best.

8/25/09 Lorikeet aviary close up

Ok, so I haven't figured out how to flip the videos on my flipvideo. Sorry.

Anyway, here is a beautiful Lorikeet eating in the aviary.

8/25/09 Vivian watches a waterfall at the zoo

Again, with the sideways video -- sorry. Anyway, Viv had started to get fussy. And rightfully so, we had been at the zoo all day long, and just been through a cave full of (literally) screaming children. She had pretty much had it with us and this situation when we passed a little waterfall at the zoo and boom. Suddenly mesmerized and content. Note to self: the girl likes falling water.

Whups, almost forgot the last video -- the all important "baby passed out due to long day" video, featuring the beautiful wife and mama.

8/25/09 Vivian conked out from long day at Zoo

It was a long day at the zoo, and the kiddo was conked out. Figured it would be a good ending to this series.

There ya go Grandmas and other Vivian fans. Thanks for the patience, we endeavor to post way more often than this.

Love,

Bp, Kt, and Vv

Going back in time -- trip up to Redwind, and placental burial

Let's get this narrative back in order here. We jumped around a bit to accommodate a Gram and Katye's excitement over the lovely and talented Miranda. But, the story should be set back on track.

On the 30th of April, The Bebeh, Wife and I went up to Redwind to have a little ceremony to bury the placenta under a tree. Here are the pictures from that day:

4/30/09 Mama and Viv


Figured a little "reality show" was in order here. Here is the beautiful-but-unconscious mama with the bebeh in early morning light. Kt was still in the downstairs bed at this point, healing up.

4/30/09 Viv and Babybling (or... what happens when fathers dress their newborn daughters)


Rock that outfit, Viv, rock it.

4/30/09 Viv and Nunpa


Uncle Nunpa holding the baby at Redwind Headquarters. She was a trooper that day, her first drive up to the mountain and back (about an hour each way). She did great.

4/30/09 Viv and Nunpa


Great face over Nunpa's shoulder. Why hello!

4/30/09 Penny and Viv


Auntie Penny met Viv for the first time today. Penny lives right up the road from Redwind, so it was a good opportunity for her to see the baby without a trip all the way to town.

4/30/09 Pear tree


So long ago we had decided that we'd like to bury the placenta up at Redwind under a tree. Pears are Katye's favorite fruit and, synchronistically enough, Damon wanted to put a pear tree into his orchard anyway. So here it is, a nice 5-in-1 pear with Asian, Bosch, Comice and two other varieties that I can't remember at the moment. You gotta love grafting.

4/30/09 Viv and BP and pear tree


Viv at her pear tree. Mama's pear tree as well, since under it is the placenta.

4/30/09 Viv's pear tree


If one picture at the pear tree is good, then two is better, no?

Enjoy the simple ceremonies in life,

Bp

Playing catch up, photos from 4/24/09 Friday

Been a long and eventful weekend. Not only visitors, but a trip to a social event -- with strangers and everything!

Going straight to the stills:

Look at those snazzy diaper covers!



You ever wake up from a particularly ferocious nap and just don't know where you are, and feel like you got hit by a truck? We think that was the experience Ms. Vivian was having here.



Another picture of Ms. Vivian recovering from The Ferocious Nap of '09 (tm).



Ken is a new acquaintance and an excellent bebeh handler. Welcome here any time sir.



Our friend Kate knit this hat for the Bebeh, and she's almost already outgrown it. When it's on for a little bit more, it becomes a raiment of the Jewish faith.



Ms. Vivian at a charity auction a friend threw on Friday night. It was her first big outing that included not only a car ride, but socializing with tons of strangers/new friends. Auntie Amy was a great shore in the storm -- Ms. Viv was none too pleased when we took her away from her Amy nap to go home. None too pleased at all.



Enjoy catching up on your chores,

Bp

Pictures from today -- April 17th: Shaolin papa, sleeping burrito, auntie

Kind of a bonus post today (tonight), or a very early post for Saturday, depending on how you see it.

I'll be gone this weekend, no computer for me -- so you and The Mama are on your own for posting. Of course, this will kinda post Saturday and I'll be home Sunday PM so we'll see if there's any interruption in The Bebeh Channel at all.

The wonderful Brianna is here this weekend to help out with the bebeh, hang out with KT (they are soul sisters), and relax a bit from her work-life and family. So no fretting about me leaving Kt all alone before she's all healed up now.

I'll get right to the pictures:

As any of you who know me already know -- fashion is a priority of mine. Ever more so now that we're in The Baby Bubble (tm). Katye dubbed this my Shaolin-papa look. I expect it will be all the rage with the kids soon.



Here's a picture of the bebeh, who is apparently concerned about something. She never did explain what.



Auntie Kathy from the coast. Auntie Kathy is the proprietor of La Luna Loca, a great shop in Cannon Beach, Oregon and online if you click here. (Why yes, that was a soft plug -- and also a troll for some google space, every little hit helps) With worldly and together aunties like this, how can Viv go wrong.



And finally, a little sleeping peanut burrito.

All together now... "Ahhhhhhhhhh"



Enjoy,

Bp

April 14, BB fashion, neighbors and uncles oh my!

Quiet day at the home front, as intended. Katye stayed in bed a good long time, though she did go out and sit at the couch with visitors for a couple hours. But the healing is accelerating in response to the increased bed-time, which is excellent.

The baby is very much into eating and sleeping. Soon after she wakes up, she wants to eat. Which, considering her size and age, is perfect.

I think I'll interpolate a bit of commentary at the pictures this time. There is quite a parade of faces going by and although I want to respect folks' need for privacy, I also want to introduce ya'll to our spirit family and neighbors.

First, the stars of the show. I just thought that was a beautiful picture of them both, and an especially fetching picture of the baby. It's hard to get a picture of her face in repose, because the camera has this little orange "pre-light" for the flash and it normally makes her scrunch up her face even if she's sleeping.

The second picture down is of some BB fashion/bling. We've begun to use the cloth diapers from the diaper service, and that allows us to use super cool diaper covers like this one. I'll probably do more shots of BB bling as we go along.




This is Uncle Tate. He's a member of our spiritual community and a dear friend of the family.



Uncle Meshi, another member of our spiritual community and local dance sensation.



Our neighbor to the North, Joella. She's mother of "Superman" -- one of the mellowest kiddos I've ever met, also known as Skylar. Who Tait has reminded us is definitely going to be 'that neighbor kid' who will be running in to raid our fridge and chase our chickens in no time. Skylar is about 1 year old now and will be a good playmate for Ms. Vivian.



A couple of great photos of Auntie Mariel. She, too, is a member of our spiritual community and came by to deliver our dinner tonight (wonderful dinner btw Mariel) and hold the baby for a while. She's a natural, just look at her.




And finally Terry, one of our neighbors to the South. His partner is Chuck, who is on the left in this picture. He's a nurse and an important source of Allopathic information for Katye and I. When we have to make the hard decisions about vaccinations, he is one of the people we are going to to get our stats right.



There we are, another good day of visitors and rest.

With the milk flowing, and Katye feeding while still in bed (as opposed to getting up and sitting in a chair to nurse) the stints of sleep are longer and longer. I think I had 5-6 hours last night, which is almost a normal day for me. I'm feeling pretty chipper.

Enjoy the support of loved ones,

Bp