[Tsk tsk new parents. So slow with your posting—even worse than last time! We know, we know. Life has been pretty crazy of late.]
Where even to begin? Since shredding way back in February, Sonia has:
1) Surfed again at Linda Mar in Pacifica (3/31/09). This was just last week, while dad was on intersession, helping Matt the surf teacher teach surfing. Mom and SoSo came to the beach one day, and Sonia got to watch her mom catch wave after wave. SoSo very much enjoyed the sand (it was a little bit different than Bolinas—darker). We don't have any pictures of SoSo hanging ten (she also did a few aerials), but we do have a dorky picture of dad trying to turn off the camera on the nose of the huge 11'6" tanker they were using to teach the girls.
2) Hiked in her new hiker backpack (3/29/09). Just a few days before the big surf/beach day, the family took out our fancy Deuter baby backpack (not exactly this model, but the same basic idea), which was a gift from one of dad's student's dad, Frank, who works at REI and can get awesome deals on fancy baby backpacks. In the past we always hiked with SoSo in her Bjorn, which felt very Euro but was not very kind to the old back. The Deuter, true to its price point, was a magical hiking experience, distributing SoSo's weight (which is increasing daily!) across many straps and buckles. Very nice. And SoSo gave the thumbs up both for visibility—she could hang out and see all the sights from up atop dad's back—and comfort, as she did her favorite falling-asleep move. We did our favorite hike out to the Brazilian Room (where mom and dad said 'we do'), but cut it short in the interest of popping over to the Little Farm. There SoSo got up close and personal with her first real-life farm animals, from a big huge cow to rabbits (not the stew kind...) and goats with their weird sideways rectangular pupils. The coolest of all were the brand-new baby piglets. Only a week old—which means only 51 weeks away from weighing 700 pounds! Yikes. It made us appreciate SoSo's more reasonable growth parabola. We all agreed that we should do a family trip up there with Cousin Cobo before he relocates this summer, and when we do we should bring some lettuce for the creatures to munch.
and the big one:
3) Traveled to Tulum, MEXICO (2/14-2/21/09). That's right. Our little wee one is an international baby of mystery. This adventure started way back in December, when mom and dad had to get SoSo outfitted with her very own passport. It struck mom and dad as a little bit ridiculous, since all white babies look the same, that she needs photo ID to travel. But Big Brother requires, and so we do. We were very trepidatious about the whole travelling process—from the flights to the rental car to the drive down the Yucatan peninsula from Cancun to Tulum. SoSo loved the flying—in fact she charmed all of our co-passengers, getting many 'wow your baby is such a good traveller!' comments (which are a little bit like 'hey, thanks for not making the last four hours a nightmare!' comments), and even some random pictures snapped by strangers of her smiling little face. We flew with Grammie Betty and Grauntie Sherry (origin of the infamous peanut butter ball recipe!), and once in Mexico we rendezvoused with Uncle Liam and Auntie Ness, fresh off their 87 hour flight from Dubai. From there with rented a minivan, which was to be SoSo's nemesis for the rest of the trip, and made the hour drive down the post-apocalyptic highway, full of barely-visible (with signs that aren't visible at night, either, for the record) topes, or speed bumps, random road-work in a permanent state of disrepair, and police carrying machine guns, lit (and why not?) by what looked like trash cans on fire. Ah, Mexico. But boy, did SoSo hate that minivan. For the entire week, any time she woke up inside it, or was put inside it, she screamed. Now, our SoSo is no lover of cars—she is not that stereotypical baby that can be sent to dreamland by a quick motor around the block—but never have we seen her hate so openly, and so passionately, a vehicle. Uncle Liam and Auntie Ness agreed that she was lodging an early protest against any suburban-ification of our lifestyle; that, perhaps, and a gentle reminder to reduce our carbon footprint in general. Luckily, however, once we arrived to Tulum, to our brilliant Casa Blanca, which we had rented before in 2006 for April's wedding, there was only minimal driving that needed to be done for the rest of the trip. From there on, it was all relaxing on the beach (the picture above is from our back porch), going for walks, sitting around and reading or playing cards, and generally chilling out. SoSo did dip her toes in the Caribbean (not too shabby for a first ocean experience!), and she loved laying on our bed under the big palapa, watching the fronds as the breezes wafted through the room. It was an amazing vacation—none of us can wait to go back.
Until next time!
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