4-Wheelin' with Francesca--can you say WOW?

I have never seen anything quite like it, but then again, I'm not that well-trained in the talents of 4 year olds. Francesca has a jeep and boy, can this kid drive. She can do a 3-point turn, reverse with ease, shift into low and high gear and do figure eights around the playground. I think she earned major kudos from her 23 month old cousin this weekend. The first picture displays her excellent training as she buckles Jasmine up. She also put J's helmet on for her.

I suspect if they had just sat in the jeep, Jasmine would have been quite content. But she was actually in for the ride of her life.


I literally watched Frenchie in her jeep for 30 minutes with my jaw on the ground. I truly believe she could probably drive us home from the Bay area if I need her to.

At the pool

We had a busy week and are just now starting to get our footing again. Thursday morning we headed to the Bay area for a craniofacial clinic; structured more like a support group, we sat in a room for 2 hours with other parents of cleft-babies and a team of providers. Unfortunately, we were the only parents with a 2 year old. Everyone else had biological children under the age of one. We knew it would be so, but we thought we might be able to get some good info anyway. Jasmine was her usual gregarious self and managed to obtain 1 on 1 time with the speech pathologist, who agreed that she is extremely capable and engaging and will most likely thrive with her speech after surgery. Nonetheless, we were acutely aware of the fact that Jasmine is now quite delayed in getting her palate repaired and we are anxious to get the call telling us that surgery has been scheduled. Until this big one is behind us, we will not necessarily rest easy.

We finally arrived at my mom's house after sitting in Bay area traffic for a couple of hours. It felt like a long day with little reward. Fortunately, I was able to spend the weekend with my family although Shane went away to work for the weekend. We missed him terribly.
Here are my 3 favorite girls--Jasmine and her 2 fabulous cousins. I love these girls and the relationships that are developing make my heart sing. But the 3 hour drive! It does take it's toll.

We visited the community pool and Jasmine enjoyed an otter pop and some alone time in the kiddie pool.


But her true attentions rested with Gwennie most of the weekend. When Gwennie is around, even Mama takes a back seat. Gwennie is the epitome of perfection in Jasmine's eyes (many of us feel this way!). This series will show you exactly how enthralled J is with her oldest cousin.




Despite the daytime fun, Jasmine had some tough nights and in turn, so did I. She developed a terrible cough which resulted in her struggling to breath through the night. She would not let me put her down and by morning I was bleary-eyed and irritable. I am constantly reminded of my own shortcomings now that I am a parent. While I strive to maintain my dignity and patience, I am still adjusting to feeling a lack of control in certain situations. I really think there are upsides and downsides to becoming a parent later in life. The obvious upside to me is a level of maturity and life experience that helps form ones' beliefs and philosophies. The downside is having spent many years being able to make plans and see them come to fruition, and finding this is no longer so. Having a toddler turns ones plans into hopes, and holding on too tightly to these plans often leads to frustration and disappointment. I still have a lot of growing to do, learning to be more flexible, have fewer expectations and to really and truly live in the moment. Jasmine teaches me every day what selflessness is all about and quite frankly, I still have a lot to learn.

Cooling off

After splashing about in the glorious pool next door--keeping us all on our toes--Jasmine finally found entertainment on the deck. What better way to cool off and make oneself useful than to water plants with a conveniently placed hose?


The look of intense concentration, one we see often on her sweet little face.
Caught in the sprinklers! Fortunately, Alex was close by for a quick rescue and Griff is lumbering over to offer his assistance.

Jasmine had a terrible night on Saturday, which occurs every so often. I wish I could say it was related to something during our daytime activities but honestly, she had a great day with us. She couldn't sleep and no matter how hard we tried, it was futile. All she wanted was to be held by her mama. After several attempts by both of us to soothe and comfort her, we were all at our wits end. I sat and rocked her several times but any attempt to put her to bed was met with screams of protest. I have to admit, the middle of the night is not my finest hour and I grudgingly admit that I lose my patience. By 2:30 AM, after hours and hours of crying, I brought Jasmine to our bed and she eventually fell asleep for a few meager hours. I wish I could explain this unusual event but I can't. So when Alex heard about the tough night she thought a swim in the afternoon heat would help with sleep and she was absolutely right. J slept straight through the night, and took an additional 2 1/2 hour nap at daycare today. It takes a village...

Girls need their grooming

I badly needed a haircut but truthfully it's an ordeal. That's because my stylist is in Sacramento, an hour drive from our house. Why do I have a stylist so far away? Well, I used to live down in the hot valley but that was 13 years ago and if any of you know anything about women and their hair dressers, we tend to have extreme loyalty and are hard-pressed to let a good one go. So I let my hair get to the point of supreme irritation and then I make the big drive. This has all been made much more complicated since the arrival of J, since it hardly seems fair to drag her all the way there but I strategically loaded her up in the car right at nap time and off we went. Secretly, I thought Gloria might perform a little of her magic on my sidekick too.
J did her best to be cooperative during my cut; she sat in my lap or climbed around my feet but when Gloria asked her if she wanted a haircut she didn't hesitate to say yes. Here she is, bravely wearing her big girl gown and waiting for the scissors.
And my little beauty after. She's my rock star.
Of course, no visit to the salon is complete without socializing with the other women. Gloria (or as Shane affectionately refers to her, the Nubian goddess) is standing in the blue dress and J is introducing herself to anyone interested.
Her reward, going to the bakery for a drink with straw and ice, 2 of her favorite things. I don't mind a visit to the Sacramento valley but let me just say that my thermometer read 109 as we were driving home. Back in my much younger years, I was not yet in graduate school and found myself doing a stint as a carpenter. I spent several summers out in the 100+ degree weather, basically building custom homes from the ground up. I am eternally grateful that I acquired skills that I really shouldn't have (since I'm not that mechanically inclined) but I did learn to love power tools and swing a hammer with confidence. But I digress. Let's just say I don't miss that kind of heat, and while Jasmine doesn't mind the heat much, she did say hot several times when we had to return to the car. By the time we arrived home to the foothills, the temperature was a much more reasonable 92.

A daddy's girl

What weighs 28 pounds, is 35 inches tall, talks non-stop from sunup to sundown, laughs with abandon, cries without shame and sleeps on her daddy's chest for 3 1/2 hours? Mmm-hmm. That would be Jasmine.

Our over-achiever blowing on a ceramic turtle whistle from Mexico. I say over-achiever because our understanding is that she shouldn't be able to blow with her open palate but she does AND she can suck out of a straw. I can't wait to see what she'll be capable of when her little mouth is fixed.

Folsom Zoo Sanctuary

We visited a small zoo in the town of Folsom, about an hour drive for us (like so many things given where we live), but still in the foothills and with a similar climate and wildlife habitat to our own. In fact, for vast stretches along the Sierra's, you will find these same small towns with hot, dry climate and predictable wildlife. This small zoo/sanctuary is designed with little people in mind, and is easy to walk through in an hour. I've started with this magnificent photo of a mountain lion, rescued and brought to this sanctuary as opposed to being killed for encroaching on human habitat. This is the closest I've been to a mountain lion and was awed by it's grace and majestic presence. But the other 3 that I've seen out in the wild, while running and cycling, equally beautiful, instilled fear in me that I often carry when out in the wilderness. It was nice to have the protection of bars and fences.

The zoo highlighted for me the extraordinary opportunities that we have had to see so much of this wildlife on our own. Just this year alone (and keep in mind my activities out in the wilderness have been seriously curtailed), I've seen a pair of coyotes, 2 black bears (one being a cub lumbering across the road by itself), plenty of hare, raccoons, skunks, hawks, deer, quail with babies, and a rare fox sighting. I've glimpsed a bobcat, mountain lions, bald eagle and bear with cub while out over the years.
Jasmine and her Baba, looking to be having a serious discussion.
Jasmine is trying to blow bubbles, but she forgets to open her lips. I think with her open palate it still would be hard to blow. We are so anxious to get her palate surgery underway and are merely waiting for our turn on what seems to be a very long list of waiting patients.


A rare photo of Jasmine in her Mama's lap and my dad, her nagypapa.
Swinging along with nagypapa and Grandma Marj. I was thrilled that she ran up to both and hugged them when they arrived...
but a security check was necessary to make sure we were following closely behind.

Meet Max

Let me introduce you to Max, the newest member of our furry family. Max was a gift from my mom last weekend and he has quickly become an integral part of our daily lives. Jasmine asks for him by name and signs "duck". She loves to feed Max, hug and kiss him, put him to bed and kiss him goodnight.
First thing in the morning, we sit down for a meal and Max is fed and hydrated. I get my share of drinks and snacks, too, while I enjoy my morning tea.
Max is directed to sit up straight.
But here's the clincher for the day--my flip-flops. Why, you ask, did I take a picture of my dirty and cheap flip-flops?
Here's the story:

Jasmine starts to whine and grunt at me while I'm fixing dinner, so I ask her what's wrong. She sticks out her tongue and continues to make a fuss. I decide to give her my undivided attention to get to the bottom of things. She takes me by the hand and shows me my flip-flops, which are laying upside down with big wet circles around the fasteners and she continues to stick out her tongue and complain.

Mama: Jasmine, did you lick mama's flip-flops?

J: Yah.

Mama: Oh my goodness, are you serious? You licked my flip-flops?

J: (grunt, whine, tongue sticking out) Yah.

Mama: Xiaoxiao, do NOT lick mama's flip-flops! Give me your tongue.

J: (sticks out tongue)

Mama wipes off J's tongue and asks her to wash it all down with some juice. I did NOT get a picture of her putting creamed sweet potato in her eyes a mere 30 minutes later but I assure you that she seemed OK when we put her to bed tonight.

All smiles

It's much easier to catch Jasmine in a full-body laugh these days. She's eager to pose for the camera after months of straight-faced photos. We had an uneventful July 4th, with Shane out of town and Jasmine and I visiting my mom in the bay area. I hardly took my camera out at all but it was great for Jasmine to spend time with her doting grandmother. We did manage to get to a local park and while Jasmine would not walk barefoot in the sand, she had a good time rocking.

Home with Baba, Jasmine and Shane get up to a lot of mischief together. No one's complaining.

Jasmine insists on wearing everything that belongs to me--my shoes, undergarments and my silk summer robe. This morning during our lap time, she found a way to sneak her arm into my sleeve and after that, she wanted more. She managed to talk her Baba into playing dress-up.

I can't believe that Jasmine will be 2 years old in a month. What makes it easier to believe is that she acts every bit of her 23 months. Demanding, insistent, coy, engaging and all about saying No...mine! And what's with the 6 AM wake-up call these days? Is it summer hours? All I know is that I have got to get to bed earlier to keep up with our ever-changing schedule and to try and get enough sleep to keep up with our energetic toddler.

Triple decker

Mama, Xiaoxiao and doggie.