Last Post Before Hawai'i

Howdy folks,  not much to report here.  school's out, work is done, laura's been taking care of the cars, WIC, and us.  Sienna is up to 13#13oz, which is a lot.  For those that don't know, that's approximately 38 bounces in the arms before muscle fatigue sets in and I drop the baby (there's some variation for how quickly I drop the baby depending on how much I've been working out).  Two weeks ago I didn't drop the baby until 44 bounces.  But laura's getting us packed for Hawai'i, where omie and loonie have already landed.  I'm going ice climbing tomorrow with Walter from RMI, and am pretty psyched about that.  I asked him if he would be up for climbing everything, and he said sure.  so we're gunna do that.  Also found out that I got interviews at tufts, vermont, dartmouth, and UW.  very exciting.  As laura pointed out, that's 5 for 8, with no rejects thus far.  I don't know what I've done, but I've gotten quite lucky. now just need to figure out travel arrangements. 
anyway, sienna is well, though I fell like I'm jsut repeating myself.  she's more alert, mroe aware, more opinionated, more playful, more awesome.  Oh yeah, forgot to mention that she's 18 on the awesome scale.  so that's good, in the 90th percentile. 

I've been working on her ability to use the force.
It's hard to tell in this picture, but she's actully lifting
me into the air and I'm hovering above her.  She couldn't
quite do the whole couch, so we settled on this.  By the way
the t-shirt don't lie.



Sienna just finished up making her own stocking. She also patched up
laura's old one.



We call this hat the Astro-Baby hat. Sienna Armstrong, at your service



Loves the Keys



Yesterday, we went to boulder for a pre-christmas christmas.  lots of turkey, lots of toys, and santa even made an appearance.  Nice!

Who doesn't like movies?

Awesomeness 1

Awesomeness 2

Unparalleled awesomeness

Tyson's Thanksgiving Visit

Tyson came out on friday, and stayed until monday.  unfortunately, i had to work sat/sun, but we had some fun anyway.  we got to show off her peeing in the toilet abilities, laura's hiking in the snow abilities, sienna's ambivelance to the cold and snow, and laura's vegan pancakes.  deelish.

This is what it's like to hold her

this is what it's like for tyson to hold you

the coach at work.

Lolly and Brad's wedding-Update

We finally got a hold of more pictures from the colorado wedding reception in september. so we can update a much better posting.

there are the cuties, looking much better
than their zombie versions from my last post

this was the theme of that weekend.  keep sienna out of the sun
which now feels really stupid since it's too cold to really go
outside, and probably will be for another six months.



Doin the goo-goo gaga dance (alex is).  and yes, sienna is asleep

 In other news: so will from bowdoin came to visit in september. I forget if I mentioned that, but he left us with eight beers.  well, just last tuesday I finished them.  finally, finished them.  The way I take it, one's drinking can do one of two things post-baby.  go way up, or go way down.  I fell into the latter category, though laura went the other way, despite my pleading with her to be sensible.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Who could ask for anything more?  Every late November we get a double shot espresso of T-gives and Laura's Birth Event.  Though, I must say, having now participated in a single birth myself, my perspective on birthdays is a little different.  I mean, yes, it's a celebration of someone and their individuality, and that's fine.  But, who should we really be celebrating?  If we value that individual at all, we should be celebrating all the momma's out there in the world.  Yup, every person't birthday should be a celebration of their mothers.  After all, they're the one's who did all the work, who suffered, and sacrificed.  Laura's birthday?  Thanks Dee, You Rock! (you too honey, hope you like the diamonds)
So we had thanksgiving up at dad's joint, which was great, and then made the snowy drive up to boulder the next day for laura's birthday.  it was great.

Sienna's first high chair experience.  We had to stuff her seat
with pillows to take up the extra space, but she was psyched
because she had all these fun kitchen toys to play with.

I don't know about this tea ball...

Got it!

 In case you were wondering, this is sorta what it's like to be sienna.  probably what it's like to be any baby.  the world looks at you.  I wonder if a hundred years ago that tuft of hair in the foreground was gray or white.  Maybe it still should be (though, then the looks in the background may have to be a little less, well, patronizing, or, maybe, enthusiastic.  If I made that face to my elderly patients in the ER they would think I were on drugs):


the world according to sienna

 I should point out that the above commentary was directed at how fixated our culture has become on youth.  I fully submit that  I am victim to this fascination, thus the blog, but will maintain my hypocrisy and say we need to share some of that respect with our elders (laura's proofreading insisted on this clarifier).  Mom, next year I'm starting a blog about you...

COllaboration

We just returned from Montrose so that I could check in on Bryan and make sure that he wasn't causing too much trouble in the Gieszl household. Likewise, I got to meet the twins, who are fabulous, and see a 28 month old version of Yale (he is also fabulous, and particularly hilarious.  hearing his stream-of-consciousness makes me very excited for the future).  we went to the hot springs, and otherwise hung out.  grampa lee also made it down. we had a pre-thanksgiving thanksgiving, which was excellent. even the cranberry sauce.  The biggest event was that we had to run through the airport to make our connecting flight in denver, and sienna managed to sleep through unloading the plane, running through the corridor, and boarding the next plane.  I don't know how she did it.  especially since she hasn't been sleeping much lately.

The big news is that sienna tasted food for the first time.  I've been feeding her my peas and carrots beneath the table for months now, but laura doesn't know about it so technically it doesn't happen.  So saturday was the first day.  she tasted a persimmon!  Didn't eat it, but sucked on it. today she sucked on some kiwi.  she liked them both.  I doubt her stomach could really handle much more than the sugar water it provides, but she's psyched.  I'm trying to conjure her next big culinary adventure (how about star-fruit?).

feeding her this way is really easy since all she wants
to do right now is suck/chew on whatever is in front or her.

Also, it's bitterly cold here (-10) and snowing, so sienna is settling into winter.  she doesn't seem to mind it. not even the cold or the wind.  as it turns out, she's tougher than I am.  She also went to the pediatrician today.  she's 13# 2oz, and 23 inches long.  32% for weight and 8% for height.  head is 45%.  all this seems funny to me since she has the most proportionate head I've ever seen on a baby (ie, small head).  cruising right along. 100% for cuteness, which is all I care about.  got her shots, which she did well with.  afterwards, she slept all day, the way she hasn't since she was a week old.
that's about it.  I wish I had more pictures, but there were four adults and four babies, so no official photographer available as usual.  I hope to get some of her sweet down snowsuits and her sucking on a drumstick (beneath the table). happy t-gives.

Apologies and Excuses

So, I've been trying to think of a name for my memoirs, and laura suggested "apologies and excuses."  I think it's brilliant. 

Sorry for the delay.  it's been busy around here. plus sienna hasn't progressed AT ALL, so really there's nothing to blog about. We read that this is the Plateau, and she won't pick up again until puberty.  So, what we have is what we have (laura wants me to clarify.  see, lately, she has not been getting ANY of my jokes.  like, none.  so she wants to make sure that everyone else knows that I'm joking.  So yes, I'm joking, sienna changes every day).  Really, we've been busy.  interviewed in reno last friday, which went very well. like, really well, and the place looks great.  but in order to go, had to move everything around in one week's notice and make sure all the school work got done.  Plus, we had a little accident in the kitchen last tuesday.
you're gunna want to sit down for this... we were cooking tongue in the pressure cooker like we do every tuesday, and after the tongue was done, laura opened up the cooker and everything looked great.  But, when she went to "stick a fork in it," the thing exploded in her face.  From the other room, it sounded like a textbook being dropped on the floor.  Then I heard a yelp, then the cutting board hitting the floor, and then the most gutteral/terrified/horrific scream I've ever heard (way worse than childbirth).  With the liquified tongue innards (which were now cascading out of the pressure cooker) came all the boiling water and steam from the cooker, and onto laura.  she jumped away, and quickly sprinted for the shower.  after ten minutes in there, it looked like her whole right arm was turning red and assorted blisters were appearing in and around her armpit.  luckily, her face is as dreamy as ever.  also luckily, sienna was in her crib asleep, and not in her chair asleep (which was covered in tongue innards).  It was awfully exciting, though laura is okay and on the mend.  though, her wounds look really gross.  sorta like raspberry jam.  It's also worth noting that there is tongue all across the ceiling, with laura's silhouette inscribed within the tongue pieces.  Here's a pic taken an hour after the initial shock:


though it is healing, the blisters have all popped and the skin
has sluffed away.  her lower arm is actually more painful, though
it's less burned (first degree v second degree).

 Laura insists that we need to show more cute pics of sienna. 

hi



awesome.  these were sent along by
mr schultz (laura's seventh grade science teach).
No doubt who the boss is now.



She was awake??!!!  Here, daddy recovers
from his trips, and sienna humors him
(for about two minutes)

Anyway, I think that's about it.  we'll try to get some more updates.  in sienna world, she danced to the beat (no really. she was standing and stomping her feet in rhythm), switched toys between hands, and weighs 12#9oz.  I think she's stealing steel ball-bearings from my bike and hiding them in her cheeks.  that would explain the new squeek to my bike, and her added weight.  The social worker that is keeping an eye on us (because of laura's parole) said that sienna is right on target with her neurological development.  She did mention, however, that I was a little behind.  laura said, "tell me about it!"

COusins

As mentioned, laura and sienna went to montrose last week.  Bryan had gotten word that this year's Blochstein Euro-Rave was being held in Peru, and he had to go.  He was at the 2002 event held in Cairo, and he said it changed that way he saw humanity.  For this year's, they cleared a swath of amazon but kept the canopy trees, elevating the forest ceiling and allowing a perfect backdrop for the disco balls and glowsticks.  anyway, I'm off topic.  here are some pics of the trip, and as promised, my favorite grumpy yale picture (by the way, happy b-day Bryan):


So, sienna's the leprechaun, and then Adam and Andrew are in the middle, and then there's
"Idonwannasmile" in the back. awesome



Laura says she can tell the twins apart.  yeah right!



this is pic 2 of the four part series, "thrice is nice."



Laura thought that when she got home, sienna kept
looking around like, "where are all the babies at?"



"Hey guys, whatcha' talking about?"
by the way, any time sienna is quoted on this blog,
picture bruce willis' voice.



This reminds me of a picture from an earlier post: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGEmSV7HFqnjNMiHn_WH06yzdRj8L5ULIZXXI3n7OTUWe0T6IcheaToKmLF3lLDr1L86bIAJuPfUIlEsHIFYtU9BOa8QjGV-AKHdaJW5UtG5istKqLgXdRCvfxo-HUgduINKqPz2cT6Q_/s1600/wtps.JPG
Must be the shiny head (sorry ty, is that funny, or no?)



and gramma made it too.

So, laura says that she had a great time down there.  Apparently the Double AA are just the chillest, most laid back babies out there.  you put them down, and they sit there, looking around, checking stuff out, until you come back...whenever that is.  could be hours, and you'd easily forget about them.  if they get upset, they don't cry, they just sorta whimper and make a face.  that's it.  so here comes sienna, ms drama (like her dad), making a fuss about everything.  yes, supposedly it was a hard time for sienna down there, all the travelling and the the many adjustments, but she actually did very well on the travelling days themselves, so kudos to her.  but, because AA are so relaxed, yale still requires 90% of the energy in the family, and since laura was occupied with an upset sienna, she wasn't much of a replacement for bryan.  oh well.  to help placate the babe, laura would call and put me on speaker phone.  supposedly, sienna would stare at the phone and smile.  cool.  what else? somehow laurienna managed to not get sick, even though everyone down there did.  that's astonishing. I'm serious, truly note-worthy.  I was expecting to get mono, again (although she is upstairs sleeping right now, so maybe I shouldn't speak too soon).

that's it.  in other news, I got my first med school interview: Reno.  biggest little city, here I come!

Halloween Fun!

For the first time, we live in a place that has numerous midgets in it.  We were very excited, then, to give away candies.  We had probably a dozen visitors, and they all rocked.  Except one kid, who was a jerk (not pictured).  Check out the madness:

Our first trick-or-treater, the kira monster.
sweet outfit.

sienna, not psyched, and kira very confused at all this crying.

now she's happier, our little pea-pod.
thanks colblaylor.
laura, your pumpkin outift blows.

Her second costume, winnie the poops
(actually her third.  in the last post, she's a lamb,
though I realized that the 'stume is actually
a polar bear.  it suits her, since she's so delicious...I
mean ferocious)

Awesome Hansel and Gretel.  Next year, Hansel and Zoolander.
our Jersey cohort. Saylor perfecting his J Crew swagger

And our COntingent, another winnie the poops,
with a superb little pooh belly (yale, not christa)

Hope you like the pix.  we had one especially cute one of sienna, but it was a little too "krystal ball," and sienna didn't want it coming back to haunt her future political career.  so, we dropped it, though we'll keep it safe for when she cuts ties with her family to run for state senator.  then, we'll teach her a lesson, and she'll come running back.

One small step

They're back!  thanks goodness.  It was getting lonely here, but they survived their adventures well.  More on that later though.  Right now, I'm trying to pick out which pictures to post.  Literally, in every single picture with cousin Yale in it he's crying, and as such, I'm trying to figure out which of them are the most hilarious.  I thought it was so funny that for Christa and Bryan's holiday card two years ago they picked a picture in which yale was grumpy and pouting.  I see now that perhaps that was unavoidable.  He has quite a camera presence. 
For now though, more sienna-time.

This movie, I'm particularly proud of.  The main reason is that we picked out the perfect background music for the occasion.  Thanks kate for the radio, and see how it is enriching the most important moments of our lives. If it were more epic we'd have an oscar.

Check out those thighs.  She's growing, all right.

In Defence of Crying

Laura and Sienna are in Montrose, leaving me to my devices here in the Bozone. I miss them. A lot. Regarding Sienna, I miss cuddling with her, I miss listening to her babble, I miss dancing with her. What I miss most, however, is her crying. This is, well, unexpected. I admit that before July 17, one of my biggest worries was whether or not we could get her to stop crying. Who wants a baby that screams all the time? It's bad for your blood pressure. Likewise, there's the unconscious assumption that if a baby cries, the parents must be doing something wrong. I don't want to do anything wrong, nor do I want to be surrounded by crying. So, there's a lot of pressure to do whatever it takes to appease Sienna's cries.
Now, three months in, I'm calling bullshit on that one. Granted, a kid can't learn if she's crying constantly, but her crying isn't the same as my crying. In order to get me to cry constantly, it takes a lot (AT LEAST five minutes into "UP"), but not her. Sienna's cry is her voice, and all she's saying is "Let's do something about _____." At the biological level, if she's crying, it means she's okay. It's when she stops crying that we need to worry (babies that don't cry in the ER scare me). I hope that she keeps crying her whole life. Recognizing dissatisfaction is perhaps the most basic function of life. Without it, you die. Her cries mean she's alive, and I don't mean biologically, but spiritually. If you don't cry, it means that you think everything is hunky-dorey (sp?). And guess what, things aren't hunky-dory (sp?). At the macro-level, the world has problems, and we need more people calling foul on them. We need more people crying. Sienna's a happy little girl, content. But she knows when something is wrong. I hope that she doesn't lose this. Keep crying sweetie, we're listening. Let's work together to make things hunky-doeree (sp?).

More pictures when the girls get back. I guess sienna has started to do the assisted walk. What? That's not supposed to happen for months. Must be a phase. She's not rolling over like she used to, after all.


A poem, to the babe:


There once was a girl we named Squeek,
Who poops in her pants thrice a week.
We clean her up well,
To get out the smell,
Or else her small butt starts to reek!

Crunk Juice

Hmmmmm, what updates?  just more of the same trends.  smiling more, but also crying a lot more.  sick again, so that helps the cry factor.  grabbing a lot more.  our book says she's pre-teething, which explains the fussiness, drooling, constant oral fixation, etc.  Did I mention that she's sleeping in her own bed?  I don't remember.  Last week we introduced her to the crib, and actually she did great.  harder to put her down... maybe an extra half hour of comforting, but then she's out all night.  the odd feeding here and there, but generally laura's getting more sleep, as is she (daddy's not so much).  so that's great, not the epic process as we were expecting.  I suppose the main reason we made the switch was that laura didn't want to go to bed at seven anymore (since we didn't want sienna alone in the bed).  I told her she was being selfish, and she told me to bugger off, and I told her to shove it, and she dared me to say that one more time.  I didn't.  So sienna's doing great.  harder for me to calm her down in ways that buy time (you know, "i wanna finish this movie but she's crying, so if I can bounce her for ten minutes then I'll get to see the good guys vanquish the alien-demons."  instead, i just don't get to watch the good guys vanquish the alien-demons).
here are some cute pictures:

This little number Maude knit out of bamboo.
It's sienna's favorite, and ours.  Unfortunately, momma
tried to fit her arms through the sleeves and ripped it.
just kidding maude, thank  you!

No, this isn't her halloween costume, but it could be.
we were having lamb for dinner that night and
thought we'd dress her up for the occasion.
doesn't she look delicious?

 Introducing, Ninja Baby:
"Is this how you pictured your death?
Well is it?"

Intimacy

Before having a baby, people mention all kinds of things to you.  "It'll change your life forever." "You never knew you could love someone this much." "Don't let her take advantage of you." "Stick to your guns." "Wonderful!" "On purpose?"  "Better you than me." etc. There are as many different parenting experiences as there are people, and advice or stories are often helpful but they need to be tailored to your individual situation.  No piece of advice is groundless, nor is any completely applicable.  We're on our own, while at the same time we're only doing what billions of people have done before us. 

But no one ever said anything about intimacy.  In my own life, there were different levels of intimacy with the different people in my life, though I never would describe my relationships as such until I was older and they became romantic.  What a new world it was, being so vulnerable and yet so comfortable with another human.  But what I knew as intimate was often informed by some sort of sexuality, and the two were interconnected.  When sienna was born, and in the months since, I have had to redefine what it means to be intimate.  On the one hand, I feel the same vulnerability as she teaches me of my weaknesses, and so too do I enter a space in which secrets don't exist.  On the other hand, however, sexuality absent.  Completely absent.  It's something different, and it almost feels more pure.  There's no pretense, no path.  It's like those rare instances in which you can float on your back in warm water, staring up at the stars alone.  In those moments, there is nothing else.  Time and space become irrelevent because they are no longer bolstered by intention or history.  I am treated to these treasures throughout the day with Sienna, and such a connection is both unexpected and magical.  They plant seeds in me, a kind of a faith or hope.  Surely, as time progresses, this intimacy will be lost, and I will look back longingly at the times we had together.  I know that they will never come again, just as I know now that she will remember nothing of them.  I can't help but feel sadness.  If only we remembered...
Early on in laura's pregnancy I realized that we, as someone's child, have no concept for how much our parents love us.  It doesn't matter how much you love them, because it'll never approach what they feel for you. Ever.  Things come into focus, then.

We love you sweety, though you'll never know how much.  I just hope you can someday love as we do.

Play Date

Friends of ours from Books and Babies at the library have a daughter, Luka.  She was born in May, though is still a bit larger than most nine month olds.  In fact, she started to bully me and I caved by giving her my lunch money.  She's hilarious, and loves to lick things with her big tongue. Though she was gracious and cleaned all of our toys for us, we went ahead and washed them again to be sure. I used to guide with her father on rainier, and if you knew him you'd be able to tell exactly who i'm talking about by looking at Luka.  A very striking family.  This was Sienna's first play-date.  She had fun, though I think primarily because she got mommy-daddy time.  they both seemed rather uninterested in each other. also note sienna's cute outfit.  a lady at the coop pulled us aside saying that we had to enjoy dressing her up while we could- it was one of life's most precious gifts.

toys, toys, everywhere!  Sienna is only now taking
a mild interest in toys. but still, not really.  Here,
she shows off her dainty hand bag, a can lid.



On the right, you can see the elephant that amelia hand-knit sienna.
how awesome is that?

And this was hilarious.  Though admittedly, laura found it way funnier then sienna, and a little more amusing than luka.  We did the the flying sheep routine for a solid 20 minutes before i had to go to class.

Like Mother...

Too Damn Cute.