Washington, Oregon, California

Sunshine

Its been just over a week now and we've checked out the Oregon coast and it's sand dunes; we've seen the Redwoods of N.California and we've visited relatives in Modesto. Jonas got to meet his Aunt Sally and Uncle Keith who spoiled him with a ton of love and attention. Jonas hung out with his uncle in his legendary garage and played with plastic bottles and talking stuffed animals. Jonas began eating 'Mexican' food during this visit (rice and beans). We also took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) into San Francisco where we walked from Market St all the way to the Fisherman's Wharf with Jonas in his BOB stroller. Jonas barely slept as he was so excited with all the action around him. We took the trolley back to the Bart and didn't get back into Modesto until after dark - Jonas was so tired! His nickname from Uncle Keith is 'hey you, Whale Boy!'
From Cali we have headed over to Nevada where we are staying more relatives in Las Vegas. Again, Jonas is being spoiled with a ton of love and attention from his Uncle Allen, Auntie Dorothy and Cousin Nolan. Nolan is 12 and is so wonderful with Jonas - he is trying really hard to teach Jonas how to crawl forward. Maybe we will have a crawling babe when we return home.
The weather is deliciously warm and sunny; Jonas has been an excellent traveller and everything has gone fairly smooth - camping was nice, visiting has been fun and car travel no problem. Well, only a little problem with the car, but we are getting that fixed right now....

Today Our Adventure Began

and Jonas popped his first tooth out! We were a little surprised because there has been no real indication that Jonas has been teething....a couple of months ago I thought he was teething and yet its now that his first bottom tooth has poked out. While eating breakfast and visiting with cousin Taagen and family in Vic this morning, Jordan thought he felt something sharp in Jonas's mouth, but Jonas wouldn't let us look and we figured it was nothing - he hadn't been showing any teething signs or anything, so it was a bit of a surprise when later I felt the little tooth poking out.


Before I get to our little adventure at the moment, I will do a quick update.

It's only been a few weeks since my last post, but how the world grows and changes when you have a little 7.5 month old bouncing baby. Jonas's toncilitis and fever cleared up and life returned to its normal beat...swim lessons have been really fun and I highly recommend them for mums and babes. Jonas loves to kick and splash and blow bubbles and drink the warm peee water (haha) and stare at the lights. He can also hold his breath while we go under water together or he goes alone. So far he has never fussed and at the end of each session we go to the hot tub or sauna for a few minutes before dressing and (for Jonas) quickly falling asleep.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a Vipassana retreat which was was non residential and lasted the entire weekend. I went home at lunch to breastfeed and came home again in the evening. It was a really refreshing experience for me as it allowed me to relax, contemplate and just centre myself. I learned A different type of meditation about ten years ago - Transcendental Meditation, which is a focused practice that really works well to calm and quiet the mind. Vipassana is very different as it encourages one to be aware of the processse of the mind; it is very forgiving. I enjoyed it so much because I was able to really focus on myself and explore all that I felt needed to be attended to in my life. I came out feeling clear and rejeuvenated. On the homefront, Jordan and Jonas did wonderful together.

At the moment we are making our way through Oregon and down to California and Nevada for a few weeks. I will keep posting...