Visit to Monterey

We made a daytrip down to Monterey to meet the newest Carlisle - Gavin. He is Marin & Aaron's little one, and he is adorable. I can't believe I don't have more pictures of him (I think it was because I insisted on holding him the whole time). He is alert (when not snoozing) and so cute. He is also, at 3 weeks old, smaller than Beatrice ever was!


While in Monterey, we also walked down to the beach in Carmel, had a nice lunch with Sarah B, and ...


... VISITED CARMEL MISSION (seriously, did you think we'd skip it?) I'm pretty sure Beatrice is starting to recognize the Missions, because when we went into the chapel and I told her"Shhhh" she looked at me like, "No duh Mom, like we've done this a thousand times, K?" (in a Valley Girl accent too)


Mission Carmel (Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo) is supposed to be among the prettiest missions. And while it is very pretty, I think some of the more remote missions far outshine it. The garden was beautiful, as was the graveyard with the shells as markers.


I think Beatrice may have enjoyed it most because it was where Sarah B taught her to walk backwards.



This is one of my favorite new photos of Beatrice - she is pointing out the two bicycles on the sidewalk and saying "two" in a sort of plaintive whine. She makes this concerned face all the time.

New hideouts

Beatrice is enjoying finding new things to 'always' do - like watching Grandpa ("Gwanpah", but why she still insists on whispering it in a guttural voice is beyond me) leave in the morning for work.

And playing peek-a-boo with Sarah B in the den

Luckily with this move, I think we have enough the same (Mommy, Daddy, Sarah B) and enough improved (easy access to Eleanor, Colb Colb, Mae Mae, Anna, and everyone else), that Beatrice has transitioned pretty well to her 'new home with Grandpa'

Though she has started requesting more pictures be taken....  

Happy 31st Birthday, Daddy!

We celebrated Zach's 31st birthday party with cards, plastic toys, sleeping in (some of us), drinks with friends & family, and dinner out at Chez Panisse (www.chezpanisse.com)

Oh and naked bab(i)es in the backyard!

"Ooooo" (read:  "it's cold")

At Zack's evening drinks, Uncle Colb Colb was a babe magnet.

Anna, Beatrice & Eleanor:

Beatrice had a good time making sure her Daddy had a 'goob' birthday.  She even let him play with 'her' Playmobil.

Hello Oakland!

After a long drive up from Santa Barbara we had a committee to welcome us home.

Beatrice screamed with delight when she heard 'Elnor!' in the backyard.

Now we're just settling in, visiting, resting and having a good time.

Goodbye Santa Barbara

We said goodbye to Santa Barbara - the ocean, the chickens & turkeys around the corner, our house, Lazy Acres...

Beatrice greatly enjoyed her last run through Lazy Acres and all of her CHEEEEEESE stops.

Packing up

The PODs arrived on Tuesday - a 16' and 7' POD.  Ian and Zack packed them up on Wednesday afternoon.  Beatrice and Sarah B arrived back home in the middle of packing.  Beatrice watched for a moment and then started yelling, "Ian, noooooo.  Noooooo Ian!"  I think we finally convinced her Ian wasn't stealing her stuff, but I'm not 100% sure.

After getting all 150+ boxes (!) and furniture packed up we went out to a nice dinner with Laina and Ian to celebrate and thank them for all the help packing.  They're already planning their trip up to Oakland to visit (and help us unpack!!)

Beatrice did enjoy the empty house, especially all the echoes.

Words

Beatrice has about 85 words...give or take a few.  Or given how you count (according to Sarah B, Zack and I are a bit more generous as to what counts as a 'word')

In no particular order, the most common words are:

BeBe (Beatrice), Momma, Daiiiieeee (Daddy), WaWa (water), tsu (zoo), sit, eat eat eat (counts as one), mo (more), home, cheeeeeese, two, sfon (phone), hi!, hot, nap, stuck, pider (spider), bee (bugs), wow, ni-ni (night), icee (icee pop), boom! (ka-boom), Sawah (Sarah B), sim (swim)

Other words, also in no particular order

Elmo, in, out, cup, poon (spoon), pool, ham, eye, nose, sue (shoe), pen, come, poo poo, pee pee, poop, bits, jean (jeans), bye bye, car, seat, egg, knee, ball, bite, ice, no, done, Gwanma (Grandma Elizabeth), Gwam (Graham), Gwandad (Granddaddy Bill), Mama, Dada, Gwanna (Grandma Mary Ann), Jane, Gwanpa (Grandpa Glen whispered in a bizarre 'redrum' guttural sort of voice), eyebrow, sheep, Kate, Elnor (Eleanor), Anna, Colb Colb (Colby), Mae Mae (Megan), peas (please), backbear (blackberry), Gabey (Gabe Chaine), rah...(as in Rock-a-bye baby), Teddy, ri-ri (ride), goob (good), dip dip, weed (read), ap (apple), oc (ocean), par (park), shoon (soon), top, house, crow, cahf cahf (coffee), arm, baby, Mimi (applies to all kitties), hand, Eee (Ian), Mah (Maci dog), pine (pinecone)

I'm sure there are others we're forgetting, but that about covers it.  It would definitely be over 100 if Sarah B let us count animal sounds or the other various grunts that mean something in Bea's own language...but she assures us that is cheating.  So we won't count the cow's moo, sheep's baa, chicken's boick, turkey's gobble, dog's woof, cat's meow, etc.

If I ever win the lottery...

I will never pack another coat hanger again.  Ever.

'Gwanna' & Packing

Grandma Mary Ann/Nanna (or "Gwanna" as Beatrice calls her) came to help us pack up.  She and Beatrice had a great time together.  They even went down to the beach and stuck their feet in the ocean.  Beatrice has talked of little else ever since.

We also had some good naked baby time on Saturday afternoon, when the fog finally burned off and it got warm.

We were very happy to find we also had a few tomatoes ready for eating before we left - dinner on the porch!

Other than that it was just packing, packing, packing...and more packing.  We are up to 132 boxes now!  Master-packer Zack managed to get the grill into one x-large box.  There are some benefits to moving constantly - we are expert packers.

And Beatrice and Mary Ann played, and ate icee pops (they feel good on a strep throat!)

We also went for a drive on Camino Cielo (or the portion that was open) on Sunday and visited with Ian and Laina (and Mac and Billy dog, of course)

Thanks for coming 'Gwanna'!