Just Another Crazy Night on The Town

Hannah had a big night... She got a round trip piggy-backs from "Father's Limo Service" to Ashlynn and Coe Dexter's first-year birthday party celebration. The scene was HOT at Village Pizza on Clement Street. The pizza crust was tasty, and Hannah made friends with EVERYONE in the restaurant. She got a tour of the kitchen and received many hugs and hello's. Thanks Ash n' Coe!! You guys really know how to throw a great party!

The Camera Game

Here's the gist: I take a picture of Hannah and then quickly show it to her on the viewfinder before the image disappears. She laughs and gets excited, then grabs the camera away from me and presses a bunch of buttons. At first this caused me to hesitate and fear for the life of my camera. But my little digital clunker is so easy to use that Hannah remembers the button that takes the picture. She has to be reminded some times which button that it is (because the other buttons and functions of the camera are more interesting) but she has to be reminded a lot less than I would have expected. So, she presses the button and I show her the picture she just took (of me, or of the floor or of the ceiling), which she finds absolutely hilarious. She lets me take another picture of her, and so forth... Here is our latest exchange. This game never gets old...

Hannah's First Art Work!

"I'd Like to Thank the Academy"

..."for Sunday nights with my Momma!" Hannah was not very interested in watching the Academy Awards, but she had a blast sneaking up behind Kristina and giving her a couple "back-attacks." She loved the brief but action-packed montage of animated motion pictures featuring Wall-e and Kung-fu Panda, and she stopped to clap whenever she heard the applause, but otherwise she was happy to scamper around and do her best at distracting Mom and Dad from watching any television.

The Perfect Storm

"Make sure she's wearing clothes that you don't mind getting wet," I cautioned. Seconds later, Hannah came bursting around the corner of the kitchen in her pink leather boots that are lined with pristine white faux fur trim. "Are you suuuure you don't want her to wear her grungy kicks instead of these fashionable booties?" I asked. "She'll be fine," Kristina responded. I walked outside with Hannah, and the breeze was celebrating anything dry and sending debris up in a concert of crisp, tiny swirls.
The sun was shining now, and the rain droplets were still perfectly round beads perched everywhere - on leaves, sills and rails, and were still radiant and shimmering. The cherry blossoms, having soaked up as much water as possible, were heavy and felled, and were littering the walkway with pink,perfumed last rites of the storm.
Hannah adroitly chose her direction in favor of tailwinds and smartly avoided having to squint her eyes to protect from airborne flotsam. She set her sights on a little boy in bright yellow and green rain gear who was already half-way up the block, and chased with delight up 5th Avenue towards the Presidio gate and the park entrance...
What wonders each day brings. The dog path at the end of the street, transformed by the succession of storms into a beautiful little stream, was what Hannah's little leather booties encountered that morning. They didn't stand a chance. Hannah's curiosity and interest was so much fun to watch. She stood in the running water. She touched it and grabbed at it, and slashed and stomped. She sat in it. She didn't mind that it was cold rainwater and she seemed oblivious to the cold breeze. I laughed as she sighed a long, interested, "ooooooooooooooooooooh" as the water seeped around her and soaked her pants and she sat there, absolutely absorbed in the experience.

After 20 minutes I had to pick Hannah up and away, and rescue her from the mesmerising effects of the stream. "Please get a warm bath running," I called ahead and suggested to Kristina from my cell phone. Minutes later, warm, clean, dry and happy, Hannah was back in the middle of her books and toys, the adventure outside a distant memory...

The boots? The leather shrank and they didn't survive the ordeal.

Small cost to pay for the smiles and the cacophony of neuron and synapse fireworks going off in our little hurricane's head! Hannah showed her "Rivercat" roots are rightly named. Time to buy some more appropriate boots and gear for her to explore in comfort...

President's Day, Note to My Daughter

Hannah, perhaps because of the spiralling severity of the world's recent economic woes, or perhaps because of my growing concerns that I will not know enough to discuss with you the basics of our country's history, I have charged myself with some presidential readings. I just finished Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which was noted by President Obama as the source of inspiration he leafed back through after learning of his winning bid for the presidency last November. My goal was to finish the book before President's Day. It took me two months, but I accomplished the task, and truthfully, I was sad to see the extraordinary book come to an end. I am now diving into David McCullough's 1776, given to me by your grandparents, Memaw and Boppa. This is the first time that President's Day has ever really meant anything for me. I have no doubt that this is because I now have a need to connect the relevant historical marks with the present times to help myself be a more competent guide for your sound and secure future. I wish I had recognized the importance of that need long ago...
Why focus on United States Presidents instead of any other historical subject, you might ask me? I have come to realize that learning more about our nation's history helps me come to terms with the fact that I, myself, never served in the military. Thinking about the choices, consequences, and sacrifices that others have made for our prosperity helps me feel connected to your great uncles who served in various branches of the military and to my cousins (your first cousins, once removed) Sarah Zelaya and Rachael Reeves who currently serve in our military. Reading about our presidents in the context of other nations' histories reminds me that we are a young and still relatively brazen country, and our challenge will be to develop into maturity alongside the health of other nations, not at theirs or our own needless expense. I am also incredibly curious and hopeful for the work being done by another first-cousin-once-removed of yours, Phil Brown, and his fiance Stephanie Fox, who are working for the United Nations in the Gaza Strip. The lives they lead inspire me. But for now they inspire me just to read up on my history and enjoy the relative peace and prosperity I share with you and Kristina, with the knowledge that harder times might always be around the corner and I should be grateful for our happiness. I leave you with two quotes from Team of Rivals which hopefully you will come to appreciate in time. Love, dad.

"Four Score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate-we can not consecrate-we can not hallow-this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, not long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here, have, thus far, so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that, government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, November 1863.

"Fondly do we hope-fervently do we pray-that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yes, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said the judgements of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether. With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan-to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865

Hannah's Professional Photography Talent

This is Hannah's first picture shot with the Canon PowerShot SD800 IS Digital Elph! She took it earlier today. It is AWESOME! This photograph is totally avant garde in it's ability to hone in on the subject matter aka the "arm pit of her world" that is her "dada"...
Lately, the camera has become one of Hannah's favorite interactive "toys." Not Mom's serious professional camera, but rather, Dad's little silver, toddler-sized, perfectly-designed toddler-taunter of a toy. Hannah knows that the can see through the viewfinder, and she also knows that she sees images of her and of her surroundings as soon as the red light goes off.... so what used to be a sort of game of "wanna see your picture?" has now turned into a relentless test of camera hardware durability and parental patience... Here is the pattern of what happens after I finally try and take the camera away:

Phase 1 - Screaming and Crying which leads to Dad turning the camera back on and taking more pictures...
Phase 2 - keep taking pictures until screaming turns to slightly less loud whining and sobbing...
Phase 3 - keep snapping off photos until sobbing turns into humming and then evolves into a sigh and a smile...

Phase 4 - Go to the patented aerial distracto-shot and whisk Hannah away to go see if Cookie Monster got into her stash of Cheddar Goldfish Crackers...
Ok... now where's that warranty? Bet "Hurricane Hannah" doesn't qualify for a free repair...

Happy Valentine's Day! I Love Zoo and Zebra Too!

San Francisco is in between February rain storms, and today was crisp and sunny. We decided to take advantage of the great weather and get outside, expecting the rest of the weekend to be windy, cold and rainy. Hannah was ready to get out and stretch her legs, and she made the most of her SF Zoo trip. She chased her shadow; she stopped to check out her reflection in (and sample the water quality of) every puddle, and she even got a few good hearty jumps and splashes in before dad nabbed her up to piggy-back ride en route to dryer land...











She picked a flower (and tasted it too), and got to eat crackers with her friend Magnus by the big brass hippopotamus. She loved running and yelling in the tunnels and going in and out of the doorways.
Oh yeah... the animals... the animals were cool... but they got in the way of all the moving around and investigating there was to do, so we're not sure if she even noticed them. Encountering the "raft" of penguins swimming around and around in their waddlish waters seemed to merit a momentary pause of acknowledgement, as did the stately lion basking in the afternoon sunshine... After all the commotion Mom and Dad were making about the "Momma and baby giraffe" she also stopped moving for a few moments to watch skittish and gangly baby g nibble on freshly cut tree branchlings and keep close to her mamma's stratospheric frame....
Hannah reminded us that the most important things in life are not necessarily caged wonders, but are rightly the compounded joys of running and roaming and freely experiencing the miracle of life. Hopefully she'll keep teaching us the clear way and the true path. No roses on this day, save the one that picked us. 'Hana,' the Japanese spelling for Hannah, means 'beautiful flower.' Peace and happiness to all, and have a very happy Valentine's Day.

You Wanna Hear the Most Annoying Sound In The World?

It is NOT finger nails digging into a chalk board... nope. That comes close. Nope, Hannah wins! Holy F^%$^$#^%$#!!! Who would have ever thought that two cute little 14-month-old teeth could rub against that friendly little yellow rubber balloon with such incessant mind-crushing, hair-raising, atom-splitting, agony-to-the-core GUSTO! Congrats Hannah, you have now bested Jim Carey twice already this month! (see the Superbowl pic). How that balloon never popped is beyond us... she shucked that yeller-bellied hell horn like it was a mile-long piece of corn. Kristina almost cried out in pain. Hannah, darlin,' don't be surprised if it is a while before you see another one of these that isn't already popped! So, you might as well enjoy the pic!!!

Watching Cartoons with Dada and George

That was Then.... This is Now

Hannah, above, in her 7th week of age on February 7th, 2008. Hannah, below, today, exactly one year later.

Work Hard Play Hard

Hannah is a blur of activity. So much so, that it has become MUCH more difficult to take decent pictures of her in action. (Kristina does a much better job than I, but hopefully I will learn to use my camera more effectively in the coming months). Hannah loves to walk around and investigate each room in the apartment, checking out shelves and corners, often carrying something - or things - in both hands. She is a confident walker, and is now walking over the inch-high raised tile in our kitchen without slowing down her speedy trajectory. She loves to dance, and she loves to make herself dizzy by following her arm around and around in circles until she careens into something or topples over in glee. Her balance is great, yet she still has yet to stand on foot. The books say this will happen soon. She loves loves to climb/scale anything, and she is equally fond of being picked up and held chest-high so that she look out and can see the world from a higher vantage point.

She loves physical games like tag, tickling, wrestling and "pillow-sandwich." She can easily climb stairs now, and she is getting more confident going down stairs backwards despite getting frustrated and losing patience with the extra time required to cover the desired ground. She loves to play with her plastic purple ball, and her favorite game is to play catch with both Kristina and I at the same time, so that she can walk between us and throw the ball to each of us in turn. She can't catch yet, but she knows to look for the ball rolling at her feet and how to pick it up and release it in a desired direction. Playing hide-and-seek or peekaboo is her other favorite game.. and the louder we yell when we jump out and startle her, the MORE she laughs and wants more...
She has a corner where all her toys and books are "organized" and she likes to relax regularly behind the arm of our couch and get some quality time by herself. Intently, she will flip back and forth through her books. At her age, apparently the page turning is indicative of the sense of accomplishment that comes from the physical activity of turning each page at a time, and it is not just about the pictures.

At this point, Hannah seems to have a clear preference for her left hand when eating. She loves to hold her spoon and feed herself, but we still have to scoop the food up for her most of the time, and then let her take it from there...

Start Making Sense

Armin A. Brott, author of my favorite series of books on fatherhood, explains in Fathering Your Toddler what's going on with a baby's verbal development at the 12-15 month stage. "According to psychologist Fitzhugh Dodson, there are two phases of language learning: passive (what you understand) and active (what you can actually say). Most of the language learning your toddler will do over the course of the next twelve months will be passive. She understands anywhere from two to a hundred words now and will try to increase that by pointing to everything in sight and asking you to tell her what it is. ...she'll identify upon request her shoes, clothes, body parts; familiar people and objects; and pictures from a favorite book. Although she has a speaking vocabulary of fewer than 10 words, she'll use them whenever she has the chance, pointing to and naming whatever she sees. Multi syllabic words may give her some trouble but by fifteen months she'll be stringing words together two at a time. .. she can also do some pretty good cow, dog, and cat imitations. She's becoming aware of the expressive function of language and has developed an uncanny ability to pick out - and endlessly repeat - the one swear word you accidentally slipped into a ten-minute-long conversation. Her understanding of the symbolic use of words is growing. If she knows the word ball, for example, she may use it when she sees a globe, a coin, an egg, or the moon."

Superbowl Sunday

There is something about football that just brings out the three-point stance, the intensity, the game face, and OF COURSE, the ballerina dress. Deja Vu? Watch your back Jim Carey!