I miss it every day

Remembering The Holy Land

Morning,
at the kitchen sink, bare feet on cold tile,
I find myself circling the Shrine.
It is how I always remember it:
Winter, rain misting the marble,
jasmine and jackals filling the air.

Afternoon,
in the garden, sweat watering the soil
I am in the Master's House.
It is how I always remember it:
Spring, orange blossoms and aurocaria,
the Guardian's ghost pacing the paths.

Evening,
whispering Allah'u'abha, Allah'u'abha...
I am in the Mansion of Baha'u'llah.
It is how I always remember it:
Summer, lantern flickering on shadows praying,
His tiny shoes beneath a square of silk.

It is how I always remember it.

In Recent History:

Samaya made her first snow angel,



reminisced about her big brother Keon,



shared some tummy time with Grandpa,



celebrated Christmas,


twice (at the Goldberg's with Charlie),



and happened to be ridiculously cute this morning. Oh my God that outfit!



*Please note incredible fanciness of above Christmas attire including real tights and first time ever wearing shoes.

In the words of Sisay...

We wish you a Very Christmas!

The latest in food

Today I gave Samaya a piece of my apple-mostly to keep her occupied and to see what she would do with it. I didn't expect her to be all that productive given her two teeth. But I seemed to have blocked all those memories of her taking chunks out of my fingers and arms and face with those very same little razors, and I guess I shouldn't have been all that surprised when she scraped out a good chunk of the flesh.




Needless to say I was quite impressed with her. Last night I gave her a wedge of steamed sweet potato and unassisted she ate almost the entire thing. Without so much as a gag. That's much more than I can say about the times I tried to be helpful and maneuver mashed sweet potato and avocado into her closed mouth. She is more adept at this eating thing than I expected and am so glad I handed over the work to her. And work it is. She pours so much focus into it, toes curled, hands coordinating, gums chomping. She loves being able to pick it up herself and it must be great for her fine motor skills as well.


In other news, Samaya and I took a walk in the snow for the first time. She was clearly confused by the sudden whitening of her world and quietly observed everything we passed. Her little nose turned pink from the cold and when I tucked her inside my jacket she fell right asleep. How I'll miss these moments when she's older.

Sweet potatoes!

This was after I gave Samaya an intact wedge of sweet potato and her daddy got a wee bit nervous. My intent was to try out baby-led weaning and it still is...but we'll wait until certain members of the family are more comfortable with the idea. Or at least at work. (Just kidding honey)

Here's some links to baby-led weaning if you're interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby-led_weaning
http://babyledweaning.com/

Happy Half Birthday Samaya!

Today Samaya if officially 6 months. Unofficially, she's been 6 months for at least 10 days now simply because its easier to repeat to all the elderly folks who repeatedly ask me in Dunkin Donuts and TJ Max and Hannaford and the thrift store. And now you all know where we repeatedly shop.

In fact just today at Dunkin Donuts Sisay turned Samaya's high chair around to a table of friendly folk because she was far more interested in carrying on a conversation with them than with her altogether boring parents. Have I mentioned that I gave birth to an extreme extrovert? The stranger the better. She will more readily go to someone she has never laid eyes upon than someone she is mildly familiar with. Out of novelty.

We are quickly becoming aware and slightly envious of the fact that our daughter,who has been in existence for 6 months, has more friends than the both of us.

This is why she does not have a Facebook account.

And I should mention that we harbor this envy despite Sisay's current friend count of 1,564.

So anyway, to celebrate Samaya will eat her first food today: sweet potatoes. Her grandparents are coming over for dinner too. Let's hope she saves them some table scraps.

I've been challenged

My father has insisted that I try and write in this blog every day so I am arising to the challenge. I tend to wait for the spirit to move me, but as we can all see that happens at best occasionally. So...though my life is exceedingly perfect in my eyes considering I get to spend it with the cutest little person in the world, be prepared for your end to be a little, well, boring. The first 5 times (even 10 if you are one that deeply understands baby love) that I tell you all how cute Samaya is you might nod in agreement and smile quietly to yourself. But this can only last for so long. Then there will be tears of boredom followed by an intense irritation with the word 'cute.'

Maybe when she's older and I magically become the kind of mother whose blogs I stalk--knitting needles affixed to hands, wholesome meals that draw the family together each evening, daily art projects and science experiments and story writing and story reading and nature loving and fort building and garden tending--maybe then it will be a more engaging experience for you. And if that never happens, then I guess we can all hold out until Samaya starts talking. Because let's face, we won't need any other entertainment, will we?

For now, I will depend heavily on pictures of exceeding cuteness.

Update

I just informed my father of his granddaughter's first tooth and his response: 'Tell her I'll buy her a steak dinner.'

Which then led to my great grandmother who had one tooth left toward the end of her life. And still managed to eat her steak.

Guess it runs in the family...

My Baby Has a Tooth!

Last night we went to the celebration of the Birth of Baha'u'llah and as tradition goes in this community, each person brought a gift for Him. Poems were read, songs were sung, contributions to the fund were given, photographs were displayed, prayers and writings were recited, and Samaya brought her very first tooth. All day yesterday she let it be known just how hard she was working on this little gift and when we got home from the celebration, I felt in her mouth and sure enough a little razor of a tooth had broken through on the bottom.

Her father has begun furiously planning for the near future of solid foods. When I asked him if he was excited about this prospect, he gave an emphatic NO. 'Now I have to keep her from choking on things.'

If anyone out there is looking for the safety police, I am considering renting him out at a small fee.

And then, without skipping a beat, 'We need to get her a toothbrush. We should start brushing her tooth NOW.'

Talk about starting things off on the right foot. This girl's got a pretty good chance of making it in the world.

19 weeks and counting

She's becoming an active participant in the world. I sat her in the grass at Green Acre yesterday and she immediately started picking up the leaves, investigating them, and then eating them. This middle step is relatively new.

She's never been a great sleeper. Actually, she's never been a sleeper, but the last couple weeks she's been on an all out sleep strike. And then one morning she noticed the smile on her monkey's face and proceeded to try and pick it off. I've read that around the 19th week is a major brain spurt, and it seems that we just made it through. She's almost sitting now, really exploring her toys, and dancing in her bouncy chair. A little compulsively, I might say. I have to remover her after a while because once she get's swaying left, right, left, right you can see that she loses herself and gets this glazed expression. She'll do it for 40 minutes. It's a little bit creepy that she can put herself in a trance so I take her out at this point.

And the sleep, it's gotten a little better I suppose. The normal 2-3 hours. I'm very open to suggestions folks.

October

has been a whirlwind...to compliment the swirling leaves I suppose.


First there was the lovely (and long) trip to Niagara Falls. Sisay and I completed two long and grueling years of marriage (just kidding, honey :) and Tiernan completed two years of life.




And then the obligatory apple picking. Samaya was definitely a fan and Tiernan's love of apples kept him in the wagon the entire time munching one after the other. That apple that I'm holding up is Sisay-he demonstrated to us how the white coating on the apples before you shine them is like his face when he gets out of the shower pre-vaseline :)




There was the Green Acre Staff trip to the Dublin Inn in Dublin, N.H. Abdu'l-Baha stayed there in 1912 for 3 1/2 weeks-longer than anywhere else in America! We also visited the church where he spoke and read part of his talk. Very moving.






There were some cooking lessons,


some sharing lessons,


and Grandpa's first day babysitting all day. This is what I came home to.


Finally, a long, very long awaited visit from the beloved Sobhani family! They just left on Monday and we had such a wonderful time enjoying Maine together in the fall. Except for Sisay getting a virus, it was a precious time. There was pumpking picking and carving, hayrides and corn mazes, the ocean and Green Acre, and just catching up and marveling at how big Aliyah and Keon have gotten.














The Muro ladies came for the weekend. Amazing that little Estella is now holding my little one.


And of course a taste of Halloween. That's about as much of a taste as Samaya's going to get this time around.


And back home again. Green Acre in the fall...

Happy. Happier. Fulfilled.

Not only do I have the most gorgeous, funny, cute, kind, thoughtful husband.

(A month after we were married, House of Abbud)

But we have the most joyful, twinkly-eyed, half-smiley, giggly little girl.

(Some time in the recent past)

And the sweetest little Baha'i School in our home. Little families coming together with little families to create a more peaceful world. Come join us!

(Today, table made my Sisay!)

Baha'i School

We started Baha'i School every Wednesday at our house. So far it's only two kids with a couple more maybe joining us. We're focusing on acquiring virtues, or 'gems'- the first quote they are memorizing is "Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can alone cause it to reveal its splendors and enable mankind to benefit therefrom. They have had fun finding the gems hidden inside our mine/table covered with blankets, Here they are practicing the virtue of friendliness...

Visits from Anna and the Griffin Girls and a Trip to Lake Chocorua