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.