Sun, Son and Sand

Our family snuck away for a little Washington Coast beach time recently. Both Chris and I worked during Jamisen's nap time (he's thankfully still taking 2 naps a day) and when he wasn't napping, we were happily exploring the great outdoors (that is, when it wasn't raining). It didn't rain for a couple days so we literally spent every moment possible outside during these brief interludes of sun. Though Jamisen has been to the beach before, he wasn't really mobile so this was his first introduction to sand.

Jamisen initially wasn't a fan of the sand. He would lift his feet, and try not to have to touch it. And then, Grandpa gave him tools. That was all it took for Jamisen to become a big fan of sun, surf and sand. He liked it so much that he kept trying to eat it. We're hoping he grows out of this eating-sand phase. Grandpa got completely soaked and dirty showing Jamisen the finer points of shoveling sand (don't laugh; it's an art). Grandpa also dropped his iPhone in the ocean. We all held our breath for two hours until he had dried it out (by baking it). His iPhone appears no worse for the wear except that it won't ever power off. Phew!

Jamisen is learning how to walk. He takes a few steps on his own but hasn't quite gotten the hang of it. He looks like he's doing a great job right? Ha! And just out of frame, both parents are at the ready to catch him if he takes a tumble.

Mr. Jamisen showcasing some more joy at his dirty making opportunity.

Baby kisses are the best.

A great photo of Chris enjoying beach time.

Chris and I are both thankful for time off as a family. We both agree that taking time off with a one year old is tons of fun but very relaxing. Can we have a vacation from our vacation? Ha ha .... No rest for the weary! We shoot SoapQueen.TV on Sundaywhich means Daddy gets more baby time. =)

See!

I can totally brush my own teeth.

Mini Vacation to the Coast

Jamisen has officially gone on strike from long car rides. This is unfortunate since our vacation for the year is 4 hours away, one way.

So far, it's only rained a bit (fingers crossed). When it did rain, Jamisen was deflated. He stared longingly out the window.

 

Jamisen is walking (with help) like a champ. We try to find playgrounds wherever we go. Jamisen has a lot of excess energy that it's good to try to walk and play off (or deal with the consequences later).

  

 He was a little leery of the whole swinging thing but it was his first time on a swing and he did okay - about a minute worth before he asked to be taken out.

  

 He loved steering the ship:

  

 Beach fun! Jamisen loves the birds. Video below (remember, you have to click through to the blog to watch the video):

  

 Jamisen was so excited about the beach, the birds, and all of the new sounds and sights. He walked and even tried to run for a bit. And then, when he was done, he simply sat down. No warning. Just 'thunk!' and he was done. Thankfully, he has a doting Daddy who is always happy to carry his beautiful boy.

 

Someone

Loves his Daddy.

Balloons, Beaches and Babies

Hello Weekend and hello parentals! We're so happy that Grandma and Grandpa Faiola are visiting this weekend. We started our morning like we do every morning, just before 6 a.m. with a change, a bottle and a hug. But, unlike every morning, we had a fun hike planned with the Grandparents. The second breakfast was finished (a delicious green bean, cashew, mushroom omelet - yum!), we hoofed it out as fast as we could to one of our glorious Washington State Parks and hiked to Clayton Beach.

Jamisen is just starting to find his balance. He's scooting around, when he has things to hang onto, but he doesn't walk more than a couple steps on his own at a time. Notice the excellent balance skills he is displaying above.

Jamisen loved crawling around the beach, until (insert sad face and music here), he crawled onto a really sharp piece of burned plastic. That led to some sad tears, a real bleeding flesh wound and some choice words from a protective Mommy about littering on public beaches.

Jamisen is quite the sweet cuddle bug. His way of showing affection is to go 'forehead to forehead'. He doesn't kiss. It's a forehead bump. It's endearing. Funny story - today, he tried to show affection (forehead bump) a metal goat statue today in the public market. He bounced off pretty hard. But, like a little champ, he bounced off and wasn't phased.

Jamisen loves to walk while well supported. We try to give him opportunities whenever possible. Grandma and Grandpa were happy to lend hands and support.

Uncle Erik was Jamisen's fantastic pack mule/friendly human stroller while walking around the Farmer's Market. Jamisen was thrilled to have such a broad, tall spot to view the Farmer's Market from. He's never had such a tall vantage point. Also, notice the red hue on Uncle Erik's beard? Apparently, red runs in the family.

The Bellingham Farmer's Market has a balloon fairy - that's right, a real balloon fairy that dresses up in fairy wings and makes balloon toys for all the little boys and girls who believe in fairies, goodness and pixie dust. Thankfully, as you can see above, Jamisen is a believer! He asked for a dog but wasn't suitably impressed with the pink creature handed to him. So, he absconded with the monkey on the palm tree instead.

The monkey on palm tree was his best friend and talisman until he accidentally popped a balloon and scared Grandpa. After that, the trust of the balloon was lost but it was fun while it lasted.

We had a play date with our good friend Sasha who was suitably impressed by Jamisen's balance skills. Grandma and Grandpa came to the play date and it was amazing that they got out of that house intact; two babies to fawn over? It was almost a cute overload!

 But the real cute overload? Mr. Jamisen in the bathtub right before bed. Really? Could any child be any cuter? That's right. Cute. Overload.

Happy Father's Day

 

  This Father's Day started out with Chris giving me the best present of all - an hour of extra time to sleep in. Because we scheduled Soap Weekend Intensive over Father's Day Weekend (whoops!), Chris has the joy of spending the entire weekend with perfect Mr Jamisen while I soap it up! Soaping has been exhilerating but exhausting so it was wonderful to get to sleep in an hour. Best. Father's Day. EVER.

  

Oh wait, Father's Day is supposed to celebrate Chris? Right! On it! We've rescheduled Father's Day in the Faiola-Renoud household for next weekend. We're headed to the Washington coast, where Chris will golf, sleep in and generally have a real Father's Day. I'm not completely heartless.

  

I would be remiss though, to not mention my Father, one half of the model for how we are attempting to intentionally parent Jamisen. My Dad, Dr. Richard Faiola, of Olympia, WA (yes, he is the best general practice Doctor in Olympia, WA) taught me (along with strong support from my awesome mom) everything I know about determination, being tenacious, willful curiosity and being a leader with integrity within my community. I fully recognize that I won the genetic lottery by having my Dad as half of my genetic make up. Thanks, Dad!  

P.S. This is what Jamisen made for his Daddy today. He can't hold a crayon very well. He doesn't know what to do with it. But he was pretty excited to bang the crayon on the floor that I thoughtfully covered with paper to make this masterpiece. I think we can all agree that it's clearly the work of an early genius, correct?

Sliding Head First

It has been a busy couple of weeks. Work has been insane for both adults in this household but July 1, I deliver my manuscript ("The Soap Queen's Guide to Perfect Soapmaking") to Storey Publications and life should start getting back to a more normal routine (aka: not working daily from 7-10 just to catch up on emails) and blogging should get back on track.


Jamisen is a new devotee of the Bellingham Parks System. Thank you Bellingham taxpayers for such lovely, lovely family places to be. He learned today how to go down the slide, by himself. Of course, he is happier going head first. Since he can't keep us his core strength enough to go down on his little tooshie without falling back and hitting his head, I'm okay with this new daredevil tendency.
Jamisen is starting to walk like a little champ! Look at him, walking with one hand in Daddy's and the other hand carrying a big stick. His grandpa coined this photo, "Crawl softly, carry a bit stick." Ha! Jamisen is displaying a beautifully sweet tendency to want to share with other children. He just gives and gives (generally wood chips and pine cones) and when bullies steal his pine cones, he looks up at me, with a puzzled expression on his face and just goes merrily about finding new things to play with. It is charming.
Mealtimes are AWESOME now that Jamisen happily eats solids and actually prefers them. We just cut up a bunch of healthy food, toss it on his tray and let him control his intake. We still have to spoon feed him some things (vegetables generally) but for the most part, 2/3rds of his meal is small bites of whatever we're eating.
 

Here is a video of Mr. Jamisen chowing down on (get this!!!) halibut. HALIBUT!
 My favorite part of the video is when he's out of halibut, so he looks under the bowl to find more.
 He loves our almost daily walks and points out all the birds we see on the walk. He says "buh, buh!" and points. One of his favorite activities in the house is standing up on the windowsills (with us behind him, supporting him) and watching for birds. He takes after his Grandma Faiola with the early love of birdwatching.
 
This is my new favorite video. We have a giant ladder in our house that goes up to our wall library. Jamisen loves to use the ladder to practice his walking skills. All of his skills are just starting to develop. He's communicating (pointing, doing the 'all done' sign language sign periodically, clapping for 'yes'), starting to walk and showcasing a gentle yet determined spirit.