At 11 months, ANSEL LOVES:

CLAPPING


RIDING IN THE SHOPPING CART
many ladies smile at him and want to touch his hair


(RIDE HOME FROM SHOPPING, NOT SO MUCH)


DISCOVERING A NEW SOUND HE CAN MAKE AND MOVING IT INTO MASS PRODUCTION
here he has just discovered a fake-vomiting sort of sound


ANSWERING THE PHONE - "H'YA?!"
or sauce pan, or remote control, whatever


GETTING DIRTY AT SCHOOL
otherwise the laundry would be boring!


SWINGING!
and trying out pick-up looks


CLIMBING AROUND, UP, AND THROUGH THIS PLAY STRUCTURE


CLIMBING IN GENERAL
here he has just discovered a new place to climb: into his car seat


WATCHING THE WORLD GO BY
here from a train, most often from the bike trailer


DRINKING WATER FROM A GLASS
he has just had some and is about to get some more


PLAYING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS


GOING WHERE HE SHOULDN'T


BEING OUTSIDE


TASTING
though less than before


AND MOST CERTAINLY, EATING
yogurt is a current favorite


And we sure do love Ansel.

In honor of 10 months: 1 photo and 2 videos

Ansel is 10 months old today - thanks for all the fun, buddy!

Ansel is electrified by his new water table from Grandma and Grandpa Burk

From Ansel in April

In order for us to see his four new upper teeth, he has to be on his back, laughing or crying...here he is laughing but nearing zombie state

From Ansel in April

A break in our regularly scheduled program

From Ansel in April

My Uncle Mike

Back in February, my Uncle Mike’s long fight with a blood cancer called Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia came to a bittersweet and peaceful end. Mike battled his cancer with perseverance and dignity. Fortunately, he was able to spend his last days with his beloved wife Linda and his immediate family in the privacy of his own home.

I was not able to travel back to Minnesota for the memorial service, but did contribute to the remembrances from my cousins distributed across the country and read at the service by my brother.

Here's my remembrance:

Growing up, I was blessed with the opportunity to see Uncle Mike regularly and came to know his gentle spirit and kind, caring way.

When I have though of Mike over these last few weeks, one memory comes repeatedly comes to mind.

We were on a Boundary Waters canoe trip and my dad had become very frustrated carrying a canoe over a long, miserable, mosquito-ridden portage. In frustration, my dad tossed the canoe he was carrying off in the woods along the portage. Uncle Mike soon came along and willingly -- without a word of complaint or chagrin -- snatched up the canoe and carried it the rest of the way to the end of the portage. (Actually, I don’t remember if I was on this canoe trip or if this is just a story told to me.)

To me, this story is how I will always remember Mike. Strong, committed, helping, and willing to bear the burdens of others with love and kindness and without ever a word of complaint. These were the traits that he taught to all of us nephews and all those who he met. These were the traits that he shared with Linda in their wonderfully loving and committed marriage. These were the traits that he held true to even in his most trying days.

I cherish and will greatly miss Uncle Mike, but know that his spirit and his example are carried on with those who knew and love him.

It turns out that I didn’t actually witness the canoe story, but instead it was one of my dad’s favorite stories about Uncle Mike and I internalized it as a memory (as I suspected).

This upcoming weekend I am travelling back to Minnesota (and leaving Elissa and Ansel in Palo Alto with her visiting parents) for my Grandpa Felix’s 90th birthday celebration and a family remembrance of Uncle Mike. It will be great to see all the family, but be sad that Mike won’t be with us. Hopefully, he is somewhere enjoying a peaceful bike ride and knowing that we love and miss him dearly.

Ansel with my Aunt Linda and Uncle Mike, November 2008

9 months in, 9 months out

Today Ansel is 9 months old. I don’t know if it has gone fast or slow; I think the answer is both context- and mood-dependent for me. But it has definitely been amazing and great getting to know our little guy, and to watch and participate in his development. We’re looking forward to lots more!

ANSEL
Not long after our last post, Ansel made his first clear sound: ba-ba-ba. A few days later he added g-g-g-g (lots of effort involved in pushing this one out). He has since added lots, today’s favorite was da-da-da. For awhile, he would say ma-ma-ma when he got tired and wanted to have mama milk. But he hasn’t done it as much lately, so maybe it was just a coincidence. We love his sounds, and they make him even more irresistible to us.

Happy just-woke-up Ansel

Ansel kept scratching his forehead open, so we had to put on a band-aid

Family dinner at our new dinner table

He is still working on that pincer grasp; in his last attempt, he got about 4 Cheerios in his mouth over the course of about 30 tries. He doesn’t really use his thumb and forefinger. Instead he paws at them until one (or a couple) get into his clammy palm, and then he tries to put his whole fist in his mouth, hoping that the Cheerio will somehow drop in there.

He loves kneeling and pulling himself up on stuff and standing. He prefers to do #2 while standing, and gets red in the face while doing so. He tries to clap. There is little noise produced, but it does get a reaction out of his parents (lots of clapping, of course); we love it.

Mid-clap clap clap

Happy tanny-upper

Our large coffee table is a great height for him to pull up to standing

He likes to bang his cups (or any two hard items) together or on the floor or table, or anything to make some good noise. He also really likes to climb up the stairs.

Ansel's ride to and from school (unfortunately, he is not always this happy about the helmet)

And, we think he likes “school” (a.k.a. day care), which is really good. Hopefully that’s not just wishful thinking. We really like the teachers and the atmosphere at this place. He has only gotten sick once: he had a fever and infections in both ears, and there was a 24 hour period where he would only sleep in his parents’ arms. The bug lasted awhile, but sick only once so far seems pretty good for a kid new to day care (we’re hoping that keeps up).

Ansel with his teacher Dora and buddy Callum

Ansel with his other teacher, Suji

FIVE VISITORS, NOT ALL AT ONCE
Since our last post, we have had some nice visits from family. Grandpa Dave and Grandma Joanne came out for a week at the end of Feb/ beginning of March. Ansel warmed right up to his grandparents and had a great time playing with them! He got to leave school a few hours early each day they were here to play with them. We all went into San Francisco one day (Ben and my first trip into the city) and had a good time walking up and down hills and seeing sights. Unfortunately, both Dave and Joanne got sick during the last part of their trip (seemed to be some sort of food poisoning, though we couldn’t really figure out which food had caused it), but thankfully they were better before they had to leave, and still got in some more play time with Ansel.

Grandma giving Ansel his antibiotic, which he preferred in a glass mixed with water

Reading with Grandpa

Grandma and Ansel at school

Grandpa and Ansel planning out our route around San Francisco

Lunch spot in San Francisco, with the reflection of the Bay Bridge in the window

The day after grandma and grandpa left, Auntie Annie came for a visit! The two of us spent one day going around San Francisco and had a great time. After school/work one day, we picked up Ansel and checked out the Junior Children’s Museum nearby. Anna made salsa verde enchiladas for us again – delicious! We also spent some time at the Stanford Shopping Center, and sampled some Sprinkles cupcakes (delicious red velvet!).

Anna with a cross-section of the Golden Gate Bridge main cable

Auntie Annie playing "high five" with Ansel

At the top of Hoover Tower at Stanford

Annie left on Sunday, and the following Friday, Uncle Derek and Amiee arrived! We got a Zipcar and checked out Half Moon Bay. It was nice but the weather was windy and cool, so we didn’t take any long strolls along the beach. The next day, we all went in to San Francisco to take in the sights. And a few evenings, we played Rock Band (Amiee is a master of the drums!). Amiee made a cool photo montage of their trip (with music!) that is posted on Derek's blog here.

Ansel in his carseat, ready for our day trip

At the cold windy beach in Half Moon Bay

Little family and the big ocean

Tasty snack at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park

Amiee and Derek took care of Ansel one afternoon and they went to the park

Thank you all for coming!!! It was great to have you stay with us! Now we are looking forward to an upcoming visit from Grumpa Tom and Grandma Barbi, and then hopefully a visit from Uncle Andy in May. And we welcome anyone else who wants to come!

BEN AND ELISSA
We’re doing well. Ben is gradually adjusting to his new job and is starting experiments. I am still working on my research, still hoping to graduate in the not-so-distant future, but definitely not this semester. One weekend, we decided to have some real fun by both acquiring a severe case of food poisoning at a restaurant (good thing Ansel couldn’t eat that food yet!). Thankfully I have blocked most of the details from my memory, but I do remember 1) feeling like Ansel weighed over 50 lbs. as I tried to rock him to sleep in my weak post-sickness state, and 2), with both parents struggling to lift limbs, resorting to another form of child care:

Can you find the baby?

We are excited that our good friends Ilaria and J welcomed their son Eliot into the world on March 16! J made an album here with lots of good pictures and details. We hope to meet Eliot sometime soon!

Our February and March photo albums aren't quite done yet, but close enough (maybe no captions is better!). If you want more Ansel, follow these links!

Happy Spring!

California, a new world

All three of us are here in Palo Alto. Here in a land without winter as we know it, and where we are two to three hours behind our friends and family. There are definite perks to the former, but the latter plagues us daily: our unlimited calls after 9 pm are essentially useless. We will just have to get used to Skype.

Ansel is doing pretty well here. I would say he was in a great mood two weekends ago, for the entire weekend.

Happy Weekend Ansel at home

smiling at papa in Chipotle

tasty Chipotle table

So, to put a stop to that, the following Monday we took him to daycare (real nice, mom and dad). Daycare has been going pretty well overall, but at times it has been hard, for all of us in different ways. We are all still adjusting, trying to think positively about it. It is very hard to leave the place when he is crying, which unfortunately is still the case a majority of the time. But they tell us he gets over it relatively quickly, and we hope that is true. He is still struggling to take naps longer than 30 minutes, which is probably affecting him in many ways. There are only 4 kids that attend his classroom, and only 3 at a time, maximum. Three afternoons a week it is just him and a 1-year-old boy, so that is nice. He has two teachers, one for most of the day, and then the other at the end, and they are both nice.

Ansel has been moving around via an inchworm sort of mechanism (up on knees, flop forward, repeat) for a few weeks, and since then has been working on improving his speed. About a week ago he started moving from the tummy/crawling position to sitting on his own. We are still not sure he always knows when he can do it. He likes to offer us toys that he is playing with, or even a little turn with his precious ne-ne, and then take it back. He makes silly sounds that delight his parents. I feel like when he is making these sounds (a screeching animal of some sort), he is happy, so that makes me happy (maybe it is all in my mind!). He seems very content when he is out and about, able to stare at anything and every thing. He does so in the stroller or the Ergo carrier without complaint.

Walk around the neighborhood in Ergo

Ansel on a stroller outing (after he has removed his socks)

We have been to the swings several times.

He eats rice cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes, applesauce, and tonight, bananas (this delicious fruit certainly got the warmest welcome so far). And still as much mama milk as he can get.

Ansel is not sure about plain old carrots

He's generally happier when two parents are in the room. Ever since he started daycare, he likes to crawl into our laps (and apparently likes to do this at daycare as well).

Ansel's room is the one room in our home that is "done". So we spend a lot of time there, also because he is free to roam.

Ansel's room, curtains have since been trimmed

The rest of the apartment is still coming along. Maybe it will be ready in time for our first visitors...?

Our neighborhood is very nice. Many homes around us are beautiful. But most striking to me has been the amount and diversity of the vegetation, including many trees that are unfamiliar to me, flowering trees (in Jan/Feb!), trees baring citrus fruits, palm trees, cacti, bamboo and more! It is crazy!

(click to view larger image)

Our transition here has been made much nicer by the help and company of our friends, Stephen and Monica, who, among many things, helped us find our current apartment (i.e. went to the appointments that we set up). They have already had us over for dinner (delicious!), and when Ben rushed off to Colorado last minute to give a research talk, they brought Indian take outs to our place and kept Ansel and me company. Thanks guys, you have been so great to us!!!

Dinner at Monica's apartment

We still haven't purchased a car. We are still toying with the idea of not doing so. In the mean time, we have been cheating by borrowing Stephen's car for weeks at a time as we have been trying to get things up and running here. Thanks again, Stephen!! But really we are trying to use it minimally. I got a new bike, Ben bikes to work, and Ansel and I have done lots of stroller-blading (carefully, not too fast, but faster than walking). We also got a bike trailer (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Cosgrove!!) and plan to start using it soon. Daycare is a 15-20 minute walk. Trader Joe's is coming in close by (signs say in Spring 2009). So it could all be doable...

Stroller-blading to Monica's apartment, in front of the Oval at Stanford

Papa was on his bike

So those are some highlights. We have lots of wonderful pictures from our time at home in MN, and our last days in Boston, but that is just more than I can handle at the moment :) Awhile back, I did manage to post a November Picasa album, featuring:

• Uncle Andy visiting Boston!
• Super Auntie Annie Nanny providing daycare and excellent meals in Boston!
  
  
  
• Boston in Autumn
  
• Quality time in Minnesota, with many fortuitous encounters between two young cousins

Overall, I think that we are doing well. We are looking forward to learning more about our new home town, exploring the surrounding area, and welcoming a string of family visitors (25 days of a 35-day period, mostly in March!).

We hope that everyone is doing well! Please come visit us :)

P.S. This was going to be a separate post: Name one food that tastes better than raw chocolate chip cookie dough (Nestle Tollhouse recipe). Any answers given will be deemed incorrect.

Feet on the ground in California

Well, much has passed since my last post, and I am sure we'll get to covering it in appropriate detail in the coming weeks. The short story is that all the items from the to-do list below have been completed. I've successfully defended my Ph.D., we've packed up and given the movers our stuff, spent the holidays with family in Minnesota, and now I am here at Stanford ready to start my post-doc position tomorrow and hoping that the movers arrive with our stuff between now and when Elissa and Ansel arrive on Sunday. I'll be missing them until then.

For now, I'll just send out a thanks to all our family who helped us pack up in Boston and who have served as Ansel-sitters during our time in Minnesota.

Until Elissa and Ansel get here, I'll be in California, feeling Minnesota.

December to-do list

(...This is what one does at 4:15am on a Friday night when the other option is writing your thesis...)

With Elissa and Ansel staying in Minnesota with our families to allow me some quiet for finishing my PhD thesis, I have begun to make all kinds of to-do lists.

So here's a summary to-do list/schedule of party events (with estimated due dates) for the uninformed:

* Missing Elissa and Ansel (all the time)
* Finish writing PhD thesis (Dec 5)
* Begin packing apartment (Dec 6-9)
* Somehow find an apartment in Palo Alto via Craigslist (Dec 7?)
* Welcome Elissa and Ansel back to Boston (Dec 10)
* Public thesis defense (Dec 15)
* Finish packing apartment with the help of Elissa and my folks (Dec 16-18)
* Movers come to get our stuff (Dec 19)
* Fly back to Minnesota for Christmas (Dec 20?)
* Fly out to Palo Alto to meet our stuff (Jan 1?)

Oh, December! You will be fun!! Luckily, Ansel is going to chip in on the packing/moving/thesis defending.

Oh yeah, what I am thankful for? My lovely wife, our joyful and healthy child, family (aka baby-sitters) and friends, three experiments with primary human cells that pretty much all worked out as expected thus allowing me to finish of my thesis in a timely manner, ...

P.S. (to Trey): No wife, child, or time to cook? Imagine the consumption rate of bratwurst and other tube meat!