1. There can be a language barrier 
Like the time in Japan when I used my phrase book to order what I thought was an avocado roll, but actually was a big pile of salmon with a piece of avocado on top (vegan, here!). Or the time my baby said “Up” and then got upset when I said, “You’re already up” because what he really meant was “Down.”

2. The language barrier won’t matter.
Smiles work just fine.

India 2008

3. You will rely on the kindness of strangers
In Dresden, Germany, an older man asked me “Ist deine füße kaputt?” (“Is your foot broken?”) and then brought me band aids from a first aid tent when I showed him my awful blisters.

This guy held Jonas when he was antsy on the airplane.

4. You will eat things you never expected.
Like sacred water from a well in India that you know will probably give you diarrhea. Or half a freeze dried mango that your baby spit out.

5. You’ll get good at carrying almost anything you might need around in one bag

Europe 2007

6. You will get your sleep where you can get it

On the way home from Israel 2011

7. You’ll know what it’s like to feel alone in a room full of people

Like standing in the Paris train station when no one will stop to help you figure out how to get to a hostel. Or sitting in your living room, on two hours of sleep, when everyone else is sitting at the kitchen table eating but you can’t because you’re the only one who can feed the hungry baby who eats for 20 minutes every half an hour!

8. You’ll make friends simply because you’re doing the same thing
It’s easier to talk to someone when you’re both carrying a backpack or a baby!

Japan 2009

9. You’ll understand cultural references more

You’ll notice references to places you’ve traveled in books and TV. And you’ll get books, TV shows, movies, everything in a different way when you have a baby. You’ll understand the parents’ perspectives in a way you didn’t before.

10. Even when things are imperfect, they’re perfect

In Germany, when I went out, unknowingly, on “Father’s Day,” which is actually more like “Men’s Day.” Men walk around pulling coolers of beer and singing songs about being men. There were no other women to be found.

Almost get stuck at a train station in Munich and have to talk your way onto the train? Baby poop all over the fancy outfit you put him in in the parking lot outside your friend’s wedding reception? It’s all just part of the perfect story!

The backup outfit was cute, too

We’ve been so busy, I haven’t been posting! Here’s a look at our fall so far, mostly in pictures.

Jonas and I went apple picking with my sister-in-law and niece. These two just did this! No posing! How adorable are they?!

Jonas and I went to Massachusetts to visit my best friend and her new baby, James! We did so much fun stuff while we were there.

Playing at the Acton Children’s Museum

At the playground near Lindsey and James’ house

Jonas loved this baby goat and he was so good about petting it gently! There were other goat kids in the same area but he just followed this one around.

I got to have a girls’ night with Lindsey and one of our other best friends, Elizabeth. It was so great to spend time with them! Jonas and Lindsey’s baby, James hung out with Lindsey’s husband Brian, his two sisters, and the husband of one of his sisters. I knew he was in good hands since Brian is studying to be a teacher, one of his sisters is a nanny, and the other works with special needs students, but I was still nervous leaving him with people he didn’t know very well, even for a few hours! He had fun playing with Brian’s 3-year-old nephew, but they said he did cry for “Mama!” at one point 🙁 To help with the Mommy guilt, I’m telling myself the refreshment I got from some “me” time with my two best friends who I rarely see helped me be a better Mommy to him!

We’ve been checking out lots of children’s museums! A couple weeks ago, we went with some friends and their kids to the one in La Habra and last week, we went to the Chino Youth Museum.

Yesterday, Jared, Jonas, and I went to the beach with Jared’s Aunt Lisa and Uncle Gene. Jonas had been to the boardwalk before, but this was his first time playing in the sand and putting his feet in the ocean!

He loved running around and exploring.

I love the look of determination he has in this picture!

Jonas is 1!

On the 13th we had a party for him with immediate family, a couple close friends, and some families from our play group. Jonas loves kitties and puppies, so that was the theme. He has been super into TRASH lately, and if I’d known that earlier, maybe we would have picked Oscar the Grouch, but this was still really fun!

Jonas had a lot of fun, and really got into the party mood, running around with the other kids and chasing balloons.

Helping Papa, Daddy, and Tio Henry with the food.

Checking out the ice with his buddy Ronan

He tried some cake but wasn’t too impressed.

Even I was overwhelmed when it came to present opening time! He got so many awesome toys and clothes and books. Our house looked like a toy tornado had hit it!

Bubby and Grandpa came in for the festivities. It was so nice to spend time with them!

Since his party, Jonas has been enjoying playing with his new stuff!

A garden cart from Mommy and Daddy since he loves flowers. I’m so happy he loves it!

“Vroom!”

Today is his actual birthday. I have been putting this Happy Birthday diaper on him for months, but I was so happy to use it on his real birthday!

Jared had the day off from work today, so we went to the mall and rode the carousel. Jonas liked it at first, but by the end of the ride, he was squirming and wanted me to hold him.

I am so happy being this amazing baby’s Mommy! I love watching him grow and learn and turn into his own little person!

Happy first birthday, Jonas! I love you so much!

On September 2, Jared and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary!

We had lunch at Cafe Rio in Redlands and then went to the park where we got married and took pictures. Last year, I was two weeks away from having Jonas and now he is almost a year old!

In the evening, we had a date night and went to a delicious Indian restaurant. We had a $60 gift certificate and our goal was to spend it all so we got a great bottle of pinot noir, appetizers, and dessert! We were stuffed!

I am so happy to be married to this amazing man, and am so proud of us for the work and love we put into our marriage. <3

I thought it would be a good day to try a fun activity so I made some corn starch finger paint for Jonas to try. Here’s a run down of my thought process:

This is going to be fun! What a great activity. He will love it. I’m a great mom…planning developmentally appropriate activities for my baby! I should take a picture of the steps so I can blog about it later. I’ll be so Pinterest-y!

Ok, the dog is inside and we are outside. I’m pretty smart. I know this is supposed to wash out easily, but this will still make it easier to clean up. And a black onesie so it won’t stain! Of course he isn’t sure what to do with it..this is his first time finger painting. I will just show him and then he’ll love it.

There he goes! Maybe we can even use his artwork as thank you cards after his birthday!

Oh well. I guess he is just excited about being outside and he wants to explore. It’s hot out here, though. We should go in.

Even better idea! We can finger paint the bath tub! He’ll love it!

Well. I guess he isn’t interested in finger painting yet. Time to wash the tub. At least I TRIED to do something entertaining! (Also, Look at that face!!)

And NOW he is fascinated!

Haha, so in a roundabout way, we did end up doing a fun, sensory activity. I guess it doesn’t matter that it’s one we do almost every day!

On July 29, Jonas and I flew to Washington, D.C. We spent the night with some cousins. Jared had an exam on the 31st, so he flew to Baltimore on August 1 and spent the weekend with our friend Wes before driving down to West Virginia.

In DC, Jonas had a great time with his cousin Olive, who is three, playing music and crawling around. The next day was my birthday and we spent a lot of it on a 6 hour train ride to West Virginia.

When we arrived, my mom and Richard met us at the station. Richard had flowers for me and when we got to her house, my mom made a delicious dinner and brought out a pineapple upside down cake– the cake she has always made me for my birthday. It was all delicious. She also had presents for me– an infinity scarf she crocheted for me herself, some LUSH hand putty, and a beautiful change purse and bracelet from their trip to Vietnam.

The next day was my mom’s 60th birthday. We went blueberry picking! Jonas loved the fresh blueberries and kept saying “BLUE!” the rest of the trip when he wanted some.

The man at the blueberry farm took this picture for us. Jonas wasn’t looking at the camera, but I didn’t want to ask him to take another one, because he didn’t seem too happy to be doing it. Maybe because there was a sign saying not to eat the blueberries without paying for them and Jonas’s face was covered in them, haha.

My aunts surprised my mom by driving down from New York the next day, in time for the party we threw for her on August 2. The party was great– a potluck with so much great food and great people.

Mommy in her birthday crown looking at the memory book I made for her.

Jonas loves Bubby. She got him a Batman shirt and they were Batman and Robin!

He had a lot of fun playing with Grandpa, too.

In that picture, the living room looks deceivingly organized. Don’t be surprised! Jonas took Bubby’s clean house and moved EVERYTHING onto the floor to play with!

On August 4th, Jonas took three steps!!!! He was standing at the coffee table, let go, took a step toward Bubby, then paused. He looked at me, changed direction, and took two steps toward me!

That evening, Jared and Wes drove down from Baltimore. Jer, Wes, Amelia (my step sister, in from Ireland, who I hadn’t seen in 8 years before this trip!!!), Mommy, Richard, Jonas, and I had a yummy tempeh stir fry dinner and the grown ups enjoyed wine and lavender mojitos.

Reunited and sleepy

Jonas missed Jared before he got there. One night in his sleep, he was saying, “Dadada.” He was playing with one of Bubby’s old cell phones and I asked who he was talking to and he said, “Dada.”

Bubby got Jonas a cool pool to play in and he loved crawling in…

and out…

over and over.

I hope we can more spend time like this, especially in the summer, in West Virginia as Jonas grows up so he has awesome wild and wonderful experiences and memories!

I’ve done a lot of my 101 in 1001 list, but this summer I started working on some of the larger projects– ones that I can’t just do in a day and cross them off.

 Meditate for 30 minutes a day for 30 days
I started this on July 1 and am actually aiming for about twice this. I am doing a free online version of the Mindfulness Base Stress Reduction Program and it lasts 8 weeks. I am enjoying it so far, although it definitely takes discipline to make myself do it instead of just playing on my phone or watching Netflix while I nurse Jonas to sleep. The program is pretty well-known and is very studied because it is so structured. It is one of the ways we are learning about all of the benefits mindfulness meditation has!

Relearn Basic Spanish
I’ve been using an app called Duolingo and I love it. It turns language learning into a game and makes you want to keep doing it.

Get Doula Certification
I finished the first of my three modules and have signed up for a mentoring program that should help me get some of the births I need for my certification! I got really nice feedback on the assignment for my first module that made me feel good!

And because I know this stuff is less exciting than Jonas, here are some of his updates and pictures!

Vocab
Jonas says:
Dada
Mama
Kitty
Dog
Tea (for the tea kettle)
Yay
Did it!
Hi!

He also copies some words:
Poop (haha)
Tick tock (for the clock)
Duck

He responds to requests like “clap your hands!” “Pat the kitty,” “Can you show me the duck?” and “Let me smell it”

He crinkles his nose now, not just to the word “Stinky” but also now to smelly, nose, dirty, yuck, and poop. If you say “no” he shakes his head but keeps doing whatever he is doing.

He also climbs on everything! He likes to cuddle with anything soft, including pillow, carpet, and the kitty.

My sister in law does Ten on Ten every month and I always think it is so cool. I finally (kind of) remembered to do it this month! It is supposed to be ten consecutive hours but we skipped a couple due to nap times. I also didn’t manage to get this post up ON the 10th, but oh well!

8:30am- Getting in some yoga (about 5 minutes)

9:30am- Play time

10:30am- Library storytime. He sat like this for a few minutes before taking off to explore.

11:30am- Playing with some of the cool toys at the library. This library is really cool and also has lots of animals to look at. Jonas called the birds “kitty.”

12:30pm- We shared a sweet potato for lunch.

2:30m- resisting nap time

3:30pm- Still not napping. I was a little bummed that he never really fit in the Bumbo seat. His thighs were too big and we had to squeeze them in. He loves it now, though and climbs on it, sits on it backwards, puts his toys in it, and pushes it around.

6:30pm- After a nap (finally!) veggie dogs for dinner. Jonas had leftover sweet potato.

7:30pm- Cool enough for a long walk around the neighborhood.

8:30pm- Bath time!

Jonas has officially been out of my belly for longer than he was in it. It is amazing how much he has grown and learned just in the last few weeks. He is recognizing more words, and reacting to some of them, which is really fun.

He says “Hi Da!” to Jared and we think he is starting to call the dog “Pup Pup.”

When you tell him “No,” he shakes his head, and he will copy me and nod and smile. My favorite, though, is that when you say “Stinky” he will crinkle up his nose and sniff and he has started to do this whenever he smells something strong.

He is exploring everything and is getting really good at taking things OUT.

And at putting things IN. This is one of Jared’s video games that Jonas decided went better in the wine cabinet.

Just this last week, Jonas has gotten really into books. He will crawl over to his book corner and wave at his books until I say, “You pick one!” and then he will hand me a book and pay attention as I name the things in the pictures. Sometimes he will sit for 3 or 4 books! The other day, we were reading one called “Hello Bunny!” which he loves because it has lots of animals. When I showed him some of the animals that are mentioned in another book he loves “Baby’s Very First Touchy Feely Book” he would motion toward that book until I showed him the matching picture and then he would smile! He was totally putting it together. There is a penguin in the touchy feely book and there aren’t penguins in “Hello Bunny” and he kept looking at the penguin and then expectantly at “Hello Bunny” like he was asking me where the matching one was. It was really cute.

With another book he loves

I thought 6 months was my favorite age, but 9 months is pretty amazing!

Jonas and I traveled to West Virginia May 21-27 for a reception to celebrate Elizabeth and Drew’s marriage. I was nervous to do the trip with just the two of us, but Jonas did great! He is an awesome traveler.

When we got there, we had to get some groceries, and I had forgotten my carrier at the house where we were staying, so Jonas got to ride in the cart for the first time. He loved it!

Helping unpack

He enjoyed spending lots of time with Great Grandma

We played on the swing set Sadie and I had as kids (with a modification to make it baby friendly!)

Jonas also tried out the hammock. That is my beautiful Grandma and the beautiful house my dad built in the background.

All of that outside playing, and Jonas needed a bath. We washed him in the sink and he loved it!

Jonas had on a cute button up and khakis for the reception, but there was a diaper situation on the way there, and I had to clean up a ton of baby poop without getting any on my dress when we arrived with about 10 minutes before the party and 10 wet wipes. I was imagining walking in late to see a bunch of people I hadn’t seen in years, covered in poop.

Thankfully, we were able to clean him up and get him in the backup outfit, and then some friends showed up with water and tissues so I could wash my hands. I am still waiting to see pictures from the reception, but Jonas slept the whole time I danced with him in the Ergo carrier. Before falling asleep, he said his first word– “Hi” as he met a bunch of my friends from high school!

Bubby came up for a day and Jonas had fun crawling around with her.

He made friends on the plane on the way home and they held him so he could see out the window.
It was a great trip, but we are both happy to be home. When we got back, Jonas was so excited, reaching to all of his favorite things in the house to see them. He was especially excited to see Daddy!