"See him?"

Yesterday at a bookstore I read -or more accurately narrated- a children's book to Jonah about a mom expecting a second baby and preparing the older sibling for the change. I wasn't sure if it was too early to start the preparation, but thought I would see how he reacted. When I got done describing the pictures in simpler language than the book offered, Jonah asked me to read the book again. He was intrigued. I then took the next step and posed the question:

"Did you know mommy has a baby in her belly too?"

Jonah thought about it for a second, then repeated in Czeglish: "In the pupik (meaning belly)," pointing at my stomach. The most amazing thing was that he didn't seem surprised.

We didn't discuss it much at the bookstore, but when we got home, I brought it up again. This time Jonah got very excited. First he asked: "See him?" I told him we couldn't see the baby yet; that the baby was small and needed to grow and sleep inside until it was ready to come out and that then it would come out of my vagina and cry and we would hold it and feed it. He has, by the way, already known about male and female anatomy (as much as a two-year-old can grasp) for some time, so this simple explanation of birth was not a big surprise either.

Jonah then began to fantasize about all that would follow. His stream of consciousness went something like this: "Baby sleeping in there. Still growing. It's still growing."

I nodded. He went on like this for some time: "And then the baby come out and then baby cry and Jonah hold it. And then baby walk and open the door and Jonah walk and hold baby's hand. And mommy put baby in Jonah's stroller and baby eat something."

I couldn't believe how easily he grasped the whole concept. I actually expected him to be confused and was ready to instantly abandon the topic if he showed any signs of confusion. I guess I underestimated him. A friend of mine told me that she began to talk about her pregnancy with her two year old daughter too, and that her daughter was receptive. So I thought I'd try it.

Later in the day, Jonah brought up the topic again while I was at work, discussing the new baby with Tim. What a marvelous little two-year-old brain.

hiking in the rain

Today was an especially rainy day, but we didn't let that discourage us. As planned, we went hiking in the Columbia Gorge, bringing with us our friend Mike.

We picked a wooded trail and didn't really get that wet in the forest. The trail led to a beautiful and dramatic waterfall called Ellowah Falls, rimmed at the bottom by large rocks covered in bright moss and ancient lava flows.


The forest smelled like pine needles, fresh soil, and mushrooms and the undergrowth was almost entirely made up of small new ferns. Indeed we found lobster mushrooms, which we promptly sauteed in garlic with butter, salt and parsley for dinner. Delicious! They not only resembled lobster with their coloring, but tasted like seafood too. Even Jonah loved it. I put a few pictures here.

back from Prague

Just got back from Prague. Though I was only gone nine days, it felt like months. Already on the plane to Europe I felt homesick. I wanted to pull out the photo album I compiled for friends and start looking through it, but stopped myself, feeling pathetic.

Once in Prague, I was able to relax and enjoy my time alone, though I felt rather strange... naked without Jonah.

As always, the trip was a whirlwind, mostly comprised of socializing with friends and family, catching a couple of cultural events, and rushing through Prague to buy presents and snap photos, which always embarasses me because acting like a tourist in my birth town is a bit awkward.

Most of the time was spent with my grandmother whose eightieth birthday is coming up in the spring. We always have such a great time together. She treated me to a concert - a sixty-some piece orchestra playing Britten, Berlioz and Dvorak, of which Dvorak was of course my "unbiased" favorite.

I also saw my dad and his wife and met my two cousins' fresh babies, the only two offspring carrying the family name so far. The story of how these two came about is actually quite amuzing - a bit like a fairy tale. My uncle - the king in the story, also a severe hypochondriac who believes every day is his last, was getting tired of waiting for grandchildren, so he declared one day that he promises to bestow one million crowns on the son that brings him his first grandchild. Sure enough, my two cousins got to work and just a few short months later, both announced their girlfriends were pregnant. The rest is history.

The old, the young, the dead... all of those were on my list of family members to visit. Thus, my grandmother and I made our usual pilgrimages to place a flower on my grandfather's and stone on my paternal grandmother's grave. On the way, we placed a small stone on the grave of Franz Kafka as well.

My dad was super busy juggling his two careers - one as an actor and theater director, the other - a recent development- as a Senator. He invited me to a staged reading of Vaclav Havel's lesser known play Spiklenci (or Conspirators). My dad cast and directed the reading. He also read the stage directions and a couple of bit parts. Some of the actors were, by Czech standards, quite well-known personalities. After the performance, my dad made me pose for pictures with him and the ex-president. I had my camera with me, but was too shy to take it out and request a snapshot for my collection of curiosities. You will just have to take my word for it - I was there.

In addition to family, I made my rounds and got together with most of my favorite friends my generation and my parents' generation. The highlight was a reunion I organized of my grade school classmates. Ten of us were there (from a class of about 28). We finished grade school together in 1987, and most of the people I saw at the get-together I hadn't seen in twenty years!

Though I'm not a great fan of the television, I watched the news nearly every day, trying to get a sense of what my birthland is currently going trough. One day I read the newspaper as well. The entire first section was taken up mostly by huge articles and exposes on the corruption of the government. Shadily bought shares, government money spent on delux apartments and fancy cars... in short, the topic de jour seems to be the misuse of power of those in the government. I also learned that I had temporarily switched places with the current Czech president, who, while I was visiting the Czech Republic, was attending the United Nations conference in New York, apparently giving scandalous speeches that deny the fact that global warming is occurring at an alarming and dangerous rate and that it is indeed largely caused by humans. He and Bush are the only heads of state still in denial, I sware.

Now I'm back. It's great to be with my boys again.

If you are curious, I put together the best pics from my trip and posted them here.

first hot chocolate and homemade cookies

Like I've mentioned before, we've been trying to keep Jonah off sugar for as long as we can. That doesn't mean he doesn't eat sweet things. His favorite are raisins and fig bars. He has only had cookies a couple of times in his life and of course, as any child would, he loved them ... too much.

Just the other day on one of the first cold fall days, I decided to make hot chocolate - with real cocoa powder and organic cane sugar. Jonah got so excited to have his first hot chocolate that he ran around repeating "chocolate, hot chocolate, chocolate" over and over, greatly emphasizing the "ch" sound as he often does with words that are special: trucks, trains, etc.

I put the hot chocolate in his special little teacup with a blue fish on it and we sipped hot chocolate together on a cold rainy afternoon like good friends.

Over the weekend the whole family made chocolate chip cookies together, a first for Jonah. He had a pretty good time mixing, but he liked licking the dough much better than eating the finished cookies. I must say he looked sharp in his apron!

best treat of all

Ever since we started giving Jonah chewable vitamins, he has been wild about them. They taste like candy and for him it's the only candy he gets. So after breakfast or lunch he gets one and then he wants more. We tell him he only gets one a day. He is starting to understand the concept, because the other day he asked me for another one and when I said no, he remarked: "Tomorrow."

water weekend

Yesterday Tim, Jonah's uncle Andy, a couple of friends, and Jonah and I drove out to a river beach at Oxbow Park. The drive was about forty minutes. The park is basically just past the eastern-most suburb of Portland, but it could be a hundred miles away. It feels so peaceful and secluded. The river is pretty slow there with the flow hardly noticable. It's lined with small cliffs and leaf trees, and as you swim in the cool but pleasant greenish opal-colored water, eagles coast overhead.

Jonah enjoyed the water in his kid-sized life vest. Best of all, he enjoyed throwing rocks in the river and pounding rocks against rocks. At one point all the men that were part of our group surrounded Jonah and watched him pound small rocks with a large rock he called a hammer. The sight was quite primal- cave child pounding rocks surrounded by cave men relaxing after a day out hunting - I mean working (Yes, most of them came straight from work even on a holiday).

Today we enjoyed city style water at an urban park filled with parents and children. The center piece of the park, or rather square, is a fountain that pours water out down sandstone slabs onto the tiled floor of the square. The water then recedes like the tide and comes back a minute later, filling up the area again. Kids love that place and Jonah does too. This was our fourth time there this summer, I think. Jonah scooped water into his bucket and poured it out an infinate number of times. He also scooted himself, seated, along the bottom of the "pool," with only his head sticking out saying: "I'm a boat." He tried splashing a couple of kids in the face to see their reaction, but the kids didn't really care so he quickly abandoned that form of entertainment. Once he even filled up his bucket and ran up to a flock of birds chirping on the ground, hoping to soak them. The birds outsmarted him, of course, flying away quicker than he could run. Good times.

We topped off the three-day weekend with a delicious dinner, if I may say so myself. I made the best rice I have ever made: chopped onions, smooshed garlic in the garlic press and fried that in a generous amount of olive oil. I added the rice and fried it with a large dash of cumin and cardamom until some of the grains turned brown, then added water, salt and a pork chop bone (yes, in my pregnancy I have been craving pork, which I haven't eaten in over two years). The beans I also started with onion frying in olive oil. I let the beans simmer for a while, flavored with cumin. We ate that with chicken pulled off the bone and heated in the oven. All of that was topped with a salsa of fresh cherry tomatoes off the vine in our garden - just with some salt and red wine vinegar. Then lettuce. So tasty!!! And simple too. Jonah stuffed himself too. Very rewarding!

anniversary & party at the park

I can't believe it's September already! This summer has gone by in the blink of an eye.

Tim and I celebrated our wedding anniversary a couple of days back by having a family picnic dinner with Jonah at a park, then watching a unique fall phenomenon of hunderds of swifts swirling around in the sky and diving into an old elementary school chimney. I had heard about this happening at the same place every year, but never had gone to see it.

From what I hear, the number of swifts rises through mid-September until there are about ten thousand of them gathering together. It would be worth going back just for that.

Jonah enjoyed himself too, though not as much watching the birds as running around and watching kids about four years his senior sliding down a steep grassy hill on cardboard. There was even a girl soccer practice giong on nearby. So much to see!

A guy came up to film us for his documentary on the swifts. Jonah was so excited to see the giant camera that he shouted over us like a maniac. I doubt the filmmaker will be able to hear anything over him. The funniest was when Tim mentioned that we came to see the swifts for our anniversary. The guy asked how many years we have been married. Tim said three and after thinking about it a moment, in typical wife fashion, countered that it has been four years. It came off pretty funny.

On another note, yesterday we went to one of Jonah's friend's birthday parties at the park. The park had a toy jeep for kids to drive. Jonah was so obsessed with it, he drove it and crawled all over it for hours. Even in the middle of the night he rememberd it when he woke up and began to narrate a story about it in a super loud voice.

My two favorite moments at the park where the party took place were:

1. Jonah and the birthday boy singing ABCD together.

2. An incredibly overweight and expressionless pug dog with a studded leather punk leash in the playground toddler swing, pushed by his "mommy," its tongue sticking out slightly on one side (as if post-stroke).

3. Jonah standing next to a stranger, watching him take off his sandal to wipe bark dust off his foot, and proclaiming in a loud and declaratory voice: "Dirty foot." The man sure was embarassed. Kids say the darnest things.

a month of celebrations

I haven't blogged in over two weeks. August is this family's busiest month of the year. Three of the three of us - wait, that's all of us! have our birthdays in August, plus Tim and I have our wedding anniversary at the end of the month.

For my birthday we went to visit friends and relatives in Seattle. It's always nice to see those folks. But before that, on the night of my birthday, I celebrated with my girlfriends. First we went out to eat, then to sing karaoke in our very own private room. What a blast!!! This was one of my very favorite birthday celebrations.

For Tim's birthday and our anniversary we spent four days in Central Oregon's ponderosa pine forests and in lava fields overlooking the spectacular 10,000+ foot volcanic peaks dominating the landscape. Jonah had a blast, especially since his uncle was there, later joined by his wife, aunt Jenni.


We - well the boys - swam in a pretty lake flanked by a forest. We hiked to another, smaller lake with a view of the snow-capped Sisters, and later along the pretty but freezing cold Metolius River whose current moves surprisingly fast. On our walk we saw snakes, butterflies, dragonflies, hawks, and deer with fawns. In the woods I even spotted what I was pretty sure was a coyote running. The best part was that there were very few people that we ran into on our explorations of the wilderness. The house we rented off Craigslist was gorgeous! Lots of wood, tall ceilings, spacious rooms, pretty rugs, a gas (wood) stove, a feeling of privacy, and a good layout for kids...

I put some pictures of our trip here. Enjoy.

2 yrs old

video retrospective

Some short videos from the last two years for your enjoyment. These are all 15 seconds or less in length with no sound.

first video we made of Jonah at 4-months-old:


just learned to roll over - January 2006. Nice hair, don't you think?


eating rice cereal for the first time - February 06


learning to stand - March 2006. Sorry this one is mostly sideways.


new to crawling - June 2006


petting our cat Pancho - Aug 2006


one-year-old - Aug 06


first birthday & cake - Aug 06


standing on his own - Aug 06


new to walking - Sept 06 (12-months-old)


playing the piano w/ great-grandmother in Prague - Dec 06


playing peek-a-boo - Jan 07


new to drawing - Jan 07


playing uncle's drums in New York - March 07


mopping - April 07


favorite pastime & Jonah's favorite video of himself

2

Jonah turned two yesterday!!! The day started with him discovering his new toddler-sized table and chair from me set up in the living room. The chair is a bit too tall for him so his feet dangle in the air, but he still likes it a lot.

In the afternoon we had guests over. Our party was originally just going to be a family gathering - uncle, aunt, and grandma. But instead twelve guests, including visitors from as far as Oklahoma and California came, and we had a barbecue in our backyard. Jonah had a fabulous time playing with his uncle. He loved the blueberry crumble with whipped cream my mom made in lieu of a birthday cake.

I had a hard time getting Jonah focused on unwrapping presents. He still doesn't get that phenomenon. But he so enjoyed his new gifts - especially the child-sized football and another ball he got from my friend Kyle and his uncle and aunt. He also got a Harley Davidson cap from our friend Mike's dad, fan of all things Harley. Jonah liked wearing the hat. Along with the balls, the other favorite was a wooden train set from my mom. In the middle of Jonah's bedtime routine, he had to get up and go check on the train set yet again. I'll put pictures from yesterday up soon.

midwife appointment

Yesterday we had our first midwife appointment with baby #2. Our midwife is just great. I am so happy we picked her. She works with an assistant, a midwife in training.

Jonah enjoys the toys the midwife has in her office, which is at her house and it's beautifully decorated and very peaceful. All important things to me.

When the midwife felt my belly and broadcast the baby's heartbeat for us to hear for the first time, Jonah got very concerned about me and began to cry. He calmed down in no time, though. It's too early for him to understand a sibling is on its way.

back from the co-op

Jonah and I just came back from our first visit to the co-op school. Jonah had a great time playing with toddler-sized, foot-powered cars plus a gas pump; glitter and glue; fire engines; plastic fish in water; a mini cash register with a drawer that opened and closed; and finally outside in the sand box. He enjoyed snack time and learned one of the kid's names - the one who threw the most tantrums, of course.

I was most impressed at potty/diapering time when Jonah peed in a "foreign" potty. He was quite independent while there, but had to make sure he saw me out of the corner of his eye at all times. If he didn't, he went looking for me.

On an average day, there are about nine children there, most around Jonah's age (two-years-old). Three parents are on duty every day. The day begins between 9:00 and 9:30 and ends at 1 pm. Children go three days a week with their parent on duty once a week.

I must say I was more overwhelmed than Jonah by some of the crying and screaming that took place. Mostly it was when parents dropped off their kids and left. But it's quite a ruckus when, for example, there are three kids crying at the same time. The other parents are nice, a couple of them seemed sort of artsy (filmmaker and artist?).

Most parents visit two to three times before they sign up to join the co-op, so I plan to do just that. Will report back again.

baby #2

Here is one of the ultrasound images from two weeks ago. What a prominent profile, don't you think?

beach

Just got back from a very nice weekend to the beach with my mom, Jonah's grandma. We had nice weather - not too hot, not too cold, but a little windy on the beach. Everything this weekend was great except on the last day, Jonah began to vomit periodically. We decided to come back home right away so he can sleep on the way back and soon be at home in a comfortable surrounding. He is feeling much better. Must have been some kind of a fast viral bug. Let's hope so. Pictures from the weekend here.

full name & other language stuff

Jonah now knows his full name. Yesterday I heard him mumbling something in his car seat while driving. At a closer listen, I realized he was saying his last name over and over again. When I said his first, middle, and last name all together, he got excited and started repeating them with a big smile. I know Tim's been teaching him.

The other day he was playing with some coins. He put the coins in a slot and said: "Thank you. Have a good time" in a singy-songy voice. That was great.

He also now knows the word love. Right now he is walking around, saying: "Love concrete mixer. Love big bulldozer. Love dump truck." He just told me he loves me too. I'm glad I'm up there with all the construction equipment. Quite an honor.

This morning at breakfast Tim and I were marveling at Jonah's verbal ability. Tim told him: "You're amazing," at which Jonah smiled mischieviously and said: "Thanks."

Cheeky little monkey.

July recap, August happenings

It's August already! I can't believe it. August is our family's month, during which we celebrate all of our (three) birthdays and our wedding anniversary.

What's coming up this month? We will be going to the coast with Jonah's Czech grandma for three days - can't wait. We also plan to take a trip to Seattle to visit Tim's family and friends. Also, I will be taking the boys on a surprise weekend trip for Tim's birthday. No hints!

Another big event in August will be Jonah's first visit to a co-operative school, which has a spot for him if we like it. He would go three mornings a week, of which one would be with a parent and two by himself. I think once he gets used to it, he will really like playing with other kids his age in a community atmosphere. When his brother or sister comes, it will be just the perfect arrangement for all of us.

July went by so fast. Some of the highlights: our hike to a mosquito-ridden lake; Tim's parents' visit during which Jonah got to swim in a pool and listen to some fun live music in an outdoor setting; a barbecue we had at our house which was well attended by friends and fun; and last but not least our first ultrasound!!!! Image for your own enjoyment coming soon. Stay tuned to this blog.

hike

Today we went on a hike, hoping that after a few days of rain there would be some mushrooms. No mushrooms, but the hike was still nice. The moist air smelled so good and fresh, the forest seemed happy. The hike led to a beautiful small lake that was peaceful and still. The water was green and.... the mosquitos hungry! Jonah walked quite a bit and loved wacking young trees with a stick and throwing rocks at stomps and in the lake. The mosquitos didn't bother him a bit. He also let his dad carry him in the backpack a ways. My mom, who ate wild blueberries along the way, came with us. I put some pictures here.

happy

Today when my dad called from the Czech Republic, I made a big deal out of the story of Jonah using the potty for the first time yesterday. I watched Jonah's reaction. After the phone call, I told him his Czech granpa was very happy about Jonah using the potty. Jonah thought for a minute, then proclaimed: "Pancho happy too." Pancho is one of our cats. I am sure the cat was thrilled about Jonah peeing in the potty :)

Jonah did pee in the potty about four times today!!! I was very impressed! I hope he continues to do so.

is this really the same child?

August 2005



May 2007