Siri -- week 45

Siri is becoming more of a San Franciscan with each passing day. She loves to go on walks, and especially enjoys dog- and people-watching. We both think that she likes walking around here more so than in Irvine since there is much more to see. Siri is also pulling herself up to standing quite a bit, and even cruised the other day (I missed it because I was not home :(). She says "this" a lot while pointing, and has rediscovered how to say "book."

I started field work yesterday and Jeff is relegated to primary caregiver while I am away. I usually work between three and five hours each day in nearby coffee shops on the days when I'm not in the field or meeting people. Separation from Siri is difficult, but I'm also really excited to get back into my own work.

We found a place, signed the lease and got the keys to it last week. It's a beautiful edwardian flat in the Castro, near where we used to live. We have access to a backyard garden, garage, and storage. Plus, we'll have laundry IN UNIT and a dishwasher. We have not had a dishwasher in years and are really looking forward to having a machine do our dish washing. We're pretty excited to move in on September 1st.

Pictures from this week include:

* Siri brushing her hair for the first time with the brush that came with her first aid kit (also trying to brush her hair with the bulb syringe). I brushed her hair with the brush and then she copied me. It was super cute.

* Siri crying sadly b/c daddy wanted to try and capture her pouty face, so he told mommy to leave the room. Pouty face was not captured, and Siri was super sad that mommy left.

* Siri standing in the kitchen at our new place on Hartford Street

* The tank top strap (and part of the actual tank top) that Basil managed to devour in its entirety. Not sure how he managed to do it so cleanly and quickly since we were supervising him rather closely.

* Getting ready to go out on a walk in the fog

* First time on the pull up bars at the Duboce Park playground

* Rolled off the bed while sleeping. She didn't even make a sound to let us know she had rolled off -- we discovered her on the floor when we came to bed, so we have no clue how long she was sleeping like that.

Photoshoot sampling

We got our photos from Christina and I've elected to just post a few here. We are happy with all the pictures -- Siri is such a ham and really lights up for the camera. If you want to see more, let me know!

...San Francisco

Here we are, in San Francisco. We arrived last week but I was busy with conferencing until Tuesday; we have been spending Wednesday on looking for places to live. Siri has had a rough time adjusting to life in SF. First, she did not like the fact that I was gone all the time with my conference, and then she was introduced to two kitties who do not seem to like her much. One (Basil) hissed in her face yesterday and she made a pouty face, on the verge of tears. The kitties are also stressed, so it's understandable that they are not too happy with a screechy child in their home.

Jeff and I are *very* slowly adjusting to life in the city with a child. As much as we love SF, it is a different feeling (and experience) moving back here with a baby. For one, we are much more particular about the types of places we are willing to rent, which makes apartment hunting slightly more difficult and frustrating. Two, we want Siri to wear shoes or socks at all times: it's cold and it's not as clean as Irvine. But, I'm sure we'll adjust in due time, and may just let Siri roam around in her diaper only...just kidding.

Some pictures from SF include Siri's messy face after eating (note: she has prunes all over her face although it looks chocolatey), and hanging out in a big empty box in Auntie Jenn and Uncle Todd's kitchen.

Irvine...

Here are some pictures from our final days in Irvine. It has been a bittersweet move, and we don't feel as if we've really moved away yet since we don't yet have a place of our own. We miss the tranquility and familiarity of Irvine, and we miss our friends.

Pictures here include: Siri with Supriya --It seemed that Siri remembered her because as soon as she left, Siri looked out our front door and began to cry a little. We hope to find another caretaker as good as Supriya in San Franciso; hanging out in the open area by our place with Eric (who is three weeks older than Siri) and his daddy, Ming; having one last picnic in a family-friendly park :(

Changes and photoshoot preview

Dear Blog Followers,

Sorry for the lack of recent photo/video updates. We're getting ready to move to San Francisco this Friday, and I've been working on a conference paper and a grant proposal. Jeff has been Siri's primary caretaker since he took the bar exam (which ended last Thursday). I have a ton of pictures to download from our camera, but here is one for now. I was taking care of my friend's son (who is 3 months younger than Siri) while she taught the first summer session. She happens to be a photographer, and as repayment, she did a small photoshoot with Siri earlier this week. Here is one for you to preview. Will update more when we have a chance.