Ramona's Holiday Tour

Because Forest and I currently have the luxury of living within a one-hour radius of our parents, it was both our duty and our pleasure to take Ramona around for a tour of multiple Christmases. But we celebrated a Christmas of our own on the 23rd, before our journeys began.
It started with angel food cake french toast for breakfast, new and improved from last year
. . . and included a stack of gifts, which dwarfed our tiny 18-inch Christmas tree.
Upon opening a few gifts, generally disregarding the contents, and playing with boxes and wrapping paper, Ramona commenced her holiday travels.
The 24th at Parry's
We spent the next couple of nights in Cerro Gordo, where a one-of-a-kind Christmas tree is always there to greet us this time of year. I can't decide which I like better--the Parry Tree '08 or the Parry Tree '09.Some of us wore festive socks for the 24th,
gave kisses under the mistletoe,
helped make an enormous Parry-style pie in the kitchen,


and watched the rain fall.


Christmas Eve at Grandma Carol's
At Grandma's house, Ramona played with a giant bucket of toys,
received plenty of hugs from Grandma,

opened more gifts,
gave Grandma a gift,
and attempted to steal ornaments off of the Christmas tree.
Christmas morning at Grandpa Parry's
Despite our hectic itinerary, Santa was well aware of Ramona's various locations on Christmas as evidenced by the plentiful gifts left for her at all of our stops that day.
He must have known what a nice baby she has been these past eight months.


Speaking of Santa, he never forgets to bring Parry a fresh supply of chocolate raisins.

Christmas lunch at Dutch and Bill's
Teresa's parents have a house that feels like some extension of the North Pole when this season arrives. Her lawn is covered with decorations, and a large section of her living room is dedicated to a tiny village of lit homes, ice skaters, and even an electric ski lift. It wasn't until after we arrived at their home that the snow finally came, transforming wet Christmas into white.
Diapers are perhaps more of a gift for mom than baby, but Ramona was still pleased . . .. . . and she was just as pleased when Teresa handed her a pickle to taste for the first time.Christmas afternoon at Ojiichan and Obaachan's house
More gifts awaited Ramona at my parents' home in Normal . . .

. . . as well as a basket of markers, promptly dumped out on the floor by guess-who?

A few successful family photos, after several attempts:

Ramona stayed with Ojiichan and Obaachan on the 26th while Forest and I headed up to Chicago to visit the temple. It was blanketed in snow by the time we arrived.
As we were leaving the temple, we saw three deer in a lot nearby. They looked back at us once before leaping away. I asked Forest if they were "snowdeer," instead of "raindeer." For all the pun-filled jokes he has told me, he should have laughed.We also saw a snow-covered nativity display still set up on the temple grounds. Somehow, looking at those figures and standing there together made it feel like we had found a moment of true "peace on earth." After all the busyness and activities of the past few days, I felt a contrasting sense of calm in being there. If I were a deer, perhaps I would wander by there, too.Merry Christmas.

Christmas Cello-ing

My cello tends to be a little bit busier this time of year. The past couple of weeks have been filled with various rehearsals for performances of Christmas music: a quartet with flute, violin, viola and cello for "The First Noel," a trio with piano, voice, and cello for "Gesu Bambino," a 20-piece church orchestra for "Beautiful Savior," "O Come O Come Emmanuel," and a medley of carols. The red cello case also made an appearance at my students' cello recital last Friday, which featured additional holiday music.

Although the increased musical obligations accompanying this season at times feels stressful and provokes some complaining on my part, I have to acknowledge that music has helped to shape some of my fondest Christmas memories. I'm not sure the holiday would feel the same without the carols--or the schedule packed with rehearsals.

Moving Forward

I have always been taught that God will never give us more than we can handle. In my own life, I have found this to be true. For example, on Wednesday morning, I was given an orchestra sub job, a cold, snowy morning, a nail in the middle of the road, and a flat tire. Fortunately, I was also given an extra set of strong hands (Forest happened to be along for the ride), a spare tire (which ended up getting more miles than I'd like to admit), a baby who remained oblivious of the situation and stayed asleep in the back seat (Ramona), and enough time to drop off each of my family members as planned and make it to my first assignment on time. Had I been alone and running late with no spare tire and a screaming child, I probably would have gotten nowhere that day.

Despite the occasional sharp objects in the road and my propensity for driving over them (two flat tires in two years is a lot for one driver, correct?), it still feels like our family is making some forward progress. We still have no idea where we will be in six months, but we do have hopes and at least one prospect. Forest has been in Portland the past two days interviewing for a job with Intel, who has promised him a yes or no answer in the next few weeks. Whatever the answer may be, I sometimes catch myself envisioning what it would be like for our little family to continue its journey in the great Northwest.

While all of this has been going on, Ramona has been making substantial progress on her own. She has been crawling in the forward direction for about a week now. This mobility combined with my lack of motherly experience has led to considerable reflection about what the word "babyproofing" actually means.

Onward, ever onward . . .

(partial) Gratitude List

Our Thanksgiving vacation spanned five days this year. The celebration seemed to highlight themes of friends, family, food, and freetime--all things at the top of my gratitude list.

Among many things, I am grateful for:

our little family
those who have taught me (by word and example)
music (and listening ears)
extended family
Parry's baking skills
food
good eaters (Ramona's first Thanksgiving meal was sweet potatoes)
(she loves her spoons now)
Grandpa Parry

smiles
Teresa
naptime
walktime

long-time friends (we saw some familiar faces at a wedding reception in Decatur)
occasional pranks (Ramona dumped a glass of water on Scott)
Grandma Carol
pack 'n plays (even when Ramona refuses to sleep in them and tries to escape)
walktime
naptimefood

(and the hands that prepare it)pretty colors
ojiichan and obaachan
It seemed appropriate to end the festivities by sending a thank-you note (albeit belated) for a baby gift from Japan.
Ramona even signed it herself.

Growing Up

Forest still wants to be an electrical engineer when he grows up. So far, he is on track for reaching this goal. After working several years as a professional student, he completed his prelim presentation for a panel of professors on Tuesday. His graduation is set for May 2010, assuming all goes well, and the job hunt has already begun.

I still want to be an orchestra teacher when I grow up. While Forest was presenting on Tuesday afternoon, I was traveling between a couple of elementary schools, subbing for a local strings teacher. Although I don't do this very often, I enjoy dusting off my group-music-instructor-hat when occasion permits. But the mommy-hat is always there--that is the one that never really gets put away. Sometimes I dream about the possibility of starting a career at age 40. Perhaps I should start saying: "I want to be an orchestra teacher when my baby grows up." Maybe then it will be easier to wear both hats at the same time.

Ramona, what do you want to be when you grow up? You just want to be a crawling baby right now, don't you? Keep up the good work--you'll move forward eventually. Until then, we are happy to watch you scoot backwards, spin in circles, and do your baby push ups.

Let All the Babes in Every Corner Sing

Picture a lady dressed all in black, practically tripping on her skirt, carrying a red cello case on her back and pushing a bundled baby in a stroller up the sidewalk towards a recital hall.

Now picture a pre-concert rehearsal for two choirs. One choir is on the stage, surrounding a grand piano in a semicircle and warming up their voices. A stroller sits behind this choir in the corner of the stage, as the baby inside quietly leans forward and looks up at the high ceiling and sparkling lights. The other choir is seated below, listening and awaiting their turn. The choir on stage runs through their last piece and eventually reaches the penultimate phrase, pausing for a moment of silence and musical suspense before the final phrase is sung. The hall is suddenly filled with the sound of a high-pitched infant squeal, and everyone turns toward the stroller with peals of laughter as one soprano covers her face in embarrassment.

That soprano was me, last night, before this concert:
And the baby was, of course, Ramona.

This is my third semester singing with a choir called The Heritage Singers, led by Danny McDavitt, a composer and DMA candidate for choral conducting. Last night we combined with his other choir--The University Chorus--for a joint concert at the familiar Smith Recital Hall.

This is Ramona's first semester with the choir, and although she attended numerous rehearsals and even sung an impressive solo at the final warm-up, she did not actually participate in this performance. Forest came and sat with her in the lobby during the concert while she took a nap in her stroller.

The cello was only necessary for about 5 minutes of the entire program, but I was happy to be able to play it on that stage again. Singing felt good, too. Congratulations to Danny for a successful concert, and much thanks to Forest and Ramona for their support of my musical adventures.

so much for spoons

Today I was about ready to give up feeding Ramona solid foods and wait a few weeks before trying again. Lately my offers of vegetable purees and rice cereal have been met with looks of disgust, gagging, and general crankiness. When she had a complete meltdown over her green beans today, I promptly pulled her out of her high chair and wondered if she would continue to refuse anything other than milk for the rest of her life.

Once she had quieted down, I began chewing on my usual post-lunch apple when I got the idea of dabbing some baby food on an apple core and offering it to Ramona that way. She has been known for her attempts to steal (and suck on) my apple cores in the past, so it seemed worth a try.

When she saw the glob of green beans on top of that apple core, she regarded it in a completely new light. Her eyes lit up and she reached out to grab the offering and boldly licked off the green goo until it was gone. I dabbed on some more, and she did the same.

So much for the cute little baby spoons I got for her. This child seems to prefer her meals served on a chewed-up piece of refuse.