4 Months & Finding A Home

We are back in Catalonia after a nice month in the United States. Roc has just turned four months old and we are actively looking for a home for our little family.

Yay! I'm four months.

You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to find a place here. Three of our biggest challenges are that Kilian works full-time, we are an hour car ride from where we want to live and we don't have a car (or driver's license). Translation: we are dependent on someone to drive us outside of Kilian's working hours – not exactly the winning combination if you are seriously intent on finding a place. Kilian took two days off last week and we saw a number of places, but none of them were quite right.

So we are back to the drawing board, searching for other options and contacting more companies. Hopefully we can schedule another round of visits and be in a new place soon.
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My hands are tasty!

Meanwhile, Roc is growing up quickly (no surprise there). His hand-eye coordination is improving daily which means he can really get his hands and toys and my hair to his mouth quite easily. And his mouth is his everything at the moment.

The cloth diapers are so thick that he cries every time he is on his tummy (they must put too much pressure). We used disposable diapers while we traveled and found that because they are much thinner, he didn't mind tummy time. As a result, he is getting very strong, enjoying it and can almost roll over completely.

fascinated with grandpa's guitar playing

Roc has a vibrant personality. He knows what he wants, what he likes and dislikes. He loves music; it is an instant calming silencer when he is nervous, tired or upset. He has even started "playing" the piano. He likes to be held so that his feet touch the ground and he can look around.

In the last month he started losing some of his newborn hair. His new frock is quite humorous. Short on one side, long and curly on the other. He has got a little fistful front and center, and a lot back and bottom. He weighs around 17 lbs (or 7.9 kg) give or take the weight of his clothes & diaper; he has more than doubled his birth weight. We will have the official weight at our check up this week.

ready for the Super Bowl

He is very interactive and is learning how to communicate using sounds so we are having a lot more fun together. He has different sounds for different uses (I'm sure this is true for all babies). He loves interacting with people and smiling. He even laughs sometimes, which, of course, is so cute.

He is able to entertain himself a bit which means I can make food, fold laundry, use the computer while he is in his bouncy chair. This is very helpful for me as soon I will be managing my own household and will have a lot more work to do while educating Roc.

It is really an exciting time for our family and we are enjoying this time with Roc.

Snapshots from Seattle

We just returned home from a month in Seattle, visiting with family and friends. It was an amazing trip. I am already missing so many things from home: my mom and her home, the copious amounts of comfort food, the convenience culture (overnight grocery delivery, 6 hour dry-cleaning, Starbucks drive thru, Thai food delivery, ready-made food bar at Whole Foods), online shopping and shopping at Bellevue Square, Quiltworks Northwest and my sewing machine, our friends, etc. Here are a few of the highlights from Seattle:

We arrived in time to celebrate Christmas with my mom.

Meanwhile, my mom dressed up Roc as Santa Claus. She is radiant, overflowing with happiness that we were there.

We had an impromptu BWC reunion brunch at Cafe Flora on Madison. Good times with wonderful friends.

We supported the Seattle Seahawks during the playoffs. #12thman

The mandatory Starbucks run – in Seahawks gear for our 12¢ brewed coffee.

Our dear Tara flew in from New York. This is her meeting Roc.

We got to see the lovely Mona for the first time in a year and a half!

Kilian and I shared some quality time.

We visited with longtime friends from the Seattle Baha'i community. We saw many more and of course forgot to take photos. We missed out a number more because of time constraints.

Roc had play dates with his baby friends.

We took naps when necessary.

Roc's great-grandmother and great-grandfather visited too, it was so beautiful to see.

Roc's great-great-aunt Peggy had a lot of fun with him.

We saw Mount Rainier and finally had a family photo taken.

We went to the park when the weather allowed (Kerry Park on Queen Anne).

We celebrated my 28th birthday in style - brunch at Tilth Restaurant in Wallingford, a favorite of mine.

We had a house full of family and friends for my birthday dinner.

If you would have told me five years ago what my life would be like today, I would not have believed you.

Working with children in Peru

Five years ago, I had just returned from a year in rural Peru, where I had been working in social and economic development. During that year, I began studying the Bahá'í Writings. What began as an intellectual query to understand the appeal of the Bahá'í Faith quickly snowballed into an all out investigation into the Bahá'í  teachings and claims. Gradually I found myself identifying with many of its teachings and principles while feeling reluctant to accept the idea of organized religion and the concept of God. 


Formally accepting the Baha'i Faith
December 27, 2008

With time, however, I could not deny the longing in my soul, a longing that had been dismissed and suppressed, time and again, because of the materialistic society in which I had been raised that praised self-serving behavior, extreme individualism, and rigid rejection of religion. My spiritual nature had in part been ignored because I personally couldn't believe in a God that judged, punished and humiliated His subjects or in religion when religious institutions consistently failed to live by the teachings they themselves espoused and where any "educated" or "socially-conscious" person would be socially persecuted for associating with religion and spirituality in any more direct way than claiming that they are "spiritual, but not religious." In an extreme cultural climate such as this, I navigated my life, not able to feel spiritually fulfilled nor was I religiously inclined. In this world, full of extremes on every side, it was impossible to feel like a completely whole human being. 

After traveling and living in many different countries, I began to recognize the obvious truth that humanity is one. We are one, interconnected, interdependent whole body. Hurt to one part of the body affects the whole. Violence and war in one part of the globe impacts lives in another part of the world. We are not immune. The recognition of this truth is key to living a meaningful life—and was a major factor in my own spiritual awakening and transformation.


Over the course of a few years, I read a bit on different religious traditions but it wasn't until I studied the Bahá'í teachings that I felt I found a complete, well-rounded, no nonsense body of spiritual and practical life guidance. Five years ago, when I formally accepted the Bahá'í Faith it was only the tip of the iceberg, the beginning of a spiritually empowering and transforming process that has brought me further in life than I could have ever imagined it would. 

With my husband at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, Israel


I would have never imagined that within the last five years, I would have spent half of that time as a volunteer in the Holy Land, serving at the administrative and spiritual center of the Bahá'í Faith. I would have never imagined that I would be married to an incredibly loving man from Catalonia and that we would have a sweet son. I would have never imagined how much capacity I had to transform—how much personal growth I would have accomplished. There is so much beauty, harmony, grace, and love in my life. All of these blessings are from the grace of God.* 

The three of us

What has transpired over these five years continually confirms the decision I made five years ago when I accepted with my whole heart and soul the teachings. The road has not been easy as it is the one less traveled. As the poet Robert Frost once finely wrote:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

*To anyone who doesn't believe in God, I know this could potentially sound "crazy", "irrational", etc. I was just like you most of my life. And your reasoning is most likely incredibly valid, depending on the framework from which you are operating and how you define and understand the word "God." Even if you never end up agreeing or believing, I encourage you to seek to understand why anyone would choose this path, not for yourself so much as it will provide you with a greater worldview and perspective that will come in handy throughout your life.

Baby's Third Month

Yes, Roc is now three months old and every day more alert, more aware, more fun. He is taking less naps and loves interacting with people. It's fabulous that he has such a healthy social appetite but it requires a lot of energy to keep up. He's gotten into the habit of fall asleep while being carried but today I successfully got him down without being held—and it felt great! Little by little, day by day.

His three months old obligatory photo

In his second month of life, he took his first international flight and handled it remarkably well. He slept through most of it and we didn't have any major blowouts or anything so we felt more relaxed. When we arrived to the States, he experienced his first Christmas which was really fun for us all.

first Christmas with my mom

My mom prepared for our arrival by purchasing everything the baby would need for a month at her home: crib, bassinet, car seat, stroller, changing pad, blankets, baby bath tub, and loads of clothes. Most of these items she found heavily discounted at a consignment store which makes it even better. Having all these things on hand made traveling much easier since we were able to travel with less.

It took us some time to adjust to the time difference but my mom has not wasted a minute in teaching him how to rollover and crawl. He's getting stronger by the day and really enjoying tummy time now.  He can hold his head up quite high and he is having so much fun looking around. He really can't wait to be able to move on his own.

look at this strong guy

This little guy is really growing quickly. He has mostly grown out of three month clothes—that happened almost a month ago—and we are trying to keep up. I'll need to weigh him to see how much weight he gained this month; he's sleeping now so I'm quickly scribbling down this post before it's too late. Here's a few more photos to enjoy:

How I Long for Pizza and Cafe Amb Llet: The Post-Partum Somewhat Baby-Friendly Diet

We're two and half months in to this newborn's life and that still means no lactose products: milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, butter, whipped cream, etc. This translates to: pizza, rice with yogurt, tuna melts, cupcakes, creme brulee (crema catalana) and other such like desserts.  Even soy-based alternatives bother this little one's digestion.

His digestive system is too immature that it cannot yet handle more complex and irritating foods and food proteins such as lactose and legumes (soybeans included). The consequences of mama's morning cafe amb llet for my little guy implies lots of gas, constipation, green stools (yuck! – they should be yellow), crying, inability to sleep due to extreme discomfort, etc., etc.

I am also, less actively, avoiding stimulants such as coffee, tea, sodas and chocolate because these can irritate the baby's tummy too. Tea and sodas are easiest since in general I do not drink them, but coffee and chocolate, not so much. I have turned to the dreaded decaf and am trying not to eat chocolate every day, except for this week when I have had many more cravings than usual – I wonder what I am missing in my diet. Thankfully, I have a couple of new sweet friends (alternatives) such as turrons and digestive cookies – I'll tell you about them some day soon.

Very soon we will be visiting my home in Western Washington and all I can think about are Trophy cupcakes, mochi ice cream balls, Mexican food, mochas, greek yogurt, goat cheese, Molly Moon's, waffles and egg's benedict. I am saying prayers so that he'll be able to stomach lactose soon.

Mama's Top 5 Accomplishments during Baby's Second Month

My top five accomplishments during Roc's second month of life. Having a newborn is not easy and here is the proof in five small, big achievements:

1. We went to Tarragona, the provincial capital, to turn in the required papers for my Spanish residency card. This only took about 6 hours of our day. In a few days time, we will be able to go pick it up.
2. We completed the paperwork for and went to Barcelona to register Roc's birth and apply for a US passport and social security number. A few weeks later, we went back to pick everything up! Both times, we took advantage of being in the big city to do some much-needed shopping.
3. I slowly started exercising again, though not consistently since it hasn't been possible. I have been doing makeshift aerobics in our little bedroom to get my heart rate up and to sweat some. I've mixed this with yoga poses to stretch and strengthen my tense muscles. I wish I could do this every day!
4. I have spent some hours learning how to drive a manual transmission. It gave me great anxiety at first, especially since I was trying to start in third gear (not recommended). With each drive, I am becoming more confident. The next step will be to get my Spanish driver's license, which may require driving lessons (depends on if required by the state) and taking both a written and practical exam. Fun!
5. I learned how to iron well, which I must admit, is quite exciting. Since everything down to underwear and towels are ironed here, I figured it was time to learn. It is quite a time consuming activity; it is easy to spend hours ironing with achieving very little. The hardest part is seeing something freshly ironed fall victim to baby spit-up. C'est la vie! 

Of the above-mentioned activities, four of five (exercise-excluded) would not have been possible without the assistance of Gloria, my amazing mother-in-law, who has been sacrificing many hours and days to help these things get accomplished.

Baby's Second Month

Our darling baby boy has completed his second month of life!

I'm two months old!

Here's a little bit of how he has grown this past month:

• He has become a more efficient eater, with almost all feedings taking less than 15 minutes.
• He has gained quite a bit of weight (just over 1 kg or 2.4 lbs) and is now almost entirely in 3-6 month clothes. 
• He discovered his hand and how good it tastes. He hasn't quite figured out how to hold it to his mouth or how to get it there every time, but he is on his way to becoming a thumb-sucker!
  
• With his hand, he now grabs on to things – long hair, clothing, jewelry, etc. – and therefore we have to be careful with what is available for him to hold grab.
• He can hold his head up for periods of time and turn it. He has a preferred side though, looking to his left, and we have a hard time getting him to look to the right.
• We started putting him in a bouncy chair which he really loves and will often complain when we take him out. 
  
• He learned how to cry/scream. We bought him his first pacifier (so sad I know!) which help calms him and we have found he likes it a little too much.
• In the last two weeks, he became much more alert, started smiling and making the googly-gaga sounds that babies make. He often does this in response to us, but mostly for his Grandma Gloria. It is not a given  – it is still touch-n-go – and of course, he won't let us capture it on camera!
  
• His eyelashes went from blond and short to brown and long!
• Unless he is very tired, holding him close to the body is a no-no. He wants to be free!
• He's not quite sleeping through the night as he's still eating every three hours. With shorter feedings though, it is not that bad. 
• I posted this before and it continues to be true: he LOVES bath time.