Life with Margo

Every new parent will be right there with Jake and Maia in saying that the arrival of a new baby spurs the creation of hundreds of new songs. Here are the titles of some Jake and Maia’s favorites:

• “Happy for a Minute, Fussy for a Minute”
• “Margo is the Rumba Queen”
• “She Makes Funny Faces When She Poops”
• “She Went to the Store (and Bought Herself a Fussy Face)”

Eric visited from May 29 to June 4. This was his first time meeting Margo, and he proved early to be a champ at taking care of his niece. Things got started on the morning of May 30th (Jake’s Birthday), when Eric deftly handled Margo-care duties during Maia’s shower. Things picked up later in the evening as Eric donned the Ergo Baby while we celebrated Jake’s birthday at Ben ‘n’ Nick’s, an evening that lasted all the way until 9 o’clock. When Maia, Margo and Jake are out until 9 p.m., consider that a wild night!

Other highlights from the trip include Margo’s first baseball game, where the San Francisco Giants lost to the San Diego Padres. It was a really boring game, but we’ll always treasure the memory of Margo at the ballpark. Okay, maybe not. But it was still cool.

Besides that, we went to dinner a couple of times. Margo got thrown out of a bar (they didn’t even ask for ID!) She did eventually sneak into a bar, a really fancy one at The Slanted Door. Eric got to spend some quality time with Margo and Maia on the last day of his visit.

As he headed into the airport, Jake could see the disappointment on Eric’s face that Eric had not changed a diaper during his visit. OK, that’s a lie.

The heat wave is over, and that means Jake and Maia can finally relax and look back at the week that was.

Some highlights for Margo, Jake and Maia:

• Margo is now regularly holding her head up without assistance
• During tummy time, when we place Margo on her tummy on her exercise mat or another blanket, she is holding her head up and smiling, and she makes movements like she’s trying to crawl
• As the video shows, Margo is enjoying her bouncy chair, and she displays her joy with excellent wiggling
• Margo can’t get enough of the Art Cards for Baby Jungle Collection given to us by Shauna
• Margo is sort of developing a regular-ish bedtime around 9 or 9:30 p.m.
• We had a great dinner brought to us by Glenn and Pierce last Thursday, but Margo demonstrated another regular-ish thing, which is that she’s really fussy around 7-9 p.m.
• Last Tuesday, we went to Baby Brigade at the Cerrito and we saw Indiana Jones, which wasn’t very good, but it was still fun to be at the movies
• Maia attended the first meeting of her new mother’s group last Thursday
• Maia and Jake tried feeding Margo from a bottle, and – guess what – it was a disaster, but the kind of disaster that makes parents laugh
• Margo graduated from newborn diapers to Size 1 diapers, and we are finding some success with a brand called Nature Babycare, which are made from corn and are 100% compostable (thanks to Shauna and Wes for the recommendation)

Margo had her third full bath today (as opposed to the more frequent sponge baths), and she seemed to actually enjoy it! Quite a difference from her earlier two baths. One thing that didn’t change is that she greeted the removal of her diaper by peeing on her parents. But, Jake and Maia were ready this time, and the bath proceeded without problems. Margo actually broke out her pretty smile a few times during the bath. Her wet hair seemed to curl up a little bit, which makes her look even more adorable than usual.

Another heat wave struck the Bay Area this week, and the temperature in the Avidon house reached the upper 80s. On Saturday morning, Margo, Maia and Jake headed west to hopefully find some Ocean-cooled air. After some debate (Crissy Field, de Young Museum or the new Contemporary Jewish Museum), the Avidons decided to visit the thankfully air conditioned de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to attend an exhibit of Dale Chihuly’s work.

Margo slept through the entire exhibit, while riding in her Ergo carrier, but Maia and Jake did try to fill her in on some of the more impressive pieces. Margo also learned about the Gerhard Richter piece located in the main hall of the museum. As often happens, many people wanted to know how old Margo is, and complimented Maia and Jake on having such a pretty baby, which always thrills Maia and Jake. She also met a 2-year old museum visitor who seemed quite excited to see a baby.

After visiting the Chihuly exhibit, Margo, Jake and Maia left the museum and took a short walk to look at the progress on the new California Academy of Science. The new Renzo Piano-designed building, which is not yet open, features a green roof, which is visible from the de Young.

Margo has been demonstrating lots of new skills. Here are some photos (and video) of some of our favorites — smiling (mom’s favorite), standing up, and lifting and holding up her head. We also swear she has said “hi” and “yeah” in response to us.