Three's a Crowd

Garett, Wyatt and I celebrated the coming of the new year with a dinner at my second favorite restaurant in SLO, Novo, sitting at my favorite table on the patio under the beautiful oak tree at the ripe old time of 5pm. It's a little different making plans for December 31st keeping in mind our nearly ten month old son. We started with the Potato Samosas which come with a perfectly tart plain yogurt and mint chutney for dipping. Garett ordered the Roast Quail and I had the Salmon Salad as our primary entrees. Garett looked a little disappointed when the quail first arrived because it was so small. I'm surprised he ordered it without asking for dimensions of the meat. At another restaurant that we enjoy, Hoppe's Bistro, he used to ask our friend, who also happened to be a server, about the exact measurements of each item on the menu to make sure to avoid the catastrophe of not stuffing his stomach to the brim. The good news is that some of the bones were strategically removed from the quail so he was able to really maximize his carnivorous needs. I enjoyed a perfect glass of wine, a 2005 Barrel 27 Viognier, that made my salmon salad even better.

Wyatt wasn't thrilled to be at Novo. He didn't seem to appreciate our perfect table and the tasty samosas and instead wanted to rip the table cloth from the table and chew a hole in it. He also seemed determined to make sure that all of the other patrons on the patio knew that he was present and was not pleased. We were both a little surprised, as he usually just looks around, eats what we put in front of him and barely makes a peep, but we were determined to not be in a rush and attempted to enjoy leisurely meal.

We finally finished our meal and were ready to head home and restore peace to the patio when our server magically appeared with a dessert plate. He brought us a small portion of creme brule with fresh berries on top. He said that the chef wanted to share it with us to help us celebrate our anniversary. I immediately broke the news to him that we weren't celebrating our anniversary in case we were stealing the real anniversary couple's treat but he kindly left the dessert on our table anyway. Even though he told me why he brought us the dessert, I secretly think he felt sorry for us attempting to ring in the new year a good seven hours before midnight with our noisy son.

Christmas 2008

This holiday season was marked with family, food, illness and a few good games of Scrabble. We'd planned to spend two days in Turlock to celebrate an early Christmas with my extended family. Our trip was extended to honor Garett's grandmother, Nonni, who passed away two weeks before her 91st birthday. It was a gift to get to get to spend some time with more of our family than we'd expected to see. Instead of driving back to San Luis Obispo following the service, we decided to spend Christmas in Turlock to have a traditional Swedish meal with my Grandpa. We then spent a few days in Morro Bay with my parents and brother before finally coming home on Saturday. After my fourth rotation of the same outfit, I was glad to come home.

Perhaps my favorite moment during my time in Turlock was the surprisingly bad combination of my brother's jeans and my parent's new white leather couch and ensuing hilarity . See, the jeans bled on the porous couch so he was required to take off his pants each time he sat on the couch. He soon found some "couch pants" that he could use if and when he wanted to watch television or a movie or just hang out with the family. My folks still don't have a long term plan for how to avoid getting denim stains on the couch so dark jeans are not recommended if you're invited to their home in the near future and prefer to keep your pants on. Fortunately Wyatt's jean overalls passed the test.

My other favorite part of the holiday week was playing Scrabble with my Grandpa. He is stiff competition and the king of vocabulary which makes my double victory all the more sweet. You might think it's uncool to tout a win given my Grandpa's kind demeanor and elevated age but, seriously, I can count on one hand how many times I've beat him and it did feel good.

Wyatt learned a few new things while we were gone, like how mimic his Grandpa and eat persimmons. He's still doing an army crawl and now he's focusing on speed. He got to play with a few new cousins and the picture below displays his friendly social skills. I suppose there must have been a few other happenings over the holiday week but I think I missed them due to being sick. Garett and I are still fighting a horrible cough and finally got cough syrup with codeine from the doctor this afternoon to hopefully help us sleep tonight. In fact, I did not take one of this photos in this post. All three of these are courtesy of my brother Josh.I'm still hoping to send out Christmas cards and am trying not to feel guilty about being perpetually behind. If you're reading this and have moved recently (Jana, I'm thinking of you.), please post a comment with your address or email it directly to me. Thanks!

Thanksgiving 2008

Garett, Wyatt and I spent Thanksgiving with his sister and brother in law in Visalia and then drove up to the Portland area to visit friends. It was a long overdue vacation with a few highlights. One such highlight was Wyatt's first trip down a slide.The time we spent with our family was the best. We enjoyed fantastic food and watched holiday movies while Wyatt soaked in being the center of attention. The day after creating an unbelievably tasty Thanksgiving meal, my brother in law Joe prepared Roasted Whole Baby Pumpkins. Garett enjoyed not one but two of these decadent treats.

We then took two days to drive up to the Portland area to visit the Hsiehs. The best moment of the drive was our lunch stop at the Wildflower Cafe in a small town in southern Oregon called Cottage Grove. We met Marjory, a nearly 96 year old woman, who, by the end of lunch, was putting her foot behind her head to show us her flexibility thanks to her ballet dancing background. She was a kick and particularly fond of Wyatt. I love the adventure of a road trip, not knowing where we'll stop or who we'll meet along the way. This is a photo of the spot where we met Marjory and enjoyed a reuban sandwich.

We spent a whole week with Ben, Rebekah and Ava and hopefully did not wear out our welcome. It was good to be with friends, especially ones that you just can't get enough of. Ava is two years old and an absolute delight. In the photo below, Garett is reading her a book. I wish she was standing up because this outfit is just about the cutest one I've ever seen.

Finally, I love the look on Wyatt's face in this picture. He's all bundled up for a walk (thanks, Weyels, for the loaner umbrella stroller!) and not too happy about the hat situation.

My Two Favorite Boys and a Night of Fish Tacos

Hugs and Drugs

It's nearly 90 degrees in San Luis Obispo today and I'm reminded why I love living in this part of California. We started our morning at a Farmer's Market within walking distance of our house and found extra sweet strawberries grown about 30 miles from here and a huge, juicy tomato that I can't wait to slice up and put on a sandwich. Later in the day we walked to our nearby neighborhood deli and enjoyed a scrumptious California Turkey from High Street Deli. Wyatt's now fast asleep for his afternoon nap and I have a free and quiet moment.

One new thing that Wyatt seems to have picked up recently is the ability to show affection. Sometimes it's his head gently burrowing into my chest and other times it's his slightly puckered lips leaning in for a kiss on the mouth. Both make me feel warm inside and are remarkable pick-me-ups during otherwise ordinary days.

The picture below is a good example of mealtime. Though he isn't using baby sign yet to let us know he wants more, he does use a series of grunts and grabs to make it very clear when he is not yet finished with his meal. We haven't started working on manners yet and are getting used to finding crusty sweet potatoes anywhere from his ears to the back of his neck.On the drug front, Garett's experimenting with a new one. No, nothing recreational, it's a new medicine to help his ailing colon. I think he's been avoiding this particular drug for nearly two years but it's finally been made clear that it's the best thing for him at this time. It's in the category of immunosuppressive drugs which means that the potential side effects are pretty significant. We are praying often for his body to become more healthy and for less anxiousness related to this new medication.

Finally, we took a family photo this week in our living room. It's nothing too exciting but I thought worth posting since it is one of our first family photos since Wyatt joined us. Wyatt is wearing his favorite pjs and can't take his eyes off Ruby as usual.

Wyatt's Growing

Here are a few photos from the weekend.

New Digs

Remember how I said in my last post that we were planning to move into my parents home in Morro Bay until we found the right rental for us? We found the right rental just before our weekend move. It's a 100 year old farmhouse in San Luis Obispo. I love it because it's on eight acres, just a four minute walk to work and has loads of character. I imagine it will come with challenges (like not one drawer in the bathroom and no garbage disposal or dishwasher) but we are feeling exceedingly grateful to have found it when we did. Thanks to our generous friends and family, we were able to paint the walls on Saturday and move all of our things on Sunday.

This is the little house that we are now calling home. This is the fig tree outside our front door.This is Wyatt all dressed up for church in an outfit from my Aunt Donna. I think he scored at least three new girlfriends.

Wyatt is eating more solids these days. He seems to have the appetite of his father combined with the manners of his mother. Poor guy.

Moving Is A Fun Adventure

That's what I'm telling myself often this week. The fantastic news is that it looks like the sale of our house is going through. It's been a very speedy process with just a 21 day escrow. The upside is less time to worry about moving. The downside is having less time to put all of our things in boxes and find a new place to call home.

We started packing on Saturday and accomplished more than we expected over the weekend. Our brilliant realtor suggested that we check out craigslist for boxes and we ended up meeting the coolest people new to Cambria from Minnesota, she a woodworker, he a software engineer. They gave us loads of perfectly respectable boxes and even some specialty ones for dishes, glasses and framed items. Since Garett is fundamentally opposed to purchasing boxes, it's a good thing we can return to U-haul the ones we bought in desperation on Saturday morning before the former Minnesotans called.

Another beautiful thing in all of this is that we're going to be moving into a home in Morro Bay that my parents are in the process of buying. We've thoroughly searched for rentals but have not yet found the right thing. We'll be able to stay in their home until we do find the right thing, and, in the meantime, have a park within walking distance, a huge yard with grass for Wyatt to play on and very, very reasonable rent.

Wyatt hasn't been a huge help with the packing but he loves to sit in his director's chair and guide us with grunts and squeals, all the while sucking his thumb.

We Love Anna

Wyatt's sitter, Anna, is spending her last official week at our house and we're feeling sad about that. She has been watching Wyatt three half days a week for the past eight weeks and has been nothing short of fantastic. She is a friend of Wyatt's regular sitter, Rachel, who has been away from San Luis Obispo for the summer. When Wyatt first hears Anna's voice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, he gets a huge grin on his face and cranes his neck to try to make eye contact with her as soon as possible.

There are several things that I've especially appreciated about Anna. First, she has been completely commited to this summer job, only missing one day of work and she asked me about that day with several weeks notice. I've been able to thoroughly rely on her and that has made all the difference in my transition back to work. Second, and probably even more important than the first, Anna has been a warm, kind and trustworthy caretaker for Wyatt. Knowing that he's content and at ease in her care means a lot. Anna daily writes in the "All That I Do, By Wyatt" journal to share the highs and the lows of each day from Wyatt's perspective and I pore over it as soon as I get home. Finally, Anna has gone way above and beyond every day by noticing what needs doing around the house and taking the initiative to do it while Wyatt is napping. For example, today I came home from work to find the sink dish-free (not a common sight these days) and the dishwasher unloaded.

The good news is that Anna still has two more years at Cal Poly so I doubt this is the last we'll see of her. The other good news is that Rachel is equally as fantastic and she is going to pick up next week right where Anna left off. Thank you, Anna!

What I Love About the Central Coast

Today I was reminded why I love living in Cayucos.


I splurged and took a trip to Morro Nails for a pedicure. I've gone to this friendly shop at least every couple of months for the past several years. I tried to time it so that Wyatt would be moderately hungry but not so starving that he'd be crying when we arrived. It was a sleepy Monday morning with only one woman in one of the massage chairs and three available pedicurists. I asked my usual, "Does any one mind that I'm bringing a baby in here?" question and was pleased to see the pedicurists smile with approval. I held Wyatt in my arms, hiding his bottle behind my back and talking with him about all of the new colors and sounds and smells around him. Once the pedicurist started her process, another technician, Mandy, came up and offered to hold Wyatt and feed him. I enthusiastically agreed and she ended up holding him for the remainder of the pedicure. While she fed him, she observed his eating style (voracious) and spoke about him in Vietnamese with her colleagues. I could see his eyes looking up at her inquisitively, wondering what she was saying and noticing it was different than the English language he hears at home. Mandy kindly held him and played with him while I received an extra long foot massage. I learned that Mandy's only daughter is now fifteen, a sophomore in high school, so she took great joy holding an infant.


What I love about this area and what I think is unique compared to other geographic areas is how genuinely kind people tend to be. Mandy saw that she could hold my little boy and give me the gift of a peaceful moment. I could see that holding and feeding Wyatt would be a welcome break in her otherwise quite industrious morning. We also know each other well enough for there to be trust and sense of comfort and familiarity in her offer and my acceptance. As I sat there watching Wyatt eat and then giggle with joy at Mandy and the others in the shop, I was deeply moved. It is a gift to live in a spot surrounded by people like Mandy who choose to extend kindness.

Wyatt's Six Month Birthday

In honor of Wyatt's six month birthday and my dad's 57th birthday, my parents gave us our first night away from Wyatt. Wyatt got the royal grandparent treatment and my dad got a 17lb, 10oz birthday present - a night alone with his grandson. However, it seems like Garett and I were the real winners in the situation, spending a luxurious night at the cozy Sanitarium Spa in San Luis Obispo. Below is our room complete with a Moroccan soaking tub, wood burning stove and private deck. We soaked in every possible moment in this lovely space and only called to see how Wyatt was doing twice.

It turns out Wyatt enjoys the company of his grandparents and really thrives in their care. And I'm not just saying that to get another night away. Really.

So, even though Wyatt made strides developmentally while we were away, our dog, Ruby, has reverted to ear licking and rough housing.

Ladies, Ladies

The Sabbath

We take rest pretty seriously in the Stapp family.

All-nighter?

Thank you, Josh, for my favorite photo of Wyatt this month. And, thank you, Sam Brown, for my favorite onesie that finally fits.

Sweet Sweet Boy

We've been frantically working on house projects as we get ready to put our home on the market this week. Wyatt's been a trooper, making several trips to Miner's Hardware and being careful not to roll into the freshly painted baseboards. At the end of the day yesterday, I found him like this. When I walked around to take his picture, he didn't lift his head and only barely followed me with his tired eyes.
I'm struck by what a sweet boy he is. When I'm tired, Garett could only wish that I'd quietly lay my head down and not make a peep. I'm more likely to be cranky, extra critical and a bit more dramatic than usual. Maybe I can learn something from my sweet son?