The Travels of Carrie and Adrian

Tom is 3

2011-07-18T06:52:00.001-07:00

On the Underground on the way home from London

Group picture, July 2011

Last year, Tom's birthday occurred one day after our return from the UK (not a coincidence), but this year we were in the UK for the special day, and decided his birthday celebration would take a transport related theme. We thought about several different steam railways (the Bluebell is close), a trip to the sea with maybe a boat trip, but in the end we decided none of that was necessary, so we got a normal bus and then a normal train. Mind you, it was a double decker, with Tom sitting at the front on top, and I must admit it was quite exciting seeing over all the walls and hedges, hitting the low hanging branches and close approaches to oncoming vehicles and buildings. After a brief pause for refreshment at M & S, we got the train back. I am quite convinced this was about the best thing that we could have done for the occasion, and it met with approval at all stages.

The Final Curry

The Final Curry, and Monty's, Ealing

Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay

A Father's Day lunch for the boys

In other news, Martha went to the dentist and was referred to an 'orthodontist' for treatment for a unilateral posterior crossbite. Fortunately the orthodontist said we could wait before any intervention was necessary, but also said she really should stop sucking her fingers - the pressure can move the teeth about it is alleged (I am suspicious of dentists). Her finger sucking (always the middle and ring fingers of her left hand) has become a regular activity since she was less than one and despite quite strong urging she has not stopped. However, after visiting the tooth rearrangement specialist she was convinced to give it a good go, and stopped more or less overnight! I am very impressed and no longer do we hear loud sucking noises at night!

At Shorebird Park, Berkeley

Martha on a visit to Ms. J's first grade class

Martha also "graduated" from her pre-school. Initially put off by the idea of such a formality called a graduation, we went along with it as a celebration. And it was a good one and was a chance for her and her friends to put on a bit of a show for the parents. Along with most of the rest, she didn't actually leave at that time, but will do when she starts kindergarten at the end of August.

Making a large Lego structure with the neighbors

Walking next to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Camping at Point Reyes

Inside the tent

At around the same time of Martha's 'graduation' Tom was moved up a level at pre-school too, though there was no fancy ceremony for it. The class he's in now really is much more like a school and he's gone from being one of the oldest to being one of the youngest. He likes being with older children (and adults) so he's sure to like that, and first reports are that he's getting on well.

Walter racing with Tom and Martha

Tom digging at the beach

Martha digging at the beach

Teri and the kids

For adventures, we decided to try proper backpacking for the first time with the kids on 30th April. We've been camping where the tent is right next to the car several times, and that gave us the courage to try the relatively easy 3mile walk-in sites at the Coast Camp at Point Reyes just north of San Francisco. And it was a success with relatively little complaining and a good night's sleep. In fact I'd go as far as to say it was enjoyable! We also went south down the coast for Memorial Day stopping at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse Youth Hostel for the night, then to see the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Martha drawing with second cousin Lewis

Martha and Grandma on the train to Maidstone

Babyccinos in M&S, Maidstone

An action shot of Tom falling over his own legs in the departure lounge of SFO

On the Bart

Mowing the grass with grandad (note special 'handle')

Ice cream in Valley Gardens, Harrogate

More Babyccinos in John Lewis, Bluewater

Walking around Hackney with big Tom and Martha

House data

2011-06-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

Basement Temperature

Roofspace Temperature

2011-03-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

Martha's 5!!!! (And Tom is 2y 9m!)

Even more than when we last posted, I am conscious of how fortunate our lives are. There is so much uncertainty about the future, and some really terrible events in other parts of the world, that it makes me feel ever more aware that we should live each day as if it were our last. Yet I struggle daily, at work and at home, with the urge to get many things done rather than savoring the time with my children and my students. I do not feel hopeful about the world which our children will inherit, and too often I don't relish their little lives to the fullest, but I am keenly aware that I will be immensely nostalgic for this era when it is past.

Martha enjoying a birthday party at "Pump it Up" a child party venue for the brave. Pizza and cake come after jumping.

Steam train in Tilden Park

Pooh sticks in Strawberry Creek Park, Berkeley

Neighbour Dan reads to Rowan, Tom and Martha

Martha has a solid group of friends at her preschool. Sadly, she will not be attending school with any of the core group due to the complicated (but very righteous, not to mention right-on) enrollment system in BUSD. Of course we look forward to meeting her new classmates when she enters BAM next fall. Given the parlous state of public education in California, we are just happy to know we live in a city where residents have consistently voted to pay higher taxes in order to invest in our schools.

The grand candle lighting at the 40th birthday of Carrie. Cake was millionaire's shortbread made by Adrian.

A rainy weekend visit to IKEA (Emeryville). Here we are watching "Winged Migration" (looped) on the display living room. Such facilities, which provide entertainment for the whole family on a rainy morning, are very useful and we have a list of them.

China Camp campsite. This was 12th March, so the place was empty.

Meanwhile, Martha is joining three of her classmates for preballet class at the Y and so far she LOVES it. Her other recent passion, enabled by my far-from-negligible expertise in the area, is musical soundtracks. It started when she came home singing Doe a Deer and has since spread to encompass the entirety of The Sound of Music as well as our whole family (Adrian, poor thing, had never experienced the movie before, and though he pretended to sneer he actually quite liked it). I have been busily borrowing soundtracks from the library but so far the only other hits are Mary Poppins and Oliver!. I will restrain myself from moving her on to Gilbert and Sullivan until her appreciation of musicals is solid.

Pt. Reyes trip for Carrie and Adrian alone. This is the view close to Arch Rock.

Martha and second cousin Yannik close to the Tilden Park Little Farm

On a related note, we have lately been splitting up on Saturday mornings, with Martha attending her class while Tom joins in the weekly Berkeley Bowl shopping trip. Both Adrian and I have enjoyed having the one-on-one time with the individual kids, who continue to be unreliable in their ability to play cooperatively though they are improving in this area.

Orienteering in Tilden Park. Kids did the white course, and Adrian did the Brown course - see results

A pause by Lake Anza during the orienteering

Running along the boardwalk in Tilden Park close to the Little Farm

Singing at China Camp

More singing at China Camp

2011-01-08T15:48:00.000-08:00

Hello,

We are still trying to sort out the purpose of this blog, at the same time as we are increasingly busy and find ourselves forgetting to take photos and videos with the same avidity to which we were prone earlier in our parenting careers. Life goes on happily, and most of our family and friends are pretty well caught up on the doings of our foursome.

The notable aspect of the period since our last post (the past six months) has been how very, very busy we seem to be--without adding anything to our schedule, and despite the fact that we've thus far held out on offering/forcing Martha (or Tom) to take part in any organized activities (such as aikido, ballet, soccer/football, etc). It seems to be all we can do to get up, get to school/work, get home, get dinner, bathe (or not), read books, and get to bed. On the weekends, we vary the routine a little with a visit or two (usually with family or friends whose kids are of a similar age to ours) and a few extra errands--weekly shopping at the Bowl, laundry, maybe a spot of garden maintenance. But I find myself often echoing Virginia Woolf's musing in her journal, which first resonated with me when I read it back in college: "And with it all, how happy I am...if it weren't for my feeling it's a strip of pavement over an abyss." That sounds a bit dire but I think it's not inaccurate to sum up how I feel. In my angsty youth I think I felt it just as a psychological idea, but now I feel ever conscious of the preciousness and fleeting nature of our family life, especially in the context of our troubled political times. Not to get too heavy on you all or anything!

Camping at Mount Diablo, west of Berkeley

Mount Diablo again

Walking on a (disused) railway near Point Richmond

Running in Cesar Chavez park in the Berkeley marina

So, our last few months have been filled with daily life and with many family visits, as usual: we've been to the beach twice and hosted many Johnstons here a few times, and have visited with Grandma and Granddad Martin here and in Kent.

With the Johnstons in the garden in Berkeley

With the Johnston at Seacliff

Seacliff

We've also continued our campaign of sharing with M and T our mutual love of the outdoors, managing some hikes and one more overnight to Mt Diablo; my new year's hope is to get our four or five more times before next fall, on trips of increasing ambition. Martha is a good walker and Tom can bustle when so moved, but he's currently in the maddeningly slow phase of stopping to look at every other stone/leaf/blade of grass.

Our nightly reading routine has recently undergone an exciting evolution: it is now possible to read to both kids at once, cozily sandwiched together on the sofa, although the reading is frequently interrupted by the clamoring (and indeed clambering) of the younger child, whose attention span is still on the short side. We continue to enjoy picture books, notably the Knufflebunny series, Shirley Hughes, and Richard Scarry, although we're also trying out various chapter books with Martha.

On the plane to the UK in December. This was well after Tom was sick - everywhere. Wisely Carrie was not on this flight.

In the garden at mum&dad's

Playing Bob the Builder sticker with grandad

Way back from UK - no being sick

Martha knows all of her letters, except J and K, quite reliably, and is beginning to show an interest in sounding out words both in writing and reading. So long as she doesn't think we're trying to teach her, that is. She is more confident with numbers and likes to do sums whenever the opportunity arises (though she doesn't recognize the numbers from 5 till 9!). She is a good runner and confident on her scooter and bike (with training wheels). However, she is easily frustrated and averse to trying things she doesn't think she can do well. We are struggling with this!

With Carole

Thomas can count to 10 and he loves to do so before jumping off of something, often something so high that he has to fall a bit after landing. He is the picture of rambunctiousness but also very tender and cuddly. Tom is in the stage, which we remember from Martha a few years ago, when he retells certain stories ad infinitum...whenever there's a lull in the conversation, and often apropos of nothing. In current rotation are the tales of "I was sick on Daddy on the airplane" and "I saw a fox...at Uncle Tim's!"

Making things for Halloween with Noah

Since Tom is such a precocious climber we have had to take apart the bunk beds; now the kids are both in single beds in their room and it really gives a taste of their unfolding future as chatting, feuding siblings--people together, as opposed to babies always in our care. Since Tom left his crib, they frequently wake up in the morning and spend up to half an hour quietly (or not so) talking, playing, and quarreling before coming to seek us out.

The kids are currently attending a local preschool, The Model School, which they really enjoy; they come home full of stories and go to sleep VERY easily after their hard days of structured play, circle time, etc. Next year, Martha will be in kindergarten, and we're currently in the process of learning about the Berkeley schools. I am excited about all of the options, but not sure how we're going to manage when we have to drop the kids at two different places. But that's a quandary for another post!

Tom Eats dinner, December 2010

Tommy at 2, Martha at 4 and a bit

2010-07-12T02:53:00.000-07:00

Daddy with Martha on the occasion of Tom's second birthday

Uncle Nev and Auntie Mand visiting just after Tom's birthday

We've got a lot of pictures for you all for this update, as well as the usual reporting. Tommy is really getting to be a big personality now, and personality goes a long way, as they say. He has very strong likes and dislikes and he is extremely keen on getting his way. He can make it very unpleasant for anyone who does not give him what he wants (as he would say, "too loud"), but he is also terribly charming. A very cheeky child in fact. Thomas says loads of words and a lot of phrases too; in the past month he's begun to construct some quite complex sentences, and he has a good sense of humour.

Many Johnstons gather in Berkeley

On the Beach at Pt. Reyes.

More Johnstons gather in Berkeley

On the Beach in Point Reyes

Martha with Grandma

Martha with her box and dolls

We are sincerely not aware of having encouraged this trend in Tom rather than Martha, but it does appear that our son is much more interested in diggers and other such macho machines than our daughter; on the other hand, fueled by his interest, it is she who now knows several different breeds of construction machines, notably the crane and the excavator, and points them out to him with sincere if vicarious enthusiasm.

The big events in T and M's life since the last post are: the ending of regular time at their family day care (which will continue half time throughout the summer, to be replaced with their enrollment at a preschool in late August); and the trip to the UK, where they have been kept busy keeping their Grandparents Martin busy.

Martha hanging out the dolls' washing

Tom in his sunsuit

Picnic near West Malling

Tom and Martha in their sunsuits in the garden at West Malling

Tim and Adrian in Kent

Helping Grandad wheel out the bin

Since complaints were registered following our last post, which was nominally about Martha, focussing too much on Tom, we will seek to redress the imbalance by boasting about her on his birthday update. To wit: on our visit to Adrian's friends in the Peak District, Martha ran a fell race--and got a medal, a chocolate one at that! T, meanwhile, had a nap.

Reading of the "Grandma's indulgence" - an "In the night garden" magazine

Swans at Manor Park

Martha at her swimming lesson in Berkeley

Both M and T are eager climbers and have spent a good deal of time going up and down the play structures of Kings Hill as well as exploring the river in Hathersage, where Martha hopped gamely from stone to stone and T yelled that he wanted to put his feet in the 'puddle' until he got a bit wet and changed his mind abruptly.

Also notable in T's development is that he really does seem to share his grandparents' and Uncle Tim's interest in birds, a trait which he displayed when he oohed with as much enthusiasm (or more) as the rest of us on viewing Tim's recent slideshow featuring gannets, sea eagles, puffins, etc. Tom recognizes several birds and can tell a crow from its caw (at least on Uncle Tim's iphone ap), and he was content sitting still for an unprecedented period whilst gazing on the swans and fuzzy grey cygnets at Manor Park nearby.

All the kids together, near Hathersage

Teatime at Auntie Pat's

Second Cousin Lewis pushing Tom and Martha

Tim reads

During our visit to Hopwood relatives in Colchester, Auntie Lynne declared that Tom was very like his dad at a similar age, but Auntie Pat and Nana Hopwood disagreed: "Adrian would never walk, only run--and he was never ever still!"

Martha at 4, Tom 1-3/4

2010-05-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

Yes yes, we've not been keeping the Record of the Family up to date in the manner which our audience has come to expect. There have been complaints, we acknowledge that, and you can be assured that those responsible has been given a good talking to, and if it happens again the consequences will be more severe. So, with the time that has passed, there are quite a few pictures to choose from and a number of events to report.

Martha was 4 on 6th April and as that day was during Spring Break she was at her grandparents house. Unfortunately I wasn't as I don't have such a thing as a spring break, but I join the rest of the family for the weekend. She got a bicycle for her birthday - which wasn't completely pink, but was mostly - and was very happy with that, until she tripped up getting on to it, and from then on was a bit scared of it. During this week the other set of grandparents arrived too, and after getting the train from Santa Barbara to Emeryville they stayed with us for a few weeks.

Martha on the bike

We also had the good fortune to be invited to the wedding of Cousin Sammy in Los Angeles. This meant not only the chance to dress up and go to a wedding, but also the chance to see all the other Johnston kids and the opportunity to stay in a hotel. With a pool. And a big breakfast. A good time was had by all.

Noah and Matthias

Tom standing next to a large open pot containing what looked like (and was) stagnant water, pond weed and other aqueous detritus. A more unsuitable combination of person and object is hard to imagine.

In the pool at the hotel

Dancing at the wedding

Tom is both very entertaining and very annoying - often at the same time. If he was only annoying I feel we would have exchanged him already, but the entertaining side of him takes the edge off (see video of hitting the ball below). He's pretty good at saying a number of words, such as "hold it", "Martha", "strawberry", but mostly he makes an attempt but gets it wrong such as "quar" (squirrel), "goose" (juice), "ocho" (computer), "ogoo" (yoghurt). Occasionally he says verbs, but usually he steers clear of those. He did say "ogoo fall down" a few weeks ago, which I believe is a sentence! He'll be two in July and I remember Martha not saying much when she was two and speaking non-stop when she was three.

Earlier this year I was commissioned to build a bookcase. Having been given free-rein on the design of it, I decided to construct a large one, and made it fit neatly along one wall of our room. Dad and I did most of the work on it when he was here. Here's a picture of it after being filled up:

I made it go over our cupboard door, but that exposed the very unstraightness of anything in our 89year-old wooden house (note wedge-shaped gap above door in the picture; the shelves are horizontal). I even used a router to put the ironwork into recesses. This gave me an excuse to go to the very brilliant Berkeley Tool Library which really does work like a library, from where Dad and I borrowed a table router and we made the grooves in about 15 minutes! I was so impressed I went out and got a small router for myself, with which I made the little holes in the shelves. The little differences...

Adrian

Grandparents Johnston

Grandparents Martin

Playing around on the beach

Tommy playing with his new digger

With Noah in the garden

Grandma and Tom planting things in the front garden.

Grandad and Tom planting things in the back garden

December-February 2010

2010-02-20T08:03:00.000-08:00

A couple months have passed since the last post...

Outside Grandma and Grandad's house the snow was too deep for Tom to be able to get around at all, and even the adults had some trouble.

Fortunately Adrian made a sled from some of wood stored in the garage for the purpose.

We've been to the UK for one of our twice-yearly sojourns, and enjoyed two of the myriad snowstorms they've had this winter. Tom and Martha found the snow novel but challenging. They were more consistently enthusiastic about the sweets, projects, and jigsaws provided by Grandma and the cuddles of Grandad. As usual, it was good to see various Martin and Hopwood family members as well as a few of Adrian's old friends.

Back in Berkeley, we're back in our routine of working and daycaring. The kids, particularly Tom, are thriving with Maria, Mariela, and the kids at their family daycare. Martha is fast friends with another little girl and reports on their doings every day. Maria, the main carer, reports that Tom is very curious (as if we hadn't seen that here). Tom has hundreds of words, among them "reach", "uppydown" (for up and down), and "ocho" (for computer). He has begun to sing the traditional "Twinkle Uppa Abc Baa Baa" medley, and he loves to 'dance.'
We currently run the bedtime routines in tandem, one of us reading to M while the other reads to T. Usually M discusses her day with us and requests a back scratch before sleep; to T. we sing several songs before he collapses. After fifteen minutes or so, during which she may be reading to herself in bed, M will come out seeking 'a cuddle and a kiss and a hug.'

Cheers!

In Briones Park on Valentine's Day

Both children are quite affectionate, and frequently so towards each other, though I was not surprised after observing/mediating them to read in NurtureShock [Overrated IMHO - ed.] that most siblings spend at least ten minutes an hour squabbling and/or fighting. I've begun, speaking of fighting, to wrestle with T. He loves to be flipped over and is much more relaxed about physical peril (mild) than his big sister. Of course I'm led to wonder if I've created this discrepancy through disparate modes of play. Should I start tackling M too?
Speaking of gender neutrality, for Christmas M received a red scooter (see below) and T a set of girl baby doll twins, which he quite likes and yet generously shares with Martha (who still thinks that sharing is when she plays with T's toys, as in, "I'm going to share Tom's babies").

We continue to be fortunate in all of the family and friends with whom we share our children. In addition to Godmother Carole (pictured below) we have had visits from Grammy and Walter and anticipate Great Uncle Nev and Auntie Mand as well as Grandma and Grandad in the coming months. We see cousins Noah and Yannik regularly, and our Kaiser baby group meets once a month.

Tom entertains himself in the high-chair.

Terrible Tom and Marvellous Martha

2009-12-05T13:21:00.001-08:00

The big news around our place is that Tommy is a regular pain in the neck! He charges about, climbing and/or banging on EVERYTHING, and if you try to dissuade him he hurls himself on the floor (but usually craftily avoids hitting his head in the process) and sets up the most awful racket. Adrian used to comment that if we'd had Thomas first we'd have wondered what was wrong with the far-more-sedentary Martha, but now he believes that if we'd had Tom first we'd have stopped having kids. Seriously.

Thomas has a growing vocabulary of 'words.' He says "down" when he wants to leave the high chair; "grai" for crayon; "mol" for milk; "moo" for various animals, including cows; "gra'gra" for cracker and "cheese" (for cheese)...he has lots of other food words, including "spoo." From "Marmar" he has now begun to say "Martha" quite clearly. He also says "Dada" but as yet has not said "Mama," "mummy," "Mom," "mother," or even "Carrie." He must not yet have realized that I'm a separate person. Either that or he is extremely ungrateful! Tom is a great climber and has a good sense of where to put his hands and feet, as well as an intuitive sense of the space around him. This, combined with a recklessness which Martha has never demonstrated, leads him into all sorts of scrapes. But he's super affectionate and cuddly (when he's not writhing fiercely out of one's grasp) and most of the time (when he gets his way, which means most of the time) he's quite a happy, pleasant person.

Martha has been very pleasant the last few months as well. Occasional outbursts of petulance have thus far failed to manifest at the levels we'd been led to fear. Although she hates to get up in the morning, she is nowhere near so grumpy about it as some people I could mention, and usually pops up after one or two or three injunctions by us, finds herself some clothes, and dresses, only getting the tops or bottoms backwards around half the time. She is delightfully expressive when recounting incidents during her time at day care, and she and Tom make each other laugh almost as much as they make each other yell.

Both kids were sick for a while this fall, Tommy at great but mild length with a runny, scabby nose which gave him the look of an urchin, Martha with a severe cold/flu of over a week's duration which caused her to cease eating and pretty much any other activity save for sleeping. Now they're both well.

After the visit from Grandma and Grandad, we enjoyed a stay by Uncle Tim and Angela. For Thanksgiving, we went to the beach and spent time with Grammy, Walter, and Pearl. Our next trip will be the winter visit to Kent and surroundings.

Transitions

2009-09-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few months and is becoming increasingly apparent that we won't be able to keep up with this blog so much as we'd like, what with work and having kids and all...In addition to this, I am feeling a bit uncertain about who the audience for this blog is. I'm not sure who needs to catch up with us this way and I'm quite sure no one beyond our friends and family is tuning in!

The photos above demonstrate the increasing amounts of time Tom and Martha are spending with each other. I love to see this budding relationship even though most of the time these happy moments end in a squabble, with Martha shouting "No" at Tom and Adrian or me having to intervene. I know this will get worse before it gets better, but meanwhile I enjoy the way they make each other laugh and/or shriek.

Thomas is practically running now--he charges about exclaiming at things and then trying to climb up them. He's much more trouble than Martha was, and he is already quite willful--when thwarted in his attempts to topple the speaker or smash his wooden tool through the glass door, he lies on the floor and yells. He has a real command of the 'b' sound and says 'bye-bye' 'ball' and 'bubble.' He also has a word for pretzel/cracker and knows our neighbor, Rowan, as "Ro." In short, his vocabulary is still pretty limited.

Martha has started to play a lot more imaginative games, talking to herself and her dolls, arranging her toys in different ways, and explaining what she's doing. She is quite social and loves to have company whenever she's playing, and traipses around happily after the other girls at her day care. She continues to love stories, most recently enjoying a series of fables I checked out from the library. Speaking of books, we've realized that Tom's literary education is lagging behind his sister's at this age; this came home to us when he began to plop books in our lap, uttering "bo" and pointing at them. We're trying to make up for our negligence now!
The poor second child...

We had a really nice summer, including swimming lessons for Martha and time in the backyard paddling pool with cousin Noah and neighbor Rowan (who had been great admirers of Martha's but are now becoming better friends with Tom as well).

We also took some trips, notably to Seattle to see my friend Jane and her kids, my godson Eli and his sister Yumi, who became Martha's favorite person and bequeathed to her many pink items of clothing.

In addition to the trip to Seattle, we went camping again at Mt Diablo, and Martha saw her first rattlesnake (the photo doesn't do it justice--you'll have to take our word for it).

We try to get out to local parks for slow and/or short hikes/explorations a few times a month, and enjoyed blackberries in Tilden and a good walk in Briones recently.

At the end of August, Martha and Thomas started to attend a family day care (here they are eating lunch--one of the big advantages of the place is the healthy, plentiful homemade food provided there) and I went back to work. We had been quite anxious about this transition but have been very pleased by how smoothly it has gone so far. The kids really enjoy their time with other children, and my students are great!

We are lucky in continuing to see family, including my parents, quite regularly, and this September we've had the first visit of Grandma and Grandad Martin to our new home. We've kept them busy with cooking exercises, visits to the Little Farm, trips to the steam trains, outings to local parks, and projects in the garden (note lovely fence behind the family portrait).

Number 2 at 1

2009-07-14T08:30:00.001-07:00

Oops! This one kinda crept up on us...I've been reading quite a few very interesting blogs lately but we seem to have neglected our own!

So, our little baby is now a one-year-old. It's pretty amazing--the year has gone by so quickly and he has changed so much, while remaining the same sunny, energetic person he was from the start. That's not to say that he's not challenging--he is!

Tom is very active, and because he was moving around so much earlier than Martha we assumed he'd walk young, but it seems that his crawling is fast enough that he doesn't feel the need to move on to walking. He's been pulling up, standing for seconds at a time, and cruising for several weeks now, but hasn't progressed to the next step. We're not in a rush, and he doesn't seem to be either. As it is, he gets into everything--a new attraction every day, from the compost bin to the dishwasher to the toilet to toy after toy of big sister's. Martha has been very good about sharing with him, and almost always remembers to offer him an alternative when she doesn't want him to have something. However, we are now most definitely in the stage (which I remember from my childhood lasting several years) when the siblings alternate between cooperative play and mild squabbling. Tom is just so interested in whatever Martha does, and as every big sister can attest, this can be quite wearing after a while. Now that he can grab her stuff, he often does; he also grabs, pinches, and bites flesh and hair, opportunistically and quite painfully!

Of course, the main area in need of improvement is sleep, but that's largely to do with me being indecisive about whether he must sleep through the night or not. We're making some progress, but we still get up several times in the night, mostly for T though sometimes for M as well.

On the Redwood Valley Railway steam trains with Grampa Walter

In the tent, at China Camp

At Middle Harbor Shoreline Park

Oakland zoo

In our backyard paddling pool with Grammy, Walter, Uncle Chris and Auntie Rachel

At Studio Grow

Rocking with Carole on the plastic horse

First taste of *cold* ice cream

On Daddy's back at Mt Diablo

At Seacliff on the beach

Adrian nearly 40

2009-05-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

Since our last post:

* We've spent just under a month in the UK, arriving in time to enjoy the MP expense scandal as it unfolded (as well as the usual relaxing time with Martins, Hopwoods, and friends, ASDA and Tesco humus, and Grandma's crumble)
* Tom has grown his third tooth
* Martha has ridden on her first roller coaster (she didn't have as much fun as Mummy)
* Tommy has expanded his crawling from commando (still preferred when a turn of speed is required) to traditional on-knees style, but spends most of his time pulling up and standing against furniture
* Martha and Tom have discovered the "monster game" which Uncle Chris and Carrie also played (although in our case it was the werewolf game): little brother chases big sister while big sister shrieks
* and on a related note, Tom has started to roar, and Martha has accelerated her screeching
* We have purchased a picnic table to enhance our outdoor living
* Carrie has deliberated over what job to return to in the fall and *thinks* she's made the right choice
* Adrian has turned 40! (more on this elsewhere)

The four of us got up smartly for a wedding in the UK

Back at home, our now-child-proof fireplace

Martha hiking in Briones

and on the ferry to SF with Grammy and Walter

Martha and Royal chatting

Martha and Leah lolling

Nephew and Niece lunching with Uncle Chris in SF

Martha planting (above) and Tommy standing with Grandma (below), and the three having tea in Kent (very below)

Mummy and kids dance;

Thomas and Granddad do a jigsaw;

Uncle Tim carries Tommy

In Colchester, with Great Aunt Pat and Second-Cousin Lewis, reuniting Hopwoods and celebrating Adrian's 40th (a bit early):

Visiting the original Big Tom and Big Martha (and Carrie's goddaughter Rosa) in Stoke Newington.....

En route back to California: in the bathroom on the not-really-big-enough baby-changing "table";

and in our bulkhead seats on the 747. We get the seats with extra legroom and a special tray for Tom which fold down from the bulkhead (the wall in front of us). On it there is the car seat that British Airways gives us. He sleeps well in it, but only when its night-time (which is never is on the west-bound trip!);

And now the video:

Martha describes some books of hers.

Tom demonstrates his walking, roaring and eating abilities

Tom roars a bit more

Martha at 3 years

2009-03-30T16:09:00.000-07:00

Martha is now three years old! She has definite likes, dislikes, and opinions. We were noting the other day that the year between 2 and 3 has been quite dramatic in terms of language development.
Among Martha's favorite books are: Camp Granada(which we found on the street), Sticky People, and So Much. She will spend quite a long time listening to stories (we've yet to reach her limit and would probably read to her all day if we were willing) and increasing amounts of time reading books to her various dolls and babies, or to her baby brother.
Her favorite colors? Pink and yellow and red.
Martha's most requested songs are "The Old Man Died" (Grandfather's Clock) and "Oh My Darling" (Clementine). But check her out singing another classic, "Lily the Pink."
Martha's favorite toys are her doll house and her babies, though she sometimes likes to play games such as Match and she claims an interest in her blocks.
Martha prefers pasta, broccoli, chicken, and peanut butter and honey sandwiches.

Martha is quite a good walker and runner these days. We've been taking lots of little hikes in nearby Tilden Park, the Berkeley Marina, and just on the streets near our home, and she can go for almost two miles with only mild complaints. Usually the offer of a game of chase or a strategically thrown/kicked tennis ball will keep her going a bit longer. Martha's also more and more of a climber, and enjoys jumping and dancing.

Here she is running and splashing in puddles;

watching her first puppet show, at Fairyland in Oakland;

pushing her brother in the stroller;

reading with Grammy and Walter

and Daddy, Great Uncle Nev, and Great Aunt Mand;

telling her brother "NO!" and looking forward to sushi;

painting at MoChA;

enjoying the garden;

playing with her alligators and farm animals and

sampling quiche with various Johnstons, also in the garden;

pulling Cousin Noah in the wagon;

running at the Marina;

celebrating at her friend Leah's 3rd birthday party;

opening birthday cards;

and enjoying her backyard birthday party with loads of friends and relatives.

Tom at 8 months

2009-03-02T13:23:00.000-08:00

Two months have passed since the last Tom and Martha report, so there are many changes to report as well as numerous photos and videos of course.

Since Martha's 3rd birthday is approaching, we will focus in this post on Tom's development, and leave the updates on M till next month.

Among the developments was the appearance of the First Tooth, which was shortly followed by the appearance of the Second Tooth, both on the bottom so they aren't any use for chewing yet, but are good for nipping Mum.

Tom's also moved into his own room now, meaning he can sleep better, managing 8 hours in one stretch most nights. Having the two kids together in the same room has not been troublesome at all; when one wakes up it does not (usually) disturb the other, despite the screaming. We love to peek in on them as they sleep peacefully a few yards apart. This step also makes their siblinghood more tangible; we can picture them in a year or so, prattling away.

Tom's on the verge of crawling. On quite flat surfaces he can inch his way forward, using elbow, stomach, face and/or buttock to get forward in short "steps" to some desirable object. He's still a way off proper crawling though. He can, however, shift some distance in a surprisingly short time when motivated to do so.

We've got him eating a variety of mushed up vegetables - sweet potato, broccoli, green beans, zucchini - and fruits - bananas, pears, apples all mixed into yogurt or cereal.

Our Martha will be 3 in a few weeks, so there will another report about that then, but here are some pictures of them all taken January to March in and around Berkeley.

Adrian

Orienteering

2009-01-22T15:58:00.000-08:00

Since 1997 I have participated in the sport of orienteering to a greater or lesser extent. From 1997 to 2000 I was a member of the Leicester Orienteering Club and since 2000 of the Bay Area Orienteering Club.

Here is my list of results to date

Date	Location	Course	Position
	2009
	2008
13 Jan	Tilden	green	3/25
29 Mar	Briones	green	5/14
	2007
22 Apr	Sunol	green	16/22
26 Aug	China Camp	green	7/14
30 Sep	Briones	green	6/12
	2006
4 Aug	Sausal Canyon	Maze	2/7
15 Oct	Briones	green	4/14
	2004
28 Mar	Rushmoor	light green	24/40
	2003
9 Mar	Shell Ridge	yellow	(set)
16 Mar	Briones	7h men	2/7
30 Mar	Annadel	green	dnf
	2002
24 Mar	Briones	4h mixed	8/12
7 Apr	Annadel	green	6/24
21 Apr	China Camp	green	8/17
2 Jun	Sunol	red	6/16
9 Jun	Indian Valley	red	7/10
22 Sep	Monte Bello	green	8/17
6 Oct	Tamarancho	green	4/10
	2001
4 Mar	Bear Valley Ski	yellow	1/1
11 Mar	Briones	red	10/24
22 Apr	Annadel	green	6/14
20 May	Indian Valley	red	dnf
12 Aug	UCB	window	14/24
21 Oct	Tamarancho	orange	1/17	splits
4 Nov	China Camp	green	6/22	splits
	2000
24 Sep	Big Basin	green	5/26
15 Oct	Briones	green	3/12
19 Nov	Calero	green	17/26
	1997
Oct	KIMM	Long Score		With Mike Highes

Tom at 6 months, Martha 33

2009-01-12T15:00:00.000-08:00

Since the last post, we've spent an eventful, sunny week in Southern California with many Johnstons and Willards, as the pictures below will attest. Currently Uncle Chris and Auntie Rachel are staying with us, and giving the kids lots of fun attention. Uncle Chris has recently introduced Martha to the family favorite, "killer dumptruck."

This month has brought more dramatic change for Tom than for Martha; he's now eating some mushy solids a couple of times a day (baby cereal, apple sauce, sweet potato, avocado)and is turning over both ways, and completely. He uses this as a way to get around, not only across the rug but angling so as to make side trips as well. We're working on his sleeping, which is not awful but which we feel will only improve with direction--i.e. a bit of Crying It Out.

Currently Martha has playdates on Monday with some kids from the neighborhood (who will be Tom's peers soon enough--they're 14 month-old-boys); sees her friend Peter on Tuesdays; goes to see Nana Terrie or meets up with Royal and July on Wednesdays; and visits MoCHa or other such activity on Thursdays. Fridays are the days for library story time and a nearby playgroup. It is nice to have a routine, though we realize it will probably change soon.

I've begun to look into preschools/daycare for the fall and to consider what I might do, workwise. I'm looking forward to that next phase while continuing to relish this period, which Adrian and I agree we will look back on as a wonderful time for our family.

Tom with Great Aunt Ann,

Uncle Chris,

and Grampa Walter;

Martha reading with Grammy Phylsie

and on the beach with second cousin Nora.

Christmas in California!

Martha on the beach with Daddy (and Tom)...

Tom on the beach!

Martha and Leah play with dolls in a lull between shriek fests.

With Scott

Tom bounces while Martha sings a couple of verses of Clementine to him.

Tom at 5 months, Martha 32 months

2008-12-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

We've had a nice month since returning from the UK. It's increasingly fun to talk to Martha and to hear her sing her own versions of carols and nursery rhymes. She is also more defiant, but not by any means 'terrible' (as in terrible twos); we've heard recently that some children who have easy temperaments are terrible at three, not two, so maybe we've got treats in store ahead. Usually redirection works well with M; if not, some prudent ignoring and then a hug will get her back on track. When all else fails, counting to five is a good stand-by.
Tom is now not only turning over but bouncing about in the doorway. He spends more time under the gymini, and now that he's learned how to roll over he usually gives himself some tummy time. We're also getting him accustomed to his crib and to his soft toys, which Martha helpfully hands to him over and over--more patiently than we would!

Tom bouncing--which he can do for half an hour at a time.

Martha hosts Asher and Leah for a reading group in the bunk bed.

Tom and Martha under the gymini.

We made cookies and invited M's friends over to decorate them.

A giant tree in downtown Oakland.

Nana Teri reads to M.

Peter comes over for playdates and to play the piano.

Carole came to share Thanksgiving with us.

Tom tries out rice cereal.

Grammy and Walter came to visit.

vv

Martha at 2⅔, Tom 4 months

2008-11-13T13:25:00.000-08:00

On BA285 during the night. We have these two seats and the one on the other side of the aisle. Tom has the shelf that is in front of the two seats, which is about the best seat on the plane

First cousin once removed Paul and Tom in Kings Hill

Grandma with grandchildren

Since the last message we've had the chance to go to the UK for 4 weeks! Tom has got quite a bit older since we arrived, and has changed quite a lot while here. Now he can support himself briefly, shrieks with excitement and has almost turned over by himself. Martha has been enjoying the attention of the grandparents as well as walking in the Kent countryside.

Here is a selection of photos of the trip.

Grandparents

On a walk in Maidstone

Tom's turning-over practice

Martha in the ice cream machine outside Asda

Martha and grandma doing "Row the boat" in Kings Hill

Waiting at North Berkeley BART station

Granddad performs "Two little dickie birds"

Going hunting for chestnuts in Kings Hill

Martha, Dad and Granddad sing "Ring a-ring a-roses/rosie" (Readers will want to refer to Wikipedia to discover the meaning of this rhyme and reasons why it is traditionally told in different ways in different coutries.)

Uncle Tim reads "Harry the Dirty Dog" to Martha

Martha at 2½, Tom almost 3 months

2008-10-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy month in our household! In addition to adjusting to life as a family of four, we have moved into our new house, settled Martha in her new bed , and transitioned Martha from diapers to panties. Tom hasn't undergone quite such dramatic changes, but he is more and more awake and he continues to smile and coo a lot. He is also content to lie underneath his gymini for increasing amounts of time.

It's a treat getting to know our new neighborhood with the kids, and this moving in feels different from all others we've done in that it seems more permanent. When I see children going by on their own bikes, I imagine Martha and Tom doing this one day not too long in the future. It's very exciting and sort of hard to believe. Possibly because we're now home owners, and probably because I'm now a SAHM , we seem to be meeting a lot more people, including many friendly neighbors, several of whom have kids.

We've been pleased to note some tasty restaurants (two Thai within three blocks!) and shops (nearby Milan is where Adrian and Uncle Tim went to get supplies for their famous curry-making extravaganza) in the area, and are also impressed by the Berkeley parks, including the Berkeley Way mini park and Totland, which are among several within walking distance.

Skip to photos if you've had enough rambling from mummy now...

Also as a SAHM, I am finding lots of time for trips to the library and (during Martha's nap) for poring over entries in the BPN archives, some of which are really entertaining. I have, btw, taken up this new job quite seriously, and have made several mixes for kids featuring the music ofRaffi, Jose Luis Orozco, Dan Zanes, and Carole King, not to mention Free To Be You and Me. I thought I knew a lot about children's books before, but as a mum I'm exploring new authors all the time. I feel as if having been a teacher has helped me with ideas for how to be a mother, but now I'm thinking it might be the other way around when (if) I return to the classroom. Among the author/illustrators I now seek out are Jan Brett and Emma Chichester Clark, and I'm also learning about books which help teach basic skills such as abcs, numbers, and colors. A month or so ago (it's possible I've blogged of this before) I was looking into the different versions of old fairy and folk tales, with an idea that it would be good for Martha to know these as sort of cultural background, much as the Bible is for students of western literature. I was struck by how clever some of these are as well as (on the other hand) what a racket the illustrator/"authors" of others are onto. After a mini-unit (!) on the Gingerbread Man (or, in Martha's iteration, the "binbed man"), which included the baking of a gingerbread family, I had the idea to rewrite the Little Red Hen and the Gingerbread Man, weaving the stories together. Alas, I am no artist, or I think I'd have found my new career! I do really enjoy using things I've learned from teaching, either when it comes to thinking about positive discipline or when I'm reading with Martha and talking explicitly about the reading comprehension strategies we are using. It is stimulating to think of this and to observe how she responds, and makes me think it might be fun to teach younger kids so that I could apply more of what I am learning from her, and vice versa.

Another media I'm loving sharing with my child is Sesame Street, which is just as brilliant as I remember it. Ernie and Bert are very entertaining, and there are such amazing guest stars! And again, it is really fun to watch Sesame Street not only as a parent, but as a teacher. It is so impressively thought-out and so effective on several levels. How cool would it be to have a job at the Children's Television Workshop!

A few other reflections...

*Totally felt worried about how Martha, the poor big sister, would feel when the interloping younger sibling appeared on the scene. Ridiculous concern, as other younger siblings have since told me. Martha still gets all the attention, with Tom often left to sit in his chair for long contemplative periods, interrupted only to eat and change. Of course it's not really that dramatic but I'm now directing more of my guilt towards him (there being always an endless supply of mummy guilt to go around). I hope I'm right when I think he'll grow up learning not only from us but from her.

*It feels funny to be writing this blog without reference to what's going on in our country at this time, but I think the only thing I have to say in this context is that I am aware of how fortunate we are to be new home owners, and how lucky I am to be able to afford to stay at home, in such a period.

*I am interested to see how my angst over being a SAHM waxes and wanes. For the most part I'm very entertained and I am happy each day, but the main struggle, which I anticipate will recur throughout the year, is a feeling that I'm not being productive if I am "only" taking care of the kids. I try to have a list of things to do every day, and thus give myself a sense of accomplishment when I am able to check said items off (so far I've not stooped to writing "eat breakfast" or "use the bathroom" on the list, though the latter is sometimes a bit of a feat with the two kids clamoring--and I am aware their clamoring is much less than many kids'). But what I hope to get to eventually is the acknowledgment that "just" being with the kids is a productive, worthwhile way to spend my day. This brings me back to the old challenge of being where I am in the moment--and reminds me of the story of Francis of Assisi who, asked one day as he dug in his garden what he would be doing were he to learn that this was his last day on earth, replied, "Digging in my garden." Obviously this garden we're digging is the most valuable and fruitful thing in our own lives, and I am so fortunate to be able to devote my days to it.

*I'm also exasperated by my own ability to second-guess myself. As I say, I'm generally happy with each day, but if I've done little "except" be with the kids I feel as if I've done too little (and as if I need permission for this, but from whom?); yet on the other hand if I've done a whole lot of things (such as write this blog, about which I'm beginning to feel anxious, for my son is looking up at me with quizzical eyes at this moment), I feel guilty that I've not been giving all my attention to my children. And that's never enough--after a day spent reading, singing, and playing with M I fret about whether she's getting enough socialization. I am very proud of both kids and I'm not nervous about them, but can I ever feel I'm giving them all I should? "Should" remains one of the most important words in my vocabulary!

Okay, enough of my navel-gazing, and on to the pics....

Tom smiling away in his bouncy chair...

and Martha smiling away in a bouncy castle.*

Good-bye old house...

...hello, new home!

Brother and sister enjoy the garden,

a visit from second cousin Noah,

and a trip to Tilden Park.

Here we are partaking of lunch on the back porch.

*But seriously, here's more info on the bouncy castle.

And here are some clips from Youtube:

Carrie

Taiko

2008-09-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

Since February 2007 I have been a member of Emeryville Taiko and have now been allowed to participate in performances. Here is a selection of pictures and video from some of them.

Anyone who is interested in joining the group (no experience or equipment required) or seeing more performances, can examine the Emeryville Taiko website, or ask me directly.

General Links
The Emeryville Taiko Flickr site.
The Emeryville Taiko YouTube site.

2009

Concord Japanese American Festival, Concord, 9 August 2009

Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, Oakland, 6 June 2009

Hara Matsuri, Morgan Hill, 19 April 2009

Emeryville Earth day, Emeryville, 18 April 2009

Lisa's video
Lisa's Photos

Class by Lake Merritt, 7 March 2009

Carrie's photos

Oakland Chinatown Lunar New Year Bazaar, Oakland, 24 January 2009

Carrie's video of Umi, Carrie's video of Martha and Royal

2008

First Congregational Church, Oakland, 18 October 2008

Vanessa's photos, Richard's photos
Tomida-san's Odaiko workshop just prior to the performance (video)
Videos of the performance itself: Introduction, Umi Matsuri

Oakland Coliseum, 20 September 2008

David's photos, Richard's photos

Solano Stroll, 14 September 2008

Carrie's Hachijo video, David's Hachijo video, Carrie's Saidai video, David's Tombane video
David's photos, Richard's photos

Berkeley Marina, 4 July 2008

Carrie's Saidai video, Richard's Saidai video, Richard's Hachijo video

Hara Matsuri, Morgan Hill, April 2008

2007

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, Berkeley, November 2007

Solano Stroll, September 2007

Nebuta video

Tom (8 weeks) and Martha (2 years, almost 5 months)

2008-08-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

It seems appropriate to combine the two kids into one message this time around, as they are not growing up independently of each other and both go everywhere together.

The big news of this month is that we've decided to move house! We felt we needed something else to fill in those idle moments between caring for two small children by getting another house then moving into it. It is, needless to say, very very exciting, and we'll be in one month to the day after first spotting it.

Adrian

Here Martha and Tom are on the Ann Johnston quilts:

Tom has started smiling quite a lot, and responds to smiling with more smiling. He also makes a series of different coo-ing noises when he's happy which is very endearing. Here he is smiling:

And here he is again:

On a visit to the Farm in Tilden Park, in Berkeley with Jilly:

A recent gathering at the house (which unexpectedly turned into a house cooling party). Note lots of children all over the floor:

I decided that I could take Tom's passport photo for both his US and UK passports, and did quite a fine job of it. The rules say that his eyes need to be open, he be looking at the camera, no-one else be in the picture (not even a little bit) and the background be white. Also his head has to be a certain size within the frame. It seemed to work as they approved his application and sent us the passport within two weeks.

The New House (note "Sale Pending" sign - now removed).

Coo-ing

Martha and Tom on the window seat in our old house. I'll miss this house as it was a very pleasant place to live, as well as being the place where we first brought our two children home.

Martha reading, Tom hiccupping.

Tom at 31 days

2008-08-14T11:48:00.001-07:00

We're finding Tom quite an easy baby so far. I had to look back in our journals to make a comparison with his big sister at this early date, and it seems that I was feeling a lot wearier when she was a month old than I am now. Not that Tommy's sleeping through the night or anything--far from it! It's possible that things are working well for us because we're now baby veterans, or it may just be that we don't have time to feel tired--Martha won't let us! Having two kids by the way is a lot of work, and while not especially difficult, it is tiring and non-stop. Sleep is the most important thing of course, and we are lucky (so far) in that Tom sleeps for at least some of each night. His being so large at birth may be on our side here.

Which brings up the fact that this blog really must become the Adventures of Tom and Martha, as big sis continues to create more news than young Thomas--so stay tuned for the change in upcoming weeks...

Here's Thomas out for his first restaurant meal, at Zza's. He wasn't a huge fan of the olive tapenade, so all the more for M!

We had a great visit with Uncle Chris and Auntie Rachel, and are still fielding Martha's daily questions: 'Where IS Rachel? Where Christine is?' It was great to have them here to read, make forts, and do puzzles with Martha while I fed Tom (currently in the never-stop-eating phase).

Thomas at 2 Weeks

2008-07-28T15:38:00.001-07:00

Tom is just a little over two weeks old now. He is growing into quite a substantial little guy, and already looks a lot more like a proper baby. Of course he continues to be largely nocturnal, and he eats round the clock, but so far he's similar to Martha in how easy and natural he seems to be. The big difference of course (and for those of you who know Adrian you know what kinds of witticisms he'll be making about now) is the fact that he's a boy: nappy changing is considerably trickier and we're contemplating investing in a 'pee pee teepee.'

I'd been apprehensive about time as a Stay At Home Mom but after the three weeks with Martha I knew I wouldn't often be bored--it is really fulfilling to see her develop and to challenge her to do more. With the advent of Tom I've been anxious about how to take care of the two of them; so far I've done three whole days (!) on my own with them and we have not come to any grief. I was worried about taking them out because Martha has become very fast and on occasion has been known to run away, but after some serious conversations and admonitions she seems to have understood that this is not safe (and it makes 'mummy angry'). I have also been concerned about Martha's feelings--not wanting her to resent Tom or to feel sad because of losing the special time with Mummy. However this seems an unnecessary concern, since she's been receiving nonstop attention from all of our visitors since her baby brother's birth, and even when it's just the three of us at home I can still focus a lot on her since his conversation is limited.

Daddy needs to catch up on some shut-eye, and Tom is always happy to join in the nap!

It's interesting to think about what it means to be an older sibling, and how their birth order will affect our children. And I continue to be amazed by how profound these experiences which so many people have are. The shifting of our family from three to four is something billions have gone through. But it's huge to us!

Here's Thomas wearing one of his first hand-me-downs from big sister M...

Who finds her little brother (whom she continues to refer to as her 'little brother or sister' because that's what we called him before he was born) nice enough as a kissee but not super interactive to date...

Three Martins...

At this point we're enjoying our family of four very much and thus find the option depicted above uninviting!

Thomas Willard Martin

2008-07-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

Born on the 14th of July 2008 at 16:51, at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Oakland, California.
Weight 9lbs 6oz or 4.265kg

Our new family of four in the traditional stoop shot

Inside... (taken on the 11th)

and out!

Mommy and Tommy in the hospital, feeling relieved!

Big sister Martha comes to the hospital to see her little brother

Thomas Willard Martin, in the flesh (and what a lot of flesh there is!)

Baby was due on July 15th, but because so many people had told me that the second one would likely be early, and after my prenatal visit on June 30th when the resident told me I could give birth any time, I was feeling it (as we referred to Thomas until recently) was long overdue. I caught myself in this several times, looking forward to the relief of having had the baby, only to recall that that would entail actually having a *baby* to take care of. My anticipation was of course largely due in part to desire to get rid of my really quite enormous belly and in part due to anxiety to have the pain of labor over with, once and for all. But as the days passed and there was no sign of number two, I found myself confronting two rather absurd feelings: 1) I wasn't feeling much fear of the birth pain because I was just so impatient and 2) It seemed increasingly unlikely to me that I was actually going to give birth at all. Twenty-eight hours after the fact, I think the first feeling was the more outrageous. Really, labor is AWFUL. It is hard for me to believe that we have not evolved something better. Really.

And yet I could not have hoped for an easier or quicker birth experience. Given how straightforward number one was, I was trying hard not to hope this one would be much easier. In the end, to my relief, it was. Adrian went to work in the morning; my parents took Martha to the park; I went to my prenatal appointment and then began to feel contractions at around 11:15. Called A at work; called Kaiser; we walked over to the hospital around 2:30, were admitted, and the baby was out by 5:00, almost before our nurse (excellent, just as last time) had time to finish our paperwork! Yet godawful just the same. And we have the audio recording to prove it. As I remarked at some stage during the pushing (facilitated by a rather neat bed which allowed a squatting/throne stance and a bar to hold on to when heaving), it's a good thing I'm not a scientologist!

In the end it was really fun to find out the sex of our child just as he was born--I can recommend waiting, especially if you don't mind one way or the other. Soon as he was out, he was on top of me, blood and slime and all, and Daddy cut the cord, as he'd done for Martha; the phone rang several times and we made some calls ourselves, first off to Grandma and Grandad in the UK.

My parents brought Martha to meet Thomas about an hour after his birth, and she seemed quite pleased with him. It was a huge help to know she was home with Grammy and Walter and thus not only safe, but pretty much oblivious to our absence.
After a night in the hospital and a morning of paperwork, we came home in the early afternoon, and are happily esconced as a family of four.

Carrie

Martha at 2¼ years

2008-07-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well good afternoon! We have had some changes to go through in the past few weeks, and I suspect a few more ahead of us also. Carrie has decided to stop teaching for the next school year to be at home with Martha and kid #2, thereby changing from possibly the second most undervalued profession to the most undervalued profession. For Martha this change has meant she sees different people from day to day but it also means she is at home a lot more where Carrie has been very inventive at finding her things to do and projects to get involved with.

Taking care of Noah, her second cousin - May 2008

Martha and Carrie and an anteater at the Santa Barbara zoo - June 2008

Over the previous three months there has been much development of the Martha vocabulary and her ability to use it. Now she speaks in full sentences regularly, and uses present and past tenses. It is quite entertaining to engage her in little dialogues! In other areas of development, she can now run quite quickly (faster than a heavily pregnant person) and can climb steep stairs and vertical ladders. She's also got a repertoire of songs, including ABCDEFG, The Bear Went Over the Mountain, Down By the Bay, Bingo, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Old MacDonald, all of which she sings (or yells) to herself on occasion.

In the San Francisco Bay at Crab Cove on the island of Alameda - May 2008

Pulling Ryan and Peter - May 2008

We have explained that there is another baby inside Mummy and it will come out shortly and start playing with her toys, but while she understands where the baby is, I'm not convinced she really understands the implications of what's going to happen. There again, I'm not sure that I do either, and it is pretty hard to believe what I'm saying when I tell her. I do think that she's good with babies though (see picture of Noah).

Henry, Martha, Leah and Lily observe a tortoise

Martha and Matthias (husband of first cousin once removed, father of Noah) use the "telephone" - April 2008

Martha with Grandparents Martin in Oakland - April 2008

Martha reads Harry with grandma - April 2008

Reading before bed with Grammy and Walter

Return visit to Fenton's

Leah and Martha drive the tug - April 2008

And here are the YouTube videos. I know several of you are aware of this feature, but you can be alerted the instant we put another one of these unmissable snippets on YouTube by using their "subscribe" feature.

Adrian and Martha Bouncing on the trampoline - June 2008

Martha helps to construct a Pizza - June 2008

Martha arranges the Laundry - June 2008

Tea Party at our house - July 2008

Carrie less than two weeks away from full term walking with Martha in Oakland - July 2008. At time of writing (6th July) there were no further additions, though when one happens then there will be details here, just as soon as we can manage to post them.

Martha at 2 years

2008-04-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

There's much progress to report since our last post. Martha is a full-fledged toddler now, and loves to run about the place. She is ever more speedy, tricky, talkative, and joyful. Increasingly, she knows what she wants, she is able to express it, and she more often gives than accepts 'no' for an answer.

One of Martha's favorite pasttimes is the walk around the block. There is a certain sameness to this routine, which usually involves a stop at the steps, often entailing "Marta hiiiding"...

Followed by a rapid scurry along, interruped by a visit to the "laybug tree" (where Grandma Martin discovered a colony of ladybugs/birds) and a stop or two to pick "lions" and blow them...

and invariably including a stop at several favorite sets of "teps" as well as a nearby tunnel.

Among the other highlights of our time with Martha are

reading, book after book, every night before bed;

seeing Martha's curiosity about other kids, including her playmate Leah;

listening to Martha sing, and singing with her;

and savoring many different kinds of food with her.

We continue to receive regular visits from Martha's doting grandparents on both sides. Here, we are pictured on a trip we took up the coast of California with Grandma and Grandad, during their annual springtime visit.

Grammy Phylsie and Walter, now retired, come up as often as they can to visit with their (current) favorite grandchild. We had a rare opportunity to share Martha with all four grandparents at the end of March.

As most of our friends know, we are expecting a sibling for Martha in July. It will be strange to have such a tiny, incapable thing around again, because we are now accustomed to our competent little girl. We don't think that Martha is any more amazing than any other two-year-old (okay, well, maybe we do, but we don't admit that in polite company); we DO feel constantly amazed by her. Seeing so much development--such profound changes--is truly wonderful. I was thinking the other day that this is more intense than loving another adult because once you meet someone, get to know that person, and grow to love him or her, he or she doesn't really change that much--in fact, if he or she did that might be a bad thing.

But growing to love Martha, we're growing to love someone who is growing more and more into a loveable person, a separate individual with her own loveable traits, all the time. We've spoken to other parents about this and they agree. Just when we think we can't be more impressed by Martha, we are. Her ability to communicate is the most dramatic and, at this time, the most strongly rewarding of the areas in which she is growing (she says so many words now, and puts together two and three of them in phrases, and she is very expressive), but what this ability is part of--her developing cognition--is even more impressive. It is entrancing to watch her puzzle over the way that her boxes fit into each other, or remember something from days ago, or "read" a book to herself.

Martha at 21 months

2008-01-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

Happy new year!

Three months have passed since the last message and so there is quite a bit of news to report. There has been much development with speaking and understanding, and we all have been to the UK again.

In October we went on a short camping trip. As I was expecting some problems, we only went to a site within easy reach of Oakland: Mount Diablo State Park. The park is large and quite well used, but being high up was freezing cold and very windy indeed. It was quite icy in the morning too so we were bundled up all night and day. It soon became apparent, however, that our Martha however was not suitable for the insides of the tent, wanting to climb about all night, and all over our heads when we were dropping off to sleep. Also, it was hard to keep her out of the reach of dangerous bushes and rocks during the day, so I think we'll give camping a miss for another six months or until next summer. It's a shame, but this age (1.5-2years) seems to be a bad spot; younger and she didn't move as much, older and hopefully she'll have some control of her own.

Martha wrapped up against the cold at Mount Diablo State Park, October 2007

Mount Diablo State Park, October 2007. Walking around the park in a considerable amount of wind

Martha in her Halloween bee outfit

For me, the most exciting part in her development at the moment is language and I am tending to concentrate on this to this exclusion of her other advances. She can say quite a large number of words, sometimes after only hearing them once as part of some other conversation. She must know 100-200 of them at least, but can only say about half of them in a way that can be understood by others. She can do a few three syllable words, but mostly she does ones, and a whole lot of garbling phrases that go on and on. Last month she started singing a bit of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but only a bit. She also sings "E-I-E-I-MOO!!!"

Martha demonstrating a small part of her vocabulary. Here she reads a book with animals in it:

cat, owl, pig, doggie, duck (quack), cow (moo), horse (neigh)

She's started showing motherly tendancies also, by pushing about a doll in a push chair (courtesy of Grandma Martin, found at Oxfam, £5) and putting her doll to bed. In fact she puts almost anything to bed by covering it with a nearby cloth (or napkin, or towel) and saying "shhh!" (loudly). Last week her dinner was put to bed.

Martha pushing her dolls in the doll-carriage

At Seacliff with Grampa Walter in November for Thanksgiving 2007

On the see-saw in West Malling with Grandad at Christmas 2007

With Uncle Tim in West Malling at Christmas 2007

Martha crosses her arms and legs when seated, for comfort

Playing with Asher in Oakland, October 2007

Martha using the Elmo sit-on thing (courtesy of Grammy Phylsie, $5 at a local thrift store). This thing has quite a number of features, including horn, steering, luggage compartment under the seat, talking/singing Elmo and a xylophone.

Thats all for now!
Adrian (corrected by Carrie)

Martha at 18 months

2007-10-04T20:39:00.001-07:00

As Martha fans have already noted, the frequency of blogging has been adjusted, so there was no month 17, and I suspect no month 19 either, but never fear, there is much to report.

The major changes over the last two months have been in both of our situations, as we are both now at work full time. So there is now in place a really quite elaborate and impossible to remember schedule of day care for Martha, involving several different houses, different times each day and even different languages. Naturally Carrie can remember much more than I, but today even she knocked on the wrong house to come and get her. There are other children for her to play with and while she's not exactly playing with them she does smile at them, give them things and take things away from them. She also seems to learn quite a lot from the slightly older ones, just by watching.

Since she started with this arrangement she has really picked up a lot of words, and can even say some of them properly. She still has her own versions of perhaps 20 words, but can say "horse", "mama", "dada", "baby", "Jordy"(next door baby) and even "agua", pretty well and I suspect that the average passerby would be able to recognise them, particularly if there was a horse standing next to her. And she does fair number of animal noises too, including those of dog, cat, elephant, horse, fly and fish (well, thats more of an expression). I have no idea how many words she can understand now, but its getting on a hundred I reckon and could be way more than that for all I know.

We still haven't cut her hair, because as it's getting longer it's curling up and not progressing any closer to the floor. I'm quite pleased about this as I reckon it would be hard work to take a pair of scissors to the head of a squirming child, and it doesn't look like it will need it for several more months either. When wet, the back of it comes down level with her armpits! I was blond as a child until I was about 5 apparently.

I went swimming with her too! First was at a friend's house who just happened to have a pool. She was not too happy about that, maybe because it wasn't too warm in the water. Then I went to the Berkeley High School's "Warm Pool". It's just what it says - a pool that is warm. Almost hot in fact, kept like that for people who like it warm, like people with muscle problems. And babies. She seemed to love it and after a bit of watching the other kids was splashing around most happily and even jumping in.

The above item is the SnackTrap, a nifty invention for keeping pieces of food off the floor. Here it contains Cheerios, and the user (left) can delve in and pick out a few when needed while the thing is at any angle. For some reason many people are very interested in this apparatus and always ask about. Martha has discovered the way to remove the top now, so perhaps its usefulness is numbered. SnackTrap also make the CrumbChum by the way.

Martha at 16 months

2007-08-06T19:25:00.001-07:00

Quite an exciting summer our Martha's had so far, and she seems to be loving it. So far this summer she has: journeyed to the UK, around it, and back; visited the beach and surveyed her new bunk bed and room; and been camping in Kings Canyon. Along the way, she has begun to demonstrate exciting new capabilities! We find it amazing whenever she shows that she understands something new and are working hard not to be ridiculously proud of our 'genius' daughter. Although Adrian maintains she does not say any words, really, I disagree: she seems to have a rotating vocabulary, which means that she only says one word at a time, then gives it up in favor of a new one, but she has definitely said several words already. I don't think it's sensible to quibble over pron(o)unciation really, do you?

Words in her repertoire:
baww! (currently a favorite, meaning ball); eeow (for cat); bo-bo (for peep-bo, the British version of peek-a-boo); nooooo (an extended, multisyllabic word, a la John Edwards--meaning 'nose,' and accompanied by a semi-accurate poke of said organ); 'eh' (for ear); and a very onomatopoeic rendition of clock, which she utters by clcking her tongue (think xhosa bushmen).

Martha also follows directions quite well--that is, she understands them, and currently enjoys showing this off more than she enjoys being contrary, although we've begun to see a bit of the latter as well. Told to bring her water bottle in from the other room, she'll be away for ten minutes searching, then come back happily sucking. I wish I could remember what I'd gone into the room for for that long! She also recognizes Gustav Mole, which she will unearth from a huge pile of toys and bring to one, singing 'lo lo lo' the while in decent approximation of Sibelius (the music I sing whilst playing the Mole).

She's begun to be more snuggly and even gives closed-mouth 'mm' pecks on occasion. And she still likes books, more and more, returning to certain pages which she knows to contain cats or balls in order to read them.

One of my delights in Martha is her increasing expressiveness. She makes a lot of unintelligible syllables but the intonation is quite clear. She is also becoming a bit of a loudy--in impatience for her mandarin oranges (her preferred fruit at the moment) or in glee as she taps a drum she can really yell!

We went with Gramma to visit the ducks and coots at the West Malling Country Park.

On one of the few dry evenings in West Malling, we enjoyed dinner (from ASDA, not Tesco) al fresco .

Daddy bundled Martha through a kissing gate near Uncle Tim's house.

Back in California, Martha had a nap in Cousins Jenny and Matthias' garden.

Uncle Chris and Auntie Rachel were naturals with Martha--really funny and interactive. Here they are on the sand outside the beach house in Seacliff.

Dining al fresco again, this time with Grampa W and Grammy P at the beach house.

We took several walks on the beach, and Martha investigated the kelp thoroughly.

On our camping trip to Weaver Lake close to Kings Canyon National Park, Martha wore herself out with exploring the granite and pines (and suffered a bit from diaper rash).

The lake was quite warm. Martha paddled a bit.

Martha at 15 months

2007-07-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

We've been doing this diary for 15 months now, and for the first time since she was born our Martha was ill. She got Roseola, a common childhood illness, and though it was quite dramatic (103F fever and spots) it was over quickly. Below is what happened after the temperature disappeared:

She didn't seem too concerned by these spots, but didn't eat much at all during the following week and was quite subdued. However, since then she's been on eating catch-up, putting away large quantities of porridge, fruit, chicken, fish, bread and toast. In fact she seems to eat so much that it doesn't seem possible for it all to fit inside. Here is a picture of her in eating mode. Note the bib where items of food are stored until needed. Generally we leave her to sort out all the pieces of food as she wishes, and after a while most of the pieces have gone.

Also this month we went for her third trip to the UK. I was quite concerned by this trip because her jetlag on the last trip took 7 days to remove, so I instigated a "Jetlag Reduction Plan" a few days before we left. My thinking was that 8 hours of time change could be reduced if we changed our getting up time, so over 3 days we got up earlier until on the day we left we were up at 4am. This made for a tiring trip (it's a night flight on the way out) but it is anyway. Her first night back was disturbed, but she did sleep most of it, and the second was back to normal. We'll do the same procedure in reverse on the way home. I am considering writing a book or a website about this method of jetlag mitigation as I reckon there is money to be made out of it.

Here she is in SFO eating an apple. The airport here is excellent for kids by the way, being large, flat and mostly empty of people.

Playing ball with grandad

Shopping in Sainsbury's she was overcome with sleep

Four generations

This is Martha in her bed in the UK. This used to be my bed and has remained in the attic since Tim and I had finished with it - well over 30 years. Keeping things in attics is a bit of a Martin family trait as some readers might know. Old teeth marks are being supplemented by fresh ones.

Martha at 14 months

2007-06-05T22:01:00.001-07:00

Here she is again, and more wonderful than ever. Mummy is feeling quite excited about the summer months full of Martha time! This month, Martha has really begun to enjoy her ability to walk. She wakes up every morning happy and eager to go, and we can hear her yelping to herself in the crib before we (or should I say "I") go in to pick her up. She marches about the house with purpose, stopping only to bend over and pluck up this or that interesting object (or bit of lint). She continues to be an avid, not to say greedy, eater, and mealtimes are messy but joyful affairs. Martha is beginning to make more sounds, and when she picks up her puppet of Gustav Mole she seems to start singing, since she's heard mummy doing so. Her Nana Teri claims that Martha said "Bye Dog" once, but although we think our baby is smart we're pretty skeptical of this claim. Recent events of note in our lives with Martha: dinner at her playmate Leah's house (a hectic affair of baby stair-racing); camping at Henry Coe and Lake Tahoe; and the visit of Great Uncle Nev and Great Auntie Mand.

Martha spies a redwinged blackbird at Frog Lake in Henry Coe State Park.

A new play area! Martha in our trusty tent.

And with Daddy in the tent, also at Henry Coe.

A brief break from camping to chase a pigeon in the Yerba Buena Gardens in S.F. Note GA Mand and GU Neville.

First taste and touch of snow, in Desolation Wilderness near Tahoe.

And with Daddy by Eagle Lake

and Cascade Lake, Tahoe in the distance.

And, the real treat--two videos of M. Please note that there are others available on YouTube as well--check out all of her films!

Martha at 13 months

2007-05-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

You may notice a certain theme in the ten pictures selected for viewing here. We've been delighting in the delight our Martha takes in the outdoors, and taking advantage of the spring weather to get out to several local parks. The progress since Martha's first independent steps has been quite dramatic--we suspect she was waiting longer than necessary to make her first solo attempts, because in a very short time since these she has learned to stand on her own, to stop, to turn, and to toddle off in all directions.

Martha loves to be outdoors and go on walks, but after about half an hour she tires of the backpack or ergo and starts to make a moany sound. She can be distracted by the sight of a dog (dooh! dooh!) or if given a twig or blade of grass to gnaw on, but we're going to have to figure out a longer term solution if we're to undertake a more ambitious trip this summer (as we hope to do). Nonetheless, it's been really exciting to begin to share with her two of our chief shared loves, hiking and camping. We seem to take her hiking at least once a week, and on her 13 month birthday we were in Point Reyes National Seashore, having hiked in around 4 miles with her and all her stuff. She dug right in to the dirt, befriended several rocks, gobbled clovers when we were not vigilant enough, and slept in a little nest in the tent next to us. (Next to us that is, not in the tent next to us -- hubby). Along with us on the trip was Uncle Tim, over for a splendid two week visit.

In the pictures above, Martha is by the creek at Sunol, one of the East Bay Regional Parks. Below, on a hike in another, Wildcat Canyon in Tilden.

When she's in the backpack, Martha finds the back of mummy's or daddy's head quite enticing.

Below, above Arch Rock at Pt Reyes.

Breakfast at Glen Camp with Daddy and Uncle Tim

Searching for edible (or not) flowers at Glen Camp

On the hike back, before a brief walk on her own

In the botanical gardens at Tilden

No video this time, but we'll keep you posted!

Martha at 1

2007-04-05T16:11:00.001-07:00

Hello readers,
A friend recently said to Carrie, paraphrasing something she'd read, "The days seem to go on forever but the years pass so quickly!" It is quite remarkable to us that our child is now one year old. It has been a wonderful year and we continue to feel astonished by how happy, fun, and entertaining Martha is. She continues to take great strides (almost but not quite literally) forward and seems to feel that she is the first to ever walk along a path, so proud and elated is she. We can't blame her for having such delusions, perhaps, since we are guilty of amazement over the very same developments ourselves. Currently she can stand for upwards of a second, unsupported, but only if she's not aware she's doing so; she loves to march along with one hand on a grown-up and one hand clutching her favorite (most often sopping wet and bedraggled) finger-puppet bunny; she is on to more and more difficult foods, including salmon in bits, zucchini with the peel on, and--her favorite--toast ("a chip off the old block," proclaims Daddy with satisfaction). She is quite talkative and often sounds as if she's singing or asking a question, varying pitch, volume and intonation with no little virtuosity and evident delight. Often, she is very aware of her interactions with us--if she comes upon a game which it's clear not only she but we enjoy (eg chasing her around the sofa or 'pouncing' a stuffed animal onto her head), she repeats it with ever-increasing giggles, watching our faces to make sure our diversion is as great as hers.

Here she is a few weeks before the milestone, on our front steps with Grampa Walter and Grammy Phylsie.

And vying for title of most doting grandparents, here are Gramma and Grandad Martin, over from the UK for three weeks, on an outing to the Marin Headlands.

At Lake Merritt, where the Canada geese provided Martha with some amusement.

Our baby group continues to meet regularly, and we must admit all the other babies are astonishing and cute too. Here are five of the six and assorted parents at the group birthday gathering in Dimond Park.

Martha and the other babies enjoyed the time on the grass, and Martha formed an attachment to a local stick as well. (Note new cardy knit by Gramma.)

On Martha's actual birthday (April 6th), we had a small celebration at home. Here we are on top of the quilt made by Gramma and clutching a balloon brought by Nana Terry, with a bouquet courtesy of Grammy Phylsie and Grampa Walter in the background. Not surprisingly, Martha received gazillions of cards from her relatives in the UK. She continues to point them out on our mantel and likes to handle the one sent by Great Uncle Andrew featuring ducks.

Due to some...improvements on our house, we relocated to the Sierra foothills for an ill-fated evening. At least Martha found Mortimer the deerhead interesting.

With the grandparents Martin, on yet another hike, this time in Redwood Regional Park, where M was very excited by the myriad dogs about the place.

And the animated portion, brought to you by the Calaveras Big Trees State Park:

Martha at 11 months

2007-03-05T21:04:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,
Martha's becoming more engaging every day, and seems to be on the verge of so many firsts! It's a funny feeling to watch her these days because we're so eager to see her grow and learn but at the same time it would be wonderful to be with her at this stage forever. Sometimes her thinking is visible on her face as she strains over some difficult conundrum, such as, how can I pick up the little puppet bunny and hold on to Mummy's fingers at the same time? Aside from such philosophical ponderings, Martha's more obvious steps forward this month have been in the form of steps...not necessarily forward, as you will note in some of the footage (somebody stop me!) below.
Martha continues to enjoy being admired by lots of different people (such as Cousin-in-law Matthias, pictured here on the occasion of a fondue supper at his house),

and has so far not developed any noticeable stranger anxiety. At the same time, she is definitely more attached to Mummy and Daddy, and even deigns to cuddle with us when she's tired. She still loves to play peek-a-boo, particularly a new variation in which a small object is secreted in a parent's hand and she has to guess which hand. To our consternation (and hers presumably) even when she's observed the object being enclosed in the left hand she invariably chooses the right. Another of Martha's favorite pasttimes is eating. She's able to munch soft bits of food now, using her gums to get through broccoli stems and bits of chicken.

Her repertoire of sounds has increased, but 'd' remains her favorite consonant, with 'g' and 'b' creeping up. She is very expressive and at times seems ready to explode with happiness, especially right after napping or eating. However, Martha's favorite activity continues to be pulling herself up to standing and (attempting to) walk, using any available support.

Here she is with Adrian trundling along outside...

We take our daughter out whenever we can, and recently enjoyed a visit to the Berkeley Marina.

International friends, if Martha's not enough advertisement to come and visit, how about this for a scenic view?

Right, so on to the animated portion of our show.

Martha demonstrates walking with the support of our sofas.

With tremendous glee and pride, here she comes, using a wagon purchased at the Oakland Museum White Elephant sale.

And again, outdoors, on one of our first spring days.

After expending so much energy, our Martha likes to replenish herself with some finger foods. Lately she's been trying out toast and banana on her own. She makes quite a mess but I've convinced Adrian to relax and not feel he has to sweep up right away.

Be sure to tune in next month, for news of the big first birthday bash!

Martha at 10 months

2007-02-06T21:10:00.000-08:00

Well, we're getting on for one year old now, and this month quite a lot of development has taken place. For some reason, about half the way through January Martha slept solidly for a couple of nights, and then started turning over and crawling, like she engaged a new gear or something. Thusfar she has resisted any of my efforts persuading her to turn over, and though she has always been interested in walking, she never seemed too much bothered with crawling, preferring to pull herself along with her hands, which doesn't count. So it was a bit of a surprise! Not that she's very good at crawling mind you, but she now has the ability to fall down the stairs. No new teeth or words yet.

OK lets get on with the pictures; I know what the audience requires, and I know I'm a week late already with this.

On beach with Grammy Phyllsie just prior to taking a big mouthful of sand

In Carrie's classroom, where all the kids are quite familiar with her as they see her almost every day.

And I know I didn't put the video in the last message very well, so here is some more done properly this time:

First up is Martha having her dinner. Commentary has what going on. More or less.

Here is the current progress on walking. Not too comfortable for my back.

And here she is outside our house being happy,

Martha at 9 months

2007-01-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

Evening Martha watchers,

Now Martha has spent more time out than in; and is even more happy than ever! Still no crawling or turning over, but there is almost-walking. There are fewer photos than usual this month, so to make up for it, there are a few videos - a real multimedia feast I think you will agree. They are at the end of this entry, but you have to read the rest of it first!

This month we undertook the second transatlantic trip, and this one was considerably more difficult than the first, mostly because of jet-lag and our lack of knowledge of how to do anything about it! On the way back to the US I did try a couple of things, such as keeping her up later in the UK to reduce the time difference, and it seems to have worked, in that she slept for longer quicker. Prior to the trip we spent a few days in southern California with the Grandparents Johnston. Here she is on christmas day being carried by Grandpa Walter on the shores of the Pacific Ocean:

By the silver ball with Uncle Tim and hat (courtesy of me)

In the UK we saw family and a few friends, but an inconvenient amount of time was spent bouncing and generally being wide awake.

With great grandmother

With Uncle Tim and Bagpuss

At the keyboard with great granddad

In other exciting news, she's been to her second curry house, and even sampled a small piece of poppadom, which I reckoned was OK for her. This is the "last supper" at The Panahar in Wraysbury on the evening before returning to Oakland:

OK, OK I know you've been waiting for it, so here now are the videos. They are stored on the YouTube website, so clicking on a link here will take you there - without you having to lift a finger! Well, thats not strictly true as you have to raise one finger slightly to click the mouse button, but metaphorically you don't need to. Beware, that YouTube contains many videos from all sorts of weirdos, and before you know it a whole evening can be gone viewing them.

If you are using an internet connection over the phone, then this will take a very long time, but it should work in the end.

First is Martha swinging on the swings near our house in Oakland. This is some time at the end of November 2006. Note the large amount of padding required to prevent her from falling out.

Martha on swing (1:01)

Second is one from the archives. Martha less than one month old in April 2006 in Oakland. Commentary is provided by Carrie, who is available for professional work during evenings and weekends.

Martha very small (0:44)

If these prove successful (and they work) then I'll do a few more.

Adrian

Martha at 8 months

2006-11-30T18:12:00.000-08:00

Hello again Martha followers,

This month has not produced pictures of the quality of last month unfortunately, but there are some of note I like to think. And here are some...

Well, OK it's not a great picture, but it's M eating part of a turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

On the bed being happy

This is the progress on the teeth, one of which was reported last month. There are two sharp little things now, but no signs of any more. Our fingers can no longer go inside her mouth without being nipped. As she only has two teeth at the bottom they can't be used to chew on anything, so she must wait for that.

Speaking of which, here's her food in our freezer. In here there are sweet potatoes; squash (roasted); turkey and squash; green beans; carrots; broccoli; and apple, all made into cubes and ready to be heated up. Martha also eats pear and banana. For lunch and dinner she usually has two cubes of veg with a bit of baby cereal mixed in, followed by two cubes of fruit. For dinner she also gets the treat of YoBaby yogurt for dessert--very yummy as it's made with whole milk.

Martha is now standing with some assistance and supports herself in a wobbly fashion. However, she does not turn herself over or crawl! She seems much more interested in standing than crawling, eagerly pulling herself up on things when the opportunity arises. We've heard that some babies walk before they crawl, though presumably eventually they will be able to do both.

We've been camping once more in Henry Coe State Park, and made an attempt to go camping at Lake Tahoe as well. When we realized how cold it was (-10C) we decided not to camp out. We did, however, go for a long walk in the mountains (see above) around the lake and Martha seemed to like this, despite the low temperatures. This backpack contraption works very well, though she's still a bit too small for it. It even has legs so we can put her on the ground.

She's taken a real fancy to Bagpuss, who always cheers her up.

And this month we have a new feature: the Martha age bar, a feature I copied from Mike and his baby's site, Sylvia's Journal, so you can have no excuse for not knowing how old she is.

Martha at 7 months

2006-11-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

It has crossed my mind that I shall have to decide when to stop doing the blog one day, as I can't continue it into her teenage years, and 6months might be the time at which viewship will start to drop off, or indeed has dropped off, but I enjoy typing it in and selecting the finest pictures to upload and share with everyone so it will continue for now at the same regularity and length, unless there are calls for change from the public.

Although she started last month, the real change this month has been her eating food. Now she eats beans (see picture), courgette, sweet potato, apple, pear, avocado, carrot and yogurt (full fat only), as well as baby cereal. And she eats well and quickly too, but she still gets quite a bit of mother's milk. It's quite a messy business but she appears to love it.

Our spoon is worthy of note: it changes colour with the heat, and is supposed to indicate whether the food is too hot for her. Here it is coloured so is OK, but changes to white when not OK.

We've been eating out a few times. This is not difficult, and means we can go out for the day. Here she is in Berkeley with Grandma. Grandma came over for nearly 3 weeks to see her (and us maybe) so got to see a number of new things that she does and to take care of her a bit too.

No-hands feeding, a very useful skill.

Grandma and Martha outside the Ferry building in San Francisco

The first tooth has appeared. Here it is (the small ridge on her bottom gum) photographed after much difficulty. As of this weekend (5th Nov) I can feel hard bony bits have pierced the surface, but the thing hasn't come out by more than 1mm. There hasn't been any wailing or suffering yet (or gnashing of tooth), but we have one of those rattles that has water in it that can be cooled by putting it in the fridge, just in case.

She has a fascination with labels on everything and loves to chew on them for hours. She will tug at them until they will fit inside her mouth in a way that is quite violent sometimes. Here she's going for one of the favourites: the "Boppy" label. For those who don't know, the Boppy (the red pillow in the picture) is the thing that placed on ones lap for breast feeding support, like C-shaped pillow, but she knows there is not one but two labels on it.

Trolley in Safeways. Until now we have carried her ourselves in the supermarket, but now she can be pushed around inside one of the trollies in Safeways, propped up by bags and blankets. She quite enjoys this looking at the fruit as it goes past.

In other news, a mole has appeared on Martha's left little finger. This was not present when she was born, and to date its the only one that has shown up anywhere on her. I also have a mole in the same hand and finger - does this mean we are related? Or that we both have the sign of the devil?

Adrian

Martha at 6 months

2006-10-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

Hello Martha followers,

She is now half a year old! It does not seem like we've had her at home for six month now, but it would appear to be the case. She is making very good progress on grabbing things and putting them in her mouth, and is now doing so with objects that are quite small or heavy as she can control her fingers increasingly more adeptly. However it seems that getting things in as fast as possible is the most important thing, and she spends probably 50% of her day gnawing or chewing on anything that happens to be around.

She does not show any signs of wanting to turn herself over, but is almost sitting up (she has sat up for periods of up to one minute by herself, but that doesn't count, I don't think). Also she is trying to drag herself about using her arms. A bit.

Note appearance of slight eyebrows now!

On a trip out to San Francisco. Note the seals in the background

However, there has been much progress on the food front. She now eats sweet potato, green beans (warm, cooked and all mashed up), avocado and pears (cold, just mushed up) as well as rice or oat cereal (warm, sometimes with the aforementioned). This is proving quite a messy business, but also quite entertaining as she obviously enjoys the new tastes and is frantic sometimes in her enthusiasm to get hold of the spoon. And it's a mouth-based exercise too.

I continue to look after her two days a week at home (usually Mondays and Thursdays) and we have a large number of things we like to do on those days. Here are some pictures of Martha enjoying some of the activities (that I can photograph):

Using swing under the door

Under the gymini

In the Exersaucer - this thing can rotate to offer a different selection of activities, as the user desires

Also we read and eat books, walk around the streets and shops of the area, sleeping sometimes, eat (see above), spend time doing "tummy time", trying to crawl about, get carried about the house as I do the washing, cleaning, cooking etc.

Grandma has made the trip by herself from the UK to be with her (and probably us at some lesser level). Unfortunately it's getting cold here just in time for her arrival. I hope she can tell us a bit about what happens to babies after 6 months, because though we are experts on anything to do with babies up to 6 months, we have no clue whatsoever about anything beyond that point. We do have one book, but its really quite embarrassing however little I know about when kids start to talk or walk. Grandma has had some experience of this so is going to help us I hope -- but thinking about it, the experience was with me, and I'm sure its unlikely that anyone could progress as fast as I.

On the front steps

Martha at 5 months

2006-09-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

Major changes occurred in this month!

In honor of the changes, Mummy's having a go at the blog composition. We have had a number of firsts, and one or two lasts. I've been feeling a bit nostalgic for newborn Martha, and understanding why my Dad (Grampa Walter) used always to urge my brother (Uncle Chris) and me to stop growing. I feel quite sad thinking that I will never be able to see *this* Martha again, as she grows into the next month's incarnation. Yet on the other hand there's never been a development that I wished did not happen--when she learned to coo I didn't think to myself, "Oh, I wish Martha couldn't coo yet!" And she is cuter and more interactive with each passing day. August was my last month of maternity leave/summer vacation. I spent some time at school getting things ready, and Martha got to know her new caregiver, Nana Terry. Then, on August 28th, Adrian had his first day as a parttime stay-at-home Daddy. By all accounts (Adrian claimed and Martha did not dispute), this was a great success.

Also in August, we hosted our second monthly Baby, Mummy, and Partner Group, discussing such hot topics as feeding and sleep. On the feeding front, Martha (as of press time) has just enjoyed her first evening repast of one tablespoon of rice cereal; on the sleeping front, we've decided to try to let her cry a bit in an attempt to break her of her habit of noshing every three hours. Among her self-soothing skills the thumb is beginning to feature regularly.

And,among other exciting events, Martha has been on a few hikes, including the first Cal Hiking and Outdoor Society (CHAOS) family hike,

and one *overnight* camping expedition. She was enchanted by the oak trees and the bays; was in fact so enraptured by Henry Coe State Park that she didn't want to miss a single moment of the night we spent there and was thus awake most of the time. Other than that the camping trip was a success!

We're enjoying sharing our favorite activities, from reading to singing, with our M, and are developing our nighttime routine.

Martha at 4 months

2006-07-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Hello again Martha followers,

Since the last entry, Martha and us have undertaken a trip to the UK! For me, this was of great excitement, and even though it was a night flight I could not get to sleep for the anticipation. However, our Martha didn't notice any of it I don't think, as the noise environment of an aeroplane is highly conducive for sleep, and the bumping is what they like anyway. The pressure problems turned out not to be an issue, and even the time difference didn't cause any trouble either, so it was just me that had any problems.

Placed inside her British Airways bassinet

All of us by the galley of BA284

Once in the UK, we embarked on a short baby tour, visiting mainly the grandparents, but we did see several other relations. For the exact relationship between Martha and some relations I had to check on google to discover the correct term. The most exciting visit was to see her greatgrandparents (below) who had a joint 90th birthday party while we were there.

With greatgrandmother

With Greatgrandad

With grandad

With second cousins Finley and Lewis

Martha enjoying the beanbag at Uncle Tim's house

By Ryarsh church, in Kent

The visit was also of note for the number of curries consumed. Here is Martha on her first trip to a curry house, this one "Spices" is in Datchet.

Adrian

ps I have just been informed by someone that there is a major grammatical error in this entry. Apparently "Martha and us" should be "Martha and we". I apologise for any distress that this unintentional error has caused to reader(s).

Martha at 3 months

2006-07-08T18:19:00.000-07:00

Martha fans,

Well, she's now passed her 3 month birthday, and from what I understand, new things are supposed to happen now. New things like thinking about eating real food, sitting up, movement and longer sleep. No changes yet for our M, but she does do up to an hour of looking about, and can hold her own head up for maybe 30 minutes. Apparently, according to a book we've got, when she can pay attention to a small thing, such as a raisin, then thats a major step forward.

Martha in the car, in a rare awake moment in her seat. The seat has to go in the middle in the back, because I can't get it to fit in anywhere else, but she likes it. Well, she likes it when the car is moving, which means that we cannot be stopped (at traffic lights for example) for very long before she starts yelling. A measured approach, whereby one slows down as much as possible before the lights, without actually stopping has to be employed.

The Baby Bjorn is a great invention, and everyone has something like this I believe. We have a model that is a few years old, so its not as fancy as some, but it is great! She goes it facing in or out, and seems to like the security of being held it close with it. Also it means the carrier can perform other duties with not one but two hands - an improvement upon old fashioned manual baby carrying - and means exciting things like shoelace tying can be performed with ease. Carrie is carrying her on the beach at Rincon here (with appropriate sun protection), and I am holding her at Coyote Hills, in the East SF Bay with some novel sun protection.

She likes exercising her legs a lot, and providing we hold her, she's quite capable of standing up under her own power, as it were.

Bathtime and a chance to try the neck.

Martha at 10 weeks

2006-06-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

Now she's getting bigger, though I don't see it, but I am assured that she is by visitors, and she's had a load of injections as well. She's even outgrown an outfit already. Turns out she's good with the camera too and is growing in patience with my ability to use it, getting bored after 10 or 15 minutes rather than the 3 or 4 of earlier weeks.

Grandparents Johnston with her outside the house using the "Baby Bjorn" to carry her, an accessory that appears to be essential to every parent round here. Alas, we do not have the most up to date model, but an older, less desirable one.

My attempt at artisting infant photography (below). Each frame is individual, showing how she stretches around all the time. Adrian

Martha at 2 months

2006-06-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

For Adrian's birthday, we had some professional photos done by our photographer friend (the one who did the wedding photos), David Banks Kong. See if you can tell which of these are the professional's, which the amateur's, attempts!

On her first outing to Totland in Berkeley, Martha enjoyed the shadow patterns cast by the leaves. Wardrobe: by Grandma Martin

Increasing numbers of smiles lately... with some rubbing together of hands, a la Monty Burns.

The tongue continues to be a source of curiosity and entertainment.

Martha at 7 weeks

2006-05-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

She's smiling more than ever, and has begun to spit up a bit too. She likes to blow little bubbles and emits a sort of 'eh' of complaint in the early stages of grissling, before the full-throated "laaa" which signifies real outrage. We are fortunate, though, because so soon as we pick her up her fury is usually eased.

Martha at six weeks

2006-05-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

Now six weeks old, Martha is not too young to help out with the household chores, as you can see!

Among our recent visitors has been one of Martha's namesakes, Martha Hannan, who was a natural with our MHM.

Daddy gets a chance to feed baby!

Grammy Phylsie has a tete a tete with MarMar.

Martha at 33 days

2006-05-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

Hello again Martha followers.

Now she is more than a month old and is starting to do new things almost daily; smiles fairly consistently (below), looks about quite a bit and stretches a lot. Still pretty much useless at most things though. Except crying. At night.

Grandma and Grandad have just been to stay from the UK for 3 weeks (more than half her life), and there's a picture with her with Martha (below) on the front steps. Since she was born, we have noticed a considerable increase in interest in visiting us, and the guest room is fully booked for several weeks ahead.

Also is Carrie and Martha on a trip to Target - note that Martha was actually eating at this time

Martha in action (at 4am)

Martha - 24 days

2006-04-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest offering of pictures, taken over the past week.
She is starting to be aware of a few things, but really not much at all, and is still pretty much totally incapable of anything. This is the source of much amusement for me, but not for her I suspect. She is also getting quite spotty!

Here she is, post-bath, relaxing, and in the living room, following a kitchen burning incident. I quite like the smoky effect here that gives the place a Victorian feel.

She still sleeps well, though does yell for all sorts of reasons (known and unknown) at any time, but not for long. We are lucky. Pround grandparents Martin hold her here.

Except for the last time, she hasn't like having a bath, and it was guaranteed to make her scream very loudly and wave her little arms about frantically.

Martha - end of week 2

2006-04-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

We now have pictures of Martha at the end of her 2nd week. She is still providing us with much entertainment, and is a continual source of amusement.

Now the grandparents have arrived for a stay and here we are walking in Redwood Park, in Oakland in the pushchair which is several sizes too big. She's changed a bit since the first week, but not so far as to be able to do anything much, but does seem able to concentrate on things more and stays awake for longer also.

Martha - end of week one

2006-04-14T23:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures of Martha after the first week of her life.

I hope dressing a girl in blue is not considered to damaging a thing to do, but I understand that they can't see colour too well anyway, and if she could then I am sure she's happy with the idea of it.

Here she is put in her portable bed next to my breakfast

The bucket in which the larger items that were not Martha were placed in after the birth. Quite fascinating I thought and the doctor gave us a "tour" of the placenta later.

Martha Martin

2006-04-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

Martha Hopwood Martin

Born on 6th April 2006 at 15:41, at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital, in Oakland, California.

Preparing to send the birth announcement at home (right)

Proud father with Martha in the delivery room (above)

Just a few minutes after being born, and asleep (below)

Carrie and Martha a few seconds after the birth. Martha was a bit purple on the hands and feet, but that disappeared quickly. Note large amount of thick hair. According to rumours going around the hospital staff, the hair was reponsible for the bad heartburn Carrie had at all times during the pregnancy. (left)

The obligatory weighing picture (below), (in kg) taken when she was removed from Carrie - about 45minutes after birth. The hospital has already placed a special baby tag on her foot which sets off an alarm if anyone tries to make off with her.

Doting father after a particularly fine job of swaddling her up. She is yawning by the way, not crying (above)

Father and grandmother washing her at home (right)

The obligatory weighing picture (in lbs) (below)

Carrie, in March just prior to producing such a large object

Final thoughts

2004-07-31T09:43:00.000-07:00

Our Year Travelling (28 June 2003 to 13 July 2004)

Needless to say the whole time was a great experience and I think I can say now that we did not have anything bad happen to us and the only hiccups we had were of a minor nature. Already I am having difficulty believing we did it, and we’re planning more, but nothing of this scale and also nothing soon!

A trip of this nature is not without its hardships, and we found that we missed family and friends most, or indeed anyone familiar to us, the stability of a place in which to remain for any length of time, the ability to listen to music and, surprisingly, the routine of a job. Carrying only a small quantity of possessions for such a long time was not too much of a problem as we could meet most of our requirements easily in different ways, such as through internet cafes, book exchanges and a host of other services we never knew would be useful. The excitement of travelling: arriving in a new place every few days, deciding what to do every morning, never got dull.

I might try and write something more about the adventure, perhaps in book form, but not for a while.
Number of Days: 382 (54 weeks)
Nights spent in a tent: 98
Nights spent on a boat: 17
Nights spent on a boat in a tent: 3
Number of Countries: 10 properly (16 total)
Cheapest Hotel: US$1.11/night (Marpha, Nepal)
Flights taken: 30
Distance flown: 66,479miles/107,000km
Number of photographs taken: 2200 (66 rolls)

Our top 10 places to visit (not in order) - All of the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
- Islands on Lake Titicaca (Peru)
- Easter Island (Chile)
- Torres del Paine (Chile)
- Uluru (Ayers Rock) (Australia)
- The high trekking in Nepal
- Camping in the highest parts of the Sierra (California)
- Backcountry in Denali (Alaska)
- Islamic architecture in Cairo (Egypt)
- West coast of the South Island of New Zealand

Useful things for the world traveler
- The Internet; specifically hotmail.com, photoworks.com, bbc.co.uk and internet cafes
- Lonely Planet guidebooks (18 of them)
- Swiss army knife
- Our Round the World tickets from Oneworld
- International ATMs (cashpoints)
- Speaking English and having a Spanish speaking partner

Our bottom 5 places to visit
- Egyptian Oasis Baharriya
- Fairbanks, Alaska
- Southern Coast of Peru, including Nasca
- Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Beaches near Krabi in Thailand

Australia

2004-07-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

Hello all again,

This is the last of our updates from our trip, and it covers the month we spent in Australia.

Thank you - you’ve been a wonderful audience,
Adrian and Carrie

AUSTRALIA (by Adrian) 15 June to 13 July

This was our final country, the most westernised and therefore least foreign. We were keen to explore how the indigenous peoples have coped with being colonized, as we have done in many of the other places we’ve seen, as well as to have a look at the mountains (such as they are), but for the most part we expected Australia to be less of a challenge than other places we went to. This was true, but our month was only enough to see a tiny part of the country the size of Europe.

Listening to music for the first time in a long while

Brisbane (15 June to 25 June)

We were able to stay with my friends Rhys and Nerida in Brisbane who provided a great base for a week. Brisbane is the major city of Queensland and we liked it for its open spaces and river frontage. Though we were there in midwinter the weather was mild and pleasant.

Interesting fact about Australia 1: In 1967 Australians voted to give aboriginals the status of citizens.

Our first day was spent walking around the city and the next was at a wildlife park where we stood a reasonable chance of seeing some of the wildlife of the country. Australia has a large number of exotic-looking cockatoos, ibis (very ugly) and many types of brightly coloured parrots that fly about in the cities and countryside alike. Australia also has many marsupials and the very weird platypus. We saw most of these creatures in the wildlife park and grew quite attached to the kangaroos and wallabies that bounced about and ate food from our hands in a friendly manner.

Kanagroo feeding at a zoo near Brisbane

Parrot feeding a street near the zoo in Brisbane

Cairns (25 June to 2 July)

Our main reason for visiting this town was the Great Barrier Reef, which is close to the mainland at this point. Being midwinter the sea was not especially warm, but we braved it to view the underwater collection of coral and brightly coloured fishes of the reef. For this we had to travel some distance out to sea, as the reef is still 30 miles or so out. This voyage proved too much for the stomachs of many people who traveled with us and nearly us also, but it was worth it. The sheer quantity of coral and the clarity of the water meant that you did not have to look very far too see something of interest. Others were scuba diving, but it really wasn’t necessary to do so to be overwhelmed by the mass of life that the reef supports; we spent time snorkeling and had quite an eyeful. Also in Cairns we took a ride in a ski-lift style gondola over a portion of un-logged rain forest with my uncle and aunt who came to visit us! This gave an unusual perspective on the forest; from the canopy downwards, and also of the many parrots and diverse plants that live in the trees at this height. I was very impressed.

Walking on a coral beach in Queensland

In the cable car over the rain forest near Cairns

Snorkelling over the Great Barrier Reef. The water was quite chilly at this tiem of year

A glass bottomed boat moving over the Great Barrier Reef

Interesting fact about Australia 2: Kangaroos (and all marsupials) give birth to pea-sized babies who crawl into the pouch and continue developing there.

Uluru (Ayers Rock) (2 July to 4 July)

Our Round The World ticket enabled us to go to this location but many people drive here – it’s 4 hours from Alice Springs, the nearest city, and many days from Cairns, so the flight was very useful. (For those who don’t know, Uluru is a very large piece of red rock in the middle of a very flat and big desert, and was called Ayers Rock by the British, but is now known by its Aboriginal name.) A “resort” has been established near the rock and it has a monopoly on all lodging, restaurants and transportation, so as a result things are very expensive and they don’t seem to be in any rush to provide you with any services either. Predictably, we stayed at the campsite. We went out to the Rock on the first day in the “budget” shuttle bus, and after looking around the cultural center walked around the base of the rock. This takes several hours and was hot, but was also stunningly beautiful. Indeed, the rock was one of the highlights of the whole trip we thought.

Uncle Nev and Auntie Amanda at Uluru

Uluru and the sky

Our chosen method of transportation at Uluru

A spider and the Rock

Uluru

Guess what?

The rock is a rich red, the sky a very clear blue and the foliage was a vivid green as it had just rained so the clarity and colour were breathtaking. The rock also has a texture that looks like velvet from a distance, which is due to flaking from its surface (the inside of it is gray and the red colour is rust forming on the surface only). I could not take my eyes off it! The area is now owned by the original Aboriginal tribes that lived there, the Anangu, and some of the areas around the rock were fenced off, and entry or photography was forbidden for various religious reasons. These restrictions appeared to be respected. However, it is possible to climb up to the top of the rock, an act that the Anangu “request” that you don’t do. Always wishing not to start international incidents we did some research into this matter, but could not come to any definite conclusion of right or wrong. Australians regard climbing it like the Japanese do Mount Fuji: it’s something you do once in your life if you can, but I was not even aware that it was possible to climb it, so it wasn’t such a bit deal. In the end we had to leave before we got a chance to climb up it anyway, but I am still not sure what to think. Carrie had a more certain point of view on this issue. [I would be interested to continue this debate with any readers].

Interesting fact about Australia 3: The platypus has a “spur” by its rear legs that can inflict a painful sting.

Sydney (4 July to 14 July)

This city was the last place we visited and it was good to end at such a wonderful place. We liked Sydney for its international makeup and its lively seafront and streets. We were put in a good mood on arrival by talking with the shuttle driver from the airport who, it turned out, was from Iraq, and he told us a couple of opinions of the war as well as some things we didn’t know about Iraq (and Australia). We decided to visit the Blue Mountains, the closest mountainous region to Sydney, and miraculously it is possible to travel to this area by train, which we did. The mountains are not high (1000m) but at this time of year were a bit chilly higher up, and so few people were visiting them. We hiked a little around an impressive gorge then did the Six Foot Track and 3 day hike to some caves about 46km away. We were a little underwhelmed with this as it was hiking on 4X4 roads and in forest for the most part, but did get to see a number of kangaroos and wallabies.

The cold in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales

Back in town we examined the museums for signs of Aboriginal history but could find little. The status of the Aboriginal contrasts starkly with the Maori in New Zealand who are doing very well in comparison. However, we got quite attached to their paintings, which though a recent invention, are based on very old designs and we even picked up a few of them as we could carry them home at this stage of the trip.

And then with some sadness, we flew the long flight over the date line back to California where we’d started 54 weeks previously.

Interesting fact about Australia 4: Voting is compulsory in Australia.

All of our stuff. We took most of this everywhere on our trip

All of our stuff packed for transportation

New Zealand

2004-07-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

New Zealand

Kia Ora, Hello readers,

NZ was a very different experience for us than other legs of our trip, for a number of reasons; notably its coldness, its affluence, and the fact that we toured the country by car. Initially we found the crispness and clarity of the air a welcome, refreshing change from the heat we'd experienced in Thailand etc, but there were nights when we were quite uncomfortably cold, especially as we slept in a tent for the first time since Chile (and some of us are getting old). Aside from our stop in Europe midway on our trip, this was the first winter we've experienced in our many criss-crossings of the hemispheres.

The prosperousness of the country - its status as a first world rather than developing country - was also a mixed experience: very nice because everything was clean (very few dead cats about although they were more than made up for by road kill possums) but also a bit annoying because with first world wealth come first world prices. As well, while we found NZ's natural history, dynamic geology, absurd flightless birds, and Maori/pakeha negotiations interesting, we also felt that being in NZ was much less of an adventure than being in the more exotic, truly foreign places we'd been seeing. NZ is a pretty good mix of English and American norms when it comes to street signs, proliferation of rules (no eating here, no excess noise, that kind of thing), and food available in supermarkets - nice and easy in some ways, but less exciting too.

Having a car to tour around in was great - it proved to be an economic option and it gave us the freedom of our own schedule, and since the country is quite small we were able to see almost all the places we wanted to. Unfortunately, my driver's license had expired, so Adrian had to do all of the 4000km of driving. He did a great job, but I was disappointed about missing a chance to drive on the wrong side of the road and it was a lot of work for him!

Though the country is famous for its strange birds, we were struck by the complete lack of wildlife at all! We could walk for hours sometimes and not see a single bird or animal. Most of the common birds and animals are introduced, and spend most of their time chewing on rare native birds, but a few of these natives can be seen in certain areas. The more esoteric - such as the kiwi - are very hard to see in the wild and are best seen from inside a preserve. Sad really. The possum, which is less common in its native Australia, is a real pest and we even saw possum fur clothing items for sale. According to some sources, the locals like to go hunting possum, wild pigs and goats, but it's a battle already lost.

Mount Cook

A toilet design and partially built by Hundertwasser

NZ interesting fact: Native bird the Tui has 2 voice boxes.

One of the things that most impressed us was the range of accommodation available for car/caravan campers; we stayed in a succession of holiday parks which are set up to serve tourers such as ourselves, and were very satisfied. Most of the time we set up a tent and slept there, but occasionally we upgraded to a "cabin" (a little room with bed and table usually) and we always had the gamut of fancier options - from en suite to kitchen cabin to hotel room to dorm lodge - and with whichever accommodation we were given access to the kitchen, tv lounge, and showers. These varied in quality but were always adequate, allowing us to save money by self-catering (and depressing us with a reminder of how few meals we know how to prepare).
Disclaimer: Contrary to what some of you may be hoping, this will not be a Guide to NZ's "Lord of the Rings" sites, as we don't know anything about that.

North Island (by Adrian). May 16th to June 1st
Auckland

We flew into Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, and after the 3 months of developing nations, it seemed like a very clean, modern city, and the Kiwis are quite proud of it I think. There was talk by some of the huge traffic jams and crowds that the city has, but it's what you're used to - I didn't think it was either busy or congested at all. In keeping with the NZ manner of converting every attraction into some type of adrenalin sport, in the centre of town there was an area with 2 poles and a seat between them suspended by some type of elastic. You sit in the seat and are then twanged upwards (a sort of reverse bungee). Next to it there was a bungee jump from a skyscraper. We did not do either of these, and upon questioning, the Kiwis don't seem very keen on this sort of thing either.

Northland

As we had negotiated the hire of a car for a month, we were free to go where we pleased. The roads in NZ are good and empty, but sometimes twisty and narrow. We started by heading north to "Northland". Here there are pieces of original forest not cut down for timber, and it was hot! We saw giant Kauri trees at Waipoua, which are very stout round trees that grow straight - so they were very desirable for wood and few survived.

Then we drove to Paihia, on the east coast of Northland, which is the site of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. We got quite familiar with this, as it's the basis whereby the Maori and the Europeans divided up the country, and even today it is used to settle disputes. In 1840 it was agreed that the Maori owned most of the land, and could sell it to whom they pleased (with the consent of the British), so since then they have been in control of the country to some level. They got the vote in 1867 and seem to be pretty well integrated in NZ society. This is very different to the peoples of Australia and the USA who are in a position much inferior to that of the Maori today. We saw the place where it was signed and various memorabilia of the signing; pens, desks, clothes etc, as well as a copy of the treaty. And the gift shop.

Most famous New Zealander: Edmund Hillary
Most famous Maori: Kiri Te Kanawa

Rotorua

I'd heard of this place before as the site of much mud bubbling and general area of geothermal activity. However, when we got there it seemed more like a theme park than anything else, but a bit smellier. Each of the locations that are best suited for observing bubbling are inside of some type of attraction with gift shop, cafe, kiwi house, maori dancing and so forth. We decided to go to one of these which on its flyer mentioned the geysers in larger letters than the gift shop, and saw its main attraction, the "Lady Knox Geyser". This was a ~15m high geyser, which goes off at 10.15 precisely every day, its eruption being initiated by a ranger throwing a bag of soap powder in it. We also saw many hot pools and coloured pieces of rock with names like "The Devil's Kitchen", "Satan's Hole", etc. We decided to leave this place after only a brief stay. A shame as it could be much more interesting and pleasant.

A Geyser near Rotorua

Tongariro

After Rotorua we headed south, around Lake Taupo and to the large volcanic area of Tongariro. This area of the country is mostly flat, but has a number of large volcanoes sticking up out of it. Some are active, a few recently, so the landscape looks unusual. We stayed in the park campsite and decided to undertake the "Tongariro Crossing" a well known walk up and over one of the volcanoes. For some reason, huge numbers of people do this walk and having seen hardly anyone in the park, we were surprised to be joined by a few hundred people on this trail. On the tops it was cold but bright and were were crunching along in snow and ice for a little while. The rocks are made of pointy lava and are all different colours. The volcano erupted only 9 years ago so there are still rumbles from it, and steam comes out of some holes.

The Tongiriro crossing

Rime ice as seen on the Tongiriro crossing. (It was nearly midwinter)

After warming up, we headed south from Tongariro for the Mount Bruce National Wildlife Center, which is a government run place where many native birds are looked after. As most of these are flightless, or not very good at flying, they find it hard to escape from dogs and possums, and as they prefer to nest on the ground their eggs are eaten easily by rats too, so they really do not stand a chance in the wild. The birds are kept in large cages and we saw various parrots and strange looking grouse things. The kiwi, being nocturnal animals, are kept in a building where lighting swaps day and night so it is possible to view them without having to get up in the middle of the night. We spent a while peering into the darkness and finally spotted one walking about in its enclosure. They are large - bigger than a chicken - and have a long beak and large nasty-looking feet and quickly scamper about prodding and poking. Several of the native birds that are good flyers we spotted in the wild, notably the charming Fantail which followed us around in many areas and the Tui which seems to be able to make any number of strange sounds it wants and was often heard beeping and whistling.

Wellington

Fortunately for us we were able to stay with Nicki in Wellington who provided a very fine house for our usage for a few days and was a great, relaxed, welcoming hostess. The luxury of our own room AND a kitchen was impossible to convey, and she even had a washing machine, not to mention roof! Nicki took us on a few hikes in the steep hills surrounding Wellington; we experienced some local weather as well - strong wind and rain - and learnt something of what it is to move to New Zealand. In addition it was a real pleasure to spend time talking with a good friend who was interested in many of the same things we were.

In Wellington (the capital) the main museum is called Te Papa (Our place) and was possibly the best museum we've visited anywhere in the world, and both being museum geeks, we've seen a few. Certainly it was the best presented and had very informative exhibits on the wildlife, Maori history, geology, modern history and politics of NZ. We stayed for hours.

South Island (by Carrie). June 1st to June 15th

Having enjoyed our time on the picturesque North Island, we were very excited to make it south, for opinion seems to be unanimous in naming the South Island as the more spectacularly scenic of the two. We were hopeful that the winter weather would continue to be as mild as it had for the first few weeks of our trip, and that we would be able to try some sections of the Great Walks, as NZ's network of tracks connecting huts in various national parks are called.

Abel Tasman

We took the ferry from Wellington to Picton on the South Island, and drove around the Marlborough sounds to the town of Motueka, from which we could do a bit of the Abel Tasman track. Unfortunately, we did not have time to complete any of the GW's, having prioritized seeing most of the country over doing any track in its entirety, but we got a sampling anyway. Equipped with our usual snack of gorp, some peanut butter sandwiches, porridge, and an indifferent pasta meal, we began hiking at a little before noon. We found this track very impressively maintained and concluded that the bush is so thick with ferns and other creeping ground covering growths that bushwhacking would be pretty much impossible in many areas of the country; thus, the great walks are extremely well-maintained and allow everyone access to the wilderness. Also, having huts at regular intervals all along the Great Walks makes for quite a cushy time of it, and our experience of the hiking suggested that not only is it technically simple, it is also less strenuous than other treks we have done. For me, having grown up on easy California hiking, this was great, but I think Adrian would always enjoy a bit more cross-country and exploration in nature experiences. As in Tongariro, we were impressed by the numbers of people out walking and very glad we were not trying to get anywhere in the summertime, when the great walks must be absolutely heaving with trampers. The hike to the Anchorage Hut, our destination for the night, was quite easy and pleasant. We strolled up and down in and out of view of the sea, and on one beach far below we were sure we saw penguins. The hut was well-appointed and we had our large bunkroom to ourselves.

Moeraki boulders which seem to look much better in photos than they did for real

Number of New Zealanders: 4million. Number of possums in New Zealand: 80 million

West Coast and Glaciers

After the taste of Abel Tasman, we made our way south towards the west coast. We drove to the coastal town of Hokitika, and were awed by the dramatic surf and the wood-strewn beaches. It was here that we had our only consistent rain of the trip, and we indulged ourselves with a night in a basic cabin--very cosy. We went out to see the creatures in nearby Glowworm Dell and likened them to stars in the sky in their scattered constellations of pinpricking lights, some fainter and some more luminous. Continued on down the coast on the following day, enjoying a sunny, windy walk in the sanddunes and more fantastic crashing waves, impressive in their numbers.

Having seen our share of glaciers in Alaska we were nonetheless interested to see the NZ variety, and took in both Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers with a few hikes, walking right up to the snout of the former and peeking into an ice cave. Both glaciers were rather dirty and have receded quite far in recent years, but remain impressive hunks of ice. Near Fox Glacier we went not once but twice to take in the views of Mounts Cook and Tasman from Lake Matheson. The latter is a very pretty little lake in the middle of forest, from which you can stand and watch the mist clear to reveal the snowy peak of NZ's tallest mountain and its neighbors; better photographers than we have managed to get the peaks' reflections in the lake.

Queenstown and Routeburn Track

We regret to inform our daredevil friends that we did not take advantage of all the hardcore adrenaline activities available throughout NZ, but notably in Queenstown. We passed through the touristy spot on the banks of Lake Wakatipu on our way to Glenorchy, a pretty village from which we began the Routeburn Track, another of NZ's Great Walks. Again, we only took time for the first day of the track, and were unable even to daytrip further due to snow and ice on the trail, but we had at least a taste of it. We found the huts to be quite fancy although built more for summer than winter use--the views were spectacular but the huge rooms were cold, and our fellow hutters spent over three hours trying to get the coal fire to burn, with very limited success.

The local population

The snout of the Franz Josef glacier

The Mount Cook range

Dunedin and Otago Coast

The drive from Queenstown to Dunedin was stunning, taking us through gently rolling, softly furred hills of grass sprinkled with large flat boulders (which A confirmed to me resembled bits of north England and Scotland) and then villages flanked by apple orchards, the rosy fruit clustered on some trees. Arriving in Dunedin we found the place abuzz with excitement over the upcoming rugby match between the famous All Blacks and the English team, 2003 world champions. Wandering around the town, we enjoyed its homey feel and particularly liked the Arc Cafe, where we munched on muffins and their kin and had free email. We visited the Otago Settlers Museum in town, and learned there a bit about the area's history. Dunedin, we found, is the Gaelic for Edinburgh; most of the original settlers were Scottish Presbyterians, and the few English Anglicans who sneaked in were looked upon as the "Little Enemy" during subsequent political intrigues.

A Panorma in the South Island

A large, stone penguin

The Otago Peninsula which sweeps out from Dunedin has a network of trails leading to sandy beaches, where penguins can be spotted. We made our way over a few miles of sand dunes one dusk to climb into a hide and hope for a glimpse of the rare Yellow Eyed (or Hoiho) Penguins coming in for the evening. To our delight, in they came, washing up with varying levels of grace onto the sand and righting themselves with a shake before making their long, laborious way up a few hundred feet of grassy cliff and over into their nesting sites on the other side of the hill. Returning in the gathering dark from this adventure, we saw a dramatic burst of fireball over the far horizon, and read in the paper later that a meteorite had crashed through someone's house in Auckland!

As the hordes began to descend on our holiday park in their garb of black (with silver feather) or white (with red rose) we decided that we'd drive a safe distance and watch the big match in a pub. Even though Adrian assured me that rugby union fans are a far more well-behaved lot than, say, Raider Nation or the notorious louts of Engish football, I wasn't keen to spend the night amidst a bunch of lagered up sports fans. The drive up the Otago coast to the "penguin capital of New Zealand," Oamaru, was beatiful--yet again the skies were clear. We found Oamaru to be rather a sleepy little place but were excited to check out their colony of Little Blue (or Korora) Penguins. This we did at dusk, when the rafts (groups) of Little Blues were making their way in. Like the Yellow-Eyeds, the Little Blues spend all day out at sea, swimming up to thirty kilometers as they feed on fish. Returning in the evening, they have just enough energy to climb up to their nests (which can be quite far inland) and rejoin their partners. If they've already had their baby for the year they regurgitate a bit of food for her, but not for their mate, who will take his turn the next day while the other partner has a day off. The Blues are the smallest of penguins and were of course very cute as they stumbled out of the water and made their waddling, determined way up the hill. Signs on the road warned to go slowly--penguin crossing. Har har, we thought, until the headlights caught a bit of white and the swept-back wings of two little guys caught in their progress home.
After this wildlife the rugby was bound to be a bit anticlimactic, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. First of all, the All Blacks do this great sort of warrior dance, called a "Haka", before their games, to intimidate the opposition, and I thought this was excellent. And the game itself was a lot more exciting than many sports because it kept going, without pause for beer commercials every yard or so!

NZ term for bedding:Manchester (eg "kitchenware, lingerie and Manchester; 2nd floor")

Christchurch

Our last stop in NZ was in Christchurch, where we had a walk along the bluffs outside of town and resisted the temptation of numerous duty-free souvenir shops with reams of stuffed sheep, penguin mouse pads, and possum-fur belly-button wamers on offer. We also took the opportunity to attend Evensong in Christchurch Cathedral, a pleasant experience.

Thailand

2004-06-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

Thailand

Hello everyone! As we complete our twelfth month on the road, we continue to yearn for news from home, and to enjoy your responses to our newsletters.

We have now got a couple of months in the English-speaking world to look forward to as we tour New Zealand and Australia before heading back to multi-cultural California. This edition of the newsletter covers our sojourn in Southeast Asia, where we had too little time and were awed by the culture, food, and temperatures!

much love, Adrian and Carrie

Thailand, April 9th-May 1st
by Carrie

We had originally booked our ticket to Bangkok primarily as a port from which to fly to Kathmandu, but in the midst of a trip my parents reconnected with a long-lost friend who lives in Bangkok, and we decided to prolong our stay in order to see a bit of her country with a native. My parents lived in Thailand for a total of over three years many years ago, first arriving to teach English in a town in the south of the country and returning a few years later, with my infant self in tow, so that my dad might do research for his dissertation project while my mom taught English at a university in Bangkok. On their return they hunted high and low for one of my mom's old students, an avid learner whose nickname was Sticky, whom they invited to come and live with us and help with the care of my young self. It was a treat to meet Sticky (again) and to hear her tales of my parents in their youth, and she gave us insights into the country which we have not enjoyed in many places we've visited.

Fact about Thailand #1:Thailand alone among its neighbors was never colonized by a European power.

Bangkok, April 9th-12th, 19th-23rd, and 30th to May 1st

Thanks to a map given us by Sticky, which included bus routes, we became quite adept at maneuvering at least parts of this metropolis by bus, both aircon and ordinary. There were times when the former was essential, as when stuck for seeming ages at this or that intersection when the mercury hovered around 40. We also walked around the city and saw many different attractions both with and without our Thai tour guide. On the very first night of our official visit, Sticky took us to a party at her work to celebrate the upcoming Thai new year. There we were able to view lip synching and karaoke performed by semi-professional "lady boys"--very entertaining! Also on our first weekend, we visited the Burmese-populated island of Ko Kret, in the middle of Bangkok's river, and the "Ancient City," which is actually a sort of theme park of Thailand's history, meant to be toured in an aircon car--ours was courtesy of Sticky and her husband.

The floating market in Bangkok

Upon our return to Bangkok, we esconced ourselves in the center, not far from the notorious Khao San Road, and visited the nearby wats, the Grand Palance, the Vivanmek Teak Mansion, and the National Museum. We were dazzled by the thousands of bits of porcelain and reflecting glass in many colors with which many of the wats and their attending garudas, demons, monkeys, and other guards were decorated, and enjoyed the coolness within each time we removed our shoes and stepped into the temple holding the many buddha images.

During our three weeks in Thailand we came to be quite familiar with the Buddha in his many poses, and even made a fairly comprehensive list at one time. We liked watching the Thais as they brought in their offerings of lotus flowers, incense, and gold leaf and sat, mermaid fashion (so their feet would not point towards the Buddha, feet being considered rather dirty in much of Asia) to speak with an attendant monk. An essential part of the ritual, in addition to "wai"ing (a sign of respect which looks like praying, but different because Buddha is a spiritual leader, not a god), seemed to be photograph-snapping. We liked the monks too, and spotted them throughout the country, glorious in their bright orange robes and equally graceful whether accepting offerings in the temple, stepping out of a restaurant with a bag of cha yen, or sitting sidesaddle on the back of mopeds.

Drinking tea with Sticky. Tea was provided in these small bags.

Rooftops in Bangkok

As we wandered the streets of Bangkok, always in search of the perfect cha or kaffae yen,* we saw everywhere huge photos of the royal family, most often the queen, in somewhat hazy light, surrounded by enormous golden frames of some elaborateness. We had heard that the Thais love their royals, but it's more than that: you can be arrested if you say anything against them! Adrian snorted at what would happen to a portrait of Prince Charles, within a matter of minutes, were his image plastered about London in a similar fashion.

Looking round the temples of Bankok

Two more activities in Bangkok: We visited the touristy but interesting floating market, on the city's outskirts, with its network of surrounding canals and the water crowded with punt/gondola type boats full of overpriced fruit and kitschy elephant purses; We went to Chinatown and purchased our wedding rings, from a man who seemed reluctant to let us into his store for fear lest we a) rob him or b) accuse him of robbing us but who, in the end, let us go with the shiny bands.

*cha yen/kaffae yen: strong brewed tea/coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk, poured over ice, and sprinkled with evaporated milk for extra calories--HEAVEN, but beware the nescafe which sneaks in in touristed areas!

Fact about Thailand #2:Thais drive on the left side of the road.

Chiang Mai, April 13th-16th

Sticky had organized an overnight train trip to the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai to coincide with the most outrageous of Thai festivals, the Songkran New Year festival. We enjoyed our train trip (in comfy bunks which folded back into seats in daytime) and took two other night trains during our time in Thailand. We arrived in Chiang Mai in the morning, a little before the festival broke out, and were able to view a few wats in relative tranquility. At about ten a.m., as we were strolling along the side of the moat which surrounds the old city, we started to see people with trash cans full of water, standing by the side of the road or cruising by in pick-up trucks. A shy little kid came up as we walked past and, with a sense of duty about him rather than one of mischief, poured some water from a bowl over our hands. And that was just the beginning! By noon the party was in full swing, and did not end for three days, only pausing for the night. It was impossible to avoid getting not just wet, but utterly soaked, walking anywhere in the city, or probably the country, and what with the heat, we were happy enough to join in! By buying a water pistol we signalled our willing participation, which made it more fun for us, but when we ventured forth unarmed we were doused all the same. Just as we'd begin to dry off, having visited a wat or stopped on a quiet street, a pick-up truck ful of teenagers would slide by and a bucket of water would be unceremoniously dumped in its entirety over one or both of us. We were perpetually wet, and it was great fun--there was a feeling of shared mayhem, and yet it did not get out of control, as we were sure any such event would do in a manner of minutes in either the U.S. or the U.K.

Our cooking class in Chiang Mai

Prepared for the New Year action

We read a little about the origins of the current festival, and enjoyed a lovely parade of Buddha images which retained some hint of the more tranquil earlier celebrations. As with Chinese new year, the idea is to clean out the house and one's person in time to greet the new year fresh; thus, in the old days the symbolic act of washing the hands of elders and monks with "lustral" water was central to the event. We saw people on the streets selling baggies of special water filled with petals and other lustrous essences, and when the gold-coated Buddhas were carried by on the shoulders of the devout we were supposed to squirt, splash, and otherwise cleanse them. Never has devotion been so fun! We were also reminded of the processions of the Virgin of the Door and other saints and Marys which we witnessed in South America, but the Thai carryings on were a lot more fun!

Also in Chiang Mai, we took a cooking course, and learned to make some of the dishes which we so enjoyed while there, from coconut milk-based soup to green curry.

Fact about Thailand #3:Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai Prime Minister, is in negotiations as of this writing to buy a stake in the British football club Liverpool, and it is possible he will do so with tax payer money!!!!

Elephant feeding

Preparing mango. I got quite good at this, but not good enough not to be covered in mango afterwards.

Preparing tea, or Thai iced tea, which we were quite partial to.

Sukkhothai, Sri Satchanalai, and Ayuthaya, April 17th-19th

Leaving Chiang Mai, we made our way south to three different cities which were each at one time central to the country. We enjoyed walking through the complexes of wats, their dazzling exteriors long since crumbled away, leaving a more tranquil, less resplendent base of bricks, surrounded by trees and overgrown in many cases with vines and moss. We saw many more Buddhas, some of them enormous, in their various positions, and learned about the golden age of Sukhothai, which saw the creation of the Thai written language and a flourishing of Khmer-style stupas and wats. We also enjoyed being in an area less frequented by other farang, and the daily interactions with people who were not so used to tourists but nonetheless eager to be helpful despite the considerable language barrier. We rode around in saeng-taws, which are sort of overhauled pick-up trucks with pleasant breezy open backs.

The Buddha

The Buddha again

The South--Nakhorn Si Thammarat and Ao Nang, April 23rd-29th

We visited NST because my parents lived there during their first stint in Thailand, and though there was not much to see we enjoyed the place, a small industrial city on the west coast. When we were in the south some of the political upheaval between the separatist Muslims and the Thai army was getting more serious, but we ourselves did not see any trouble. Instead we wandered around the streets, visited the town's large wat filled with little white stupas, and sampled the banana roty (a sort of crepe filled with bananas and drizzled with sweetened evaporated milk, made at a streetside cart) which were to become a staple of our diet throughout the remainder of the trip. After NST we were not prepared for the touristy nature of Krabi, which we'd heard was less overrun by farang than nearby Phuket, but which was plenty overrun for us! Once we'd adjusted our expectations we were able to enjoy the beautiful beaches, the warm water, and the spectacular limestone cliffs. Adrian looked longingly at some of the climbs in the area but as we were unequipped (and he had no partner!) we contented ourselves with sea activities such as snorkeling, kayaking, and visiting other white-sand beaches.

Boats near Krabi

Kayaking near Krabi

Fact about Thailand #4:The Thai king is the longest reigning monarch in the world.

Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Bali

2004-06-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka, May 1st-8th (by Adrian)

The visit to Sri Lanka was not one we had in mind for the trip, but when booking the ticket it turned out that we could go there anyway, so we did. We usually think that one week is not really enough to see a place, but as it turned out, a week was probably a bit long!

Vegtables on the street in Colombo

The sea front of Colombo

Sri Lanka, like Nepal, has a serious civil war going on. The feeling on the streets of the capital was not totally pleasant, as there were road blocks, streets closed, soldiers walking about and troops driving along the roads. Also the infrastructure of the country is in a very poor state, and many of the roads, trains and railways looked as though they had not been replaced since the British left over 50 years ago.

Interesting fact about Sri Lanka:the word 'serendipity' comes from the old arab word for Sri Lanka 'serendib' - actually two words meaning "Gem Island".

We wandered around Colombo, the capital, for a couple of days, but other than a pleasant seafront promenade, really found very little of interest. We took a train out of the city, and after a long ride we went to see the "elephant orphanage" which is supposed to care for elephants in need. There were certainly many elephants in residence, though none especially small. We were able to see them being fed milk and swimming in the river. Quite a sight it was to see their trunks doing all sorts of things.

Then we headed 'upcountry' to Kandy, where coincidentally, there was a big festival for the May full moon, during which time the Buddha was born, achieved enlightenment, and died (Carrie's dad commented: "a busy day!"). In Kandy is a very sacred temple containing the Buddha's "left tooth". Allegedly anyway. This relic is venerated beyond belief, and many stories have developed around it. We queued for about an hour to see it, passing through 3 different levels of security and finally shuffling around a corridor to arrive at the tooth room. Inside was mayhem, so we just looked at it from the outside past the thronging masses. The tooth itself is (allegedly) contained within many caskets, in a Russian Doll fashion, so you can't see the tooth. In fact, rumour has it that the "real" tooth is somewhere else for safe keeping. It was stolen many years ago, and on an attempt to crush it, it shot up into the air and glowed (there is a picture of this alleged event). The tooth building is very fancy, and has a museum, a display area of gifts given by tooth pilgrims over the years, groups of musicians and a special elephant who parades the tooth about the town once a year - as well as performing other ceremonial duties. Oh, and the elephant has a museum also.

During the festival, many especially elaborately created paper lanterns were illuminated around the temple and lights were put on every available surface. It made the place look quite nice.

A Buddha, one of the largest in the world, apparently.

Elephants at the elephant orphanage.

We also wanted to visit the ancient fortress of Sigiriya, but it was closed due to a recent attack by hornet on a group of Philipinos, so we went to another, smaller, temple nearby, carved into the rocks. There were hundreds of buddhas (buddhae?) that were carved in caves there, but the millions of people crowding around them made it hot and a cramped push to see them.

Bali (Indonesia) May 9th-16th (by Adrian)

Like Sri Lanka, Bali was another country we had as a bonus. It's in Indonesia, but is a predominately Hindu island. We decided here that we were to have a holiday, before our entry back to the first world, so set ourselves up in one of the many excellent, well appointed bungalows upcountry for the week. It really was a good idea too. The climate is good, and the way of life seems largely untroubled away from the large tourist towns of the coast. The music and dance traditions of Bali and Java were well known to me, and we attended 3 different performances. The music is performed by the gamelan - an ensemble of 24 musicians playing percussions instruments such as gong, drums and xylophones - which can be very loud and is very expressive. The music is very different to western ears, but I loved it. The dance also was spectacular, being very colourful, energetic and frightening at times! It must be great growing up in a place that has so much music around all the time.

Two+2 of the very large numbers of monkeys we encountered.

A complex of buildings that used to be a palace, but now a hotel.

Pesky monkeys again.

A gamelan performance

Cycling through the rice paddies

Other than these excursions, we limited activities to reading by the pool, swimming and sleeping.

Layovers in Hong Kong airport, May 8th and 16th (by Adrian)

Unforunately, it turned out that we were to have rather a long time in Hong Kong on 2 occasions. We laid aside plenty to read and do for these days, but it turned out that they let us out of the airport to look about if we wanted. The airport is on a relatively unpopulated island some distance from the tower blocks, and on the first layover we walked into the forest only a few miles from the runways. And it was very nice, not at all the urban environment that I'd expected to see. In fact we saw very few people, and at times could not even see any buildings either, but just a view of the bay. On our second visit we went to Hong Kong island itself and visited the very interesting 'Museum of Tea Ware', which was indeed a museum of tea pots and stuff associated with teamaking in China. It was a surprise to visit a museum that has descriptions of items and information (something which was not present in any museum we'd been to for many months). Still, I would not recommend spending 20hours in any airport, but HKG might be one of the better ones.

The interior of Hong Kong international, our home for 2 nights

A foggy trip out

Nepal

2004-04-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

Nepal

Hello everyone,
We are now in Thailand, sweating, and have been reminiscing about trekking around the cool, mountainous country of Nepal. A full account of what we got up to is below, as well as the highly anticipated announcement of the winners of last month's very popular competition.

Summary of Nepal: Big mountains
Carrie and Adrian

NEPAL
by Adrian

This account contains only 2 parts, as we only really did 2 things in Nepal: trekking and other. However, we nearly didn't make it to the country at all, as we'd heard about a good amount of civil unrest throughout the country. We decided to come, though many people have stayed away, sadly, depriving this very poor country of much needed foreign cash.

Prayer wheels. Each wheel contains numerous prayers, each written on pieces of paper, and when the wheel is spun, the prayer is said. The more wheels are spun, the more prayers are said

While we were in Nepal we saw and heard of several skirmishes and strikes which have been occurring sporadically now for several months. Two years ago the very unpopular King decided to sack the democratically elected government, which noone thought was a good idea (except him presumably). Also, an appreciable percentage of the country is not controlled by the government at all, but by the communist Maoists, who at least try to keep order and keep schools open etc (but they do kidnap and shoot people too). Somehow the country has not (yet) fallen into anarchy, but I feel it could happen at fairly short notice. As a peaceful way of protesting about the government and king's actions, there are regular "bandhs", or national strikes, which bring the country to a halt. Three of these occurred during the 4 weeks we were in Nepal, along with a smaller, Kathmandu valley only strike. (Some readers may find this summary a little cursory, in which case I'm sure there's plenty of places to find out more...)

Interesting fact of Nepal 1:The flag of Nepal is very unusual. It looks like a red christmas tree cut vertically down the middle.

A small stupa, in Kathmandu

Nepal is by far the poorest country we have visited and has virtually no natural resources of its own, and foreign aid makes up a large proportion of the national budget. Tourism is very important, but now with the widespread concern over unrest, many tourists, especially those who spend a lot of cash (ie not like us) are staying away. On our trek we stayed in several lodges where we were the only guests and we saw many that had closed due to lack of tourists. This is a shame as its such a wonderful country to visit, and I really hope the place manages to sort itself out before its too late.
One national pasttime we observed frequently was that of expectoration. This is done frequently, noisily and indiscriminately by the young, old, men, women, rich and poor. But, we didn't like it much.

Kathmandu (12-14March, 2-9April)

Our time in Kathmandu was split up by the trek and also by the series of strikes that took place in early April. As time went on the strikes did not seem to be 100% effective, and we were able to visit some sights and even do some shopping, and all in relative ease as the streets were empty of traffic.

Two of the numerous monkeys that live in Kathmandu

Kathmandu is an ancient capital and contains many Hindu temples dating back 500 years. The alleyways and buildings look old also, and seem to possess a timeless quality to them. The streets of Nepal however are not too clean, and some even rivalled those of Egypt! We visited the main square of Kathmandu - main squares are always called Durbar Squares it seems - several times and wandered about the collection of temples and shrines there trying to understand the Hindu religion and avoid the rickshaw touts.

The temples are made of bricks or stone with up to 5 pagoda style roofs on top. Around them they have many wooden carvings of people and gods, some of which usually show quite a bit of rude and athletic goings-on. This seems to be of interest mostly to tourists. The square also has a population of amusing rhesus monkeys that can be seen running about on top of the buildings and eating bananas etc.

Durbar Square in Kathmandu

Another square in Kathmandu

We visited several towns within a few miles of Kathmandu as well. Originally the area surrounding Kathmandu was split up into many different states, each with its own king and government, but they've been united under Nepal for a while. However, each one of these towns retains its Durbar Square and some are very attractive. We strode around Patan and Bhaktapur for many hours observing the carvings and decorations around the temples. Hinduism has many Shiva temples, but confusingly, Shiva has several different incarnations (some human, some animal), each of which have different personalities (angry, happy...). I found this very confusing, but was able to recognise several of them after a few hours of wandering about.

Interesting fact of Nepal 2:Nepal is in a time zone of its own, 5hours and 45minutes ahead of Greenwich. This very strange difference is to separate it from India (5h30m).

Annapurna Trek (15March-1April)

We decided to do the Annapurna Circuit trek, which is by far the most popular trek in Nepal. It seemed to be the obvious choice as it does not backtrack, contains very spectacular scenery and has a somewhat difficult section which we thought we would have a go at: the Thorung La Pass, at 5416m about the highest we'd ever be likely to go. There were some reports of Maoist activities in the area, and some enforced "donations" to Maoist causes, but we didn't see anything of them.
The trek goes around the Annapurna range, a group of several peaks, the highest of which is one of the 14 in the world over 8000m. The whole time we were going around we kept seeing different peaks from different sides and saw clouds only in the afternoon. It was incredible to see such mountains all the day long, especially when they would rise above villages to an unfeasible height it would seem. Occasionally we would see a piece of rock floating way up in the sky, that looked like it was not possible for it to be joined to the land at all!

A hillside viewed from the trail

Carrie with a reflection of Machupuchare in her glasses. Quite clever as well I think

There were some animals and especially birds to see - though we failed to see the Himalayan Marmot. Most impressive were the mountain sheep which prefer to live on the most precipitous cliffs they can find, and move around on the in a very sure-footed manner somehow. As high as we went there were birds and even butterflies. The forests have a healthy population of langur monkeys which provide much amusement with their jumping about and cute behaviour just in front of guest house balconies.

A narrow street in a mountain village on the trail

Trekking in this area really is very straightforward. We were able to stay at "tea houses", locally built and owned hotels in nearly every village of the area. These ranged from simple but comfortable barns with beds in, to quite elaborate hotels with an extensive range of facilities and menu items. Considering that all the building supplies for these have to be carried by mule or person, it was quite surprising how many of these places there were. We typically had a room to ourselves, and ate the local staple meal - the famous "dahl baht". This is a plate of rice with a bowl of lentil soup and a bowl of potato curry and a bowl of some other substance, which we never touched. The main advantage to this (for me anyway), was that there seemed to be unlimited quantities of this produced, and it just kept on coming, provided you could finish the previous serving. After trekking all day, quantity is much more important that quality!

Eating the same food everyday did get a little boring so we did try other things, including apple pie, rice pudding, baked beans, eggs in any style and spring rolls. To drink there was tea or coffee, and even beer and coke, carried many miles again - and probably the empties carried back also (ed. note: yeah, right). Every night we had good sleep (except when very high), which made a real difference.

The Annapurna range

The Hotel Monalisa, typical of those we stayed at, close to Muktinath on the trail

Each day we trekked for between 4 and 7 hours, stopping at various places for lunch, elevenses, tea, etc, and were able to keep up a good pace. Fortunately we were quite accustomed to hiking, so found ourselves overtaking quite a few others, but we did keep seeing the same people every now and again. The trails are generally very good, and many of them are used for mules or horses so are a bit dusty, but there is no real danger of getting lost. The rivers are crossed by steel cable suspension bridges which swing backwards and forwards quite a bit in some cases. We saw a train of donkeys passing over such a bridge of maybe 60m in length by themselves, without a single problem!

Annapurna. Annapurna is one of the worlds 14 8000+m peaks and is the 10th tallest in the world. Here, it is 4000m from base to summit.

More praying

The hardest day was passing over the high pass of Thorung La. This involved a climb of 1000m to 5400m, then a descent of 1700m on the other side of the pass. The pass itself was very windy and extremely cold. Breathing at that altitude was hard work, and I had great trouble keeping up with Carrie under these conditions. However, on top of the pass we were able to take some refuge inside a small tearoom there and partake of some hot tea - surely the highest tearoom in the world. There was some snow at this height, but not much.

Close to our last night's accommodation near Thorong La (5418m), the highest point on our trek

A view back down the trail towards Machupuchare

On descending from the pass we entered the holy city of Muktinath which had a quite attractive temple site with prayer flags all over it and a steady stream of holy men, some of whom claimed to have walked there from India. They wore very colourful clothing and had long beards, so we believed that they probably had come from a long way away.

The village of Marpha

When we were nearing the end of this loop, we decided to join on another, shorter trek, the Annapurna Sanctury Trek, which goes into the middle of the Annapurna range. This was not as interesting of a hike, but the panorama from the sanctuary was fantastic. Mountains all around, including Annapurna 1, over 4000m above us. We looked around at all of the snowy faces, and read about various attempts to climb them over the years - some successful some not. This trek has turned out to be one of the highlights of the whole year so far.

One of the many impressive bridges

Springs near to Muktinath

Famous Nepalis (that I can think of)
1 - Sherpa Tensing Norgay.
2 - Buddha.

Pyramid Competition Results

There was considerable interest in our competition, and the entries are still flooding in, but we have to draw the line now! In the end the winner was determined to be (da, da-da DUM) Tall Paul Handley, writing from Tajikistan. The main problem answers were the mother of King Tut (Kiya) and the order of construction of the various monuments (pyramids are the oldest). The prize will be kept in the Carrie and Adrian safe until its troublefree transit can be assured - otherwise some of the valuable water or plastic sand might escape. Note: it does not come with a pen, so don't be too jealous.

Quiz Results

2004-04-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Hello entrants!

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses to our quiz! You will pleased to hear that the waiting is over, and the winner of the pyramid has been decided. It is Paul Handley, currently residing in Tajikistan, who was the only person to get all of the questions right! Obviously there is going to be some disagreement over such a valuable and prestigious prize, but I must insist that the adjudicator's decision is final (unless we get hold of another "prize"). Thank you for entering.

>1. Who was King Tuthankhamun's mother (probably)?
>a) Hatshepsut b) Cleopatra c) Siobhan from the Bangles d) Nefertiti e) Kiya

This was the hardest question, and the answer is agreed to be Kiya now by experts - and by us. Previously Nefertiti was considered to be his mother, possibly. But not any more.

>2. What is a felucca?
>a) an Egyptian snack served in a pita b) a small devotional statue with the
>head of an owl c) an olde-style sailboat d) none of the above, in which case you supply the >correct answer

Its a boat

>3) 10% of Egyptians are...
>a) Coptic Christians b) illiterate
>c) taxi or carriage drivers d) descended from the pharaohs

Christians

>4) A woman's headscarf is called:
>a) a naos b) a midan c) a higab d) a galabiyyah

The Higab

>5) Place in order of date of construction:
>a) Great Wall of China b) Pyramids at Giza c) Stonehenge d) Golden Gate
>Bridge The pyramids are the oldest, then Stonehenge, the Great Wall and the Bridge.

I think there might have been some evidence of construction at Stonehenge before the pyramids, but nothing that still exists.

>6) Which of these was not associated with an ancient Egyptian god or
>goddess?
>a) crocodile b) hippopotamus c) marmot d) jackal

Marmot - of course

>7)The streets of Cairo are covered with:
>a) crap and filth b) gizzards c) cats d) dead cats e) all of the above

Everything

>8) Elvis is buried in
>a) Giza b) Sinai c) Alexandria d) Memphis

Several entrants pointed out that Elvis is not buried anywhere, not being dead, but we think he's buried in Memphis.

>9) A typical Egyptian breakfast consists of:
>a) A big fry up, with plenty of strong coffee
>b) Fruit salad with fresh yoghurt and muesli/granola and orange juice
>c) Belgian waffles, whipped cream or maple syrup
>d) A couple of bits of dry hotdog bun with a segment of Laughing Cow cheese

We did not pose this question correctly it would appear, but the breakfast *we* most typically got (but did not really want) was d). And sometimes with a boiled egg

thankyou, Carrie and Adrian (in Thailand now)