Tarnished Lady

1st trip

We went up to Yosemite for a long weekend the end of April. Matt was a speaker at the California Trails Conference and it was our first getaway with Jasper.

We stayed at Tenaya Lodge for a few nights and then at Wowona tent camping alongside the rushing river. Jasper was a real champ as the temps dropped to near freezing and we cuddled together to keep warm.

We had the best time, discovered that Jasper loves the outdoors as much as we do, saw a bobcat and some gorgeous does too. He had a perma grin the whole time as we hiked up to a waterfall.

 
I got to nurse him under an amazing tree and also next to a waterfall. That was pretty dreamy.

We were able to keep it green with the diapering even in the wild- we always use cotton prefolds and wool covers normally with the occasional bamboo Goodmama fitted diaper- and so this was a first for us to depart from that routine.

We did G Diapers which worked fine for the most part. They have a cotton outer, a nylon liner and then an insert which is like a thicker maxi pad. I would not ever use these on a regular basis but for travel, they are a good choice for us.

Unlike disposables, they biodegrade and can be flushed, composted or thrown in the trash. They did leak (our first ever nighttime leak) the first night at the lodge requiring the sheets to be changed. Made us miss our cloth diapers and we did cloth the rest of the trip for overnight and just toted the wet dipes home (he still did all his poops on the toilet even on the trip! Yay!) but yes, he did look cute in the G's and no rash from wearing them...

We made good use of our brand new limited edition cashmere Didymos Indio wrap. Oh boy, is this wrap ever nice and he loves it too...

Oh yes, we even had a nice snow storm we went through the same day we went swimming.

 That is the beauty of Yosemite...such dramatic weather changes from moment to moment.
The air is amazing up there and it truly is a magical part of the world.
We just love it and that is an understatement.

Jasper asleep in the tent...

We spent our first summer up in the Sierras right by Yosemite when we fell in love, then returned last winter and was there skiing when we found out we were having a baby, got married up there last May and did a Yosemite hike the day before the wedding with our close pals and family, had a babymoon in September just before Jasper was born so for us to have his very first getaway be up here was very special for our family.

I feel blessed.

 

All three of us have the distinction of having our Venus in Scorpio which means we all enjoy the same things and like to be together doing things and having fun. So far, this is proving to be true. Pretty cool.

I mean look at this smile...he did not stop grinning...

The rest of the set is on my FLICKR page along with other videos too.

Jasper swims to mama underwater

Up at Zuma

To celebrate Jasper turning 5 months old, Matt took the day off and we hit the beach on a gorgeously sunny California day.
Before we went, we stopped off at our local library branch for a special ASL sign language story and song hour.
We have been signing with Jasper for over a month now and its really good stuff.
He knows "bath", "eat" and "wet diaper" plus "teddy bear".
Its cute to see his eyes light up when he is fussy and you sign for "eat" b/c he realizes you understand him.
The story hour was a hit. His eyes were fastly riveted on the lady leading the group.
 


He loves books and beyond that, loves a good song and is into the signing so to have all three together? Genius.



Zuma was so nice. We kept the baby covered and under an umbrella with 50 spf but wow, did he ever love the beach. We spent a lot of time there when he was in utero and could hear the sounds. His Sleep Sheep he goes to sleep listening to makes the sounds of the ocean and of whales so for him to finally be there for real was a sensory overload.





















Here are two funny clips...
one is Jasper attacking Matt's face

and another of him chattering away... Speaking of the beach, we begin his swim lessons tomorrow! Its a 10 day "bootcamp" Minnows private group lesson with two of his little friends at this teacher's private heated saline pool. I know he will be a regular little fish and love it as bathtime is a big hit at our house and his daddy was once a competitive swimmer. We are going up to Yosemite in a few weeks and will be staying at a lodge with a pool. If its indoors, maybe he will be able to use his new swim skills up there.

Yoga partners

Teacher's pet

Jasper got to sit on teacher Marne's lap a bit in yoga class.

We are having a blast going together a few times a week...

This little girl really took to Jasper and sat next to him for most of the class. She would look at him and kept repeating "Baby!".

Here is Marne who is a fabulous teacher...

She had both Jasper and Jude up on the stage with her.

He did his tummytime yoga on Auntie Darcy's handmade flannel quilt she made for him with his name embroidered on it. Speaking of Darcy, she is now 38 weeks along with her little Duckling who is breech. This morning she had an appointment for an external version at the hospital with the same OB who delivered Jasper. I am hoping it went well and am anxiously awaiting news.
We are sending many good thoughts to Darcy and Duckling.
Here are some snaps from her baby shower on Sunday at Kelly's beautiful home...she looks amazing

Gorgeous Caroline who is due in just a few weeks herself unbelievably...