6 month old Ruby and other happenings

First things first, Ruby is now 6 months old! She's doing really well and developing a wonderfully sweet personality.

Ruby is rolling over consistently now from back to front and front to back. She can grab almost anything and bring it to her mouth. She's continuing to eat rice cereal and just today we added carrots! She loves everything we give her.

Next week we will take her to the doctor and get her weight and measurements. I'm guessing that she is about 14 pounds and 28 inches.

The past couple of weeks, Ruby has become very aware of her sister. Anytime Maia walks into the room or talks, Ruby lights up with big smiles. I'm so excited for this and take it as a sign of good things to come. Maia loves her sister and views her as a fun new toy while Ruby adores Maia and loves watching everything she does.

Speaking of Maia, she's as spunky as ever. We've started noticing longer sentences and in addition to numbers and letters, Maia knows many of her shapes.

We're also noticing Maia's imagination beginning to develop. She plays with her kitchen making cake and coffee for mommy and puts her plastic people on the potty. We'll hear "person go potty. Good job person! Baby go on potty. Good job baby!"

Which leads me to potty training. We have a great book that Maia loves to read about a girl named Ashley and her potty. Maia loves sitting on her potty without pants or a diaper. However, she still hasn't gotten the concept of how to use it. Aleks and I aren't worried, we figure we can more aggressively work on potty training this summer when Maia can run around naked outside. And honestly, diapers are pretty darn easy and convenient...

Maia and her bear.

We had a crazy snow storm about 3 weeks ago. It must have snowed for 24 hours and we got about 2 feet of snow in that time. Of course WSU kept the school open during the storm, but I canceled my 8 a.m. sightsinging class. (WSU is notorious for not canceling class due to weather). Anyway, here are a few pictures of the snow on our back deck.

The next day while Ruby was napping I bundled Maia up in her snow pants, jackets, gloves, hat, scarf, and boots and took her out with me while I shoveled. The poor girl could hardly walk from all the layers. We had been stuck in the house for what seemed like weeks, but the sun had appeared and it felt so good to be out of the house. The first 1/2 hour of shoveling was great even though the snow was heavy. As I started to shovel the sidewalk (we live on the corner- if you're every buying a house in a place where it snows, remember all the sidewalk you're responsible for and take that into consideration!), I began to feel the effects of my efforts. I was sweating and my back was starting to throb. Through this all, Maia had been tagging along behind me, asking me to make snowballs for her to throw. Just when I was mentally buckling down to shovel 100 more feet, Maia looks at me, her blue eyes sparkling in the sun, and says "Mommy, I love shoveling!".

As the kids say, I lol'd.

I don't know why, but I don't usually write updates about Aleks and me. I think it's probably because our lives are so consumed by our kids right now. At any rate, it's been busy- in a good way- for both of us this winter.

In January I competed in the Washington Idaho Symphony's young artist competition and was one of the winners! In addition to a cash prize, I was also awarded the chance to sing a role in a concert version of Cavalleria Rusticana, an opera by Mascagni. Never did I think that with a four month old (at the time) and living in Pullman, would I have a chance to sing in an opera with an orchestra. Not a minute went by that I wasn't aware of how wonderfully full life is for me.

Around that same time, I auditioned for a local theater company, Regional Theatre of the Palouse, for their production of Into the Woods. I got cast as Jack's Mother, a sizeable, but not overwhelming role. We are deep into rehearsals at this point, the show opens April 7 and runs for two weekends. Once again I am filled with amazement and gratitude that I will be spending my 30th birthday on stage, using all the years of education I have put into my craft. I think it will be a good show, at any rate, it's been fun!

Aleks and I made it through the beginning of February and WSU's FoCAM. If you're interested in learning more about this new music festival you can go here. Aleks is always busy teaching and applying for jobs/competitions/awards. This summer he will be going to Italy to participate in a festival there for two weeks. I'm staying here with the kids. Last night he was interviewed on a pod cast about his thoughts on public education. He also has several exciting projects in the queue. I guess the biggest news for him recently is that he woke up at 1:00 a.m. the other morning to buy the iPad2. Boys and their toys...

Tonight we turn our clocks ahead by an hour, tomorrow it's supposed to get all the way to 53 degrees. I think we've made it through winter.

End of summer

Well, summer for the Sternfeld-Dunn's is officially over. Aleks went back to work on Monday and I will begin teaching next week. It's been so nice being home together, we will miss Aleks being gone most of the day. Maia is still not sleeping very well and this week has been especially tough. We think she has a cold and/or is teething. I try to remind myself that things will change in a few weeks at most.

Maia is starting to sit up on her own! We've been practicing lots and Maia is getting the hang of it.

The National Lentil Festival was this weekend and so Maia got dressed up in her cute hat and baby converse. She loved her first Lentil Fest.

Maia's friend Alden came over the other night to hang out in the air conditioning. He's 2 months younger than Maia and a total cutie! They'll probably start a rock band together one day.

Here are two more of Maia's friends; Oliver is in the middle and Owen is on the far right.

Owen and Maia are BFFs, they are 5 days apart and love hanging out at the park.

And a news update about me:

I've been hired to teach adjunct voice lessons at WSU this semester. I have 5 students and will be teaching one day a week at the university. I'm really excited about the opportunity to do something outside the house and for myself. I really enjoy teaching. My private studio is also full this year, I'm teaching 3 afternoons a week. Thankfully, Aleks will be able to watch Maia while I teach. She's still being super clingy and prefers mom to almost everyone. However, there are two exceptions, Dad and Aunt Terry. Thank goodness for them!

Aleks' Job Update

Well, Aleks was offered the job in Casper, WY. After much thought and discussion, we've decided to stay in Pullman for another year. Aleks' boss was able to give him a title promotion (which should help Aleks with getting other jobs in the future), reassigned some of his load, and might be able to offer me some adjunct work teaching voice lessons. We feel really fortunate that in this economic climate, Aleks was offered 3 jobs this year. We also feel good about staying here in Pullman. We have a fantastic set of friends, a great doctor, Aleks loves his job, and I have a growing music studio. Go Cougs!

Emily's Job Update

Well, I didn't get offered the Executive Director position. I must say that I mostly feel relieved. Of course there is a bit of "why didn't they want me?", but I'm not sure I would have even taken the job if it had been offered to me. I know I'll eventually have to face the "career and family life" issue, but I'm glad that I get to put off that conflict for now.

So, this next year I will continue to teach private piano and voice lessons, hopefully sing in a few recitals, and take more auditions. Most importantly though, I'll get to be there when Maia laughs for the first time and now we can take our time learning to drink from a bottle. 

2 months old and job updates

Aleks has a contract for next year at WSU! It looks like we will be in Pullman for one more year and strangely enough, both Aleks and I are happy about that. We love our friends and community here, Aleks loves his job, we have a great doctor, and the fact that we can walk most places is really nice. I've started a mommy group with some friends from my birthing class and our weekly get-togethers are a highlight in my week.

I had an interview yesterday for the Executive Director position of the Washington Idaho Symphony. I felt like it went pretty well and I should know by next week if I got the job or not.

Well, Maia is now 10 weeks old. We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and she got herfirst round of immunizations. She handled it like a champ, but was pretty tired and fussy for the rest of the day. She now weighs 11 pounds 7 ounces and it 24.75 inches long. She is in the 60% for weight and the 99% for height! We're thinking about putting her in basketball early. Maia is getting more mature everyday and as a result is becoming better at putting herself to sleep. She's smiling all the time and we're just waiting for that first laugh!

I was looking through old pictures of when Maia was first born and saw this one. It's hard to believe she was this tiny once!

How cute is that headband?!

Maia and Uncle Alex (he's a natural with babies!)

Right before Maia went in the pool for the first time at Grandpa and Grandma Kyhn's house in Phoenix, AZ. Believe it or not, it was a little too cold for Maia to enjoy it.