Bayan Aliyyih

Bubble lady

2012-02-05T18:54:00.001-05:00

Suspicious car wash...

2012-01-31T22:07:00.000-05:00

My Vermonters!

2012-01-31T22:04:00.001-05:00

A 3 year-old with a new haircut!

2012-01-14T13:25:00.005-05:00

The risk:benefit ratio of having long hair finally tipped towards the side of the risks (outweighing the delight/benefit) this morning. I threatened, Bayan met my challenge, then the deed was done. Check it out. I was too extreme, and probably should have taken her to a hairdresser, but, hey, she likes it, so what's to complain about!

Bayan as Martha Stewart for Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T22:17:00.003-05:00

After the first big snow storm of the year on Wednesday, Bayan and I woke up on Thanksgiving ready to make a snowman. The ears were her idea. Then she turned into a mad baker the rest of the weekend and we made muffins, pies and (unsuccessfully) pizza dough.

Disney World

2011-10-29T21:34:00.006-04:00

I was in Orlando for a conference last week and Brett and Bayan came with me for some Disney fun.

Brett and Bayan at the Animal Kingdom

Together at Magic Kingdom

Bayan cheffing it up at Benihana's after a day of rides, parades and 3D movies

How to have fun while losing a pillow fight:

Bayan rocks a wedding party

2011-10-02T22:24:00.003-04:00

Beautiful day in Vermont

2011-09-25T23:41:00.003-04:00

Photo shoot!

2011-08-17T21:45:00.005-04:00

We haven't posted one of these in a while since Bayan has long outgrown the shutter speed on our camera, but Brett found her playing with the fan last week and took some pictures. Here they are.

Fruitful day

2011-07-16T22:40:00.007-04:00

Bayan shows off her new beloveds--black raspberries. There would have been more had it not been for Bayan eating most of what she picked along the way. Bayan is expert at picking them with "just the finger tips" and avoiding the "pricklies". Don't worry--it's a guided berry-picking and she gets the low-hanging fruit that are just begging to be eaten.

First visitors

2011-07-14T22:26:00.004-04:00

Less than a week in our new house and we've already been blessed with visitors! Bob and Flora came to visit us from China last week. Not only were they super helpful in getting us settled (see 7/12/11 video of Flora breaking her back for us), they also taught Bayan to be an excellent prep cook in a short time. Among the things Bayan learned to make are hummus and, below, fesenjoon. Yummy!

Goodbye, Providence. Hello, Vermont!

2011-07-12T11:50:00.001-04:00

We are done

2011-06-19T21:21:00.011-04:00

with residency. All 1,242 days of it. WOOOOO-HOO!!!!!!!!! or, more like, ahhhhh..... Below are pictures of Bayan enjoying life after residency at the end-of-year rooftop party and the local toddler park full of cars and trucks and bikes this weekend.

Party

Park

Reunion at Green Acre

2011-05-22T22:48:00.010-04:00

Love, love, love...

Can I sing it one more time? Love, love, love...

Day at the beach

2011-05-08T21:00:00.004-04:00

Bayan singing ABCs (minus a few letters)

2011-05-07T12:01:00.006-04:00

A long winter

2011-04-18T20:11:00.032-04:00

It's been a long winter but we're finally out of its sinister clutches! Without going into the complicated details of our family arrangement, it can be glimpsed from the photos below that Bayan spent much of it in snowy New Hamphshire with her a-mah--and much of that time in the public library. Fortunately for Bayan, Hanover has a great library which not only houses books, but has a well-equipped playroom, wonderful children's program and great aquarium, which made it quite the sanctuary for our little one this winter.

Bayan's winter companions: the Hanover library and her A-mah!

Reading at the library.
Bayan was such a frequent flyer there that she claimed her own chair.

Enjoying the library's other amenities.

Thanks be to God, Bayan's separation from me came to an end midway through the Baha'i Fast in March. Once back in Providence, she was up to her usual antics--befriending other tenants while hanging out in the lobby swinging from bars, doing her gymnastics with her father, lounging by the pool and being her generally cute self. She even made a trip to the Children's Museum. All of that, though, was nothing compared to the time she spent in her A-mah's arms. Unfortunately for us, my mother moved on to her next good deed last week and is spending the next couple of months with my grandmother before transplanting herself to Oregon to look after my niece and nephew this summer--what a life!

The Promenade (our building).

Bayan being Bayan.

Providence Children's Museum.

Sweet moments with her A-mah.

The last picture is of Bayan getting into my mother's suitcase on the eve of her departure. :( Thanks for everything, ma! We wouldn't have made it through this fall and winter without you.

Two Lovely Souls

2011-02-08T22:11:00.005-05:00

...and the things they do when I'm not looking.

(My mom took this photo.)

Winter Break--Northern California/Oregon Edition

2011-01-12T21:15:00.018-05:00

The northern California/Oregon part of the trip started with a visit with my aunt and uncle, who had yet to met Bayan, and kept going northbound. We saw our dear friend Karina and baby Ruhi (sadly, no pictures--Bayan had a cold and I resisted putting the two of them close enough to each other to be in the same frame) and spent a few precious hours stomping the old stomping grounds (can you guess where?!).

Cupertino

Ahhh...
see where we are? isn't it the greatest?!

(Sorry, Stephen, but I had to include you in this post. Thanks for everything.)

After a short stay in the Bay Area, we flew to Portland to visit my brother and meet the newest addition to his family--baby Esme!

Portland
Esme and Joaquin got comfortable with Brett right away and couldn't wait to show him their new tricks. Bayan also got comfortable right away and hopped into Esme's pack-n-play where she discovered a squeaky clean George!!!

Cousins!
Bayan started to appreciate Joaquin's love for dinosaurs after sharing a few meals together.

Children's Museum

Bayan had a blast at the Children's Museum. She especially enjoyed the lighted tables that created an awesome effect on the toys.

Father and daughter

Bears

Me, my brother and Brett each claiming a cub.

Go Bears!

Winter Break--Southern California Edition

2011-01-12T18:01:00.029-05:00

Bayan may be a New Yorker, Brett and I are Californians (among other things). This Christmas we joined Brett's family for the Holiday and paid some long overdue visits to a few friends who have little ones that we've been dying for Bayan to meet.

Palm Springs
Our first stop was the desert, where Bayan got to bask in the sun, share her love for the zoo with her Grandpa and pick up a lesson on the putting green.

(Re-)introductions to Grandma Polly and Grandpa Derrick.

Getting more comfortable.
Grandpa once again got into the inner circle and held Bayan in his arms as we went from giraffes to leopards to camels at the Palm Springs zoo.

The littlest golfer!

En route to the slumber party at Brett's sister Kristin's on Christmas Eve, we visited Grandpa Wayne and Grandma in San Marcos. Bayan was fascinated by Grandpa Wayne's pipes and watched the master at work as he blew smoke rings (the smoke didn't show up well so I left out those pictures).

Christmas morning!
With no shortage of cousins and aunts to help Bayan get into her presents (literally), she enjoyed her first Christmas morning like a pro. Among the helpers were cousin Mackenzie and aunt Shannon and Becky. Bayan couldn't wait to put on her new outfits and check out her new toys.

After a short break to Skype with ah-ma back home, the excitement continued when Brett's sister Jamielyn showed up with baby Olivia!!! The young cousins meet!

Christmas evening

Peek-a-boo, Madison!

The Gamboa aunts and cousins (minus Olivia and Max)

Part of the reason for including the photo above is to show you Bayan's "smile". She was asked to smile so many times in 3 days that she finally learned to do it. What's funny about this smile is that it coincided with the introduction of _Green Eggs and Ham_ into Bayan's library... any guesses as to where she might have picked up this smile?

On our way between houses and airports we visited friends with built-in baby sitters--little friends!--and let Bayan run loose while the big people talked and hugged. It was great.

left: with Bridget and Stella

right: with JB, Katie, Sammy and a little one who is now born!!!

In the loving hands of Amelia and Elsa...

Bye-bye, L.A.!

Bayan The Explorer

2010-11-09T18:48:00.017-05:00

We eased into the weekend with a childproof breakfast at the bakery (with what else but croissants!).

Then we headed to the library, where Bayan, uh, enjoyed checking out the books. The last picture is only funny because Bayan loves to read. You can see that she is happily running away--not from her beloved A-mah or book, but because she is almost 2 and can happily run away from anything, at any moment's notice.

Bayan The Explorer
After a morning of subdued activities, Bayan was ready for an adventure! She demanded to have her own explorer pack and found the camera case to be the perfect accessory.

On our stroll through Woodstock (VT) on Sunday, Bayan couldn't get over the pumpkins on one porch in particular. It took all of us walking away from her in earnest to lead her away from the house with the magical pumpkins.

So many pumpkins!

2010-10-31T19:42:00.008-04:00

Friday night we checked out the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at the local zoo. Since the only decent pictures we got that night were of the pumpkins, I've substituted the center photo for one from today, of happy child with baby pumpkin in hand.

Here're a couple of pictures from an attempted photo shoot in our lobby today. It wasn't very successful. We moved on and went to the park (last photo) and enjoyed a beautiful autumn morning by playing outside.

Here's Bayan contributing to the omelets we made after a hard morning of playing.

Playing house.

It really is Bayan's favorite thing to do at the playground. Here she is--happy as a clam in her little home--from a few weeks ago:

Also from a few weeks ago:

Weekends are for...

2010-10-04T20:50:00.003-04:00

hanging out with people you love--and eating big, giant croissants!

Ex•cel•lent bi•cy•cle

2010-09-20T18:53:00.004-04:00

A day of fun in a sailor suit

2010-09-12T20:32:00.008-04:00

"What? You think I look funny or something?"

The letter "F" (in ASL)... or some other hand sign

The sailor and her father

The sailor and her grandmother

The sailor and her ducklings

What a fun day!

The Reunion

2010-08-28T21:54:00.009-04:00

BG + BG
Together again! And what a wonderful time they had...

Thanks for coming to visit, BG! We miss you.

Bayan The Toddler
...doing toddler things--and having a good time at it.

Bye-bye!

Where's Bayan?

2010-07-18T19:53:00.010-04:00

At the zoo!

The arrival of a baby giraffe made headlines in Providence this week and we thought we'd try our luck at catching a glimpse of it. Well, we didn't see the baby giraffe, but we certainly saw every other giraffe in the family--and lots more! The picture on the right shows Bayan saying "hi" to the flamingos--she says "hi" to all the animals--it's pretty cute.

Brett and Bayan taking a watermelon break.

New York, NY

2010-07-07T21:40:00.007-04:00

Back in New York (sadly, only as weekend visitors...)

...where Bayan got to hang out with old friends--including beautiful Soraya, and experience riding on the carousel in Central Park together.

In Central Park

In Washington Square...where Bayan cruised about amongst strangers and behaved as though she was on familiar grounds (and she was!).

Finally, saying good-bye and riding on the train.

Playing dress-up and goofing off before the trip.

Bayan sliding like a big kid

2010-06-17T22:48:00.005-04:00

"My da-da's graduation"

2010-05-29T21:48:00.016-04:00

By: Bayan Aliyyih

Featuring: Grandpa Baseball

Costumed by: Aunt Jamielyn (myself only ...should the rest of the cast be so lucky)

May 27, 2010--Graduation Day,

celebrated by dinner on Federal Hill back in Providence, in a restaurant where the decor matched my outfit from head to toe (we're talkin' wall, napkin, upholstery--which the place somehow pulled off with 100% authenticity) and the food was amazing and I, as you can see below, thoroughly enjoyed myself.

And yes, I'm still pointing.

May 29, 2010--I kept busy today by:

Getting my hair braided (a first for the French braids)

and looking cute and tidy...not for long though.

Reading with Grandpa

Daisy Duck says "quack, quack"

Being held by Grandpa

which I give a thumbs up, dude!

Walking with Grandpa

whom I think would have gladly picked me up if my parents hadn't been watching--he knows they're trying to make me do all the walkin' around here. Jeesh, a girl can't get a break!

What a great few days we had together. We'll have to do it again soon, Grandpa. Until next time, I'm sticking to my third main man: da-da!

Bayan's favorite things

2010-05-27T22:47:00.016-04:00

Below are pictures from the last three weeks or so, featuring Bayan with her favorite things (strange, but yes, these are them), such as:

markers

stairs

George--I mean, her da-da

and doing her favorite things, like:
drinking coffee? (just kidding, folks)

cruising the streets--alone, or accompanied

pointing, just pointing--doesn't matter at what

Our beautiful girl at 16 1/2 months!

Bayan the Running Back

2010-05-02T22:04:00.008-04:00

...that needs to take a break every now and again.

Somebody is definitely feeling better--this was today:

Our girl is back!

2010-04-27T22:26:00.011-04:00

Bayan's been more than a little under the weather ever since we moved to Providence. We learned the hard way that her immune system was no match for the daycare germs. Bayan caught one virus after another and has been running a low-grade temperature with intermittent spikes into some scary numbers nearly weekly for the last 6 weeks. We've been doubtful that she could be happy and healthy again, but she is finally showing signs of being on the mend. We took a trip to Hanover this weekend and we think we saw glimmers of the old Bayan Aliyyih for the first time in a long while.

Happy child
Miracle of miracles, Bayan is well!

Hanover
The car ride, the shops, the neighborhoods.

Providence
Some time between fever #1 and fever #2, there was a period of a few days when Bayan seemed well enough to cruise around Providence a bit. Here she is downtown on an early spring morning. The picture to the right shows the courtyard of our apartment complex.

The move
Bayan loves climbing on boxes. Here she is right after we moved in--before she started daycare...

What happiness looks like

2010-03-22T22:11:00.009-04:00

Our life has undergone some major changes. The story is complicated, but the short of it is that my program closed unexpectedly and, after several twists and turns, we were forced to leave NYC abruptly and extract Bayan out of a wonderful daycare situation with an amazing babysitter and her BFF/sister/cousin/whatever designation for someone a little person like Bayan could love and understand, Bahiyyih. It's been a few weeks, but it feels like both a long time ago and no time at all that we had the girls together in our home. We (especially, I) really miss that time, and the feeling of joy and happiness emanating from the two little beings, knowing that it was multiplied because they were with each other. I've been looking at the following pictures a lot, longing for Bayan to get the same pep back her step since her separation from her beloved friend.

I think the one below is from a week or so into their time together. They went from needing their own tea boxes to being superstars at sharing. Way to go, B & B!

Toddler behavior? Parallel play?

A huge oversimplification, but below is Bayan and Bahiyyih in a nutshell: Bayan looking like she's up to no good and Bahiyyih being her content little self.

B vs. B

Hence the befitting "Here Comes Trouble" shirt.

The final week.
See how well they played together? Gosh, they were so great together. We miss you, Bahiyyih!

The beginning--day 30, day 7

Ecuador!

2010-02-20T18:13:00.014-05:00

One of the most eligible bachelorettes we know got married last April in Quito, Ecuador and we missed it. I know, we can't believe it either. So two week ago we visited the newlyweds and made them get married again just so we can be the witnesses and Bayan the flower girl (kidding, folks). It was awesome. Quito was awesome. And Bayan fit right in with her love for avacados and oritos. Solange & Carlos (the newlyweds) made us feel so at home that we only wish we had another week, or two, to spend there.

Bayan gets ready for Ecuador

The Wedding (reenacted)

Out & about Quito

Lounging around Solange & Carlos's
Playing peek-a-boo

Sunning on the couch (with Carlos's Ferrari)

Talking on the phone

Yup, she's a real pro. The girl can open the iphone, you know--no joke. She knows how to slide her finger across to get at all the fun apps.

Last day
At Dr. Muhajir's resting place

At the equator (Ecuador, get it?), and having fun with cut out boards

Papallecta

Bayan at the thermal baths--unpictured.

It's too bad we didn't have our camera poolside, because Bayan LOVED the baths. She sat in my lap relaxing with the big people for two hours straight. I had never seen her so chill. It was sort of amazing.

Thanks for a great trip, Solange & Carlos!

Bayan making friends in Ecuador

2010-02-20T17:32:00.005-05:00

In case you're wondering why she's not wearing any pants--she had just...dirtied them, and we didn't have a pair of back-ups with us.

Bayan knows how to play

2010-02-01T21:13:00.007-05:00

Bayan and her beloved monkey

Bayan in playland
While traveling out of town this weekend, Bayan and I discovered an indoor play area for toddlers that featured giant fruits and insects, all covered in foam and overlaid with some sort of shiny, semi-slick, semi-tacky material. She could not get enough of these things! The middle picture shows Bayan making her sign for "more", which she kept doing intermittently as she climbed and buzzed around the giant kiwis, watermelons, butterflies, ladybugs...

Random pics
left: Bayan and giant tomato (and her New Year's beads)
middle: "Heidi", starring Bayan Aliyyih Gamboa
right: War wounds--during her illness, just after they took tubes and bottles of blood from her little arm :(

Bayan running (sort of)

2010-01-31T22:30:00.000-05:00

Now that walking is old hat, Bayan likes to add a little speed to her step when she's exploring new spaces and when there's room for it.

Bayan climbing steps

2010-01-31T21:56:00.004-05:00

Here's our fearless child in the middle of a busy Italian restaurant in Manhattan during the heart of the dinner hour on Friday, practicing going up steps.

Birthday girl/Sick girl

2010-01-12T22:06:00.003-05:00

Bayan turned one year old on Saturday. We hosted a gathering to celebrate her and little people generally and Bayan greeted her well-wishers like a champ despite being a little under the weather. Since her birthday, however, her sickness has taken on the nasty sign and symptom of fever and lethargy and the pictures below belie her current state. :( We're hoping she bounces back soon and takes an interest in food, drink and restful sleep again.

Birthday girl

We were so wrapped up with talking to all the friends at the party that we hardly took any pictures (the one above is one of a few). I had to recreate the scene the following day...

AM photo shoot

PM photo shoot
...with Bayan in her new Ecuadorian sweater with a hood that deserved its own profile picture.

We're a little behind on catching everyone up as always. Below are pictures of Bayan celebrating her first Gregorian New Year's Day and her first Christmas.
New Year's

Christmas
Bayan with her presents. She got a pair of awesome (and sparkly!) purple Chuck Taylors from her cousins!

Bayan's first Christmas in New York--complete with a stroll through snowy Central Park and a walk down 5th Avenue with all the fancy window displays.

Bayan loves books...and other things

2009-12-19T23:06:00.012-05:00

Bayan loves books
To say that she loves to read would be misstating it, but she genuinely seems to like books--a lot. Below is Bayan with her prayer book, her dad's Norton Shakespeare, and one of her chunky cardboard books.

Bayan loves her ah-ma
It makes sense that Bayan would love the person that's helped foster her love for books...and watches after her, and cares for her, and plays with her...all day...everyday!

Bayan loves ... Christmas tree??
We recently attended a wedding where there was a Christmas tree full of lights and ornaments that Bayan just couldn't get enough of. She also couldn't get enough of exercising her newly mastered skill of walking (see video post). She looked mighty cute that evening.

Bayan at wedding

2009-12-19T23:00:00.005-05:00

Bayan + sweater

2009-12-10T17:23:00.004-05:00

Brett & Bayan laugh it up

2009-12-03T21:53:00.003-05:00

Getting tickled to death has never seemed this fun...

bayan knows who her mama is...

2009-11-28T22:42:00.003-05:00

November update

2009-11-25T00:50:00.033-05:00

Surprise, surprise--we've been hoarding pictures--for over a month now. Below is my attempt at updating everyone on the life of Bayan Aliyyih.

Various views of Bayan...

looking: cute, serious, and seriously cute.

Bayan watching her first Big Game.
We would have put Bayan in her Cal gear except the girl had been well in bed by the time the game started and somehow babbled her way out of the crib and into her papa's arms during the last quarter of the game. It took her no time to get into it, watching excitedly, then nervously--as Cal started to look as though they might give up a touchdown to Stanford and lose by 1 point with 45 seconds left in the game, then happily as Cal got lucky with an interception at the end and snuck away with a win. Go Bears!

Bayan and her cousin.
My brother and his family came to visit a couple of weeks ago. It was a beautiful weekend and we had a great time hanging out. Centered below is us on the roof of the Met. What can I say, my brother and I each have a wiggly-bottom for a child and it was the best we could do for a group photo.

Bayan swinging her way to happiness.

Bayan (put) up to no good
by, who else, her father! After I was beckoned to the kitchen with the camera and saw what was going on (left), I should have known that a call from the bathroom 15 minutes later meant that I was about to witness something similar (right). Fortunately we don't own a washer or a dryer, and the fridge was too full to fit a 17 pound turkey--I mean, baby. (By the way, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!) Pictured in the center is Bayan in one of her signature pantomimes.

Oh, the joys of being a little person...

Fall colors.
Last but not least, here are a few photos from the end of October.

It's official--she's a walker

2009-11-09T17:32:00.002-05:00

Bayan took her first step three weeks ago. After she did this, Brett and I thought for sure that she would be walking in no time. However, once she made this one giant step, she seemed to lose all interest in taking another and seemed completely unaware of how imminently close to walking she was. She happily crawled on. Then last week, out of nowhere, she took 7 steps in a row. She has gotten steadier and steadier on her feet daily. And now, on her 10-months birthday, I think it's safe to say that Brett and I officially have trouble on our hands--our little Bayan Aliyyih is a walker.

We like this girl!

2009-10-23T22:05:00.010-04:00

How can we not? ...look at her!

9 months old

2009-10-11T21:59:00.017-04:00

Bayan at 9 months.
A couple of days ago it was Bayan's 9-months birthday. She has now spent more time in this world than in the world of the matrix. Where did the time go? Pretty soon she won't be a baby anymore... :(

Bayan's favorite things.
Here's Bayan doing a few of her favorite things: hanging out with the romantic poets--and hoping to sneak a bite of their works (Bayan loves to eat paper) while her parents aren't looking, turning up the volume on the radio--until it gets so loud that it startles her and she scurries away, and enjoying some homemade apple sauce from Maine.

Bayan with her ah-mah.
My mom is back at her full-time job as nanny and cook for the Gamboa/Lee household. Here she is with Bayan in some freshly downloaded pics from yesterday.

Bayan poses with former field hockey star!
Pictured with Bayan is Megan, a dear friend of mine from high school, whom I first met at the try-outs for the field hockey team (I was already established and she was freshly out of junior high) at Monta Vista High School. Wow, that was a long time ago. Anyway, I had a good feeling about her from the start, and I was right. :) She was in town this weekend and Bayan got to be in her radiant presence, hanging out at Rocco's Pastry Shop in the West Village.

Bayan at 8 1/2 months

2009-09-27T12:53:00.008-04:00

Bayan was especially happy one afternoon...

Bayan poses with her new favorite food

Bayan and Bahiyyih engaged in yet another chew toy sharing/teething session.
Orange seahorse for Bahiyyih-----trade-----and now...orange seahorse for Bayan!

Palm Springs, CA

2009-09-10T18:26:00.016-04:00

We're recently returned from a beautiful Labor Day weekend in Palm Springs, California, where Bayan got to meet the rest of the Gamboa clan, including her three terrific cousins, Madision, Mackenzie and Max, who were simply wonderful with Bayan--so loving and so sweet. From the minute Madison greeted us at the airport to the second we left, it was one marvelous time after another, whether hanging out by the pool or going out to dinner or lounging around the house. Thank you, Gamboa family!

Welcome to Palm Springs, Bayan!

Bayan meets her cousins.

Brett + Bayan + koi

Last frame: Brett--always helpful, giving Bayan a closer look at the fish, just before setting her down as prop on the fake bridge in the restaurant's garden (see below).

Ahhh, California...

Stratford, Ontario

2009-08-30T23:34:00.015-04:00

We took a break from life in New York and spent a week vacationing in Canada, where Brett got to see a bunch of plays at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, I got to do lots of hanging out with my daughter, and Bayan got to check out many things for the first time--including the inside of a toy store, lots of lakeside wildlife (swans, ducks and geese) and the swimming pool! But before we did all this, we spent a wonderful weekend at Green Acre, the Baha'i School in Eliot, Maine, where Bayan was showered with love and surrounded by green lawns and the kind of peace and quiet one never finds in Manhattan--we'd never seen her sleep so well...

Green Acre

Stratford, ON

Bayan goes swimming!
But before she does, she poses with her third favorite toy (after laptop and cell phone)--the remote control, smiles for the camera and practices standing up on the lounge chair.

Photo shoot!
On the hotel balcony.

In the flower garden.

More celebrations!

2009-08-08T10:30:00.003-04:00

A couple of weekends ago (I know, we're always at least two weeks behind) we attended a lovely wedding in the Hudson Valley, at a beautiful historic site along the river. It was to celebrate the marriage of our friends Caity and Luke. Luckily for us the wedding also drew our dear friend Ala out of the heat of the desert, from Bahrain, and allowed us to spend some time with him. He's pictured in the center photo with Brett below. Not only is Ala an amazing human being and a talented photographer (the official one for Caity's wedding) who gave Bayan a private photo shoot on the grass (see below), he's also a talented and prolific musician who's working on his third EP (www.alaghawas.com). We love you, Ala! Congratulations, Caity and Luke!

Two days before the wedding, we had occasion to visit the birthing center room in which Bayan was born. Yes, the very same room! It was to visit the (then) very, very newly arrived baby Neda that we've previously mentioned on this blog. Below is a compare and contrast exercise. On the left are photos of me with Bayan at age 6 1/2 months (top) and 6 1/2 minutes (below). Center is Brett with an hours-old baby Soraya (top) and an hours-old baby Bayan (below). On the right is Nima & Neda with baby on this side of womb (top) and them visiting Bayan on the day she was born with Soraya still in utero! Joy, joy, joy!

Finally--our friends Bruce and Kate recently returned from their summer away and we got the girls together as soon as we could. Here they are!

Bahiyyih and Bayan share chew toys.

Bayan learns to show affection without inflicting harm.

At last

2009-07-21T21:00:00.017-04:00

It may seem like we've forgotten all about Bayan's little blog, but we haven't. We've just been busy finishing out the first year of residency (Gladys), getting back to writing (Brett), moving and then dealing with unwanted pests in the new apartment. Ugh. But we finally got some time to relax last weekend, and we went to Central Park.

Central Park.

Brett and Bayan check out the bubblemakers. Giant iridescent bubbles!

Bayan--what a looker! Here she is looking sweet in her polka dot dress.

What's new with Bayan.
Our six month-old girlio has some new tricks! Here she is crawling, drinking and eating.

The Move.
We recently moved into another apartment in our building to give ourselves more space. That was at the beginning of the month, and here're some pictures from the week of the move.

Left: Bayan with her ah-ma on the day of our move. Bye-bye, balcony-view of the Empire State Building!
Middle: Bayan doing her first pull-up in the new apartment with a little help from Nima.
Right: Bayan with Dorri, who came to visit shortly after we moved, helping Bayan with her new favorite thing--standing up.

Mojdeh visits NYC!
Speaking of favorites, one of our favorite people in the world came to visit on Father's Day, which happens to have fallen on the first day of summer this year, which also happens to be our anniversary. Here we are at the cafe just before I got called in to work. Yup, work. It wasn't how I'd planned to spend our anniversary, but it helped us keep our tradition of being apart on our anniversary. I'm not sure how it keeps happening, but somehow Brett and I have managed to spend the longest day of the year apart for the last 6 years. :( But it was delightful to see Mojdeh, and it was such a treat for Bayan to be in the arms of someone so radiant and sincere.

Left: Who needs toys when you've got a burp cloth!
Middle: The family with SuperMoj.
Right: Bayan showing off her tooth. That was a month ago. Now she has two!

Hudson River Park.
Going many weeks back now, here we are hanging out with Bayan in Hudson River Park.

Left: Bayan barefoot on the grass with Martha.
Middle: Drooly baby!
Right: Bayan in Martha's sunglasses.

Photo Shoot!

making the rounds, wedding edition

2009-06-17T09:22:00.010-04:00

With the warm months having come Bayan has had some travels lately, made some new friends, went to weddings, missed weddings of people she and her parents love, entertained new visitors, all sorts. She might like us to introduce you to some of her friends in addition to showcasing her. She's humble that way. The documentary record ensues...

This is our friend Emma Firestone. One good thing about blogs is that you get to tell everyone who the sweetest people in the world are. For us, they're the people in these photos. Emma got married last week to Matthias who hails all the way from Denmark. We wonder whether Emma, a budding Renaissance scholar but one whose bloom is destined to change western culture as we know it, ever makes Matthias say "'Tis I, Matthias the Dane!" Good thing for Matthias he didn't marry into the Gamboa household or it would have been a daily ritual. Emma spent a sweet day with Bayan some weeks back making Bayan (and us) the sadder to miss what was surely a splendid Cape Cod wedding. Congratulations Emma and Matthias!

The baby shower Gladys depicted previously prevented us and Bayan from making all of Emma's wedding, so we headed south into the Marylandian tropics to attend the wedding of Jason and Parisa last week. Bayan is with two great friends, Aeric and Claudine, who are exemplary parents, partners and professionals. He an uber-talented photographer and she a powerhouse intellectual property lawyer. The middle scene is the post-nuptial sweetness. Jason and Parisa had just uttered "we will all verily abide by the will of God," the Baha'i marriage vow and the spiritual electricity was palpable (the physical electricity is palpable too, as evidenced by the photograph). The last is the beautiful bride and Bayan, with some uncredited actor playing father to Bayan Aliyyih. Jason and Parisa are departing within days to live in Barbados for the next two years! Bayan is lobbying to spend her winters with them if not opt out of the northeast entirely.

Good things come in threes. Or other numbers. But a convenient third at the moment is this couple who visited Bayan a little while back from Boston. It's Brandon and Timnah, she a lawyer from Australia now doing research on aboriginal rights (cool? yes.) He is a grad student in English at Harvard and, get this for cool, a medievalist. He hasn't yet taken to pronouncing that word with five syllables, so he's not only a medievalist but of the rare breed that lack pretension. Perhaps that will come with time. Well, Brandon and Timnah are engaged to be married, and we are on needles waiting for news. They appeared to be among the likeliest leading candidates to smuggle Bayan away in the night. And she loved them enough that it seemed she'd probably go quietly with them. They also brought her literature with a capital L (oops). Harold and the Purple Crayon should be required reading, and I had never heard of it.

Caroline got married last summer. Her husband is unpictured and, as yet, unmet, though we hope to meet him soon. Caroline is a dear friend who we hadn't seen in a few years. It took having a child to get her back into our lives. She formerly acted several times in Brett's shows at Harvard, and is much beloved for once switching roles (from a lead to a different lead) two weeks before opening and still giving a rapturous performance. The only knock on Caroline is that despite having the most prodigious memory yet witnessed among human beings (see: learning her 500 lines in four days and then speaking them flawlessly), her memory is exclusively short-term. That is, every single line is ephemerally possessed and sure to be gone within six months. Caroline is in New York, you guessed it, lawyering. She's currently a litigator except for the part about actual litigating. But she's certain to be very good at litigating, provided that she doesn't have to remember details past the six-month shelf-life her brain allows. Luckily she did remember our names, and may well still dimly recall Bayan. I'm giving her a hard time in this report. Truth be told, she's amazing at everything, AND she can sing beautifully.

A month or so back Bayan took an out-of-town excursion to majestic Stamford, CT, taking in its sublime vistas replete with mountains and cataracts and wildlife enough to fill an ark. Well, at least she'd believe that about Stamford Ct.... Though Stamford's scenery may lack a little of the majesty of Grasmere, it was a site for a gathering of some of the sweetest people we know. Here's Bayan at a Chinese dinner in Connecticut with some of those sweet people. Pictured are Neal McBride, Chet Makoski, Kathy Penn, Vicki and Joel Nizin. Since we're on the subject of weddings, these are people whose marriages we most admire and who have raised some of the finest children we know. They all love Bayan and she is honored more than she knows, and more than we know most likely, to be loved by them. The middle pic is one of the sweetest ever. Kathy, the woman eskimo-kissing Bayan, calls Bayan her "momo joo-joo," an epithet whose meaning we can't imagine but it sounds so good to us that we've adopted it on occasion.

Here's our baby girl with three more friends. Left is Neika, another Australian, this one from the west side of the continent. Bayan can stay in her arms forever, alternately smiling and sleeping. Neika is not married, though she is clearly astonishing in her eligibility. The center picture has Bayan with Adib Birkland who had some good laughs with Bayan out at a lecture about human history and civilization (generic description = Brett didn't get to go). Bayan is very collegiate, you know, though her notes were not extensive. Adib is married to an icelandic woman named Berglind who is what one thinks of when one thinks of sincerity. At the right is Bayan with her friend Aref, one of the best people, and sharpest dressers, we know. Aref has gone a long way toward destroying the image we had of investment bankers. We've yet to see him riddled with anxiety, walking down the street gripping bricks of cash, getting transfusions because of the lack of a beating heart to oxygenate his blood. Nope, he seems 100% human. Who knew?

9 more views of Ms. Bayan...

2009-06-16T22:20:00.006-04:00

Dear Friends,

Bayan is five months old already. She's officially long in the tooth as far as infancy is concerned by being short in a tooth (her lower left) as of last week. We're three weeks away from attempting to feed her solid foods. Avocado, the anointed first fruit, is something short of jerky, but compared to mama's milk, it's solidity is considerable. Bayan's only practice chewing thus far has been the regurgitated curds she jettisons for us from time to time.

In honor of five months of surviving Gladys and me, and her first tooth, here are recent stills from the life and times of Bayan Aliyyih...

These are just her looking cute. She does a lot of looking cute. Usually accompanied by what she supposes a laugh, but what really sounds like a lot of huffing and puffing. Bayan often sounds like she wants to blow our house down, or as though she's just run all the home from Battery City just to say she's sorry. These also illustrate our baby's rapidly growing athleticism. Mostly it helps her push up and look around, roll over, and then find some hard service to thrust her head into. Fortunately she's not much worse for the wear yet.

One feels something uncomfortably close to bragging when blogging, particularly when the subject of one's blog is something, in this case someone, that the writer stops just short of worshipping, and when the secondary subject is a wife whose merit and qualities lie entirely beyond the approach of hyperbole. However indulgent, here they are looking sweet and wonderful together.

Left: Bayan tries out some of the latest fashions. She's doing some previewing for Neda and Nima's daughter who's just weeks away (and we are on needles and pins waiting for her to arrive and take her rightful place as the lord of the ducks).

Center: Bayan doing a little sunbathing. Mama is concerned that she may be showing a little too much leg at such a tender age, but Papa is saying hey let the girl live a little. Papa probably won't be saying that as often when said 'girl' is seventeen.

Right: Bayan doing some recreating while apparently hoping to be discovered for an all-baby cast of Where the Wild Things Are.

Celebrations!

2009-06-15T23:21:00.021-04:00

We had a joyous weekend, participating in two events that celebrated love, union and the expansion of the human family in very different ways. On Saturday, we helped put on a baby shower for our friends Nima & Neda at the park. Then on Sunday, we attended the wedding of our friends Jason & Parisa down in Baltimore. Four of the rad-est people I know celebrating two of the most life-changing events. It was a very sweet weekend indeed.

Nima & Neda's baby shower

Left: Bayan surrounded by her admirers, who sheltered her from the light drizzle at the park.
Middle: Bayan shows off her sitting skills (yes, when you're barely 5 months old, it takes skills to sit).
Right: Bayan shows off her tooth! That little sucker--bottom left--came in just a week ago.

Left: Bayan having fun with Samira.
Middle: The most amazing picture in this entry. No joke. It was the first time that Bayan didn't cry when Roddy entered the room. :) Congratulations, Roddy, you finally passed the baby test.
Right: Not sure how we managed to get through all of Saturday without a picture of Bayan with the radiant new (or not so new--it's been 8 months now, yikes!) mommy, but we did. Fortunately, we've been lucky enough to see Nima & Neda several times this week. Here's Bayan with Neda when she stopped by a couple of days before the shower. Pretty! Neda, that is.

Jason & Parisa's wedding
...where Bayan, wearing her lovely dress from Ecuador, once again got to be in the arms of many special people, including, in the second to last frame, Jason's aunt, who hosted the beautiful wedding and simply put together the most wonderful feast for all the wedding guests.

Last frame: Bayan laughing it up with the newlyweds. Congratulations, Jason & Parisa!

Five months old--with new toy and new tricks

2009-06-03T21:18:00.023-04:00

Brett's been feeling a little under the weather this week so we haven't been up to much. Below is Brett in bed with Bayan and me coming home during lunch to attend to my babies.

But before Brett fell ill we were taking full advantage of the recently re-opened of Washington Square Park. Below is a picture of Brett giving Bayan an interactive tour of the fountain. Further below is the two of them up to their typical antics--Brett as wall and Bayan as Spiderman.

Washington Square Park

Bayan the superhero

And when Bayan doesn't have her papa to put her up to any tricks, she comes up with new ones on her own. She's been into doing push-ups the last couple of days. No joke. The girl pushes herself up as high as she can, squeals in delight, then drops her chest--suspending her arms and legs in the air while balancing on her tummy, grunts, then pushes herself up again. Repeat 20 times for minutes of fun.

Bayan does her push-ups!

Also, we recently got a monstrosity of a toy. It's called a jumperoo. As soon as we got it we couldn't wait to get rid of it. But since this obnoxious centerpiece is capable of delivering minutes of fun to our five month-old kiddo I guess we're keeping it for a while.

Bayan in her jumeproo

Bayan takes flight!

2009-05-26T00:35:00.029-04:00

Bayan and I flew to Portland to visit my brother and his family over Memorial Day weekend. It was the meeting of the cousins--26 month-old Joaquin and 4 1/2 month-old Bayan, and it was awesome. Everything about the trip--from the masses at the airport, to the flowers on steroids (seriously, my sister-in-law's rhododendrons can eat your rhododendrons) blossoming like mad in Portland, to the chatterbox of a cousin Joaquin--was so new to Bayan that it kind of stunned her into speechlessness. Baby Bayan, as Joaquin calls her, went around all weekend wide-eyed and looking mighty cute.

Left: Me and Bayan riding the people mover between terminals. Our 7 p.m. flight out of JFK was delayed by 3 hours and I had to get creative in trying to put Bayan to sleep in the bright and noisy airport, so we rode the people movers--over and over and over...
Middle: Despite our late arrival into Portland, Bayan woke up the next morning ready to rock--dressed in her cousin Joaquin's coat from France with a fantastically pointy hood.
Right: Joaquin in the same coat when he was three and a half months old. Cute!

We had a great time in Portland--napping at the local cafe, dining outside, playing in the park. Ahhh, west coast living. The life.

Bayan in Portland.

Last frame: Bayan returns home with sun-kissed cheeks (sorry, Bayan, I'll shade you better next time) and a new toy from Joaquin.

Bayan with her cousin.

Before we visited the West Coast, however, West Coast visited us. A couple of weeks before we left, our friends Rich and Marni came to visit from Walnut Creek. Then Berkeley came to town in the form of Rishi and Brandon (by way of Cambridge). And I really must thank Timnah for getting Brandon here. Although I was at work for most of our visitors' time here, it was still great to see everyone.

Bayan with Rich and Marni.

Bayan with the gang.

Also, Bruce and Kate and Brett and I finally got the girls together this month.

Bayan and Bahiyyih check out each other!

Photo shoot!

Sun Angel

2009-05-19T23:16:00.002-04:00

NB: I'm under the impression that the last picture in the prior post is a very great thing. Gladys is not. So, feel free to be the judge. Bayan may just be acting distressed at being dangled upside-down. Certainly the man in the white t-shirt seems to be having a good time.

Dear Friends,

So one of our favoritest people in the world came from Ecuador for a visit some time ago and we didn't even make a fuss on our blog. I've neglected several fuss-worthy folk after Bayan Aliyyih began to spend most of her hours waking, and most of her waking hours wanting something. But with life somewhat settled into a routine, one wherein Glamis hath murdered sleep and therefore Brett and Gladys shall sleep no more, but one we're grateful for so Bayan comes withal, we'll try to catch up the blog a bit.

The person is prefigured in the header: Solange Hai. She's do-gooding for an NGO in Ecuador after graduating from Boston University a couple of years ago. She's part of a trio of wonderfully different and wonderfully similar sisters who have no homeland. And she was married mere weeks ago to Carlos Rojas, literally sending most of the single men on the eastern seaboard who were lucky enough to be acquainted with her into deep mourning. Solange and Carlos are the couple to whom Bayan intends to pay her first international visit this November (hooray!). This is a very admirable couple (he a doctor about to spend a year helping rural peoples; she working for sustainable agriculture and other good causes), but they are a little flighty in one respect: you see, Solange and Carlos seem to be under the impression that faeries carry away Bayan's clothing in the night, and that they must continually resupply her wardrobe lest the gnomes and sprites deprive her of everything. Much of her wardrobe came at their hands and is featured in various pictures on the blog, nothing so charming as the Peruvian sweater that Elizabeth Hai and Carlos bought at Macchu Piccu, enabling countless people in New York to comment on what a fine and fashionable son we have. Solange visited for an Italian Christmas dinner just two weeks before Bayan's birth, fell in love with Bayan in digital form, then came to see her in flesh this March.

left: solange kissing Bayan.

middle: solange holding her closer...love mounting.

right: solange looking strangely possessive of Bayan...fake smile combined with turning away toward the door and fear on Bayan's face indicate that the risk of immediate kidnapping is high.

Love to all her kindly aunties and uncles. Especially those two in Quito, who we hope are having the happiest ever married life, and whom we expect to reenact the ceremony in intricate detail when we come to visit.

love,

b,b&g

Story of a name: Aliyyih (عليّة)

2009-05-19T22:25:00.001-04:00

Dear friends and family,

I had written sometime ago as though I would imminently explain the comings about of "Aliyyih," our first daughter's second name a name that probably sounds as little like it ought apply to a half-Chinese, half Caucasian baby as "Bayan" does. This post is meant as long-neglected and summary apologia for the perhaps seeming mis-Christening.

Two weeks before Bayan Aliyyih was conceived, Gladys and I spent nine days in Israel/Palestine, making a pilgrimage to some of the places which are sacred to the Baha'is around the world. Many of the Baha'i Holy sites are grouped on and around Mt. Carmel, which mountain hosts the caves of Elijah and which has therefore been a site of pilgrimage for people of various faiths for many years. Its nearby sister cities of Haifa and Akka, counterpoised across the Bay of Haifa possibly represents the most harmonious place in the middle east for followers of the Abrahamic religions. It's like the Hagia Sofia, but it's not a museum. Baha'is wait many years to make pilgrimage and Gladys and I had waited since our marriage on June 21, 2003, the longest day of the year ("when shortest fitter were" said the poet anyway).

Well, as we readied to go on that pilgrimage we were reflecting on our lives and feeling like perhaps the time had come to get serious about progeny, since the stork seemed to be waiting on us to act with intent rather than simply showing up unbidden. We thus flew to the demesne of Elijah with hopes for more than spiritual fruit. Haifa and Akka are widely known for gardens that rival those anywhere--the Alhambra, Boboli, Versailles or ancient Babylon. You can see something of them here. So while we spent days walking through the gardens together we talked a lot about this mythic daughter to be (we had sort of decided she would be a daughter and fortunately the universe humored us).

Gladys had at that time recently memorized a long mystical poem called "The Fire Tablet" which is a masterpiece of Arabic literature. Mind you, one should read Arabic better than I do to consider anything masterful in it, but that's not only the word on the street, but the reality even of it's translation into English (here). It is a lament about the condition of humanity, having had the true lights of religion obscured by the clergy, by clouds of selfishness and materialism. And it's a call for human beings to revive sacred feelings and, phoenix-like, bring forth a new world while burning the old one to ash. Well, that's sort of descriptive license on my part--the tablet speaks better on its own than anything you'll get from me.

Anyway, Gladys had memorized this tablet (it's longer than most of the parts in Shakespeare, so no small feat) and I, was impressed--and in continuous discussion with her about it while in Haifa. It has all this great stuff about how people ought to be--humble, courageous, etc--things often thought but ne'er so well expressed (as Jeeves would say). So we got to thinking that we'd like our daughter, as yet uncreated, to be what the tablet said she could be. In other words we wanted her to be a lot like Gladys. Pretty soon we read the tablet with our unconceived daughter in mind, though she was still a dream.

After Bayan Aliyyih was an enwombed though unnamed reality we kept reading it with her in mind. There were passages that we liked especially, after which we thought we might christen her. As I explained in some other post, those passages in Arabic didn't make for the most beautiful or easily elocuted names the western world has seen. So we had to scramble.

The tablet was addressed to a man named Ali-Akbar (meaning, the exalted, the most great). Well this Ali was most great, the more so for being the recipient of this tablet. So we thought if that man should have embodied such virtues, then perhaps our daughter could do so in his wake. Aliyyih, the feminized form of "Ali," emerged as a candidate.

We also liked that Aliyyih alludes to two of the humblest and most courageous figures in history, Siyyid Ali Muhammad, and Mirza Husayn Ali, known to history as the Bab and Baha'u'llah.

And we liked that a young woman a century ago called Aliyyih was steadfast, even when her own parents had lost their faith. (we're hoping Aliyyih takes after her namesake, but that that's where it ends.)

So that's it...pretty, exalted and humble at once, the namesake of the sender and the recipient of our favorite mystical poem, a tribute to two figures who suffered immeasurably trying to establish the oneness of humankind, and someone who perseveres gratefully through adversity, even to the end.

Of interest too, to one person at least, is that Bayan is the 'masculine' version of the word, while Aliyyih is feminized. We're having it both ways. In addition, both are Arabic words but we pronounce them, particularly Aliyyih, more in a Persian style. Again we're having it both ways. And Aliyyih means exalted or lofty, even though it was chosen as emblematic of a call to humility and lowliness before God and everyone on the earth. I guess this last isn't quite having it both ways since the meek shall inherit the earth and real loftiness is lowliness and the first are last and all other manner of paradoxical conundrum. Whitman said "do i contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself. I am large. I contain multitudes." This is one of those times I guess. Baha'u'llah agreed, asking human beings "think thyself only a puny form when within thee the universe is folded?"

The smartest person I know thinks every daughter should be named Mary. He may be right. But some of the reasons he probably thinks so are a) it's beautiful; b) it's not reducible to a nickname; c) it is hyper-allusive in oaths, prayers, contexts of weddings, famous namesakes and the like; and d) it's no longer common. Bayan Aliyyih fills all four requirements too, if that's the case. The beauty comes slow to some ears in the west but when it does come, it lingers.

Love,

B,B&G

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-09T08:38:00.011-04:00

In the spirit of Mother's Day, I thought I'd put up some recent photos of Bayan with me and my mother. They were taken just prior to my mom's return to California last week. Hi mom! Happy Mother's Day!

Revisiting Stuyvesant Square.

Walking through Chinatown.

Relaxing at home.

Today...

2009-04-26T21:26:00.011-04:00

was a beautiful day in New York City--87 degrees and sunny. We went for a walk with Bayan and found ourselves in a beautiful park (Stuyvesant Square) in Gramercy.

Spring in New York.

Bayan was wiped out from the adventure!

But there's a whole back log of pictures and events we have to update you on. Almost a month ago now, our friend Kate paid us a visit and brought Bahiyyih with her. Remember the girls when they were still newborns? when being 3 weeks older than Bahiyyih gave Bayan a definite size advantage? Well, Bahiyyih has quickly caught up. The picture on the right is them at 11 weeks (Bayan) and 8 weeks (Bahiyyih).

Bayan and Bahiyyih.

Most recently, Brett's family came to visit. We had a wonderful time with them--hanging out with Bayan, walking in Central Park. We even caught a Broadway show (Bayan stayed behind with our friend Neda).

Part of the Gamboa clan visits from California!

More pictures.

Photo shoot!

Quick, before she outgrows these pictures!

2009-04-02T22:52:00.014-04:00

I've been meaning to put up photos of Bayan now for about two weeks in a row, but working and studying for an upcoming exam for my residency has left little time for posting photos, even if they are of sweet Bayan. I fear that at the rate she's growing and changing, it won't be long before she stops looking as she does in the pictures below, so, quick, here she is!

Bayan with Brett

...checking out the Village Voice for which plays to they're going to see.

We've been blessed to have my mom here, playing the role of super-nanny.

Bayan with Ah-mah

My mom is so unbelievably good with Bayan that it's amazing to watch. She sings and talks to Bayan and gives her lots of positive stimulation all day long. Plus she's a softie and doesn't go for any of the tough love that Brett and I go for. Bayan, you lucky girl!

My mom being here has also allowed Brett to return to work on his dissertation. But before he heads out to the library or the cafe to do his writing, Brett usually engages Bayan in a major photo shoot. Here are examples of some of them. Yes, Bayan's papa loves her.

Daily Photo Shoot!

Mother, child, and the sweet uses of adversity

2009-03-18T15:50:00.005-04:00

I'm sure that few are on pins and needles wondering whether I'll get back into the blogging game. Things have gotten busy, as they say. I think America should probably forego baseball as a national pastime for 'being busy.' That seems to be what everyone from our generation will have on their gravestones. Here lies so and so...he was probably a swell guy...we're not sure...he was just so busy....

Anyway, Gladys has shared most of the wonderful stuff in Bayan's life. And speaking of Gladys, she's wonderful. We had a lot of feedback and questions from people about her birthing story and how lucky/tough/super-human/etc. she was through it so I thought I'd share just a bit more about it today, along with a few photos of her and the plumpening Bayan Aliyyih. Bayan for her part has gone from the 20th to the 75th percentile in terms of weight. Gladys's vegetarian breast milk, despite its doubters, appears to be doing the trick.

The more I've thought about the morning of January 9, the 53 minutes that passed between waking to find Gladys in contractions and the birth of Bayan, the more I've understood that Gladys was not super-human so much as certain about what was at stake: the birth of her daughter. What that should convey is that Gladys was admirable in birthing because the birth was not about her. She didn't dip her toes into a cold pool wondering whether it were too cold for her. Rather she plunged into the pool as though her daughter was on the other side of it, live and waiting for her and only by plunging in could she be retrieved. The important thing was clearly the child, as though she lived just as truly within Gladys as she would without her, as though she had an advocate in Gladys to ensure her arrival was without delay.

Gladys had resolved on participating in and being fully aware of the birth of Bayan. She was healthy in pregnancy, she prepared athletically for an event that would ask for some athleticism, and she resolved to have her baby without medication, an MD, an IV or anything else, at least barring serious complications. Some read her story and think she didn't experience a lot of pain. That's nonsense. It was enough, whatever it was, that she became at points unable to communicate with anyone, transported wholly by the commotion within her. But I think she dealt with it so well because her focus was on Bayan's arrival rather than her own delivery, and because she never succumbed to fear, believing that she was built to do just what she was doing and that the pain associated was a fair price for what was coming.

I don't know if you will get what I mean. It's something I'm still trying to unpack myself. But my wife, who is known widely to amaze her onlookers, in this was simply a selfless woman. And the birth was perhaps the most selfless act to which I've been a witness. She was never encouraged to "push," she never fought against the baby or though she wouldn't do it. The only words we heard from the midwife were "not yet" "go slowly" and the like. And I expect the fact that she thought of Bayan as a spiritual reality all through the pregnancy made it much easier to focus on her rather than herself when it was time for Bayan's to be born.

One triptych in which you can see that she's becoming a real live little person...

We received a beautiful story from a very strong, very wonderful woman while Gladys was pregnant with Bayan that illuminates the features I saw in Gladys. I'll quote a little of it here, keeping names out to protect the innocent. It was really valuable advice and perhaps it will become so for some other mother. For us, it turned out just as promised...

"Her body will instinctively and spiritually KNOW how to deliver this beautiful child. NO ONE other than Gladys and God will know this more deeply – not a midwife and not a surgeon, not her closest friend or mother or anyone else. Others can help her find that path and not lose it, but birthing helpers, especially medical people in their professional expertise, do forget who is boss. GLADYS IS BOSS with God's blessing. If there ever is a time that a woman is absolutely #1 in human wisdom, it is during the birthing process. At all other times consultation and team work is a larger portion. At this time, during the actual labor and birth, SHE must be listened to for the most optimal and the least painful birth for both her and for the child."

Happy New Year everybody! (March 21).

Love,

B (for B&G)

Road trip and new tricks

2009-03-07T22:37:00.021-05:00

Brett and I took Bayan on a short road trip to make some fun use of my last week of maternity leave after Bayan's ah-ma and ah-tai left. We coursed through Pennsylvania, visiting friends, and stopped by Staunton and DC for Brett to see a couple of plays at the Blackfriars and Folger Theater, respectively. At the start of the trip, we had dreams of making a scenic drive through the Shenandoah Valley on the way down to the balmy South that is Staunton, VA. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, and there are no pictures to show the fruits of our (driving) labor.

Bayan in Philadelphia.

Left: Bayan minutes after embarking on her first road trip.
Middle: Ducking into Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia to say a quick hello to our friend Naisohn, an ER physician, who kept his arms crossed not because he doesn't like us, but because he didn't want to contaminate us with his white coat. I've seen the inside of emergency rooms and was glad to oblige with his request that we didn't hug him (even though we really wanted to!). Also in the picture is Cathinka, a very very special and terrific lady that we were fortunate enough to catch one more glimpse of before she hopped on her plane for Florida, where she is a graduate student studying International Relations.
Right: Brett and I (with one of us holding on to the stroller carrying Bayan) in front some historic building in Philadelphia. We had all of 10 minutes to see Philadelphia, so, with the exception of the Liberty Bell, we really had no idea what was what. We'll have to take Bayan there again when we have more time.

Bayan in Lancaster, PA.

Left: We zipped through Philadelphia mostly because we couldn't wait to get to Lancaster, PA. What's in Lancaster, PA, you ask? Kathy and Michael Penn! Bayan was so happy and comfortable in their home (see the next two pics)--and just loved, loved, loved being in Kathy's arms--that it was hard for us to leave.
Middle: Brett and Bayan at breakfast.
Right: Bayan showing off her gut!

Bayan with her papa.

Bayan with Neda and Nima.

Left: I returned to work this week (hence the dearth of posts on this blog the last week and a half). Fortunately, our dear friend Neda, who we just found out is also having a girl (yay!), who's due to arrive at the end of June, was able to come over to our place to spend some time with Bayan and give Brett a little break while I was at work. Thank you, Neda!
Middle: Putting her chunky thighs to use! Bayan has now gotten strong enough to "stand"--with a great deal of support.
Right: Nima, Neda's husband, encouraging Bayan during her tummy time. We can't wait to see him do the same with baby Neda!

Visitors from far away

2009-02-24T23:59:00.018-05:00

This week we were graced with a visit from Bayan's ah-tai (the word for great-grandmother in Taiwanese), who traveled all the way from Taiwan, by way of California and, most recently, Oregon, where she was visiting Bayan's cousin Joaquin (www.joaquinbrenneislee.com), to see her. My mother--Bayan's ah-mah (grandmother)--also came, which was lucky for us since she whipped up many fabulous meals while she was here. We were also blessed by a visit from two beloved friends of ours, Bob and Flora Salmon, who came all the way from Maine, bringing with them Flora's delicious cooking. Yes, we're spoiled and we know it.

First, a few pictures of Bayan solo.

Left: Bayan continues to get stronger. Compare this picture to one from a couple of weeks ago of Bayan on the same blue mat. Check out her head control!
Middle: She's now smiling socially, and laughing some, too.
Right: It won't be long before she's too big to lay across the dining table chairs. (Yes, for those recalling the pictures of Bayan in the duffle bag, this--letting Bayan sleep on a chair 18 inches wide--was also entirely Brett's doing.)

Signs of Bayan's development.

Left: Brett's new favorite thing: Bayan alseep in his arms. Just a few weeks ago, this would have been a picture of Bayan going crazy hunting for milk on Brett's chest, but she's since learned where--and whom--milk comes from, and where it does not.
Middle: Bayan Aliyyih, 6 weeks-old.
Right: See? Sleeping, not going nuts looking for food.

Bayan and her ah-tai.

Bayan and her ah-mah.

...and, in the middle, the four generations of Xie (ah-tai)/Lai (ah-mah)/Lee (me)/Gamboa women.

Bayan expands her horizon.

Left: One of the perks of having people around is getting a picture taken of the whole family.
Middle: Also, having visitors gave us an excuse visit a few places in New York. Here's Bayan--well, not really, she's just below the frame of the picture, under my coat in a sling--in Battery Park, catching a view a of the Statue of Liberty.
Right: And here's Bayan, with the top of her head peaking out above the baby carrier (thank you, Kristin!)--at the top of the Empire State Building.

Bayan with Bob and Flora!

Bayan as entertainment.

Left: We spend a lot of time just looking at Bayan. Here we are, moments before going for a walk.
Middle: Before.
Right: After.

Our weekend at NEBY

2009-02-18T06:37:00.009-05:00

Last weekend, we attended a conference for youths in the northeast as major league adults (with baby in tow, how could we not be?). The conference, NEBY--Northeast Baha'i Youth (www.neby.org)--for short, was held in Stamford, Connecticut, less than an hour's train ride away from NYC. Brett was a legitimate participant (speaking at one session and leading a discussion at another) at the conference whereas I was just a tag-along, there to show off Bayan. Lucky me. :)

Bayan packs for the weekend.

Left: asleep in a duffle bag.
Middle: looking cute in a duffle bag.
Right: waking up wondering what she's doing in a duffle bag and why her father is laughing at her (yes, this was entirely Brett's doing).

Bayan arrives at the hotel.

Left: Bayan displays her amazing ability to keep her arms suspended in the air, wherever she is, even while sitting semi-upright in a car seat.
Middle: Despite her tremendous growth over the last 5 weeks, Bayan is still a peanut in a king size bed.
Right: Freshly swaddled, and feeling much better about life, on the same king size bed.

Bayan in the arms of many special people.

...some better at holding her than others...for example, uh-hmm, the person in the last frame, who shall go unnamed--clearly we trust him in all of his other abilities or else we wouldn't have thought to entrust him with our child.

End of the weekend.

Left: Valentine's Day dinner at the local diner.
Middle: train ride home.
Right: happily jostled the whole way home.

1-month report card and a new best friend

2009-02-11T11:33:00.013-05:00

Bayan had her 1-month doctor's visit a couple of days ago. To get ready for it--to make sure she hits her developmental milestones so as to avoid seeming like delinquent parents--Brett and I have been putting Bayan on her belly, giving her "tummy time", at every opportunity we get. It can be a little miserable for her because, Brett thinks, she gets frustrated at her own inability to move and control her body (I think it's because she gets pissed off at having her face planted on the floor while hearing her parents coax her to push and lift up her head), but Brett usually won't let her give up until he sees a good effort out of her. As you can see in the last frame, she's not always too happy about all the effort that she has to display before her papa lets her off the hook.

Below, she wakes up the morning of her doctor's appointment looking a little rumpled, but good. We certainly didn't have any concerns about whether or not she was going to measure up on the scale. At the visit she weighed in at 9.5 pounds, putting her just above the 50th percentile in weight, which is a jump from the 25th percentile that her 6.97 pounds birth weight had put her at. Bayan, if you keep leaping across weight percentiles at this rate you're going to end up much more of a Yue Tao (Moon Peach) than our 50/50 Bayan Aliyyih/Yue Tao!

Our pediatrician is great. She's in the business of liking kids, but we think she genuinely really likes Bayan. She's also very detail-oriented and hardcore, and we had high hopes for her complete approval. Unfortunately we came just shy of an "A" on this month's report card. We were doing great until she found the lint in Bayan's belly button and underarms (this after a discussion about how we didn't bathe Bayan frequently enough). This made her raise an eyebrow. Oops!

And The Bab loved cleanlines, too. Oops, double oops. The Bab wrote in the Persian Bayan:
"Naught in the Bayán and in the sight of God is more loved than purity and immaculate cleanliness…."

Also, Abdul-Baha says about cleanliness:
"although bodily cleanliness is a physical thing, it hath, nevertheless, a powerful influence on the life of the spirit. It is even as a voice wondrously sweet, or a melody played: although sounds are but vibrations in the air which affect the ear’s auditory nerve, and these vibrations are but chance phenomena carried along through the air, even so, see how they move the heart. A wondrous melody is wings for the spirit, and maketh the soul to tremble for joy. The purport is that physical cleanliness doth also exert its effect upon the human soul."

Sorry, Bayan, we promise to keep the lint out of your belly button from now on!

Something else exciting happened recently. As I mentioned in the last entry, our dear friends Bruce and Kate had their baby girl on February 1. We got to visit this weekend. It was great. There's quite a story behind these babies actually. Over the last 4 years Kate and I have had many baby-planning discussions. First it was babies 2010 (to be raised in Ghana, then it was India, then I forget where), then it was babies 2008, then she had a show (she's a dancer and a choreographer www.digbydance.org) and I heard some horror stories about having babies during residency, and we both gave up thinking that there were babies anywhere in sight. Then when we stopped talking about it... well, you can see below.

The girls: Bayan Aliyyih Gamboa and Bahiyyih Jane Grover (what great names!)

Bayan sleeps her way to a big head

2009-02-03T17:40:00.028-05:00

For someone who does as little as Bayan does, she sure spends a lot of time thinking about naps when not actually taking them. Maybe yawning expends more energy than I realized for a little person like Bayan--it does work the muscles in her face after all.

It may be though, that she spends as much time sleeping as she does because she drifts off to somewhere pretty good when she sleeps. Besides looking peaceful and content, Bayan also smiles a lot in her sleep, which is a nice sight, and we can't wait until she does it as a result of seeing us smile at her.

But times are less good when she has to be extracted from warm baths or get dressed in long-sleeved/long-legged things, even when it's done on a bed of freshly laundered diapers. The problem she has with the latter though may be more due to her confusion over her mother's insistence on dressing her in boy's garb than the torment of being dressed itself.

Despite the hardships she's had to endure, however, Bayan appears to be growing and developing just fine, as evidenced by her ever-enlarging head. It's a very strange thing to see a person's head grow. The girl's even got some semblance of a forehead now to offset the prominence of her cheeks. Not bad, eh?

Also not bad is getting to take walks. After days and days of cold, cold, and more cold weather, the temperature finally peaked above 40 degrees on Sunday (the day our dear friends Bruce and Kate gave birth to their daughter, Bahiyyih Jane Grover!!!) and we took Bayan for a long stroll. On this long stroll, we chanced upon some of the best--and I mean the best--food that Brett and I have ever eaten. It happened on 32nd Street, in a wonderful Korean restaurant called Kunjip Restaurant.

In lieu of anything else, a prayer...

2009-02-02T23:31:00.003-05:00

I nearly made a blog post today. I pulled together pictures, I started to have something to say...that's usually where it goes haywire. Of course, there is having a 3 week baby that's keeping me on my toes, as well as the both loved and feared dissertating to finish me off. But lest I go even more days with no blog posts, I offer a simple one, 4 pics, and an IOU for tomorrow. The simple one is this:

There is a prayer we like to say for our baby girl. It's very pretty. It's by 'Abdu'l Baha. It expresses the hope that a young girl might be like a "nightingale in the rose garden of mysteries" and "warbling melodies...in the most wondrous tones, thereby bringing happiness to everyone." That sounds pretty good to us so we say it for our daughter. If anyone wanted to do something splendid for us and Bayan, they might consider offering this prayer for her, or for your own baby girl, or mother or wife. "It's like a barber's chair that fits all buttocks." (that's Lavatch from All's Well, and yes he'd be the type to introduce buttocks into a paragraph on praying. In any case it probably couldn't hurt the person you pray for. It goes like this...

O THOU kind Lord! Bestow heavenly confirmation upon this daughter of the Kingdom and graciously aid her that she may remain firm and steadfast in Thy Cause and that she may, even as a nightingale of the rose garden of mysteries, warble melodies in the Abha Kingdom in the most wondrous tones, thereby bringing happiness to everyone. Make her exalted among the daughters of the Kingdom and enable her to attain life eternal. Thou art the Bestower, the All-Loving. ~'Abdu'l Baha

Lest you're not into praying, or find it strange, don't let us put you off on that front. Our sense is that as spiritual as well as physical beings, we need spiritual food as well as meat and potatoes (or tofu as the case may be). Prayer is spiritual food. It's like remembering that we or other people are beings of love and mercy and kindness and hospitality and all manner of goodness. We'd like to think that our daughter will cheer hearts and see the "Kingdom" which Christ said was already in all of us. Abdu'l Baha says that the Kingdom is built--it's the unity of mankind. Ours task is just to wake up to it as a reality.

I'm overdue on a post about "Aliyyih" and more than one person, I'm surprised it's true but it is true, has petitioned me to get it up. For those few patient souls, I'll say that the word "exalted" in the foregoing prayer is "Aliyyih."

I feel a little more certain about angels and the Kingdom and all that having been blessed to know the two daughters, the two angels, in these photos.