These shots of Luna on a bike, in the park, at the beach, in the rain, and looking at monkeys were taken right around her first birthday. So fun to look back.
Tag Archives: luna suli
Beach Play in Costa Rica
Playing at the beach in front of our house in Costa Rica.
Happy Birthday to My Loves
My two loves have the same birthday. We celebrated with a fun evening on the beach under a gorgeous sunset. So happy with our simple beach life! No big party, no presents other than the presence of each other. Just lots of love.
First Word – Agua
Luna is exactly 1 year old. She runs around and she’s learning to say a few words. Her first word was “agua”. Here’s a quick little demonstration.
Luna’s First Swim Lessons
In a few days Luna will turn 1 year old, which means it’s time for her first swim lessons. I wouldn’t have come up with that idea on my own, but while surfing a few days ago we met a really cool lady named Joany Arpy who specializes in teaching infants to swim. She generously offered to give Luna a few lessons and we jumped at the opportunity.
The lessons are short (only 5 min long) and very intense. The babies are essentially just thrown into the water (with Joany’s knowledgable hands on them of course) and encouraged to explore their natural float reflex. She guides the head and body so that just the face is above water and eventually they relax and control their breath in order to float. It’s a nerve-wracking, incredible, and very proud moment to watch as a parent. 
Luna got into the pool happily, but as soon as the lesson began she went into panic mode, calling for “MAMA! MAMA!” This, Joany says, is totally normal. On the first lesson she floated on her back for a few seconds and we called that success. On the second lesson, they worked on simulating falling into the pool and turning towards the wall to safety, and even a little underwater swimming.
Unfortunately, Joany had to head back to Florida so we only got 2 lessons, but we’re thinking about heading to Florida for a week or so to continue the program. It was that good.
She recommends getting babies into the water between 6 months and 2 years old. If you have a little one, I definitely recommend finding an instructor from InfantSwim.com near you!
Monkey Lover in the Jungle of Costa Rica
Several times per day the monkeys announce their presence by shaking trees, dropping twigs and discarded cacao husks on the roof, and squeaking at each other. We hear the rustling, thuds, and squeaks, then run outside to the portion of 360 degree wrapping porch that seems closest to the action. Luna points and laughs as small red furry creatures follow each other in jumping from branch to branch and scurrying up tree limbs. Squirrel monkeys!
A whole family of them live in the trees around the house and migrate back and forth daily in search of food. They peel open leaves for what we can only imagine are caterpillars curled inside, or maybe beetle larvae. They grab cacao pods and eat the white fruit and seeds. Mostly we see them running and leaping.
When the monkeys pass, Daddy plays Luna’s favorite game: He growls, pretends to be a monster, and she runs laughing.
He wraps her up in a hammock. “Gotcha!”
She gives a cheeky hand signal to mama watching behind the camera. It goes like this: place back of hand to mouth, wave fingers back and forth, and make “bwah bwah bwah” sound. I think it means “put that camera down and come play!” The monkeys are cute, but it’s hard to compete with an 11 month old with a new-found love of the jungle!
Bringing Baby to the Office
Living in Nicaragua has many benefits. Warm water, awesome weather, the ability to walk barefoot most of the day most days and wear the same clothing multiple days in a row without anyone batting an eye. It’s great for lightening the laundry load, toughening the feet, and deepening the smile lines.
It’s also great for spending a lot of time with baby. My sister, who lives in the Los Angeles area, has said that she often feels that she had a baby for someone else to hang out with. She works a ton and has to pay for a nanny to watch her daughter 5 days a week. I also work a lot but luckily I can bring my little girl to work.
I do employ a local friend who helps me with Luna while I surf. In the first few months that basically entailed holding her in the shade or rocking her in a hammock while she slept. Now that she’s nearly a year old, it means walking her on the beach.
During the Surf Yoga Retreats Luna comes along and plays at the water’s edge while I surf. I hold her while congratulating an Amiga on an awesome ride, or giving some advice on foot placement. I love being able to hang out with her all day long even while I work.
Luna’s First Summit – Crough Patrick
When planning our trip to Ireland, Kim gave me a list of things we’d do including “climbing Crough Patrick”. I didn’t have any idea what that meant but trusted that whatever it was, it would be awesome. When we arrived to Westport and I saw the mountain he was talking about, I thought “no way!”
At almost 3000ft, Crough Patrick is Ireland’s Holiest Mountain. It begins at sea level which means climbers are climbing every one of those feet. It features a chapel at the top in honor of St. Patrick and is a popular pilgrimage for Catholics and tourists. On what would turn out to be the warmest day of the year so far, we caught a bus to the base. Luna has only been happy in her backpack for about 30 minutes at a time lately – she’s just too excited about learning to walk to be content being carried for long. I figured we had about a 50:50 chance of making the two hour hike to the top. It would all depend on some luck and timing.
Fortunately, Luna cooperated and fell asleep at the perfect time, allowing us to climb without any fussiness or squirming. The climbing was tricky at times, very steep with loose rocks. Most climbers that we passed were amazed that Kim was carrying a baby on his back.
We made it to the top in just an hour and 40 minutes. Luna woke up a few minutes before we reached the summit. Perfect timing!
We aren’t religious, but I was giddy at the top. The view was spectacular, but I was thrilled with a sense of accomplishment. I didn’t think we’d make it, but we did. Several hikers congratulated us on achieving the feat with a baby on board. I was just happy that having a baby has not made us totally compromise our desire for adventure.
Luna Goes To Spain
My sister Heidi is getting married in Malaga the last week of June and we decided to make the most of the long flights and expensive plane tickets by making a month of out it. First stop – 2 nights in Madrid to acclimate and recover from the long leg of the journey, then off to Ireland, Switzerland, and finally Malaga. Continue reading Luna Goes To Spain
Luna at the Beach 8.5 Months Old
At 8.5 months old Luna is super mobile. She’s a really fast crawler and she’s not content just to hang out in my arms anymore. When we’re at the beach, she wants to be in the sand. This was the first time I really let her get down and sandy. She was so excited she was crawling in circles, exploring the feeling of sand between her fingers. Once she got tired of that she crawled over and asked to be helped up. These days she’s pretty steady on her feet. With just one hand held, she can walk and even run! To save my back, I often sit and let her walk circles around me. Eventually she pulls me towards the ocean. This afternoon we did several cycles – crawl, get sandy, walk to the ocean, rinse off in the warm water, walk back to shore, crawl, get sandy, repeat. So much fun. Continue reading Luna at the Beach 8.5 Months Old
Salt Water Mama 