Dearest Family and Friends
57 Cumberland Street, San Francisco CA 94110
Phone Number: +1 415 738 2112
Nadine 415 595 0023
Colman 415 871 9920
Skype: nadinemellor
December Highlights
Esme
Three Months
She’s more and more engaging day by day – a happy little girl. Laughing is round the corner: squeaks and gurgles now accompany fledgling wide-gapes –
especially when held up to the mirror. Tremulous bashful smiles are endearing; little cries and yelps foreshadow consonants and vowels. Her wriggling is becoming more frenetic, and she now spends lengthy time on the baby gym, grasping at dangling toys, rolling onto her side, arching her back gazing into the mirror. Bathtimes and massages she loves, kicking her legs as befits a little frog.
We’re still marvelling at her good friendly nature and ease of behaviour – although as my yoga teacher rightly pointed out, this means she’s convenient for us and our lifestyle rather than ‘good’.
So far inconvenient moments have been few and far between. She’s now (mostly) sleeping through the night and more efficiently feeding, although still produces spectacular volcanic-like milk eruptions about once a week when she’s fallen asleep on the breast still sucking and has ingested too much. 
Out and about she’s a sweetheart in sling or stroller – gazing up with devotion, sleeping like an angel or watching the world with great interest. She’s more aware of sights, sounds and is more easily startled, turning her head bashfully smiling when caught out. Her eyes widen to saucers with apprehension, becoming almond-shaped with pleasure; lessening with fatigue or the onset of tears when her mouth trembles and turns down at the corners.
She’s filling out – fat pink cheeks, chubby legs – moving on to the next three months’ worth of clothes although the first batch are getting a second lease of life at home when she’s diaperless so don’t need to be buttoned up at the bottom. Pleasingly she’s wearing both pink and blue – Colman for one determined she’s not to be too girly.Natural Infant Hygiene
Strange that in contrast to accepted polite adult behaviour, babies are positively encouraged to burp, fart, excrete and pee – and in public too. Poor Esme will no doubt be demanding we foot her 
psychotherapy bills for the irreparable damage Elimination Communication will wreak on her. Peeing and pooing in front of all and sundry, in sinks and loos, underneath trees, across San Francisco, is bound to leave its toll. We estimate we’re catching at least 75% of all she produces now, she sleeps at night without wetting her diaper about half the time, she pretty much never poos in her diaper at all, I don’t need to take a change of clothes with me when we’re out and about, she can pee and poop even without the cue sounds when held into position. 
The downsides are that my hands and arms are getting RSI from holding her to eliminate, that it does take longer when out and about to take her to the restroom (this was taken just after she had peed in the Frick Museum restroom), and you do have to be more alert and keep an automatic clock in your head eg if she peed at 9.15 then take her to the bathroom by 9.45 if she’s not given a cue or peed before then. 
One night we went to dinner at Adam and Jen’s, taking 2 spare nappies. She peed en route – no problem, I took her to the loo and peed her again, fastening up the first of the spare diapers. Returning, flush with smugness and pride (yes pardon the pun) to the table to expound on our little wonder and how amazing the whole process is and aren’t we clever, I demonstrated the arm signal we deploy to tell her we’re taking her to the toilet. Whereupon all in the room copied the signal, she peed into the diaper, leaving us with only no spares and we’d just arrived. So I very sensibly suggested heating it up in the microwave to dry it off. Adam was the hero who rescued the flaming diaper! So serve me right for getting peed on later in the evening..
It has been very interesting and we’ve learned a lot. Finally I met another mother doing EC, whose 6 month old daughter now points at the potty when she wants to go. Colman suggests we don’t praise her when she does go on cue and after telling us, reasoning that this should be normal behaviour and not emotionally charged in any way. I do still encourage her but never censure if we miss one or she sends mixed signals. 
Accidents do happen – Colman was peed on mid-webcam conversation; I do get caught on the hop when breastfeeding from time to time thinking she wouldn’t pee and feed at the same time – and it is frustrating when we get out of sync with each other and keep missing pees, but overall it is great for our communication and straightforward. And we would be lying if we didn’t admit we like being mavericks!Top
Run Up to ChristmasA relatively quiet month for parties but we made up for that by hosting the DLG Christmas Event at which huge volumes of champagne were consumed and Secret Santa came to visit. Jason received the best present –
a Santa glove along with a DVD of the Yule Log – and I was delighted with my vintage jewellery from Abby Claus. The last to leave were the diehard Daniel sisters along with Amy H and Debra who regaled us with tales of unfortunate romances from bygone years, which kept us amused for hours. We were almost a full complement of DLGers, missing only Rachel who was unable to join us, a top night. 
Our Christmas Outing was to the tremendous Cirque du Soleil with Sophia and Gerardo - a surprise for Colman. Geoff and Armani kindly babysat and Armani neatly solved the bottle issue by breastfeeding Esme – a most convenient arrangement! Cirque du Soleil were stupendous: from the glittering gold contortionists whose bodies resembled writhing limbed snakes, to the dazzling silver besuited juggler whose blurred hands deftly whipped 7 clubs through the air, to the death defying big wheel riders in their swamp creature masks (see clip below), to the high wire walkers to the romantic bicycling balancing act to the clowns who were actually funny.
Same day to day activities: yoga, walks, lunching with the ladies and babies; mixed in with a bit of Christmas shopping, cards, and a trip to Yahoo! to show Esme off to Colman’s colleagues – the first time I’d been to Santa Clara and seen the hallowed cube in which Colman beavers away daily. Armani and I went to the Smuin ballet Christmas Show. We enjoyed mulled wine with the neighbours. We bid farewell to Rob who left San Francisco shores for London life. This lovely lifestyle is destined to alter irrevocably as I return to work in January.Restaurant of the Month
We ventured out to dinner several times with friends. A highlight was to Lupa with Kristan and Steve, a classic inexpensive cosy neighbourhood restaurant with well constructed hearty authentic Roman cuisine, whose Italian waiters were charm personified, and suitably adoring towards our blissfully sleeping babies.Top
Pittsburgh
Adventure of the Month
The Saturday before Christmas we flew to Pittsburgh via Las Vegas (stunning approach into modern day Sodom fringed by cinnamon coloured rocky plateaus and peaks giving way to shiny skyscrapers and urban sprawl). Esme was an angel on the flights – to the relief of those sitting near us.
We went to stay with Colman’s brother Patrick, his wife Clare, and their three children, Catherine, Margaret and Thomas, in Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh; Pat and Niamh had already arrived from Dublin.
The following day we were joined by Brother No.3, Hugh, and his wife Sally plus their sons, Max and Zack, after an epic journey through snowstorms from upstate New York.
Impressively this was the biggest congregation of Stephenson grandchildren ever assembled - a great occasion for us all and Pat and Niamh in particular.
Pittsburgh, astride 3 rivers, is a steel city with industrial docks, many bridges, its once great wealth manifest in grand buildings and museums – during the war Pittsburgh produced more steel than the Axis powers combined.
Nearly every day we explored local sights. Christmas Eve to the Phipps Conservatory where the striking glass sculptures of beautifully placed, Dale Chihuly enhanced the formal beds and tropical greenhouses.
Christmas Day saw mounting excitement as the present pile under the tree grew ever larger. A fearful shortage of wrapping paper created a scrimmage behind the scenes. After a delicious cream cheese, smoked salmon, bagels and mimosas (bucksfizz) breakfast, stockings, phone calls from Perth where the rest of the Stephensons were gathered, 
and Islamabad where my parents were with my sister and family, we were able to devote ourselves to the serious business of unwrapping the now tottering mountain of gifts. 
We all guessed the total, Catherine kept score, the boys hand-delivered gifts to the happy recipients, and the final tally was 143, which meant Hugh's estimate of 110 won.
Esme was blessed with some lovely presents and was on good form for most of the day,
wearing her special Christmas cardi hand-knitted by Karin's mother (thank you), getting cranky only towards the end, after much over-stimulation from electronic games, ripped wrapping paper, and lots of people buzzing around. 
On Boxing Day we walked to the Frick Art Gallery and House with a Car Museum in the former carriage house. The Fricks were denizens of Pittsburgh before they moved upmarket to NYC and left their Victorian mansion and art and furniture collection to posterity.
The day after, on a grey day, we drove to Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece, Falling Water, an hour and a half to the east of Pittsburgh. Inventively constructed over a waterfall of huge cantilevered slabs of concrete, the building defied engineering to the extent that, 60 years on, it nearly collapsed and required drastic remedial action. 
What’s striking is the setting, the customised furniture, lovely artworks, terraces, the way nature is infused in the building through the use of light, water sound and bedrock. And that the living spaces, particularly the bedrooms, are so confined. 
On our final two days we visited the impressive Carnegie which boasts a great art collection along with galleries on dinosaurs, gemstones, Native Americans, Egyptology, you name it.
And also the Warhol Museum sited where Andy grew up, featuring currently a Ron Mueck exhibition.
It was a very nice, relaxed family Christmas. It was great for Esme to meet her uncles, aunts and cousins, and especially her Grannie and Poppa.
Max in particular was very taken with her and kept picking her up, stroking and cuddling her – sooo sweet. Thanks to Niamh for doing most of the cooking and for babysitting when we went to the cinema to see Atonement. And to Patrick and Clare for their generous hospitality.
Bird of the Month
We were hoping for a white Christmas but the snow melted before our arrival; we had some wondrous wintry skies as compensation. 
Birds were thin on the ground but Pat and Clare’s garden had flocks of Dark Eyed Juncos, slate coloured variant Junco hyemalis, which are cousins of sparrows. In California they come as a paler, browner version; these ones were distinctive with their white wing bars and outer tail feathers, and, as the name suggests, dark slate colour.Top
New Year
Dan and Dayna’s Party
We were given special dispensation to bring Esme to their
Annual New Year’s Eve extravaganza which featured a table groaning with glazed ham, Russian caviar, cheeses, and devilled eggs, matched by another table adorned by seemingly dozens of bottles. 
The screens in their in house office/editing suites all played stunning ultra slow-mo tortoise, lizard and frigate bird footage from their recent filming trip to the Galapagos.
The partygoers all seemed to be film makers, artists, ballet dancers and actors – with the dishonourable exception of ourselves – and pleasingly, wonderful eye candy of both sexes was on display. 
Adam wore a fetching outfit commemorating his 2007, Patrick and Yianni had flown in from Sydney for the occasion, Dayna was a real trooper for her gracious hostess act despite losing her voice;
we all applauded her fervent toast at midnight to the last year of President George Bush. And Esme slept peacefully through the whole party; Adam selling tickets to revellers to peep at her through the door.
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2007
2007 Highlights
Our momentous year is now at a close. Colman says it was the best of his life to date – no prizes for guessing why as Esme gurgles happily fist firmly in mouth on my lap.
We explored San Francisco and California further (with more to see in 2008): wildlife-rich Monterey, extraordinary Palm Springs, 
mesmerising Joshua Tree, stupendous Yosemite, windswept Bodega Bay, stunning Big Sur, vivid blue Tahoe, undulating Marin, social LA. We delighted in hosting visitors to this fabulous, fun and funky part of the country – Mum and Dad, Pat and Niamh, Lucy and Toni, Felicity, John, Rory, Luke and Anna, Jane, Wilma and Howie, Zoe – thrilled they came to see us. 
Other highlights were our joint birthday party, sailing with Rob around the Bay, Adam’s 40th, celebrating our first year in SF, the DLG, the 
Baby Shower, Thanksgiving, watching in awe as my body altered over the 42 weeks of pregnancy, immersing myself in the SF pregnancy sub-tribe, and getting to know and love our new San Francisco friends who have been so good to us.
When visiting the UK (so lovely to see everybody) highlights included The Big Chill (as ever the best weekend of the year), Wales weekend, Kate and Mark’s wedding, Rose’s first birthday, party at Lucy and Rory’s, Dublin, being in Cumbria with my whole family in May.Thank you all for contributing to and sharing so many fun times and we look forward to more adventures in 2008!
Births and Deaths
The cycle of life was never more evident for us than in 2007. It will always be a matter of profound sorrow that Grannie never met Esme, named for her mother, who I did meet when I was a baby. Among those lost to us this year were another 3 nonagenarians including my esteemed Great-Auntie Betty, as well as family friend John Cubby; we remember Ruby Seeley.
And yet wonderfully we welcomed Finn, Fergus, Grace, Freddie, Isis, Theo, Aoibhe, Clara, Katie, Ted, Eva, Toby, Ernie, Samuel, Otis, Aoife, Tito and Elliot; as well as Soren, Marcus, Ruby and Zach here in San Francisco.
The miracle and excitement of pregnancy and birth defined our year and our precious gorgeous charming angel, Esme, arrived on the 27th September – a day forever etched in our hearts and souls. Top
Mural of the Month
Bumper Sticker of the Month
Peace is Patriotic
Stencil of the Month
Love and hugs
Nadine and Colman xxx
PS Come and visit – even better exchange rate!!!
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