2006 slipped by frenetically for us. We began the year with Li billing more hours than he ever wants to do ever again, and Yvette BASE-jumping back into her job at Alameda County. Yvette won a promotion to School Health Services Director, increasing staff from five to twenty-nine. After building up the School-Based Health Center program to serve adolescents in the county, she gets to do the same thing for kindergarten through grade 12.

 

Li survived a nasty 4-hour daily commute to Mountain View and concomitant 5% weight gain, and he now works in Fenwick & West’s San Francisco office, which is much closer to home. Fenwick’s pro bono opportunities have been especially gratifying, and Li is looking forward this year to advocating for abused women facing deportation.

 

In May we succumbed to the stereotypical transition for parents from sportscar to minivan. Only in our case, we went from Liwen riding a road bike to riding a cushy 24-speed hybrid bike with a big kid seat in back. Sequoia seems to enjoy bicycling but kicks her Pops in the derriere if he starts testing out the front suspension on Berkeley’s potholes.

Happy Year of the Pig!

In August we celebrated Yvette’s mom’s seventieth birthday by joining the Leung clan in Southeast Alaska. Sequoia especially loved looking at the trees in Haines’ temperate rainforest and showed off her newfound hiking skills by getting all muddy. Everyone enjoyed the scenery, especially since the glaciers have not totally receded yet, and we had a cool time chillin’ with all the wildlife. Unfortunately, some of the wildlife we discovered were noroviruses, which were more than we could stomach.

 

In June, Yvette’s Palm Pilot crashed, immediately followed by our laptop. Followed by her Blackberry. Followed by our camera. Followed by our pencil & paper. So if you suspect that we’ve lost your contact information, kindly e-mail or call us.

Finally, in December, we journeyed to the Southwest. Despite the record snowfall in those parts, we made it to Arizona, Albuquerque, and Taos to see the ristras, candelarias, and pueblos. Despite the canceled flights and long car rides, Sequoia was a patient traveler. And being snowbound for several days at the Santa Fe home of our gracious hosts, Nat & Olga & Zöe, forced us to be patient travelers with her.

 

 

A frenetic pace creates an urge to rush everything, to feel a certain impatience about achieving a goal, advancing to the next stage, moving on to the next challenge. Sequoia is growing quickly, yet rushes least. Together, we continue to discover that the world turns at the same rate for the three of us, and we gladly and patiently accompany each other on each spin of the planet.

 

 

SLY: Sequoia, Liwen, Yvette

 

In July, Sequoia took her first steps, in front of her parents and grandmum Mah. She seemed as surprised and joyful as we were. She had been sitting in a big cardboard box and spontaneously decided she was going to stand up and walk to the other side of the box. Over many days, our favorite pastime was playing “catch,” passing her back and forth between us.

 

Sequoia is not as fond of swimming yet, but she certainly enjoys doing a crawl stroke through wet sand.