Home in Healdsburg!

You know, that embassy guy was right. Noe is a lucky girl to be coming home to this place. It’s a stellar, sunny day and we’ve already enjoyed a morning bottle in the garden (still working on the coffee juggle . . . don’t worry, I’m being careful), a play in the living room, a bath by Daddy, and a lovely visit with our friends Kenny, Nadia and their daughter, Jasmine (10 days younger than Noe), who are leaving tonight to return home to Singapore. Our outdoor table has been christened with ‘sandia’—watermelon—by Noe, which she smeared all over the top. We’re home!

Noe was a total trooper traveler yesterday, all day, from Guatemala to Dallas to San Francisco to Healdsburg. A couple of ear-piercing screams and rants, but mostly just giggles (like a rat-a-tat-tat of ha-ha’s) and smiles that melted everyone’s hearts.

Here are a few highlights from the trip home and Day One in Healdsburg.

* The night before we left, our friend Ben and his wife Cecilia took us out to dinner in the hotel and they reminded us that Noe’s a kid, not a thin sheet of glass. Cecilia had Noe shoe-free and flirting with all the waiters, Ben (we nicknamed him Tio Arroz . . . a few step derivation from ‘Uncle Ben’) gave Noe her first taste of wine, dipping a breadstick in a glass of Malbec (she loved it). Noe ate all of my carrots (sauteed in garlic and butter) off my plate, we stayed out until 11:00 and Noe slept soundly all through the night, and Christopher and I were much more relaxed going into the trip home as a result of the experience.

* Noe fell asleep on my lap on the Guatemala-Dallas leg and I couldn’t stop staring at her for three hours straight.

* Christopher and I had a couple of interchanges that had us laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe. A week ago, our conversations sounded like, “So I collapsed the first half of my novel and I think the narrative tension is much stronger now,” and “This Chardonnay would be really good with crab and mango.” So when, on the plane, Christopher said to me, “Baby, can you hand me that other part. You know, the bug?” and I asked in a full on tizzy, “Tell me you got the Chilly Dilly out of the ice bucket!” the difference between then and now was just so stark it slayed me.

* Noe slept in her bed and us ours until about 4:30 this morning, when I brought her into bed with us. Waking up at 9:00 with our daughter cooing between us was one of the most amazing moments I’ve ever experienced.

* When we took Noe outside for her first walk in the garden this morning, she looked like she’d discovered a treasure. The wind rustled the trees and she looked up wide-eyed as if it were just for her. When a bird whistled, she smiled and cooed. When I told her all about the tomatoes and cucumber and squash and carrots, she bent over my arm and curiously stared at each one.

So far, so very much better than good.

Thank you all for your well-wishes and notes and encouragement through this whole journey. I can't believe we're at the end already. Now on to real life with Noe!