Introducing Campbell Josephine!

We're delighted to announce that the second member of the Pickle Patch has arrived! Campbell Josephine Gong finally made her entrance into the world (4 days late) at 11:52 AM on Saturday, July 25. She weighed 5 lbs 11 oz (2 lbs heavier than her big sister!) at birth, and was 19 3/4" long. She was born with her left hand raised in a power fist, looks an awful lot like her sister, and has been healthy and alert from the start, and all the Gongs are feeling mighty blessed to have her in our midst at last.
The story of Campbell's arrival is somewhat humorous. Faith went into early labor early on Thursday morning. With contractions suddenly coming 3 minutes apart, we notified all the grandparents (causing one set to change their flight reservations and fly West immediately) and headed to the hospital. After several hours of monitoring, we were told that the labor hadn't advanced far enough, and were sent home with the promise that "We'll probably see you again in a few hours."

48 HOURS LATER....Much to Faith's frustration, the contractions had stopped almost entirely by Thursday evening. Only now we had put family and friends on the alert, making her feel like the proverbial "watched kettle." With no boiling in sight by Friday afternoon, our friend Celeste arrived at the doorstep bearing one of the legendary "Prego Pizzas" from Skipolini's Pizza in Walnut Creek. This four-pound pizza is loaded down with almost every topping imaginable, and is promised to jumpstart labor. Maybe it was just coincidence, but Faith's water broke and labor began for real just 8 hours after eating the pizza....

Here's Faith heading to the hospital. The hand sign could variously be read as indicating our 2nd trip to the hospital, our 2nd child, or a subversive plug for Project Peace.
For those of you who know what we went through with Fiona's birth, the ease of this labor and delivery was astonishing. Faith still can't believe that she's at home already, and mobile, and coherent (well, semi-coherent!).
Many people have remarked that big sister Fiona looked a little less-than-thrilled in the family portrait we sent out with the birth announcement. While she was initially confused by Campbell's appearance, her expression is likely more of an indication that she's worn out from a full day of spoiling by her grandparents. Fiona has taken on the role of big sister with a great deal of panache. Our biggest problem will likely be her refusal to leave Campbell alone.
Just yesterday, she realized what fun it is to dress Campbell up in a "silly hat." (Pictures forthcoming).

Campbell, Fiona, their parents, and both the Gong and Cinquegrana granparents want to thank all of you for your well wishes, prayers, and support. We are so thankful!

Trains & Treats

As we're still awaiting (1 day post due date) the arrival of our new pickle, I'm getting plenty of chances to provide updates on Fiona's life. All I can say is, enjoy it while it lasts!

The whole family is waiting, of course, which means that we've been trying to pack in lots of activities before we're housebound with an infant. So the other weekend, we headed up to check out the Steam Trains at Tilden Park. These trains have been in operation for 50-some years. They are beautifully kept up, give off lots of nice steam, and produce a satisfying "choo-choo!" Fiona waited anxiously to see what track her train would arrive on....

And was delighted by her first glimpse of the steam train.

Our first ride was in one of the caboose cars. While cozy, the view was somewhat restricted. Not that this mattered at all to Fiona, who shouted "Again!" at the conclusion.

Since we're about to rock Fiona's world with the mixed blessing of a sibling, we decided to oblige her with a second ride. This time, we chose one of the open air cars.
Fiona LOVED this ride, especially when she figured out how fun it was to stand up and attempt to balance in the moving car.
To complete the spoiling, we took her for frozen yogurt afterwards. Not surprisingly, since Fiona is happy with anything sweet, this was a hit.

Although it did make her cold, which called for some therapeutic cuddling.
In other news, Erick's cousin Darcie and her boyfriend Dennis stopped by for a visit to Berkeley last weekend, which was a nice reunion.

And Fiona's latest fashion must-have? The snuggly blankets from her bed secured cape-like around her by a binder clip. It's her early morning look of choice at the moment.

People, Places, & Faces

Fiona's had opportunities to hang out with some favorite people lately. One of the BEST things about our new place is that we live 1 block away from our friends Tommy & Celeste, and their 7-month-old baby Elisa. Fiona loves Elisa (who she calls "Baby Li"), and it's always a treat for us to see Fiona actually looking LARGE next to another baby!

As you can see, Elisa has a wonderful tolerance for Fiona's outbursts of affection. It's pretty sweet to see them together!
Our former neighbors Eric ("E-E") and Amanda ("May-May") came over last weekend for breakfast at the Homemade Cafe, which meant Fiona had the huge treat of eating PANCAKES with two of her favorite people!

Now, we've been getting lots of nice comments in response to this blog about how cute Fiona is. Make no mistake about it, the girl knows how to work the camera.

But I do think it's time we added a dose of reality. Fiona is not always cute. She often looks like this:

Or even like this:

But of course, we love her anyway.

Father's Day Part 2: Grandpas are Fathers, Too!

(Trying to catch up on the backlog of photos/events to post -- the Internet version of nesting?)
In addition to a great Dadoo, Fiona also has two wonderful grandfathers. Sadly, we couldn't be with Boom on Father's Day this year (though we did spend it on the East Coast with him last year), but this year was Granddaddy's turn. We celebrated Granddaddy a couple days after Father's Day itself. As with most celebrations in the Gong family, this one revolved around food, specifically...

NOODLES!

Grandmommy, Granddaddy and Dadoo took Fiona to lunch at Daimo, a great Chinese restaurant that serves delicious noodles. Fiona was particularly fond of the beef chow fun.

After lunch, they stopped by Ranch 99 supermarket to check out the carrots, and other attractions.

Fiona ended up with a bag full of her favorite sweet buns. Happy Father's Day to Boom & Granddaddy!
In other food news, we've all been enjoying Dadoo's Father's Day gift: a griddle for making pancakes for the family. Here's Fiona enjoying some strawberry/blueberry pancakes (complete with blueberry on nose):

And the less nutritious (though Dadoo justifies it by using buckwheat flour) chocolate chip/banana version:

Why I Love My Dad-oo, by Fiona

Fiona here, FINALLY updating you on how I celebrated Father's Day with Dadoo (Mama's pretty hopeless now, what with all the preparing and waiting around for my sibling!). First off, you should know that I have a GREAT Dadoo (and yes, that's what I actually have decided to call him). We do lots of fun things together, just the two of us. Usually these things involve food. For instance, he took me to explore this great bakery near our new house.

I got to eat cookies.

And this made me very happy. Sometimes a girl just needs to bust out in a spontaneous dance.
Dadoo is a wonderful cook himself, and he's teaching me his secrets. Lesson #1: Mixing. I've got this one DOWN.
Anyway, on Father's Day we all went for breakfast to the Homemade Cafe, our new favorite place. They have the BEST blueberry pancakes. Yum!
Then we went to church, and after church Pastor Jose had arranged for a TACO TRUCK to pull up outside for lunch. I had a great time at the taco truck!

After my nap, we headed over to the Oakland Zoo. I liked looking at the animals (like the giraffes in the distance here)...

...I rode the Merry-Go-Round with Dadoo...

...and after a picnic dinner, I took a few rides down the slide. All in all, a great way to celebrate Dadoo!

Fiona from the Block

As June 1 approached, so did our move. Fiona bid a fond farewell to 1763 Spruce St., the only home she'd known since birth.

And with the help of a LOT of WONDERFUL friends, the Gongs moved a short distance away to our new place in South-West Berkeley, aka the "Berkeley Flats."
As far as Mama Gong is concerned, the "Flats" comes just at the right time; pushing our new double stroller up all the hills in our old neighborhood might have broken me.

Fiona found moving to be a lot of fun. Especially the boxes, which are great to sit in...
...and even better when made into a clubhouse!

As the most fashionable Gong, Fiona quickly determined that a change of address required a changed look. The day we moved in, we were informed by the neighbors down the block that we'd moved to the "semi-hood." (Disclaimer/explanation: we LOVE our new neighborhood, our new house is the best we've lived in to date, our friends Tommy & Celeste and their baby are virtually across the street, etc. But yes, compared to North Berkeley, the Flats are definitely rougher around the edges and more diverse. Which we consider a very, very good thing). The next day, Fiona found one of her old baby hats and insisted on wearing it all afternoon. In our opinion, it definitely gives her that tough, do-rag look, and has us wondering if she's secretly running a cracker-dealing gang after hours.
But the next day, it was on to new headgear: a bandanna for planting with Mama.
Moving had other perks; our new layout and Fiona's ever-increasing Big Girl status inspired several new purchases, such as:

A Fiona-sized table and chair for creative work...
(she doesn't always like to be disturbed in her creative endeavors)

...and a bathroom step-stool for a better tooth-brushing experience.

Yes, life is very, very good. Especially when it all comes together and a girl can eat breakfast at her new table, wearing a bandanna.