D had a great year. He talks non stop, started eating raw vegetables over the summer (see the tomato below) and is even beginning to recognize written words like “dog,” “cat” and “bus.” He spent five days without us in October, enjoys regular time with his grandparents, has made a lot of progress on potty training and is learning to manage his feelings. We enjoyed two sessions of music classes together, some community center swim classes and a few weeks of dance class as well. Here is what a year of growth looked like for him.
Friends and Family
- Jack’s dad passed away suddenly at the end of January: mark/dad/grandpa. In addition to the loss itself, we experienced some of the responsibilities of death, for the first time.
- My dad also had surgery in January, but happily recovered well.
- We enjoyed Dan and Chrysten’s wedding in New York in October: Brooklyn trip
- In June a friend from CMU visited from Austin. Although the house wasn’t finished we had a good Seattle weekend with him, including Folklife.
- We also enjoyed catching up with two work friends and their spouses who came through Seattle.
- My brother-in-law moved to Seattle in the summer and Becky finally moved back in December, one year after we got the good news that they’d be moving here.
- The new babies among our friends and family are Laura to A&S, Johanna to R&W and Kira to E&J. Laura and Johanna even share the same birthday.
- Our PEPs group kept going, having the advantage of proximity. Generally I would say our friendships suffered a bit though due to the amount of weekend house work we had to do. We’re looking forward to reconnecting with a lot of people. We saw our families a lot, mostly in the context of them helping us with work and babysitting.
- The winter picnic continues.
- Jack’s mom retired and joined the regular babysitting rotation. Now D goes to daycare three days a week again, instead of four.
House
- We first slept in the the house the day after Jack’s 32nd birthday, in early September, after moving our possessions there during the last two weeks of August, while the house was very much still under construction. The move took place during D’s week of daycare closure, so we were especially greatful for all of the friends and family who helped us move and helped watch him so we could work. I had been prepared to hire movers, but it turned out to be so spread out and complicated by the condition of the house that we just did it ourselves.
- It was a very stressful year, which is best summed up by this handy venn diagram.
- Many friends and family helped us with a variety of house tasks over the year. My cousin Brad, the electrician, and his dad made several trips and put in countless hours for the electrical work. So many people helped us with electrical, our Ikea cabinet assembly party, moving away rocks and installing turf. Jack’s brother, Kirk, helped with all of these tasks. Jack and I spent a lot of time ourselves, of course, which meant a lot of weekend time away from D over the first 9 months of the year.
- In September we hosted back to back evening and morning open houses, with about 90 people in total, which worked out really well for the number of small children we know. I knew that it would be a long time before the house would feel settled, so we decided to do the party while it was still new, even though it wasn’t totally put together. Look at these wild, reading kids.
- We hosted a few family Christmas gatherings too, and it was a treat to have a space big enough for more than five people.
Recreation and Travel
Except for a nice weekend in Portland with our friends and our trip to New York, we spent the entire year in western Washington, which is remarkable, in a way. Washington is a pretty great state though!
- Jack visited our Portland friends on his own in the winter.
- Anderson Island, near Tacoma Anderson Island
- Mount Rainier with extended family Mt Rainier
- Camano Island camping with cousins Camano Island
- Iron Springs with extended family Mothers day at the beach
- Deception pass with friends Deception Pass
- New York trip
- Mount Saint Helens Mt St Helens
- Portland in July Portland
- We did a fun and soggy Thanksgiving day Turkey trot in the beautiful arboretum. I actually ran, which I have not done much of in recent years, and D sang good naturedly in the jogging stroller.
- Only 10 months after the invitiation came, Jack started playing Sunday morning touch football in November, with his cousins and their friends.
- I raced with my dad down in Des Moines in the spring and early summer and he also brought their boat up to Ballard for a two handed race in September. Jack and Jill race
- We successfully started pick up volleyball at the downtown YMCA, and our parents’ babysitting gave us a chance to play together: volleyball
Reading, Thinking and Singing
- D and I, and sometimes Jack, adored going to music classes from the Music Together program. I’m greatful for the flexibility that our grandparent babysitters afford us. I took PTO for the classes in the morning and then headed off to work happy while D had time with grandparents.
- For the first time, I served on a jury: no honor among thieves
- After two years, I finally wrote some of my thoughts on the fascinating subject of breast feeding: nursing notes
- Audiobooks were key for us this year. The best book I read, by which I mean listened to, was The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. Jack liked reading all three long books in the Red Mars trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson. Together we enjoyed listening to The Magicians, by Lev Grossman. We get most books from the library, but we’ve also climbed on the kindle bandwagon where you can sync progress between multiple devices, including both audio and text versions. I hadn’t used an eReader since our grand adventure, but now I’m reading on one that Jack gave me for Christmas.
- I am slowly enjoying a subscription to the New Yorker, too.
- It was also a light year for taking in the performing arts. I quite liked seeing The Little Mermaid, with my mom, but I think that was also the only show either of us saw.
As you may have gathered, the themes for 2016 were “house” and “stress” and we look forward to settling in and recovering, respectively, in 2017.
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