recent photo favorites

 

Some of D’s many interests are reflected in these pictures: books, family, airplane spotting, water play and exploring his new physical strength.   I love the one with his grandma and great grandma!

 

 

 

Deception Pass camping!

 

Our long-anticipated 4th of July camping trip was a smashing success.  Perhaps it will be the first in a new tradition!

Highlights:

• six camping babies and their awesome parents
• three beautiful, shady, spacious, adjacent campsites (141, 142, 143 in the lower loop campground) at Deception Pass State Park
• comfortable weather: 75 and sunny without a cloud in the sky
• two rounds of the game celebrity around our substitute campfire (a lantern) while the babies snoozed in their tents
• a scenic 2.5 mile hike around Goose Rock

This is D’s fourth camping trip and the second of this season, so we didn’t have to buy any new gear, making for a very cheap getaway.  D (and thus Jack and I) slept reasonably well, considering the new environment, and we were the late risers in the group, getting out of the tent at about 7:15.

 

Goodness gracious! Generous grandparents generate gratitude.

 

Over the course of a single week during the hottest Seattle June on record, we received an exceptional amount of help from D’s grandparents and great-grandma.  Here’s a run down:

• Monday – Pick up D from daycare and put him to bed while Jack and I go to baseball and sailing, respectively.
• Thursday – Help us beat the urban heat by babysitting at their much cooler home, complete with a barbecue lunch and a kiddie pool, while I work remotely. 
• Friday – Ride transit in to the sweltering city to pick up D and drive him back to the ‘burbs for another fun day or grass and playing in the water. 
• Saturday – Visit D while I  do some chores.  Gallantly leave with our cat  in tow for the week, to save her from the potentially dangerous heat wave while we are to be away camping.
• Saturday – Have D over for a sleepover while we go on a date. 
• Sunday - Pack a lunch for D and give us a check for house building.  Lend us camping gear.
• Sunday – Give us money for an elevator in our futurehouse.
• Sunday – Give us dinner on the trip home.

We’re unbelievably fortunate.

remembering Grandpa O

 

Earlier this month we lost Jack’s maternal grandpa, Kirk.  He was famously even-tempered, extremely handy and devoted to his family and community.  We will miss him.

 

styrax japonicus

For the past four springs, I have admired this lovely tree on the lawn of the Rainier Club, on fourth avenue.  It's an attractive and dainty tree, but more importantly, it is one of the best things I have ever smelled.  A few weeks ago, when the tree was in full bloom, I was loitering around huffing the heavenly smell, as one does.  A woman walked by and, feeling the need to explain myself, I mentioned the scent and asked if she happened to know what type of tree it was.  And she did!

Allow me to present the Japanese snowbell (Syrax japonicus):

height: 8 -12 ft
foliage: dark green
light: part sun to full sun

Our small lot will be fully occupied by our house, but we do have to plant a street tree.  Happily, the Japanese snowbell *is* on the [list] of approved street trees and I plan to petition to change whatever vanilla tree we currently have specified in the building permit to this stunner!

babies in backpacks

 I get such a kick out of picture sets.  And yes, I know that two out of three of these have already been shared in this post.  D is currently 26 pounds so we’re fortunate he has such a fit father to carry him around!

beach !

 

Three nights at the beach were just what we needed.  We had a really nice time.

D got to visit with his cousin.

Can you find the baby in this picture?

Imagine these jellyfish are a fleet of ships.

 

Lucky for me, I like beach trips where it’s not too hot and sunny. 

 

   

D’s 1st birthday pictures

 

We had a joint birthday party with our wonderful PEPs group, including a visit from a truckload of bunnies. 

 

   

Our boy is rich in grandparents, and I was happy to get a shot of them all together.

At the party, we forced a cupcake on him, and he eventually got in touch with his love of ice cream.

 

On his actual birthday, we enjoyed some time with just the three of us.  He practiced walking, ate sushi, opened some presents, enjoyed his new chair, rode a bus (!) to the Children’s museum and had a good nap in the carrier.

 

happy 1st birthday, darling D!

 

In sequel to the seven pictures from his first six months in the post, happy half birthday D, I’ve picked out six more monthly pictures.  We have hundreds of great pictures of thousands of great moments, but here I am trying to choose shots that record D’s growth and changing features.

 

Of course, it is tough to summarize such a life changing year in which one family member grew from a newborn to a little boy.  Instead, I’ll just give you a snapshot description of D at one year old.

He is affectionate and good-humored.  He likes books, tickling, dancing, being chased and playing peek-a-boo.  He eats pretty well and sleeps 10-11 hours, often waking up after 9 hours.  His hair is light brown and is starting to curl a little bit as it gets longer.  His eyes are mostly blue, but when we’re in the sun you can see a little bit of brown too.  His third tooth just came in.  He stacks cups, watches buses and says several words [the state of the vocabulary].  This week he started to walk and so far we’ve seen about 5-6 steps at once.  He is a joy.

I have a hobby!

 

I am thrilled to say that I’ve started sailing and will be racing regularly this season.  Setting aside the time and money for a hobby of my own has been on my agenda for a while and this week marks a new beginning.  A lot of the hobbies I imagine myself pursing are solo creative projects, however I find that it’s really hard to set aside the time to do things that are unscheduled and take place at home.  Also, sailing offers the chance to socialize and commune with nature (i.e. disconnect from computers and phones).   Sailing will be my baseball!

the state of the vocabulary

D has a pretty good vocabulary for his age (which is almost one).  His intelligible speech really picked up in the middle of March.  It’s really exciting for all of us.

Here’s a list of what he says (that we understand), in descending order of frequency:

• bus – We live in a bus-watcher’s paradise.  He’s been saying it for about a month now and I’m positive he’s using it appropriately.  Sometimes he points too.  He can’t say the /s/ yet, but then if you took away my top teeth, I probably couldn’t say it either.  We’ve recently introduced the sign [BUS] too though we’re not sure he’s noticed it yet.
• bye bye – He loves saying this while waving and revels in the delight it gives to adults.  He says it at farewells, but sometimes waits long enough that the intended recipient is already gone.  Once he starts, he won’t stop though.  He says it in an adorably throaty and confident way.  He started about a month ago and used to say it while looking out the window.  Now he pretty much only says it to people, though not exclusively at the time of partings. It makes trips to the store more interesting.
• book – This one is awesome.  About a month ago he started saying it while looking at books.  At first he said the /k/ but now he doesn’t.  Then I introduced the sign [BOOK] and now he uses it perfectly.  He really loves looking at books now.  At the moment he uses the sign more than the word.
• hi – He said this a few weeks ago and then stopped, but now is back at it and he’s starting to say it appropriately.
• baby – He said this when we visited a new baby in the hospital and now says it frequently though we can’t always tell which baby (if any) he is referring to.  We started signing songs and putting “baby Dx-xx” in the lyrics and he loves it.  He says baby and really seems to wish he could sing it with us.
• ball – This one is pretty recent.  He doesn’t say the /l/ so you have to be listening for it, but he definitely uses it correctly.  We also have introduced the sign [BALL].
• cat – He’s been saying cat (without the /t/) and kitty cat or kitty (first syllable only) for several months.  The /ki/ of kitty is adorably high pitched.  When we read a book about cats he stops to look for Emo.
• Dx – I’m not sure about this one, but when we stand in front of the mirror he says the first syllable of his name while grinning at himself.  He’s recognized his name for several months.
• dad – Along with dada, this has been in his vocabulary for months.  A few months ago he said a nice bye bye dada, but it’s rare and I think he still uses it for more than just the dad concept.
• mom – Phonetically this was a very early word, but I think he still uses it in distress more than to refer to me.  Jack reports that he says it if I’m gone at bedtime and I hear it occasionally when he wants to get out of the high chair right this second.
• more – This is an exciting one.  He’s started signing it and last week he even signed more book very clearly!

Notable for their absence are signs for food and milk, two of our more consistently used ASL signs [post: a few ASL signs].  I guess he’s just not that hungry.

For about three weeks now, he’s been pointing at things which is fun.  He also says “huh?” with very clear rising interrogative intonation.

He’s also started shaking his head when we say no and a few months ago he would stop what he was doing sometime when we said a forceful no.  I assume he still understands but just chooses to ignore us.

three money-saving tips for new parents

 

1. Get a drain cover so that when your hair falls out post-partum you can save yourself a visit from the plumber.
2. Buy books at Goodwill for 79¢.  For a little one, it’s easy to quickly pick out cool books among all the holiday and Bible story books that seem to accumulate there.  Where else can you save 95%?
3. If you’re choosing between daycare and a nanny or nanny share, don’t underestimate just how much your little one will get sick, even if they’re a healthy kid.  We are so lucky that when D is sent home from daycare with a low grade fever, we have help from grandparents so usually we only miss a half-day or day between us.  Missing several days, with no notice would be tough and expensive and I’m pretty sure nannies take care of slightly sick kids all the time.