D loves the dogs!

 

We had a fun birthday (mine) weekend, filled with family, swimming, wading pools, baseball and dogs!  D enjoyed the company of seven different dogs and also spent some quality time with Emo.

D’s 15 month vocabulary update

Just after my previous vocabulary post in mid April (the state of the vocabulary), D went radio silent, except for variations on “baa,” for a whole month while he focused on walking.

We are now in the midst of a language explosion where D demonstrates new words and signs almost every day!  I don’t know who is more excited, him or us.

Let me preface this by explaining what qualifies as a word for us.  These are words observed a by attentive parents (and a linguist, to boot), with a lot of context.  Everything here has been observed at least twice.  Verbal words have some of the right sounds, but usually not all of them.   These words come and go.  Sounds like the /s/ at the end of “bus” have come and gone and come back again over the course of 5-6 months.  The signs, like the sounds aren’t quite right, and they are limited by his dexterity.  Despite all these qualifications and caveats, I am confident about this list:

In each category, the most commonly used words are at the top.

“More” and “milk” just become spoken words in the last week, after many months of signing. 

D recently started signing “Daddy”.  He taps his temple with an index finger, rather than making an open hand tapping the forehead with the thumb. If he wasn’t also saying the word, one might think he was indicating his head. 

We sign and count as we ride the elevator  which is where he gets “two”.  He looks at his hand while saying “two” and tries to fold in the extra three fingers, but can’t seem to do it. 

I’ve been signing and saying water for months, but it just emerged recently with the pronunciation “wa wa”, which I highly expect is something he heard from another kid or adult at his new daycare.  He just signed it today for the first, time although he couldn’t get his fingers in to the “W” shape.

The meanings don’t always line up with adult meanings.  For example, he does say “yellow” and “blue” and he often seems to say them in reference to color, he isn’t consistent or accurate in which colors he labels with them. 

The story of “big” is one of my favorites.  We were hiking in late July and he stood on the trail and spread his arms wide and said “bii” then turned 180 degrees and did it again and again, like he couldn’t get over the size of the forest and the trees.  He probably said it 10 times then, and I haven’t heard it since. 

He has combined a few signs a few time, like “more food”, “siren truck”, “where daddy” and “done pooping”.

It’s been incredible to watch his comprehension grow too.  At times his efforts to learn new words and signs seems very intentional.  At this point, he can apparently hear a word only once and produce it months in the future. 

ready, set, go!

It’s been three years since we got serious about building a house and we just passed the major milestone of closing on our construction loan with Washington Federal.  Construction will start in August and the house should be inhabitable in the spring!

I checked back on my previous house building timeline post from April 2014, and the new projected completion date is only two months later than we predicted back then.  The steps along the way that took the most time weren’t quite what we predicted, but I was pleasantly surprised that the start date wasn’t too far off.  Here’s a new timeline and a pre-construction picture of the three of us. 

Bizarrely, last time I posted a timeline, there were only two of us! 

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.