it's always a good time to have cats

Our cats get plenty of attention and Dd, at 1 year 10 months is mostly able to pet them in an acceptable way and he shares his interests with them, such as food and trucks.  I know the internet is lacking in cat pictures, so here are a few from this summer.

Also here's a helpful size comparison and a search-and-find activity.

do in the time of coronavirus

Cari has been cutting my hair for the past... 14 years.  I have not been to a barber since 2006

Even though I have been asking to cut her hair the whole time, she never took me seriously until this week.  

Ok, she cleaned it up a bit after I finished, but still= I cut off about 5".  Next time, who knows how much I will cut off!!

kitchen cart

As an early birthday present Jack found and modified the perfect sized bar cart for the gap we intentionally left in the kitchen cabinets when we planned out the kitchen over four years ago.  The idea is to bring it up to the roof when we eat up there, though I can see lots of uses for it, even on the third floor. It’s got nice butcher block and a compost compartment. 

Mo reading, Mo better

What a joy it is to hear D read this (Mo Willems) book to Dd, on repeat.  This is a new copy because when D was little we read our first copy to shreds. 

Meanwhile, D is reading me a chapter book about hamster Humphrey right now!

Also pictured is D’s experimental corona cut!

Birthday treat for the cats

Toru and Luna turned three this month. D wanted to celebrate so we took them out in the yard for a treat.   Toru was quite at home and Luna was pretty excited to stick her nose out and eventually stepped out for all of one minute. 

pizza at home.... finally

We've vastly improved at making pizza at home, thanks to these pizza racks I found at Grocery Outlet a while ago.  Just a few years ago I was forgetting to take the dough out of the fridge to allow time to rise and we were making soggy rectangular pizzas directly on cookie sheets, or trying to move them off the cookie sheet and directly on to the oven rack, with limited success.   These pans make it easy. 

I've also started making the dough instead of buying it at Trader Joe's and have finally come to understand just how expensive buying pizza from a nice pizza place is, relative to making it at home.   Everyone is happy when we make it at home.  Dd even says "pizza" now.

never call him "Big D"

I hate to pidgeonhole the kids but Dd is gloriously large and since he's so young I think it's still okay to talk about it without giving him a complex.   Also, I promise to stop comparing the kids to each other .... any minute.

At birth Dd was larger than average but not exceptionally big and actually Dd's birth weight was a pound less than his older brother (D was 9 lb 15 oz at birth and 20.5 inches and Dd was only 8 lb 14 oz and 20 inches).

However, by the age of two months, Dd soared past D on both height and weight to be in the 97th percentile on height and the 86th percentile on weight.  One month ago at his 18th month check-up he was a nicely proportional 97-99th percentile on height, weight and head size.  This makes him the size of an average three year old.  (https://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/set1clinical/cj41c021.pdf)

Our kids have some tall genes at work from Jack's dad's side of the family, but we have many tall friends with tall kids so at each doctor visit Dd's percentiles, which are based on global statistics, still surprise me a bit.

Being the second baby, I nursed Dd better from the start and he lost less weight than D did in the week after birth.   We also started him on solids at 4 months instead of 6 months like we did with D and Dd took to solid food quite well.   On the other hand, poor D was sooo hungry at 6 months and although my milk supply kept up (I remember bringing in about 30 oz of milk a day to his daycare) I think he would have benefited from earlier solids too.   The medical advice on allergies has changed to support earlier introduction.  Dd started with pea soup and watery peanut butter, with antihistamines standing by (thankfully unused).

Dd didn't gag or reject any type of food until recent months with his increased ability to make his demands known.  Both kids got teeth fairly late but it was truly impressive to see what Dd could handle in his 8 months of eating solids with zero teeth.   With D we made and served more special, limited ingredient foods and with Dd we fully embraced the "baby lead weaning" method, which just means we encouraged him to eat what we were eating, as independently as possible, without letting him choke.    I think the amount of time baby Dd observed the rest of us eating before he got his shot at food also contributed to his readiness.   Then again, maybe it just boils down to appetite.

Coronavirus 2

Surprising no one, the state "stay home" order is extended from April 27  to May 4.


April 6: Dd's daycare re-opens with an impressive batch of new protocols.  The UW Covid 19 model is predicting that the state "peak hospital resources" will be about April 16.   We decide to keep Dd home another week, at least.

April 8: I sew two masks and we start wearing them when we go to the store.  It's been kind of wild to watch the official reversal on mask wearing recommendations.

Activities of Late

- recorders
- the roof
- bubbles
- exercise rings and the rowing machine
- jumping on our bed (which is still a mattress on the floor) is daily activity
- Dd is now pretty much trusted when playing with legos
- biking with D's new gear bike or the ride along and Dd's new weehoo trailer
- watching the new neighbors moving in to the north and south of us (so far three households of the new townhouses and one out the kitchen windows).
- finished the 3rd book from the Space Case series with D
- D reading Frog and Toad books
- annoying singing dog toy that both kids love
- a bit of kids' yoga and dance videos

April 13: the trucks are back, after a week-long shutdown, to ripping up our street and alley, which makes for good entertainment.   The sugar ants are also back, for the third spring in a row.   I really don't like it but this year offers some perspective on what really matters.

April 15: we do not go to San Francisco or change our alter our new routine with  a"spring break"

April 16: Dd and I go to his 18 month appointment for four vaccinations.  He won't need anything but a flu shot and hopefully a coronavirus vaccination until kindergarten!

April 20: Dd goes to daycare.   After five weeks away drop off is tough but he reportedly rallies quickly and seems to be happy at the end of the day and when we glimpse him at recess.

April 22: D bakes a "wacky" cake with my parents over Skype.  I open the oven but otherwise mostly stay out of the way.  We've also had success with him reading to them.  I figure him spelling out tricky words to them is good for their brains too.

April 26: the ants are still here, but diatomaceous earth is working pretty well and it's non-toxic!  In a pandemic, who cares if our doorstep looks like it's covered in flour and pancake batter (when it rains)?

April 27: this is the beginning of our 7th week home with D and the 3rd week where his teacher provides content.   I'm happy that we don't have to worry about grading at the kindergarten level.   What she provides is now 3 video lessons a week (totaling about 45 min), and two zoom meetings for the whole class.  This week they will try small group reading.   Other than that he does independent reading, reading to someone and we read to him.   He uses an online practice site that the school provides access too that covers math, language arts and a bit of social studies.  Usually he does one or two topics there.  He's done two Outschool classes so far, which are video lessons in real time with a few other kids.   There's a site where astronauts read books in space and another where actors read books which are lightly animated while the test is highlighted.  There are also a few more game-like practice sites we've used but it is really overwhelming to look through them and many are really crappy.   He writes in a journal everyday.  We've had a lot of really interesting conversations with him and I'm grateful for all the books we have, the many entertaining and enriching gifts the kids have received (like the kiwi crates) and the filtered recommendations people like my mom have given us. 

Also, so far our families and friends are okay.


Here are some fun writing sample's from D. 

Spring 2020 gardening

Here's an update on our gardening efforts, with links and plant names so I don't have to search my emails for them anymore....

On The Ground

We transplanted a black currant from a neighbor.  Hopefully it gets enough sun on the north side of our fence.

I was sooo excited to get some big rocks from a construction site in West Seattle after the garbage truck and other construction trucks pulverized part of our parking strip starting in January (and several more times in February...).   Then someone took our rocks!  These rocks were all I could manage while using a car and a dolly so it's not like someone just causally carried them down the street.

The garbage truck driver's job was made more difficult by the months-long process of pouring new concrete on half the street and several sidewalk curb cuts, so maybe it was him?  Jack thinks that the street inspector told the paving contractors to remove the rocks because they were taken in the middle of the afternoon while the inspectors and contractors were around. 

Over the winter I put in some paving stones in the parking strip and a few months ago we put up the birdhouse we painted over the winter.

Last year the Japanese snowbells bloomed in late May, so we are still looking forward to that.  The daphne  was so much better this year (this pic is from before it bloomed) and the creeping jenny is just the right thing for the shady under-tree, crap soil area.  Below the daphne is some aggressive oregano which makes weeding smell great.

This is not our cat, but he's a frequent sight in our neighborhood.  We call him (or her?) Shoes.

On The Roof

The high country blueberry bush planted in spring 2019 has been joined by a little bluegold blueberry bush and I hope this results in more berries.   I'm encouraged by all the blooms.

I bought some pink coral bells and put two down on the parking strip and three on the roof.   The latest round of construction work has been a three-weeks-and-counting job where they are putting down conduit for comcast in our alley, the street, and the alley to the north.   They further tore up the grass and killed another coral bell plant I'd just put in, a rather sorry sarcococca plant and a new catmint plant.

Also on the roof I planted pale evening primrose (white buttercup sundrops) from seed, a hayscented fern, a big bluestem grass, and several blue false indigo baptisia australis.

I got some lettuce and cauliflower plants and planted more kale and spinach from seed, as well as some onions and carrots for the first time.

For the cats we put in some seeds for a nicer cat grass and cat nip.  Toru spends quite a bit of time on the roof, even when it's cold.   He almost always follows us up there too.  Luna comes up occasionally, when it's warm, though she still insists on struggling to open the cat door with her paw instead of just pushing through it.

We've got parsley and cilantro self seeding, which is just fine by me.  Our delicious chocolate mint plant continues to thrive (surprising no one) and many bulbs from last year came up again.  I think they're hyacinths and ornamental onions, but we'll see when they bloom.   The pansies are self-sufficient and pretty, so I like them.

D is a good garden helper.

Coronavirus 1: our local timeline

Even though we're all going through this at more or less the same time, I want to record our descent into isolation.  We're fortunate to both able to work remotely and our house is a lot more spacious than many dwellings (including our previous apartment, which I have been contemplating).     Thanks to the writers of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_Washington_(state).   Thank you also to the health care providers out there.

December 2019: I read about the mystery virus in the New York Times and think "huh, that's bad"

December 24, 2019: Dd has hand foot and mouth disease so we exercise our social distancing.

January 21: Washington announces the first case of coronavirus in the state.

February: Fortuitously we have all kinds of mundane health appointments like our dentist and optometrists and a few visits for the kids.   We also see most of our families at rescheduled Christmases and the Winter Picnic. 

February (late): Scientists put together that the virus has been circulating in the area for the past 6 weeks and announce the first few deaths from it.   We realize school will close eventually.

March 4: This is The Last Normal Day.  Jack goes to work, D goes to school, Dd goes to daycare and I work at home.   Grandma Kathy helps out a bit after school.

March 9: My parents babysit Dd, for what turns out to be the last time in a while.

March 11: Wednesday.  Seattle Public Schools announces a two week closure, starting on the 12th.

March 12: Governor Inslee mandates closure of all schools in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties for six weeks.

March 13: Friday.  Actually now all schools in the state must be closed until at least April 24th.   Daycare are not required to close.  We don't find out for sure that Dd's will close until late in the day on the 13th.  They say it is for two weeks, but we are skeptical.  This is the most stressful day so far.   We've pretty much decided not to have play dates with other kids because we are worried about our parents and kids are often symptom-less carriers (or so the current understanding is) and our kids are prone to wrestle with friends and put their hands in their mouths.

I get to swim at the YMCA, though I am surprised it is open.  The libraries and community centers are open for the last time.

March 14: we have a babysitter (!) and J and I take a wonderful bike ride and carefully stop by our neighborhood bar (for my first time and probably our last for a very long time)

March 15:  We have a long overdue visit with Jack's step mom at our house and decide to call off help from all grandparents for the week ahead.   Closure of restaurants and gyms is announced.

March 16:  Monday.  It's our first day working with both kids at home.  We realize we are now homeschooling and will need to do a bit more than the "little extra reading" we planned during the initially announced two week closure.   There are sooo many lists of resources.  It is overwhelming.

March 19: Playgrounds and big toys close.   We've been avoiding them for a few days and it's a necessary step for all of us.

D is writing a journal entry every school day and today's was about how he only learns things from Octonauts (the TV show) anyway, so the school closure.   Dd's comment is "truck, truuuck, truck.... BUS" while looking out the window, followed by "cool car" about the little car he and D push around the house and ride on.  He also now says "I don't know," which is adorable.

Dd also requests many specific books including a potty book that Jack and I could recite verbatim last time around.  Today he sat on the potty without being distressed for the first time.   Maybe we'll get at least the smelly part of potty training turn during this time at home.

We did not work near enough hours but we survived the week.

March 21: we socially distance with my sister at a beach park

March 22:  I give D a Mohawk, naturally.

One year ago we went to the Azores!

Exactly one year ago (Feb 12 -20, 2019), we were on vacation in the Portuguese Azores.  It was a last hurrah of my maternity leave with Dd and a choice informed by the surprising fact that traveling with a 5 month old is easier than with a toddler.  It's interesting to write this after so many months have passed. I realize that many of the details I'm sharing are a little negative however the trip really was fun and we are glad we did it when we did.  The stressful moments are seared into my mind, while the good, but less emotional moments are not quite so vivid.  Such is life.  It's a good thing we have photos.

Firstly, we decided to take a trip in February, during D's preschool break and the end of my leave.  Next, we decided on the Azores based on the intersection of travel time and comfort level (by which I mean getting around and not experiencing culture shock).  Many people would have opted for a sunny destination, but to us bringing a not-yet-swimming kid and a baby to the land of sunscreen, sand and bug spray just didn't sound that fun.  We first heard about the Azores as a great destination when we lived in Boston, from where it is a very easy 4-5 hour flight.

This was only our second international trip with kids.  When D was five months old we went to Montreal and it was a great, easy trip (to a city where I lived for several years) that inspired the idea of traveling when Dd was also five months old.  Both of our kids have been miserable car passengers as infants, perhaps picking up on Jack and my preference for other modes of transportation.  However, our research correctly informed us that the Azores would have been really tricky without a car, so we did rent one.  Almost all of the drives we took involved continuous hair-raising crying by Dd, interspersed with occasional naps, where we became militant about D being perfectly silent, which is contrary to his nature.  I'm sure Dd cried a little bit on one of the four flights but I don't remember it and it was nothing compared to the car rides. 

We took a red eye flight from Boston and stayed the first three nights on the west side of the island,  in Sete Cidades and then spent four nights in Nordeste.  AirBnB is the only way to go, with washing machines, kitchens and borrowed cribs.

We like walking trips and indeed the hikes and scenery were fantastic and D (at age 4.75) did an amazing job hiking two to four miles on very steep terrain.  We saw so many new types of landscapes.  I'm quite happy that Jack blogged our hikes with picture from his phone during the the trip since this post has taken me so long to publish.  The hikes were well marked and we were able to research some of them in advance.

• hike 1 Serra Devassa, windswept, scrubby hills with amazing views
• hike 2 Atalho dos Vermelhos, cliffs above the ocean
• hike 3 Cha Gorreana, the only tea plantation in Europe
• hike 4 Lagoa Furnas, Pico do Ferro, high walk above lake with a jungle vibe, abandoned manor
• hike 5 Lomba da Fazenda, down and up a canyon to the ocean
• hike 6 Lomba D'El Rei, another canyon

Sete Cidades, where we stayed and canoed

hike 1

these carved out, green channels were neat

hike 2

hike 3

hike 4

We hiked up from the lake, and back down again.

hike 5   This is a slightly protected swimming area that the waves wash in and out of.

wow

hike 6

D taking a break

There was light hail on our first hike, and other rainy and windy days but it wasn't too cold and I don't remember being too concerned about the weather during our walks.  On multiple nights the wind howled like nothing I have ever heard, reminding me that we were on small islands in the middle of the vast Atlantic Ocean.  It cut the internet connection at our second AirBnB for the whole stay.  We saw many rainbows.  There were wonderfully fragrant white flowering trees that we encountered often and hydrangeas growing, apparently wild, along the side of the roads.

surprise!

the tail end of the hydrangeas

our tiny car

The hardest part of the trip was the jet lag.  D had the worst of it.  The two night stopover in Boston at the beginning of the trip probably was a good thing, but the one night stop over on the way home was not at all helpful.  I thought it would ease the jet lag with a more gradual transition but it just extended the misery of sleep deprivation.  We would have been better off powering through to get home, though that would have been hard because of the risk of booking separate tickets without enough of a time buffer for delays.  In fact our flight from Ponta Delgada to Boston was delayed by something like 5 or 6 hours and we arrived at our hotel in Boston at about 10 pm, spent the night all together in one luxurious room crying and screaming and then finally made it home late the next night.  

At the beginning of the trip we were going to bed at about 1 or 2 am and slowly working it earlier each night.  There was one magical night in the second AirBnB where Dd slept 10 hours straight in the same bedroom as D.  Then the was the less-than-magical moment on the red line train and at the Davis Square stop (our old home station) where both kids were crying and screaming so badly that people were checking that they were not being abused.  Just kidding, it was much longer than a moment.  

This was also inexpensive for a short European trip.  We visited friends in Boston on the way there and actually bought completely separate round trip tickets for SEA to BOS and BOS to PDL (Ponta Delgada).  The major expenses were:

• $1,515 for the Azores Airlines flights
• $769 for the Jetblue flights
• $768 for 7 nights total at two different AirBnBs in the Azores
• $227 for a downtown Boston hotel (a mistake, it turned out)
• $285 for a rental car on São Miguel Island

Total $3564   or $445 per day for 8 days 

One surprising thing was just how limited the grocery options and hours were outside of the primary city.  After we arrived at our second AirBnB (with no internet) Jack drove out to get groceries at 6 pm and the only thing he could find was ham and cheese sandwiches from a closing down cafe.   Ham and cheese appear to be a staple and it was a reminder to not take our access to wonderful produce at home for granted.  The one interesting meal we had was cooked slowly in these thermal pools near Furnas.

These stairs were really cool.  The houses were stone or cement with thick walls and no built in heat or AC.  We did appreciate the space heaters but most of the year I think it's quite comfortable.

our bedroom in the first AirBnB in Sete Cidades

second AirBnB in Nordeste

We did not go in the thermal pools or on a horseback ride and we didn't visit museums or do tours.  I think we ate two dinners in restaurants and the rest of the time cooked in our AirBnBs and picnicked for lunch.  We did check out a light house, a garden and some thermal vents you can walk around. Our first AirBnB was in Sete Cidades and we had a great time paddling a canoe around for an hour or two.  Dd fell asleep easily in my lap.   

D was really impressed by the old buildings (a few hundred years) we saw in both Boston and Nordeste.  He also enjoyed visiting the USS Constitution in Boston.  It was fun to see, over the course of just a few days, the difference in snow plowing between Seattle's snowmaggedon (which we escaped the second half of by going on this trip) and a regular small Boston snowstorm.   Our friends' house was on a small side street in Brookline and *three* plows came down the street in formation.

nostalgia at our home commuter train platform in West Medford

Copley Square

Wendy!

We packed pretty well, I think.

USS Constitution