Rainy Morning

Pinched

2012-01-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

This is me for most of the week. Sunday night I was writing at a desk and stretched back, like I have before thousands of times. But, for whatever fluke reason, this time a nerve in my neck was pinched. I had sharp neck pain, muscle spasms down my upper back and under my shoulder blade, and transient right arm numbness. Hoping it would go away after a night's rest I went to work Monday morning. But it only got worse. I left midday and went straight to my doctor. She provided a note to excuse work, an Aleve regimen, and prescriptions for Vicodin and Soma (a muscle relaxant).

Luckily I already had three days off mid-week, so I really only missed one afternoon of work. Since then I have been on my back in the basement with an electric heating pad. I had to miss dance rehearsal Tuesday, although Amanda video chatted me from the stage so I could give some pointers. Yesterday Ben drove me up to Bailey so I could teach. It was hard for me not to demonstrate full-out, but the kids really stepped up and learned quickly.

Jack has been super cuddly. Ben has been a dear taking care of me. I can't really complain about the rest. As illnesses go this one has a fun treatment. My netflix and DVR queues are empty now. I drove to a staff meeting today and experienced only aches rather than full on pain. I hope I'm healed enough that finishing my two shifts Friday and Saturday won't be too strenuous.

Sorry, boring post, I'm sure. But I felt like documenting it. Here's some photos from Sunday, where I spun some yarn before the injury started acting up.

And here are photos of me playing with Jack at the Tattered Cover, courtesy of Amanda. I haven't synced my phone for photos from my folk's visit yet. It was really fun to see them. We ate well, did a lot of shopping, and Jack was showered with attention.

I better lay back down.

Happy happy

2012-01-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

Grandparents make different choices than parents.

Gray Ears Hat

2012-01-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

This is fun! I finished this hat in a week. I improvised the fair isle. I had to re-knit it three times before finding a pattern that would fit this yarn. But I really like the simple snowflake in the edge. This hat is super warm too. We're having a warm, windy spell in Denver now, so I look forward to chilly days to put this hat to the test.

The special thing about this hat is I made it from home-spun yarn! The gray was the first skein I ever spun, using a drop spindle. The ivory was the first yarn I spun on my wheel, made double ply. Both are natural colors from corridale sheep. My coworkers were suitably perplexed/impressed (perpressed? implexed?) that I made this.

I'm on call tonight, my last shift of the week. I hope I don't go in. My folks are on their way to visit for the weekend and I'd really like to have a relaxing dinner with them. They should be implexed by his recent growth spurt.

I've hit a choreography style writer's block. Gaston is a rousing, mug-clinking dance number. There's a bit of music that has me dumbfounded. I should just glaze over it and go by counts instead of awkward music writing, but I just can't put moves to paper. I hope a little procrastination forces me ahead - I have to teach it next week! The good news is Amanda found a classroom with mirrors that we can use for rehearsal. The kids have so little body awareness. Using mirrors should boost there form immensely.

"I got the blues"

2012-01-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

A portrait taken by Ben today. Like a jailbird with his harmonica. I can't believe Ben didn't stage this.

Why things kept <3 ft high

2012-01-11T11:25:00.001-07:00

need re-washing before use in my house.

Why I dream of raising chickens

2012-01-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

Can you tell which are the factory eggs and which are backyard hen eggs?

Too little time between Jack's bed and my bed

2012-01-06T23:08:00.000-07:00

I have so little spare time and so much I want to do! Even with a three day weekend I'm anxious every minute for all the fun things I want to squeeze in. Tonight I had to pick between knitting my Sothia scarf, knitting a Thorpe hat, creating a desert terrarium with my newly gathered supplies, finishing choreography for Be Our Guest, or finishing Ready Player One, our latest book club pick.

We went to dinner with friends where Jack was disastrous. I swear his restaurant manners have deteriorated since Christmas - I'm look at YOU Grandmas and Grandpas to blame for this! After dinner I gave him a quick bath, tucked him in bed, then joined my friends in another round of Qwirkle. (Once I start posting links it's hard to stop).

After that I spent a surprising amount of time tinkering with my blog design because my old one has become so outdated and broken. Consider this a work in progress. Then I knit and watched the end of a Stephen Fry in America episode. Boy, does he hate Miami.

It's now way past my bedtime. So I'll leave with a photo that I absolutely love and I'm thinking of using as my new blog banner.

l337 |<|\|1771|\|9

2012-01-06T17:15:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I look at the mess of needles and feel mighty proud of my skillz.

This tangle will be a hat, mark my words. With scoured locks I spun from a corridale.

(Even if I can handle it, this is the dumbest way to start a hat. I hope the rest of the pattern isn't so poorly planned.)

Slice o life

2012-01-06T12:56:00.001-07:00

Lunch at home. Quite nice.

Happy Birthday, Ben!

2012-01-01T13:13:00.001-07:00

I need to organize all my Christmas photos from my phone, Ben's camera, and Jenn's camera to share with you guys.

In the meantime, here's a video Ben made today! He got a time lapse camera for his birthday and we put it to use immediately to spy on our son. Jack is so floppy while he's falling asleep! This butt in the air posture has been a favorite of his for a long time. This morning nap was about an hour long. The camera was set to take a picture every 30 20 seconds.

Family portrait

2011-12-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

Amanda really outdid herself this year. She gave Jack our whole family rendered in dolls. Insanely cute!

From left to right: Andy, Jenn, Susan, Will, Amanda, Rachel, Jack, Ben, Betty, Richard

Merry Christmas x2!

2011-12-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

Yessssss

2011-12-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

Done!

2011-12-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

This little break from work is a time for getting things done! DIY presents: done! Laundry: done! And dinner of little hand pies with beef and potato filling: done by 11 am!

Musicals Again

2011-12-06T20:44:00.001-07:00

Monday and Tuesday I trekked up the mountains once again to begin the school musical. We held an information meeting and dance workshop Monday. Today we auditioned 34 kids - each with dancing, singing, and acting; then cut it down to a callback list for Thursday.

I sadly had to return to Denver, back to life and nursing. I get so excited to do the musical every year. I really love teaching the kids to dance, and it's nice that the director does not care about my lack of credentials.

This year Amanda's assistant volunteered to do a behind-the-scenes film series. He's serious about it! Look what he's already posted about the first day.

I should cast the little 2.5 foot guy, right? Good moves on that one ;-) This will be so fun to have movies I can share with you. Of course, that means subjecting you to my ever-increasing jiggliness. Seriously, what do I call a post-partum pouch that is now 18 months post-partum?

And if this prompts the same question as Ben ("What are you wearing??"), teachers use one legwarmer to make it easier for kids to differentiate legs.

Happy December!

2011-12-01T15:44:00.001-07:00

A snowfall to greet us on the first of the month.

Jack decided gloves are pretty rad

On a lesser note ...

2011-11-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

My shellac nails were immaculate for 14 days as promised. This chip on my index appeared tonight after:
6 shifts at work
2 candy making sessions
3 Jack baths
Cooking and scrubbing up after a full turkey dinner on Sunday
Plus normal wear and tear
Color me impressed!

18 Months Old

2011-11-28T18:10:00.001-07:00

Remember way back when I used to post photo-heavy blog entries of Jack every month? And then he turned The Big One Year and I stopped doing it? Well guess what. It's been six months already!

While I was desperately trying to get a fistula to work this morning (end of story: I failed) Ben took up the old Nikon to take some adorable portraits of our buddy. Our dude. Our little guy.

With his haystack hair

And buck-toothed devilish grins

Strutting around the house like he owns it. He not only walks, he runs and dances too. He can go down the slide by himself and climb up on the chairs to sit at the table (or on the table, if he can get away with it).

Killer abs ;-)

So many teeth! He is getting the first of his canines now. I'll be glad when that's over.

He's a total charmer. He signs really well and is adding some small words. He can say "teh tah" to ask for the Turtle song. He likes Itsy Bitsy Spider and Monkeys Jumping on the Bed too. He picked up the choreography to each song right away.

He's curious and gung-ho. We have many head bumps and scrapes and tumbles from his adventures.

This is a paltry description of the many wonderful things Jack can do and is learning every day. It's incredible how he absorbs everything. I'll give up trying to summarize it here. Every new age is my favorite age. I miss my baby, but I love my toddler even more.

PS: Here is Jack one year ago. Mind = Blown.

That's better

2011-11-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

True to the holiday

2011-11-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

It doesn't feel like Thanksgiving without my grandmother's buttery rolls. Here's a photo of her making them today, sent from my dad.

Hi ho, hi ho

2011-11-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

It's off to work I go!

I should be done by dinner. Please please stay quiet, stupid pager.

Happy Newsies, I mean, Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T21:26:00.001-07:00

Yay! I'm done with my scheduled shifts this week. I only have to be on-call on Turkey Day and I'm low on the tree (so finger crossed no calls!). Then I have three glorious days off. The Grandparents Mason are here giving Jack almost non-stop giggles. There's a cheese log in my fridge. What could be better?

I'm unwinding with Newsies mash-ups. You know I love me some Newsies. I have my ticket from the original release almost 20 years ago. (Whoa. I am getting old.) I would LOVE to see the new musical in New York. I hope there's a performance on the Thanksgiving Parade tomorrow.

Oh, what's that? You want to see the mash-ups too? Let's do it, ah-break it dowwwn! (Love me some DJ Lance too.)

I just watched 14 of those.

There's a solo of Christian Bale dancing to Santa Fe too. I kid you not: I memorized this as a pre-teen. I think this works amazingly well with Gaga.

Where have I been?

2011-11-21T22:26:00.001-07:00

This was fun to make! I might have missed some childhood drive-throughs. Surely a girl born in Maryland has been to more small eastern states?

(Map has been updated with new info from my fam: increased from 54% to 70%)
visited 35 states (70%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

My world map isn't as impressive.

Visited 14 states (6.22%)
Create your own visited map of The World

I'd love to see the maps from the impressive travelers in my family - like the one carousing in Paris right now.

The Bulldog

2011-11-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

Love it when:

I'm off on Monday
They overstaff me on Tuesday
Allowing me to stay up late
And Ben puts Jack to bed
So I can go to trivia

Kind of makes up for working 13 hours on Sunday.

Killer Sammy

2011-11-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

I love it when I pack an awesome lunch. Chocolate and Cheetos, DPT, an a roast beef sammy with pickles. It can brighten a day.

PS I totally had a breakfast with bran, flax, oat, and other health-nutty things in a bar so you can stop judging.

Nails

2011-11-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

Shellac manicures: as awesome as everyone says. I'm a fan. Treated myself to join Amanda in her preparations for Paris.

The Sing-Off: super sad Vocal Point are gone. But I love ALL the groups now, so I'm sad that any group has to go. (Ben is ecstatic Colorado beat Utah.)

Marshmallows

2011-11-10T10:06:00.001-07:00

I can share one of my secrets from last week now. For a couple years I have been making homemade marshmallows for my Dad and other family and friends. But mostly for my Dad. He's a hot chocolate fiend. With the snow last week I realized:

So I sent this card with a package of vanilla bean fluffy confections. As you can see, Jack was a huge fan. We gave away most of them to Amanda and my coworkers (where I endured much heckling because who MAKES marshmallows??) (they are slowly getting to know me - word is out that I can spin yarn).

This is my favorite recipe if you want to make them yourself. Be sure to try them with peppermint flavoring!

Secrets

2011-11-04T14:47:00.000-06:00

I've been doing fun crafting and cooking today. But it's all secrets so I can't show pictures. Here's jack stomping the park in his boots instead.

Massive Halloween Post of Promised Media

2011-10-31T20:53:00.000-06:00

Wow, I took a lot of pictures since Saturday. This includes 188 takes from our costume photo shoot in the park. But it's REALLY hard to get a picture of a toddler not staring at the ground and not turning away from you, so I feel justified.

Since I mentioned it, here are the final costume pictures!

Hank Hill

Daria

(Unlike Miranda, I WORE a costume but people didn't realize it until I asked them to guess who I was.)

And Link from the Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker!

Not Robin Hood, not an elf (especially not a "she's so cute!" elf- he must really need a haircut), and not a little green giant (whatever that is).

Da daaaa, dadadada daaaaaaa!

(Hey, I promised lots of photos, didn't I? This is down from 188 remember.)

We carved pumpkins with Brian this weekend, as you are already aware (I think I fixed the video).

We also went to a party thrown by the parents of Jack's play buddy, Wolfie. Wolfie has an awesome toy room.

Sunday Ben decided we would wear costumes to church. Those pins are QR codes, that when scanned with your smart phone bring up our costume photos.

And finally we arrive at tonight, the Big Night. By a Halloween miracle I got off work a little after 4 and dodged a callback, giving me time to meet Ben and Jack in the middle of their trick-or-treating outing. I about died when I walked up to this:

More photos and videos:

(Ben's gentle, fatherly pushing in these photos turn my heart to mush)

This sexy nurse at the Chinese Massage store asked for a photo with Jack. We hope she recognized him.

People aged 18-30 seemed to get his costume. The game store people didn't ("Oh, he's a little Zelda!") and Ben will never forgive them.

The only actual trick-or-treating we did was Brian's house, and Jack was too scared of his ghoul bowl to take any.

Back at home he was excited to light the pumpkins and greet the kids. I had to put a bowl out after bed time to prevent door bells from waking up Jack. Overall though, Halloween is so much better with a kid than without.

There is all kinds of sticky in my house now.

Link!

2011-10-31T17:00:00.000-06:00

Jack learned the trade of trick-or-treating fast! I met Ben at the mall after work. Jack has a death grip on his candy bucket. He's convinced a few ladies to give him seconds with his nodding + "more" signing. Video and high quality costume photos to come.

Jack-o-lanterns (what else?)

2011-10-29T15:52:00.003-06:00

Jack has the process backwards. Brian shares his goop joy.

Spookies

2011-10-26T16:31:00.000-06:00

Pumpkin gathering yesterday before the snowstorm today.

More of the same

2011-10-24T11:01:00.001-06:00

Lest you think I live a life of leisure, you should know I had to work 8 hours on Sunday. Blech. I hate my weekends on call. The worst of it is the on and off of patient treatments. It felt like hourly the plan was changing. I can't stand that. So just know that I choose to blog about my days off because those are the fun days, the days I live for.

Like this morning. Happily I did not have to go back into work last night, despite being paged at 5 AM. I slept in until the sound of monsters in the living room woke me up. Jack was running around in his PJs growling and roaring. I poured myself some cereal and a small bowl for Jack. I've finally learned that he is a social eater and throws a fit if I'm eating and he's not. Rather than share my food I try to get a snack size for him. Once at the table, he demanded I put some entertainment on the computer. Spoiled? Yes, probably.

You can watch the video we were watching here on Hulu.

Despite a slight cold I'm going to Zumba this afternoon. It will be my fourth class. I went twice in August, then couldn't go back until last week. Strange that I was scheduled for Mondays and Wednesdays as soon as I had a class I wanted to attend. Last week they gave us coin belts to jingle on our hips and that made it even more fun! I found one of our routines on youtube, if you still have no idea what I'm talking about.

Jack's Halloween costume is done. You all are going to DIE from the cuteness! I have no idea what I'll be yet. Motherhood makes you selfless that way ;-)

Fall is the best!

2011-10-21T12:03:00.000-06:00

Confession: I watch a reality TV competition that's not about dance.

2011-10-20T21:35:00.001-06:00

The Sing-Off is my holiday season guilty pleasure.

I love the colorful, coordinated clothes. They make me a smile.
I love that it begins in the fall and ends right before Christmas.
I love Ben Folds. And that they ditched the stupid girl judge for a smart girl judge.
I'm rooting for Afro-Blue, Urban Method (yay Denver!), and Vocal Point (meh, BYU).

But the best part for me is I can watch it with Jack. He has started dancing for real - picking up his feet and spinning in circles. And he LOVES to clap with the audience. When the DVR hiccups he signs for "more" and nods at the TV until it starts again.

I mean, who wouldn't like this?

(PS, I watch these behind schedule, so no spoilers please!)

Friends

2011-10-16T15:42:00.000-06:00

What are we doing?

2011-10-15T16:49:00.001-06:00

So far today I have:
Ridden in 5 cars
Flown in a plane
Driven in 3 states
Been peed on
Been attacked by a vulture
Ate a hamburger with Canadian bacon
And there's a rifle in my trunk.

A Fall-liscious Sweater

2011-10-13T17:09:00.001-06:00

I finished this sweater for Jack in about a month. Pretty fast! I'm happy with the fit. It's a little snug, but is supposed to stretch with wear and washing. The sleeves are easily rolled back. The color is great on him. Not that he cares about that sort of thing.

Yes, he wanted to eat these wormy apples.

Did NOT like sitting in a tree.

Dah!

Over the Mountains

2011-10-08T20:13:00.001-06:00

I had three days off in the middle of the week and my folks were kind enough to let me and Jack crash their house! It was super fun to play with them and their big yard. Ben had some quiet bachelor time. I took a lot of pictures and posted the lot of them on Flickr. I'll just leave you with Jack modeling two outfits my mom made for Andy at this age.

Baby Talk

2011-10-01T22:26:00.000-06:00

We hear about other friends' babies talking and worry that Jack doesn't talk yet. It's not that we're fretting, but there's a twinge of "oh! why isn't MY kid saying words yet? So I made a list to make us feel better. Apparently, speech therapists include signs and animal sounds in their word count. Jack just turned 16 months old. And he's still the best, even if he doesn't have many words.

Words
Jack's only, but much repeated, word
Da = dog, dad, cat, animal, baby, . . . thing

Said a few times but not consistently
Buh = ball

Said once
Joo = juice
Nana = banana
Bohk = book
Weeza = weasel
Kittah = kitty

Animal sounds
Strongly knows with animal name verbalized OR shown picture prompt
Wolf = howls with head back
Tiger = roars with claws (kind of a "raaah")
Monster = growls with claws (more of a "graaaw")
Dog = woof

Knows weakly with verbal sound demonstration AND picture prompts
Monkey = ooo or hah with body bobbing
Owl = haaa
Sheep = bah

Signs
More (which he morphed into "want" and uses when being polite, kind of like "please")
Drink (also morphed to "want" when he strongly wants something)
Sleep
Thank you (with prompting)
Up
All done

Left: Wolf Right: Monster

A Fine Day

2011-09-29T21:57:00.000-06:00

Today was a total success! Jack took 6 naps today, one mini nap during each section of driving plus one at home in the afternoon. We found the coolest playground in Georgetown. I took a lot of photos, they are all on my flickr page. We ate lunch at Smokin' Yards BBQ in Idaho Springs.

At home I took a nap in the basement and Ben got a little homework done. I made chicken and zucchini pasta with pesto and green beans. Jack ate really well today! He's not very voracious for us and gets fussy about whether he will feed himself or let us feed him. So it's a good day when he puts down a good amount - even greens!

We took a stroll around Target to get autumnal-themed candies for work tomorrow and a frozen pizza for Friday's dinner (yes, we are living large!). After Jack had his milk, Good Night Moon, and his teeth "brushed" Ben and I watched Community, Parks and Rec, and Big Bang Theory. Dishes, blogging, pack a lunch, and I'm off to bed!

Monsters in the grove

2011-09-29T12:10:00.000-06:00

A little late

2011-09-29T12:00:00.000-06:00

Some of the trees have shed leaves already. It's hard to time it. But it's pretty enough!

We found it!

2011-09-29T11:48:00.000-06:00

Mountain Roadtrip!

2011-09-29T09:24:00.000-06:00

It's a chilly fall day. We have our cardigans, string cheese, and zippy cup. We're off to the mountains in search of fall foliage!

Prevent obesity!

2011-09-28T19:40:00.000-06:00

Have a bowl of Boston Bibb for lunch!

we be stylin' 24/7

2011-09-25T18:22:00.001-06:00

Guess where we are

2011-09-23T13:29:00.000-06:00

It's the swank new McDonalds near us. No wonder the parking lot is always full!

That took longer than I expected

2011-09-21T21:38:00.000-06:00

More days off

2011-09-21T20:16:00.001-06:00

Shouldn't there be more days off? That's what I wonder when I'm at work and Ben texts me adorable photos like this one:

So here are some others things we've been doing when we're home together (and when I'm not sneaking in episodes of Downton Abbey. Fully addicted here.)

Ben helped with a shoot in the park. Jack was more interested in the softball game.

We stuffed our faces with garlic knots from Virgilio's. I'm still mourning the closing of their Lakewood restaurant.

Parks are awesome!

Today we went to the zoo! Not pictured, the cupcakes we ate afterwards from Lovely Confections. Here Jack and Wolfie take turns pointing at the elephant. Wolfie is his play buddy that we know from our doggy daycare owners.

We finally got a good view of the orangutan family, including Hesty who was born just one month after Jack.

The Lorakeet exhibit was so cool! There were about 50 birds living in there so you saw them everywhere you turned. You could buy little cups of nectar to feed them. They hopped right on your your hand!

These were frisky lemurs.

By the end Jack was like "whatev's" to these enormous gorillas right in front of us. Time to go (get cupcakes!).

Better day

2011-09-20T12:55:00.000-06:00

(Static hair at the playground.)

Wow, yesterday was a bad day at work. Over 15 hours long, had to start the day alone, complicated patients, and a code blue. I thought about blogging more about the day, but frankly I want to forget it.

Today we signed a new mortgage that will save us oodles of money, had lunch at wich which, and now we're playing in the cool fall breezes at a playground. Three cheers for days off!

Billy and Benno

2011-09-17T22:08:00.000-06:00

Ikea-ed! We tripled our media storage in the basement. Also important, these are bracketed to the wall. Our old, tall bookcase wasn't and I've caught jack pulling on it a couple of times.

Organizing one part of the house inspires me to do others. After I sort the books scattered about, my craft area needs an overhaul. Then our basement storage room. It's taken a beating with baby and maternity storage.

Welcome back, Fall!

2011-09-14T22:09:00.000-06:00

I missed you terribly.

You, with your long sleeved pjs (with a pacifier for each hand!!)

Your adorable hats and jackets

And the irrepressible urge to make thousands of loops of soft yarn in warm colors while watching television pilots

(New Girl - not as bad as I expected. Up All Night - Arnett in a better role than his last show, some kinks but funny)

(The tube top is to check the length on his sweater so far)

Get your hoodies up- I'm making a pot roast tomorrow!

Do you hear the people sing?

2011-09-02T09:19:00.000-06:00

Amanda got us discount tickets to Les Miserables, the 25th anniversary tour using her magic drama teacher beams.

I missed the turntable, especially in One Day More. But aside from that it was a fantastic performance. Really incredible singing, and the trimmed down version clipped along at a nice pace (one verse of Castle on a Cloud is plenty, thank you very much).

I rooted through my ticket collection this morning and found my old stub. (Ben laughs at my ticket collection. Calls it my secret hoard. But when you've done it for over 20 years it's hard to stop.)

Jacky D livin' the part

2011-08-29T15:49:00.001-06:00

Jack fell down the stairs yesterday. He was leaning on the baby gate, it gave way and he tumbled all the way to the basement. He recovered pretty fast. His face looks worse today. The accidents are only going to get worse, right? {mom sigh}

Walking!

2011-08-28T20:14:00.001-06:00

I started editing a walking montage video. Jack really started walking two weeks ago on Sunday. But that video edit is still on my computer with more clips on my phone waiting for upload. So with concern about time and never posting ANYTHING, here is a poor quality email post straight from my phone. He's become quite skilled in very little time! This was Wednesday at the Cherry Creek mall.

Chair update

2011-08-17T16:29:00.000-06:00

Beige was the only option. I did a 10 minute crap-tastic safety-pinned cover for the new chair, since my patience for deconstructing and reconstructing patterns to sew is zero. I think it turned out okay! Ben gives it one day before Jack discovers the metal clips on the back.

Jack's first Ikea

2011-08-17T15:31:00.000-06:00

As you may know, Ikea finally FINALLY opened in Denver. I've been waiting about 8 years for that to happen.

We waited for the crowds to thin before checking it out. We are now a 3 Poang household.

Jack obviously didn't read the instructions.

Ta DA! POANG!!

Learning the right stuff

2011-08-17T15:25:00.000-06:00

He doesn't play the "how big is baby" game.

He won't point to nose or ears yet.

He's reluctant to high five.

He doesn't refer to us as "Mama" or "Dada" yet.

But he can quote Doc Brown from Back to the Future!

Missing California

2011-08-12T10:16:00.001-06:00

(I recovered surprisingly well after Zumba. Looks like I have a new exercise plan)

We got home Sunday afternoon. The blast of hot dry air on the bridge off the airplane made me miss the cool ocean breezes already. Jack has been sleeping a lot, trying to make up for the sleep he missed from having too much fun.

I posted all of my photos on flickr here, and I see Amanda has done the same.

I'll take you through some favorites. Disclaimer: they are kind of crappy, all from my phone, and mostly of Jack.

We arrived! We're on the beach!

Jack spent at least half of the trip on those shoulders.

My heart was thumping every time my family let Jack peer over a pier.

After a morning nap I rolled Jack onto our patio. How cool is that?

We all bought hats at the CVS down the street to keep the sun at bay.

Bib buddies at Joe's Crab Shack

After lunch we went to the zoo!

The aviary was the best part.

(heart thumping)

Even though we were hot and bedraggled (is that a word? like, the opposite of bedazzled?) and he missed his afternoon nap, Jack was dancing and clapping to the live band on the way out.

Ben and I took a long scenic tour around town after the zoo, to let Jack snooze in the car before dinner.

(Somehow I missed taking any pictures of our dinner with the Waterhouses and Wargos and Evans! It must have been the stress of keeping Jack controlled in a fancy tablecloth restaurant with accented waiters. Amanda has some pictures on her site)

Jack played with a real, regular telephone a lot. Amazing how he automatically knew what to do with it.

Saturday was all about the beach. Here is Ben with our hotel right behind him. Seriously, this was a fantastic hotel. Crazy good location in the heart of Pacific Beach, beautiful rooms, good breakfasts, and very kind staff. Hooray for the Ocean Park Inn!

The sand is serious business, you guys.

The water was chilly and Jack wasn't a fan. But he liked jumping around in Dad's arms.

Playing in the sand with Sadie and Lexie, Natalie, George, Sylvie, Larry and great-grandparents (more pictures on my flickr)

We dipped in the hotel pool after the beach for some real swimming, but Jack was exhausted. Wouldn't you know, we went to the hotel room for a nap and got this instead:

(My dad worked his sleep voodoo magic. My parents babysat him while Ben and I strolled to Fatburger and a Mexican hut.)

More PB walking

(He's pointing to our hotel ;-)

Too bright!

Our flight home was easier than the arrival. Jack slept for half of it and we were bumped to a stretch seating row. After I took him through security Ben exclaimed to Jack "Uh oh! You were recruited!"

Thank you mom and dad for a wonderfully wonderful summer vacation!

Death by Zumba

2011-08-10T14:34:00.000-06:00

Back from vacation, feeling fat and bloated. Last night after work I trolled the internet for dance classes and found the Wheat Ridge Rec Center, the gym I've been using since Miranda's postpartum days, offers a zumba class at a convenient time today. ("Zumba! Ditch the work-out, join the party!")

Possessed with self righteousness and a fervor like it was January 1st, I lay myself at the feet of Kris, our zumba instructor. Super tanned with a belly ring, spiky red hair with blond highlights, neon green mini skirt, and a Britney mic, she whipped me for an hour. Twenty minutes in I looked in the mirror and saw that I was lobster-red and dripping sweat. I don't know how I made it through all of class. Kris bounced over after class and invited me to keeping coming. I told her it depends on whether I wake up paralyzed with muscle ache tomorrow, or if I can manage to grunt my way through my shift. Zumba!

At the beach!

2011-08-06T13:16:00.000-06:00

Still wish TJs' were in Colorado

2011-08-06T11:11:00.000-06:00

Jacks favorite part of the zoo

2011-08-05T16:53:00.000-06:00

Birds!

2011-08-05T16:30:00.000-06:00

Jenn educating us about all the birds in the aviary.

Brown bear brown bear

2011-08-05T15:33:00.000-06:00

What do you see?

Crab shack

2011-08-05T13:48:00.000-06:00

Were having lunch with the ocean crashing in view out the restaurant window. Jack is spooning himself ketchup.

Germany Kids 1989

2011-08-04T09:43:00.001-06:00

Germany Kids 1989, originally uploaded by chitarita.

Me and me siblings, reuniting this weekend. I love this photo.

Cut the Mullet!

2011-07-31T15:51:00.001-06:00

I made an appointment for Jack with my stylist. I wanted to take pictures while his hair was cut and she offered to do it for very little money. It sounded fun! But we couldn't get a non-nap time appointment for a couple weeks. This weekend his mullet has been looking pretty rank. I decided I couldn't take it anymore. As soon as he woke from a (3 hour) nap I whipped him onto the back porch with a bowl of mango, stuck the camera in Ben's hands, and went to work.

Pictures!

Above, ready for church. Mulleted.

Below, the last gasp of the mullet.

Below, first snip (Sniff! My baby is gone!!)

Below, lots of head turning. He tolerated it very very well. No tears or fussing. Just a lot of curious turns.

Above, all done! A celebratory bite of mango for Mom!

Below, my handsome boy.

New glasses!

2011-07-29T18:10:00.000-06:00

What do you think?

More Circus Training

2011-07-29T18:05:00.002-06:00

A Very Jack July

2011-07-26T09:46:00.001-06:00

After a particularly rough crash, Jack resolved his tears with this bicycle toy kept on a high shelf. I pulled out my camera when I noticed him making his "vroom vroom" noises. Ben taught him that, of course.

Ben and Jack went hiking with Grandpa Rick in Fairplay. There are many beautiful photos on Ben's flickr page. I love this portrait:

I took a video of Jack and me on the porch for my Dad's birthday. The lighting was weirdly ethereal so I snapped a few photos too:

Ben calls these PJ's Jack's sorority shorts:

Last weekend my parents came to visit! I have so much fun seeing them, and Jack had a blast too. It was too hot for most of the playground equipment, but he likes stairs enough to be happy.

And he got a sunscreen-as-hair-product do in the shade.

They brought us Palisade peaches. Jack ate three that day.

A quick stop at the Apple store to swap out a broken iPad.

Then Jack was let loose in the play park. Holy cow, did he had had fun.

This was the first of many many times climbing up the water rapids. It was incredibly noisy there, but I could see Jack's mouth moving the whole time he played. They tell me he was going "Da! Da! Da! Da!" non-stop.

Spending Spree

2011-07-24T13:51:00.000-06:00

I don't buy a lot of frivolous things. Unless you could chocolate and diet coke. But every once in a while I go on a spending spree. I've got a bit of Christmas money in my savings account that I can dip into when the urge strikes. Here are some recent purchases.

A dresser for Jack's room.

He outgrew his changing table in length and I've been window shopping (online) for a vintage dresser since he was an infant. Finally hit a good one on craiglist for the right price. I love solid, old furniture. Now I have my eyes peeled for a coordinating nightstand.

With a salon appointment next week, I was inspired to do a little making-over of my image.

I ordered some hair feathers from Etsy. Now I look like this:

Ha! Just kidding. I ordered some brown and purple and only one thin stripey that is currently in my sister's hair. I put some in partly hidden just to see if they work well (yes!). I'll put them in more obviously after my visit to the salon this week and before the trip to San Diego.

I also go these, courtesy of my personal family ophthalmologist:

It's handy having a prescriber with you in the store, and a long time user to give you tips for putting contacts in.

Aren't I alluring? It will take some time to get used to them. But I'm already loving being on the computer without my glaring, scratched up glasses. Speaking of which . . .

I ordered these:

They are the Webb frames from Warby Parker. It's a great glasses company. You really all about them on their site. I love their vintage style frames, the try at home offer, and the buy-one-give-one program they have. Ben scoffs at how hipster they are, including their name-which comes from two characters of Jack Kerouac. You probably haven't heard of them ;-)

So hot

2011-07-22T15:10:00.000-06:00

It's either a sign of the second coming, or a sign that it's too hot. We all take refuge in the basement.

Baby Names

2011-07-13T15:38:00.001-06:00

I had the pleasure of returning to my women's clinic for an annual check-up. I grinned when I saw Jack's birth announcement on the big wall outside their ultrasound rooms. Totally the cutest on the wall. While waiting in the tiny room (getting the cold sweats in my flimsy thigh-high, open-backed gown) I wrote down all the names on the birth announcements they had on this smaller bulletin board. So I present to you a sample of baby names in the Denver Suburban Area for 2010:

Ethan
Zeke
Alexander
Axel
Trace
Kaimani
Lydia
Brody
Layne
Noah
Wallace
Jon
Kailynn
Isabella
Zoey
Aletheia

Conclusion: I think if we had a girl someday I could totally pull off "Anathema."

Tying it old school

2011-07-12T15:22:00.000-06:00

Miranda beat me to jumping on the friendship bracelet revival that's happening in the online fashion/craft community. But she forgot that the best way to make them is safety-pinned to your jeans. That way when you stand up to get another Capri Sun, you can go back to knotting while watching Duck Tales in a different place because your kid brother took your spot on the couch.

For my first bracelet I picked the most nostalgic color combination I could. I remember thinking one day in the second grade "Gosh, I can't go wrong pairing pink and teal!" Lavender and cornflower round out the set.

I hoard craft supplies. This is my original box of embroidery thread from 20 years ago. Note the fancy-pants ombre and glitter threads in the upper left boxes. I believed those cost 1.49 each, THREE times the normal cost of embroidery thread in the early nineties. I saved them for special occasion bracelets.

I've made five bracelets over the last few days. They are quick and colorful. Wish I could wear them all summer until the break off. But I'd rather not risk getting blood on them at work.

A Morning at the Park

2011-07-12T15:06:00.001-06:00

With the day off (but call tonight) I took Jack to Park Day, as hosted by friends from church. They arrange a schedule of different parks for each Tuesday over the summer. Jack is just getting to the age and ability where he can enjoy playgrounds.

He liked the slide too, but I have to arrange him at the top because he keeps trying to crawl down it head first.

Today's Park, Ray Ross in Lakewood, has a "splash pad" with water jets. I did not prepare well because I mistakenly assumed Jack would be scared to be with all the other kids splashing about.

Wrong. With shoes off, he crawled into the mini pool the older kids made by sitting over the drain. Then he crawled over to this bigger water jet after a big kid abandoned it. It was a bit much for him and he gets a little exasperated. I love how he decides to try the smaller jets, then quickly changes his mind for the big one again!

I wish we could have stayed longer. But I only brought mango and graham crackers to eat and lunch time was swiftly approaching. Also, without swimsuit or towels Jack didn't have anything to change into after being thoroughly soaked. He was too wet to enjoy the playground equipment. We tried, but he stuck to everything. Next time I'll do better. Hey, at least I remembered sunscreen and a hat today!

Condors

2011-07-08T19:34:00.000-06:00

Amanda has been in Peru. Among much other awesomeness, she got to see condors in the Andes. While discussing their wingspan over Old Chicago entrees (and Jack eating his weight in garlic bread), we figured each wing is about as long as my sister-in-law, Jenn. So of course Ben made this:

Be happy, Jenn, that we found a full body picture of you aside from the one in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Too Tall part II

2011-07-08T19:29:00.000-06:00

We were suddenly in darkness. He did it several times before I pulled out the camera. Ben said "I guess we'll just be in the dark now."

Standing Tall

2011-07-08T13:56:00.003-06:00

I recorded one of our efforts to help Jack stand. He's just nervous to let go on his own.

But I happened to catch him taking a step!

Rainy evening

2011-07-07T16:54:00.000-06:00

Wish I was home. Ben sent this too me at work.

Happy fourth!

2011-07-04T19:59:00.000-06:00

Hooray for getting off work early on holidays! Hooray for friends with pools!

Favorite so far

2011-07-03T12:38:00.000-06:00

I haven't been terribly impressed with any couples' dances on SYTYCD so far. Yes, the dancers are all top notch. But the choreography hasn't had any stand-outs yet.

Well, then I noticed that I've re-watched this piece four times already:

Ok. So that was a ball of awesomeness. And by Sonya Tayeh no less. She can really pull it out sometimes. I think they are over-using her this season. Her couples' dances all start to feel the same. But this group number makes up for all of those. Great costumes too. And shoes! Thank you for putting your dancers in shoes! (shaking fist at Tyce Diorio)

Dancing & learning signs during snacks

2011-06-27T12:50:00.001-06:00

Here's a slice o' Jack for your Monday - my day off! (My glorious day off! The first in two weeks where I can breathe through my nose and have an appetite and keep food down and don't hack up loogies from my rattled thorax!)

I love days off. I've only been awake three hours but I already:

Took out trash from the whole house
Moved the swamp cooler to Jack's room
Did the dishes
Cleared out the living room of junk
Scrubbed the microwave
Prepared our dinner to marinate
planned grocery list
and of course played with Jack and fed both of us

I REALLY want to mop the kitchen when Ben gets back from the library, in case Jack wakes up and needs to be entertained away from the kitchen. It's his favorite room lately. I'm pretty terrified that this happened the other day:

Too soon! Too soon! Curses to all the men in family over 6 feet tall!

While I'm listing - TV shows!

2011-06-23T15:17:00.002-06:00

At trivia this week Erin and I confessed our love of TV. It seems like all the cool people say they don't even OWN TVs, let alone enjoy a show or two. Well, gosh darn it, I LOVE television. It's the most relaxing part of my day. You should see how I held it together last night when Ben noted our DVR failed to record this week's So You Think You Can Dance aka SYTYCD aka "The Dance Show" competition episode. I didn't even cry. It helped that I had just indulged in an 80 minute episode of a British lovefest called Sherlock. I mean, the actor is named Benedict Cumberbatch for goodness sake! Whoa, I got way off topic there.

I just mean to say that I love TV. I recently got Amanda hooked on Battlestar Galactica, bought Ben all of Cowboy Bebop for Father's Day, and gave Erin a list of shows to persue on the back of a beer coaster.

I thought it would be fun to list some of my all time favorite shows and where you can find them. You know, if you find yourself hiding from the heat in your basement den after the baby has gone to sleep and you have the next day off work and just want to be entertained for a while. So in order of my brain's wandering, here is my list. (I starting trying to indicate whether these are listed on Netflix instant, DVD only, or hulu, but it got way out of hand. You'll have to search for yourself. But know that most of these I do not watch live.)

Sherlock
The IT Crowd
Doctor Who
Spaced
The Big Bang Theory
Community
The Office
30 Rock
Burn Notice
The Good Guys (sniff!)
SYTYCD
How I Met Your Mother
Better Off Ted (sniff!)
Arrested Development (sniff!)
Veronica Mars
Psych
Bones
Angel
Glee
Castle
Better With You (don't be hatin' on me)
Friends
Seinfeld
Firefly (sniff!)
Evagelion
Cowboy Bebop
Mushii
Battlestar Galactica
Twin Peaks
ADD ON Pushing Daisies (sniff!)

Hmmm, that might be all for now. I might add on to this later. Help me in the comments if you can!

The Kindle, one year later

2011-06-23T14:52:00.002-06:00

Before I had a Kindle I wasn't much of a reader. I read maybe 4 to 8 books a year. When I was given the Kindle after Jack was born, it came with an unexpected gift - access to the books read by other family members. See, my gracious father set it up so that we all share his Amazon Kindle account. So whenever I finish one book, I can instantly start another with limited searching and possibly no additional purchase. Here is a categorical listing of what I have read on my Kindle so far (* indicates I recommend this book):

Murder Mysteries

The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

*Angels & Demons - Dan Brown

Deja Dead - Kathy Reichs

The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson

*The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson

The Girl who Played with Fire - Stieg Larsson

Heat Wave - Richard Castle

YA Fiction (aka works by John Green)

*An Abundance of Katherines - John Green

Looking for Alaska - John Green

Paper Towns - John Green

*Will Grayson, Will Grayson – John Green

Adult Fiction (Curiously, all from a slightly feminist slant)

*A Rather Lovely Inheritance – C.A. Belmond

The English American - Alison Larkin

The Actor and the Housewife - Shannon Hale

The Abstinence Teacher - Tom Perrotta

The Weird Sisters – Eleanor Brown

YA Dystopian Thrillers

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

*The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

*Divergent - Veronica Roth

Matched - Ally Condie

Funny Non-Fiction (aka my favorite genre)

*Packing for Mars - Mary Roach

*Stiff - Mary Roach (yes, I re-read it on Kindle)

*Bossypants - Tina Fey

*The Guinea Pig Diaries - AJ Jacobs

Waiter Rant - Steve Dublanica

History/Science

*At Home - Bill Bryson

People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks

The Disappearing Spoon - Sam Kean

Outliers - Malcom Gladwell

Assassination Vacation – Sarah Vowell

And to impress upon you the awesomeness of our shared Kindle Library:

Books I started but didn't finish

Valiant - Holly Black

An Irreverent Curiosity - David Farley

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk - David Sedaris

The Geography of Bliss - Eric Weiner

Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile – Gyles Brandreth

American Gods – Neil Gaiman

Bruno, Chief of Police – Martin Walker

Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman

God's Secretaries – Adam Nicolson

Cosmopolis – Don DeLillo

The Hangman's Daughter – Oliver Potzsch

The Candy Shop War – Brandon Mull

Sphinx's Princess – Esther Friesner

Little Bee – Chris Cleave

Simon Bloom, the Gravity Keeper – Michael Reisman

...Still leaving over 150 archived books in our collection I haven't even looked at. But I'm not a total moocher. I sought out several of those above, and will soon be adding more:

Books on my To Read list

A Rather Curious Engagement - C.A. Belmond

Nerd Do Well – Simon Pegg

The Red Market - Scott Carney

The Maze Runner – James Dashner

The Redbreast – Jo Nesbo

The World's Greatest Stuntman – Vic Armstrong

The Psychopath Test – Jon Ronson

Some old Sherlock Holmes, because I'm becoming obsessed with the BBC modern series adaptation.

33 finished books of varying lengths. (Ben likes to point out that the books he reads are SO much longer than mine, that mine are itty bitty girly books ;-) I'd say that's a huge improvement over my old 4-8 books a year, wouldn't you? But the scary thing is that I read only a fraction of what my sister can devour. Isn't that right, Amanda? What's your count for the past year?

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T21:15:00.000-06:00

Does that blow your mind? - continued

2011-06-18T20:44:00.000-06:00

As promised to Amanda, here are some more videos of Jack's trick.

Here's Amanda setting him up. He had just woken from a nap and was a little slow. But still eager to play.

Here he is just after learning the trick. He's eager to do it, and it's usually a domino chain of explosions.

Other tricks that Jack has recently learned:

blowing air
kissing your cheek - usually a gross, open-mouthed press to your cheek, but tonight he actually make a puckering lips smack!
holding the phone to his shoulder/ear region
pretend washing the table with a napkin
Putting pencil to paper
Can balance on two legs for a few seconds (only done twice, he doesn't seem to like it yet)
Fast at climbing up stairs, can go down backwards with lots of prodding

Other things he can do, learned/mastered in the last month or so

Cruising!
waving bye bye
high fives
nodding yes
standing in his crib after naps
"Da" has been generalized for many things, but with tones. Mom, Dad, bottles, animals, fruit, all "da!"
Sorting, stacking rings, putting straws in cup lids . . .any kind of "this" goes in "there" task

And reading by osmosis!

(There, Amanda. Blog updated. I'm going back to sipping tea and doing nothing.)

Mavi and Jeff's Wedding

2011-06-18T20:32:00.000-06:00

The purpose of our trip was to attend the wedding ceremony for our dear friends, Jeff and Mavi. They held it on the Monument, right on the edge of a cliff at sunset. It was gorgeous.

I love her dress, hand made by the bride - of course!

Who's that on the left? Ben and Brian participating in a brass quartet to accompany the ceremony! Jeff requested that Ben play for them. Now, he hasn't played in 12 years, since his marching band days in high school. But he rented a baritone and practiced practiced practiced to play for the wedding.

Jenni and I were duly impressed by their chops.

The wedding was so much fun. They had a reception dinner at Dos Hombres where I met some of their crazy friends from NY. The next day they had a picnic in Lincoln park. I wish I hadn't gotten sick so I could have enjoyed it more and talked with the bride and groom longer. But it was still fun, and great to see old friends like Katie L. and Katie H. and Neil (with new fiance, Novolin!) I wish all my old friends ever would just move to the Denver suburbs and entertain me. Is that so much to ask?

More swimming photos

2011-06-18T20:22:00.000-06:00

(He just took a mouthful of water in the above photo) (The pool water is cleaned by de-ionization of salt, or something, instead of chlorine. So it tastes salty.)

Day two, Jack was under the weather with something. Vaccine reaction or roseola, we're not sure. But he preferred eating watermelon poolside to swimming that day.

All that swimming and sun makes a good sleeper. With his butt in the air :-)

Absence

2011-06-18T18:40:00.000-06:00

Amanda said: I keep looking at your blog for updates, a summary of your GJ trip, etc.

It's like you're sick/working/being a mom or something.

Yes, with emphasis on the "sick." I had a nasty stomach bug Sunday to Wednesday. Then just two days later, I got a sore throat and case of the yucks. So much for this four day weekend I was looking forward to! Hopefully it breezes over me and I can enjoy the next three days. Maybe post more videos and pictures.

He's a fish!

2011-06-11T11:28:00.001-06:00

It's not his first time swimming, but his first time having fun!
(sorry for the low res, taken straight from phone)

Summer is here

2011-06-11T10:11:00.000-06:00

For all your "theatre" needs

2011-06-11T10:10:00.000-06:00

Found an old business card in my parents' basement. I'm guessing circa 1995. Very Max Fisher, says Ben.

Does that blow your mind?

2011-06-07T20:52:00.000-06:00

Amanda beat me to posting a video of Jack's latest game/trick. Tell him something amazing and he'll tell you it blows his mind. I have three videos on my phone of him doing this. But while I work long shifts and my sister is home for the summer, and she comes to the rescue to babysit for a sick/in school husband TWO days in a row, that gives the aunt the advantage. Either way, I'm glad one of us could share this mind-blowing game.

My job

2011-06-06T21:23:00.000-06:00

Hey look, acute care dialysis gets a cameo in the news:

Those red and blue lines filled with blood - that's what I do! Yes, my patients often look like this. and sometimes worse.

When did Jack grow up?

2011-05-31T12:01:00.000-06:00

Birthday party pictures

2011-05-29T10:37:00.000-06:00

Jack is one YEAR old!

2011-05-28T21:19:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday, Dude!