A Wicked Good Time

Helloooooo everyone from Maine! It was wonderful visiting with you all, and we miss you already.

We had a wonderful time in Maine. Zane was an excellent traveler, weathered the time change, and slept and napped pretty well considering all the changes. It was hot hot hot, though, and a few cranky times were due to that and not being able to sleep well in the heat. A few times we went to the library to play and cool off. We're glad to be back in cool Seattle.

Zane's brain seemed to get really stimulated by the travel, as he started doing a bunch of new things. First, at Pa Jim's he learned to climb down stairs by navigating the two steps from dining room to living room; then he applied that to other steps and even a couch! Later on he climbed up onto the rim of Grandma's bathtub, which was a little precarious. He's really into climbing now, and tried to climb out of his high chair and crib last night. Saturday morning I put him in his exersaucer for my shower, and when I got out he was standing by the tub. Little Houdini!

Zane has really begun to babble in a way that clearly sounds like language. There were enough times that he "coincidentally" said what sounded like a word right after we said it, that I think he is beginning to copy words. He also clearly knows some words, such as "cat". Cats were a big highlight of the trip: 2 at Pa Jim's, 1 at Grandma's, and 2 at his cousins' house. One day Zane was crying after waking up from a nap, and nothing would console him until I said "Do you want to go find a cat?" He immediately stopped crying and got a big smile on his face. He's definitely got Henderson/Robarts blood in him.

With all the new sights to see, Zane also developed his point while in Maine. Now he points to lots of things, and I'm trying to name everything he points to. The power of pointing is also the power to say what you want; Zane also points to things he can't have, and then fusses when I don't give them to him. I will not give in! I will not cultivate a whiner!

Uncle Aaron asked if Zane could stand on his own yet, and I said no. Aaron then gave Zane a try, and got him to stand in sumo stance for a few seconds! Aunt Colleen and cousin Ian also got him to repeat the performance. When Zane stood, we all said "Yay" and clapped, and Zane even clapped a bit! Zane won't do it for me, though; he gets rubbery legs around Mom. But, today he was fussing for me to pick him up and let go of his support to reach for me -- he accidentally stood for a second! Now that Zane is home he's also walking a bit if I hold his hands while he is facing me. If he faces away he gets rubbery legs again.

We also had many wonderful firsts: Swimming in a lake (which was awesome!), crickets, fire flies, real ducks, the moon and stars (it's been too light in Seattle), Maine blueberries, bug bites, cat scratches and band-aids. On the first night in Maine I took Zane out after dark; we heard crickets, smelled the ocean, and saw fireflies, stars and the moon. Zane said "Aahhh!"
This was also Zane's first time to meet most of my family and friends Ann and Jon! Above Zane reads with Grandma and cousin JuJu. To the right he meets his Great-Grandma Robarts! Oh yeah, and two more teeth up top!

I also had a restful time. While we were in Camden my Mom took Zane in the mornings when he woke up, and I got to sleep an hour or so extra. Just four days of that and I really felt refreshed! Mom and Zane got quality time, and I got rest. Everyone wins! When Zane had naps I didn't have all my chores waiting for me at home, so I actually got a lot of reading done. My book is languishing again, but I'll get back to it soon ...

I feel like so much happened in Maine I could write a book! When I get more pictures from other people I'll post more.

Meanwhile, before we left for Maine, we had some adventures and experiences. We had another developmental assessment which was fun as usual. Zane is zooming along and ahead of his benchmarks on all stuff except Communication. I need to work with him more on language games like nursery rhymes and finger plays. I think his week in Maine gave him a bump up, though. We go again at the end of August.

We went to a visit with the nutritionist to explore Zane's skinniness. The upshot is that he seems to be grazing and nursing a lot and so is not interested in eating. The grazing and mini-nursing is just enough to take the edge off his hunger so he can go play, but not enough to give him the calories he needs. To make him eat more, I need to feed him less often. I've been working on that plan since then, and Zane is eating more solids (and pooping more). He's also nursing less, so my milk production is dropping. That's a little scary for me, but I'll adjust. It will be nice if he only nurses in the am and pm so I can stop pumping at work. Meanwhile, maybe I can go to just pumping once at work during the day.

We also had a day trip to Fiddle Tunes, which was awesome. The day was beautiful and we were accompanied by Bee. Zane missed the ferry rides due to sleeping, but he had a great time listening to music, playing in the grass, and dancing with Laurie.

Then, the day before our Maine trip, we took a break to go to the Ballard Seafood Fest. Zane got to play in the water park at the Ballard Commons. He was more mesmerized by the other kids than the water, but I think he still enjoyed it. It will be super fun when he can walk on his own.

And that's the roundup! This week we have an appointment with a speech therapist to somehow check Zane's eating, and then we have a regular checkup. Let's cross our fingers for some chubbiness!

Oh, and Zane has a fever today that started last night. :(

That's Moi Guy!

There's a nice new blog post out there about Michael's software MoI and his recent trip to the 2008 SIGGRAPH conference.

New Orleans

In 2001, I went to New Orleans with my Cajun/Zydeco band Les Femmes d'Enfer. I thought it was my first time to Louisiana. Recently I've been scanning old family photos, and I found out I was wrong! Photographic evidence shows I was in fact crawling around on the New Orleans pavement in July or August of 1969! I can tell you, during my 2001 visit we started drinking Hurricanes from Pat O'Brien's at about 10am after a red eye flight which I did not sleep on. I was ready to crawl around on the pavement in 2001, too.

Playing tourist

My Dad and my brother Brady were just out for a visit, and I got to do lots of great tourist things I never get around to doing on my own. They took a train cross-country from Maine, seeing the sites as they whizzed past. At Glacier, they rented a car and came out to Seattle Friday night.

Saturday we spent relaxing for the most part, though I took my Dad for a bike ride down to Golden Gardens while Michael abused Brady with weight lifting and going up and down the long stairs to Golden Gardens. We stopped in at Dusty Strings to oogle instruments and buy a few doodads and a CD. That night, after a dinner at the Hi-Life, we went to the Tractor Tavern. I had seen a bluegrass show advertised, but I knew nothing about the performers. What an awesome show! As my Dad said, one guitar solo alone was worth the $15 to get in. Danny Barnes of the Bad Livers opened the show on his banjo. He'd lay down a lick, record it, play it while laying down another lick, record it, etc., until he had about 5 tracks of himself playing while he played yet something else. Then six handsome young bucks got on the stage and proceeded to blow us away with totally amazing bluegrass. The Infamous Stringdusters. Wow. Each musician was top-notch. The guitar player blazed around the neck of his guitar like a classical guitarist, the mandolin player's hand was a blur, the other players were very fine, and the most beautiful vocals and harmonies came from them. To finish off their encore they came off the stage and stood in a tight circle in the middle of the stage picking like they do for themselves. Brady and I each picked up a CD at the end of the night.

It's hard to beat all that Saturday fun, so Sunday we just left town. We drove up to Paradise on Mt. Rainier and hiked around for a couple of hours. Although clouds covered the summit while we were there, Dad and Brady were suitably impressed by the views they got of the mountain and the tree strewn Nisqually river bed. We saw some pretty alpine flowers, a blue grouse and her chicks, lots of other birds, and a big fat marmot. On the way down the mountain, the clouds finally left the summit, and we got a nice view of the mountain up through Kautz Creek.

They had planned to leave Monday, but I convinced them to stay another day. Monday we strolled down to the Java Bean for coffee and goodies, then walked on to the Ballard Locks. We were able to see the Locks in action and get some salmon viewing in! The Chinook were heading up to spawn. We could see them waiting below the locks, in the glass viewing area we saw them hanging out resting in the fish ladder, and then we briefly saw a few jumping up through the locks. They were mighty big. Smolt were heading out of the locks, and a seagull and a great blue heron were monitoring it all. Some fish and chips from the Lockspot got us home, and then they came with me to my banjo lesson and a little thrift shopping. We topped the night off with square dancing at the tractor.

It was great visit!

Happy Days!

Happy Birthday Dad!















Happy 5th Birthday, Jaiden!



















Happy 2nd Bunniversary, JoJo!




I love you all!

Miscellaneous Maine

Here are some miscellaneous things from our visit to Maine.

Michael tried to eat my nephew Julian. Luckily Julian was wearing his new National Geographic watch and binoculars, and he was saved.Ian beat his Dad, Aaron, at Monopoly with the help of a team of advisers.No vacation is complete with out substitute pets while we are away from our Bijou and JoJo. In Harpswell we had spazzy Scout, and in Camden bloated Manuel and Polly (not shown).
We stopped by The Maine Dog in Camden to visit the Flemish Giant rabbit who lives in the store window. This is a Big Bunny. He's about 3 times as big as JoJo.

Celebrations

There was much rejoicing in Maine while we were there. Of course, I like to think it was because we were there, but probably not. Not entirely, anyway!

December 31st was my nephew Ian's 6th birthday! Wow! I feel like he's no longer a little boy, he's a regular kid. A regular spazz! Ian could eclipse Maine Yankee in energy output.

We also did some Christmas presents all around since Michael and I had come in to town. Here my other Maine nephew, Julian, helps Michael with one of his presents.

After we did Christmas and celebrated Ian's birthday, Michael and I, my Mom, and my Dad headed to Belfast for a New Year's Eve dance played by the Hep Cats. I got all dressed up, fully knowing that only a few other people might be dressed up; I even wore my new petticoat. I must be city-fied, because I was really surprised to find that no one else dressed up. There had been a lot of snow recently, and every one else was in jeans, warm shirts, and practical muddy boots. I wore boots, too, I'm not crazy, but I did change into dance shoes. The floor was slick with mud. I'm used to dance floors being wet, but it's always beer, which is nice and sticky. The mud on linoleum was pretty slick. I had a great time anyway, and many people told me they really liked my dress and the fact that I dressed up. We all had a great time dancing; here I am with my Daddy!

New Year's Day Michael and I saw my long-time friend Ann and her husband Jon. We had a great lunch at Cappy's Chowder House, and then we had to go our separate ways. Too short a visit! Someday I hope we can have a long one.

Then my Aunt and some cousins from my Mom's side of the family came over for a New Year's Day get together. It's always great to see you all! Not many people made it this year as have in past years, partly due to another snow storm which was already dumping snow.

My Dream Sale

Today I went to a National Geographic Warehouse sale at the Convention Center in Seattle. It was a bit weird at first, as downtown Seattle was not that busy, and as I walked towards the Convention Center, people all but disappeared. When I got there, I thought it was actually closed -- it was deserted and empty! The food stores were all closed, one guy was slowly sweeping an immobile escalator. But then I finally found the huge room with the sale in it, and it was a Bonanza!

Huge coffee table books were $10 each, small books for $5 and even $1, videos for $1. Most of these things I can't share with you since they're presents for people, but I did score a few things for myself. I got a $95 paisley embroidered rayon skirt for $25, and two packages of silver and gold Indian embroidered ornaments for $10 each down from $35 each.

I'm not much of a shopper, but this was awesome for me. I got about $500 worth of stuff for just over $100. If any of you Seattle people read this in time, I recommend you go for the last day on Sunday! They had piles of stuff.

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! Michael and I had a wonderful day at his sister Stephanie's. I was honored to have 2 year old Riley tell me I had "Glasses! Cool!"

The Space Age Is Here!

My Mom and I signed up on Skype, and we had a free video call from Ecuador to Seattle! My Mom's the one on the beach, on the picture above. Jane Jetson is channeling me. My hair actually kind of looks like that these days ...