Cute Picture of The Day

This is a gorgeous picture of my niece Hannah holding Miss Nora. Hannah is one of Nora's "double cousins" since her dad is my brother and her Mom is Nora's Dad's sister.

Yeah, it sounds gross. But it's all perfectly legal in all 50 states.

Basically, the two oldest kids in the M and P families got married, and us two middle kids from the same two families got married.

It makes our kids "double cousins" since they come from different parents all together, but have the same sets of grandparents.

It's the closest Nora will come to having sisters, and it's neat to look at the baby pictures of Hannah and Miriam and try to guess which features look like which kid more.

There's no doubt there's a family resemblance though.

Aren't they pretty?

A Day In The Life:

Stone Cold: Nora does a really good "stone cold stare."

It took me a while, but I realized this morning I wasn't getting any laughs at ALL to the usual entertaining noises I make at her like blowing raspberries, sticking my tongue out at her, and crossing my eyes and making a pig noises.

So I apparently need to work on my repertoire.

My audience is getting smarter.

Goin' Mobile!

I still need to get a good video of her scootching/commando crawling before it turns into an all-out crawl.

But today we made a new milestone. Well, she did.

Nora got stuck under the rocking chair twice, and here, you can see, she's made it under the futon in the family room.

She stayed under there for quite some time before the inevitable "bonk" and the cry.

I got to swoop in and make it "all better."

The Little Contortionist

And tonight I laid her down in a VERY different position than this one.

I wondered why she kept fussing, and so I went in to make sure her room wasn't too cold or something else wasn't wrong.

And here she is with her head crammed in a corner, contorted so that there's no possible way this can be comfortable. I'm on the fence about trying to fix it, because she'll either wake up, or she'll wake up.

The Country Cousins

We went out on an adventure today to Jeff & Judy's place. They have a mini-farm not far outside Salem, and it was so neat to take Nora back there. We spent virtually 8 months with them -- before, during and after Nora's birth, and in the past few months they've come over a few times, but we haven't really been back to the farm since February. Jeff fired up the grill (dang, I swear I will never stop being a carnivore as long as Jeff has steaks and his bad-ass Texas style grill and the coals to use it) and made some SUPER steaks. Nora got some time with the Aunts, Uncles, Bestema and Cousins that she just LOVES...and got her first taste of country living by meeting her very first chicken! Judy, Brian's sister, and my sister in the sense that she's been in the family so long it's hard to bother calling her a "sister-in-law"...caught a chicken in one hand, while holding my daughter in the other, so that Nora could pet her very first bird. Let's just say that Judy is on an extremely SHORT LIST of people who can hold my baby while catching a chicken in the other, and I didn't even think about Nora's safety because I knew Judy would take care of our girl no matter what...and it was so neat to watch Nora do something new!. After lunch (that's Jeff under the blanket on the right as he and Nora played their version of peek-a-boo!

What a great weekend!

And boy howdy, our girl is learning new tricks. Today she was inch-worming her way around the room enough that Judy said we can expect her to be CRAWLING in a week! Of course that just makes me want to take a foot and EVER so GENTLY put it on her back to keep her down!

And Miss Nora learned how to play "Peek-A-Boo" as you can see in this video:

Daddy Time, Daddy Time. I Love My Daddy Time!

I think this is about the cutest video ever of my girl and her Daddy.

It all started with "I'll change her diaper and get her into her pajamas..."

6 Random Things About Me

Tammy tagged me, so you know I have to do what she says. We do, after all, share a brain, and therefore I know exactly how she would feel if I didn't do this.

It's getting hard to think of things. People know too much about me already, I suspect...but here I am trying anyway.

1) I'm not a big fan of Monty Python films. There's something annoying about that particular brand of gross-out British humor that just makes me think "Grow UP already!"

2) If I could do it without weight 300 lbs., I would eat some form of eggs every day. I love them boiled, scrambled, fried, poached -- you name it.

3) I've voted for one Republican in my whole life. He was Attorney General for Washington State years back. I don't regret it either.

4) I've had my Miranda Rights ("You have the right to remain silent...")read to me twice. The first time it was trespassing in high school as part of a senior prank. The second time was also trespassing, but I didn't realize I was, so they let me go that time too. I called my editor and asked if they would bail me out if I got arrested. He said no. I needed to talk my way out. So I did. Hey, it looked like public property.

5) If I had all the money I needed and some to spare, I'd create my own foundation. I'd find something like homelessness or environmentalism that didn't have a benefactor and do that for a living.

6) I have a freakish fascination with Will Farrell and Ron White (of Blue Collar Comedy Tour fame "I had the RIGHT to remain silent. But I did not have the ABILITY." Which makes no sense considering I don't like sophomoric humor (See #1). Somehow, I guess the Brits being a 1000-year-old civilization, I just expect more out of them. What can I say. I'm an enigma.

Thanks Tammy!

Teri you're it!

It's Been A Rough Week Around Here...

First of all, my cousins came over. They like to play with me and hug me. And they still think I'm cute.

I am.


I had my nightly music lessons with daddy...He thinks he's going to teach me how to play the guitar.

I haven't told him that it's bigger than I am.

But I like to listen to him play.


This week, Mommy also killed another appliance. This time, it was the washing machine.

It quit right in the middle of a load.

When the new one showed up, Mommy tried all sorts of ways to take a picture of it, and thought that maybe if she put me on top of the machine that somehow it would be cuter.

Which I guess it is.

But really, I think this picture conveys the message better. Doesn't she look happy? SHE LOVES THIS THING!


I love my Bestema. She came over and babysat me while my Mommy went out for a while.

She fed me, played with me til we were both tired, and then we had to take a nap.




This week, Mommy did something TOTALLY new to me. She picked me up by my ankles.

It made me laugh so hard, she did it again and again.

I love hanging upside down!

Slinkies...

Some people are like Slinkies... Not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.


Thanks for the laugh today, Deb.

The Culprit Was a Clock.

If you ever find yourself wondering, "Why is my kid waking up at the same time every night for a week, when she hasn't before?"

Check under your kid's bed, and you might find what I did: An alarm clock, left in a recently used suitcase, which I stowed under Nora's bed a little over a week ago...

Inexplicably set for 11 p.m.

It's So Cold In Oregon...HOW COLD IS IT?

It's so cold here today that they've split into two kinds of colds in our fair city today:

One is the viral kind. The kind Mommies can't do anything about. The kind that keeps you up coughing all night, and sleeping on the futon with one of your parents so the other one can rest a little.



The other kind of cold is falling out of the sky.

It's late April, and it's snowing hard, and it's actually trying to stick.

This Mommy has proclaimed this "No One Gets Out of Their Jammies Day".

Quiz Of The Day -- 24 Hours Is All You have:

1) If you could dramatically change your physical appearance for 24 hours, what would you do?

I think it'd take 24 hours to be a man long enough to find out what the fuss is about, and why they rule the world.

2) If you could live in another place for 24 hours where would you go?

I'd go somewhere I've been before because 24 hours isn't enough to get to know a NEW place. Probably Rome.

3) You get to do somebody else's job for a day... What would you like to do?

I'd be a prima ballerina on opening night

4) Spend the day with another person from anywhere in time and space... who would it be?

My son Jacob.

5) A magical power is yours. Which one would you pick?

The ability to heal the sick.

Nothing But Sunshine 360 Days of The Year...

Nora went to bed last night with a bit of a cough, a bit of a sniffle, and woke up with a full-blown cold today.

Generally speaking, she's tried real hard to be her normal self and not be too awful.

But we couldn't get her to nap to save our lives today. And by 6:30 tonight, THIS lovely picture was taken while she was smiling at me one second, and completely ballistic the next.
Yeah. Good times.

We hope to be back to the regularly-scheduled smiling soon.

In the meantime, if you have hints on how to get a baby through a case of the common cold, I'm listening!

So Clean, My Mother and My Mother-in-LAW Can Read It.

Created by OnePlusYou

The only people cleaner-talking than me are Christian clergy and Mormons in general.

Now if I could just learn to talk like I type before my daughter can mimic me...

Cute Picture of The Day

We're getting the threat of SNOW tomorrow, so Brian and I decided to get out of the house this afternoon while it was still a balmy 42*, and took the baby for a spin towards the capitol building. We got to see our Golden Man, then figured it was a short 4 more blocks to the Pita Pit, where we got our gyro sandwiches for dinner. YUM.

My sister Judy gave me this beautiful jogger stroller for Christmas, and it's just WONDERFUL!

Nora's growing so big...I have to adjust the straps in this stroller every time she gets in it...but the beauty of this thing is that it will hold her until she's 80 or 100 lbs. -- so that should get us at least through the next few years!

She learned tonight to look up through the stroller's window at me when she heard me talk.

How cute is that?

What a Month!

It's been such a fun month. Nora's learned that Daddy can make her fly. He puts her on the bed and bounces it enough that she goes a little airborne.

She just LOVES that!

She loves the book Aunt Mindi gave her that has lights and a spot for her picture in it. We call it the "Stinker Winker" book because there's a line in it about her being a "Stinker Winker Bear". Nora loves this book so much, because she's figured out how to make the music and lights go on and off by opening and closing the book. She actually cries when we put it down, and we're already on our second set of batteries!
I write my blog a little more carefully these days.

As I choose my words, there is now a constant looking over my shoulder. Nora has gone from a baby who could only flip over to one side, to a fully mobile baby in just a week.

Her most recent trick was to roll over to the TV, kick the VCR, and fire up the DVD player with her feet!

She's just plain sunshiney in the mornings. She loves the time in her high chair, waiting for breakfast while I talk to her. She's starting to talk more and more, and even though it's still just babbling, she's figured out how to make certain noises that get certain responses.

She loves to eat. And she wants to help! The other day she reached out for the spoon, loaded with oatmeal, and at the same time leaned in to get to it.

Before you knew it, she was wearing some of it above her eyebrows and up her nose.

She regularly eats peas, carrots, green beans, rice and oatmeal cereals, sweet potatoes, and bananas, applesauce and pears.

Just yesterday she tried apple juice for the first time, and when we went shopping for new foods, we picked out really wierd ones. Like Apple Blueberry, Mango, and Apple Prune (ugh, but boy, if we need to clean out the pipes, we got it!).
Bathtime has become more fun too. Yesterday we took our first bath in several days, and Nora loved the new Rubber Ducky that I gave her. It was her first time splashing in the water, and she's having an easier time sitting up in the bath.

She loved the ducky so much I gave it to her while I was toweling her off, she didn't cry like she normally does when I take her out of the tub.

After her bath, she rolled around on the floor a lot. My friend Delois sent us a bunch of 18-month old clothes, including this sleeper which she's tall enough to wear).

Nora rolled around with it so many times that she got it wrapped around her head like this.

Yeah. We don't get to leave her alone and find her where we left her anymore.

Guess what we're doing this weekend?

That's right.

Babyproofing the house.

Nora's Rolling!

Sending You Elsewhere Today

Heather Armstrong's blog is one of my favorites ever.

Her post today, titled "Her tombstone will read: Was sold to the butcher" made pop come out of my nose.

I don't wander around the web much, but I found Dooce.com some years ago, and go back to read her often.

Heather Armstrong is not only brilliant, she has won national awards for her blog.

Cute Pictures Of The Day

This morning, I was going to get Nora dressed, but she just LOVES having some time in just her diaper (or less, but that's dangerous to the furniture/carpet) so I put her down on a blanket in her room while I went through her drawers.

As I pulled out all the clothes, socks and hats she'd outgrown, I came across this one that my friend Delois gave me some time ago, which has been too big for her for so long.

I put it on her head, and when she looked up at me in it, I just laughed and ran for the camera.

Just when I think she can't get any cuter...

Monk's Loss Is Everyone's Loss

I don't know where the heck I've been, frankly.

There are tons of shows including Friends and Seinfeld, where I've never remembered what day of the week the shows were on, much less what time they were on, much less what channel they were on.

So, I was always missing the water cooler moments that come with watching what's hot right now.

Also the case with Monk, starring Tony Shalhoub, who's been on the air for 6 or 7 years now, and I only recently discovered him thanks to my brother and brother-in-law.

With the help of DirectTV, I'm able to just "tape" every episode that comes on without any trouble at all, and now that I have 6 years to catch up on, I feel like I'm swimming in money -- that currency of having lots of shows and no fear of running into a re-run anytime soon.

Which is why I gasped with sadness when I saw that Monk recently lost his shrink, Stanley Kamel, due to a heart attack.

There are few shows on the planet that fulfill something special. Monk does just the thing. While it's a "whodunnit" mystery ala Columbo and other great detectives, the twist is that former San Francisco Detective Adrian Monk is a genius who is able to solve crime, and yet suffers from OCD -- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Anyone who knows anyone with OCD understands that there are funny aspects to the disorder. But with it comes a tremendous amount of pain, shame, and difficulty with functioning in the outside world. They make control freaks like me look slovenly and downright relaxed.

The beauty of Monk is that they are able to use his OCD as both a comedic vehicle, but they don't sugar-coat it either. The pain of OCD and his search for his beloved wife's killer (which seemed to have triggered a worsening of his OCD) is explored in many episodes.

The loss of Adrian Monk's shrink, Dr. Kroger, who was, as CNN so aptly put it "Monk's long-suffering psychiatrist" was and is a tragedy. He added to a brilliant cast of characters that makes that show so very special to watch.

If you get a chance to see the show -- do it.

RIP Dr. Kroger.

Art shamelessly stolen from CNN.com. I'll take it down only if they make me.

The Zoo At The Zoo

Today was Nora's first trip to the Oregon Zoo, and a first day at the Oregon Zoo for hundreds, perhaps thousands of other babies!

We hit traffic on north I-5, and later saw a complete blockage of I-5 Southbound, tying up traffic for miles. We should have known that this would be the theme for the day, but that was ok.

It took some time to get to the zoo itself because traffic off the exit was long, the zoo parking lot was full, and we had to walk a good 1/2 mile.

In the parking lot, a woman asked me if something special was happening at the zoo today, and I said "All I know is it's the first day in 6 months it hasn't been too rainy or too cold. I think anyone with a kid wants to be at the zoo today!"

We decided the best way to get in to see animals quickly wasn't to pay a one-time fee, but to buy an annual pass. That cut our waiting time in half, and in no time at all, we were able to eat lunch (by some miracle the line and wait in the restaurant was remarkably short), and get on the way to see animals!

It was so sunny and warm today, Miss Nora got out the Baby Banz sungless and hat set that Mommy bought her while she was still WAY too small to wear it. She did great with her new shades, and aside from a little bit of sunscreen on her arms, the hat shaded the rest!

We saw otters, and big fish. Nora was pretty impressed by anything with a tank, as she'd watch something swim by and follow it. She had a harder time seeing the things we all have trouble finding -- the cats sitting in a shaded area, that sort of thing. But she thoroughly enjoyed watching the big stuff like polar bears and sea lions.

We stopped into the restaurant again for some water and a rest before going on to the Northwest exhibit. Turns out it was an elephant's birthday so the African area was a ZOO! There were HOARDS of people...I'm actually shocked that things were as controlled as they were.
At the bottom of this large winding path, we finally were smart enough to ask for a family picture to be taken. Nora was about done by then, but hey. She still had a few smiles in her, we just didn't get it in this photo.

But Miss Nora did great today. She is absolutely enthralled with the camera, and during our lunch break I got this picture of her.
And let me say this about Oregonians. Never have I seen a cluster of kids, strollers, parents and the potential for meltdowns and accidents. I frequently heard people apologizing for cutting others off, or just getting in their way. Even little kids were polite, and one little guy held the door for me into the polar bear area so I could get the stroller in.

AND at lunch a grandmother with a young family fell on her back while trying to sit down at their table. I told Brian to go get someone from the zoo staff (he was just coming back from the bathroom and missed the fall), and not one but TWO men stepped right up and said they were paramedics or EMTs, and helped the woman assess whether she was seriously hurt. Eventually she was able to get up and was deemed to be fine.

The ride back was an earsplitter, as Miss Nora decided she Was Not Tired At All But Did NOT Under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WANT TO BE IN THE CAR SEAT!

Yeah. That was super fun.

But seriously. The rest of the day was worth it.

It's the Weirdest Thing...

I looked at Craigslist and found a person looking for a part time babysitter, and sent her an e-mail a few days ago.

We went back and forth, and she said I sounded perfect (I practically am, HA), and she asked how much I wanted to be paid.

I said how much, which is somewhere between what my friends in the Midwest make (they're cheap labor), and what my friends on the East Coast pay (ridiculous).

It wasn't exhorbitant by any means, and I told her that was simply a starting point since I wasn't sure if that was good with her or not.

And then what do I hear back after she quickly responded to every other e-mail?

Nothing.

I sent her an e-mail today to make sure she got an e-mail from me.

Still nothing.

If what I asked was too much or not enough, or that she needs to think about it or talk to her husband, that would be fine.

A courtesy e-mail would be nice saying so, instead of leaving me wondering what on earth happened.

I went from Perfect to persona non grata in a matter of seconds, apparently.

What's wrong with people these days?

I Made Her Laugh

Nora found her toes and has been playing with her feet ever since. Today I had her on my lap facing me and I started playing with her feet and blowing raspberries on them.

She thought that was funneeeeee.

Nothing's better than when your baby laughs at you so hard that you realize you haven't lived fully until that moment.

The Toy That Ate Me

OK, first of all, this toy my friend Cheryl gave Nora some time back has become indispensable. The part that is covering my child is actually a large mirror, and Nora spends all sorts of time entertaining herself to no end with it.

But today I put the pillow toy on her lap, and it quickly fell over on her, and of course me being me, I thought it was hilarious and worth taking a picture of.


Under NORMAL circumstances, this is what Nora looks like playing with this thing. She loves loves LOVES this toy. Cheryl (who is a teacher and Mom of a youngster) knows these things and brilliantly sent us this thing, which has two sides to it, is built to be tied to crib rails or stand on its own, and plays music while simultaneously giving a child the one thing she really needs: A reflection of herself.
Then today, Miss Nora pulled off what I have come to call her new "Stupid Human Trick.

This is by no means any indictment on what I think of her personally, so much as I believe all humans are on some level stupid...ergo the name.

She learned (drumroll please) how to roll over from front to back.

Her being who she is, with the gene pool she came from, Nora learned how to roll TO her stomach at the ripe old age of 2 or 3 months. Rolling TO your stomach is supposed to be the HARD PART.

But getting OFF of her tummy these past 4-5 months have been impossible, and I've learned to listen to her escalating sense of injustice and when to just turn her over.

Today, she did it, without a doubt, and figured out she could do it (that's the important part, vs. it being an accident).

So, my bright girl has learned a new trick today.

The Olympics Politicized

I remember some years ago, when China won the right to hold the Olympics in what seemed like a very far-off 2008, thinking that it was fantastic that we were finally at a point where China could hold an Olympic Games.

I'm very sad to see the level of protesting that's going on in San Francisco in advance of the Games. Today they had to make the torch "disappear" into a waiting safe truck and had it reappear later in the day somewhere across town because of scuffles breaking out between police and protesters.

I'm all for peaceably protesting just about anything, whether it's clean air, the war, or human rights.

While I support the protesters' goals (assuming it's peace and human rights their after, not something less meaningful, like air time), I feel we should all support the athletes going to Beijing, and competing there.

We can only lead by example. And first we have to BE that example before we expect other people to be like us.

And that takes not making any human rights violations ourselves, whether it's torturing (or splitting hairs over what IS torture), or unlawfully and/or immorally detaining the thousands of souls at Guantanamo Bay.

How on Earth can we say "Do as I say, not as I do?"

Shame on us.

Furthermore, making the athletes involved in the transportation of the torch feel unsafe enough that they have to take such precautionary measures diminishes the very message that I believe the protesters are trying to make.

Add to that the very fact that after we banned the 1980 Games in Moscow, this discussion has already been asked and answered: Most people saw it as a shame that we politicized the Games and skipped them, instead of using it as a vehicle towards peace that it was meant to be.

I had a friend in college who missed the Games that year. She was ranked third in the nation at gymnastics at the time and therefore most certainly would have competed in Moscow, and was the perfect age. By 1984, she was in college and too old to compete.

I remember very well her saying how sad she was to not be able to go. As you can imagine, athletes are not thinking about George W. Bush while they practice on the balance beam (or surely they would fall off!), and they're not thinking about whether or not another Tienanmen Square incident is going on in China while they do their floor exercises.

The fact is, athletes, like musicians, are artists of their particular craft, and honestly just want the opportunity to represent their country and compete.

And we should allow them to do that.

Cute Picture Of The Day

There's that precocious look in those eyes that just had to have come from me.

I'm just sayin...Know Thyself.

My Traveling Buddy

I haven't written much of a trip report of Savannah, but I can't just skip over the rest of my trip without mentioning how much fun it was to have my friend Kristy come along with me.

Long story short, she was stuck with a ticket to Georgia that she needed to use, and since I was already coming for the wedding alone, we had the idea for her to join me.

As it turned out, it was a brilliant plan, because we both had way more fun than we would have alone, and we got to bum around Savannah together, and she went to the wedding with me (thank you Jenny!).

We rented a suite with a couple from Wyoming who were friends of the groom, and all of us were in a larger house built in 1789, and aside from the tilted floors, you wouldn't know you were in an ancient home just because of the comforts.

Plus, there was a full kitchen where we could stock up on the requisite coffee and a few beers for the fridge. Our trip to the grocery store rendered our first of several meetings with the locals, who offered us their discount card because we didn't have one for the grocery chain we were in. The gentleman then asked where we were from and in that slower-than usual easily spoken charm that only Georgians can muster, said "Welcome to Savannah, ma'am."

On Friday when we walked around town a bunch, we headed towards Forsyth Park, the largest park in Savannah, where we saw another bride getting her pictures done, and then a bunch of ladies asked Kristy to take their picture. We toured the Andrew Lowe house (where Robert E. Lee stayed for a couple of months while he was ill), and saw some stunning cathedrals.

Saturday was the wedding, along with a cruise on the Savannah River. Afterwards some of the friends/family that rented the house with us hung out on the back porch and talked late into the wee hours.

Sunday, Kristi and I went to the coast, where the weather had turned into a cold rainy day. We ditched Tybee Island after a quick trip to the water's edge and back (I put my hand in the Atlantic so I can say I touched it). We figured if we want a cold, wet, rainy day at the coast, we can do that anytime in Washington in Oregon.
We decided instead to head up to Macon to the Hay House, one of the few surviving Antebellum (pre-Civil War era) homes that are open to the public. About two hours Northwest of Savannah on the way to Atlanta, we drove through (sorry Georgians) some of the most boring scenery on the planet to Macon, which thankfully had some hills to it so we could actually see something besides: "Look! More trees!"

The Hay House (pictured here) was one of THE most spectacular homes I've seen in the United States certainly. It's palacial space (7 floors from basement to sun turret thing on top) was in the tens of thousands of square feet. While they are working on the home, much of it remains right down to the dents in the oak floors in the ballroom where all the ladies of the era danced.
Between the beautiful parks with all their fountains, statues and places for people to relax, and the gracious mansions, and wonderful hospitality, we had a beautiful visit, a great time hanging out, and pulled a few stunts that created a few stories only Kristy and I will be able to wink-wink about later.

Suffice to say, no one was arrested, and what happens in Savannah, stays in Savannah.

At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Thanks For The Genes, Daddy. Nora's Six Month Check-Up

Our girl is growing!

She's off-the-charts tall, measuring 28 3/4 inches, and still in the 75th percentile for weight at 17.88 lbs., and her head measurement is still average!

She made it through her 6 month shots, and charmed her pediatrician, who said she's looking great!

For Jill, Who's "Seen Enough Wedding Pictures"

My sister sent me an e-mail this morning saying "Enough with the wedding pictures. I need pictures of Nora!"

She's a good aunt.

This first one is of her waking up this morning. I'm still trying to capture the smile she gets when she hears my voice, but it just seems rude to start every day with a greeting followed by a flash of light.

This is more of the P. family's "Where's my coffee?" look, blended with the M. family's "I'm nice to everyone, even in the morning" look.
You know it's amazing after being gone for 5 days how there are subtle differences in Nora. Aside from growing a bit, one thing I've noticed in the 5 days I was gone is the level of attention she pays things. There's just a bit more recognition and study in her gaze.

In this picture of her in her high chair, she just looks so much less infant-like, and more like a toddler to me. I know we're 5 months away from it, but she just seems so much older and more aware.

Tomorrow we go to the doctor for shots and her 6-month well baby appointment. It'll be interesting to see what they say about her growth too!

Jenny's Wedding