Kitty?

I know we brought a cat home from the humane society but most of the time it is hard to remember she is here. She spends most of the day hiding behind the washer/dryer and then spends her nights prowling the basement. She is quite friendly at night and even scratched on our bedroom door last night, she wanted to come in and play. She is still very skittish. I had to get some laundry done today and she kinda freaked out when the washer got turned on. She went running all around the basement looking for somewhere new to hide. Luckily for her there are many options at this point. She just popped her head out to say hi and has headed upstairs. I think she doesn't like the final spin cycle on the washer.

Layden and I had lunch with Lynda (oops, it turns out she spells it Lynda, not Linda) and Troy yesterday. We had salmon and noodles and mandarin oranges and watched "Benchwarmers". She has a little chubby chihuahua named Baby and a larger short haired something named Max. Max dislikes Oli (he doesn't like men), is a bit afraid of Layden but seems to like me. Baby seemed to like Layden, maybe because they are about the same size. She would just go over and sit right next to Layden. Layden of course loved that. Just like he loves the new kitty whenever she happens to show up. However she hears his happy, excited noise, sees him headed her way and immediately skedaddles.
Last night on our walk we went an extra half hour and up a very large hill. It felt pretty good though. Towards the end it started to get dark and Layden was really enjoying the neon signs and street lights down town. He was telling us all about it. Then he wanted his daddy to carry him, which of course made his daddy very happy. He spend the end of the walk telling his daddy all about it. Just talking and talking and talking. I love to hear him talk. I love it when he gets loud and excited and throws in hand gestures. I love it when he speaks softly with little cooing noises you can barely hear. And I love it when he talks sleepily telling me about his dreams and what a good nap he had.
The neighbor boys seem to be warming up to me, though they are stilla bit shy around Oli. I was sitting in our bedroom looking out the window where Tristen was playing and he noticed me. So then we played a game of modified peek-a-boo.
"Missy"
I pop my head up "my names not missy"
pop back down
"Truck"
pop back up "my names not truck, your names car"
"no your names car"
"your names Tristan"
"no your names Tristan"
"Your names Chelsea"
"No your names Chelsea"
"that's right
Then Layden and I headed out to the backyard to visit. We hung out with Tristan for awhile in the backyard. Looking for plums (it turns out we have a plum tree, but it has been neglected so the fruit is 20 feet up), inspecting the deer droppings, playing in the "woods" (our prunings). Then I needed to get some laundry started and Tristan decided to follow me into the house. So he got to see the kitty freak out and Bruce. Then Evan woke up and he and Sarah came over. Evan had his last bite of lunch in his mouth for the first 5 minutes or so. Sarah kept trying to get him to swallow but he wasn't interested. Tristan took him into the basement to show him the turtle "come on in", and he must of liked it because he kept going over to the door and his mom kept telling him to come back. They played with golf balls they found in the yard. Then they found the compost pile.
T: "Come over here"
M: "Who me?"
"Yes" (in a tone implying I am not too bright)
"What is it?"
"Come see"
"That is the compost pile"
E: "Comost?"
T: "There's eggs!"
I this point I think Tristan and Evan have decided that we are really as crazy as the clothes line had led them to believe. Sarah plans on starting a garden next spring and then they will have a compost pile too and we might seem a bit less wierd. Tristan wanted to stay and play in the "woods" when I put Layden down for a nap but Sarah made him play in their yard. Probably wise, those egg shells seemed pretty tempting and Evan still puts everything in his mouth.

Kitty!

Today we got ourselves a kitty from the humane society. She is 2-3 years old, gray with white under the chin and has spent the whole time hiding behind the washer and dryer. She came with the name "Jamie" but she hasn't had it long so that will probably change. If you have any good name ideas let me know, pet naming isn't my strong suit. I had a white cat named Snowball and a black cat named Spooky.
Layden is starting to get the concept of sharing. Today I sat in the back seat of the car and he shared his binky with me. It was so sweet, gross, but sweet. Yesterday Linda pointed out something that I hadn't thought about before. Babies are really the only ones where you show them something new and interesting and you just see joy written on their face. They are totally enchanted by whatever it may be, a flower, a cat, your car keys. I wish we could keep that as we grow up. It looks nice.
I have been working on sprucing up the yard a bit and it has just felt really nice and satisfying to be working outside. We are now officially juniper free and the bushes in the front yard have been trimmed. Eventually the large bush in the front yard will go and we will have raised beds for a veggie garden there.

Eight Months

Well Little One, today you turned 8 months old. The last couple months have been busy ones. You have become as active, inquiring, mobile and intelligent as I hoped/feared you would be. You now have free run of most of the house and take full advantage of this freedom. I have learned that the bathroom door must be kept closed because you seem to enjoy the flavor of toilet paper. When you get some in your hands and see me coming to take it away it heads straight to your mouth. Toilet paper is much more difficult to extract from your mouth than I would have expected. You like to save the little bits of paper or wood or whatever that you find on the floor in your cheek like a wad of chew. Then later you will shift it out and start gnawing on it again, at which point I extract the last bit of paper though I was sure I had gotten it all earlier.

You are moving faster and faster everyday. Your current method of choice is a slightly gimpy crawl that relies more on one leg than the other but as far as I can tell which leg it is seems to vary from day today. But oh how you would love to be able to walk. To be able to take your booty with you as you flee the scene, or be able to follow me around clinging to my pants leg (sidenote: while clinging to my leg like that is incredibly cute and endearing it also prevents me from getting anything done and will likely lead to me falling on my arse one day soon). Though have not evolved sufficiently yet for an upright gait (insufficient balance) you are most definitely a tool user. Highchairs, toy chairs, playpens and laundry baskets have all been used to travel in an upright fashion. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on viewpoint (mine vs. yours) you haven't figured out turning. So when you hit an obstacle, most often a wall, you are done. At this point you proceed to try to pull your walker down on your head as a sign of your disappointment. You are also beginning to seriously work on climbing. So far you have only managed one stair, or the end of the couch, or your toy chairs.

You still aren't much of a cuddler, you are too busy investigating, climbing (falling, crying), and tasting for such mundane activities as cuddling. But every once and awhile when you are all worn out and winding down to go to sleep you will sit quietly on our lap sucking you fingers and we can hold you and kiss the top of your warm little head to our hearts content. One morning you woke up (far too early) crawled over to me and laid down with your head on my shoulder. My heart nearly burst and I forgave you every early morning all over again.

You seem to really enjoy spending time outside. So many noises, sight, smells, and tastes (if I don't keep a close eye on you). You will happily sit in your little chair outside while I work in the yard or hang clothes on the line. Looking around, playing with a toy or talking to the strap holding you in, perhaps trying to cajole it into letting you go. Animals are very exciting for you and you would love to play with the neighbors' cat, Stuart. Stuart is smarter than that though and rarely lets you get to close. I am trying to teach you to be gentle (to humans as well as animals) but the concept hasn't really sunk in yet. You like going on walks with mommy and Linda. You like Linda. One day she was carrying you and you talked quietly to her, sucked on her shirt, copped a feel ( you won't always be able to get away with that, just a warning) and laid your head on her shoulder. I was so jealous. You will tolerate most people holding you but if mommy gets close enough you will make a jump for it.

You are vocal and quiet by turns. You will spend hours not saying much and then you will yell and yell and yell. Oh, you do like the sound of your own voice. I think that when it gets to quiet you decide that, it is a dirty job but someone has to do it, so you yell. This has happened a number of times at the library, your "library voice" draws the eyes of everyone in the library. Luckily you are just so darn cute that no one cares. You love noisy machines. When daddy switches on the shop-vac you like to compete and see which of you can be louder. You love the chop saw, on or off. In fact you really like daddy's tools in general. When you are playing in the basement you inevitabley end up heading for the work shop, most likely the least safe room in the house. Once you are a bit older I predict that you will love to "help" mommy and daddy work. Hopefully we will remember to appreciate that you want to be with us and treasure the time eventhough your help with most likely involve misplacing small yet integral pieces or pulling up vegetables so the "pretty" weeds have room to grow.

Disturbing statistics

"

• The average American woman is 5'4" tall and weighs 140 pounds. [with in a healthy weight range]
  
• The average American model is 5'11" tall and weighs 117 pounds. [far below the healthy weight range]
  
• Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women.
• Four out of five American women say they're dissatisfied with the way they look.
• On any given day, almost half of the women in the United States are on a diet.

• Almost half of American children between first and third grades say they want to be thinner.
• Four out of five ten-year-old children are afraid of being fat.
• On any given day, one in four men are on a diet.
• Half of our nine and ten-year-old girls say that being on a diet makes them feel better about themselves.
• More than one out of three "normal dieters" progress to pathological dieting. One fourth of those will suffer from partial or full syndrome eating disorders.
• Americans spend over forty billion dollars a year on dieting and diet related products.
• Between five and ten million women and girls in the United States struggle with eating disorders and borderline conditions.

Sources: Crowther et al., 1992; Fairburn et al., 1993; Gordon, 1990; Hoek, 1995; Shisslak et al., 1995., US Department of Health and Human Services, HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report 1998, Treatment Advocacy Center, 1999, Smolak, 1996., Mellin et al., 1991., Collins, 1991., Shisslak & Crago, 1995."

What I find most disturbing are the statistics involving children, though none of it is comforting. As a first grader I don't remember even considering how much I weighed. I never even considered dieting at 9 or 10. And that is what I want for my children. I want them to feel good about themselves and how they look.

"Your mother, or other family member, may have done the same thing while your were growing up by making constant comments about her own weight (or yours) and enforcing lots of food restrictions on herself (or you). Early on, you may have gotten the message that you need to be thin in order to be accepted and loved by your parents." source

I think this quote explains some of why our children are having such problems. If parents can't love their bodies and accept them as they are not as they think they should be, if I can't love my body, what am I teaching my children? Luckily I am not one of the 5-10 million women battling an eating disorder. Though this isn't really luck, except that I am lucky to have the parents, husband and friends that I have. My husband loves me and thinks that I am attractive and sexy just the way I am. My mother and father didn't constantly comment on their own weight or mine. I always knew they loved me and as a child, as a teenager and now I would have laughed (and still would) if someone told me I had to be skinny for them to love me. Now I need to do the same for my children.

"With these media images and body ideals, it’s little wonder that women and men feel inadequate, ashamed, and dissatisfied with how they look. Only about 5% of women have the genetic make up to ever achieve the ultra-long and thin model body type so pervasive in the media. Yet that is the only body type that women see and can compare themselves to. Similarly, all boys see is a body ideal that for most men is impossible to achieve without illegal anabolic steroids. There is a physiological limit to how much muscle a man can attain naturally, given his height, frame, and body fat percentage. Unfortunately, however, the action figure heroes on toy store shelves and male fitness models on magazine covers and ads suggest otherwise."

Of course even if I manage to to my part and love me for who I am I still have a lot of work ahead of me. This is why we don't have cable TV. This is why I don't read celebrity magazines. Even though I know that I can never have Uma Thurman's body and that the expectations they create for women are ridiculous it is still hard to look at women that are the epitome of beauty and desirability and not want to be them. I don't need pressure to be what I can never be. I know that I am not as healthy as I can be, I could use some more exercise (and more sleep) but that I can change. I can go for walks, exercise, get in shape. I can't drop 80 lbs to look like a movie star, they are paid to look good, that is their job, I am not. The less TV I watch, magazines I read and time I spend brooding about my "fatness" the more I can believe this rather than just know it. But as a parent I have no clue how to accomplish this for my children.

Sorry for ranting, I know this post has no cute baby pictures or stories about Layden. This, for some reason is an issue that really bothers me. Maybe it is because I see women who I know are beautiful inside and out (my mother, my sister, my family, my friends) but because they don't starve themselves til they lose enough weight they are risking their health, society does all it can to make them feel bad about themselves and how they look.

Lentil hoarder

Today Layden and I headed over to Pullman to visit the Lentil festival. We got there in time to see most of the parade. Layden really seemed to like seeing the fire engine and ambulance go by with their lights flashing. Then we hung out with one of my co-workers (I will most likely be grading quizzes again this semester), Kathy. They had some booths set up for kids and Layden really seemed to enjoy playing in the bin full of lentils. When I took off his onsie to give him a bath this evening lentils fell out. Bedtime!

Ode to Legumes

Today and tomorrow in Pullman is the National Lentil Festival. The festivities kick off tonight a 6:00pm when they begin serving the free lentil chili. Each year they make 200 gallons and each year they run out in less than 2 hours. There is music, activities for the kids, a 5K run, lentil cook off, microbrew tasting, little lentil king and queen, tour de lentil and so much more legumey goodness. They have even had lentil icecream. Sadly Oli is working night shift today and tomorrow so I don't know if I will make it. Over 20,000 people were there last year. Impressive considering that the population of Pullman is about 25,000. Sadly the lentil festival also heralds the return of roughly 15,000 college students to the Pullman area. If you haven't been in Pullman in the summer, with all the students gone, you don't know how much nicer it can be. Though this year it won't affect me so much since I no longer live in Pullman. Here in Colfax there aren't so many students because it is a scientific fact that the 18 miles between Colfax and Pullman are the longest 18 miles in the universe.

Adventures of Nakey Boy

Budding young nudist? Perhaps. Today Layden was running around in his diaper and twice he managed to get the thing off. The second time he also discovered that he could use his highchair as a sort of walker, allowing him to move about the kitchen standing up. He also peed on the tile and looked down as if to say "This is not what usually happens. Why is it on my foot? What is it? What do I do now?"
He still has to have a good cry whenever he falls but he doesn't let that slow him down. He picks himself up, dusts himself off (figuratively) and climbs bakc on that horse, crying and whimpering most pathetically all the while.
Layden has also discovered Cheerios, or to be more exact, Honey Nut Toasty O's. While we eat our meal we place some cheerios on his tray. He picks them up one by one, closely examines them and then puts them in his mouth. That or flails about knocking them all on the floor. Strange child, non-food items are not half as well inspected before he pops them in. I doubt he even looks at the morsels of grout he digs out. Apparently he and his daddy had a good time last night while I was off walking eating cheerios. Though Layden was not entirely sure he was OK with daddy eating his cheerios.
I have started walking in the evenings with one of Oli's co-workers, Linda. It went well, we went all the way to the other end of colfax and back in an hour. It took about 15 min to make it to the grocery store from her house. It is a bit farther from our house but maybe when things settle down (if they ever do) and I have more free time Layden and I will take walks to the grocery store.

Cleaning supplies

We found this freakishly large slug on our screen door and Oli took a picture of it before I removed it. Quite cute though, so we kept it. Layden is getting bigger and bigger every day. It blows my mind. It is actually beginning to become conceivable that he might one day drive a car and go to college. Right now he really likes playing with the broom, dustpan, hand broom and sponge. I think that this is a good sign. I plan to foster this love of cleaning supplies as much as possible. He also really likes daddy's tools, especially playing with the 2 lb hammer on the new tile floor, just a little scary.
Yesterday we bought a 2 year old fridge from a coworker of Oli's. So now we have a nice new spiffy fridge. We have the food moved and the old one plugged in out on the porch. We will probably try to give it a way and if that fails go from there. So if you want a fridge, please come steal this one off our porch. I will probably be walking in the evening with the same coworker, Linda. She just moved to Colfax from Troy so needs to find a new walking buddy and I need to get exercise. I am also trying a new kind of baby carrier now that he is getting so big. This one should also make it easier to carry him on my back. I know that some may think I am a little wierd for buying so many different carriers but it makes me happy. Though I hate spending the money. I think my brain is still in uber-poor mode and hasn't adjusted to the fact that Oli now has a job and we have more than 10,000 a year to live on.

Furniture

Well we now have atleast one item of furniture to put in our living room. Yesterday Al and Mimi stopped by since they had gone to a couple of yard sales in Colfax. I mentioned we needed furniture, they mentioned a couch/loveseat set. Well the set wasn't quite to our taste (black-with-mountain scene-velour) but they had a futon there for $5. Al and Mimi bought the futon set since they liked it better than there old one and gave the old one to us. We tightened some bolts and such and it is working pretty good, it is missing one screw which we will need to replace. While I was in Pullman dropping off the new futon and picking up the old one I stopped by an estate sale. There was of course many many things some quite nice. Layden got a little stuffed kangaroo and a yardstick, not sure which he enjoyed more. I got an old first aid kit (included smelling salts and an antiseptic containing phenol) and a couple of throw rugs for the kitchen (see above).
Layden really likes lemons right now. I gave him a slice to see what he thought and he was angry when I took it away, never mind all the pained looks he made while sucking on it. Currently he is trying his very best to get into Bruce's tank. Now he is grumpy, so off to bed.

Lemon Fresh

I don't think we will have any trouble with Layden being a picky eater. Garlic bread, he eats right up, curry, he loves it, lemons, he hugs to his body and growls if any one gets close. With the lemon his bottom teeth have a zesting effect which results in a nice lemony fresh scent. He has also been enjoying his "new" (25 cents at the trift store) fisher price stacking rings. He really likes the red ring, its his favorite. Orange is OK, yellow isn't bad but red is where it is at. He had some fun with his "new" bath toys as well and his daddy had even more fun. It turns out they squirt water. Mommy just got wet.
Things are starting to come together in the kitchen. They drawers are painted and in use. They cabinet doors are painted but not put up yet. The hardware that came with the house actually looks quite nice with the new paint color. We are enjoying being able to eat real meals.
Oli has started patching the wood floor and has the littlest section finished now. It turns out he will need to get more wood though.

Wedding

Last Saturday Oli and I took the photos for Erick and Shanelle's second wedding. They had already been married in the court house and this was the big one for family and friends. My mom, dad and brother arrived on Friday to visit and for my mom to babysit Layden at the wedding. The wedding was very nice, not too long. We took a few pictures before hand and took the rest after the reception. It ended up being a very long day but it was fun. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of my dad since they arrived late on Friday and left at noon on Sunday. While we were gone in Spokane my dad and brother worked on our house. They fixed an unsupported spot in the living room floor, took care of the laundry situation, and finished removing the carpet staples from our bedroom. They also learned the incredibly frustrating crappiness of hardware stores in this area, they just never have what you need, no matter how much time you waste driving from town to town. Dad and Oli got our doors back so now our house is a bit more secure.

Kitchen! Pictures!

We are so very, very close to having a fully functioning kitchen. The countertop is done, the backsplash is grouted, the floor is tiled and sealed, the trim is painted, the cabinets are painted. So very close. Tonight we will hook up the stove and tomorrow... eggs for breakfast.
More exciting for the rest of you the camera cord has been located and there are new pictures online. We also have a lovely new flash so pictures of Layden indoors will be of much higher quality.
My parents are arriving tonight and tomorrow we will be going to our friends wedding in Spokane. It is a little scary because we are the official wedding photographers (the main reason we got the flash at this time). They are putting their future memories of this momentous occasion in our hands. Unwise? Perhaps.
Yesterday was our third anniversary. Three years, four moves, one baby. We decided we would go out to dinner somewhere nice to celebrate and Al and Mimi agreed to watch Layden for us. So we dropped Layden off and headed over to Moscow, planning on going to The Red Door. They were on vacation. We head to Basilio's. Closed and now a breakfast place. Brand new French restaurant. Not opened on schedule. So we head back to Pullman. We go to Swilly's. Delicious. Oli had salmon with grilled asparagus (I knew he would order that as soon as we heard it was the special). I had brazilian seafood stew, very, very yummy. There were prawns and mussels and mahi mahi and a tomato curry sauce, so good. So good. I had white zinfandel, Oli had reisling. The food was good, the conversation was good, we weren't occupied running interference with Layden. It was a wonderful adult meal and I only thought about Layden and worried that he needed me every 5 minutes or so. Is he depedent on me or am I dependent on him?
We had tiramisu for dessert and then headed back to Al and Mimi's. As we pulled in to the parking lot they were out there with Layden already. Immediately I think, oh no, he was so bad that they are out here in the parking lot waiting so they can get rid of him that much sooner. Then I notice he is asleep. They had just gone for a walk outside. They said they would watch him again anytime, so I guess he can't have been too bad.

This is the house

Well we got the tile floor all put down and grouted. It is actually looking pretty good. Tonight we will probably seal the grout and then tomorrow morning we can move the appliances back on. Oli has the sink put in but not hooked up yet. I will try and get the rest of the tiles on the backsplash today and tomorrow I can grout it.
Layden really wants to help me type this blog and is upset because I won't let him. He really likes the fact that he can just crawl all over the kitchen floor. He really does not like being so limited in his range.
While we were working on getting the old apartment all cleaned up the bathroom ceiling started leaking again, heavily. So I called DRA, got the emergency number and called them:

Me: Hello
Them: Hello
M: Is this DRA?
T: No this is the house.
M:Pause while I try to figure out what that means
T: Hello
M: Hello
T: Hello
M: Hello
T: Are you just going to say hello.
M: No.. you started it.. never mind.. is this the emergency number for DRA?
T: Yes (like this was so obvious I shouldn't have asked.)
M: The bathroom ceiling in walnut 413 is leaking like crazy.
T: OK I will send some one out.
M: Well I won't be here.
T: You have to be there if you want us to send someone out.
M: Well, I am moving so do you want me to leave the door unlocked?
T: Yes, that would be fine.