Nine Months

This month you have begun to realize that books have value beyond their flavor and consistency. You are beginning to enjoy have books read to you. A particular favorite is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. I can read it over and over and it never seems to get dull. Sometimes you will quietly sit and listen. Other times you feel the need to participate, talking, pointing, turning pages. You also enjoy "Where is My Cat?" by Eric Carle but are not as impressed by Dr. Seuss' ABC's, I think it may be a bit long-winded for you.

This month we got you a kitty and you love her. You love her so much you want to eat her. You have actually managed to bite her tail once and she was not terribly impressed. Amazingly she still puts up with you to an impressive degree, she hasn't scratched you once though she has had provocation. She endures your less than gentle caresses and for this you love her. She is so soft and makes such interesting noises and moves all on her own. You just want to bury your face in her fur.

I have recently realized that you have one heck of a lot more hair than you used too. You may even be needing a hair cut soon. It is still soft, especially when it is freshly clean, and I still love rubbing my cheek on your head. You also give off an amazing amount of heat, which has gained you the nickname "The Hand Warmer". You could be a comic book super hero rescueing innocents from cold hands. You also enjoy my hair, which has gotten quite long again. When you are nursing or tired you will sometimes gently play with it in a way that is very endearing. Other times you give a good hard yank and like to chew on it, not so endearing. I think you like your fuzzy blue blankey so well because it remainds you of mommy's hair or the kitty's fur. You bury your face in it and giggle delightedly. You chew on it and slobber on and enjoy it so much that I am glad I could make you so happy.
You have developed a slightly disturbing habit, when I tell you no in an angry voice you just look at me and smile real big. "Mommy, that voice you are using is just so funny. That word 'no' is just so silly. Don't you know I'm the baby?". You occasionally get carried away playing and bite me, just like a puppy, I say "No, Layden" You look up, smile big, and bite me again. Right now the no voice may just be a new and funny sounding voice but soon you will find it less funny when it is accompanied by a swat on the bottom.
You are really enjoying the work that daddy has been doing with power tools. You will just sit near him and watch as he saws a board in half and drills holes in it. The when he gets up you want to try too. That sawing didn't look to hard you seem to be thinking as you reach for the saw. And when ever daddy turns on the drill you have to make a bit of noise, just to make sure that drill knows it isn't the only noisy one around here. You have started to reach for daddy on occasion when mommy is holding. This makes both of us quite happy, I am so glad you love your daddy because I think he is pretty great too. You also will reach for Lynda on occasion which thrills her. You like Lynda, and Lynda thinks you are pretty great too.
Lynda, you and me (and Troy and his friend Robert) all went to the Nez Perce County fair in Lewiston last night. You enjoyed all the pretty lights and you like the smaller animals. You weren't so sure about the cows, they were just a little bit big. We sat down at the stage and listened to a show by The Standards. You seemed to enjoy it in a serious sort of way. You stood on our laps watching them intently. You even joined in on the last couple of songs, singing along, helping them make lots of noise. So very very cute. You were so well behaved, even at 10:30 when you were hungry and tired. I don't know why I have been blessed with such a cute, intelligent, incredible, lovable little boy but I am thankful every day that I have been. For every minute of frustration and exhaustion you have brought me, you have brought me hours of love, happiness and even entertainment.

Daddy's Little Helper

Oli has found an activity that makes him more interesting to Layden than I am. Layden is hanging out with his daddy, using power tools (Oli, not Layden) and working on the kitchen. Layden even has a little tape measure to play with. Layden really enjoys the drill likes to make noise when it does. He actually even managed to be helpful and moved daddy's chair for him. We now have a ceiling light in the kitchen, 3 whole bulbs. We no longer are forced to rely on a desk lamp clipped to the cabinet. We have atleast one faux ceiling beam. These "beams" will be serving a double purpose, first and most importantly they will deal with a slight case of sagging ceiling that is a result of nailing drywall to the ceiling rather than screwing it on, we will see if that works. Second, they will cover up some pretty hideous patches on the ceiling, hopefully enhancing the appearance of the kitchen.

Early Morning Visit

This morning I woke to the sound of the door opening. I had assumed it was Oli getting home. Then I hear the pitter-patter of little feet not the sneaky sound of big Oli feet. Then I hear noises in the basement. Then I hear whispers outside my bedroom door, occasionally catching my name. "she's in there...whisper whisper...Chelsea...whisper whisper" then pitter-patter they leave the house. Then Oli gets home, very tired. Oli gets in bed and the door opens and pitter-patter Tristan and Evan are back. They whisper outside the door and Tristan starts making wierd noises. Because there is a 2" gap under the door it sounds like they are inside our bedroom. At this point Oli sent them home. I would have earlier but I was still in denial about being awake. Layden was still sleeping and I wanted to too. Tristan came in again while I was washing dishes and I told him he should knock when he comes in and then ignored him. He left out the basement door so I went out, grabbed the laundry and then locked the doors. He tried the downstairs door, then he tried the front door, then and only then did he knock. I sent him home. I should probably go talk to Sarah about their early morning visit. Maybe after Layden finishes his nap.

Pitter-patter

We are now sleeping upstairs in a bedroom instead of a basement-spider-infested-storage/bedroom. Now we just need to get all our crap into the storage room instead of spread about the house and get our clothes up in the bedroom. The move was catalyzed by an incident with a huge-fricking spider. I noticed the cat watching something along the mattress and assumed it was just a fly or something. Then I hear pitter-patter pitter-patter and there was a huge spidercrawling the mattress. So I jump up and I am embarrassed to admit gave a little shriek, waking Layden and sending the spider behind the mattress. I get Layden back to sleep and decide to pretend none of it happened and turn off the light. I am lying there trying to sleep, occasionally hearing noises that I tell myself are just the pillow next to me rustling. Then, pitter-patter, pitter-patter. I fumble with the light, ahh not plugged in!, plug it in and then on the pillow next to me is that huge fricking-spider. Small shriek and up I jump again, once again waking Layden and this time causing him to cry. At this point I mentally slap myself in the face and tell my self to stop being such a weeny. I grab Sacajawea (1000+ pages) and wack the spider. I don't think I killed it because it was on a pillow when I wacked it. I scooped into Oli's mug and dumped it outside. But at that point I decided that tomorrow the bed goes upstairs. So long story short: huge fricking-spider, shriek, bed goes upstairs.
Yesterday, Layden and I went to Moscow for groceries and I stopped at Joanns to check for cheap drape fabric for our bedroom. No luck but Layden found some fabric he just had to have. Blue, fluffy, fuzzy fabric. He reached out, pulled it to his face, nuzzled it and giggle with glee. At $5/yard I could not deny him the joy and it may be the best $5.25 toy I will ever get him. I have noticed with Layden baby toys are very hit and miss. Some he likes and occasionally plays with but by and large he will crawl around, through, and over piles of toys for a scrap of paper or piece of plastic. He is starting to really enjoy peek-a-boo and likes to help me move my hands when I don't meet his standards. He is talking more and more now and occasionally uses "ma-ma" in conjunction with sitting on my lap or reaching for me. Then he uses it while chasing the cat or staring off into space so I am not sure it counts. I am frequently asked if he is walking yet, well he isn't. He doesn't seem particularily inclined to try it out either, far too unsteady. He really doesn't like unsteady. Unexpectedly sitting down or even a close call can be enough to make him cry.
Have I mentioned that he is just about the cutest thing in the world. He is cute when he is intently studying the texture of the mattress with his little brow furrowed, he is cute when he sees his daddy come home and smiles at him, he is cute when he burrows his face into his fuzzy blanket and he is unbearable cute when he wakes up, yawns, looks at me, mumbles some sleepy noises, smiles and falls back asleep. I never thought I would end up being as silly as other parents about how cute their child is when the child is patently not that cute. And I was right. Those other parents are even sillier that I thought because how can they dote so much on their baby when mine is so very much cuter? It boggles the mind.

"Big-big-big-big-big-big-big"

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I have excuses though. Last weekend Layden and I visited my parents. The official reason for the trip was so that I could use Jake's computer to edit and organize the photo's from Erick and Shanelle's wedding (the book I had printed arrived today and it is very cool, if I do say so myself, which I do). His computer has a much larger screen (20" vs 12") is ever so much better and fancy in many more ways.

I also brought Bruce with me and he will be living with Jakob for a bit. Jake is currently canvasing for support in getting my parents to take him to the pet store. Bruce may be getting a bigger tank and some fishy friends/food. I also needed new pants (my old ones were too big, yay for breast feeding) and Old Navy's seem to fit the best.
I visited with Liz and Mark who have an italian plum tree in their yard that was just dripping with plums. So I brought a bag home to eat and left a couple bags with my mum to dry. She has since gone over there twice to get more plums so we should have lots of home dried prunes this winter.
Layden seemed to enjoy his visit and Grammy bought him a cute onsie with a hedgehog on it and a very cute hat. He is still very excited about Lucy and Lucy is still very not excited about him. But she is much better behaved about it and I not longer fear turning my back on the two of them so much. While we were out shopping we stopped at Cold Stone Creamery for some ice cream, very yummy, but not as excited as I had been led to believe. Maybe I just didn't get the right toppings mixed. Anyway, it was busy so we ate out in the car. Layden stood at the steering wheel happy as a clam. I foresee real troubles when he hits 16. At one point he put one fist in the air and with great determination and seriousness announced his intention to rule the world, "Big-big-big-big-big-big-big".
Last night I used that fancy stroller we got for the first time. First we went down a gravel road along the river, complete with washboard, and Layden went right to sleep. I had him all bundled up with a blanket on him because it was a bit nippy out (50ish). Then he pushed the blanket out of the stroller so I had to tuck it back on. We turned around because it was getting dark, reached downtown, and guess who didn't have his blanket anymore. We had to go back with the car and get it. Sadly he wore his hat the day before and at some point threw it on the ground. It was never recovered.
We now have a real living room upstairs. A couple of recliners, a futon, a rug, a desk, stereo cabinet, yet it still feels so temporary and unfinished. Maybe once we get some art on the walls it will be better.

Puppet Master

We now know how to keep Layden happily entertained long enough for us to enjoy a leisurely meal. Give the boy a french bread heel. He will end up wearing it and so will the floor and highchair but he will be quietly entertained. He is working on some top teeth now and the left one will be poking through any day now. Poor guy, woke up from a nap one day just crying and crying. Wouldn't nurse, just cried. Crawled over to me, put his head on my chest, sucked his fingers and wimpered. Then cried, snuggled closer, sucked his fingers and wimpered. After a bit of this we decided it was most likely his teeth, gave him some Tylenol, waited ten minutes and he was right as rain. It is so amazing that there is this absolutely beautiful little person, who, when he is hurting, is comforted by being near me. How amazing, how touching, how scary. I want to be there to make it all better and love being able to comfort him, I am afraid I will fail him, I won't be able to make it better. Having a child it isn't the change routine, the extra ten minutes to get out of the house, the messes, the limitations on my activities, that stand out. It is the way he tugs at my heart strings. How amazing he feels snuggled up next to me, how it hurts me when he is sad, how I can no longer hear stories, like that of Steve Irwin's death, leaving behind his two kids, without wanting to cry. Little puppet master.
Today I my first dentist's appointment for 3 years and also have my first cavites. Both Oli and I have appointments scheduled in a couple weeks to go back in and get things filled. The dentist said I should breast feed for 24 hrs post novocaine. That should be interesting. Luckily I think I can get him to eat enough solids and drink breastmilk from a sippy cup that it shouldn't be too horrible.
I have started grading quizzes again and that combined with the floor have kept me from post as regularily as I (and my mother) would like. Bear with me [mom:)], tomorrow we put that last coat of oil on the floor and we can slow down again for a bit. Sometimes the grading hurts, hurts bad. I have sympathy pains for this students because it must really hurt to do so badly on such an easy quiz. And don't think that it is my extra years of chemistry that are maing me say this is easy. It was my year of algebra in Jr high that makes me think this is easy.
Example:
78.063g/(138.90mL-120.77mL)=___
now I don't blame students for not getting the right number of significant figures, I too hate significant figures but when you can't put that into a calculator and get the correct numerical answer, that hurts.

Peach Gelato

Just so you know that is a food stuff that I am letting him play with and put in his mouth. He got a hold of a bag of sesame seeds and dumped them on the floor. Since he seemed to be enjoying them and was dirty already I figured he might as well play with them a bit longer.
Layden has started reaching for his daddy sometimes when I am holding him. They are so cute, both of them. I couldn't have picked a better daddy for my baby. Oli got called into work last night (after being up all day) but since he has already worked 40 hours this week he gets paid overtime. I will probably wake him up in another hour or so, so we can get to work on sanding the livingroom floor. Once it is sanded we can start finishing it, so hopefully we will have a completed livingroom floor by the end of next week.
We discovered where the kitty has been sleeping during the day. Last night Lisa and Magnus were over and Lisa wanted to see the kitty so we went looking. Not in the closets upstairs, not in one of the myriad hiding places downstairs, she was literally inside the walls. We have one of the furnace air return grates off where Oli was patching the floor and she has been climbing in there to hide during the day. We tried blocking it off but I suspect she found a way to get in there anyways.
We made icecream (technically gelato) for the first time with our new ice cream maker last night. It was delicious. Much lighter than most icecream but still delicious. And not quite as horribly unhealthy either. Only 2 cups of cream rather than 4-6 and only 2 cups of sugar.

Peach Gelato
(makes 1 gallon)
2 cups sugar
4 cups water
4 cups pureed fresh ripe peaches (about 2.5 lbs)
(canned might work but wouldn't taste nearly as good)
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups heavy cream

Peel and puree 4 cups peaches and add lemon juice
Heat sugar and water over medium heat til sugar is dissolved then bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes.
Let cool completely and add peach puree
Whip cream til it forms soft peaks and fold into puree mixture
Put in icecream maker

Our neighbors had their baby girl yesterday. 6 lbs 3 oz, with a thick head of dark hair.