New Blog Established

We are trying out a new family blog, where I will be posting from now on. You can read about all my family's lives or you can sort for just my posts (Category/Label = Chelsea).

Boy Discovers pockets

Yesterday Layden discovered pockets. You can put stuff in them. Did you know? He was quite excited and at one point resembled a dog chasing his tail, turning around and around trying to put something in one. Today my mom arrived and we worked in the backyard on the flower bed, digging out all of the weeds. There was a lot of weeds, a lot. Layden kept picking leaves and putting them in his ear. Look mom, I can hear the forest.
Yesterday we got all but one row of the floor down. Decided that the existing padding we had decided to keep was too squishy and pulled it right back up. It was really for the best though. With the floor down we decided the walls really needed new paint. They used to be pale blue and pale blue wallpaper with clouds and birds. So today I got a couple of coats of primer on and tomorrow I will start painting the walls beige, hopefully a nice neutral beige.
Right now we have Lynda's dogs again. She had to fly down to Utah for her new job suddenly and so this evening she dropped the dogs off. Anyone want a lab mix or fat chihuahua?

Merger Proposed

So when I was trying to sleep a couple nights ago I had an idea. I am not sure if it is a good idea or not but I thought I would run it by you. My thought was that it could be nice for Mom, Katie, Brita, Becky, and I to all post to the same blog. The advantages would be that we would only have to check one webpage (especially when away from our own computers) and it would be easier to keep up with comments made on each others posts. This is of course assuming that you are all posting for the same reason I am, to avoid sending out a multitude of emails to family every day. We could each label our posts with our name then other people could read the posts from just one person if they wanted to. Of course we would have to give up having our own color scemes but we could always rope Jakob into designing something good. So anyway that was my idea, let me know what you think.

News Flash: Baby Helps!

As I type Layden is taking each piece of carpet tack strip that Oli pries up and is putting it in the trash bag.

Bedroom basement gets facelift

Today we got the downstairs bedroom cleaned out so that we can rip up the carpet and put down laminate. We have the laminate that used to be in my parents' living room before they got the new hardwood floor. Hopefully it will be enough. While we moving stuff around and I got to thinking that a good use for the space at the base of the stairs would be a bedroom. It is really awkward for any other use. We would have to build one wall and rip out the panelling and replace it with drywall. If we did that and replaced the other basement bedroom's window we will have increased the number of bedrooms from 2 to 4. Maybe we will do that. Then we could use the upstairs bedroom which is a bit small as an office/sewing room/whatever. That is all a couple years off probably. Too bad I am bad at waiting.

Baby sets pace for hike

Today we took a hike up Kamiak Butte. Oli carried Layden up the steepest part, the first 1/2 mile or so. Then we stopped and had lunch while enjoying the view of the Palouse. Though it was a bit overcast and hazy. Then Layden walked the majority of the last 3 miles on his own. The pace wasn't fast but we had fun. Layden thought it was great. He was so proud of himself when he would climb a particularly big rock and would turn to make sure that we had seen. He stopped every so often to just touch something on the side of the trail. Lightly touch a fallen branch or leaf. Sometimes he ripped off a leaf but that wasn't too often. Amazingly he did a pretty good job of staying on the trail he only wandered off a couple of times. He seems to really like birds and makes hand motions like he is trying to call them over. Needless to say, they don't come. One of Oli's coworkers has a fairly friendly cockatoo so maybe sometime he will get to meet it. He really liked the downhill bits. He could get going so fast. Unfortunately he would get going fast enough that he was very good about walking a straight path. So for some bits we had to carry him to keeping from falling down a rather steep slope. He nose dived a few times but just picked himself up and got going down hill again, giggling madly. By the end of the day he was quite tired and he passed out in the car seat on the way home from the international food store in Pullman.

Boy falls in box

Well yesterday went even better than the first day with Christy. She seems to be done teething. Layden even brought her toys rather than merely allowing her to play with some. Lisa came over and we had chili and watched "Failure to Launch". It was my first time trying to make something in the crock pot and it turned out pretty good. Last night Layden was entertaining himself pushing his stroller around when he apparently backed in to the box, tripped and landed in it. He was fairly upset and first but got over it pretty quick.
Today I finally got around to grocery shopping so I don't have to put up with whatever I manage to scrape up. I also bought tableclothes to turn into curtains and sheets to turn into a duvet cover. Some might wonder "Why not just buy curtains and a duvet cover?", the answer is I am too cheap. I also couldn't even find a duvet cover I liked. Today Layden discovered that it is very very fun to ride his little rocket on the sidewalk down the hill. You can get going so fast, so much fun. I didn't think that was such a good idea so I let him go down once, stopping him every few feet, then I had to carry the rocket back up. I think it will have to stay an inside toy or someday I will hear him giggling gleefully and turn to see him shooting down the hill.

Boy Jumps in Puddle

Well the first day with Christy went well. She was teething a bit so a little grumpy but no more than Layden ever was. A couple of times she started crying and Layden didn't like that too much. He got a really sad look on his face and kept putting his head on my shoulder and trying to crowd onto my lap, which made Christy cry more. I was so torn, there was my baby looking so sad and wanting his mommy to hold him and there was another baby needing me too.Luckily she hushed up pretty quick and Laydend recovered too. He shared all his toys pretty well, a little bit selfish but not bad. He did steal the toy she had brought and hid it in the bathroom. Last night we had thunderstorms and this morning we had a good bit rain. Layden insisted on playing outside no matter the weather. Before his nap he went outside, stomped in a nice deep puddle, then we went for a walk around a couple of blocks. He got his shoes good and soaked. After his nap he played outside again. Again he stomped in the puddle and soaked a different pair of shoes. But he sure was having a lot of fun. Then we came in and he had fun pushing chuckanucka around in the stroller though he would become very frustrated when the stroller got caught.
For all you doubters: on two more occasions Layden has returned cellphones to where he found them. He also returned a piece of chalk to the same spot in the grass he found it. Wierd.

Child's actions bring mother to near tears

Help Wanted: As you all can see I have redesigned my blog in a fit of boredom. There is still one problem. I don't like the title much so if anyone has some better suggestions that would be great. In other news: It got up to about 94 today. That is just too hot. Luckily it is supposed to get down to the 50's

tonight so the house should cool off. Layden just figured out that he can get at stuff on top off the TV by standing on the sub woofer. However, he just did something more amazing. He got my cell phone from on the TV where it was sitting on top of my wallet. He went and played with it by the chair. When he was done he put it back on the TV, on top of my wallet. I nearly cried it was so beautiful.

Water Toys

Yesterday Tristan and Evan had their birthday party. It was just Sarah and Joe's families and then Layden and I. They got all sorts of equipment for having fun outside and tried most of it out yesterday. Good timing since it got up to 90 yesterday and is supposed to again today. Tuesday through Friday it is supposed to get back down into the 60's with a thunderstorm on Tuesday. Sounds nice to me. Evan got an electric drum toy which he really like and Layden thought it was pretty cool too.
Today I baked some coconut macaroons and banana bread. I should have waited til the weather cooled a bit but the bananas seemed too ripe to wait. So I turned the AC on for a bit to counteract the oven.

Family

We had a nice visit with Oli's family this past weekend. We drove over on Saturday. First we stopped in Kennewick to see Dieter's new place and new truck and had lunch at the mall and bought ourselves a new comforter. Dieter's apartment is pretty nice, a couple of the half walls lean but his cabinets are much nicer than ours. His truck (Tundra) is pretty fancy but sadly will not fit in his nice, extra-long-but-insufficiently-wide garage, both side view mirrors hurt. He also lives in an apartment complex styled after a labyrinth.
Next we stopped at Maryhill museum. There were peacocks, lots of peacocks. Sassy, noisy birds. Oli had to get out of the car to chase one out of the way. Lady thought the peacocks were pretty cool but became wary when one pecked (the air, not him) a warning when he got too close.
Then we stopped at our friends parent's house in White Salmon. When we told them we were visiting family that weekend Erick and Shanell decided to visit too. We had a nice little visit and Layden had fun charming them. He enjoyed playing with the transmitter for a wireless headphone set, he kept plugging them into the carpet.Finally we made it to Oli's parents' house. The next day we all went over to Hood River for a birthday lunch at the inn. Oli, Joy, Judy, Jerry, Jane, and Bob all have May birthdays. Lunch was quite tasty and we enjoyed chatting with all his family. Judy and Jerry drove over in their Mini Cooper (1 year old) which is pretty cool, Jerry even let me sit in the driver's seat. It looks like a lot of fun to drive but no fun for anything more than 2 adults.
Then Monday Oli's two sisters came over along with his niece Mindy who is currently living in Indiana and his nephew Will. We all went up to Panakanic and roasted hot dogs over a fire. Joy brought up one of her drums and the one she just made for Layden and she and Bonnie had a jam session.

left to right: Oli, Joy, Me, Layden, Frank, Mindy, Will, Bonnie, Fred

We headed back on Tuesday and the drive went pretty well until the end. Then Layden was playing with his drum stick sticking it inside a water bottle. Whenever he would drop one of them he would say uh-oh over and over and over like a cuckoo clock until it was picked up. Pretty soon I was asking "are we there yet?"
It was opressively hot today but it is finally starting to cool off. Layden is entertaining himself watering the yard with the nozzle set to mist. For a boy who hates to have his hair washed he sure loves water in all other forms. Tomorrow it is supposed to get up to 90 and we will be going to Tristan and Evan's birthday party, they both have late May/early June birthdays. So Layden and I went and picked them up presents this evening then had dinner with Oli.
Yesterday Cody and her 9 month old daughter Christy came over. I will be taking care of Christy for a couple of hours in the evenings during the week. The visit went well, Christy is a lot like Layden was. She isn't crawling yet but she gets around by every other method. Layden never plays with his stuffed animals but when I gave her a few he kept taking them away, along with one of her toys and hugging them to his body. After about 10 minutes he got over it and didn't care if she played with them. So I think he will do ok. The first few times I hold her will probably be rough for him but he should get over it and it will be good practice for when he gets a brother or sister.

My Mother

Well Layden seems to be feeling better, he is all snotty and gross still but he had lots of fun mowing the lawn with the neighbors today. He is also really enjoying the neighbor's little 3 foot slide. Up down, up down, up, sit for a bit, down.
I have been working on another quilte for project Linus but it hasn't been going well, it is all wrinkly. I am just not terribly crafty, no matter how I try. I know, practice makes perfect, but the practice is so discouraging.
I may have a job. One of Oli's coworkers has some friends in Colfax with a 9 month old little girl. They need someone to watch her 4-5 days a week for a couple of hours (he works days, she works evenings). After we get back from Husum I will probably giver them a call and she, Cody, will come over to meet us. As a write this I realize something. I am turning into my mother. Well, a far less crafty version of my mother. If nothing else this will give me a good indication of whether I am ready to have another kid.

The writing is on the wall

Well I am sick yet again, have been for the past few days. I guess this must be a particularily bad flu season or my immune system isn't as good as it usually is. And now Layden is sick too, runny nose, watering eyes, yawning and a bit of a fever. All that didn't stop him from digging up a permanent marker and writing on the wall. Yesterday he accomplished the same thing in the kitchen but with a pink colored pencil. He is quite the artist.
Oli got some rhubarb from a coworker and today I used a bit of it to make Rhubarb Cream Delight. Shortbread sort of crust, then a layer of rhubarb, then a layer of cheesecake type stuff and finally a sourcream/sugar topping. I thought it sounded decadent, I haven't tried it yet but I hope it will taste decadent too.
Now we are watching The Rescuers Down Under because that is all either of us is up to. It was one of my favorites as a kid. It seems so different now. Layden seems to be enjoying it OK, inspite of the snuffling and fever and tiredness.

Slides

Today Layden and I stopped by the park. A lady gave us a couple of slices of bread to feed the fish. Layden was impressed by the fish, so impressed that he seemed to be very interested in climbing into the pond. Then we went to the playground and Layden enjoyed the slides. He liked climbing up the slides so he could slide back down on his stomach. He also kept climbing on the ladder to a 10' slide so I finally climbed up with him and we both slid down, it was joyous.
When we got home Layden went straight to the swamp that is the neighbors yard because they let the boys do whatever with the hose. Sometimes this results in water entering our garage through the faulty foundation. Layden promptly stuck his feet in the puddle and then later fell in and ended up quite wet and muddy. So then he got a bath, which was torture and needed to nurse. Unfortunately he fell asleep at around 5:00 and slept til 8:00 so who know when we will get to sleep.

Swamp thing

Well we had a good trip to the west side. Unfortunately my parents were there for only one evening but the kittens were quite cute.
Since we got home we have been mostly just taking it easy. We picked up some groceries and stopped by the international food store yesterday. I got Yan Yan. It is a snacky thing. Cracker sticks that you dip in chocolate, with animals and messages. For example, Goat: It's your lucky day, Elephant: Jumbo, Octopus: Lucky number 8.
Today we finally got the rest of our curtains up. Now we have privacy in the living room, I can walk around naked, or keep the sun out in the afternoon.
The neighbor boys were having fun with the hose in their yard, filling up a hole with water, then adding dirt to make it extra muddy. Layden had fun with that. He seems to really enjoy playing in the water outside. He liked the hose, the mud puddle, didn't even mind it on his head. He needed a bath before his nap, he needed a bath after his nap, he ate dirt. He didn't like his baths though, nice warm water with bubbles.
Layden woke up from his nap today with a growl. He literally growled loudly when he woke up, startling Oli and I. He is such a funny little thing. He keeps us smiling, when we aren't groaning, or sighing, or calling "not it". He was playing with Tristan in the neighbors back yard and then he started hugging him, enthusiastically. A bear hug with a little leg thrown in. Both of them were smiling and laughing it was quite cute. If only my camera was handy. Oli got some pruning done and now we have a large pile of brush to haul off.

Kittens

Not Mommy and the babies

One of my parents cats, Tucci, just had kittens a few days ago and they are incredibly cute. Eight of them. Two calico, two gray, one black and white, two black, and one gray and white, I think. I would be more sure but there are often two full grown cats and 8 babies all piled up so it is hard to tell. One of my parents other cats, whose name we can't remember, is sort of a co-mom. She is the one in the picture with the kittens, actually she is a better mom than the actual mom. When Tucci feels threatened she runs off, the other stays with the kittens and growls. Mom says that the other cat, Windex may be pregnant too so that could explain her behaviour. Yay more kittens. Any one want a kitten?
Yesterday we hung out around the house, Oli and I moved some of mom's strawberries down to the lower garden. Then we went to a very early dinner at Puerto Vallarta and dessert at A&W.
Today me and Layden and I and maybe Oli will go pick up my parents at the airport and visit Katie for a bit.

Car cleaning

Well I think we are just about ready to leave tomorrow. The house is mostly tidy, the diapers are washed so the house won't get stinky, Layden is asleep, I made muffins for breakfast and in the car, I got the car washed, vacuumed and tidied. I also made a shelf for storing shoes in my closet. Lynda and I went for a walk this evening and I took some pictures of her for her website. Then we had salad with pot roast for dinner and got the photos loaded on the internet. I planted a mixture of all the ground cover type seeds that we had along the top of the wall today. In a week or two we will see if any of the seeds are any good. Once they are growing that side of the lawn will be pretty much done.

Layden had fun helping me wash the car. Mostly he ran around with a sponge getting wet and occasionally eating some bubbles, gross. Then I shampooed the carpets from the car, though I don't know if shampooed is the right word since I couldn't find the soap and just used hot water. Then I vacuumed the car while Layden got the seats dirty climbing around and found the gum, unwrapped two pieces and stuck them in his mouth. Then he kinda gagged and threw them up, in the car, lovely. Then I "shampooed"the seats. Layden had fun playing in the car. He figured out how to put the key in the ignition, wipe the windshield, play the cd, change the volume, eject the cd and get into everything. Then Evan came over and they played peek-a-boo and just had fun yelling at each other.

Peek-a-boo rediscovered

Today it is beautiful and a balmy 76 degrees with a forecast of 80. Layden is taking his nap already so life is good. Layden is really getting into peek-a-boo again. He covers up his eyes, usually with one peeking through so he can see what you are doing, then he uncovers them, you say peek-a-boo and he grins like crazy. He does this with daddy the morning, he does this with me when he is nursing. Every once in a while he even says peek-boo himself. Layden has also discovered MnMs and milkshakes, both are very tasty. He can't resist those colorful little morsels.
The lilacs are blooming here and everything smells wonderful. I brought a little boquet inside and our house is smelling lovely.

Keys?

Layden has got the timer on the oven all figured out. When it goes off we run into the kitchen and then we open the oven, which is "hot". Layden really likes hanging out in the basement now. I think it is because we never spent much time down here before so it is a very interesting place. We had a "fun" little trip in town today. We went to the post office for stamps, then to the used book store where he got to play with a dog, even fed him treats. Then we both walked to the library, he had to stop and check out each change in the brick work. At the library he about drove me nuts pulling books off the shelves. I would reshelve and he would run of and deshelve elsewhere. Finally I just stuck him on my shoulders, he responded by chewing on my hair. (Did I mention I got about 3" chopped off?) Then we stopped by Arby's for a shake, orange cream, Layden thought it was delicious. We headed back to the car where I discovered that I did not have my keys. So we walked back to the library and retrieved them. Then back to the truck and home. I managed to get Layden to take a nap a little earlier today so he only slept til 5:00 not 7:30. Hopefully we will be going to bed soon.

Figuring stuff out.

Today we had a busy day. First thing this morning Layden and I went on a 7 mile walk with Lynda. Layden fell asleep for about the last half hour, thereby delaying his nap until around 4ish. We came home and Layden played outside while I worked on finishing off the gravel in the front yard. Then we came in and I mixed up dough for bread, cinamon rolls and plain rolls. I put half as much yeast as I should have in one batch but it turned out just fine. Probably because I locked the dough in the bathroom with the space heater, close to 80 in there I would guess.
Eventually I got Layden to take a nap. While he was napping I finished baking, washed dishes, made the final cold frame, started some laundry and generally tidied. I finally woke him up at about 6:40 and he was not impressed, he did not want to be awake. We went down to Lynda's at about 7:30 and watched "Night at the Museum". Then Layden was all wound up and we played for a bit. He is really starting to figure things out. When we got there I took him out of the truck he followed me straight to the door and waited for Lynda to come open it. Then when it was time to leave I put on his coat, Lynda said good by and he waved. He held my hand to get down the stairs and then held it all the way straight to the truck. When I opened the door he tried to climb in on his own.
We got back home around 10:00 and he really wasn't ready for bed so we went downstairs to clean. I got the main room tidied up and swept. It looks immeasurably better now. The floor is clean, the junk is put away, and there is even a rug on the floor. I started working on the workshop but that is a much bigger project. I got the downstairs bed made up with clean sheets and everything. The Olsons will be staying at our house next weekend since they are coming down for Dieter's graduation. If you don't book hotels about 4 years early around here they become difficult to find around this time. We won't be here to visit unfortunately. We will be visiting my family, fortunately. It is good because we will have extra motivation to tidy the house before leaving and it is ever so much nicer to come home to a tidy house.

Slacking off.

We took a break yesterday to go grocery shopping and today it rained so we haven't made much progress. I did get some of the garden planted today. Carrots, onions, radishes and lettuce, all the stuff that won't mind if we get another frost. Tomorrow we should get the greenhouse tunnels up and then we can plant most everything else. Sadly we are a bit behind on somethings but hopefully they will have enough time to ripen.
Layden definitely nows how electricity works. Today he dragged the crock pot over to an outlet, the only outlet that happed to not have the child protector in, and was trying very hard to plucg it in. He was quite disappointed when he couldn't get it to work. Now he is cuddled up under a blanket next to his daddy on the couch. I have such a cute baby.

May

Oli's schedule is pretty predictable now.

130 Days

We finished the last little bed this morning and now we almost have all of the gravel in. First we need to put some edging by the berry bushes. Layden likes putting the gravel in the dirt and the dirt in the gravel. Unfortunately we really do want to keep them seperate. I can't wait to see how it looks with all the plants growing in them. On this side of the state our growing season doesn't officially start until May 15th and ends a mere 130 days later. So we will be using those pipes to turn the beds into mini greenhouses. This way we might actually have something to eat before September. We are using the square foot method for squeezing as much as possible in and I have been checking out a book on companion planting which results in a very complicated planning process, especially if you allow for staggered plantings, replantings, varying sun level, plant heights, appearance, yield and climbing vegetables. That is why in the end I just kinda made it random. If everything we plant matures and does well we are going to have one heck of a lot of vegetables.
We had canned mandarin oranges last night and Layden really really likes them. He likes them so much that he just sucked them straight down with so little chewing that there was recognizable orange in his diaper. Lately I have been reading the books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series so I keep having the song "So Long, and Thank's for All the Fish" from the movie stuck in my head. Now I have it stuck in Oli's head, he he.

Goodbye bathroom sink

The sale went well. We got rid of over half of the stuff we bought. Some one even bought our old bathroom sink. We made around $75. I even managed not to replace too much. We only got a crock pot (a small one), a chess set, a few gardening books, an umbrella stroller and a thing for cutting photos. After writing that list I realize that maybe the word "only" shouldn't be at the beginning. Then Layden and I visited Lisa and she made frittatas, which I had never had before. Then we picked up some compost/potting soil. Layden slept on the way home. He slept when we got home for a couple ours and I even slept an hour or two. It was hard getting up at 5:30 this morning. After that I finished leveling out the second raised bed, started the gravel path and got one bed filled with dirt/compost/potting soil.
Now I am tired and waiting for Oli to get home so we can have pasta and go to sleep again.

Raised Beds

Today we got two raised beds done. Aren't they lovely? I helped, I cut wood, cut pipe, screwed and such. Be impressed, be very impressed. I used power tools and I still have all my body parts. And, and, the bed are put together correctly and work. The neighbors down the street were packing the UHaul today and Layden found that very interesting, he could hear them talking and had to check it out. Then he discovered that there were dogs, two dogs. So he had to keep going down there to look at the dogs and point. When the dogs came over he wasn't so sure about petting, even though they were nice. Lucy has taught him well. Later he found a ball and discovered gravity. Gravity is great. When you throw a ball down the road it goes ever so much farther. Daddy didn't like the game quite so much.

The grange has chicks right now, lots of chicks. Layden is not sure about the chicks. At first he just stared for a bit. The he reached one finger in, gently touched the back of one chick, and pulled it back out. Then he gently poked a little beak. Then he was done.

After we finished the two beds and tidied up we packed up the truck with all the junk we hope to sell at the big garage sale in the coluseum tomorrow. We will have to get there too early to be ready by the time it starts at 8:00. Hopefully we will sell most of the stuff and not replace it all with other peoples junk. The nice thing is that a Goodwill truck will be there for everything that doesn't get sold. Wish us luck.

CO

We had bit of excitement last night. We were watching "Over the Hedge" when the smoke alarm went off, only it wasn't the smoke alarm it was the carbon monoxide detector. Great. So I went around opening windows, opened the door, and in the kitchen discovered that a burner had been left on. So I shut the burner off, grabbed Layden some pants and headed outside to call Oli. Then we went to the neighbors for a bit and watched American Idol with Joe. Or tried to watch it while keeping Layden out of everything. Finally I went home and took the battery out put it back in and it stopped beeping so we went to bed. Sadly my cell phone has been acting up, only quietly beeping not ringing. So went Oli called to check I didn't wake up, Oli of course didn't know why I didn't answer so he drove all the way over to check on me and then had to go back to work and didn't get home until 5:00.
Today I picked up so lumber for raised beds and when Oli starts his 7 on tomorrow hopefully we can get them built. Right now Layden is sitting on my lap being amazingly good. He has pushed very few buttons and is being wonderfully cuddly. I do love the cuddly. Scratch that he just tried to kick the computer to the floor. I think it is time for bed.

Still doesn't like his hair washed

Well Layden still doesn't like getting his hair washed. He doesn't like water on his face period. We are going to have to work on getting over this.
Today Oli and I got up early (for us) and went to an estate sale and some garage sales before he had to go to work. Layden has a coat for the winter after next and he picked out a softball for himself at the estate sale. He also chose a turtle book at a garage sale. We had lunch with daddy at the hospital then headed home for a nap. Layden was not impressed when we woke him up before he was ready this morning. Now he knows how we feel.
Then Layden and I went down to Lewiston/Clarkston with Lynda. We went to Ross, Fashion Bug, Old Country Buffet (I am so stuffed, still), Home Depot and Walmart. At Home Depot Layden discovered the lighting department and was very impressed. He also found a woman and her two kids, an eightish year old boy and younger sister. He followed them around a bit walking more with them then us. Then he grabbed one of the boys fingers and walked around holding his hand for a bit. It was so sweet, he is a friendly little guy. The boy tried to get his mom's attention to show her that there was a baby holding his hand but she just ignored him. Her loss, it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Then we decided to leave and Layden took my finger for a second, then I guess he decided he would rather hold the little boy's hand and started off after them again.

The wall is done!

Our retaining wall is finally done. It is all stacked up, all backfilled and the dirt has been redistributed. We have a plan for landscaping/raised-bedding the yard. We bought some shrubberies and strawberries today. We got a mix of 6 different strawberries (12 total) and they are planted along the bottom of the wall. We got 3 gooseberry bushes and 3 blueberry bushes, and they will be planted along the top of the wall. Blueberry bushes are exorbitantly priced but with how much they charge at the grocery store for fresh blueberries in a year or two we will get the money back. We hope that the bushes will discourage small children from playing close to the edge but until they get a bit taller we will probably need some sort of small fence. Layden keeps making us very nervous by insisting on toddling along the edge with a 4 foot drop. We are thinking 4 rectangular raised beds in a grid with their central corners notched and a circular bed in the middle. We had the lines all drawn and then the neighbor boys were playing in our yard and now they are pretty much gone.

Layden is getting better and better at eating on his own. He ate a pretty good sized meal of eggplant parmigiana on his own last night and was drinking out of his sippy cup. He finally figured out that you have to tip the cup, sucking alone does not work. Sometimes he would get the cup turned around and have to crane his neck way way back to drink. He made quite the mess of himself, even managing to get sauce in his ear and all up one sleeve. Today he played with his gourmet vegetarian pizza. Tomato seems to be a favorite. He sucks the ketchup of fries and will eat anything that involves tomato sauce. He also got a hold of a big chuck of cheddar one night and managed to eat most of it. Until he bit off too big of bite, gagged, and threw up cheesy, sour milky substance. On me. On the bed. Lovely.

Fires

Today Oli got a couple more layers on the wall. There are only 6 more first layer (ones we have to level) blocks left. Then we can redistribute the dirt and work on raised beds. I researched for my thesis and picked up some more gravel.
For the second night in a row we had fire trucks at the empty lot to put out a burn pile fire. I think the landlord keeps lighting it then going home and leaving it burn. Apparently one of our neighbors then calls the fire dept. I just wonder if the guy who starts the fires even knows that the fire dept. keeps putting them out.

Daddy's Helper

Today we finally started building the wall. It is going pretty well. We have about 2/3 of the bottom layers that we have to level done and more than half of the total wall done. When we first started I questioned where we would get the dirt to level out the lawn. Now I am questioning what we will do with all the dirt we dug out for the wall. We have to drive to Pullman to get the gravel for behind the wall and unfortunately the truck can only handle half a yard at a time. So far we have used a yard of gravel and we will probably need between two and three yards total. Layden, Tristan, Evan and the Kitty all wanted to get in on the action. For a bit the neighbor boys would just stand and stare at us while we built the wall. I think they finally figured out what all the digging is about. It is raining now. Hopefully it will clear up by tomorrow afternoon, Oli expects to be sore so he will probably take a break tomorrow morning. The blocks are heavy enough that I don't want to do it all on my own. So tomorrow morning I will probably go to do some research on my thesis. I got a first draft of the proposal done today, hopefully that will get turned in soon so I can get the project I am already working on approved.
At one point today I asked Oli where Layden was, he looked around and said "She has him." She who? Why does she have him? She was our neighbor Sarah and why is because he was headed off down the neighbors driveway to the Catholic church. Today I gave Sarah all of our little cloth diapers and some covers she has decided to give it a try.

Undies

Dieter visited yesterdat. He and Layden had fun outside in the dirt. Laydne would scoop up the dirt and put it into Dieter's hands and laugh wildly. Sometimes it got on Dieter, very funny, once it got on Mom, also very funny, then it got on Layden, not as funny.
Layden and I visited Al and Mimi yesterdat while Oli helped Nancy with some stuff at work. Layden was pretty well behaved until he started feeling a bit more comfortable. Then he went after the ornaments (yes they still have a small pink Christmas tree set up, yes they are Buddhist). Then he went after the China teacups, picking each one up very elegantly and sipping out of it then moving to the next one in line. He also thought the talking Pooh bear was great, he smiled and hugged it and smiled.
We didn't really get anything much done yesterday because Layden decided to wake up at 6 am. He woke us up too (Oli he woke up pulling his underarm hairs). He stayed awake talking happily and wallowing about till somewhere around 7:30 while Oli and I tried to keep sleeping anyway, I atleast was fairly unsuccessful. Then he went to sleep again til around 9:00 or so and I got a bit more sleep, then he woke and I continued in my state of denial until around 10:00 when I gave up and accepted the fact I wasn't sleeping anymore. Oli got up a bit before that. So in short, we didn't really get moving til late in the day and we were definitely tired. Then we visited with the neighbor, visited with Dieter, went out to dinner, oli went to work and I visited with Al and Mimi.
Disturbingly enough our topic of conversation today was the news.
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/hbo/media/mp7.htm
First item, crazy Pullman man/Uof I student who stole 96 lbs or 1600 pairs of womens underwear. One pair was distinctive enough that it could be traced back through a European shop to the owner.
http://www.uiargonaut.com/content/view/3637/88/
Second item, crazy UofI student who went around the western US tracking down former high school class mates and killing them because they were stealing his "aura".

Today we slept in, yet I still thought it must be 6 am when we woke up. We went to the craft fair, a quilt show and grocery shopping with Lynda. For dinner we had some lentil chili from a mix we got a the craft show. Strangely it tasted better at the show. It rained today so we didn't have to feel guilty for not working outside.

Mirror

Since Layden is taking an incredibly long nap today I thought I should take the opportunity to post. The weather here has been cool, sunny and windy. Hopefully it will stay nice for a bit and we can get some yard work done to celebrate Oli's first 7 days off. Layden has rediscovered the mirror in our bedroom. It is currently leaning against the wall on the floor since we haven't done anything about it since I took it out of the livingroom. He figured out that when he waves the baby in the mirror waves and he can look at me in the mirror when I look at him in the mirror. This is a lot of fun. He is starting to get the waving thing down a bit better too. He waves more often when someone arrives or leaves, though there is generally enough of a delay that the person doesn't see it. He was also waving to Oli this morning saying something along the lines of "da da da dee da da ba ba ba bee, giggle". Of course Oli was sitting next to him on the bed so the timing wasn't terribly appropriate.
Layden's nose is still running and Oli and I still have some congestion and coughing but we are feeling a good bit better.

Well Oli headed off to work again today and I am slowly beginning to feel better. Still coughing, still phlegmy, still tired but better. Layden's nose is still running but so is he so I don't think it is getting him down. He discovered the toy lawn mowers today and they are an incredible amount of fun. He had a ball pushing them around the yards and driveways. Today he discovered nodding, yes nodding. He nods his head, I nod my head, he grins and giggles, repeat indefinitely. He also likes it when I make shadow puppets or chase him around the house growling and tickling him when I catch him. He must enjoy the tickling because he runs for a little bit then stops so I can catch him. Today he helped my scrub the floor. I would be on my hands and knees and he would crawl between my legs so he could lie on his stomach under my chest, occasionally trying to lick water off the floor. Gross.
He now has a real bed in his room with a bed frame and everything. It looks so high off the floor, I have gotten too used to mattresses on the floor. I don't know when he will start using it but Oli and I have both used it a bit in the course of all this sickness.
Oli works two more evening shifts and then he has his first 7 days off. Keep your fingers crossed for no sickness and good weather so we can get some yard work done. I am getting tired of a lawn that consists of a pile of rocks, a pile of blocks, a pile of dirt and a trench. The neighbors think it is great though. Various earth moving toys are constantly being left in our yard, but I am not complaining since Layden spends a good bit of time playing with their toys in their yard. They all seem to like playing together though Evan was very concerned that Layden would steal his easter basket on Sunday. Even after he put it in the house he became upset whenever Layden headed in that direction.

Sick

We are now the sick house. The weather is beautiful, we have a wall to build and Oli and I are snuffily with no energy. Layden seems relatively good though.
We had a good time visiting my parents. Aunt Karla surprised them for their anniversary and mom suprised Aunt Karla for her birthday. We went over to Seattle to the Pike's Place Market and the Underground tour. That is about all I have energy for.

April

2 miles

Slow day today. It was nice. I did a little work on the trench, it is about ready for gravel but we have some concrete to chip out of the way. Then I laid in the sun while Layden played outside with Tristan. I talked with Sarah a bit. Then Layden took a late nap, I ate lunch and worked on my thesis. Lynda and I took a 5 mileish walk. We had discussed driving down our dirt road to figure out the two mile mark. Then what do we walk past but a 2 mile marker. "2 miles" it says. I wonder where it has been hiding.
Tomorrow we head over to Olalla to celebrate my parent's 25th anniversary on the 1st. Me and Layden will get up early to meet the Olson's in Spokane and carpool. Oli will sleep in and drive the truck over so we can pick up a bed frame.
Layden gave me my first real kiss yesterday. There was a smacking noise and everything. He doesn't kiss very often but when he does it is so sweet (and damp). He is getting much better at being upright. If stairs aren't too tall he can walk up and down them quite successfully. He has also managed to attain a speed that could be referred to as running without falling on his face. He really enjoys following Tristan and Evan around imitating them if possible. Today I caught Tristan putting dandelion leaves in Layden's hair, but Layden had thrown dirt at him earlier so I figure they are even (or Sarah and I are even). They seem to enjoy playing with him too and will call "baby come over here" or they will just come play in our yard, which is very exciting right now. Piles of dirt, holes, pile of rocks, big stack of blocks, mud, what more could boys ask for?

Break

Yesterday our concrete blocks arrived. Ninety of them, 60 pounds each. I worked on the trench they will go in. Then I went into Pullman to meet with Dr. Kardong and I finally have material to work with for my thesis. Looks like it won't be too bad. I mostly dread the annotated bibliography, 25 sources, the actual data crunching won't be bad.
Today it was rainy/snowy so I took a break from working outside and nursed my poor sore arm/back muscles. I made custard, baked banana bread and tidied the house a bit. Altogether not an exciting day.
Layden is still incredibly cute. I love it when he first wakes up in the morning or from a nap and he is all cute and jabbery and not violent. He will talk and talk, I don't know what he is saying but it is darn cute. He smiles and plays with his feet and will let me cuddle up to him a bit. I have realized that at the end of the day (when we spend it inside) I have a hard time saying what exactly he did all day. Maybe tomorrow I will write it all down. I suspect that he mostly, nurses, sleeps and gets into stuff but I could be wrong.

Retaining walls

Today we made a trip down to Lewiston/Clarkston. We stopped by Costco and returned the battery charger that we bought so we could find the one we lost. We picked up some food, apples, bananas, kiwis, crackers, 2 lbs of Gouda. We stopped by a wholesaler place that was supposed to have cheap concrete blocks, not so. We stopped at a building supply place in Moscow (also in Colfax) and it was cheaper and they deliver. So it looks like tomorrow we will start building a retaining wall for our front yard. We (by we I mean mostly Oli) used the truck to the stumps out of our front yard. They finally marked the location of the gas line after pointing out that there was no phone line in the ground, the location of our water meter, and writing "no TV" on our yard. Sadly we managed to bend the tow hitch in the process. The rocks that are currently piled against our yard as a sorry excuse for a retaining wall will go to make some very attractive raised beds.
We talked with our neighbor, Joe, about working on a retaining wall in between our two houses. Right now we have a mudslide topped with slippery flag stones. We will probably wait a bit on that. It will be a lot of digging and right now the soil is a bit heavy. More exciting for me to tell that for you to read about I am sure.
Layden had his 15 Month check up today. He is 21 lbs 14 oz, 15th percentile weight, 75th height. The doctor was a little concerned by him not being on solids yet but she figures since he is energetic and doesn't have any anemia it probably isn't a problem now, we will wait and see how it goes, basically what we had decided. He is developing well in all other ways. He enjoyed the light she used for looking in his ears and eyes. He did not like the nurse, not at all. He didn't like her at all. He only had one shot though and he got over it pretty quick.

Duck Bread

Layden is starting to have a lot of fun playing with the neighbor's boys, I had fun talking with their mom and enjoying their little sister, 6 months old. Layden really likes all the toy tools they have. They really like it when he starts yelling, they think it is funny. Now when we go outside he heads straight over there, better than him heading down the hill.
Today Layden and I headed into Pullman to visit Lisa. On the way we stopped at the park. Layden thought the ducks were pretty neat but the pond was much more interesting. He kept wanting to walk in it, not realizing that it was far to deep for that. We saw a little girl, her mom, her aunt and her dog, a big soft puppy. Then we went and looked at the farm animals. Two pigs, a couple goats, some horses and llamas. These were really interesting too but I had to keep his fingers on this side of the fence. Goats and pigs can be a little nibbly. Then we met a 21 year old girl, just married in Dec. She had a pug puppy and a cute little ball of fluff, Pomeranian/whatever. So cute. The puppies really liked Layden. She wanted to know if labor is painful :). We were chatting and I looked over, Layden was chewing on something, bread, duck bread. Luckily it was bread I had thrown on the ground just a little bit earlier. Still gross.

Expo

Today we headed over to Moscow for the home and garden expo. We wandered around a bit, I had some free candy, picked up some buisness cards and watched the end of the Cougar basketball game. Sadly we lost in double overtime. One of the hardware stores had a booth, with a whole lot of Makita power tools set up, Layden thought it was the best booth of all. Then we went to the Arboretum. Layden had fun wandering down the path on his own. Then a couple came down the path in the other direction, Layden turned around and followed them around, little stalker.
Last night we had Magnus and Lisa over for dinner. I made pizza and Lisa made apple crisp. Yummies. Layden was being very cute, sitting on Magnus' lap to have a story read. This is the same person who, when he saw him for the first time he burst into tears. I guess that was just a fluke.

Headbanger

As you all know Layden enjoys a bit of dancing now and then. Well, when we were in the car on the way home from Husum we taught him to dance in his carseat by nodding his head. Today he did it again for a couple of songs. He is way hard core. See, I do teach him stuff.

Leak

Yesterday I finished off organizing the garage, it is now in a semblence of order. I would have swept some leaves out but the back door won't open and the leaves blow right back in under the door. I tried out the outdoor faucet in the backyard yesterday and surprise, surprise there is a leak. I turned the faucet off and I could still here the noise of water running through the pipe, then water started pouring out of the small roof thingy over the porch. Goody. Oli was unimpressed. I made bread again yesterday and once again forgot the salt. I need to put signs up in the kitchen saying "Salt", maybe some one knows a nice proverb with salt in it?
Then Lynda and I went for a walk out the dirt road by the river. 4.6 miles total. We tried out the stroller whose wheel Oli fixed, it hasn't gone flat yet which is a good sign.
This morning I woke up to the smell of burnt something or other. Oli was heating up a slice of bread and he thought it was set for 12 seconds but it was set closer to 12 minutes. After about seven minutes the plate was scorched and the bread burnt and the house smelly.

Husum

Well we had a busy weekend visiting with the family. Friday we drove down to Husum to visit Oli's parents and my parents drove down also so my dad could get some oak from Frank. Layden had a lot of fun getting spoiled.
Joy and Frank have a fireplace so this weekend we learned "hot". We started when the stove was just warm and Joy animatedly acted out burning herself on the stove and saying "hot!" "ouch!". Then she had Layden touch the stove and said "hot!". This really upset Layden for some reason (really the stove was just warm. After that I think he wasn't so sure about Joy sense concerning hot things. Whenever she would stand in front of it he would push her away and say hot. He would also walk right up to it, point at it and say hot, the pokers were also hot. Very cute but he would still get a bit close at times though he wouldn't touch it.
Layden had a very musical weekend. He really enjoyed playing the recorder, drum and piano. He seems to be fairly musically inclined, or at least he enjoys making noise. Joy says she is going to make him a little tom tom sometime. I am sure he will love it. It combines two of his favorites, hitting things and making noise.
Joy has very, very many furs piled up in her bedroom right now. She is so good with her hands. A couple of merino sheep skins made a good cushion for the hide-a-bed which is not so comfortable as it once was, just like every other hide-a-bed. She also has a cougar hide that was sitting on her bed. Layden was on the bed and he petted the head with one finger and said kitty. Then he lifted the head and looked underneath. I think he decided there was something seriously wrong with that kitty, parts missing.
On Saturday, Mom and I drove over to Portland so we could go to Fabric Depot, 40% off weekend. I had only been there once before to pick out fabric for my wedding dress. They have so very very much fabric. Mom wanted to get some wholesale, bolt fabric but they were out so she had to settle for 15ish different quilting fabrics. They had very many cute fabrics and it turns out mom and I have pretty similar tastes. Luckily I am not a quilter so the store wasn't terribly tempting. I want to make (watch my mom make) myself a nice light skirt for the summer. They had lots of options but it turns out I am very picky. Eventually I found batik cotton that was nice, green with a leafy pattern. So sometime I will have to visit mom, or maybe get her to visit me so she can make it, I mean help me make it. We had a good time spending mom's money. Layden stayed home with Joy and the boys and it sounds like they had a good time too. Dad is feeling a bit under the weather though, which is too bad.
Mom and Dad stayed at the Inn of the White Salmon. It is a bed and breakfasty inn, decorated Victorian. Apparently the "European" breakfast is really good. Pastries, fruit, cheese cakes, eggs... We got waffles with strawberries and ice cream and mom brought kuchen so I am not too jealous.
We drove home today and stopped by Oli's Uncle Bob (Joy's brother) and Aunt Diane's in Hermiston. We had a good visit and break from the car. Layden enjoyed stretching his legs and got enough exercise for a second nap. We got to look at a couple of Model T's (1919 and 1923) one with burl steering wheel and spokes. There was also a HUGE truck, an older Dodge Power Wagon not really BIG by today's standards but it just has a really big, grrr, type feel to it. For sale by the way and in good condition. They also have 50's red car, sadly I don't remember what kind. My favorite was a rare early 60's black Valiant with red interior, recently repainted and restored, original interior. It was Oli's grandma's apparently his grandpa kept it in top condition for his wife to drive if he died, then she died first.
Back home again. Waiting until Layden is ready to crash again. The cat was happen to have us home for some company again and there were plenty of bills waitin.

Checking out the hotties.

I was reading dooce's Month 37 post today with Layden on my lap. Usually he is preoccupied with hitting the keyboard, yelling baby profanities, and resetting my homepage but today when I scrolled down to the first picture of Leta he got quiet, then pointed at her picture, babbling happily. Leta has an admirer. He sat still on my lap only moving to point at each successive picture and babble happily. I tried to explain that she was too old for him and anyway long-distance relationships rarely work out. I don't think he was convinced. Oh well. He's young, his attention span is short, I am sure he will bounce back from the disappointment.

New Bed!

Sorry there have been so few posts recently. Oli had a four day weekend and I was busy spending time with him. We got the downstairs bedroom all sorted out and organized, now we can actually get at and find the stuff we have stored down there, mostly anyway. We decided the time was right to get a new bed, now I don't have to sleep on the crack where the two twin mattresses meet! It is a memory foam mattress from Costco that came vacuum-packed, so while it aired out and expanded in the bedroom we slept on the old beds in the living room. Today I hauled the full size matress and boxspring downstairs, one of the twins into Layden's room and one downstairs. That constituted my work out for the day.
The weather has been sunny and downright balmy. Sunday Oli and I enjoyed a walk along the river and Lynda and I took one yesterday. Layden hasn't been sleeping well so neither have so I am quite tired and am going to call it quits.

New Videos

I put some new videos online.
Oli is feeling a bit under the weather today, just in time for his 4 days off. Nothing much else new.

March Schedule

Curious

Yet another day with sun in the morning, followed by clouds in the afternoon, then snow in the evening. Madness. Layden and Max are getting along well, Layden might be a bit more curious than Max would like. Yesterday I saw him crouching down to peek under Max, I guessed I knew what he has looking at and today that guess was confirmed. Today he grabbed for it. Max looked back at him as if he was trying to decide what was wrong with this small noisy creature, not upset, just confused.
Yesterday Layden and I were looking at the family photos on the bookcase. I took the photo of the three of us, pointed at Oli and sad "Daddy", Layden pointed and said "Daddy" too. Then I took the picture of Jake and said Juncle. I swear Layden said something that sounded very much like Juncle.
Layden has finally put two and two together. He now moves the chairs around in the kitchen so he can get at what he wants to. I caught him playing in the water that was soaking a pan in the sink. Mmm. He also finally notices the gratuitous deer poo that is all over the yard. "Look mommy, olives" Mmm again.
Teeth update: 2 molars working their way in on the top, 2.5 incisors on the bottom (one of them chipped) and 4 incisors on top. How did he chip his tooth you ask? Good question. Are there any other questions? I don't know probably falling while running around with mixing bowl. Pretty small chip though so we don't think it will cause any problems.

Layden has two new teeth, an incisor on the bottom and a molar on the top. I think he is also working on a molar on the bottom.
We are watching Lynda's lab mix, Max, for the week that she is down in the Caribbean. So far it is going pretty well. Layden is enjoying having a dog and loves feeding Max. Sometimes Layden crawls around and Max follows behind like he is trying to hump him. It is hilarious and somewhat disturbing all at once. Deserved I guess because I caught Layden following the dog around trying to poke his butt and Oli caught him trying to do it with a pen! So basically it is going well except Layden and Max keep trying to violate each other.
We all spend the morning out in the yard enjoying the sun and the relative warmth. Oli got some fence posts and root balls dug up and we got some more of the undergrowth cleared out. We have piles of brush all over the yard that we have to deal with now. Layden had fun playing in the dirt and just wandering about the yard.

Outside

Busy day today. Layden is still grumpy from his new teeth pushing their way through but he still managed to have a lot of fun outside. The weather was sunny and warm so I decided to give his new shoes a trial and spend some time outside. First we went to the backyard. I raked some leaves, cleaned up the deck and tried planting a few bulbs (does anyone know: can you plant bulbs in the spring?). Layden wandered around and played with the rake and broom, whichever I wasn't using. Then we wandered to the front yard and walked down the hill to the main road. Then we walked up the hill. Layden didn't seem to like up so well. He kept wanting to turn around and make side trips into people's yards. By the time we made it up the hill he was ready to wander around our yard a bit then we headed inside, where we had a little snack and he fell right to sleep. Now that the weather is warming up we can go for walks outside and I can have an easier time getting him down for a nap.
In Oli news: Oli is signing the contract tomorrow to move to a salaried position, evening shift, 7 on 7 off. I hope I am not jinxing it by writing a day early but it is so exciting I just can't wait. When they were setting this up they wanted to give him a $5,000 pay cut, obviously that just won't work. But now they are willing to do it with no pay cut. So Oli will have a rather long work week but he will get a week off every other week. We aren't sure when he will start the new schedule because the lady who is working the other 7 is currently working at the vet school too and is giving 4 weeksish notice so it may not start until she is ready to work full time too.

Visit Home

We spent the last weekend visiting my parents over in Olalla. Layden was an angel the whole time. He ate rice cakes, played nicely with the dog (when she let him), hugged Jake and tried to give him kisses (which he spurned) I mean he really tried hard, repeatedly, not taking no for an answer, he wandered about the house staying out of stuff he shouldn't get into, played with his toys, did not try to climb on the table. It was amazing, beautiful, and frustrating. We got home and all of this disappeared. He pulled the cat's tail, climbed on to the table and got into everything but I know that none of you will believe me, especially you mom. My mom has been working on cleaning out her sewing room and it is looking really good. I dug out a small doll quilt that I had started long ago and had been sewing buttons to. I decided to cut off the buttons and we were going to just finish it off but something had gotten on to it and it was starting to dissolve. I also pulled out another quilt I had started somewhere around 2001. I had come up with a design, which I later discovered was single Irish chain but with all different fabrics instead of just one (which incidentally is the pattern I had once again decided recently that I would like to make). I already had 150 colored squares cut out. So I cut out 50 more and the muslin to go in between. I got half of the rows sewed together and I took the rest of the pieces with me to sew at home. I got all the rest of the rows done last night. I was going to sew the rows together when I discovered that my half inch foot did not result in the same size seam as my mom's half inch foot. This is very very sad. I have to rip all the seams and sew them back together. It takes much much longer to rip a seam than to sew it. Especially considering that I cannot find my seam ripper and don't really feel like driving the noisy, broken muffler truck into Pullman to get one. But I just might have to because we need groceries and Oli works through Friday. Friday I will visit my mum at the quilt retreat and maybe get the rows resewed.
We went to a quilt show with my mom and concluded that most people don't have very good taste (aka our taste) in quilts.
While we on the west side we got together with some friends. We had dinner with Liz (friend since preschool/jr. high) and Mark. They have a very cool house, especially the basement, which contains a pool table, pinball machine and foosball table. Lots of fun, but I don't envy them when it comes time to move. We also met up with Dan (Oli's best man) for lunch in Kent. We went to a salad/pasta buffet, when we arrived they told us it was a 20-30 min wait so we walked across the lot to Starbucks for hot chocolate. Dan jokingly asked if we would rather go to the one across the street because it feels like there are that many of them in Seattle. Then as we were sitting in the restaurant I looked out the window and saw, you guessed it, another Starbucks across the street. The Seattle area is the place to go for coffee. They have bars where the baristas are scantily clad and even has one where you pay what you want, if you want.
Today it is just plain nasty out side. Currently the rain/hail is falling in diagonal sheets. Layden is a bit grumpy. I think he may still be a bit worn out from the trip and he is also teething. Poor guy. When he trips or falls it is just Too Much. He just can't take another thing; he will be needing a lot of lap time today I expect. Maybe we will go grocery shopping, he usually seems to enjoy that.

Happy Valentines Day

Hope everyone had a good day today. Layden was a bit more needy than usual but we still had a good day. He has learn how to pick his nose and is quite proud of the fact. He has also been trying to wear mommy and daddy's shoes recently. He had both of daddy's on but sadly we weren't quick enough with the camera. For V-day we had dinner and a movie with Lynda, I cooked stroganoff and we watched Pitch Black. Vin Diesel. Good movie for V-day. Layden was petty her little dog and playing with her ears then he reached up and pulled out his hair to make his own doggy ears. Lately he has also been climbing into the prep table and getting on top of the microwave, then he is stuck and he needs mommy to come rescue him.

Life is Beautiful

Today was beautiful. The sun was out, the temperature was in the 40s, and the light was that cool winter light that makes everything sharp and crisp. Layden and I walked down to the park and sat on the swing for a bit. I was so happy, just to sit on the swing, rocking back and forth, Layden's head resting against me. For a bit the light made everything beautiful and a bit unreal and I could hear the birds in the trees and the sounds of the trucks on Main faded away. Then a septic pump truck growled past the park and it was still nice but not the same. Layden seemed to enjoy the swinging but I may have kept it up too long, after we got home he spit up a little bit. He seems to prefer to go comando and if we let him wander about without pants then his diaper comes off.
Today I actually got something constructive done. I glued together the dishdrainer we made to put over the sink and I cleaned the counter and added more caulking. It feels good. When I wash dishes or sweep it feels good too, but never lasts. This is a permanent improvement.

Seed of Chucky

Well we didn't make it to Old European, we decided that wouldn't end up being much fun with Layden and the long wait. So we stayed home and had french toast, almost as good. More relaxing and easier on the budget that is for sure. Then I left Layden with Oli and went shopping with Lynda. Lynda got herself some clothes for her upcoming cruise and we both got groceries. The boys survived it, and so did I. I think for some reason I think of taking care of Layden as my job and feel bad for some one else doing my job. I think most mother's worry about their kid when they leave them for a bit (or so I assume) but I worry about the person I am leaving my kid with. Which is totally irrational because he is all in all a sweet well behaved little guy. Yet I worry that when I leave he will undergo some sort of transformation into the Seed of Chucky or something. Silly huh?

Wake up call

Let me just say that nothing wakes you up in the morning like the sound of a stream of running "water" inches from your head. Layden was up and out of bed long before either Oli or I felt it was necessary this morning. He managed to remove his diaper, which he also did last night as well, not a good trend. Then he came in, nursed and flipped his butt up by our heads and peed. Oli was afraid he was peeing on me so was quite relieved when I didn't start screaming. We are going to take advantage of being awake on a beautifully sunny day to go for a drive maybe get some pictures and go to Old European for breakfast.

Jodhpurs chasing gendarmes through the gloaming

Today I am feeling pretty much better, back to my normal state of mere sleep deprivation but just in case I took it easy today. Oli got up with Layden this morning so I got to sleep in, which felt really really nice. Then we laid around a bit, went to the library, laid around a bit, tidied up (Layden "helped" sweep), visited with Dieter, laid around. Now I will post, then probably lay around. So as you can see, not much to report. Layden is showing the same quality strain of genius that both of his parents demonstrate. He has his turtle toy all figured out and will spend a goodly amount of time punching the shapes in so the head pops out, then pushing the head back in, then punching... He had Dieter read him a story but Daddy is still best at it.
Words of the day:
Jodhpurs, gloaming and gendarmes.
Oli is reading another Thomas Harris book (Hannibal Lector) and you need a dictionary to get through them.

GENTLE!

I am slowly beginning to feel better, still stuffed up. I regressed from a metro back to a truck but now I only feel like I got hit by a fat man on a unicycle. It hasn't been helped by the fact that Layden has been taking naps late in the evening and then going to bed around midnight. I think I may have gotten that sorted out last night though. He started to nod off while nursing around 6:00 but I sat him up on the floor, he was pissed. So we walked around the house a bit and then we took a bath. That cheered him up and he was good until around 9:00 pm when he went to sleep. Of course I was unable to get to sleep for a couple of hours, but that is still progress.
We had been working with him on being nicer to the kitty, telling him "no, gentle" when he would beat on her but if anything he only got worse. He progressed to grabbing handfuls of loose skin and jerking her around, definitely not nice. So we have moved on to "NO, GENTLE" and then carry him to his room and shut him in. This he does not like. He starts out fine, then realizes he is shut in, then cries like his heart would break, then after a bit he gets pissed and he just sounds angry and pounds on the door. But it does seem to be making an impression. Now when we say "no, gentle" he generally stops but he still gets shut in his room occasionally. Oli seems to be even more effective at this than I am. When Oli says it Layden looks at him, occasionally sneaks a look towards his room and then almost always stops. Give us a couple weeks or so and he might be able to develop a less hostile relationship with the cat.