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.

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.

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.

Madness

Today Layden helped me bake cookies, and by help I mean that he hindered and generally made a mess but was real cute about it so it was fun. We made coffee spice drops with "near eastern flavor" according to Betty Crocker. They are pretty good but I am thinking I should maybe avoid them before bed.
Layden got his flu shot booster today. While we were waiting I was talking to a lady who said she has a 14 month old. She had morning sickness for the entire 9 months of her pregnancy. Toward the end they found a pill that worked for her but only if she never left her bed. The amazing thing is that she actually plans on doing it again. Not until her first is 5 years old, but still, I think if it were me Layden would be able to look forward to a future as a spoiled only child. My pregnancy was pretty easy and Layden is really an angel (when he isn't busy channeling the devil) but I am still quite sure I am not ready to do it all again, or handle a second angel at this point. For this reason women who have children one after the other both impress and bewilder me. I bow at their feet because they somehow manage it without going insane (or at least not noticeably) but at the same time I wouldn't choose that sort of challenge for myself.
I am starting volunteering at the local library. I will have the exciting job of restocking the paperbacks and working on the book sale shelves. Sounds boring, I know, but it is the sort of organizational job I enjoy (couldn't tell by looking at my house, but it is true). I stopped by to talk to the library director lady today and I will probably go in for a couple hours tomorrow morning while the instructions are fresh and she will be there. Who knows, some day when Oli's schedule gets a bit more regular it may even turn into a real job. From the way she asked if I meant apply for an actual job, and to let her know when the schedule is more regular I could have a good chance. Sounds kinda like most of their volunteers are of the mandatory community service sort.

Attention Span

We spent the rest of the weekend storing up energy for the week ahead. Oli bought potato chips and beer and we watched a movie about the New York Times Crossword and read Jon Stewart's "America (The Book)". Layden, like today, took an early evening nap (he is still asleep) and we went to bed late. Today Oli started a set of evening shifts and Layden and I went to the library. Then we watched "The Pacifier" (predictable and not that great). If you are thinking that my life is pretty uneventful, that is because it is. I can live with that.
Layden's attention span is definitely getting longer. He sat still for most of the movie. It is a good thing we don't have TV or that would be a very tempting distraction. It is much more fun to watch him wander around the house babbling, pointing, and spreading chaos, occasionally spending some time rolling around on the floor with him or playing fetch. I may start volunteering at the library if they need anything that is suitable for my skills, such as they are. Now that Layden doesn't mind me leaving for a bit now and then I have been thinking I need to find some extracurricular activities. Perhaps I will looking into volunteering at the high school, depending on how my thesis project is going.

Peekaboo Polar Bear

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Hugging the Honeys

Today we had the funeral and Layden and I spent the time out in the hall/lobby since he couldn't sit still. Then we went to a restaurant in a hotel in Moscow. The lunch/dinner seemed to last forever. Luckily because it was in a hotel Layden could wander around the lobby and halls. He met too little girls and gave them both hugs, one was about 18 months and the other about 24ish months, I would guess. Then I picked him up and he gave me a hug, the first that was really and truly definitely a hug. All other times could just have been clinginess but he definitely hugged my head a couple of times. The second little girl wouldn't take her hands out of her pockets when he hugged her so he gave her a second one, just for good measure. He also flirted with various female staff members. Furthermore he walked up to a strange man at the funeral home and wanted him to pick him up and then didn't particularly want me when the man brought him over. He was just a social little man today.
After lunch while Layden and I were wandering about the lobby, who should I see but Tammy. Tammy used to live in Pullman and I worked in a lab with her and will hopefully be doing my senior thesis with her. Now she lives in Nebraska. Last year I also just happened to meet her when I randomly decided to stop at a coffee shop, strange.
We came home and Layden took a nice nap until about 7:00 and we grown ups played pinocle. Joy and I whipped the boys 2 games out of three, even more impressive though, Frank got double pinocle three times in a row. Coincidence? I think not. Layden really likes the chips and had a lot of fun with a miniature deck of cards I gave him to strew about the house. Then I played 52ish card pick up. Now Layden has gotten his daddy to read him a book again, he was quite adamant. So very, very sweet.

Playing With Kitty

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13 Months

The weather is warming up again, the sun is out, the snow is melting, its lovely. Once Layden finishes his nap I think we will head out and enjoy some of this nice weather. These last few days I have been busy baking bread, working on painting the bathroom, and, of course, housework. The truly depressing thing about house work is that it is never done. You wash the dishes and unless you never eat again, there will soon be more. You sweep the floors and then they are dirty again, laundry never ends. So any one who thinks that being a staying at home mom isn't a full time job, think again. In fact it is more that full time, 12-20 hours a day (depending on child's age) 7 days a week, no benefits, no paid vacation, no vacations period. Don't misinterpret my complaints, there is no job I would rather have, on the whole it is a pretty good deal. I don't have to dress up, heck, if we had curtains I wouldn't even have to get dressed, except that our house tends to be a bit chilly. I don't have a commute. I am able to go for a walk on a sunny day, bake bread (big plus, store bought just can't compare), watch a movie. All that isn't the main benefit, I get to spend the day with Layden. I get to watch him learn to walk. I am there when the toaster starts smoking because he shoved a piece of paper in it and it has caught on fire. I am there when he runs about the house chasing the cat and giggling like a mad man. I am there for him to crawl onto my lap with on of his books, lean against me and smile (then he hits me with the book to make sure I get the point).

In this last month I have watched him become an accomplished walker, he rarely falls now, and I am so impressed when he pops back up still smiling. I have watched him figure stuff out, like how light switches work and that drawers open and stuff can be hidden in them. I have watched him learn how much fun a ball can be, he loves to play fetch (that sounds horrible), mommy or daddy throws the ball and he goes after it and brings it back. He knows who his daddy is and greats him with "dada da daddy dadada da da daddy", he walks over to his daddy and hugs his legs, he climbs onto his lap with a book, he still tries to gouge out the occasional eye and can be a bit violent but hopefully he will grow out of that, soon.

For all those girl babies

Sorry if I have not been posting as frequently as some (mom) would like, if it isn't one thing, its another. All is well here, still cold and snowy but otherwise good. A day or two ago I realized that I couldn't remember the last time I saw Layden suck on his fingers and I haven't seen him do it since then. I guess he decided that since he is walking now he is too big for that. Here is a photo for all those girl babies out there, I would guess that a girl baby wouldn't be put off by the huge amounts of drool, she might even be impressed. In this photo you can see that the boy has some serious back muscle definition going on. Layden is just getting to be more and more fun every day. It is just amazing to be able to interact with him. To feel like we might actually be living in the same world and he might care about me as more than a meal ticket.
Frank's (Oli's stepdad) sister died recently. She lived in Palouse and the funeral will most likely be next weekend. So we will at the least be hosting Oli's parents and possibly others. Lucky that we got the upstairs bathroom up and running.

Drama Queen

It has been very, very cold around here lately. Weather forecasts have begun to include words like "bitter" and "frigid". I don't even want to see the heating bill, couple days ago Oli checked the furnace filter and it was totally clogged. He replaced and now when the furnace kicks on there is significantly more airflow.
Layden is turning into quite the drama queen. In general he seems fairly impervious to dicipline
but last night he was trying to put a DVD (which he had managed to get out of the DVD player) into the VCR I told him "no" (gently) and took it away. He burst into tears and kneeling down put his face to the floor. He will have a similar reaction if I put him on the floor because he won't stop hitting me. You would think I beat the boy, except then he probably wouldn't care.

Oooh Shiny!

These past few days have taught me that mothers should not be allowed to get sick. There should be some sort of law or something. We just can't afford it. If Oli gets sick he is either well enough to work (in which case he is miserable) but then he comes home I take care of him and he sleeps. If I get sick (especially since Oli was on night shift) I get to stay home, but I still have to work. Oli gets home and he needs his sleep during the day. Though both of the boys were very good to me. On the day I was sickest Oli stayed up for a bit and got the house back under control and Layden, locked in his room with me laying around on the bed, played happily on his own. Still, stay at home moms could really use paid sick leave. But I am feeling much better now and Oli has a couple of days off so life might return to the poor semblance of order that it formerly was.
We now have a working toilet upstairs and I have hopes that tomorrow we will have a working sink as well. Then we can get it all cleaned up and Layden can take a bath.
We have decided that Layden just will not take the kitty's no for an answer, so we will have to step in and give her a hand. He thinks she is the funnest thing since sliced bread and doesn't seem to mind at all when she swats him have he gives her tail a good tug. He cares minimally more when mommy gives him a swat and says no. Sure, sure, he cries, but put something shiny in his line of sight and he is quickly distracted. When we say gentle he'll give her (or us) a couple of nice pets but when she (or we) sits still for that he just gets so excited that it goes quickly downhill.

Toilet

Well today we headed up to Spokane and got us a new toilet. Our old one got busticated during its sojourn on the porch and it wasn't a really great one anyhow. The fun thing is that nowadays code calls for the toilet drain 12" from the wall, so all the toilets are made to be 12" from the wall. There was one toilet adjustable 10-12" from the wall. Our drain is 9.5" from the wall. Hopefully we can squeeze it in. The one toilet that works is also some newfangled flapperless toilet. We will see how that works. Right now Oli is working on installing the sink. This also is not going as smoothly as it might. He has the sink attached to the wall and caulked (the caulking caused the paint to wipe off the wall). He has the faucet on (he had to cut the rod for the plug thingy) and the drain in. But we are getting a new P-tube and supply hoses, so we have to wait on that. It looks really cute though, at least I think so. Oli says it looks like a toilet bowl sink. I will put up some pictures if I get around to it tomorrow once the toilet is in. I think that now Oli is looking into installing our new toilet, cross your fingers and hope it fits.
Layden is having a lot of fun with the sink box and various pieces of cardboard. He also seems to just be practicing walking and is getting quite good at it. He falls less and less, mostly just if he runs into something or gets going to fast. He is also getting very close to being able to climb over the baby gate. He already uses it to do his chin up exercises. That boy is trouble.
We visited Oli's ex-coworker who moved up to Spokane. She has a cute little craftsman bungalow. It has some really great original woodwork, trim, hardware and doors. The foundation is a bit more iffy though and some of the wiring is questionable but all in all a very cute house.

Walker

Well we now have a walker on our hands. Luckily as yet he isn't a terribly skilled walker. He can do about 4 ft pretty well then loses his balance and goes back to crawling. He enjoys pinballing around the living room furniture. The funny thing is unless his hands are full he generally walks around with his hands up over his head. Like he wants to be sure that we can see what a big boy he is, look ma, no hands.
This morning I got up it was sunny and not too cold so I decided that after lunch I would walk downtown since I needed to go to the library. By lunch we had 2" of snow. By the time we were ready to go there was 4". We walked any way since I figured I could get the car down the hill but I wasn't sure if a) I would be able to stop it at the bottom or b) get it back up the hill. On my way into town I saw one car that couldn't get up the hill and then saw another that could stopped when it reached the bottom, however the car in front of it could. Now we have about 6" and last I heard the main road to Pullman had been cut off for a few hours because of a jack-knifed semi. The power lines have a pretty good coating of nice heavy snow and the power has already flickered a couple of times, hopefully it won't go. No power=no heat.

Healthy Panda

Happy New Year!

Last night to celebrate the new year Oli and I stayed up until midnight cleaning the kitchen. Then we toasted the new year with ginger ale and cranberry juice, sat around and talked for a bit about the fact that now we aren't growing anymore, we are just getting older and how quickly life change with the little one around. Then we went to bed.
Well the panda bear seems to be feeling pretty much better now. He is playing and running around causing mayhem. This morning he got up on the table and poured out daddy's tea. Our house looks a bit strange with all the chairs pulled away from the table, all the knobs off the stove. Dad and gentle have been added to his vocabulary. He even seems to understand what gentle means, when I say it he pets daddy instead of poking his eyes. The cat is also warming up to him now that he kinda sorta pets her instead of biting her or yanking her tail. I still have a few concerns about him though. This morning he was hitting his head on the wall and laughing, apparently losing brain cells is funny.

Sick Panda

We had a good Christmas with my family (sans Jakob, who was at the Olson's). Christmas Eve we went down to Lewiston (sans Oli, who was at work) we stopped by Costco which was the emptiest I had ever seen it. It felt like we weren't supposed to be there. Then we went to Pizza Hut for Christmas Eve dinner. While we were there Layden learned how to drink out of a straw. Then we capped off the evening by driving all around Lewiston/Clarkston in search of the Christmas lights. The park on the way into town was all lit up with lights. Every tree was liberally draped, there were lighted colonnades, and there was an old train engine lit up. It was also quite chilly but Layden loved it. We had a nice low key Christmas, opened presents, did laundry, made lasagna. Layden received many fun toys for his birthday and Christmas, the ones that made noise were especially great.

Layden got his first hair cut from Mom and Becky, the day after his birthday or so and he looks much older now.
The day after Christmas Mom, Dad, Becky, Layden and I headed up to Sandpoint, Idaho to visit with the Olsons. That afternoon, after we had arrived, Layden threw up. He continued to throw up anything that went in his mouth until 9:00 the next morning. He had stomach cramps and a fever. Eventually he started keeping small amounts of water and milk down but he had a couple of bouts of explosive diarrhea. Currently he is keeping most of his food down but tends to throw up once first thing in the morning. He is mostly better but still goes through periods when he feels pretty gross and needs mommy. He had his well child check up yesterday and is doing well, though in the past three months he has gained less than a pound (up to 20lb now). The doctor figures he just had a case of rotovirus, which generally lasts for about a week. My mom came down with the same thing a day after Layden and is still feeling a bit gross, Brita may also have come down with it but so far they seem to be the only ones.

Other than the whole people getting sick and me not sleeping thing we had a good visit up in Sandpoint. There was a veritable cornucopia of goodies, most likely resulting in a significant holiday weight gain.
We are back home and enjoying a few days off with daddy. Today Oli taught Layden "So big". To "How big is Layden?" he responds by raising at least one arm and saying "so big" (barely intelligibly).

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Today we drove up Steptoe Butte. It is a quartzite formation over 400 million years old, 3,600 ft elevation, the view is spectacular. It was very cold. Then we drove back down and had waffles with berries.

One Year

Well we have made it one year. You have grown so much it is hard to believe. When I first held you I could not have imagined that you would grow into such a wonderful little boy. Though sometimes this last year has been hard it has also been filled with joy. So many times when I have been frustrated or down you have smiled and whatever was bothering me was no longer so important.
You have had so many firsts in your first year. First time rolling over, first time crawling, first smile, first word, first tooth, first steps, and each was more exciting that the last. When you started crawling we thought you were so talented, so precocious. Then you pulled yourself up to standing and you were so amazing, so strong, so smart. Then you started climbing up the furniture and while we were still impressed we were maybe a bit less excited. You are such a strong little boy, but I guess that isn't really a surprise. A few months of using my bladder as a punching bag, followed by squats and chin-ups would make anyone strong.
You are a very curious, investigative child. Everything is worth investigating, especially if it is a grown up toy. All of Dad's tools are wonderful, but the best thing of all is the screwdriver. Nothing makes your eyes light up like an 8" #2 flat head screwdriver, except perhaps any other screwdriver you manage to lay hands on. What is on the counter top? You don't know, but you are going to find out, drawer handles make great ladders. What's in the roll top desk? As soon as you can get it unrolled you will find out.
You are quite the animal lover, though animals don't always love you. Gentle is still a lesson you need to learn. The cat is trying to teach you but you just roll with the punches. You show up with the occasional scratch but it doesn't seem to faze you. You think Lucy is wonderful and you would love to just pet her and dig your face into her fur but you respect that that is not what she wants.
Even though you put everything from the floor into your mouth (the less edible the better) and you insist that the world is your oyster and won't believe it really isn't OK for you to climb on the table, even though it has been near impossible for me to get anything done for a year now, I would not change a thing. I don't regret a minute of it. You are the greatest gift your father and I have ever received. And now you are starting to talk. You will say Peek-a-boo, uh-oh, sometimes doggy, and maybe even daddy. You have other methods of communication, some more subtle than others. You make the sign that we are trying to teach you means milk for just about any food you want, you have found that trying to pull off my shirt is very effective at communicating "Milk, now!"
One of our friends from college recently found out she was pregnant after 5 months of trying. I remember learning I was pregnant with you, I was excited, a little scared, but excited. I though I knew what this would mean, Blah blah blah, awesome responsibility, blah blah blah, your life is totally different, blah blah blah everything will change, well I didn't know. I thought I could imagine how my life would change, but I couldn't. But I also couldn't imagine how much I would love you, how much joy you were going to bring to my life.

Pak-boo!

Today Layden finally said pak-boo for Mommy and Daddy, first for Daddy (of course) then, finally, for mommy. Last night he said it for Grammy on the phone. Layden, Lynda and I headed up to Costco today and then went for a nice walk downtown and stopped by Rosauers to pick up cake mix for Layden's birthday. Layden had tons of fun looking at all of the Christmas lights, towards the end though he was torn between pointing at the lights and keeping his fingers warm.
I love it when every so often when he is babbling away to himself he seems to say something that just cracks himself up and he has to giggle a bit. Babble, gabble, babble, blurt, da-da-da-da-da-da, click click, tee hee.
Soon (Julyish) we will no longer be the only of our college age friends to have a baby. Lisa (Loveland, ne McDermott) is pregnant after years of saying she wouldn't have kids. Congratulations! Your life will never be the same but on the whole it is fun. Sadly her hubby is off to Iraq in January so she will be move back to Washington for a bit to stay with her parents.

Earplug Check

Joy has headed home now. We had a good visit and she and Layden had a lot of fun together. She gave a couple more of her photos framed for Christmas and now are walls are starting to look very nice. I also got the winter photos up on the wall so we are decorated for the winter.
Layden was fascinated with the earplugs Oli was wearing yesterday. Today when he was sitting on Daddy's lap he turned his head so he could check in his ears. He felt around a bit but no earplugs today. Oli is at work now, he works 4 days of night shift than has a couple of days off. Hopefully by the end of January he will be on a regular schedule of evening shifts. Five 8 hour shifts with alternating weekends (1 or 3 days off). But I can't remember how many times we have thought he was getting off nights and on to a regular shift, but then they have a budget cut back or some one quits and because not every one gets trained to do QC and maintenance, he is back on night shift. It is hard on both of us when he is on nights, Layden seems to hold up pretty well but then we arrange our lives around him so that isn't much of a surprise.
I made a curtain today. It actually looks decent. I won't be ashamed to hang it on the wall. Of course it was pretty simple, two seams up the sides then tabs along the top. Layden found the sewing machine fascinating and was not terribly helpful. He was pretty sure it would be a good idea for him to sit on the table and play with the needle, I was pretty sure it wasn't. He also wanted to help cut out the fabric, first he generously offered to sit on the fabric to hold it still. Unfortunately he insisted upon sitting right were I was going to cut. Then he decided I needed more help than that because I wasn't getting any where fast and kept grabbing the rotary cutter. Baby + rotary cutter = very bad things. I persevered and in less than an hour produced an entirely decent curtain. I will make a few more and then we will work out some sort of curtain rods and voila, privacy at last.