Saturday, June 24, 2006

Happy Visiting Friends

 
 
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Looking up at Aunt Megan...

 

who shares his birthday. Posted by Picasa

Joanna gave up her day off...

 

...to come in and give vital assistance! Posted by Picasa

Happy visiting relatives!

 
 
 
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Big muscles like Poppop Bruce!

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Look -- Mom's OK!

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Friday, June 23, 2006

A Random Smattering Of Cuteness

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Wednesday, June 21, 2006

It's A Boy

Not that we were very much in doubt, but it's good to be sure! Julian Beekman Camera is the name, 8 pounds, 14.25 oz (that's .63 stone, in case you were curious) is the game, at 3:08 PM.


"Mommie's having a baby, Mommie's having a baby!"

Cheers

Quick update

Uncle Eli writing in here. Sam's water broke at 1:00, or 0100 hours as we say in the EMS biz. I'm told labor is "gentle" and "slow" for now.

That's pretty much all I know. More news as events warrant.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Monday's Update

Yes, we're still waiting.

Visit to the Midwife today showed signs of progress, but certainly no contractions. On ultrasound baby looks "very happy in there". Plenty of amniotic fluid, placenta appears to be in good shape. The Sonographer used the sonic stimulator to wake him up, and he kicked that spot something like seven times in response. I guess "kickboxer" is a literal description. Needless to say, they decided that they didn't need another non-stress test. So the waiting is apparently much easier on him than it is on us.

You will see that I had a little photo binge. We've been having a dry spell for a while, 'cause we haven't had a working digital camera for a while. I've been carrying Mana and Zaidie's camera, and found that there is a direct link between their photo program (Picasa) and blogger. Hence the flurry of uploading. We have a new camera on the way (in more ways than one, I guess) so there should be more current photos showing up.

Hopefully more news tomorrow!

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Fairy house with Amelia

 
 
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Mana and Zaide

 

Helping with the costume last Halloween. Posted by Picasa

Skip that electric mower BS!

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Looking back

 

to last fall. Posted by Picasa

Remember what I said

 

...about "don't expect to sit on the couch"? Posted by Picasa

Thank you Auntie Em

 

He wears this shirt every day for weeks at a time! Posted by Picasa

Looking back to 2004

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Jonas on the half shell...

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Meeting a Texas Camera

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Obviously, she is easily recognizeable to Jonas as a relative! It is so nice to have met Lulu!

Takes after his mother!

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Of course, when you only weigh 31.5 pounds, you need a little help to stretch the bungies!

Friday, June 16, 2006

P.S. How Jonas is spending his time...

Imaginary play:

"I'm a Jawa, and I have the gun from the badguy in WereRabbit...is that a blunderbuss? and it shoots these pellets..."

Also, eating "water popsicles" with a level of slurping that simply cannot be captured by words. I would need an mp3 file.

Water popsicles, by the way, are exactly what you think. 0 calories. This is why he is plataued (sp?) at 31.5 lbs with 0% body fat. This is what he prefers over matzo brie (sp?) with cinnamon and powdered sugar. I think we could publish a diet book based on his eating choices, but no one else would be able to stick to it!

How to induce labor

Here are things people suggest to you when you are 6 days over due:

Eat eggplant
Eat chili
Eat a rootbeer float
Drink codliver oil and OJ
Go for a drive on a bumpy road

Any other suggestions?

Monday, June 12, 2006

Ho Hum

(tapping of fingers, tapping of toes, whistling aimlessly)

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Treasure, momentarily (no, no baby yet...

...Sam is just falling asleep next to me in our bed as I write this)

So I'm continuing to ruminate on the narrative that drives the tidepool phenomenon. The connection between the narrative and the "low tide" home decor is the way that Jonas' internal story connects to the objects around him. One of the things that is so excellent to watch is how unlike my experience of an object *his* approach can be. I don't think this is unique to our relationship. I have it on good authority that my own viewpoint was somewhat mystifying when I was at a more tender age.

Certain things are lasting treasures. Others are fleetingly treasured.

Lasting treasures: Jonas' Star Wars figures. My steam valve off of a radiator (yes, apparently that was all we had to play with before Star Wars merchandising took over the world). No, I'm not kidding. As a little tyke, Mom reports that one of my favorite toys was that hive-shaped valve off of a steam radiator. It has a little bit of a tube sticking out of it, we still have it around somewhere. Oh yes, I guess I was also very enamored of the springy doorstops with the rubber ends. For many children it might have been the birth of a career as a brilliant percussionist. For me it was the birth of a lifelong fascination with goofy noises.

Momentary treasures: Jonas' aforementioned hose wand. The sticks you will find scattered around our property and house. The chicken feather that Jonas demanded he bring home from Mana and Zaidie's house the other day. Mana got out an envelope just for the purpose. Oh, and how could I forget the massive BarBQue spatula that spent at least one day as a landscaping power tool.

Now this is a complicated dynamic, because it is only fleeting on Jonas' terms. In particular, he is often relying on these objects to help him bridge a narrative from one setting to another. Hence the time the spatula spent riding around in my car ("no, Jonas, you may not take that to your Preschool Class Picnic at the playground.") This is also the source of several observations made by others before me:

  • Children are just as likely to find the box fascinating as they are to find the toy fascinating. Perhaps we should all be dumpster diving instead of toy shopping.
  • A correlary principle is that there is no great correlation between the cost of the toy and it's perceived value. I.e. the nasty plastic trumpet which was used until the silver paint was flaking off. Next time we went to a fair Jonas unwittingly picked up on Sam's perjorative description and threw a tantrum demanding a "cheesey trumpet".
  • If you want to throw away a "toy" ( trumpet formerly known as silver, chicken feather, rock, shell, buckeye, stick, dissected winged maple seed) make damn sure it goes into a trash can with solid walls and a lid. Then throw something really boring away directly after it. And no, there is no way to be sure that you can predict what will be boring. Hell, Jonas exhibits the seemingly universal fascination with old cigarrette butts.
So, if PBS wants a real winner, they need to produce an "Antiques Road Show" for the under-five set:

"Well, if you hadn't dissected this Maple seed with such skill, it wouldn't be worth much at all. However, since you've done such an excellent job on it, I'm pretty sure there's a kid on Middle Street that will find it's worth at least 5, maybe 10 minutes worth of complete meltdown. I would recommend you offer it between 4:45 and 5:30 to achieve maximum value. A very nice piece, thanks for bringing it in today."

How tall he is!

Jonas recently announced to us in the car that he is "so tall I can reach Soren's neck". Sam asked whether he reached Soren's neck with his head or his hand. This stumped him momentarily. His head, it turns out.

So, Soren, how does it feel to be the very measure of tall?