The Last Day of Summer

Today was the last day of summer in Southeastern PA. Not officially, I suppose. If you look at the calendar, the last day of summer was a few days ago. But the last few days have been hovering around 90 degrees, so it has still felt like summer. And we've still been doing summer things. Wearing shorts and tee shirts. Swimming in the pool, which warmed up nicely the past couple days. Hooray for the $15 solar cover from Big Lots!

Alas, summer must come to an end some time. Tomorrow's forecast high is 68 degrees, and the rest of the week isn't looking any warmer. So today was the last day of the swimming pool. Farewell, fun swimming pool. We've enjoyed you for the past month. Enjoy your vacation in the basement this winter. We'll see you again round about May.

Dex wasn't sure if he wanted to swim. He thought perhaps he'd check out the sandbox. Except the lid was closed. Damn! Foiled again.

Buddy usually hangs out by the pool while we swim. Til the splashing starts and he decides there's far too much noise around here.

Watering can makes cool bubbles when you put it under water

Watering the ummmmm... water.

This is not a bad gig I have, really. Swim? Get some sun? Blow some bubbles? Kick your feet a bit to make some splashing? Can do!

Mid-swimming we saw Daddy pull in to the driveway with this bad boy:

NICE! We can feel your jealousy.

Took it for a test drive after Dex went to bed. It goes up the front bank, piece of cake.

Garage was forced to become a bit more organized to make room for Deere John

Think skinny. Think skinny.

Plenty of room...

And a little video of our last day of summer adventures:

Last Day of Summer 2010 from Alissa Norman on Vimeo.

The last day of summer weather. We celebrated by swimming. And playing with a new toy.

The most-oft-used items, baby edition

I was thinking today, as I washed one of our bibs for Dex to use for lunch, that we've got a few items that get used pretty much every day. And have been used every day for a while. Those seem like good, logical purchases for this here baby. So, not like anyone really reads our little blog, but I thought I'd share. Just in case, you know, my sister turns crazy, decides she wants a kid, and needs some registry advice...

So we can start with the items that have been used five times a day, every day, for more than a year. And still going strong:

Baby Bjorn bib (we have two of them) and this high chair that attaches to one of our kitchen chairs. Both have held up great. Both are going to continue being used. Although I am considering a booster seat instead of the high chair. Note how nicely the bib catches dropped food, like this apple we stole from the corner produce stand.

Also of note - how well the small child is eating the apple stolen from the produce stand (we stole it with permission, so maybe it was kind of given to us). Also, Dex looks at the picture of the bear on his bib and signs "bear." Which he also signs when he is cold. "BRRRRR."

Another item used for about 12 hours a day, every day:

LOVE our crib. Dex naps in it every day and sleeps in it every night. He's not even close to climbing out yet (knock on wood) and we still have one more notch down that we can lower the mattress. So hopefully we'll keep him caged in til he's well over 2. And then it'll transition in to a toddler bed that he can nicely fall out of...

Toys you can never have too many of:

BALLS! This particular one is the best two dollar and fifty cent purchase I have ever made at Wal-Mart.

Ball arranging has become a new favorite Dexter hobby

The ball popper went from the scariest toy on the planet to the one that gets played with almost daily. His two favorite color balls? Pink and red. I know! PINK!

This table has been a daily favorite since we brought it home from the consignment sale a year ago. First Dex loved being able to pull himself up on it. Now he enjoys climbing on top of it. A couple weeks ago he flipped the switch to Spanish and all the sudden it was a BRAND NEW TABLE! That must be played with! All day! I now know the Spanish alphabet again, by heart.

Books are educational (shhhh! Don't tell the child!)

But try to keep out only books you can bear reading. These particular two are Dexter favorites, but are particularly HORRIBLE books to read if you are an adult. We all enjoy us some Sandra Boynton, though. And books with pictures of trucks and airplanes and such. And books with pictures of farm animals. Special bonus, in Dexter's mind, if you're a book that has buttons that make noises.

This here stroller:

It's a Combi. It's basically a big umbrella stroller. That folds up and has a shoulder strap to carry it with. That fits nicely in the trunk of the car and still leaves room for groceries. That is tall enough to be comfortably pushed by tall adults. With one hand, even. It was a good purchase.

And this here back pack:

Which I still use to walk with every day. The week Dex had diarrhea I used the stroller, thinking his red rashy butt might not like the back pack. And we got comments all week from the other folks out walking. Where's the back pack? Didn't recognize you with the stroller! I much prefer carrying the pack to pushing the damn stroller up the hill. And it gives me two free hands, so I can hold Buddy's leach and drink some water at the same time. Plus, Dex likes being tall(er).

We couldn't survive without these. Not things you can purchase, but things you can teach:

"I love you"

"Daddy"

John's Father's Day present this year. Sign language. We would not survive without it. As still, at almost 20 months, our only words are (frequently used) HOT and STAR. Plus the sound of the letter T, for toast. John swears he said ball last night. But John likes to make things up when it comes to Dexter saying words...

Indispensable, and fortunately carried with us wherever we go:

Fingers. A blessing and a curse. This particular day at Delaware Park I kind of shuddered to think of all the dirt going in to Dexter's mouth when he sucked his fingers. He'd better have one hell of an immune system when he grows up.

And finally, and most of all, I couldn't live without this:

Well, ok. Not this exactly. But the item that makes capturing this all possible. That's right. Dad's camera that I stole for so long that he finally gave up, bought a new one, and gave me his old one. Love me my Canon Rebel. Thanks, Dad!

How else could you capture memories like this, with such clarity? And speed?

We have a separate hard drive dedicated solely to the 500-ish photos I take a month. I have a 2 gig memory card in the camera. I bought extra space on my Picasa account so I could post photos. You all might get sick of looking at them, but I never get sick of taking them.

Somehow in the past week I have become the go-to person to ask about SLR cameras, as a couple friends are looking to buy one. They ask me all these technical questions, and ask about the difference between brands. I tell them I have no idea. This is all I have ever known. I didn't do the research. I just stole it and used it and loved it. And I tell then that no matter what kind of SLR they get, they will love it so much more than their little camera. Which, no disrespect to my little camera. At least a quarter of my photos are taken with that, as it nicely slips in to my back pocket for quick access when out and about with a cute kid.

This photo has nothing to do with this post. I just like to giggle at Buddy's wise, strategic location during lunch time...

Adding to the Family

We've had a wonderful 19 months with Dexter in our little family. It's been great. We've loved almost every minute of it, and the sucky minutes we have essentially blocked out of memory. Had I not written about those things in this here blog, I would look back fondly on the first three months of Dexter's life, thinking that everything was all cuddles and bonding and cooing and lots of sleep at night and unicorns and pots of gold at the end of the rainbow and crap like that.

And yet, the past few months I've been feeling like something is missing. Some little piece of our family was missing. We needed more. Another child. Another being to laugh at, talk to, bond with, care for.

And so, it is with much excitement that we announce that we are adding to our family!

Please meet Buddy:

He's a two year old Pound Puppy:

He appears to be a small Lab head plopped on a Dachshund body. The rescue (Paws For Life in Chesapeake City) called him a Spaniel mix.

He is sweet and quiet. A guard dog, he is not. He is perfectly content to lie in the yard and watch the horses while Dex and I play with balls in the garage. He is perfectly content to lie directly under Dexter's swing while I push him. He is perfectly content to sleep on the bathroom floor all night long. He is perfectly content to eat the Cheerios off the floor, thus resulting in FAR less sweeping for me.

Dexter calls him "Potty." Well, ok. Dexter doesn't "call" him anything. But when Buddy walks in to the room, or someone mentions Buddy's name, Dex signs "Potty." Lord knows why. But he seems to think Buddy is A-ok. Buddy has no interest in stealing his balls, so I think they will get on famously...

Pleased to meet you, Buddy. Hope you stick around for a while.

AGAIN? Seriously?

Round about a week and a half ago, or maybe more, the cute small child woke up from a nap with snot fauceting out of his nose and a cough so wet and gross that I thought he might drown in his own lung fluid. He vacillated between acting fairly miserable:

and acting completely and utterly normal, just needing a tissue carried with him at all times to mop up the faucet:

And then the sickness morphed. To some diarrhea, cha-cha-cha. To some red, red monkey butt. Chapped, red, raw, cry-inducing butt. For FIVE DAYS. With a child who was, again, mostly fine. Sometimes eating nothing at all, sometimes downing two bananas in one sitting.

We kind of didn't inform Aunt Jeanne that she was visiting the House of Sick for Labor Day weekend. It appears she left fairly well unscathed. I, however, didn't fair quite so well. Immodium was my friend for for four days or so.

The whole house was back to normal for the weekend (except for missing John) and I thought we'd kicked the sick. Until today. After nap. Diarrhea. Crying while wiping. More icky poopy during snack. More sadness while cleaning it up. DAMN IT! Cut us some slack, poop. We've got STUFF to do. We've got a POOL to use before it gets cold, and I won't let the boy go in the pool with his gross poopy buttocks. Cuz I am NOT cleaning that out of the water...

So Grandma's coming down this week to shop and to babysit. Sorry, Grandma. I don't think they make Immodium for babies. Hopefully we'll kick the sick (AGAIN!) by the time you get here.

(We got a new basketball net, that John can dunk on...)

(Dex thinks other people's shoes are cool)

Sick but cute

Star

Dearest Small Child

You are 19 months and change right now, and still super cute. It's been a while since I've posted, well, anything, really. But a while since I've posted about you specifically. So here's a "you" update:

You are currently up in your crib not sleeping, but instead saying "hot" followed by a whole bunch of jibberish that I am sure forms some sort of novel in your mind. With real words and the like. I wonder if everything is "hot" in your novel?

Daddy taught you how to say "star" this week. Officially your second word (we're still going with MaMa and DaDa not counting as real words). When I sing you "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" at bed time and wait for a second before the word "star" to see if you'll say it with me, you laugh and laugh and laugh. I am not sure why it's so funny, but you're cute so it's ok. At the park the other day you saw a flag and pointed and said "star." Well, ok. It's more like "saah." But still. Yes. Yes, the flag has a star. It has 50 "saah's", to be exact.

Last night we went to the volleyball picnic. Sans Daddy, who is in NY painting Nonna and Grandpa's house right now. You were a super star, with the exception of the screaming fit you had when I told you that you could not play with the ball. The ball that was currently being used on the court. For, you know, a VOLLEYBALL GAME.

At the volleyball picnic we had a hot dog for dinner. Or, as you like to call them "hot woof" or "hot" followed by patting your thigh in the "dog" sign.

You have learned how to sign "sleep" and will do so when it's time to go to bed. Or when you look out the window and don't see any horses. Then you sign "horse" and "sleep." Yes, that's right. The horses are in the barn. Sleeping.

You have discovered your shadow. It makes lunch time on a sunny day take FOREVER, as you watch your shadow race across the table, and then you try to catch it. And then you want Mama to make a bunny shape with her fingers, and have the bunny eat your food. And then the sun goes behind the clouds and you are very sad.

You have also learned how to sign "baby." So every small child you saw last night was a baby. Even if said small child was actually older than you. You also sign, ALL THE TIME, "baby" followed by "clock." For, of course, Baby Signing Time. Now that you know how to say what you want, you apparently want to watch Baby Signing Time every minute of every day.

You are quick to point out the flies flying through the kitchen. Although to you they are a "spider."

You are an excellent dancer. You run in place, shaking your head side to side, and you throw in the occasional spin for good measure. You love to play with the Barry White dog we have, that sings a song and dances. You dance right along with Barry. It's a fabulous diaper changing evasion tactic.

You spend most of every meal pointing to Mama's plate and shaking your head "no." That's right - Mama's plate is a no. Then you point to your plate and nod your head "yes." Which you just learned a few weeks ago and think is just hysterically funny. Yes, that's right. Dexter's plate is a yes. Same for Mama's drink. And the napkin holder. And any other bowl that might be on the table. It really slows down dinner and I kind of can't wait til you get bored of that game. In a couple years.

You also like to try to say the names of the foods on your plate. You really can only get the sound of the first letter, but that's good enough for you. You have an obsession with "tah" right now. Either you want to eat your toes (me, too) or you are really digging the potato bread I am using to make toast these days. You came in to the kitchen this morning in a flurry of "tah's." Apparently hungry...

Aunt Jeanne taught you how to pretend to go to sleep. And then you discovered the joy of pillows. So you LOVE to sit on the guest bed and rearrange the pillows. Then you pat the striped pillow for me - that one is apparently mine, and heaven forbid I try to lie on your blue pillows. So we lie on our pillows, and I pretend to snore, and you make some random growling kind of noise in your attempt to snore. And sign "sleep." Ah, if only that would work in real life.

I got about an hour of giggle out of you today in our awesome swimming pool when I hid my hands under the water, then popped them up and made a big splash. Funny every time. You are also learning how to jump in the pool, which I think is fabulous as I was kind of at a loss as to how to teach you to jump. That seems like it should be Daddy's job, I think.

Your very favorite thing to do right now is to climb the step stool next to the sink in the guest bathroom, grab your toothbrush and your toothpaste, and brush your teeth. This morning while I was doing dishes you went upstairs all by yourself and I found you brushing your teeth. Your daddy wondered if we should let you do that. I'm all for it, kiddo. If brushing your teeth is your fave thing to do, I think that's a pretty good thing.

You are cute, little one. You are also STILL AWAKE up in that crib. How about you think about going to sleep now, eh? We've got lots of playing to do tomorrow - you'll need to be well rested.

Love you lots,

Mama