Category: Uncategorized (Page 32 of 40)

A couple weeks ago, just before Dash got sick, Lisa and I went to see the film The Descendants, partly because she is going to Hawaii soon (!!) and partly because it’s gotten so much buzz. I’m a big fan of the director Alexander Payne and try to see everythng he makes. It’d been over 2 years since I’d stepped foot in a movie theater, so it felt like an extremely luxurious thing to do with 3 whole hours. Even though the theater was a crappy mall one, the print was a mess, and the people behind us talked through much of the film, it was an excellent experience. This is a beautiful (but intense) film with an amazing cast, an enchanting soundtrack and riveting story. It’s also very educational regarding Hawaii, and thoughtfully meditates on what it means to be Hawaiian, and, by extension, American. The one low point was the cinematography; the film was shot by the ever-pedestrian Phaedon Papamichael (it could perhaps be said that although he brings no vision to the film, just the fact that he is a Greek American–as is Payne–maybe makes him a good choice for a film about the idea of “home”).

Since then, the music has been floating around in my brain, and I’ve been “singing” the songs from the film (in made-up Hawaiian) to Mr. D. I couldn’t resist using the song “Leahi” in this video; the song is about the wonder of Diamond Head, the volcano on the big island of Oahu (“Leahi” is the Hawaiian name for the volcano)…the video itself is from Christmastime. Dash has since gotten much more adept climbing “mountains”!

click here to watch the video in a new window.

Here’s a couple wonders from my treasure trove (I told you these would be coming!): Mom with baby Joshua Otter, who’s with the angels, now.

Since Dashiell was about 6 weeks old, he has murmured a little phrase over and over when trying wind down for sleep (but having trouble), and this phrase sounds a lot like “going going going going.” It’s the way he tells us: I’m really tired, but the world is so interesting, I don’t want to miss anything, and now I’m overtired.

A long time ago, we started saying “going going going” back to him to let him know we understood, and we would say it to him when it was time for sleep. It’s become soothing for him, like rubbing his cheek or his head. We say it when we put him in the crib: “time to go going going going” instead of saying “nite-nite.”

(as an aside, he thinks his grocery cart is called ‘nite-nite’ since we put the shopping cart to sleep in the closet every night when we’re done playing, and we always say we’re putting it ‘nite-nite’)

In the past several weeks this phrase has begun to disappear from our world. His sleeping habits are now so ritualized and reliable that he doesn’t get so easily overwhelmed anymore…but he is vulnerable when:

-he’s sick
-he learns a new skill, or
-routine gets upset by vacation

He is extremely sensitive to change. This sensitivity has forced us to go beyond “routine” into the world of “ritualization.” This has been immensely helpful for sleeping. The flip-side of this is that Detective D takes note of any small (perhaps not to him) change…a pillow out of place (“uh-oh!”), a lone sock on the stair (“uh-oh!”), a snack snuck in the living room (sly face!). It’s very funny and cute, but it also reminds me how he depends on us for his survival. And, he knows it.

When D was very sick with “atypical” pneumonia a couple weeks back, we naturally had to alter the routine in so many ways: no school, a trip to the doctor, standing in front of that funny machine (chest x-ray), taking antibiotics, syringing liquids in him. Naturally it was difficult for him to sleep through the night, so I would hold him and sleep with him. We took several naps together, too, him laying on my chest in his favorite spot, our soft merino wool Didymos wrapping us together. As I lay in the dark listening to his slight wheeze, cooling his brow with drops of water, time slipped away and nothing else mattered expect being there with him.

One morning I remembered it was my birthday. It hardly seemed important; it’s been years since it did. For a long time, I haven’t wanted any more “stuff,” and now that I have a spouse, a son (and a daughter!) I want even less for me, and more for them. The only thing that makes me happy is their happiness.

But it turns out there are still gifts worth getting, and I got one: a lovely email from my Mom.

I was laying in bed last night thinking about the night before you were born. I was so worried about you because you were way overdue and about the blood mismatch potential problem. Also worried because I had been exposed to the German measles and my mother couldn’t remember whether I’d had them. They had given me gamma globulin to hopefully prevent any birth defects. So, there I was worrying and then my labor started. Then, about 8 hours later I was holding you and so happy and relieved to have my tiny, beautiful baby girl. Aunt Laura called later as we were resting and told me her little girl had been born on the same day. I am so lucky and proud to have you as my daughter. Thanks for being you, an easy, smart child…I really enjoyed raising you. Have a wonderful day, and also please always remember how much I love you!

Last weekend we visited the Evergreen Space Museum’s “Waves & Wings” waterpark!

If you look closely you’ll see there are waterslides coming out of the plane’s emergency exits (using the link above, check out the video of them lifting the huge plane onto the roof!)

The waterpark is part of a larger campus that houses space and air museums (home of the Spruce Goose!) and an IMAX theater…all within about an hour and a half drive from us in McMinnville, OR. The sheer size of the buildings is worth seeing, not to mention the “Spruce Goose” vineyard on the property. When you enter the parking lot, the pavement is painted like a runway. The Prius in front of me pulled over to the side, as if they were worried a 747 was coming their way…so, lots of excitement, even before we set foot in the place!

We beat the holiday-weekend rush and were able to explore before the masses showed up around lunch time.

Upstairs, there’s a wonderful small educational exhibit all about water. I was really impressed with how engaging it was. I think Dash enjoyed that even more than the waterpark itself. It had lots of things he could do right at his height: he manned a submarine, took a trip in a lunar rover, and took boats up and down the Columbia River using locks and current from the Bonneville dam. He also ran around a lot. And climbed the stairs. Over and over.

Dashiell is doing so many new things–at least one thing a day–that the “new” thing become old hat before I can get around to writing about them. Yesterday: first summersault. The day before: first real nose blow (followed by several more blows). The week before: sign of “please” to add emphasis to his request (on his own!).

It kind of goes on like that.

Here he is learning to water our new plant, Mr. Treebody.

Naturally he does this all by himself now, but not without some extra floor watering.

In school, he has graduated into the next level classroom. He already knows his teachers there and about half of the kids because he was in class with them this August before they moved up. We are working on signing “friend;” they all know each other’s names, although they may not be able to say them. The other day when we left school, a friend said, “bye, Dashiell!”

Before the holiday break, the teachers told us that, when it was time to go outside, the box of hats came out, and Dashiell distributed each hat to its correct owner. They always have a nice anecdote to share with us about his day there.

Here is the holiday card the school sent home:

(unfortunately he was being treated for pink eye when this shot was taken, but I think it’s still worth sharing. By the way, he did not get pink eye at school, but at a toy store).

Here’s a gallery of his art from the fall.

Our other “child” Lisa is doing great in school too. She’s got straight As! Lisa finds this strange, because in Germany, As are reserved for extraordinary feats (she’s an awesome student and she’s only ever received 1 A.). Lisa starts tennis in a few weeks and will be switching out her news-gathering video class for a business class (yep, this the “new” world of high school).

Last Fall we had our portraits taken at a local photo studio, and I just got around to choosing which prints to purchase! Here’s my picks…

I was really happy with the shots of Dashiell, so we’ll be going back soon to take advantage of a sale they’re having on children’s portraits…

Warning: long post! There is lots to say about all the goodies…

We got so many nice and thoughtful gifts this year. Thanks to all the out-of-towners who made Santa’s job so easy! Everything that Dashiell got was a hit! In fact, he played with everything so intently that we held some gifts back and have been introducing a new one every few days. He still hasn’t seen all the toys from Grandma Beverly, who sent an array of things: a wooden train set with cargo (gorgeous), a wooden hinged puzzle (we have a companion to this toy already–the one with all the locks–so he knew just what to do!), wooden nesting blocks (also gorgeous), wooden pegs with stacking blocks (still unwrapped!) and a bowling set (also still unwrapped).

If you’re keeping track, that’s just from 1 grandparent…pictures of him playing with these things will be forthcoming.

When Dashiell came downstairs Christmas morning, he was greeted by 2 new friends waiting next to the tree: a wooden rocking horse from Grandma Lori and Grandpa Don (assembled by Santa’s elves the night before) and a tot-sized stroller with a boy doll that looks a lot like himself (Lukas). Dash didn’t know which one to push/pull/ride first and spent several hours alternating between the two vehicles. Dad altered the rocking horse to allow D to get in and out by himself, which he loves just about as much as riding it!

GL and GD also sent a cozy outfit; the nice long sleeved shirt had a fuzzy moose on it. Dash likes to rub it when he remembers it’s on him…Thank you for the really nice clothes.

Santa also brought a train set–similar to the one Santa sent to Murphy. Because we set it up at his height on the coffee table, it gets a lot of use. Here are 2 train engineers working hard to keep the journeys on schedule.

Grandma Sherry sent some characteristically unusual gifts…

It would not be Christmas without some other silly things from Grandma Sherry–this year, socks, pants, and boxers that came wrapped in tiny shrunk-wrapped packages. They grow when you soak them in water…

Mom & Amanda also sent some serious gifts. One is a necklace made out of all the spices n Grenada. It’s stunning and looked nice on the tree. I’d hate to unstring it to use any of them so I think I will keep it in the kitchen where it can scent everything with a hint of the West Indies.

They also sent a heartwarming sculpture of a woman holding her toddler-aged son. It brought tears to my eyes. Thank you.

Shelli babysat when we took Lisa out to dinner, and she snuck a gift under the tree for Dashiell. I love that she got something self-contained (bless you!). It’s a set of “mega” blocks!

He plays with them all the time–thank you!

Uncle Chris & Aunt Stephanie sent food-themed gifts (always a hit): the book “Cupcake” and some play cupcakes that have bases/wrappers with shape cutouts..place the right cupcake into the “baking” tray. Again, another winner–he likes to take them all apart, put them back together, and start again…

But wait–there’s more! The Höschele family sent a set of Legos for Dash (a perfect accompaniment to the legos they sent in the Advent gifts), lovely holiday teas, a nice mug, and some manly cologne things for Jeff. Vielen Dank!

And last, but certainly not least, we also received yet another box of lovely clothes from Otto out in Jackson, Wyoming. Thanks Otto and Mom Maddy!

Oh, and I almost forgot: Lisa got an iPhone 4!

Now is that a Christmas, or what?

Here are some miscellaneous snaps of our holiday.

Dash got an extra gift this year: a vist from Grandpa Ed. Dashiell definitely remembered Grandpa and was excited when I told him Grandpa was coming to visit on an airplane. They had fun playing with Dash’s new trains, blocks and books. I saw Dash on Grandpa’s lap at least twice asking him to read to book to him; when we took separate cars, Dash asked several times about Grandpa’s wherabouts.

We spent a (rainy but still pretty) Christmas day at Skamania Lodge.

Dad also helped us get the toy room organized; after all the additional toys I realized we had all these great new things but no where to put them. It was time to get rid of the changing table/dresser in the toy room anyway. A trip to Ikea solved all our problems, and when Dash and I came downstairs after a long nap, the room had been transformed by some hard working elves (thanks Dad, Lisa and Jeff!)!

Now we have a chance of walking around without tripping over something.

Finally, we braved the rain and wind to make a visit to Oregon Zoo Lights, a holiday tradition in these parts. The Oregon Zoo gets transformed by a million lights, and a train takes you around the entire zoo to see each display.

Thanks for spending the holiday here, Dad!

A few days before Christmas, we received a package from “Grandma” Cheryl in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Look what was inside!

Yes, this stocking is handmade by Cheryl, down to each bead. I can’t begin to imagine how many hours this took you to make!

Thank you so much for this family heirloom, Cheryl. We will cherish it.

At school yesterday, the kids “made” Christmas ornaments that were incredible!

Dash’s teacher said he was the only one who managed to sit still long enough for the hand tracing bit, so his turned out the best.

He loves going to “school” these days. He gets excited and smiley when we pull into the parking lot. He knows the names of all his friends there and of course his teachers. He is transitioning into the next stage classroom, where he knows almost all the kids already, and the teachers, too, because in the Fall they all played together outside.

Today he’ll be giving each of his 4 teachers a small Christmas gift and a note of thanks for all the special care. He has learned so much, and his signing has really taken off. He now signs “Daddy” regularly, and that’s a tough one (he has never spoken “Daddy” much for some reason). He also signs “please” and is starting to understand he should add “please” to the end of his requests (demands!).