Category: Uncategorized (Page 39 of 40)

Thanks so much to my dear friend and co-worker Shannon for the super-excellent gift she gave me for my big bday this year: a gift certificate for the Bonneville Hot Springs Resort and Spa. I finally used it this week, and it was beyond great.

So what makes this place so special? I’ve had the pleasure of visiting a lot of spas, but none of them have had a lap pool filled with mineral spring water. Yes, that’s right. A lap pool, filled with mineral water. In a heated room with huge windows and a cedar-lined ceiling! Nothing brings light to a gloomy June-uary day better than a cheery pool. This was a slice of heaven for me; I usually swim in an over-chlorinated, ugly, aged outdoor pool when it’s 47 degrees and raining.

And the pool was just the beginning! I was joined in my adventures with a friend in town from Santa Fe, and we both indulged in some spa services. I got a mineral wrap, which started by soaking in an extra long claw foot tub with a large splash of mineral salts added ceremoniously (the attendant called them “epsom salts on steroids”). She left me to soak for 25 minutes, with mineral water to drink a dish of grapes. Afterwards she moved me to a warm comfy table in a dark room, where I got wrapped in sheets infused with chamomile (back) and cool eucalyptus (face).

As if that wasn’t enough, I then got a massage!

But really, my day would have been perfect with just the pool. And my friend Cindy was really happy with her body scrub and facial. We both were transported for a few hours.

We’re going back. Soon! Dash can splash in the kiddie mineral wading pool (really, I did not design this place!) Jeff can soak in the hot tub (more minerals) and have all the badness sucked out of him (he’s been very sick with a weird virus that knocked him down for several days).

Thank you, thank you, thank you Shannon!

Thanks to Grandma Sherry, we’ve finally completed our “outdoor room” with a colorful “rug.”

We’ve already had our second CSA delivery; here is a sample from the first one:

Tonight I started playing in the yard with the “macro” feature on my little point-and-shoot.

Dashiell has mastered his first sign (as in ASL, American Sign Language): “more,” as in, “more food, please!” To see how to sign more, click here.

(A few months ago we attended a great ASL for Infants workshop given by our local expert Shira Folgel, aka Tiny Talkers. “Friend” her company on Facebook and get a video sign a week!)

It was great to have “real” communication going both ways! It helps to have an inspiring fruit nearby. Bananas make him…well, bananas. So he signs “more” and cheers “‘anana!” Maybe I will be able to get some video of him in action soon. He is getting so aware of the camera that it is getting harder and harder to get good footage of him…

One of the reasons I started this blog was to share videos of his funniest moments. Tonight he tried to use his finger on Dad’s lips to make the washboard sound, and I missed it! I’ll have to try for “more” again tomorrow…in the meantime, here’s an oldie (April 11, 2011), but a goodie.

(As usual, if you don’t see the video in the box below, click here to play the video in a new window).

Dash is too young to participate in Dozer Day, a charity event in our neighborhood that lets kids “drive” bulldozers and other boy magnet vehicles. But he has learned over the last month or so how much he likes to make things “go.” Whether it’s “driving” his toys around the house or flinging balls into the air, he’s starting to appreciate the thrill of…if not quite “speed” yet, at least motion.

When we were in Santa Fe in December, honorary Aunts Janice and Sydele gave Dash a stuffed dolphin. He didn’t think much of it at the time, but then we got a second stuffed dolphin, “Dozy Dolphin,” which plays 4 different tunes that are supposed to help him sleep (this was one of the many things we tried during those nights a few months ago when he was waking every 2 hours). Mr. Dozy didn’t help him sleep, but we play with the two dolphins all the time, and “dolphin” was Dash’s second word. Making the dolphins “play” and “dive” is very interesting to Dashiell, and I’ve found that showing him video of real dolphins has a very calming effect.

So these are Dolphin Days for us. Having trouble sleeping? Check out this peaceful footage of dolphins playing with air bubbles that they make themselves.

Speaking of dozing, look who’s Dozing with Dad.

Someone’s in a biiiiggg hurry to get to the toy area at Ikea!

(As usual, if you don’t see the video in the box below, click here to play the video in a new window).

Living in the temperate Pacific Northwest, we try to get outside as much as we can, whether it’s rainy or not (most of the time it just spritzes anyway). We have been watching Spring unfold with much anticipation. It’s a long season here–our Camilia tree bloomed in February–and now we are getting those dramatic, rolling slate-colored clouds that make the grass look electric. In our neighborhood, we troll the streets, sometimes trying for a nap, examining all the new flowers, inhaling the great scent of damp lawn trimmings on the breeze. The azalea hedges are in full bloom, showy and delicate, and the perfume of the lilac trees is irresistible.

It’s a sensory delight for both Dashiell and me. He is just learning to smell…I think. I put a lot of things next to his nose, and now he will often lean in a tree to “smell” things on his own.

Since he was very young, we’ve been playing “Stinky!”–we sniff D’s feet and declare them to be “stttiiiiinky!” This makes him explode with laughter. Tonight, for the first time, he put his nose next to Jeff’s foot and looked over at me, cueing me, waiting to hear the magic word. He did it several times and his face lit up with glee when he’d hear “stiiiiinky.” Since it was time for bedtime stories, Charlie (the stuffed chick) was nearby; when we showed D Charlie’s “feet,” he “smelled” those, too!

Monkey-see, monkey-do has begun!

Today we went to visit Sauvie Island Organics, the farm that will be providing us with a season’s worth of veggies–our share of a CSA. It was great to meet the people behind the produce.

It’s a surprisingly small number of people–only 4 full timers, working 17 acres of land, growing 40 different items! There was a tour and a potluck (I brought roasted squash and apples); on the tour we made friends with a second grader, who was disappointed to learn that although there are 40 things grown on the farm, pineapple was not among them. He took this picture of us:

We get our first delivery in a couple weeks. Judging from what we saw on the tour, it’ll be broccoli and maybe some carrots. They are predicting this harvest schedule. It’s been awfully wet though, so the schedule may be a bit delayed…

It was great to mingle with the other families. Someone brought an elaborate strawberry trifle desert, and I regret I didn’t get a snap of it. Every dish was excellent, and while we ate we chatted with a woman who grew up in Los Alamos. Yep, super small world.

We listen to a lot of Latin music at our house, especially music from Brazil. It is a great dream of mine to learn some Portuguese so I can sing my favorite songs in this beautiful language. Every Friday morning I listen to KSFR’s Jazz a la Carta with Ricardo Perez and Helga Ancona. He’s a Venezuelan and she’s Brazilian. They play 3 hours of jazz, with a full hour devoted to Brazilian music. The two of them like to banter back and forth in their native tongues–I’ve picked up quite a bit of Portuguese just from tuning in. But the best part is when Helga tells stories about life in Brazil, where she was part of the music scene. She’s got amazing personal stories about Jobim and Gilberto. Whenever she comes back from Brazil she brings new records and I’m always astounded by the variety of music that exists there. It’s a highlight in my week!

Dashiell loves the Latin sounds too. In the first couple weeks of his life, when we were camped out in the spare bedroom getting to know each other, I played and sang him songs by Bebel Gilberto, Luciana Souza, and of course all the Bossa Nova hits from the late 1960s. He has been learning that music is something you should move to. Here he is showing off his moves, with a little help from Dad.

Now that tooth #8 has broken through (!) we seem to be getting a short break from The Difficulties.

Let’s celebrate and play outside!

You may have noticed Dashiell is wearing a necklace. It’s not jewelry, although it does compliment his “chicken neck.” It is a string of hazelwood pieces meant to help with lowering the acidity of his skin. It’s the acidity that (apparently) contributes to his eczema and the terrible teething rashes he had on his face. It seems to have worked, at least a little bit. I noticed that, on days when the necklace got left behind, the face rash seemed worse. I know it sounds a little wu-wu, but I do think it turned the volume down a bit. And his body eczema is all gone, except for one stubborn spot behind his right knee. Check out the necklaces at the Canadian company called HazelAid.