So many things

I am in St Louis for a few days right now and am missing my little boy (and feeling bad that we've been a little slow on the blog updates). There is much to report but there has not been much time lately with which to report it. Here's a few of the latest exciting things. We will be sure to back them up with photo or video-graphic proof as soon as we can!

• Clapping. Lots of it. And if you say "clap" he will actually do it! (sometimes)
• Pointing. Rampant, indiscriminate pointing. Good thing he doesn't have laser beams attached to his index fingers or this would be pretty dangerous.
  
• Moose vs Woof. Emerson has become quite expert at knowing the right thing to get when you instruct him to get the moose or the woof (well, it's a dog really). If you clap when he gets it right, he will probably drop the moose or woof to clap with you.
• Fascination with small spaces and going under or through things. Emerson will happily crawl into a small box, squeeze between your legs, make his way underneath a low coffee table, or weave under and over the rungs underneath chairs.
  
• Look no hands! Emerson has been letting go of objects while cruising around the living room (he literally does laps around the ottoman) and transferring from ottoman to couch to bookshelf with less help from his hands. Still no "real" walking yet but it feels darn close.
• Will. Emerson, who has always been pretty go-with-the-flow, is discovering that sometimes when we think it is time to get out of the bath (or get in the high chair, or on the changing table...), he actually disagrees. This is not the time for those things. And he is getting strong enough to really make his point of view matter. Thankfully, he remains very distractable.
  

Eric will hate this but I am compelled to post the adorable if somewhat boogery photo he sent me of Emerson last night. Being away is hard and photos like this totally make my day. The caption it came with was "Needs nose wiped."

Tea time

If I were an adolescent boy, I wouldn't be able to make myself a cup of tea in this office without giggling.

Stash tea's Mellow Moments?

Morning Thunder?

African Red Bush?


Seriously. Who is naming tea these days?

According to that guy

Last night on my way home from Whole Foods, a guy getting out of a pickup truck with his buddy stopped short upon seeing me walking towards him along the sidewalk.

"Now THAT" he shouted, pointing at me, "is a WOMAN! Baby in one hand, six pack of beer in the other."

Signs the sleep deprivation may be getting to me

I woke up extra early to go to work this morning and when I went to put my contacts in I discovered they were already in, or should I say, still in.

I finished getting ready and went to the garage to get my bike. As I was putting on my gloves I felt something in one of the fingers. It was my wedding ring, which had been there since I got home the day before and somehow neither Eric nor I had noticed in the several hours we were awake that I wasn't wearing my wedding ring. I guess this is the danger of such a comfortable fit.

It may be worth mentioning that the reason I came in to work extra early is because I forgot to bring essential equipment for my breast pump home from work. Shouldn't have been a big problem but Emerson has a cold and has been too congested to nurse. Long failed-nose-clearing-and-pump-part-borrowing story short, I have never been so eager upon waking up at 4am to get up and come into the office.

At least I remembered all my clothes today. Last week after teaching yoga in the morning it became clear that I would be wearing my sports bra all day. Let me tell you: sports bra under work blouse is a look whose time has come.

Things we're learning

Emerson has learned that if he crawls under the side table next to the couch and tries to stand up, he can lift the table up over his head and maybe even knock it over.

I've learned that if, as Emerson is cruising around the kitchen, he puts both hands on the oven door handle and then hangs all his weight on it, the oven door will open and throw him onto the hard tile kitchen floor.

Emerson has learned that if he stands up on his tip toes and leans way over the edge of the bathtub, he can get past the tipping point and dive into the tub face first.

I've learned that baby-proofing is a journey, not a destination.

Who's the boss

For our internet service at home, we've recently switched from the devil we know (Comcast) to the devil we don't (Astound).

Installation was scheduled for between 10am and noon and I was pleasantly surprised when the Astound guy showed up at 10:05am.

"Hey boss," he addressed me. "How can I get up on the roof?"

I informed him our roof was not accessible (we've looked into it as a potential beehive locale) but he still wanted to see if he could make it work with a ladder. It soon became clear that this was a terrible idea that would almost certainly result in death, so he decided he had to call the cherry picker.

"Hey, boss, the truck can come at 11:30. OK with you boss?" he asked.

I said that was fine with me.

At 4pm when it was time to take Emerson to the doctor, we still hadn't heard from or seen the cable guy, but as I headed out there he was.

"Boss," he said. "We're almost done."

I left Eric behind to be the boss for the rest of the installation.

Sunny January Saturday

Yesterday we did a big hike down Route 1 just past Pacifica. It is a hike that is best done this time of year, when the poison oak that overgrows the trail most of the year has receded and the fog is unlikely to spoil the views.

Driving down there's an excellent view of Linda Mar beach, a popular surfing spot. Not surprisingly for a beautiful day with good waves, the water looked like a salmon farm: more flesh than water. Though in this particular salmon farm all the salmon are wearing wetsuits. And surfing. Yes, this simile has gotten a little weird. My point is: there were a LOT of surfers in the water.

The hike we did is an 8 mile round trip, with a flat meandering-along-the-coast section followed by a steep vertical climb of about 2,000 feet to the top of a mountain whose name I have already forgotten. The good news is that the reward for all that climbing is one of the most spectacular views: a 360 panorama that includes the ocean, the bay, Mount Tam, Mount Diablo and everything in between, like Oakland. It was a clear day and we could see it all.

We were so excited about it that we completely forgot to take a picture. Maybe next time.