Cheerio!

Well, Cheerios.

So much development, so little time...

Yes, it's a vid of Asa and Oliver.  But NOTE: Asa is learning cause and effect.  He's making choices and recognizing their effect on others.  He's improving his motor control and balance.

And he's playing by himself!  (why, one might ask, was I taking video rather than actually getting something done?  ah, dear blog readers, the things I do for you.)



that, and it was cute.  You really think I'm going to pass up cute just to be practical?

Let Them Eat Cake

We'd originally thought that this first all-out-smearfest would take place on his birthday, but Riley's baptism cake proved just a little too tempting.

Asa wasn't too sure at first, but he warmed up to the idea.

Now all of you in order, from messiest to cleanest... yes, you too, Caleb...

Yup, when it comes to messy eating, Riley really does (ahem) take the cake.

Local History

The other day, it was supposed to be in the low-to-mid 70s with almost no humidity - a nice break from the thick, hot weather we've been having.  So we decided to do one of the walks that we'd been putting off - the Battle Road from Concord to Lexington, MA.  I hadn't done it since I was very small, and M. had never done it, so what more reason did we need?  

It's a moderately-wide dirt track that runs about 2.5 miles one way... not entirely stroller-friendly, so we plopped the Bean in his sling and off we went.

It was a beautiful day, with beautiful fields and forest - only slightly marred by the knowledge that all those purple flowers are a highly-invasive and destructive species.

It got rather warm as we walked... a good deal warmer than the forecast, in fact.  Especially for the person with the 20-pound heat source strapped to her back.  We were glad we weren't walking nearly as far as the Minutemen.

We didn't make it all the way.  It would have been fine either with cooler temperatures or without the added weight of baby and backpack-full-of-food-and-water, but we got about 2 miles before admitting defeat and turning around.  And trading baby for pack.

One very cool moment was finding our Bean's name on one of the historical markers:

That, and the howling shark tree.  See it?

As tired as we were, Asa was a perfectly happy almost the whole time.  He didn't really fuss until a few minutes before we got back to the car, and then slept the whole way home.

Thank You, Judge Walker

In a beautifully written ruling, Judge Vaughn R. Walker has overturned California's Proposition 8 - the referendum that took away the then-existing right for same-sex couples to marry.  I would write all about it, but really, the eloquent Dr. Maddow really said everything better than I ever possibly could.

So: Rachel?  Take it away.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Plugging another Blog

I don't usually plug other blogs.  I read a lot of them, and keep several in the blog roll (below right).  But Catherine's plea struck a chord with me... I know that nearly no one who reads this blog is going to be at BlogHer this weekend, although some of you are in NYC, but there are other ways of supporting an excellent cause, and helping Tanner and other kids like him.

So please: click this link, and then click the links within the blog that pops up.  Read all about Tanner, with a box of Kleenex handy.  Then whip out a tutu.  She's right.  You know you want to.

Road Trip!

Mummy and Auntie Jen went on a somewhat-impromptu road trip to Nova Scotia this weekend, to bring Jen's Grandma home after visiting relatives around here.  This is particularly remarkable because it was Mummy's first overnight away from her favorite boy.  Also remarkable for the fun that Mummy, Auntie Jen and Grandma could have on a 12+ hour car trip.

I met Grandma here at 7:30 Friday morning.  We packed up the car and headed up to Salem to grab Jen, who had made an early-morning visit to her favorite bakery for croissants, sticky buns and danishes, as well as a fabulous loaf of olive bread.  At 9am, we were on our way out of Salem, heading north.

We stopped for lunch in Bangor

With a lovely view of the Penobscot River:

Then the long, boring part began.  From Bangor to Calais, there's a lot of trees... wild, scenic vistas... open sky... and not much else.   A hefty chunk of New Brunswick is the same way.

The border itself was kind of a breeze in each direction, fortunately: there was never more than a one-car wait, and the guards on either side were polite, if not exactly friendly.

It got prettier as we got nearer the coast: the Bay of Fundy, specifically.

I don't think I've ever been so far north - it was a little startling to see the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the GPS.

For as long a drive as it was, we had a blast.  Thelma and Louise and Grandma, without quite as much violence.  

We got in about 9:30pm EDT (despite what the GPS predicted).  The stars were glorious in their visible abundance... and we had plenty of time to admire as we tried to get into the house.  The front door lock was frozen with lack of use.  The back door was blocked by a chained-shut bulkhead and a locked screen door; the chain gave way to Jen's good-hard-pull, but we couldn't quite figure the screen door.  Jen and I were working on taking it off its hinges with entirely the wrong screwdriver when Grandma finally got the front door lock to open.  She came back to let us in, accidentally setting off the alarm in the process.  After several very long, loud minutes of attempting to shut it off properly, Jen again took matters into her own hands... and I'm sure the alarm will be usable once again in a few days, when Grandma has had the alarm company out to figure out what went wrong in the first place.  Bed was very welcome that nice... and very comfortable.  

Jen and I got up the next morning and went on a hunt for coffee.  No luck.  I attempted a shower, but there was no hot water.  So without coffee, we trooped to the basement to examine the water heater.  No switches, no temperature control, just a couple of wires that disappeared behind some insulation.  We guessed that they led to the fuse box.  Yes, you read that right: FUSES.  Unmarked, except by Grandma's uncle Leo, ages ago, in pencil.  None of which were marked "Hot Water".  So we would put in fuses (in empty slots), wait a while, and see if the water was warm.  Trial and error is a lousy way of doing such things, frankly, especially with no coffee.  So Jen and I went on to problem number three of the morning: getting Grandma's 1980 Chevy Malibu out of the garage and started.  Sounds easy, no?  So did making coffee.  We should have known.

Yes, that's Jen using a hammer and chisel to remove the 20+ nails holding a 2x4 to both the door and the doorframe.  As she noted, it's not exactly something that would thwart an even-slightly-prepared burglar in such a rural area - even in broad daylight, one would have plenty of time to yank out all the nails and get in.  (Or so we thought, until we realized that the door had sagged to the point of catching on the floorboards of the garage.  At which point Grandma, who had made coffee and then joined us, shoved us out of the way and kicked the door open.  And my admiration rose to nearly-unprecedented heights.)

Getting in was just the beginning, of course: the battery, which had been removed from the car preparatory to Grandma spending the winter and spring (!) in the U.S., was not quite charged enough to start the car.  And because the car was parked head-in, this meant pushing it out of the garage.  The 2x4 that had made our attempts to get to the car in the first place quite difficult now came in handy, as we nailed it to the floor to give us something to push against.  Who'd have thought?  We brought my car around and charged up the battery, but the car still wouldn't start, and we were once again one-upped by Grandma, who was far more accustomed to a car with a carburetor.  Note the slightly smug smile on her face.

After a couple of cups of coffee and the wonderful breakfast that Grandma insisted on making for us, and after finding the correct fuses for the water heater, we headed south once more.  Yes, the very day after arriving we headed home.  Fortunately, the trip was entirely uneventful, so we arrived in Salem around 8:30pm and I was home a little before 10.  It took about 15 minutes to stop feeling as though the world was still moving, and 15 minutes and 1 second to fall asleep.

But what was Asa doing this whole time?  Other than spending quality time with Mommy and playing with the kitties he was... cutting a tooth!!  Yes, finally, the long-expected bottom-front tooth arrived!  Mommy texted me on Friday while we were eating lunch, but I didn't really believe it until I'd arrived home and he bit down on my finger.  Someday, perhaps, he'll let me take a picture of it...

In all, an eventful and mostly wonderful weekend.  New adventures for all!