1 year and counting!

I was reminded by my friend, Lauren, that I've abandoned this blog. It's been a while. Looking back on the earlier entries and pictures is pretty amazing. Time has flow by so fast.
Charlie turned one on July 24th and it was great fun. Byron's Mom, Maggie, flew down from Green Bay to celebrate with us. For the most part we laid low; relaxed around the house, back deck, and park. Byron and I took some time off of work, so we could really be together.
On the 23rd Maggie stayed home while Charlie took his afternoon nap. Byron and I jumped into the '84 Rabbit convertible that we found last year. A tangent from the story...This was the car I wanted in high school. The woman we bought it from lived across the street from my high school and the last four digits of her phone number are my birth date. To top it off she is an ICU nurse!
Now back to the story.
We found a cart for Charlie to push goodies around the house at Brookside Toy and Science, a great local shop. The name explains almost all of it. The owner must be a rocker too b/c they have amps for sale in the back :-). We also stopped in the Dime Store and found the real pin the tail on the donkey paper kit to tack up on the wall, a string of letters saying "Happy Birthday" and party blowers. We also found a miniature plastic "kitty" and "1" candle. The cat and the 1 were the cake toppers. We have a cat, named kitty that lives outside. For a while Charlie was saying "kiiiitty". He almost sounded like a character in a horror film creeping up saying, kiiiitty. He's moved on from that and says "Hot" now.
He's finally comfortably acquainted with the pool and we spent the last three days going to the local pool at some point in our day. It's a great break from the 90 some degree heat we've been having here in KC.
We started our morning off at the pool yesterday, Saturday, and if you have a family that's the time to go. 10:00 is too early for the teenagers and young adults to rouse from their post party slumbers. The pool was quiet with a few families playing together. We enjoyed having lots of space to walk up and down the pool and talk. Admittedly we haven't bought the swim diapers yet, so we may be illegally dipping our son into the communal waters. Luckily there's been no poop, just a hugely absorbant gel diaper as proof! I feel like we have to conceal the evidence when we take it off of him after our swim. I thought one of the families was criticizing us under their breath yesterday, but maybe I was just worrying too much. Time to stop thinking like this and just buy the darn swim diapers. Oh the things you don't realize are necessary until you have a baby!
It was good that we went to the pool yesterday because we spent the rest of the day at my Mom's dredging out stored paraphernalia from years past! Books and more books, English papers from high school! Nursing school stuff. Letters that I've kept from anyone who's ever written to me. I've never had the heart to throw them out.
I spent some time reading threw a number of them. One was a letter from Ken who was our leader on the Outward Bound journey I took in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I sent him a letter at some point to request guidance for a possible career as a mountaineer. He wrote a generous letter back with a contact in Oregon. I never pursued that.
I found pictures and maps from my trip to Ireland with Emily the summer after Junior year of college. One was a letter with information on a Spanish immersion program I inquired about threw Austin Peay school in TN. They offered a program in Mexico. I didn't take that route either.
There were letters from my Grandma McDermott interspersed throughout them all. A nice voice to read since she just died in May.
Byron said I was melancholy all day. I guess it was all that momentary living in the past. It was like John Cusack in High Fidelity accept I wasn't revisiting relationships, but life directions I explored but choose not to take.
As I sorted through all the stuff Charlie climbed the stairs up and down with Byron or my Mom. Then I'd get pulled back into the present and see this amazing little guy, talking, laughing, climbing, and pretending to talk on the phone.

Quick note

I've got a couple of minutes while Charlie is on the floor absorbed with a new hand-me-down toy that keeps saying "the wheels on the bus go round and round". Thanks, Caroline and Christian! I guess we've officially been suckered into the noise making objects! There's also a piece of tupperware to balance things out at least a little bit.

Things are good. The weather has been warming up a bit around here. The sun has been out and that helps.

We just attended Sparrow's one year old birthday party yesterday. Sparrow is Charlie's friend in case you are wondering. The party was great and we all had a good time. I caught myself thinking how good it was to meet new adults and how much we talked about our children. Their development, our parenthood "anxieties",interspersed with adult topics. I had another one of those parenthood ah-ha moments. I was reminded that having common ground with acquaintances because we have children is all a part of this new life. It's great to think that parenthood will lead us to all sorts of new people and friends because of our children and their relationships.

Whoa! Charlie is going from all fours to almost standing by bracing himself on a toy!

I just took a couple of photos...take a look. You will see from the first one that Charlie has quite a bit of hair now!

Much awaited...Charlie's First Cereal Pictures

They're in...downloaded pictures of Charlie eating cereal!!!

Secretary of the Arts

Charlie ate his First cereal!

Picture of the event to follow. I'll put some others from last Thursday and Friday on here for now.

So He Did It! He ate cereal tonight! He liked it. Charlie grabbed at the spoon, requested more and is now totally energized kicking around on the floor with Byron.

We can't believe how big he' grown and how animated he is in only 5 and a half months. It's flown by like everyone warned.

Christmas was great. Charlie was just the right age. We didn't have to chase after a crawling tree tipper and we were far enough out of the completely sleep deprived newborn days. We were all able to enjoy the traditional eggs benedict at my Mom's house on Christmas morning. Then, Joel and his family joined us in the afternoon. Charlie was a big hit of the day. His cousin's loved being with him and the feeling was mutual. We did miss seeing family in Green Bay and look forward to welcoming another Collum cousin in May!

We wanted to spend more time with Mairenn and Olivia, so last Saturday they came over for a slumber party. Byron pitched a tent in our living room. It nearly took up the entire room :). We made nachos for dinner with "salad" on top as Olivia said and broccoli. The five of us played in the tent and watched as our hair rubbed up against the sides turning our lochs into "Einstein hair". Mairenn named it that. Byron served Mairenn's girl scout cookies and pineapple in the tent. A hit! Then, Mairenn helped soothe Charlie to sleep and Byron set up an air mattress for the girls. We made warm milk and read Where the Sidewalk Ends. It was off to slumber for everyone. We had high hopes for a roaring game of Monopoly, but the tent was too much fun.

As for me I've been encouraged to start drawing again. I was challenged to draw a picture of myself everyday. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be doodling at first I'm sure.

I received an email from a friend today stating that Quincy Jones is starting a petition for a Secretary of the Arts. If you see it circulating please sign it.

Holiday Remenicing

Today I woke up to Charlie and Byron singing baby song to each other downstairs in the kitchen. Like all Mom's I assume, Charlie and I are on a feeding schedule. My body tells me when Charlie is hungry. I started blinking my eyes and soon thereafter I heard Byron's footsteps coming up the stairs. Charlie singing all the way. They played in Charlie's room a little while he got his diaper changed as I was fading in and out of the morning. The next thing I knew my sweet guys were standing by the bedside, smiling. Byron made us huevos rancheros for breakfast and we all played in bed for a while after eating.
Then it was onto the race against time to get a few packages out and in the mail to family. They should arrive by Christmas thanks to a local USPS branch, Martway, that stays open until 4:30pm on Saturdays. Woohooo!
This year we've decided to stay away from the stores for gifts. Call it a reaction to the national/global and personal financial climate or just being new parents or a combo of the two. Either way, we're trying to be more responsible in many respects.
Don't get me wrong I love to get out and shop for things that I think might help friends and family enjoy life more fully, but our decision this year is making me enjoy the creative process. It's also slowing things down a bit and helping me recognize what a wonderful life we have surrounded by incredible people, great memories and unique experiences.
I've been digging thru boxes to find things to help me complete gifts, and in digging I've found old photos, unused items, journals and time capsules from years past. With all the recent giving as Mom I'm regaining a sense of self by unearthing this stuff.
It's pretty cool.
Giving Always Gives Back. Karma.

New Internet experiences and life without Sadie-girl

I officially joined face book last week and am amazed at what a not so counter culture it is. More screen time for all of us. I have to work hard to stay connected but not get too sucked into the vortex. 2.5 hours goes by quickly when you're not looking. that happened to me last week.

My old friend Martin was in town a week before Thanksgiving, so we had a dinner here with most everyone that was part of the "girls" wedding party including Martin. We made burgers on the grill in chilly weather. We laughed and used our many pieces of relaxation "equipment". No that's not a dirty thing. I've just collected various homemedic and massage tools over the years in my effort to stay relaxed through changes.