Beach & more: What we've been up to this summer

This summer has felt too busy already! Suffice to say this blog has suffered. Sorry to all our loyal readers, but who wants to sit indoors at a computer during the only two warm-weather months of the year??

That said, it has been unseasonably cold and even rainy. Our June-bearing strawberries didn't merit a first harvest until July, and who knows if our tomatoes will ripen?

But we've gotten to the beach on many, many lovely days. It's such a joy to be past the sand-eating, sand-throwing stage Soren was in last year. He even willingly wears his sunglasses now.


And we occasionally use the rubber raft we acquired at a garage sale. It's just big enough for me and Soren. He's not quite adept enough to row yet, but just wait!

One new commitment I made this summer was to run a toddler story hour at our Maritime Center -- every Thursday in July and August. Well, the first three Thursdays of "Sea Squirts Storytime" were cold and rainy, which no doubt helped boost attendance. We've had a fun time of it, with our first session focused on the cruising pet "Salty Dog" (a book series by Ted & Gloria Rand), the next on lighthouses ("The Lighthouse Cat" and "Comet's Nine Lives"), the next on fishing (Robert McCloskey's "Burt Dow, Deepwater Man"), and the most recent on competitive rowing ("My Mommy Rows"). Here's a photo of Soren and friend from the fishing Thursday, when the kids tried on foul weather gear sized adult XS!

For a silly publicity photo of me, see the poster created to promote "Sea Squirts."

Now kids come up to me saying "Ahoy, Shipshape Shelly!" Volunteering to do this kids' program has awakened the teacher in me. And reminded me to practice my sailor's instruments: the pennywhistle and the bones. Both have made appearances at story hour. I even sang "The Eddystone Light" -- the non-racy version, of course, where the lighthouse keeper marries the mermaid.

Soren and I have been biking all over town with our handy-dandy bike trailer, and trying to attend every Free Friday Concert at Fort Worden associated with Centrum's summer festivals. One time Soren fell asleep on the way home, so I unhitched the trailer, propped it back against our driveway retaining wall, and let him sleep.
I'll close with a pic of Jeff and Soren. They really are two peas in a pod, my goofy boys. Look how long Soren is growing! Jeff estimates he'll match my height by age 9. Probably.

Graduating to the Big-Boy Bed

Drum roll please... Introducing our BIG BOY!

(And doesn't he look it, in his new shades?)

The breaking news is that Soren slept in his big-boy bed last night for the first time -- with no diaper on and the potty chair standing by, but he didn't get up to use it, and the bed was dry in the a.m.!!!

He is really proud of himself. We'll see how Night #2 goes... :-)

Moving the toddler bed up from basement storage was an impromptu decision made late last night when Soren refused to put a diaper on when getting dressed in his jammies. "I'm a big boy; I don't wear diapers anymore," he argued, quite rationally. (He's been fully day-potty-trained since early March.) When I asked (rhetorically) what he intended to do if he had to pee in the middle of the night, he hesitated only a second before replying, "I would call: 'Mo-o-o-ommy, Da-a-a-addy'" (his usual wake-up call from the confines of his crib).

"Um, that doesn't work for me," I told him. "You can't wake us up if you have to pee."

Which logically led to trying out the bed, something Jeff and I had been putting off as long as we could. Except for the nighttime pottying issue, it's so CONVENIENT that he can't climb out of his crib. It has a crib tent over the top and we still use it occasionally for out-of-control time outs. That option is probably defunct now...

Since we haven't disassembled the crib yet, the cute white frame toddler bed is sitting next to it right now, making for a tight squeeze in the L-shaped loft. The hastily made-up rules are:
1) Soren can't climb out of the bed once we say "good night" until morning (we're trying to enforce that this means 7 a.m.);
2) he doesn't have to empty the potty pot if he goes in it;
3) releatedly, he shouldn't climb down the loft ladder in the middle of the night (too dangerous).

When he woke up this morning, he proudly told us, "I followed the rules!"

I fully expected to be awakened by him either needing assistance to use the potty chair, or crying in a wet bed, but he didn't make a peep all night long, and slept 11 hours to boot -- 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.

This SORT OF makes up for all the sleep interruptions of the previous 2-3/4 years (!).

OK, since I haven't posted in so long, here are a few cute pix from the month of May:

Soren and friend Django enjoying popsicles today during a rare sunbreak. Note how refreshed Soren looks from his first night's sleep in the big-boy bed!

Father and son, the likeness becoming more and more apparent.

And he may be our big boy, but he's not too big for a bath in the laundry sink yet!