Busy summer times

It's summer and we've been busy! I agonized over the decision to take the months of July and August OFF and not do any consulting work, but now that I'm halfway through this "trial," I see it was the right thing to do. I'm way more relaxed and Soren and I are spending much more time at the beach than would be possible if I was shoehorning client work into our days.

I really needed the lifeline of my professional career when Soren was an infant, but he slept a lot more then, and now I've grown more comfortable in my mothering role and found different outlets for creative expression. Plus, my teenaged babysitter support network unraveled when school let out, and it's a relief not to be piecing together childcare. Maybe I won't go back to "work" in September...we'll see!

This all means I haven't spent much time at the computer, and when I have, I've been cranking out Volume 4 of S'ing Around With Soren (photos from 1 to 1-1/2 years old). Until Aug. 14, you can view the entire book (all 80 pages!) here. (Although if you're on the recipient list--you know who you are--you might not want to spoil the surprise.) I suggest using "Full Screen" view. Yes, that's our Auntie Jill on the cover!

So here are some of my favorite photos from the month of June, to bring you somewhat up to date.
The first ice cream cone in Soren's short life, at a 2-year-old's birthday party. He liked licking the ice cream, but biting down on the crunchy cone was a surprise. He quit then.
Summer in the Northwest means wading in the water up to your ankles! Soren could splash around all day. And my feet eventually go numb, too.
The cutest "First Mate" ever!
Warmer water can be found in our wading pool in the backyard, shared here with Soren's good friend and age-mate Tayla.
Here they are at the sand-turned-water table. Check out the difference between the male and female thighs, even at this age!
Other friends: little Mila, daughter of my old friend Marinka, who lives in Seattle.
Making music at our piano with Satria, a Port Townsend chum.
Did you notice Soren's colorful hands in the previous picture? After reading a book where a little girl painted her toenails, I caught Soren doing this...
Not to worry, he takes frequent baths.
His wet hair makes some wild shapes.
In late June, both sets of grandparents visited together. Soren was thrilled to have Jim, Glory, Nannie and Papaw all at The Roost.
Jeff's parents brought a box of his old Tinker Toys, and the adults had as much fun as Soren with the initial creations. Here's a working swing for the Monkey King.
Speaking of working, Soren can't wait until he can mow the lawn by himself. Here he is on Nannie & Papaw's riding lawnmower in Anacortes.
He did help Papaw out a little.
And on those "June-uary" days, Soren is happy to don raingear and splash in the neighborhood puddles.

Hard to believe Soren will be two in less than a month! He is so accomplished in so many things. Wouldn't you agree?

Our piano man

Soren isn't talking much yet (with his voice -- he uses 35 signs, however!), but he is usually quite clear in his communication.

Here, for example, he wants to play the piano. Grannie boosts him onto the bench. He gets into the rhythm with a sway and a smile. And with a flourish, adds a low bass note -- he is currently fascinated with the left end of the keyboard. The high notes on the right don't hold much thrall for him.

Yes, that's a clear "Mommy" you hear at the beginning, and from then it's 21 seconds of our Piano Man.

(This video is from the new camera and should be much better quality. Hope the file size isn't too cumbersome.)

Visiting Nora in Colorado

I'm posting in real-time at the end of our first full day in Colorado, where we are visiting my sister Nora for five days. Soren and I left Jeff working in Washington and made the trip with my parents, Bill and Ann (thank goodness for grandparental assistance on the flight here!).

It's nice to get out of PT, and we needed to see Nora in her graduate-school setting. She's been at the University of Northern Colorado since August 2008 and will finish her master's in public health program next May. The school is in Greeley, but she lives in Fort Collins -- both are north of Denver.
Nora hadn't seen Soren since June (here's a reminder of how much littler he was back then) and is thrilled that he is so much more mobile and able to really PLAY on the playground.
Devoted auntie that she is, Nora wore Soren in the Ergo when it was time for his one nap of the day (about 50% of our days are uni-nap now). The tour of her graduate-student office was just not exciting enough to keep his eyes open -- he fell asleep while she was checking her email.
I'll close with these photos (by Nora) of Soren with his grandpa Bill's ukelele. It's amazing how naturally he strikes the folk musician pose.
We look forward to three more full days of grins, then we fly back on Tuesday. For more grins, see Soren's blog for pix of today's pumpkin patch visit.

A note about the weather: we're getting our first taste of winter, with wet, non-sticking snow falling as our plane landed yesterday and now drier snow frosting the ground as we head to bed, although it was a lovely, clear and even warm day. Maybe Soren will get to frolick in the white stuff tomorrow!

Strum sticks and more

I feel inspired to blog before bed because I just watched a movie about blogging--and French cooking. Yes, Julie & Julia (that would be Julia Child). It was my first movie at a movie theatre (our beloved Rose Theatre) since before Soren was born!! Ack, I couldn't believe it had been that long.

Went with two other mama friends (thanks, hubbies, for making it happen!) and I won the Monday night door prize of a gift certificate so I can come back and see another movie (sooner than 12 months from now, I hope) AND a pound of butter. Just watch the movie and you'll see why. Why didn't the main character gain any weight after cooking Julia Child's recipes for one whole year?!
So, things have been moving along at The Roost. Soren's diet now includes nuts (almonds and pecans were the first) and if ham is on the dinner menu, he won't eat anything else. The Nest has a roof, just in time. And we just enjoyed a three-day weekend with fall weather making a wet and windy entrance. But we got in a bike ride today as a family (Soren in a seat behind mine) and we got out to the Andy Mackie Music Festival on Saturday (as we did one year ago with newborn Soren--it was my first outing downtown as a postpartum mama and Soren blogged about it then). We enjoyed my dad's company, as he came over for a day visit. He shared these photos--thanks!

Andy is famous for giving harmonicas away to children and teaching them how to play them. He also sells and gives away simple strumstick kits. My dad has made one. Soren enjoyed strumming all of the ones on display.

And then he brought the harmonica Andy had given him last year and surprised him by playing it pretty darn well. He sounds like a blues musician, I kid you not. We have recordings! The second picture is of Andy kneeling on the makeshift stage to admire Soren's playing. He says he'll see Soren up on stage with him if he can just live a few more years. If you want to know more about the Harmonica Man's truly heart-warming story, watch this 2:30 minute video that was aired on CBS on May 2 of this year.
A few more pix of our cutie, with someone else's dog and with our nearly 3-y-o friend Evie. They happened to be color-coordinated!
Well, THEY SAY parenting gets easier after the first year, and we, in our tired haze, choose to believe that. Who knew one little person could take so much adult time and energy?? Do we hear affirmation?

Soren's growing so fast -- and sleeping more, finally

I am thrilled to report that Soren broke all nighttime sleeping records last night and was out cold for 11.25 hours!! From 7:15 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. No wake-ups that we could hear from the next room (i.e., no crying -- I'm sure he woke up, but he put himself back to sleep).

Wow. I really didn't believe he had it in him. This gives us such hope for a normal life again!

I'll spare you most of the gory details, but in addition to not nursing him back to sleep if he wakes at night (see July 9 post), for the last two nights we've allowed Soren to practice his self-soothing skills by crying himself to sleep. This is as opposed to one of his parents holding/rocking/walking him until sleep descends. He seems to be ready for this challenge. Last night he made protest noises for only 30 minutes before zonking out for that marathon sleep. (Not that it's all roses -- for the past two days he has been resisting his daytime naps, which actually means cranky crying of a different sort.)

Anyway, this is all making me think that very soon our little baby will be a toddler, like our friend Evie (below, with Soren at my birthday party last month).

Here's another happy photo from our backyard potluck. That's former Adventuress shipmate (i.e., longtime friend) Rosie at left and sis Jill at right.

And after some delicious food, we moved inside for a music jam. Among the talented musicians in attendance were Theresa and Gabriel, singing a Chilean song that Soren rocked out to with his maraca.

Ah, so soon he'll be dancing on his own two feet...and then giving me grief for not letting him sleep till noon on the weekends! They really grow up so fast.

Soren on trapset

The following 27-second video demonstrates the musical and life skill we are teaching Soren. We have read that boys who have drumming as a physical outlet experience less stress and aggression. And he can accompany us in our living-room music jams.

Soren's "trapset" consists of his bodhran drum and a cowbell. Little does he know that when he's ready, there's his dad's full drumset in storage the basement, waiting for him! (Jeff plays a very boring role in this video, as he sits on the floor beside his son, paying bills.)

Gleeful for grandparents

Grandpa Jim and Grandma Gloria also came for a visit in April, their first since February. Of course, Soren had changed an awful lot and had lots of new tricks to show them.
One was his growing competence as a bodhran drummer.

Hands down, it's his favorite instrument. Just tonight he was beating time on it while Jeff played guitar and Auntie Nora played mandolin to "You Are My Sunshine." Oh, yes, Nora has begun a much-anticipated week-long visit with us. We'll report in the next post.
Hmm, thinks Soren. I like having all these relatives visit!

New skills: Standing, waving, dulcimer-playing

Before the month May is over, here are some representative pictures from April. As you can see, Soren has been standing unassisted for a while, but not unsupported. He still needs to hold on to something sturdy, although for the first time this Memorial Day weekend, he demonstrated free standing (no hands, ma!) for a few seconds at a time. Nervewracking seconds for us!
Here Soren is showing off his wave. It started as a stiff-armed salute (Grannie Annie liked to call it his "benediction") , then the fingers got involved, and now he does the very cute finger flap -- usually pointed back at himself rather than at the departing party. It's the sweetest thing for me to carry him slowly upstairs to bed as he waves goodnight to Daddy, the lights, the fan, etc. These are also the objects he has figured out the ASL signs for, so we're starting to communicate with our hands.
When Grannie and Papaw were visiting last month, they brought with them the newest addition to the instrument collection at The Roost. It's a kit-made hammered dulcimer that a friend of theirs built and wanted to place in a good home. We are very grateful to have it. It's an instrument that sounds good (like a harp, if you've never heard it) no matter whether you really know how to play it or not. Since Jeff and I had gotten lessons from Lorna in North Carolina earlier in the month, we kind of know what we're doing. With our supervision, Soren is allowed to "hammer" on it every so often. The sweetest hammering you'll ever hear!
We'll close with Soren spooning. His current favorite foods: pureed pork chop and peaches (separately, NOT together!).

Three visitors -- but one's melting

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

Port Townsend has not gotten nearly as much snow as the rest of western Washington (and now it's melting), but we had enough for Jeff and Auntie Jill to make an exceedingly tall snowman in our front yard a few days ago. Soren wasn't quite sure what to make of this new visitor. However, he is quite certain he likes having his two aunties around!
Jill and Nora have been visiting for over a week now, and nearly every evening we've played folk music -- "Wildwood Flower," "The Banks of the Ohio," "Soldier's Joy" and such. Soren loves listening to live music -- and sometimes he even joins Dad on his lap, where he is learning to play, er gum, the guitar.
We are all headed to bed after an eventful evening in which Soren made a successful stage debut. That's right, he was BABY JESUS in our Methodist church Christmas Eve service. I (Shelly) was Mary. It was a beautiful experience; look for photos in the next day or two.

Catching up on Christmas festivities

Sorry about the time lag, but it seems difficult for me to download my photos in a timely fashion. I TAKE them, and think about sharing them with you, but then life gets busy. All you parents out there understand.

Anyway, two weekends ago, we took Soren downtown for the treelighting ceremony. He was fascinated by the streetlights, or the crenellated facades of the historic buildings, or something up there.

Our friend Sierra was with us. Note that I am wearing Soren in a new carrier -- a Maya Wrap sling. As he gets bigger and better able to hold his head up, it is handy for plopping him in and out of. Less work to put on than the Moby Wrap and less bulky than the Baby Bjorn. (Also note that I am wearing my new glasses. When I had my biannual eye exam in October, it turned out my left eye was a little nearsighted, which explained some of the struggles I've been having with my night vision especially. I thought it was due to a fluid imbalance during pregnancy, but it persisted for two months after giving birth. Well, It's been nearly 10 years since I had laser eye surgery, and overall I've been very happy with the results, so I'm not that bummed about wearing glasses every once in a while. Mostly when I drive, and especially at night. They really help.)

Afterwards we enjoyed a late night out at a local pizza joint, where two friends of ours were playing old-time music. Soren got danced around (shown here with Sierra) and was enthralled watching the musicians. He especially liked the dobro.

Happy Thanksgiving from The Roost

Happy day-after Thanksgiving to all our readers! We hosted Grandpa Jim and Grandma Gloria at The Roost; they drove over the mountains from Eastern Washington and helped cook a turkey dinner. It was unanimous that this year we are thankful for Soren. Here are some happy photos from the day.



Soren's newest trick is standing up with very little balancing assistance--on laps, on table-tops, on the floor. Such strong legs!

And he is continuing to take music lessons from his pop.