Icy statement

When you really want to get a point across, say it in a 1,500 lb block of ice. 

Quadruped no more

... well at least not 25% of the time. 

That's right folks, as of last night we determined Erin is officially walking.  I always though these things were more black-and-white than they really are.  What counts as walking?  Two steps? Four? She is able to make it clear across the room, pivot, take a couple more steps.  So while crawling remains her main form of locomotion, walking is comprising more and more.  Especially as she's starting to figure out she can hold stuff while walking, rather than having to drag things in her mouth while crawling. 

"Here's twenty bucks. Be safe and be back by 10:30."

Erin, my one year, one week old daughter, has already figured out doors. Well, sort of.

This afternoon she grabbed Ms. A's key ring, cruised over to the front door, and held the keys up to the door while trying to push it open. She kept looking back at me while jiggling the keys as close to the doorknob as she could get them, the look on her face saying "That's odd -- what gives? Why won't it open?"

Terwilliger Walk

Saturday was a beautiful day, and we took advantage of it by taking a walk from the best book in the whole world.



We saw houses that used to be houseboats in the 1930s and were then affixed to dry land after a flood, we walked through hidden right-of-ways between people's backyards, we saw the house that had slid down the hill on Terwilliger, and walked through a deep, forested canyon under I-5. Who knew there was this much cool stuff in our own neighborhood?

Getting Ready for Bath Time

Here's Erin and Ms. A during their nightly pre-bath book reading and horse playing.

And yes -- those are boogers mixed with spaghetti sauce. Enjoy.

Recipe Corner: pumpkin muffins

I wanted to make these.  But I didn't get any apples in my last CSA box.  So, having pumpkin left over from making these, I decided some pumpkin muffins were in order.  The house smells like fall. 

Pumpkin Muffins

Makes 12

Preheat oven to 350

Line muffin tin with paper cups

Mix together:

1 1/2 c All-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

Whisk together:

1 c canned solid-pack pumpkin

2 large eggs

1/3 c vegetable oil

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 1/4 sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Whisk flour mixture in with pumpkin mixture.

Divide among paper cups - should be about 3/4 full.

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (1 tbs sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon)

Bake 25-30 minutes.

12-month checkup!

Erin's 12-month well-baby checkup last week went swimmingly. Actually, I think she detests the doctor.  And getting shots.  She got four shots and didn't like a single one.

New stats:

Height: 29.5" (57% - little E is averaging out here)

Weight: 22 lbs, 11 ozs. (75% - still hanging in there)

Head circumference: 48 cm (98% - well, at least this time she's on the chart!)

Here is a picture of here showing us exactly where her belly button is when we ask her to show it to us.  Funny thing is that in the evening, depending on the food intake from the day, she can't even see her belly button. But she knows it's there somewhere. 

Mama is a Cheetah!

I ran the Run Like Hell half-marathon with Mary this last weekend.  The weather was cool, but quite lovely and we both ran a very satisfying race.  It was the farthest I've run since, well, since before even conceiving of conceiving Erin.  And considering I trained not at all for this race, I was pleased with my final time of 2:05:16.  That's a 9:33 pace, thank you very much.  I oughta not train for races more often. And run more with Mary.

The smallest spectator gave lots of encouragement.

And even better was seeing unexpected supporters at the end. 

This was a Halloween-oriented event.  By far the most impressive "costume" was a 3-month-old baby dressed as a wookie complete with a Bob tricked out as the Millennium Falcon.  Seriously, some parents have waaaaay too much time on their hands. 

Special Delivery!

Got my ballot on Saturday. 

I've never been so happy to get a letter in the mail. 

Blind Cooking

Ever wonder how a sightless person makes his/her dinner? Find out here.  Really, really interesting Q&A with an avid cook who lost his sight in his 20's. 

(comes from a highly recommended food blog, Chocolate and Zucchini.)

Happy Birthday Henry!

Keep on rockin', little man!

Happy Birthday, Zoey and Dalia!

Born Oct 15, 2008 to good pals Sara and Brandon. 

Congrats to Mama and Pop too!

Happy Birthday, Erin!

Tooth Fairy Savings Plan

Tonight we examined Erin's mouth, as she's been pointing to it and whimpering. Sure enough, there are two new tooth eruptions. Second left incisor on the bottom, upper left first molar. We presume the two "sister" teeth on the right side are not far behind.

Poor critter has handled it with aplomb. Her solution is to cool her inflamed gums with fistfuls of yogurt.  

She doesn't like to do anything halfway, I guess.

Parrrrr-tay!

Not bowing to conventional wisdom that a 1-year-old's birthday party should be small, we had a bash for lil' E.



She loved it.

Thanks to all who came, thanks to all who sent their good wishes.

Playing on the Bed

Cabinet Inspector

"Cabinet Inspector, Ma'am. I'm gonna have to check the action on these doors."

Erin can spend twenty minutes playing with the cabinet doors. That's twenty baby minutes, which is like, you know, ten hours to an adult.

Pop Tarts: Let's Just Let This Be Our Little Secret, Okay?

Driving home from work yesterday, Ms. A says to me, as Erin is coughing while trying hard not to choke on a piece of Pop Tart:

"Oh, man, I can't imagine what the women on my organic-hippie-mother message board would think of this if they found out. 'My child's first choking experience was a Pop Tart.'"

Nutrition

Methinks Erin is going through the 12-month growth spurt.  The nice thing is this time she can just tell us she's hungry rather than having to cry - she will sign "eat" over and over, and says and signs "more."  And she's got the sign for "milk" down, too, accompanied with "muh muh muh", which is close enough in my book. 

Here's a photo of our growing child in her Ft. Lauderdale track suit, apparently just back from power-walking in the mall with the rest of the ladies from her bridge group:

Palin Poll

Thought this was interesting enough to warrant a post.

PBS has an online poll posted asking if Sarah Palin is qualified.   

The poll will be reported on PBS and picked up by mainstream media. It can influence undecided voters in swing states. 

Click here to vote for yourself. 

The good friend who forwarded this to me states the right wing knew about this before the poll began, and has been flooding the site with "yes" votes. 

Here is more info about the poll. 

Me Meme

* Take a picture of yourself right now.

* Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair ... just take a picture

* Post that picture with NO editing.

* Post these instructions with your picture. 

gee, thanks Darren. 

Portland Marathon

This morning was the Portland Marathon. Weather was nice and cool, a little misty. Ash and Erin braved the rain and cheered heartily.



I wasn't planning on running, but four weeks ago I got the bug to run, signed up, and then commenced my patented "wing-and-a-prayer" training program. Really, I should write a book, something like "The Half-assed Guide to Non-competitive Running". My time was a non-heroic 4:13:30, but I really enjoyed being a part of the run.



Thanks to Ang, who ran with me most of the way (she kindly slowed a crawl to do so).

Vegging out = brain food

On the Tivo:

Nova

Nova Science Now

MacNeil Lehrer News Hour

How Its Made

Oregon Field Guide

Planet Earth

Antiques Road Show

America's Test Kitchen

Nature

House

The Office

Family Guy

Podcasts on Ms. A's iPod:

Nature weekly 

Cell monthly 

Science magazine daily 

NIH Research Radio bi-weekly

TED talks

NPR Science Friday

NPR On Health

NPR Food

NPR Sunday Puzzle

NPR Wait Wait Don't Tell Me

NPR This American Life

WNYC's Radio Lab

Futures in Biotech

Cooks Illustrated