Babysitters

Ms. A, as she picks up the untouched, unopened bottle of wine she left for our angelic babysitter: "Gosh, you try to get the babysitter drunk and look what happens!"

Thanks, Caroline!

500 days

Today marks the 500th day Erin has breathed on this planet. 

Here are five things I love about her:

1. She always chooses the big piece

2. She is always looking for ways to be helpful, even if it means some of the salad lettuce gets mushy.

3. She is a busy person.  All the time.  Except when she's asleep, and even then she is rarely still. 

4. She loves books.  Loves them.  

5. She gets into things. She approaches new things with interest and curiosity. She can be demure and refined; she can tear it up with the big kids.  She feels things intensely.  I am in awe of the passionate person she will someday be already is. 

Happy 500 days, little one. 

How Erin says....

.....I'm ready for bed.

Booyeah! 50K!

Saturday I ran my first 50K, the Hagg Lake Trail Run.



If you happen to live south of the 49th parallel, it's a 31 mile run. It took me 5 hours, 45 minutes.

Last year I did the 25K there, and had such a good time I wanted to do the 50k. It's a beautiful park -- here's the view as I pulled into the parking lot:



It was a tough run -- I was feeling really worn out even before the race. However, by mile 20, I was feeling pretty bad-assed. That is, until I overheard two ultra vets chatting about their 100-mile, 24-hour runs. One laughed to the other self-deprecatingly, "But you know, the only skill needed in this sport is not stopping." Hmm, touché.

I took my time. It was hard to been on my feet for so long. However, I was able to pace myself enough to have kick left for the last mile and to finish with a smile on my face. It occurred to me that we should be so lucky with any of our endeavors.

Shhh.. don't tell Daddy!

Brian is off doing his first 50K run (wow!) So Erin and I have had a fun day doing all the things we're not supposed to do.

Dipping our bacon in orange juice..... (why did I not think of this before?!)

Eating our bacon on the "good" carpet (the one with fewest stains) while watching Sesame Street.

But we'll clean up after ourselves so he'll never know. 

 You won't tell, will you? 

McMillerPDX rocks Valentine 2009 San Carlos style

Last weekend we traveled to SFBA to visit Ms. A's family.
Activities included:
* Valentine dinner (composed salad, gumbo, chocolate fondue)
* Bath taking

* Dog petting (not pictured)

* DeYoung museum
* Hot fudge sundaes at Ghirardelli Square.

Keeping Your Child Awake in the Car

You will need:

• Child
• Paper bag
• Funny voice

Mix ingredients until smooth. Serves 2.

Welcome, little Liam!

Happy birthday to Liam Erik, born today to David & Linnea (Brian's brother and his wife).  

4 lbs, 11 oz, 17.5 inches. 

Welcome to the world little one!

On the Food Affinities of Beer

On the way to work this morning, Ms. A and I were trying to figure out where to go for dinner tonight. We were debating between two brewpubs. Here's the scene:

Me: "Man, but you know what would go good with beer? A nice burger." (I hold up my hand in a 'C' shape, miming a nice big burger)
Ms. A: "Yeah, but I don't think the first place has burgers. It's a pizza place."
Me: "Hm, bummer. Well, what else goes good with beer?"
Ms. A: "Everything."

Now that's catchy!

Just found this.  

Results for "Erin":

You don't want Erin as your enemy!

Erintastic

Who wouldn't fight for Erin?

My way is Erin

Erin, your family will love you

Erin? Yes please. 

Body art in two acts

Blue-purple is from the 1/2 cup frozen blueberries she ate for dinner.

Black-ink scribbles are, well, only Erin knows what they mean.  

I am happy we do not have white carpets. 

Finance Lesson #1

In line to pay for some pizza:


Erin, attempting to eat the dollar bill I gave her to hold: "Mmmph."

Me: "No, no, sweetie. We don't eat money. We just exchange it for goods and services."

Baby gates are fun.

Public Health Announcement

Grandma McMiller sent this article. So we thought we'd give our kid a "leg up" in the immune system department and let her drink out of mud-and-worm filled puddles.

Puddles are innately fun. If you listen closely, you can hear Brian giggling in the background.

Baby Date by Erin

Mom and Dad said Henry was coming over for a date. I was very excited. 

Henry was not so sure about the whole thing. 

I got to show him my favorite toys.

Then we went to take a (chaperoned) walk.  He helped me with my coat.  His coat is neat because it has space aliens on it. 

We rode in the wagon to pick up dinner

Then we ate yummy fettucini alfredo. It kind of tasted like my favorite, Mac and Cheese.  

I had to go to bed before Henry's parents came to get him.  I had too much fun and got tired. I hope Henry's parents will go on more dates!

Budding Entomologist

Yes, she continued to play with it, pick it up, and was gentle.

No, she did not eat it. It was returned to an outdoor habitat. 

Super Bowl Shenanigans

Football wasn't the only thing we were watching on Super Bowl Sunday. Check out the pass play Alex made on our own Erin:

He swoops in from the Right...

.... Touchdown!....

... Oh yeah. He knows he scored! 

*As the gentle reader may have noticed, Ms. A does not know enough about football to make appropriate references.  This fact causes her no shame. 

UPDATE: I forgot to give proper credit for these photos!!!  Mom of BigDutchBaby was the kind photographer of this scene.  Many thanks to her for sending the shots.

Reading Nook

One of Erin's favorite spots in the house is sitting in her reading corner.  It consists of a few pillows and an inflatable turtle cushion from Ikea.  No one is allowed to sit on it except her.  No kidding, she will kick you out. Here she is enjoying her reading nook:

At McMiller PDX, reading is clothing-optional.