4 month Doctor Visit

Erin had her 4-month wellbaby checkup yesterday.

That's right folks, you see the documentation.  She weighed in at 16# 4 oz, tipping the scales at the 90th percentile. 

Her head 

circumference was 43.5 cm, another 90%. Height was 25 3/4 inches, 85% but who's tracking these things 

anyways?  

She was also administered 5 vaccinations, 1 oral and 4 injected. 

What a trooper.  

Mom and Dad are just happy Lil' E is growing, thriving, and learning new things every day. Erin is just glad she won't be getting any more shots .... until the 6 month visit.

Can I test your meat?

Finally science that actually can impact lives. Wondering about how tasty that steak really will be?  Fear no more, the Meat Meter is here.

Some choice excerpts:

"...not all soft fat is good either..."

and 

"...There's a lot going on in your mouth..."

Is it edible?

Ms. A has a strange habit when, on trips, she purchases odd items from local grocery stores to bring home. Sometimes their suitability for eating comes into question. Foraging through the pantry today yielded this treasure-trove of random, um, ingredients? Pictured: some type of hazelnut paste from Italy, canned mussels in mystery sauce from Spain, something labeled gluten from the local Asian grocery store, also presumably in a seasoning, and fish eggs from I can't remember where.

Looks like an interesting meal is in the near future.

Hagg Lake Trail Run

I participated in my first trail race Saturday morning, a 25K run around Hagg Lake. This race is famous for being incredibly muddy. Temperature on arrival at the lake was 34F, fog just burning off, leaving a clear day.

Goal for the run: have fun. Looking at my pace after the race, I can say mission accomplished.

It was an extremely beautiful morning. We ran through forest, along the lake shore, across a dam overlooking a green valley, through sunny meadows. It was really hard to keep an eye on the muddy footing, the person in front of you, and the view.

Most the course was single track, 12 inches wide. In those sections everyone had to run in single file -- you were just going to go at whatever speed the person in front of you were going.

Aid stations had great food. Running off from each of the two aid stations I had an orange wedge in my mouth, one hand filled with a mix of most of the foods offered: pretzels, trail mix, M&Ms, gummi bears. In the other hand, a GU shot and a cup of 7-up. I love free food.

It hadn't rained in days, so it wasn't the total slog some had feared. However, there was still a good deal of wet and muddy trail, which was fun to run. I only biffed once, but it was a fairly spectacular Superman-style fall.

Thanks to Becky for letting me get her fancy new car dirty.

2028 Olympic Training

Training for the weightlifting competition can never begin too early......

Nap Time!

Soon enough they will all nap together.

A goose?

Apparently mcmillerpdx has been goosed. Not 100% sure what this means but it appears to be a chain-letter type thing. I'm a sucker and the subject is seemingly random enough to be interesting. Kind of a Dada form of chain mail. Here goes nothing.

The rules:

* Look up page 123 in the nearest book

* Look for the 5th sentence

* post the three sentences that follow the 5th sentence on pg. 123.

Nearest book at hand: "Clinical Dermatology, An illustrated Textbook", by Rona M. MacKie, 3rd edition

" A cutaneous infection, usually due to streptococci, but with deeper involvement of the subcutis than in erysipleas. Cellulitis presents as a raised, hot, tender, erythematous area of skin. The organism enters through a cut or abrasion, or pre-existing dermatological disorder such as a leg ulcer."

That was icky. If only I could post the pictures, then everyone would be grossed out. So here is the book I'm currently reading: "What Einstein Told His Chef, 2" by Robert L. Wolke

"The leaves would be a sickly yellow instead of green, because plants use iron in synthesizing chlorophyll. (next page) Plants in general are made up almost entirely of compounds of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen - compounds that chemists refer to as organic, with no relation to the word used to designate foods that conform to the USDA's National Organic [Foods] Program. Minerals, on the other had, are the seventeen inorganic chemical elements that are essential nutrients for plants. "

Hmmm. Both seem pretty nerdy. Heavy on the Science, light on the Fiction.

I choose to ignore the implication of "pass-it-on". However, I encourage you fellow bloggers to participate. I'd love to see what other people are currently reading and/or what books people keep in their proximity. Let me know if you post, as I'd like to follow along!