Representing the 822

[ty]

So much has happened since I last talked to you Internets. My hamster, "Basket Face", got eaten by the neighbor's dog, I fell down on my head, and Old Man Jenkins gave me a gently used pair of briefs. What a December its been.

In all seriousness there has been lots of action here at the Sprayberry household. Foremost among those thing in need of reporting is that Cayden met Santa for the first time. It was at a Muhlenberg work party where all the kids of all the staff and faculty of the college got to sit on Santa's lap. I happen to be standing directly at the foot of the stairs leading up to Him when they made the announcement that it was time to bring all the kids up starting with 2 and under. So I jumped into line and Nubby was the second kid on his lap. Which startled the hell out my son.



As many of you know Jordanna has been knitting since our move to Tucson and it has become something of a religion with her. She always takes my advice when it comes to her creations and last night she made me very very proud. Those of you who have played the video game Silent Hill might recognize this creature...




And as our final bit of exciting news...we bought a house! Well, technically the bank will buy it next Monday and give us the keys to it to taunt us. But you get the idea. At any rate, its a great little brick guy from 1951. We bought it from the original owner who purchased it for a whopping $12,000 when it was out in the boonies of Allentown.

My favorite two things about it are that there's already a finished basement that will be our theater/bar and under all the wall-to-wall carpeting are the original oak hardwoods.

It's a 4 bedroom 2 bath with a very dated kitchen that we will tear out and redo this summer. 822 is its number and we think it's awesome.

Mmmmm, post-war brick.

Note the sweet grass carpeting.

The place where our dog will poo.

Our sexy new retractable awning.

The view from our front porch. That's Cayden's school in the distance. :)

For those of you so inclined, there are pictures of the interior here.

Already Onto Daddy's Tricks.

The other day Tyson was getting Cayden out of his chair for his coveted evening Kermit-time:
C: "Waaah kermi? Waaaah kermi?"
Ty: "Say, Daddy's the best! Then we'll go watch Kermit"
C: grins
Ty: "Cayden. say Daddy's the best!"
C: grins and laughs
Ty: "Cayden, say DaDa's the best!"
C: laughing "No"

Who could love such a fickle fickle baby?

Periodically we get a glimpse into the misery that is the lives of people whose children don't sleep. We were awakened at 4 am by Cayden crying for, "Mama, mama, mama, MAMA". I went in after twenty minutes because about once every other month he needs a pat in the middle of the night. One the two or three occasions this has happened, I have snuggled him, then put him into the crib, rubbed his back and left. Sometimes he cries for another ten minutes, but he always goes back down. Last night however, I go pick him up and he says, "Sack off? Down? Down?" (he wears a wool sleep sack at night). He was way too squirmy to snuggle, so I put him back into the crib. The second he realized what I was doing he screamed, "No! Dada! DAAAA DAAAAA!". In a way my mission was a success because for the next hour he yelled for Tyson instead of me, which means I got to put my headphones in and ignore him.

Bath Time

[ty]

We're visiting Jordanna's parents this weekend and they have a BIG tub. So obviously we had to put the boy in the big tub last night for bath time. The problem, however, was that the tub was so big and slippery that he couldn't be in the tub alone so Daddy had to take one for the team (I don't like baths) and spot the kid in person.

Father and son in the bath

A sad sad child

Pop-pop and his youngest grandchild

Tim's phenomenal speakers, absolutely stunning

Kermit Bowls a Touchdown

[ty]

Have you ever loved something so much that you looked forward to the day when you could share it with your progeny and see their little face light up in wonder and delight? Such was the case with The Muppet Show. JD and I have carefully avoided letting Cayden watch any TV till now under the theory that he'll get no shortage of exposure to it as he grows up. Last week we finally decided that it would be OK for him to watch an episode of Muppets in the hope that he would start to develop an affection for them. Fools that we were.

For 12 days straight now we have not heard a single sentence that did not include a plea for "Whah Kehmeh?" Watch Kermit. That's all he wants to do. Watch Kermit. He wanders through the house with the case naming Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, and...of course...Kermit. He doesn't want to eat, he wants to Watch Kermit. It's not night-night time, it's time to Watch Kermit. He gets his beach chair that Nana and Vavo got him, puts it in front of the TV and yells "DaDa!! Whah Kehmeh!?!?!"

In an attempt to maintain our sanity we dug him up a Kermit doll to tide him over and rationed him to 1 episode after dinner before evening running around in circles time.


In other news Gaspar and I went to a NE Patriots home game at Gillette stadium last weekend. My friend Cowdog has season tickets and he was kind enough to part with two of them for us. We ate Brats, drank beer, had an absolutely spectacular time, the Pats won, and my wife picked us up and drove my ass all the way home to Pennsylvania. What's better than that? Not much.

On the awesome train that brought us there and back from Prov.

I kept texting them about the guy next to me planning his stalking of the cheerleaders but they didn't seem to care.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just build a giant slide?

And in other other news I took my kids outside in the cold-ass Pennsylvania autumn (it's 28 degrees right now, in november) to play with a bowling ball and explore Conservation of Energy. Good times. Sorry it's only a picture of me but it's illegal for me to randomly post pictures of my kids on the internet.


Plus two bonus pictures of my kid because he's cute as hell.

Nubby and his Vavo

Thank god I joined that list serve...

[jd]

Today's email from baby center (who send 'age-appropriate' updates): "Teaching your toddler about private parts". I'd settle for Cayden not bucking and screaming while I try and clean poo from every crevice. I think we can leave adding 'foreskin' to his vocabulary for another day...

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

[ty]

Although Cayden was officially alive last Halloween we didn't dress him up or parade him around in a gratuitous attempt to garner praise for how cute he is. So to celebrate we made up for it this year by taking him on a trick-or-treat bonanza at the local dorm sponsored by a
local sorority. Aie mi dios, what a scene.

There were at least 75 kids all dressed up, some happy, some screamy, most dazed and sweaty in their polyester outfits. They paraded us through 3 dorms in groups of 8 where over-perfumed undergrads smiled and distributed candy to the thankless children.

At first Cayden wanted nothing to do with any of the madness and clung to his mother frantically. After a few minutes of watching the other children though he worked up the moxie to receive a twix bar from a very nice young lady and the game was on. Selfless father that I am I allowed him to pick whatever candy he wanted before stuffing it in the bag that I am working my way through as I write this.

In an attempt to teach our child manners we tried to make him say Thank You each time after receiving his sugared communion. Unfortunately our plan of teaching him sign language has backfired and all the students were baffled by his smiling gesture of self-strangulation.

At any rate, he seemed to have an enjoyable time and I now have enough candy to last me at least a few days.

His two latest obsessions are his bibs and the hat mommy made him.

The look of "OMG!! HE'S SO CUTE!!" is clearly visible here.

Our little predator.

I think I startled him.

Finally

This is the first time in four weeks I don't have to work on the weekend. I'm still be grading at naptime, but I don't have to. Consequently, we have home-made yogurt, bread, rice milk, and you get some pictures.

two babies, two balls

Missy snuggles Lily and Cayden

Kendra gave Cayden the Baby Beluga book. For this I shall devise a creative retribution, as I am required to sing this song at least 5x a day.

Cayden loves Mr. Cholcolate and BlaBla

Not back, despite popular demand

Sorry for the complete lack of photos and videos. I know that all our readership wants is MORE CHUBBY CHEEKS! Just in case you were wondering, his cheeks are still chubby and he is still adorable. Hopefully we will be able to get some better visual media up this weekend. Until then, here is a tidbit for you: My son knows approximately 13 words. One of them is coffee. As in, "Mommy will read you a book after she fixes her coffee" or " Mommy will make you eggs after she puts on the coffee".

Quote of the day

I was reading an article on harvesting methane from landfills when I came across this:

"The landfill will break everything else down over time, except hot dogs -- they come up 10 years later looking about the same. I don't eat hot dogs anymore."

Yum.

More Poop Horror Stories

I can't tell if our lives will be more or less interesting when Cayden potty trains. Anyway, I am a big fan of naked baby time and was undressing Cayden the other day when Ty asked if he had pooped yet (our son is a solid once a day kind of guy). I said no, but don't worry about it, if he poops I'll clean it up. Given that I am the one that sprays the diapers into the toilet, I can honestly say poop on the floor is easier to clean. So baby is running around all cute and naked, and I am getting ready to go upstairs when Cayden comes running towards me with Tyson hot on his heels crying, "grab him! he just took a big poop on the kitchen floor and we need to clean him!". True to my word, I went into the kitchen to clean it up but there was no poop to be found! In the 30 seconds it took Ty to summon me, Roland came to my assistance. Moral of the story: don't let my dog give you kisses.

It was.... soap poisoning

During our evening toothy-brushing last night, Cayden grabbed the foaming hand soap dispenser and gave a few hard sucks. He put it down and started to half cry and make some really weird gulping noises, all while appearing very distressed. "Ty! I think the baby is going to throw up". Ty comes running in and says, "Why?". "He ate some soap and doesn't seem very happy about it". At this point we were conducting our conversation with each others' reflection in the mirror, and Cayden openes his mouth to cry/ protest, but all that comes out is a gigantic soap bubble. Our gales of laughter did nonthing to calm him down.

Distractingly Cute
[jd]

As Cayden and I walk to daycare every morning we are getting sidewalk friendly with some of the other regulars. One elderly gentleman has been known to take his morning constitutional around the same time, and has been trying to get Cayden to high-5 him. Yesterday we ran into him at the intersection of 22nd & Tilghman, the busiest we pass through to get to daycare. Cayden finally overcomes his shyness to high-5 this guy, and the gentleman is so happy that he wanders out into traffic against the light. I was busy running across with the light (not that we were late AGAIN), but I didn't hear any squealing tires so I assume there were no casualties.

Silence equals Madness

[jd]

It has been a hectic couple weeks, hence the silence. I am wrapping up my third official week as "Professor Sprayberry", and am slowly adjusting. The first week was petrifying. I spent 20 hours writing my first lecture and promptly went through 50 slides in 40 minutes. The second lecture I added some material and went through 72 slides in 45 minutes. When I told my students that and said, "I assume that I am going too fast", they all nodded slowly in unison. With an expression on their faces akin to a deer in headlights. I told them to pause me, and since then things have been MUCH better. I have such a good class. They ask questions, get involved, and seem to genuinely want to understand the material. This is a blessing, because I can spend all my energy organizing lectures instead of reading up on fancy active learning techniques to get students to participate. Next semester I may need those, since I will be teaching a massive intro biology course, but for now I've got it easy.

Ty is also getting into the groove of his new school, and as always is collecting great stories that I will let him share. He has had 3 full months of no students and was getting really anxious and excited to get back in the classroom. Of course after three days of classes a tornado hit the school and they didn't have school for most of this week (no I'm not kidding).

And finally an update on who you all read this blog for. Roland is doing really well, his fur is growing back in and his arthritis flare up from the drive out here has faded. He loves going for walks again now that it is less than 100 degrees. He does, however, smell REALLY BAD. If anyone is in the area and wants to donate some dog-washing services we will take them. I am too exhausted at the end of the day to wrestle a 110 lb dog into a bath tub.

The Game Preserve

[ty]

To celebrate our Labor Day holiday Nubby and I (mommy is working today) went to the Lehigh Valley Zoo this morning. It was not what I expected.

I'm a bit more used to the urban style zoos of Providence, Seattle and Tucson and this place was certainly not one of those. I suppose I should have been clued in by the fact that it was 2 miles into the woods on Game Preserve road. At any rate, it was a very farm-like zoo with a petting coral, pony rides, and feed the goats food dispensers. But thats not all. They had kangaroos in an enclosure that you could wander right into (only a single rope separated you and the roos), a Lorikeet enclosure where the birds landed on you and you could feed them, some invisible arctic wolves, and a whole bunch of birds-of-prey. Nubby was most fascinated by the Lorikeets (a very brightly colored, friendly and noisy cousin of the Parakeet) but he got pretty tense when I tried to put one on him. All told we had a really good time and I saw a small herd of Bison on the way out which always makes me happy.

Cayden in the Wolf's Den. There weren't any wolves around
so I figured it would be fine.

That rope is all that separates you and a potentially lethal Kangaroo.
I kept one hand on my knife the whole time.

We found a stream on the way out.

My kid trying to eat a rock. Again.

I think I'm going to frame this one and put it on my desk at work.

Permoplast (clean, odorless, non-toxic, sanitary)

[ty]

With the start of the year looming I've been cleaning out my new office and getting stuff ready for the excitement that is The First Day of School. My new school is in a state of flux as we tear the place down and begin a major remodel throughout the next two years. The current building was built in 1959 and cleaning out my area has resulted in some interesting finds. Not the least of which was a completely intact box of Permoplast modeling clay from...1965? According to claims on the packaging it's non-hardening and sealed in a factory. I'm not really sure whether I should place it behind glass for future generations to admire or feed it to the freshmen when they get restless.

Here's a beautiful shot of my brandy-new (for me) office.

Some of the shelves are labeled. From a very long time ago. On Abby's birthday.

In other exciting news we had a visitor last night. A bat somehow got into the house. It flew in circles in The Flower Room with Toku swatting his one good leg at it and Roland whining and crying until I managed to get a laundry basket in its flight path. Despite the madness it seemed fine and we released it into the greater Allentown metropolitan area safely.

Yum

I am enjoying an incredibly tast Friday afternoon cup of coffee, a luxury for me as I don't usually drink coffee this late. Read all about it on the hippy blog.

Overcoming Fears

After dinner the other night, I noticed that Cayden's diaper reeked of pee, so I decided to give him some naked time. The best thing for an ailing diapered butt is some time out of the diaper. So he trundles off while Ty and I are finishing up dinner. Less than 2 minutes later he come walking back through the kitchen making a, "dshuu?" inquisitive sound, while holding out this unidentified object in his hand. He was clearly trying to communicate, "Hey Mommy, check this out. What the hell is it?". I held out my hand, took the object in question and said, "Well son, you pooped", at which point he burst into tears. I am sure his terror of his own poop will make potty training much easier.

The Keymaster

[ty]

I'm not sure when he made the connection, but Nubby has realized the relationship between keys and locks. Combine this with our perpetually locked basement door in the kitchen that is often opened but never left open and you have an 18 month old boy who spends 20 minutes a day working on his lock-picking skills. His tenacity is impressive as the below video will attest to. If you listen carefully you can hear him say three things. The first is unintelligible, the second is a garbled "help please", and I think the third is "okay".

Notice also the impressive crescent shaped bruise on his cheek from slamming his face into a hanging ladle.

Whistle Pig

[ty]

I finally got a picture of the gigantic rodent that spends his days eating fallen apples beneath the tree across the street. There has been some debate in our home lately as to exactly what type of creature this rodent is. At first we thought it was a beaver, but some aggressive photography revealed that his tail is nothing like a beaver's. So with the identifying picture and a list of the mammals of Pennsylvania we positively identified the animal in question as a groundhog. A really big groundhog.


Turns out that given ideal conditions a groundhog can attain 32 inches in length, weighing in at 30 lbs. Who knew? Apparently they also will whistle when danger approaches earning them the nickname "Whistle Pig" in some regions.

To commemorate our identification of the animal we named our first batch of beer brewed in PA the Whistle Pig. Its a Kolsch style beer and it should be ready by the end of September. If you're in the area feel free to drop by and give it a taste.

Settled?

Well, the madness has abated some what, with the exception of our jet lagged and exhausted progeny who is still going to bed at nine and sleeping for 13 hours. We finished our insane drive and recovered our son from three adoring grandparents, who threatened to write a guest post with all their videos of Cayden romping in the ocean (we both love and hate them for taking him to the beach for the first time without us). Unfortunately, technology appears to have defeated them. Real conversation between me and my mom:
me: You bought him a boogie board? Does he ride it?
mom: Oh god no. He likes to watch it bob in the waves. We are trying to get him to let us attach the leash to his wrist.
Shortly after stealing Cayden back in Philadelphia, we picked up the Walshies and headed to Seattle for wedding fest '08 as a party of five. There will be many stories to follow, unless we get caught up in the insanity of starting new jobs. In which case you will get new stories and have to come visit us to hear the old ones. Needless to say there was much carousing, baby snuggling, wedding dress alterating (no I'm not kidding), laughing, and it turns out I love Chocolate Martinis. Who knew?

In Transit

[ty]

As I write this the sun is going down over St. Louis and JD is still slumbering peacefully. Our plan of going nocturnal for the drive was born of solid logic. The cats won't overheat, the truck won't overheat, we won't overheat, the traffic will be lighter and there will be less chance of someone reporting us for our animal transport methods. That being said, after only 2 days its still difficult to go to bed at noon and sleep for 6 hours. I made it 4.5 and then 5 last night. With a few more days of acclimation I'm sure it would be possible but in theory we'll be in Allentown by tomorrow morning. Oh well. C'est la vie, c'est la guerre, c'est ma chien.

The drive has been relatively unremarkable. Our truck, a 22ft Penske with the VW on a trailer, is a rockstar of a vehicle. Huge and heavy with wheels that come up to my chest. It's probably close to its weight maximum and although it will go over 65/70 mph its really unnerving when you feel all that mass start to get jumpy behind you. Hence, we've been moving slowly and to stay on schedule that means driving 14 hours a day. So far so good though and we've covered 1500 miles of our 2400. Today will be the longest day but I've noticed that you tend to get a 7th wind as you close in on your destination on these long drives and if there is to be a long day it should be the last.

So there it is. I've finished downloading the audiobook for today's drive so I'm off to wake up JD and pack up Blaine (the truck).

Next stop: Chew St.

Nubbby's Revenge

Deep thought from our beloved, but random, friend Pookie

It would be a far more interesting plot if, in general, Wookies spoke perfect, fluent English, and Chewie just has some kind of hardcore Turrets Syndrome.

The Kelty Yellowstone 6

[ty]

In celebration of Independence Day we went camping with our friends J&K out in the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico. It was very pretty, quite rainy, a bit chilly and altogether beautiful. So refreshing in fact that as we drove home still damp and dirty from the woods JD expressed her desire for a hot chocolate when we got home. "It's 105 degrees at home sweetie, I don't think you'll want a hot chocolate," I reminded her. "Ahhh, good point," she said. " Pull over at the next gas station then."

Unfortunately I have no pictures from our adventure b/c I forgot the camera.

Also also wik, I bought a new tool bag. Super exciting, I know. It's very nice though. Here's a picture sequence.








As Nubby becomes more mobile and happily moves around the house exploring things on occasion he catches our attention by being quiet. Its amazing how more than 45 seconds of silence suddenly becomes such an alert to your sixth sense. Your head comes up and you sniff the air rapidly for the scent of danger. Such as this morning...


Ok, maybe we set that picture up just a bit by taking the cover off the bucket and throwing interesting things into it until he finally peered over the edge. Or maybe not...

We had so much fun camping in fact that as soon as we got home I scoured REI online for family camping tents. Not that I don't Luv our Moss 2-per/4-seas (which has seen us through more than one blizzard safely) and my trusty old North Face Lightspeed Long non-freestanding 2-per/3-seas (from my summer in Boulder), but a baby changes the camping scenario. While online I found quite possibly the best floor-plan ever for a 6 person family tent. Jordanna explained it as "Everybody jump in the air while in your sleeping bag and where you land, you sleep."


Two weeks from tomorrow we pack our lives into a 22 foot Penske and drive East. "Back East" as people Out West say whether or not they're from Back East.

We're Famous! (kind of)

Thanks to our friend Christopher's spectacular photoshop acumen, I give you the Sprayberry Manbaby

New Videos

[ty]

For all of you who have demanded new videos of El Quatro (so named for his 4 prominent teeth).

They grow so fast
[jd]

I had a phone conversation with my god-daughter Sadie last night, which is crazy because the last time I saw her she was 11 months old and crawling through the jungle of a Seattle lawn. It went something like this:

S: Hi
J: Hi sweetie! How are you?
S: Good
J: Did you feed your goats tonight? (they have 100 acres and some livestock east of the Cascades)
S: Yes
J: What is your favorite goat's name?
S: Washing Machine

From now on, I am going to get her to name all my pets.

Missed the Point

One of the pros of parenting is that you no longer suffer from loneliness while you go to the bathroom. Yesterday, while Cayden was keeping me company, he went into the shower and started banging on the glass doors. Since I couldn't exactly jump up and stop him, I was telling him 'no'. While I had absolutely no success at getting him to stop he did learn a new word. By the end of our instructional session, he would touch the glass and emphatically shake his head while saying nooooo.

Longest Plane Ride Ever

Cayden and I just got back from a week with Nana and Pop-Pop. I had a conference at UNC, and I think it is against the rules of human decency to travel within an hour and a half of your parents and not bring them their grandchild. So I packed a laptop, diaper bag, and thirteen month old baby into a tiny airplane seat for 6 hours (on two planes). Who needs to lift weights when you are contantly grabbing/ tickling/ righting/ jiggling a 25 lb kid? Cayden did very well.... for a one year old. But really? Very well still equals CONSTANT INTERVENTION. And those new toys/ books I packed? Useless. The bounce on the tray table game was a big hit though. Especially with the added bonus of being able to smack the unfortunate soul in the seat in front of me on the top of his shiny bald head. Sorry about that. Despite the exhausting plane travel, the trip was a success. Cayden can now say Pop Pop, and has decided he defintely loves his parents. He hasn't said Mama since February, but the day my parents came to get me at my conference (after having him alone for two days), he stood up in his crib, waved bye bye and said Mama. After another two days of being with me at my parents, he started grabbing our hands and walking us to the garage door while saying Dada. Consequently Tyson got the best father's day present ever, a kid who was completely convinced that he is the best, most-desirable father ever. That and a copy of The Great Muppet Caper.

Gozer the Destructor

[ty]

Its certainly no surprise to anyone who knows us that keeping our house "show-ready" has been a bit of a challenge. For awhile JD would stay home for an hour after I brought Nubby to school and clean. On weekends the house has to be clean and ready by Saturday morning Just In Case. All of this is enough of a pain in the ass without Cayden's help. Luckily for us his new trick is emptying a kitchen drawer in the blink of an eye. As the below video will attest, he has a very careful deliberation about it as he goes about his chosen vocation: making a mess.

Coincidence?

This morning as Cayden was playing on the back porch, I was sitting in a chair next to him knitting and drinking coffee. Pretty much my idea of heaven. Tyson carries over another chair so he can sit with us and says, "Hey... look at that big fat baby! And my son too!". Cayden looked up at him and busted out laughing. We need to adopt a little girl so that somebody in this family will be on my side.

And the battle continues...

By Popular Demand

Here are some more movies of everyone's favorite demon baby.



Cayden dances for Mommy. You can't hear it, but we are listening to some great bluegrass.


Two stubborn wills collide. Stumpy refuses to leave no matter how loud Cayden is or how often his tail gets yanked. Cayden, in turn, can not be dissuaded from yanking said tail no matter how many times he gets bitten.

Eulogy

I am taking the day off work today because I am good for nothing. My brain and heart are in Atlanta today, with the rest of my family. The Henrys and Jordans are laying to rest my Uncle Hamilton. Hamilton was a remarkable man with a the remarkable combination of a satirical wit and a whimsical sense of humor. He was equally likely to engage people in a political debate as he was to play pranks at the dinner table (like stuffing your hand in your milk glass at the end of grace. thanks for that). But all of these attributes are difficult for me to adequately describe, because I am not a particularly good writer. And they are irrelevant, because they were completely eclipsed by his love for his family, and their love for him. He leaves behind my Aunt Doffy and my three amazing cousins, Hamilton Jr, Kathleen, and Alex. The New York Times wrote a beautiful article about him, it is worth perusing. Goodbye Hamilton, we love you.

Quarantine Update

The Pima Country Health Department's physician reviewed Cayden's symptoms and decided it doesn't sound like Measles. We're free!

Quarantine

A certain little boy I know, not to name names, had a really miserable weekend. He cried and cried and cried, had an intermittent fever, runny nose, gooky eyes, and in general made us rush to the phone to try and find some gypsies to call approximately once an hour. During one particularly strident bout of wailing on Sunday, we were checking to see if he had a nasty diaper and noticed that the bug bites on his arms and legs had become a full blown rash on his torso. Given that Tucson is currently experiencing a Measles outbreak, I decided it was time to call the doctor. The doctor said that his symptoms were a good enough match that I should call the health department. The health department said his symptoms were a good enough match that they wanted to send a rash team to the house to examine him. And so here we are, Nubby and Mommy locked in the house waiting for the men in white coats. When I call in to work, they are so going to think I am making this up.

And the light goes on

[jd]

I am not really sure how we got on the topic, but I was telling my therapist this morning about what Tyson calls my "something shiny" disorder. His theory is that I lose everything because I will notice something as I walk through a room, throw what ever is in my hands over my head, and then when I want my phone four hours later have no idea where it is because that shirt that has been crumpled on the couch for four days needed to be ironed. My therapist nodded her head and said, "You cope with your A.D.D. really well, you should write a book". I stared at her blankly, and then busted out laughing. Suddenly it all made sense. The parent-teacher conferences where year after year the teachers would say, "She's really smart, she just needs to start paying attention in class". My inability to listen to a seminar without knitting. Why I compulsively cook two meals at a time, or burn the one meal I am cooking because I am trying to simultaneously put away laundry. Happily it is currently working in my favor, because I am getting very good at distracting myself away from panic attacks.

In other news, I finally have Frugal Hippy up and running. At least kind of. It is a blog of interesting eco- friendly/ crafty stuff I find, and summarizes a lot of the research Ty and I have done into lower impact living. There are many more pages to add, but check it out! If you have any interest in cloth diapers, that section is completed.

Want it!

[jd] 13 May 2008

Our amazing diaper manufacturer has improved upon their design (see old and busted versus new hotness). Don't get me wrong, I love our diapers and I am glad they are still making them. But the organic cotton calls to me...

Local Baby Walks...

ty [11 may '08]

After many months of pulling himself up and crashing back to Earth on all fours the boy has finally begun to experiment with walking as a means of transport.

If the videos below don't work then these are direct links to them.

Stander

Walker

Last Day of Class

[jd] 6 May 2008

So today was my last formal class, which consisted of a 5 point lab and me telling students their final grades. If they are happy with their grade, they don't need to take the final next week or attend the review. In other words, they are done with class. So I was really surprised when ten minutes into class I only had 5 students in the room. I was contemplating how to restructure the lab when the door opened and a stream of students start coming in. Within another 10 minutes I had 16 students. I am passing back papers when I notice that more than one person is talking about how 'her best friend turns out to be totally in love with her, and she didn't even know she was a lesbian'. Doubting that this was happening in more than one student's personal life, I asked them what they were talking about. Turns out my entire class was sitting in the parking lot glued to their radios, listening to KRQ93.7's Confession Wednesdays. It's just like an NPR moment, only trashier. Apparently on Thursdays they have War of the Roses. I totally need to start listening to this station...

I don't really expect anything socially-redeeming...

[jd] 6 May 2008

...from all the penis-enlargement junk email I get, but the phrase "unleash your wrath on unsuspecting girls once you've started on this formula" is just disturbing.

Because I'm Smart

29 April 2008 [jd]

I was just looking up the sign for toast. After 25 minutes of hysterical screaming which started with a trip to the high chair, throwing our teethign biscuit across the room (Cayden don't throw food, just shake your head no if you don't want it), scattered prunes, a trip out of hte high chair, repeated requests to be picked up, throwing himself backwards out of Mommy's arms, rolling on the floor crying, and collapsing in a puddle when we OFFERED HIM MILK, Cayden crawled back over to his high chair. I put him in it and tried another teething biscuit, which he rejected again (not throwing it this time). Then it dawned on me. He wanted toast. Not bread. He is a big boy and he wants bread the way Mommy has it, toasted with melted butter. Mmmmmmm butter. After surviving this I had the brilliant idea that I would look up the sign for toast, since he is picking up sign more quickly than spoken language. So I go to the ASLpro site, which is awesome, click on toast and watch the video. Watching the video, I instinctively see the guys lips move and think, "something is wrong, the sound is out".

Something Good is Coming....

[jd] 22 April 2008

You know that feeling you would get when you were a kid and realized Christmas was only a few days away? Or when you were sitting in the house waiting for aunts, uncles, and cousins to arrive, and they were going to be there any minute? I was getting all excited last night and I realized that I get that feeling every day when I am driving to pick up Cayden. Of course it goes away when he collapses in a dejected heap on the floor wailing because I shut the door (can you imagine such a horrifically cruel Mommy?). But, it will be back again tonight.

KUAZ

[ty]

So I'm driving home from work yesterday listening to All Things Considered on our local NPR station KUAZ. They're not a bad public radio station. But they're not really a very good one either. Perhaps I'm spoiled by WGBH and KUOW but when your main news anchor consistently stumbles over the strange and difficult word "Tucson" I'm thinking it might be time to call it quits and turn the equipment over to Christian Life Radio.

Anyway, as per FCC regulations, KUAZ initiated a test of the emergency broadcast system during a break in my All Things Considered program and there's NO NOISE. Nothing. Dead silence for the required 10 seconds. Then they come back on the air with the standard "If this had been a real emergency, the noise you just heard would be followed by...blah...blah...blah".

Yet another reason to get the hell out of Chrysler: If there's actually an emergency we'll be the last to know.

April 18th 2008

[ty]

So its officially been one year since Jordanna, with much patience and profanity, birthed our son Cayden Hoyt Henry Sprayberry. We celebrated his first b-day with a ritual trip to the local pool, his favorite dinner of Annie's mac and cheese, and a phat pumpkin spice muffin from the best desert shop in town, The Epic Cafe. He seemed to enjoy himself throughout the day and appears to have survived his latest bout with his emerging teeth.




In other news, the boy has learned the sign for All Done. We generally use it to indicate when we're done eating, done with a bottle, or wish to get down from somewhere. Thursday JP was over to hang out with JD and as usual he was barely in the house before he scooped up Cayden to give him love. Cayden gave him about 7 seconds of snuggling and then turned to Mommy and carefully signed All Done.

Even MORE Famous

Last week was NPR's guilt drive, and we called in our contribution in the last 2 hours. One of the advantages of giving to public radio in Arizona is that nobody else does, so they will read your name on the radio. Tyson gave them Cayden's name, then came careening into said child's room an hour later going. "Did you hear it? did you hear it? I forgot to get you!". I, of course, did not get to hear Cayden's name. But, I got a call from our friend Kristin less than five minutes later saying she did, which was almost as much fun.

He's Famous!

A little while back (like 8 months ago) Cayden did some modeling for a friend's organic baby store, www.tinybirdsorganics.com. I was just ordering some diaper liners and looking at sale items when I found him modeling one of our favorite nightgowns. I had previously found his legs (the blue and brown striped ones), but realized that only a mother would notice or care about that, which is why this post didn't come earlier : )

Birthday Parties and Other Milestones

joint effort [6 april '08]

Cayden's birthday isn't for another couple weeks, but we wanted to have a joint picnic/ party with his friend Ian who is a month older. When Ty's Dad booked a trip to come visit halfway between the two birthdays, it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. So Saturday afternoon we headed to Children's Memorial Park for a low-key picnic with some friends. The weather was gorgeous. In another month it will be too hot to go outside, so we are enjoying all the sunshine while we can. All in all Cayden had a fantastic time. Ian suffered a bit though, as Cayden expresses his affection by grabbing, pulling, and shaking the object of his affection vigorously. Cayden really likes Ian.

We rounded off the weekend by going with Grandpa Spray and Ellen to the Fourth Ave Street fair, which was occupied by a couple thousand people that had the same idea.

In other news, after 11 1/2 months our son has discovered his penis. This had made diaper changes far more entertaining, as it is very difficult to affix a diaper on the child if he won't let go of his penis.

Do these babies look drastically different or is it because one of them is mine?

To greet this dog Cayden grabbed him, threw him on the ground, and then looked very surprised that the dog seemed upset.

Cayden attempting to greet Ian.

Big Nate is very very big compared with the B-Day boys.

Ian's father Jamie teaching Ian CPR on a unresponsive dog.