Photo Update

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Alrighty then, two posts in 20 minutes, I'm the man. Here's a random photo dump. Enjoy.

Flash and Sor on the 7th hole fairway.

Christening the new Woodchuck glass.

He VERY seriously reads his Car and Driver at the table.

Mommy reads to Cayden on the potty.

Moblie Suit XM-05

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Once upon a time, while on our honeymoon in Japan, I came across something that had enough pictures on the packaging that I could identify what it was. So I bought it immediately. This may sound silly to the traveler who has not experienced Japan but I assure you that after buying a "sandwich" consisting of spaghetti in a hogie roll you learn to purchase with discrimination.

Turns out it was a very cool snap together model of a Gundam Mobile Suit. I never really got into the whole "Gundam" thing (name someone who has, I dare you) but I like models and even more specifically models that do not require glue. So I bought the model in question, shipped it home to America at great personal cost that far exceeded its worth on Ebay, and finally got around last night to assembling the poor thing.

Here then is the assembling of the Mobile Suit XM in more detail than anyone really cares about.

The extruded plastic is really very impressive.

Unless you can read Kanji/Hiragana/Katakana you're an illiterate model builder.

Bilaterally symmetrical.

Torso before...

... torso after.

For some reason my model doesn't look as cool as the picture on the box. Go figure.

Shipping

[ty]

As many of you probably know I do not work for the better part of the summer and consider my 9 weeks of vacation barely adequate to recover from the spiritual expenditure of teaching High School Science. That being said, my mission for the next 2 months will be to remodel our kitchen. We have already remodeled a kitchen once and so it's not quite as daunting a task as it may appear. I'll be "updating" the base cabinets, wall cabinets, lighting, electrical, flooring, counter-tops, oven, cooktop, dishwasher, and sink. About 75% of the kitchen is in the basement right now tagged and ready to be assembled and installed. Some things are still in flux though and we're still ordering some materials.

For example, last week Jordanna ordered 5 backsplash tiles of beaten tin from Florida. Each one cost $13 so without shipping the tiles cost $65. When we got the bill it came to a total of $215 and Jordanna went ballistic. She stormed into the living room and swore that we would be calling our credit card company, canceling payment of the order, and reporting them to the Better Business Bureau for fleecing us on shipping.

Apparently when she called them they apologized for any misunderstanding and checked our shipping order carefully. That's when it was discovered that the tiles were in fact not scheduled to be shipped to Pennsylvania but instead to Palau. A small island nation in the South Pacific Ocean.

I'd love to say that the story ends there and we rerouted our tiles to PA instead of PW, but that's just not the case. After being informed of the development of our tiles' world tour I took it upon myself to investigate and then adopt the flag of Palau as the official flag of our remodel.

Because it really should be your flag if you live on an island in the middle of the Ocean.

Houdini

When I distractedly told the kid it was fine for him to get in the kitty box, I never dreamed he would actually fit...

Dinner Time

J: what are you grinning at?
C: Thomas and Percy and Bertie and Recycling Car

The Ups and Downs of Two

Cayden and I have been engaged in epic battles lately. One minute we are making up silly games and laughing our head off, the next he is slapping me and crying. Don't get me wrong, he is a ridiculously well behaved and easy to reason with two year old. We are terrified at the idea of taking on another child, because we haven't accumulated enough good karma to win the lottery twice. Its just that two is, quite literally, an insane age. You can see his emotions and thoughts accumulating inside his head until they need to explode. On a good day, the explosion is laughter and goofiness. On a bad day Mommy has to remind herself NOT TO HIT THE BABY BACK.

Last night at dinner Cayden was playing peek-a-boo with his blanket, throwing it over his head, then tearing if off and laughing hysterically. After about 5 iterations of this behavior, he yanks off the blanket, giggles and says, "I a little funny. Cayden is a little funny". If you want to know what me snorting pizza through my nose looks like, you should join us for dinner sometime.

May Fair

Grandpa Spray comes for a visit.

"I not a baby anymore, I a big boy"

Progress

Ty is taking the kid to RI to see friends and family, and while I was in the shower this morning I had a nightmare vision of the two of them getting in a car accident and dying. As I stood contemplating this unlikely but awful scenario, I realized how much better I am. A year ago, a mental trip that ended in either of them dying would have induced a panic attack so bad that I would be struggling to breathe and on the verge of throwing up. I don't think that post-partum anxiety/ depression ever completely goes away. I had an anxious nature before having a child, and I will never stop worrying about Cayden or fearing for him. But, I have reached a place where the panic and fear no longer rule my life. A lot of you have given me so much love and support as our family worked through this. So, thanks. It helped.

Two of These Things

I'm not really sure why these two things go together in my head but I'd been saving the picture of Tevez for a couple of days till inspiration struck me. Lo and behold whilst researching the history of the Pontiac Firebird Trans-am (valid...I assure you) I came across this beauty of a vehicle and all I could think of was...Carlos Tevez.

If you have a person-vehicle pairing that really speaks to you I'd love to see it.

Ikea... toddler heaven

So the prodigal son turned two on April 18th and has been working hard over the last several months to emotionally prepare us for the onslaught. I thought I would share some of the choicer incidents:

The scene... a cluttered dinner table at 6:30 p.m. Cayden has finished all the food I made and the couple pretzels I gave him.

C: More?
J: More what?
C: More pretzels.
J (looking for a please): How do we ask?
C (pointing imperiously to the kitchen): Mommy, GO GET THE PRETZELS!


The scene... a hectic morning around 7 a.m. as I attempt to get my son dressed in our living room

J: Cayden can I put on your pants please?
C: No pants! No pants!
J: All right, you can eat breakfast without pants. But you have to put them on before we go to school. (stands up and walks to kitchen to make said breakfast)
C: Pants! Pants!
J: If you really want your pants on, stand up and bring them to me in the kitchen. Then I will believe you and put your pants on.
C (stands up and brings his pants into the kitchen)
J (puts pants on Cayden)
C (falls to the floor and starts writhing): TAKE IT OFF!!!! TAKE IT OFF!!!!!

Following In His Cousins' Footsteps

We pulled out the train track Cayden's cousins bequeathed him for the first time today. An hour later Tyson found this on the table.

That's a drawback?

And I repeat, "Warning, this mattress may not soak up vomit"

Sprayberries at the Old Pueblo

Our visit to sunny Tucson was as much fun as we had anticipated. Nay, more. We spent a couple of days reclining in the hills with JP&D on their lovely veranda, surrounded by lemons, stopping my son from completely destroying their very non-2yr-old-safe environment. It was very relaxing and very beautiful and David and I both sustained Wii related injuries from our Boom Blox marathon.

For the last few days of our stay we moved to J&K's house who made us feel so comfortable it was like we had never left. The night we got there was J's bday party and oddly enough a few of his guests also have blond 2 yr old boys. My kid was completely enamored with this development and they all ran around and caused havoc for hours.

Other highlights include:

• Got some work done on the rental house.

• Picked up a sunburn from 90 minutes spent outside.

• Saw a formation of 4 FA-18s land at DM.

• Took the boys swimming.

Back in the desert

Quote of the Day

"Daddy makes Cayden happy"

Monkey in the sky

C: that's my monkey
T: yes it is
C: that monkey is watching you

Night time routine

You are witnessing a rare event... Cayden brushing his teeth without screaming.

Pulpit Rock

In an effort get out of Allentown and into the surrounding woods we went on a hike today. About an hour out of town you can get onto the Appalachian Trail and, if you are so inclined, hike to Georgia or Maine. We both have to teach tomorrow though and Cayden's trailcraft isn't up to the journey so we opted for a quick hike up to Pulpit Rock instead.

The trail is very well blazed and we had a nice morning hike up with some lunch and a view at the top and then an all downhill return to the car. Overall I'd give it a 9 out of 10 for a local 1/2 day hike.

The AT in all its glory

Our new friends Mike and Beth came hiking with us

The sleeping hood on the Ergo is very well designed and we love it

All the way up at 1580 feet of elevation we command a view of Lehigh County

Afternoon Snuggles

Macro Lens

There are some things that absolutely beg to be shot with a Macro Lens. In my mind these things are:
1) Mold and Fungi
2) Insects
3) Open Wounds

In the spirit of Mold and Fungi I took a couple of pictures of something that managed to elude us during the move and actually made it from the old house's fridge to the new house's fridge intact. I take this as evidence of its independent intelligence and ability to exert mind control over non-hyphae based organisms.

Cayden redistributes Verizon's propaganda

New Games

The other day I found Cayden wedged in between the sink and the toilet. When I asked him what he was doing he whispered "I hiding". Now he likes to duck into all sorts of unlikely places, then jump out and shout "there he is!". Two seems like a lot of fun...

Cayden loves Roland

A little too much

Mobile Posting

Tar interweb is a social commentary

Doing a google image search for 'dead dry newt' does not bring up pictures of amphibians that have been lost from aquaria, only to be found under the couch three months later. It pulls up many many head shots of Newt Gingrich.

Technology Rules?

In theory, blogger will create posts from emails. If this works, we may actually start keeping this blog updated. I have been pretty  annoyed at myself for letting it slide, since it is the only journal we keep of our lives. Although these days my life consists of sleeping, eating, writing lectures, and calmly explaining to an almost-two year old that asking me to put your pants will almost always result in you WEARING PANTS.

You know you are a parent when...

Instead of leafing through a magazine on the commode you are reading The Belly Button Book to your audience.

Picture Update

In our continuing effort to make regular blog updates we have some recent photos to share. Some of the pictures are very recent and some are recent only speaking from a geological perspective. Since we found out that you can get your entire blog printed and arranged as an archive we’ve been making a greater effort to record the inane details of our life for posterity.

The 3 cousins this year at xmas

The Henrysor-Pelojoaq conglomerate races to achieve total domination over rail transport in China. Really. Complete with Chinese food.

My son LOVES Zak’s iPod.

Cayden’s placemat. It kind of backfired though because he doesn’t want to defile Obama’s image with food so he places food on the table instead of the mat.

A little boy in mid-strut.

Follow Up Videos

Here's a new video showing Tons O'fun getting his first haircut. Follow Up pictures of the new Silky Smooth haircut to follow.

Lil'-Le-Hi

So the answer to the question is clearly "The Trout Hatchery." The question could be any one of a number of things. What activity can I do with my 2 year old that involves aquatic husbandry? Where is the best place to feed ground up fish pellets to ducks? How can I give my 2 year old mild frostbite on his fingers in less than 20 minutes?

I have seen signs for the Little Lehigh ("Lil'-Le-Hi") Trout Hatchery since we moved here and honestly I've been dying to check it out. So this last weekend when Vavo and Grandpa Bear were in town we took everybody over to the site to check it out. It's great! There are many many fish and for the bargain price of $1 you can buy a bag of fish pellets and possibly fend off the ravenous ducks long enough to engage the trout in a feeding frenzy.

Cayden was almost as impressed with the fish as he was with the ducks and Vavo took some good Father and Son pictures. In fact, because she's my mother the only pictures we have are of Father and Son. :)

Who let Jar-Jar near my kid

When I tried to get Cayden out of his crib this morning, he threw himself face first into the mattress yelling, "No, no! My sleeping! My sleeping!"

Clearly not a biologist

Ty was showing Cayden pictures on the computer the other night (how people raised children before google image search I don't know). He pulled up a cute little fur seal and Cayden looked at it for about 3 whole seconds before declaring, "Bye-bye seal. Car car TRUCK!"

The beginning of body issues

So I am getting Cayden dressed yesterday, and as soon as I take his diaper off he says, "no touch penis". When I told him he was welcome to touch his penis, he gave me a huge grin and said, "Thank you Mommy!". I think daycare has a different opinion on this issue.