September 2007 – Act Three

Checking In

There haven’t been many new blog entries in the past two weeks, because there hasn’t been much to report and, once again, our home computer is in the shop. (I could probably have fixed it myself, but I suspect that the problem is a hardware problem and, moreover, that the problem is with one of the new pieces I had installed a mere four months ago.)

The semester is already in high gear; there are three days a week in which the only time I see L awake is in the morning before I leave. I have several evening classes and I’ve joined the choir at the church (Grace Episcopal Church) we’ve been attending. Sometimes I compensate for my absence in the evening by starting my day more slowly, leaving the house later in the morning.

L is still refusing to crawl, and it’s looking more and more as though he will walk on his own before he ever crawls. He has the mobility, coordination, and strength to crawl, but he just hasn’t clued in to how it’s done. He’s pulling himself up, with the help of nearby furniture, into a standing position. He’s also taken to placing his mouth on bare skin (Pam’s or mine, whichever happens to be handy) and blowing, making a lovely farting sound. Don’t ask me where he’s picked this trick up.

The weather has been gorgeous this week. Right now I have the AC on in the office, because it would be uncomfortable if it wasn’t. It feels more like a Manitoban August than it does September. We’ve taken advantage of the nice weather. Over the last several weeks, Pam and I, with L in the stroller, have taken up jogging. There’s a paved bikepath right near our apartment, which makes jogging, while pushing a stroller, much safer than jogging on the street and much smoother than jogging on the sidewalk.

Settling In

We are settling back into life around here. Classes have resumed for Lowell, and L and I are remembering what it is like to spend the whole day in only each others company. Nobody around here has been very productive because we have been sick…

and we can’t quite seem to shake it. My guess is that we just partied too hard over summer and with J,S,K&M, but it was worth every minute of it. Also L is having to learn how to fall asleep on his own, which has made for less restful sleep then usual.

On the up side L has learned to clap his hands and his pincer grasp (finger and thumb) is so good that he is enjoying feeding himself and turning pages in books. At the moment we have a little bookworm on our hands.

Living Room Updates

We have made some changes to our living room since we returned to Massachusetts. Our sofa was still a second hand freebie from the 70’s that had served us well but no longer sat very comfortably. In fact, Lowell vowed when we left in May that he was no longer going to sit on it; we had to get new furniture. It took us a while to decide on what piece of furniture would be the most comfortable and versatile to our transient lifestyle. A trip to Ikea with J&S solved our problem; we bought these 2 chairs, footstools and table.

Then I heard this: “So since we saved so much money on buying these chairs instead of another sofa, and since we don’t get out to the theatre with L, we should get a better TV.” In all fairness our TV was ancient, small and the colour had recently started going wonky. I wasn’t difficult to persuade, so now we have a much improved environment for watching movies, basketball games etc.

The only thing left that was driving me crazy is that the 5 remotes required to control our home theatre system are constantly being misplaced and have no designated home. So out came my sewing machine and a beautiful flannel Fat Quarter (piece of fabric measuring approximately 18 by 22”) sent to me by a quilting friend and “wala” we have a remote control home.

Our First Hike with L

We decided to take advantage of the last few days before the start of classes by spending a little bit of time in the great outdoors. We’d never been on a hike with L before, so we thought we should give it a try–after all, if he’s going to be living with us for the next 2 decades, he’s going to have to learn to enjoy the great outdoors at some point. We decided to hike up Monument Mountain in western Massachusetts. It was a short, aggressive hike with some rewarding vistas at the summit. L was all smiles till about halfway down the mountain when he fell asleep. After the hike, we drove to Beartown State Forest for supper. We used our recently acquired camping irons–thanks Mom–to make some camping-style pizzas.

On the way home, we saw this humerous sign.

Learning to Crawl

L is learning new things every day. He had some help getting into this position, but he is becoming increasingly mobile. My guess is that our house will have to be baby-proofed in, say, 2 weeks.

My Very Own Chair!

While in Winnipeg, L was able to use a high chair that we were borrowing from family. We didn’t have one in Massachusetts, so when we arrived back in Massachusetts, it was quite the adventure trying to feed L. Enough of an adventure, in fact, that we went and bought a high chair straightaway. Here is L in his new chair.