Fire Shuck!

Clara is developing a few pint-size passions as she nears the end of her second year of life. One of these passions is animals. Another is the color blue (everything is the color blue). But one of the most meaningful to her is her enjoyment and admiration of fire trucks, or "shucks," a type of vehicle that also often includes garbage shucks, recycling shucks, moving shucks, cement shucks--basically all big shucks.


But fire shucks are by far her favorite. Every time we get in the car (really--every time) she begins her special mantra of "Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Fire shuck? Fire shuck? Fire shuck?" She is especially thrilled if we're headed towards downtown, where we pass a fire station where the trucks are typically on display.


Given this background, you might imagine her elation at being able to go to a very special carnival at the public library today with Jeremy (I was at my OB's for most of it, unfortunately), where real-life firefighters were grilling hot dogs, accompanied by a real-life fire truck. The carnival was a celebration of the summer reading program, which we have attended faithfully, and which is now over until September (sad!). Many games and activities greeted carnival participants, but Clara had eyes only for the firefighters, their truck, and the playground. You'll note in this first video a bit of ambivalence about getting too close to the fire truck, but trust us: she was thrilled to see such a fine speciman.



After I joined up with Jeremy and Clara and we'd eaten and roamed a bit, we went into the library to get a few new books, including several about transportation and fire trucks. In the garage when we got home, Clara told Jeremy she wanted a kiss, after which she proceeded to kiss the picture of the firefighter on one of her books. And hopefully that will explain this last video. Like I said, she's a woman of passion.

Summer Cinema

In Coeur d'Alene, one of the local theaters has a free "family movie festival" every week during the summer, where they screen G and PG rated kids movies Tuesday through Thursday mornings (Syracuse did this too, so I think it's probably pretty common). I've never taken Clara, but this week they're showing "Wallace and Gromit: the Curse of the Were-Rabbit," and since Clara loves Wallace and Gromit (at least the three original shorts) I thought we'd try it.

As it turns out, Clara is still very sensitive to overstimulation (residual impact of being a preemie, perhaps--not uncommon), and we only lasted for about 20 minutes before she decided she wanted to go home and watch the "dog show" in the comfort of our living room, so that's exactly what we did. On the ride home she did spend a lot of time talking about the "rabbit moo-bee," so maybe one day she'll be ready to see something on the big screen.

32 Weeks

I am keenly aware that I'm only about a week away from where I was when my water broke with Clara. I never really took a "late" pregnancy shot with her, so this is to remedy that, at least for my own memory. As an added bonus, this picture should prove conclusively to the doubters (Ericka) who don't think I look pregnant that there really is a baby in there.

Camper Clara

Jeremy and I wanted to have one last hurrah before welcoming baby boy, so in an effort to relax and put our feet up, we decided to go camping with an energetic 20-month-old. All right, we didn't really have any grand delusions that the trip would be relaxing, but it was fun--and certainly memorable. I'll admit that we were somewhat surprised at how much effort it took to keep Clara happy and safe in the wilderness, and we didn't even bother trying to keep her clean (obviously). But she seemed to really enjoy camping, so all of the effort (and two days of increased heart palpitations for poor pregnant Momma) was totally worth it.


Since the threat of preterm delivery is always looming over us, we didn't venture too far from home. But since we more or less live in the mountains, we had lots of options. We ended up at Heyburn State Park, which is essentially on the opposite side of Lake Coeur d'Alene from where we live. The campsite was great, and we had the good fortune of not having anyone camp next to us the whole time we were there! We think babies make strong camp neighbor-repellants, so I think we may always travel with booster seats and small articles of clothing, even when we don't have any babies left.


Jeremy spent most of his time entertaining Clara and taking her to the playground and on walks while I tended the base camp and tried to keep my palpitations at bay. We also took full advantage of our camp stove, and we even hauled charcoal and our Dutch oven along before we realized we forgot to bring tongs to move the coals around. (We also forgot Jeremy's tennis shoes, a hammer, and our pillows, all of which I have since added to my comprehensive camping master list.) But we couldn't have been more pleased with the beautiful weather and the pleasure of sleeping with a breathtaking view of tall white pines and a full moon. I'm already looking forward to next summer's outings!


And now, without further ado, please enjoy this video that illustrates how much Clara likes being in a tent. (A word on our gigantic tent: I bought it, much to Jeremy's skepticism, right after we got married, so for six-plus years he's had to camp with just me in a 10x14 tent. But I had an eye on the future! Who's skeptical now?)



On one final note: I am a huge admirer of beautifully photographed food blogs, so I thought I'd try my hand here. These are the "smores" we made with roasted marshmallows and Albertson's unbelievably soft and delicious new brownie cookies. You know you want one. And then, if you're like me, you'll want to detox for three days to come down from the sugary deliciousness of it all.

We have a date!

Most of you know that I'll be having my third c-section with this baby, and a few days ago we got word from my OB's office that our surgery has been scheduled. What that means is that our sweet baby boy will make his grand entrance on September 10, 2008. Let the countdown begin! We are certainly excited about our new baby, and this makes the whole thing seem alarmingly real. Despite having done this twice before, nothing about me having babies has ended up being easy or normal (is it ever?) so I have a fair helping of nervousness mixed in with my excitement. Nevertheless, we think September 10th will be a grand birthday for our baby boy. Here's hoping he decides to stay put until then...

Thoughts on my recent reads

Since I spent a week and a half in our new house with basically only Clara to entertain me, I ended up getting a lot of reading done. When your daughter goes to sleep at 6:30 and takes at least one long nap during the day, that opens up quite a bit of time to read. The books I ended up reading were kind of an odd assortment, basically pulled at random (and under duress) from the shelves at the library (Clara is not interested in me browsing the shelves for any length of time).

I will say that I was entertained by each of the books, although I liked some better than others. Here are a few short lines about the most recent of my reads, just in case you're interested:

Joan Didion's A Year of Magical Thinking: All that really needs to be said here is that Didion is consistently one of the most engaging, beautiful writers I've ever read. So yes, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book, which is an exploration of her grief following the unexpected death of her husband.

John Grisham's The Appeal: I don't know how old this book is (I'm sure I'm behind the Grisham curve here), but, as you might expect, it's quite a yarn. Very compelling, very quick to read. Classic Grisham.

Melody Carlson's A Mile in My Flip-Flops: Kind of a silly chick-lit book with a predictable but satisfying conclusion. Amusing to read, and it's another quickie, so even if it's not the best thing you've ever read (it won't be) at least it didn't steal too much of your life.

Elizabeth Aston's Mr. Darcy's Daughters: I don't know who in their right mind sits down to write a "sequel" to one of the best-regarded novels in English literature. Aston's novel is more of a success as it is than as a connection to Pride and Prejudice, but even then it seems to be more of a 21st-century novel where everyone dresses in period costuming. Oh well. It was mildly diverting.

Kate Jacobs' The Friday Night Knitting Club: Maybe I'm the only person who hadn't heard of this book, but I think I can see why it's so popular. While I was a bit disappointed in some of the language (it's true), I found myself very absorbed by the book, and I actually shed tears at the end. This is something, since I haven't cried while reading a book since finishing Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath in 2005. Granted, I wept for an afternoon with Steinbeck, but I really was touched by Knitting Club.

Allergy Update

I don't think I mentioned that we recently took Clara for an eventful trip to see her new allergist, where we came armed with a half-gallon of whole milk and pushed for an immediate "oral challenge," since her recent allergy test results came back close to negative on the milk front. The doctor consented to the oral challenge, and we spent the next three hours trying to coax ever-increasing amounts of moo juice into Clara's stubborn gullet. We even had a bottle of chocolate syrup with us, which helped a bit, but she did not want to drink the milk, thank you very much, and by the time we were done she had more chocolate milk on her (now ruined) shirt than she probably had in her tummy.

The allergist decided that she'd ingested enough to feel confident that she has indeed "outgrown" her milk allergy, so we have been reveling in the freedom to cook with and snack on dairy products. She will now drink milk if she's in the right mood, but mostly we've been "milking down" her soy milk to help her get used to the new flavor. Yay, milk! I can't see us totally giving up soy milk anytime in the near future (even Jeremy and I quite like it), but it's nice to have options.

Next summer we'll retest for eggs and peanuts. You never can tell...

Making "Bownies" (rhymes with "cownies")

My sister Naomi sent Clara a mix for peanut/egg/dairy-free brownies, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and let Clara help me make them. She actually did not like the brownies (not much of a cake girl, I guess) but loved all the stirring and licking of the spoons (safe and fun to do when there are no eggs in the picture).

And for anyone who may be concerned about the fate of a pan of brownies more or less rejected on textural grounds by the girl for whom they were intended, please have no fear: Jeremy and I managed to polish off the lot.

Happy Fourthday!

So patriotism is all well and good as a culturally accepted virtue, but can I just say that the Fourth of July is even better when there's a birthday to celebrate? We loved celebrating the Birth of our Nation with our fellow citizens, and I always get choked up watching veterans march in the parade, but I must say the highlight was celebrating 29 great years of Jeremy's life. Here's to a happy Fourth and to a happy birthday for my favorite person.

To commemorate this epic celebration, please enjoy this footage of Clara dancing to the parade. Note that her movements are somewhat restricted by her seat in the backpack and by the fact that she's clutching a soybutter and jelly sandwich with two hands. Nevertheless, she is obviously a girl who loves The Dance.

And we're back...

Well, loyal readers, it's been awhile, but I'm happy to be back with my first original post in nearly a month. We are happily settling in to our new home in the Inland Empire, and I honestly have a difficult time imagining a more wonderful place to live. We just returned from the second leg of a city park extravaganza to celebrate the opening of a new bike path between three of the city parks. Much food and fun to be had in beautiful weather. As we pulled into our garage for a pit stop before heading out for free Dutch oven dinner later this evening at the last of the three-park tour, I said, "I can't imagine living anywhere better than this!" And yes, I realize that it's difficult not to be happy in summertime weather that typically hovers around 80 degrees, and I realize that we have a long winter ahead of us, but none of this troubles me. All we've done in our marriage is slog through long winters, and I can't imagine even north Idaho gets more snow than scenic S-Y, NY!

And I will also freely admit that life seems much more rosy since my whole family is back together. I know our seven week separation was for a good cause (I've just got to carry this baby to term this time!), but I truly felt each of those 42 days away from Jeremy. Brutal. We are much happier to be settled and following each other around like lost puppies. And Clara loves having Dada back as well. If he leaves the house at all, she wanders around saying, "Dada! Dada!" until I reassure her of a swift return.

Here are a few pictures to whet your waiting whistle for the adventures and intrigue that lie ahead...