Visit from Grammy and Grumpy

My parents are in the midst of an identity crisis about what they want their grandkids to call them. (Well, to be fair, I don't think my dad is very crisis-ed about it.) Regardless, we enjoyed one full day with both of my parents, and my mom is still here enjoying a week of rare Syracuse sunshine. We trick-or-treat tonight!

The View from Vermont

Jeremy took Clara and me on a suprise trip to Vermont last weekend--just for fun! (I guess part of the fun was preserving our sanity and whatnot, since these last few months have kicked us until we were down and then kicked us some more.) We left on Thursday when I finished teaching and came back Saturday afternoon. As far as a leaf-peeping trip to Vermont goes, it was ideal. We stayed outside of Middlebury at a small bed and breakfast run by a charming, if eccentric, older couple. The woman, who I believe is originally from Vietnam, was really concerned about running out of copies of the breakfast order form, so she just erased the marks of whoever had it last and gave it to us, then the next day she erased the marks again so we could fill out a "clean" sheet. Her husband seemed extremely old--almost to the point of inducing us to feel extremely guilty that we were staying at their house and making them do work for us! (I got over the guilt by reminding myself how much we were paying them.) We enjoyed our stay, though, even with the "ladybug situation" (aka ladybug infestation). I guess if a person is going to have to deal with insects, the insects might as well be ladybugs.

One of the best moments of the trip was our spur-of-the-moment decision to drive to New Hampshire on Friday. Years ago Jeremy and I set a goal to visit 30 states together by the time he turned 30, and New Hampshire was our thirtieth state--with just under two years to spare! Jeremy is still much more traveled than I. He's been to 49 states (pesky Alaska) and I have now been to 31. But I like seeing them all with him. An interesting sidenote: New Hampshire was Clara's fifteenth state, which is pretty impressive for a not-quite one-year-old, and is perhaps especially impressive given that she spent the first five months of her life in our apartment. Say what you want about us: we really enjoy a good road trip! Our next goal is to hit 40 states by the time we turn 40.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a few photographs:

Clara eating her breakfast in our proprietor's 80-year-old high chair. Lead paint, anyone? (Yes, Mom, only I would worry about something like that.)


Another highlight of the trip was an unintentional stop at the Joseph Smith birthplace visitor's center in Sharon, Vermont. We are really not very good religious pilgrims, and it hadn't even occured to us to stop here. But then there we were, right at the turn off on our way to New Hampshire. I actually think it might be our favorite Church history site. Very peaceful, quiet, and beatuiful.


Jeremy loves this picture. I'm not sure I see what he sees...



Clara took this picture of us at Dartmouth. If we're counting milestones that don't mean anything, this is the fourth Ivy League campus we've visited. (We may not be good religious pilgrims, but we are certainly shameless university tourists!)


Back in New York, we stopped to stretch our legs at a little apple farm, and we bought Clara her first pumpkin! She loved it; she ate the whole stem! (Seriously, doesn't she look thrilled?)



On an interesting final note, Jeremy recently reviewed the book The View from Vermont for the Journal of Cultural Geography. Be sure to pick up your copy when it hits newsstands across America!

Tender Bee

Just for you: a preview of Clara-B in her bumblebee costume. No, I did not buy it at Pottery Barn Kids, but if it looks familiar, I totally and blatantly ripped of the PB Kids design, which I saw in their catalog. Sixty bucks for an infant's Halloween costume? Ha! Not on my watch. This was made for about five dollars (if you don't count the high cost of my time, of course). I think it turned out fairly well, though I would implore you not to examine the zipper in the back. And I am still working out how to attach a small stinger and how to make a little antannae-headband. And I decided wings were a bit of a hassle, so she is a flightless bee. In spite of all this, however, I think she's the cutest little bee I've ever in my whole life seen!

Freshmen: Bah!

This week has done quite a bit to remind me that way too many 18-year-olds are a bunch of whiny babies. By the time I got home from teaching my classes this morning, I had pretty much had it with my students. I almost told my second section to go home after about 20 minutes of class, but then I decided that would be like a reward to them so I didn't. If I have to suffer in their company, they have to suffer in mine!

I'm sure I'm making more of this than the situation merits, but it's been a long week all around, and having to be in a room of students, many of which seem to have absolutely nothing invested in their education, was the final straw. I have two students who have not come for about five weeks (out of six) and suddenly showed up and seemed surprised that they had an F already for the semester. Apparently some students think that never going to class and not handing in a single assignment is worth a passing grade. The students who do come, particularly in my second section, have seemed this week to be in a glassy-eyed stupor. And I've had a couple of students email me sob stories about how they really are good writers but they can only write if they feel passionately about the topic. So in one guy's case, unless I spend the next 9 weeks (are there really 9 left??) assigning essays about metal (music) then I guess he won't be able to write.

The weird thing, and I've run into this before, is that in some of the students' cases I feel like I care more about their grade than they do. Yet I still let it bug me! I have to keep reminding myself that I already went to college and did just fine, and if they want to fail that's their boat to float. Perhaps they think I won't have the guts to fail them, but what they don't realize is that it isn't about guts. They will all get the grade they deserve, even the guy who was mad he got a B for writing a B-quality paper. His sob story was about how he wants to transfer to Cornell and therefore needs to get higher grades. I told him that I'd be happy to give him a higher grade if he earned it. He seemed affronted by that. Whatever. I know I sound bitter, because I am, but I think not doing anything with my teaching for at least the rest of the day will work wonders for my psyche. Most of the time I quite enjoy teaching, but this just hasn't been my week.

So, So Wet

For those of you who closely monitor the weather in Syracuse, you may have noticed that we've had above-average warm temperatures here, which I regard as nature's ultimate betrayal. Nature must have heard me badmouthing it, because it decided to take an untimely revenge this afternoon. Clara and I ran up to the university to see Daddy and stop in for a quick errand at the bookstore. As we drove up to the school, we found ourselves in the midst of a classic eastern torrent, but as tends to be the case, the storm was short-lived. By the time we found a nice parking place near the student center, the rain had lightened to a mere drizzle.

Moving quickly, I fed the meter, plopped Clara in her stroller, and headed towards the bookstore. Just as I realized I had chosen the wrong entrance and was facing a long flight of stairs with a stroller, Nature gave me what was coming to me, and the downpour began again in earnest. Summoning my momma-strength from deep within, I picked up Clara in her stroller and sprinted up the steps (and yes, Mom, my back does hurt), but I was not nearly fast enough. By the time we got into the building, I was literally dripping from my hair and hands, my shoes were making that squnchy noise that saturated shoes make, and my shirt and pants were plastered to my body. Clara made off a slight bit better, as she was partially covered by her stroller's canopy. But believe me, we were quite a rag-tag sight. I wheeled her to the bathroom and held her under the hand dryer for a while, but she quickly tired of that game. I spent some time under the dryer myself, thanking my good foresight in changing out of the white shirt I had worn to work that morning. And of course, within about 15 minutes the rain had more or less stopped for good. Which is how I know nature is out to get me.

(Incidentally, I think gravity might have it out for Clara, as she somehow pulled the piano bench onto her face this evening. My heart has finally recovered, but she has quite a bruise on her forehead, and therefore we may not be out much in company for a few days...)

Clara's Truck

Our friend Julia let Clara borrow this awesome push toy. Although she still struggles with walking, Clara loves to push it on her knees and is always pleased when Daddy gives her a ride on her "truck."

Grammy's Baked Beans

Clara just loved her lunch today: a nice tray full of baked beans. I'm just glad this happened during daddy-daughter time! Believe it or not, when I came home from teaching my class the only tell-tale sign was the bit of dried bean residue tucked into the crease of her neck. (Bonus in the first picture: you can see all three of her teeth!)

Bummer

I just wrote quite a lengthy post about my foray into the world of wheat/egg/dairy-free baking, but due to some sort of technical malfunction on Blogger's part, the post no longer exists. I'll have to drum up the enthusiasm to redo it tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a recent photo of our sweet baby. This was taken before she managed to get about six bruises on her enormous forehead. Poor baby. It's hard to have a big head and no sense of proportion.

These are my recreation clothes

Not a crushing disappointment

So far, the net result of Clara's allergies (for me, anyway) can be summed up in one word: hunger. I'm compelled to not be hungry and to get lots of good nutrients to keep Momma's Dairy Bar as healthy and delicious for Clara as possible. The problem is, I have never been the most deliberate eater, especially during the summer, so not being able to eat toast or have a sandwich or a quesadilla on a moment's notice has left me feeling perpetually peckish. In a moment of borderline self-pity, I decided to cheer myself up by making an approximation of one of my ultimate childhood comfort foods: cooked white rice with a bit of butter, sugar, cinnamon, and milk. Of course I substituted Earth Balance "buttery spread" for the butter and a bit of soymilk for the milk. And as I stirred it up and took my first bite, preparing to be disappointed, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually pretty good. Not quite the same, but still sweet and warm and comforting. Now on to the next task: finding the perfect wheat-free bread recipe.

A Healthy Chi

All of those baby yoga classes have finally paid off! Clara has perfected the downward-facing dog after much dedicated practice.

I'm only joking! Clara does not take baby yoga, but as you can see she has very little need for it, as she is quite naturally at one with the universe. This little pose is one that Clara is extremely fond of; she probably assumes it at least ten times every day. Unfortunately, we have had great difficulty documenting the pose, since as soon as she catches a glimpse of the camera she sits up straight and gives us a cheesy grin. Another compounding factor is that she doesn't spend much time in this position, so if the flash is slow in going off the moment is lost. This is our best picture so far, and I think it really captures some of the subtle nuances of her Zen-like zest for life.

Vegan-Plus?

I'm trying to figure out what to call my new diet, which has been drastically altered following the news that Clara has mild-to-moderate allergies of dairy, eggs, and wheat. Typically, those have been my three primary food groups, but since I'm still nursing her I am having to embrace the new. We were pretty sure she had a dairy allergy, but the wheat and eggs were a bit of a surprise. I was ready to be Vegan-Plus (my phrase for a dairy-free diet that is heavy on veg, grains, fruit, and beans but which also includes meat). Now that we have to cut out wheat for a time, I'm kind of at a loss for a clever moniker.

We have an appointment with an allergist in a few weeks, but in the meantime Clara's pediatrician counseled me to err on the side of caution by eliminating the offending foods from my diet as well. Right now I'm in "survival mode," which means that I am eating a lot of cold cereal and soy milk. Clara and I did venture out to Wegmans (if I could leave Jeremy and marry a grocery store, I would marry Wegmans) and purchased some wheat-dairy-egg free delights, so I'm sure my new culinary repertoire will just continue to expand. The good news in all of this is that she'll probably outgrow these allergies within the next few years. In the meantime, we'll be grateful that she's over the moon for oatmeal, barley, veggies, and fruit. Now we'll work on getting her to like meat and soy...

Really, though, as you can see from the following photo, she doesn't much care what she eats: