my latest project

I made a guitar case for Mix who is going on a camping trip and wanted to take his travel-sized guitar with him without bringing the bulky, heavy case it came in. The loops are for hooking it to the back of his backpack. It came out pretty well.

funny

We went to the Phillies game this afternoon. Baby Doodle really loved it. He had fallen asleep about five minutes before we got to the parking lot so I volunteered to stay in the car with him until he woke up and Mr. D could go into the game so he didn't have to miss any of it. There was a group of tailgaters in front of our car that I hung out with until BD woke up (about 20 minutes after we arrived). The funlovers, as my grandmother would have called them, offered me a beer and we chatted. It was kind of nice to experience irresponsible, careless youth again, if even for a few minutes. They were 22/23 years old and had just graduated from college. As if on cue baby Doodle woke up as I took my last sip of beer.

We got a Shane Victorino figurine, the Flyin' Hawaiian, which was the give away for kids today. Baby Doodle watched the game asking lots of questions like, Where's the batter? Where's the umpire? Where's the pitcher? When is the Philly Phanatic coming out? Where's the Phanatic's car?

We made many trips up and down the stairs and went down the shoe slide a few times. When we got home we had pizza and were talking about the game -- who did what (Rollins hit a double, Burrell hit a three run homerun and Feliz hit a homer right after Burrell). Then baby Doodle says, matter-of-factly, "Did Babe Ruth get a hit?" I didn't know he'd ever heard Babe Ruth's name. It turns out there was a picture of the Babe in the paper this morning and Mr. D had told him who it was. Kids are just so funny. He keeps us amused and laughing all the time.

toddler logic

We were eating dinner as a family tonight and baby Doodle insisted on serving himself salad with the "gray things" (tongs). He did a pretty good job. He ate a few bites then decided he was finished and told me to eat the rest of his salad, which I did. I was about half way finished with baby Doodle's salad when he declared, "When Mommy finishes my salad I can have a ice cream sandwich."

It reminded me of a famous family story (famous only among our family members) about my cousin when she was little. She told my uncle, "If, if, if, if you eat your peas you can have my peas." I'm glad he's inherited my cousin's wit because she's extremely bright and currently in law school.

Our weekend

We spent the holiday weekend at my in-laws house on the Jersey shore. Among our activities were going to the beach, riding the rides at Point Pleasant's boardwalk (only baby Doodle actually rode the rides), playing tennis, going for a long bike ride on the path near the house, and watching a Fourth of July parade on the fifth of July in Ocean Grove. We bought one of those trailers that rides behind my bike. Baby Doodle likes it for the most part, but he usually complains at least twice during the ride that his helmet is too tight.

I made a lot of progress in my book, The Assassins Gate by George Packer (I highly recommend it), and even took a nap one day. It was a relaxing trip all in all. My mother-in-law seemed ready to see us go on Sunday afternoon, which is okay. Four nights is a long time to invade someone's house with a two-year old. Then again, she may have been in a sour mood for some other reason unbeknownst to me.

Here are some pictures:

This pictures is actually from two weeks ago, but I thought you might want to see BD in his helmet.

Intently watching the parade with his bucket of popcorn

calm and quiet

Baby Doodle routinely takes an hour or more to fall asleep once I've put him in his crib, yes, he's still in a crib. He's not unhappy during that time, he just talks and listens to his aquarium music that hangs off the side rail. I guess I shouldn't let it bother me that he takes so long to fall asleep, but I've started to try something new to see if he can calm down any easier. Now I sing three short songs to him and make him sit in the rocking chair by himself or on my lap. Then I put him in the crib and rub his forehead for a few minutes reciting, "it's time to be calm and quiet" in my most soothing voice -- this is the new addition.

I can hear him talking over the monitor right now. We'll see how long it lasts.

It is now an hour and a half since I wrote this and I thought you might want to know that BD was asleep within an half hour of putting him down. Calm and quiet . . .