This child continually astounds me!

It is amazing what Micah is learning and picking up on these days. For about a month now he's been saying a lot more than just ball, although that is still the favorite thing to say and the favorite thing to play with or sleep with. And still the very first thing he says when he wakes up, whether it is in the morning or after his nap - with a very cute and groggy voice. :)

But he's saying "Kee kat" and gets excited about the kitty cats and he YELLS "DADA" when he hears the garage door open and then he goes over to the door so he will be ready to show Daddy what he found (surprise! A ball!). He Meows like the cat when he hears the cat meow, but it sounds like "mum" when he does it. He doesn't really say "mama" yet, but I don't work on it with him either. I don't talk much in the third person to him.

It continually amazes us, too, what he understands. Ever since he could crawl, which was around 5 months, we taught him not to go toward the fireplace and he would shake his head if something rolled near it. He knows not to throw the balls that are hard and he knows not to push his sippy cup around on the floor (but he still does sometimes). I will ask him to put his cup on the table and he does it. A while ago, maybe two months ago, we were getting ready to leave and he had his socks in his hand, so I asked him to bring them over to me so I could put them on his feet. Dave and I were both shocked that he came right over to me with them in his hand. That was at 12 months! It is so easy to underestimate what your child comprehends. He growls like a lion when he sees one in a book. He points out balls or cats in books using his words. He loves his books again now and will constantly bring me a book throughout the day so I will read it to him.
He says "ma" for milk or more, but I know which one he means because he points. He still does sign language for those sometimes, but I think he is realizing that it's quicker just to say it. He signs "eat" at breakfast time or when I ask him if he wants to eat lunch or dinner. He knows to find a ball or two and go to the stairs when I say it's bedtime and he does the sign for "sleep" when he's tired and ready to go to bed. When I smell a stinky diaper, I tell him I need to change his diaper and he giggles and runs away from me (as if it's really comfortable to be running around like that!). He signs help, please and thank you, and he is starting give me kisses... and run away from me when I try to kiss him!

There is a little bit of a downside - he is gaining some independence. He is starting to throw tantrums when I take something away from him. He whines throughout the day if I don't understand what he wants. If he is tired or hungry throughout the day and I don't say the word "sleep" or "eat" for him to sign, he gets a little cranky. He has always been content to play pretty well on his own, but if I don't pay much attention to him, he whines. I have been busy with Christmas baking and (earlier this month) with finishing projects as Christmas presents. But I have found that I need to sit and stack things with him or roll a ball back and forth or read stories to him throughout the day and then he's fine. He really is a lot of fun almost all the time and I'm lucky to be able to spend all day with him.

Funeral

Dave's grandpa passed away recently and the memorial service was on Wednesday. He was a remarkable man. I'm sorry that I didn't hear much of the service because I was chasing a toddler around the foyer and trying to keep him from saying "BAH!" too loudly, but it was a nice service. Dinner was served afterward for the family and friends that came. I had not met most of the extended family before. It was fun meeting Mila, Micah's little second cousin (Dave's cousin Kelly's little girl), who is only a month older than Micah. I'll post pictures soon.

Hawaii may not be a pretty picture come February

I have been trying to avoid doing any holiday baking because I don't want to eat it all. And that's just what I'll be doing if we have cookies and candy and fudge floating around our house. I was doing pretty well up until last weekend. I had only made a couple batches of fudge, which I made so that I could take it to a Christmas cookie exchange and to our home group. But there are just so many things going on right now. Dave went to a friend's house on Saturday to play video games and he invited some friends, so the wife of one of the friends came over to my house so we could play with our babies and bake Christmas cookies. If I'm going to do Christmas baking I try to make sure that at least I'll have somewhere to take them, otherwise I will seriously eat them all. All Day Long. Which is not so healthy.

So, my friend Kara came over on Saturday and we made shortbread cookies, sugar cookies, and chocolate drops (or haystacks). I made her take half of them home with her so she could share them with her husband and the rest of her family. Sunday I got together with my book club friends for a gift exchange and what do you know? Part of the gift I received was Christmas cookies! I left some with my friends, but the majority came home with me. So I went to the Mom's Group meeting at the nursing home on Monday to deliver cookies and hang out with the elderly people and brought a plate of cookies with me. I also brought a plate of Christmas cookies with me to our home group meeting tonight. I have frozen some of the sugar cookies and the shortbread cookies, so at least at this point I haven't gotten into that.

I had made a couple more batches today because apparently they've been running out. I'm trying not to eat them all the time, but somehow they are diminishing. I have been giving a lot away, but still! Something has snapped inside me. I was trying NOT to do holiday baking! But then Dave thanked me the other day for making Christmas cookies because he is really enjoying them. And that made me want to make more! That was nice, I'm glad he's enjoying them. I know I am. But I looked at the calendar for the new year and realize that after all holiday-related events are over (aka, Jan. 1), I will have no more than 6.5 weeks to kick myself into high gear to prepare for Hawaii.

No Sleep

Micah and I are both a little sick right now. I am surprised Dave's not sick too because he's been staying up late and getting up early these last couple of days. I had a busy weekend, so that might have had something to do with me getting sick. I was asked to sub for one of the singers in the worship band at church on Sunday, so I had practice on Thursday night. Friday night I went to a cookie exchange with some moms from Mom's Group. Saturday afternoon I went to a play at a friend's church and Sunday I had to be at worship practice at 8am. Our church had the Christmas concert that evening, and Dave was playing guitar in the band so I went to that too.

I don't know if it's because of the congestion or because he's just not feeling well, but Micah is NOT napping for me. He seems tired, so I put him in his crib and at first he cries because he doesn't like being behind bars, but then he calms down and just plays with whatever is there in his crib - reading books, pushing balls around, or throwing things out of his crib. Then, when there's nothing left, he starts making more noise and doesn't fall asleep. I don't get it. When I'm not feeling well, I would LOVE to lay down on a mattress and nap. I especially would NOT like to jibber-jabber or scream when my throat is not feeling so well. Yesterday we had an appointment for Christmas pictures at 1:45, so I was hoping he would nap late-morning, have some lunch, and be happy for the pictures. Wishful thinking. He didn't sleep at all and he missed his lunch, but he was still very pleasant during the pictures even though he was tired. However, he wasn't very impressed with any of our sillies and only smiled nice for, mmm, one of the photos.

Any ideas on how to get a toddler to sleep during the day?!! This afternoon we went to the post office to mail our packages and on the way home he was pretty much asleep in the car. Often I will park the car in the garage, turn it off, and let him stay asleep and I'll just keep checking on him now and then and get him when he wakes up. But it is kind of cold outside now. So on the way home from the post office I tried to keep him awake and then I took him straight up to his crib when we got home. He was quiet for a little bit, but 40 minutes later (after I had tried to nap too) I realized it wasn't going to happen because he was starting to make louder noises and seemed to be getting cranky. So, I am assuming there will be no nap today. It's hard when I'm sick too because I don't feel like playing and having energy, but what is especially hard is understanding why he doesn't sleep knowing he NEEDS to in order to get rid of his cold.

Most kids like something soft and cuddly...

Micah, however, finds that the soft teddy bears or plush blankets are for wimps. He likes him a good hard baseball or a huge Scooby-Doo ball to cuddle with all night. I guess it's not so bad. It's cool to bring a ball to kindergarten, but not so cool to bring a blankie or to be sucking your thumb.

Happy American Thanksgiving!

This is the weekend of American Thanksgiving. I have been here for five years now and it is still hard to get used to how late it is. For some reason, this year I haven't been thinking as much about Christmas until now. In previous years I have been playing Christmas music all through the month of November and getting excited for Christmas, but this year I have been less excited. I guess there has been a lot going on, so I have been keeping myself busy with other things. Greg and Amanda, my brother and his wife, came to visit during the week of November 11th. I have been making large amounts of apple butter and canning them for a fundraiser for a friend. I have also been quilting a little bit, just for fun.

Despite all the busyness, I am now getting into the Christmas spirit and playing Christmas music and David has been cleaning out the garage in order to get it organized and to get our Christmas lights out of storage so that he can put them up. One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is the romance of Christmas lights.

Okay, first things first. Our visit with Greg and Amanda was wonderful. I can't be certain, but I kind of think it was Amanda's idea to come all the way out here. I love that they came. It was great to get to know Amanda better and to spend time with Greg again. We didn't do much, but I did take them to one of the first things a person who comes to Seattle has to see - Pike Place Market. We ordered drinks from the very first Starbucks and got a picture or two there and we we saw some fishermen tossing huge fish or crabs to each other. Dave and his company have moved into a new office building, so we showed them the office (even though it's still a bit messy from getting settled into it) before going out to lunch. On the last weekend that they were here we went to Bellevue for some shopping and to stay overnight at one of the hotels there. I think it was a pretty relaxing week for them (even with a 13 month old running around) and we had a great time hanging out together.

The apple butter that I am making is for a little fundraiser entitled "Jam for Sam". We know a family through the home group Dave and I are a part of who have a 4 year old boy with an immune deficiency and has had to undergo 2 bone marrow transplant surgeries. Another couple in the home group has come up with the idea of Jam for Sam and started selling different types of jam at his workplace. I wanted to help out, so she put me in charge of making the apple butter. For one thing, it reminds me of Ontario because of the Wellesley Apple Butter and Cheese Festival. I have never canned before, but I am enjoying it. Plus, it's a great cause and it's nice to be able to help out a friend.

For Thanksgiving, we went to David's sister's house. We had dinner there and actually stayed overnight. We were going to go with Micah's cousins in the morning to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in downtown Seattle, but Micah didn't sleep much during the night, so consequentially, neither did we. Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, as always. Mike and Danielle had ordered a smoked turkey and only had to reheat it for a couple hours. It was definitely a different taste, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. I wish I had taken a picture of Micah and his cousins because they all had brown and blue sweaters on and looked so cute. Sorry!

Fun Times

Pumpkin patches and farms. Halloween dress-ups. Falling asleep in comfy Target shopping carts. Walking on cold but sunny fall days. Playing with birthday toys. Micah has had a fun couple of weeks. I was able to get my tulip bulbs planted! I am excited to see what will happen in the spring! I imagine it will be like a $20 bill in my jacket pocket that I had put away for the summer and then taken out again in the fall. How exciting! "Ooh, the flowers are popping up and I forgot I even planted them!"

We had fun at the Pumpkin Patch. It has been so nice here for the past couple weeks. The weather has definitely turned cooler, but the sun has been shining and the leaves have been turning beautiful colors. I simply love this time of year.





Micah was an astronaut by day on October 31st and a Fireman by night. He was both the cutest little astronaut and fireman I have ever seen! We went to our church for a Harvest Party after handing out some candy at our house. I bought so much candy that I was afraid we were going to have a ton of it left in our house (especially with Dave's candy-nazi method of handing out candy - "take only ONE!" I grab a handfuls and fill each kid's sack with it. That would be why we ran out so quickly last year, but this year I was prepared with LOTS of candy, even though we don't stay here all night.). However, we did not have any left over because when we left to go to our church, we set it out in a box with a note: Trick or Treat! Please take ONE! I wish we had a hidden video camera on our front porch to see if that many kids came, or if the older ones just dumped it all in their bags. Well, it's fine because if we had any left over, we all know who would be eating that.... and we all know who does not NEED it. Ahem.



I have been running lately. A friend of mine from the home group that we are in ran a half marathon a couple months ago and she wants to keep in shape, so she invited me to go with her one morning. I met her at her house and we ran the loop she normally does. No. We ran PART of the loop she normally does because it is ALL HILLS and I hadn't done anything for a couple weeks, so I was DYING with the hills. But, since then, we've met and ran around my neighborhood and I've been able to do 3 miles with her. My neighborhood is completely flat. One of these days I'll attempt her dreaded, hilly neighborhood again.



Back to the Harvest Party. I liked Micah's costume the best because all the other boys were either animals of some kind, or cowboys or indians. His costume was borrowed from his cousins. With him being so little still, there weren't any games that he could do, but he did have fun in the Toddler Playroom with all the balls. He even tried coloring a little - and by that I mean tapping the crayon on the paper. I'm glad he's still too young to understand that he has a choice on what he could eat and that Halloween means CANDY and that it is yummy and delicious and horribly bad for you. I'm glad that he doesn't demand to eat only candy or nothing at all and I hope that he is never like that. I do cherish this time, because he is open to eating anything, and likes everything. Especially veggies like broccoli. And tofu. One day he will not be so open. However, as Dave says, he IS a Wolfrom, and if you've seen Papa Wolfrom's belly, you'll understand that a Wolfrom will eat anything. :)

Sick Baby

Micah was sick over the weekend. He had a fever of about 102 on Thursday and Friday. We called the doctor on Friday and they wanted to see him. So we took him in and she checked his throat and saw that it was red. She wanted to check him for strep, and when she took the swab, he threw up a little. The doc was surprised because usually there's a gag reflex, but nothing comes up. Hoping that this wouldn't trigger more vomit, she sent us on our way with a prescription to ward off Micah's "sinus infection". I should have asked what to do in the case that it DOES trigger more vomit, but would I think that far ahead? Of course not.

So, I had him in the car, waiting at the pharmacy while Dave ran in to get the prescription and I thought I would try to feed him a little. He took one bite, but could not stomach it. It came up with a bit more of his breakfast. So, I took him straight home, changed him and fed him a light lunch ... which he seemed to take just fine. But, when I was holding him and giving him some milk in a bottle, he was done. He emptied everything in his stomach all over himself, me, and one or two of the pillows on the couch. He started crying of course, because who likes to throw up? And I'm not too sure what to do first... I hold him and walk into the kitchen, but realize I can't really set him down on the floor, so I go back to the living room and see that I have dripped along the way. I lay him down on the carpet, peel off my wet clothes, and then peel off his wet clothes, run into the kitchen for a washcloth and paper towels and wipe him (and me) up. Then I realize I'm sitting in my underwear in front of the window to our front door, so I run upstairs to get some clothes on and grab some fresh, clean clothes for Micah. When I come back down, he's still crying a little, and standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up at me, wondering how I could possibly leave him like that.

On Sunday he didn't have much of a fever anymore, but he did get a weird red rash all over his torso and a bit on his face. We called the on-call doctor Sunday night and she said to stop giving him the medication (in case he's allergic) and to bring him in on Monday if he still has the rash. He still had the rash on Monday, so I took him in to the doctor, but he was feeling better. He was playing fine and she just thought the rash must be some kind of virus (not allergies) that he had gotten along with the fever. I'm not really sure why he was throwing up so much on Friday, though. But he's doing so much better now. The rest of the week he's been pretty much normal, except that he's been usually taking 2 naps a day. It's been great!

He was so sweet when he was sick last weekend. He was exhausted and just wanted to sleep most of the day. If I would set him on the ground to have him play a little, he would start crying unless I sat there with him and held him. He slept a lot in his crib and when he was done with that I would pick him up and hold him on the couch and he would just lay there with his head down on my shoulder. I love when he cuddles. But I much prefer him to be healthy and feeling well.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

We celebrated a week late, but it was fun and fairly stress-free. Unfortunately, we didn't have our huge crowd of 16 guests in for the feast, but it was cozy with two other couples and one single guy. Almost everyone has kids, though, and so they brought them, which made for a much rowdier Thanksgiving than we've had in the past, but still fun. Times are a-changin, so we're changin with them! Since there were just two other couples, the girls helped out with bringing the sweet potatoes and salad, but we made everything else.

We made our Thanksgiving celebration a day of Ina. Her cookbooks: Barefoot Contessa have been facetiously labeled "the Bible" in Dave's family because it is the only thing his sister cooks from and everything in it is absolutely delicious. The day before our celebration I was able to make a cranberry conserve, which was pretty good, but a lot of the people still opted for the jar of solid cranberry jelly. As Jesse put it, Ruffles have ridges and so does cranberry sauce. :) I also made the dessert the day before the festivities, which was pretty good... but I am used to apple crisps and pies made without orange or lemon zest, so I still like my mom's apple crisp recipe. However, this apple-pear-cranberry crisp was still delicious and fun to try for a change. (Note: the recipe online doesn't add dried cranberries like the recipe in the book does.) David was a saint and took care of preparing and roasting the turkey and another year went by where we didn't have to order pizza! I usually make a hassle-free crockpot stuffing, but this year, since I was going all Barefoot-Contessa, I made the stuffing out of baguettes and sauteed onion, celery and granny smith apples. Oh, and from my herbs in my little flower pots outside on my patio! I think it would have been much more moist if I had actually stuffed the turkey with it. Oh well, I cooked it on the side in the oven and it still tasted pretty good. Whew, what else? Oh, a green bean casserole, which is a tradition that Kimber usually brings and if she hadn't just have had a premature baby, she probably would have brought it. So I made it in her honor... plus, it's really good! Okay, last but not least, I made the gravy earlier in the day with a touch of Brandy and I made the mashed potatoes, using buttermilk. Simply divine!

By the way, the sweet potato recipe above is worth checking out. It's the only one the Wolfrom family will eat now at every Thanksgiving, thanks to Dave's brother-in-law, Mike, who brought it from his family in PA. However, for the health conscious, it is more like dessert than a vegetable dish. No wonder everyone loves it!

I love fall and the cool crisp air, and the smell of apple cider and spice. I love snuggling up under a warm blanket with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book, and I absolutely love the autumn colors. I do miss the beautiful colors of fall that Ontario majestically boasts. I am jealous of my Ontario friends who get to bask in the warm "Indian Summer" that they've been enjoying for weeks now. I have been cowering away in my cozy little house while the winds and the rain have been pounding away outside. Okay, okay, it hasn't been THAT bad, but still... it IS the northwest and we DO get lots of rain. And there's supposed to be a wind storm tonight.

What do you love about fall? What are some of your favorite fall recipes?

Happy Birthday Micah!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

I realize that I am not much of a party planner. It doesn't come easily or naturally to me. But I have years and years of party planning ahead of me now that I am a mother! Still, we had a really good time at Micah's birthday party and it went off without a hitch. We had the party from 2-4 in the afternoon because when I sent out the invitations I was pretty sure we'd be having some family in for dinner and I wanted to have time to put dinner together after the guests left. I ended up making a lasagna the night before so I could just throw it in the oven after the party. But the family that was going to come for dinner didn't, so I had some other friends (who are pretty much family) stay afterward.

Micah has not had sugar before now, so he was pretty nonchalant about the whole birthday cake thing. That, and the fact that Daddy had fed him a whole bunch of grapes right before the cake. I had made a little banana cake for Micah, banana cake cupcakes for his friends, and a banana cake for everyone else. Micah ate some of his cake, but he wasn't putting his face into it or making a mess of it. It didn't make for a very good show, but at least I didn't have to throw him in the tub afterwards! Presents were next and he sat really well with me while I opened everything for him. He got lots of toys with balls and lots of trucks, which are two of his favorite things in the world right now. It was perfect. He has been having a lot of fun with the toys (and the party balloons) since the party.

Micah has learned so much over the last year. He's a really fun little guy. I love every single minute with him. When he was newborn I was sad to think that he's going to grow bigger because I loved him so tiny and cuddly, but every stage is more fun than the one before. Lately, he's been melting our hearts when we put him to bed because he lays down so easily and starts to giggle with his head on the mattress. We stand there for a minute and rub his back, and when we take our hand away, he immediately sits up and looks to see if we're still there. When he sees us, he lays his head back down and giggles some more. He is sad when we leave the room, but he goes to sleep right away. It's so nice to not have to listen to him crying himself to sleep anymore.

He is a precious boy and I am so thankful for the joy he brings to our lives. He has made this past year so much fun. It was a bit scary to think of what life would be like with a child to be responsible for, but now that he's here and that I've been a mother for a YEAR already, I can't remember what life was like without him, nor do I want to go back.

Birthday, Thanksgiving, and Quilting

Micah's birthday party is on Sunday and I'm trying not to stress about it. Today I have been frantically making lists of party foods to serve even though it's only for a couple hours in between meals and there IS going to be a cake (which is yet to be determined. My most recent decision has been banana cake cupcakes). But I think I should have some appetizer-type foods too, which will mostly be purchased at Costco. I have also been working hard on getting Micah's First Year calendar completed with pictures and comments on the calendar. It's the only baby book I've done for him and I think it would be fun to have it floating around for people at the party. And I've been trying to get my house clean, but I'm just more into doing other things like quilting, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the party on Sunday.

I'm sad that we have to put off Canadian Thanksgiving for another week, but at least we won't be skipping it altogether (like we did last year... since I conveniently went into labor the DAY we were going to have Thanksgiving. But the turkey was picked up by a friend and cooked at their house and the celebration went on without us, although not without a hitch since she cooked the turkey with the neck and heart and all that stuff in the plastic bag that's inside the turkey STILL INSIDE the turkey!) Ahem. End tangent. So, with Micah's birthday being on Canadian Thanksgiving, I think my friends will be glad it's still going to happen, but this will probably be the case every year. I had The. Hardest. Time. trying to figure out if I was going to have Thanksgiving AND Micah's birthday the same day, or if I might have a joint birthday party with two other little friends of Micah's who were born a couple days apart, or if I would just have a party for him and no one else. So instead of having 50 people to 3 one year old boys birthdays, we're just going to have some friends. And instead of cooking 3 20 pound turkeys for the 50 guests to a birthday party for boys who will not remember one single thing about the party, we're just going to have Thanksgiving the following weekend with maybe 4 or 5 other couples. Whew. Aren't you glad I didn't talk this through with all of you while I was deciding?

So, even though my house still needs to be cleaned and party supplies still need to be purchased and final details still need to be arranged (like what Micah will wear) at least I'm closer to finishing the quilt I have been working on!! And no, the quilt is not for Micah's birthday.

Month Eleven

This is such a fun month! Micah has been doing lots of new and amazing things. He has been walking for a while now, first using the Winnie the Pooh walker and then on his own. He was getting to his feet by holding on to something like a table, a wall or his beloved ball, but now he is getting to his feet all by himself. His first word, where we actually know what he's saying and what he means, is "Ba" for his (as I've said) BELOVED ball. Just today we were reading through a book that we haven't looked at before and one of the pictures in the book showed Piglet playing with a ball, and the first thing he said when he saw the page was "BA!!" He has also been doing well with the few sign language words he knows - he does "more" and "milk/drink/bottle". I must say it's nice to have communication rather than screaming! He knows some of things around the house that he is not supposed to touch, and if he sees it and goes near it he starts shaking his head. He stops when his ball rolls near the fireplace because he knows he is not allowed to touch it. Man, could this baby be any easier!??

It has been a little adjustment because for the last number of weeks he has not been taking his morning nap. He has gone down to just one nap per day, and for most kids that means a 2-4 hour nap in the afternoon, but for Micah? Not a chance! Sleep is for wimps! He sleeps about 1 hour and he's good for the whole day. It's nice because he is very content when I drag him all around town. He also plays really well on his own. However, there is the odd time that I want to do something on my own... like clean or cook or blog or maybe use the bathroom... but I don't get much free time. Like I said though, he does play REALLY well on his own, so I can leave him in his corner of toys, or let him chase his ball all over the house while I quickly take a moment to get something done.

Right now he's playing in the bonus room with a basket full of clean and folded laundry, which I highly doubt is folded anymore. I went in a few minutes ago to check on him and this is how I found my little frat boy:

Micah is walking!

Date Night

David and I got to go on a date on Saturday night. It was wonderful, except that it ended with work…. But that’s the life of being married to a computer guy. So I deal with it. And I'm okay with it.

We dropped Micah off at his grandparent’s house, had a nice, quick dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Gig Harbor, and then saw a movie: The Bourne Ultimatum. We love the Bourne series, so we were happy we could finally see it. Although I love the movies and am always very entertained with the action, this third movie was slightly less believable and seemed to end too quickly in my opinion.

Now, maybe you are able to escape with a slight limp and 3 tiny scratches on your face after driving off a building, getting pounded multiple times from every direction, and driving the car up on its side, sandwiching it between two heavy pieces of metal by wrapping your arms up in the passenger seat belt. Me? I don’t think I’d be able to walk away as easily. I also don’t think I’d be able to track 80 cameras for two people, making sure I’m never in view of the camera, nor is the person I’m on the phone with, meanwhile, showing up out of nowhere to take out 3 or more armed men with my bare hands. Then again, I’m not a government-trained assassin, aka Jason Bourne.

This isn’t to say we don’t love the movies. We do! They are exhilarating from start to finish. Let me just say that I’m glad I don’t know anyone like Jason Bourne! But he sure is a cool person to watch on screen!

The Source

This is an amazing book. I read this when my son was 7-8 months old, so when I came to the part where the people of Makor were sacrificing 6 month old first-born sons to the fiery god in order to have increased fertility in their land and their women, I had tears in my eyes. I was overwhelmed with love for my son and with thankfulness for the society we live in. I am so thankful the God I serve doesn’t ask for me to sacrifice my firstborn son. I am not sure I could do it. The women surely did not want to do it, as told of one of the women we were following. She had been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant for 2 years, while all the other women around her were having children. When she finally did give birth, she was made by her husband to watch her child being rolled down the stone into the fire, and she was ordered not to utter a sound.

The book made me realize how passionate the Jews are for their unchanging religion and how they do not conform to whatever pressures the world throws at them. They have endured more pain and hardships than I can even imagine. The author, James Michener, wrote amazingly believable stories of people in each significant time period in history. The Crusades disgusted me that so-called Christians thought they had the right to brutally execute Jews because they did not believe the same about Jesus as the Christians. I had not remembered learning anything about the Spanish Inquisition – where Jews were forced to convert to Christianity or be tortured and executed. I think it is amazing how many Jews stood up for their faith and did not denounce others. Under that kind of pressure, I only hope that I would have that kind of strength.

I am so glad that I read this book. It was long, but a marvelous way to learn and understand history from cavemen times to now.

Summer Travels

I think we are done with our travels for the summer. We were going to drive up to Vancouver this past weekend, but we ended up staying here because there were a number of things happening that we wanted to be here for. We went to a pig roast at a friend's house out in the boonies on Saturday. Our friends, along with her parents, bought a very large property and fixed up a 'triple-wide' to make it their own. The home is atop a triple-wide garage, hence the name. Her parents live in an attached mobile home on the same property, while they build their house a mile down the road. They have horses so some went for rides, while the rest of us went on the hay rides around their property.

Sunday we celebrated Micah's little friend Drew's first birthday. He was really cute with his blue pointed 1st Birthday hat. He picked cautiously at his huge piece of chocolate birthday cake and didn't eat very much, but still made enough of a mess of himself so people could get those cherished photos. Unfortunately, we didn't have our camera with us.

We had been to Chelan with David's family for a nice, relaxing week at his parent's condo. David's aunt and uncle with their two grown kids and their jetski were there just for the weekend, but David's parents and us stayed for the rest of the week. It was nice and quiet and everyone could do whatever they wanted. The lake was beautiful and the weather perfect. Micah had lots of fun playing in the sand and 'swimming' in the pool. On our way home from Chelan we stopped at Leavenworth for some good ol' fashioned German festivities... and lunch.

Crazy, busy week!

Last week I was in Ontario visiting family. It was SO good seeing everyone again. It had been since Christmas, which isn't a very long time for me, but in terms of Micah's short life so far, it is an extremely long time! He's grown and changed so much since Christmas, when he was only 3 months old. He's now crawling FAST and standing up by holding on to things and walking along furniture or with the help of others. He's eating solid foods, laughing and imitating funny faces. He claps, waves, and loves to be chased! He's so much fun!

On the day before I left I had a number of errands to run, and my first stop was at the bank to get Canadian currency. While I was in the bank, the person parked next to me tried to pull out of his spot but hit my car. It was actually a pretty bad ding - my mirror was only hanging on by the cable, and the door was smashed so bad that I couldn't open the handle! Thankfully, the man stuck around to give me his information, but I didn't do the rest of my errands until I could take our other car.
I was very nervous to fly on my own with Micah. Not so much nervous on how Micah would do, but more on the fact that I had to take everything with me and wondering how I'd be able to do it. The car seat Micah now sits in is like a little luxury throne and weighs about as much. So I had that strapped to my back, thanks to David's sister's backpack made especially for the seat. Then I had Micah in the stroller, a backpack diaper bag around the handles of the stroller, and I had to wheel my suitcase behind me with one hand and push the stroller in front of me with the other. I was lucky I didn't turn quickly and take off any small children's heads!

Micah did really well on the plane rides. He drank a bottle or ate during the ascent and descent so his ears didn't bother him. He slept for a couple of hours and played with small toys or books when he was awake. The tricky part was changing him in those tiny airplane bathrooms (especially when they don't have a changing table), and then using the toilet myself. It takes talent, I must say!

I think it will have to be another post for what happened during the week. There was usually multiple things planned for each day during the week, and I have pictures from almost everything! It was a wonderful week. I know Grandma and Grandpa loved seeing their grandson... and Micah loved being spoiled!

Color Footage of Tacoma Narrows

Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Sunday was a monumental day in the Puget Sound. Do you remember Galloping Gertie? I remember learning about it in high school and seeing footage of a bridge that was so poorly constructed that it twisted and turned until it fell just months after it was built. This was back in the 1940s to connect Gig Harbor with Tacoma. Over a year later a new bridge was built and still stands today... along with a second bridge that has just been completed. They opened it to the public on Sunday so we could walk across. We had to go and walk the mile across the Narrows so we could say we did it! Micah even "walked the bridge" with a little help!