Mom! They trapped a baby in this plush toy!

We recently (or not so recently...it took me awhile to post this) borrowed a large plush block toy for Darwyn from Sue and Jeff.  The toy has a large shape on each side and sings an obnoxious song to go with each one.  Darwyn had little interest in the shapes except for the triangle.  Behind the triangle was a mirror which Darwyn found incredibly fascinating.  I could literally hear what must be going on in her brain, "Mom!  There is a baby in this box......I think I will try to eat it."  At which point Darwyn would bend forward mouth open, and then pull back abruptly again.  "Mom!  This baby is trying to eat me!"  And so it went for a whole hour.  We documented the event with many pictures and a video (see below).

There is something in here.

Kisses for the baby.

Oww...My face!

This is trippy mom.

Help!  I'm trapped in this box.

Shaky-Bond-Speare 2000--2012

Yesterday Gus and I said goodbye to a dear friend.  We finally made the trip to the vet to euthanize Shaky.  It was extremely difficult.  I'm finding it really hard to feel okay about the choice.

Shaky started out as my sister Heidi's dog.  His full name was Shaky-Bond-Speare, a compromise meant to satisfy my sister's desire to name him Shakespeare with her son's insistence that he be called James Bond.  I'm not sure the resulting blend was the most elegant of names, but it always seemed to suit him.

Shaky came to live with me when he was nearly 7 years old and we have spent the last 6 years together.  He was a faithful companion.  To him I was second to none but the ball...and the stick... and well really anything projectile.  But if nothing was moving, then he liked me quite well.  Shaky was quite a calm and reserved dog.  He bestowed kisses sparingly and would only offer his bum up for pets.  He had unfailing energy and could outlast even the most determined ball throwers.  I'm pretty sure if we had bought him a pitching machine, the machine would have died before Shaky took a rest.

I remember shortly after I got together with Gus, we brought Shaky up to Gus's parents' river.  I proudly declared to Gus's dad, Tom, that Shaky could not be bested in a game of fetch.  Determined to prove me wrong, Tom sat down with a book, a beer and the launcher and threw the ball all afternoon.  At the end of it he said, "well my beer is done, my book is done, my arm is ready to fall off and he is still going.  I can't believe it."  To add insult to injury Shaky wandered over, dropped the ball at our feet and looked up expectantly, as though he had just spent the last 5 hours having a nice rest.  This was Shaky.

In recent years, Shaky started to slow down.  He couldn't see well anymore and he had developed arthritis in his hips.  It was very sad for all of us to see him having trouble keeping up.  He still enjoyed sitting quietly in the yard on sunny days, surveying his territory and keeping all invading squirells at bay.  He was still up for a good game of fetch, but couldn't see the ball well anymore.  On most throws he simply lost the ball and when he did see it he would lope slowly after it to retrieve it.  He still came for pets, but he'd growl and snap at anyone who came too near his arthritic hips.  Like it or not, we were starting to lose our boy.

After much delaying we made the terrible decision that eventually all dog owners face; we put Shaky down.  One day, I hope I will look at it as the last nice thing we did for a good friend.  Right now it just hurts.  We might have put it off for a few more months, maybe a year, but this way he never had to stop playing fetch.  He never got tired out.  He played till the very last day.

Goodbye Shaky.  We will miss you.

Shaky lost his ball int he river.  Again.

Tug with another dog is rare.  Catching it on camera is special.

Darwyn crawls

Darwyn has started crawling...I'm a little late posting about it.  She did her first awkward crawling about a month ago, shortly after she turned 7 months old.  I've posted a video of her seasoned crawling! Sorry it is sideways.

It has been a lot of fun watching Darwyn crawl.  I really feel that when babies start to crawl so much more of their personality is revealed.  What has become obvious about Darwyn's personality is her quiet determination.  As a non-moving infant she was so sunny and undemanding...determination did not seem a large part of who she was.  Now that she can move, however, she is capable of pursuing her own interests and she does so with vigor.  She is especially interested in learning to pull herself up to standing and attempts this feat at every opportunity.  She has also been determined to learn to crawl over objects and to walk.  She loves to hold your hand and march across the floor (see video below).  She attempts to learn these skills with a single mindedness I do not recall in Max.  When we are out, Darwyn is quite gregarious.  She crawls up to strangers, climbs up onto their laps and gives them a winning smile.  Then she tries to go for their necklace.....

Gaining a room, putting the kids back into separate rooms

A while ago we experimented with sleeping Darwyn and Max together in the same room.  While some nights went quite smoothly, the experiment was mostly a failure.  If one kid starts crying then the other may not wake up.  But when we hear crying on the monitor at night, we leap out of bed and run upstairs at top speed to soothe the crying child before he/she has a chance to awaken the other.  Doing cry-it-out, or just lazily "giving her a few minutes" is out of the question.  Besides, Max's room is also a play room and storage centre for essential baby gear.  When one child is sleeping the stuff is inaccessible.  Darwyn has long since been moved into a different room.

Unfortunately, there are no more rooms.  Her bed is currently in our office, which means that we no longer have an office.  As if on cue, Vibhu has told us that he will move out of our house at the beginning of December, freeing up his precious bedroom for baby Darwyn.  Vibhu's decision may not be coincidental -- I think he was put off by the fact that we re-located the potty and change station into our shared bathroom.  In any case, he's been a great sport about everything.  Under different circumstances I'd be sad to see him go, but we really need his room!

Semi-monthly photo update: September-October 2012

Some new photos to complement Greta's post of Fall photos.

We've been crazy busy lately.  Our children are growing up and we've failed to blog about it.  Things are finally starting to slow down a bit.  My major deadlines at work are now past.  Our family took a hit so I could work hard while on parental leave.

There are more photos from the past two months beyond what's in this post.  They should appear on this blog shortly. We'll try to post more frequently during the lead-up to the new year.

Max would never miss an opportunity to help with renovation.  Ripping out drywall is especially fun.

What childhood would be complete without a tea-party for stuffed animals in the kitchen?

 

 

Baby in a basket!

Darwyn handles her food herself, which is unusual at such a young age.  It's great for us because it keeps her occupied for 20 solid minutes at each meal.

Cousin Viola looking cute...

...and silly!

 

 

Some cute costumes at Halloween.  The froggy in the middle is Max's friend Elliot.  Elliot's baby sister Emily is not in this picture.  Unfortunately, this is the best shot we got.

Product placement whilst carving a squash.

 

 

 

Dennis took this photo.  He told me we should title it "Darwyn versus the pureed squash."
I said, "that looks like Darwyn versus Dennis and Darwyn won." (Notice there is a much smaller smear of yogurt on her face.  Darwyn likes yogurt.)