8

Today we picked up "A Book of Eight" for Sam. It's a small, counting boardbook, which he likes primarily for the pictures.

It's also our eighth wedding anniversary. I was always a big fan of the number eight. I think I liked the symmetry of the number--two circles placed on top of each other. Eight is like the model train tracks we had as a kid. Eight never ends, it just keeps circling. I also remember looking forward to vague promises from parents attached to being eight (I could have a pocket knife and start karate lessons at eight, which sounded pretty adult to a six year old). Sam was born in 2008.

Now we've been married since 2001. There have been leaner and fatter years (figuratively and literally). We've travelled to Paris and Geneva, Taipei and Hong Kong. We've lived mostly in NJ, and I now consider this my "home state," although I'm not that particularly loyal. Three more degrees in those eight years. At least a dozen jobs collectively, probably more. 75,000 miles on the Saturn, and probably another 10,000 on the car before that. Reams of paper. One large, much-loved cat, and one baby so new that he's still under warranty. Four departed grandparents. Two nieces (well, one was born just before we married). Innumerable computers. Much laughter.

It was a quiet day today. We went out to lunch at an Indian restaurant--alone!--as the grandparents babysat. (Sam went to the pool for the first time, practiced his marching, and worked on dribbling a whiffle ball.) We did some lite shopping and hung out together. I took a nap. It was like lazy summers past, when it was just the two of us.

It was a good day to remember a challenging year. After being dandelion seeds this year, we're looking forward to landing and putting down deep roots. I'm looking forward to a place, and friends, and babysitters and daycare. And: a congregation we love, diligent students, great public transportation, excellent medical care. We're hopeful about language study and jobs and dissertation and all the other things that have made up our life.

This eighth year was a good one, but it really pushed us. I'm hopeful about number nine.

Ohio Tripping

We're enjoying a break--at last!--from the hustle and bustle. I have to confess that I've viewed this summer with some trepidation: a May-June trip, two conferences, two sets of packing (boxes to Taiwan, for orientation and then the plane), a three-week orientation, and many small projects. The flip side of all of this is that it really will be a change of pace and we're getting a wonderful chance to reconnect with people.

We've just spent 72 hours with my parents and are on the way to Em's family. Then wedding. Then Em's family again. It is really great to check my e-mail and see only one or two e-mails a day which I need to do anything about. I am so glad that the grading is over, and presumably I won't have so much grading to do for another year or two. I also am just really enjoying the change of pace.

The trip with my family was mostly Sam-watching. He's at a fun stage right now. His teething has resulted in two more little tips. These are numbers #9 and 10, not bad for the little boy who has just turned 14 months. He learned some new techniques under his grandparents' tutelage, in particular stomping and marching. Their house is pretty baby proof, but there are no gates, and Sam over the period of a few days leraned to go over, under, or between any barrier we could construct. Truly he is a free range baby. He understands, and sometimes obeys, "no" now. He is a real ham, smiling, dancing, laughing, singing, and moving his neck around. He enjoyed some piano "duets" where he crooned along with my dad. Fun times... Among the joys of academic and parish work are periods of togetherness like this. Two or three weeks of vacation just doesn't seem like enough.

A May SAMpling

We're going full speed here, in part because we have to regularly chase down a sprite baby. There's not so much new to report, but:

• Sam is getting faster, and better on his feet.
• No new teeth--no huge developments.
• Still the same words, although every so often he throws out some that might be words (dog, duck, yeah, etc.). Always hard to tell.
• He's still doing his goofy smile where he closes his eyes.
• He's taken to making a little "ahhh" noise after drinking something. I taught him this accidentally not expecting he'd take to it with such alacrity.
• He's very giggly. Except for the occasional nap where he wakes up and wants to be held, he's pretty eager to see the world.
• After giving us the illusion he might start sleeping to 8 or 8:30, he's still pretty much a 6-7:30 baby.
• He likes throwing things now, mostly just a few feet in front of his feet. This is usually some little balls we've given him, but he also has a big plastic supermarket ball he likes carrying around and throwing.
• We did a grocery trip this morning at 9 and he likes being around people.
• He pretty much eats everything we eat--nothing new to report. He does like veggies, deli meats, whatever.
• He gets the cat's food periodically--usually just a little piece that he carries around in his mouth like gum. This hasn't happened a lot, but it's pretty gross when it does happen.
• He is getting fast. He can tear through the kitchen now and get over to my office area in a few seconds.

That's the sampling. More to follow, when we have some news or pictures.

Sunny Day Walks

Nice weather today...
Fine father-son bonding...
Walking tall.

Of computers, pictures, and baby

Self-portrait

Fenced in

Swinger

I have totally wiped my old desktop, an Aopen small desktop pc I bought in Taiwan. It is now running Ubuntu 9.04, which came out today and is a free operating system. So far I'm reasonably happy. Picasa, skype, and other programs all seem to work. I'm not having great luck with raw photo images, but my camera shoots raw and jpegs together.

Here is a photo album I just made.

I'll try to update as I shoot. I haven't found good editing software, but hopefully that will come with time.

He's still got his winning personality. He's been waking a little earlier (not great), but plays well, is very sociable, and is pretty fun to be with (great).

Goofball

Sam's a little bit of a goofball lately. He's a very fine walker, he dances, he laughs and claps. He sometimes likes to walk around with his hand held out in front of his face. He's also started making this expression: a very happy, shut-eyed, smile, which Emily says looks like Ray Charles.
Here's a belated Easter picture.
We are discovering the joys (and challenges) of parenthood. Beginning parenting between two big moves and several large projects may not have been the best choice, but it was clearly worth it. More to follow...

Updates Mid-April

We've just survived a fairly exciting few weeks:

• Emily's narrowing in on her dissertation topic.
• I've done much of my mid-year grading.
• We've attended a conference, seen old friends, hosted family, done some local trips.
• We've finalized plans for the next few years.
• Some of the lowlights have been a flu and computer issues.
• Taxes are done (yeah Em!)

Sam updates:

• Sam's still at eight teeth.
• He likes to dance lately. I'll try to post a video or two of the time with Reina. He sort of bounces, walks, and giggles at the same time—fun!
• He has one dvd he watches regularly. It's a wiggles video, which is pretty fun. He's especially fond of Dentist Jane and smiles whenever she comes on. He also likes the part with four colored flowers and with the librarian (who is cool and plays the guitar).
• I've moved Sam onto my back for walks. We haven't taken walks much this winter, so it's fun to be doing this.
• He can look at a book for a while by himself (he actually did this this morning, buying us a few hours of time).
• He still refuses a sippy cup, which drives Emily crazy
• He is pretty good at eating things with his hands, and eats dinner with us. He doesn't even mind spicy food and hasn't shown any clear dislikes.
• He plays with a ball, and can kind of “throw” and even catch. (This is a big plastic ball.)
• He likes to “clap,” something he practiced with Grandma Barb.
• He's very playful and pretty good natured. He really has a sunny personality.
• But he's also developing a will. This is good because he is becoming his own little self, but it is hard as a parent. He throws a little tiny fit if you take away something he likes; so far the fit usually just lasts a minute or two.
• He's gotten through his first flu. It was very strange. I'd had it. Both he and Emily woke up at the same time and began throwing up. Even when he was sick, he still had some moments of playfulness.
• He loved his Easter Sunday at Westminster (this was before he got sick). It's so fun to be at a church where children don't cause much disturbance. He also went to Maunday Thursday with us nearby.

That's our news. We'll try to update more soon. I'm trying out a linux system now (Ubuntu). I think it will be good for internet stuff and is a bit cleaner than my windows (which was buggy, and is in Chinese, and acts a little funky). That's our news! I'll try to be a better correspondent.