Maya

Tarantula Girl

2011-08-16T15:06:00.001-05:00

Tarantula Girl, originally uploaded by BradandTia.

Tarantula Girl

Frog Caller

2011-07-19T08:34:00.007-05:00

Tumble Split

2010-11-22T20:30:00.001-05:00

Tumble Split, originally uploaded by BradandTia.

A New Journey Back in Time

2010-10-07T18:41:00.001-05:00

Last weekend, on the 8th anniversary of the completion of our Appalachian Trail thru-hike, we dug out the camping gear, packed the car and headed up to Greenbelt Maryland in search of fulfilling a different dream. It was time to start on a new journey that didn't require walking (at least at first!), but one that required learning something new. We were in search of an old VW Bus!

We pulled up to the house where the bus we found on the Samba had lived for the last 17 years. No one was home but fortunately the bus was unlocked so we peaked in, looked it over and then sat anxiously waiting for the owner to arrive. When he arrived we introduced ourselves and from that moment on we knew this was meant to be!

It just so happens that the previous owner purchased this bus 17 years ago when his daughter was 2 years old. Her name was Maia! Spelled a little different but still quite amazing!

While we spent the next 5 hours looking over the bus, learning about the engine and it’s special add-ons, big Maia, now much older, and little Maya played on the trampoline and cooked veggie burgers and dogs on the grill. After changing the oil, adjusting the valves, and taking her on a test drive we sat down for a great dinner. The previous owners were GREAT and we are so happy to be receiving this bus from such a great family!

After saying our goodbyes we were ready to set off on our Maiden Voyage back to NC. We had previously made arrangements to spend the night at Pocahontas State Park just outside of Richmond, VA. The park was around 2.5 hours from Greenbelt but with the bus we knew it would take a little over 3 hours. As we pulled away and entered the freeway Tia came over the Walkie Talkies and gave me a little bit of bad news. "Um, Brad, you don't have any brake lights!" It was about to get worse. It was getting dark and we were headed straight for downtown DC and right through an anti-Tea Party Rally. Traffic was bad, as is the case all the time in DC, but we managed to make it through unscathed.

As we were going through Richmond we happened upon the only toll road in town. I had no idea there was a toll and didn’t have any money on me to pay it. I was driving a new car with a clutch that took a bit of getting used to, a license plate that was 6 months expired and no brake lights. With Tia to my right, in the correct lane, I preceded to enter the lane labeled “Exact Change Only”. Thankfully there was a Police officer sitting in the lane next to me going through some paper work. I rolled down my window and shouted over to him that I am following my wife, didn’t know about the toll and have no money. The officer just sat there laughing at me. I couldn’t understand why he was laughing at me. I knew about all of the peace signs and waves that you get from driving a VW Bus, but why is a police officer blatantly laughing at me. He told me to pull over into the parking lot and just walk back and pay the attendant. I did as instructed and when walking to the attendant I finally realized why he was laughing! I had taken my retainer out that contained my front four teeth and put it in my pocket. I can only imagine what was going through the officers mind when I pulled up with no teeth and complaining about not having any money! I must have made his night!

We made it just in time to get a spot at the campground before the gates closed. We popped the top, and a few beers, then headed to bed. The next morning we set off on the final leg of the trip back to Raleigh. The bus barely fits in our carport by about one inch! We’ve taken her apart on the inside and cleaned her up and tonight we’re attempting our first mechanical operation on her by bleeding the brakes and replacing the brake light switch. Hopefully she’ll be running lawfully for a ride around town on Sunday!

This bus has only had two prior owners. The first owner was an aeronautics mechanic and the previous owner is a NASA engineer. Needless to say, this bus has been well taken care of and we feel very privileged to be a part of its history!

Under the bus getting a lesson on adjusting the valves.

Rebuilt 1641cc Longblock Engine

Her new home!

Maya trying her best to be just like Mom and Dad.

A cool stump we found while on our hike killing time in Greenbelt before picking up the bus.

The Grayson Highlands

2010-08-29T18:20:00.002-05:00

Grayson Highlands from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

August in the Grayson Highlands of Virginia is about as good as it gets. The cool mountain breezes make it the perfect retreat from the hot dog days of summer in the Carolina lowlands. And to top it all off, the meadows are full of ripe huckleberries and blackberries to fill your bellies. But the berries are not the only thing that attracts us to these majestic highlands.

The meadows of the Grayson Highlands are located around 5,000 ft. elevation and are inhabited by wild ponies that are allowed to run free within the park boundaries. We hiked throughout the highlands for three days in search of these ponies until we finally came across this herd on our last day. They are obviously quite accustomed to hikers along the Appalachian Trail, and once this foal laid eyes on Maya, a friendship was struck. The two played and chased each other until the foal decided to accompany her mom down the trail and out of sight.

We moved on ourselves, imitating the ponies and picking berries until our bellies were full.

My Flowers are Dying

2010-08-19T18:05:00.003-05:00

My Flowers are Dying from Brad Herring on Vimeo.
Maya sitting at the table explaining what is happening to the monkey grass flowers she picked for the table's center piece.

Zane-head Groupie

2010-08-15T21:42:00.000-05:00

Maya has been waiting for over a year for this night to come, and when it finally did, she could hardly contain herself. It's as if, at the ripe age of 3, she's already become a Zane-head groupie! She has been dancing to the Dan Zanes and Friends DVD, and even playing her own renditions, ever since seeing them over a year ago at the Museum of Art.

The afternoon was incredibly hot and the crowd was full of other young Zane-heads who were ready to begin the dance party! We managed to find a spot front and center on the stage and enjoyed all of our favorite songs, including the one Maya requested most! The look on her face was priceless when they played "Jump Up" and from that point on her afternoon was complete!

Although she was a little too starstruck to pose, we finished the evening taking a few pictures with the band. She's already looking forward to seeing them next year...unless she quits homeschooling and follows them on tour!

Maya admiring Sonia De Los Santos

We're not sure whose hair is crazier??

Colin Brooks, Drummer

Breakfast of Champions

2010-08-13T09:19:00.000-05:00

We should have suspected something was wrong with the oatmeal when Maya refused to eat it for breakfast. She usually devours her morning bowl of oats but for some reason today was different. Maybe her eyesight is better than ours?

As we were finishing our last spoonful we began noticing what all of the extra crunches were from. Initially, we thought they were seeds from the blueberries we dumped over our oats, but in fact they were mealworms!

You see, mealworms are what you get when you leave oats in your pantry for an extended period of time. Since we've been on our detox diet we had to replace our morning bowl of oats with a fruit smoothie. Maya doesn't eat that much so our recent bulk purchase of oats has lasted longer than normal. And, as we just found out, leaving oats around for more than a month can only lead to one thing...mealworms for breakfast! At least it helps our protein count for the day!

Future Junior Gymnastic Champion?

2010-08-05T21:09:00.002-05:00

Do we have a future junior gymnastic champion on our hands? Who knows, but she may have her first chance at competing soon. As you can see from the photo above, Maya is SUPER flexible. She can stretch her body in ways that leave our jaws on the floor. Several times she has almost made us throw up from the sight of her hyperextensible joints.

Maya has been seeing our chiropractor since the day she was born. She's a former gymnast and noticed right away that Maya was a little more than just flexible. She encouraged us to enter her into a gymnastic program and we did. Maya goes to gymnastics once a week at Superior Gymnastics and has one of the best young coaches this area has seen in a while. She's constantly coming home with new moves and always eager to show them off, unless asked to do so in front of people.

Her coaches have seen her ability and have selected her to compete in the Junior Gymnastics Championship later this year. We don't know very many details about this event, but we're excited nonetheless, and we'll be there to cheer her on regardless of whether or not she decides to preform on command.

Who knows where this will lead, only Maya can determine that. We will certainly not push her to do anything she doesn't want to do. But if she does compete, watch out!

p/s. you may remember watching this video several years ago. It was her first "routine"!

A New Beginning: Life After Detoxing

2010-08-01T22:35:00.004-05:00

Weight Loss: Brad -9lbs, Tia -6lbs and Maya +1.5lbs

After 28 days of detoxing our bodies from processed foods, sugar, caffeine, dairy and wheat we find ourselves not at the end of this diet, but rather at the beginning. We are embarking on a new food adventure. One that will be difficult to become accustomed to, but if Tia can suppress her asthma and sinus issues with a restrictive diet then it will be worth its weight in gold.

We finished our detox a little over a week ago. As we slowly added in foods that we had avoided (legumes, gluten, flax seed oil, certain teas etc...) Tia's asthma and sinuses became more and more of an issue. It has become clear to us that food is the root cause of most of her health problems. Tia was at her best during week two (fruits, veggies, oils and spices only) so we have decided to extend week two for three more weeks. Yes, that includes both of us (minus Maya, of course). Brad will stay on board for moral support, ease of cooking one meal as opposed to two, and because we both felt so good while eating fresh whole foods.

After a little bit of research and consulting with other folks in similar situations it appears that Tia may have a syndrome called Leaky Gut. The name sounds a bit funny but it is by no means a laughing matter. Basically, small perforations form in the intestinal lining allowing partially digested proteins to leak out into the body eventually entering the blood stream. When these proteins leak out, the body does not recognize them and attacks them assuming they are invaders or allergens to the body. In short, Tia's body is reacting to these leaky undigested foods as allergens thus triggering an autoimmune reaction. This reaction has resulted in her current food sensitivities, increased asthma problems and possibly even a gluten intolerance.

Over the next few months Tia will be consulting with Dr. Huber at the LaValle Metabolic Institute in Cincinnati, OH, as well as a dietitian to start the process of healing her body from the inside out. In some instances the gut can be repaired over time and foods that were previously intolerant could be ingested again in small quantities. Unfortunately, however, Tia does have a lot of classic allergies such as nuts and dairy and it remains to be seen as to whether or not she will ever be able to eat any of these foods again. The body is an incredible system and Tia's may have the power to heal itself from these ailments and diseases if given the chance. Only time will tell.

We already know that food is playing a role in Tia's asthma but it may not be the only factor. More and more studies are popping up everywhere suggesting that a vitamin D deficiency may lead to a whole list of serious health problems. One such book (OK, I must admit it's a shameless plug for my brother) discusses several studies where vitamin D has greatly improved lung function. The Vitamin D Council has a long list of studies on the positive effects on asthma with proper levels of vitamin D. At our current latitude and with a good majority of our bodies exposed to the sun, during the summer we should be able to receive the needed levels of vitamin D. However, during the winter months the angle of the sun's UV rays are too low in the sky leading to insufficient vitamin D absorption by our bodies.

With a new diet and an order of vitamin D3, Tia is on her way to a new beginning.

PS...Maya's weight gain is due to her eating what we couldn't! (See photo caption for weight loss totals)

Food: Medicine or Menace?

2010-07-18T22:06:00.000-05:00

"Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food." - Hippocrates (460-370 BCE)

Using certain foods as medicine is not a new concept. In fact, Hippocrates, considered by many to be the father of medicine, knew all along about the importance of proper nutrition. So, how have we come to forget this important concept? What will it take to make raw fruits and vegetables become THE staple of our diets? For us, not much from here on out.

We are now coming to the end of our third week with our detoxification diet. The last 14 days of our diet consisted of only fruits and veggies, half of which were consumed raw while the others were either lighted steamed or sauteed in EVOO.

We'd be lying to you if we told you it's been an easy 2 weeks. It has been a struggle to stay satiated on such a limited diet. We have certainly enjoyed all of the seasonal fruits and vegetables, but in the absence of whole grains, nuts and legumes our only complaint is that of growling stomachs. We'd find ourselves completely stuffed after each meal only to be starving an hour later. What we can say with certain validity is that with such limited choices our creativity has increased as we began to treat each meal as if it were a canvas of art.

After a few days the hunger began to subside. Were our stomachs shrinking or was it the fact that we were eating more than three meals each day? Being as hungry as we were our energy levels were not affected at all! In fact, we actually felt like we had more energy than we did prior to this diet.

Week three began the reintroduction phase. We are beginning to reintroduce some of the foods that we omitted in week two along with some of the foods that could pose potential issues with Tia's asthma. As we reintroduce certain foods back into our diet we'll be keeping a diary of any adverse reactions to those foods such as digestion, headaches, skin, energy levels, joint/muscle and nasal/chest congestion. Already we have noticed some abnormalities with Tia after reintroducing Sunbutter and black beans. After eating the Sunbutter she suffered a severe migraine. We'll probably reintroduce it again this week to make sure the migraine wasn't from something else. And after eating the black beans she suffered more bad asthma. She ate black beans a second time and again had another asthma attack. Once we have a new list of possible food allergies Tia will return to her Allergist for additional testing.

And since food origins and quality have been on our mind the last few weeks we've tried to spend a lot of our free time reading and watching documentaries on Netflix. Some of the recent videos/books/articles we've seen, and recommend are: Food Matters, Food Inc., King Corn, Fast Food Nation, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. We have a few more in the queue for our next free evening!

Canning and Composting

2010-07-12T14:11:00.001-05:00

Our neighbor and local farmer dropped off 6 pounds of cucumbers over the weekend for us to pickle. It just happened to be perfect timing as we are down to our last jar from last year's harvest. If we can get some more rain he'll have another batch for us mid week! And that's not all we have for this week. We've got okra, blueberries (homegrown), peaches, tomato sauce and hopefully more pickles on the list for canning. Our jelly cabinet will certainly be full and overflowing and the canning season is still young!

With all of the recent canning activity and our new fruit and veggie only diet we've felt the need to upgrade our compost pile to one that is protected from the critters. We've set it up so the front opens up for turning, but we'll have to wait and see if we need to fashion a top to keep the pesky squirrels out.

Neat Nicks

2010-07-11T20:47:00.000-05:00

When we started this diet 2 weeks ago we decided to not only detox our bodies but also our house. Our ultimate goal is to get to the root of Tia's asthma and we knew that our diet was not the only cause. In fact, our diet was pretty good from the start, but not perfect. We eat local foods, either from our CSA, our neighbors farm or locally grown foods from the farmers market or whole foods. We even try to buy organic as much as possible, or when our budget allows for it. But we still let sugar and processed foods slip into our diet from time to time and that's what we are trying to curb. We've learned a lot about nutrition and plan to continue on a very similar diet when these 4 weeks are over.

So, on to the house. For about the last 2 months every time Tia would sit on our couch she would have an asthma attack and her eyes would swell up and water. Our couch is only 7 years old and to the naked eye doesn't appear dirty. But, it must have been full of dust mites which did show up with off the chart numbers on Tia's allergy test. After a few calls and 2 days later we had our couch dry cleaned. Magic! Tia can now comfortably sit on the couch and enjoy our Netflix subscription without all of the sneezes and sniffles!

Our bed was the next concern. For the past several months or so Tia has been waking up every single night with a very serious and severe asthma attack. There were even times she would wake Brad up from her wheezing without even waking herself. So, we ditched our pillows and emptied our wallets for brand new organic Allergy Luxe pillows. Magic, it worked again!

We also decided it was time to deep clean our house but we didn't have the time, energy or noses to rid our house of the dust. We called a local company called Eco Maids and they came out and provided a deep and thorough clean. They have their own supplies but will work with you if you'd rather have them use what you have. This was great for us since we have all bamboo and cork flooring and we needed them to use our approved cleaning supplies. Our house is now spotless! Wait, Maya just got home, forget that last statement :)

It's been a little over a week since we got new pillows and our couch cleaned and only 4 days since we had our house cleaned and it's already proving to have worked a great deal. Tia is still suffering from occasional asthma attacks but with much less frequency. Most of them now occur due to the occasional run in with pets or the heat and humidity. The past few nights have been great and we hope this will finally provide some relief. If not, our next step will be to test our house for hidden mold. Let's hope we don't have to go there...

Night Sweats

2010-07-09T12:30:00.002-05:00

Night Sweats, originally uploaded by BradandTia.

Maya has recently been soaking our bed from night sweats while sleeping. We normally don't have our AC on at night and try to keep our room cool with fans and open windows. It was a little hot last night, but enough to cause her to sweat this much?

When we moved her there was a pool of water under her stomach and she was completely drenched! As a result, we're having to wash our sheets more than once a week!

First Cast = My First Fish!

2010-07-06T08:12:00.001-05:00

On Thursday night of last week Uncle Tony, Aunt Lindsey and Roscoe surprised us after driving in from Atlanta. They were on their way up to Delaware and had to pass right through Raleigh. It was so good to see them but having two more people in our house who are not eating what we're eating made things a little difficult! Watching people eat the things that are restricted from our diet just makes us drool. Since the weather was so nice all weekend we spent most of our time at Harris Lake playing frisbee golf and fishing which helped to keep our minds off of our stomachs.

We promised Maya that she could fish with Uncle Tony if she walked the first 8 holes of the course. She threw the line around a couple of times but was more interested in playing and falling in the water.

Since we never caught anything at Harris Lake we decided to hit the neighborhood pond. Maya caught this bluegill on her first cast! We ended up catching 10 fish total, 4 for Maya! Maya was using worms from our compost bin and she couldn't keep the fish off her hook!

Detox Update Day 9:

The headaches have subsided and the hunger has set in. Just the mention of a grilled cheese sets Tia into a frenzy. Day 7 started our vegan and semi-raw diet. For the next week and a half we are only eating fruits and vegetables. Simply put, milkshakes, fruits, veggie sticks and salads. Our shakes have included some or all of the following: cucumber, spinach, strawberry, carrot, watermelon, cantaloupe, peach, apple, zucchini, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, bananas and of course protein powder.

Our book says that after the first day or so on this stage of the diet the hunger pangs will subside. It says to have a peach or an apple handy in case we start feeling dizzy or feeling like we have low blood sugar. We were told that this would be the hardest week to sustain physical activity such as an extended work out so we will see how Tia fares with yoga and Aqua Moms and Brad with the construction of a new compost bin for our worms.

Overlooked: A Wild Discovery!

2010-06-30T21:02:00.007-05:00

Deer and onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and basil in a sesame oil/vinegar dressing,
and steamed butternut squash lightly salted and tossed in sesame oil.

What a lovely dinner, except for the fact that we forgot to bring the broccoli to the table! While feeling a little hungry this afternoon we went back to the list of foods that we are allowed to eat during the first week and realized that we had overlooked wild game. We were more than happy to have cut out all red meat during this month (and may continue to do so beyond this program), but when it comes to wild game we can't pass it up!

Reading that wild game was a potential menu item was a pleasing surprise. If you were at our Pig Pickin' last year you may have seen our neighbor butchering 3 deer hanging from his basketball goal. Brad and Maya ended up walking a few friends down to their car and decided to walk over to our neighbors to show Maya the deer. Our neighbor doesn't eat deer but he loves to hunt and he has several friends who he usually supplies with deer during the hunting season. We just happened to walk up at the perfect time! He offered. We accepted, no questions asked!

The next morning we hear a ring at the door and its our neighbor with a massive cooler. We were only expecting a ham that we could cook for Thanksgiving dinner but instead we got a piece of all three! He left us with 6 backstraps and 4 hind legs. It took us a little over 3 hours to cut it all up and package it for use throughout the winter. It is still serving us and we'll be on the lookout for more hanging hooves when deer season starts back up!

Cheapskates and Headaches

2010-06-29T18:33:00.004-05:00

Our new diet is not about losing weight, but rather it's about watching what we eat, eliminating certain foods and detoxing our bodies of harmful toxins. But that's not to say that we're not curious about how much we'll lose, if any, on this program. We're sure to lose some weight if all we're eating are fruits and veggies for a month.

There's only one problem with this curiosity. We don't own a scale. We're cheap and don't want to spend money on a scale that we'll never use again, or obsess over, so we decided to head over to Bed Bath & Beyond to weigh ourselves on their scales. We took note of what we were wearing and what scale we used so that we can repeat it on day 28.

Day 2 update: So far Tia is feeling fine with the exception of a little craving now and then for cheese and chocolate. Brad on the other hand is having severe headaches and fatigue. The guidelines on the diet say, "if you are starting to have headaches and fatigue on day 2 then this is the right program for you!" It's crazy what effect caffeine and sugar have on your body.

We are both wondering when the dreams will come like we had on the Appalachian Trail...(dreams in the hundred mile wilderness ranged from cairns of doughnuts instead of rocks to never ending piles of french fries marking our path to the nearest pub).

We are also feeling like we are back on our Panamanian diet which consisted of lots of rice and beans. Today we had oatmeal for breakfast, rice cakes and SunButter for a snack, rice and steamed veggies with a side of watermelon for lunch and rice noodles and beans for dinner. Are we going to be Forest Gump with rice or what!? Good thing Tia's lab results didn't say she was allergic to rice!

Darkness where are you, my head is pounding?

Getting Back on Track

2010-06-28T16:47:00.004-05:00

And so it begins…

In our daily lives we are constantly exposed to various toxins in the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink. For the next 28 days we will be taking part in a detoxification program designed to eliminate toxins from our bodies that we have been exposed to through our environment and the food we eat. Certain foods can inhibit the natural detoxification process from our bodies while others are important in how well our bodies detoxify. This program was recommended to us by our chiropractor and we will be under her watch during the entire month.

There are 3 stages to this detoxification:

Stage 1 - Initial Clearing (Days 1-6): This stage is all about elimination. We will eliminate all refined and simple sugars, caffeinated beverages, gluten-containing grains, meat and seafood, eggs, and dairy products. We will continue eliminating all of these foods throughout the entire 28 days.

Stage 2 - Detoxification (Days 7-13): This stage is where we increase our protein powder consumption to make up for the lack of protein in the foods we are allowed to eat. The foods we are allowed to eat in this stage are organic fruits and vegetables, rice, oils (olive, flaxseed, sesame), spices and water. That’s it!

Stage 3 - Reintroduction (Days 14-28): During the last 2 weeks we will be slowly reintroducing foods that were eliminated in stage 2 back into our diet. Each day we will introduce a new food and will be recording any reactions (digestion, headaches, nasal/chest congestion, skin, energy, joint/muscle) to the foods we are reintroducing. Our goal during this stage is to identify if certain foods are playing a role in Tia’s asthma and allergies.

You must be asking why are we subjecting ourselves to this and why has our chiropractor recommended it? Well, Tia’s lung capacity was around 52% about 2 weeks ago and we’ve been trying to determine what is causing this extreme shortness of breath. She underwent allergy testing and most of the known allergens came back positive (buckwheat, peanuts and all tree nuts, dust mites, cats, dogs, grasses, trees and weeds). But two foods in her lab results came back with off the chart numbers and it has left us a little puzzled. Tia has been eating cheese, hummus and yogurt almost daily for as long as we can remember. So how could milk and chickpeas come back with off the chart numbers? Was the test flawed? Or, are the side effects of milk and chickpeas causing her asthma to flare up? Is blue cheese worth a sleepless night gasping for air? In Tia’s case it very well may be!

The road ahead during this month will be challenging and there is some argument as to which stage of our new diet will be the worst. Stage 1 may be the worst as a result of the sugar and caffeine withdrawals (severe headaches!). Some suggest stage 2 is the worst because you can only eat fruits and veggies and both irritability and the hunger meter skyrocket! But we have a feeling the hardest part will be cooking for Maya and watching her eat without sneaking a bite!

Maya is constantly trying to share her food with us and have us try a bite. Just today she has already tried to feed us some of her pancakes with honey, spoonfuls of her yogurt and of course some pretzel sticks. It is very hard to re-teach her to change her sharing habits now and she doesn’t quite understand why Mom and Dad have to be on this “silly diet” that you can’t share with others while on it. She asked this afternoon how long this is going to last and why Mom and Dad have to do it and why she doesn’t. She continues to ask this no matter how much we explain. It will all be worth it in the end Maya, just trust us. It will be worth it but it will be a pretty long and tough journey on all of us in many ways!

The headaches have already started…

.

Why don't we...go to the store

2010-04-19T21:25:00.006-05:00

Why don't we...go to the store from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

Maya's story about her trip to the store. I'm not sure where she picked up the southern drawl! She ended the piece singing a song to Mom (who was not there). She totally made this up on the spot and has been singing it ever since.

Penn Shaw Pines Winter X Games

2010-01-30T22:41:00.000-05:00

Penn Shaw Pines Winter X Games from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

4-5" of a perfect snow/sleet mixture provided for some awesome sledding! After a warm lunch and a nap the ramp solidified and we got even higher on our jumps. I left the camera at home so there's no footage of our eventual 10' jumps.

Back outside for some more sledding under the moon!

Hike to the horses

2010-01-29T16:32:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Mom and I took a hike to see the horses and take advantage of the 60 degree weather prior to the snowstorm. The horses love seeing us and try their hardest to get through the fence to share our lunch!

Using the horses as inspiration for drawing images of them

Back home sporting my new Hello Kitty shirt from Mima and using my marker tops as fingernail extensions!

Tipi and a loaded gun

2010-01-29T16:09:00.003-05:00

Over the Holidays we planned a camping trip to the NC coast. We decided to make a Tipi for Maya and her friends to play in (mainly to keep her out of our tent). Tia got out her sewing machine and began stitching away. I was in charge of finding bamboo poles for the frame.

There is a small patch of bamboo about a mile from our house and I thought it wouldn't hurt to stop by and ask if I could cut down a few poles. After ringing the doorbell twice a man opened the door and peeked out behind the glass storm door. I didn't realize it at first but he was holding his finger on the trigger of pistol with a 12" barrel. Once I saw the gun it was almost impossible to get my question out. Thankfully, he had no problem with me taking some of his bamboo and he shut the door and disappeared. I took a deep breath and slowly walked towards my car for my saw. I cut down several poles as fast as I could and got the hell out of there without being shot!

Unfortunately, we never got to use the Tipi because we all got sick the day before we were to go camping. But I'm sure it will get some use during Merlefest!

Maya and the Maiasaur

2010-01-29T15:50:00.006-05:00

It's been a while since we've last updated our blog and as you can imagine we've been quite busy. But not too busy to keep us from having any fun. Now that Mom is a full-time Mom we've been hitting up our local Museums (Museum of Life and Science, Natural Sciences and Marbles Kids Museum), sewing various items, working on all kinds art projects and much, much more! Here are a few pictures from our recent trip to see the Dinosaurs at the Museum of Life and Science

Maya and the Maiasaur

Dwarfed by the Alamosaurus

Crawling on the Parasaurolphus

Frozen waterfall at the black bear overlook

An Arboretum Christmas Card

2009-12-25T20:55:00.002-05:00

An Arboretum Christmas Card from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

Happy Holidays to all! We hope you enjoy our digital holiday card that we filmed it at the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh on Christmas Eve.

Brad, Tia & Maya

On your mark, get set, go!

2009-11-30T12:51:00.008-05:00

Late fall and early winter always means one thing - leaves, leaves and more leaves everywhere! We spent a good part of Sunday morning raking leaves and piling them up around the swing set for jumping and frolicking. We placed a large pile of them at the base of the blue slide for a softer landing. As you can see, I can get some speed and even some air on this slide. So...

On your mark, get set, go!

I lost count, but I must have gone down the slide over a hundred times!

An Uninvited Guest

2009-11-17T09:08:00.010-05:00

For the past few months we have had lovely visitors grace our doorstep which has been a lot of fun however, two weeks ago the flu entered our home. We did not invite this sickness guest into our home and I am glad that it is on the way out and we are all feeling a lot better! The flu tests came back negative on me but my doctor is sure I had some kind of para-flu which is basically a virus that acts like the flu but it not classified. Whatever it was, it was bad and we all got it! Mom is still blowing her nose like a trumpet!

I had a raging fever but we were getting cabin fever so it was good to get out and get some fresh air and collect some fall leaves. Even though we were sick Mom was still busy planning all kinds of fall projects. Next post will highlight some of the fun! Stay tuned!

Hunting for the perfect pink and red leaves.

Drawing with some leaves...this picture doesn't make me look sick at all!

Resting in a leaf pile.

Happy Halloween Everybody!

2009-11-02T01:15:00.016-05:00

Wow! I love Halloween! We had an action packed day and night filled with some exciting highlights. We started out at a Healthy Moms gathering where we brought our homemade magic pretzel wands to share. Then we headed over to the Museum of Natural Sciences to enter a costume competition and see all the live animals. And we topped off the night with some trick-or-treating with friends. We packed in a bunch of photos to this post, Enjoy!

Homemade butterfly wings made from coat hangers and old stockings. We worked together applying the glitter.

Having my face painted butterfly style at the Museum.

All the trick-or-treaters getting fortified for the big night by eating some pizza.

Now what was I supposed to do with this ghost bag that we made?

Wonder Woman showing me the way (notice I took my wings off? By the end of the night I was in a t-shirt and tights and folks were asking what had happened to my costume! Well it was 70 degrees that night!)

Organizing and categorizing all the loot. Later that night once we got home we left my candy at the door for the Switch Witch, who took the candy and exchanged it for 2 great books this morning.

Enjoying a Tootsie Pop acquired at the very first house (waiting all the way to have this until the end of the night was torture!).

Time to make my cocoon.

Quote of the day

2009-11-01T22:41:00.008-05:00

Maya was sitting on the floor playing and singing while Mom was getting breakfast ready and she came up with the following song and she has been singing it all day long.

Maya: Ring around the Rosie, Pocket full of Posie, Ashes and We all fall down and break our pelvis.

Mom (laughing hysterically): I love the new words to your song Maya!

We both start laughing.

Maya's Singing Debut

2009-10-28T16:22:00.005-05:00

Maya's Singing Debut from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

I had to shoot some video for my class I'm taking at Duke that focuses on audio. I wanted to break out one of my new microphones and I thought Maya would be a good test.

She needed absolutely no coaching as she started singing before I could even hit record.

Everything’s Homemade

2009-10-27T22:42:00.016-05:00

Now that Mom is home with me everyday we are having a lot of fun cooking and crafting. Mom says she loves this time of year because of all the cooking possibilities with pumpkins, squash and sweet potatoes. So far we have made pumpkin muffins, pumpkin sweet bread, pumpkin yeast bread, pumpkin seed snacks and pumpkin squash pancakes (We are Forest Gump with pumpkins!). We have also made an eggplant quiche, cabbage strudel, homemade pizza, venison vegetable stew and onion poppy seed bread. Mom and I have been going crazy in the kitchen! It is fun to go through the grocery store and think, why buy that when we can try to make it at home! I have become quite an eater too. If I had a hand in making it I am for sure going to gobble it down! Oh I have also taken to making my own cooking creations out in the back yard as well. My new cooking favorite is acorn soup.

We bought a few small pumpkins at the Farmers Market last week and Mom thought it would be fun to paint them. Mom produced these cool little paints and I went to town trying each color on the pumpkins. Mom drew a face on one of the pumpkins but I decided that splashing the paint everywhere on the pumpkin was more fun.

Painting the pumpkins.

Cleaning the brushes with Bubble Water in the kitchen sink.

Finished pumpkins in the table centerpiece.

Mom has also been doing a lot of card making with her Stampin’ Up supplies. She is hoping to start teaching card making classes next month so she tested out a mom and child class with me. We made cool Sesame Street cards together and I got to punch out all the images and then draw on them. It was fun and now I have thank you notes to use!

My card creations.

Quote of the Day

2009-10-07T23:58:00.006-05:00

Overheard at the table while climbing down from her chair after eating lunch:

Maya: "I am going to jump down, Mom."

Mom: "OK, jump down Maya."

Maya: "Maya no break pelvis like MiMa!"

Maya jumps!

Maya (after jump): "Ooh, I jumped. I broke pelvis. Need ambulance."

Maya to Mom: "Momma drive!"

And then a bonus picture. She'll most likely hate us down the road for posting this one but she dressed herself!

No work for Mommy!

2009-09-30T20:55:00.015-05:00

First let me start off by saying that our family is finally back together again! The reason we have not posted in a while is that Mom and I have been in NY for the last month. It was so awesome to see Dad again and I just hugged him constantly and said, "This is my Daddy" for three days straight!

Now on to the title, No work for Mommy! This is my morning statement nearly every morning lately. Mom and I have been having a blast together ever since she left her job and it has been really awesome to spend so much time together. We have been playing outside everyday and I have been able to reconnect with all of my outdoor critter friends such as beetles and worms...I really missed my beetles while we were away! We have also been cooking up a storm and I have become quite an eater! I usually like to eat anything that I have helped to make. Mom lets me sit on the counter and help with everything. This usually includes mashing something like squash or kneeding dough and getting covered in flour. I am really starting to enjoy cooking time in the kitchen!

I have also taken a huge liking to Bubble Water. This usually happens in the kitchen or bathroom sink and Mom lets me stand up on a chair at the sink and play with soapy bubble water. It is so much fun and I always talk about my friends Eleanor and Henry b/c they are the ones that taught us about Bubble Water when we were visiting them a few months ago. Speaking of Eleanor....my favorite things to wear lately are Shoes! I love shoes (just like Mom) and I ask to wear Eleanors shoes nearly every day (she gave me some hand-me-down pink sneakers when we were visiting and I adore them even though they are 2 sizes too big for me!).

Other big developments include a language explosion and tumbles. I am speaking in full sentences and even paragraphs at times. Mom and Dad are always giggling at me and the things I come up with. Mostly everything I say can be clearly understood but if the listener doesn't understand I repeat and repeat getting louder each time until the listener finally figures out what I am trying to say. As for tumbles....I finally mastered the art of the forward roll. This happened while we were in NY and I performed a gymnastics routine that I put together nearly every day after I figured out the roll. Mom has had to set up soft mats in my room so I can do the tumbles at home and the coolest part is now I get to go to a gymnastics class once a week! Mom and Dad realized that "it was time" to let me show off my talent and get some coaching. They tell me at the gym that I am natural!

More pictures to come, our camera is having a panic attack!

Video Haiku

2009-09-05T20:26:00.000-05:00

Termite Haiku from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

A video haiku for http://experimonth.com/

5 seconds, 7 seconds, 5 seconds

Can Bubbles Cure a Broken Pelvis?

2009-08-24T20:30:00.003-05:00

I sure think so!

About 2 weeks ago Mima slipped and fell while she was walking her dog and broke her pelvis in two places. So without hesitation, we packed up the car and headed back up to NY to be with her. She is doing great and recovering more and more each day. She'll leave rehab this Friday but will still need constant care for at least the next 4 weeks. Mom and I will stay up here and help take care of her while Dad will fly back home.

The video above was shot at the nursing rehab facility. We have been going over there everyday to be with Mima to "make her happy" as I like to say. Today, I took the bubbles and after rubbing them into my hands, I gently massaged it into her hurt leg. At the end of the video you can barely here me say "all better". I must have rubbed half of the bottle of bubbles on her leg before declaring her cured!

And if some of you are wondering how Mom is able to stay up in NY for the next 4 weeks without returning home, it's because she has left her job! Yes, that's right! She is now a full time stay-at-home Mom! I am SO excited. Yeah Mom!

Once we get Mima "all better" we'll return home and begin the art projects!

Sunshine Swing Set. Beetle Queen. Mando Maya.

2009-08-01T22:24:00.006-05:00

Go grab some popcorn because it's movie time!!

Sunshine Swing Set from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

Maya is such a gem! Playing with her fills our day with so much joy. I wanted to make a movie that incorporated some new features on my camera. Why not practice them on Maya by following her around as she explores our yard and her new swing set.

When G. Love says "baby don't go", we think of it as "baby don't grow up"! Terrible twos or terrific twos? Who knows! We just know that we have a bundle of energy who is learning something new each and every day by exploring more and more and opening her mind through adventure. We're just trying to keep up!

A few have suggested that we include more videos without the music and more of just her talking and being herself. This video does that, the being herself part at least. She talks constantly but she also thinks most situations through without saying much. Here's Maya catching a beetle, making a habitat for it and then playing with it before letting it go back into the yard.

Beetle Queen from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

And finally, after a few hours outside on the swing set we come in for a little jam session. Ever since we saw Dan Zanes in concert she has been wanting to play our mandolin instead of her pink guitar. I adjusted the strap to fit her and away she went like a seasoned pro. Now all we need is a drummer and a guitar player. Oh, and Maya can most likely take the lead on vocals since she has a powerful set of lungs!

Mando Maya from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for...

2009-07-28T00:00:00.011-05:00

The Ice Cream Truck!

Ever since our trip to New York and my introduction to ice cream from the Ice Cream Truck, it's all I think about. That night we signaled to the driver and he pulled over and passed out some delicious cones of soft serve ice cream. Let me tell you, I secured that hypnotic song from the ice cream truck into my memory and every night when the truck drove by I let everyone know what I wanted. We only had ice cream once during our 10 day stay. It was torture!

Even after being home for 3 weeks and not hearing the repetitive sounds from the ice cream truck I still ask for it. "Ice Cream Truck, Mom?" It has been non-stop begging and I have not been getting my way. That stopped when Mom and Dad had the idea to make homemade ice cream from our mountain of blueberries we have been collecting.

So we headed out to the back yard and picked 16 cups of blueberries. We cooked the berries, added the cream and then headed to the store to buy an ice cream maker attachment for our Kitchen Aide mixer.

I was so excited I could hardly stand it. And if you thought I said ice cream truck all the time then, just wait. It's all I want and it's all I talk about! On Sunday and Monday "Ice Cream Truck, Mom" were the first words out of my mouth when I woke up!

Our blueberries are finally plump and juicy enough to pick. We've been picking them for the last 2 weeks but they were still a little tart. We are in full swing now!

Mom and Dad finished the evening off making blueberry jam. We had so many berries that they were able to make 2 batches. I tested it out this morning and it was D-lish!

Ice Cream!

Jam!

Beetles and Bees

2009-07-25T11:34:00.005-05:00

I had my first bump in the rode today in my quest to catch all the critters in our backyard. I've gotten really good at catching beetles as they don't scurry away like the lizards do. This morning I captured a June Bug and let him ride along on my shirt for most of the morning putting him in my habitat bucket for closer observation. I gave him some rocks, grass and mulch to climb around on. After a while we let him go back to his real habitat in the woods.

While filling up a glass of imaginary lemonade from the screw at the bottom of the swing set I attempted to capture a yellow jacket. The yellow jacket must have sensed that I had lemonade in my cup. After trying to catch him I realized he wasn't the friendly kind. Dad was sitting next to me but did not see the bee until I turned and started asking for help. I patiently waited while Dad grabbed the bee with his fingers and then started to pull the stinger out of my pinky finger.

Amazingly, I didn't cry. I just yelled for Mom to come and put milk on it. As Mom put breast milk on my finger I just sat there and "oohed and awed" as the pain and swelling intensified. After a few minutes of ice I was ready to go back out. Mom and Dad were a little more scared than I was since they are both allergic to bees. So far, so good. My finger is still swollen but that is to be expected.

A little extra chubbiness

Pinky finger comparison

Pink Guitar

2009-07-21T13:09:00.007-05:00

For my birthday back in May Mom and Dad promised me my very own guitar. They seem to get a little nervous when I want to play their Martin Classical or their Mandolin. For at least 2 weeks straight, I relentlessly begged Mom and Dad to let me play their guitar and mandolin. But after seeing the way I carelessly held them in my tiny hands they decided that I needed my own.

So off to the store we went. Dad had wanted to get me a ukulele since he thought it would be better suited for my body size. I wanted nothing to do with the ukuleles after setting my eyes on this pink guitar! I wanted it so bad that I grabbed for it without asking for help and suddenly found myself on the floor with a bump on my head and the guitar on top of me.

I have been playing it ever since we brought it home about two months ago! And if you ask me what I want to do when I grow up I say "play guitar"! I am completely fascinated with the instrument. If I see one, whether in person or in art, I want to hold it and strum it. I still don't understand why I can't play them all??

Below are some of our pictures from the Dan Zanes concert. Apparently, Stella Dot has started to play the drums so we may be on to something here. We'll be sure to videotape our first concert!

Headed down to get front row seats before the show

Observing from the second row

Gaining insight for our first band

Front and Center

Rockin' it at Dan Zanes

2009-07-19T20:34:00.004-05:00

Last night we headed over to the NC Museum of Art to see Dan Zanes and Friends. We packed a picnic and met some friends for a rockin' dance party at the NCMA outdoor amphitheater. We took some photos but rather than upload them now we thought we'd link to Stella Dot's blog since they posted some good pics and made an awesome video that really captured the moment.

We'll post our pictures tomorrow if they're good.

Video:
http://stelladot.blogspot.com/2009/07/dan-zanes-video.html

Pictures:
http://stelladot.blogspot.com/2009/07/dan-zanes-concert.html

Quote of the Day

2009-07-16T08:40:00.003-05:00

Overheard at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St Paul:

~7 year old Boy pleading to his Mom to let him participate in a guided lab exhibit: "Mom, I really want to do science, please!"

Mom to Boy: "Not right now, son."

Boy shrugs his shoulders and walks off with his head down saying: "I'll never be good at science"

Unfortunately, the Mom did nothing to console her son and give him any reasons as to why he couldn't "do science". I really hope this kid can forget that experience and not give up on his quest to "do science"!

Swing Set

2009-07-13T21:53:00.007-05:00

Forget the playgrounds! I have my own swing set now! Mima bought me this swing set for my 2nd birthday. Mom and Dad really wanted to buy a used swing set so we had to wait until we found one on craigslist. We found one about 3 weeks ago and before we left for our trip to NY we had some friends help us break it down and haul it over to our house.

I worked on the slide while the rest of the crew disassembled the main structure.

If the fort can hold up 3 grown men it can hold me! The swing set is 8 years old and needs a little washing and sanding, but for the main part, it's in great condition!

The day after we brought the swing set home we left for NY leaving us no time to put it together. I was told the whole time that as soon as we got home we'd put it up. On Sunday, during my afternoon nap, Dad and our neighbor Ed added 4 posts for additional support and then began putting it back together. It was like magic - asleep one moment and then poof - I had a swing set! I wouldn't let Dad and Ed finish the roof without personally trying out the swing!

Helping Dad rebuild the sandbox and picnic bench that sits under the fort. We will post more pictures of the finished backyard playground soon.

Little Miss Pink Piggy

2009-07-03T14:09:00.003-05:00

My hair is finally long enough for pigtails! It's a little hard to see them in this picture but it's the only picture we took so it will have to do. Our phone camera is so much easier to carry around and since it takes descent pictures (if there's enough light) we're using it more and more. Hopefully, the Google Phone will create an app soon that allows us to post pictures right to the blog from our phone.

This picture was taken in front of the statue of St. Francis at the St. Francis Heart Hospital.

A Sunny Sunday Stroll

2009-06-29T12:55:00.012-05:00

Sunday brought a break from our daily morning visits to the hospital to see Papa Dana. Mima took over for us and allowed us the opportunity for a trip to Jones Beach. It was such a beautiful morning - a little cloudy and windy with a high of 73! You couldn't ask for better weather. Mom and Dad went for a swim in the brisk ocean but I wouldn't even get my feet wet. I screamed and screamed every time Mom or Dad tried to get me in the water. I was content with the sand and my bucket!

Later that evening just as we had finished dinner we heard the ice cream truck coming down the street. We had ice cream in the freezer so there was no real need to buy from the truck except for the novelty of it. Mom and Dad let me have a couple of nibbles from their cones and as you can see I kind of like it!

Mom took this incredible picture from the hospital. We're hoping it's a sign of good things to come! If you look hard enough you'll see that this was a double rainbow. The second rainbow is stronger in other pics but I chose to upload this one as it appears that the rainbow is casting a ray of light onto the statue.

Eating lunch down by the boats in Port Washington. Notice my new shoes that Dad bought me yesterday - Pink Converse! I love them so much I had to wear them to sleep for my nap the day I got them.

While Mom has been over at the hospital Dad and I have been visiting Museum Row. Today we went to the Firefighters Museum and the Cradle of Aviation.

I found these sunglasses at the Museum and would not take them off the entire day.

Waiting for the next call to go and fight the fires.

I'm growing up fast!

2009-06-27T20:58:00.007-05:00

I think I have finally pushed myself over the hurdle! I will not, and I repeat, WILL NOT, pee in my diaper anymore. Yes, that's right, I hate the feeling of a wet bum! If we are outside, I'll pee in the grass. If there's a bathroom nearby, you better get me there fast or I'll throw a fit.

Today while walking around Port Washington I threw a fit yelling "Potty, Maya Pee Pee, Daddy!!" I was able to hold it until we found a bathroom and even though it's a lot of trouble to take my pants and diaper off, it's worth it!

About 3 weeks ago Mom bought me my first set of underwear. Mom and Dad keep telling me that I can't pee in them, that I can only wear them if I pee in the potty. Well, I guess it's worked!!

On another note...I have been talking up a storm lately. My ability to talk in sentences is growing every day. Just last week I strung 4 sentences together and formed my first paragraph. I've been repeating everything the GPS lady says while driving and today I repeated the chorus to a song that was playing on Sirius.

Oh, and one more thing. Dad and Mom need to watch their language around me because I am beginning to repeat and learn a few words from their adult vocabulary. I'll leave it to your imagination as to what they are.

I'm growing up fast!

For those of you not using Twitter...

2009-06-27T20:34:00.006-05:00

The last couple of weeks have been very busy and extremely difficult. We have been very occupied of late with work and home duties that posting to the blog has become an afterthought. We have 3 blog posts half written and only a few of the pictures uploaded but have not found the time to finish them. The most important of them and probably the most likely to ever get posted at this point is about Maya's 2nd birthday party. We promise to finish it soon and post a few pics.

On Tuesday afternoon we received a call that Tia's Dad had been hospitalized. We immediately packed up the car and drove through the night to New York to be with him. We arrived around 615am and spent the entire day at the hospital. I think our visit made his day! After nearly 40 straight hours of having our eyes wide open, our heads finally hit the pillow for some much needed rest!

We'll be up here throughout the next week making sure that everything is fine before returning home. Tia has been at the hospital every day while Maya and I are trying to keep ourselves busy. We've been hitting a few Museums and tomorrow we're headed to Jones Beach.

We most likely won't be posting much to the blog over the next week (unless we get the itch) so be sure to check out our Twitter feed in the upper right hand column of the blog or by clicking here. I'm updating it with my phone so excuse the poor quality pics.

PS...Once we post pics from Maya's birthday you'll understand the significance of the picture above.

I'm two going on three

2009-06-10T22:15:00.013-05:00

On May 28th I turned two years old, but if you ask me, I'll tell you I'm three. Mom and Dad keep telling me that I can do certain things when I get older so I guess I am trying to trick them into thinking that I'm old enough now!

So for my birthday, Mom and I took a hike down to the end of the neighborhood to have a picnic with the horses. We packed up the buggy, brought along Jenny and Oscar (my cabbage patch kids), and a few snacks. It was a wonderful time, great weather, and all the horses came out to play.

Munching on some snacks while Jenny and Oscar take a nap.

When we first arrived at the stables the horses were scattered all over the fields. I started yelling "HORSEY" and immediately they all came running. It was wild watching them respond to me like that. I felt bad however, not being able to share my lunch with them.

While we were there the keepers came down to feed the horses. They asked if I wanted to help feed them but I didn't really feel like getting out of my buggy. I have become a little shy around these horses of late. When I was younger and more naive I wouldn't think twice about petting them. So instead, the keeper walked the horses right by my buggy as I sat and excitedly waved at each passing horse.

Later that evening Grandma and Papa Richard arrived from Chattanooga. Dad prepared a wonderful dinner and we topped it off with a fresh strawberry shortcake.

Yum!

Earlier that week we met a friend of Mom and Dad's to pick some strawberries at the Vollmer Farm. We picked 2 baskets of strawberries but decided not to jam them since they weren't the sweetest berries we've had. Instead, we made lots of smoothies and topped almost every breakfast with fresh berries until we finished every last one!

My friend Izzy

We'll have to compare to next year.

The coolest John Deer chopper-tricycle ever!

Being silly

My Naming Ceremony

2009-05-28T21:47:00.010-05:00

Just as the birds began to sing on Sunday morning an Otomi Native American appeared at our doorstep. This was not just any Native American, it was a good friend of Mom and Dad's and he came to conduct my Native American Naming Ceremony.

A Naming Ceremony can be conducted at two different times during one's lifetime. The first being when they are a child, while the other happening after a lifetime achievement during adulthood. Mom and Dad have been planning this Naming Ceremony since before I was born so we were very excited that the day had finally arrived. We chose to hold the naming ceremony this week in honor of my 2nd birthday (May 28).

We all sat around the fire pit in our backyard while he cleansed himself and donned his moccasins so that his feet would be firmly planted on the Earth. He then preceded to smudge us with smoke from a lavender and herb mixture while chanting a Cherokee ceremonial opening song. He ended with a prayer and then anointed me with my Indian name "Birdsong". The name Birdsong originates from a hike at a special place that he and Mom took while Mom was pregnant. It was a very fitting name since all of the birds sounded as if they were calling my name throughout the ceremony. It was a beautiful and peaceful event.

After the ceremony he presented me with a handmade traditional fan with locally collected hawk feathers and seashells.

After the ceremony Mom and Dad prepared a beautiful meal which included fresh corn on the cob. It appears that the name Birdsong may be a perfect fit since I could not stop pecking at this cob.

Pimp My Ride

2009-05-26T17:42:00.009-05:00

A little over a month ago we went for a walk down to the end of our neighborhood to a creek that feeds Lake Wheeler with my friend Odin. Part of the hike took us off road and was a little rough on my buggy. My buggy is an early 1900's Colson Stroller that we bought from the flea market shortly after I was born. It needed to be restored when we bought it but we held out until it was absolutely needed. I forgot to take a before picture so you'll have to rely on this one (4 months old) and this one (one year old) to see what it use to look like before falling apart.

Dad and I spent two days replacing the wood and spray painting all of the metal. I woke up on Saturday morning and had to literally pull dad out of bed. I kept repeating "Daddy, fix buggy, now!" until finally I had pestered him enough to get up. We worked well into the evening until all parts were restored and the buggy was put back together.

My ride has been pimped!

Taking it for a stroll.

Showing off my clover crown that Mom and I made.

And since we are talking about rides I might as well introduce you to my newest rides. You may have already seen my Beep Beep from my previous post when we traveled to TN/GA. In this picture I am taking my monkey from Kathleen on a drive. But just every drive with kids, I had to pull over to feed him.

And finally, meet my Fire Truck. This fire truck has also been passed down from cousin to cousin and now it's my turn at the wheel. Monkey and I have been fighting fires and taking care of the neighborhood.

One flight of stairs, one torn tendon and two sore throats.

2009-05-11T20:32:00.015-05:00

Last week we packed the car and took off for a tri-state trip to see family and friends. We logged around 1,500 miles and around 22 hours of sitting in a car seat! For the most part I was a saint in the car seat -- singing, reading and sleeping. But by the time we reached Greensboro on our way home from Atlanta I had had enough. I even went as far as peeing all over my car seat to try get out. As you can imagine, it didn't work!

Our first stop was in Nashville to see PawPaw and GiGi. We had a great visit playing and helping around the house. I also got to see JoJo! The two of us played non-stop, took baths together, jumped on the couch, laughed and cried, but most importantly, had fun and enjoyed each others company.

OK, I know, it looks bad, but I promise it's not what you think it is. I was actually mad that Dad kept trying to take the horn away from me. Be sure to check out our Flickr site to see more of our pictures and to see a picture of Dad and I laughing and playing the horn while riding the ducks!

Dad built this Physical Therapy table for PawPaw to use to stretch. I tested it out first and it seemed to hold up pretty good.

Playing with a box turtle we found around the pond.

We took PawPaw over to Cheekwood so Mom could visit a similar Art Museum/Park to the Museum Park she runs here. This is a very large Hare that we ran into while hiking around.

Bella and Maya drinking a blackberry smoothie while having lunch with some of Mom and Dad's friends.

We stayed until Thursday when we headed down to Chattanooga to see Grandma and Papa Richard. We had a great dinner in town with Grandma before heading over to see some of Dad's friends.

One flight of stairs...While visiting Dad's friends I got to play with Drew and Anna and about 7 other kids. Anna was holding me while standing on the top step on their deck. She let go of me before realizing that I didn't have my feet under me properly. As she walked away I began to fall backwards head over heels down the first four steps. After bouncing off the fourth step I turned my body and began logrolling down the rest of the steps before landing on my back and looking up at Mom who was a mere step behind me trying to stop my fall. I was back up and running in mere seconds with only a few bruises on my back and head and an abrasion on my shoulder. I think Mom was more scared than I was.

After a short visit in Chattanooga we headed to Atlanta for Aunt Cindy's 50th surprise birthday party. We had a great mini-family reunion with lots of good food, stories and cousin-time. I had to hold my own as the youngest cousin. Here I am driving JoJo around in the Beep Beep!

Shhh...this is my Christmas gift for Dec 2009. We brought it home and Mom placed it in the attic so I'd forget about it and then be surprised on Christmas morning. There is only one problem...I saw her put it up there when we got home.

Yep, we went with a somewhat empty car and came home with a new fire truck, the bike and of course, as you can see, Beep Beep tied to the roof. The ride home from Atlanta was AWFUL!

Here's why:

One Torn Tendon...Dad was trying to show off in front of all the little cousins by riding the zip-line in Uncle Frank's backyard. The zip-line was about 300 feet long and starts about 25 feet off the ground. Cousin Tom had his tent set up directly in the path of the zip-line and Dad made the mistake of thinking he could clear it. As dad tried to pull up his feet his foot crashed into the tent, breaking all of the tent poles and grabbing Dad's leg and pulling it backwards while the rest of Dad's body continued to go forward. Dad heard a loud pop and instantly let go of the zip-line and tumbled down the hill while grabbing his knee. It turns out that it was a torn tendon behind the knee where it attaches to the calf muscle. The swelling and pain made for a very uncomfortable 8-hour drive home.

Two Sore Throats...Before leaving Chattanooga Mom came down with a sore throat. As the weekend went on her throat got worse and a fever developed. Needless to say, the ride home for her was bad too! While driving home we got a call from Uncle John that cousin Paden was just diagnosed with Strep Throat. Today, I woke up and the first words out of my mouth were "Maya throat hurt, Maya doctor." Mom and Dad think I was just saying it because they were talking about taking Mom to the doctor. I was very mellow today but never developed a fever and Mom's rapid strep test came back negative. It may be her allergies from the many pets we ran into on our journey. Whatever it is has Mom sidelined like never before. I think we'll celebrate Mother's Day next week!

Merlefest 2009

2009-04-28T22:36:00.014-05:00

We had another great year at Merlefest 2009. We had 4 days of fun, sun and music with our good friends from Chattanooga. Mom and Dad had been telling me about the festival and getting to see Drew, Anna, Holden and Sam every night leading up to it. I was so excited to finally get there and play with kids.

For those of you interested in all of our pictures from Merlefest 2009 check out our Flickr Pool.

Our camp from Thursday through Sunday at the Moravian Falls Campground

It was very hot during the day and what little shade there was, it was almost certainly always taken. I had to lather myself in sunscreen to protect my very fair skin. Days of sunscreen and no showers had my hair standing on its own.

Pyramid with Drew, and Anna

Watching the Del McCoury Band play in the kids tent. This may have been the best show we saw all weekend!

We played, danced and rolled in the grass with our glow in the dark sticks from 630pm until 1130pm on Saturday night as Sam Bush and Emmylou Harris played on the main stage. When the show was over I was asleep n 30 seconds and slept harder than I ever have!

Playing in the Moravian Falls

A little frog I caught just below the falls

Blowing bubbles with Anna at camp

At home after the festival enjoying the pool that we stopped to buy on the way home. We are most surely in the red neck category now with our inflatable pool. The only problem is that the water comes from our well and is mind numbingly cold!

Has anyone seen the eggs?

2009-04-15T21:22:00.011-05:00

"Nope, not me. I don't know what you're talking about."

The look on my face says it all. We could not have asked for a more beautiful Easter day. After a thorough search for eggs in the backyard we retired to our hammocks and munched on eggs all day.

One of the 7 eggs the Easter Bunny left for breakfast. This egg looked so good that I stopped to eat it before moving on to look for the others!

Loading my basket with eggs.

Eggs anyone?

Still in search of my eggs.

I got a new puzzle in my Easter basket and we spent part of the afternoon putting the puzzle together. Actually, every piece Mom figured out and placed I took out and added it to my collection.

Once we finally got it put together I wondered if the Easter Bunny was raised at the North Pole?

Eternal Seductiveness of Life

2009-04-14T22:09:00.004-05:00

The Pollinators from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

A visual poetic glimpse into the symbiotic relationship between a flowering plant and its pollinators.

There are a vast diversity of pollinators that occupy our backyard, skimming across the flowers, spreading pollen from stamens to pistils, and sucking the sweet nectar. We would not have our blueberry bushes, pears, apples, azaleas and other plants that we have come to love without this beautiful symbiotic form of reproduction.

Little Miss Wavy Gravy

2009-04-06T22:18:00.005-05:00

This past weekend Dad volunteered at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham. One of the documentaries he saw was Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie about the legendary Wavy Gravy. Before the movie started the volunteers passed out red clown noses to the audience and Dad saved his for me to clown around in.

If you or anyone you know is interested in attending a circus and performing arts camp then you should check out Wavy's camp Winnarainbow in Berkely, CA.

For those of you who don't know, Wavy Gravy, or Hugh Romney, is best known as an activist clown and the inspiration for a Ben and Jerry's flavor of ice cream. He also helped form the Hog Farm, was the MC for Woodstock, a member of the Merry Pranksters and co-founder of SEVA, a foundation that combats preventable and curable blindness in the Third World.

Worm Poo

2009-03-29T12:54:00.002-05:00

Today, Mom and I were feeding the worms and collecting the compost from our vermiculture bin. I just wanted to play with (or torture) the worms. I just has to have my hands in the muck every time we tend to the worms.

Just before attempting to mush them together.

Extremely rich compost...or worm poop.

Worm egg. This means we have reproduction happening and our worms are surviving.

Finally, my hair is long enough for Mom to put pig tails in!

Rainy Day Fun

2009-03-27T23:10:00.003-05:00

Rainy Day Fun, originally uploaded by BradandTia.

Today was another dreary day but we didn't let it keep us in the house. Dad and I headed to the creek in front of our house for a little critter exploration. Once down there the skies opened up and all we could do was dance in the rain. We had a blast and that's all that really mattered.

My Busted Ankle

2009-03-24T21:54:00.005-05:00

Lance Armstrong had a nasty wreck this week breaking his collarbone and jeopardizing his return the Tour de France. As a fellow Speed Racer, I know how it feels to injure yourself while riding your bike. Thankfully my injury is not nearly as bad as Lance's injury.

We are still not sure how my ankle got so bruised but we think it had to be from the bike. Either I am immune to pain or it's simply a bad bruise. I complain of pain saying and signing hurt but I continually point to my knee? Mom and Dad are still trying to figure it out but we're not too concerned since it hasn't slowed me down a bit.

Speed Racer

2009-03-21T12:08:00.002-05:00

Speed Racer from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

I have become the new Speed Racer for the Radio Flyer bike team. I tear off down the driveway riding with glee and enjoying every moment.

Enjoy,

Music:
Speed Racer
by Nobuyoshi Koshibe
Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 (70's & 80's)

Sunglasses

2009-03-17T15:52:00.002-05:00

Last week Dad and I went over to Moxie Kids, one of our favorite kids clothing store, and found some awesome specs for the upcoming summer season. While trying them on for size I stood in front of the mirror tilting my head back and forth just to make sure they looked good from all angles.

Praying or Pooping?

2009-03-17T15:01:00.003-05:00

I'm not too sure I remember what I was doing when this photo was taken. I'm either praying or pooping...

Quote of the Day

2009-03-15T22:03:00.004-05:00

Mom to Maya: (folding laundry in the laundry room and noticing a small ruffle in the air. Mom looks down at her barefoot and notices a brown streak) "Did you just poopie?"

Maya to Mom: "Yes."

Mom to Maya: "Where?"

Maya: (running around naked with hands in the 'I don't know' position yelling) "Poopie, are you?"

Scene ends as the two scour the house in search for the lost poopie.

You see, there is a reason I had my diaper off to begin with. I have been peeing on the toilet a lot lately (4 times yesterday) so Mom and Dad let me run around the house without my diaper. I have not mastered pooping on the potty so if nature calls, I have nothing to catch it. I'm still not sure we found it all but we did our best.

On Tuesday I am starting the 4th week of my new daycare. I am now in a home with 4 other kids ages 4 months to 2 years. The first two weeks were great. I loved going and never cried when Mom and Dad left me. When the third week came along I began to cry as we turned into the neighborhood. Every morning it would get a little worse.

All of the other kids already know each other so I am coming in as the new kid on the block. I've tried to make my presence known to all by establishing my dominance over them. I am pretty sure I own the place by now. Everything is mine! If you have it, I want! If you take it from me, I'll slap you! I even whacked Jeremiah right when I walked in on Thursday morning. Mom, Dad and Miss Erica are not too happy with me right now but they understand that I'm still learning.

Overall, we're doing great! I'm talking up a storm and noticing everything in the world that my books have been teaching me. The world is large and my brain is like a sponge!

Back to my book...Everybody Poops

Tattoo

2009-03-07T15:56:00.003-05:00

Little Miss Cool Tattoo

Mushroom Girl

2009-03-07T15:13:00.006-05:00

Mushroom Girl, originally uploaded by BradandTia.

Part of Experimonth for The Eyes of March

What a beautiful day to be outside!

Times have changed and our wee little one has grown.

For the mushroom back story visit the original posting.

Pilgrim

2009-03-06T17:36:00.006-05:00

Pilgrim, originally uploaded by BradandTia.

Part of Experimonth for The Eyes of March

I was playing around with the continuous mode on my camera today and took a series of shots. My initial intention was to post a picture of Maya's new birdhouse that I just bought her but instead I put together this little movie.

Maya had to have a tomato while in Whole Foods this morning. Who am I to say no to that. She nibbled on it for at least 30 minutes.

Quote of the Day

2009-03-03T23:57:00.007-05:00

I am totally borrowing this idea from our good friend, The Red Headed Howler.

I am in a period of my life where my brain is absorbing every little piece of information possible. I am starting to talk more and more and beginning to phrase my words into sentences. I am still trying to figure out the meaning to each word or phrase and as a result I have been saying some pretty funny things. Here is my attempt to present the very best "Quotes of the Day".
--
Me (alone, lying on my mattress for my nap for about 10 minutes and hiding under my blankets)

"Tia, are you?"

"Tia, are you?"

"Tia, are you?..."

Yes, I now refer to Mom as Tia. I must have picked it up while MiMa was in town as she was the only one calling Mom by her name. Oh and by the way, Mom was at work.

Cardboard Luging

2009-03-03T23:30:00.008-05:00

Why do we all love boxes so much? I could just play with a box all day long. It doesn't matter if it's a shoe box or a flooring box, I'll make it work!

Dad and I went to help some friends install some cork floors last weekend. I helped a little but mostly I laid in the box until someone pushed me around the house. This flooring box made for a perfect luge!

Luging around through the hall.

Wee little picker

The Guardian of our Garden

2009-03-02T15:39:00.012-05:00

The Guardian, originally uploaded by BradandTia.

The Guardian of our garden stands guard over our garden.

This is the March 2nd photo submitted to the Eyes of March. The 4 inches of snow provided a great opportunity to take some cool photos. Here are a few others that I took today but did not make the final cut.

The Guardian Close-Up

Reflections

Icicles

Harmonize

2009-03-02T00:18:00.002-05:00

Harmonize, originally uploaded by BradandTia.

Brad and Tia's home -
Always welcome, never alone.

An oasis of recovery
assisting the world
glide through discovery.

Assisting to harmonize
all that anybody want to
realize.

Each journey embraced
without leaving a trace.

~Leslie Hamdorf

Our hands are always extended when you enter our home. This was the inspiration that our good friend Leslie used to create a blessing for our new home. The poem surrounds our hands that are shaped from the leaves in our yard. The blessing now hangs on our wall and awaits your eyes.

This photo is part of Experimonth for the Eyes of March. The goal is to take a picture every day during the month of March and blog about it. If you are interested it's never too late to sign up.

The Three H's

2009-02-19T20:29:00.020-05:00

Help. Hold. Hurt.

I have experienced a major explosion over the last three weeks. I am learning and saying new words every day. Some of the words are taught to me each day and some are ones that I have heard in the past and somehow managed to store them for use at the perfect time. I have managed to pull a few words out of my hat that have Mom and Dad amazed. But the three most popular words right now in my vocabulary are the three H's.

Help: As I begin to explore more and more I have realized that if I say "help" I usually get assistance and the task is made a little easier.

Hold: Either I want to be held or I want you to hold whatever I have. I even wake Mom and Dad up every morning saying "hold me".

Hurt: Mom and Dad taught me the sign for hurt before I could speak so that I could tell them through signing if I was hurt. When I have to poop I sign (and now say) hurt while pointing to my tummy. When I fall and scrape my knee I point to my knee and say "knee hurt". When I wake up in the morning I point to my eye and say "hurt, eye". In fact, I have been pointing to my eye for the past 2 weeks saying hurt. Mom and Dad have been trying to figure out if I am just saying it because I can or if I am actually hurt. Well, now that Dad has pink eye I think they know!

Also, ever since PawPaw got "hurt" I point to the ambulance in my book and say "hurt, PawPaw". I hope to one day look at the book and not have to say that!

We took a walk down to our neighbors to see the horses. This particular horse really made Mom and I feel small! The horses are always so excited to see us. As soon as they see us coming they come trotting towards the fence.

MiMa came along for the walk to see the horses too. Actually, MiMa has been here for the last 3 weeks. We have been searching and interviewing for a new nanny/childcare ever since Andrea (my Nanny) left us back in January. Twice we have had a nanny lined up and two days before starting they have backed out leaving us stranded and out of work. So, we called MiMa to the rescue! It has been so nice having MiMa down helping with things around the house as well as giving Mom and Dad a chance to have a few nights out! Thanks, MiMa!!

I start at a new childcare/nanny on Monday. I'll be sure to fill you in on the big change.

Mom is still teaching the Aqua Moms class with Healthy Moms. We go every Saturday and Monday morning for a little water play.

My classmates

I have accumulated so many babies that I need a box to carry them all around! They go from my bed to the desk where they have a lesson in drawing. From there they follow me to the table where I feed them. I can not finish a meal without making sure everyone else is fed...and that includes my babies, Mom, Dad and even MiMa. I still only take one or two bites of every meal (I'm still about 90% breast fed) and once my two bite maximum is up I feed the rest to everyone else.

I have been very adamant about wearing the clothes that I pick out. I'll go into my room and grab whatever clothes I can and try to put them on. As you can see from the pair of shorts on my head, I'm still learning how to dress myself! Mom and Dad get a kick out of the things I pull out and put on. They are being pretty nice about it and are trying to go with the flow so long as we are not going out into public...

Except for this one time!

Playsilks

2009-02-03T21:53:00.019-05:00

Mom has become very crafty lately and we are having a lot of fun. A few months ago she came across a post on her friend Molly's blog about making your own playsilks. Actually, Mom is so inspired by Molly's creativity that there are several things she wants to make (yes, Molly our little cardboard kitchen is still in the works but man that is a tough project!). So, Mom decided that it was time to make our very own Koolaid playsilks. We set out to gather the materials about two months ago and Mom started talking it up with our friends Linsay and Izy. The undyed Habotai 30" x 30" silks were purchased from the Dharma Trading Co. and a boatload of Koolaid packets and vinegar was gathered up from the local supermarket.

Directions for creating your own playsilks can be found on Sara's Toy Box and The Artful Parent.

Yes, this project calls for A LOT of Koolaid! It smelled so good but Mom wouldn't let me even have a sip. Each scarf took 3 - 4 packets.

This project can be done in the microwave but we heeded Molly's advice about the wretched smell of cooking plastic wrap in the microwave and opted for the stove top. It worked perfectly! The yellow Koolaid was the only one that came out a little light so we had to add several extra packets to get a darker effect.

The Mom's did a great job at manning the stove top....

And we did a great job at inspecting their work!

We really made a mess of the kitchen (we hope the stains came out of the countertop Amy!) but the final product was all worth it. Mom kept saying how amazing it was that Koolaid could be so color fast...wonder what it could be doing to our insides?

We were so proud of our playsilks that Mom and I decided to have a tea party with them the next afternoon (thanks for the idea Stella Dot). I decided to call Stella Dot (on the phone she left here) to see if she could come over for the party but she was under the weather. Maybe Mom will let me invite a bunch of friends over when the weather is nicer and we can have a playsik tea party outside!

Drinking tea from my favorite soup cups.

I recently got my very own Mei Tai so I can carry around my babies in my very on "bak-pak". It was made just for me by Amy May!

Oh and that little purse? Well, that is my baby's diaper bag of course!

The Hobbit

2009-01-25T00:26:00.002-05:00

The Hobbit from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

This is a short film about a hobbit who lives in a cloud chamber and is visited by an unknown stranger. I have left it up to the viewers to decide how it ends. If you have thoughts, please share them.

This video was made for the 1/24/09 Weekend Project contest by Vimeo.

Hope you enjoy...

The Letterbox

2009-01-23T01:00:00.006-05:00

The Letterbox from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

This past weekend we headed out to Harris Lake County Park for a hike. Dad brought along the camera to shoot video of our day together. The video above is our gift to Mom for her Birthday.

While standing behind the gnarled tree we happened upon a letterbox. We did not have any stamps to trade or a pen to sign so we left it in place and will return to it soon.

"Letterboxing is an intriguing pastime combining navigational skills and rubber stamp artistry in a charming "treasure hunt" style outdoor quest." For more info visit letterboxing.org

Happy Birthday Mom (1/24)! We love you!!

By Request...

2009-01-22T21:41:00.011-05:00

We had a few requests from the grandparents for some more snowy pics, so here you go. After thawing out and taking a long 3 hour nap we headed back out for some more snow play. This time Mom and Dad bundled me up in this sleeping bag like suit. This suit is a hand me down from my cousin JoJo and the tag says "fits 0-3 months". That didn't seem to stop Mom and Dad from stuffing me in to it. It was designed for your feet and hands to be inside but since I was a little too big mine stuck out. This meant that my time outside would be limited due to freezing fingers and toes. If you don't believe me just look at the second to last picture...I'm frozen!

Sledding down the hill into the woods in my neighbors yard. I shouted in glee the entire time as we flew down the hill...until Dad drove us into a tree!

Out in front of the house

Eating snow...I couldn't get enough of the frozen treat!

The ruler says it all!

Frozen solid and ready to go home!

This picture was taken the next morning while outside playing with the huge icicles hanging from the house.

Finally!

2009-01-20T11:11:00.010-05:00

We awoke this morning to a beautiful winter wonderland. Dad and Mom took me to the window and I was awestruck. It was as if I woke up in a new world. I ran to the front door and just looked outside in pure amazement. I have never seen anything like it. We haven't measured but from the look of the cars it must be around 6 inches and it's still coming down. It is supposed to be around 18 degrees tonight so we'll have some nice sheets of ice to propel us down the hill! We can't wait! Enjoy some pics from the morning.

Sledding down the hill on Mom's childhood sled.

Once my fingers and arms regain their natural color and our clothes are dry we'll head back out.

Building a fort to hide from Dad's snowballs with my friend and neighbor Ella.

Our fort.

Cupcake Saturday

2009-01-17T21:03:00.015-05:00

Today was Dad's 34th birthday! Unfortunately, he was away at the Science Blogging Conference (more on Dad's conference in a future post) in RTP all day so we didn't get to enjoy it with him. Mom and I made cupcakes for Dad to have when he came home. Mom had all she could do to keep me from eating the cupcakes. I don't get sweets very often. In fact, I have only had chocolate twice and both times I knew there was something special about it. I tried nonstop to climb up onto the chair to reach the cupcakes but just couldn't manage to make it. I tirelessly signed "more" and "eat" until Mom realized she just needed to get them out of my sight. Finally, after waiting all day to eat those cupcakes, Dad came home and he shared a cupcake with me! Oh my, I couldn't get enough!

There has been a long standing myth that if you give a kid sugar they will bounce off the wall uncontrollably until the sugar high wears off. This couldn't be farther from the truth...at least for me. After eating my cupcake with Dad we went to bed and I was out like a light.

Here is a link to an article that we read recently on debunking popular myths...

"Scientists have even studied how parents react to the sugarmyth. When parents think their children have been given a drinkcontaining sugar (even if it is really sugar-free), they ratetheir children’s behaviour as more hyperactive. The differencesin the children’s behaviour were all in the parents’minds."

Even more myths for those interested.

This is the card that Mom and I made for Dad. Mom punched out the hearts and I stamped the leaves and scribbled with crayons. Happy Birthday Dad!

ps...The hat was Dad's birthday gift from Mom and I.

Dressing up for a new Nanny

2009-01-14T20:55:00.006-05:00

Over the past few days I have developed this new desire to take all of the clothes out of my drawers and try to put them on. As you can tell from the above picture I haven't been too successful. The purple shirt around my neck is actually the shirt that my baby wears. Once I realized that I couldn't get my arms through the holes I gave up and tried to put on my pajamas. Once again, I wasn't very successful. As hard as I tried I could never really get my head inside the leg where my foot normally goes. But once I had it secure I ran around the house giggling in glee.

With Dad's help I was able to put on my jacket correctly. But I can't get enough of the zipper. It just goes up and down and never stops. Sometimes it will get stuck and I'll get frustrated but overall I'm pretty amused by the fact that I can unzip whatever Dad and Mom zip up. Once secure in my jacket I headed for the kitchen where I found a suitable pair of plastic shoes. My new shoes must have kept me busy for what seemed like hours. I danced, ran, and took on and off my plastic shoes over and over and over! Oh, and the hat...yeah, I put that on too. If Dad has his hat on I have to have mine on.

So where does the Nanny come into all of this? Well, on January 22nd our Nanny Andrea is leaving us. She is pregnant and due in early February. We will miss her and Abi (her 3y/o daughter) but we are happy for her and her new addition to the family.

So where does this leave us? Nannyless! We are interviewing now but if anyone knows of a nanny who would like to take care of me please let us know. Just ask Andrea, I'm worth it!!

We interviewed at a nearby school called The Walking Stick Ranch this week but I can not attend until I am at least 2 years old and potty trained. We will keep working on that potty thing but in the meantime we'll be on the look out for a Nanny.

Mine...Mine...Mine!

2009-01-09T10:38:00.004-05:00

Mine! No, Mine! Mine! Mine! (each mine gets louder than the previous one)

Everything in this world has now become mine. If you have it, I want it. If you don't give it to me, I'll yell mine until I get it. If I have it and you want it, forget about it. It's mine! I want it all!

I'm not too sure where I picked it up but it is the only word in my vocabulary right now. I basically walk around the house saying mine every second of the day. Mom and I went to a La Leche League meeting last night and all I said all night was mine. Every toy in the room was mine and I let all the kids know how I felt about them playing with my toys.

Don't even try to take it away from me either! Your mine if you do!

Holiday Travels

2009-01-04T21:32:00.019-05:00

We are back home and are all finally healthy! What a past few weeks it has been. We left on the 18th for Tennessee to spend some time with Paw-Paw and G3 (or GiGi since I have a hard time saying 3). When we arrived in TN we got to briefly see my aunt Julie and aunt Lindsey before they headed home complaining of feeling a little sick. Aunt Julie called the next morning and said she had Strep Throat. Shortly after, Aunt Lindsey called and said she had double pink eye. We could only wonder what we would be in for over the next few days!

Since Aunt Julie was sick, JoJo got to hang out with us for the next few days. We had a great time riding all of our "bikes"! I brought my bike from home but as you can see I didn't stand a chance against JoJo's power bike.

Yep, you guessed it! Double pink eye. I tried to look as pitiful as I could in order to get more sympathy. And pitiful I was! I wasn't a happy camper with double pink eye and a new molar popping through. And how no one else (including JoJo) ever came down with pink eye is amazing!

We had planned on heading down to Chattanooga to see Grandma for Christmas but since Grandpa Richard just had cataract surgery we were advised to stay put so as not to pass on pink eye to him.

So instead we hunkered down in the 6 degree weather and curled up on the couch while we listened to Paw-Paw read "The Night Before Christmas".

JoJo got a really cool John Deer Tractor from Santa. Instead of having lots of fun riding up and down the halls we just fought over who got to sit in the drivers seat. All I did was look at JoJo with my pitiful little crusty eyes and I pretty much won every time. The storm the night before brought down 2 trees in the front yard so we put that tractor to use all day picking up sticks and limbs and carrying them to the fire pit.

Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Tony got me a Sling for my babies so I can carry them around just like Mom carries me.

Making sweet music with JoJo's recorder.

With all of the bike riding we were doing Paw-Paw and GiGi got me a really nice bike helmet.

My Pink eye finally cleared up and we headed to Chattanooga to see Grandma and Grandpa. Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay too long since we had to get back home. Grandpa was recovering nicely but still didn't want to get too close to me and I don't blame him. But that didn't stop Grandma!

Dad and Mom got to have a night out with their friends while Grandma and I stayed home and played. I got so tired that I fell asleep while sitting up on Grandma's bed reading my book. Grandma was afraid to move me so she just gently pushed me over. I fell straight back and never moved a muscle until Dad and Mom arrived home late that evening.

The next day we celebrated Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa. I got this really cool wooden stroller and high chair for my babies. I'm still trying to figure out if my babies made out better on Christmas than I did?

We made it home safely and Dad planned on using the last week of December to get some things done around the house. On the list was finishing the kitchen cabinet and building a bookshelf for all of our cookbooks. We are still not sure how it happened, but on Tuesday Dad got really sick. By Wednesday (New Years Eve) Dad looked dead. On New Years Day Dad came back into the bedroom around 6am and told Mom to take him to the hospital before he actually died. The doctors didn't know what it was but told him he won the award for the sickest patient on the floor. After a few tests and pricks (and my yelling at the doctor to leave Dad alone) we finally made it home so Dad could recover. We think the bacterial infection must have come from something he stirred up in the musty and moldy shed where he was working on the bookshelf.

The finished bookshelf.

Just before we left for TN, Grandma Mary (or as I am now calling her MiMa) came down to visit and to celebrate an early Christmas. We had a great week as she took over some for the Nanny and even allowed Dad and Mom the chance to get out of the house without me. Grandma brought down some great hand-me-downs from Mom's childhood. The Playskool desk above has become my favorite place to play. It has a chalkboard top and a magnetic board on the inside. Since I am eating all of the chalk and crayons now, Mom has taken away my coloring privileges. As long as I don't swallow any magnets I should be fine.

Here are a few of Mom's old puzzles. I'm slowly figuring out how to put them together but I mostly get frustrated when they don't fit. In my mind the pieces should be one size fits all!

Happy New Year!

Philly

2008-12-07T22:27:00.022-05:00

Mom and I traveled to Philly about a month ago to meet Dad who was there for a conference. We were so busy over the last month to find the time to post any pictures from our trip. We only had a few days to see the city and 2 of Mom and Dad's friends who live in the area. Enjoy the pictures.

"Your Move" is located near Love Park in downtown Philly. The plaza of oversized game pieces including dominoes, Sorry, Monopoly, Parcheesi, checkers, chessman and bingo chips are scattered around the plaza. The whimsical artwork installation is intended to function as a catalyst for memory between childhood memory and adult responsibility.

Love Park. The fountain is pink for breast cancer awareness week.

The Magic Garden. It was closed when we showed up but just seeing the outside was quite impressive.

The Please Touch Museum

I love motorcycles!

Taking care of a little baby boy who was in the infirmary at the Museum.

Ordering some sausages from the meat monger in the supermarket.

The checkout line was a little backed up.

A big bicycle contraption that powered the flower pedals above.

My feet didn't reach the pedals.

Our friends Joe and Meg and their little baby boy, Luca.

My new boyfriend, Luca.

My other friends Logan and Sharron.

A Croatan Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T19:14:00.008-05:00

This year we packed up the car and decided to get out of Raleigh and head to the woods for a peaceful Thanksgiving in the Croatan National Forest. We enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal cooked over an open flame just as the Indians would have done with the pilgrims back in the early 1600's.

We spent most of our time relaxing, cooking, hiking and enjoying a warm fire. Our hikes took us through some of the most beautiful Pocosin swamps and longleaf pine ecosystems in the Carolinas. We gazed out over the Bogue Sound witnessing beautiful sunsets and listening to the chorus of migrating waterfowl. Occasionally we would be reminded that we were not the only people in the woods. We made sure we had orange on at all times as the sounds of gunshots were ever so close. The overnight temperatures dipped into the upper 20's but our days were sunny and beautiful with highs in the 60's. We awoke on Saturday to the pitter-patter of rain and packed up our belongings and headed home.

Movie Notes:
When Mom and Dad arrived at the Nannies on Wednesday to pick me up they found me sporting a bloody lip. I had taken a fall from a bike and the result was a puffy lip that looked a lot worse than it was. Every time Mom and Dad laughed about my lip I cried. I knew they were making fun of my undeveloped coordination. When Dad carved the pumpkin he didn't realize that he unintentionally carved a pumpkin with an upper lip similar to mine.

Thanksgiving dinner included fresh cranberries, wild rice, October beans, turkey legs, pumpkin seeds, a pumpkin dump cake and hot peach cider to wash it all down.

The centerpiece for Thanksgiving dinner was a collection of items from around the campsite. We used driftwood, leaves, fruit (ours), fresh cranberries, acorns and pine cones.

Happy Holidays

Like Mother Like Daughter

2008-11-24T20:26:00.010-05:00

Lately I have become very attached to my baby doll. I have named her baby and constantly ask for her if she is not in my sight. The baby used to be Mom's and it is an original Cabbage Patch kid that Grandma Mary stood in a painstakingly long line one Christmas in NYC to purchase from the Cabbage Patch baby hospital. I have become so attached to this baby that Mom and Dad are getting worried if the baby ever gets lost b/c there really would be no way to replace her!

Today I decided that it was time to start trying my hand at babywearing like Mom does with me. I sat on the kitchen floor with the Ergo backpack and the Mei Tie Baby all strewn around me and I just could not figure out how to get baby on my back. I kept saying to Mom, "Baby? Bakpak?" but she was not getting it. I grew more and more frustrated until Mom finally figured out what I was trying to do. With Mom's help we got her loaded up on my back and once she was on there was no turning back! I love having baby attached to me! Mom lifted me up to the mirror so that I could see and all I could do was grin from ear to ear and laugh with delight.

OK baby, I don't think she sees us, let's go!

Eating and signing for chicken (one finger pecking on my other hand)

Here baby, try this it tastes like chicken! Yum yum!

Southern Living Worm Farmer

2008-11-14T20:19:00.008-05:00

I am now officially a worm farmer! On Monday we went to see Susan Quinby (the worm lady) to pick up the worms we purchased a couple weeks ago. Susan runs a vermicomposting business out of her house and we bought 2 pounds of worms and an apartment for them to live in. I am so excited to finally have some friends to play with. I longingly stand outside the pantry door and knock every now and then hoping they will come out and play. Mom and Dad tell me that they don't like the light very much so I only get to play with them when we feed them.

Southern Living is writing a story on Susan's business and Susan invited us to be a part of the feature article. While at her house we were photographed over 200 times as Susan walked us through the process of vermicomposting. Check back in the next few months as I may be the youngest worm farmer ever featured in Southern Living!

Playing with my worms.

They are living in our pantry and we feed them all of our kitchen scraps and even our junk mail. The tomatoes and cucumbers in the picture above were fed to them on 4 days ago. Look at the first picture to see just how much they have eaten. If you are quiet enough you can even hear them munching.

Mom in front of their apartment

Kissing them goodnight until we feed them again!

Rash/Eczema Update

2008-11-14T19:51:00.009-05:00

We went to see Dr. Ramsdell today about the rash and eczema that I have. Since Monday my rash has gone down significantly. It is now dry and resembles eczema more than a rash. We decided against allergy testing and instead voted on the elimination diet.

Mom and I are going back to the pool on Monday and if the rash returns like it did on Monday of this week then we will eliminate the pool. Mom and I will also be going gluten free for the next six weeks. If that does not solve the eczema then we will go off diary for another 6 weeks. And finally, if that doesn't work we will go back in for allergy testing.

Pretending to be a fireman at the Doctors office. These pictures are from Dad's new phone!

Apple Toonlet

2008-11-12T23:42:00.012-05:00

Apple by MayaD

Here is my first attempt at being funny via Toonlet. Not sure it worked. Click on the comic strip to see a larger version.

Inward facing foot

2008-11-12T22:00:00.007-05:00

This picture does not show my inward facing foot because it no longer faces inward. This picture shows you what happens when Dad and Mom let me dress myself! But let's get back to my foot. While Grandma was in town last week she noticed that I was walking around with my foot facing inward. We were not sure as to the cause but we knew it didn't look good.

So on Monday Mom and I went to see my chiropractor, Dr. Bell. She took one look at me and knew right away that it was nothing major. In fact, it was as simple as my hip being out of place. She put me up on the table and popped my hip (I laughed at the sound) and sure enough my foot was fixed! The reason it was facing inward was due in part to my leg muscles not being fully formed. As I continue to grow and develop my muscles the issue should go away.

"Twins"

The Elimination Diet

2008-11-12T21:25:00.008-05:00

We're not sure what's going on with my skin but whatever it is I wish we could find out soon. As you can see above my legs are covered in eczema. Actually my whole body is covered. Some days are really bad (like the one in the picture above) while others are not. This rash started as far back as April of this year but never reached the level it is at now. It disappeared for a while and just recently came back. Some days the eczema is dry while other days it looks like a 2nd degree burn. It's extremely painful and I dread having my diaper or clothes changed. Whenever Mom or Dad go to change my diaper I sign hurt trying to tell them how uncomfortable I am. And not only do I have a severe case of eczema but I am also growing two new bottom teeth. Life is a little tough right now to say the least.

We've seen the doctor once and have another visit scheduled for this Friday to do some allergy testing. We have tried to treat the eczema with olive oil and Shea butter. It usually helps but then it comes back. Eczema in babies/toddlers is usually a sign of an allergic reaction, but to what? Gluten? Dairy? Chlorine from the swimming pool? Chicken? Who knows?

Mom and I have now gone gluten free so we'll will see what that does. We'll try to eliminate diary next. The flair up you see above happened on Monday which was the day we went to the pool. It could be that chlorine is aggravating the eczema and not causing it. Another reason why we should have more saltwater pools!

When we find out the cause we'll be sure to share.

Rolling out a new blog

2008-11-09T12:01:00.003-05:00

Dad and I have been working very hard over the past week to redesign our blog. The overall goal was to create a blog that had a better design, allowed more features and most importantly gives our readers the opportunity to contribute more. Along with the new design we have added a few new features and hopefully by the end of the day today we will have even more to share.

This redesign required a lot of research and learning on how HTML and XML works. We are still learning how to tweak the code and make the site even better. Let us know how you like it and if you have any suggestions.

Some of the new features include a new link bar at the top of the page under the header picture. This allows the reader several options. You can visit our YouTube and Flickr pages, see all of our previous video posts on the blog, and share your ideas for what you'd like to see on the blog. Be sure to visit the idea sharing tool and let us know what new features and videos you'd like to see and we'll make it happen. All ideas are welcome!

Enjoy the new site and be sure to let us know what you think!

Roo...says the Kangaroo

2008-11-01T20:39:00.009-05:00

Happy Halloween everyone! As much as Dad really wanted to dress me up as a Woopie Cushion, Mom had other plans. Instead, I was a Kangaroo! It was the suit from last year that was to big for me.

Grandma and Grandpa came up from Chattanooga to visit for the weekend and once they arrived we headed down to the Fearrington Village in Pittsboro to see their Pumpkin Carving contest. They had some incredible pumpkins on display and we enjoyed all of the creativity once the sun went down. The website said there would be bluegrass music and hayrides along with the pumpkins but they lied. We were pretty bummed that we drove all the way out there and they didn't fulfill their promise.

We saw a lot of other kids and I finally realized that I wasn't the only one in a crazy outfit. I even moo'd and signed cow when a little girl walked by in a cow suit. I proceeded to follow her and moo until she noticed me. She turned around and gave me a look that screamed "what, and you think a kangaroo costume is special". I made friends with a boy dressed as a puppy, held hands with Robin Hood, barked at a dog dressed up like a fire hydrant, and pulled the antenna of a bumble bee.

Roo!

Wagging my roo tail.

Are we done yet? Can you get this thing off of me!

Where have we been?

On another note...In case you were wondering where we've been lately...well, let's just say it's been a bit crazy. My Nanny is pregnant and is due in February and almost gave birth 2 weeks ago. It was a very scary situation for her and her doctor immediately placed her on bed rest. Since this was an unexpected situation it left us without child care for 2 weeks. Dad had plently of sick and vacation time but unfortunately he had to travel to Philly. This forced Mom to take 2 weeks off of work while we desperate looked for alternative care.

We interviewed 7 nannies (some on email/phone, others in person) and visited 2 daycares and 3 Montessori Schools. None of the nannies panned out and all 5 daycares/schools had major issues. Actually, we had major issues with the daycares/schools. One of the schools smelled like cat pee! And get this - The daycares we visited would not allow cloth diapers or Breast Milk in the toddler room. Their reason was that they had to treat breast milk as an allergy. What? Are you kidding me? So what are they treating formula and cows milk as? What a shame! Since Maya's diet is still around 90% breast milk and 10% solid foods we could not send Maya to daycare/school.

Hold on guys, let me take a sip.

I'm a Dancing Star...

2008-10-15T15:54:00.004-05:00

As if being portrayed on this blog wasn't bringing me enough stardom, I have now been featured on Duke's website. Duke staff put out a call for photos of people enjoying the new soundSpace exhibit at the Museum of Life and Science and I guess my picture made the cut!

Dance on!

http://research.duke.edu/

http://research.duke.edu/the-sound-of-movement/

3rd Annual Fall Harvest Pig Pickin'

2008-10-13T08:49:00.002-05:00

We had another great Fall Harvest Pig Pickin' over the weekend. Last year was fun but this year was even better since I was walking and was able to hang with the big kids. G3 and PawPaw flew in for the party and brought cousin Joseph with them! I was so excited to see JoJo!! I kept saying his name over and over. Mom and Dad said they even heard me say JoJo in my sleep. I also woke up from my naps calling for JoJo! I am really going to miss playing with him!

We had lots of friends show up for the party and I was so glad to see some more kids my age this year. Well, they weren't all my age and let me tell you, that was frustrating. All I wanted to do was run and play like the big kids but my chubby little legs just couldn't keep up. All of the kids played flashlight tag and I had to let them know that I was capable of playing too and I wanted my own flashlight. Once I got it I put it up to my face and walked around saying boo.

We woke up on Sunday and said our goodbyes to G3, PawPaw and JoJo and then headed over to our neighbors for their annual Pig Pickin'. They had a trackter that took us around their farm for a hay ride. They also had several chicken coops and I was in love with those chickens. I even started to chirp Pio Pio (Cluck Cluck) every time they did.

Overall it was a great weekend and we are already looking forward to next year!!

Welcome Home - Dino and Maya Style

2008-09-30T21:59:00.004-05:00

Every afternoon around 5pm my internal clock (or rage of hunger) tells me that Mom is due home any minute. Some days it a little later than others and when that happens I get antsy. I begin yelling for Mom. I stand at the door to the carport and yell for her hoping that she'll hear me and rush home to feed me. I am beginning to think it's working!

Today we captured this video of me waiting for her to arrive. When Dad saw the way I acted at Mom's arrival he instantly thought of the age old cartoon "The Flintstones". Watch the video above and let me know if you think Dino and I have something in common. I know, in the video it shows Dino waiting for Fred, but just think of it the other way around. Now, that's not to say that I don't eagerly anticipate Dad's arrival. I love seeing Dad but when I'm thirsty there is not much he can do.

~Enjoy

Potty Training or Pooty Training???

2008-09-27T18:07:00.005-05:00

Excuse me, can't you all see that I'm busy here?

As you can tell from the picture above we have introduced the potty trainer. Mom and Dad have noticed my signs of readiness for using the toilet, so we purchased this new potty that perfectly fits my bum. All I want to do is either play with it (which Mom and Dad say is pretty gross) or sit on it. I have been trying it out for the last week and all I can do is poot. Yes, every time I sit on it I poot! I grunt, contract my stomach muscles and say peeeee but all I can seem to do is poot. And every time I poot I laugh! Today I laughed so hard I almost fell off the potty. We'll keep giving it a go and report back when we have success.

Dad had a rough nights sleep last night. When he woke up he told me why. He had a nightmare! In the nightmare he was running from a bull with very large horns. This bull kept chasing him into a row of bushes and as soon as the bull found him, Dad would escape and run away. Finally, just as he thought he was safe, the bull spotted him again. Dad dove into the bushes and rolled under a bush trying to lie there perfectly still. As the bull got closer Dad started to panic. Then all of the sudden the bull laid down only inches from where Dad was hiding. The bull was breathing very heavily and with every breath Dad thought he was dead. Then he awoke only to realize that it was me snoring in his ear and that I was in fact the bull that was terrorizing him in his sleep.

Mulching

2008-09-21T20:25:00.007-05:00

Today was a day filled with yard work. Dad and I put on our work clothes, got our respective buckets and rakes and headed to the yard to spread a new pile of fresh mulch. While we were spreading mulch Mom was making crepes with fresh blueberries. Yes, we are STILL picking blueberries off our trees. We have already picked 84 cups this year (compared to 24 from last year) and they are bigger, juicier and tastier than ever before!

As you can see it was a big pile of mulch! This was our third load this year!

As Dad put the mulch in his bucket I picked some out and put it in my bucket.

It's a good thing we had a bigger bucket!

Ant Enchiladas, Fried Grubs, Crickets and Silk Worm Ice Cream!

2008-09-20T19:51:00.010-05:00

Bugs! It's what's for lunch! And I ate it all! My favorite had to be the fried grub! The server only gave us one grub and when Dad wanted me to give him a bite I let him know I wasn't happy. I wasn't sharing my bug feast with anyone! Most of the bugs were crunchy and you couldn't even tell you were eating them unless you looked at it before you put it in your mouth. I must say that the silk worm ice cream was not my favorite of the four bug dishes. I think if we were lost in the wild I'd be fine with eating bugs in order to stay alive!

As you can probably tell Dad and I went over to the Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh for their Bug Fest. They had all kinds of bugs on display and we even saw a man completely cover himself with honeybees. It was a stunt that I am glad we didn't have to participate in.

Eating my grub!

This grub was deep fried with a hush puppy.

Ant Enchilada

I was the only person dancing for the band! I had a blast showing off my moves!

Enjoying some tasty bugs.

Somehow I was terrified of this little dog that was not much bigger than my foot. What's wierd is that I have no fear when we walk to visit the horses but this little pooch had me terrified!

ps...What do you think of my choice of clothing?

Tweet Tweet!

2008-09-16T23:19:00.005-05:00

Yes, tweet is the sound a bird makes but it is also the newest method of communicating to my followers. Even though Mom and Dad have not yet joined Twitter, I have taken the step into the tweetosphere (or whatever they call it) to give you all a look into what I am doing. Yes, it's that simple. I can tweet up to 140 characters that describe what I am doing (or anything else for that matter) at that given time. Posting to our blog does take a lot of time so this will allow us a quick and easy opportunity to give brief updates on what I am up to. Now if I could just talk Mom and Dad into getting a phone that would allow us to tweet when we don't have a computer handy.

For those of you still unsure of what Twitter is take a look at this video. And by the way...my tweets are in the sidebar to the right of this post.

Special effects, stunts and my very own black eye

2008-09-13T19:59:00.004-05:00

Today Dad and I picked up Mom for lunch and headed over to the Museum of Life and Science to see their special event on the science behind the film industry. When we arrived we heard a loud thud and looked up to see local stunt men jumping off the roof of the Museum. They were perfect every time landing without fail on the rather large airbag located 3 stories beneath them. We also got to take our picture with some gory, bloody and down right ugly faces. They didn't seem to phase me but one kid left pretty freaked out.

I think Dad is a better fit for Mom!

This girl had her head cut in half by a chainsaw.

That looked like fun!

Climbing on the rock wall.

This dinosaur is located inside the Museum and shows visitors a behind the scenes look into the building of the Dinosaur Trail that is set to open at the Museum next summer. The trail is slated to have 18 life-sized replicas of various dinosaurs and will be located in the woods just above the black bear exhibit.

A really cool exhibit where you interact with an image displayed on the wall from a projector. I was more interested in standing on my head than interacting with the exhibit.

Some older kids showing me how it's done!

And about that black eye. My black eye was not from any special effects or face painting at the Museum. It was actually all Dad's fault. After the Museum, Dad and I went to Lowe's to pick up some paint and while we were waiting for the paint to mix we were head butting each other. I know, it sounds awful but I actually like to use my head to bang into things. While Dad and I were bumping heads, Dad decided to look up and I missed his head and I slammed my eye right into the shopping cart. It hurt pretty bad and turned blue instantly (the blue is now gone) but I got over it. The store clerk looked at Dad and said "Mom's going to be mad at you for that one". I guess I'll make sure Dad does not bail on me before I crack my head.

Heroes, Villians and Special Effects

2008-09-10T13:34:00.006-05:00

I am so excited about this upcoming weekend! We are going to the Museum of Life and Science to see Storm Troopers and a variety of other Star Wars Characters, meet stunt specialists and make-up artists, and learn more about the science and artistry of the entertainment business. Who knows, when we return we may have some new ideas for a film of our very own! Let us know if any of you will be coming out for the day!

May the force be with you!

You can read more about the day's events on the Museum's Website

Feeling Sick after Well Check

2008-09-08T19:55:00.008-05:00

This is what I looked like last week. Perky, feisty, playful and innocent. Back then I had a little leak in my nose and a nasty cough but nothing too overpowering. But then it all caught up to me!

Mom and I went to our swimming class (Mom's the teacher) and when we left she noticed that I felt a little hot. We went home and Mom took my temperature and it registered 102. About 2 hours later and after a nice 2 hour nap we took my temperature again and it had reached 103.5. I was smoking hot! Last week when Dad had his fever he slept on the couch for 2 straight days. My fever of 103.5 didn't really phase me. Now that I have learned to walk I won't sit still for anything, including a high fever. I'm sick but you wouldn't know unless you held me and felt the heat radiate from body. Now my fever is back to 101 and we are monitoring it through the night. We are trying to hold off on the meds until tomorrow to see if I can break it on my own. We are going to try and let the fever fight the infection while I sleep and hopefully tomorrow I'll be fever free.

For those of you who don't have a good memory (me included), on this very same date last year I had a very high fever and had to go to the hospital so they could do some blood work. It was a day that I do not want to relive here so I will just leave you thinking about the coincidence.

On Friday of last week we went to see Dr. Ramsdell for my 15-month well check visit.

Weight: 24.4 lbs - Percentile 70%
Height: 29.5" - Percentile 20%
Head Cir: 19.25" - Percentile 97%

Now I am not a statistician but I can gather that from the above statistics that I am going to be a big headed shorty.

ps...The picture posted above was taken in the Tampa airport on our way home from Madeira.

Madeira Beach Bums Part 2 with Salt & Pepper

2008-09-05T13:44:00.015-05:00

Mom, Dad and I took a long break from work and home and headed to Madeira Beach for Labor Day weekend to spend some time with the family. I was so excited to go since I just love the beach and I got to hang out with my favorite cousin Joseph. I call him JoJo and now when Mom and Dad ask me who my favorite cousin is I say JoJo! And JoJo is such a great cousin to be around. He takes such good care of me. As you can tell from above he was patiently trying to get to move faster so the waves wouldn't knock me over.

You can probably tell from the picture that we had some good waves. The waves and 48 hours of rain were results of Hurricane Gustav. We surfed and played in them as much as we could but it rained a lot while we were there so the lightning kept us out of the water for most of the time. I'm not sure what it is about us and the beach this year but Mom and I went to the NC beaches in July and got in the way of Hurricane Cristobal. And now we are hoping for Hannah to just bring some rain and nothing more!

You can see the Madeira Beach Bum's (or Salt and Pepper as we are often called) first trip to Madeira Beach here.

I desperately tried to catch this bird but it always seemed to be a bit faster than I was.

We also hugged and kissed each other a lot which led to a sharing of germs. I started the germ spreading since I was the first to get sick. Dad and JoJo now have it. It was a horrible way to end the trip!

Playing in the pantry (or the bus as Pepper calls it)

The siblings and grandkids

The whole family!

G3 wanted this picture taken since she has the exact picture of her and JoJo.

We are...

2008-08-28T22:20:00.003-05:00

We are in the midst of tackling some really cool projects so forgive us for the long absence. Mom and I traveled to New York last weekend while Dad was in Durham hosting a workshop. The plane ride was one to remember for a while! For those of you who have not been around me lately, I have developed a set of lungs like no other kid. I can scream so loud that the flight attendant thought that I could have brought the plane down by shattering the windows! Then when Mom had to use the restroom once we landed I cried so loud the woman in the stall next to us yelled at Mom. YES, she yelled at Mom, can you believe that! What nerve to cuss at a Mom who obviously had her hands full, had to pee, had a screaming baby (and I mean screaming baby) with a wet diaper all while trying not to have a nervous breakdown. I think Mom was ready to crawl under the toilet and cry while I was ready to scream louder in that woman's ear!

As for the projects I mentioned...Mom is currently building me a kitchen out of cardboard. Yes, cardboard! And not only that but she is building some furniture to go with it! I am going to let Mom tell you all about it when she is done! I can't wait to play with it!

More soon!

A Laundry Thief, Dinner with Stella and the Pool

2008-08-17T21:30:00.013-05:00

Mom and Dad were folding laundry and for every article of clothing they folded, I unfolded it and ran around the house with it draping from my head and mouth. I'm not sure what I am doing in the photo above but I may need to go back to the chiropractor and check to see if my spine is straight.

I walked around the house for at least 30 minutes with this rag clinched between my teeth and Mom's underwear hanging from my neck. I know it's a little strange but I promise they were clean!

We invited my friend Stella Dot, who is also a Dorothy, over for dinner on Saturday night. Dad and Mom made homemade lasagna and a grilled blueberry and peach cobbler. It was so good to see Stella and the family. Stella is a little better on her feet than I am which made it a little harder to keep up with her. But I had so much fun trying to chase her around the kitchen. Since our camera is so ancient and takes forever to store pictures it was a little difficult to get some good shots. Maybe Stella will post some better ones?

Stella and I just loved climbing all over Dad!

On Sunday we went to our friends pool in Cary. This place was so big and lots of fun! They had 3 slides, water fountains, ping pong and much more. As soon as I laid eyes on this ball I had to have it. I just kept saying ball, ball, ball etc...

These were the two slides that I was allowed on and they were a blast!

I couldn't get enough of this ride!

Again, all I wanted was to get in the pool and play with that ball!

The adult slide! I think Mom and Dad couldn't get enough of this slide either!