It's A Boy!

Yesterday we found out that we will be welcoming another little boy into our family in May. We went for the ultrasound and at first they couldn't tell because the little guy was squeezed in really tight (more about that in a second). But with a lot of poking and prodding by the ultrasound tech he finally obliged us with a very clear shot of his little boy parts. With Oliver I wasn't so sure that the ultrasound tech had really seen anything, much less anything that even vaguely resembled a penis, but this time it was unmistakable. Yup, another little boy.

So, my recent and recurring fantasies of taking my child to The American Girl Place, dressing her up in smocked Bishop's dresses, and having tea-parties were dashed--at least for this go round. I was really sure that it was a little girl, but I guess it was just wishful thinking.

Not that I am disappointed that he's a boy. Not in the least. It will be fun to have a little pair of tow-headed rascals. And in the last 24 hours I have begun to feel very affectionate and fiercely protective of this little one, too.

Even though everything seemed to check out normally with the anatomy scan yesterday, they were somewhat concerned that there was not enough amniotic fluid. That's why he was so scrunched. The doctor said that it was not something to worry about, because his kidneys and bladder seemed to be developing normally, but in any case, he wants to see me for another ultrasound in a week. So the only thing I can do is try to drink more water to see if it is just a matter of my being dehydrated. For the first time in this pregnancy I started to think of this little baby as someone who needed my love, protection and care just as much as Oliver. I thought that until he/she came out, my body would more or less take care of the "growing the baby" part and so I didn't give it a whole lot of thought. Since that appointment I have become much more aware of his kicking and I think about how much water I'm drinking (a whole lot now!!!) and what I eat. I had been pretty good about eating healthily before, but a bit more cavalier with my sugar intake. Now before I eat something I think, will this be good for the baby? Anyway, for the first time I'm starting to think of this little guy as a real baby, not just a bump.

A Sad Reason for A Wonderful Trip to NYC

Oliver and Nana in front of the Origami Tree at the Natural History Museum

I was not expecting to make a trip back up to New York before the New Year but Grammie's funeral was in Long Island so we got back on a plane (everyone but Oliver is sick of traveling!) and flew up to NYC. New York is so magical at Christmas time and despite the sad reason for being there, we had a terrific time.

My mom and I took Oliver to the Natural History Museum. That was one of my favorite places when I was little. I loved to go look at the origami tree. This time I was surprised by how small it was, in my memory it was just enormous. Oliver at first just ran by it, but then when he slowed down and got a closer look he was mesmerized.

He was, of course, thrilled that we got to take a bus to the museum. My mom held him and they chatted about all the taxis, busses, garbage trucks and motorcycles we passed along the way.

He loved the museum, he ran all over looking at the dioramas of animals and the huge dinosaur fossils.

I made Oliver pose in front of this diorama, because it was my ALL TIME favorite when I was little. I mean, I was obsessed with this one. It shows Peter Stuyvesant trading wampum with the Indians for the Island of Manhattan. The salient features of the diorama are a) Peter has a peg leg and b) the Indians are naked (under their loin cloth flaps). It made for fascinating viewing and certainly provided a lot to think about (were the manequins anatomically correct? how did Peter's peg leg stay on??).
Abby hosted us for brunch in her new apartment. She served bagels and lox which is my favorite New York breakfast. Her apartment is so sweet!! She had just moved in (as in 2 days before we got there) but she had already Abby-fied it with her cute personal style. It has skylights and an amazing terrace/deck which is practically the size of her old apartment. We can't wait for the summer barbecues!

Oliver and Brian chillin' on the roof deck

The funeral itself was just as perfect as something like that could be. All my aunts and uncles were there, as well as a lot of my mom's college and childhood friends from the neighborhood. My dad also came, which I thought was really cool. The funeral gave me a chance to reconnect with some of my cousins who I haven't seen for years. It was really great to see what interesting people they have become. My cousin Tegan works for an organization called The Food Trust, whose mission is "building strong communities through healthy food." She is involved with an initiative to improve the school lunch program by connecting local farmers with school districts. It is really shocking how inherently unhealthy the food that is served up in public schools is. Anyway, she got me fired up to find a way to get involved with this down here in North Carolina.

Grammie

Easter '06 in Florida with Grammie and Poppop

Our dear Grammie, my mother's mom, died last week after a long struggle to recover from a severe car accident. She had been in the hospital since July. So, there were definitely mixed emotions at her death. We miss her terribly, but no one wishes she were still back in the hospital suffering. She had just turned 84 at the end of November. Oliver and I went up to the funeral in Long Island. Ryan had a sinus infection so he wasn't able to come with us. The funeral was beautiful. Father Gaffney, who was my grandfather's friend since freshman year in highschool (1935!) said the Mass and gave a brilliant tribute to Grammie. He spoke of her humble elegance, her generosity and gracious hospitality, her love of children and her unparalleled homemaking skills! (he called her a laundry engineer...washing and folding mountains and mountains of clothes of her 11 children). She was also a great cook. I'm really indebted to her for establishing a great tradition of eating well. She used fresh, seasonal produce before it was "fashionable" and even in her old age would get on epicurious.com and find new recipes to try. I loved being able to call her up for menu ideas or cooking tips. I think of her often when I'm in the kitchen. I also miss her corny email joke forwards, even though I had gotten to the point where I wouldn't even open them anymore. Now I wish that I could get one more from her.

RE: Flying pigs

We got so many great comments about our recent customs debacle, thank you everyone for feeling our pain. This message, from our good friend Dave Gardiner was especially hilarious. We thought we'd post Dave's condolences/rant here, too.

"... as far as the customs issue, take comfort in knowing you have saved other gourmet gourmands, proscuitto fantasizing, lushes like myself from the same mistake. How badly I have wished to bring back a whole side of proscuitto I am unable to adequately convey. I was overcome by mixed emotions after reading your summary of the events. First my eyes welled up with tears at that the thought of having to abandon that most cherished of meats after meticulously watching over and escorting it so far as only a loving guardian would do. However my sorrow was overpowered by violent rage towards the imp who declared the Hamlet of hams contraband, knowing full well that he volunteered at the end of his shift to stay after and help "clean up". No doubt he went home, hacked off a slab of Proscuitto di Parma, smeared on some Easy Cheese, added two pieces of Wonder Bread and said, "I don't see what all the fuss is about." The thought of such an epicurean imbecile even touching, let alone eating, what was rightfully yours to savor for the next several months was too much to bear. I attempted to assuage my violent emotions by burning an American flag in our backyard followed by urinating on a package of Oscar Meyer bologna in symbolic protest to the whole debacle. Alas, my rage remains unstatisfied.

If I had been aware of the situation, as a veterinarian I would have flown to New York and personally vouched for the sweet delicacy, pledging my professional licensce and reputation that this single piece of Italian "swine" was of greater value than the entirety of the Hormel family of sorry excuses for pork products and that it represented centuries of refined curing techniques that resulted in an absolute gastronomique wonder that a greasy commoner like himself could never appreciate so long as he thought haute cuisine was supersizing his extra value meal. This of course would have been followed by me spitting on his shoes afterwhich I would have picked up the proscuitto crudo, embraced it tightly at my chest and stated, " I would sooner be gunned down by overzealous idiotic customs officers than allow this marvel of humanity to fall into to the hands of an ignoramus such as you." At this point assuredly other fine food aficionados would have come to our aide and collectively safely escorted the treasure to its connecting flight.

Should fate have it that you and I are ever in such a situation again, I pledge the entireness of my luggage to smuggling European delicassies into the US. May we be so fortunate to one day work side by side in such a noble adventure.

How to Get on A Government Watch List: A Cautionary Tale

I forgot to mention one of the funniest stories from our trip. Well, it's funny in a tragi-comic way. And I hope that you, my friends and family, can learn a valuable lesson from our stupidity. The lesson is don't mouth off to the man, especially a little man...who has a badge and works for The Man.

In Florence my Dad went on a little bit of a food-buying bender (it's been known to happen) so as we were leaving, we still had in our collective possession a huge Tuscan Ham...I mean we're talking upwards of $80 worth of prosciutto. My dad decides to gift this to us, the Halversons, mainly because he knows we like to eat, and partially because it wouldn't fit in his suitcase. (Please note that the ham was still sealed in it's original packaging and would "keep" at room temp...so it's not so gross to be carrying a ham in one's suitcase as you may at first think).

Anyway, it was all going swimmingly until we get to US Customs at JFK. Honest, law-abiding citizens that we are, we declared this ham on our Customs Declaration Form, thinking nothing of it. We were really caught off guard when the officials told us that we couldn't bring it into the country. Did we have a signed and notarized letter from a veterinarian? they asked. No, of course not, we got this at a gourmet shop, not a lab. Well, then, any "swine" from Italy (cured or cooked) is prohibited unless it comes with its own doctor's note. After 10 hours of plane travel with a 20 month old, neither Ryan nor I were at the peak of our form, which may explain what happened next.

"This is ridiculous," Ryan remarked dryly. "This system just rewards dishonesty." "Yeah," I added huffily, "next time we just won't declare it!" Apparently, those were the magic words. Having said that, (made a threat to commit customs fraud)the little man looked at me and shook his head, sadly but with a little smirk. "Now we are going to have to put you in the computer on the watch list." WHAT?!?! (Here's where we really hit the roof.) "Yes, now your names will forever be on our watch list so your bags will be thoroughly checked each and every time you re-enter the country, regardless of what you put on your Customs Declaration Form." ARGHHH!!! It's not like we are drug smuggling, or even bringing in real contraband (ok, I guess by definition Italian "swine" is contraband.) Anyway, we felt that we had been doubly wronged by US Customs but there's no sticking it to the man now. So, next time we travel out of the country with you, any of our dear friends and family, we'll be asking you to hold our stash until we are safely through the border. (Just kidding. Really, in a note to any government official who is trolling the web for people making "threats to commit customs fraud" we truly are kidding and would never do something that would imperil the Homeland like that. We have learned our lesson).

Photo Credits

I'd just like to give props to my very talented husband for taking all the pictures of our Italian vacation. Isn't he awesome! He has such a great eye and I'm so glad that we have these pictures to help preserve our memories of such good times.

I also take pictures...mostly of Oliver, natch. Here are a few that I'd like to share. You'll notice the subtle juxtaposition of the football game on the TV (manly world outside our home) with the diaper-clad, mama's shoe-wearing tot (weird, source-of-future-psychoanalysis-home-life). Oh, Oliver, you will not thank me for taking (and sharing) these pictures, but they make me laugh!

Rome

Ryan and I have talked about traveling in Italy for as long as we've known each other. Our idea was that we would take an "eating tour" of the country. If we saw some sights, great, but what we'd really do is eat our way through the country. We joked that we would pack only sweatpants so we could totally gorge ourselves on Italian food. So when my dad's family decided that Italy would be the destination for a reunion/gathering this fall we jumped on the chance to go.

Well, it wasn't quite the "eating tour" we imagined, but we did have lots of great food. Our first three days we spent in Rome. We stayed at the Hotel dei Borgognoni (I had a REALLY hard time pronouncing that...turns out the second "g" is silent, as in "lasagna"). It was in a great location between the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. The morning of the first day we arrived we ambitiously set out to see some of Ancient Rome. We quickly realized that we were in way over our heads because despite the weeks of research we had done on everything from the history of Rome to Greek and Roman mythology, we had NO IDEA whether the rubble before us was the remains of some famous ancient temple/market or just road construction. (We later discovered that it was the Trajan Forum.) I'll blame it on the jet-lag, but we were definitely pretty clueless. So we gave up on serious sightseeing and decided to just wander and soak in the vibe of the Eternal City. We had a terrific afternoon, discovering some beautiful little side streets and hidden gardens. We all crashed early.

Day 2-- We went to Vatican City and stood on a very long line to get into St. Peter's Basilica. One of the most moving parts of that experience was going down in to the crypt of the popes and seeing where John Paul II was buried. It was a very simple marble slab with his name and dates on it, but there were bouquets of flowers and candles all around. It was sort of amazing to think that there lay the man who had led and inspired 800,000,000 Catholics, and who had played such an instrumental role during the Cold War of sustaining the faith of Catholics behind the Iron Curtain. I just thought of all the people, literally hundreds of millions, who loved that man. It was really awe-inspiring. By the time we finished at St. Peter's, the Vatican Museum and the Sistene Chapel were closed for the day so we headed back home on the subway.

Day 3-- Abby arrived, bringing her incomparable energy and humor (not to mention unflagging appetite for gelato). We decided to hire a guide to take us around the ancient ruins. We asked our hotel concierge to arrange a guide for us...I think he just called his boyfriend because our totally flaming guide, Stefano, spoke barely passable English, and his only real credential was that he was a 7th generation Roman. Abby and Ryan were not so annoyed with him, so they would give a different account of this story, but I thought he was definitely not worth the king's ransom we had to pay him for a private tour. In any event, I'm sure that gave us a better understanding of the ruins than we possibly could have gotten on our own. Oliver had a complete meltdown in the middle of the tour, so that probably had something to do with my sour experience.

Day 4--Abby and I decided that we would try to see the Sistine Chapel. Ryan volunteered to stay at the hotel and let Oliver sleep in. We had a train to catch to Florence at 12:30, so Abby and I would have to make a very quick trip. We got to the Vatican at what we thought was an early hour (8:30...it doesn't open until 9:30) but already there were literally thousands of people lined up. I have never seen such a line. It was totally crazy. So we decided to bite the bullet and pay for a tour (with the way the dollar is trading, by this point it felt like we were just hemorrhaging money) so we could skip the line. We ditched the tour as soon as we got inside (still it took an hour in the tour line) and raced for the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Museum was amazing (at speed-walking pace!), we could have spent weeks there and not have seen it all. We finally made it to the Sistine Chapel which was, after all, worth all the hassle it took to get there. It was beautiful and sumptuous. I wish that a) we had had more time to spend there, b) it was not quite so crowded, c) I had brought binoculars. I would say, "next time", but I honestly don't know if I could endure those crowds ever again. We raced back to the hotel, scooped Ryan and Oliver up, made a mad dash to the train station, nearly missing our train, and finally settled into our seats for the hour and a half trip to Florence. Ahhh...

Tuscany

The highlight of the trip for Oliver was BY FAR the train trip from Rome to Florence. He is obsessed with trains, buses and pigeons, so, needless to say, the train station was little boy nirvana. The fact that we actually got to ride on the train, and then that the train went through tunnels... well, it just doesn't get much better than that. Everybody on the train was laughing because he was so excited.

Dad met us at the train station in Florence and we stashed our luggage in the car and took off on foot to explore the city. It was very cold and sort of sputtering rain, so it wasn't that terrific a sight-seeing expedition. We visited the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio but then took shelter at a coffee house and had panforte and hot chocolate that was so rich it was like warm pudding.

We had dinner in Florence and then drove out to the villa in the Florentine Hills, near a tiny town called Magnavilla. The drive was pretty exciting in the dark since the roads are very narrow and winding. The villa was an old farmhouse or hunting lodge from the 15th century. It was surrounded by olive groves and had the most gorgeous views of the countryside and the city in the distance. It was quite cold, though, so Oliver slept with us each night under our down comforter. Oliver is midnight party animal. Ryan and I would be exhausted and Oliver just wanted to play. The sleeping arrangements made for some pretty fitful nights for me and Ryan.

Day 5 After breakfast we drove to San Gimignano, a totally picturesque city with many of its medieval towers remaining. We had a terrific lunch at a Italian charcuterie (I forget what the word is in Italian). They didn't have pasta or pizza, which was actually a nice change. I had ribolitta, a tuscan soup with bread, white beans and kale, it was delicious. Oliver enjoyed chasing the pigeons in the square. In the afternoon we drove on to Sienna, where we walked through the old city streets and saw the Campo where they have mad, anything-goes horse races in the summer. We decided after our huge lunch that we would just make a simple dinner at home.

But...along the way home, Dad brings up this Michelin 2-star restaurant that he knows is in the vicinity of our villa...or at least he thinks it is...the thing is, he doesn't remember the name of the restaurant, or the town that it is in, but hey, it's a 2-star restaurant, we can find it, right!? (The Michelin guide rating system only goes to 3, and it is extremely difficult to get even one star. In the entire USA there are only five 3-star restaurants.) Anyway, we end up driving all over creation looking for this restaurant. We finally find La Tenda Rossa at about 10:00 pm. The plan was that we would try to make reservations for the next night but we all decided that since we were there, we might as well eat tonight than come back again the next day. I was mortified because we were all in jeans and fleece, not exactly fancy-restaurant attire. But the staff was so gracious and totally made us feel welcome and at ease even though we looked like rif-raf. They brought out a throne (no joke) for Oliver and when he had had quite enough of sitting still at dinner they took him back to the kitchen where he was ohhed and ahhed over by the women in the kitchen. Apparently blonde haired, blue-eyed babies make Italian grandmas swoon. Anyway, we had a absolutely exquisite meal. And, in a Halverson family first, Ryan ate something that I wouldn't touch. He thinks I'll eat anything but when they brought out an "amuse bouche" appetizer of tripe (intestine??) I balked.

Day 6 - It was raining and cold but after a hearty breakfast we headed out to see Lucca and Pisa. We made it to Lucca just in time for the whole city to close up for lunch/siesta. It was pouring, so it was pretty much a bust. We huddled under our umbrellas and did some sightseeing but the collective mood was pretty dreary. We decided to punt Pisa and headed home for a nice dinner prepared by Abby. We had tuscan bean soup, fresh peas, pasta with pesto and cherry tomatoes and blueberry tarts for dessert.

Day 7 We flew down to Puglia in the afternoon to meet up with the greater Ford/Knapp clan who had gathered from the far reaches of the globe (New Haven, CT; Port Washington, NY; San Francisco, CA; London; Paris; Stockholm; Bangkok).

Puglia

We arrived by plane in Brindisi which is directly across the Adriatic from Albania. It is, we heard, a jumping off point for ferries and cruises for Greece and the Balkans. The Ford/Knapp clan was reuniting at a "masseria" or fortified farmhouse at the very tip of the heel of the boot of Italy, so we had to drive about 100km South from Brindisi. Apparently, through history that area was constantly being invaded by pillaging Saracens, Normans, and Greeks so they enclosed their farmhouses and courtyards with meter-thick limestone walls.

Day 7- Many of the Ford/Knapp relatives decided to drive up to Lecce for the day. We had stopped off in Lecce for dinner on our drive down to the masseria the night before so we decided to explore the tip of the heel. We drove over to the Adriatic coast where the waves crashed against the white limestone cliffs and had lunch at a little seaside restaurant. We followed the coast road down to the very tip, to Capo Santa Maria di Leuca where there is a lighthouse and the church of Santa Maria de Finibus Terrae ("St Mary of the Ends of the Earth"). From that spot you can see the sun rise over the Ionian Sea and set over the Adriatic. We continued along the coast road on the western side (Ionian) of the heel to Gallipoli (Italy, not Greece).

The highlight of the drive was when Dad decided that he wanted to take a dip. No suit? No towel? No problem! He swam in his boxers and "drip dried" in the front seat of the car. No one else was brave/crazy enough to go swimming, but to put this in context, we passed surfers and every single one of them was in a full wetsuit...it was not warm water!

We returned to the masseria for a special dinner planned by the owner of the masseria, Luciana. Her parents came, too. We were amazed by their flawless accents until we discovered that her mom is from Kansas City! Luciana invited some friends who play traditional Pugliese music. The dinner started at 8:00 and was still doing strong when we took Oliver to bed at midnight. The food was delicious, much of it grown right there at the masseria. My favorite was this sausage and cabbage dish, which is surprising because I'm not a huge fan of cabbage normally, but this was something else.

The dinner was definitely the highlight of our trip to Puglia. It was so much fun to reconnect with cousins and aunts and uncles. I know my dad had a really great time talking and joking with his brother Trow, especially. Trow lives in Sweden, so they don't see each other that often, but it was so nice to see them laughing and telling old stories.

Day 8- We spent more time with the family, including another very long, very filling Pugliese meal (whew! I thought I would never be hungry again!) and then that evening we said our good-byes and flew back to Rome. The following morning we flew back to the States. Oliver did very well on all legs of the trip, but we were all very happy to be home. Ollie is such a trooper. I know we are really blessed to have such an easy, mellow, adaptable baby.

Halloween

Yesterday we had a Halloween extravaganza. First was Ryan's company's party. Genworth is really family-friendly down here in NC, and they do all kinds of fun kids parties. At this event hey had Goodberry's (local ice cream) and each department entered a pumpkin into a contest that the kids voted on (Ryan tried to swing Oliver's vote but he cast his ballot for Inside Sales, not HR!), and then there was trick-or-treating. Oliver was pretty overwhelmed by all the people and was quite shy. He was much more interested in pushing his Thomas train than meeting Ryan's colleagues and their kiddos!

Then we headed back to our neighborhood for a party hosted by my friend Autumn. They had lots of yummy treats and a cool "haunted fort" for the kids to play in (basically a huge cardboard box with doors and windows cut out of it and decorated for Halloween). Then we had to rush back to our house for trick-or-treating.

Oliver was a little skeptical about this whole trick or treating thing at first. His buddy Ian (Tigger in these pictures) came over to trick or treat with us. Ian is a year older than Ollie so can actually say (when prompted) "trick or treat," Oliver on the other hand can only say "tee tee" which is his word for "thank you." But what Oliver CAN do, and did with relish, is knock on doors (so cute, he basically hits the door with the back of his hand), grab handfuls of candy from a bowl and drop them one by one into the plastic pumpkin, and then run to the next house.

The boys got waylaid at one point because we passed a construction zone and there was a bobcat moving gravel from one pile to another. It was getting dark so the bobcat had it's lights on (and was zooming around alarmingly fast!!) Both Oliver and Ian were transfixed...that was probably the highlight of the night for them! They also were somewhat distracted by the ever-delightful game of dropping small rocks through the holes in man-hole covers.

Ryan and I carved pumpkins on Tuesday night. Mine is the somewhat generic lopsided smile, Ryan's is...San Gimignano, Italy! Notice the medieval towers! (We just got back from Italy on Sunday so we both still have Italy on the brain...I'll post pictures, etc, soon.) Oliver also decorated a baby pumpkin with markers, but I'm not sure you can see his masterpiece in this picture.

What CAN'T Be Fried?

Today Ryan, Oliver and I went down to the State Fair. It's pretty clear that the reason most people go to State Fair is for the food, "fried whatever" is definitely the main attraction. The rides, the 4-H competitions, even the demolition derbies and tractor pulls play second fiddle to fried dough, fried Twinkies, fried Oreos, fried cheeseburgers, even fried Coca-Cola (now, I thought I had seen everything!)

We loved this picture of the American flag waving above the fried food concession stand. In case you think I'm being a snob, when it comes down to it, we love fair food too.

Here's what we ate:

• lemonade shake-ups
• 1 corn dog
• BBQ chicken (me)
• BBQ ribs (Ryan)
• onion rings
• roasted corn on the cob
• more lemonade
• soy milk (Oliver apparently doesn't yet have a taste for fair food)

Here's what we didn't eat (but sort of wish we did)

• kettle corn (strangely in short supply here)
• NC State University Creamery ice cream (line way too long)
• italian or polish sausage (smells SO good...but sort of scary, too)
• funnel cakes (because we'll have to wait a whole year for our next opportunity)

So, we also checked out all the livestock (love those little lambs and piglets) and the vegetable and baked goods competitions. Next year I am TOTALLY entering something!! I know I could get at least an "Honorable Mention" in the muffins or refigerator cookie categories, but I'm not going for "Honorable Mention", it's the blue ribbon or bust, baby!

In other news... as I was writing this Oliver used the potty for the first time. Ryan had just given him a bath and he walked up to his little potty and sat down and peed...we are thrilled, he is clearly a genius.

Here we are in front of some seriously huge pumpkins. The winning pumpkin was more than 1100 pounds.



Although we had fun at State Fair, it just wasn't as much fun as last year in Virginia. We had such an awesome time with some of our good Richmond Branch friends, so I wanted to post some of those old pictures here too. We went to the lawnmower races, which were awesome and we DID try deep fried Oreos (somehow not as good as plain old Oreos).

Lawn mower racing is truly a sport for the 21st Century
Mike and Sally Russell, Rachel and Dave Cordon, Megan and Tyler Williams
They had strange consessions too...how do they get spaghetti on a stick??

San Francisco Days, San Francisco Nights

We three packed up our bags and headed west last week for a week-long sojourn in California. The impetus for the trip was my dear friend Desi's wedding in Healdsburg, but we decided to extend our trip so we could see friends/family/San Francisco. Here are some of the highlights of our trip:

• meeting our newest cousin/nephew, Taylor and Lisa's adorable two-week-old son, David


• eating clam chowder out of a sourdough bread bowl with Doug and Katrina Spencer at Fisherman's Wharf, introducing Ollie to the resident sea lions


• climbing to the top of Russian Hill with Emily Williams, and getting the insider's tour of SF


• falling in love with the "gourmet ghetto" in Berkeley; we are so jealous that Katrina and Doug live in foodie heaven--a block from The Cheese Board, Chez Panisse (ground zero of the "Delicious Revolution",) and the all organic North Berkeley Farmer's Market.


• walking among the largest* trees in the world in Sequoia National Park (*to be completely accurate, the Giant Sequoias are not the tallest, nor the broadest, but apparently, they take the cake in total biomass...so there you have it.)


• reconnecting with great friends from college (Ryan's and mine)


• dancing until midnight at Desi's wedding (Ollie was back at the hotel with a babysitter)

Ryan and Geoff looking tough in Sequoia
The steps above Emily's cottage on Russian Hill. Ollie loved SF for the infinite stair climbing opportunities, he was inexhaustible!
Emily and me in front of the foggy Golden Gate Bridge
Haidee, Kara and Karina at Desi's rehearsal dinner

Auburn, Desi, me and Kirstin
Ryan and me in my (cute, I think) bridesmaid's dress
Desi looked BEEEEAUTIFUL, here with bridesmaids Auburn and Kirstin

OBX beach trip

We just got back from a long Labor Day weekend in the Outer Banks with Jeff and Maja McMinn. Ryan took some GREAT photos, so I wanted to post a few here. I'll write more about our trip when I have a bit more time.

Cradle of Impeachment

Ollie gives Aunt Abby a whirl in the Radio Flyer
A representative of G.R.I.M- "Grass Roots Impeachment Movement" Abby estimated that this woman was at least 120 years old...but still out there tilting at windmills. Gotta love it.
Locally grown indeed...

Abby came to visit for a few days last week. It was so much fun to have a friend to share my days with. On Wednesday we went out to Carrboro, NC, which is a funky little slice of Ithaca-style hippy counterculture right here in Cacalacky. Carrboro is right next to Chapel Hill...in fact, you can pretty much walk there from downtown Chapel Hill. We went to the Farmer's Market and bought some Concord and Muscadine grapes, some pasture raised pork sausage and some peppers and tomatoes. Abby made an amazing feast out of it all the next night. That night we ate in Carrboro at Weaver Street Market which is a GreenStar-type co-op/natural foods grocery store. We ate outside under some big water oaks and took in the local color...it was a visual feast. There was a Buddhist monk in his burgundy and saffron robes, a gaggle of La Leche moms proudly nursing their toddlers, hipster grad students, and young professionals who rode their bikes to and from work all eating their locally grown, non-GMO organic dinners. Good times.


Abby is so busy so it is a real treat when she is able to get free from work to come down here (only to be put to work by me...I'm sure she's so eager to come back!!) She really was such a help, though...she cooked, she did the laundry, she fed Oliver. More than the extra set of hands, though, I just appreciated her good company. She is so funny and makes my every-day routine seem so much more fun.

Durham Museum of Life and Science

This is a tribute to one of my favorite places in Raleigh...OK, it's actually not in Raleigh at all. But it's only about 20 minutes from our house. We try to go at least once a week, with friends or just Ollie and me. It is so much fun for Oliver and I never get bored (amazing!!) They have a fascinating insect exhibit with all these strange insects and spiders, also there is a butterfly house that is in a beautiful (IPM-managed) conservatory. The plants are almost as amazing as the live butterflies...they have a Theobroma cacao (chocolate tree) that is covered with fruit. Oliver particularly likes the outdoor area where they have all sorts of pipes and drums to bang on. Here are some pictures from some recent visits.

Weighty Issues

I added these pictures after I wrote this post to remind myself of how cute Ollie is and how much we adore him even though we get frustrated and wiped out by our attempts to feed him. Here he is feeding himself pasta sauce. The last picture is a set-up. Oliver thinks his "nose" is located somewhere far inside his nostrils, so whenever we say, "Ollie, where's your nose??" he sticks a finger way up inside...our laughter probably hasn't done anything to discourage this performance.

I took Oliver in to get him weighed at his 18 month birthday (August 17). Turns out he hasn't gained any weight at all this past month. He seems to be stuck at exactly 17 lbs. 15.5 oz. I've been taking him in to his pediatrician every month around his birthday to be weighed on their scale--so we have an accurate record and so I won't drive myself crazy constantly weighing him more often. He has gained less than a pound and a half since we left Richmond 7 months ago.

Before this weigh-in I consciously tried to steel myself for disappointment in case he didn't gain much weight but in my heart I was sure that he had gained at least a few ounces since he seems to be growing out of his clothes (evidence that at least he's getting taller). But even though I had given myself that little pep talk I still started to cry when the numbers came up exactly the same as they had the month before. It is so bitterly frustrating.

He just won't eat. His doctors can't figure it out since he doesn't seem to have problems with his metabolism or with absorption of nutrients. He just isn't interested in food. We have run out of tricks. The "Pandora's Box" distraction scheme doesn't work anymore. He still likes playing with the stuff in the box, he just doesn't open his mouth for food. He doesn't even eat crackers anymore, he just sucks them and spits them out. It is totally crazy. The only thing he consumes is juice with Duocal (powder that adds extra fat and carbs). He seems to like drinking from a straw. Maybe it's because it's something that he can do himself and has total control over. With that theory in mind we are trying to let him drink more calories but he's stopped drinking kefir and yogurt shakes (both of which are quite nutritious and full of protein and great pro-biotics). We could never get him to drink whole milk or formula or even Pediasure. So, we're kind of at a loss as to how/what we should try next. Ryan's suggestion is thin black bean soup. I think I'll give that a try. We can put it in a cup and let him sip it through a straw. Sounds kind of weird but Ollie doesn't know that the rest of the world doesn't eat black bean soup through a sippy cup. We'll see how that works.

First Haircut

We gave Ollie his first haircut on Monday night. Believe it or not these are the "after" pictures! He was getting a pretty shaggy look so we decided to give him a trim in the back and around his ears. Ryan wanted to keep his hair long on top, which is pretty cute, but it's also why it's hard to tell that he has gotten a haircut in these pictures.

The haircut itself was a total fiasco. Ryan has been cutting his own hair (notice his newly shorn locks) for the last few weeks. He is down to the #2 blade every Saturday morning. So, naturally, he thinks he's a pro. And then I think I know what I'm doing, too (based on no prior haircutting experience, just a deep-seated, and in this case misguided, sense of know-it-all-ism.) Anyway, we cut very few hairs, just enough too look sort of strange and uneven in the back. Although, I must give Ryan his props, he did a good job, and any errant clips are definitely my work. The good news is that we didn't cut too much so it's not very noticeable

Ryan starts snipping while Oliver helps out with the clippers (they were off!)
The shirt comes off and Ryan gets down to business
Mid-way through the haircut things get a little crazy...
squirmy toddler + sharp pair of scissors = high anxiety
The inevitable melt-down marks the end of the haircut

Ollie is satisfied with the results and gives that cute boy in the mirror a kiss.

Ollie the Builder

Ollie's favorite activity these days is building block towers. He loves to stack 'em up and then knock 'em down. I tried to get him to look at me and smile, but he was totally absorbed in his building.

He is really adept with his hands. He also loves to put washers on screws and nuts on bolts. In fact, pretty much anything that can be nested, stacked, stretched, twirled, opened and closed or otherwise manipulated is fascinating to Oliver. This comes in handy especially when we are trying to feed him. Ryan has discovered that the most effective way to get Ollie to eat is to distract him by keeping his hands busy. So Ryan introduced "Pandora's Box" which is really an old shoe box that we keep near the table that is filled with fun things to examine like kitchen gadgets, items from Ryan's tool box, an assortment of PVC pipe fittings, tire pressure gauges, a tape measure, nuts, bolts and washers large enough not to be choking hazards (like we really need to worry that he's going to voluntarily put anything in his mouth. ha!) It keeps Oliver busy while we sneak bites of food into his mouth. It's amazingly effective.

Language Explosion

Ollie signing MORE
Ollie signing CRACKER
CRACKER again
Ollie signing WATER

Ok, maybe that's a bit overblown, since what I really mean to say is, "OLLIE SAID HIS FIRST WORD!!!" What an exciting day. Ollie can now say, clear as day, "bubbles." It's interesting that his first word wasn't "mama" or "dada" but "bubbles." Of course he has his own little words for things, like an extremely high pitched "didi" for dog, which maybe should count because that isn't just a random babble, it's just his way of saying dog. (He is very interested in dogs. I think I helped encourage this so that I'll have an ally in a few years when I mount my "we need a dog campaign" in earnest.) Ollie also can sort of say "ball" but it sounds more like a very breathy, reverent, "ba".

Where his communication has really taken off is in sign language. In the last two weeks he has picked up so many new signs. He even signs to us things that we haven't tried to teach him in months. He must have been absorbing it all waiting for a chance to bust 'em out.

The funniest sign he does is for HELP, which is usually right hand in a fist, supported by the flat, open palm of the left, and then both raised up together. Ollie's version of this sign is a very imperious single clap of his hands...as in "I couldn't possibly be bothered to climb down the stairs today, pick me up now!" Clap! or "I need to check out the contents of this baby-proofed cabinet, open it for me now!" Clap! I came home from a Young Women's activity last night and a somewhat perplexed Ryan said "Ollie's been doing this weird clap all night. Is that a sign for something?" I can only imagine that Oliver was equally perplexed that Ryan wasn't picking up on his requests/commands for HELP!

Ollie's favorite sign is his sign for CRACKER, which unfortunately is now a general term for anything he'd like to eat, so interpreting what kind of "cracker" he's in the mood for takes a certain amount of trial and error.

We are particularly excited about Ollie's language skills because our nitwit pediatrician had said that the reason he wasn't talking yet was because his brain was starving. She thought that he wasn't getting enough calories to support brain development and suggested that we start giving him nasal tube feedings at night. That was extremely upsetting, to say the least! My theory is that the same delayed oral-motor skills that are giving him such a hard time chewing and eating, are also giving him a hard time forming words. Anyway, now we know that he doesn't have cognitive deficits just because he's a featherweight contender. As Grandpa Ford would say (and in fact has, with no irony, on more than one occasion,) "Ollie's not retarded at all," ...as if the matter were under consideration.