Animal Identification

I was sitting on the couch and John brought me his Baby farm animals Little Golden book. I opened the first page, which is a black lamb. I said "baby sheep is called a lamb. BaaBaa". Then I said, "lets find the piggies (middle of the book)" and John said "snort!" So I found the piglets and snorted. Then, John left and came back with a plastic lamb, that was white, but had the same body shape as the lamb in the book. Very good! Baabaa! Then he went and got the a plastic pig, that bore a good resemblance to the one in the book! What a smart baby! Snort snort, baabaa.
Then he brought me another book, which a rhino. Snort! says John.
Well, he does have a very similar body shape, but I point out the horn on his nose and say "Rhino, not Piggy". John picks up the plastic pig, and holds it up against the rhino illustration. They have the same silhouettes, except for the horn. So, A for effort. A+ because he tried to convince me it really was a piggy.

Late Night with John

The other night I stayed up after Windy went to bed and played some computer games. John had been sleeping and so the living room was quiet and dark. About 1:00 or so, John woke up and looked around. He decided that he didn't want to go back to sleep, so he stood up and started yelling. I shut down the computer and went over to him. He raised both his arms, which is his sign for "pick me up," and squawked at me. When he's tired he holds his small blanket in one hand, so it looked like he was waving a flag at me. I picked him up and carried him over to the changing table, changed his diaper (which was wet) and zipped his jammies back up. I then carried him with me into the kitchen and rinsed and refilled his bottle from earlier in the evening. He was only mildly interested in the bottle, but having it calmed him down. I carried him back into the living room and pushed 'play' on his goodnight CD. He didn't want me to set him down, so I held him. Blanket still clutched in his hand, he laid his head down on my shoulder and sucked on his pacifier. I could tell that he was sleepy, but he didn't want to be by himself in the crib. I slowly walked around the room, John sitting in the crook of my left arm, his cheek resting on my shoulder. I put my right hand on his back and listened to him breathe. I almost cried. There is really no way to describe the experience of holding my son as he sleeps peacefully. I know now what parents mean when they say they would do anything for their children.
He finally drifted off into deep sleep, his arms and legs limp in the way that Windy and I call "floppy baby," I laid him in the crib. He woke up for a moment, just long enough to look at me with his eyes half open and roll onto his face. He pulled his blanked up onto his face and tucked his knees under his body so that his butt was stuck up in the air. A moment later soft snores told me that he was asleep again. I put a blanket over him in case the room got cold and tip toed up the stairs to bed.

Boy, its cold today

Boy, its cold toay. Hope it doesn't rain this weekend. It had been very warm, which was both nice and sometimes uncomfortable. I suppose the change in the weather will help San Diego.

looking forward to Childern's Fairyland

Autumn Walks 2

We went for a walk again today (Wednesday), but this time I came prepared. I bought a small tote bag to bring up the mail, water bottle, and camera. I also put John's doggie backpack leash on. He was a little hesitant to go down the front stairs. I guess he remembered the fiasco that went on yesterday, poor baby.
We walked down to the mailbox, and I got the mail and put it in my bag. I also dumped some recycling. John wanted to look at the road. I let him look at the reflectors and yellow paint for a moment, but then took him out of the street. He threw a fit and thew himself toward the street, but I just held his leash tighter. I moved him up the driveway a bit and then put him down as I sorted the junk mail into the recycling bin. He threw himself on the ground and screamed and screamed, but I didn't have to worry, because he couldn't get away. I just kept telling him, "no street, dangerous." eventually, I put the mail away and carried John halfway up the driveway. I set him down, and he came along nicely with me, then crawled up the stairs by himself! Good boy! Now, if he can only get used to not going in the street and if he would only stop screaming and kicking when I say no...
This is the Eddie Bauer Harness Buddy, we got it at Target. They make other cute animals. The leash tail detaches, and its a backpack. John likes to hold and pet the doggie.

Autumn Walks 1

Since Monday, I have been taking John for walks up and down the driveway. I get the mail and drop off some of our never-ending recycling (paper junk mail and empty milk jugs). Yesterday (Tuesday) was just hell! I was carrying John's water bottle and the camera and when we got to the bottom, he just kept running into the street. If I tried to hold his hand, he was throw himself down on the ground and yell. I had a ton of mail that I was trying to carry. I had to drag John by his hand out of the street as cars came whizzing by. I finally had to carry him kicking and screaming up the driveway. When I was half way up, I set him down to see if he would give up on the street and walk up with me. He clapped and ran down the hill! When I yelled "No!" he ran faster. I caught him and lugged him uphill, dropping my mail. I put him on the stairs, and again he ran to the driveway! I yelled at him and took him up to his crib and made him stay there for 15 minutes! That was SO not the fun I thought it would be.
The photo above is John's metal water bottle. It has an innovative twist open spout that he has an easy time drinking from. He hasn't taken to sippy cups very well. He won't suck on them if they have the no drip valve, and he pours the water all over himself if they don't have the valve in place. This cute bottle is made by the swiss company Sigg. They are very trendy right now, especially since most water bottles, sippy cups and baby bottles are made from a type of plastic San Franciscans think will give you cancer or will destroy your aura, or something.

Large fire in San Diegob

Edit: The fires are over now, and Charles' Aunt and Uncle have returned to their home in Valley Center, which was spared. "A lot of people are going to lose their homes today." This was the headline today in the
SF Chronicle. San Diego, as well as other parts of Southern California (where I am from), is beset by wildfires. It has been a long, hot dry season and California is always at danger from fire. Many more Californians live in fear of the fires than the earthquakes.
I got a call today from Elizabeth, as part of a family phone tree. Charles' Aunt Peg and Uncle Fran have been evacuated from their San Diego home, which they have been trying to sell. They and their dogs are safe, lets hope their house is also spared. Their daughter Kayla lives nearby, but has not been evacuated as of yet.

19,000 Navy families have been evacuated, and this is sure to add stress to many overseas at war, as the New Orleans flood did. Somber news day.

There aren't any serious fires in Northern California at this time. We had a scare earlier this year, but were just below the evac. line.

Fisher Price has free shipping

Fisher Price is having free shipping for the next few days (if you use this link from my email). Of course, after that lead fiasco, they probably should be offering more incentives than that! Not that I distrust FP, at least they came clean quickly after THEIR OWN TESTS found lead. Notice, the government didn't have to crack down on Fisher Price products. They test their own products and recall right away. I think that's pretty responsible. Other brands that have no scandal attached may still be dangerous, they're just not testing/telling. :end rant:

I bought this Little people Nativity set because it was just crazy that they even make such a thing! Hahaha. When it was delivered, I opened it to play with the toys (John can play with it, once, on Christmas. If he's lucky). Good thing I opened it up, because I found I had two Mary and Joesph dolls, and no angel or baby Jesus! I called Fisher Price and told them the mishap. They laughed and said they would send me a whole new set, and donate the old manger. I don't know if I want to donate a manger missing the baby (the best part), although it does play music and light up (which John has been enjoying. See, I let him play with the defective set).

I also got the little people Thanksgiving feast with two Indians, two Pilgrims, a roast turkey and a feast table. Because that was too crazy to pass up,too.

soooo cute! etsy.com

Etsy.com is website where people sell their handmade items. Much is surprisingly affordable, and you get a unique gift that supports an individual artist. I got this Sarah Jane print from that site, it was too cute to resist.

Nightmare Before Christmas 3D

We went to see this movie this Saturday. It was pretty cool. The details were a little mutted, but it was nice to see the movie on the big screen again. We left John with Nana at 3, then drove to the Bart and took the Bart into the City to see it at the Metreon at 5pm.