Sunday, December 27, 2009
snow prints
tonight we walked the block with our boots on and made footprints as we went along. jack loved looking up to the sky and catching snow on his face. it was very magical and an evening i won't forget.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
last week of first trimester
next week my energy is going to return! i have had bouts of energy lately so i am hopeful. babychaud II is the size of a lemon and has many of it's reflexes that i just cannot feel yet. my belly is protruding a lot now, so the announcement of our newest baby came at a perfect time. bye bye abs for now, i will find you again in the fall.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
yoga
after watching patrick do yoga most mornings, and jack being told that i am at my yoga class on saturdays, he took up yoga for himself this weekend. he went to the closet and took out a yoga mat for himself and mommy. we put rodney yee's dvd on and jack started to do downward facing dog. he is quite flexible! i only wish i had the flexibility of a 2 year old. since rodney does yoga without a shirt, jack wanted to be like rodney. now shirtless, jack progressed to taking off his pants and eventually his diaper. jack was really impressed with himself. patrick and i were quite amused.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Marathon Boy
Completed my first marathon this past Sunday after a raging 20 weeks and 537 miles of training. I set a blistering 8 minute mile pace until mile 16, but a couple key mistakes of not stretching my iliotibial band in the days prior or popping my pre-race ibuprofen made my right wheel begin to protest around mile 17 and was pretty much totally blown just past mile 22. Gutted out the last four on tenacity but I figure I lost about 30 minutes on those two flubs alone. Still, nothing to complain about: 3:57:27 got me under my 4 hour goal with time to spare, and at least the bar isn't too high for the next one, whenever that may be.
A big thanks to Mom for all the vegetables in my childhood, Dad for all the two milers in high school, Rebecca for hosting both amenities and triage and Scott for being the day's Detroit Recondo. I, of course, would be without any victory if my attractive graphic designer wife hadn't put up about a dozen Sunday mornings on her own while I ran around like a deranged gazelle.
A giant fake mustache of celebration for my boy, who suffered through the last 70 hours of pre-race mania with a nasty rotavirus. He somehow managed to stay upright and cognizant while thousands of masochists plodded through the city.
A big thanks to Mom for all the vegetables in my childhood, Dad for all the two milers in high school, Rebecca for hosting both amenities and triage and Scott for being the day's Detroit Recondo. I, of course, would be without any victory if my attractive graphic designer wife hadn't put up about a dozen Sunday mornings on her own while I ran around like a deranged gazelle.
A giant fake mustache of celebration for my boy, who suffered through the last 70 hours of pre-race mania with a nasty rotavirus. He somehow managed to stay upright and cognizant while thousands of masochists plodded through the city.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
favorite holiday!
last weekend for patrick and i celebrated our 6th year wedding anniversary with jack at henry ford village's halloween nights. they carve 800 jack-o-lanterns every week for 3 weeks. most of the pumpkins are really cool but some look like they were done in 2 minutes. seeing them reminds me of our pre-wedding pumpkin carving event when we carved 20 pumpkins for the reception tables.
jack enjoyed opening almost every pumpkin and peeking in. he was very concerned when he came across a pumpkin with no candy. competing with the jack-o-lanterns was the chocolate money he got in his bag. great time!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Took a little extended weekend to the coast. That's kind of a neat perk of Michigan, you're always less than an hour from a pretty spiffy beach. Well, downriver isn't exactly pristine rurality but still.
Southaven sits about an hour north of the Indiana border on Lake Michigan, has more loyalty to Chicago and their old money than the D, and definitely is the living embodiment of a summer resort town. A walkable downtown that's got a healthy crop of fine eats, striking distance of art colonies and hardwood fruit orchards and plenty of family charm. Too bad it barely got over 68 degrees the whole time.
Jack somehow managed to stay awake for the entire three hour trip to our destination. Not the best result but he can handle a couple hours before he gets real punchy. Grabbed some Panchero's in Kzoo along the way. I like Panchero's as a cheaper, tastier alternative to the corporate Xtreme feel of Chipotle.
We returned to a Bed and Breakfast we used last year. Nice, 150 year old lodge run by an eccentric feminist painter and her younger Colombian husband, Alberto. Literally across the street from the beach and full of character.
We blew the evening wandering the downtown and out to the breakwater where the remnants of a loose storm system were blowing in. Quite baroque in feel, I wondered how much of the tides and Lake Jack remembered from last year.
Jack wound down as we slipped into a local family Italian joint, then found a second wind to suddenly polish off a whole plate of spaghetti. I opted for the house lasagne and a homemade Italian soda, neither of which really impressed me, but filling. Horrid service was a product of unintentional negligence and structure.
Saturday morning starts with 'Alberto's Breakfast': Yogurt parfait, hardboiled eggs, banana bread, fresh fruit and coffee. Top notch stuff, Jack can't seem to get enough eggs.
Slipped up the coast to Saugatuck for the day, a bigger, ritzier town known for it's gay-friendly, French-influenced art culture. Rained on and off all day as we dinked around. Found a puppet show and I was all Hell Yeah before it turned out to be ten bucks a head. I'd rather talk to my own sock in the face of those prices.
Smencils. Perhaps I bag on a lot of food and the horrible exploitation of the word 'gourmet', but throw me a bone here.
You know it's a highbrow vacation when you practice your phonetics in a wine shop.
Hey, I know we're all supercool with gay people here in Saugatuck, but Come on.
Decide to have lunch in Douglas, Saugatuck's burgeoning sister town on the other side of the Kzoo river. We had planned on going to the local hipster sandwich shop but ran into a thirty minute wait and some annoying waitstaff. Bailed across the street to the Wild Dog Grille offering Neo American food with decor that seemed to say 'African Studies Professor'. Nice gazpacho, though I didn't care for how they presented sour cream on top. Fantastic tilapia tacos and a forgettable if quaffable house beer.
Took a power nap back in Southaven and tried to brave the beach. This shot here was snapped in our five minute stay, as a rogue wave conspired with another and was able to set a new standard for high tide. No one was dragged out to sea, but it did kill the mood. Note to self: deal with conflict of securing video camera before first born son when imminent flood was upon you later. At least he's waterproof.
My attractive graphic designer wife wasn't really up for anything substantive, so I was free to drag us into The Thirsty Perch for some fried local fish. Awesome perch, though I imagine if you beer batter just about anything you're liable to get ahead in the gustatory games. Fun apricot flavored beer which was carefully balanced to not taste like a cross between a floral bouquet and a smencil. You know what I mean.
Wandered more through town and ended up at a very quiet coffee shop and took in the harbor. Got a real twinge of nostalgia for college sitting there with my attractive graphic designer wife at a coffee shop heading towards 10pm. It was a nice treat to have Jack up that late, too. Breaking the rules for vacation actually means something when you are diligent about them elsewhere.
Decided we hadn't been punished enough Sunday morning and went back out to the beach after breakfast. Jack enjoyed having a sandbox about a million percent bigger than the one back home.
We decided to thrust a 300 dollar camera into his hands to see what he could do. This was his third shot.
Holy crap, I never smile like that for the camera. That's parental love coming right through your screen.
Found a funky PF Changesque (read: super-Americanized) Mexican analog joint called Su Casa for lunch. Great service, solid food, awesome guacamole. Since we hadn't punished ourselves enough, chocolate and coconut gelato for dessert.
I think he had a real good time.
Southaven sits about an hour north of the Indiana border on Lake Michigan, has more loyalty to Chicago and their old money than the D, and definitely is the living embodiment of a summer resort town. A walkable downtown that's got a healthy crop of fine eats, striking distance of art colonies and hardwood fruit orchards and plenty of family charm. Too bad it barely got over 68 degrees the whole time.
Jack somehow managed to stay awake for the entire three hour trip to our destination. Not the best result but he can handle a couple hours before he gets real punchy. Grabbed some Panchero's in Kzoo along the way. I like Panchero's as a cheaper, tastier alternative to the corporate Xtreme feel of Chipotle.
We returned to a Bed and Breakfast we used last year. Nice, 150 year old lodge run by an eccentric feminist painter and her younger Colombian husband, Alberto. Literally across the street from the beach and full of character.
We blew the evening wandering the downtown and out to the breakwater where the remnants of a loose storm system were blowing in. Quite baroque in feel, I wondered how much of the tides and Lake Jack remembered from last year.
Jack wound down as we slipped into a local family Italian joint, then found a second wind to suddenly polish off a whole plate of spaghetti. I opted for the house lasagne and a homemade Italian soda, neither of which really impressed me, but filling. Horrid service was a product of unintentional negligence and structure.
Saturday morning starts with 'Alberto's Breakfast': Yogurt parfait, hardboiled eggs, banana bread, fresh fruit and coffee. Top notch stuff, Jack can't seem to get enough eggs.
Slipped up the coast to Saugatuck for the day, a bigger, ritzier town known for it's gay-friendly, French-influenced art culture. Rained on and off all day as we dinked around. Found a puppet show and I was all Hell Yeah before it turned out to be ten bucks a head. I'd rather talk to my own sock in the face of those prices.
Smencils. Perhaps I bag on a lot of food and the horrible exploitation of the word 'gourmet', but throw me a bone here.
You know it's a highbrow vacation when you practice your phonetics in a wine shop.
Hey, I know we're all supercool with gay people here in Saugatuck, but Come on.
Decide to have lunch in Douglas, Saugatuck's burgeoning sister town on the other side of the Kzoo river. We had planned on going to the local hipster sandwich shop but ran into a thirty minute wait and some annoying waitstaff. Bailed across the street to the Wild Dog Grille offering Neo American food with decor that seemed to say 'African Studies Professor'. Nice gazpacho, though I didn't care for how they presented sour cream on top. Fantastic tilapia tacos and a forgettable if quaffable house beer.
Took a power nap back in Southaven and tried to brave the beach. This shot here was snapped in our five minute stay, as a rogue wave conspired with another and was able to set a new standard for high tide. No one was dragged out to sea, but it did kill the mood. Note to self: deal with conflict of securing video camera before first born son when imminent flood was upon you later. At least he's waterproof.
My attractive graphic designer wife wasn't really up for anything substantive, so I was free to drag us into The Thirsty Perch for some fried local fish. Awesome perch, though I imagine if you beer batter just about anything you're liable to get ahead in the gustatory games. Fun apricot flavored beer which was carefully balanced to not taste like a cross between a floral bouquet and a smencil. You know what I mean.
Wandered more through town and ended up at a very quiet coffee shop and took in the harbor. Got a real twinge of nostalgia for college sitting there with my attractive graphic designer wife at a coffee shop heading towards 10pm. It was a nice treat to have Jack up that late, too. Breaking the rules for vacation actually means something when you are diligent about them elsewhere.
Decided we hadn't been punished enough Sunday morning and went back out to the beach after breakfast. Jack enjoyed having a sandbox about a million percent bigger than the one back home.
We decided to thrust a 300 dollar camera into his hands to see what he could do. This was his third shot.
Holy crap, I never smile like that for the camera. That's parental love coming right through your screen.
Found a funky PF Changesque (read: super-Americanized) Mexican analog joint called Su Casa for lunch. Great service, solid food, awesome guacamole. Since we hadn't punished ourselves enough, chocolate and coconut gelato for dessert.
I think he had a real good time.
Monday, August 17, 2009
funny boy
i pulled out my cookbook tonight. jack wanted to go and get a book too. he came back to me with the binder from our home inspection. he started to pretend to read the text and count. he quickly grabbed the #10 envelope from the back and was referencing the clock and the number 5. he then would walk to the wall where we track his height and say five and some other gibberish...i think we have a genius on our hands.
lately jack has been creating new sentences everyday. he knows his colors, can count to ten and like to be really loud. he is always asking me to "watch" or "look". he amazes me and i am so lucky to be a mom to the best son ever,
cheers to a week vacation with my baby jack!
lately jack has been creating new sentences everyday. he knows his colors, can count to ten and like to be really loud. he is always asking me to "watch" or "look". he amazes me and i am so lucky to be a mom to the best son ever,
cheers to a week vacation with my baby jack!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Chihuahua!
Nicole and I have somewhat quietly amassed a collection of lounge music. One of my more recent acquisitions was a mambo themed record which has a nice spread of cha-cha's and Latinized versions of songs like Peter Gunn.
Little did I know how much the boy would like it. It's pretty much is favorite music right now.
Little did I know how much the boy would like it. It's pretty much is favorite music right now.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
$3 corn
ok, i know i spoil jack cause i bought a $3 ear of corn at greenfield village on saturday. but really, how much does cotton candy cost? jack has been known to eat corn when he had only 4 teeth. the only thing that stops jack is the occasional need to floss. yes, jack demands floss!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Meijer Gardens
jack enjoyed his trip to grand rapids to see lots of outdoor sculpture and a very nice garden including a children's garden with an alice in wonderland theme. we first came here last spring when jack was 10 months old. at that time, we only visited the butterfly house and indoor atriums. this year he really enjoyed the freedom of running EVERYWHERE!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
summer has begun
jack loved the pool today. he thought it was pretty fun to slip and fall. this picture captures the moment well!
Monday, June 1, 2009
terrible twos aren't so terrible
sometimes in the moment, the tantrums can make me sad, but i dig deep for patience and enjoy every moment of jack. each moment that passes will only remain a memory. jack can say sentences now and can understand so much more than 2 months ago. he is trying out what he can get away with and i am learning to let out more rope.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
spring time
jack tries to say every word we ask of him and he is actually pretty good at it. i can't believe how quickly he's picked up words in the last month. he is keeping busy with great interest in trains, airplanes, bubbles and puppets.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
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