Passover 2010

Passover this year was an adventure. Kerstin had to teach class during the holiday and couldn't come down to Maryland with us, so Alden and I flew solo. It actually went better than I'd anticipated. He was quiet and charming during most of the flight and only threw up two times during the descent. Alden managed to fill 2 airline barf bags, handily beating my all time record. The good Sumerians in the row behind us passed up their travel-sized bottle of Purell and wet wipes. "Keep 'em" they told me, "You'll need them more than us". They were right. The unfortunate, slightly traumatized women in the seat next to us endured the upheaval with polite consternation. As my hands and lap were coated in sick, she was kind enough to riffle through the diaper bag for a ill-fated change of clothes (soiled minutes later -- note to self: Always travel with two sets of clothes in the diaper bag). She was nice enough about helping me, but she still gave me the hairy eyeball, especially after vomit #2 and was more than obsessive about sanitizing her own hands as I wiped down the walls, window and armrest. I think she thought I was risking contagion upon my fellow travelers, when Alden wasn't sick at all. Our descent was a little choppy and he had trouble anytime we experienced a sudden pressure change. All in all, it was the best experience I've had with Alden in an airplane since maybe ever.
Alden and Jessie really bonded this year. It was so cute to watch the two of them play together. This game is called "night-night", where the couch cushions are removed to the floor and Alden tells Jessie when and where they are to sleep and to wake up. There was also much fort-making with cushions and hiding under cushions and Where's Alden? merriment. It was seriously adorable.

Kay and my Mom couldn't resist a little shopping trip with Alden and bought him these fabulous green galoshes. He was so excited to try them out in some puddles. Once the puddles around my Aunt and Uncle's house were no longer sufficient, he wanted to stomp about in the stream. There was some disappointment when he was not allowed to go into the stream by himself, nor was he allowed to go into the deep parts. Despite our draconian rules, he still managed to soak his pants all the way up to the crotch. Kid has talent.
We had a nice time at the playground and Alden enjoyed the tube slide immensely. The grass had that amazing electric green quality that comes with the first blades of spring. I love that time when everything is an intense green and it was a treat to get a preview of spring, even if it was still pretty cold outside.
We spent one afternoon at a nature center, complete with a small farm, a rehabilitation center for injured birds of prey, and an obstacle course in the woods.
My Grandfather is really struggling to walk these days, but still managed to venture into the woods with us.

The obstacle course was really interesting. The stations looked like the sort of trust-building exercises you used to do at summer camp. In the center was an enormous tree house with a spiral staircase and a very steep homemade slide made out of several intact oil barrels soldered together. From a distance it looked like it might have been fun, but up close it was way too steep and the barrels were too small. Someone had even nailed a plank across the lower third of the barrel opening at the bottom. I don't know what purpose this plank could serve other than breaking legs or feet. I imagined this slide not as a station where friendship or trust is built, but rather where punishment is meted out on the nerdiest students by the school thugs while the counselor's back was turned. It looked brutal. Pity I didn't take any pictures of it.

The animals were the most exciting part for Alden. We stumbled upon a pen housing two goats and one bitter sheep. When we fed the animals a few handfuls of chives sprouting by the barn, it soon became clear why. The goats rushed the fence and refused passage to the sheep, who tried in vein to sneak around their flanks to get in a nibble. We tried distracting the goats with false promises of chives so that Alden could feed the sheep but as soon as the goats got wind of what was going on, they charged her and butted her away from the fence. The sheep finally gave up and lumbered over to the far corner of the pen where she furiously headbutted a maple tree. Clearly her life is a living hell.
The poor downtrodden sheep begging for a treat while the goats are distracted.
A view of the goats from Alden's vantage point. He was a little nervous around them (rightly so).
We took a nice walk around the woods and through the nature trail. Alden was content to ride in the stroller until he saw a tractor in the barn.
The Seder went much the same as most years, minus a whole lot of folks. In past years when my Aunt has hosted 20+ folks, a whole lot of time would pass between your turns at the responsive readings, leaving ample opportunity for sneaking a sip of wine or (when Seder was running late and the stomach was growlin') a soup nut or two. When Alden appeared on the scene, we usually had time to take him away when he got fussy and come back to the table just in time for our turn in the Hagadah. Having only 8 people meant I had to actually keep up with the text.

Sam and my Mom brought a whole bunch of wine this year, and they set it up so that you could have a different varietal for each cup. I really liked this new wine tasting approach to Pesach.

Kay made amazing food - no surprise there! The big hit this year was lemon blueberry green tea sorbet. My Mom flew the lemons in from her backyard and helped Kay make the sorbet too. It was awesome! I hope we'll be seeing it again in future Seders.Geoff joined us for the second night and also brought some wine. His bottle was the best and went very quickly. Elijah bore most of the blame.
Kay's Dad Bill joined us this year as well. He has a great voice! I don't think I've ever really heard him sing before, but I was really impressed. Bill enjoyed watching Alden shred the tablecloth and bang on the table with the butter knives to his own rendition of Ran Kan Kan during the responsive readings.
Alden's postprandial leavings. Most of the organic matter was consumed by Charlie the dog.

It was great fun to be with everyone this year. Passover is such an awesome family event and a nice tradition. Next year in Rockville!

2nd bathroom

The long road to our second bathroom continues. It began last fall when I spent a couple weeks knocking a hole in our granite foundation. This, I thought would be the easiest way to connect to the main drain and water source. It may have been the easiest way, but doing it wasn't easy. Drilling stone with a hammer drill takes a lot of time and the angle it was at (near the ceiling of the basement) made it awkward. The area we are building the bathroom we refer to as the Mud Room, because despite being part of the house, it is not unlike a porch where you take off your dirty boots and whatnot. There is no heat to this part of the house and the ceilings are kind of low. When we bought the house the washer and dryer were in this room, along with a 1953 horizontal meat freezer. We got rid of the freezer and moved the washer/ dryer to the basement.

I started framing the bathroom a couple moths ago, which meant ripping up the linoleum floor, tearing out the ceiling and reinforcing underneath. Another reason this room was not frequently used (besides the no-heat thing) was that the floor was flexy. Part of the bathroom build included building some support walls in the basement and making the bathroom walls support the floor of the unfinished room above (another future project). Then came the wiring for the bathroom and the hallways on both sides... and the room above, heck why not. Wiring wasn't too bad, although I did it in two stages about three weeks apart. When I started the second stage there were a few things I discovered and thought, "who was the moron (me) who did this... what were they thinking?" It's all working properly now, which is the important thing.
After the room was framed and wired in came the sheet-rock for inside the room and the backer-board for the floor. Then drains and the water pipes. Right through the hole that was made two seasons ago!
I thought about putting a bath in, but with the size (5x7) there wasn't enough room. The bathroom will have a shower, a sink and a toilet.
The shower and toilet will be divided by a knee-wall that will be tile on the bottom and a piece of hanging glass on the top. I am hoping the glass will make the small space seem bigger, brighter, etc.
I am near the point where I will start seeing big changes any day now. The floor and walls are ready for tile or paint. I still need to put up the ceiling, but I have the materials and the venting is run. I am looking forward to a bathroom downstairs, as is Ilana and Alden. Every time we pass the construction Alden points and says, " Daddy making shower, sink and potty" . I love that.

Easter

We have been getting behind on the blog updates, I blame the warm weather. There is a bunch of stuff going on with the house and garden and Alden, too much to write about, we are to busy doing. Easter being a good case in point.

Easter was celebrated at Karen's house with a brunch, although we started our observance of the holiday by having Alden wear his rabbit hat in the morning.



Karen had hidden plastic eggs in her lawn for us. Alden got the concept of seeking and finding them right away, especially when he learned there were cookies inside. Karen helped carry the basket and Ilana helped Alden redirect himself when he began to get too far away from the search area.
Karen did a good job hiding the eggs, usually in a patch of grass or flowers... very spring-y... thematically appropriate. The scaffolding in the back is for some sill work Karen is getting done to her roof.
After the egg hunt we went in for brunch. Our friend Sarah joined us . Alden wasn't up for brunch, having eaten most of the cookies from eggs. Brunch was fantastic, with strawberry shortcake at the end. Alden conked out as soon as we got him in the car, and we spent the rest of the day working in the garden.

Joseph Visits

Joseph spent a week with us in the end of March. Sandy was planning to come out as well, but her mother fell ill and she had to make an emergency trip to Cleveland instead. Kerstin and I worked most of that week, so Joseph had lots of one on one time with his grandson. They went to the park and the library a fair amount from what I hear. Joseph, Kerstin and I managed to sneak out on Thursday night and see a play in Lewiston, which was sadly not very good, but it really didn't matter because it was such a thrill to be able to go out and feel like a proper adult once again.
At some point in the visit, Joseph helped Kerstin pour some concrete in our yard so he could install an umbrella style clothes line. Alden was really keen on being in the middle of the action, even if he didn't know exactly what was happening. He knows all the ingredients required for making concrete thanks to his obsession with the book Machines Go To Work and he chanted a little mantra to make sure we were doing it right.

"Sand... gravel... Portland cement... water... and mix!"

It took six very vigilant hands to keep Alden out of the wet cement. Given his druthers, I think he would have bathed in it.
Joseph and Alden bonded over Joseph's camera. Here's how the whole thing went down: Alden would climb into a lap and smile nicely while Joseph set up the timer and scurried over to get into the picture. Once the blinking light stopped and the shutter clicked, Alden would hurl himself of the lap he'd occupied, squealing with glee "LETS TAKE A LOOK!". He loved pushing the playback button and seeing the image, but would immediately want to start the process over again. This cycle would go on for hours or until Joseph ran out of memory.

Joseph entertains everyone with a counting game in the car.
Alden rediscovered the masks from his birthday party and liked looking at the shadows they cast against the living room wall. He especially enjoyed having his shadow chased by a hand shadow dog, which is the only hand shadow anyone knew how to do. Does anyone really know any others? One of these days I'll have to google it and learn how to make something else.

We had a lot of fun with Joseph and can't wait to do it again soon!

Early spring

Spring seems to have come early this year. This weekend and last were particularly warm, so we were able to get out and do some gardening.
I have been working on reclaiming the burn-pile land so I can plant on it, or at least let some grass grow. The pile had some glass and metal I had to sift out of it,and a couple charred stumps and unburned twigs. I got all of the junk out of it and tilled the soil to mix in the ash.
I also tilled some new space for a potato patch and widened part of the garden. There is still a bunch of work to do, but it was a treat to be able to start so early.
Alden also had a great time in the sun. We rediscovered the wheelbarrow, which is his new favorite means of transport. He also really enjoys collecting the tiny pine cones from the ground under the hemlock tree. All in all good warm days.

Kerstin video

I made a quick video of the Poetry Out Loud event that I did for the Maine Arts Commission. Alden thinks it is a great thing to watch, which makes me feel pretty good. He calls it "kids building".



The video isn't sizing right on the blog, so you can also see it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAIVDY64E50

March Update

Ilana dressed Alden and went down stairs. I got up, got dressed and came down stairs... how embarrassing! I also just noticed in this picture we are both holding wind-up frogs.


It has been awhile since the last post... I have been busy with work and with teaching. Spring seems to be just around the corner and we managed to do some gardening and yard work last weekend. It has not snowed since the new year. There was a big storm at new year's break, but since then it has been relatively mild.Alden is developing in leaps and bounds, and has been especially delightful for the past two months. He loves to run and play at the playground and is still working out how to jump. His favorite music these days is Rockit by Herbie Hancock (although we do not let him watch the video, honestly, it kind of freaks me out too, the link is to the '83 Grammy version, also creepy but in more of a Reaganomics kind of way). Alden thinks the record scratching sound is puppies. Other grooves include Ran Kan Kan by Tito Puente and Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash... And, of course, Frere Jacques, where the melody gets incorporated into just about everything from changing diapers to making breakfast to any thing else that can be described in four syllables.Favorite foods these days include pickled garlic and olives, along with the standard goldfish crackers, apples, refried beans, cheese, bagels and cream cheese, and cereal. He is still pretty veggiephobic although we get them in when we can with eggs and pasta. On the home front I have been doing bits and bobs. I installed a vent hood for our stove at the end of February. It took a day to snake the electric through the wall and hook it up, and another day to knock a hole in the wall and run the vent. I was pretty worried going into it. Cutting a hole through your house in February in Maine could be problematic. Fortunately it all went well and Ilana is happy being able to cook without setting off out smoke detectors. Alden appreciates it too.