Technical Gulch

Hi folks-

I was set to wrap up the rest of my catch-up session last night when it hit me that all of the movies I'd been posting lately were without the audio track.

For some this didn't matter so much, like the one with Iris standing, but for others, the audio was exactly the point! So please go back and replay all of these movies, starting with Fen's NYD kiss, and hear them in the originally intended format: un-muted.

-n

Iris's Nannies

It was a fairly tramatic time when we decided not to take Iris to day care. Not because this was months ago, but because this was just two weeks before the new year and, a day later, when Mama D would go back to work. Mama D hadn't visited the the day care center since before she was born. Nearing the eve of the end of maternity leave, she wanted to go back and check things out with her motherly eyes.

Several observations there, coupled with her gut instinct to not leave Iris behind period, gave Mama D the final conviction to proclaim that Iris wasn't going to be staying there. A few days later, I was able to join her in visiting another school, and we both came away equally dismayed! We couldn't bear the though of our little bear being tossed into a thin-carpeted pit where all the babies had snotty noses and were left to lay on the ground or in the chair unless they had become self-sufficient in the transportation department. And Iris hadn't yet.

We were already planning on Aunt Jackie staying with us for the first week, but beyond that required some scrambling. I checked around my work, but mainly found unsympathetic responses from those who couldn't understand why $100-a-week didn't present a net benefit when placed along the quality-cost axis. In our eyes, there was no such axis. Mama D had a bunch more leads, mainly from fellow teachers who have friends who have a daughter taking classes at the local college and looking for a day-time job who happen to be.... But alas none of those bore fruit, either.

Enter good Carole, a friend of ours and former protege student of Mama D's from way back. Carole was kind enough to split from her masters program and move back to town. Shortly after coming home, around Christmas, Mama D approached Carole with the idea of being a live-in nanny for at least a week since she otherwise had "no immediate plans". Thusly unable to present a better alternative, Carole agreed, and has been staying with us ever since the second week!


And, regrettably, we do not have any pictures of Iris with Aunt Jackie from the one week that she nannied (do you?). What we do have is this picture of a chef from a local sushi restaurant trying to entertain Iris with hand clapping, among other things. The connection, you ask? You see, both Jackie and Carole were with us at the restaurant this night, as Carole had just spent her first day with Jackie learning the ropes, as it were, to being a nanny. Believe me, you don't want to see the pictures of Iris being held by this guy's wife. She freaked her the freak out!

Iris Laughs!!

Reference back to the post about our Christmas experiences, and you'll recall that it was a hectic time. A lot of Mama D's family in town, a lot of driving, friends coming in for the New Year.. And right in the middle of all that was the afternoon of December 29. Dawn's family had just left and friends from Michigan were set to arrive in a few hours. In this small slice of time, Iris laughed for the first time!

It was a giggle, a short giggle. It wasn't a chuckle, yet it wasn't a coo. And then a few minutes later, she did it again. See if you can catch it:


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For the next several weeks, we'd get Iris to laugh more and more, with Mama D having the most luck tickling her and getting her generally worked up. Nothing, nothing I tell you, beats her smile! But then something else snapped.. We were having the most chaotic weekend (of the 3) since Mama D had gone back to work. In the middle of it, we found ourselves rushing around the house trying to get it cleaned up and presentable before one of Mama D's fellow art teachers visited..

Basically, there was more work to do than what both of us could handle while also juggling a sleepy-no-sleeping Iris. So I grabbed the BabyBjorn, threw Iris in (which is a skill we have long since mastered solo), grabbed the broom, and threw us into the bath room. The rest is history:


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Cracking up! I mean, seriously losing her shit! She laughed and laughed- the movie provides only a snipit! We couldn't figure it out- was it the way she was being tossed around? Was it the silliness of a black broom handle passing back and forth in front of her face? Is that silly? Was it amusement that her father was having to perform this absurd task so absurdly?

In the end we concluded that it was simply the right combination of internal and external stimuli necessary to generate that response. And that we probably wouldn't be able to understand it much more than that for now...

The next day (today) I went back and tried it again, with some mild success, but by no means like that first day. The first day she in her life that she was strapped to me while sweeping the bathroom floor. On a Sunday afternoon. With socks on. And so on..

Will continue to monitor subject's behavior and report status. Signing off,

-naM

Inspired by Dutch's Tequila-Inspired Dream

A month ago or so (ok, exactly), my good friend Dutch posted a short blurb about the dream he had after drinking far too much tequila one night. Being a parent and living in San Fransisco, the dream, or rather nightmare, had of course been about letting go of his baby's stroller at the top of a steep hill heading toward heavy traffic.

So that day I had a few errands to run, and felt inspired to walk them. Off we were to the post office and any hills we could find in between.

This one proved to be the longest and steepest of the bunch:


There's a few more in the "3rd Month" photo section, in case you've seen them and didn't know the "Full Story"...

-naM

Iris Stands!!

More and more over the past week since New Years, Iris has taken to flexing her legs and standing, albeit with much assistance. Carole even got her to stand on her own for a few seconds, propped up against the back of the wall.

Here's what I'm talking about:


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So far, there is still little evidence of her getting close to crawling, let alone rolling over. But as these legs grow stronger, and they are definitely getting bigger(!), I'm sure all of that will change..

Later gators,

New Year's New Yearling, pt. 2

It was amazing how much the energy picked up in the few calm hours that followed. Or perhaps it was the pent-up excitement that finally broke though once the cars started showing up. But it wasn't long before the fog shrouding the end of the previous evening had lifted and the spirits were raised high once again! The keg was tapped and iced again, but for the most part spent a lonely night on the back porch... But that didn't stop Tyler from looking like this:



And the best part about it all was that Iris slept! People congregated in the kitchen around a sumptuous Seb-simmered stir-fry and in the dining room around Carole's confectionary concoction of chocolate cookies and chips, all just feet from the door to the room while Iris lay sleeping. And later, we all assembled upstairs and ushered in the midnight hour as we all have so many times together with laughter, music, and hugs. All the kids slept! Even a late night game of Dutch Blitz that featured Carole yelling "Blitz!" at the top of her lungs couldn't rouse a stir..

So everything was a big hit. Everyone settled into their corner of the rug and bid a fond adeiu to 2005. Mama D and naM kicked back and reflected on a fantastic year, one that saw the arrival of our most prized little bear!! And we wondered what 2006 would have to offer...

The next morning, everyone was slow to get up.. Everyone but the kids! No sooner was the pancake breakfast started on the griddle that naM began preparing the turkey for deep frying! The weather outside was beautiful- way warmer than the New Year's Days we'd come to know in Michigan.. It was a no-shirt day for all the guys, and extra airy for the apron-clad chef! The kids ran about the backyard, climbing about the swingset, and Iris soaked up the love as she was passed around..

Lunch had a southern accent- not only was there a fried turkey, but Dessa and Ryan also chipped in a generous portion of Red Beans 'n' Rice and Collard Greens. We feasted under a Georgia sun. But that sun was setting, as was the time we had with all of our good friends. For most of us, life as usual was about to resume, and for some of us, that meant covering a lot of distance in a short period of time. They sailed in two ships as it were; first the Doz-Bas family set sail, packing all their week's-worth of stuff in the car and shoving off, followed by a parade of vehicles left for Athens, with destinations abound..

Before little Fen left, just days before her 4th birthday, we captured this little gem:


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Thanks for all the memories, all the sacrifice involved with travelling to our place.. We'll see you again soon (if not exactly one year from now, I hope!).

-naM, Mama D, and Iris

New Year's New Yearling, pt. 1

DISCLAIMER: I'll start off with saying that this post will be the first on this site to actually not centralize around our little Iris. We had a crazy few days around New Years Eve/Day with a lot of wonderful people who, for the most part, do not have children of their own. We parents had a lot to juggle, including having fun, as the others looked on, some with indifference, some with gratitude that they themselves haven't gotten to "this" point yet, and very few with envy... As a result, this post is more about the fun we had with them and how well Iris slept..

The 'friend' portion of our holiday fun began before the 'family' portion ended. Our good friends Tyler and Jen with their two turtles Zak and Fen arrived on Thursday afternoon a few days in advance of the New Year. After a long drive from Michigan and a brief stint with family in Asheville, they were happy to finally settle in and stretch out their figurative (and literal) legs.

We had a good night of quiet, calm visitation. Wine. Dinner. This was the eye of the storm, the brief pause before finally succumbing to the tractor beam 'o' fun: Athens. The next night proved to be much more raucous, with many a college friend aggregating for one night of outward bound fun. Men. You know you've crossed some sort of line, whether it be age or maturtity or something completely else, when the kind of night you're looking forward to involves no women whatsoever...

But the night didn't start out that way. Everyone, including women and children, made the initial drive up. We went a little out of the way to drop off Aunt Lorrie halfway to Atlanta and that concluded the 'family' part of the holidays. When we got there, everyone went out for a big thai dinner. Iris, having spent most of the past 3 hours in a car, was groggy and fussy, but managed to sleep through most of dinner, tucked under our table in her car seat.

Shortly after dinner was over, the kids started showing signs of weariness, and the mothers packed up and headed back home. I remember waiving, feeling the pang of separation as they drove off, only to turn back to the house and look forward to the one night in a while where I could cut loose.. As did Drew..

Beer. Koga "The Bootlegger" lived up to his reputation by hauling down a keg of wonderful Bells through seven states. How we miss that! Though the quanitity of beer the keg provided was obnoxiously more than the 10-15 of us could down in two nights, it was just the kind of excess worthy of enjoying once a year. The night in Athens had everything a group of guys could hope for (in addition to said beer)- pinball, a conversion van, shrub diving, soda can soccer, BB gun target practice at 4 AM, and pictures with stuffed animals placed inappropriately on sleeping people.

And a hangover. Breakfast was dreary for most of us, out of the question for others. The 2-hour drive home was trecherous but it felt good to get there. The house was calm and comfortable. Mama D had just calmed down from a traumatic incident (to be spoken of in the next post) and the kids wanted to watch Star Wars. All we had to do now was get some rest before everybody else showed up and maddness started once again. Star Wars it was.

The First Christmas

Hello once again! And Happy New Year! There are many stories to tell- falling behind is so easy!

Leading up to the big day, we did a thing or two.. First, our good friend Quentin hosted her annual Xmas party on the 19th; a small, casual event with the best assortment of food and drink! And better yet her house is in walking distance of ours! So we bundled up the bear and walked her down.. Second, Mama D and Jackie had an idea around Thanksgiving time to make pajama pants for everyone in the family as their Christmas present.. The fun part was picking out the right (or in some cases, wrong) fabric to give everyone. The hard part was actually making them- 15 pairs of pants in all. They spent the week leading up to Christmas slaving away at them. Of course naM got dragged into the process, too..

More importantly, Iris did get to celebrate her first Christmas with lots of friends and family members. Having spent Thanksgiving and a weekend with folks on naM's side of the family, Christmas was all about Mama D's.. The festivities began on Christmas eve, starting with a visit from our friends the Byrons, just before they left town for three weeks to visit Indianapolis and Paris. We exchanged gifts and let Grace help us open most of them, keeping in mind that Iris will doing the very same thing next Christmas... Ellen made Iris a wonderful soft white blanket! naM got a T-shirt with a picture of Iris ironed on to it! Thanks, guys!

Later that day, Aunt Lorrie came to visit after just flying in from Denver. At last Iris had met all of her aunts and uncles! Lorrie came with Grandpa and Nana Dren, who drove in from Charleston. And then Aunt Jackie arrived. Things were getting pretty hectic, but Iris stayed in a great mood. We hung out and cooked Pad Thai, retiring early.

Christmas morning was magical! Only Jackie had stayed the night; we all had made stockings and gotten gifts for each other which we exchanged lazily on the couch. The Chipmunks and Dolly Parton with Kenny Rogers played in the background. Iris made some noise after a brief morning nap so we got her up, too, and for good reason- she had presents from everyone! She got clothes, clothes, an ornament with her picture in it, more clothes, teething rings, a blanket..!

After our own little ceremony was through, we were all set to go to uncle Tim's and aunt Pam's for the day. That is, until Iris started to cry. And cry and cry she did!! I had the [Byrons'] van all packed up, then unpacked it, thinking we wouldn't go, then repacked it again after Iris finally feel asleep for 30 minutes solid. After we got there (~40 min drive), Iris continued to sleep in her car seat for a couple of hours- she must have been exhausted! In retrospect, we think she was catching a lot of the stress that we were feeling; trying to get the house prepared for company, wrapping presents, and about to face an on-going feud worthy of Dutch documenting some day..

But the day turned out great, even the weather, and we spent the day like most people, snacking away on sweets and eating a nice dinner. One highlight of the day was the simultaneous opening of everyone's pajama pants to see what material they had (Mama D had pants with nothing but "Jesus Loves Me" written all over it in rainbow colors). Also, the big present at the Dren household was a new go cart, which everyone got to ride on except naM, because the drive belt burnt out before he got the nerve.. And then Jackie and Cousin Jessie sang rousing renditions of several Hillary Duff songs on a new karaoke machine.. All throughout, Iris remained fairly quiet and sleepy, getting passed around each time she woke up..

But the celebration didn't end on Christmas... A few days later Grandma and Grandpa Faulkner came to town. naM had to work the night they arrived in town and missed the gift giving celebration (the 4th in 4 days). We resumed a busy social schedule, spending time with everyone in town, going back and forth to Tim's several times, hosting people overnight, etc., etc. It was a great time. One day, we took everyone out to get the best eating experience Augusta has to offer: soul food at Hot Foods by Calvin. Iris was in an especially good mood!

And just as the Christmas fever was starting to settle down, up came the push for the New Year...

To be continued...