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"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cedar Butte

While Levi was at the Ms game with his dad, we (Blake, Boo, Andy & me) headed out I-90 to find a little-known hike called Cedar Butte. Amazingly, it is almost within spitting distance of the chaos that is a weekend day at Rattlesnake Lake (there must've been over a hundred cars parked along the trailhead), yet somehow virtually undiscovered. We had the trail almost entirely to ourselves! Just us & the huckleberries & a friendly dog named Boots.

And no better way to end the hike than good beer & food at Snoqualmie Brewery with Captain Ruthless Black Bean.

More New

 On Wednesday we took Blake to the Ms game.

We sat next to a young teenage girl & her dad. She was more than happy to smile & wave at Blake & he chose her to receive his very first wave! 
Quickly followed by everyone in the stadium. 
These days Blake is happy to wave, as long as he's not too busy chewing on his fingers.

And he also sat on Daddy's shoulders & hung on all by himself!

What's New

It's been a busy week for Blake and it's only Tuesday!

On Monday he began discovering the fun of purposefully dropping things. At breakfast he carefully selected a carrot and released it out over thin air, then craned over the edge of his chair to see it on the floor. This activity has quickly become a part of every meal. 

The big event of the week is that Blakey got his first tooth!! I've thought for a little while that his bottom gums looked a bit whiter in front and sure enough -- right before Levi left for work, I lifted Blake out of his chair and caught a glimpse of a flash of white from inside his little mouth! It's kind of funny that he cut his first tooth after the first week of sleeping every night through. Hopefully all of his teething will go this smoothly! You can see in the photo below that he doesn't want anyone to see his tooth!

The final excitement this week (so far) is some progress in baby signs. We have been doing basic baby signs with Blake since about six months, with lots of support from Grandma during the week. For quite a while now he's shown understanding of "milk", "more", "eat" and "all done". It's pretty cute to sign "eat" or "milk" and watch him wiggle and whine in excitement. We have been adding more signs and eagerly awaiting the day that he starts to sign back. Just like when babies learn to talk, there's lots of trial and error with signing, as they test it out and add their own baby "talk." For weeks now he's been experimenting with moving his hands and you can just see him thinking about how he can communicate. Last week he started clasping and unclasping his hands in earnest, always when he seemed to want something or was simply very happy. I call it his version of "gimme." This morning we were looking through an animal picture book together and talking about all the animals. Almost every page had a dog, so we had lots of opportunity to say "doggie" and do the accompanying sign of panting with your tongue out. For a couple days now he's been making the sign with us, panting and then grinning, whenever we see or hear a dog. Today, after doing the sign for the first few doggies in the book, I pointed to another one and said, "there's a doggie! Look at the doggie!", and he did the panting sign all on his own! It is exciting to know that our son will be able to communicate with us before he is able to verbalize -- I'm so eager to get a glimpse into his thoughts and desires!

For anyone interested, we really like the book Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk.

Grammy Lois!

Blake was very happy to have Grammy here this weekend.

 

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"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Pools & Pirates

Tuesday was a full day.

Blake has his first swimming pool experience. It went well, as long as mom stayed very close.

Then he went home with dad & I headed out to see the 5th Ave Theater's production of The Pirates of Penzance with my mom & sis. It's a classic in our family & the play was fabulous. I didn't want it to end.

Chicken Coup & Urban Farm Tour

For a couple decades now, Seattle Tilth has hosted some version of a City Chicken Coup Tour, allowing folks a glimpse into the gardens & coups of their city neighbors. I'm not sure how many years my mom took her mother on the tour, but it was always eagerly anticipated. My Grandma Donnie was a rural girl, raised on a large farm in the countryside of North Carolina. With her marriage & move to the northwest, she became an urban farmer, growing a plethora of food on a large lot in Lake Forest Park & almost always keeping a small flock of chickens. My sister & I went along the eventful year that one of the tour hosts advertised needing a home for her flock of Banties (Grandma's favorite) -- Grandma elected to go there first & had herself a new flock of Bantam chickens within ten minutes of our arrival.

We continued the tour tradition this July & my mom, Boo, Blake & I spent a wonderful day visiting urban farms in North Seattle. Not only do you see some beautifully innovative coups, but you also get to see gardens & yards! People's ideas & creativity are truly amazing! We saw honeybees, treehouses, living roofs, water saving systems, an ingenious under-the-deck chicken run, ponds, inviting patios, yard art including a pressure washed Seattle skyline, solar panels, a pig, & imaginative kids' play areas. We ate delicious raspberries & blueberries off the bush, introduced Blakey to lemonade (couldn't get enough) & learned about hugelkultur. 

A fantastic, inspiring day.

A ball for Blake

Great time at the Mariners game on Sunday with cousins Seth & Lindsey.

Not only was it the first win Blake has attended, but he also got an autographed ball!

When the Angels took the field in the 8th inning, Josh Hamilton (right fielder for the Angels) came to the wall & asked for the dad of the little baby watching the game. Unfortunately Blake & I were cooling off up in the shade but Levi said that was him & Josh tossed him an autographed ball!

 When we got home, we took a photo of Blake with the ball. Levi sent it to Josh on Twitter, thanking him, & Josh responded, "I bet he's got a future in baseball."  :)

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"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Chatter Creek

Growing up, we spent a number of summers camping with the whole Gowey family, always in the same huge group campground at Chatter Creek near Leavenworth.

Hopefully that tradition is reviving.

Highlights from this year...

• So many people for Blake to play with!

 

• Frisbee golf 

• Camp life, particularly Andy's amazing panini sammiches & the tent that was erected without poles.

•  Hikes, with gaggles of Goweys

• A trip into town & a visit from Hoang

Even sleep deprived, we had a great time.

 

Change

This blog has become predominantly a place for positive posts, but I still want it to be a well-rounded view of our lives & musings. With that disclaimer, I share this horrifically fascinating map on fracking across the United States (& our bordering neighbors). Click on the link & check out some of the stories of poisoned drinking water, polluted air, mysterious animal deaths, industrial disasters & explosions.

 

http://earthjustice.org/features/campaigns/fracking-across-the-united-states?sssdmh=dm23.158284&utm_source=patagonia

While it's nice to see zero fracking activity in the Pacific Northwest, NO ONE should have this in their community.

Like many other things (climate change, GMOs, etc) I am astounded by the short-sightedness of our race. Why do we continue to think that the earth can handle whatever we throw at it? Why do we think we can get away with treating the earth like an invincible teenager that can absorb enormous amounts of pollutants, drilling, deforestation & modified organisms without negative affects? It truly is insane. Dangerously so. And I would wager, that on some level, the majority of people would agree. Which brings me to the people behind the companies responsible for things like fracking & GMOs. And the question I have for them...do you have children? Do you want to leave a toxic, dying planet to your children & grandchild? Perhaps they are oblivious, or more likely blinded by profit. Perhaps they don't believe that these things are harmful.

Really?? 
I don't understand how there is still an argument.
It's very simple. It's not about politics or economics or religion -- it's about LIFE ON EARTH (the way god created it, for heaven's sake!). Even if we weren't entirely sure that our carbon emission and chemical agriculture are negatively impacting the planet, wouldn't we want to err on the side of caution before dumping more & more of it into the air, water & organisms we need for survival (not to mention larger systems of weather & ecology)?

And people, it's really no longer a debate. 
We impact the earth -- why is this something people don't want to acknowledge? Because it means we need to change? Change is tough, but it can also be exciting & positive. And when it means sustaining a healthy, beautiful world for our children & grandchildren, isn't it worth it?

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"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Fourth of July

We had a relaxing morning (with a patriotic colored breakfast) & then a fun afternoon at Boo & Andy's, eating & visiting. Not knowing how Blake would react to the loud fireworks, we were home & settled before dark. He slept through it all!

 

9 months

Incredibly, Blake turned 9 months old on Saturday!

We had his well check this week & he's long & lean. He weighs in just shy of 20 lbs & is 29.7" tall!

He crawls super fast, with authority (& usually with a cup in each hand, accentuating each movement with a bang on the hardwood floor). He stands up on everything & is starting to move around along the furniture.

Favorites:

• bath time (or pool time in the backyard) -- he plays until he's a prune or until he gets in trouble for standing up in the tub.
• New nickname: Captain Black Bean! A favorite food & also often attire.
• Raspberries are another favorite -- eating & blowing them.
• hollering loudly, at his toys, in his pool, trying out new sounds. Da-da-da, ma-ma-ma, ya-ya-ya, ba-ba-ba, la-la-la!
• he hangs on now, very helpful when he's balanced on your hip
• reaches for people, momma & daddy especially
• first bouts of separation anxiety(not so fun...sometimes he only wants momma)

Mariners!

Over the weekend we took Blake to his first TWO Mariner games -- back to back, Saturday & Sunday! He did super.

Here he is resting up for his first big game.

 On Sunday, Brandon & Janelle & baby Elijiah joined us. We toughed it out in the full sun for the first half, staying cool with water, spray bottle & watermelon. The nice folks at Safeco moved us to the shade after that & we stayed for the Mariner's rally. Even with Blake pointing fingers at the field & yelling as loud as he could, they still couldn't pull off a win.

Go Ms!!

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"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."