Aquarium Mysteries...

A few weeks ago I had Morgan with me when I went to the pet store. Because it was his first time there I decided to show him around. He didn't pay much attention to the mammals, but the fish were apparently fascinating. With this knowledge we decided that we would take him to the Seattle Aquarium and see if he is actually old enough to get something out of the experience. Our original plan was to give him his morning bottle, pack into the car early, he could nap on the way and then we could enjoy a quiet run around a near empty aquarium with an awake attentive baby. If a single element of this overall plan had gone awry I wouldn't suspect a thing, but given the actual result of our trip I'm pretty sure that a higher power was conspiring against us.

Things seemed to be going well until about halfway there when Morgan suddenly exploded into a fit of baby rage in the back of the car, filling the last 20 minutes of our trip with inconsolable shrieking. Apparently he had failed entirely to nap as planned on the way there, so when we showed up we had a very tired grumpy baby on our hands. Once inside the aquarium it was clear that it was not at all the quiet day that we were hoping for. There was not one but two school groups there on a field trip. In fact for the first little bit it was nearly impossible to get Morgan to pay attention to the fish since he was so fascinated with the huge crowd of kids milling about the place.

In the end the fact that things did not go according to plan did not prevent the whole family from having a good time. As we made it further into the aquarium Morgan showed clear interest in the various exhibits and while he was a little tired he was attentive and engaged. Luckily the Seattle Aquarium is small and turned out to be just right for his baby attention span. Just as we were leaving his interest in the environment completely evaporated. The tropical fish, with their bright colors against an azure background, were the most fascinating of the exhibits. Glass is still a mystery, with Morgan constantly smacking his hands and head against the glass of the tanks trying to get at the fish. Interestingly enough the Otters and Seals were practically invisible to Morgan, even with them both being highly active. It's hard to say if it was the relatively dark colors of those animals or just that it was near the end of the day and therefore he was too tired to pay attention.

Here are some pics! Taken with the Coolpics so they aren't high quality but you get the picture.

Here he is glaring when we finally got there...

Still intrigued by all the people at this point (we thought going early during the week we would miss the crowds but apparently there were several field trips happening)


Oooohhhh...jelly fish!


That is an octopus he is trying to feel.











After the aquarium we went to Anthony's Homeport for a delicious seafood lunch. Oh it's a funny life.

Lofty Ambitions

There comes a point in any major home improvement project where the intrepid do it yourselfer looks at the damage that he/she has wraught and thinks, "Oh shit what the hell did I just do?" This is a natural reaction to demolishing that which was to make room for that which is to be. It's typically shortly after that moment when things start to come together again in their new form and the moment of terror fades to be replaced by excitement at the soon to be completed project. So far in my current project, everytime I think I have hit that low point things just keep getting crazier.

It has occured to me now that not only did I misjudge the scope of this project when I started, I also have crossed a critical line into territory where the average do it youselfer would never venture. In the planning stages it seemed so minor, take out the ugly wood paneling and ceiling tiles and replace them with sheetrock. While the place is gutted, run new wire and install new lights and outlets. Presented in that format it doesn't sound so intimidating, the reality is that I have taken an outdated but otherwise livible floor of my house and gutted it down to the bare skeleton. This is no minor update, it's a full fledged remodel. Every stage of the project has been more labor intensive than I originally pictured it and the path is not so clear as I would have liked. The fact that this is a very old house and that the upstairs has clearly been renovated more than once where new construction was rudely tacked onto old confuses things and makes it hard to tell what is critical and what is not. The sheer amount of material that I have taken out of the upstairs is insane in and of itself. I'd say around 5 truckloads of garbage now.

For those of you who saw the loft before I started, you can appreciate how far this has come. For those of you that havent, just knowing that this was a fully finished space before I started should be enough.





As you can see the walls, ceiling tiles, slats that the ceiling tiles were nailed too, and blow in insulation are all pretty much gone now. Next steps are to finish up the last little bit of demo, rewire and install junction boxes for lights and outlets, then install new insulation. I think that's probably as far as I'm going to get this week. Sheetrocking, trim, and paint will have to be a weekend thing over the next month or so.

Because of the insulation and dust I have to work wrapped head to toe and wearing a respirator, the result is respirator warpaint:

Weekend Adventures...

This past weekend we went to Deception Pass and drove back through La Conner.
While in La Conner we were lucky enough to see the infamous pack of wild Turkeys that roam the streets there. Unfortunately, it was too dark by then to get any good pics of them. I would love to live somewhere that has wild turkeys just wandering around. Deception Pass was amazing. It was incredibly windy and when we drove down to the beach it was almost surreal. The water was an incredible greenish blue and filled with giant wild rolling waves. It just seemed like you would have to be far out in the ocean to see this scene. It didn't seem real that it would do that right at the beach 20 feet from you. None of the pictures I took did it justice, it was just too windy to get any good shots because of all the salt water in the air which is sure death for cameras.

We also went to Mulkiteo Beach the following day with the intent on heading over to Whidbey Island but changed our minds and played at the beach instead. Morgan got to swing in a toddler swing for the first time, it was very funny. I was convinced he was going to fall out but he held on tight the whole time. Even though he was so tired he loved it. We also showed him the beach and the water which he was completely fascinated by.

He has been doing lots of tummy time lately due to his extreme squirminess and he is so close to crawling. He gets himself up off the ground but when he tries to go his butt falls on the ground and he flops around like a fish out of water. He does manage to scoot around very well and yesterday he pulled himself to a standing position to play at his music table all by himself! It was short lived though because once he did it I yelled for Steve really loud which apparently scared the crap out of him and he put his hands in the air really fast and fell over. Much crying ensued. :(

One more quick bit of news, he now has both of his bottom front teeth coming in making him even more adorable. :)

Here he is at Mulkiteo Beach on his first swing ride with Dad!



He was so excited about swinging he was kicking his legs like crazy...




Lots more pics to come check back later....I'm having technical difficulties;)

Picture Update

Here is our little monster rising from the depths of his bassinet unassisted. We have now adjusted the bassinet so he is sleeping at the very bottom.

It's really March...

I feel like I have been in a coma the past two months and just woke up to realize it's March and my little newborn is a big 7 month old boy now. Part of this is from being incredibly sick all day and night with morning sickness. I now have a prescription from the Dr for anti-nausea meds so I have been feeling a bit better.

Our little boy is now a proud owner of one very tiny and razor sharp tooth on the bottom front right of his mouth. We are supposed to start brushing it everyday but we haven't started yet :(. I need to get a toothbrush for him and figure out what you use as toothpaste.

Making my own baby food is way easier than I thought and it is so much cheaper, plus you get the added benefit of knowing how it was made and what was added. He has now tried green beans, sweet potatoes, and applesauce. He didn't really like the beans until around day 4 but the Applesauce was a big hit! He ate that right up. All the new clothes we bought him a month ago are getting tight already. He seems to be getting really long, really quick. I blame Steve since I am only 5'4" and he is 6'1".

A couple weeks ago his Aunt Fred was brave enough to babysit him for a few hours which turned into 4.5 I think. He was pretty good but went from happy to sad quite a bit. He definitely knows he doesn't like it when both Mom and Dad leave which turns into crying fits. It was very hard to leave him. I think I had a harder time than him honestly. But the only way to get him to not freak out when leaving him places is to leave him places so those that are brave enough to endure a crying baby are welcome to babysit;)

I finally got out of bed and took some new photos of Morgan. Our friend Jeanette gave him a onesie for Christmas that I have been meaning to take a pic of him wearing because it is so cute. It shows his insides filled with random things like toys and candy.

In other news, today I put him in his bassinet and went to the kitchen for something and when I came back like 45 seconds later he was standing up leaning over the side! So, I can no longer leave him in there unattended which makes life a little more difficult. We really need to finish the upstairs remodel so he can have his real crib.


And now for the pictures!



If you look closely in the balloon you can see Steve waving his arms around behind me...hehehe.


Mmmmm...Sweet Potatoes!



He definitely liked the sweet potatoes better than the green beans.



This was Steve's doing. We just bought him the coolest blocks that have really cool stuff inside of them. I think Steve and I like them more than he does right now;)



Here is the latest toy to overcrowd our tiny living room. It changes into a walker too that he can push. We are hoping this is the toy that gets him to walk:)