Before we went on vacation Nathan went to the Children’s Museum with his friend Liam. They had a great time together. There is a nice baby room there with lots of things to climb on a plenty of new toys.
Liam is from Colombia too and they are only about 6 weeks apart. They play in the baby room together now but before we know it they will be playing soccer together!
We’re in Connecticut for the weekend. Despite the warnings in the news, the traffic wasn’t bad at all and we had our fastest time yet. We’re staying at Lisa’s parents house in New Milford. We all went to see Nathan’s Great-Grandmother in Westport.
We saw a coyote on the way back. This was my first coyote, I’ve been itching to see one for nearly 25 years, ever since I heard the howl when my father took me Colorado as a young boy. There it was at the side of the road. I thought it was fake at first. Not much to say about really, except I’m excited to have seen one.
The Boston Common website reports that Roslindale’s most annoying ice cream man has returned to his home in Jordan for the winter. Anyone living in his route knows who I mean. The song his Ice cream truck plays is horrible. I suspect it was designed by Harvard behavioral scientists to make people hate ice cream trucks. It reaches it’s climax with a sarcastic yet idiotic voice screaming “HELLO?”
I’m not sad to know it’s gone for a while. Learning alittle about Henry, the ice cream truck’s driver, made me wonder about his life back in Jordan. As I commented on the Boston Common website:
I wonder if when January comes and he’s sipping a strong coffee in the morning sunshine at a cafe in Jordan, he’ll think to himself: “Quack Quack Woof Woof…. HELLO?!?!” That would be just.
This is a cute photo I took today.
Nathan got his first birthday present in the mail today.
It is a spiffy new wagon from his grandparents in CT. He really likes to ride around in it. Whenever we stop pulling it he cries or, when less grumpy, he bangs his feet on the bottom. This evening we all went for a walk around the block. Besides riding in it Nathan thinks it is pretty fun to play with the wheels.
I couldn’t take it anymore so I got the little scissors out and snipped away while Nathan ate crackers.
It is hard to get used to how he looks with the cut. He is still cute.
We’re back! We’ve been on vacation in Ocean Park, Maine for the last week. I had thought I would find a way to get online to blog and check my email, but after a couple of days I realized I liked taking a break from the internet.
We rented an apartment in a house that is steps from the beach. Our friends Rob and Michelle (and their 6 kids) were next door. Mostly played at the beach which is wide and and miles long. The weather in Maine was perfect - hot days and comfortable nights. The water was unbelievably warm for New England.
Nathan loved the beach. We walked in the water with him for a dip every day. He also loved sitting in the sand right where the waves exhaust themselves and playing in the water. Our friends kids (ages 4, 5, 7, 9, 12 and 15) all love the water too, and it was fun to watch them get better and better at swimming each day. All of the Colombianos got incredible tans, including Nathan. I managed to not get burned, and even have what passes as a tan among pale Irishmen.
What else? We went for ice cream every day. We went to a community picnic put on by the Grange. One day Lisa and I visited her friend Darby whose family has built their home in the woods over the course of a few decades (it’s amazing and inspiring). We visited LL Bean in Freeport. Rob and I went to Portland one night. We went to see Tomb Raider in “The Temple” which is sort of a church that is central to the history of Ocean Park. We went to a farm and played with their cabritos (aka baby goats). But mostly we relaxed near the ocean.
I am sun baked and completely and tired and completely relaxed. I bet this will last about 40 minutes once I walk into work. Oh well, I can’t worry about that now - I can’t even remember what I’m supposed to do when I get there. That alone is reason enough to have skipped email for a week.
A while back I was happy to free of the college students over the summer. One of the advantages was supposed to be the gym being quiet. I’d forgotten about MIT summer camp. I am keep winding up in the locker room just as 50 screaming ten year old boys come running in from the pool. The noise is amazing. Today was the worst yet. I changed back into my work clothes in the middle of a pack of boys chanting “OWEN IS A POOPER! OWEN IS POOPER!! OWEN IS A POOPER!!!” with increasing fervor. The counselors, who are only 17 themselves, were no help. The chant switched over to “OWEN LOST HIS HAT!” for a while and then, weirdly, to “OWEN LOST HIS POOPER!!” at which point I was able to escape.
My old website came back on! i was able to export my entries and from may and June of 2003 and imprt them into this blog. The blog now fully recovered from the whole FeaturePrice fiasco. Go back and savor June, it was a fine month! I really excited to have these back. I am backing up constantly now - so I never lose our journal again.
You might not want to read this next entry if you are sensitive to poop talk.
Today I went to get Nathan from his nap so we could go to Central Square and do a little shopping. I waited until the last minute so he could get as much sleep as possible but I had to catched a scheduled train so we had to go at a certain time.
Just as I opened the door I smelled a fresh poop and at the same time noticed that oddly enough Nathan was completely naked. Somehow he had removed his diaper. Based on the evidence I would guess it was at the beginning of his nap. Of course he had to have done this on one of the rare days that he poops during a nap. Oh my what a mess. He was laying in a little puddle of pee with a squashed poop in the middle of it. His feet and legs were covered. At least his busy little hands hadn’t found it!
Usually Nathan likes to cuddle a bit when he gets up but I had to hold him at arms’ length. I wisked him up into the sink and realized I didn’t have a wash cloth so I pickd him up again and ran for a wash cloth. Then I hosed him down with the spayer from the sink and got him nice and clean.
We still made it to the train with a minute or two to spare. Ah, these are the memories I will always cherish.
Sorry, I didn’t get a photo but here is what Nathan looks like most days when I get him from a nap (this photo is a simulation, it was not really the end of naptime):
