Crashing a Concert

When Ry and I took our after-dinner walk this evening, we heard music coming from somewhere on campus. We (well, I, since Ryland goes wherever I go, for now anyway) decided to follow the music to check out what was going on. We walked by Jessup Field, where a kiddie lacrosse tournament was taking place. Ry and I watched the little kids running with their sticks and coaches yelling from the sidelines for a while. We continued on our quest for the music's source.

During the day I work on the Engineering Quad, where it has been dead quiet since the spring semester ended. But this evening the campus was just bustling with people of all ages! Then I remembered CAU houses the vacationers (and their fancy cars) on the North Campus. We crossed the foot bridge and ended up on the Arts Quad.

A zydeco band was playing to hundreds of people on the Quad. Some were dancing; some just relaxing on the grass. Kids and dogs were running around everywhere. We walked through the crowd and sat down by Ezra Cornell so Ry could get out of the carrier. His arms were waving, legs kicking to the music.

"I know. A pretty cool walk, eh?" Ryland grinned back.

I asked the family sitting next to us what the event was. The grandmother told me the "college" has a concert on Fridays. I told her we just discovered this music on our walk.

"Oh, you live in one of the houses down there?" The dad pointed down the hill.

"No, more like a 10-minute walk that way. No hill to climb." I pointed toward the North Campus.

"Wow. So you live here. That's great!"

When I put Ry back into the ergo to take our leave afterward, we smiled and waved goodbye at our neighbors. I think they were a little jealous... that we live in this beautiful place in which they paid good money to vacation.

Can I PULEEAAASE Change Your Diaper?

Since shortly after turning one, Ry thinks he's done with diapers. Despite of all the toys, books, fairies in the mobile hanging over the changing table, singing, storytelling, he refuses to get his diapers changed without a fight. As soon as we put him down, the big boy flips over on his hands and knees and tries to jump off the baby torturing changing table.

Yesterday, Laurel and Hickory showed Ryland how to put a diaper on his elephant, but no, not even a pink smiling diaper-wearing elephant could change his mind. Arrgh.....

Extremely Attached Parenting

Last week Ryland got a MMR shot at his one year check-up. Yesterday measles-like rash started breaking out along with a low fever. According to the doctor's handout on the MMR vaccine, one out of 6 people suffer from this side effect. Well, what a lucky boy!

Whenever Ry gets sick, he becomes extremely attached. After Mommy left the house at 9 am to lead the Schaefer Yarn Tour, Ryland permanently attached himself to me and nothing else. I held him or carried him in the ergo while we ate, went shopping at Wegmans, and listened to music and felt icky together. Over the past year I have mastered going to the bathroom with Ryland, but unloading groceries is another story. It was like I bought all the 20-pound bags of rice at Wegmans and had to carry an extra 20 pound on each of the gazillion trips between the car and the kitchen.

We ate a late lunch after everything was put away. I asked Ryland if he wanted more food. The discomfort has affected his appetite in the last few days. I couldn't believe my eyes when he signed "more"! Hickory and I have been teaching him signs. Ryland can do "up" pretty reliably when he wants to be picked up, and "all done" after he gets sick of sitting in the high chair. "More" is considerably more sophisticated and he finally did it for me for the first time today. I happily handed over a noodle.

"Do you want more, or are you all done?" I tried again.

"More." I handed over a pea.

"Do you want more, or are you all done?" We are on a roll here!

"More." I handed over a kernel of corn.

"Do you want more, or are you all done?"

Ryland stuck up his nose and gave me an annoyed look, as to say: "I am not a dog. I don't sign for food like Amos barks for his!"

As we took an afternoon nap on the couch, with Ryland sleeping on top of my chest and snoring into my right ear, I knew my arms and shoulders would feel the effect of this extremely attached parenting tomorrow.

Photos of his royal cuteness will return soon (I hope), after his rash is gone.

Lefty?

Ryland had his one-year checkup at the doctor office yesterday. He now weighs 20 lbs 6 oz and is 30 inches tall. He somehow turned into a skinny boy in the last few months.

The doc asked a very interesting question: "does he show a hand dominance?" Hickory and I didn't have to think very hard before concluding that Ryland is probably a lefty:




But then, he tried to brush his (2) teeth with the right hand:


We are pretty sure though. Ry feeds himself with the left hand almost all the time and usually reaches out with the left. The doctor says showing a hand dominance from early on is a good thing, developmentally.

Birthday Boy

Ryland turned one on Saturday. Yup! He is no longer a baby. Mary from work e-mailed: "time flies when you haven't slept!" Ry and I spent the glorious Saturday morning (70 degrees and sunny. We get about 2 Saturdays like these in Ithaca a year) shopping at the Farmers Market and Wegmans. I love taking him to Wegmans. We skipped over a sea of parked cars to one of those spots reserved for "Customers with Children" all the way up front, watched people shopping, and saw the "watch out! A dad carrying a baby coming through!" expressions on their faces as they tried to get out of the way.

In the afternoon I went back to working on the yarn shop's on-line store. I've been devoting most of my energy on it in the last few weeks, hence the lack of blog entries. To our (very few) loyal and demanding readers: I heard your comments and questions on why I stopped posting, directly or through third parties. Balancing work and life (both at home and on-line) is the toughest thing I've had to deal with in Ry's first year. So much to do in so little time. I enjoy most of it, work or life, as long as I don't think about "the other stuff" I should be doing or might be missing.

Back to the birthday boy, the party was Sunday morning. 20 adults and 8 kids squeezed onto our little patio and backyard. It was lots of fun, except for Amos. The poor old dog took refuge downstairs away from the kids. The children, from 5 months to 3 years old, quickly sorted themselves into their own age groups to play together.

Nancy made a kiddie "table" from logs and the low stone wall on the edge of the patio. Billy brought his new electric bike to show off. He insisted everyone to ride to the top of the hill at the end of Sheldon Road to test out the electric motor. We were so occupied in the celebration that Hickory and I failed to take any photos of the cupcakes that I baked the night before, or Ryland blowing out the birthday candle!

No Sleep

Good Morning

"I wish the spring sun shines every morning in Ithaca, and I get up early enough to eat breakfast with my Dad...."