Things I didn't know before I was a parent..

1. Ripe bananas naturally break in thirds lengthwise
2. The round dents on the milk gallons are to accommodate expansion if you freeze it.
3. You can't buy boys' swim trunks "to grow into". Once they are wet, they fall down.

Ace's vocabulary

Now includes "uh-oh"...

He has a lot of fun with that.

First Week in Pictures: Fun with Oosje, Bampa, Uncle & Aunt Tattoo

Look, Daddy! Oosje is taking me for ice cream!

Airplanes with Uncle Tattoo

Playing in the fountain


Fishing
One of many trips to see a river

Bedtime story

Ace update

Ace is eating with a spoon. I didn't know he could really do that without throwing the bowl on the floor. I dropped him off with the Daytime Family the other day and Daytime Mama handed him Cheerios with milk and a spoon and told me how much he loved it. So, now he's doing it at home. Applesauce, yogurt, cereal, etc. He does make a pretty good mess of himself, but he doesn't throw it on the floor ... well ... not until he's done, which he's always signaled by tossing everything overboard. So, I try to catch him before that point.

Christmas in August Means....

.... to Drama!

Yogurt time

Thanks to Uncle Tattoo!

Mama's morning

On our run this morning, Strider and I saw a wild turkey walking around the neighborhood. Strider wanted to go play with it. The turkey did not want to play with Strider.

After I got home, showered, and dressed, I decided my skirt would go better with my wedding shoes than the ones I was wearing. I've worn my wedding shoes (white sandals) several times. No more... they don't fit at all. Sad.

Craziest Starbucks Order I've Ever Heard

Venti
5-pump Vanilla
Extra Caramel
Caramel Macchiatto
Nonfat

Really? Nonfat?

I went to the Starbucks site where you can calculate the nutritional information for your coffee. Here is the breakdown:

300 calories = Venti caramel macchiatto
100 calories = Extra caramel
100 calories = 5 pumps of vanilla (actually, I had to calculate this myself because the website only calculates up to 4 pumps).

500 calories total, without whipped cream.

Isn't it nice that she got the healthy nonfat version, which weighs in at only 440 calories.

Wood River Report

Moolah got her feet and bottom wet, used a rock for a telephone to call Mama & Daddy, and ran on the wooden bridge. All sounds well.

Mama and Daddy overslept without Moolah around to wake us up.

Stinky

Princess Leah, who has 3 kids, 2 nieces, 1 nephew, and was a nanny for many other children, has informed me that Ace has the stinkiest poop of any baby she has ever met.

Rivers

Moolah recently took a trip to the park with Daddy where she learned that the Tualatin is a small river that goes to the Willamette, which is bigger and goes to the Columbia, which is even bigger. She can identify several places along her regular routes where she crosses the Tualatin or Willamette, and she has seen the Columbia a couple of times since then. Yesterday she got to see the Columbia on her way to the Snowy State. Today she told me that she and Oosje were going to see the Wood River, which goes near Oosje & Bampa's house. Oosje has several more rivers for Moolah to see during her visit.

Snowy State Adventure Begins!

Oosje invited Moolah to go stay with her & Bampa until the rest of Strider's family comes to visit after Labor Day. Moolah was very excited. She packed her suitcase and a backpack full of DVDs and they set off this morning. Tonight they'll have dinner with Family BSU and tomorrow they'll be at home. She'll get to see Aunt & Uncle Tatoo, Fred, Drama & Poppa, and all of Oosje & Bampa's friends.

We miss her, and we know they will all have a great time!

Several Firsts

First "namecalling" taunts and first look at potential nicknames for Ace:
Moolah this morning was chanting names for Ace, including Bad**** , Sad**** , and Fat**** (insert last 4 letters of Ace's name). I'm pretty sure she got it from Princes 5 & G, since she's staying with them this week while Daytime Mama is on vacation, and since that behavior is age-appropriate for the Princes.

First movie in a theater
The Princess took the whole brood to a free G rated movie this morning. I told Moolah that she would see a movie on a TV as big as a wall. She was worried she'd have to sit on top of the big wall.

1948

A few facts about 1948 in belated celbration of the 60th birthdays of Bampa (July 29) and Oosje (August 8):

Technology, Architecture & Art:

• Chrysler introduces a new method of starting a car engine -- with an ignition key.
• Manufacturers began to put turn signals on some cars
• Columbia Records introduces the 33⅓ rpm LP featuring 25 minutes of music per side, compared to the four minutes per side of the 78 rpm record
• The Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado is completed.
• Cheetos (Oosje's "orange food" of choice) are introduced
• Nestle Quick introduced
• MC Escher Draws "Drawing Hands" and "Stars"

Television:

• The Ed Sullivan Show (as Toast of the Town), premieres on CBS, with guests Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
• Candid Camera (as Candid Microphone) premieres on CBS
• The first network telecast of political conventions from Philadelphia.
• The first network nightly newscast debuts on CBS with Douglas Edwards.
• Perry Como has his first television Christmas Special
• CBS begins network programming.
• ABC opens its first television station in New York.
• Marvin the Martian makes his Looney Tunes debut in Haredevil Hare. Marvin's likeness appears in miniature on both the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars.

Hit Songs:

• "Ballerina" Vaughn Monroe
• "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" Art Mooney
• "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)" Peggy Lee
• "Nature Boy" King Cole
• "Woody Wood-Pecker" Kay Kyser
• "You Call Everybody Darlin'" Al Trace
• "A Tree in the Meadow" Margaret Whiting
• "Twelfth Street Rag" Pee Wee Hunt
• "Buttons and Bows" Dinah Shore

Cost of Living:

• Bleach 21 cents 1/2 gallon
• Cantaloupe 23 cents
• Cauliflower 15 cents per head
• Chewing Gum 12 cents for 3
• Coffee 85 cents for 2 pound bag
• Fresh Chickens 55 cents per pound
• Frozen peas 19 cents
• Ground beef 55 cents per pound
• Ivory Soap 35 cents for 2 bars
• Jello 23 cents 3 pks
• Kellogs Corn flakes 35 cents for 2 pks
• Ketchup 19 cents
• Large White Eggs 69 Cents per dozen
• Morton Salt 10 cents
• Onions 49 cents 10 pounds
• Seedless grapes 25 cents for 2 pounds
• Tide Soap powder 36 cents
• Tooth Paste 47 cents

Home for sale, Long Beach, California. 2Bedroom, 1 Bath, with fireplace: $8,825

Sports:

• World Series: The Cleveland Indians defeat the Boston Braves, 4 games to 2. (their last WS title)
• Cleveland Browns 49-7 Buffalo Bills in the All-America Football Conference championship game.
• Philadelphia Eagles 7-0 Chicago Cardinals in the National Football League championship game, played in a blizzard.
• Citation became the 8th horse to win the Triple Crown. Secretariat would be the next, 25 years later.

Academy Awards:

• Best Picture: Hamlet
• Best Director: John Huston - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
• Best Actor: Laurence Olivier - Hamlet
• Best Actress: Jane Wyman - Johnny Belinda
• Best Supporting Actor: Walter Huston - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
• Best Supporting Actress: Claire Trevor - Key Largo

Pulitzer Prize:

• Drama: Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire
• Fiction: James A. Michener - Tales of the South Pacific

Mama can't sleep

Making Oosje's Birthday Cupcakes

Updates

Sheesh. It's been a long time since I managed to post. Here are some things that have been going on at Strider's House.

Nanna, Papa, Gigi and Oosje have all come to visit. We met some of Daddy's 2nd and 3rd cousins, ate different fabulous potatoes (cheesy this time), and had a good time. I guess all families have different versions of yummy potatoes. I brought "Poppa Seed Cake" as the contribution from Mama's Family Tree.

Ace ....
... cut another tooth
... is working on saying "hi" and "Ace"
... waves bye bye
... is allergic to sunscreen
... is fearless in a swimming pool and LOVES the water slide
... loves to read books and point his finger at the pages

Moolah says...
... "When we go to the beach can we walk to the other side and see the Great Wall of China?"
... (at the dinner table) "So, how did your day today?"