man cold

Naiya and I had had this wet, raspy cough for a couple of weeks.  She didn't seem to mind it but I experienced a few days of uncharacteristic extreme exhaustion.  Just when I was starting to feel a bit better though, Ryan picked up the exhaustion piece and a low grade fever, chills and all over pain that lasted for four or five days as well.  Despite his desperate condition, I couldn't help but tease him a little about his Man Cold...

After missing several days of work and with the fever still coming and going, he broke down and went to the doctor.  Turns out that while we ladies just had the standard virus with everlasting cough, he had pneumonia.  My poor little bunny.  I've not seen him so ill in all the time I've known him.  In all seriousness, I wish there was more I could have done for him.  He just slept a lot and I got Naiya out of the house as often as I could so he could get some rest.   With his sense of humor still thriving, he actually got his doctor to write him this prescription:

(I've sloppily blocked personal info to maintain the privacy of the innocent.)
Thankfully, he rested well with this and several other medications and my dear man is on the mend.

for those who wonder from whence come those curls

Naiya with her daddy.

Our last hurrah of Summer was celebrated with a day at the cold Oregon coast.

gnomes in the garden

   Back in the day, I was one of those folks who thought garden gnomes were kind of tacky.  It's funny how having children with magical imaginations can change one's perception and judgment of the world. 
   This guy made his first appearance at Naiya's birthday party last year surrounded by a troop of toadstools.  After that festive event he somehow found his way to our back yard and every now and again we find him hidden under different shrubberies.  Sometimes he disappears for days then resurfaces, to our daughter's amusement, hidden beneath a fern or amongst the bamboo stalks.  I'm still wary of plastic pink flamingoes but I have to admit I enjoy this fellow quite a lot.

   Ryan sometimes tells stories to Naiya about Ladybird the Ladybug and a few months back, Ladybird came across a gnome in a tall blue cap (just like the one in our yard!)  I didn't hear this narrative firsthand, but I later learned from Naiya that the reason he (and all gnomes) appear to be statues is that they're only awake at night.  The sunlight apparently freezes them in their tracks.  How Ryan learned this bit of lore I do not know.  He's got some otherworldly knowledge that trickles out of him now and again.

 
   A few weeks later, another gnome was introduced in the Ladybird story.  This one had a racing snail and, wouldn't you know it, the next day he showed up in the back yard too.  They're sneaky little characters and oh so tastefully enhance our enchanted garden.

trees in the grass

Ryan had this funny idea recently to let a patch of our side lawn grow wild.  He just wanted to see what would happen.  I don't know if you can tell in the photo but there's this organically shaped swathe of foot high seeding grass, clover and some sweet little yellow flowers out there that we've taken to calling our meadow.

I'm not sure how the neighbors feel about this.  (Perhaps they figure our lawn mower broke.)  Our bee friends, of course,  absolutely love it.  Since we're regular users of a push mower, I think Ryan likes that there's just a little less work to do.  Come to think of it, maybe that's why he made the suggestion in the first place.


 

What Naiya really loves are the tall stalks of seeds.  I don't know if she thought up this verse herself.  My guess is it was something she heard at school.

She begins by holding up a stalk which does, indeed, look like a tiny tree.

"Here is a tree in Summer," she says...

She then runs her free hand up the "trunk" of the tree effectively removing all of the "leaves".

"Here is a tree in Winter..."

Then she sprinkles the removed "leaves" down over the tree.

"And here is the silver rain," she concludes.


She spends a moment to find another stalk and delights in the transformation again and again.

pine cone bird feeder

This Winter we've been especially vigilant about filling our bird feeder.  In the weeks before the cold spell and snow we had over twenty birds at a time in our tiny back yard in the late mornings:  flickers, chickadees, nuthatches, song sparrows, scrub jays, robins, juncos and a few unknowns.  This is a greater variety and grander numbers than we've ever seen gathered near our home before.  Ryan has been giddy.  (His old friends like to tease him about the bird call CD Ryan kept and played over and over in his car during his high school days.)  The man likes birds and is passing his fondness and appreciation for them on to our dear daughter. 

So today, with daddy home early, we decided to direct our afternoon crafting into a treat for our feathered friends by creating these naturally delicious pine cone bird feeders.

This is a great simple project even for very young children. 

We began by tying twine around one end of the cone leaving enough length to hang the finished project from our desired location. 

We then slathered nut butter into all the nooks and crannies.  (We used almond butter because it's what we had, but any nut butter would do.  I've also heard shortening works just as well.)






We then rolled the sticky cone in bird seed.



We hung it near our existing bird feeder because we don't have many options in our little space, but I have always thought it would be lovely to fill a tree with ten or twenty of these and watch the frenzy it would be sure to create.

giving

Naiya loves birthdays, gifts and cards.  She enjoys them for herself, of course, but her pleasure and excitement are equal if not greater in the giving than in the receiving. 
Last year for my birthday we were in the garden department of a local store when she saw some pink gardening gloves.  At the time she had a pink obsession and declared that those must be my birthday gift.  Daddy helped her wrap them for me when we got home. 
Since my birthday is coming up again, she and daddy have been discussing some birthday ideas once more.  A few days ago though, just she and I were at that same store and in the same department as last year.  "Mommy," she says to me in a sly tone, "you have to look over there.  Don't look at me."  I wandered over to the birdseed.  She came over a few minutes later with a pair of purple gardening gloves.  Same as last year.  New color.  "Are these the right size?" she asks.  They're not.  I have giant man-hands so I help her pick out the large.  She brings them back over and puts them in the cart under her hat.  Apparently she has already forgotten that she showed them to me.  "You can't look under here mommy.  It's a surprise." 
Later in the store she can hardly contain herself.  "Do you know what I got you for your birthday!?"  She makes me guess over and over but I just can't figure it out.  At the register she hands them to this great cashier who I whisper to about their secret nature.  The cashier wraps the gloves up in a separate bag so Naiya can carry them home herself.  All the way home she makes me guess more and tells me that she and daddy are going to wrap my present together.  They end up having to make a special trip the next day because they need a particular kind of bow.
The delight she takes in giving is so touching to us both.  She is also surprisingly thoughtful.  I do actually need new gardening gloves almost every year.  For Ryan's last birthday she picked out towels.  At first this seemed like an odd choice.  We were in a store just before Ryan's birthday last summer when she saw them and I figured she just liked the colors or just wanted to give him something and that was what was there when the thought occurred to her.  She explained to me though that she wanted these two particular beach towels because she and daddy often go swimming together and one was for him (the one with flowers like his work shirts) and one was for her (bright pink).  A gift to make more special this activity that they already share. 

olallie lake

View from the resort check-in and store at Olallie Lake.
Just up the road from Olallie is little Monan Lake.






We took this trip up the mountain and down a treacherous road to Olallie Lake in the first stretch of August. Ryan was up by himself for a couple of days fishing then Naiya and I joined him later in the week. There had been a fire there some years ago and the resort and cabins were closed until this year. They're rustic with no electricity and no running water but they do have wood burning stoves and two queen beds (with real mattresses) as well as cold water taps outside and a table, dresser and usable counter tops inside. We determined that these few comforts made all the difference for comfort in "outdoor" vacationing. It's sort of like camping but you can easily stand up, your feet stay somewhat clean and the beds are very cozy (unlike deflating camping mattresses). Ryan caught fish trawling from the small row boat he rented, but mostly we just relaxed and went on some really lovely hikes. It was our favorite lake of the summer.
Olallie Lake is one of Oregon's cleanest with snow melt as its main source of water. While only 40 miles from Portland, there are few signs of civilization there and in the lake itself, no motor boating or swimming are allowed.

genuine train ride

We hope you all had a festive and joyous holiday season. Ours was full of activity now that our little one has a firm grasp on all that fills our world in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Naiya was so thrilled with all the lights this year that we tried to get them in at every opportunity. Sometimes this just meant walks around various neighborhoods but we also tried to jump aboard a few of the other holiday offerings in town. This included a trip on The Holiday Express. We were on the old Southern Pacific Steam Train #4449 and took just a short journey about twenty minutes up the river and back that included a visit from Santa. Naiya hadn't been on a real train before and mostly enjoyed the bit when her daddy took her to the in-between cars space so she could feel the wind racing through her hair. This ride is a local fundraiser for the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation. Its mission is to build a permanent home for the City of Portland's three historic steam locomotives.

the good cookie

Naiya: I want a hamburger!
Daddy: Do you want daddy to make it or do you want mommy to make it?
Naiya: Daddy! Daddy is a good cookie.

ryan fitzgerald

At the moment I haven't anything to say here really.

It's rare that I take a photograph that I like this much of someone that I love as much as I love this man.

christmas eve

This is, by far, the most snow either of us remember seeing in Portland. I don't know if the pictures do it justice. When walking in the back yard, Naiya sank in up to her thighs in a few places. Because of the way we're situated at the top of our tiny hill, our yard gathers more snow than almost all of those around us.
Thanks again to Oma and Opa for the lidded sandbox/swimming pool/sled. We really wanted to pull Naiya around the neighborhood and Ryan found the only sled like object we had. That crab sand box is so multi-functional! She laughed a bit hysterically as he ran down the sidewalk with her in tow.
Merry Christmas to all!

a glowing daddy

Naiya and her daddy had this exchange the other day while shopping:

Naiya was a bit fussy and didn't want to sit in the cart. She was getting loud and super wiggly with her daddy. When she does this kind of thing, he holds her firmly by the shoulders and asks her to look him in the eye. He talks to her about what she's doing and she usually responds quite well to this form of discipline. The one rule she is really good at remembering is "No screaming. No crying." which she will sometimes immediately blurt out when she thinks she's about to get a talking to. During this particular encounter though, things didn't get that far. Ryan held her and said, "Naiya, look at me." She stopped wriggling and stopped fussing and just closed her eyes. She wouldn't open them. Just sat in still silence. After a few moments Ryan couldn't help himself and started to giggle. With her eyes still closed Naiya started to giggle too. I guess eventually she opened her eyes and they just started laughing together with their faces inches apart.
Ryan was kind of glowing when he told me this story. He thought she was so wonderful. Do men glow? I think so. At least the daddy ones

labor of love

And here it is!  The (mostly) finished playhouse that daddy built for his little girl.  I am in awe of the man's skills.

a special tree

This year Ryan went out wood cuttin' with the boys.  Along the way they decided to get a permit and chop down their own Christmas trees from somewhere deep in the forest as well.  In the end Ryan was unsure about the wisdom of this decision and asked if we ought to fetch ourselves a more proper tree instead.  Personally, I think it's one of the best I've ever had.

camp sherman again

We had a lovely visit in Camp Sherman this weekend with Naiya's grandma and grandpa. The weather was perfect and afforded us a nice walk from their house, through the grounds of Lake Creek Lodge and down to the river. Naiya fell asleep while her daddy carried her, and I was surprised his arms didn't fall off with the massive 21 pound burden after 45 minutes or so. Still, it was a beautiful walk.
Restoration at the Lodge is coming along nicely with two new natural stone/wood bridges spanning the creek and all of the recently planted vegetation greening in fairly rapidly. We sat out in the sun for a bit and actually took some photos around the house and on the walk. The Metolius is one magical river. I couldn't say exactly why...

the word of the day is poo

story as told by daddy

Today was the fourth day of October and the fourth day of Naiya Sophia’s life. We have been home from the hospital for two days with Dionne’s parents playing a supportive role. Today we took a trip to Target to pick up a couple of nursing bras and some warm clothing for Anke. While they were in the dressing rooms I had been wandering around with my daughter. Upon hearing a small squishy explosion in her diaper I immediately began to search for her mother. Not to avoid the responsibility of the change, mind you, but to let her know I was headed into the bathroom for our first public restroom changing. I found her after about two or three minutes of searching and let her know what I was doing. Then the adventure began.

As I said, this was the first time I had changed her in a public restroom. It was also the first time I had opened up a public changing station.

As you walk into the restroom, the first thing you see is the changing station. You walk down a short hallway (four or five paces) and turn left to go to the stalls, toilets and sinks, but I stopped and opened the changing station. There were no changing table covers. The dispenser was empty, but I did not take this as a bad omen. I just pulled the blanket out of the car seat I had been carrying her in and laid it down on the table. I put a new diaper under the old one and opened it up.

I should say at this point that Naiya’s poo isn’t that bad at all. It’s yellow, with some green chunks that look kind of like spinach. It doesn’t smell, and changing her diapers is not difficult or disgusting. I say this with much thanks to the lords of karma that set me up in a Target bathroom today. Upon opening her diaper I found a pretty big mess, nothing I couldn’t handle, but a mess. I wiped her bum, and pulled the bad diaper out, everything is looking great, at which point she decided she wasn’t done. Now I know that kids have a tendency to continue going to the bathroom after their diaper is removed. I mean, who would want to sit in poo, but Naiya has some special powers I was unaware of. I lifted her legs to finish wiping her bum and she let loose. I don’t mean she pooed or peed a little. It was an arcing shot of poo that literally traveled five feet through the air. Her yellow and green poo splattered all over the floor for a stretch of about four to five feet, right in the entry way. This is when three other people happened to be coming into the bathroom. So I am holding Naiya on the changing table (it hadn’t occurred to me that those straps might be a good idea), trying to clean her all over again, getting out a third diaper, attempting to wipe poo off the floor, and directing traffic around the poo. One of the poor fools who happened in upon me was an employee too. At this point I was really wishing I had four hands. But I got everything cleaned up, and Naiya back in her car seat (which also had to be cleaned... I am telling you there was poo everywhere). I stuffed her blanket into our diaper bag because there was no way I was putting that thing back on her, and I went on to cleaning the floors. Now as you probably know, the brown paper towels they give you in a public restroom are really good at pushing liquid around, but they aren’t all that absorbent. So I was pushing her puddles around for a while until I couldn’t really see all the yellow color on the floor and picked up all the chunks. Then I grabbed my daughter and left as quickly as possible. I don’t even know if the kid who worked there told anybody about the mess, but I left in a hurry and never found out.