Birthday party fun

A couple weeks ago, my cousin's son Jett turned 1! He got an inflatable play yard for his birthday, and Victoria loved it. I had forgotten all about the picture and videos I had taken that day. She really loved climbing in it, then launching herself out into my lap. I couldn't get a good video of the launching, because I had to have my arms ready to catch her! But here are three short video clips of her playing in it:

From Deer Hunting to Bentleyville

The second half of November flew by in a blur ... a blur of deer hair, stuffed turkeys, and Christmas lights.

People who aren’t from deer hunting families are surprised when I explain what a big deal hunting is in our family. All plans, engagements, and appointments during the first three weeks of November are tentative – because if someone gets a deer, it’s all available hands on deck for the deer processing. Unfortunately, work got in the way a couple times this year, and I wasn’t able to do as much as the others. There were four deer total in our family, and the three days that were spent processing left me feeling proud of what we can accomplish as a team. The “guys” were usually out in the garage doing the tougher, colder jobs of cutting into steaks, chops, etc. I am a wimp in the cold (!), plus usually had V with me, so I developed an expertise at measuring, grinding, and wrapping – all chores that are done inside. We ended the season with plenty of ground venison in the freezer and canned venison in the cupboard. As I like to point out, it is the most local, sustainable, and organic meat available!

At the tail end of deer hunting, V and I came down with the flu. Thankfully she just got a touch of it – enough to keep her home for 2 or 3 days while she needed to sleep and rest. She only threw up once (a bottle – all over daddy’s shirt. To daddy’s credit, he didn’t even flinch). I, on the other hand, felt near death as I laid on the couch with barely enough energy for periodic runs to the bathroom. Matt took one day off of work simply to take care of his two girls. I started to feel better just in time for Matt to head up to the hunting shack for the last weekend.

From there, it was time to plan for Thanksgiving. Let me just say: we had an awesome Thanksgiving. We spent most of the day at home, which was very relaxing. In the morning, we put the turkey in the oven ...

and spent a lot of time playing with Victoria. She was being particularly silly playing with a stuffed ball that she would throw around the room. She would then chase after it, squealing, then throw it again. Fun kid!

Here she is, rocking her little Thanksgiving outfit:

She also played with her new toy from Granny Gail and Grandpa Earl:


We loaded the family up around noon for a visit to our friend Rachel's house -- my brother and mom were there, so we got to see them for a bit. My dad was home sick with the flu, poor guy. When we returned home, we put together the rest of our Thanksgiving menu. My uncle Roger came over and we had a splendid feast ... turkey and stuffing, potatoes and gravy, Texas pecan sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cole slaw, and wine we picked up in Colorado.

Last year I was too pregnant to eat much, so I enjoyed every bite this year.

As did V...



She lovveeeed stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green beans, eating about 2-3 times what she normally does for a meal (the turkey just got a "ho hum" response). What did she love even more? Pumpkin pie! After her first bite, she would lean forward and make a little noise asking for more. Lucky for her, there were leftovers for several days.

We took a couple pics of V with mom and dad:



Friday night (after my mom and I hit the Black Friday sales), we decided to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather (for MN at least -- notice we are still wearing winter coats) and head to Bentleyville. I couldn't wait to see V's reaction to the shiny lights.


She was so quiet the whole time, with big eyes soaking in the lights, the people, all the sights. As you can see, she was a pretty happy girl!


I capped off the long weekend with a quick overnight trip to see friends Erika and Aaron's new house and help E with some organizing and unpacking. SO good to see them and their cute house, try a new Minneapolis restaurant, and visit some favorite TC haunts. Thanks, guys.

November is drawing to a close, but the sun is still shining and we still have no snow. I'm enjoying the easy walking weather while it lasts -- but know I will enjoy the snow when it arrives, too!

The (Non) Holiday Shopping List ...

I love Christmas shopping. I like hunting for the right gifts and trying to think of things people will like. But I also recognize the negatives associated with our society's consumerism, and will be making an effort, where possible, to shop local and think of "alternative" gifts. Apparently I'm not alone. In the past 24 hours alone I've seen several posts along the same topic. They're good food for thought, so I thought I would share them here.


My favorite was posted by Kindred Road. It's The No New Gifts Holiday Challenge.

Another facebook post was about the 3/50 Project. For Duluthians, some local ideas can be found on the PDD Gift Guide 2011.

Finally, a friend posted this on her facebook page:

Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition (and a new Nation!)

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!

It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.

Forward this to everyone on your mailing list -- post it to discussion groups -- throw up a post on Craigslist in the Rants and Raves section in your city -- send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations, and TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other, and isn't that what Christmas is about?

These have all been good reminders of thinking of my own values (instead of being lured in by glitzy ads). I've been brainstorming about what I really want to give as part of my Christmas shopping ... I can't share them here as I don't want to give away surprises, but maybe after Christmas I'll write a post about how I changed my own Christmas shopping.

11 Months

Victoria, Hannah, and Piper, studying the world out the window.

In the past month, Victoria has amazed us with her perceptiveness. She studies things so deeply and takes in so much more than we know. She has a toy that looks like a handheld radio, and it plays classical tunes. She loves music, so she will try to keep the music playing while she plays with her toys ... hit the button, play with blocks, when music ends return to hit button, go back to blocks, etc. As a result, we know those classical tunes by heart. The other afternoon she was playing while I was folding laundry. I started absentmindedly humming while folding -- not even realizing or thinking what song. She stopped playing, stared at me a second, then crawled over to her baby radio and started the music. Even though *I* hadn't realized what song it was, she knew it was one of the classical tunes from her radio, and must have taken my humming as a song request ... which she was happy to oblige.

Speaking of blocks, she is now "building" -- using her Megablocks, she will put blocks together and take them apart. She also likes toys that nest together, even if those "toys" are plastic containers out of the cupboard. Similarly, she likes putting objects in containers/drawers/boxes. For example, last night she crawled around the kitchen to collect her shoes and brought them into the laundry room, where they promptly were placed in Piper's dog dish. For the most part we think her storage habits are entertaining ... until today, when she learned how to pull open the garbage can, and tried to dump bottle parts in it. Small wonder Daddy and I have started calling her "Tornado Victoria."

She has learned to open cupboards and drawers, and how to close her bedroom door. Some days this is educational (we say "open" and "close" as she does it fifty times in a row); some days it keeps Mommy and Daddy on their toes (we wedge a towel in her bedroom door so she can't pinch fingers).

Here's a video of her playing with plastic containers from the cupboard ... nothing special, just a little glimpse at her daily life:



She needs to know how things work. That Velcro on her shoes? Well, I hear Velcro ripping my whole way to work in the morning. Today she was mad when I put new shoes on her and she didn't know how to take the strap off. After about ten minutes of screaming and kicking in the back seat, she finally figured it out and celebrated by waving her shoe around in the air. A few nights ago we were reading a "lift the flap" book called "Where is Baby's Puppy?" For the most part books haven't interested her too much, but this lift the flap book keeps her engaged. Rather than think about the story or pictures (apparently boring to her), she can figure out the flaps. Well, that lasted only so long ... about four pages in, she grabbed a flap to lift it up, and with her super baby strength, lifted it right up off the page with a big "rippppp!" Her eyes got really big as she realized what happened, and she gingerly placed it in the exact spot on the page with a few pats to make sure it stayed put (Mommy later got out the glue). Matt and I say she must have Daddy's analytical mind.

We are almost daily watching for new walking and talking skills. She has stood on her own for a few seconds at a time, and took two quick steps to me last week. She doesn't seem to consciously realize she can do this, so there hasn't been repeat performances. While very vocal, she hasn't started using words, although a couple times we have seen the beginnings of "mommy" and "daddy" start to emerge -- last week she was excited when Daddy was walking up to the house, and yelled "da! da!" and several times while crying has said "mummummum."

Even if she can't walk, she can move around the house at lightning speed. I've taken a few video clips to show to Granny Gail:





Figured I'd better capture the crawling on video now, because we never know when she'll start walking.

We of course needed to mark 11 months with a photo of her and Victor. We put Victor next to her as she stood at the ottoman ... but she just wanted to talk to him and throw him on the floor:


Then we tried sitting her in a chair with Victor next to her. In true V fashion, with her need to always be moving and doing something, she just wanted to play and try to throw him towards Mommy.




Finally Daddy's quick fingers shot this one:


To see how far she's come, you can compare it to all the other weekly/monthly photos of her and Victor.

Cozy Cover

Next time you're at Wal-Mart, please go to the baby section and look for one of these:


Why, you might ask?

Look closer at the photo:


It's our own Miss V, taken last May.

There's another shot of her on the back of the box:


V must approve, as she seemed pretty happy with the box when we took her to the store to show her!

Surgery

After three rounds of antibiotics, a minor surgical procedure, and several trips to the vet, Hannah's salivary gland infection just hadn't gone away. The next step: remove that troublesome gland once and for all.

Hannah went in for surgery last Wednesday morning, and had some interesting surgical results. The spot on her neck had once again swelled up to about the size of a baseball. It was so swollen, and with so much dead tissue, the vet could not tell what was what. He started removing the dead tissue, and eventually came to a cyst filled with pus. Continuing his exploration, he found at the middle of that cyst a long, thread-like piece of plant material, with tiny little leaves on it.


The vet is still shaking his head over how this could have gotten into her neck. Through her mucus system, lodging itself next to a salivary gland? From the outside, through her skin? We will never know. In an attempt to get rid of this thing, Hannah's body had created an abscess around it, which was irritating the salivary gland. Amazing what our bodies can do.

She came home happy (not even as lethargic as I thought she'd be after surgery), but with the plastic cone around her head and a drain sticking out of both sides of her neck.


See those little white rods? Matt had to flush her neck out twice a day using that drain. Fluid leaked out all over her ears, neck, chest, and the cone. Very gross. I will be happy when I can give her a good bath.

The drain was removed at her recheck yesterday. The vet said everything looks great and then chuckled when he watched Hannah trying to get into our laps while wagging her tail and "talking" to us -- "ha ha ... Hannah, she sometimes acts like she's 10 months old, not 10 years!" He said Hannah is in great shape for being 10 years old. Makes me happy that we have done our best to make her a happy and healthy pup.

I think she's reached her cap on medical issues for the year, though ... the cyst removal, allergic bronchitis, infection, abscess removal, not to mention all the regular visits for vaccinations and check-ups ... I proclaim us finished with vet visits for the year (hopefully).