For Beach Week 2010 we visited Rehoboth Beach, Delaware during the last week of August. Rehoboth has been part of Chris’ family for three generations. Eileen went there as a child, as did Chris and Sean, and now Dillon, Connor and Everett along with Kathy and Melissa. One part of that tradition has been Funland, which is a (mostly) indoor amusement park on the boardwalk that has scarcely changed since Chris, Sean or Eileen were children. There are still exactly the same rides which cost 30 cents each for toddlers. This week we took Everett there for the first time, and we weren’t exactly sure how he would react to all the noise, light and motion but he seemed to have no reservations at all. In fact, he was kind of a maniac. Chris distinctly remembers refusing to get on the boat ride because he decided it was unsafe:

Everett took off toward the same ride and tried to climb the wall to get into the water. Once the ride started he seemed absolutely exuberant, and as soon as it was over he ran to the fire engine ride next door, then the airplanes, the train and then the carousel. We had to put the figurative brakes on when he wanted to get on an extremely fast car ride that looked like he might be thrown off. Photos and videos are here.

During Beach Week 2009 Dillon was the only boy walking. This year all three are walking and also know how to open doors and climb stairs. This amount of development, combined with a lack of baby gates, meant virtually unlimited freedom for all of them. Bedtimes were loosely enforced; wakeup between the three of them was coordinated through loud cries, similar to a pack of wolves. Fortunately the boys wore themselves out and so at least took decent naps. It was a lot of fun but perhaps not terribly relaxing for the adults. A few memorable events:
-One afternoon Everett was sitting on a towel on the beach eating crackers from Noni when a seagull swooped down and grabbed a cracker right out of his hand. He was stunned.
-Chris realized that the significant challenge for beach photography is keeping people’s derrieres out of the camera lens: the people you are trying to photograph rarely want their own bottom in the picture, and certainly don’t want to see those of strangers on the beach. Various companies now make software for pasting faces from one photo to another. Perhaps there is also a beach bottom remover?
-In order to travel lightly we did not bring the pack and play. Instead we assumed that Everett would just sleep in a bed for the first time. But as it turned out, Chris & Melissa’s room had a giant walk-in closet with a pack and play included, so that became Everett’s special nest. Meanwhile, Connor did sleep in a bed for the first time and shared a room with Dillon, with mixed success. As a result of no containment and the ability to open doors, there was a lot of stomping around upstairs well after bedtime, as well as trips to the top of stairs to wave and say hi to the adults downstairs.
-Everett probably inherited his curly hair more from Melissa than Chris. As it has gotten longer we have hypothesized that the diameter of his curls seem inversely proportional to the humidity. More on this after further investigation.
-One night Chris was getting each of the boys a drink for dinner and he found some grape juice in the refrigerator. He immediately recalled the meals at Camp St. Charles where as children he and Sean would drink bug juice, which was basically grape Kool Aid with lots of dead bugs. So he offered the boys bug juice for dinner, thinking they would be repulsed by the idea, but in retrospect it is not surprising that they went berserk for it. Since then Everett has been picking up juice boxes and asking “Is this bug juice?”
-Hurricane Earl came through on Friday, September 3rd. There was a lot of hype leading up to it, and it certainly caused a big swell in the tides, causing the water to reach the dunes along the boardwalk. But the amount of wind and rain it caused was less than a summer storm.

The combination of Chris’ work schedule over the last few months and the computer crash in late March have put quite a damper on the website.  However, things are back online now and we will be slowly adding a bunch of old blog entries, so the diligent reader can look back over the past few weeks and find the new ones that were added.  We decided to do this to keep everything in chronological order.  I’ll also try to add a few new videos here and there.  Stay tuned, and check the old blog entries often.

Summer in Wisconsin is synonymous with frequent fairs and festivals, almost enough to make up for the long winter.  We have not yet been to SummerFest but have been to the Wisconsin State Fair a few times, and this year we went to the Renaissance Faire for the first time.  Everett has developed a southern accent, at least with certain words, one of which is fair.  As in “Can we go to the State Faya?”  Most readers will probably recall that our house is about a mile or two from the Wisconsin State Fair grounds, which is easy biking distance, and this year we connected the Burley to the tandem and made two trips to see the goats, pigs, cows, sheep, ducks, rabbits and chickens.  The sheer number of animals at the State Fair is truly overwhelming.  They are not a novelty, like a petting zoo.  Rather, there are probably a dozen large, permanent structures, each the size of a football field, which are dedicated for this purpose.  Cash prizes over $10,000 are awarded for some of the best of each breed; families spend several days tending to their animals during the competitions.  This is serious stuff for children and grownups alike.

This year at the state fair we discovered two things. First was an underworld of home kitchen & garden competitions.  One entire building was lined with tables and refrigerators that contained a wide range of self-made categories that are open for competition.  These range from “Largest Hosta Leaf” or “Strangest Shaped Vegetable” to “Best Sleepover Snack” to wide open categories like “Spam, Adult” and “Spam, Children”.  After viewing several of these we concluded that if you need another CV line under “Honors & Awards” then just invent a category and then submit it to the state fair.  Next year we will be submitting entries for: “Best Rogue Vegetable”, in which we will enter the giant squash we accidentally grew out of our compost bin; “Tastiest Use of Cinnamon with Chicken”, which is for an unbelievably delicious Moroccan dish that Melissa makes; and finally “Happiest Yeast”, which is a nod towards Chris’ ongoing efforts to master homebrewing.  Our second discovery was there is seemingly no end to horrifying yet delicious state fair foods, most of which are either deep fried, “on-a-stick” or both.  When we were growing up the list was confined to corn dogs. elephant ears and funnel cakes.  Last year we discovered chocolate covered bacon.  This year we were confronted with some uniquely disturbing concoctions including the Krispy Kreme Burger and deep fried peanut butter & jelly.  Just take a look here and search for “deep fried”.

Other outdoor events this summer included the July 4th Parade, Tosa Night Out and Tour de Fat.  The July 4th Parade comes down North Ave in Wauwatosa, not far from our house.  Tosa Night Out is an annual event at Hart park which ends with a community walk that goes down our street.  And the Tour de Fat is a traveling bicycle festival put on by New Belgium Brewery; this year it came to Milwaukee for the first time.  Everett and Chris were able to join the bike parade on the Pugsley and then enjoy the festivities afterward.  Photos and videos of these events are here.

In the midst of all of these fairs and festivals we experienced a rather extreme weather event: several inches of rain in the course of a single day caused the nearby Menomonee River to rise about 10 to 12 feet above its normal level of about a foot or two, which was so high that the water actually rose above the bottom of the train trestle and inched toward the top of the pedestrian bridge near our house.  It’s not the highest water ever recorded here but it was close.  This was also an instance where Milwaukee made the national news due to a sinkhole on North Ave a couple miles east of us.  Here is some footage of the flood:

In June Chris and Melissa traveled for a week while Everett stayed with Gabby and Grandaddy.  This is by far the longest we have ever been away from him.  Before this trip both of us had been away for a night once or twice, and Chris has been on business trips for a few days here and there, but for this trip both of us were gone for about eight days, and Chris won’t see Everett for about two weeks because of back to back conferences.  At the beginning of this trip, Melissa drove to Cincinnati to drop E off, then flew to Atlanta and then to Buenos Aires.  Chris flew from Milwaukee to Atlanta so that he and Melissa could be on the same flight to Argentina.  Chris’ flight into Atlanta was an hour late and he had only a 50 minute layover, but fortunately the connecting flight was two or three hours late so it worked out fine.  On the plane we overheard a conversation between an Argentine man and an American woman, during which he was saying emphatically that it is “Cold, cold, cold!” in Buenos Aires right now.  Needless to say, this was not our experience.  The temperature was in the mid 60’s during the day and just a bit cooler at night.  The locals were wearing winter parkas, hats, gloves and scarves; even the dogs were dressed in sweaters.  We have read that regardless of temperature Argentinians rarely wear shorts, except when exercising, and don’t show their feet, except perhaps when wearing tango shoes.  During our stay Melissa and I each tried dressing comfortably but never did so again in public because the locals looked gravely concerned by our lack of winter gear.  Fortunately, we eventually figured out how to turn the heat off in our apartment, but even this was not as straightforward as it sounds (we turned off each radiator, only to discover that the radiators must be on or no hot water will be available for the shower).  Otherwise our apartment in Recoletta was fantastic.  From the history of Argentina we get the impression that tourism is relatively new here, perhaps in the last ten years or so.  The city is gritty and edgy.  The neighborhood where we are staying is not touristy at all, and is apparently one of the nicer areas in Buenos.  One good sign: the nearby restaurants did not have English menus, nor did the wait staff speak it, which enhanced our culinary adventures as we tried to identify the meats on our plates.  With regard to restaurants: we heard a lot about how great the steak is when we came, and after trying several types at several restaurants we can report that it really is that good.

Portenos are late night people.  We used to be as well before having Everett, but these days we are accustomed to going to bed a bit earlier and rising when E awakens.  So it took us a couple days to adjust to the dining schedule: few restaurants open before 8pm, and most locals don’t arrive for dinner until 9 or 10pm.  We also heard that most clubs don’t open until midnight, most people arrive after 2am, and getting home before 4am is embarrassingly early.  We would love to hear a description of their typical work hours.

Chris was in Buenos Aires for a conference.  On most days Melissa explored the city alone and we met up in the evenings.  The ache that we felt from not seeing Everett everyday subsided a bit after a while, though we still talked about him constantly. A few highlights of the trip: seeing Argentina win two world cup games, and getting a chance to join the crowd at a giant screen in a downtown park; dinner and tango show; seeing La Recoleta.

One thing I have never understood while traveling in Europe is the scarcity of drinking water and bathrooms.  Argentina seems to have the same problem.  These two things probably go together, but it does make you wonder if the inhabitants are chronically dehydrated.  Maybe their metabolism has adjusted, or maybe we just don’t understand the system for how to find water and where to get rid of it: drinking fountains are almost unheard of; only bottled water seems to be available at restaurants (no tap water) and it costs about the same as the wine, most of which is quite good, so maybe you learn to live without it?  Lastly, a note to self for future travel to Buenos Aires: the checkin process at Ezeiza airport is extraordinary, unlike anything I have ever seen.  It took us two hours to get from the airport entrance to our gate, and we were one of the first to arrive for checkin.  This length of time was partly because the Delta gate agents took a loooong break between each passenger for a heartwarming chat with their coworkers, and partly because of the number of steps necessary to get to the gate.  But you really have to arrive three hours early here.

Buenos Aires was a place that I liked but did not love as I have with other international destinations.  Maybe the city just isn’t its normal self in the middle of winter, or maybe I need to get used to South America.  However, it was quite an experience for us to be away from E for that long and everyone involved seemed to enjoy it, which we are thankful for in many ways.

Everett turned two years old on June 7th. In the weeks leading up to his birthday we started talking to him about age, that he was then one year old but on his birthday he would be two years old. This eventually sunk in because on his birthday he started patting his chest and saying “I’m two years old now.” For his birthday celebration we planned a party at Jacobus Park on the morning of June 5th. Photos from the party and from our own family celebration on his actual birthday are here. The party was a success in many ways, and made us realize how many friends we have made since moving to Milwaukee. It also made us realize what a bonding experience children can create among parents. Including setup, party and cleaning we were at the park for about 4 hours and Everett wanted to spend about three of those in the swing.

Later that day we gave him a farm set as a gift, the kind that Melissa and I both used to have as kids. It comes with several animals, a tractor and a barn that makes a mooing noise when you open the door. After a few minutes of playing with it Everett picked up an animal and said “This pig needs a helmet”.  We weren’t exactly sure what he was talking about until he crashed the trailer containing the pig into the tractor, and the pig went flying across the room. This is the first time we have ever observed this type of behavior, though not exactly sure what to call it.  Is this “boy” behavior?  We don’t know if such descriptions are accurate or helpful, but it’s probably not something he learned from us.

We just returned from our second annual camping trip to Clifty Falls State Park, Indiana.  Actually, this was the second time for Chris and Everett but about the 30th or 40th time for the Barber, Birch and Singer families.  The drive from Milwaukee is pretty long for us so we break it up by leaving at Everett’s bedtime on Thursday evening, driving to Indianapolis and staying at a hotel. We have been having a lot of trouble sleeping in the same room with Everett, but we are always optimistic so we were hoping that upon arrival at about 1am we would quietly transfer him to his crib and he would stay asleep the whole time. However, as soon as we stopped the car and his eyes started to flutter open he said “Hotel?”, and this was followed by a continuous commentary once we got to the room:
“We at the hotel?”
“We got a dog in here!  She saw herself in the mirror!”
“I love this bag.”
“Daddy will get the baggage.”
“Hey Chris!!!!  It’s the Daddy show!”
“Where’s the shower?  Get in the bed?”
“I need a stool.”
“It’s nighttime”
Melissa: “Everett, Are you sleepy?
“No!”
We finally got him to settle down but were never able to sleep much.  He wouldn’t stay in the crib without screaming, but having him in bed with us is like trying to sleep with a tornado. The next morning when we were desperately trying to get a few more minutes of sleep while Everett explored the room, he walked up to Melissa and said “I need some scissors.” (?!?).

The camping trip was fantastic. Lots of visiting (in the midwest sense of the word) and a few adventures here and there, like the geocaching expedition led by the Silverbacks (Grandads) and a trip to the swimming pool. This particular pool has sort of a beach section to it where you can wade in. This was perfect for Everett to get used to the water and to have some control over how deep he wanted to be. We learned about shallow and deep, had some ice cream and generally cooled off from the hot summers day.  Pictures from the trip are here.

An aside about The Daddy Show: this term originally started as the Everett Show, which refers  to when we watch movies or pictures of Everett on the poopooter (a.k.a. the computer). It’s pretty clear when this is what he wants because he says something like “WatchEverettShow? WatchEverettShow? MoreEverettShow? MOREEVERETTSHOW!!!”  After the Everett Show became part of our vocabulary, the next step was to start talking about the Daddy Show, which is when Dad is in taking care of child care or bedtime. Because Dad is less familiar with the rules, it’s usually a more rambunctious, less stringent version of when Mom is in charge.

For Melissa’s third Mother’s Day, which includes two since Everett’s birth and one where she was eight months pregnant, we traveled to Kensington, Maryland.  Chris attended a conference in Bethesda on Thursday and Friday while Melissa and Everett spent time with friends and family.  Dillon, Connor and Everett got to spend a fair amount of time with each other, which was great.  On Mother’s day Everett and Dillon got up about 6:30am, followed by Chris and Sean, while the Moms slept in for a while.  Then we had breakfast with Gary and Linda, followed by brunch with Noni at Mon Ami Gabi in Bethesda.  Then nap and a trip to BWI for an evening flight home.

While we were waiting to board the airplane, Chris folded up the stroller to check it at the gate.  Everett watched this closely, examined the stroller, and then asked us earnestly for a screwdriver (???).  Chris doesn’t carry tools on flights since the time he had a set of allen wrenches confiscated by TSA (although on that flight he sat next to a woman with sharp, foot-long steel knitting needles which are apparently ok, whereas the sharpest angle on an allen wrench is 120 degrees), so we didn’t have a screwdriver for Everett and didn’t get to find out what he had in mind.  Photos of the trip are here.

This was likely Everett’s last free flight because most airlines allow children to fly without a ticket until age two, which is in less than a month (unless we get him a fake ID).  This also symbolizes a progression of attempts by both parents to stay one step ahead of him in terms of keeping him happy and occupied.  When he was an infant we had two go-to moves that almost always made him feel better: nursing and going for a walk in the stroller.  Later he discovered Dad’s cell phone (not a good idea), and then movies.  However, these don’t hold his attention like they used to, and for the duration of the two hour flight from Baltimore to Milwaukee he did alligator rolls in our laps.  So perhaps providing him his own seat would be a good idea for everyone.

During a recent trip I noticed the cover of More magazine with the tagline “Celebrating What’s Next”.  I have no idea what the contents of this magazine are, and I strongly suspect that I am not their target demographic, but the name and tagline certainly have meaning because Everett has now reached the point where he wants more of everything: more beach, more bath, more train and especially more outside.  Most of the activities Everett is involved in are time-limited either by their very nature or because he loses interest after a while.  Not so with being outside.  He loves it and will stay out indefinitely, even if he is freezing.  And you could have a long, long wait on your hands before he has had enough.  One outside activity we meant to do last year but never got around to was taking Everett out in our kayak.  We bought a kayak a few years ago with the REI gift cards that were given to us as wedding gifts.  It’s a tandem, but is unusual because it has a jump seat for children in the rear cockpit (those who are curious can see details here).  We had already introduced him to the idea by showing him kayaking movies, giving him a life jacket and having some play time with the boat in the yard.  And in April this year we took him out for the first time.  I posted a movie documenting the event here.  We have also started taking him for bike rides in the Burley, which he seems to enjoy a lot once you can get his helmet on him.  Because both the kayak and the Burley are in the garage he will take every opportunity to walk up to the door and ask “More kayak?  More bike?”

The magazine tagline actually has a double meaning for me because I used to babysit the daughter of some dear friends when I lived in Utah.  I think she sensed my lack of experience and saw that this was something she could work to her advantage, so I became less of a babysitter and more of a cruise director.  I would dream up one activity after another for us, and at the end of each one she would look at me with wide eyes and ask “What’s next?!?”.  And she would effortlessly integrate each new activity into a rich fantasy life.  I recall being surprised at how quickly a game of Chinese Checkers transformed into an elaborate romantic tale of a prince and princess along with a large cast of other characters.

More was also one of the first words that Everett reliably communicated to us via sounds and sign language.  Here is an old (old in baby years anyway) video from August 2009.

On a different subject, we recently starting thinking about the idea of potty training.  Gabby and Grandaddy helped out by giving Everett a small toilet for Christmas, which we put in plain sight in his room but otherwise never mentioned.  Beyond that we never really encouraged the idea other than reading “Everyone Poops” from time to time.  Anyway, one day recently he said “I want to go potty”, so we put him on it and he went.  High-fives all around!  I was expecting more books, videos and angst, but I have no doubt this will allow us to save our energy for other issues.  Next step: getting rid of diapers altogether.

Hi everyone,

Well we were all set to upload three new blog entries when Chris’ laptop crashed.  This happened on Tuesday morning, and we have now been able to recover everything up to March 29th.  It is unclear if we will be able to recover the last week of work, which in the grand scheme of things could have been much, much worse.  The website is going to slow down a bit while this gets worked out, so in the meantime here are some photos of Everett and family and friends.  And here is a video of his first kayak trip:

It has been said that necessity is the mother of all invention, and with Everett’s arrival we have identified the need for the following new baby products, none of which we have ever seen and few of which seem likely to be made:
1. The Pack n’ Prison: Most parents have pack n’ plays, but these all suffer from a significant design flaw: they are open on top, allowing the child to climb the walls and escape. The Pack n’ Prison has a lockable lid on top to make sure the kid stays inside.
2. The Crib Bottle: This is really a new use for an old idea. Take one of those inverted water bottles used for gerbils, hamsters, etc. and mount it on the side of the crib with the tube pointed inward. Fill it with milk or formula and you have an on-demand baby feeder.
3. The Baby Washer: All parents have had diaper blowouts, and I imagine many have had the experience where the kid poops everywhere and then rolls in it or kicks it while you are changing him. Or the slow motion horror movie where you take the diaper off and the kid sticks his hand right in the poop, then touches his other hand, then his clothing and other parts of his body, then you. In this instance you need a way to get the kid and clothing clean without undressing and risking further spread of poop. The Baby Washer is kind of like a dishwasher but with a hole in the top for the kid’s head and without a top tray for dishes. Just put the kid in, close the door and turn it on for a gentle wash cycle that cleans baby+clothing.
4. The Baby Handle: There are many instances where you need to have a firm grip on the kid, either for his safety or your sanity or both. The Baby Handle is a body harness that is worn over clothing and which has a handle on the back, the kind you might find on a very large flashlight. With it you can grab him from behind, which could be especially useful during escape attempts.
5. The Anti-Energy Bar: Probably the main reason you don’t see energy bars for children is that they have enough already, and sometimes beleaguered parents just need a break. These energy bars would be prepared with valerian and melatonin to help take the edge off.
6. Energy-Capture device: Along the lines of the previous idea, it could be useful to capture all of the excess energy that children seem to have. Not exactly sure what this would look like, but it would be some kind unobtrusive mechanical device that harnessed energy from the movement of limbs.
7. Babarrest: This is a portmanteau, but it’s not a typo. I am not suggesting a device for helping baby rest (which would be spelled “Babarest”). No, this is a system for safely arresting the motion of a baby or toddler who is running away and is in danger or you are just too tired to chase after them. Basically it’s a special type of lasso that wraps around their midsection so you can reel ‘em in.