The Nearsighted Leading the Untrained

My dad and hi wife Susan are at the beginning of the yearlong or so process of fostering a guide dog. He and Susan have a 4 month or so old Black Lab puppy named Slater. He is a very good and calm puppy, but even so, Maceo is a mite bit cautious around him, especially since the dog comes up to about Maceo's armpit. Last Saturday, though, they appeared to have had a breakthrough in their relationship.

The Plague, The Snowquester, and the Apocalypse

Last Thursday, we woke up to a sick little boy. Kate stayed home the first half of the day with him and I came home for the second half. Maceo was asleep for pretty much the whole day. Friday, Mom came in for emergency duty and both Kate and I went to work. Maceo did the same thing he'd done on Thursday--sleep curled up on the nearest adult body. It was very sad. Saturday continued the same, but now Kate and I started feeling a little under the weather. While I fought it off with my tough Germanic/Irish constitution, Kate's softer mediterranean side let her down and she's been sick ever since. As the only functioning person in the house, I felt a lot of responsibility, especially with the huuuuge snow storm approaching. Monday, we all stayed home, although Maceo probably could have gone to school. Kate, however, could barely move. Tuesday, Mace and I did go to our prospective schools and Kate felt a little better. Wednesday, we awoke to rain and some large flakes and cancelled schools and jobs. This was a boon for Kate, as she was going nowhere if she could help it. But Maceo was ready to go. So, we called in the special forces--Julian! He and his mom came over in the morning to play, and then we went over there in the afternoon. I think you'll be able to tell that Maceo feels a little bit better when you see him here in action.

Dancing the Night Away

The other night, Maceo was in a dancing mood. This feeling translated into multiple dances, lots of laughs, and some strange interpretive moves. The music in real life was the ABC song and "Alice the Camel." But there was enough footage of both sessions that I decided to set them to other music and edit them together to get this. I particularly enjoy the ending move of some weird version on either Downward Facing Dog or half a cartwheel.

FLA!

We flew down to Orlando last weekend to visit our friends Crista, her husband Feroz, and their 16 month old Sabrina.

Maceo did a great job down on the plane and a pretty good job coming back. He loved the two airports, especially the Orlando one because it has a train between terminals.

Riding it and watching it arrive and depart on the tracks was a highlight. On Saturday, we spent the morning visiting a nearby kids's farm and watching a rowing meet. Maceo, of course, prefered the "ra-ra", but the enormous pig was a hit, too.

In the afternoon, we went to the beach in New Smyrna. Once he got over his initial cold feet, he ran around, chased balls and birds, and ate sand. We don't know why he liked eating it so much, but he wouldn't stop. Hopefully, that's a phase...






We also visited Kate's alma mater. Maceo was not impressed with the books in the library.

Reminiscing about Christmas in Amherst

During our lovely, lovely time in Amherst this past Christmas, we almost thought we'd spend our five days there with no snow. Luckily, nature rewarded a (somewhat) patient 20 month old and delivered enough snow for us to sled in our favorite spot in Amherst, Aunt Lucy and Uncle Dan's backyard! Behold, a toddler's first wild and crazy ride!

Sleep, or The Way Kate Likes to Live

We begin with the Owl.

The idea is that the Owl will turn green at a certain time. This will not awaken the baby, as sleep is preciouspreciousprecious, but that when he awakens, he will know that it is ok to awaken the parents and the day will have begun. As I wrote earlier this year, travelling wreaked hell with Maceo's sleeping and he was awakening LONG before the Owl was green and hollering for us for quite some time. But recently, something switched. It was last week... I awakened at some sound from Maceo. It was 5:15 or so, but he wasn't crying. So, I went back to sleep. Then, I heard him again. I rolled over and told Kate that we should wait a little, that it was about 5:30. She retorted, "It's 6:05!" Maceo has now understood the Owl and the system is in place. He awakens at some time, and then he proceeds to play with toys and murmur until about 6, when he yells out either, "Owl!" or "Papa!" or "Mama!" and we are off to get him and praise him. And praise him we do!

The Cousins play Cars