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Maddox is quickly turning into a little boy. Every day he does something new that surprises me. It is apparent that he is paying attention to everything. We were sitting on the back steps early in the morning and a neighbor’s dog barked. Maddox started patting his leg and saying “Da! Da!”. He says “Da” for everything, but with different inflections. The patting his leg is the sign for “dog”. It was neat to see that he had been watching and learning.

We started baby swim lessons this week at UCSF Mission Bay. The pool is indoor and heated. It is on the second floor with one entire wall of windows overlooking the San Francisco Bay. Not a bad way to spend a Monday morning! So far the class is baby socializing and getting used to to doing water things while singing songs and hanging out with Mom. Maddox even went under water twice (on purpose)! To get the babies to hold their breath and close their eyes, you blow in the baby’s face then quickly dunk them while pulling them under water toward you.

The soundtrack to my life right now is “DA”.  Everything is da.  He has said it about a hundred zillion times just since I started writing this post. It’s amazing how many inflections and intonations he can make with just one word. It means cow, dog, cat, what is that?, I want that, daddy, drink, Lets go over there, and on and on.

Pointing is the other big thing. He points at EVERYTHING. The pointing is most often accompanied by a “Da!”. He will point one way with one hand and the other way with the other hand when there is just so much to look at he can’t decide what is best. Other times when he really really wants something and he wants to make sure you know what it is, he points with all his might and stares at the object until it almost catches fire. Then there is the Double Point – both arms outstretched and pointing at a single object. Often the Double Point is at a person that he wants to go to, or be picked up by.

but too cute not to share!

In keeping with the weeks theme of Country Fair, the birthday party was all decked out. It was held at the grandparent’s house, in the front yard. We had all the must-have fair elements – Grandpa’s Blue Ribbon Chili, corndogs, lemonade, watermelon, a bull head for roping, and even a petting zoo (one rabbit)!

Thank you everyone who came out to help us celebrate!  It would not have been a celebration without our good friends and all our new baby and little girl friends!

In September we celebrated Maddox’s 1st Birthday by going down to LA to visit the grandparents. The theme of the week was Country Fair. We stayed at the Pomona fairgrounds where the LA County Fair is hosted so we could come and go to the fair as often as we pleased. I’m a HUGE fan of the Fair. I love everything about it (except the Midway). I love the farm animals, the food on a stick, the pulled pork and bbq ribs, the lemonade, the crafts, the homemade food contests, the buildings upon buildings filled with gadgets and got-to-have do-dads, the tram, the photography exhibits, the beer, the wine tent, the plant showrooms, and the childhood memories that all of those things bring back.

Maddox loves watching the animals, but wasn’t so sure about them when they were so close. He realized while he was busy looking one way at the goats, a sheep could sneak up from the other way and nudge his foot. He held his legs up as high as he could and his toes curled in for protection.

Eventually he decided it was safer to watch from atop Daddy’s shoulders.

This year the Fair had an African Safari theme. There was a whole area set up with exotic animals and “Rangers” standing by to answer questions. We saw camels, zebras, ostrich, wild dogs, a hedgehog, porcupine, and several other animals that I don’t remember. I think overall Maddox preferred the domestic farm animals area because we could get up close and personal.

Late one night with Maddox asleep in the Ergo, I was able to “pet” the albino hedgehog. It vibrated and stuck me every time I touched it. Later I went back during the day and pet the thing while it was asleep (no pricking). Ha!

[Drinks in hand, Yay for the Fair!]

Last Friday it was about a million degrees here in SF. We called up our friend Juniper (22 months ish) to meet up at a community pool.  With logistics such as naps and lunches and parking to deal with, I decided to just go to the hardware store and pick up a $10 kiddie pool.  It was a hit.

Last weekend we visited the Tilden Park Little Farm in Berkeley. They allow you to bring in celery and lettuce to feed the animals. Maddox and I had been once before but we hadn’t known to bring something to feed.  This time we were ready for those animals! The goats were very pushy and demanding. If they caught a glimpse of green they would stuck as much of their body thorough the fence as they could.  Some could get a full leg out in hopes of getting the attention of some little kid with celery. Maddox was a bit fearful (and rightfully so).

{I think this photo is kind of funny with the celery in focus}

He was much more relaxed around the black sheep. They were far more pleasant to be around. Maddox fed one of the sheep all by himself.  Very cute.  Unfortunately we don’t have a photo of that (it was over as soon as the sheep touched the celery).

The farm is super cute. It is situated on a gentle slope surrounded by trees. There are cows, sheep, pigs (that were inside trying to stay cool on this visit), rabbits, ducks, chickens, turkeys, and goats.

After we fed the animals and checked out the chickens for a while we played a little ball on the grass and had some snacks. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Maddox’s 1st birthday is coming up and I’m pulling together some ideas for kid food. The party will be small and mostly adults, but there will be a few kids. I’m not sure if anyone still feeds their kids hotdogs these days, but these sure look fun!

I wonder if the pasta inside the dog actually cooks or if its a hard little toothpick of pasta.

Its official.  The kid is crawling. July 18th Maddox started crawling for reals. Life has been changed forever. He is a little less complainy because he can get around himself and reach more things, but on the other hand he is more complainy because there are more things he is not allowed to have.  Also he doesn’t want to be held very much these days.  All he wants to do is crawl and pull things off shelves. I’m still trying to find a good place in the city to take him to crawl that is free from urban debris.

Here are a couple videos of Maddox in action:

I woke Dallas up this morning with some happy birthday songs played on the bedroom speakers – an instrumental version, and a NKOTB version. We opened gifts and had a birthday breakfast before he went off to work. Happy Birthday!

These photos are from a picnic about a month ago up in Tilden Park, Berkeley.

Ages ago Cheyenne made the cutest little plush doll for her daughter. As soon as I read about it on her blog I knew I had to make my baby one. Of course weeks turned to months, and months turned to more months and it never happened. Cheyenne was kind enough to then also make my baby one. Thank you!

Well I finally got around to making one myself. It isn’t the most well made thing I’ve ever done, but it was fun to make. I used an old brown cashmere sweater I never wear, and a retro looking stretched out T-shirt of Dallas’, with a sprinkling of coral fabric that we used as table runners in our wedding. I really like that I was able to work in fabric from personal sources. Along with organic cotton batting, I also packed the doll with empty baby wipes packaging to make it crinkle. The ears are stiff with the crinkle material.