The Universality of Left Brain Dysfunction

So during a rare moment of having my arms free today, I picked up
one of my favorite books of poetry and read a few pages.  Oddly, the
page I opened to first was this poem, which I thought should possibly
be re-named 'On Parenthood';


The Armful, by Robert Frost

For every parcel I stoop down to seize
I lose some other off my arms and knees,
And the whole pile is slipping, bottles, buns,
Extremes too hard to comprehend at once
Yet nothing I should care to leave behind.
With all I have to hold with~ hand and mind
And heart, if need be, I will do my best.
To keep their building balanced at my breast.
I crouch down to prevent them as they fall;
Then sit down in the middle of them all.
I had to drop the armful in the road
And try to stack them in a better load.


Riley's cutting his third tooth today. Poor little dude.
This brings to mind that I'd promised pix of the first two...

He's protesting against his prunes + rice cereal here.
If you zoom in, you can see his two new chompers on the bottom.

peace out.

Catching up

So it's been a goodly while since I updated mostly because we've been busy but also because our sleeping schedule is once again on the fritz, and I seem to have less patience than normal [more later]. Where to begin....

Spring has sproinged here, finally. The trees are green and there is pollen everywhere [related to the above]. Before all this lovely weather hit us, we took a trip down to St. Louis to visit my family and stop by Wash. U. for some work-related items. This was Riley's first trip to STL since Christmas, and he's now big enough to notice the family dogs. They're awesome, aparently. He also discovered wind chimes. We were able to take an afternoon to visit the MO Botannical Garden [where we were married], to take advantage of the weather and see the garden in all its springy glory. Here are some related pix;

Here he is destroying these flowers. He liked the texture. Some ended up in his mouth.

Feet are fun! Oh, and he can finally sit in his stroller without the car seat.

With my Dad, exploring the wind chimes.

The weekend after [Mother's Day weekend] we flew to PA for a wedding on Rew's side of the family. Riley got to play with his cousin Brenna, who very nicely shared her toys and bedroom with him. He also got to visit with both of Rew's parents while we were there. On Mother's Day, we had brunch with Grandma, and then the three of us went to another garden [I like gardens] called Chanticleer that was fairly close. This was a great way to spend the day!

'sup?

With Grandma, at the wedding.

Mother's Day in the garden.

Family portrait [can you find me?]

So, since the weather has improved, we've been spending a lot of time outdoors. It turns out Riley loves it. He enters this sort of Zen state, which I take as a good thing. However, we suspect that he has some seasonal allergies [at least, we hope that he has seasonal allergies and that he's not allergic to the cat]. He has been getting increasingly snoggy, and has developed a very sad wet cough. The Dr. thinks it might be RSV, but after giving him benedryl his condition improved drastically overnight. Time will tell, but for now, none of us is getting much sleep, and Riley has stopped eating solid foods altogether. Oh yeah - so, after a month of trying, Riley had finally warmed up to the concept of bananas and we were able to sneak in other bites of things like cereal and prunes and applesauce [although he really doesn't like applesauce]. In the last week thoug, he's boycotted all solids. So back to square 1. At this rate, he'll be 8 months old and still not eating real meals. So frustrating.

He has figured out how to shake things in the last week. This is one of his favorite toys at the moment.

Looks like we're not the only ones losing sleep. This is our nest, over the garage.