Update from a Slacker

Not writing for a few days that turns into a week that becomes over three weeks leaves lots of things to tell, which makes it hard to know where to begin, and what to leave out. Emelia is crawling, is pulling herself up, eats solid food, screeches far too much, and has two bottom teeth that are plainly visible but that she never shows. She doesn't like going to bed, and often she pulls herself up to standing position in the crib and cries for us to get her. She hasn't mastered how to sit down, so at least once we've heard a thump followed by genuine screams. It begs the question of how one babyproofs a crib. The nanny is working out well -- Emelia seems very happy when we pick her up at day's end.

Work isn't as bad as I remember from before my paternity leave (which is not to say that it's good). I figure it's either because the time away served to refresh me, or the emphasis on the family helped to adjust my perspective.

May 5 was Kathy's birthday, and for the weekend around it Kathy's mom and two aunts visited. On the birthday itself, we, along with various parts of the families of three of Kathy's first cousins, went to a restaurant that's owned and run by one of the cousins. Emelia was introduced to asparagus soup, which she absolutely loved.

And we had an altogether great time, which makes me wonder why we almost never get together with these cousins despite the fact that they all live in Silver Spring, less than 30 minutes from us. I mean, I sort of know why -- Kathy isn't good at keeping in touch with people, then gets embarrassed about not keeping in touch, so she decides that she shouldn't keep in touch. Sort of.

The following weekend was Kathy's first Mothers Day. We didn't do anything amazing -- instead we met up with Shizuka (also celebrating her first Mothers Day), Eric, Kaz, and Mac (someone who went to college with Kathy and Shizuka and who was in town on business). We walked along the Mall, and enjoyed a beautiful day. Kaz and Emelia are starting to interact, but there's still not that much of it.





For a week I resumed my sporadic jogging. Two days in a row I got up early, walked to Lincoln Park, and did four laps around the park, which I estimate to be a little more than 1.5 miles. I took a day off, then went three more days in a row, the last one pushing for the fifth lap. It's not the most exciting thing to jog in circles, but it was good because I don't have to cross streets, which lets me leave my glasses at home (my vision's not wretched enough to prevent me from functioning without them in such situations, but I'd never drive or read without them). What made me stop was soreness in the joints where my feet and legs come together. It could be from jogging on bricks, as those aren't the best running surface, but whatever the cause was, I stopped nearly two weeks ago, so any increase in stamina or physical condition has long since ebbed to nothing.

May 16 was Kathy's and my 8th anniversary. Kathy ordered sushi in -- yum!!

On Thursday I got a call from Kathy, quite panicky, that Nora had bitten Emelia. (For those of you who don't know, Nora is an over sized Shih Tzu, making her all of about 18 pounds.) Emelia ended up with quite a cut just below her eye, but she's fine -- she'd be perfectly content to play with Nora again, if we'd let her. Nora has never been fully comfortable around children, with their hands that poke and grab fur. At the same time, she recognizes Emelia is part of the pack. So Nora dances between keeping her distance and getting close, especially now that Emelia is eating (and dropping) solids. We can't have Nora biting Emelia, but we also know there's no viciousness -- she just didn't like Emelia's reaching at her. We're not sure whether there's a solution, other than that if it happens again, Nora will likely end up moving to a new home, either to Kathy's parents or to Tom & Anna's.

I think that brings things near up-to-date with our lives. With luck I won't let that much time go by before my next post.