Botanical Gardens in fall

Yesterday afternoon Riley and I took a walk at the Botanical Gardens and it was a gorgeous fall day. Of course I had to take pictures. ;-) 

High atop a rock near the Koi pond 

Hello, I'm stunt boy!

Gaining many new daring tricks and stunts

What a darling child

Playing a game on the computer with dad

Jumping off the arm of the couch onto a gigantic pile of cushions. 

Wheeeeeee!!

Yahoooooo!

WaHOOOOOO!

Beautiful and inspiring

I happened upon a link to these fabulous Kenyan musicians singing their support of Obama's campaign. Their faces are so open and charismatic and the music is so uplifting that it's a must see, no matter who you plan to cast your ballot for. 

Mister Morning Glory

Occasionally, for reasons we have yet to discover, Riley will begin waking outrageously early. This morning, for example, it was five o'clock when we heard the jolly pit pat pit pat of his dear little feet. Robbie and I let out a simultaneous groan as we watched our last good hour of sleep disappear.

Later, in the kitchen, we agreed that this current phase, now about three days old, will probably end as suddenly as it began. It usually lasts about as long as you think you can stand it, which, in our case, is about two weeks, before vanishing on its own.

I guess this time around will actually be useful since we're about to fall back to daylight savings time, but as it is now, Robbie and I are working hard to sweep out the cobwebs and stay up past nine at night. 

Fall Fotos

There is no joy in the world like the joy of a nearly four year old child. They know so much and have so much to be happy about; they're witty, sentimental, dramatic and hilarious. Riley is totally outdoing himself in all respects these days and we are so delighted to be with him.

Hello, I am an amazing person

Lounging on the porch in the late afternoon

This is my humongous pumpkin! 

Getting ready to carve with Dad

On the computer with Dad!

A fine addition to a beautiful fall morning

Can we all just take a moment to revel in the fabulous Vince Giordano & his Nighthawks? These guys are the genuine article and the music they play makes me happy in my heart. 

And behold the humongous sax Mr Giordano plays. What a sound!

And there's this

Well everyone, I have some news I've been putting off delivering because it's been a source of such discomfort here in the McHouse and wasn't yet ready for public airing. Hank had to go back to his foster family. It's been hard (HARD!!) but there was no way around the fact that adding a dog to our household while Riley is so young was just not working out. We tried, heaven knows, to make it work, but after a month I knew without a doubt that despite the fact that that dear, good hearted Hank was 100% sweetheart, he was a dog (and as the vet described him, a puppy in a big dog body) and Riley is three. And being three, he would annoy, pester, tempt and otherwise irritate the daylights out of Hank and he did basically everything we told him not to do. 

We said "be calm so it'll help Hank stay calm" (that to a three year old--yeah, right!) and we said "don't invite him to play rough because he's much bigger than you and he might knock you over". We said "don't invite him to bite your light saber (or whatever the thing was) because he'll think it's ok to chew it". We explained all about how to be a leader, how to be gentle, fair, and how to help Hank know what we expect of him. But Riley is three going on four and these lessons fell on sieve-like ears. 

My stress level went out the window, basically, and I was either going to go mad or we'd have to let Hanky go back. We chose to retain my sanity. 

Hank is now the forever dog of a young couple in Grant, AL, where he can be the fun-loving pup he is without worrying about being gentle enough to hang out with a small person. We loved Hank and it has been really heartbreaking to reach this point, but there was no other way. We've retained all the doggy stuff and packed it away for later, because there is a dog in our future, but for now I'm really relieved to go back to having only one wild force of nature bounding through the house. 

Musical inclination

Riley's always been able to identify melodies, even from the time he was a toddler. I remember one time in particular, right before Christmas, when he was just under two years old, we had checked out A Charlie Brown Christmas from the library. He loved the movie and watched it over and over the entire time we had it on loan and was sad to see it go back. He asked for it repeatedly and I took to avoiding the music lest it bring about despair. One day, while he and I were driving, I found myself humming the "Christmastime is Here" melody--actually I caught myself after only the first three notes of the melody--and from the back seat I heard R call out sadly "Charlie Brownie!!". Busted. 

So anyway, that's how it is for him. He hears a melody and he remembers it, but the other day he really cracked me up. We had gotten in the car one afternoon and the radio was playing the theme song for Talk of the Nation before the program began. I turned the radio off and later, as we were driving, I heard Riley in the back seat, humming the theme song. Hilarious! 

Who knows what he'll be interested in as he grows, but it's pretty clear to us that he has an innate ease when it comes to music, humming even intricate tunes perfectly. Robbie and I have had to put a lot of stuff on the back burner, including much of our music playing, but I think we'll see the day when we'll all be down in the music room playing music together.

Yeah, that's real Mavricky alright

And this woman claims a moral high ground? What a crock.

Everyday beauty

There's a screen built in to the sidewalk at the entrance to Riley's school that I am very fond of. It has all the elements of design that I admire; simplicity, functionality, but also beauty as an indulgence. Over the sixty-some years that the building has stood, stray seeds have germinated, making each segment of the screen into is it's own discrete little garden. The overall effect is so beautiful that yesterday, when I went to pick Ri up, it stopped me in my tracks. 

Can you believe these lovely wee things are underfoot every day?

A bigger image begging to be printed in large format and hung over my desk

The Farmer in Chief

This author, Michael Pollan, has hit the nail on the head once again with his open letter to the incoming president, titled The Farmer in Chief, on the subject of America's food. You'll be surprised by what you read. 

Plus, if you're interested in how our food production impacts us and our world, check out his website--he's written a lot of really insightful essays and books.

Peter Pan!

Riley loves Peter Pan and he's so into the character that I had to make him a Peter Pan hat. As you can imagine, he looks adorable in it! We had some fabric left over so I made a wee hat for his boy Rascal too.

Our little Peter Pan!

Impish!

A side view

Rascal in his Peter Pan hat

Shall we look at some pictures?

Hey, don't go freaking out about my last post. I'm not teetering on the verge of the abyss or anything, so just settle down already. ;-)

Riley and I took Hanky for a walk this morning since Robbie's out of town today and tomorrow, and it went reasonably well until Hank got carried away and bolted off to greet another dog being walked. Everything was fine till he started pulling my arm out of its socket and the stroller got yanked out of my hand and began rolling down a hill (with Riley in it) and I had to make a split second decision. I chose Riley, obviously, and had to just watch as Hank flew across the street and began circling the other dog, who thankfully was about the size of Hank's paw, but was quite put out at Hank's boldness. I got the stroller wheels locked down and ran to retrieve Hank, which was thankfully quite easy, but then, as I navigated the steep bank of wet grass to get back to the stroller I totally wiped out and landed right on my behind. Nice. It's quite a handful navigating the stroller and a strong dog.

The angelic boy

Two dudes just hangin' out

There is no love of life like that experienced by a three year old! 

The fall

I don't know what it is about this time of year but it gives me a lot of really mixed feelings. On one hand it fills me with a specific excitement that has to do with the smell, the crispness in the air, and the gorgeous thin, lemonade colored light. And there's the anticipation of holidays to come with baking, decorating, music and lights to share with our darling boy.

But there's been something else coloring my feelings for the last couple of days, which I think has something to do with the season of life I'm in paired with current events. I haven't really worked out what it is, but it struck me the other day as I was in Sears riding down the escalator. Looking around the store, which is clearly trying very hard, but hanging on by a thread, I was filled with a sudden sadness. The once mighty Sears, (Chicago's own!) having fallen so far now, seemed to epitomize so many things that used to be fine and are now either shadows of their former selves or are sullied to the point where there seems no going back. 

I have so many questions and fears about where we seem to be going as a culture and the damage we're doing to our planet. Is our culture really as vapid and self absorbed as I perceive it? Is the pervasive consumerism and persistent ignorance actually going to succeed in sinking our communal boat? I know a lot of folks who'd like to get off, but aren't seeing a way. 

We'd love to find a place where we could scale waaaaay back and foster a community with people who share many of the same values that we do, but it's hard to imagine, given these rocky economic times, how we'll get there right now. We're not letting that goal go though, because the nostalgia I've been feeling recently isn't for a time or a place, but rather for authenticity and connection, and we're not finding too much of that here. (not yet, anyway)

So many of our cultural offerings these days feel false and treacly to me. To use the parlance of the current election, they claim it to be Main street but it's Wall street all the way. The neighborhoods with faux homey names, the 'green' Walmart with the 'downtown' look to the exterior, the anonymous strip malls, the hateful talk radio, the 7 year old girls dressed up like sex pots, it's all so dreadful. What we're looking for, and what I'm needing these days, is sincerity. Some place or some situation that doesn't leave me looking around, mind-boggled by the artifice. 

Now then. How's that for a fine pick-me-up? ;-) See what fall does to me? They say the ancients used to perceive it as a time of death, so surely lamenting the state of our culture isn't so bad, huh? 

Parkin' it up

Riley and I took Hank for his walk this morning while Robbie supervised the last of the work the contractors did on our house, so of course a stop down at the park was in order. An elaborate game of fireman was the order of the day, broken only by observing three crows noisily attempting to run off a hawk.

Scanning the horizon for fire!

Silly birds!! 

Trotting about like a little pup!

We've discovered that the key to everyone enjoying their time hanging out in the back yard is to give Mister Hank a ball to play with while Riley toddles about and does his little boy thing. Their paths mesh occasionally, but mostly Riley plays on the play set and Hank frolics about, kicking up his paws and having a high ol' time chomping and chasing his ball. It's most amusing and very cute! You can really see the puppy that remains in him, even at 14 months old, when he's out playing in the yard. He's a fine fellow, that Hank.

Hank and his ball--a perfect match!

The coy look

Breakfast with Knights

I just had to post this photo that I took of Riley's table earlier today. He'd been playing with his Playmobil guys and had them set up on one of the play rocks as he ate his cereal. Riley chose to eat his cereal dry today, and apparently he felt that the little men must be hungry too, because he had placed, ever so carefully, a lone flake upon each little figure. 

Thusly:

I can hear him saying, in his sweet, solicitous voice, "here you go, guys!". 

And while we're watching videos...

Watch this amazing video by an insightful 10 year old kid. 

And another one bites the dust

Now we're all sick; Riley's nearly fully recovered, I'm dog sick and Robbie's just coming down with the McCold. :-/ 

There's an elaborate Playmobil knight battle being fought around my computer as I type. It's between the "incredible bandit", the prince and the "green meanie" knight. Very hilarious!

This man is so right on!

If I passed this guy in the isles at Walmart I'd never in a million years imagine how movingly he could speak on the subject on race and justice. He's the secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO and speaks with a great deal of sincerity and passion. I had tears streaming down my face as I watched this video clip. (yeah, some surprise there, huh?) Check it out and pass it on! 

You knew it was coming

Riley's feeling much better and was actually able to go to school today, but this morning I felt my throat becoming raw. The sneezing and nagging cough have followed, so it looks like it's my turn. :-/ At least it appears to be somewhat short lived, so hopefully my run-in with this germ will pass as quickly as Riley's did. 

Big news at our house is that the contractors have arrived to finish up the work on the exterior! It's the same company who replaced the windows, and we were really pleased with how that job turned out, so we have high hopes for this portion too. They're covering what little wood there is on the outside, basically the soffits and facias, with siding material so we no longer have to worry about painting. And the carpenter bees, which used to make swiss cheese of the soffit above the garage, will no longer have access to the wood, thank goodness. The next step, once this portion of work is done, is the gutter installation, and then we'll be ready to hire someone to install an awning on the porch. 

It's noisy work and we wondered how Mister Hank would feel about all the tap, tap, tapping on the house, but he wasn't too perturbed about it. 

By the way, Riley was letting us know that he was worried about being at school, and that he'd miss us, but he far and away less distressed than he's been on previous days. He wasn't even crying a bit by the time his favorite teacher, Mister Huck, took him in to show him the fish tank. When I went to pick him up he was happily playing in the sandbox and was so busy with his project that he wasn't even aware I had arrived for several minutes! :-) When he finally noticed me he came racing over, grinning ear to ear, with his arms outstretched; an image which will be forever burned in my mind as precious and heart melting. Could the child be more of a delight? Not a chance! He was literally covered head to toe in sand. It was crusted in the corduroy of his pants and imbedded into his socks. He had sand on his face, in his hair and all in his sleeves. It took no end of careful wiping to get the sand off his face and away from his eyes. 

Oh crud, it's croup

Well, we can scratch another childhood illness off--Riley has croup. 

He began exhibiting signs that he was coming down with a mild cold last night, with slight sniffles and a couple of sneezes, then this morning, at 5 AM, he woke with a sharp, barking cough. When I went to him I heard that that it was hard for him to draw a breath and as he drew air in it made a weird sound. It freaked him out (and me too, though I wore my poker face to help him keep calm) and it spiraled out of control there for a minute or so as he got more upset about not being able to breathe and cried more, which made it even harder to breathe. :-( I'd read about croup in trying to recognize past illnesses, and I remembered reading about steam helping to ease the breathing, so we got some steam going. Once he was calmed down he was able to breathe again, but he's still hoarse. They say it'll peak in about 2-3 days, so hopefully we'll have a mild case.

Gotta load this child up in the stroller and go walk Hank. It's going to be a long day. :-/

And more photos

You know I can't go a day without documenting all the remarkable things this beautiful child does. He's recently discovered that that his markers connect together and can make a very tall stack. It's amazing! ;-) 

Look how tall the tower is!! 

Of course Mister Hank is making the scene, as he does at all times. 

Let's just get a good look at that proud, happy face, shall we?

Note the big boy haircut too. It's long enough to let the cute curls do their thing, but tidier.

Another still life from Riley land. Here, he was using his large coin collection as the seasoning for his vegetables. From what he said, it made them quite delicious! 

New photos

First, I have to note that Riley did very well at pre-school on Friday. He was still upset when I dropped him off, but his teachers all reported that once he settled in he played and seemed quite content. Everyone is very relieved that it seems to be going pretty well, considering what a big change it is.

And second, we've just passed our two week milestone of life with Hank. It's been a big change for everyone, and sometimes it's been a bit overwhelming, given how much attention he needs to find his place here, but all in all it's going smoothly. 

Would you just look at that face?! Too cute!

Swoopin' in for the big smooch! 

Hank is very patient with Riley. They're great pals!

Riley playing in the hammock! He likes to lock himself in by holding the hammock closed with his hands and then go "higher and higher and higher and higher and higher!"

In the moment

Wheat bomb

Today, after I picked Riley up from Redmont, we had plans to lunch with Robbie. Alas, Robbie remembered that he had a hair appointment, so that needed to happen first. Once the hair cut was done Riley and I were both so starved we were about to begin eating our own arms, so Robbie took us to a fabulous kabob place to eat. I told the waiter that I needed to avoid wheat and that I needed help choosing an item I could safely eat. By the time our food arrived I was so freaking hungry that I just dove right in, and it wasn't till I'd had about five bites of the delicious seasoned rice with almonds that I noticed that there were other little things in the rice. It wasn't clear what it was at first, but suddenly it hit me--those little tan things are crushed pasta. It's homemade rice-a-roni! I dropped my fork like it was burning hot and pushed my plate away. Serious disappointment. I found myself sitting in the booth staring at my nearly full plate while looking ahead, two months from now, when I'll still be trying to heal the eczema and blisters on my skin. 

I know that I can not trust people at restaurants to be as careful about my food as I am, but it's not usually so obvious an error. I can eat very few things out, and even when I'm fairly certain about the ingredients that have been used, there's always the element of mystery when someone else is doing the cooking. Did they thicken this soup with wheat flour? Does this marinade contain wheat based soy sauce?* Those unknown things are land mines which leave me itching maniacally and wondering what in the world it was that got me. Wheat pasta cooked into the rice though, that really got me. That was a bomb. 

*And what in the world is with so-called soy sauce which has wheat as the primary ingredient? Here at home we use tamari, which is a soy based soy sauce, but most of the stuff used at Asian restaurants and found in the grocery stores is wheat based.  

Speaking of tamari, if you feel like having a delicious, healthful treat, try getting a big ol' bag of plain almonds from your favorite store and put them in a bowl. Coat them with tamari and then spread them on a cookie sheet and roast them on low heat till the tamari is dried. It's a fabulous, addictive snack! 

Whew!

Today was Riley's second day at pre-school and both he I had our own concerns about how it would go. I had to tell him kind of a half truth in order to even get him there, because I felt if he knew exactly what we were going to do he'd slink under his bed and not come out, which is his new tactic when faced with something he doesn't want to do. It's charming, as you can imagine. So I didn't actually tell him I was going to leave him there solo, but I didn't tell him otherwise either. As it was, we got there and while we were hanging out with the other kids and parents I began talking about the agreement we'd made last Friday and about how this is the day we'd named as when I needed him to try again. When he understood what was happening he began crying and holding on to me really tightly. I held him and said I understood it felt strange to do this new thing, but that I really strongly believed that he would be just fine and that once it was more familiar I believed that he'd come to enjoy being there. Many, many tears and heart rending begging not to leave him later, I finally peeled him off me and passed him to his teacher, who held him as I made my way to the car. It felt SO DREADFUL to hear my darling child crying for me and to walk away. The attachment he feels for me is not one sided, obviously, and my first impulse when I hear him cry is to go to him, so it took a lot of resolve to wear a calm body language and walk away from him instead. I got to the car and drove out of sight and had to pull over to gather myself together. 

Thank goodness a friend, whose daughter is in Riley's class, phoned me as soon as I got home and said that she'd seen the whole thing and knew I'd be a wreck till I knew how he was doing. She went back to the gate to check on him and saw that Riley was no longer crying and had taken his teachers hand and walked with the class as they took their morning walk around the back of the school. Knowing that put my heart at ease and I knew we'd taken a good step in the right direction. 

When I went to pick him up (about five minutes later, it felt like!) I parked nearby and meant to spy on him, but couldn't see anything, so I finally walked up to the play area where there's some shrubbery that I could lurk behind. (not really, but that's how it felt) I finally spotted him tagging along behind everyone's favorite teacher, Mr Huck, chatting it up and asking a stream of questions! It cracked me up to hear him at one point asking if Mr Huck was scared of rockets. When Mr. H said yes, that they were too loud, Riley helpfully suggested that perhaps he needed to wear some earplugs! ;-)

All in all it was like night and day. He really seemed to be at ease today and the teachers all reported that he'd seemed to enjoy himself, he'd played with the other children and even made friends with a little boy. We go again tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have a repeat! :-) 

And in other news, after he got out of pre-school Riley and I went to the hospital and met Mimi for lunch and then went up to see Poppy! Leon's out of the ICU and in a regular room, so that's a big step in the right direction. He's back walking and building his strength and has high hopes that he'll be back at home in a week or so. He says he's tired, but given how much his body is having to work to heal from the two surgeries (the transplant, then the installation of the drain) it's no wonder he's tired. There's no sign of rejection of the lung, so we're all keeping our fingers crossed and looking forward to the day when Leon's able to do all the things he has on his want-to-do list. 

Now, off to make dinner! Robbie's due back this evening and we're all fired up to watch the VP debates.