We're very lucky.
Jack is the sort of child
we all assume we'll have
when we decide to have children,
and the sort of child
less experienced parents
congratulate themselves for.January and February 2004
March and April 2004
May and June 2004
July and August 2004
September and October 2004
November and December 2004
Blogs we read:
Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004 - (Mamma)
Let the Music Begin!
Rod has been going "all out" on Samhain gifts this year.
As I mentioned yesterday, he got Jack his own computer, and he also bought me a serious memory upgrade for my computer. (It makes him crazier than it makes me when my computer crashes every half hour or so when I'm working with photos...)
Not to be outdone -- in the fun department, if not the expense department -- I stopped in the toy section of the Meijer downstairs from my gym yesterday and found this:
It's a cute little thing that's part xylophone and part "baby piano". I could have been happier -- the "bug" character is less than ideal -- but Jack just loves it! He's always loved music and being able to make music himself seems to give him quite a charge!
Of course, Dad's enjoying it, too. As a matter of fact, Dad got so carried away "showing" Jack how to make songs, that he took over the toy for a bit -- until he realized that I was taking photos and Jack was across the room playing with something else. I am so mean!
Sleep -- or lack thereof
Jack still isn't sleeping well. I still don't know why. I've checked his mouth, and he doesn't seem to have any new teeth coming in. he has a very mild fever, but nothing I would have noticed if I wasn't trying to figure out the sleeplessness.
At this point, my best guess is that the antibiotics I'm taking are upsetting his tummy, too, or are making my milk taste bad.
Poor little guy. If that's the case, we have seven more days.
In other news...
Rod, Jack and I have been invited to a dumb supper for Samhain. We're pretty excited, because although we'll be hosting several events for the holiday, we had no plans for a dumb supper ourselves. We planned to be too exhausted by the 31st.
Now, the dumb supper will be with Herne's family, and as you probably remember my mentioning, Herne has three brothers. Two older, one younger. That means the silent part is unlikely.
Let;s back up in case you're not familar with a dumb supper.
At Samhain, the veil between life and death is at its thinnest. 'Why and how that is' is a topic for another time, but it is, and that's why it's customary to honour our ancestors and our beloved dead at this time of year.
Thus, the dumb supper. We celebrate by preparing a feast and setting a place at the table for our beloved dead. (Since they "partake of the essense" rather than actually consumng food, it's ok to ask them to share.) Them everyone eats in silence, so that we can "hear" what our beloved dead have to say to us and so we can think about happy times with them.
In reality, though, only the most devout manage to maintain strict silence. Ad families with children rarely manage anything that even resembles silence. ,
I am excited to be able to introduce Jack to this custom is a more social setting. Traditions are always so much more meaningful when shared, don't you think?
