Comps & Folliage

Fall is in the air. Apparently, this weekend is "peak foliage" up here in Vermont. Cally got to play in her first pile of leaves.

Unfortunately, her dad has been hiding out in his office all weekend. He's taking his Comps this weekend-- another hoop to jump through for his Doctoral degree in Education Policy and leadership. At noon on Friday, he was given the his assignment-- something about writing an original paper that identifies a problem within his organization that he'd like to address and solve. He's supposed to draw on all he knows about research strategies, leadership, diversity, organizational theory, and policy analysis. The good news is that the response shoudl be no longer than 15 pages.

As he says, "piece of cake". John's a great writer, so he's been cruising right along. He has until Monday at noon to turn it in. Yesterday, Cally and I visited him. His previous three years of notebooks were spread throughout his office and he was typing away with coffee on hand.

In other news, Cally is taking her first steps with the aid of a Radio Flyer wagon. It won't be long before she's ready for skis.

Passing of Traits

After John and I found out that I was pregnant, we did a lot of wondering about what the little critter in my belly would be like when he/she grew up. We would often refer to our strengths and weaknesses and hoped that the child would get the best of each of us (John's literary mind combined with my math/science prowess), but feared she might get the worst of both of us (poor ability to pick up a foreign language and lack of musical ability for both of us, my poor spelling, and John's disinterest in math).

Now that Cally is here and her personality is just forming, the jury is still out as to her academic and athletic abilities. However, I can only hope that she gets a lot of her dad's enthusiasm and attitude that he showed this past weekend at the Vermont 50 Miler-- a mountain bike race that he partook in on Sunday.

John signed up for this event last May, on a lark. We'd both talked about doing it a few years ago, but always missed the registration (it fills up in about 15 minutes). I have never been a fan of sitting on a bike seat for more than 3 or 4 hours at a time and knew it would be difficult for both of us to get much time on the bike this summer, so I resisted the temptation. Needless to say, the weather, for much of the summer, didn't cooperate with John's "training" for this race. And then, when the weather finally did cooperate, he was so busy with his job, that he couldn't get out much.

And so, with the weather forecast looking grim for yesterday's ride, I tried to convince John not to do the ride. Why would anyone want to spin through, ingest, hike-a-bike- and wallow in mud all day? But John is not one to quit. He's also not one to get caught up with the competitiveness of anything. He knew he could finish. He'd spent long days in the mountains. Another day with adverse conditions was nothing new to him.

Cally and I headed down to Ascutney yesterday, to watch the finish. It started to rain at 2am in the morning and never let up. As more and more bikers came through the finish, the description of the trail conditions went from bad to much, much worse. Our friend, Tyler, had been among the top five riders and then had a tire blow out. Once he changed his tire and got back on his bike, he was in about 20th position (he ended up finishing up in the top ten). He said that the difference in trail conditions, with an additional 15 people having ridden in front of him, was tremendous.......... much slicker, much thicker, much more difficult to ride. So, with 500 bikers and hundreds of runners on the trail, it got to the point where the uphills weren't rideable and the downhills were more akin to skiing or fishtailing in your car.


When John came through the finish line, nearly 10 hours after starting the race, he was filthy, smiling, and ever the optimist. He had probably hiked his bike 20 of the 50 miles (because the trail simply wasn't rideable). He wasn't beaten and hungry like the rest of the riders. He told us he felt like he could ride another 20 miles. And he said it was "fun" and beautiful.

While we can't be certain about Cally's personality and demeanor at this point, I can only hope that she has her father's optimism, sense of fun, noncompetitiveness, and ability to see the glass "half full". I sense she already does have at least a few of these traits.

9 Month Update

Little Miss Sunshine had a visit with her pediatrician yesterday. After nine months on this planet:

• she's just about 29 inches tall (putting her between the 75th and 90th percentile)
• weighing in at an ounce under 17 pounds (putting her between the 15th and 25th percentile)
• and measuring almost 18 inches around her noggin' (putting her between the 75th and 90th percentile in that department).
  

Fall, Friends, and a Fantastic Fair

This weekend, Cally's buddy Boden and his parents, Carlota and Matt, came up to play from the Boston area. We love when the Dormer's come up for a visit. They are super easy going and always up for adventures. This time around, I preceded their visit with a list of possible fun for the weekend...... a 10km trail run (with an 800 ft verticle gain), a birthday party at our friend's Jeff and Jules House, a bike ride with the kids, a visit to the Tunbridge World's Fair, and some good meals. They, of course, said yes to it all. Matt joined me for the run at the Trapp Family Lodge on Saturday morning, then joined John for an hour and a half Mountain bike ride (in a pair of kahkis on my size small womens mountain bike with no bike shorts), then both families went for a ride on the bike path, the we came home, whipped up a tasty dinner, and left the kids with Arielle, a super babysitter, so we could go to the birthday party. Today, John treated us to one of his enormous breakfasts and we capped it all off with a visit to the Tunbridge World's Fair. And did I mention that the weather was absolutely amazing!

As you can see, Cally and Boden couldn't look more opposite in appearance (our fair-skinned, blue eyed red-head juxtaposed against his dark hair, dark eyes, and olive skin), but they get along really well and it's so fun to let them romp around together.

And the fair..... the pictures say it all. Cally continues to be facinated by animals..... big (note her sitting on the rear end of a 3000 lb ox) and small (baby chickens, pigmy goats, and piglets).

Cally's Home Away From Home

Last winter, John and I started looking into suitable daycare options for Cally. We were already on the waiting list at the UVM Childcare Center (we'd put our name on that list as soon as we found out I was pregnant), but the odds of getting in were pretty low. We got a tip about a friend of a friend who lives nearby and loved the situation, but found out that the woman was aready maxed out with the number of infants she could watch. One of the options we looked into was in the basement of a ballet school, our conversation with the director was constantly interupted by the thumping of ballerinas upstairs and there were few windows. Another place that we visited told us that they only brought the kids outside when it is "nice" out and had the T.V. blaring in the background....... We quickly realized that this search was not going to be easy.

Upon my return to work, while John was home with Cally on his paternity leave, my principal mentioned that she had an au pair from Germany for her kids 14 years ago. Meike (pronounced Mi-cah) had met her husband while here and stuck around. She has since had three kids of her own and has had her own in-home daycare. It just so happens that she isn't doing the whole daycare thing anymore, but she does take on one child to watch along with her own. One of her daughters is in first grade, the other is four years old, and the youngest, her son is two months older than Cally. The one child she had been watching for the last five years is going to kindergarten this fall, so she was going to have one opening. Last April we toured her house and talked about the way she runs things and immediately felt like this could be an excellent fit. She gave us the names of a few of the parents whose kids had been with her in the past and it turns out that I know one of the families because the parents work in my school district. A few days later we ran into them at the grocery store and they told us we'd be crazy not to grab the opening because Meike had been absolutely wonderful with their children.

And so, a few weeks ago, Cally started visiting Meike and her family. The two of us visited for an hour one day and then she spent a few half days on her own before I started school. The next week she spent three days with the crew and since then she's doing her regular four-day week (John's working from home on Thursdays, so she'll spend some quality time with him).

So far, we couldn't ask for a better set up. Cally is so happy there-- she loves the other kids (I think Nate, the son who is 10 pounds heavier than Cal, might be her first crush), she's taking great naps, eating really well, getting outside all the time, and learning a ton (within the first week she figured out how to clap, wave, and do the speed crawl). The only real problem is she isn't taking a bottle and only seems willing to drink milk out of a shot glass, of all things (a tip given to us by "Grandma Joyce", a professional Grandmother and nurse).

Canoe Camping Weekend

Last Wednesday, John decided that that Abbott family needed to go on an adventure together. And so, he booked us a campsite on Lake Mooselookmeguntic in Western Maine. When John worked for Outward Bound, he spent some time in the area and thought it would be a fun place to explore with the family-- and the weather forecast was too good to pass up.

And so, we decided we'd pack Friday night and leave Saturday morning for a two-day adventure. Of course, the Friday night packing continued well into Saturday morning, and then we had to drive down to Starksboro to drop Zephy off at the Plimpton-Harris Dog Camp, stopped at a garage sale, grocery shop, and finally got on the road by 12:30pm. The new iphone told us it'd be a four hour drive, but it took us most of the day to get there. Such is the way when you travel with a baby!


A backcountry canoe trip is a step more "hard core" than car camping, but doesn't involve quite the complications of a multi-day backpack trip.



We hooked Cally's "Me Too" chair onto one of the gunwhales of the canoe. Even with the bulky PFD, she did all right on the half hour paddle out to our campsite-- Stoney Batter, a part of the Steven Phillips Wilderness Preserve.

Below are some shots of our site:



We still haven't "upgraded" to a family tent, so we had to figure out how to fit the family into a two-person tent (and a blow up mattress). It ended up working out perfectly. We made a little nest for Cal at the bottom of the tent and she slept like...... a baby, a sleepy little baby!


And she woke up after 7am both mornings, bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Morning coffee has never tasted so good:


And canoes work well as a "play pen" for curious crawling babies who would otherwise be putting every rock and leaf into her mouth.


A few more shots I had to add:



She's definitely a "girl on the go":


And learned to wave last week:


And might even start walking soon:


One the way home, we took the scenic route through Dixville Notch in northern New Hampshire. Those cliffs are hundreds of feet high!


And finally we stopped through Walden, VT to visit our friend's Ray, Sarah, and Audrey (and their wonderful dog Buddy-- who let Cally crawl all over him).

Mom's Gone Wild

Carlota and I went met in middle school. There was always fun stuff going on at her house...... pool parties, tree climbing, coed scary movie gatherings, etc. etc. When she and I reconnected three years ago, I just knew she'd still be up for doing more fun stuff, even as an adult.

Last week, Carlota called and mentioned that she was thinking of going up to one of the Appalachian Mountain Club Huts for a night. She was planning to leave her nine month old, Boden, behind with his dad and wondering if I'd be interested in joining her. I try to ski every spring on Mount Washington, but I'd never actually hiked in the White Mountains. And, I'd never had the opportunity to stay in one of the AMC huts (they are usually closed in the winter).

After feeling somewhat cooped up for the month of August and sensing the impending doom of the upcoming school year upon me (really, I love my job, it's just a rough transition back into the thick of it), I knew if I was going to ever get away for a night, now was the time. Plus, I thought it might be a good "bonding experience" for John and Cally after so much time apart in August.

As the week unfolded, and the reality of the weather forecast was upon us, it was looking like a pretty grim time to take an adventure. There were supposed to be high winds, a 70% chance of rain both days, and high temperatures of 35F overnight. Carlota called me on Friday, not all too excited about the prospects. I, however, was held captive in an inservice training all day, so I couldn't really communicate with her until the end of the day. Both of us were completely on the fence...... did we really want to spend our 24 hours away from everything in a soggy hut on the side of Mount Washington? Yep........ we decided to just go for it.


When I arrived at Crawford Notch to meet Carlota, pump, and drop a car, the wind was absolutely howling, the rain was spitting, and I started to wonder what sort of drugs I was on when I decided to go on this "get away". I already missed Cally and John and kept thinking about all the stuff I could be doing in my classroom if I weren't on this hike.......... But we were there, we'd paid for our bunks, and we were both prepared to carry on with the plan.

We hiked up the Ammonoosuc Ravine-- a short, but steep trail and got to the hut in about 2 1/2 hours. The hike wasn't too wet, and the temperatures were actually ideal for staying cool. However, the conditions at the hut were exactly as predicted--- the wind was honking at 60 mph, visibility was marginal, and we were pretty wet and cold.

Staying in an AMC hut was new for me, but something with which Carlota is a lot more familiar. In fact, she and her husband Matt had a surprise wedding at the Lake of the Clouds hut, where we were staying, six years ago. They somehow convinced 80 friends and family members to trudge up there in a rainstorm and then surprised them all but making a lifelong commitment to each other up there! So cool!

In any case, it was a great experience for me..... good food, a comfortable bed, hot drinks, some wine that Carlota packed up in her backpack, and a roof over our heads. It felt quite decadent. And those kids that work at these huts seem to have such a ball. It makes me wish I'd spent a summer doing that, back in the day.

By 8pm, the weather broke and we were actually able to do some star gazing with a professional astronomer (did I mention that I have to teach a unit on astronomy starting on Wednesday?-- so apropos!)


But when we woke up to one of the hut crew members singing some beautiful song about blackbirds, the mountain was, once again socked in....... However, by 8am, the clouds again broke and we had a glorious seven mile hike down the Presidential Range-- over Monroe, Eisenhower, Pearce, Adams.........

Thanks, Carlota, For motivating me to do a little something for myself. You still know how to have fun and I feel fortunate to have a friend like you out there. Reminding me about the parts of my life I sometimes lose sight of with a full time job and a two-foot tall red head in my life.

I did really miss Cal and John, but I drove home so refreshed and ready to take on this new school year. I feel a bounce to my step and an ease in my chest. I did it, I separated myself from Cal for the longest time since she was conceived...... and she didn't miss a beat.

Cally and John's Big Weekend:

So what, you might ask, were John and Cally doing back home?

John sums up their Saturday as being a "domestic day". A little cleaning, a little laundry, some baby food making, a trip to the video store, and a visit from Uncle Tom. I think both may have slipped a nap or two in there somewhere.

Today, was a much bigger day...........John decided that a race/ride up Mt. Mansfield's Toll Road towing Cally in the Chariot would be a fun way to spend the day. He's signed up for the Vermont 50 Mountain Bike Race at the end of September, so he figured this would be good training.


John pulled Cally and the trailer (all 40 plus pounds) up 4.5 miles and 3000 verticle feet! He took it nice and slow and said it was "fun". She had a ball and brought many smiles to the other participants who pretty much all got to wave at her on the way up or down.


Aside from Cally not really drinking more than 8 ounces of milk in my absence, she seemed like she didn't miss a beat when I returned home.

Last Day of Summer for Mom

All good things must come to an end, and so must my first summer with Cally. Fortunately, it was one of those perfect summer days here in Vermont. John decided to work from home and we had great ideas for my last 24 hours off...... most got quickly negated because we'd be out of cell phone service (since the Trekkies went into the woods on Saturday, John's phone has been ringing off the hook). And so, we did what we could, between phone calls, to make the most of our final day.

A family run,


A trip to Arcana to pick up our farm share and do a little u-pick in the herb garden,


and a swim up at High Meadow.


The day was topped off with a delicious Mexican meal made from an assortment of our CSA veggies.

8 month Update:

A few quick notes about Cally at 8 months, she's fully crawling, getting up to standing position, letting us "dunk" her underwater, talking tons (but only she really knows what she's saying), laughing often, eating like a champ, loving "finger food", getting her two front teeth, and continuing to smile lots!

Here she is with a new garage sale find:


Loving a little "air time" with Dad:


Loving Zephy and Lobster:



Giving Contra Dancing a try at the Maple Wind Farm Stampede:

Sweet Cal, I'm one lucky mama to have been able to spend so much quality time with you during the last 10 weeks. Motherhood is even more amazing than I ever imagined it could be. You make me so incredibly proud to call you my daughter. You aren't just an "easy baby", you are so spirited, funny, thoughtful, curious, goofy, loving, and sweet. Everyone who meets you sees just a little of your magic, but we are lucky enough to live it everyday.