It's been some time since I engaged in a substantive blog posting. We've had plenty ongoing for the past year, but not much time for more than photos and even those have been well spaced.
Just now, I'm sitting on an airplane leaving Seattle where it was gray and cold but here at 30,000 feet, the sun on the cascades is like something out of a fantasy novel, with Mt. Hood, Mt. Baker, Mt. St. Helens and many others in full view. The spectacle is positively glorious. I'm flying home after a week of work, sitting behind a couple holding a lap baby (7 mos) and remembering Paige and my flights with little p.
This has been a very productive year and except for a few weeks when we were under the weather we've been healthy, Piper has grown and matured into a darling, jabbering toddler, Paige passed her preliminary defense to reach "all but dissertation" status, and my work is on track as I continue to have myriad champions for my approaches and ideas.
Considering highlights of the year, early on we did some travel that was enjoyable. Piper got to see Little Bird Farm and get slightly more acquainted with her Albuquerque cousins. We traveled to Portland where Piper walked in the ocean for the first time, a cool Pacific Northwest beach with wide sandy stretches and dramatic scenery. A week in Fort Worth introduced Piper to her Texas cousin and we ate stuffed pumpkins. In early Fall, we spent a week on Oak Island, NC where Piper played in the warm Atlantic and we enjoyed the company of friends.
The milestones for Piper were fast and furious. Crawling at Christmas and pushing a cart at Easter time, Piper became a legitimate "walker" on my birthday when she was just shy of 13 months old. By 16 months she was a solid sign language speaker, able to "say" animals, colors, activities, foods and basic objects. Within the last two months, she's begun speaking more words verbally, along with continuing signing. Early words were of course mama and dada, milk and more, dog and cat; but a few more interesting breakthroughs include mailman and couscous.
Paige and I did a month-long yoga intensive with a nice teacher and a challenging practice in August, and while we managed to keep it up for a good month or so beyond, by October I was finding little motivation to continue even as Paige carried on.
I have continued some of my more enjoyable hobbies this year including baking bread, working with Paige in the garden and maintaining the chickens. I also picked up a few new hobbies including canning jam and brewing beer. I tried my hand at making cheese but with the price of milk that is a pursuit better left to professionals. Bread and beer are my staples.
About Durham, we continue to enjoy the weekly farmer's market, the ever-growing restaurant scene with new hang-outs like Scratch, Geer St. Garden, Fullsteam, and Daisy Cakes. The wine shop is still a favorite of mine, as is Sam's Quick Stop, which is possibly the best beer store I've ever frequented. The food truck scene is also strong and is growing with recent additions that include a triangle raw food truck and the doughnut bike, alongside standbys like Pie Pushers, Parlour, and Chirba Chirba.
The house, too, has undergone several renovations this year including new HVAC for the upstairs including duct, heat and cooling; and a new gas fireplace for the living room. Factoring in some work we had to have done on the car, and miscellaneous maintenance costs, all is well but we didn't manage to get out of 2011 unscathed.
Recently Piper has begun to pay more attention to reading books and enjoys Where the Wild Things Are, A Pocket for Corduroy, The Cat in the Hat, The Children of the Forest, among others. The old stand-byes of Goodnight Gorilla, Everybody Poops, and I Like Bugs also make the rotation from time to time.
Piper is very fond of coloring and for several months in late summer and early Fall, would color on her own at her enameled green table in the living room on her own for about 20 minutes while I cooked her oatmeal or made her scrambled eggs. Recently she's been less concerned with coloring, but enjoys moving her plastic farm animals around the house, and trying to give Sam a carrot or to pick up Baby Cat and Figgy.
Though Sam is getting older and a bit more gimpy, he's doing well and is a sweet presence in the house. Baby Cat still rules the roost and spends a lot of time keeping Figgy in line and Sam on edge.
For all that has transpired in 2011 and that we look forward to in the first half of 2012, one of the more noteworthy events that we'll look forward to will be enrolling Piper in a pre-school or daycare. It is time for her to begin playing more with other kids and having broader influence than Paige, Lisa, Amber, me and the pets. She will turn two years old, begin to speak in full sentences, start to memorize books and recognize words.
Time flies.
I hope this hasn't been too tedious for those of you who've taken time to pop in. I'll continue posting pictures and possibly even pick up the bug to blog again in the months ahead. We shall see.
Until next time...
0 comments:
Post a Comment