Baby Therapy #1

Many of the Griffin Enthusiasts are mourning the loss of Griffin's Pop Pop, also known as Ronnie O'Rear. He was an excellent Pop and a wonderful Pop Pop and he will be missed by many. Since we are in Louisiana, spending time with our families, I won't be posting an official Pop Pop Eulo-blog until we're back home. In the meantime, I will be giving folks some much-needed baby therapy during these hard times.

Griffin and Lilah are hanging out in his fly car we got for $3 at a garage sale. Lilah is very enthusiastic and doesn't mind when Griffin has a sharing malfunction. Watch as Lilah mugs for the camera and shows off her polkies. Notice the Dads lounging in the background and Griffin's shriek of disapproval when he notices me zooming in on Lady L.

Hmph, so he DOES like being the center of the universe!

Mama Said There'd Be Days...

In case you're also feeling down-in-the-dumps, here's a little bit of sunshine to make you smile.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

In the past six weeks, our intrepid little G Dawg has made some amazing strides and connections. You can see the synapses in his brain firing and the invisible light bulb going off over his head as he figures out why something works.

He says about 50-75 words with regularity and combines them with noises, gestures and facial expressions that fill in the rest. He comments on everything- juice, hot, mess, shoes, hat, foot, food, ball, cracker, door- and he loves to talk about his favorite people. For example, "Djoyell, Tchass, nyum, nyum, nyum," means "I love to eat dinner with Joell and Cass." A confused look followed by "Mrrrooww!" means that Jezebel is hiding and he wants to pet her/lay on top of her. Griffin knows the word "done" and uses it when he finishes his dinner, opens an empty cabinet or when I turn off the vacuum cleaner.

Just last week he learned "two" and now it is one of his favorite observations. Griffin is not always accurate, sometimes there could be three deer in the backyard and he'll say "two" or the dog actually has four paws, but only two are visible. Nonetheless, it is wonderful to watch him develop number sense. He's proud of his new skill and points out to people that they have two ears, shoes, hands, beers, etc.

Welcome to Willits!

The O'Button ship has landed in the town of Willits, pop. 5073, alternately known as"Gateway to the Redwoods" and "Heart of Mendocino County." This makes me wonder if Oakland has a nickname- "Heart of the East Bay," "Gateway to Liquor Stores," "Home of Skinny Hipsters"?

The move was only marginally godawful. I've had worse. After all the usual BS one associates with moving, (getting the moving van stuck in the neighbors driveway, hitting the side of the house, breaking the toaster, killing several of my stick insects, having most of our dining room chairs stolen and the sentimental furniture that fell off the truck and got run over on the I-80) we are attempting to create the "new normal" here in our small town. Take today, for example. Jake woke up, hung out with Griffin and me and then went to work. Are you ready for the REALLY exciting part? He's coming HOME this afternoon. Not Monday of next week.

Whoa. This is how other people live.

Shopping with G Dawg

Griffin thought the fake dog at Old Navy was pretty amusing.

Uncle Pat Came to Visit

We are moving next week and there is no time for witty banter. I realize I have been remiss in blogging, but we are in survival mode. Here is something to keep you going.

My brother, Patrick, came out to visit from NOLA. He's in law school and needed something to do with himself. Griffin really dug Uncle Pat and chanted "Pat, Pat, Pat" for days after he left.