Batman

As you all know Chance loves Batman. The other day we were at Wal-mart when we saw this pair pajamas. It even has a little cape that attaches with Velcro, so we just had to get them and bring them home. Last night he wore them to bed and this morning he wanted me to attach the cape. He looked at himself in the mirror then laughed and started running around the room. He was perfectly happy to show off his new batman outfit and cape. I only hope now he will be ok with taking it off when it's time to go pick up Daddy at the airport today.

Sprouts

A long time ago (or at least it seems that way) Scott and I grew alfalfa sprouts. It was a lot of fun and tasty. I don't remember why we stopped or what reminded me of it a few weeks ago but I ordered a pound of seeds through the Internet. All you need is a container (I used an old mayo jar) and some water, you don't even need very much sunlight. It takes about 4 days from seeds to table. Chance has enjoyed adding water and watching the sprouts grow. They are great on sandwiches and salads and other things I am sure, actually they are pretty good all by themselves just add a little dressing and they are their own salad. I had hoped the proccess would make Chance want to eat some but all vegies are still a no go.

Is it a bank?

No.... It's just the John


The john in central park. I am in New York right now in Manhattan, so I thought I'd upload a few pictures.



This is from my hotel room. And now some central park.



Cheers

Scott

Why I love kitties

This afternoon when Chance took his nap I decided to lay down on the couch. After a few minutes Flora curled up next to me. We hung out together till Chance woke up then I got up but Flora stayed hung out with Chance.

Please Meet...Flora Bobbi

A few days ago while looking out our back window I saw some kittens playing around the rubble of what is left of the burned down house. I got a bright idea in my head to capture one, since I have wanted a cat for a while now. So I borrowed a trap from our neighbor and set it up in the empty lot. Over the next couple days I caught one adult cat and something keep eating the food I left in the trap but other than that one I never caught anything else and I didn't see any kittens after that first time. Yesterday I decided to give up, either the kittens had been moved or they were too smart (too small to trigger the trap) for me. At this point we had a kitten in our future so I checked craigslist for free kitten listings. It was just our luck that the owner of a coffee shop just a few blocks from here had 9 kittens he was looking to find homes for. So, after Chance's nap yesterday we all walked over to Flora's to pick a kitty. It was no too hard to choose even though there were whites ones and grey ones and orange ones and they were all cute. The Father of the kittens had a bobbed tail and two of the little ones have a bobbed tail too. One of those was laying very peacefully on the bed the whole time we were there. That was the one for us. The man was very nice and even gave us some food and kitty litter to bring home to get us started as well as letting us borrow his cat carrier to put her in and bring her home. She has been a little shy but that is understandable, she isn't hiding under things or hissing at anyone even though Chance has been pretty loud and jumping around because he is so excited to have a kitty cat. She hasn't really met Deedle yet, we have still been keeping them apart until she gets to know us a little better and her new house. I am sure they will get along fine though after Deedle realizes we aren't going to let him terrorize her. Since I picked her out Scott got to name her and since she turned out to be a girl and we got her from a coffee shop named Flora's and she has a bobbed tail her name is Flora Bobbi. Though I think we will mostly call her Flora.

Counting and Talking

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Originally uploaded by qemorio

Chance has so many words now I couldn't make a list even if I wanted to. He is learning between 1 and 3 words a day at least. A perfect example is Chuck E Cheese. Last time we went a bit over a month ago When I asked him if he wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese all he said was "yes" because that was all he could say. Yesterday I asked him if he wanted to go and he said "yes, mommy, mini car, chuck e cheese go" So, it is pretty easy to see how his vocabulary has grown in such a short time. He calls our car 'mini car' since it is a mini cooper. Today he learned the word Namaste which is a Sanskrit greeting that is often used in yoga and other meditations. We read the word in a story from one of our magazines today and I showed him the praying hands position from yoga as I said it and he copied me.

This video has him playing around and also saying some words and counting. He often counts before he runs or rolls one of his cars. He knows 1,2,9,10 for sure the other ones he will copy you when you say them but he doesn't say them on his own yet. When he counts he usually says 1,2,9, go or 2,1,9,go then takes off. You can here him doing that in the video.

Milk Bar Playdate

We had a great playdate today at a wonderful little place called the Milk Bar. It is sort of tucked away unless you live or work right next to it you might never see it on the little side street that it is on. Luckily for us we know people who do live nearby, Nancy and Octavian just happened to walk by and discover it the other day so we put it on the calendar for a playdate. We worked it out with the owner for the perfect time and she even brought out toys and a little mat for the kids to play on, which was really great. They have milkshakes and coffee drinks, muffins to lunch sandwiches. I had a great very filling breakfast, ham and tomato with melted cheese on a croisant, two thumbs way up. and the prices were just right. My whole breakfast with coffee was under $5.00 that is the right price for me. We will be going back to this place soon, we have already agreed to put it on the calendar again soon. Afterwards we walked to Nancy's house where we played for another hour or so. Chance and Octavian sat on this bench and had a very long conversation though none of us grown ups could understand a word of what they were saying. Chance had a good time and took a long nap after we got home.

His first action figure

Chance loves Batman. We have watched the old 1960's movie many time and are currently working our way through the old TV episodes which he loves just as much as the movie. So, today when I saw a batmobile at the store I had to get it for him. They have just come out with a whole line of toys designed like the old Batman. Usually the Batman figures are dressed like the new movies which makes all the characters look different than what we have been watching. I'm glad we found these today Chance set Batman inside his new "bat car" and has been driving it around the house all day.

Bubbles in the house

Today Chance and I dropped Scott off at the airport. It is always a sad time for us so today we lifted our spirits with bubbles. One of the Moms at a recent playdate had one of these bubble machines so on our way home from the airport this morning we stopped by Target to pick one up. It was the best $9.99 purchase by far. It came with batteries and bubble liquid so when we got home I installed the batteries added the bubbles stuff then set it on top of the Fridge and we danced in the bubbles. You can tell from the video that Chance really enjoyed himself.

Nana and Grammy

Did you know that my Mom works at a print shop here in New Orleans? Did you know that Scott's Mom played Aunt Harriet in the original Batman? We didn't either until recently when Chance informed us. It seems that most women "of a certain age" are either Grammy or Nana. Yesterday we were watching an episode of Batman and every time Aunt Harriet walked on screen Chance would point and say "Nana." Then today we were in a local shop that we had never visited before, the lady working there was nice and talked to Chance, then when we left he said "bye Mom." As you remember he was calling my Mom 'mom' which we hope to rectify soon but for now...
He has called a few other women Nana and Mom. It is very sweet, you can tell that his Grandmas have definately made a good and lasting impression on him. No need to worry, even though we don't live really close to either Grandma, he definately remembers you both.

Teaser pic for future post

Last day

Today is the last day before Rayna comes back. We went back to the park that has train tracks and is on the river so you can see the freighters getting pulled up and down the river. We also climbed a tree today (daddy actually put chance in a tree) he liked it and asked for "tree up" afterwards.

Now we are just hanging out waiting for mommy, he Is wearing his new "star wars" shirt we got at the target.









Cheers

Botanical Gardens

Dexter, otherwise known as "duh" in some circles told us there was to be a concert at the botanical gardens, so off we went.






then we walked around and found the rainforest/living fossils exhibits they were super cool.









Then we went to each fountain and splashed, until we found a really cool fountain, so we took off chances shoes and splashed, he said that he thought the statue in the fountain was mommy.






Cheers

Our aquatic adventure

Today Chance and I went to the marina on the lakeside, Chance was way into the "thips" (ships) then we went to the park right next to it and hung out at the lake wall.



Also, we recently planted a magnolia tree and it is starting to turn and grow new leaves in it's new home. So "baby tree" is doing awesome.



Cheers

Home alone

Scott is making the post today because mommy is out of town, at a birthday party and so it is just the two of us until Monday. We're having a pretty good time though, lots of outside time, and silly behaviour.

Cheers

Please Allow me to Introduce...

BitCentral's new Regional Manager of Field and Sales Engineering. Scott got a call he has been waiting and we have all been hoping for for quite a while now. Scott has been at BitCentral for almost three years now, he began with the company when they were just starting to expand beyond the core people who started the company in the first place. Now Scott has worked his way up to become part of that core. He will be salaried from now on which is something he has worked hard to make happen. We love to have Scott here but in the past there was always stress when he was home because if he wasn't on the road he wasn't getting paid, now we won't have that worry. For all of those people wondering what it is Scott does, he has also been working on a podcast while he is out on the road about the life and times of a field engineer. You can check them out here and subscribe to his podcast on Itunes too! It's called Wit Da Bit.

Scott, I am so proud of all the hard work you do to keep the family rolling. I love you sooooooooo much.

Big day

First thing this morning we hopped in the car and headed to Lutcher, Louisiana to get me a Driver's lisence. A week or so ago I misplaced my lisence. I remember taking it out of my pocket and laying it on the dresser at night but in the morning I couldn't find it. I believe someone short and blonde put it somewhere but since we still can't find it we decided it was time to get a new one.


The DMVs in the city are always so busy that every time we need to get anything done we always go up toward Baton Rouge to one of the little towns. After successfully getting my new ID we went in search of a park to let Chance play before heading back home. What we found was the Lutcher Historical Society Museum. They had a train engine that was built in 1900. Chance had a great time climbing inside to have a look at all the knobs and levers.



After our stop to look at the train we headed back home, but we made a pit stop along the way at Target. Chance's little feet have been growing so fast he needs a new pair of shoes and we have had our eyes on a pair of Converse. Since Target has started carrying Converse in all sizes we knew right where to go. I asked Chance to show me his new shoes and he did a great job as you can see in the last picture.

Budding Photographer

This morning Chance brought me a gift, well actually he re-gifted something that was already mine, my camera. I don't really remember where I left it last night but this morning after Chance woke up and messed around for a while he got really quiet after a minute I looked around to see what he was doing and there he was with my camera. I immediately told him to give it to me and as I looked at it I discovered he had been playing with it much longer than I thought because he had taken about ten pictures. These first two are his handy work before I realized he had the camera at all. This last one was taken after he brought the camera to the bed where Scott and I were still resting. Scott got a little lost behind Chance's hair. You can tell we are still a little tired.

Class 1 rapids

See that white looking water behind Scott in that first picture? Well those are part on the class 1 rapids that we canoed today. We drove about 2 hours up to Seminary, Mississippi to canoe on the Okatoma River. Scott and I had never been on the Okatoma but it is ranked #1 in the state and was the only canoeing outfitter in which you let out where your car is so we didn't have to wait for the outfitters to come pick us up when we were done.


Chance was excited to be getting in a "ship" again, even though Scott and I were a little concerned since we had never been on rapids before we have both been canoeing a bit in the past and Scott has a bunch of boating other experience. We were let in with 4 other boats a group of college age guys. When we reached the first waterfall we didn't hit it just right so we ran aground on some rocks. Scott kicked off his shoes, climbed out and pushed us back out into the stream. We did better than the other guys though two of them ended up in the water (not on purpose). We seperated from them after that so I'm not sure how they made out in the end. There were four more waterfalls and a few more rapids on our way down the river. We got better and better on each one though we ran aground a couple more times, Scott and I both ended up out on a sandbar push/pulling the boat once. There was also a part where we both had to get out because there was a tree completely blocking the river, we had to sit on it and lift the canoe over.
Chance had a good time watching everything the river was full of turtles with beautiful trees on both banks providing lots of shade. Chance was worried whenever one of us had to get out and when we went over the rapids we whined but as soon as we got to the other side he would squeal and say "yay" clap and generally be very happy that we made it. Chance was merely vocalizing what we were all feeling. On the last waterfall we aproached at just the right place, got down and let it fly down the river, that was when we all got wet. As we went over a wall of water sprayed up and over the boat, I was soaked up to my chest and poor Chance was basically floating in the boat. We stopped at the next available place to bail out the water. All in all we had a lot of fun. We were all soaked and super tired when we got to the end but we had a great experience. Chance is still talking about it right now he turns to me every few minutes and says " push, ship, wet, out, ship, push, daddy, wet..."


I took this last picture just before we left, that is the bus that drove us down to the river.