Category: Family & Home

Miles-the-hipster likes the music of toy-piano-band Twink. He bops his head up and down and giggles when I play them. The new Twink album comes with a picture book (no words) featuring Twink the rabbit going out to play his toy piano in the forest, then being joined by other animals with their own toy instruments. Is this music for kids that grownups can also enjoy, or the other way ’round? Be sure to check out Twink’s gallery of toy instruments, as well as the FAQ where they list other bands that have the same name as previously existing bands (I wrote to ask them to add old Air and new Air).

A ruddy trail was forming in our front lawn from people walking from curb to front porch, so Amy and I went yesterday to load up a cart full of flagstone. Took a couple of hours to lay it out, then started digging a slight depression for each stone, to make it flush with the earth so we can still mow. Didn’t quite finish, but made good progress. Also transplanted a lemon tree we saved from a weak and dying sapling a couple of years ago, which has been living in a pot all along, into a permanent home in the front yard. We hope the tree and the path will find mutual feng shui. Today tried my hand at making buffalo wings for the first time. They came out very well, but did not hold a candle to Roger’s short ribs.

So much for lovely, safe, pacific El Cerrito. Received this on the phonecam from Amy while at work today – our garage has been tagged with graffiti, right in the middle of boring suburbia. And not very impressive graffiti at that. They at least could have taken the time to leave us some artwork. Well, it’s better than machine gun fire and people getting beaten up on your sidewalk. Nowadays the most disruption we get is from kids going door-to-door selling chocolate bars for little league. At least this provides a little excitement.

At 16 months, it was no longer sufficient for Miles to walk around with a pacifier in his mouth. Soon he started carrying around a spare Nuk. He can count them, one two (not with words, but by pushing them onto your face in sequence). Then he discovered that he could have one in his mouth and one in each hand, for a total of three. Miles fetishizes his Nuks. He gazes into them as though they had soothsaying powers, and presses them onto misc objects to see how the silicon will react. He wants to share his Nuks with stuffed animals and house guests. Yesterday he was being a fussy eater, so we lined them up on the dinner table for him to admire. It worked. I think that for him it was like reading the newspaper while eating.

The booty post turned out to be a fluke — he never said “booty” again, so it was probably a coincidence. But lately he’s been working really really hard on saying “apple” (he gets as far as “app-puh”) which is funny since he doesn’t even like apples. We think his first actual word was “nope,” which we were lucky enough to capture on tape.

Just got a call from Amy… she was working at the keyboard with 15-month-old Miles at her side, when she looked down to see that he had opened up the case of her Mac and was sitting with the side panel in his lap, hands busy with all the pretty parts inside… while it was running! Now we’re going to have to hermetically seal the Macs. This boy… I swear he’ll be building satellites by age 7.

Miles started experimenting with a baby fork recently, and is starting to get the hang of forking carrots, cheeseses, and mashed potatoes. If he can’t get an item properly forked, he’ll often pick it up with one hand and guide it onto the tines. Then he’ll hold his handiwork out for all to admire, before removing the morsel — again with the hand — and eating it. It’s a start. Last night he started work on the spoon.

Also this week: Playing maracas, relating simple narrative stories to us with gestures (as opposed to single-concept hand-signals), building up structures with the MegaBlocks (rather than just knocking them down), drumming on the table along with John Bonham’s “Moby Dick” solo, piling up blankets and pillows to make nests in which to kick back and chill, and … first mini-tantrums.

Our neighbors, pulling out all the stops. Yes, that is Santa in his sleigh up on the chim-i-ney. Note how the lights bounce off the hood of the Cadillac SUV.

Miles has learned to “pet kitty gentle,” which means Plato now lets Miles approach. Unbelievable patience on the part of the cat. Yesterday Miles walked up to Plato, who was lounging on the couch, petted him a few times, then took the pacifier from his mouth and tried to stick it in Plato’s mouth. Kitty was not interested and ran away, but I can’t help but think he appreciated the magnanimous gesture. I know I would have.

Pictured: Climbed up on the chair himself!

Just received news that a childhood friend has passed on. Fallen to metastatic breast cancer, most likely a result of treatments for Hodgkin’s disease, aka lymph cancer, which she had dealt with for more than a decade. Stephanie was in her mid-30s. Stephanie and her sister and me and my brother used to play together when we were neighbors in Santa Clara in the 70s, and our families were friends. Aside from a reunion in the 90s, we had mostly fallen out of touch. I had heard that she had beaten the disease a while ago, but apparently it returned with a vengeance. Stephanie (on the left, above, with her daughter and mother) was living a very holistic life in Hawaii with her boyfriend and their young daughter Aurora. Her mother tells me that Stephanie faced death with total acceptance and love, and that her guru guided her out of this world. Of course I find myself wishing we had stayed in better touch through the years. Blessings, angel. You were a very bright star. You still are. The s’mores were great.