4 months

That's right, it's been FOUR months since this boy came into the world. According to my unscientific home scale baby weighing method, he weighs about 13 lbs.- not too shabby! He's due for a well baby checkup, but we won't be having one for another couple of weeks since we begin our Pennsylvania sojourn tomorrow. Fine by me! I'm in no hurry to have my perfectly healthy and happy baby scrutinized.
Well, he isn't always happy.

But when he's in a good mood he's quite energetic and very interested in social interaction. Usually he loves to check out that handsome baby in the mirror, but when I tried to catch it on camera he wasn't all that interested in doing anything but swimming out of my arms and over to Daddy and the camera.

eventful weekend

With my birthday on the 18th and our anniversary on the 21st, and Father's Day inevitably falling within a few days of them, we tend to have one EXTRAVAGANZA of a weekend every June.
Brooke and Isobel baked me a delicious birthday cake! Don't I look like I'm ready to take a fork in one hand and a knife in the other and just go to town?

Isobel decorated the cake (with a little help). Doesn't it look cool? A warning, though, DON'T buy this red icing, whatever you do. It tastes like the dentist's office. No, seriously, it tastes exactly like that bitter fluid that leaks onto your tongue when you have to have your mouth numbed. Novocaine, maybe? I don't know what made Miss Betty Crocker think it would be edible.
On Saturday everyone was still in a good mood and lookin' good. I cannot believe how big Jude has gotten all the sudden! He's like, a full-size baby! Regard!

And on Sunday, for Father's Day, Isobel gave Daddy the gift of cuteness:

I gave him the gift of one tasty dinner: Greek-Spiced Baked Shrimp with couscous and Spinach with Garlic. Oh, and some hip new glasses, too.
Then the next day, for our anniversary, we gave Isobel the gift of a babysitter, and took Jude with us to celebrate at Print Works Bistro. It's a pretty classy joint.

And Mmmmmmmm, the food was wonderful. It's hard to tell from the photo, but my tart was served on a wooden cutting board rather than a plate, which I thought was aesthetically pleasing and delicious. The tart, not the cutting board. Har har.

Lately it seems I can't write an entire post without mentioning food/recipes/eating. I think I enjoy these things because they feel productive and purposeful and yet, unlike most of my daily tasks, they still involve some element of indulgence.
And that reminds me- I'm hungry. Birthday cake? Don't mind if I do!

Bugs and a Thumbderstorm

So remember at the end of that last entry how I said I loved North Carolina more than ever? Well, I might have to rescind a little piece of that love on account of something that happened a few nights ago. Story time!
I was half asleep, feeding Jude at about 3 a.m., when I felt a tickling sensation on my left arm. Jude often tickles my arm with his fingers, so I didn't think much of it. I automatically let my other hand brush/itch the tickly spot, but I didn't touch a little baby hand. I touched a COCKROACH. I brushed it onto the bed and from there to the floor, shrieking all the while. Naturally, Brooke woke up. I (tearfully) explained what had happened. Brooke hunted down the little bugger and squished him, so at least I have the satisfaction of knowing he got his just deserts. Ah, Brooke. My roach-vanquishing hero.
I don't really have a big problem with insects. They have their right to life and have their place in the ecosystem and blahdy blah. But I have a MAJOR problem with bugs crawling on me. I get the willies just thinking about the aformentioned episode. And now, when Jude does draw his little fingers lovingly across my skin while nursing, instead of being overwhelmed with love for him I am overwhelmed with THERE'S SOMETHING CRAWLING ON ME.
North Carolina has way more bugs than any other place I've lived. Well, Arkansas may have had more, but I don't really remember much about it because I was four when we moved away. Yesterday, as I was cooling down after my run and thinking about writing this very blog post, an enormous black and white hornety-looking thing landed on my elbow and it was all I could do to keep from shrieking again right there in the street. Uuuuuuuuugh. I could share more crawly-related incidents, but I don't think anyone would enjoy that.
Here's something everyone can enjoy! Cuteness!

Jude has been sucking his thumb. Only his left thumb. I think it's pretty cute, and it makes me curious about whether he might be a southpaw. It would be wonderful if he would start soothing himself with that thumb so that the pacifier retriever (me) could have a break once in a while.
Speaking of soothing oneself, we've been eating lots of rice pudding lately. Last week I made a double batch of horchata for play group, and so I've slowly been using up the rice by trying different recipes. Coconut Rice Pudding is especially rich and creamy. Mmmmmmm.
Lastly but not leastly, we had a fantastic thunderstorm yesterday. Isobel loved it.



I'm not gonna lie, I loved it too. It redeemed this place of the hideously humid weather we've been having. A good thunderstorm helps me to maintain a grip on myself so that I can resist running westward. Here are a few other things I like that temper the mugginess and bugginess:
Blue Jays,
Cardinals,
and
Red-Headed Woodpeckers:
three birds I haven't seen much since leaving the Midwest when I was 15. And of course, I love the trees and the green grass and the flowers and lots of other things, too. So... yeah, I do like it here after all.

Asheville

Last weekend we took a road trip to Asheville, which is about 2 and a half hours west of us, in the mountains. It was very cool (literally and figuratively) and beautiful, sort of an eastern Boulder. I loved the hotel Brooke picked out for us:

And the restaurant we liked so much we ate there twice:

And the café inside an English double-decker bus:

On the way back we stopped at The Blowing Rock:


And drove through Pisgah National Forest, along the incredible Blue Ridge Parkway, listening to the perfect music. We fed baby carrots to a friendly horse:

And had a successful photo shoot:

And

I love North Carolina more than ever!

Lasterday

Lasterday: (n.) any previously-occurred day; "Remember, lasterday was Christmas!"
(adv.) any time in the past; "Lasterday I was sick, but now I'm all better!"
Sickness may not seem like a blog-worthy event, but in our family it is. Isobel crashed on the couch (see photo above) twice in one day. This is something she has never done before, probably because she never gets sick. She had a pretty high fever off and on- up to 103.3F at one point, poor thing. While she was sleeping it off, togetherness time was enjoyed by Brooke, Jude, and Dagny. Well, "enjoyed" might not be the right word for Dagny's experience.

Jude told me he wanted a warm, black carpet with a layer of fat that exceeded the earth's crust (but with the same sulfur content). This, my son, is my gift to you.

Tonight, to celebrate Iso's return to health, we had a super-super, fun-fun, crazy-crazy, sweet-sweet, boondoggle of a time at Speedy's BBQ in Lexington. Isobel loved this pig that I (Brooke) called "Sweet wittle Dinner".