Bringing My Brother to College

A high point of the Labor Day weekend was being able to bring my brother up to start college. That's a big milestone for anyone and I'm so happy that he wanted me to be a part of it.

Here's picture of dad, mom, and Lanny before Lanny and I got in the car and left. Though there are lots of smiles here, I'm sure there were tears after we left.


Once we got to campus, it was amazing to see the in-processing. I thought that the Academy had an impressive first day, but this definitely rivaled it. There was a holding pen for cars. There they got you ready and radioed you into the dorm area to unload the car. The football team and dorm RAs were there to help haul everything up to the rooms and let the next load come in.

Here is the only picture I took during the whirlwind off-loading. Lanny's in the back guarding all the possessions he brought with him while I went to park the car.



By all accounts, the first month of college has gone well and has its standard amount of drama and boredom. Congratulations to my brother and best wishes as he starts an exciting time in his life.

Feeding the Dog Cookies

Finn's former fear of dogs is gone from all appearances. During our stay at my parent's he became obsessed with feeding their dog cookies. We ended up having to set a timer to say that he can't give more cookies until the timer goes off.

That was a good theory, but we're pretty sure he doesn't understand time yet. Waiting and later are two concepts he clearly doesn't get. Still it's good to see he likes dogs again.

Visiting the grandparents

One morning Sarah, Finn, Lanny and I went over to my Grandparents' house in Stoughton. Also visiting that morning was my aunt and uncle and their grandson, Kai, who is then Finn's second cousin.


Kai was born about six weeks after Finn, but now that difference is negligible. They ran around the house together, played the piano together, and swung golf clubs together. It was good to see them and spend some time with my grandparents.

A short series of pictures are here.

Mooooore...mooooore....TES!

For the longest time Finn would only say "no". We tried hard to add "yes" to his vocabulary by asking if he wanted more of something he liked, and then nodding and saying "yes".

He picked up on it, maybe too well.

Wisconsin for Labor Day

Labor Day this year was spent up in Wisconsin at my parent place. Finn is a big enough boy now to enjoy the attractions of country living. We'd walk along the Military Trail or play in the fallow flower bed. He got as dirty as Pig-Pen, but had as much fun as Snoopy.


A big event happened while we were there. We cut Finn's hair short for the first time. Once again he sat nicely for the haircut, even if it wasn't with a balloon in hand. It's been a while since Labor Day and the haircut growing on us (or the hair is growing on him), but we may go back to the longer look.



Our big family trip was across the street to Little Norway. Although Finn got to learn about some of his Scandinavian heritage and history of immigrant farming, he was most interested in the viking boat models.


We got to go over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to see cousin Kai and I also was able to drop Lanny off at Stout to start his college career. Those updates are coming next.

Before we left, we got together for a family portrait of everyone (minus Lanny who was already off at school), including my uncle Paul who I haven't seen in 20 years. I like these type of pictures, because families have been doing them since the camera was invented. Maybe even before that if you include portrait sittings. They are a common link between the generations and this is our contribution.

Feeding the Ducks

Memé went with us on a trip up to the park to feed the ducks. We also saw the local raccoon that is fed cat food and is WAY too tame for our liking. I have found that rabies is carried by raccoons and that two signs of a rabified raccoon are: having no fear of humans and being out during the day. Both of which this one displayed. However, I doubt it is infected, and more likely has a hankering for cat food.

Finn had none of my fear and thought it was just another petting zoo. He actually threw bread to the ducks after watching me do it for a while. While that demonstrated a new skill, it meant that he won't be doing his former "throwing" style any more.


Instead of throwing, he would fling his arm forward until it was pointing straight out never letting go of the object. He would then lunge forward and grunt hoping it would just shoot out of his hand like a wizard's fireball. It never did.

Over the last month since he first threw something, it has gotten to be quite dangerous. We now have to dodge his catapulted objects and protect our more fragile objects from projectiles. Progress can be a two-edged sword.

Copying Papa

Pretending

Finn started doing something new about a month ago. He started pretending. Finn saw Mr. Pibb's bed and crawled in. He then began to meow like a cat. He laughed and thought the whole thing was funny.

Since then he has spun around in a circle until he falls down, much like he did before. The difference now is that he will spin a little bit, and intentionally fall to the floor and laugh because it makes us laugh. This is the first we can see of real pretending and acting to make people laugh.

It is so incredibly wonderful to see him become more and more grown-up.

Semi-Realtime Update: Sarah's Foot

The blue cast was removed last week but Sarah still can't put weight on the foot for a couple mroe weeks. Here are the x-rays that show the pins, screw, and wire. It isn't too far from the fantastic rendering I did in PowerPoint.

She's been happy to be out of the cast and boot for a while and is building her crutching and wheeling skills. About the time they're perfected, she'll be walking again.

Stimied by the Art Museum

We went to see the Art Museum n a Monday a while back, but were refused. It seems that they are closed on Mondays.

We rolled down the hill and went to the Krohn Conservatory again to see the flowers. Finn was interested in the flowers even without the butterflies flapping their way around the exhibits this time. We even saw bananas hanging off a tree.


The lighting was nice and Sarah took a few nice pictures, including this great shot.

Roadblock

Sarah is getting around better with the various devices she uses, of which my favorite is the scooters available at places like Target and grocery stores. The best part isn't the bee-beep-beep as she backs up. The best part is that these carts ALWAYS lose charge halfway through the trip.

She then needs to either be the front car in a grocery train while I push her around the market, or push herself with her good foot like it was a big, heavy skateboard.

What is surpising is that she gets a number of dirty looks from people who must think that she doesn't look crippled enough to use the scooter. We figure that not being able to walk is good enough, but for some it doesn't seem to meet the minimum requirements.

The other strange part is that people will try to hurry to get around her and jump direectly in front of or behind her as she is moving. This frequently leads to her ramming into them. Once she actually slammed the cart into our parked cart. I guess that those motor carts can be tricky to drive.

Friendship Park with Grandma

We went to drop off my mom at the airport a few weeks back and stopped at the park on the way to take a stroll. Fin was enjoying the outdoors as always and the flowers were in bloom.


A new experience for Finn was climbing up on the rocks in the garden. Since then, he has loved climbing on and jumping off things. Here he is summiting a mountain of a rock. He was intrigued by the bees and bugs flying around the flowers and would watch them circling around him.


His Grandma swept in and saved him from the insects. He was duly grateful and drooled a little on her faced to show his appreciation.


Finn decided to show everyone the sign for "bug". To see the correct sign, click on the "play" triangle on the movie below:

Here's Finn's version. He almost gets it. Rather than put the thumb on the nose, he puts his finger in the nose. I suppose understanding what people are showing you and exactly copying it comes with time.

New wheel chair

Sarah has crutches and rented a Turning Leg Caddy (TLC), but both aren't very good for longer distances on the sidewalks downtown. For those who don't know what a TLC or Roll-a-Bout is, it is basically a scooter on stilts:


So we did a quick look on craigslist and found a used wheelchair for $25. I'm on it.

The chair had been stored in a barn for years and was only available because the old style is too narrow for the person who responded to the add first. That barn dirt created a good project for Finn and I to do when we brought it home. Finn took his screwdriver and helped clean off the chair with me.


Now he rides proudly up and down the streets sitting on his mom's lap. He will even push her through our hallways. He can't see over the chair back so the direction isn't always exact, but the effort is there.

Opening Ceremonies

We spent a lot of time watching the olympics while they were on. Sarah being limited to the couch, no cable, and our love of sports all contributed. Finn was amazed at the prevalence of the TV since he rarely sees it on.

Like all kids, he thought that he'd see it better from about two inches away from the screen. He would look at the TV and say "ball" since all that was shown was various forms of volleyball (the swimming and gymnastics were always after he was asleep).

Now that Sarah is more mobile and the games are over, the box is closed again. Well maybe not, it is football season.

Hot dog assembly line

The Reds offered a $5 ticket and $1 hot dogs in early August, after they had already been eliminated from the post-season. Nancy and I left Sarah home alone to recover and brought Finn down to the game.

We set up a hot dog eating assembly line for him. His stroller had a cup of hot dogs with a tray full of mustard and ketchup. He would reach and select a piece of hot dog, dip it into the ketchup, then the mustard, and finally place it in his mouth to eat. The same process continued until the hot dog was finished.



He's such a little boy now. He likes condiments and sauces. Someday he may become a saucier, but until then he'll just eat mustard and say "dip, dip dip".

Excercising with mom

Just because you can't stand up doesn't mean you can't work out. Sarah put together a no weight bearing exercise program for herself. She started out doing a routine in the living room, but later put together a weight program to do down in the exercise room.

Finn liked the routine she could do in the house better. After studying it for a way, he figured that he can do some leg lifts too. Finn had his own yoga mat to exercise on.



This was one of the signals that Finn was entering his mimicry phase. He now repeats everything we say and copies everything we do. I used the power for good recently when we had to put some lotion in his nostrils. I did it first to myself, and he become exited when I spread jelly in his nose too.

I hope I can continue to con him into doing hat I want for the rest of his childhood. I doubt it though.

Return Trip

The return trip was not as relaxing as the actual trip was. The trip tarted well enough. We got to the airport early and had lunch an stopped at the duty free shop to bring back a taste of the islands. Our flight boarded on time and they even loaded Sarah using the freight elevator so she don't have to go up the stairs to the plane.

After a few hours of flying we started circling over Atlanta of r another hour. That's when the captain said that we were low on fuel and would soon land...in Columbus, GA.

We were parked in the jet there for 3 hours waiting for fuel. As soon as the one little fuel truck would gas a plane, there were 9 on the ground, the planes would take off and get to Atlanta. We were last in line and ended up being one of the last flights into Atlanta.

There were no hotel room available anywhere. The Crown Room closes overnight. Here's where we slept:


Once we got back to Cincinnati I got my wet luggage off the carousel. The rum bottle we got at the duty free shop had been shattered through the luggage and the transport package that was provided for protection.

All in all it was a terrible trip back. But we got home to our boy and his big smile which made the pain of travel worthwhile.

Trip to Tortola

Our trip to Tortola was great. It was only held back a little by Sarah's broken foot limited her mobility. However, when you're relaxing you don't need much mobility. The relaxing break is exactly what we needed, especially in light of all the choas we'll being going through soon.

First a little about the house where we stayed. It's called the Tortola Adventure and getting there is an adventure. The house has a surround porch with views of Apple Bay and Long Beach Bay. The house is the shoebox looking one on top in this picture:


Getting to the house is similar to a carnival ride. The literature said that a 4-wheel drive car is recommended, we'd say necessary. The dirt road up the hill to the house is treaterous and we never got up it wihout engaging our 4WD. Here's a picture of the trip back down the hill. At one point the downhill slope drop so aggressively that the road and the hill its on disappear from view.


Sarah said that at the end of the ay she was always just glad that we made it back up the hill for the night. The benefit is the views of the ocean, islands, and sunsets. With views like these, we didn't feel the need to test Sarah's foot too often.


We did leave once a day. We'd go out after a leisurely breakfast to sit on the beach or go snorkeling. While out, we'd eat our lunch out at a restaurant where'd I'd more often than not get a roti. It's curry wrapped in a flatbread served with chutney.

The beaches were beautiful and almost completely empty. July and August are the low season and we were sometimes the only people on the beach, even Long Beach.


The snorkeling is fantastic and Sarah even got to do a little. She lean over a floatie while I pushed us around the reef. There are such large numbers of parrot fish. I saw a cople of unusual creatures like a sea turtle, cuttle fish and a cow fish like this one


Snorkeling wasn't our only adventure. Getting onto a boat was always an adventure. Sarah was skilled wih the crutches, but hopping from the dock to the bouncing boat was always frought with danger. One time she stmbled and dropped the crutch, which sank to the bottom of the ocean. Without a moment's hesitation, I ripped off my shirt and hat and dove after it. I snatched it off of the rocks, shook off an urchin, and brought it back to the surface. The water was clear and the sunlight easily made it down the 15 feet to its resting place on the bottom of the ocean.

Not ever day was that exciting. Most days were spent laying around doing logic puzzles. Not very adventurous at all, but relaxing.

All the pictures are here.

Superhero Kids

Sarah watched Finn and Elena Back in July and thought of a fun game: Superhero. A couple dishtowels and clothespins later and the world was safe again from evil villains. At least small ones. And ones powerless against cute.

Guess what I was caught doing?

Pool Party

During a dog day of summer (20 July) we had Rowan and the family over for a pool party. We all sat outside and watched the kids play int he pool and even put our feet in a little. There's no better tradition than a backyard mini-pool in the hot summer. Finn is showing the camera a cherished water "toy", his travel toothbrush holder. They actually shared very well and there was no CPR required.

For food, we walked on down to the OTR Kroger and got chicken from their deli. The deli guy was very nice and gave us more chicken than we wanted, including sampes of his BBQ chicken that he was very proud of. The chicken was good and fresh too.

Fireworks Night at the Reds

We decided to go to the Red's Friday night fireworks display back in mid-July. That meant going right through Finn's bedtime and risk a baby crying at the booms. However, he may also like watching the lights and watching the crowd.

It turned out that he liked them, but held onto Sarah closely the whole time. The fireworks at the games are always great and rival many 4th of July displays. Better yet, they happen almost every-other week instead of once a year.

On the way out, we passed a John Deere display of small tractor. Since his great-grandpa collects model tractors, he thought that he should get his pictures taken in one.

Finn was once again a fantastic boy, adaptable to changes in schedule and habits. It may be less than humble to say so, but he's such a great little boy!

Getting older

SOmetimes Finn looks about 5 years old. Here's one of those pictures. He acts older too, now trying to show people how he does things. He's explaining to Elena all about Firefighter Tadm although she knows it all already. He also explains and shows things to people he hasn't seen before. If someone he hasn't seen in a while comes into the room, he'll stare at them for a second and then point to something while talking.

The other day, he decided that he should tell me everything that he knew the name of. He ran around the room pointing to things and saying "baby...bird...box...radio"

You can also see the handprints on the fridge. He's been very into trying to figure things out. Opening and closing things holds his attention for long periods of time. The latest is the car door. He kept closing the door on Sarah and waving bye-bye as she was trying to get out.

Ham in the Tub

Much like Lanny used to do, Finn tried ganwing on his washcloth. It's a good look and reminds me of the old UNLV coach, Jerry Tarkanian.

But that was only the beginning of the bath antics. He then decided it was more fun to make faces at us. We had an early opportunity to use the old "stop or your face will freeze like that."


I don't think it will actually freeze, mine never did, but I'm not sure he should take the chance.

Fountain Square is a favorite spot

We walk down to Foutain Square a few times a week, especially in the heat and late light of summer. Finn gets soaking wet from touching the fountains. The water trails down his arm and pours into his sleeve. This, according to Finn, is one of the funniest things ever.

There are three fountains at the square. The one most people think of is the big one of the lady whose hands leak. It's called the Tyler Davidson Fountain, named after Tyler Davidson (I don't know, look it up). The actual name of the fountain is the Genius of Water.


The second fountain is the water wall. Water ripples down the wall and is uplit by lights in the return gutter. It's a definite Finn favorite and wear he gets the most wet, since he usually presses his whole body up against it.

The third type is a ground spurter. We first ran into this kind in Centennial Park in Atlanta; Finn first saw it here.

Unfortunately those spurters are all broken now. Not sure how it happened, but they are being repaired. Then we'll have three times the excitement again.

Pibb's jealous

Mr. Pibb, once described as "the Ed McMahon to Finn's Johnny Carson", has been dying for attention lately. While Finn gives us cute looks, Pibb has been giving dirty looks. Perhaps there will be more Mr. Pibb posts in the future to avoid poopy retalliation.

Real-time Update: Thanks to the Grandmas

We owe a big thanks to all the folks who have helped us since Sarah's foot broke. Our mothers both came to help so I wouldn't have to use up all the leave I've accrued at work. Others have provided transportation, food, or lent an ear. It's all very much appreciated.


Finn really liked the time too and has been saying "Mah-may" and pointing to pictures since you've both left. He misses his walks and crawls up into his stroller and buckles the belt hoping we have the time to take him out. He settles for a trip out back.


Thanks for making it possible to care for Sarah and Finn and stay employed. It's much easier now that Sarah can get around a little better. We're awaiting the news from the doctor next Friday when the cast comes off.

The whole experience showed the importance of family. It also highlighted a challenge of the modern world when one family is 500 miles in one direction, the other 800 in another. Phones, e-mail and blogs can only help bridge the gap so far. Sometimes you just need mom's help.

Like father like son

Many, many times, Finn and I have identical looks upon our faces or are doing the exact same thing. Usually it's because he's copying what I'm doing. Here is another example.


We're looking at a set of new flash cards that we got from Meme'. They are for nerds. For example, one card says "Q is for Quod erat demonstrandum". My point is Q.E.D.

Playing with Elena

Finn's begun to be able to play with friends with some interaction. One night in July, he and Elena walked together to get their truck toys.



It's great to see these kids playing so nicely. They get so excited to see each other, it seems they are real friends and not simply two babies we've put into the same room together a bunch of times.

As you can see in the above video, Finn has also taken to walking around with his hands behind his back. It's quite a mature strolling style.

You can also hear him say "Doooowwn". According the the Finnish-English dictionary, that means both "up" and "down".