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A New Chapter in Life

Saturday
Josh and I went to Hyde today and went through the whole classroom to box up my stuff. I was super thankful that I carefully labeled stuff as either "Hyde" or "Lewis" depending on who paid for it, that made it easy for me to find what was mine and box it up. I had several boxes of plastic toys (dinosaurs, lobsters, etc.) that I used for drawing lessons, wide-up toys that were for stress-release races, a ton of art books, my curriculum binders, some art supplies, a couple of rugs, some tools, a bunch of postcards from my museum trips, lamps, and who knows what else. A lot of stuff – that's what you collect over six years as an art teacher. A lot of things that were mine we decided to just donate because they were of much needed use there.

Josh, Caleb, and I were there for about four hours packing things up and loading them into our cars. Then, just after 7 p.m., I did a last check through the room, stood in the doorway, said a prayer, flipped off the lights, then locked and closed the door for the last time. I held my breath as the door slammed closed, recognizing the symbolism of another chapter of my life closed.

In the car, I turned on NPR and A Prairie Home Companion was on. That, combined with the bad weather, made it feel like I was back in Minnesota. Caleb snored in his car seat and the rain beat down on my car. I had to concentrate on breathing slowly, rhythmically because it seemed to be too much to take in.

Monday
I went in to Hyde today to give my resignation. I don't think anyone was surprised that I did and the principal said that I was a great teacher and that I'd be hard to replace. That was really nice. I then went to the district office and put in my resignation there. It felt sad in one sense, but was a huge weight off my shoulders in another sense.

Thursday
It has set in that I am not returning to my job as an art teacher. I've been thinking about pursuing other more flexible career paths, probably something that uses my IT & Design skills. For now, though, my hands are plenty full caring for Caleb and trying to take control of the giant storage closet that is my house. I'm actually a little frightened of how much work it is going to take to get the clutter and disarray in my house under control, but what did I expect after several years of stuff-neglect? I've got a plan though so it should be in order in no time.

Little Bug Stats

Caleb had his 4 month checkup on Friday (even though he's almost five months old, but his actual 4 month appointment got cancelled.)

Here are his stats:

Date: 01/25/2008
Weight: 15 lbs., 12 oz. (44th percentile)
Height: 24 3/4" (29th percentile)
Head: 16 1/4" (16th percentile)

He's a happy, strong little guy and is a picture of health! He got three shots and an oral vaccine which he did not like, but he was quite the little trooper.

Caleb is now quite the mover. He can now roll over from tummy to back and from back to tummy. He is very good at grabbing things and drooling all over them. He can also do this weird inch-worm crawl like thing (like a sack of potatoes gone robotic) if there is something in front of him that he wants. He fusses a lot while pushing himself forward to get that thing, but is so happy when he finally reaches it.

He's really starting to connect with his environment. He loves to chew and suck on anything he can get. He is a super bath time kicker and splashes water all over me and the mirror; he thinks this is hilarious. He loves to pet 5 and Ella. He really gets going on the Jumperoo and is very capable of keeping the music going in his Baby Einstein gym. His favorite story is I See a Monster. He loves being sung to, and his favorites include The Boa Constrictor Song, Dream a Little Dream, Mahna Mahna, and the La La La Song. We go for walks in the park every day with him in a sling; he loves going in the swing there and also loves to watch the other kids scream and play. He is not interested in ducks or geese attacking people, but I am!

He is wearing size 9 months pants because the size 6 month ones don't cover his chubby ankles. I have decided that sizes on baby clothes are laughable.

He is eating rice cereal and bananas (both mixed with breast milk) and the doctor said I should start introducing some fruits and veggies as well. He loves to eat when we eat. If you don't feed him, he will grab your plate, food, & silverware and scream at you.

And, he loves to talk. He will look at you very seriously and talk for 10-15 minutes straight. Sometimes he seems very serious, and sometimes he gets quite dramatic (gee, where does he get that from?). When we go out, if people talk to him, he will usually greet them back with lots of words, eye contact, and cutie grins. A lady at Josh's work said he's the biggest flirt of a baby she's ever met. (Word got around and Josh's coworkers now say, "So, I heard your kid is a flirt.")

Josh and I are really enjoying him. We have contests to see who can get him laughing the hardest. There are several things that will get him going. One is to go up and down in front of him ("I'm going down down down. Now I'm down. How'd I get down here? Now I go up up up! I'm UP!"). He also goes crazy for The Boa Constrictor song. Josh got him going big time the other day by showing him Cookie Monster clips on You Tube. When he rolls over he laughs. He is ticklish in the armpits and feet. If his Grover toy "fuzzles" him all over, that makes him laugh. Pretty much anything I do is amusing to him. Bath time and diaper changing also produces much laughter. He also loves if you dance with him, he just giggles the whole time.

Well, that's the Caleb update!

How to Make Your Husband Adore You (Even More)

Well, it worked for me anyway. I officially declared every Friday as "pizza night." A couple of weeks ago I tried a pizza dough recipe, and it was pretty good. Then I found this one, the sworn "best pizza crust ever" by a woman who has had a pizza night for a long time.

My husband was complimenting me before I even took the pizza out of the oven, then in between bites, then continuously after the pizza had been consumed. Tonight we were coming home and he said, "Oh, I can't wait for Friday pizza night!"

I was like, "Dude, this recipe is awesome." So I decided that you should know the recipe too! Kudos to Amy from The Motherload for sharing!

(Oh, two things I did different from the recipe was to use 3 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour... just to get some whole grains in there. And I didn't have onion powder, so I just doubled the garlic powder.)

Does this outfit look girly?

Caleb in Chair 11, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

I take Caleb to the park a lot. The last time I brought him in this outfit, many people were confused about his gender. "What a beautiful bo.. gir... uh... BABY you have," they'd say. Who knows. I dress him in it because it's fuzzy and warm, and I love fuzzy warm babies! Do you think it's too girly? (In this pic he's also wearing his puppy/kitty slippers which have rattles in them. He thinks they're interesting and tries to bite them.)

One thing I love about the park is that everyone feeds the ducks and geese even though there are huge signs everywhere warning the public about the dangers of feeding them. Last week, I saw a woman send her two-year-old out in middle of the flock with a ziplock bag of bread crumbs. The birds started chasing him and he dropped the bag and ran, crying. Today, I watched some middle school kids take AN ENTIRE SHEET CAKE and fling pieces of it out to the many seagulls, ducks, and geese that were swarming them. These boys were tough though. If a bird got too close, they'd just kick it.

Another reason I love the park is because I like to see how everyone here thinks the weather is freezing. Today, which was a whopping 52 degrees F, people had their kids dressed in thick SNOWSUITS, complete with tied-under-the-chin hats, mittens, and boots. Yes, boots. One little girl kept pulling her hat off complaining that she was hot, but her mother insisted that she wear it. They must've thought I was crazy wearing a light sweatshirt. Caleb wore the outfit pictured above along with his blue knit Guatemalan hat. He and I were both plenty warm.

Sometimes we walk to the Starbucks across the street from the park to tank ourselves up (me on coffee & Caleb on mommy-milk). Today was awesome though because I went to the counter and ordered a grande mocha. The boy behind the counter said, "Do you want me to heat that to kid's temp for him?" I stood there puzzled for a moment, then realized that he seriously thought I was giving my 4 1/2 month old baby a mocha. I said, "I think he's a little young to be drinking a mocha." The girl who was working with him was laughing so hard. Poor kid.

Prescription for Lifestyle Change

When I took a psychology class back in the day, my professor said that there were oftentimes many ways to cure an ailment, but that Americans generally wanted only the one that was in pill form. So, if someone was given the choice to either do specific daily exercises or take a daily prescription drug, most people would elect to take the drug.

I have a tendency to avoid drugs unless it's a really irritating illness that I want to go away quickly and the drug is better at causing that effect.

The doctor told me that Caleb needed to take a Vitamin D supplement because I was breastfeeding. I asked her how long I would need to take him outside in the sunshine each day in order to meet the Vitamin D requirement. She said 2-5 minutes. I told her that he probably didn't need a supplement then because we take a 1-2 hour walk daily without fail (unless there's a horrible rainstorm or something). She looked at me and seemed shocked that I would actually prefer to commit to taking my child outside than give him the vitamin supplement.

Similarly, my doctor told me that I should take a calcium supplement because I am breastfeeding and it would help to keep my bones strong. I told her that I drink about 6-8 large glasses of milk a day, not to mention my cheese & yogurt servings (hey, I'm from Minnesota!). I told her that it would probably more than meet my calcium needs. She said, "Yeah, but you probably don't actually drink that much every day." Josh was with me and said, "No, she drinks milk like most people drink water. I know, I've been paying for it." Before I eat a meal, I'll usually drink a whole glass and refill it before taking a bite of the food. She seemed hesitant, then suggested that I take the supplement anyway. So, I did, and had stomach pains the entire time I was taking it, so I stopped. Diagnosis? Calcium overdose. The doctor told me to stop taking it.

It got me thinking about other prescriptions that we take and why doctors are so quick to prescribe them over more natural methods that work just as well or better. I mean, if I need a vitamin, shouldn't I just adjust my diet? If I am having pains, aren't there exercises I can do or bath soaks or something? Why just a pill? I'm sure there's a money trail behind it, perhaps some laziness on part of the patient and/or doctor, and probably a greater probability that the patient will follow through with an easier treatment (such as "swallow one a day with water").

I think part of the reason I would rather have more natural treatments when possible is that I freak out whenever I hear the lists of side effects that are quickly whispered at the end of drug commercials. Some of those potential side effects sound horrid and are really not worth the risk to me in many cases. Of course, if I needed to take a prescription I would. But, I'd rather just make an adjustment to my lifestyle to stay healthier in general by eating more nutritiously, exercising regularly, and engaging in healthful activities.

Me & Caleb @ Macworld 2008

Me & Caleb @ Macworld 2008, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

We had a fantastic time at Macworld this year. Granted, I only got an exhibit hall pass since I didn't know how Caleb would handle going into long, detailed workshops. So, I stuck him in the sling and we wandered around checking out all kinds of new technology.

After I got my pass, I was able to see Frank Chu on a street corner. We walked by and Josh said, "Hey Frank!" And I was like, "You know that guy?" And then he sent me the Wikipedia link when we got home and I was all, "NO WAY!" So, yeah, that's Frank.

The most intriguing thing for me this year was Memory Miner. I got to talk to the guy that started it and he explained it well by saying that, when we look at genealogies, we see when people were born and when they died. But, what's important is the story that exists between these two dates. This software works to put pictures, videos, genealogies, and written descriptions together to tell these stories. It connects with Flickr, Yahoo Maps, and will soon also connect with Geni. He said they are also working on having it search for other computers to find connections in what people have put in their own stories. So, I think I'm going to wait until I have a bit of time, then use the 2-week trial download to see if it's cool enough to buy.

Other things that made me drool include: anything at the Canon booth, especially the sweet camera lenses and pro printers; new AppleTV options; some guy that was totally wailing on Guitar Hero; Sprint's Mobile Broadband; everything at Adobe; and Joshua.

Things that made Caleb drool include: everything.

Things that were repulsive: Epson's horribly designed booth (get with it!), the coffee (blech!), and having to be in San Francisco. Seriously, we've been there a ton of times and we still don't know how to get out of that place!

On Becoming a Cheapskate

This is my new goal. I want to be a super cheapskate. I want people to look at me and think, "Man, she's cheap."

First, Josh and I have been working hard to get out of debt. I've been reading a few books. Josh has been connecting with many of the Crown Ministries resources. He's also into Mvelopes and Wesabe. We've been looking at a ka-jillion ways to stretch the old greenback a little further and to stay within a very tight budget. So far, honestly, it's been kind of fun. I like a good challenge, especially one that pushes you to question the very core of your beliefs. Letting go of materialism and managing the blessings you receive is certainly one such challenge.

So, back to becoming a cheapskate. I was thinking today about how having a child, and desiring to be with him as much as possible, has shifted my thinking on all things financial. Suddenly, saving a dollar is so much more important than making a dollar (no one can tax me on how much I save). Shopping at thrift stores seems more chic and better for the environment (it's the reuse part of the 3 R's). Two cars seems like overkill (at least for our current needs). Seeing a company make too much profit off of me makes me really angry. Craigslist rules. Basically, I've been thinking a lot about the subject and it's making my life seem almost like a really interesting strategy game.

Considering this, as well as making your life matter, I was thinking about how money saved by a frugal life could be used to better the lives of others. Or as a ministry. It makes me want to see the world with more open eyes to better understand the role that money has in everything.

I want a bumper sticker that says, "Cheapskating is not a crime." (Ahhh... that's a horrible joke.) But, I'm too cheap to buy one.

Babywise & Attachment Parenting

A friend of mine and several of my old coworkers swear by the book Babywise. It basically teaches parents how to put their babies on a schedule so that baby will fit into the parents' lives better. When Caleb was born, I took on more of an attachment parenting method and loved The Baby Book by Dr. Sears.

So, I read Babywise over the last week to see what it was all about. No offense to any of my friends who are using this method, but I think Josh got tired of me shouting out while reading it. I got frustrated at how the book portrayed attachment parenting, as though I'm some kind of overworked, exhausted mother sacrificing everything to cater to every little whim of my child. Oh, and of course my child will be uber-spoiled and obese because I do on-cue feeding. And I should never nurse my baby to sleep because I am giving him a crutch. And so on, sarcasm intended.

I think the book had a few good things to say, but overall I found the scheduling method to be a bunch of hooey. I don't think it's possible to mess a kid up by building a strong parent-child trust and attachment.

One nice thing about reading the Babywise book is that it helped me to feel more confident about the choices Josh and I have decided to make (a.k.a. not following the Babywise book!). That, and Caleb is a very happy, observant little guy. I think the choices we are making are overall working very well for us and that makes me happy.

Ella Smella

I love my dog Ella. She's a sweet little cuddler and is really the ideal lap dog. She's recently become protective of myself and Caleb, so she takes a little time to warm up to strangers, but that's not what I'm blogging about today.

She has not gone to the bathroom all day. After our inclement weather, our outdoor porch area got flooded. That, and there are no gutters around the back of our rented house, so when the rain gets bad there is literally a waterfall onto our porch area. The porch area has an annoying lemon tree (which I loved when we first moved here, now I despise fruit bearing trees that are so close to the house) as well as Ella's potty area. We installed a doggy door and Ella has always been very good of taking care of her business outside as she needs to.

After the bad weather hit, Ella developed a fear of going out there. We'd even take her outside for a long time, she'd *pretend* to pee, then pee inside the house within five minutes of coming back in. You can imagine what the past week has been like. We take Ella out and sit outside with her for way too long, trying to encourage her to go. We go out to her potty area on the porch and take her to other outdoor places, but she's got a bladder of steel and refuses to let loose. Or she'll pretend and we'll think all is well and good (it's hard to see underneath a miniature dachshund to see if they are actually going to the bathroom). Then, as soon as we're in the house, she'll hang around for a bit then casually slip into a nearby room. You can tell when she's been naughty because she'll come into the room looking all guilty.

So, Ella usually sleeps in her kennel at night and we sometimes welcome her into our bed for a little while in the morning (like we were doing in above pic). But, today there was no welcoming into the bed. She was put outside for almost an hour and refused to go to the bathroom. So, I put her back in her kennel for awhile and then stuck her back outside. She's been outside for about five hours now and still has not gone to the bathroom. Josh said I should let her in and I said, "I guarantee that she will go to the bathroom in the house the first chance she gets so, NO, she's staying outside." I put her dog bed out there and she has water and plenty of space. It's a nice day, there is no rain. I keep checking on her to see evidence of going to the bathroom, but she has held out in this protest so far. That dog sure sticks to her guns.

I just hope her kidneys don't explode like Grandpa Simpson's.

Monsters in my Closet

When I was little I wasn't afraid of monsters in my closet.

Then one night while I was in bed, my mom entered my room to tuck me in. She looked at my wide-open closet and said, "How can you sleep with your closet door open? Aren't you scared there are monsters in there?" She closed the closet door and left.

I have slept with my closet doors closed ever since. Josh thinks it's hilarious. :-)

Cupertino Weather Notice

Josh and I got this message from the City of Cupertino yesterday:

Today has been interesting. I woke up to winds and rain. Later, the cat was outside my bedroom door meowing loudly. Eventually, Josh went to work and I had to take Ella outside. It was pouring rain out and she would only cower and shiver, looking at me as if to say, "Why? Why would you bring me out here!?!" The power started going on and off (four or five times).

Apparently a bench at Apple got overturned and Josh's umbrella turned inside out. Our porch started flooding, which led to the garage flooding. So, Josh went to the emergency preparedness place and brought home 10 sandbags so we could *hopefully* prevent further flooding.

I was supposed to bring Caleb to a doctor appointment today, but they called and cancelled because they had lost power. So, now he won't get to go for about three weeks, the earliest time they could get him in. That made me mad because I had worked so hard to get Caleb up and bathed and dressed, get his diaper bag packed, and all that other stuff you have to do to bring your four-month-old to the doctor. Oh well.

Eventually, I threw in the towel (actually, I skated around our dining room with towels on my feet to sop up our sandbagging mess) and came to Apple. Apple has had it's power working all day and I'm just chilling out with Caleb getting work done. I had Caleb in the hall once and he decided to practice talking, which (if you know Josh and me) is exceptionally loud. Josh quarantined us to his office because of that.

One thing I realized is that this rain storm isn't nearly as bad as some of the storms I've experienced in Minnesota. But, I think Minnesota is better prepared for this kind of stuff. A lot of the power lines are underground, or are at least more securely attached than the ones around our house. The ones by our house pretty much go out during every rainstorm we have. Minnesota also has cool trucks and stuff that get out fast and get stuff fixed. Californians start driving poorly and stuff when the weather gets mildly bad because they're just not used to inclement weather.

Well, those are my ramblings for today. Good times!