This evening marked our first SupperClub of the season. SupperClub was born out of some time in 2014 spent Lindsin around.  She expressed wanting to find an avenue for creating more community in our grown-up urban lives. I supported that and monthly SupperClub was “branded” and launched with rotating hosts and usually between six and twelve diners. We’ve shared many interesting meals, guests and discussions over the years. Always vegetarian and always a good time. 

Tonight Lindsay hosted and we gathered in Meridian Park for a brave end of “Summer” barbecue. We had our autumn layers on and stayed until after dark. It was a festive affair filled with gales of laughter and camaraderie. Thank you for hosting Lindsay! 

See you all again next month. We nominated Lake to host. He’s contemplating mac and cheese. 

And then… He slept like a baby! 

Lake slept nine hours straight through last night, from 10pm to 7am. I did ask Michael to check on him when he got up this morning for work, to make sure he was still alive. Michael didn’t seem to think that was an unreasonable request, and said he would and report back to me. 

He just sneezed! I heard him. 

Ok, perfect. 

It was such an about face from the night prior, where he was waking up crying every few hours, that we were full of relief and gratitude. And if anything he had been more congested yesterday evening than the day before. This morning I woke up, not to his crying, but to his cooing. My breasts were hugely engorged with milkies so I’m thinking: he’s got to be ready for breakfast. The little trooper!

We had pulled out all the stops. 

1. Pharmax HLC Neonate probiotics (’cause why not?)
2. Hyland’s Teething tablets (what the heck?)
3. Nose Frida (we did it!)
4. Wet sock treatment (see 8/30/16 post “Cold Wet Socks”)

The Nose Frida was clearly instrumental, as in it immediately allowed him to breastfeed without a struggle, without fighting for air. It had been a gift from my inspirational best friend, Auntie Jessica, and had been hanging out in a clear box in our bedroom ever since: staring at me, mildly threateningly. Waiting. It’s Swedish design, by a Swedish pediatrician, made in Sweden. So we want to love it. It’s just out of reach. A bit intimidating. “The snot sucker…” Well, last night we reached the necessary critical snot threshold, just what we needed to motivate us to take it out of the box and give it a go. We are glad we did. It was super straightforward. 

This morning Lake woke up with his cozy Icelandic wool oversocks on his feet staring up at his sailboat mobile as it gently undulated above him (both were gifts from Nana). Dry hot pink thin cotton socks, (these were a hand-me-down gift from Auntie Jessica’s girls), no longer wet, under the thick wooly ones. Cozy and happy in his bed.

The morning started out peacefully enough. 

Even though Lake had been up every few hours last night. Poor little guy is teething and appears to have a snotty URI cold as well. We had a few mummy wins: doing my PT exercises, a home mani/pedi boldly in “berry naughty” and managing the laundry (which yes, qualifies as a major mummy win). Then, after one false start (got a few blocks away before we realized we had no diapers in our purse), headed down to University Village to do some errands. 

We needed to get outside into the beautiful autumn day after wrestling with the child care wait list/wait pool enrollment circus all night and again this morning on the phone. I thought it would be uplifting for my mood to be in the tranquil bustle of the cheerily landscaped outdoor shopping center. First, I went into Hanna Andersson and right way there was a mother of three juggling multiple out-of-control tantrums. I tried to be supportive in giving her the fashion advice she was flailing for with the inattentive clerks at the check out. 

Do you think it’s too much pink?

No, I don’t. I love pink. 

But ultimately it was nerve wracking and further demoralized me. So I went to another store. I thought I might check out what’s fashionable for BabyGap this fall. 

Then I heard a notorious sound. Lake had been saving it up since Tuesday. I never win by delaying the inevitable blowout mop-up. So, I immediately ask a crew member where the closest bathroom is. I’m sure I have the deer-in-the-headlights look. He points to the corner of the store. Wow, I think, so close! That’s great! 

But there’s no changing table…

He trails off. A calmer, smarter, more experienced version of myself might have reversed my steps right then and there and asked where the closest University Village restrooms are (they have nice changing tables if I recall correctly). But no, I blaze ahead to the nearby corner gender neutral bathroom. Lake ends up in the sink. 

There’s something about the poshness of the University Village that now turns against me and manifests the opposite effect I was going for. I wanted to feel uplifted. Instead I feel like I’m at the bottom of a very big hill. Well, actually, I am. Indeed it would do me good to put things in proper perspective and remember the University Village is built in a low-lying wetland area. A swamp. 

All pretense goes out the window. We get Lake sopped up and apply the dry fresh nappy. So glad we went back for that one! Who cares if we wear pants on the way home or not. I apply some fresh lipstick and step back out into the world. 

I love my little Lake. 

The morning started out peacefully enough. 

Even though Lake had been up every few hours last night. Poor little guy is teething and appears to have a snotty URI cold as well. We had a few mummy wins doing a home mani/pedi boldly in “berry naughty” and managing the laundry (which yes, qualifies as a major mummy win). Then, after one false start (got a few blocks away before we realized we had no diapers in our purse), headed down to University Village to do some errands. 

We needed to get outside into the beautiful autumn day after wrestling with the child care wait list/wait pool enrollment circus all night and again this morning on the phone. I thought it would be uplifting for my mood to be in the tranquil bustle of the cheerily landscaped outdoor shopping center. First, I went into Hanna Andersson and right way there was a mother of three juggling multiple out-of-control tantrums. I tried to be supportive in giving her the fashion advice she was flailing for with the inattentive clerks at the check out. 

Do you think it’s too much pink?

No, I don’t. I love pink. 

But ultimately it was nerve wracking and further demoralized me. So I went to another store. I thought I might check out what’s fashionable for BabyGap this fall. 

Then I heard a notorious sound. Lake had been saving it up since Tuesday. I never win by delaying the inevitable blowout mop-up. So, I immediately ask a crew member where the closest bathroom is. I’m sure I have the deer-in-the-headlights look. He points to the corner of the store. Wow, I think, so close! That’s great! 

But there’s no changing table…

He trails off. A calmer, smarter, more experienced version of myself might have reversed my steps right then and there and asked where the closest University Village restrooms are (they have nice changing tables if I recall correctly). But no, I blaze ahead to the nearby corner gender neutral bathroom. Lake ends up in the sink. 

There’s something about the poshness of the University Village that now turns against me and manifests the opposite effect I was going for. I wanted to feel uplifted. Instead I feel like I’m at the bottom of a very big hill. Well, actually, I am. Indeed it would do me good to put things in proper perspective and remember the University Village is built in a low-lying wetland area. A swamp. 

All pretense goes out the window. We get Lake sopped up and apply the dry fresh nappy. So glad we went back for that one! Who cares if we wear pants on the way home or not. I apply some fresh lipstick and step back out into the world. 

I love my little Lake. 

I found it a bit odd that when we arrived home this evening, Mr. Cat was completely calm. We had been out all day, walking the city, househunting, checking out some strategic open houses. He was relaxing, sprawled out, not at all clambering for supper. 

It turned out that he had broken into the cat food supplies. He had shamelessly torn a huge hole into the 17 pound bag. He was lounging about completely satiated. Meanwhile, we arrived home exhausted and hungry after walking nearly ten miles. 

Very resourceful Mr. Cat!

Lake rolled over today and gave himself a three hour nap. Face down on the bed. He was breathing the whole time, I checked. 

Michael loved his birthday present! On his birthday Saturday we had the great unveiling of my Bad Art painting. It’s a custom piece commemorating his feline pride and joy: The Majestic Mr. Cat!

He loves his other pride and joys too!

The three of us, Michael, Lake and I, went to a cinematic dissection today at the SIFF headquarters in the Seattle Center. It was a six hour treatment of Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom in the theme of Roger Ebert’s Cinema Interruptus. Lake was quite the devoted scholar throughout the entire duration. His manner was complimented by many. I find his sage behavior particularly notable given his current teething status. 

It was pretty absorbing to dive so completely and thoroughly into the film. No stone was left unturned as we collectively went through the scenes frame by frame with a fine tooth comb. Moonrise Kingdom happens to be one of my favorite films so it wasn’t as excruciating as it may sound. We covered many themes as we explored the film together. We drew comparisons of cinematic reference to other landmark films such as Walkabout, Star Trek and others. We admired the brilliance of the framework established by Wes Anderson. We appreciated that this allows that the actors may truly shine. We analyzed the symbolism and technical aspects of the richness of  the sets, as well as the multifaceted story of the characters and how all this together saturates the senses. We felt that the meticulous orderliness and visual symmetry of the film balanced the chaos of the family dynamics and characters’ minds. 

Primarily I reveled in the purity with which the characters Sam and Suzy fall in love. This is in sharp contrast to the juvenile behaviors of the film’s adult characters. The children’s  wisdom and maturity shines as they model a genuine love affair.

I enjoyed describing how meaningful these characters are to me. It especially meant a lot to share this when the audience pedantically disparaged their relationship odyssey. Sam and Suzy are an unlikely pair, to be fair. They are both lonely and misunderstood for different reasons, yet what they find in each other is a friend who accepts them wholly and then also continuously seeks to understand them. I find this simple act of acceptance to be incredibly powerful. This anecdote illustrates the profundity when Suzy catches a fish that Sam then cooks over the fire for their dinner. Sam goes on to suggest her kitten might like the fish scraps. She says that her kitten only eats kitten food. Screen shot of fish derived kitten food cans. Instead of arguing the inanity of her statement he nods and moves on to suggest they make an inventory of their travel items. To me, the acts of curiosity and kindness they show each other give Moonrise Kingdom it’s heart. 

So after our six hours of scolarly dissection I’m left with this: Suzy and Sam are inspirational in the decency of their regard for each other and their aligned purpose. Sure, it’s whimsical and campy and fantastical. It’s also a richly woven epic love story. 

Our children have so much to teach us. If we choose to listen. Lake endorses it!

Lake is an intrepid hiker and explorer. He has just bagged his inaugural two fire lookouts. We’ve practically joined the ranks of avid Lookout seekers. 

“Lookouts” are basically what they sound like, a promontory from which someone could be stationed to keep an eye out for smoke in the hills. Smoke would be the earliest indication of forest fire and in National Forest lands the goal was to fight the fires and preserve the timber for sale. Now the policies tend to favor “let it burn” and the forests are now monitored via satellite. This leaves a legacy of abandoned Fire Lookout sites. Some are maintained and open to the public for recreation, and all that’s left of others may be a metal footing or marker. It can be fun to camp overnight in a maintaintained lookout or to find some of the lesser visited sites and hunt around for artifacts. Either way, you’re pretty much guaranteed a grand territorial view. 

Lakes first historical fire lookout site was yesterday on Striped Peak near Salt Creek. It is located at the top of a pretty hike up the hillside overlooking the Straight of Juan de Fuca through magestic second growth. 

We refreshed briefly in the Straight at Salt Creek Recreation Area before setting out again. It really doesn’t take much as the water is brisk! So magnificent and lots of fun. Daddy says we look like we are dancing with the ocean. 

The next lookout was one of the Lost Lookouts our new friend Leslie Romer is researching for her book on the subject. It is somewhat elusively located on one of the beautiful ridges above Lake Dawn. We had some vague instructions and set out on reconnaissance as our second hike of the day!

Leslie led us to the site fairly expertly and we were rewarded by this gorgeous late afternoon view. 

Lake is looking forward to checking out your book, Leslie. In the meantime we are always game to aid you on any necessary research missions. We’re acquiring quite an unquenchable appetite for adventure!