Cadence's Navy

Cadence, our sweet, seemingly innocent little child, is carefully plotting her world takeover. Sure, you say, right, the baby...and what army?

Well, maybe no army.  BUT!  She does have...A Navy!!

A navy of...

[dun dun dun!]

Rubber. Duckies.

Yes, that's right.  You heard me. A navy, made up entirely of cute little rubber duckies.

The photographer risked life and limb to bring you these images from the high security training ground located in the master bathroom.  As you can see, young though she may be, she's industrious, and has spent the last year or so slowly recruiting the finest specimens.  We can only imagine what top secret plans she's got in place right under our noses.  Only time will tell!

Our only hope is to study the intelligence we have on the known recruits, that we may know their many powers!

Duck #1: The Admiral

Cathy the Duck.  Belonged to Mama when she was itty bitty, and as far as we know, she is the only duck with a definitive name. {or gender, for that matter.}  20 years of experience behind this Awesome, very loved duck.

Duck #2:  Captain

This duck belonged to aunt Kelly when she was young, also a very experienced, capable duckie.  

Duck #3: Lieutenant Junior Class

A gift from aunt Kelly when she was born, this duck had an early career as a lifeguard, astutely warning Mama and Baba if the baby's bath water was too hot.  Has since retired from this particular career, but we suspect that this experience is informing Duck #3's current assignments.

Duck #4:  Ensign

Part 1 of a Duckie Duo with Duck #5, Duck #4 is an accomplished spritzer, frequently working on distance and accuracy in water squirting.  Is a trick swimmer and can float upside down better than most.

Duck#5: Ensign

Part 2 of a Duckie Duo with Duck #4, Duck #5 is an accomplished spritzer, frequently working on distance and accuracy in water squirting.  Always carries a bit of back up amo which doubles as a ballast, and thus this suck rides lower in the water than your average duck.

Duck #6:  Ensign
Mama bought duck #6 back in NY as a reward for a great behavior after a really rough day out.  Good floater, exceptional high diving experience.

Duck #6a: Ensign

Sordid history here...Nanna Marianna initially purchased Duck #6a at the same time that Mama got Duck #6, though this fact was entirely unbeknownst to either party.  We can only assume that it was all part of Cadence's secret master plan.  
Perhaps Pepper has been recruited into Cadence's Navy as well, or perhaps it was a coincidence, we simply don't know at this point, all we do know is that Pepper stole this duck, which resulted in Nanna Marianna purchasing Duck #7 as a replacement.  However, there is some speculation that ducks 6 and 6a sometimes switch places in secret, perhaps as a form of deception or as a method of smuggling secrets.  They have on occasion been seen together in the presence of the mighty Cadie Ladie.  We must not discount the threat that ducks 6 and 6a pose in their unique position to imitate one another.

Duck #7:  Ensign

A gift to Cadence after the supposed loss of Duck #6a, though this duck has been seen with a certain big black dog on occasion, we suspect this duck may be in on the supposed 'ducknapping' of duck #6a.  Though pink, this is a very dangerous duck.

Duck #8: Ensign

A gift from Aunt Kelly's friend Joe and his mom for her first birthday.  Their knowledge of her need for skilled ducks is suspect.  This duck seems to excel in the "I'm just a decoy" category, spinning into a side float at a moment's notice.

Duck #9:  Ensign

An unplanned Gift from Mama and Baba, Duck #9 raises suspicion that Cadence may have ties that allow her to manipulate the flow of coupons and special offers from Bath & Body works.  See also:  the fluffy sheep that Duck #9 arrived with.

Duck #Octopus:  Status unknown.  Threat level vibrantly red.

Octopus.  'Nuff said.

Clearly, this is a highly trained group of floating, fortitudinous fowl.  Please remain alert.  We wish you the best of luck.

ow. ow. Ow. OW. OW.

So, here's a little James Yu trivia fact many may not know... I've had 8,576 consecutive days without getting stung by a bee. Well, the counter has been restarted. We got this hub from Gamestop which lets us manage all the video game systems we have accumulated. Anyway, I was fiddling with the name plates, and I managed to get one lost in the thing itself. I thought I'd seen a set of little screwdrivers in the garage so down I went with Cadence in my arms. Since I've moved down to Kentucky, I've gotten into the habit of walking around barefoot, which got me into trouble the other day when I stepped in dog poop. Right, so I took a scan of the workbench in the garage and didn't see any screwdriver. I turned around and felt the horrible sharp pain in my foot. It felt sort of like I'd stepped on a piece of glass so I looked down and noticed a bee writhing on the ground. Still holding the baby I hobbled up the stairs yelling for Kate. Kate got the stinger out, and Mary Ann brought me a bag of ice and I spent the next hour or so feeling the pain sort of come and go, each time like I was getting stung again. In any case, there's a little bit of a bruise but otherwise my foot's fine now.

So, what else? We're still looking for jobs, and haven't really had any success so far. I've expanded my search from paralegal jobs now, to a much wider range of jobs. I've put in a bunch of applications for jobs with the state of Kentucky, put in for a bank teller job, got caught by a few fake craigslist ads, and even a bartending job at a billiards club. Plus, Kate's dad put in a word for me with the conductor of the area orchestra, so tonight I started what will hopefully a practice regimen to get myself back into the game.

Also, the Olympics have been sucking up our attention lately.

I know you're strong

So Ian made us a couple of CD's as gifts before we left and Kate and I have had one of the songs stuck in our heads for the last two days...

Honestly, it's not such a big surprise that the song appeals to us so much. We are, if anything, cat people. Speaking of which, our cats have begun "getting to know" the country cats here. So far, there hasn't been anything to serious, some howling at each other from across the room, some running and chasing, hissing and growling but no physical confrontations so it's got me optimistic about how things will go.

So, what's new? Unfortunately, I've gotten nothing on the job search front. So far, I haven't seen any paralegal positions advertised so I've been sending out cover letters and résumés cold to law firms in the area which appeal, but none of them have had openings. A few have written back saying they'll keep my stuff on file but no one has asked me in for an interview. Disappointing.

In the meantime, Kate and I have decided to make a more serious go at learning some web stuff - html, css, javascript blah blah blah - and turn that into some possible freelance stuff. At the very least, it's giving me something to do so I don't freak out as much that we've been unemployed for almost two months. Ben gave me some pointers as to books, and I've been working on it a bit every day - with Pepper's help.

We've finally gotten ourselves unpacked and packed away... almost everything is now up in the attic and the rest has places to live throughout our room. There's only one box with a bunch of CDs and other media which is waiting to be unpacked. Otherwise, some order has been exerted on our room, so that's one less stressor to deal with.

Cadence is, as always, amazing - and in a way that is not diminished by the fact that she is constantly so. She has, among other things, taken to stepping into boxes (that's her in Puy's box) and plastic bins. I guess she's made efforts to get in in the past, but now her legs have finally gotten big enough so that she can actually get in.

Sad news is that we just found out today that Cadence has ear infections in both ears. She had been acting especially fussy once in a while and hasn't been sleeping well the past few days. Then, we were at the water park this weekend and Kate noticed there was some foul smelling discharge from one of her ears. Despite having an ear infection, which is her first real medical issue, she spends most of her time as though nothing is wrong. She's our little trooper.

first bike crash

...In which the can of crushed tomatoes is crushed, but the eggs are fine.

The first casualty of our biking lifestyle.

After a quick trip to Kroger, James tried to sneak up on Cadence and I in the driveway by coming across the lawn and over the sloping brick wall on the opposite side of the driveway. He would have been successful in his trick if he'd been about a foot to his left, where the wall is only slightly higher than the pavement. Alas, the slope (which you can't see from the side he was approaching from) was greater than he'd expected, and instead of hoping over the jump, he flipped the bike, landing on his backpack fully of groceries.  As you can see, the tomatoes got it pretty hard.  Thankfully, James was shaken but not damaged.  And yes, somehow, the dozen eggs that were in the backpack were totally unscathed.

But really, given how much we've been biking lately, its almost surprising that something hasn't happened until now, and thank goodness it wasn't something worse.

Suburban Monster Baby

 
When we made the decision to leave the city, we knew that life would be vastly different for our little lady.  We figured she'd miss the hustle and bustle, she'd enjoy the ability to venture into the yard when we pleased, we might be able to swim now and again...we never could have imagined the transformation that has taken place.  Our East Harlem baby, our city dweller extraordinaire, has become a Suburban Monster baby.

We use the term monster only to explain how thoroughly she loves her new surroundings.  Where we thought she'd enjoy, she revels, where we thought she'd want, she NEEDS, where we thought there would be small differences that would fall into the category of an intellectual 'the-adults-can-rationalize-how-this-is-better-for-her', it's "um, DUH, mama and baba, this ROCKS!".

Take, for example, the kiddie pool.

This photo was taken in the first week we spent here in Kentucky.  (notice how she only has four teeth...she now has six, which makes for a big toothy grin.) I wasn't sure how she would take to the kiddie pool, since she couldn't 'swim' in it the way she did in the big pool at the 92 street Y.  I shouldn't have worried.  She doesn't just like it.  She. Must. Have. Pool. !  Every morning, we get up, and as I attempt to make breakfast, she's already attempting to escape into the back yard for a morning swim.  and then there is the late morning swim.  and the noon and early pm swims.  and the evening swim, which lasts until mama can't stand the bugs.  

Usually, we don't actually let her have ALL of those swimming excursions for one reason or another...it usually gets too hot during the midday to deal with being outside, for instance, and being in so much direct sun could lead to crispy babies (and parents) which is no good, or the fact that we do actually have stuff to get done, so we can't spend the whole day climbing in and out of the pool...but boy will she fight to get them all.  Or to at LEAST be Out! Side! Please! AAAAHH!! [she's also developed a pretty strong affinity for playing basketball.]

Fortunately, there are some special things that help to make up for the fact that there must be life away from the pool.  On fridays during the summer, there are free concerts in the two town squares, Fountain Square Park and Circus Square, which are within walking distance of one another, so it ends up being quite a fest.  Local barbeque purveyors bring fresh wares, and local diary farms truck in house-made ice cream to accompany the sunset, a sprinkling of local artisans and politicians will have jewelry or buttons to sell or give away, and there are a plethora of inflatable adventures to keep the kids occupied.  But none of that holds much interest for our little bug, though she loves to dance and has developed a definite taste for chocolate ice cream...no, her favorite part of our friday evening adventures is the fountain in circus square.

My mom told us that there was a really neat fountain there that you could walk in, which we thought was cool, but we were still (foolishly!) unprepared for what that would mean for our little waterbug.  Glee!  Paradise!  Totally Soaking Wet!

Zooming from one lighted spout ...

to another, 

delighted to be able to splash and play to her heart's content.

The following week, we came prepared:

Hooray for bathing suits!

Look how tan that lady B is!  She definitely takes after her baba when it comes to skin tone and UV tolerance.  We try not to let her spend much time in the direct, harsh sunlight, and slather her in sunblock when we know she'll be exposed for any length of time, and yet, she makes me look pretty pasty.  And I actually have a tan, too.

We have had some pretty great excursions, I have to say.  Like this one, fairly early on, when we went to hear some fiddle players at Chaney's dairy barn.  In addition to the ice cream, they had a REALLY COOL SLIDE made out of some sort of tubing.  Thinking at first that it was too big for our ladyB, we took her to the kiddie area, but she saw the big kids on the big slide and kept dragging us back.  Eventually, I decided to take her down on my lap, and lo and behold, she loved it so much we spent the rest of our time there climbing the stairs and sliding down.  Here she is going down with Baba:

And this was another fun event, back on the 4th of July, when we went to see the fireworks...in the rain.  No wonder we cant keep her in the house even if there is a thunderstorm outside...twice now we've been out in the rain and the rain brings Fireworks!!!

And then there's this gem from an otherwise mundane trip to "the place" (the local apple retailer) Cadence is out shopping.  Anyone need Leopard?:

We don't always have to go out and about to have fun though.  There is plenty of thrilling stuff happening right here on the homestead!  Papa Scott won some huge Cadie smiles when he put up this very special tree swing in the backyard.

As a side note, we have so many great smiley windswept baby-in-the-swing photos that it took james and I three separate sessions to narrow down which ones to post.  

There have been lots of special events here, too.  There are an awful lot of July birthdays around here...Aunt Kelly has her birthday on the third, Cadie Ladie on the seventh, and Papa Scott on the 16th!  That makes for an awful lot of celebrating!  Some (totally unsurprising) discoveries:  cake is messy.  and babies will share with puppies.  and the easiest method of cleaning both is to simply break out the hose.

Hey, she's a water baby.  She loves it!!

There are plenty of puppies and kitties about to fill her days.  Sometime soon, hopefully, I'll do a critter post to help everyone keep track of the extended family, but for now here's a small sampling of the sort of antics stuff our lives full of happy.

A puppy just her size!!

STRING!!!

What are you looking at, Cadence and Kelly?

Oh, why of course.  It's Jewels, way up in a tree.

Oh, and then there's stuff like this:

Yes, in case you are wondering, that is the front door to our little annex.  And yes, that is Lily.  climbing it.  She has done this several times.  I honestly didn't think it was possible to climb such a door; she repeatedly proves me wrong. 

And then there are more domestic adventures, like brushing teeth!

And Motorcycle riding!

...Wait, motorcycle riding?!

oh, well, at least she's got a helmet on.

And speaking of headgear: what a great hat!

So, all in all, Cadie Ladie has got all sorts of new, wonderful, uniquely suburban things to enjoy now, but of course, she hasn't lost the most important things from her city life:  Family.

Thus, at long last, we'll conclude this epic mess of an entry, and leave you with a little preview of a (hopefully more tame) future post: New Adventures in Growing Up.

Hello folks!

I'm so sorry it has been so long since our last post.  Our truck finally arrived after a full month, and dumped the contents of our old life squarely in the middle of our room.  It has been rather rough trying to unpack and sort as quickly as possible, but we are making some headway.  We can see the floor again, at least in our room, but we've lost the kitchen table in a stack of detritus waiting for a spot in the attic, which needs additional flooring before anything can actually happen in terms of clearing stuff out.  c'est la vie.

Otherwise, though, and in spite of the chaos, things have been going surprisingly well for all of us.  We all seem to be thriving in this more open environment, and the overall happiness rating has been steadily rising as each new days goes by.  Sure, we still have our bad moments and trying days, but the difference in how we are able to cope with such events is astonishing.

We'll be back soon to post more about the various adventures (outdoor concerts!  fountains to play in!  slides!  furniture! inspiration!) we've been facing soon...we've just gotta get the living room dug out first...

Bloody, ah, tuesday.

Yesterday, in contrast with it's predecessor, was not so much sunshine and flowers as it was very very bloody. (Yes, be forewarned, this is a TMI post.)
The fact of Cadence's growing up was remarkably evident throughout everything that made yesterday so, ah, sangrious. The first part of it all was simply the fact that Cadie has been nursing less and less as she's been growing and expanding her palate, and has finally weaned to the point that my body has decided to prepare for the possibility of another child. My period returned (after an admittedly nice respite of nearly two years) poetically on Cadence's birthday, but was polite enough not to interrupt the festivities. Yesterday, however, the gloves came off and she said "hey, party's over, girl! all bets are off! CHARGE!"
Honestly, I have been remarkably amazed at how much of a throwback to adolescence this fact of growing up has been. Perhaps I'm just out of practice, or perhaps it was stronger due to the whole pregnancy-breastfeeding-hormones-go-crazy thing, but I've been feeling (and acting) like a teenager again...which I'm sure has been terribly bemusing to my poor parents, who welcomed us back home only for me to revert to being a moody, snappy teen just as my little sister celebrates her 15th birthday. The physical aspects of the whole thing I'll spare you, suffice it to say that this particular occurrence of the feminine cycle was not so much akin to the graceful experiences I've had with it as a (relatively) mature woman as it was to the crisis of a young woman just figuring all of this out. I guess this is one more pregnancy symptom they don't warn you about until after it's happened. We don't talk about such things in this society, which I think is a tragedy, because it leaves every woman (and man, too, frankly) who goes through these kinds of trying experiences (or watches a loved one do so) feel like they're a freak of nature, and extremely, crushingly, alone. Which, frankly, is why I've chosen to talk about this so publicly. I also find it somewhat amusing, having settled down a bit, to think back over the past week and think of the hissy fits I've thrown and how, understanding what's been going on with my body, they make at least a little bit of sense now. (When you're a depressed teen, everything that doesn't fit perfectly with how you would have said something is tragically and dramatically offensive. James, your entry wasn't actually devastating and I'm sorry.) (Also, Kelly, if you're reading this, I'm sorry I started screaming obscenities because I couldn't get out of the car when we went to the drive in to see Wall-E. Dad, and everyone, I'm sorry I was a raging ball of anger that whole night...I was way out of line. I apologize.) So basically, my body is wonderful, and can do amazing things (like, oh, creating the most amazing baby-lady ever) but a side effect is that hormones can suck and really put you through the ringer. A little known fact: it actually takes your body a full two years to recover from each pregnancy. So I guess it shouldn't be so surprising that I've felt like I've been on a ship in a storm lately, but I admit it definitely caught me off-guard.
Anyway, the second part of the Cadie's-growing-up-and-there-is-blood is less nature's design. We made it a full year with no major injuries, just a bump or bruise here, an itty-bitty scratch there, but last night Cadence came tooth-to-stair with the dangers of mobility. Thankfully it was not actually too bad, but it was still heart wrenching to see our little lady with blood dripping from her mouth and big girl tears rolling down her cheeks. She had been running gleefully when she tripped, banging her upper lip/teeth on the stair in the hallway. She was a very brave girl, though, she cried and held onto mommy for a few minutes, but with the help from Pepper who gave her some puppy kisses, Jewels who gave her some nudges and gentle pets, and and alarmingly toxic-looking green freeze-pop, the only sign of our little trooper's trials were the bloodstains on mommy's shirt. It was a hard first for all of us, but having come through it, we know more than ever that our little lady is growing up, she's going to make mistakes and get hurt, and sometimes its going to be really hard, but each bump in the road will have new wisdom to teach, and mama and baba will always be there to help, but when it comes down to it, our Lady-B, she's going to be just fine.