A List for Tuesday

5 Ways Dutch is like a Puppy

1. He growls when angry (seriously, it's true).
2. When he wants to get a toy from one place to another he carries it in his mouth.
3. He prefers to eat things off the floor.
4. He sleeps curled up in a little ball.
5. His best friend is a dog.

An Exhausting Week

Yesterday ended my week-long Residency for my Writing Popular Fiction Master's program. It was exhausting, but great. I got to spend time with all of my wonderful writing friends. I successfully pitched my thesis novel to an agent. I got to talk shop with other writers, and I got to see how Dutch would do without me.

All in all it was a very successful week. Grandma Bailey (Ga-Ga) was here with Dutch and not only is he more vocal now, but she taught him to crawl! I really missed him, but I was at ease knowing that he was in good hands.

For those of you interested I will graduate on Wednesday January 13, 2010. Book your tickets now! :)

(And don't miss the video of Dutch crawling, below)

Crawling

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A Huge Step Forward (for Pam)

I pitched my book Metta and the Moon-Witch to an agent today. He asked for my full manuscript. Not a synopsis, not an outline, not a few chapters, THE WHOLE THING! This is a pretty big deal and a big step forward, although there is still a long way to go before my name will show up on the shelves of Barnes & Noble. I thought I would share the joy.

Banana Eater

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The Books and a Grinder

This picture has nothing to do with anything. I just like it.

Dutch can reach up to the second shelf on the bookshelf. At first I was really annoyed by this and kept slapping his hand and saying "NO!" when he pulled the books off. After losing this battle and having Dutch laugh repeatedly at my attempts at discipline, I decided to remove all the books from the bottom two shelves.

Then I replaced them with all of his board books. Now he is happy as a bear at a honey farm! He pulls his books down onto the floor. Stops to "read" a few of them, sometimes out loud (Ba-da-da-oo-oo. Yea! Yea!) and then he leaves them scattered until he moves on to the next thing. Chris and I have a place for all of Dutch's toys so it's really easy clean up at the end of the day. Because he's entertained by bizarre things we've stopped buying him toys and mainly just buy him books now. And food. Lots and lots of food.

Some of you might not know that I sometimes grind my teeth when I sleep. It's a terrible habit and I have no control over it, I can't even do it while awake! Dutch now has two bottom teeth and one top tooth and he's started, can you guess? Grinding his teeth! It's creepy and annoying and it makes me worry about his little enamel. Chris says it's like nails on a chalkboard. I'm not sure how to get him to stop.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Happy Father's Day!

Isn't he the cutest dad ever?
(I love the shell-shocked look on his face)
Happy Father's Day Chris!

Uncle Joshy at Dutch's Car Service

Favorite Picture Friday

This is Dutch with his cousins Carlye, Nathanael, and Noah. You can see that he loved them a lot. The picture was taken by the incomparable Jodi Carpenter. Happy birthday Jodi!

Bo is Blind (but don't tell Dutch)

Most of you know that Dutch's favorite playmate is Bo. He has two favorite games that he plays with Bo. One is Hide. The other is Run Away. Both imply that Bo can see. He cannot.

Hide is a game Dutch will play in his bed or in someone's arms. When Bo comes up he hides his face and laughs. Then he looks at Bo and hides his face again. Bo rarely has a response, but that does not deter Dutch's enjoyment of the game.

Run Away is played on the floor. Dutch pretends (or actually thinks) that Bo is chasing him and he crawls as fast as he can while laughing. Even when Bo passes by without noticing him Dutch still thinks this game is fabulous.

I wonder what will happen when Dutch realizes Bo is blind. Or will he be like my niece Bella and think that Bo can only see him and nothing else?

A List for Tuesday

Five Things Dutch Did Yesterday That Were Cute Before They Became Annoying

1. He realized that the sound his hand makes hitting the hardwood floor is different from the sound it makes hitting the rug. He proceeded to crawl back and forth smacking his hand down. Bo, annoyed, went and sat on the rug, stopping any further sound investigations.
2. Next he discovered the metal bowl that holds my keys. These were incredibly fun to slam around, especially slamming the keys into the bowl. He liked that sound best.
3. When he lost interest in that he began trying to "unlock" the door with my keys by rubbing them against the door or hitting them into it. After several attempts did not open the door he banged on the door and yelled. A completely appropriate response when your keys don't work.
4. When the door stubbornly wouldn't open he moved his attention to the hinges on the door. These made a fantastic sound when slammed into with the keys.
5. Lastly, he decided to see what sound the keys made when slammed against Bo. Poor dog began to cringe at the sound of jingling keys. He never knew when they would be slammed into his face. Dutch, realizing he was scaring Bo, tried to make it up to him by feeding the dog my keys. Bo was a good boy and did not eat them.

And that was how Dutch spent half an hour of his day. Was yours as productive?

Clickety Clack

Dutch loves noise. Even before he was born he loved loud explosions, music, and any sort of interesting sounds. All of his favorite toys make some sort of noise, or he uses them to make noise (like banging his plastic rings together). Lately he has learned to love the sound of me typing on my laptop. I do this quite often and he seems to enjoy it. Now we are coming to the problem that he wants to make the noise by himself. It goes something like this:

He'll crawl over to me. Pull himself up on my chair, so he's on his knees. Hang on to the chair with one hand and with the other he'll make a grab for the laptop, hitting as many keys as possible before I put a stop to it.

There's been a couple of times when I've been so enthralled by what I'm doing I haven't noticed Mr. Sneaky until he's clacking away! This is especially scary when I'm working on something important, like my thesis novel. A part of me likes to think he'll be a writer someday, since he's already in love with the sound of the keyboard.

The Crazy-Pants Man at the Pizza Place

Our little family went out for pizza tonight. We expected many things of the evening. We expected that place to be fairly crowded, given that it was a Saturday night. We expected to have to wait a little bit for our pizza. We expected Dutch to flirt with the waitresses. We also expected the other patrons to act like adults.

I guess that last one was a little too much to expect. This man made a HUGE scene (calling one woman the b-word and telling another man to step outside) because someone that ordered after him got their pizza before him.

Yeah, you read that right. He was mad because he didn't get his pizza first!

Some people just love their pizza, I guess.

Favorite Picture Friday

She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink. Some days, she's the reason you wish you were an only child. ~Barbara Alpert~

Pic of Dutch

The Wednesday Word

I think the word of the week is the perfect description of Dutch.
Look at the bracelet of fat he has on each arm!

embonpoint • \ahng-bohng-PWANG (the "ng" is never pronounced, but the vowels are nasalized)\ • noun

: plumpness of person : stoutness

Example Sentence:

The judge was a man of stately embonpoint who walked with a heavy step as he entered the courtroom.

Did you know?

"Embonpoint" is most often used to describe people of heavy, but not unattractive, girth. It derives from "en bon point," a phrase from Middle French that means "in good condition." The word was first used as a noun in English in the 17th century. It has subsequently appeared in works by Charlotte Brontë ("a form decidedly inclined to embonpoint" -- Shirley), James Fenimore Cooper ("an embonpoint that was just sufficient to distinguish her from most of her companions" -- Home as Found), and George Eliot ("as erect in her comely embonpoint as a statue of Ceres" -- Adam Bede), among others.

A List for Tuesday

Things I Learned Last Week:

• You need to hold your sword with two hands. If you only hold it with one hand your sword will fall when your hand inevitably gets cut off and you'll lose your head or get chopped in half as you bend down to pick it up. (Nathanael told me this)
• Roly-polies are really called doodle-bugs and they can swim. (Thank you, Lili)
• Noah toots when he sleeps. He told me this as he got under the covers next to me.
• Carlye reads at an amazingly fast speed, finishing about 5 books in the week that I was with her (and not easy books, either)
• Dutch loves blackberries
• Aunt Carianne will repeatedly forget that Dutch isn't supposed to have strawberries
• Without enough sleep Dutch is not quite himself
• Dutch is NOT afraid of the dark, as I once thought
• There is no Mexican food as good as Texas Mexican food
• The last name Poupart is pronounced Pow-pert and not Poop-art
• Dutch trusts men in uniforms
• Uncle Carl is funny to Dutch no matter what time of the day or night, no matter how upset he is about something else
• Last, but not least, Dutch is the flirtiest boy in the world. He shows no prejudice. He'll flirt with you no matter what your age, gender, or preference for babies.
  

Some Firsts for Dutch

This last week Dutch had a lot of firsts:

He had his first plane ride and was such an angel! On all four flights (we had two layovers) he fell asleep just before or during the take-off and most of the time slept through the whole flight.

He went swimming for the first time and decided that being held by Uncle Carl in the hot tub is WAY better than sitting in a floaty in the pool.

He got his first top row tooth! And has two more top teeth on the way.

He met his first little dog, Emmaline the Yorkie, and was never quite sure what he thought of her.

He took his first tumble from a chair. He took his first tumble from a couch. He took his first tumble in a pool. He did not care for any of them, but received no permanent damage.

He went berry picking for the first time and enjoyed eating the berries a lot, but did NOT enjoy it when he kicked the blackberry bush and cut up his leg and foot.

He spent quality time with a baby his size (although nearly a year older than him) and liked Abigail, even though she tried to ride him like a pony. And yes, it was as hilarious as it sounds.

He got to meet lots and lots of new people and he loved them all!

Back From Texas

Dutch and I are back from Texas. Poor Bo missed us very much, but Dutch was too tired to play with him when we got home last night. Both of us came back with a cold and Dutch has quite a few scrapes, bumps, and bruises. Chris was a little upset, but I tried to explain that he's just a rough and tumble boy and that's what's going to happen. I'm still too tired to write a lot, so here are a few pictures to make your day better.

(And all of the above pictures were taken by the beautiful, the talented, the magnificent Ms. Jodi Carpenter)

Thanks Bo

I took Bo to play yesterday. He ran a circle around me and got his leash caught on my leg. Now I have this nice bracelet.

Pictures by Jodi Part 1

Erica and me.

We so pretty.

Doesn't his hair look so red in this picture?

I think he looks like a baby picture of Grandma Kellie.