classic...

meaning there's Alder, right there with the crowd... but then also not.

We still love his school, teachers and friends.

'Morning Heath!

Heath is nearly a year and a half now. (In fact, a co-worker pointed out to me when he was born,"Best birthday in the year; exactly 6 months from Christmas"). And his personality is like watching a big flat river, when you know big rains are in the mountains - its all about to change, we don't know the hows or when, but we know something is coming. Less picky about what he eats now, but still with a downright frightening appetite. Very vocal to get what he wants. Early riser - we are pleased when he makes it to 530 or 6, but typically we are looking at a 5 am start to the day.

Oh, and he loves oatmeal, just rolled oats and flax seeds (lightly ground). And when you put all this together it makes for a near circus act... EVERY morning. Pretty much as soon as I (Dad) can get up - sometimes just before him, sometimes at the same time - I get the oatmeal prep started. When he is awake Mommy gets him on the potty, one or two things reliably happen there, and then he is released to sprint into the kitchen, squealing.

I didnt mention specifically, but he is also very impatient, so even if the oatmeal is done, there is still time for it to cool, which is an eternity when it includes screaming (Alder sleeps through it all), grabbing his spoon from the drawer, running back-and-forth to the table, grabbing his bib, standing by his chair, screaming. Squat down to talk to him about how it is hot and we need to wait and he just wails "Hot! Hot!" over and over, pushing against my knees so I will stand back up and make it come sooner.

Once I have it prepped, I take half of it, put it in a clay bowl, then the bowl into the freezer. The other half, in the pot, I put in the sink so the metal sink will conduct the heat from the pot ASAP. In both vessels I spread the thinnest layer possible on and around the inside to maximize surface area for cooling... then blow on the one in the sink. Within five minutes, I can just give him the one in the freezer to eat while I finish cooling the one in the sink. This times out nice. On the light-on-the-screaming mornings, I can blow on the one in the sink long enough to actually mix them both to serve all at once. I provide this detail to illustrate that after 10 to 12 weeks of this, maybe more by now, one becomes either an expert or totally crazy. And both expert and crazy I think qualifies as a circus act.

He can put down a couple of adult servings within 3 minutes easy. Three servings within five, I would say.

The doctor actually told us to cut him back to two servings when we told him about this.

NO CHEWING... not even squishing. Granna claims that he has what it takes to be a competitive eater.

OK, enough... we have tried to capture a few seconds. Not the theatrics upon waking, but of the eating.

Then he begs for bites of our cereal, shortly therafter, and when Alder gets up, 1.5 to 2 hours later, he begs for his oatmeal too.

He weighs 30 now. Alder is 35.

Halloween...not so bad after all...

Autumn is here and we are really enjoying it. August and September are pretty miserable in our yard due to mosquitos so thick that we look down at our bare legs and see 10s of them on each calf. I begin to feel like a prisoner in my own home...longing to go outside and lay in the grass. So the cooler weather is a welcomed change. We have had a very gradual transition to cool weather too with very few COLD days - it has gooten up to the 60s all week in mid November.

A couple of weeks ago we went to Pocahontas State Park to enjoy the nice weather. We hiked down to the lake (reservoir). We spent quite a while throwing acorns in the water and sitting in the leaves by the shore catching glimpses of the resident belted kingfisher.

the boys enjoyed picking out a pumpkin and carving a jackolantern.

My parents and sister joined us for Halloween and we had a great time. Heath was a clown and his cute face paint....

...lasted about 10 minutes...

Alder borrowed a sweet alligator costume from his friend Chloe and loved getting his face painted and acting the part.

So I should probably say that Halloween is my least favorite holiday. I have never enjoyed dressing up and going to various parties with my last minute, lame costume and I am not that fond of candy either. Well, this changed that a bit this year, thanks to having a three year old and having my parents and sister visiting.

It is also amazing what a few glasses of wine will do for the whole trick or treating experience. We agreed to only go for a very short loop around the neighborhoood because (1) the less candy the better considering that Alder has never actually had candy except a few dum-dum lollipops from the haircut place and (2) he has nothing to complain about since this was his first time trick-or-treating. After a short walk around block in our neighborhood, we came home and dumped out the very small pile of loot, divided the chocolate in one pile for the grown-ups (we are not fighting that Alder claims to not like chocolate) and the remaining sugary mess in another. Alder was allowed two peices (lollipop and smarties) and then we had a great time being rowdy and silly while he burned off the sugar....if you haven't already I suggest creating a Phil Collins Pandora station - you WILL know every word and you will LOVE it.

Halloween in our neighborhood is quite the big deal. They actually turn the pool and rec center into a haunted house for two weeks prior, the yards are decorated quite intensely, and on Halloween night, the street are full of families. Our trick-or-treating timed well with Hazel (age 2) and her parents, which was a riot - a first for Hazel, Alder and Heath. The kids got more and more comfortable with each house, having no problem just walking up and asking for something for free. And Heath was eating up the experience, squealing door to door excitedly on my back. We wondered, if they wondered, why we didn't go out and do this more often.

The adults' treats were some of the things we heard:

"Daddy these are my candy. And, I am going to share them and you will have one." Hazel

Old white-haired lady known for walking her street smoking cigarettes. Alder and I walking back from her porch to the street. "That was a nice lady Alder". Alder replied, "No Mommy, that was a man," hopefully not within earshot.

The first couple of houses, Alder walked up and asked, "Can I have some candy?". We didnt think to prep him with how the process worked and to say thank you.... Then a couple of houses later, as the door opened, he exclaimed "Happy Birthdaaaaaay".

As trick or treating was done, and we were walking back to the house, we asked what we would do next and Alder says, "Lets do something TRICKY!"

I will also brag a bit about how well Alder has been doing with the small stockpile of candy in the house. We have been pretty strict with his sugar intake and only recently have loosened up a bit . We had a serious conversation about how candy is not food and that when you eat too much of it, you can feel sick and your body is not happy/healthy. So the way it works, until the candy is gone (we are down to four pieces), is that if you eat a "good dinner" you can have a choice between a piece of candy, a small amount of strawberry/milk/smoothie beverage, a couple of ginger snaps or frozen blueberries . Our standards for a "good dinner" are quite high, so this doesn't even happen daily, and we are glad that he actually chooses among these choices pretty evenly. For the first 48 hours, he wanted to talk about and sort his stash pretty often, but the excitement died down quickly, thank goodness.

Catching up a bit

There is alot to cover in this post to update interested folks about life around the Bulluck home, including a wonderful weekend away at the beach.... so here goes.

Alder's school had a science fair recently and I was honestly a bit disenchanted with the whole idea, wondering what in the world we were going to do with a 3 year old, especailly one that is not always receptive to organized activities like this. Then, one day while standing at the park with the boys, I was thinking about what on earth we could do for this project, and as I stared at them banging on these bells. Aha!

I asked Alder why he thaught the bells sounded differently? No response...Well, do you think it is because they are different colors? Yes, he replied with interest. How about different shapes? Yes! with even more interest. Ok, well we can test your ideas (color and size) at home using bowls from our kitchen, ok? OK! ....a few days later, we took 3 diff sized glass bowls and 3 diff sized metal bowls and let Alder bang on them to his hearts delite and talk about the diff sounds he heard.

Conclusion: Glass and metal bowls make diff sounds b/c they are diff materials and big bowls make deep sounds while small bowls make high sounds, regardless of material! And we then talked about musical instruments of diff sizes, people of different sizes, etc. I must say, I was not super excited about the idea of conducting a science fair project with Alder, but in retrospect feel that it was a really great experience for everyone.

We have been enjoying our weekends together at home a bit more recently. One Saturday evening, after dinner, we went for a walk down to the park in our neighborhood . We laughed and played until after dark. Alder still loves his bike and wants to ride it almost daily.

Heath is filling the role of "monkey see monkey do" in all regards. Whatever Alder does, he tries it. In fact, Alder has been doing this thing where he stands on the coffee table and just before leaping onto the couch, he yells, "Zata Zata doo tadoo!" I was cooking dinner yesterday when I heard Alder laughing and then he yelled "Mommy, Heath just did Zata doo tadoo!" I gasped and looked over to find them both laughing and rolling around on the couch. After establishing a rule of only one at a time, I just crossed my fingers and let them continue. ..

This fearlessness and copying of Alder makes the playground quite a test in our vigilance as he attempts to climb up and slides down any and everything.

In an attempt to redeem Heath's cute face after that nasty compost-snot picture that Jason posted, here are some cuter shots.

and just because it is fun to compare...this is Alder at approximately the same age....
brothers? I think so...

...and finally, we had an incredible and memorable vacation to the beach last weekend. This is the fourth annual trip to NC to meet our good friends Jen, Daniel, Ellen and Arianna. It is always a gamble to go to the beach in October, but our academic fall breaks make this the perfect time to do it and only one of the four years has it been too cold to spend our days out on the beach. This year we decided to each invite another family (the more the merrier and we can now afford a house ON THE BEACH). This turned out to be such a great idea and so much fun. Janet, Dan, Sylvia, and Joren joined us from VA and Anna, Scott, Julian, Madelyn, Caylen, and Brayden joined us from Raleigh. I'll do the math for you - that is 8 adults and 10 kids total! It was such a joy to be around older kids and see the dynamics in other loving families more intimately than you normally get from evenings or afternoons together. It is these types of experiences that forge true friendships and make lasting memories. We feel grateful to have shared this time with so many wonderful people and we look forward to doing it again next year, and the next, and the next....

We did not take too many pics, so to see a more from this trip I suggest visiting the blogs of our friends that we went with (see links near top of page). Here is Heath tuckered out on the air matress.

...and Alder enjoying the ebb and flow of the tide.

...and the entire group...

All for now... but we are hoping to soon get a post up that captures the visceral importance of oatmeal in our daily life.

snotty nose meets compost bucket

Fortune teller??

Alder does this thing sometimes, where he talks about how old he is going to be next (4) then next, then next, until finally he grows all the way up. "And when I grow up Daddy, I am going to be YOU!" He doesn't understand the weight of this statement, the pressure on poor Daddy, but its probably a good reminder for me. And I swear noone has told him this that I am aware of. This is his little brain creation.

This morning, I am on the floor helping Heath get dressed, as he tries to hold the largest book in the house - an animal one of course - at the same time. Alder grabs a shirt, one of his old ones, out of Heath's drawer and tells me how he will never wear that shirt again, becasue he will not be a baby again. "That's right", I tell him, "you are just going to grow up and up and up." "And then Daddy, I'm going to be YOU!" "OH no!", I say laughing. "Yeah!" "And who is Heath going to be?", I ask. "Heath is going to grow up to be MOMMY!". (Little does he know we are actually noticing this now too.) "Well then if Heath is gonig to be Mommy, then who is Mommy going to be?" "Mommy is going to grow up more to be Heath!" "WOW! And then so who am I going to grow up to be?", I ask. "You are going to be BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!" Then lots of laughing and cheering for Daddy. (Sorry Mommy.)

So Lesley, this means as aging empty nesters, you are returning to child and I will become a superhero, with buttons on my chest and a monster Jay Leno jaw. At least as this duo, we will undoubtedly have options for jobs post-retirement. Or does it mean that I will become a plastic toy of a Pixar character, that Heath (Mommy) will gnaw on, bang around in the colander, dunk in the toilet and verbally abuse?

Either way, the marriage is not shaping up so well, Lesley. At least we know what to plan for. Maybe we can work around that now. It's nice to know the future.

Poke berries and Grandparents' house

As summer begins its transition into fall (however gradual it may be...) the mornings and evenings are becoming pleasantly cooler and I find myself easing back into full time work. I have never ceased work (if only for a few months after Heath was born), but for the past 15 months or so I have been taking it pretty easy (working only 2-3 days a week) and I am now expected to go back full time. I am somewhat happy about what lies ahead with the semester (teaching 18-20 yr olds about the wonders of biology and working with undergraduates on bird research), but in reality will soon tire of spending less time with the boys and Jason and the daily challenges that come with being a working parent (fixing healthy lunches and the orchestration of childcare drop off/pick up). Thankfully I do not teach on Fridays...a good compromise? I will do all I can to leave my work at work, leave work early to take the boys to the park on beautiful days, and be in the present at all times. Alright...here we go.

I want to share a fun thing I did with the boys the other morning on just such a Friday when I decided to stay home....we crushed some poke berries that were growing in the yard and painted with them!

We went to visit Grammy and PaPa this weekend and had a great time. In addition to riding the bike and push tractor down their long hill/driveway, PaPa took the boys across the street in his tractor to see the chickens,

and they both really liked the tart apples that we picked from the floodplain of Buck Run.

...so Alder is still with his grandparents and we miss him dearly. School is closed this week so he is there until Wed. He has grown up noticably in past few months. We are so much better able to reason with him about things and he seems overall more content. He has entered his second phase of the "whys" and is pretty relentless in wanting to get to the bottom of various questions. Rhyming words are silly, fun games we play and he continues to enjoy his brother's company (for the most part).

Heath is such a riot these days. His ability to communicate is increasing a lot. He says (though only understandable to us) mamma, dadda, dog (any four legged animal), book , water, down, grunting at us (for teetee and poopoo - though this is typically happening during and not before the event), hoo (sound for an owl), ball, alder, and really every day is something else new. Very little signing, but we seem to be making progress in the last few days....Very exciting. He continues to be such a sweety - hugs and kisses and smiles.

Baltimore

Several weekends ago we went to Baltimore for Alder's annual orthopaedist appt. We really like the city so decided to make it a two night trip to enjoy it vacation style! I got on a websote called Hospital Soup and got a great deal on our stay at the Radisson. This hotel is really unique with shopping and dining all around a central, shady courtyard. We spent quite a bit of time with the boys running and playing in this area. Waking up early and being able to walk right down to a great coffee/bagel shop with outdoor seating made breakfast a really nice treat.

Our hotel was only 3 miles from the hospital. To sum up our visit, Dr. Herzenberg is a clubfoot specialist and reserves every Friday morning for nothing but clubfoot patients. He is followed by a swarm of residents hanging on his every word. After spending only a few minutes with Alder he said that he wished all of his patient's feet looked this good and that he would see us again next year. Wonderful! It is kindof crazy that we would take this huge trip (4 hours in and out of traffic to get there) for 5 minutes of wisdom with this guy....but it is worth it and we will do it again next year. I am just grateful that we get to make a fun trip out of it!

We are so grateful that this challenge that seemed so big when we found out about it has turned out to be so manageable. Night night shoes will be nice to be done with, but not a big deal really.

I wonder how much of all this he will even remember...

There was also a really nice Arboretum next to our hotel that was closed last year. Here are some pics of our hike there:

Sweet brothers posing together...

Yeah, real sweet....

We also recently got a family membership to the Richmond Children's museum and found out that we could get in to many other museums around the country for free now.....and Port Discovery in Baltimmore was one of them! This is a huge place that the kids enjoyed for several hours before our drive home (i.e., perfect nap prep for a quiet ride). Here is the only pic we took of Heath focusing on pushing these balls into this vacuum hole...he was actually doing this for a good 20 minutes with several bigger kids.

Lots more to share soon... this is it for now.

two firsts

1. Today, on a rainy Wednesday morning, I was "that Dad" with "those kids". They were a riot and I am thinking this is the first of many drives through the grocery store. When I was loading groceries in the car, Alder was climbing in the real car (the Saturn, a.k.a. "the Golden Bullet"), and Heath, still in the cart, started to roll away. In a moment of panic, Alder yelled for him to stop and not drive away because it was time to go home, while Heath was shrieking, looking back through the cart and banging on the little yellow horn. So funny what they think can actually be real.

And there are thousands of words in each of these re: the way these boys are starting to interact. (Cell phone pics)

2. So this is the second consecutive week of Heath's daycare being closed. Lesley and I have been juggling work to keep him at home, making work happen at nights/weekends to make it work out. Monday, Heath and I went on an unbelievable blueberry picking trip. (Though corny perhaps, I must point out the connection I forced between the berry abundance, Heath's first trip and the fact that blueberries are in the Heath family.) I, with Heath snoozing on my back, picked 16 pounds of berries in 45 minutes! I have never seen bushes so burdened with fruit. This is a pic of one shrub after I picked from it. Shrubs were 8 - 10 feet tall, so we took to the westernmost row and stayed in the shade to boot! If any eastern Virginians are reading this, I highly recommend visiting Swift Creek Berry Farm sometime in the next 2 to 3 weeks. Furthermore, they don't spray their berries. Now how beautiful is that?!

Just like that

Seven years of marriage. I am starting to think we just might make it. (If you know me, you know that I am joking.)

I can say with bedrock solid confidence that being married to you, Lesley, has been way more than I could have imagined -- joy-filled, new, bright, adventurous, round and full. I will only want to go through this life with you and what we have, grow and make together.

We celebrated tonight by looking at our wedding album with Alder. He was quite entertained and inquisitive. We saw lots of old friends, as well as our old selves in there. To those of you who were there, we still love and miss you, and look forward to any reunions the future holds.

Who would have thought that only seven years would send us through so many towns and cities, so many abodes, multiple universities and jobs, to land on this stepping stone, now with two amazing boys with which to share it all. I hope we can (myself included of course) continue to remind ourselves what is important - to continue to find, soak up, and exude the real, felt-not-thought pieces of life, together.

And now for some memory lane:

(pic above must have been about 2000, birding at the Outer Banks of NC.)

a few weeks before proposal (field work, central Nevada)

few minutes after proposing (backpacking Lost Coast, Northern California) Zion
a 1 year anniversary trip to Nova Scotia
First xmas in first house