Swim time, New Baby, Fat Lip, Big Boy PJs

We have had a busy few days... as usual. James is doing fine in South Georgia. A nice trip to Aunt Lizzie's house yesterday for some pool time was a welcome relief. It was 100 degrees here before noon today (that is 37.8 C for the metric savvy), and 105 (40.6 C) a few days ago. Last May when we visited James was a little timid about the water, but those days are gone. Despite being clueless about swimming, he was very happy to jump in from the side time after time, with his cousin Micajah. His pregnant mum could just barely keep up. You can see his diaper becoming significantly more full as the minutes wore on. It was a regular disposable, and it was like a water balloon by the end. We transferred to a more liberating diaper cover, sans diaper. Aunt Lizzie and the crew also have two new, very sweet kittens-- Bandit and Tiger, whom James was nuts about. He ran around the house saying "two- CATS"... "two- CATS" over and over again.
We also went to a book signing for the Sweet Blessings cookbook yesterday afternoon. It was at a very fancy B&B and I was terrified of James causing a ruckus, though he was fine, and the hostesses assured me they were comfortable whether I was or not. We had some delicious cake and left the fancy party to the people with better motor skills.
We also had a surprise visit in Homerville from Mary Roberts, who used to babysit us when we were kids. How cool is that? She brought photos of her daughters' weddings and was able to meet James and visit with the rest of us. It was delightful. Mary is an avid Hollandsenieuewe reader, and it was neat to hear about how she keeps up with what the Owens/Steedley/Campa/Maier crews are doing via this website.
Just as few were flying into the states my dear friend Julie Small Smith was in the final days of her first pregnancy. On Friday June 22 she and Shaun (and of course the pups Max and Lizzie) welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. Shelby Ann Smith was a whopper-- 8 lbs, 5 oz, and 21 inches long. Julie had a difficult time but fortunately EVERYONE is healthy and great now. Is she beautiful or what???
Mike is most likely in Connecticut as I write this. Today the crew traveled there to install this week's project, a cabin. He has had several 10 hour days and says the deer flies and mosquitos are plentiful up there. He sounds busy but extremely happy, as his dream summer becomes a reality.
In proper Maier tradition I will share a photo of James most recent tumble-- he has been addicted to stairs ever since arriving in the states. He quickly mastered the Gould's carpeted staircase, and has enjoyed going up and down, up and down, the split-level 3-step staircase at my mom's. Today he misjudged the distance and bit his lip on the way down-- though he was laughing about it within moments.
Finally, we tried big boy PJs for the first time last night. It is traditional in the Netherlands to sleep in a sleepsack, which we have loved. As we are anticipating the arrival of a new one, I have been directing James towards some "big boy" concepts to make certain he doesn't go into shock when the new one arrives. We have been talking about the potty ALOT (probably too much), and we anticipate his transition to a bigger bed by the end of this year. One step along the way is the change from a sleep sack to real pajamas. We made a trip to Old Navy earlier this week and found some great ones, including this bug covered pair which says "don't let the bed bug bite". James was VERY proud of himself when he put them on last night, so I took a few shots this morning as he played with my dad's train set.

Until very recently James only thought of autos as something to point at, and perhaps did not realize one could also ride inside them. All we need to say to get him to go along on an errand is "would you like to ride in the auto", and he heads for the door. Here is a shot of him clambering into his grandmother's vehicle.

Bits and Pieces

Hello again loyal readers-- Katharine reporting from Valdosta here. We have been settling in, James is doing well and we are all enjoying visiting with the family. His language continues to grow exponentially. He repeats almost everything I say, which can be quite humorous! He's got a funny little Dutch/Southern pronunciation mix that is entertaining. When he says "bye-bye" and "Micheal" (for his cousin, not his dad) there is a definite twang on the "eye" sound. Today we were continuously re-enacting a train disaster on the model set by disengaging part of the track and waiting until the train was very close before repairing the tracks. Each time he yelped "fix it" and "oh no!", but the oh no sounds like "O NEW", which reminds me of that eu sound in many Dutch words.

He still wakes up talking about Micheal, Emily, and Sophie (his cousins from Atlanta). He must be wondering where they have gone. No new Valdosta photos-- we have been inside avoiding the heat. We spent some time this morning playing in the garden, but we avoid the heat of the day. Instead I will provide some photos from our ATL jaunt. Here are James and his cousins playing at the park and enjoying some pool time in the backyard.

As for Mike's adventures-- the word is that he has been extremely busy. In some ways I think he imagined he would have time for a little blogging while at Heartwood, but I do not think that is the case so far. He sent an email at 5:30 AM on the morning of the first day of school-- so excited about the day that he had awoken early. This week they are creating a cabin that they will then put together in Connecticut on Friday. They spend time in lectures and working/measuring/cutting all day (there are surely more official words for these tasks, but I thought some news is better than no news so I am winging it). They have an occasional evening program, and will be traveling to Ohio later in the summer to build a structure there. On one of the first nights they spent HOURS sharpening their tools. This week's speaker is a timber framer/author whom Mike really respects. So it is basically like Christmas for him every day. Though I say that knowing he misses me and James. His parents will manage a visit near the end of his term, and I am already wondering how they will get Tom Maier to leave the place once he visits-- it sounds to me like his idea of hog heaven. Car-less Mike has made a deal with the other apprentices to take charge of the kitchen/cooking in exchange for an occasional ride into town or for errands. He is also keeping an eye out for places to which we might like to re-locate at the end of the year. So-- the news is he is busy and happy!

Apparently his classmates are a cool group: a pair of California winery owners, a Mennonite gentleman, a nearly retired military man, a Richard Dreyfuss lookalike... the list goes on. He is also really excited to be surrounded by such a group of hard-core timber/building folks. He is right in his element and learning as much as possible. FYI his e-mail access is limited during the next weeks (and he is super busy), but if you'd like to drop him a line he can be reached at:

Mike Maier

c/o Heartwood School

Johnson Hill Road

Washington, MA 01223

Here are shots of cousin Micheal by the baby pool (he and James share similar muscular physiques)

The twins

James on the slide

Riding/driving the auto at the park

Michael and Emily prepping the cooler

James in his super Euro Bob shorts ready for a swim

Valdosta, Valley of the East

Greetings from south Georgia-- Katharine again here. I have made my way down from Atlanta to Valdosta, and boy is it hot down here. Actually it has not affected us so much, as we have spent a lot of time acclimating in the airconditioning. The insects are amazing, too-- so many more and so much diversity in the swamplands, as opposed to the colder climate of the Netherlands.

James has continued to adjust to the changing scenery. He was a little off this morning, and a bit overwhelmed with the onslaught of family yesterday, but by midafternoon today he was getting his Valdosta groove on. He spent the late afternoon building (and destroying) block towers with my dad (called Peppy by the grandkids) and reading a book of farm animal sounds with my mom (called Bammy by the same crew). Peppy is a model train enthusiast, and had a mini train set up for the kids in the living room when we arrived. James has enjoyed it immensely. Here are some photos-- forgive the indoor dark shots, trust me it is worse with a flash.

The photos show James helping Peppy build a tower, the extreme delight of crushing the tower, reading a story with Bammy, and wearing Peppy's work hat!
More to follow soon

Amsterdam, Atlanta and Beyond

FYI- this is Katharine posting. Wow-- it has been a busy few days. First let me say that James did incredibly well on the plane ride. We went via train to Amsterdam, after waking up at 3:30AM (parents) and around 4:00 (James). We were of course all packed up and ready to go, just got dressed, had coffee, and made our way. Mike and James took the new stroller on foot and I traveled with our ten bags (including Mike's tools, camera, sleeping bag, all of James' and my things, etc, etc-- Mike decided at the last minute not to bring the guitar) via taxi to the train station. We couldn't all go together because taxi companies do not have child seats available-- the reservation person told us "its not required". To which we thought-- uummm, we're not doing it because its required we're doing it because it is STUPID not to use a car seat!

Our new stroller is the super-bad Quinny Speedi, and it rules. We love it-- and I am so glad we got it (through the kind support of my international women's group baby shower gifts). It was a lifesaver throughout the trip. We made our way to AMS, and had our airport goodbye-- Mike and I both welled up, even though we both feel overwhelming excitement mingled with any sadness about the summer. I would have been fine if James hadn't repeated "bye-bye Daddy... bye-bye Daddy... bye bye Daddy" for the next hour while I tried to hold it together. I went to sign in, and probably because I was going sans partner and with pregnancy, people were very kind to me. They switched me from a aisle seat midway through the plane to a bulkhead aisle seat. We sat with a friendly French teenager decked out in coordinated red sweatsuit who was very tolerant. He was on his way to visit Charleston, so I had a nice time speaking with him.

The ride was interesting-- James slept for about the first hour and a half, but around the four hour point hit that stage where he desperately needs a nap but can't get into the zone. We had a little turbulence, and he was belted to me, struggling, crying out "MY Daddy.. MY Daddy"-- which is what he says when he wants Mike to hold him. That's when I LOST it as far as the tears go. The steward, H. Kolker, my new hero, was amazing. We had a mini- therapy session while he reassured me that James wasn't bothering anyone, and I went into a whole schpiel about my husband being on another plane, and being a little tired/stressed/worried etc. He was the best-- so kind, and exactly what I needed right then. Just to feel like the meltdown was okay, and that I wasn't to blame, and to have a sympathetic ear. James was a dream for the rest of the trip, and was the darling of our section. We had to wait by the exit when we disembarked to pick up our stroller-- my arm was literally tired from waving good bye to all of his new friends. Many people commented on how nice he'd been to travel with. Let's hope for the same on the return flight.

Our first day was excellent-- early to bed, early to rise (but reasonable). Unfortunately on day 2 jetlag reared its ugly head when James woke at 4:30 AM. We tried to burn time later by going to the Aquarium which is super cool. James ran around with cousin Sophie saying "oh yeah-- oh yeah" and "wow!". The morning session was perfect, but right about noon the crowds swelled, and both James and I got to the end of our respective ropes at the same time. More tears from everyone. Aunt Dorothy and Sophie were very suportive. Last night we were able to get a little closer to schedule, and he woke at 6:15 this morning, which is quite close to his normal wake up time of 6:30.

Our visit with the Goulds has been amazing-- there is nothing quite like 3 nearly 2 year olds together. I call them the zombies because they just approach as a unit, with arms stretched out, drooling and moaning unintelligibly. Sophie is a dream with James. He is just different enough from her siblings to not be -- her siblings-- and they have been running around, singing and playing nearly nonstop for days. James and Micheal are two peas in a pod-- they want the same toy, at the same time, all the time. Though it has gotten gradually better with each day as they begin to trust each other a teensy weensy bit. Referee-ing requires constantly searching for a "matching" toy as one inevitably goes for the other's plane/car/train. Emily is just a mellow little bean-- totally ambivalent about what they want to grab, and just as sweet as she can be.

OK-- without further ado, a few photos from the adventure to date. There are quite a few... but I need to let his papa see him in action.

James in his seat (my seat) on the plane with his KLM child's flight gift bag

Getting ready at the airport for an adventure

Some images of the aquarium and our visit to a local park-- with tree carvings. This second photo is blurry I know, but really gives a feeling of James' excitement about the big tank.

Sophie and Uncle Terry at the park...

A car full of munchkins!

We're off

Like a herd of turtles. We have been getting ready for our summer travels for such a long time- it seems crazy that tomorrow we will finally get on the train to the airport and head West. Our big plans to have all the projects finished on the house has been put off till August- I had as much editing work on my desk in the last two months as I had all of 2006. And even though I actually wanted to tile the bathroom, there was just no way to get it all done. A few things did get done on the house- the balustrade is up, if not sealed with finish, and the kitchen and front hall are prepped for new tile. Oh, the front door and windows finally got painted; at least it will look good from the outside...

Balustrade-



James helping with tile plan-



Another thing that ate up time recently was upgrading our computer. As Katharine is technically a 'student' she has a great discount on software through the university and we recently got a copy of Vista (the new Windows) practically for free. I have been wanting to replace a lot of noisy and slow components on the desktop anyway so this was a great opportunity to upgrade everything at once. Our old roommate David generously coached me through buying components (no way I could have attempted this without someone who knows what all that jargon means) but I assembled and installed everything else myself; it really educates you as to how it all works in there...
Vista is a fine OS- I think the general improvements outweigh the annoyances of tightened security and hand-holding.

DIY cut

James has been getting pretty shaggy and the last time we took him to the kapper they did a great job but it only lasted for two weeks or so. We decided since Mike was going to cut his hair with the clippers we would let James watch and try it on him as well.



We probably won't try it again until he is older and has a little more patience to sit still. Katharine did a good job cleaning it up in the bathtub but it is still a bit rough at the moment in the patches where he really struggled to get away from the clippers.



The fake smile.

Its crazy how it makes kids look so much older when they get their hair cut...

Bright sunny days

Our happy guy chillin' in his diaper

Mom and James sharing a kiss in the yet unfinished bathroom

Showing our fake smiles while enjoying some sidewalk chalk. This is my newest pregnancy shirt-- definitely has a "Mrs. Roper" flavor to it, but it works.
The newest addition to the kinderboerderij


It has gotten downright hot in Enschede these past few days. We filled up the baby pool in the back garden yesterday to cool down a bit. James enjoys it much more this year. Today we got caught in the rain at the city market. James thought it was hilarious to be running around from stall to stall getting rained on. It was warm enough that it was not uncomfortable to be a little wet. We visited the neighborhood children's farm this morning, just in time to see the newest arrival, a baby goat. Then we spent the afternoon visiting with friends in their garden. It was delightful.

Both Mike and I have been busily working over the past weeks to prepare for our visit stateside. A few of the major deadlines were met this week. Mike finished editing a big thesis, and is tying up the loose ends on his remaining work. The house is still a work in progress... and we have decided to do what we can before we go, but keep a calm perspective about what has not yet been accomplished. We have listed it on a "house for sale" website, but have not gone overboard with the description or photos. We expect to have a full "try to sell it" blitz at the end of the summer when we get back. Until then we are just going to relax (see earlier post).

I turned in five of my dissertation chapters to the big bosses over the last few weeks. They included the methodology and statistics chapters, and (my least favorite) theory work. This really represents the meat of my final research output. I certainly expect to get a lot of comments back that need to be implemented, but am really satisfied with the progress made so far. The timing has been just right, as the onslaught of the third trimester coupled with the hotter days has started to slow me down. I will be taking holiday leave to visit the states, and then my pregnancy leave of four months begins. I think it is time--- I have napped for two days in a row and enjoyed it thoroughly.

As for James... his energy level seems to increase daily, if that is possible. Now that running and jumping are in the repertoire he only wants to run, jump and play. We enjoy the quiet moments when they occur.

Relax

Months ago we ordered the Dog Whisperer's book on dog training and were both really impressed with his philosophy. There was nothing revolutionary about it really- it all boils down to recognising what a dog is (or is not- dogs are not little tiny cute baby people- they are animals that have a distinct biology and a surprisingly simple psychology) as well as the power of calm, assertive energy during interactions; something that has nothing to do with training the dog and everything to do with training the person.
I was struck then at the similarities with the best advice (from books and people) that we had found on raising children. Even with a toddler approaching two, the effect of calm assertive energy can make the difference between out of control melt-down and a child happily engaged in the world. Another basic similarity is that training a dog (as raising a child) takes a real investment of energy; you cannot expect results if you are not focused. You may need to do a million other things but your ward (dog or child) will not respond well unless you are conscious about parenting/training. Just as dogs are not special little baby children, little baby children are not people yet- its your job to give them a chance to be people and the stages they go through to get there can (according to my father) last until they are about 25 years old. So have patience; and relax.
It is amazing how it works (on dogs or babies). If I do not take the dogs out until they are submissive (sitting in front of me calmly)- they are incredibly better behaved. If I remain calm and confident when James cries for something (a playground we pass while biking, one more cookie at snack time) he will completely accept my explanation. It still surprises me.

Our two favorite parenting authors are the Supernanny and Penelope Leach (though she can be, for lack of a better term- a little hippy-dippy). What we like about them is that they provide a pretty modern (i.e., taking into account recent studies on eating/sleeping/role models/play etc.) outlook on child-rearing while maintaining the importance of discipline and manners.
My whole point in mentioning this, besides just wanting to catch up on posting, is that we know all this (i.e., the incredibly effective power of calm assertion) but it is extremely difficult to remain calm and retain some sort of sane perspective when both parents are working their tails off in their respective fields and dogs, child, the kicking of future child, and the imminent sale of unfinished house in foreign country all refuse to be brushed aside.
In two weeks we all leave for the States (except the dogs, who will be kenneled, thank you Kathy) and all our lists will be checked off (or put off) but for the moment it feels like there is just not time enough, or 'us' enough, to deal with all of these things.

Take deep breath. Calm assertion.
Can you tell by my grammar that I've been reading too many policy texts?

I did get a new camera recently (spending that text correcting money before its here on a Father's Day gift) but I am still not sure how to exploit all the bells and whistles. Here are some efforts. The best thing about this outing with the "mechanical" horse is that James does not yet realize these do anything yet when your parents don't have the correct change. He was happy to just sit on it without motion.