Garden of Words

The Birth of Spring (in Our Yard)

It sprung. Really. In a day.

Yesterday, I checked out the garden in the mist and nothing was sprouting. There was a half-budded tulip gazing wanly across the yard. Everything was halfway there, paused in that wretched in-between space called March.

And then the sun smacked Mother Nature on the bottom today and everything blossomed.

I don't know where I bought this amazingly orange tulip, but I wish I'd bought 400 of them.


Introducing, the world's most adorable daffodils.


Our friends Tom and Judy gave us this red bud three years ago, and it is budding for the first time ever. It looks less creepy from a distance.


Fortunately, Rilo refuses to use her purple dog house. Thus, the lone flower survives.


The lettuce erupted from the soil with such violence this morning that it shook the house.


We cheated on the chard front, planting a half-dozen sets along with seeds.


The last time we planted Brussels sprouts, Rilo ate them to the ground. They are fenced in now, which means the rabbits will eat them instead.


The lilac.

The Baby Factory: Warming Trends

We have been so lucky to have had absolutely nothing on our calendars for two of the most beautiful days of the year. Last Sunday, we hit Maymont for Thea's first encounter with creatures from the wild. Today, we walked and walked and walked through Northside, and then played in the grass and on the school playground.

Sunny. Breezy. Warm.

Also known as utterly gorgeous.

At Maymont last week, Thea saw her first pig, goats, baby goats (much cuter than the adults), cattle, birds of prey (an assortment) and gray fox. She pretty much despises goats, as near as we can tell. Cows -- especially sitting far away -- cause her to grin. Foxes make her lean forward in her stroller and stare intently. She squealed with delight when she saw the gigantic mock bald eagle's head.

Before setting off for Maymont, Thea prepares to stab her father in the eye with her favorite drumstick.

Thea's one moment of emotional attachment to goats ended as soon as the horned head curled itself through the fence slats and went for her fingers.

Loving cows from a distance is what Thea was built for. Especially since her favorite repetitious phrase is, "The cow says moo. The sheep says baa. Three singing pigs say La La La!"

Look! I'm enjoying myself! And for all you know, I'm in Montana!

Ignore the slightly pained look on my face. I just rediscovered that my allergy to soy yogurt creates terrible butt rash. (That would be Thea talking.)

Doesn't he ever tire of posting blurry action shots?

The Baby Factory: A Sunny Day

I had an evening meeting at 1708 Gallery on Tuesday, and the weather was gorgeous, so I came home early to spend time with Nikole and Thea. Thea was boycotting her afternoon nap, so we decided to pile into the Jeep and head to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. It was the perfect place to wander with a sort-of-sleepy baby for a hour-plus.

The gardens were just beginning to bud with plenty of daffodils, crocuses and pansies brightening the landscape.

Nikole went back to Lewis Ginter today with Thea -- and our friend Nancy and her two kids (who are four and six). Thea played in the sandbox and ate some sand. She's practicing for her summer in Deltaville.

Dog Versus Cat: Evicted!

Nikole's cat, Simon, has a habit of laying down in one of two places -- where Nikole sits on the couch or in my chair. Then he gets very pissy because we make him move. I mean that almost literally -- he'll usually go and take a dump on the floor of Nikole's study or in the laundry room.

Lately, he's started hanging out in Rilo's crate. Unfortunately, we've raised Rilo to be a bit more timid than she needs to be. The other night, she sat on the floor by the bed and whimpered -- which usually means that she really needs to be let outside to take care of business. I climbed out of bed, opened the back door and then realized that she was sitting by her crate. Still whimpering.

Simon was curled on the edge of Rilo's blanket with his paws deeply emeshed in the crate's pillow. Emeshed, because Rilo had managed to drag most of the blanket out of the crate before hitting the immovable roadblock known as our household's most annoying cat.

Later in the week, I stumbled upon this unhappy scene:

The Baby Factory: Anti-Snow Days!

Gidyap!

Less than a week after we dragged Thea around in the snow in 23 degree weather in a cardboard box, we dragged her around in the grass in the same cardboard box -- because it was friggin' 80 degrees outside! What a difference a few days makes.

Rilo would like nothing more than to flee Thea's presence.

The weather isn't the only thing changing at a rapid and unpredictable clip -- Thea continues to nail baby milestone after baby milestone. She's started crawling like a championship turtle, pulls herself up at every opportunity, drinks from her sippy cup with a straw and consumes chunks of food like they're going out of style. The most exciting news -- our sensitive baby broke her 11 month dairy fast on Saturday with yogurt. She loved it!

It's sometimes had to tell who loves the swings more.

Although the weather turned on us again this week, we managed to get in more than a half-dozen walks with Thea and Rilo. We wandered around the neighborhood, visited friends, played on the school swings and checked out springtime in Bryan Park. Thea was mesmerized by the warmth, the sun and the blossoming plants.

Thea also loses control every time I throw an orange into the air.

We're just beginning to plan her first birthday party, and are debating whether to invite just close family or all 500 people invited to the Floricane launch party.

The Baby Factory: Snow Day!

Rilo, you go left and I'll go right! He won't know what hit him...

I have a niece with no memory of significant snow. Thea may not have a memory of snow, but she will go through life with photographic evidence that her parents attempted to freeze her to death before she even reached her first birthday.

We went to bed Sunday night secure in the knowledge that I wouldn't be waking up at 5:00 to get ready for my event at the Chamber of Commerce. Instead, I woke up at 5:00 to hang out with Miss "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning." While Nikole slept, I pushed Rilo out the back door and watched her timidly walk along the side of the house where there was little snow accumulation -- and then tear with a mad dash around the perimeter of the yard with the carefree joy of a dog who has no idea what she's doing, only that she likes it.

She then came back inside and fell asleep.

When Nikole woke, Thea went down for a nap. When Thea woke, I got to work on my Depression Era sled -- a cardboard box with a sheet of plastic duct-taped to it, and with an old cell phone cord affixed as a pull rope. We shoved a blanket in the box, bundled Thea and shoved her into the box, and then shoved a few more blankets on top of her for good measure.

Oh, this really is the life! Faster, dad, faster!

We didn't realize that it was 21 degrees outside at 10:00 in the morning. But we did dress her for the cold.

The box performed outstandingly, though for some reason I found myself pulling a 20-pound baby sitting regaly in the recline position while a 35-pound dog pulled in an entirely different direction with the manic energy of an animal who suddenly discovered the laws of physics.

Are we there yet? I have to pee.

We went about three blocks before we realized that Thea's face was coated with about six inches of ice. We took her inside, so she could stare out the window while I cleaned the cars.

Okay, who hid all the daffodils?

Later in the day, we drove down to Chester where Nikole's mom and stepfather had opened the official Chester sled slope, a stretch of their back lot that had been groomed over recent years to resemble Wintergreen. Thea took one sled ride down the hill with her Mema, and called it a day. She then stood beside the fire while her mom drank hot cider and her dad roasted a hot dog.

Well, at least one of us is enjoying this weather...

As for the urban myth that children who play in the snow sleep better, I can tell you that's not true.

The Baby Factory: Our First Infectious Disease!

The jar of mayo gives it away. We're totally in North Carolina!

After postponing a trip to Atlanta to see Nikole's brother, sister-in-law and infant nephew due to unemployment, we hopped in the rental car (a massive Highlander) to visit them in Charlotte for Baker's first birthday. I like to think it was a bit of a reconnaissance mission to help us prepare for Thea's first birthday, since she was born a mere two months after her cousin.

It froze this way.

The trip down was mostly uneventful, because we departed Richmond right about the time Thea was ready to fall asleep for the night. She was zonked out for most of the trip south, and we managed to get her back down again after we arrived at their house in South Charlotte.

Two months older with a two year head start on hair. What gives?

Saturday was the big birthday event, and friends and relations were coming from all over the Tarheel State to watch Baker shove an entire cake in his face. We spent the morning just hanging out and catching up with Nikole's family.

Our little cueball with her grandmother.

The first rule of new baby birthdays should be: Don't celebrate them. They are messy, and the baby usually has no clue what is happening. Obviously, we'll be having one for Thea in a matter of weeks.

The birthday boy with his proud parents.

Once the birthday wrapped, we had dinner and put Thea down. Then we drank port. Someone should invent a more astringent drink.

I wonder if I looked as traumatized after my first five pounds of sugar?

Sunday, we got on the road about the time Thea was going down for her first nap. And because I really wanted some tea, it took us an extra hour to get on the highway.

Baby, mom and grandmom going for a ride.

Of course, this meant that by the time we approached Raleigh -- our first scheduled stop was to see a friend of Nikole's who has a baby a bit older than Thea -- Thea was wide awake. Wide wake, a bit green around the gills and very unhappy.

Cousins going for a ride.

As soon as we pulled into the driveway, Thea vomited all over Nikole (who by that time had taken our very ill looking girl out of the car seat and into her arms as we wound our way down winding suburban streets).

Thea loved her cousin's swing. (Not pictured: Me smiling.)

We lunched, Thea recovered her stamina and played with Ava (who was recovering from being ill), and then we left. And then Thea woke up about an hour south of Richmond and started screaming like a banshee. For about an hour.

The next day, she was sick -- all snotty and congested and miserable. Two days later, Nikole was sick. Two days after that, my turn.

Welcome, my lovely British doctor told me, to the world of parenthood.