Happy Father's Day!

Edison was elated that it was Father's Day. He wrote his dad a nice card, thanking him especially for the beautiful blue eyes.


After a nice lunch, we went out for an afternoon sail on the Fearless. It was gusting hard from the north and we got from New London to Fisher's Island in about 15 minutes - an unheard of feat. Don't let the size of this boat fool you, she can get on edge and sail like nobody's business!
Some of you wonder what Edison does while I coach swimming - does this give you an idea? I keep a pack-n-play in my locker and set it up on the pool deck for him.





But most of the time he would rather be walking up and down the deck with me, while I push him in his stroller. The kids adore him and keep him well entertained.








Since Edison wakes up between 5:30 and 6 every morning, we have lots of time to play before Eben goes into work.



Edison has been "close to walking" for several months.He is pushing his little walker with more and more control every day, but crawling is still his "go to" option for moving from point to point quickly.





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Summer Adventures Continue

Eben has been away, leading a "learn to sail" program for cadets. Edison and I have found much to do in order to keep ourselves busy.

Last Friday I completed my first road race, the Niantic Bay 10k. I pushed Edison in the stroller the whole way (great on the downhill, hard going up). You can see my van and the bay behind us. The race was just a little longer than our daily run, so I was comfortable and loose. We finished in 56 minutes - an average of 9 minutes a mile. I am pleased with my time, but part of me wants to try another one and see if I can improve.



As promised, this is Edison showing you how happy he is to be able to hold the spoon for himself. I REALLY want to get him proficient at feeding himself so that meals don't last an hour. But, as you can see, he has to work on getting more of the yogurt into his mouth!




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This past weekend I coached Saturday and Sunday at a big swim meet up at U. Conn and Edison came along. It was challenging to coach and keep up with Edison, but we both managed okay.
Yesterday we drove to Old Saybrook to meet up with Eben. The sailing boat he was leading had pulled in there for the night. They had an indoor pool which Edison really liked. He hasn't been swimming in awhile because I've been running instead. He especially liked splashing the water - something he has mastered during his nightly baths. We can't wait until dad is back at home!
I just liked this photo because it is a slightly different angle of Edison's face.

A Lot Can Happen in a Week

Edison was really excited to get back to his playroom after 10 days on the boat. I was amazed that he has suddenly figured out how to use four of the toys that had mystified him only a couple weeks ago. He is finally moving the little beads around on the three-track bead maze thingy. He is also able to put a ball into an opening to get the toy to do something cool - there are three variations on this theme. In one (as seen in the video) the ball drops down a ramp and then lands on a button that triggers a song. In another, a song plays when the ball goes through the opening. In the last one, the ball is pushed down a hole and goes through a little obstacle course. I was so excited to see that he can play with these toys now. He just kept repeating the action with the ball over and over on the toys.

Other firsts: 1) Edison is starting to feed himself with a spoon - pictures and video next week, 2) he waves "bye bye" - too bad he waits to do it until after the person is already gone, 3) has stood on his own for short bits of time (a second here, a couple seconds there), and 4) had his first visit to the dentist - and passed with flying colors. Go baby, go!!!

This is how Edison spends his time in the cockpit of the boat - just catching up on his summer reading.


All that sitting can get you knotted up, Edison relieves the stiffness with the "downward dog" yoga pose.

Have I mentioned that he is getting INTO everything these days? Literally...
But you can't get upset with him when he looks at you with those baby blues. (I love the throwback owl & pussycat jumper. Not sure who gave us this hand-me-down, but I adore it - thanks!)
Edison & Tomer, tearing it up in Tomer's playroom and planning their great escape.

Sailing - Part 3

Edison loves steering the boat.
This is beautiful Block Island. The "season" doesn't really start until late June, so there were hardly any boats in the harbor or tourists on the island, making it very peaceful. It is about five miles long and maybe 2 miles wide, so there is a lot of walking to do. We took this picture on a ramble out to the old CG station (look in the center of the photo, you'll see the old CG station with a red roof at the end of the point). The island used to be agricultural, hence the cleared pastures and stone walls. Now it is a tourist destination, home to million dollar "cottages."








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This is the lighthouse at the SE point of the island. It was moved ten or so years ago because of erosion of the bluffs it was on. About five minutes after we left this spot, walking into town for lunch, it started pouring. We were not prepared, but what can you do?! We sat out most of the showers at the Mohegan Cafe.
This is from a pirate ship playground on the island. Like father like son.
Edison loved being able to have room to roam while we were on shore.

Sailing - Part 2

We met up with some of Eben's CG Academy classmates at Colt State Park, in Bristol, RI. We were getting together to send off our friend Dan, who is leaving with his CG reserve unit to patrol the Persian Gulf.
Palmer came down and joined us at the picnic. Edison loves seeing his uncle Palmer!

Here is Edison at the picnic - going bananas (note the shirt). The state park is on Narragansett Bay, so we anchored the boat offshore and brought the dinghy in. It was a lot of fun to get together with everyone for the day.
That night, we hosted our friends, Jamie & Danya, and their daughters on the Fearless. Eben rigged up a relaxing hammock.
Edison enjoyed the attention of Ashlynn and Kayla.

June 2009 - Sailing, Part 1

I am writing this from a quick land-stop. It is nice to do laundry and take a hot shower in a big bathroom (yay for the amenities of modern life!) Edison and I got on board the sailboat, Fearless, on Friday and it has been a big learning experience for us all.

Before I get ahead of myself, here is a snapshot from Memorial Day. We celebrated the day at Eben's sister's house and the whole family was there. (his 2 1/2 y.o. cousin Will was not willing to be photographed...) It was a beautiful, sunny day for a BBQ. Thanks, Marleigh!
Here is the sailboat, Fearless, that we are sailing on. We are borrowing it for the summer from Eben's father. Eben rode the dinghy out to take a picture of the boat in the fog. The weather has been nice one morning and raining the next. We started in Newport, RI, worked our way up to Bristol, RI in Narragansett Bay, to meet up with a bunch of Eben's Coast Guard buddies. I'll put some pictures of that picnic on the blog in another post. Then we spent three nights at the idyllic Block Island, RI (more on that in a later post). Last night we stopped at Fisher's Island, CT and are now docked at the CG Academy in New London for the day.
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How do you take a baby on a week-long sailing trip? Great question. Let me know if you have any ideas. This is what we've come up with so far - gates. This one lets Edison roam in the dining area while keeping him out of the kitchen and aft cabins. I wonder when he'll figure out how to get over it.
Here is another gate - this one is at the top of the stairs so that Edison can play in the cockpit area while we are cruising or sitting outside. This has the added function of serving as a teething bar. (His eighth tooth is finally coming in.)




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I think he likes it on board the boat.