More Vacation Photos

Everyone I know is pregnant, was pregnant, or will/wont be pregnant soon. And even though I am pregnant too, I feel a little left out. Maybe that is because I am not focusing so much on my own pregnancy. They are such delicate things. I think most of us are afraid to look directly at a pregnancy for fear that, like the black dots that swim in you eyes, they will disappear upon close inspection. Oddly it is not all that different once you have the real and present baby. When Nyssa was an infant she was such a perfect and pure thing (original sin is a total piece of shit, and teh idea of it is probably responsible for a lot of negative things in this world...I am pretty sure Nyssa has yet to sin... which is not to say she's not a demanding handful.) I was terrified of tainting her and convinced that she could decide in a snap that she was done with me. But my own parents are not that easy to get rid of, so how could I be?
What I am getting at, poorly, is that there are so many myths and mores that it is almost impossible to have a true conversation about pregnancy, birth, or childing. We all talk at angles and in code and I guess maybe it is necessary, and I guess maybe it is sometimes infuriating. Everyone I know is pregnant, was pregnant, or will/wont be pregnant soon, and some of them wont talk about getting pregnant or not, about their births, what sex it might be, or what name they are going to give it, there are hundreds of things people wont talk about, but they'll read loads of books that don't talk about it either.

For those of you unfamiliar, this is what pregnancy (and progeny) look like:



What? No nudity yet?

Here is Nyssa with her best friend (and arranged marriage partner) Baby Jack Frohnauer. This is an older photo, but they got to spend Friday and Saturday together and had a lovely time.



Even Annie is thinking about babies:

She Reads and Sings and Talks

I'm not the first to say it, but that a great thing about kids is the way they are able to produce some new skill out of thin air. Here Nyssa shows her momma how she is able to read chapter books, where the day before she showed no interest in them whatsoever.





Another new trick Nyssa is starting to perfect is singing. Although she doesn't show it here, I think this is a great example of her willingness to participate.





And finally, this video was taken just moments ago when she decided her changing mat was a cot. Although I prompt her to utter certain pro-Chicago phrases, I want to point out that she began saying those phrases on her own, with absolutely no coaching from me. Had it been otherwise, it would not be noteworthy.

A montage

We are up in the Northwoods and having a really nice time.
I'll put some photo's and junk up in a couple of days.
But for right now here are pictures I took with my camera over the last
year.

I've fallen in love with Joe Strummer, the Guitarist and singer from The Clash, and I think you should too! His solo work is dynamic, reminiscent of The Clash at their mature best, but still expansive and experimental. I never really realized how vibrant a voice he had.
Here is a You-Tube video of a great song off his last, I think, record

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEgKpTjWCRw

Here is a picture of him from his Clash days:

Here is a photo that our friend Zach, baby Oscar's dad, took with his cell phone.



Nyssa really loves this family, she talks about baby Oscar and his crazy hi-jinx all the time. He is about 8-9 months old and really getting ready to walk. He pulls himself up on everything, and is just about ready to stand up without help. he's reminding me, and his babymomma Darci, about one of the best things about kids: you don't have to worry about teaching them things, they just learn them.

Here, Oscar is learning that KatyFullin is a Rock-star!














The other great thing, about Nyssa anyways, is that they support local radio:

















We are having a ton of fun here in Ames, just now, and are looking forwards to our vacation up in WizConSin, which may or may not involve a trip to see Warren Nelson. If the last weeks sample of naked Nyssa pictures is any indication, there will be nudity in the north woods pictures here, pretty quick!

Also, and, the plan calls for naming of baby #2 durring one of the long and interminable car rides of the next week. And while Ulla-Ulla is apparently off the board, there is still hope for Taka-Taka.