birthday party

Zeb's birthday party - 2
Originally uploaded by Three Seas.

Saturday, we celebrated z's first birthday.

newest skill

Zeb's birthday party - 10
Originally uploaded by Three Seas.

z learned about noisemakers at his birthday party.

more

Saturday, Z signed "more" while we were eating. I didn't get too excited, thinking it might be a fluke, until he did it again on Sunday. I'm not sure that he realizes it means "more" since he has given me the sign at other times and away from the table. He does the cutest "more" - pinching his fingers together with both hands then tapping them together.

His favorite book of the moment is "Pirate Mom" - Pete and his mom go to see the Amazing Marco who performs his Hypno-Trance trick on Pete's mom to turn her into a pirate. Before the Amazing Marco can turn pirate mom back to normal, he leaves to attend the birth of his son, The Fabulous Harold. After several misadventures, Pete takes mom to the hospital to find the Amazing Marco and his mom his returned to normal. As an apology, the Amazing Marco sends two tickets to his next show. Pete's mom slaps her forehead, "Oh no!" Z has learned to ask for the book by slapping his hand to his head. He also enacts that scene when we reach it.

I wrote the above paragraphs before naptime. He signed "more" for me to read another book....maybe he does understand or maybe he wanted to eat just then. Regardless, he seems to understand that he can communicate with his hands which motivates me to learn more signs and use them as often as possible...anxiously awaiting the next new word that he picks up.

more photos

Zeb in lawn chair - 6
Originally uploaded by Three Seas.

more photos

virtual cocktail party

erika invited me to a "virtual cocktail party" - to share five little known things about myself.

1. I could have been a musician. I started taking music lessons in third grade and programming computers in sixth. I played oboe in the school orchestra and percussion (bells, xylophone, drum) in the marching band. I won several blue ribbons for piano performances. When I went to college, I chose to major in computer science and date musicians (then married one). I took drum lessons throughout 2005, but gave my drum kit to a friend in February 2006. I dream about being in a band and owning a piano.

2. I want to be a science fiction writer. I've been "researching" a story for 5 years and even wrote a couple drafts. It is set in a utopia where there are no noticeable disabilities - it's not that disabilities as we know them have been eliminated, it's that they don't matter anymore. You don't need eyes to read street signs, you don't need ears to communicate with a stranger, you don't need legs to climb a mountain, and every person's perception of the world is important and integral to society.

3. In college, after taking a "World Religions" class, I joined a wiccan coven, attended Baha'i fireside meetings, hung out with Rastafarians in Jamaica, meditated in Zen temples, visited a Hindu temple, obsessed over everything Richard Bach and Richard Pirsig ever wrote, then read the Tao Te Ching, Yoga Sutras, Upanishads, and many other books. There are many beautiful paths.

4. I want to live in a commune. Let's pool our resources to buy hundreds of acres at the base of a snow-capped mountain and help each other raise children, garden, cook, create, snowboard...let's enjoy and care for our amazing planet and each other!

5. I can cook with meat. I was a vegetarian for most of my adult life...until I got pregnant. First, I only ate meat a couple times per week and only when we ate out. I didn't want meat in my refrigerator and I certainly didn't want to cook it. Over the last year, I have learned to grill hamburger, fry sausage, and braise steak. I made sausage patties from scratch using bulk pork and cooked a tender, juicy chicken mole in the crockpot for 6 hours...it melted like buttah. But, I am a vegetarian at heart and as I slice I daydream about the pre-slaughterhouse lives of the chickens, pigs, and cows who meander across my cutting board.

Hmmm. I feel like people who know me will know these things. But, I think the main purpose of the exercise was to talk about things that I usually don't talk about. I had fun, I hope you did, too.

Now, to pass the torch. This is a bit like a chain letter but on blogs...isn't it? Here goes: artifishall, 3seas, and macabre0 - tag! you're it.

what a difference a year makes

12 months ago today I wrote the entry "baby by 5 pm." I had no idea what I was in for. :) The title of this blog was "The Life and Times of ZGB" but in between his milestones and accomplishments, this blog is really about the changes within me. Thus, the new title, "Life with ZGB."

I haven't written much lately. Each time I start to draft a summary of the shifts in my emotional landscape I can't find the the tools to capture the panoramic view. So, I haven't written anything. Not even in my handwritten, paper journal. Last night was the first time since 29 December and it's only a list of words:

• humility
• responsibility
• flexibility
• patience
• intimacy
• anger
• forgiveness
• discipline
• asking questions, listening, learning
• not taking the easy path
• no more "instant credibility"
• communication
• separation anxiety

I'm celebrating his birthday by reading through the blog. On 26 August 2006, I wrote:

I hope all of the seeds growing now continue to take root and that this metamorphosis will be larger and more rewarding than I could have expected. Everyone's been saying, "having a child will change your life forever" and I knew that, but it's so hard to predict how and how much. I still don't know how different things will be when we actually meet him or her. But, for all of the beautiful changes that we've experienced so far, thanks Gil!

It's true, a child changes your life...a lot....thank jah.

It's been difficult and not always much fun, but I feel my rough edges smoothing and my true nature showing through. I am a slab of rock and ZGB is my Michelangelo.

more photos

Xmas with Zeb - 15
Originally uploaded by Three Seas.

grandmomma took several lovely shots of our christmas celebration, including this one of great-grandma reading to Z.

panorama

DSC00053
Originally uploaded by countzachula.

My brother's camera phone can create panoramas. Here's one from Christmas day.

christmas photos

flying rabbit
Originally uploaded by anneke boudreau.

Some photos from Christmas.