I have read and heard people attribute both being very verbal and being non-verbal to having older siblings (either they provide a good example or do all the talking for the little one). I don’t know if it has anything to do with her older siblings, but Lori is one of the most loquacious one-year-olds I have ever met. Since this blog is basically her baby book, I’ll try to document all the words she currently says: Dada, Mama, uh-oh, dog, baby, cookie, hi, down, go, out, ow (both for when she gets hurt and for things that might hurt her, like a lit candle), yeah, and oh. “Oh” is my favorite because she says it when it’s conversationally appropriate, like she’s had a revelation. This morning she woke me up as she usually does: she put her hand gently on my cheek and said sweetly, “Mama.” When I didn’t open my eyes, she smacked my face and said, “Mama?” Then she peeled one of my eyelids back and said, “Down! Go!” I said, “Good grief, Lori, it’s not even 6:00 in the morning. It is NOT time to go.” She said, “Oh.”
Later, after Brian had taken her downstairs to let me get a half-hour of peace and quiet, she came up looking for me, calling Mama and banging on the door. Brian came up and opened the door for her, and she said, “Ti-ta!” in a very “thank-you” tone of voice. Lori will often try to repeat whatever you just said, and is a pretty good mimic (Andrea once speculated that Lori’s first sentence will be “I hate purple,” and Lori immediately said, “I-hay-pupu”). She also signs everything I’ve bothered to teach her, including: up, all-gone, all-done, more, and bird. She waves hello and goodbye, shakes her head no and nods yes, points, plays peek-a-boo, claps, dances when she hears music, gives kisses and hugs, blows kisses, and will drop to the floor and put her head down when I say the word “nap,” although she then giggles and gets right back up. She can find most parts of her body when you name them for her, and will indicate that she has a poopy diaper by patting her butt. Her fine and gross motor skills seem equally impressive, especially since she’s so teeny (people are so confused about her age when I put her down and she runs off). She finally got over the not-feeding-herself hump (a couple of months ago) and will now eat anything you put in front of her, except that she still has NO TEETH (which adds to the age confusion)!
Besides all that, she’s a joy to be around, loves her siblings, readily entertains herself, and giggles all day long. Now if we can just figure out how to get her to stop making that horrible screeching sound she makes for fun (especially in the car). We’ve tried telling her it hurts our ears (”ow”). She says, “Oh,” screeches again, and then giggles.

(The title is a play on an XKCD joke referencing Ender’s Game – sorry for the geek moment.)

We have dispensed with all the baby gates, both at the bottom and top of the stairs. Apparently, they were getting in Lori’s way. She has been pushing them aside and climbing the stairs anyway, so the gates were only giving me a false sense of security and getting in everyone else’s way, too. The only problem was that she could climb up, but not down. She would then teeter at the top of the stairs and make this awful screeching sound until someone rescued her and brought her back down stairs. So that she could practice climbing back up again. This past weekend, Brian and I tag-teamed Lori on the stairs; over the course of 48 hours, Lori spent roughly a quarter of that climbing up and then practicing backing down. She’s now completely proficient at both, and can come and go as she pleases. Which means that she will disappear up the stairs and return downstairs with Cara’s and Evan’s toothbrushes in her hands (and mouth) looking supremely pleased with herself. Now we’re thinking about putting the upstairs bathroom door back on it’s hinges…

Happy First Birthday, Lori!

Dear Randy,

I’ve been working on a letter to you literally for months. And finally I realized: formality and perfection was getting in the way of saying ANYTHING at all. The essence of what I have been trying to put down into words is this: thank you for everything you did for me. I am where I am today in large part because of the opportunities and guidance you provided.

So, a rousing Happy Father’s Day to you, Randy. My family wishes all the best that this world can provide to you, Jai, Dylan, Logan, and Chloe.

Love and Gratitude,

Brian, Carolee, Liam, Evan, Cara, and Lori
The Stearns Clan

Ok, so we’re getting started a little late on the vegetable garden, but this year’s goal was to get it going and gain experience. We have two (roughly 3×6) raised garden boxes which Brian built earlier this spring, one of which houses our Solar Cone composter that we’ve been using for about two months. Since we didn’t really get the seedlings started indoors ahead of time (except for a few pea plants), I went ahead and bought some cherry tomato plants at the farmer’s market this morning. Then the kids helped me plant them along with sugar snap peas, Green Goliath broccoli, Butterstick summer squash, Burpee’s brand hybrid zucchini, Nante’s Half Long carrots, and a carnival mix of bell peppers – all selected by the kids. I’m sure we planted way too many seeds way too close together, but I wanted the kids to be involved. And then, knowing that thunder storms were predicted for this afternoon, I watered them thoroughly, because, well, I’ve learned that if I don’t, it won’t rain. It worked – it’s pouring outside right now.

So, I have no idea how this experiment will turn out, but we’ll keep you posted. Wish us luck!

We’re trying to reduce our energy consumption.  The first step was to teach the kids to turn off lights as they leave their rooms.  As you can imagine, Liam is excessively zealous (”Hey, I’m still in here!”),  Evan means well but rarely remembers, and Cara can’t generally reach any light switches.  But it’s a start.

The local power company came in today to install new thermostats in the house.  It’s a pilot program we volunteered for.  We get two new  programmable thermostats, which can even be controlled via a private web site (all the geeks out there say “sweet!”).  The power company gets to bump up our thermostat setting temporarily in order to prevent brownouts during the worst summer peak demand times.  Everybody wins!

I just ordered compact fluorescent (CFL) spotlights for the recessed lighting in the kitchen and dining room.  I also just managed to connect the house server to the powerline controls, so that the smart switches I’ve been installing around the house can start acting smart.  Both together ought to be a winning energy-saving combination.

I also just bought a battery-powered (rather than gasoline) lawn trimmer.  I hope to soon power the battery charger with solar panels.  Near-future plans involve putting all of our battery charging needs on solar.  Medium-future includes more panels and an AC inverter to run some lower draw devices.  Who knows, maybe full-blown grid-intertie is a possibility.

We’ve got a long way to go before I feel like we’re approaching “greenness,” but every little bit helps.  Now I’m gonna knock off this typing thing and go help plant the new vegetable garden.

The title is a Simpsons reference. If you don’t get it, you don’t get it. The weather around here has been more like a typical March than May – chilly and rainy. So the new albums of January, February, and early March pictures won’t seem quite so out of place. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. Just smile and nod at me. Coming soon: Easter pix!

Evan is currently racing around the culdesac on Liam’s old two-wheel bike. Some of you will recall that about two years ago, Liam got the hand-me-down bike from a neighbor and just hopped on it and rode off. It’s never had training wheels on it. This weekend, it was Evan’s turn to amaze us, as he just decided it was about time he could ride one, too. Brian gave him a push, and he was off! Barely 48 hours later, he’s out there doing tricks and riding around like a speed devil. I do not look forward to the day when these boys get driver’s licenses. Maybe by then the age will be 20!

A combination of difficulties (of various kinds) has prevented me from uploading new pictures in months. Since Christmas, in fact. I have felt really bad about it, which any procrastinator knows has not helped motivate me to catch up. I apologize to those of you who don’t see the kids any other way – I’m sure it’s been disappointing to visit here and not find new pictures. But Spring is in the air, and with my birthday always comes renewed energy and determination to get things done. So I’ve finally uploaded the Christmas, 2007 album. Over the next week I will work on getting the last four months of pictures up for everyone to see. Enjoy!

Lori (at 10 months) has officially taken her first wobbly steps, after about a week of standing there thinking about it. She’s still not too sure about it, but I’m going to count it as walking. She still does this really funny half-bear crawl most of the time. She spent some time on the playground yesterday with Cara’s class at school, creeping around on her bare feet and hands (no knees) in the mulch and sand. She looked like a baby gorilla, and she loved it!

Another cute milestone Lori has achieved is giving kisses. She makes a smacking sound with her lips and then leans in with an open mouth to slobber on your face. If you’re really lucky, she’ll slip you the tongue. It is the sweetest, cutest thing in the world. My baby’s growing up so fast!

Cara’s teacher related the following conversation to me, which occurred in front of the bathroom in the classroom as Cara was coming out and a little boy was going in:

Boy: “I have a penis, and you don’t.”

Cara: “No, I have a vulva.”

Boy: “No, you have a ‘gina.”

Cara: “No, I have a VAgina, and a vulva. And a BUTT,” which she slapped for emphasis. Then she turned on one heel and marched off to wash her hands.

The little boy was left standing there blinking, wondering how he had suddenly lost this game.