Harlan Place

My dad (”Grandfather” to Joshua) wanted firm proof that he was the first to introduce corn on the cob to “Jo-Mikey” (a.k.a “Gomer” … or to the rest of us, Joshua). So here it is! The proof is in the corn … on the cob.

Here’s a picture of Joshua’s baby dedication. What’s so funny? Well, Chris’ smirk can be interpreted as “I’m going to make a clever joke about how we don’t know who’s Joshua’s father is … ’cause this little guy is such a clone of Lane”. Lane’s proud grin is “uh huh, that’s me - I’m the dad. He’s my mini-me and I love it. Keep the attention coming!” And my head-cocked patronizing (oops, did I say patronizing??) smile is “Riiiight… good one! Definitely haven’t heard that before. Ha, ha… ha.”

Okay, so my Spillane sarcasm is slipping out. It’s probably adorable that Joshua is such a little Lane… and I guess I can deal with the constant reminder that I was just an incubator for those nine months.

But in all seriousnes… this was a beautiful morning. Dedicating Joshua was a short ceremony that took only moments at the front of our church with our pastor, but the significance doesn’t lie in the production or fan-fair, but rather in the meaning behind his simple prayer. Lane and I stood as husband and wife, as father and mother, hand in hand, bowing our heads in prayer as we relinquished the beautiful and amazing gift we have in our son back to our heavenly Father.

Here are a few pics from Joshua’s first trip to the zoo. Nuwee, Dacyl, and I all headed out for a day of fun in the sun. Great idea, but what was I thinking choosing a 90+ degree day?? Can you see my boy’s flushed, sweaty face? Poor baby! We tried to spend most of our time on the indoor exhibits, but I just couldn’t seem to cool off my chunky monkey.

One outdoor exhibit we couldn’t pass up was the sight of the big turtles. (As for the picture of the turtles, let me just say - yes, they are… and they are loud!) We also saw the elephants, and we took a ride on a horse. Joshua’s favorite, though, was the monkeys. Those crazy little beasts were shrieking and flying through the air with endless energy. Joshua was totally mesmerized. But then one monkey took a flying leap (shrieking all the while) in attack of another monkey. This action took place a little too close to the plexiglass and I think Joshua thought he was going to be the recipient of the attack. A look of terror spread across his flushed little face and he swung around and gripped me with all of his might. That was the end of the monkeys.

The last hoorah of this zoo day was our ascent in the Channel 6 Balloon. We soard high above Philadelphia with great sights of the city in all directions. Joshua seemed to really enjoy the ride - he seemed to grow in excitement the higher we climbed. I’m excited to take him back to the zoo and see how his reactions to all of the animals and rides change as he gets older and transitions more and more from baby to little boy.

Umm, yeah - as you can see, we really enjoyed that crazy out-of-the-blue storm last week. Joshua and I were out in the truck when it hit, and we are thankful for the blessing of protection as we made our way home through the madness. Our backyard clearly didn’t fair as well. Goodbye Gazebo, and hello sunken pool chairs. Things certainly could have been far worse … but the sight of our backyard after the storm was still a little discouraging.

Other fun storm details… the fun part of having a well (rather than city water) is that power outages mean water outages too! Nuwee (our au pair) discovered this the hard way when she hopped in the shower after the lights went out and got all nice and soapy just in time for the little water left in the pipes to dry up… leaving her high and dry - literally! (As I mentioned, Joshua and I were out in the storm… and Lane sort of forgot to mention this small detail to Nuwee before she got in the shower. Oops!).

The other bummer of the no-water situation was the fact that our little hunger-monger baby (who sucks down up to 40 oz. of formula a day) needed water for his bottles. Trees and power lines were down in every direction of the house, with most streets entirely blockaded. Fortunately, we were able to navigate through the treachery to find our way to Wal-Mart for some bottled water for the baby. 24 hrs of no power, no water, and some minimal backyard destruction may have been a source of frustration … but we all muddled through. “Fun” moments such as these definitely make you appreciate the wonders of modern technology!