DASNET

Okay, okay, stop calling / writing / sending scary looking thugs named "Mikey the Neck." Yes, we know that we've been ignoring the website. Yes, we know that our excuse (lack of time) is no better than the same excuse other people have had, and those other people have no problem finding time to send pictures to grandparents, friends, co-workers, or the Washington Post.

Just what have we been up to lately? A whole lot. I'll post a few updates here (and if iPhoto ever comes back out of its "Rebuilding Thumbnail Cache" tailspin, I'll add pictures too), and in the next few days, hopefully another update, and then another, until we get the last few months done. Maybe. Or maybe I'll just start from scratch. :)

So, in roughly reverse order, here come updates:

At one point yesterday, while I was upstairs on the computer, I heard Andrea say something about Dominic climbing. I thought she meant on the new clubhouse (more on that below). No. She meant on the stairs. He eventually climbed all the way to the top of the stairs, and immediately did the right thing and tried to close the gate at the top (of course, he was on the wrong side at the time). He did it again today -- fairly fast, very confident, and with virtually no hesitation. He's really off to the races now, and I think we're starting to understand why everyone warned us about not wanting him to walk too soon.

Last night was Dominic's first experience with close-up, local fireworks. Last year he watched fireworks at his great-uncle's house, but they were a mile or two away, and being only a couple weeks old, he probably slept through it anyway. This year, though, we were home, and the neighborhood was out in force with all kinds of locally-procured (and some not-so-locally-procured) fireworks.

At first, he was a little apprehensive, as he watched fountains to the left, and fountains and small aerial shots across the street. Then the really big aerial shots on the right started going off again, and he looked a little more concerned. After a bit, he looked at Andrea and stretched out his arms -- you could just see him thinking "Daddy's not helping at all, so maybe you can help." Five minutes later, he did the same, coming back to me. Apparently neither of us were making the loud noises stop.

The funny thing is, that as much as he seemed to be agitated (or at least nervously perplexed), he never cried, screamed, or did much more than wanting to be held. (Though when a string of firecrackers went off, he did almost leap out of my arms.) In fact, though he obviously didn't want to get too close, he couldn't stop watching them, either. In all, we think (and neighbors watching with us agreed) that Dominic's had a good First Fireworks Experience. Which might not bode well for us, given his father's propensity for pyrotechnical explorations. (No, Mom, I'm not going to explain what I mean by that.)

Most of the rest of the Fourth was spent napping (Andrea and Dominic) and working on a new webserver (me). The 3rd was about the same, as we came home midday, worked on some projects, relaxed for a few minutes, and then went to a friend's annual July 3rd Party, where Dominic wowed everyone by walking long distances, and we got to see some friends we haven't seen in years.

About a week before Dominic's birthday, we ordered a little toddler-sized play system. It's got a small slide, a climbing bit, a couple tunnels, a bridge, and a clubhouse and tower. Unfortunately, it didn't arrive until the Monday after the party, and then we were so busy that it just sat in two very large cartons in the garage for a few days. Then on Saturday (after I'd spent a couple hours trimming bushes and trees at mom's house) we set it up. Not wanting to put it outside just yet, we did a "dry fit" in the kitchen. Which scares us a little -- both that it can fit, and that we've got that much unused space in the middle of the house.

At first, Dominic wasn't quite sure what to make of it, though he discovered the tunnel pretty quickly. Since then, though, he's gotten very good at moving back and forth from the tower to the clubhouse, and is even pretty good at climbing up. Which means that we can't take our eyes off him for a second while he's on it, 'cause he's still not super sure of his footing. And he hasn't figured out how to sit down at the top of the slide, either (he generally starts by putting one foot on the slide, with a predictable response (near panic) from us. Though once, after I'd sat him down properly at the top of the slide, he did manage to skootch himself over the edge and down the slide all by himself. And he even enjoyed it! (our first experiments with slides, a couple months back, were a bit on the other side of the scale).

Later on that day, we went to a birthday party for the son of one of Andrea's High School friends (Joe -- 2 years old!) We had a grand time, and Dominic even got into the moon bounce!

While setting up the clubhouse, Andrea noticed a bit of leaking from one of the two old (ex-dormitory) fridges we use for drinks at parties. She opened it up, and found quite the scene. Two cans of soda had exploded -- one split along the side, and another the whole top had completely popped off. The funny thing is, I heard one of the explosions when it happened (I was upstairs at the time) and simply figured the cats had knocked something over. I took everything out, washed it off, and then took one final shot of the fridge and the resultant carnage. Soda had bounced off the inside of the door and landed on top of the water bottles on the top shelf. It even managed to find its way inside the freezer compartment. Quite amazing.

Okay, that's it for July, at least as far as today, obviously. Next up, June.