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I just went down into our basement and caught a whiff of something faintly foul. It's not unusual to be able to really "smell" our basement, particularly in the summer when the dehumidifier has filled up and we haven't emptied it in a few days. Lewisburg is a damp town, and if you don't keep up with it, it'll take over everything. When we were house-hunting in April 2003, we noticed that quite a few sellers would light scented candles when prospective buyers were checking out their house. At the time we wondered what other smell they were trying to cover up; now we know.

Anyway, central Pennsylvania has been the recipient of quite of bit of rain of late. Fortunately, our branch of the Susquehanna isn't flooding anywhere near the extent that it is in Wilkes-Barre. Our basement's been a little wet, but nothing more than what we usually get when it rains really hard. Dave and I have been emptying the dehumidifier around two to three times a day, whereas usually we have to empty it once. We're feeling pretty lucky considering quite a few towns only an hour east of us were being evacuated yesterday. This morning I went downstairs to see how things looked and there was that smell, only it was slightly different from the usual damp smell. I walked around the basement, nose in the air, and noticed a lone wet spot on the floor in the back of the basement. Right underneath a big white PVC pipe. A PVC pipe that connects to our second floor toilet. And the pipe had trickles of water on it. Yuck. I'm really hoping that if it is the pipe to the upstairs toilet, that it's really, really easy to fix. And I also hope that the smell doesn't waft up to the first floor. Because, you know, ewww.

Posted by Jenn at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Henry turned 10 months on Friday, and to celebrate it he was fussy and whiny. Hey, it's his party, he can cry if he wants to. When I went up and got him after his afternoon nap, he stood up in his crib, smiled sweetly and batted his eyes and snuggled up when I picked him up and giggled while I tickled him during his diaper change and then we went downstairs. And he got fussy. Just like he did after we woke him up earlier in the morning. And just like he did after his morning nap. When Dave came home we decided he was probably bored so we took him to the mall to buy him some sandals. Not that he can walk or anything, but he sure can hold onto things and cruise so I thought if he had shoes on the next time we went to the park, he could hold onto something and cruise.

The major new development this past month has to be that he can eat fruited puffs now without gagging. Henry has a problem with solid food that shows any tendency towards actual solidity. If I was a single parent, he would probably be eating pureed foods the rest of his life because the gagging and choking was just about more than I could handle. Fortunately, there's someone else in Henry's life that's helping to mold him into the amazing person he will one day become, and that someone else is Dave. Dave has taken over trying to get Henry to eat actual solid food, and after much diligence and perseverance and all of that, Henry is one step closer to experiencing his first meal at China King Buffet, which is truly something to aspire to.

While we were in New Hampshire, Henry mastered the art of getting back down to floor level after hoisting himself up to the standing position. Previously when he wanted to get back down onto the floor, he would grip whatever furniture he was holding onto and fuss. I think our lack of plush carpet is holding him back a bit because whenever we're anywhere with carpet, he's much more cavalier about, well, just going for it. I still think his first word will be doggy, because no one else on this planet can elicit so much glee from him than Flash can, much to her chagrin.

Henry's also imitating the sounds of conversation. This morning he sat in his high chair and waved his arms around and had a very serious conversation with himself. He can also smack your hand when you ask for a "high five" and he gives you big, slobbery, open-mouthed kisses on the cheek when you ask for a smooch.

I just asked Dave what else Henry has achieved this month; his answer was "Fussiness". So there you have it.

Posted by Jenn at 09:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday was a profoundly humid day, even for the normally humid Susquehanna Valley. It was also hot and breezes were rare. Earlier in the day I read the forecast for our region and there was a possible threat of thunderstorms for later in the evening. Thunderstorms around here are like thunderstorms in Louisiana: they blow through fast and furious, but they don't break the humidty to any satisfactory degree. Last night around 8:30 Dave and I were watching "That 70's Show". The station interrupted programming with a special weather statement that ran across the top of the screen, accompanied by the usual screeching sound to get your attention. I hear them so often around here that they barely cause a blip on my radar, so instead of reading the warning, I leaned in closer to see if I could read the actors lips. When the sound came back on, Dave asked if I had seen the warning. When I told him I hadn't he said "Good". I asked what was going on and when he wouldn't say I looked to see if any other stations had any weather related statements they were dispatching. As it turns out, there was a tornado warning for our county, and worse than that, the worst bit of the storm was heading straight for Lewisburg. Naturally I freaked out. I tried to go back to that day in one of my high school science classes where the teacher talked about what to do during a tornado, then proceeded to frantically open all the windows, turn off and unplug all the appliances, turn out all the lights, and then I commenced worrying about Henry. After debating with Dave about what to do, I went upstairs, woke him up, brought him down to the first floor, and settled him down in his "pack and play". The winds and rain were amazing. The system was traveling through at 60 mph so it went by us fast, but it certainly was around long enough to make a girl frantic. Meanwhile, Dave was outside on the front porch watching all of it while I was inside trying to hear the tell-tale "train" sound. Fortunately, there was no tornado (although there were some in my dreams last night). It scared the hell out of me, I'm not ashamed to say. It had better not happen again.

Posted by Jenn at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This weekend my parents are coming up for a short visit. We talked last Saturday and I told them Lewisburg is celebrating July 4th this weekend and that they should come up (or over and down?). It has nothing to do with me missing them. Nothing at all. Anyway, I was really stir-crazy on Tuesday so after Dave tore himself away from the office, we got in the car and drove over to RB Winter State Park. There's a lake and a stream and a dam, all in one spot. How often does that happen? It's a beautiful drive to RB Winter, past Pennsylvania farms and then into the state forest, and once you arrive at the lake, you can bbq and swim. I twiddled my toes in the water, which was freezing, then sat with my two men on a blanket. Dave and I enjoyed watching Henry try to figure out exactly what sand was and why it would want to get stuck all over his hands whenever he touched it. Can you sense the cuteness? What was most inspiring, however, were the people on the other side of the lake fishing. My dad and I have been interested in going fishing ever since Dave and I moved to PA three years ago. The problem is, where do you start? My dad and I have this thing where we'll think about, conjecture, and research something to death, without actually really finding anything out about it. Plus, the hunting and fishing stores around here are intimidating in their hard-coreness. Put those two together and you end up with three years entirely devoid of actual fishing action. What I want is to find some place close to where we live where we could drive out, fish for a while, and then come home, which is exactly what RB Winter State Park is. So, to make a long story short, after a couple of excited phone calls to my pop, this morning Henry and I drove out to Mertz Rod and Gun, bought some spinners, swivels, a glorified adult version of the Snoopy pole I had when I was a kid (my dad has his own rod and reel), and a couple of fishing licenses. I'm feeling pretty hardcore.

Posted by Jenn at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is the photo set from the New Hampshire trip.

Posted by Jenn at 03:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Today is all about Dave. This means he gets to do whatever he wants. Do you know what he's doing right now? He's at work. This comes as a surprise to, well, probably not anyone who knows him. This is not to say he hasn't had a great 1st Father's Day up til now. This morning Henry and I surprised him with breakfast in bed consisting of: orange juice, coffee, scrambled eggs (with mushrooms, cheese, ham, and turkey), and Coco Puffs. He got two cards, one from Henry and one from Flash. Then, because he has to act like a total dad on Father's Day, he proceeded to mow the lawn. For lunch we went out to Skeeters Pit BBQ and sat on their deck which overlooks the mighty Susquehanna. The food was amazing. Henry was great. He was totally enthralled by his Brown Bear, Brown Bear book and was obliviously devastating the ladies with his good looks. We were content to hang out on the deck for a while until a woman at a neighboring table starting asking someone on the other end of her cell phone if her doctor had inserted drainage tubes or not, etc., etc. Nothing kills a meal like that, let me tell you. Dave was glad it happened after we'd finished eating. We came home and piled into Henry's bedroom (the only room with A/C) and hung out until he got his crank on, then Dave gave him a bottle and put him down for a nap. Now Dave's at work and I'm here with the dog sweating out the 90+ degree weather. I foresee ice cream in our future.

Posted by Jenn at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave, Henry, Flash, and yours truly just got back yesterday from a vacation during which we loaded and unloaded the car at least four times over the course of seven days. We went up to New Hampshire by way of my Grandmother's house, kicked around North Conway for a few days with Megan and Adrian, headed down to Boston by way of Salem, spent Tuesday doing the Boston thing, then drove home yesterday. That the expurgated version. If you're good, perhaps you'll get the full version a little later, replete with spray cheese, peeing babies, cactuses, and a hot tub. I'm currently doing lots of laundry, procrastinating about paying bills, thinking about how much I'm using commas in this post, sipping iced coffee, and pondering a doctor's appointment I have at 1PM. I also have tons of vacation-related pictures that I will be posting on flickr at some point in the near future.

Posted by Jenn at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Check out Henry's teeth. Think it's too early to tell who he takes after?

Posted by Jenn at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Henry's got a cold. We knew he wasn't feeling well last Saturday night and by Sunday morning he had a runny nose. By Monday he had chest congestion. Today, it's the same. You wouldn't know he's sick except Wednesday and Thursday he woke up around 2 or 3AM and was up crying and fussing for an hour and a half. Last night he woke up at 11 and was wailing and screaming and obviously very unhappy. It was pretty heart-breaking. I gave him some Tylenol and held him. He would alternate between settling down and collapsing against me while furiously working on his pacifier, to suddenly screaming and crying again. Finally I wandered into our bedroom and Dave suggested he try and read a book to Henry. He read "Guess How Much I love You" three times and that did the trick. Henry was very interested in playing and having a good time despite the fact that he was obviously exhausted. Dave took him back to his room and tried rocking him to calm him down but he was very wiggly and squirmy so he put him down in his crib and soon enough he was out like a light. What a good kid. What a good Daddy. Henry didn't wake up again until this morning so once again I say, what a good kid.

He had his 9 month checkup on Thursday. No shots, just a pinprick on his fingertip to check his iron level. All good. He's still 95th percentile in height and weight, and 75th percentile in head circumference. Go figure. We see these kids toddling around in public and Henry's practicly twice the size of some of them. I kind of thought he'd be slowing down by now. Oh well. Who can complain about having a big, robust baby?

Posted by Jenn at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)