The S Files

Soooooo, it's been a busy spring, but here we are, still alive, still kicking, and still balling...wait, I got that wrong...still kickballing. yeah that's it. now that the snow has melted we can get outside and enjoy all that MT has to offer. Better do it now while we can, since we moved. Well, we still live here, but we moved all ready. Laura had the swell idea of going out to seattle over spring break and taking half (0.500) of our stuff, dumping it, and then doing the rest as our final move come may 26th, which is coming up. Unfortunately, things got epic on our first round.

she's sleeping, but only with big bear suckin her face.

The cop in the background gave squeek a ticket for
expired tabs. She thought that was hilarious.

It turns out that the whole, must be over the age of 16 to drive thing,
is a superb law. and I trusted her!!!  We ended up in this 40 car pile-up on
snoqualmie pass. we're okay, the truck and trailer got minor dings
from the two cars behind us that couldn't stop.  but we did much
better than the 40 totalled cars in front and behind us.

the upside is that squeek had a great time, all three hours of it.

Yeah, then we moved and we're back. meanwhile, squeek continues to grow and talk and all that other good stuff. she's naming colors somewhat accurately, and she counts to ten, though I don't know that she knows what the numbers mean, just that they're sequential and all that jazz. she likes to throw and kick balls, and jump around and ride bikes and all that stuff. She's somewhat potty-trained. unless she poos during nap, she tells us when she's ready to go and off we go. been that way for a few weeks. the pees are decidedly harder, so we're working on that. OH, did I tell you? sienna has a crush! Asher! he's a babe of a four year old, and she calls for him all day (he's the neighbor. he's all right, I guess. i don't know why she doesn't go after guys her own age.)

I had no idea that it started this early.

To prepare myself for these future-teenage-daughter-conflicting-emotions-things, I decided to start reading laura's diary. I know, you're not supposed to do that, but I figure if I get really good at picking those absurdly small diary locks, than when sienna gets a diary (her next birthday) and starts spilling her guts onto paper, then I'll better know what's going through her head and how to deal with her. And no, I won't feel guilty about it. I'll also get some practice being a frickin ninja.
I have to say, however, that I was extremely surprised to find what I did in laura's diary. It just doesn't really seem like her.
"Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal--on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed."
"Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small) comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part."
"Have him lean back ina a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax--unwind."
(These are taken from "Uncle John's Ultimate Bathroom Reader, Eighth edition," from Bathroom reader's press in Ashland, OR. Supposedly, they are excerpts from a real life 1950's Home Economics textbook. Brilliant. It is the best book that I've read in years. scratch that, best book I've EVER read. Get it: http://www.amazon.com/Uncle-Ultimate-Bathroom-Reader-eighth/dp/B004RTH8R8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335240108&sr=8-1)
Anyway, I degress. To combat the sienna's romantic feelings, we took her outside.

We're starting a new segment here. Where's Squeek?

Anyway, we've got easter and duck shots that will be the next post. hopefully soon. stay tuned.

Misadventures and Mayhem

Gee, I wonder whose eyes she got.

Thus ends the sienna portion of this presentation.
Now onto what this blog was supposed to be about when we started it 19 months ago: sweet adventure pics.  Unfortunately, we don't have any of those, so these'll have to do. From the other weekend

laura managed to relive the times of old, 'shwackin'.

Actually, I lied. We do have another squeek picture:

Perhaps an explanation is due. This is amazing. While this
may seem like endless doodling, it is in fact a huge improvement over
her past work. Before, she would simply go up and down, so you'd
get lots lines.  Note her departure. a little squiggle here, a little
squiggle there, circles with lines. This is legit, man.

Some of laura's latest:

Holidaze

Fat and Happy in the chariot.  We decided to go skiing up in Hyalite.
Bozeman has received a net 13 dm of snow this winter, so Laura has been
unable to skiskiski as she did last year.

A fine new year's day

So over the holidays we headed down to the Montrose to visit with the fam.  Twas excellent before christmas...well, and after. In the mass of christmas presents, sienna discovered something that is near and dear to the schoenes: recycling.  Being the third son that I was, I learned to appreciate hand-you-downs.  In fact, I'm not sure that at any point in my life I've worn an outfit, or get-up, that did not contain something that did not belong to me.  Indeed, using my brothers' style while I was in middle/high school got me many a date, and I'm thankful.  In colorado, the toys were plentiful, though certain proprietary assumptions were made regarding whose toy was whose.  Though our hosts are always beyond gracious, those that are around the three foot tall mark (no names) make a point to ensure that no trespassing occurs.  But, come christmas, amongst the six hour throng of opening presents, sienna discovered that another person's trash is another's treasure. Distracted by the flashy bells, books, blocks, and bridges, sienna laid siege to the forgotten toys of the house that just one day before were invaluable tokens of the childrens' identities.  As the saying goes, in with the old, out with the envy. (I am, of course, being facetious.  Yale was particularly generous with the *awesome* driving car noise thingy, as sienna loved that thing. I also have to say that I was astounded that he allowed any/everyone into his room to play with his toys.  I don't think I'd be as generous as he was, as a kid or today.  thank you sir).

Sometimes hand-you-downs cross generations: the upsides
of cyclical fashion.

This is the *awesome* toy I was talking about. You'll note
squeek has to keep looking over her shoulder, as her three foot
cousin is just outside the frame in this picture watching her.

This was probably sienna's favorite toy.  We were going to get her
one, but it would only fit in one place in our apartment and
it would prove mostly impassable, thereby dividing the apt in two.
The upside is that we could rent out the other side and make some
cash.

We took a day to head down to ouray and scope the gnar.  Looks good





For anyone that is scared of heights, I would recommend not only
not going to the ouray viewpoint, but more importantly, not taking your
1.5 yo daughter to the viewpoint.  Laura was a wreck.

This was Sienna's first car ride facing forward.  In the last year, the official recommendations were changed to not to face kids forward until 2 years of age (used to be one year and 20 lbs).  We had to make a gray area decision, however, because every time we got into the car she would scream until we stopped.  this proved frustrating and distracting and dangerous.  therefore, we decided that it was safer to not get into an accident and have her in a less safe position than to get into an accident and have her in a safe position. I'm sure the law would disagree with our reasoning.

We went sledding. Sienna loved sledding, and went down about fifteen times, asking for more.  This was the sixteenth time, the time that we decided to get the camera.  d'oh.


Seeing sienna with all the (male) cousins provided an excellent opportunity to begin the process of observing and enforcing gender stereotypes.  1) girls like clothes and shoes.  Sienna spends at least 30% of her waking hours dressing herself and trying on outfits.  She's actually gotten quite good at it, being self-sufficient with shoes, socks, pants somewhat, and working on shirts.  she picks out some excellent outfits, and likes big colors, particularly stripes and polka dots.  Now, I didn't assume that this was unusual since I also spend 30% of my time trying on outfits.  I was surprised to learn, however, that the male cousins have zero interest in dressing themselves. in fact, supposedly the three.5 yo still can't (won't) put on his shoes.  Compare this to sienna, who when mama mentions under her breath "maybe we'll go outside this morning" as she's preparing breakfast, sienna shows up five minutes later wearing a coat, a hat, mittens, boots, and an expectant look.  2) boys are wusses.  The boys can't keep up with her runnin', sleddin', swimmin', slidin' self.  Whereas sienna loves going outside, romping in the wind and weather, and craves speed and spills, her male counterparts are, umm, unenthusiastic about such ventures. You'll note that there are no little boys in the video above, and that is not due to a lack of trying on our part.  Their strengths lie in more domestic pursuits.  I guess it does start at a young age.  3) Girls have more hair. the head hair genes must lie on that second X chromosome, and when the odd boy has long hair, it must be because they inherited the wrong X chromosome from his mother.  4) Boys are happy-go-lucky and smile a lot.  I am unsure of the direct mechanism for such behavior, though I suspect that it is not genetic.  More likely, even at a young age they infer the unjust privileges heaped upon the male sex.  Our patriarchal, phallo-centric culture coaxes optimistic smiles from boys who learn early that they're gunna have an easy go of it.  Sienna, however, wilts in the bigotry of this world.
(in case it isn't obvious, I'm joking on all accounts).
But yeah, highlights of the trip included: painting pottery (we got a sweet bowl with all the kiddos' hand prints on it, though I've been informed that I'm selfish, as that bowl has become "dada bowl."), Delta hot springs (where I sat in a hot tub listening to a guy go off on the the history of the facility, and telling the story completely wrong.  How do I know he was wrong?  Because there was a huge sign hanging up that was readable from our vantage point in the hot tub, detailing the history of the facility.  i didn't have it in me to call him out), meat dinners (always a highlight), pass the ball game (after the kids went to bed, all the adults got a small item, and then we threw them in order to each other. chaos ensued, and it was a lot of fun. midway through, who should find his way out of bed because "he had to potty" but yale-bud, with an aghast look on his face. "they're having fun without me??!?!??!!!"), RISK (I'd never played before.  Adam and andrew were on a team and kiiiilllllled us), running (we went running). Hopefully we'll make it back sooon.
In other news, Bozeman is getting washed away.  Laura and sienna went to the old haunts on the north side of town, where we used to live, to check out the water levels at bozeman creek.  Turns out that the river has taken the trails for its own.

yeah, there used to be a trail there. hrmm.

okay, that's all for now.  bye.

otono

So this video is funny because normally we are showing her pictures of herself on the camera, so when she approaches the camera, saying baby, she means please show me pictures of myself.  She does the same thing anytime she sees an iphone because of auntie KT at thanksgiving.

this was a good picture two seconds earlier

where's waldo?

Words

I've been meaning to do this for a while too, but I just finished reading an alphabet book with sienna and the lesson was struck home.  What does sienna say?  mostly single words, though she'll also string "please" with words or say certain phrases: "thank you" "I love you." (said that for the first time..awesome!!!).  she also said "I want water" today, which was the first I had heard that. she also baby signs, please, milk, book, hi, bye, up, thank you, all done, food.  but to the best of my abilities, here are the words that she says:
dada, mama, apple, boat, water, cat (meow), dog (woofwoof, bowwow), dance, egg, ball (easily her favorite word), baby, shoes, socks, feet, leg, hair, head, eye, ear, nose, mouth, cheek, teeth, toothbrush, brush, wash, push, pull, lips, toes, bracelet, filibuster, blankie,train (hoohoo) bug, bee (buzz), kiss, face, moon, star, cow (moo), elephant (pfffffth), bird, horse, hand, rock, rice, ice, milk, book, duck (quackquack), cockadoodledoo, hat, coat, shirt, buckle, bib, cheese, boot, pee (pssss), poopoo, bike, hi (with arm wave), byebye (with hand wave), up, kick, down, shhh, spaceship, all done, food, yogurt, sit, seat, bubble, walk, sssssss (when she sees a snake), fish, bear (roar), off, on, house, chalk, box, bag, backpack, yes (head nod), no (head shake), back, trash, go, pancake, car, hot, help.  she also repeats a lot of words, but I haven't heard her say them independently.
laura would emphasize that 90% of the words out of her mouth are book and ball (though "no" is quickly joining the list), and that a random stranger would probably only recognize 30% (bear sounds a lot like bird, cat is sometimes tak, and I want water was ah wah wawah with the appropriate syllable emphasis to call it good in my book, and is still better than what most americans can do).

that's all for now.

Time Blast

I'm on winter break from medical school, so time to relax and reflect, or as laura calls it, time to start pulling my weight (laura would like to clarify that this is a peter joke, and not a reflection of how she actually views our relationship.  It is, instead, a more accurate description of my guilt for not helping to clean and cook more during the semester).
Back in september, laura and sienna went to maine.  Given that you have to pay for a plane ticket for kids older than 2, we knew we had to get in as much travelling as possible before that mark. I'd say we've done a pretty good job thus far: since she was born, we've gone (from bozeman) to denver, to montrose, to montrose, to kauai, to seattle, to montrose, to maine, to seattle, to montrose. we've also driven to jackson holes, to city of rocks, to madison/chicago, and countless times to boulder mt.  This is not including daddy's travels to reno, new england, portland or.  In conclusion, we travel way too much. it's exhausting.  sienna thinks so too. last night, when we got back from montrose christmas travels, she slept for 15 hrs straight, without any wake ups.  !!!  ...  luckily, on this past trip, she actually did great.  was pretty playful and flexible, and unbelievably slept on the last leg of the trip in mama's arms (hasn't done that in about a year, under any circumstances.  compare to our seattle trip where she kept starting to nod off, then waking up, shaking it off, and proceeding to scream until the next time she nods off.  two hours of screaming baby in an airplane sucks).  We have come to learn that sienna has my sleeping abilities, ie not sleep unless fully horizontal, at a 45 degree angle on my belly with a cuddle pillow under my shoulder.  vs laura, who falls asleep anytime anywhere, and alway has.  this makes for some uninteresting car/plane rides, and by uninteresting I mean awful.  given that she doesn't travel well, I can't believe we've travelled as much as we have.  I guess it's just part of who we are at this point.
anyway, I'm off topic...Maine.  they had a great trip, seeing all the wonderful old friends of yore. and enjoying some tai qi on vinalhaven. not bad. 

here's the maine gang, and I have to say that it makes me sad that
sienna won't grow up with this fine bunch of kids.  It's funny that
kids are just like adults: some are nice, and some are jerks.  These
kids aren't jerks, and make excellent playmates.  here in bozeman,
there are a few families with really nice kids who you'd want sienna
to play with, and then there are some that aren't nice, and as a parent
you have mixed feelings about them playing together. I feel like
people usually only talk about this in the context of teenage friends,
but it's just as apparent at this age.  Luckily, I think sienna tends
to gravitate towards nice kids naturally without our urging, and knows
to generally stay away from jerks because, well, they're jerks.  Anyway,
above is: Jude, Lucy, Abel, Isaac, Hazel (w teresa), avery, sienna. Since
this picture was taken, Micah has joined the ranks.  When we left maine,
there was only lucy and isaac.  turns out things change quickly.

On the ferry boat to vinalhaven.

Back when it was warm, and she sported the
emma watson post-hermione haircut.

Squeek in between barfing sessions.  because of the
winding roads in maine, she got car sick and puked
a number of times.  Sorry bree for your car!!!

carrying on a strong BOC tradition of having your
kids run around the schwartz and draw on nautical charts.

w da woodruffs (minus seamus), w maeve, lucretia, us, daere, michael, and finnegan.
If you look real close, you can see bree and laura still on the wall
above lucretia's r shoulder, and me in a raft after swimming the 3 sisters rapid on the
kennebec while training some younger guides.

Dinner at the woodruffs, with john and marielynn and maya and sean too

w breezy on a breezy night

did I mention it was breezy. This was near
where the yurt was, where you could really
hear the ocean winds blowing off the water.
before we were in the yurt, our tents blew away
twice, with all our belongings scattered
across the field/woods.  sienna loves the wind.

so people around here don't know anything about maine.  most people consider it "out east," the same way people out there consider montana "out west."  when you talk to the locals in either place, they talk about their hidden treasure that no one understands and are trying to exploit/ruin (more so in montana, probably because mainers all ready experienced what montanans are now feeling, though it was 150 years ago).  Invariably, I get asked, "what's maine like?"  and "what's bowdoin?" Like montana, it's hard for me to answer the question without confronting stereotypes and elucidating my qualifications.  And in the end, I feel like I always get it wrong.  but no matter how wrong I get it, I still have my own romanticized imagery of the place, and the many smiling faces that accompany it.  In the end, what do we really know of a place other than the personal experiences we've chosen to highlight?  Laura and Sienna's trip summarize my take on maine fairly well:

Humble cedar shingled homes atop compact white granite

Tranquil expanses of water set within a quiet moment

The homes take after the trees: humble, understated, and intimate

an emphasis on what's important

look at all those mugs...and so accessible

A place to gather.

Anyway, that's it.  I'll post some videos next time. by the way, everything above is copyrighted and I'll expect a call from the maine department of tourism promptly.