Mighty

"His intercourse with heaven and earth, becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

January has been a sad month truth be told. I think we are all feeling it. There are devastating things happening to good people all around the world and closer to home to people I love dearly.

I like to believe it is human instinct to want to help anyone forced to deal with such loss and yet it is also common to feel powerless to help in any real tangible way. I always wish that I could take on the pain of that person to lesson their burden. If only pain was something you could pick up and carry around for someone to lighten their load.

Today, as I pushed the stroller full of North around the neighborhood, the wind kicked up along the road. It filled my ears with exhilarating swooshes and felt almost warm against my skin even though the sun was falling fast. During a few more furious gusts, gumballs were flying around like lottery balls, threatening to velcro themselves to our fuzzy heads as they fell to the ground. If Jake, our dog, had been with us, he would already have a handful sticking to him. Gumballs stick to him like he was a cotton ball with legs running through a cactus patch. But he was at home while we were forced to dodge the stroller through the puddles of gumballs now littering the road.

There is nothing like being immersed in the power of the nature to remind yourself that you are alive. The wind felt like a physical being that could be reined in and ridden through the sky if only I had brought a lasso. It felt both wild and familiar, like memories swooshing by. I like to think that energy I felt was the spirit of all of those who have met their physical earthly end. But that energy will always live on.

Rest in peace Willie "Bill" Henderson.

9 Months

Dear North,

You are a very busy guy these days. There are not enough minutes in the day for all that you'd like to get done. For sure, you are your father's son. Most of your days are spent moving furniture and vehicles around the living room. I'm not sure if you were a valet or a worked for a moving company in a past life, but I'm considering getting you a lower back support so you don't hurt yourself.

I have to take credit for your bizarre outfit in the following clip. I often tease your dad for the way I find you dressed, but this one is all me and I'm sorry. It could be worse though. I took a video of you the other day where you were totally naked except for a pair of blue and green flamed legwarmers and you were flash dancing all over the living room. So I would advise you to be nice to me, my dear son.

One of my favorite things right now is going to get you when you've woken up after a nap. From upstairs, I'll hear the sound of you babbling, "da da da da bido iyeeeeeeee!" and turning your musical aquarium off and on. When I go to retrieve you, you're normally standing holding onto the bars of your baby prison and looking up at me as if to say, "lemme outta here warden, I done my time. I been in here for 60 minutes. I'm a changed baby I tell ya!" Other times you seem to be numb to your lot in life and can be found banging your binkie along the bars of your crib and making up nonsense songs to anger the guards.

You are now eating finger foods almost exclusively: pizza, grilled cheese, sweet potatoes, pasta, ham, vegetables, chicken, muffins, and your favorite, cheerios. When things aren't going your way and crying ensues, a simple cheerio can often bring you out of your misery. I guess they are a well named food after all.

Another food that makes you LOSE YOUR MIND is yogurt. A couple of weeks ago, you would start squealing as soon as I pulled the yogurt container out of the fridge. That was the same time that you started begging at our feet for food like a little pauper. Our meals were spent avoiding eye contact with the three sets of doleful eyes of our begging mammals. I'm pretty sure Jake and Luna formed an alliance to off you at one point because they didn't appreciate the competition. But Jake has since decided he likes you now that he is your highchair cleaner upper. I'm afraid Luna is still plotting to steal your breath in your sleep though. I bet she would forgive all of your transgressions, even the tail grabbing incident, if you would share some of your yogurt with her.

But who am I kidding, we both know that's not going to happen.

Changing your diaper has been a challenge for some time, but recently, it has become a hilarious game to you. You cry as soon as I lay you down on the floor. But the millisecond that diaper is off, you flip yourself onto your belly and take off like roadrunner. If roadrunner was a naked giggling little boy anyway. You get about two feet away, sit up and look back at me to make sure I'm chasing you. Then you squeal/scream in delight and you're off once again. Rinse. Repeat. Yesterday, you made it into the kitchen, stopped and sat there with a silly grin on your face, but no giggles. Turns out, that's the face you make when you're peeing.