Octopus Jenny's Wind Energy Investment Report

(I did this research for a friend who was curious about wind energy investments. I'm not a pro; I just did this for fun and thought my other friends might be interested, so keep that in mind as you read...)

Wind power is the fastest growing energy source in the world. However, it is hard to invest in pure wind energy because many small companies are privately owned, most public companies are located in Europe, and the bigger companies (like GE) often do other things that progressive investors don't want to touch. (For example, GE Wind only makes up 1.5% of GE). Investing in wind energy is complex because wind companies range from turbine manufacturers (like Vestas) to parts manufacturers and utilities. In addition, the wind energy market in the U.S. depends on the existence of tax credits that serve as an incentive for wind developers and buyers.

Investing in Individual Stocks: Too hard, too risky for folks like us.

Aurora Investment News writes, "[This] kind of growth usually presents interesting opportunities for investors. But traders in the U.S. will find it frustrating to get in on it. The main reason is the mere absence of stocks available for U.S. investors."

Currently, most large, public wind energy companies are located in Europe (Denmark or Germany), and are listed on foreign stock exchanges. Germany has the largest wind market in the world.

Although there are two small U.S. based wind energy companies, they both have major drawbacks. U.S. Wind Farming (USWF.PK) is a penny stock that had a "nasty run-in" with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Western Wind Energy (WNDEF) is trading at $0.96 and has no apparent revenue.

According to Progressive Investor, the wind market is dominated by 10 major companies:

• Vestas (VWSYF.PK) - Danish company. The world's largest wind turbine manufacturer. 34% of market. Considered a "good long term investment" by Progressive Investor. However, Vestas is not listed by Charles Schwab (see below).
  
• Gamesa (GAM.MC) - Spanish company starting operations in the U.S. 18% of market. Considered a "good long term investment."
  
• Enercon (ENDC.PK) - Germany company. 15% of market.
  
• Nordex (NRDXF.PK) - Germany company. 2% of market. Considered a "good long term investment."
  
• GE Wind. 11% of market. (Impossible to invest solely in this sector of GE).
  
• Siemens. 6% of market. (Impossible to invest solely in this sector of Siemens).
  
• Suzlon. 4% of market.
  
• REpower. 3% of market. Considered a "good long term investment."
  
• Mitsubishi. 2% of market.
  
• Ecotecnia (Spain). 2% of market.
  

Other companies include:

• NEG Micon (NEGMF.PK) - Danish company
  
• Bonus (BONU.CO) - Danish company (appears to have been bought by Siemens)
  
• Accionia (ANA.MC) - a wind developer. Considered a "good long term investment."
  
• Novera (NVE.L) - a wind developer. Considered a "good long term investment."
  
• Boralex (BLX-A.TO) - a wind developer. Considered a "good long term investment." Their website points to the Boralex Income Fund - worth looking into later.
  
• Canadian Hydro Developers (KHD.TO) - an independent utility that develops and owns wind farms and market the electricity. Considered a "good long term investment."
  
• Clipper. Considered a "good long term investment." (But shares are not currently available to US residents, even though they are located in California).
  

Since most of these are foreign companies, they must bought "over the counter" using "pink sheets." (See this for information on how to buy OTC stocks).

What are Pink Sheets?

From what I can tell, buying something on the "Pink Sheets" is like going into a dark alley to buy drugs. The "Pink Sheet" is an electronic system published by Pink Sheets LLC that lists penny stocks and other OTC securities. Apparently, it's where good companies go to die. Companies listed there do not have to fulfill any requirements (audits, etc.) like they do to be listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ. The SEC sees companies listed on Pink Sheets as "among the most risky investments" and advises potential investors to heavily research the companies in which they plan to invest. However, some reputable foreign companies (Heineken, Volkswagen, Nestle) are also listed on the pink sheets. ("While these are hardly fly-by-night businesses, investors should still take extra care, because European accounting and disclosure laws are different.")

From Wikipedia: "Buying Pink Sheets shares is supposed to be difficult; broker-dealers are enjoined to weed-out "widows and orphans" who may get an e-mail or word-of-mouth tip about a small stock." (Does that include us?)

To buy a stock from the Pink Sheets, you must get an account with a brokerage firm. Schwab does not sell Vestas stock. Other brokerage firms include E*Trade, Ameritrade, Accutrade, etc. (I briefly had some stocks through a broker and found that their fees were way, way too high to justify my small amount of stock.)

Cautions about Vestas (from Aurora Investment News, undated)

This year, [an analyst] estimates Vestas' revenue growth will slow to 6%... Vestas is also trying to broaden its reach into the U.S., winning a contract to supply Horizon Wind with 127 mills for the Wild Horse project in Washington state. Vestas is building a factory in China to supply the U.S. market.

While recent earnings have been stronger than analysts were expecting, Vestas still faces a number of obstacles ahead. ...The company faces quality problems in some of the turbines it recently shipped, it's suffering a supply bottleneck and component shortage among its suppliers, and competition is growing among Gamesa, GE Wind and New Dehli-based Suzlon.

"It will take time for Vestas to solve these problems," Frederiksen said, noting that the risks "are in our view not discounted in the currently high share price." Vestas' shares have only risen further since his report was issued last month.

Such caution is essential in a sector where certain growth attracts competitors who compete on price and innovation to gain an edge. A correction in Vestas' price might provide a good entry point should the company fix the problems facing it. That leaves Gamesa as the prime candidate for now.

Wind power is an industry that will continue to grow, if only because governments are willing to subsidize the technology as the only real viable alternative energy that can be easily deployed on a large scale. But extra caution is needed: Not only are most players based abroad, but the fortunes in the industry can change as fast as the wind itself.

Investing in Mutual Funds

I've found three mutual funds that invest in wind energy. There are probably more, but this is all I had time for for now.

Portfolio 21 (PORTX)

Portfolio 21 (PORTX) is a Portland-based socially responsible investment fund that focuses on energy. Three-year returns have been about 15% (though in 2006 they were 24%). PORTX's Morningstar rating is 3 stars (out of 5). Schwab lists it as "average return, above average risk." I generally try to pick stocks where the return is greater than the risk (using the simplified Schwab symbols), so this is not one I would normally pick. In addition, out of their top 10 holdings, only 4 seem to have anything to do with wind, though the other companies might be peripherally related to wind. (They include Staples, IBM, Nokia, Siemens, Canon, and others). Every holding is under 3%, so they must invest in a huge number of different companies, but I was disappointed to see that the majority of these are not directly related to wind power. This might be OK if you wanted a local, socially responsible fund with a decent return.

New Alternatives Fund (NALFX)

The New Alternatives Fund began operations in 1982 as "the first environmental mutual fund," and the first with a significant concentration in alternative energy. The Economist called it "the greenest fund in the U.S." Their list of investments is clearly focused on the alternative energy sector. (There is some hydro in there too). This fund has a front load, which means you pay up front when you buy it (max 4.75%). The Morningstar rating is 2 out of 5. Like PORTX, it's "average return, above average risk." In 2006, the fund grew 33%, which is great; so far this year it's grown about 16%. In 2002, it went *down* 30%. (Since inception, it's grown 10%). The Reuters site gives this mediocre ratings for returns and expenses. In general, this might be OK if you weren't trying to make a lot of money but wanted to get involved in alternative energy funds.

PowerShares

These include the CleanTech and WilderHill funds that I wrote about in the previous post. (I bought the Powershares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio yesterday and have already managed to lose $18 on it. But it's a bad day for the market).

So what to do?

At this point, I would say forget investing in individual wind power companies until more publicly traded companies are available in the US. You could try to go through a broker to buy Vestas or Gamena if you were really committed to buying wind power. Or you could just sign up to get wind energy at home through your local utility, which isn't exactly an investment, but it does support wind energy. It might be interesting to invest in one of the mutual funds or PowerShare stocks, but it would depend on whether you're doing it to earn a lot of money or just because you're excited about wind energy. Over time, of course, these may grow a lot, so perhaps it IS the right time to invest in them. But so far they haven't had spectacular returns.

Octopus Jenny's Alternative Energy Investment Report

My friend Tara has been, um, pestering me for a while to research alternative energy stocks for her, so I started looking into them last week when I had some time to spare. It was a lot more interesting than I thought it was going to be. I wrote up two reports for her (and other friends who are interested)... here they are.

Needless to say, I'm not a pro at this, and I mainly just wrote them for Tara, so if you invest in these and lose money, it's not my fault. That said, I have to say that my tiny little portfolio has been doing extremely well lately!

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This morning I researched four solar power companies and three alternative energy indices:

First Solar (FSLR), MEMC Electronics (WFR), Evergreen Solar (ESLR) and Sunpower Corporation (SPWR). I also researched WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW), Powershares CleanTeach ETF (PZD), and WilderHill Progressive Energy Portfolio ETF (PUW).

FYI, "ETFs are a rapidly growing class of low-cost index funds that trade like stocks. With the liquidity of stocks, they can be bought and sold throughout the market day and offer exposure to market, industry, sector, and asset indexes. ETFs enable traders to trade a group of stocks or bonds within a particular market sector by trading a single security. ETFs are automatically diversified equities, greatly reducing risk because there is minimal exposure to any one individual stock."

Here's what I found about each, along with my recommendation (which is mainly based on recommendations from Reuters, which provides really useful investment information). I also get information from Charles Schwab and other sites.

First Solar (FSLR). This company designs and manufactures solar modules using a thin film semiconductor technology. It has been around for just about a year, so it's quite risky. However, it has already expanded, is building a plant in Germany, and has long-term contracts with six suppliers in Europe. The product it creates is pretty cool - thin film solar panels - but it also has some really major competitors, like BP, Sanyo, Sharp, etc. The Reuters recommendation is OUTPERFORM, which means it's probably an OK time to buy. Not the best, but OK. I definitely wouldn't put many eggs into this basket, but it might be fun to invest a little and see how it does.

MEMC (WFR). MEMC makes silicon wafers for solar panels, semiconductors, and other uses. They have 50 years' experience making wafers, but have just started making solar wafers. They are a big company with revenues around $460 million. Reuters' consensus recommendation is OUTPERFORM. This seems pretty safe to me.

Evergreen Solar (ESLR). This company is a seller of weather-proof solar modules (the type of thing you might put on your house). This stock is very volatile, and they have a lot of huge competitors. The Reuters' recommendation is HOLD ( do not buy).

Sunpower (SPWR). This company "designs, develops, manufactures, markets and sells solar electric power products, systems and services." The interesting thing here is that Walmart is purchasing solar power from a subsidiary of this corporation as part of a pilot project to make 22 stores solar powered. (Its goal is to make 100% of stores solar powered.) So if they do go ahead with that, and use SunPower, then that is a huge plus for this stock. However, they also have a lot of big competitors. The Reuters recommendation is OUTPERFORM (OK to buy).

Wilderhill Clean Energy ETF (PBW). This is a diversified, small-cap fund that started in 2005. It includes stocks in MEMC, First Solar, Evergreen, and others. (80% of its holdings are "companies engaged in the business of the advancement of cleaner energy and conservation.") The growth chart for this isn't very smooth (there was a big surge of growth at the beginning of 2006, then a huge drop, but in general the fund is growing). Based on that, I think this would be good for the long term.

Powershares CleanTech ETF (PZD). This fund has only been around since October of 2006, and has grown about 10% since its inception. Its holdings are very similar to the one above (PBW). Since it's so new, I think I'd wait a while.

Wilderhill Progressive Energy ETF (PUW). This has also only been around since October of last year. It's grown 7% since then. This one focuses on the progressive energy business and has slightly different stocks than the other two.

In general, I'm not sure about the three ETFs. They are so new that it's hard to tell where they're going. On the other hand, this is a pretty new field, and is getting really big, so it might be a good time to invest a little and see where they go.

Melina being cute

Here's a video of Melina being cute. I think she was doing it on purpose. She was a little overtired, which usually sends her into hyper-cute, energetic, or fussy mode.


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We have walls!

The garage is finally coming together. Last week the concrete slab was poured and the framers came and put up three walls. It looks like we actually will get a garage out of this! When the slab was poured, Teresa came over with her set of cement stamps and we wrote "Jeff build this garage [well, at least the foundation] with blood, sweat and tears in 2007-2008," plus our names (and Ollalie's). Then Melina walked around and left her mark in the wet cement (a little more than we were planning on). This week Jeff is working on ordering trusses for the roof, and next week we should see more progress. Then it will be up to Jeff to do the finishing.

Here are some photos:

Fresh from the farm

We've signed up to split a "harvest box" with our neighbors Molly & Trent. That means that every week we get a box of vegetables, fruits, and flowers fresh from Sungold Farm in Forest Grove. The deliveries start in June, so we haven't gotten one yet, but I'm excited. I'll have to come up with new ways to prepare vegetables (which will be good for me, since I'm not a huge vegetable fan). They have an open house in June, as well, so it will be fun to show Melina where our food is grown. Probably a little early for her to really understand it, but what the hey. I like the thought of getting fresh eggs from our backyard and fresh fruits and vegetables from a neighboring farm.

Zoning with the hens

I spent about half an hour today just watching the chickens. It's so.... relaxing. Here, you can try.

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The one who keeps staring at the camera is Martha, a golden-laced Wyandotte; the small one near the back is Dolley, a barred Plymouth Rock; and the black and white one who just appears at the beginning of the clip is Abigail, a silver-laced Wyandotte.

Weight Watchers

I've been doing Weight Watchers for the last month and a half because I needed to lose some baby weight (and pre-baby weight) that was hanging around far too long. So far, I've lost 8 pounds and one clothing size, and I've convinced a few other people to do the same. I always had sort of negative feelings about WW - it sounded so cheesy and bourgeois - that is, middle class and boring. But hey, it WORKS! I've been using their online program (no meetings), and have been very impressed. In general, I've been losing about a pound a week, which is a very healthy rate. (The first week I lost four pounds, which is not unusual at the beginning; last week I gained 2/10ths of a pound because I was taking a little vacation from the diet, which involved eating a lot of cake and German sausages).

At times, it has been a challenge. On the first afternoon I had a little temper tantrum and railed against living my life according to the dictates of a multinational corporation - how dare they tell me what I could eat? But then I went out and bought a bunch of healthy snacks (vitally important) and things got a little more rational. I had to deal with some serious hunger pangs, lightheadedness, and a general hunger-induced daze during the first two weeks, but now my body seems to have adjusted, though I still have occasional hungry days. I also have a big incentive to work out, because the more you work out, the more you can eat.

Of course, maintaining the weight loss will be a challenge. There's lots of information out there about how most people who lose weight gain it back. I know people who have gained it back, but I also know people who have lost it for good. And since my weight gain was the result of a) pregnancy b) liking dessert too much and c) a sedentary job, I think I will be able to keep it off with some minor lifestyle changes. I don't seem to have major psychological issues around food; I don't eat when I'm stressed or when I'm bored. I just like it a lot. Especially cake.

Melina's second birthday

Little Miss M turned two last week. Amazing! Amazing that two years has already passed; amazing that we all survived. To celebrate, we had a barbeque with lots of friends and neighbors. Earlier that day, workers had come to frame the garage (photos soon), so we even more reason to celebrate.

There were 23 people there - 13 adults and 10 kids ranging from 14 months to 10 years. I made three huge salads (mostly at night while Melina was sleeping), and everyone brought something to grill. (Somehow I ended up with about 30 extra hamburger buns...) We all squeezed onto our small back deck, so really, it was bedlam. The whole thing is kind of a blur. I don't remember much except trying to manage a small, impatient crowd swinging at a very stubborn pinata, trying to figure out who won the Pin the Tail on the Donkey game (note to self: *everyone* gets a prize next time), shooing little boys away from the chicken coop, and bringing out two beautiful cakes from the German Bakery.

Melina had a great time. One of the first gifts she got was a little plastic shopping cart, and she pushed it and pulled it very purposefully everywhere she went. She seemed like she was in her own little world of purposefulness. She got into the groove of opening presents ("Presents! Yay! More presents?") and eating cake ("Cake? More cake? Eat cake?") Jeff said later that he hadn't gotten to hang out with her much, and I realized that I hadn't either. I don't really know what she was up to most of the time, other than eating olives, "tomato chips," and cake. There were plenty of adults around to keep an eye on her and all of the other rambling toddlers, and I'm happy to report that there were no meltdowns, fights, or injuries sustained.

I'll post pictures when I get a moment to sort through them.

Chickens outside!

I'm happy to report that the chickens have successfully spent the last three nights out of doors, safely in their coop. I put a heat lamp outside with them for the first two nights, but last night was slightly warmer and I never got around to putting the lamp out. They were fine. They curl up together in one of the nest boxes, and in the morning they're all pecking around and doing what chickens do. It feels strange not to have to take such intensive care of them - like they've left the nest! Now all I have to do is feed them, visit them, and make sure they have clean water. And move the tractor around the yard so they have fresh greens.

So now the wait is on for our first egg. It will be a couple of months, I'm sure!

Garage update

I'm happy to report that the "garage" is no longer an ugly pit of mud in our backyard. Now it is a well-defined rectangular yard of gravel. The foundation has been poured, the gravel has been placed (mostly) and the next step is to have someone come and pour the "slab." Jeff found someone who will do it for $250. And then I expect we'll have a nice slab of cement for a while where Melina can scribble with chalk and we can play foursquare and basketball as she grows up. Actually Jeff is also planning to hire someone to do the framing of the actual building, so maybe it won't take THAT long.

Pro-vegetable

Suddenly Melina is pro-vegetables. For the first year and a half of her life she absolutely refused to eat anything green, and would usually place it disgustedly in my hand. Now she's eating vegetables like they're ice cream. Today she polished off about half a cup of broccoli and some edamame. She's also eating tomatoes, both raw and cooked! Amazing.

Recent developments

It's very cool to see how Melina's little mind is developing. She's gotten to the point where we can sort of have conversations. Like yesterday, she kept dropping her stuffed baby condor (which she calls her baby chicken) on the ground. I asked her, "Why are you dropping your baby chicken on the ground?" And she said, "bounce!" She wanted to see if it would bounce. (It wouldn't.) And now I can explain things to her, like the fact that you need to put on shoes before you go outside, and those shoes need to be tied. It's like a veil is gradually lifting as she grows more and more aware and articulate.

On the sleep front, we're in another "training" phase. Recently she's started waking up and wanting us to sing to her endlessly (her current favorite is Frere Jacques). Jeff is the one who usually get stuck with this duty, so it was his idea that we should sleep in the basement for a while so Melina gets used to us not being in what is basically the same room as her. When she wakes up, he goes up and lets her know that we're around, but doesn't stay. After a few nights of this, she didn't wake up at all last night. Let's hope it sticks. Soon we will be moving her into her own room, which should be interesting.

On the chicken front, I've been putting the girls out every day that it's not pouring rain, and bringing them in at night. They seem to enjoy it. Today they ate their first slug. Hooray! I think next week I'll put them out for good. At that point they will be five, six, and seven weeks old, and I think they can handle it. I might put a lightbulb out there to keep them warm too.

Melina had fun at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival last Sunday (Easter). My friend Nancy and followed her through the muddy tulip fields like papparazzi; the photo ops were fabulous. When not illegally plucking the heads off the tulips, Melina was fascinated by the old farm equipment and cars. In fact I think she was more interested in the cars than in the tulips. She loves cars! And planes. And trains. And bikes.

Chicken update

So we now have three healthy chickens - a golden-laced Wyandotte (temporarily named Martha), a silver-laced Wyandotte (Abigail) and a barred Plymouth rock (Dolley). They're named after the three First Ladies of the United States (the only problem is that I don't really like the name Martha, and the GLW is such a regal creature that her name should probably be Nefertiti). They are now 4, 5, and 6 weeks old. That means that they're getting HUGE and way too big for the box I have them in, but it's still too cold to put them outside. (In this photo they were in their chicken coop on one warm weekend day, providing entertainment for the local kitties). I could add a heat lamp, but I still think it's probably too early for the youngest, Dolley. I'm really looking forward to having them outside rather than in our laundry room. They're a lot of work at this age!

Help from the chicken board

Well, I posted this on my backyard chicken board...

Unfortunately there's not much good news in the saga of my sick chick. I've been giving her vitamins for about 4 days and there has been no improvement; in fact, she seems worse and is having the seizures more often. Yesterday I started giving her tetracycline (in her water) as well to see if that helps. I've decided that if I see no improvement by Sunday I will be sending her to the Great Henhouse in the Sky. My neighbor, who is a vet, said he could do it humanely for me for free... It has become somewhat of a burden, especially with the visiting parents, toddler, etc. etc. Lately she has taken to knocking over her water in the middle of the night so every morning I have to clean her cage before I go to work. (If some kinder soul would like to adopt her and see what they could do, I'd be grateful... but I really think it's pretty hopeless at this point).

In the event that I do send her on to a higher plane, I will be looking for an older chick or young hen to replace her - preferably a buff Orpington or a barred rock. Anyone have an older chick available? Thanks for everyone's support and advice during this ordeal!

...And I got a reply right away from someone who is actually going to trade me a healthy, four-week old barred rock for my sick, four-week old barred rock. She's willing to take on the hard cases, and she has chicks to spare. Yay! Gotta love the internet.

A sick chick

I have a sick chicken. She keeps tucking her head up under her body and running around backward, which is a pretty pathetic thing to see. Apparently she may be suffering from wry neck, which is a vitamin deficiency; it means I have to feed her children's vitamins with an eyedropper twice a day. I just started this routine today, so I'm hoping there will be some improvement. (I got this information from the Portland Backyard Chickens board, of which I am a member). I called a vet to see if they could help me out over the phone, but of course they said there could be many causes of this problem and I should bring her in for a $45 exam. This brings me to the ethical/moral dilemma of how much I want to spend on a $1.89 chicken. I mean, she IS a pet, but she's also... a chicken, and a very young one who I haven't really bonded with yet. While I was pondering this with my coworkers today I realized that I was standing there eating chicken biryani without a second thought. Are some chickens worth more than others? How would a farmer deal with this situation? (It probably depends on the type of farmer, but I suspect most of them would cull out a sick chicken in their flock). Since my flock is only three chickens, does this mean I'm more responsible for each one? Who knows. Cluck, cluck, cluck.

...And so it begins

So last night Melina threw a bowl of rice on the kitchen floor and the bowl broke. I said no, not a good thing to do. (I've been wondering how to get the message across lately when she does something "wrong." I don't want to be too forceful or too lax. She's a little young for things like time-outs, and I don't know if I believe they're the best thing anyway. It's hard.) I said I was very sad about the broken bowl, and looked despondent, at which point she started crying alligator tears.

Later, Jeff comes home and Melina tells him, "bowl broken." I said, "Yes, someone broke a bowl." I was curious how she would respond if I asked her who broke it. "Did mommy break the bowl? Did Mina break the bowl? Did daddy break the bowl? Did kitty break the bowl?"

Melina looked very uncomfortable and squirmed around a bit. Finally she said "Nora broke bowl!"

Nora, our old nanny's daughter who hasn't been around in weeks. I just burst out laughing. I can see I'm going to have my hands full!

General update

I've been sick for the last three days with the same virus that gave Melina the croup and Jeff bronchitis... ugh. But I'm feeling better today and went to work, though a little late. Jeff is well and Melina is on the mend, so at least I know there's an end in sight. The chickens are over at our house now (all five of them, including Sue's two). They are living in two boxes in our laundry room, where they peep and peck around most of the day. I let one stand on Melina's hand this morning and she did a great job of remaining gentle and calm. I think it will be a lot of fun for her when they grow up. Meanwhile, they are incredibly messy, never failing to turn over their feed cup within one minute of me filling it up. I clean their boxes once a day but probably should do it twice. I'm looking forward to when they have all their feathers and are ready to face the world! Which reminds me, I need to paint the henhouse...

Croup!

For the last 48 hours Melina has had croup, which is characterized by a seal-like barking sound when she coughs. I think she has a pretty mild case (she hasn't been coughing much) but that didn't prevent her (and I) from having an almost completely sleepless night on Tuesday. Yesterday she wouldn't nap at all (too restless) so I ended up driving her around southwest Washington for two hours. She slept the whole time. I have to say I was appalled by Vancouver's land use practices, which seem to be: more than one acre of farmland? Build a housing development! Or a Borders (out in the middle of nowhere) or a Starbucks or a hobby farm. It was really depressing.

Today I'm at work for three hours. At this point it's easier being here than being at home. Melina was asleep when I left her with Analia; I expect she will spend most of the day in bed, catching up. Meanwhile, I feel myself developing a cough. I look forward to the day when NONE of us are sick.

Another fatality

We've had another fatality among the baby chicks. This time it was the new buff Orpington that I bought with Brenda, Maisy II. It's strange that it was the same breed as the other chick that died. Sue, who has been hosting the chicks for the past three weeks, thinks it's her fault that the chicks are dying, but since neither was pasted up and we've been changing the water and litter every day (or more) I think it was just a random Act of God. The other chicks are all doing fine. This week I will move them over to our house and keep them for the last few weeks before they can go outside. That should be an adventure. I'm not sure where to put them, exactly.

Not pooping

Melina is pretty funny about diapers. Usually when I ask her if she needs to be changed she says "no" in a sort of indignant, annoyed way. Lately she's started saying "no poopy" whenever she poops. Like, "hey, mom, I'm NOT pooping now, just wanted to let you know."

New additions

Yesterday my friend Brenda and I headed out to Gresham to pick up a replacement for Maisy and an "extra" chick in case another one dies or one turns out to be a rooster. I got another buff Orpington (like Maisy) and a silver-laced Wyandotte. They were both extremely cute chicks, but I wasn't organized enough to take photos this time. It's going to be hard to decide which chicken to get rid of (the city only allows you to have three, and now we have seven for the both of us). I guess we'll pick the unfriendliest or least productive (or the rooster). Luckily there is high demand for grown chickens, so it shouldn't be a problem to find her a home.

Speaking of homes, my mail-order coop from Coops4You arrived a few days ago. I had it sent to work so someone would be around to sign for it. It's REALLY heavy. I haven't brought it home yet - I'm waiting for more people to be around next week (they're all at a meeting now) so they can help me move it to my car.

Sad news

Our chick Maisy died of unknown causes the day before yesterday. She seemed kind of listless when I went to visit her that day, and later in the day Sue called me with the news. We don't know what happened. Sue buried her in the backyard next to her cat Dave. On a more cheerful note, I bought two new chickens earlier that day - a barred Plymouth rock and a golden-laced Wyandotte. I haven't named them yet. I will be getting a third chicken next week - Maisy II.

Melina a la table

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The chicks

Here are the chicks. It's hard to tell the difference in the photos, but Maisy is slightly darker. She's the one standing on my hand. The other chick is Sue's.

A hike with Melina

We went on a little "hike" today in Forest Park with Melina. It was the first time she's actually walked most of the way herself. It was very muddy, but she was wearing her ladybug rubber boots and maneuvered through the mud like an expert - until she tripped and fell full-length and we had to carry her back to the car. She didn't complain, though. Her main interest was in finding "baby snakes" (earthworms). We found one at the beginning of the hike, and she was pretty intent on finding another one, but we never did. Oh well; there should be no shortage of baby snakes on the sidewalk after the rain we're having. By the way, she also calls shaved carrots "snakes."

Our first chicken!

I've been thinking about getting chickens since I was in grad school, and today I finally took the plunge. For the past month or so I've been researching them and feeling Jeff out to see if he would put up with a chicken coop in the backyard. Finally my friend Sue decided to go get a chicken of her own today (she already has two) and I went with her. I got one! It's a fuzzy, yellow, one-ounce buff Orpington. I'm also planning to get a barred Plymouth Rock and a golden-laced Wyandotte, but the feed store wasn't selling them today. I'm ordering my chicken coop online (I realized I would never get around to actually building one)... it's all very exciting. The chick I bought today will be named Maisy, assuming that she actually IS a hen and not a rooster (it's hard to tell at this stage, but she should be a hen.) She's staying at Sue's now with her co-chick (unnamed as of yet). In a week or two we'll bring them over to my house. After 5 weeks they can go outside, but first they will stay at Sue's so they can cuddle up with her chickens for warmth. Eventually when the weather is a little warmer they will be permanent residents here.

Jeff and Melina came over to admire the chicks at Sue's. Melina laughed at them at first and touched them very gently, but I think she actually got jealous of the attention we were paying them. But I think she will enjoy watching the chickens grow up. Buff orpingtons (and the other breeds I'm getting) are all supposed to be calm, affectionate and gentle birds. (Although I did notice Maisy was pecking Sue's chick in the head. Sue assures me this is normal chicken behavior, but I'm afraid I somehow picked out an exceptionally aggressive chicken.) Will post photos soon.

What do you love?

I thought this video was kind of charming.

The Pukes

Melina has had a bad case of the pukes lately. About four days ago she threw up once; I didn't think much about it. The next day she drank about a gallon of orange juice, ran around screaming for a while, then barfed it all up in the Fred Meyer parking lot. I really didn't think that much about that either, since the huge amount of OJ seemed to be the culprit. Well, the next day she threw up three times in the morning while I was at work, and actually fell asleep on the stairs, which is unheard of. I came home and spent the rest of the day with her alternately sleeping on my chest and throwing up. We went to the doctor yesterday and she seemed a lot better, only tossing it twice in the morning. That was the last time she puked... until this evening. We decided to go out to dinner - luckily to a loud, dark pub. Melina was happily sucking down milk and french fries when suddenly she seemed to get something stuck in her throat. She looked surprised for a second and then launched a white tide of barf onto me, the table, and the floor. Miraculously, only two people at the bar seemed to notice, and smiled at me sympathetically. Jeff ran to get wet towels and did most of the cleaning while I sat there in great discomfort.

Ten minutes later Melina was running around outside playing hide and seek with daddy. I don't get it. The doctor did say that she might seem OK for a few days and then throw up again. I think the choice of meals was probably too rich for her, and partially choking on a french fry didn't help. Let's hope that's the last we see of the contents of her stomach for a while.

Potty training foreshadowed?

I thought it was worth noting that yesterday, for the first time, Melina asked to be changed. She looked at me and said, "Change? Change Mina?" and let me to the foot of the stairs and up to the changing table. This is the first time she has ever seemed to actually notice or care that she was wet. Good news on the potty-training front. (Not that I've even given that much thought yet).

Timba-tim

"Tim" is Melina's word for "some." In the past several months she's used several variations on it, like Tim? Tim? Tim? and then Timba-tim? Timba tim-tim? Tim timba-tim?

I just wanted to record this before she gives it up. It happens fast. Now instead of saying "oatie" she says "horsie," which really just isn't as cute.

Putting words together

Melina has learned so many new words lately that I can't even keep track. Now she's begun putting them together. Her very first sentence was "Old bobble." As in, "this milk tastes sour and I think it's been sitting around a lot time. How could you let me drink this?" Other memorable sentences include "kitty night-night," "daddy broken" (not sure exactly what that one means), "more quesadilla" and "play toys? Play wadu (water)?"

Her two great obsessions right now are playing with water in the sink (standing on a chair topped with a phone book - good thing she's coordinated) - and drawing on things, preferably with a felt pen. She seems very disappointed when she opens up the can of crayons and doesn't see any pens. She will write on ANYTHING and likes to try writing on different textures - Tupperware, walls, cat fur, wooden toys, etc. Luckily, they make washable ink felt pens these days. They *usually* come off.

She has also started learning words about concepts. The first one was "scary." She thought the pumpkin face on her old Halloween candy basket was scary. She also thought that my friend's poster of Jake the Alligator Man was scary, which it is. Then came "funny" (lots of things are funny) and today she's using "broken." Pretty much anything that doesn't work exactly the way she wants it to is broken, like a yellow crayon drawing on brown cardboard. You can't see much, so it must be broken. Or a pen that doesn't come apart like pens are supposed to do. Broken.

Preschools!

The other day someone asked me if I had started thinking about preschools yet. Uh, preschools? Isn't it a little early? No. The very next day, our nanny (part-time) announced that she was taking a job with Google, and I was thrust into a new nanny search and a quick education on daycares and preschools.

Turns out there are a lot of cool preschools in Portland. Some of them are co-ops, where parents work one day a month or so doing various odd jobs. Some of these charge very little and some of them charge a whole lot ($750 a month for three days a week of care). There are also lots of private preschools. Some have gardens, some have chickens, some teach your kids new languages, some focus on science, some are organic, some seem to be completely unstructured. Others have lots of rules. Most of them won't take kids under three, which was a problem since Melina is only 21 months now.

After a lot of research, I found both a nanny who I like, who will begin working with us in February, and a preschool that Melina can enter next fall. (I had to sign up this week to get a spot!). They have a garden, and organic food, and a guinea pig, and an emphasis on arts and reading and playacting and child-led activity (apparently this is the Emilio Reggia approach - or something like that. It was new to me last month and I haven't quite figured it out. Emilio Reggia is a town, not a man named Emilio.)

Anyway, it looks like Little M's environment will be changing quite a bit in the next year. I'm going to miss Youngsoon and Norah, her 2-year-old, and I'm sure Melina will too. I think our new nanny is going to work out great, though, and I think that she will really enjoy the preschool when she gets there. She seemed right at home when we went to visit, and spent most of the time threading beads onto pieces of wire, and pretending to pour tea.

A new adventure!

Garage progress!

Just before we went to Hawaii, Jeff finished the foundation for the garage. Here are some photos.

This is the full-size cement truck with its hose running back to the garage. If you click on it you can see the clever name of the cement pump.


Here is Jeff with his friend Simon.






It takes a village to raise a foundation.







The actual pouring of the cement.







Eventually I will post some photos of the final product - an actual foundation. Now he just has to build the garage. The scary part is that even as I write this he's in the den looking over house plans, planning to add a second bedroom to our upstairs.

Hives!

Well, it's good to know that at least one person besides my parents is reading this, so I am inspired to write again (so soon!). Melina woke up this morning with a huge red blotch on her face. At first I thought maybe it was from a blanket she was sleeping on, or maybe she had gotten into my makeup bag. When I saw other blotches all over her body I started doing research on the web and came up with Fifth Disease (a very common, benign baby problem) or rubella, which also isn't a big problem unless you've been hanging out with pregnant women, which in fact we have. So I called the doctor, and over the phone she diagnosed it as hives. Apparently rubella was wiped off the face of the earth (or at least the US) last March, and Fifth Disease looks different. The interesting thing is that Melina was hanging out with another baby with hives a few days ago. I didn't think hives were caused by a virus, but apparently they can be.

This evening I decided to give Melina a bath because I thought it might make her feel better, and she loves baths. Bad idea. Apparently the warm water made her itch even more, so she started crying miserably, and then when I took her out of the bath she cried even more because she wanted to stay in. Finally I gave her a little Benadryl and she spent the rest of the evening looking slightly dazed.

Hawaii

We spent ten days in Maui over Christmas, just north of Lahaina. We rented a condo with my parents - a very nice condo, although perhaps a little small for five people. All in all, it was a great trip, with much snorkeling, dining, walking Melina around, playing on the beach, taking surf lessons, swimming with turtles, driving up to the top of Haleakala (the volcano), and whale watching. Melina did great, except for a brief period where she learned that screaming in a restaurant could get her a lot of attention. Christmas dinner (at a very fancy restaurant) was kind of a low point for that reason. Actually, it was just weird to spend Christmas in Hawaii, where it doesn't seem like Christmas at all. I think next time I would go for New Year's instead, or go in January or February when the rates are lower.

I usually write more details about our trips, but I was too busy during this one to spend much time in contemplation. Also, since I was with my parents (and I always think they're the only ones who actually READ this blog), it seemed kind of redundant to write more here. But maybe there are other people out there reading this? If so, please let me know!

I am fighting off some sort of cold right now, so if this post seems listless, that's why. Maybe I will post more details later. For now, here's a photo of Melina with her big pineapple.

Bloggers' guilt

OK, so I haven't updated this blog in more than a month - a month full of Christmas preparations, stress, travel, adventure, visiting parents and many errands. I guess that's why I haven't updated. December was really a pretty overwhelming month. To top it off, Melina got chickenpox on the day we were having a Christmas party, three days before we were scheduled to fly to Maui. I had a complete meltdown thinking we wouldn't be able to go to Hawaii, and I had to call all of the party invitees to tell them about the chickenpox. Turns out it was a VERY mild case of chickenpox, and we DID have the party anyway, and we went to Hawaii, and I DID survive December although at times it felt like I was going to blow a gasket.

Uh-oh

Today (while eating a surprisingly spicy dish of Thai fried rice) Melina let out a well-rounded fart and lit up with a big smile. "Noise?" she said. "Yes," we said, that was a noise. A fart, to be exact. Not to be done at the dinner table, but apparently humorous enough to be repeated. For the next five minutes she kept screwing up her face and trying to push out another one. Jeff was in hysterics. Finally she succeeded and just beamed with pride. I can see an embarrassing moment in our dining future.

A personality develops

It's really interesting to see how Melina's personality has developed over the past six or seven months. She's really starting to be her own little person. Compared to other kids I've read about, she seems pretty easy (not many tantrums at all - I can only remember one that would have embarrassed me in public). At this stage, she's very mechanically inclined. She spends a lot of time trying to figure things out, and practices certain skills until she's mastered them. Because of that, she doesn't have a lot of accidents or falls.

In the past month her obsessions have been plastic buckles (like the kind you find on luggage or backpacks), keys, jumping, and shoes. For a few days she spent huge amounts of time trying to fit buckles together and then demanding that they be opened again ("Open? Open? Open?"). Now she has pretty much mastered that skill and is trying to figure out what she can open with my keys. I set up a chair next to the front door so she can practice putting the key in the lock, but she's also happy trying to open the cat's red plastic travel-carrier or, sometimes, the cat himself. She also enjoys trying to fit my keys down the heating grates. Often she will abscond with Jeff's keys and pretty soon you'll hear the car alarm going off because she's pressed the panic button. Oh, the joy of hearing that beep-beep-beep!

And that shoe thing. This kid has a lot of shoes, mostly because she got a bunch of hand-me-downs that are her current size, and her mama discovered that Marshall's is a great place to find baby shoes. Melina just learned the word for "boot" and has figured out how to get her boots on by herself. She gets annoyed and says "no" if you try to help her with this process.

So far, she doesn't seem too interested in creating art (unless you count music and dance). She would rather chew on crayons or take pens apart and put them back together. She's amazingly good at taking off and replacing pen lids. Yesterday we spent half an hour trying out every pen in our pen jar, but she was more interested in figuring out how they worked than actually drawing anything with them.

She does love music, and she has always been into dance. She likes drumming on my doumbek (a middle eastern drum) and has a very unique way of rolling her shoulders around when she dances. In general, she seems very physically oriented. She loves jumping up and down (she just learned the words "up and down") and also just figured out how to jump up in the air, which apparently is a two year old skill. She likes to jump off the bottom step of the stairs, climb up the narrow ledge along the grass in the front yard, and walk down stairs by herself without holding anybody's hand. (She'll say "no" if you offer to help). I think that's pretty impressive for a 19-month-old. She also loves being swung around by her arms. She'll always ask for more, saying "'gain? 'gain? 'gain?"

She's pretty cheerful most of the time (unless she gets really tired) and gets over disappointments and upsets pretty easily, if you distract her. She's definitely sociable, and isn't usually very clingy except around strange men. Once she warms up to them, though, she starts flirting like crazy.

If she continues on this current trajectory, she will be a beautiful, flirtatious, independent mechanical engineer who loves rock climbing, dancing, and collecting fashionable footwear.

Garage Update

Here's a recent view of our "garage," which Jeff has really started working on now that it's freezing and pouring rain all the time. He thinks it's better to spend the weekend cold and miserable than to waste a beautiful summer day on manual labor. (This picture was taken during one of the last sunny days of October). Actually he HAS made some progress on it lately. He is done digging (and refilling) the foundation and has laid out the wood and rebar that will be needed in order to pour the concrete. The next step is to add some "forms" (more wooden things) and have it inspected before the concrete truck comes. Note the fully grown vegetation on the pile of dirt.

Polio vaccination

Let it be noted for the record that Melina got her polio vaccination today and didn't cry at all. What a brave girl!

Who's this Tim you keep talking about?

For some reason every time Melina wants a snack (especially one that's not very good for her) she says "Tim? Tim? Tim? Tim?" It's very strange. I've asked Youngsoon if it's some Korean word, and apparently it's not. I have no idea where it came from.

The Abominable Snowbaby

The search for a Halloween costume

I had a really hard time trying to come up with a Halloween costume for Melina. I'm not really into all the cute little pumpkin, princess, and kitty costumes you find on the web (thought I did find a very cute hedgehog costume that cost $60). Since she had a little fake fur coat, I thought of dressing her up with that, some big sunglasses, and a tiara, and having her go as Princess Di. The only problem is she rips off the glasses and tiara every chance she gets. Then I tried making her a little dress out of a silver emergency blanket and duct tape - she could go as a Martian Queen. Unfortunately, the crinkly sound of the emergency blanket seemed to scare her, and she wouldn't even let me put it on. I spent an entire evening searching the web trying to find cool baby costumes, but nothing grabbed me (or if it did, it cost over $50 or was unavailable in her size). Finally I went to the fabric store and found some fluffy, fake white fur. Last night my friend Sue and I made her a little fur dress and hat, which I put on her this morning. She didn't rip it off! And the Abominable Snowbaby is born! I will post pictures when I have them.

The nickel saga

Last Sunday Melina was playing by herself with an old teapot when I chanced to look at her and see something metallic in her mouth. It was a nickel. I put my finger in (trying not to get bitten) and suddenly she gulped it down. It stuck in her throat for a second, I patted her on the back, and down the esophagus it went.

I'm not usually much of a worrier (except when it comes to poisoning... that's my #1 fear) but this kind of freaked me out. I called the doctor on call and left a message; then I called the nurse at Providence Hospital and left a message; and then, not hearing from either one for way too long, I asked Jeff to call his friend who is in medical school. When we finally heard back from them all, they said the same thing - wait for it to come out. The Providence nurse had me give her food and water to make sure everything went down alright, and the naturopathic doctor recommended giving her roughage to move things along in the digestive tract. Meanwhile we had to sort through her poop (with wooden chopsticks) and wait.

After 36 hours, Youngsoon was the lucky one who found it. It had turned blue during its trip, but was otherwise unscathed. Apart from the scary swallowing incident, it didn't bother Melina at all. I cleaned it off (and sanitized it) and I'm going to paste it in her baby book.

A few days later, Jeff said, "you know that flashlight she was playing with the other day? I think she might have swallowed the light bulb." Here we go again. Fortunately, he found it on the floor a few hours later.

Melina's 18-month stats

Melina went in for her 18-month checkup last week. Her percentiles are still the same, which is a good sign. She's at the 20th percentile for weight (21.9 pounds), 50th for height (31 inches) and 90th for head circumference! Apparently that means she is going to be smart. Time to bring out the infant flash cards. Just kidding.

New words

Melina is picking up a lot of new words lately. Here are some of the ones I remember:

Egg (and it's not like we talk about eggs a lot)
That (dat! dat!)
Toy
Bike
Hat
Pumpkin
Apple
Pear

I know there are a lot more, but I can't remember them now. I have them written down in the kitchen so I'll update this when I'm back at home. She has also been counting to three ("wun, too, twee") as we go up and down the stairs, and - which is pretty scary - she is starting to walk upstairs without holding onto anything except the wall.

Melina's running preferences

I have been running about three days a week for the last two and a half months, and Melina has accompanied me (along with my friend Isabel) on many of the runs. I notice that she gets bored at the track (as do I) and prefers going in neighborhoods, where there are lots of squirrels and doggies and kitties to look at. She likes to chew on an apple (or other snack) while we run, and bumpy roads (like Leif Erickson in Forest Park) sometimes put her to sleep. If she cries, I have to hang back and let Isabel push the stroller so Melina can't see me, and if that fails we start singing Old MacDonald, which sometimes helps. She also likes to watch high school football players, who practice at Grant Park. I think she must be getting used to being strapped in the jogging stroller, because now she climbs up into it herself and tries to strap herself in.

Miss Fussy

Little M is approaching her half birthday, which brings her closer to the Dreaded Age of Two. Although my mom says she enjoyed my "terrible twos," and I have been trying to keep an open mind, I can see that little meltdowns and full-on tantrums are a thing of the future. On Tuesday I had to pry Melina off a toy at a used-clothing store (we were leaving) and she had pretty much the biggest tantrum so far. Screaming like a balrog (that's the big fire-breathing dragon that nabs Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings), arching her back, kicking out with her little feet... I was glad I was the only customer in the store. I guess this is completely normal and predictable, but I feel I need to learn more about dealing with tantrums when they arise. Also, Melina needs to get more sleep.

Baby boot camp

This week I felt like Melina's swim school was a little too militaristic. There was a new teacher (hopefully a sub) who was just a little too hard core - after all, these are one year olds, and it's not like they HAVE to learn to swim by age two. She had them repeat an exercise where they swim from their parent to the wall five times in a row, which was way too many for Melina's taste. Also, Melina has decided that she HATES the blue noodles they use to float the babies around the pool. This is probably because she slipped down between the noodles and went underwater, where I grabbed her a little too roughly and freaked her out. I don't know if she will put up with the noodles at all next week. On the positive side, she is starting to jump into the pool voluntarily and is definitely holding her breath when we do the underwater hokey pokey.

All in all I have mixed feelings about the swimming classes. Since most of the other kids took the infant class, they are more comfortable in the water than Melina, but the sub, at least, did not take that into account and didn't even ask about Melina's swimming experience. There's also not much explaining of theory or why we're doing certain things or, well, anything at all. There's no explaining. I'm not sure if we'll re-enroll her when this term is up; I guess I'll have to see if she's enjoying it by then. At least now she knows to hold her breath underwater - that's a step in the right direction.

And more new words

Melina has been adding a lot of new words lately, and for the past few days everything she says is followed by "mama?" As in, "wadu, mama? Oatie, mama? Kitty, mama? gaga, mama?" (Water, horse, kitty, snack?). It's pretty cute but I feel like I'm supposed to comment on everything she says. Oh, and she also calls Jeff mama, so it's not like it's especially about me.

Here are the latest new words. Often she will repeat something right after I say it, but not use it again (like "Tony," the cat next door). These are words she has repeated pretty frequently.

Horsy (oatie)
Bunny (buhh-ee)
Mine
Up
Down
All done (accompanied by waving hands)
Banh (Korean word for bread)
Water (wadu - said for all beverages and beverage containers, as well as lakes, rivers, puddles, and sprinklers)
Thirsty (I'm not completely sure about this one)
Eat (this is a new one)
Pee-pee
Poop, poopy (though these don't actually coincide with BMs)
Binky (beenty)
One, two, three (sort of; said when walking down stairs)
Train (sometimes this means train, sometimes plane)

...and she's also doing the sign for help, though she does it more for Youngsoon than for me.

Swimming lessons

Melina began swimming lessons last week at the Salvation Army pool. The first class was a bit harrowing; apparently at age (almost) 1.5, Melina is already behind the curve when it comes to swimming underwater. There were only a few other babies in the class, but they were already zooming around under the surface like pudgy little penguins. The class involved several dunkings, which did not amuse Miss M. She didn't cry, but sort of stared at me with an outraged "you must be joking!" expression. Then the instructor tucked her under one arm and dove under water for a good three or four seconds, which seems interminable when your BABY is under WATER. Jeff was standing on the sidelines watching (Melina kept trying to crawl out of the pool to go to him) and he said I looked really stressed out.

The second class was a little more enjoyable. Melina seemed to mind the dunking less (though I did get the "you must be joking" look - a faint smile, combined with a shrinking away from mommy). We successfully performed the underwater hokey pokey (push your baby down to the floor of the pool, turn her around, and pull her back up). I think I cheated. Melina was still the only one who had not taken the earlier aqua babies class, but she seems to be catching on. Now I just have to memorize the words to the Wheels on the Bus...

Various musings

I realize I haven't been writing much here lately. Since we haven't had any vacations or other outstanding moments, there have been no obvious reasons to write. But meanwhile Melina continues to grow, and develop a personality, and learn words, and form preferences, and assert her will.

"No" is now one of her favorite words. I really do try not to say "no" too often, but it's hard. Melina says "no" now whenever something isn't going her way. She also says "uh-uh" and shakes her head. This is handy when I'm trying to feed her and she doesn't want something, or when I'm reading her books before naps. She seems to be tired of all her books (as am I). Time to go to the bookstore.

I am still experimenting with ways to get her to nap. (Jeff puts her to bed at night, and his system seems to work pretty well). For naps, it's a little harder. Usually I read to her, rock her until she seems sleepy, then put her down in the crib awake and go lie on the bed. She used to cry for a few minutes and then go lay down, but now she stays up and plays (and even laughs). She kicks the side of the crib, drops her binky, jumps on the mattress, stands on her head (sort of) and does all kinds of other distracting things to keep herself awake. Meanwhile I'm nodding off on the bed reading Lord of the Rings while my stomach growls. Usually I get fed up and either pick her up and rock her some more (she often falls asleep after that) or go downstairs for a few minutes, at which point she screams bloody murder and tires herself out. Then I go back up, lay her down, and she often falls asleep.

Her hair is getting longer, and I've managed to put it in little pigtails a few times. I'm not really sure what else to do with it. If I let it grow without cutting it, I'm afraid it will turn into a mullet. If I cut the back, I won't be able to put it in pigtails. I could let the bangs grow out a little more, or not. It's a dilemma.

Olallie is proving himself to be one of the most patient cats in the world. Melina loves to lie on him, and Norah pulls his tail and covers him up with our sheepskin rug. Still, he hangs around - I think he likes the attention. I've never seen him do more than complain a little and walk away.

My stomach is growling again and I don't know how long it will be before Miss M wakes up, so I better go take care of it.

Sleep update

Melina's sleeping habits have gotten much, much better since we implemented our version of the Sleep Lady Shuffle. Now Jeff puts her to bed every night (which I like!). He reads to her and gets her calmed down, then puts her in the crib awake. He lays on the bed so she knows he's there, and usually she goes off to sleep without a cry. Lately, she has been sleeping from around 8:30 (or whenever Jeff gets her to sleep) to 6:45 or 7:00 a.m., when she wakes up for a snack and then (sometimes) goes back to sleep. She rarely wakes up at night now, though last night was an exception - she woke up several times, I think because she didn't get her regular naps in yesterday.

Last night I tried doing the Jeff routine for the first time by myself, since Jeff went out to dinner with a friend. I tried putting M. down the way I usually do (by rocking her and getting her to go to sleep on my lap) but it was taking forever and she was playing games with me, pinching me and pulling my hair and asking for the bottle and tossing down her binkie. Finally I got fed up and put her in the crib and lay down on the bed. She cried for a while (maybe three minutes), so I started singing a lullaby. She stopped abruptly and flopped down in the crib, stuck a binkie in her mouth, and lay there silently. After about 10 minutes she got up and cried again, but only for another two minutes or so. This pattern repeated several times (she was fine as long as I kept singing) and I was up there for quite a while, reading a book about a bunch of hostages, including an opera singer, being detained in a south American country. I was feeling a little like a hostage, constantly being forced to sing, but finally she fell asleep and I crept out.

Today for her second nap I tried putting her down as usual. (She usually goes down easily for her first nap). After a while I got fed up with her games and plopped her down in the crib. This time she cried for less than a minute, lay down, stared at me through the bars for a good 15 minutes (kind of unsettling) and went to sleep. I'm amazed that this worked for a nap - I never thought it would. I'll try again tomorrow.

Melina's Vocabulary

Here are Melina's current words (though I'm sure I'm forgetting some. She seems to pick up new words every day!)

Mama
Dadda
Doggy
Kitty
Hi
Bye
Shoe
Ice
Baby
No!
Birdy ("beebee" plus sign for bird)
Key
Gaga (this is a Korean baby word that means "snack," picked up from her sitter)
Berry (buoy)
Banana (naynay)
Book (boop)
Peek-a-boo (bee-boo)
Airplane ("aaaiii" plus pointing up in the air)
E I E I O (from "Old MacDonald") - sometimes just E I O
How I won... (from "Twinkle twinkle little star")
Uh-oh
Cool
Hot (ha)
Cracker (kacka)
Mine (apparently she said this to Youngsoon yesterday, but I haven't heard her)
Car (ka)
Water (Awa - sounds strangely like "agua" - maybe she was Spanish in a past life)
Bottle (bobble)

That's all I can remember at the moment, though I'm sure there are others. I like how her vocabulary reflects what's important to her in life. Notice the lack of words for "Iraq," "work," and "responsiblity."

Jennifer's projects

Melina is having her now-usual two-hour morning nap and I have had a huge cup of coffee (after spilling coffee and grounds all over the kitchen counter) and am buzzing with caffeine. Caffeine usually gives me a creative boost, and since Science Friday is on the radio talking about grafting fruit trees, I'm thinking it's time to graft some apples onto the pear tree out back. This pear tree is in the prime of life and produces copious fruit most years - the only problem is that I don't really like pears, though Melina does. (She has started picking pears off up the ground and biting into them, with varying results. The other day I found a big worm crawling across her hand that I think had been living inside the pear she was eating).

I've looked up grafting on the web (here's a nice blog entry about grafting) and it appears that I will need to start this project in November or December, when I will have to order "scions" (cuttings) from a reputable scion dealer. Looks like I should start with quite a few because it's not guaranteed that they'll all succeed. Then I have to figure out how to actually graft the cuttings onto the tree - fortunately there's plenty of advice out there on the web. Eventually I should end up with a tree that bears both fruit and apples - maybe several kinds! Sounds like a good early spring project.

Other projects I'm contemplating: printing onesies and small children's teeshirts with various designs. I've been meaning to do this for a long time, but have been discouraged by the flood of printed onesies I've seen since I got the idea. Does the world really need more onesies printed with cute sayings? I need a more original idea. I'm working on it. It would be fun to develop something to sell at Last Thursday, the local monthly art festival.

Another project: Landscaping the planting strip (also known as the hell strip) between the sidewalk and the street. I've found some good landscaping ideas and Jeff is behind the idea, but I need to find out what plants would survive our hot summers and rainy winters. Next step: trip to the nursery.

Another project: Holding a Northwest Earth Institute course at my house this fall. They have courses on raising environmentally aware children and on bioregionalism. Several of my friends are interested. Next step: Call them and find out if I can hold the classes less than once a week (the schedule they recommend).

Another project: Sign Melina up for swimming classes. They start September 5, but are held on Saturday mornings at 10:00, and I'm not a morning person. Still, the baby needs to learn to swim.

See what caffeine does to me?

Current obsessions

Melina has several new obsessions that keep her occupied for most of the day. First, she likes to move things from one place to another. I think this is pretty normal behavior for a one-year-old. She will open the buffet cupboard in the dining room, take out one of the green 1970s dessert glasses that lives there, and march it into the kitchen, where she sets it down carefully in the middle of the floor. Then she goes back, finds another one, returns to the kitchen, and sets the second one down. I've seen her do this with up to six glasses. Sometimes if I'm lucky I can get her to put them back, but that doesn't always work.

She also loves shoes. She can say the word "shoe" now ("tchoo") and eagerly sticks out her foot when a sandal comes near. I took her into a baby shoe store and she was overjoyed by the selection. She also loves playing with my debit card. I see a scary convergence of these two interests in the distant future.

Another thing Melina loves is climbing. She had been an enthusiastic stair climber since she was about 9 months old, but now she will also trot up hills, even steep ones, and climb onto chairs and tables. She has fallen a few times, but often she doesn't cry when I think for sure she will. She seems to be a pretty tough cookie.

And then there's the obsession with berries, which I wrote about below. Melina seems to have an innate ability to identify huckleberry habitat, at which point she pipes up with "buoy? buoy? buoy?" When we're at home I've given her enough blueberries to turn her into Violet Beauregard. Lately she's been throwing the blueberries on the floor, though, which means that this obsession is on its way out.

Our Olympics Vacation

Last week we took a little trip up to Olympic National Park in Washington. Here’s the trip log.

Day 1: Portland to Pacific Beach

On this sunny Sunday, all bright-eyed and fresh, we packed up the car and headed up I-5 toward the Olympic Peninsula. Melina was tucked away in her now forward-facing car seat and spent most of the drive making little noises to herself and playing with blocks. I had made reservations at the Pacific Beach state park, which we reached around 5:30. Signs along the road continually warned us that we were in a tsunami danger zone and pointed out escape routes. For some reason I was feeling particularly paranoid about tsunamis, so I was comforted to see that our campground was directly at the end of an escape route. Also, we were the only car in the campground that did not have a big motor home attached to it, so I figured we could make a quick exit if we needed to.


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We were completely surrounded by RVs. Since the campground had electricity, there was no generator noise and it was actually very quiet apart from the sound of the distant waves. We had an ocean view, and during the hour and a half that it took Jeff to get Melina to go to sleep that night, I sat out in one of our dilapidated camp chairs, sipping rosé wine and watching the campfires on the beach and the stars above.

Melina enjoyed the beach, although she refused to walk on the soft sand and asked to be carried. She used a crab shell as a little shovel and ran the sand through her hands, occasionally stuffing it into her mouth. Although she seemed afraid of the soft sand, she showed no hesitation at walking directly into the pounding surf.

Day 2: Pacific Beach to Lake Quinault Lodge

In the morning, we packed up our things, vainly attempted to get Melina to take a morning nap, and finally headed out. We stopped at a gas station with an attached Korean deli, where I ordered fried rice while a restaurant safety inspector stood talking to the Korean owner and pointing out one minor health violation after another. Since my fried rice was cooked directly under his nose, I figured I was OK.

We drove about 30 miles to the Lake Quinault resort area, then continued on the Quinault River road in another vain attempt to get Melina to nap. We drove down to the end, into the national park, with its huge moss-draped trees and wide, braided Quinault River. Finally we turned around and checked into the Lake Quinault Lodge.

I was a little disappointed by our room at first. The carpet was stained and wrinkled, the ceiling was low, bushes obscured our view of the lake, and the fireplace was fake – not even gas, but one of those cheesy lighted things that vaguely resembles a fire if you look at it out of the corner of your eye. Then my good hotel karma kicked in and, before we were finished unpacking, the toilet in the room upstairs overflowed into our bathroom. This meant that we were moved into an upstairs room with higher ceilings, a new carpet, and a nice view of the lake. Hooray for overflowing toilets!

The restaurant at the hotel was quite expensive (entrees started at around $20), so we ate across the street at the Quinault Merc, a classic general store that happens to be for sale (for $375,000). I fantasized about buying it and upgrading it a bit to take advantage of the yuppie trade, like the Mazama Store in the Methow Valley. With some soymilk, a good logo, and high-quality outdoor and fishing gear, you could really turn the store around. As it was, the store was solidly traditional, with a menu limited to fried foods (although they did have gardenburgers), ice cream, and espresso drinks (which seem to be mandatory anywhere near Seattle). For four days we pretty much lived on BLTs, gardenburgers, French fries, grilled cheese sandwiches, and tater tots. I don’t think Melina minded much, but I was definitely craving some greens by Friday.

Day 3: North Fork Quinault River

On Tuesday we did a five-mile roundtrip hike to Wolf Bar on the north fork Quinault River. The trail was easy and almost flat, leading under huge old-growth cedar, spruce, and alder trees, and lined on both sides with huckleberry bushes. When we got to Wolf Bar (a long rocky sandbar along the river with a beautiful swimming hole at one end) we ate lunch, skipped rocks, and tried to prevent Melina from eating pebbles. At one point she found herself a stick and, like a monkey eating ants in Africa, dipped it in the sand, licked off the sand, and dipped the stick back in the sand to gather more. The problem was that if you took the stick away from her, she would just find another stick and start the process over again. The only solution was to pick her up and keep her away from the ground. Jeff found a way to skip stones while holding Melina. He also took his obligatory dip into the freezing glacial melt, and we explored the sandbar downriver. I found what I think may have been a cougar track (too large and round to be a dog; to small and round to be a bear). On the way back, Melina started complaining about being in the backpack, so we devised a system of feeding her huckleberries every minute or so to keep her occupied. Luckily, there were enough huckleberries around to hold out until we got to the car; but Melina got greedy, learned how to say berry (something like “buoy”) and demanded berries regularly for the rest of the trip.

As we drove home, a bobcat or a lynx ran across the road in front of us.


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Day 4: Beach 4

On Wednesday we went to the imaginatively named Beach 4 in Olympic National Park. It was a very nice beach with tidepools and rocks, and Melina found lots of new things to put in her mouth. Almost immediately, she managed to consume a tiny snail she picked off a rock (I later identified it as a black turban snail). Apparently these were a staple food source for coastal tribes, but I didn’t know that at the time, and I spent most of the day imagining a life-flight helicopter landing on the lawn at the Quinault Lake Lodge at 3:00 a.m. to ferry Melina, green and paralyzed, to a Seattle emergency ward. This momentarily overtook my fear of tsunamis.

Day 5: Quinault Lake Lodge

On Thursday we ate breakfast in the lodge, taking turns walking Melina outside on the expansive lawn. After this we briefly considered and rejected the idea of renting a canoe (Melina hates wearing a life jacket) so instead we sat on the rocky beach, vainly trying to prevent M. from consuming handfuls of sand. Jeff went for a swim in the lake. Afterward, we took another five-mile hike on the network of trails south of the lodge to see the “Big Spruce Tree.” The trails were very well maintained and signed, and there was lots of impressive old growth to see. The spruce tree was indeed very big, and Melina looked like a doll sitting at its base.

On the way back, Jeff realized that the deli at the Quinault Merc was about to close, so he ran back the mile and a half to order us a pizza so we wouldn’t have to pay for an $80+ meal at the hotel. This left Melina and I alone in the forest, where my suddenly overactive imagination had me battling sasquatches and wildcats, arriving bloody and mangled at the country store just as the pizza was being taken out of the oven. Of course, this didn’t happen, although we did see a bunny on the trail.

Jeff did arrive just in time to order us a pizza, which we at on the lawn at the lodge, washed down with a nice Coors Light.


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Day 6: Quinault Lake Lodge to Graves Creek Campground

Friday started out poorly, with me in a bad mood due to the impending end of our vacation. After several stops and another BLT at the Merc, we drove down to Graves Creek campground. There, we were assaulted with mosquitoes, and had to settle for a second-rate campsite far away from the river. We rallied, though, and went for a short hike to Irely Lake. Melina demanded buoys along the way, and showed mild interest in the tiny frogs hopping across the trail. After a fairly easy one-mile hike we arrived at the ancient-looking lake, where a large green dinosaur would have fit right in with the spindly dead trees rising from the water.

After our return to camp we fed Melina dinner while trying unsuccessfully to shoo away the mosquitoes. Jeff made a fire, I made dinner (Indian food from cans), Jeff put Melina to bed, and I did dishes illegally in the bathroom sink by the light of a flashlight.

Day 7: Home again

On Saturday we decided we had had enough camping among the mosquitoes, and headed home after another dip in Quinault Lake and one last deep-fried meal at the Merc. There’s not much to report about this day, other than Melina’s shocking collection of mosquito bite welts, and the relief of taking a shower and finding that our house hadn’t burned down while we were gone. We managed to extend the vacation a bit on Sunday by meeting up with some friends at a local pool and then having a picnic in the park.

All in all, it was a nice vacation.

Baby's first haircut

We finally got around to getting Melina's hair cut yesterday. Jeff needed a haircut too, so we took Melina to Supercuts and she sat on his lap while the haircutter did the deed. I was a little concerned when he just twisted her bangs up into a little rope and whacked them off. He also trimmed the back, which luckily still retains some of its curliness. But then he told Jeff that some kid had needed seven stitches after he squirmed too much during a haircut. Not what you want to hear! Anyway, Melina's bangs are now super short and blunt. I'm thinking of taking her somewhere else where she can get some more styling done, but she doesn't have much to work with. Luckily her hair grows pretty fast at this point so she should look somewhat normal soon.

Little Random Vector

We've taken to calling Melina "Random Vector" because now that she can walk you never know what direction she's going to go in, though she still tends to gravitate toward stairs. We took her to daVinci Days in Corvallis and spent most of the time following her around as she randomly weaved from here to there. She's getting faster every day, though I wouldn't say she's running yet. One of her favorite things is to carry around crayons in her sweaty little fists. She carries them from one room to the other, occasionally writing on the walls in transit. Luckily, they're washable. She also likes to move things from one place to another, occasionally handing them to you and then taking them back again. This is a pretty fun age and we're enjoying all her energy!

Melina has a little meltdown, and recovers

Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video SharingHere's Miss M at the Country Fair having a little meltdown when I take a sharp stick away from her.

Melina's Country Fair, Part I

Well, we got back from the Oregon County Fair on Sunday, all hot, sticky, dusty, mosquito-bitten and exhausted. Needless to say, we DID have fun, although it was a little more demanding than last year. For one thing, it was hotter and more crowded than last year (it rained then), and Melina weighs about 12 pounds more than she did back then. When you're carrying someone around on your back most of the day, 12 additional pounds makes a difference. She really got into walking while we were there, though. Instead of giving up and crawling when she fell down, she started standing up and walking and seemed determined not to crawl. She also enjoyed picking up sharp sticks off the ground and walking (or running) around with them in her hand.

We camped at Zumwalt as we usually do. Like last year, we arrived with 15 minutes to spare before they closed the gate for the night. Luckily Erica and Brianna had saved us a good spot in the quite section of the campground. Last year we had my parents' VW bus, but this year we had their large LL Bean tent (which was a bit of a challenge to put up for the first time in the dark). It was big enough to accommodate a double air mattress and Melina's crib mattress side by side. This made sleeping much easier, since Melina does 360-degree rotations all night long. There was much time spent in the tent reading I am a Bunny, chasing mosquitos and spiders and yellowjackets out of the tent, and wishing the neighbors' drum circle wasn't QUITE so loud. Luckily Melina sleeps pretty soundly once she actually falls asleep, and she was able to sleep through some surprisingly loud goings-on, like the little two-stroke utility truck driving by several times a night, and a seaplane that kept landing and taking off nearby in Fern Ridge Reservoir.

Melina's Country Fair, Part II

The fair hadn't changed a bit (does it ever change?) There were the usual packs of performers on stilts, outrageous getups, drummers, little girls with fairy wings (we got some for Melina), painted breasts, quirky performances, and beautifully detailed costumes. We spent most of our time near Chelamela Meadow, a big open space where people practice juggling and poi. I bought some new practice poi and was inspired to start working with fire again. Jeff got a 15-minute massage that was so intense that he actually fainted for a moment and woke up not knowing where he was. It passed quickly, but apparently he really needs to get some bodywork done. He got another massag the next day (he didn't faint) and decided to get regular massages in the future (he has a lot of problems with his upper back and shoulders). I got a short massage too, which was nice after carrying Melina around all day.

It was a challenge trying to feed Melina without a high chair or booster seat. I did carry a spoon and sippy cup around with us, and Melina got her share of rice, beans, smoked salmon, ice cream, and other treats. She kept up a steady refrain of "aiiiith? aiiiith?" (ice? ice?) and probably sucked down her own body weight in ice cubes.

We ran into quite a few people that we knew this time, including our friends Richard and Chris (who always go), two friends from IFCAE, Richard's son, my coworker Stuart, Becky's husband Dean and their daughter Lena, Becky's brother Mike and his fiancee, and probably others that I don't remember. Erica also ran into lots of people she knew from working at the Saturday Market.

As I said earlier, the fair was pretty crowded. There was a bigger crowd than usual on Friday, and we spent most of the day wandering around without ever settling on anything. On Saturday we waited until after Melina's second nap and headed over to the fair at 3:00. It was sold out (20,000 people!) but we had three-day passes so we got in. By that time, it was less crowded and more manageable. Sunday was pretty pleasant, too. I think the key to enjoying the fair is to pick an area (like Chelamela meadow) and stay there instead of wandering around all day.

By 5:00 Sunday we were ready to go home. We made the long walk through the dry grass back to the car (with a brief forays to retrieve a lost binkie and walk the baby around so she could burn off energy). We squeezed ourselves and all of our purchases, camping gear, and dust into the car, waved at the parking volunteers with their crazy hats and costumes, drove past the handpainted signs, and made our way out onto the road and back up I-5 for the slow transition back to everyday life.