New News

Our hot water heater busted last night -- and by this morning our brand new carpeted basement was soaked (not all of it, but a good section of the hall, including the bookshelves we JUST got and filled w/dave's HEAVY books.... which i had the job of unstacking and moving today, along with cleanup duty...)
I am once again so thankful for my mom's proximity and flexible schedule, as she was able to come over and help watch Bubby while I sopped up the wetness with the loads of beach towels she brought with her. . . 1 dehumidifier, 2 shop vacs, 4 fans, and a million towels later, we are hoping that the pad underneath will dry out too!
The upside is that the plumber was here before 8am and we had hot water again before 10am! Now that's service! $1475 worth... but still... it's remarkable that we live in a country where clean, hot water is available on demand. We take it for granted like so many other things. And the heater was apparently 13 years old-- which is a pretty long life for its kind. So really, we are counting our blessings...
The greatest of which is our little Energizer Bubby-- who has decided that more than a 30 minute nap is really just a waste of a good afternoon.
His big news of the day is his new-found ability to balance on his own two feet for many seconds at a time. he's been letting go of furniture steadily for the past week or so, but today i actually watched him find his center of balance (unbenounced to him), and remain standing while focussing on whatever toy he was holding,... until he realized he wanted to go somewhere, at which time he would slowly lower himself to the floor and take off down the hall. Every time he did this, he stood for longer periods of time without realizing he was 'on his own'. It's so neat to see him actually growing in a skill over a 12 hour period. I predict those first steps will come before May.
He also decided today to take a liking to his giant stuffed horse from Gia. He keeps charging at it, tackling it, biting it's fur, banging on its head, and laughing hysterically. I am hoping to get it on video... it's very amusing (to him especially). He also delights in going for a 'cowboy ride'-- jumping up and down on the horsey, with assistance, to the William Tell Overture.
We tried to get his musings on video last evening when he thought it very funny to hear us say, "Dance! Dance! Cha-Cha-Cha!" while making him (and us) dance in place. But of course as soon as we turned the camera on, he no longer found it funny. In fact he was rather annoyed.
So i guess that just goes to show-- you can bite a horse like crazy, but you can't make him dance. -- or something like that.
:)