Michelle's first blog

Hi everyone! This is Michelle's first blogging experience if you don't count looking over Bryan's shoulder with suggestions. I'll figure out how to put pictures on later when Bryan is done mowing the yard. We have a huge yard now. It's completely green with everything but grass. We have many big and small trees covered with ivy - some bearing pears, figs, and apples we were told, two blueberry bushes, a newer deck to overlook our expanse of greenness, and a secret alcove with hammock set ups. Bryan sat out there one afternoon with a book and decided that we might want to add a mosquito net to our belongings.

Sydney is doing well. He's going through a growth spurt, and he's putting away all the food we give him except my curried split pea soup. Not a fan, I guess. I've been dabbling in vegan fare, and I'm liking it. I found a fun vegan cooking show called the Post Punk Kitchen. It's two girls in their Brooklyn apartment on public television. You can see some of their shows at www.theppk.com Funny, funny. Okay, back to Sydney...

He's talking now! All lights are called stars, which is so cute! He was calling me Michelle for a while, but seems to have switched back to Mama. Bryan is definitely Dad. He also says dog, cat, hi, tree (sometimes), duck, door, "what's that?" and "what's this" which sometimes comes out sounding a lot like the s-word. We try really hard not to laugh. He's turning into a little monkey climbing on boxes and the sofa. We're still nervous about him doing this because we're new at this parent thing, and his balance isn't top notch.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is coming to visit Atlanta around Halloween, and we're going to take our little Buddha man to see him when he gives a public talk in a park somewhere around here. Atlanta is really big, and there are so many things to do. We have a membership to the Fernbank Museum where they have two HUGE dinosaur skeletons and several flying reptiles (several meaning around 24). There are lizards and snakes on display that look really sad to be trapped in a glass box with fake vegetation. I don't like the zoo for the same reason, so Bryan will have to take Sydney, and I'll stay home. Fernbank has other attractions for children, and they offer discounts to teachers - Hurray!

Well, I have many other things to update everyone on, but I'll save them for another time. Sydney isn't impressed with the office anymore, so it's time to move on to another activity. Love to you.