6 months ago yesterday...

...Molly Claire Venard entered the world. I was immediately blown away by her presence then and a see how incredible she is every day. Only hours after she was born, I was holding her while Trina got her first bit of sleep in 24 hours, and I just kept saying:

"Aren't you something."


Since her birthday she has brought us on an incredible journey. One of my earliest memories is of her sleeping on my chest at night for first two weeks. It seems like yesterday and it seems like ages ago all at the same time.




Since then she has grown in so many ways and is as sweet as ever. I can honestly say that I don't think she could be any easier of a baby. As long as the three essentials are covered (food, sleep, diaper, in that order) she is happy and smiling, and happy and smiling is the best way to describe her. She welcomes all people to hold her an play with her and is a favorite of the ladies that work at the day care. Often, one of the women that does not work in Molly's room will wait out her entire lunch hour waiting for Molly to wake so that she can see Molly, and sometimes the wait is all for naught.

Her 6 month check up with the pediatrician fell directly on her birthday. She is in great health; 26 inches long (75th percentile) and 16 lbs (50th percentile). Dr. Larson was surprised at how quickly she is developing - sitting up on her own, very close to crawling, very vocal, starting to hold a bottle on her own, and many others. To our surprise, Dr. Larson told us Molly had an ear infection in both ears. We had no idea. The previous weekend she had a head cold - snotty, a bit of a cough, but seemed over it. Even through that she was smiling and happy and showed no indication of ear problems. I guess that is why we have the check ups.

She really enjoys her bouncy seat, spending extended times bouncing w/ a bit of a bobble head and a big grin. I am excited to see her every morning when I wake and every evening after work. The changes seem to be coming nearly daily, and so I am curious what tomorrow will bring... Two days ago it was the sitting up on her own for 15 minutes and sucking her lips in after taking a bite of apple sauce.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. More smiles for sure.

Wild Flowers in Paradise

It is wildflower season in the mountains. Having seen some fabulous photos of wildflowers from Mt. Rainier N.P., I really wanted to go up there during the peak in early August. Having just sprained my ankle a few days before on a trail run, I figured that the paved and relatively flat (for mountains) around Paradise would be a great place to go limp around a bit and photograph flowers. In addition, the weather forecast was for wet - which mean that at 5400 feet in elevation, Paradise would be in the clouds and would provide real nice soft and interesting light.

The paved trail would become a factor in an unexpected way...

As soon I set foot out of the parking lot there were flowers all around. I was tempted to start shooting pictures immediately, but resisted and strolled (fast as I could move) down the trail about a 1/4 mile into a meadow. I have been to this meadow previously, but only when it was under the cover of feet of snow and I had boards fastened to my feet.

To my pleasant surprise there were acres of flowers, most of which I'd seen before, but not in this volume. The meadow was filled with mopheads, which created a kind of 'overstory', with daisies and other flowers beneath.



The clouds were coming in and out, changing the photo possibilities by the minute. I could have spent all day doing this, and planned to at least spend a few hours.


After about an hour in the meadow, I thought I'd see what other areas presented and strolled back to the parking lot and made my way up another trail and discovered a field of paint brushes and daisies.


The 'field' of flowers was filled with the paint brushes and subalpine daisies along the fringes. I planned to work my way around first with the telephoto, doing close-ups and other close compositions, then come back around with the wide angle for a different perspective.

Shortly after taking this photo, was strolling down the trail carrying the camera on the the tripod, when I heard a click, and saw my camera with it's 7 lb lens fall to the paved path and land with a thud. I instantly knew the significance of that moment (broken camera = $$$). The camera landed hard and I saw pieces of plastic laying next to it. I stood there stunned and speechless, didn't say a word, picked up the camera, turned it back on to see what worked and didn't (more than did), and strolled back to the car and went home with a sick feeling in my gut.

All I could think about was how I allowed this to happen. The camera disengaged from the tripod. Did I not flip the safety 'bolt' on the cam-lock? After some examination of tripod head I discovered that in the way I was holding the two together it is possible to trip both the safety and the cam-lock with just a bit of pressure by my hand. I am confident that is how it came off the tripod. Ooff. I am still waiting for the repair estimate. Hopefully I can have it back by the time Ben and I do the Selkirk Traverse, ankle permitting.

Solo

For the second consecutive evening it was just the pups and I at the house. Trina and Molly are in Idaho for cousin Dante's wedding. The first night felt really strange. It is usually non-stop action all night from the time we get home to when we get to chill for a few minutes before bed. Between getting home and going to bed it is a flurry of activity for Trina and I, usually in arrangement close to the following: feed Molly, change diaper, play with Molly, pet the dog, pet the other dog, cook dinner, throw the dog's ball, eat dinner while the other entertains Molly (she's usually getting tired and fussy by now), prepare Molly for bed (new diaper and pajamas), do the dishes, read a book or three to Molly, put her down to sleep for the night and help sooth her for about 15 minutes, play with the dog, take care other chores, watch t.v. from 9-10:00. Go to bed. Although it is crazy, it is enjoyable since 70% of it includes Molly, and she is so damn sweet.

But the last two nights there was little of that. The dogs were really weirded out by the lack of action and just moped around, except when I fed them. I had little motivation and just hung out and didn't accomplish anything. This lack of mojo was enhanced by last week's ankle sprain, which seemed to flair up the last two days (much better today) and the fact that I can't take any photos since the camera is in the shop after suffering blunt-force trauma on the paved trail at Paradise last weekend. But as usual, I can only handle that mode of operation for about a day and a half, I was up and out of bed at 5:00 this morning taking care of business - reimbursement checks for the cycling team, working on some photos, blogging...


I am anxious for Trina and Molly to return. Molly changing very fast and suspect I'll see a difference after just a few days. She is getting more active, trying to move around, and ever more interactive while her personality is coming out. She has been on a growth spurt, indicated first by an exploding appetite. She suddenly started devouring the baby chow, whether it be breast milk, formula, or baby food. She really enjoys the baby food, especially the fruits and has been downing formula like a college freshman at a kegger. Then, one day she was crying, so I went in her room and picked her up out of her crib to sooth her like I had many times before and I was surprised by what I had picked up. She was no longer an infant. She felt not only much bigger, but strong, and able to support her body. The change seemed to occur over night.


The ankle is feeling (and looking) more normal, so tonight Robert is coming over and we are going to replace a GFI outlet, load some branches into his truck, and probably just have a beer and shoot the bull for a while. Anyway, off to work