Tornado Hits Reston, Virginia

Hail Destroys Gardens and Flora

On June 13, 2007 at approximately sometime in the afternoon, there was a tornado that touched down in Reston, Virginia. The accompanying hail, accumulating up to three inches deep in some areas, and rain wreaked havoc on plants across the community with winds twisting branches and leaves off the trees.

This is our prized herb garden totally thrashed (And we thought the squirrels were bad). We hope it grows back.

The debris in our backyard.

CRANKERPANTS Day

Today was unofficially CRANKERPANTS Day in the Sjolseth house.

Mom was cranky in the morning, and Evy was cranky in the afternoon.

It is now 6:00 in the evening, and Everett is finally asleep . . . for his *nap* . . . a result of our drive home from a field trip to Michael's, the destination for cranky people who want to kill a little time. The shelves always hold enough stuff to distract both old and young.

Erik, the only one who escaped today's Cranky germ, is working late.

Mom is just going to sit quietly for awhile.

Didn't want to chance waking him up by taking off his shoes.

Do you blame me?

Erik's Turn

Today was a crappy day.

Erik is back at the sleep clinic going through another sleep study tonight.

Nothing we have sounds appetizing to eat.

I am totally supposed to be doing the laundry right now.

But, this was fun! And Everett is peacefully sleeping.

(BTW, Erik hasn't seen these yet and won't until he comes home from the clinic in the morning . . . . that calls for another HE!--see below)



Here is Erik's Take II:

My Celebrity Heritage

http://www.myheritage.com

CRACK ME UP!!!

Take another look:

http://www.myheritage.com

Go do your own . . . it is sort of like doing your genealogy. HE!

Evy's Daily Report Card

Can you tell how his day went today with Michelle? Neither can we. Everett only had hold of it for a couple of seconds and didn't eat any of the missing paper (we checked). That is some kind of baby disintegration drool. Eliminates any need for a paper shredder.

Oops, we missed it . . .

So, we totally forgot that our church congregation was meeting at a different time and location (Stake Conference time). After driving through an empty church parking lot on a rainy afternoon, we decided to head home and take some shots in our church outfits (shouldn't waste how gorgeous we looked).

Everett is still suspicious of the camera.

Everett's bib says,"If you think I'm cute, you should see my dad."

We know that Everett looks like he is throwing a gang sign. Who knows how babyworld is organized?

Early Morning Escape

This morning, when I went to fetch Everett from his crib to start the day, I discovered that he had been very busy without us already. He was playing in his crib without his diaper. Yes, he had taken off his diaper and was reveling in the freedom.

How did he do it? All I know is that we were up at 1 a.m. with a very fussy Everett who is teething. After doing everything we could to make him comfortable, including putting him to bed without his pj bottoms, we put him back to bed with a diaper. Then, he was free to work his tricks over the next several hours.

How does a 7 month old baby know how to take off a diaper and then be able to do it?

So from now on, we will always make sure he is wearing an article of clothing over his diaper . . . which will help us until he figures out how to take those off, too. (We are just thankful it was only a pool of pee that he was laying in when we found him.)

Wee, Wee, Wee, All the Way Home

Twiggy often, whenever she catches us, comes with us on our walks whether we are skipping along the golf course or just roaming the trails in Reston. She runs to catch up with us, saunters along slowing, and then meows for us to wait for her to catch up. Then she runs to catch up, and, well, you get the pattern. Other joggers, walkers, and golfers are sure to comment on her.

"Is that your cat following you?"

"Did you know you have a cat behind you?"

"Is that a *dog*? . . . NO, wow!"

"That's the coolest cat I've ever seen."

She is very sensitive to the "animal kingdom territory" and isn't shy to tell us, "This is as far as I'm going to go." She meows plaintively each time at the same points on the walk as if to tell us she'll wait right there until we circle back. And, sure enough, she is waiting right there when we head home.

Today's walk started no differently than any other and almost ended no differently than any other . . . until the black Labrador was walking in "her" territory. Towards the end of the walk, as I was strolling with Everett on a path that led home, I passed a blonde lady working out along side her dog as they briskly walked the path. We nodded to each other like all friendly path passergoers do, without pause.

Well, I paused a bit down the path remembering that Twiggy was behind us and wondering what she would do when she saw the dog. I expected her to either run scared into the bushes or walk nonchalantly, past not even giving notice to the dog's existence.

To my amazement, what I saw was this: Twiggy stood in the middle of the path, puffing up and throwing her side to the trespassers making herself 4 times as large as she really is. I could hear her hissing, adding a slight growl to the intimidation.

The walker and her black Labrador stopped in their tracks. Then, the now indignant walker stomped her foot a couple of times on the ground (I guess in an effort to make Twiggy scram). However, Twiggy stood her ground.

I expected them to quickly run past Twiggy with disdain having given her a chance to escape the fury of a very large dog. Instead, the lady and her dog TURNED AROUND and RAN the other way!!! (I am laughing to myself at the memory of it all.)

I couldn't believe it. Twiggy had stood her ground and won. She didn't leave from that spot for several minutes. Maybe she was expecting them to try to sneak through later.

This little cat went on a walk,

This little cat ran home,

This little cat meowed for me to wait up,

This little cat had fun.

AND this little cat made a BIG Labrador and her owner cry wee-wee-wee-wee-wee,

All the way home.

Wait for me. I'm coming!

Evy at Bat

Okay, so maybe he really isn't hitting balls with a bat, but he sure is hitting them around, catching them, and munching on them.


I'm gonna get it. I'm really gonna get it.

In this episode of play, Everett would intently watch the ball come down the ramp and "attack" it once it hit the spinning wheel. He showed no mercy in trying to catch it. Of course, once he caught it, the ball would be shoved directly into his mouth, instantly a part of his DROOL-O-RAMA tricks.

I Got IT!!

Now, I am gonna eat it . . . .

After these shots, the thrill of the chase overwhelmed the need to gnaw on the balls. Once he "caught" the ball, he would immediately toss it aside waiting impatiently for the next one to come down the ramp. I got in trouble because I wasn't putting them on the ramp fast enough for him.

(If any of you found that the pattern of his responses mirrored an old fourth grade joke about a haunted hotel room and a closet, VERY NICE!)

First Kiss

As I am writing up this post, Erik is feeding Everett. Tonight has been one of several nights where Everett has had extreme difficulty going to sleep. Just a bit ago, Everett woke shrieking from a sound sleep (that took lots of crying to get to).

Earlier tonight, Erik took the charge of getting him down, and, in an effort to calm a hysterical baby, finally just pulled Evy out of the crib and sat him on his lap.

When I ventured from my room where I was hiding in a book, I saw Everett gurgling to his father and super enjoying himself (something he didn't really do all day today). Standing in the doorway, I witnessed Everett giving Erik his first hug and kiss. It was so sweet. Dad "who saved Everett from the bedtime dragon" was rewarded with such joyful devotion. Very saccharine but a thrill to watch.

Why is Everett grumpy? Who knows . . . it could be teething or the fact that we changed his bed since he throws himself upside-down these days. I am hoping he will just fall fast asleep when Erik lays him back in his crib in the next couple of minutes.

This Weekend . . .

. . . started sitting poolside with Evy at the Ridge Heights heated pool . . . .

This boy totally loved the water. As he tolerated Dad's dunking antics, played dolphin (Erik lifts Everett from the water like a dolphin sails through the air between dives), and impressed all by laying on his back: kicking-and making motorboat noises--we discovered that Evy's true party tricks are water based. Erik thinks this is the perfect justification for getting a pool for our house. I guess he thinks we'll install it on the golf course since our minuscule backyard is doing good to be large enough for our birdbath.

As he and Erik cruised the pool, surrounded by splashing and screaming, Evy just babbled along telling his dad some cool story.

Everett listens intently, oblivious to the noise around him, as Dad explains the intricate details of the backstroke.

This shot was taken just as Erik was starting to tickle Everett. You can see Everett's wind-up expression as he gets ready to squeal.

To our surprise, he preferred wearing the hat and sunglasses.

Hit The Road
Later in the weekend, Erik and I decided to return to our former glory of road tripping. Typically, we would load the car and just start driving intent on seeing the small towns, the big towns, and the towns in between. In the old days, we would stop and turn around to make it back in time for the weekend to end. Our mini-version of this was to drive as long as Everett's naps lasted. So, we started going east towards Maryland's coast and made it to Indian Head. At Indian Head, a security guard at some high security Naval facility suggested we feast on seafood at a restaurant on the water, Captain Billy's.

We arrived almost as soon as Everett woke up. Perfect timing that I don't know will ever be repeated.

While there, Everett ate his paper placemat and talked to everyone around us and threw everything on the ground. We don't think that the throwing everything on the ground is intentional. . . . Actually, we are just in denial about that one.

At Captain Billy's---the restaurant was more Grizzly Adams Serves Up Seafood than anything else. The taste was great, and it was fun to see boats docking right on the restaurant. It reminded us so much of Lake Austin.

As soon as Everett fell asleep for his next nap, Erik and I hit the road again swarming through Charles County and ending at Cobb's Island, a quaint island full of homes and vacation rentals with boat-docks on the back. This always comes with some discussion of the pros and cons of buying a place in this location where we inevitably always conclude that you need direct access to a pool or beach--sorry Cobb's Island.

And So It Ends

The weekend has ended with Everett fussing most of today (Monday). So, we stayed inside away from the muggy weather and committed ourselves to roaming the air conditioned isles of major electronic stores, on a quest to find the perfect video camera, which Everett only tolerated for about 20 minutes. He did, though, think that the wall of 50 flat screen TVs at the store was AMAZING. You should have seen how big his eyes were as he saw TV after TV of (1) surfers in Miami and then (2) a short snippet of the sitcom, The Office. Good boy, great taste in TV must start early.

Right now I am at home while Evy sleeps. Erik is off at the pool to work on his tan and organize "splash offs" with all the neighborhood kids. (No, this is not an official function or something he gets paid to do. It is something that *spontaneously* ends up happening as Erik makes sure he gets a turn at the diving board.) I must admit that even though I am here until our Sleeping Prince wakes up, Erik just dropped off a creamsicle Slurpee. NICE.

Evy's Resume at 7 Months

STATS
Weight: 20 pounds, 9 ounces

Height: 28 and 3/4 inches

Address: My crib at home

Contact Info: Email my mommy or daddy

Experience
7 months of varied activities from sleeping, listening to music and stories, eating, crying, playing with blocks and soft toys, eating blankets, chewing on everything, continual drooling, and constant jibberjabber

Skills and Knowledge
Interpreter: Fluent in Jibberish and Babbling with special emphasis on "Dadadadadadadadada"

Personal Trainer: Certified in "I'll Motivate YOU to Weight Lift" with a concentration on stair exercises

Toy Picker-Upper and Ball Catcher

Signer: Recognizes the signs for "milk" and "all done"

Laugher: Responds hysterically to: the "cha-cha"--"PEEUU, you stink"--"Aaa0choooo!"--"chica-chik--ahhhh" (from the song "Oh Yeah" performed by the group Yellow, or you might recognize it from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, or the old Kit-Kat commercial)

Milestones
Sleeps through the night, very often

Sits without assistance

Rolls *almost* all the way over, frequently

Personal Message from Everett:
This month has been pretty cool for me. I grew *almost* two inches. Even though I didn't gain weight this month, probably because I was throwing up all the time, the doctor says I am doing great. Can you believe how much I have grown? (Reminder: I was about the length of the bear when I was born.)


This weekend I am excited to go to the pool for the first time. I've been training pretty hard to impress the ladies with my splashing. I'm sure I'll be a big hit.

Reflection from Mommy:

Yesterday, while waiting in the "sick" room at the doctor's office, he was giggling and belly laughing at me singing the cha-cha while playing with his giraffe. A very sick little boy named Matthew came into the waiting room, and, in minutes, Everett had him and his mom giggling, too. His mom was pretty appreciative, and it helped the time pass by until the little boy was called to see the doctor. (And, yes, we sat in the waiting room and were lapped by other patients *four* times. I won't go into it but obviously I'm still a bit irritated by it.)

Sunshine on My Tootsies . . .

. . . makes me happy!

This Saturday we occupied our time by trying to stay in the sunshine.

A quick jaunt to the park included lunch and some great entertainment for Everett, including the swings. This kid could probably sit in this swing all day and be just fine with that. Among the entertainment to be found were kids playing around armed with major water squirt-guns. I could see Evy taking notes for future use.

Later in the afternoon, we wandered downtown Reston's Fine Art Festival eyeing sculpture and exhibits showing everything from oil and acrylic to mixed media and photography. Though this year didn't seem as strong as in previous years, according to Sheila, it was great to get out and be with each other.

In attendance were all darlings: bipeds (children), quadrupeds (dogs), and 4 wheelers (children in strollers). A representative of every type of dog, yes DOG, that would be found at a dog show was there. Note: This was not a dog show. These were dogs brought to the festival by their owners to walk around with while looking at exhibits and eating cinnamon almonds. (The most exciting one to see was a huge dappled greyhound that was sitting peacefully next to two quarrelling poodles.) I even overheard one lady who was weighed down by a long-haired terrier wish that she had a stroller for her little one.

Everett (our own darling and a bit cranky) was a trooper and put up with the walkabout town.

"Hook-Em" In the Shadows

Since being introduced to his shadow by Erik, Everett continues to be mesmerized by that black shape on the ground. Everywhere we walk, particularly outside, he is continually looking down trying to watch his shadow. In fact, when we passed a shaded part on the path back from the park, he couldn't see his shadow below and started looking around to see where it went.

Well, Evy, where did it go?

Basil-Spinach Pesto

I love pesto, but Erik isn't too keen on the strong flavor. I substitute some of the basil with spinach as listed below, and that works well.

1/4 cup basil leaves, packed

1/4 cup spinach leaves, packed

1/8 to 1/4 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tablespoons of pine nuts or walnuts

1 large clove of garlic

In the food processor, chop basil leaves and spinach leaves together. Add in cheese, garlic, and pinenuts--stopping to scrape down sides of the container. Add the olive oil (start with 1/8 cup of olive oil first-add more if necessary). Process until a thick smooth paste is formed. (Will keep in the freezer for several months.)

Everett's First Post

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Comments from Moderator (aka Mom):
That's it ladies and gentlemen! Everett's first and thrilling experience with the keyboard. I had a hard time getting him off of it. I had to give him the large key calculator so that I could have my keyboard back.

Acid Reflux and Torticollis

I have received several inquiries on how we help Everett with his acid reflux and torticollis. Both "afflictions" probably stem from being born a month early and are interrelated (Pedi-GI doctor says "yes" on this issue . . . our pediatrician says "no" . . . I am going with the specialist's perspective in this case). .

The acid reflux is a day-by-day operation. Some days are great; others are terrible. His torticollis has lessened in severity, and we continue with the exercises and tummy time. Here is what we do.

Acid Reflux

1. He eats a combination of formula, rice cereal, and oatmeal in his bottles. At first, we were only adding rice cereal, but that was increasing his constipation, which increases the acid reflux problems. Currently, the mix ratio is 2 parts oatmeal to 1 part rice cereal, and we usually put 3 teaspoons of mix per every 2 ounces. Ever so often, we have to thicken it a bit more if he is having a rough day.
2. He always sleeps on a 45-degree incline whether he is in his crib or in the pack-n-play at Michelle’s. Unless it is time for playtime on his back, we always keep him inclined, even on his changing table.
3. He is always held upright for 30-45 minutes after a feeding. The bumbo seat comes in handy for this. He is about to be too big for the seat, and I am hoping that, miraculously, he can sit for longer periods of time by himself just as he graduates from the bumbo seat.
4. Medication: We give him Prevacid 15 mg by syringe in the morning and are supposed to give him Axid in the evening. But, he has been throwing up each time we give him the Axid, which totally defeats the purpose of controlling the acid reflux. So, we haven’t been giving it to him.
5. Managing constipation: We are very diligent in watching his poops. I know this sounds gross and possibly over-excessive. But, if he is constipated: he cries, refuses to feed, and life is just miserable for all of us since the acid is worse for him, which causes more pain. The home remedy for constipation that works for us: dark Karo syrup. When he is consistently constipated, he gets a stool softener.
6. Feeding in smaller amounts. Everett gets around 4 ounces with every feeding. Recently, before he his last cold, he had worked up to 6, 8, or even 12 ounces at each feeding! But, that was pretty short lived. So, we are back to feeding Everett frequently since eating in smaller amounts helps decrease the acid reflux.

Torticollis

At 4 months old, Everett was diagnosed with Torticollis. Besides the exercises prescribed by the doctor, we altered his infant seat (which he slept in at the time) and oriented everything to his left since the torticollis forced him to always look to his right. He is almost 7 months now and has a larger range of motion due to completing the exercises 4-6 times a day. He still tilts when laying down and sometimes when sitting up.

Besides, the exercises, Everett also spends 50% of his awake time on his tummy.

This is something that we worked on very diligently, and we got really creative to build up his endurance to be able to do that. We worked on it bit by bit increasing his time by a little bit each time. Believe me, he fussed in the beginning. But, if I was engaged with him while he was on his tummy, I could get him to last a little bit longer each time.

Helpful website: http://www.torticolliskids.org/ This includes an online listserve that many parents participate in and give feedback to each other.

Typical Day

I just wanted to capture what our typical day is like. (Monday through Wednesday Sheila works in the District, and commutes into the city with Erik. Everett is watched by Marvelous Michelle accompanied by Baby Buddy Nicholas on those days.)

Here is how it goes:
5:15 Everett is up and ready to play

5:20 Everett gets a nose saline flush and his acid reflux medication, he plays with Mommy

5:45 Sheila offers Everett food (sometimes he’ll take a bottle; sometimes not), Alarm goes off for Erik to get up

6:00 Sheila dresses Everett

6:20 Erik trades places with Sheila and occupies Everett until they both can take turns watching him while shaving, getting dressed, eating breakfast, and brushing teeth

6:45 Load up the car with everyone’s bags and go to Michelle’s

7:00 Everett starts his day with Michelle, and Sheila and Erik drive into DC

Depending on the morning, Erik might take Everett for more of the time especially if Sheila isn’t feeling well or has been up during the night feeding Everett (Erik took Everett at 5:30 this morning). We have a pretty good tag team system going in the morning.

During the day, as Erik and Sheila are moving from meeting to meeting and taking care of their respective work, they often get an update email from Michelle describing how Everett’s day has been.

Here is how the day ends:
5:00 Erik picks up Sheila and they drive home

6:00 (Yeah, coming home takes about an hour.) Pick up Everett

6:20 Feed Everett dinner and either give him a bath or may put him straight to bed after reading and singing to him. He usually goes to sleep between 6 and 8 pm.

7:30 Erik and Sheila make dinner and eat—sometimes they are able to eat WHILE Everett is having dinner

8:00-10:30 or 11:00 Variety of activities from paying bills, mowing the lawn, watching TV, folding laundry, completing chores, getting ready for the next day, burning an hour or two getting work done that needs to be completed before going back into the office, or posting on this blog.

Recent Events

Sheila returned home last Thursday from a weeklong monitoring trip to Nebraska. It was her first time away from Everett, and, considering all, it went relatively well. Everett was sick all last week waking up several times a night and working Erik especially hard. Erik took Sheila’s absence in stride and kept the house spic and span as well as took excellent care of Everett.

Everett is sitting up longer without support and has recently rolled from front to back and from back to front. He isn’t showing off the rolling very often, but he does like to try and flip from his back to his tummy by super arching his back. He really thinks he can flip over by doing this. And, actually, since his crib mattress is inclined at a 45-degree angle (acid reflux reasons), he might be successful soon. He loves laughing at fake sneezes and giggles like crazy when you tell him “PEEUU, you stink!” He still thinks that his changing table is a horizontal treadmill, “Jog while lying on your back!”

Erik is ecstatic that the heated pools in Reston are now open. He ventured out last night to test the waters. He is excited for Everett to totally get over his cold so that Everett can learn the ins and outs of pool going. We’ve got all the swimming paraphernalia ready for him.

Our First Mother's Day with Everett

HaPpy MoThEr'S DaY!!!!

Today started off with the breakfast in bed, YUM! Dad did a fine job of cooking up some breakfast burritos and strawberries (with a hint of sugar, he notes).

Everett is in fine form here showing off his belly and the goldfish bib.

Sheila spent the morning preparing for her lesson in RS on sacrifice. (She was in Nebraska this week and didn't get a chance to finish prepping the lesson before she got back home.) The lesson went well and Sheila got a chance to use her favorite "looks like/sounds like" activity with it. The Sisters were like poetry describing what sacrifice looked like and sounded like.


The boys came home from church early so that Everett could get a nap in before total meltdown. This gave Erik the opportunity to teach Everett about his shadow when he woke up. At first, Everett just grinned at his shadow but that grin quickly turned to concern about what was going on with that black shape on the ground.

Green Thumbs

We've been working on the front yard, bit by bit, over the past several weekends and finally were ready to put down the black bark.

The Boss

Yep, he tells us when to get up, when we can go to sleep, AND when we are able to get the yard finished. Here he is looking very innocent and angelic. No one would guess what a taskmaster he is.

Hey, you, the big guy that sings songs that always end up rhyming with "pee"--yeah, I need you to pick it up the pace because I am getting hungry.

Mommy, put the camera down and start digging.

Sheila and Erik hard at work.

The Spring Look

We usually end up updating the yard at least four times a year to accommodate the different plants in bloom as Virginia does have all four seasons. Our next task is to get the backyard done.

Champ Returns to Sport

Okay, sort of . . .

Erik, an avid baseball fan and sportsman, is now playing in his company's softball league every Thursday at a location that is always on the Mall. (The monument mall, not the shopping mall.)

He is known to score a couple of times every game and was the first one out to SLIDE into a base. He comes home after each game with stories of valor and victory highlighting his newly acquired grass stains on his game sweats. (Not to mention the continued aches and groans of recently awakened and exercised muscles.)

Though his team has yet to win a game, hopes are high that this new team will season quickly and end the spring with a triumph! We'll keep you posted.

Erik posing after scoring for the team below the Washington Monument. (Loving the Little League pose.)

iFeliz Cinco de Mayo!

Last weekend, to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, we went to The Tortilla Factory.

Though the visions of what that restaurant might look like bring up "chain-o-rama" flashes of cheesy decorations and ho-hum food, we were delighted with the truly authentic taste and atmosphere complete with the most amazing set of masks I have seen in one spot, on one wall. It was *almost* like being back in Texas.

Everett, though he eyed the chips and salsa with interest, was happy to chow on greenbeans and squash.

The couple behind Erik and Everett were big Everett fans by the end of the meal. He probably spent 98% of the time staring at them and practicing his smiles.