The things under the bed- and hanging from the ceiling

Storage.

Living in a city, packed with enough people and garbage that it could be referred to as Rat Paradise, we have come to realize that storage is prized and sometimes unattainable. Living with two little ones and two furry ones, we have acquired quite the collection. However, since we have had to do another round of baby-proofing; we quickly realized the outlet covers are the tip of the ice berg. So we have come to the conclusion that we are, at the least- storage (above 2 feet) challenged.

My two new favorite things:

1. Under the bed tupperwares (or whatever those plastic bins are called these days)
2. Pot hangers... ceiling pot hangers to be exact

I would like to thank the native Minnesotan responsible for this installation.A great Independence Day gift as it "frees" up a lot of cabinet space for other more dangerous items that need to be out of sight (i.e. blender, food processor)!

Blueberries: Ripe for the pickin!

I used to pick raspberries up at our cabin on the great Lake Superior when I was a kid. It seems like every time I have gone back since college, I've been off by a week... or months.

I heard about a farm in Baldwin, MD (Hybridoma) about 45 minutes away from our Baltiscape and we trekked out this weekend. Blueberries were the main attraction but we heard there still might be some raspberries left as well. It turns out we got lucky; they are closed down now until later this summer due to the unexpected rush of berry pickers!

So Lucy and Stella in tow- the contest began... of course, a contest, we are talking about Dave and I here.. two stubborn firstborns who like to win. And our first-born was out helping too! Most of the treasure ended up in her mouth, but who can resist!

There was a bit of a mad rush at the end but we all know how it goes...I won't draw out my victory, but I did indeed win with 3 lbs on the nose of BB, Dave coming in at 2.2 lbs. After the great Blue, Dave hung out with the babes in the shade and I braved the prickly black and purple raspberry bushes (a pint of each in about 45 minutes-is that good?)

Dinner and a Movie

OK, so I did indeed make dinner, a zucchini- portabella number, but what my offspring were consuming was a little less appetizing- at least for us adults. I saw Lucy chewing on something, looking pretty happy about it. When I went to investigate I found out it was a new delicacy that comes in pellet format... dog food. Mmm good. So the good news is she did not officially ingest it, but she was sucking on a piece for a few minutes- yuck.

Moving on... we took the girls in their carriers down to Little Italy. It was the first night of summer movies outside and we thought we would check it out. We did not expect to actually be able to sit and watch a full movie with little ones in tow, so we just went down to check out the scene and get some gelato. They were playing Moonstruck and people were packed in with their captains chairs and Chianti- it was quite the sight! We ended up running into some of Dave's friends that lived down there, hung out for a bit and journeyed back- a bit past the girls' bedtime, but it was worth it!

Photo taken by Mitch Lebovic

No hands leads to a bruised head

Today, I was playing on the floor with the girls when all of a sudden I noticed Lucy standing there in front of me. Now she has been standing for a little over a month- but its always been with the assistance of a lovely chair, coffee table, or mammal. When I looked today- it was no hands on deck! On any sort of deck!

Hooray Lucy!

About 20 minutes later she was up again... and then came crashing down- face first.
And momma's first bloodied child experience began.

Now granted this abrasion was quite small, being maybe and quarter inch (if that) long and less than an eighth inch deep, but Dr. Mom and also Freaked-out Mom acted quickly with comfort, cold press, and a call to the doc. I wasn't exactly sure how deep it was and it seemed to start bleeding again after I changed the band aid... so the doc said "don't take a chance, go to the ER".

So while folks have called Baltimore many things: Charm City, Birdland, and the least flattering Murdermore (check it out in the Urban Dictionary).. it is also the city of hospitals. So our doc recommended we NOT go to urgent care if it had to do with potential stitches and go to an ER, so I mentioned we were close to Mercy (which is where I delivered) and of course the very well (and worldwide)-known Hopkins. We were going to do Hopkins until I recalled a conversation I had with someone (and web research/ reviews confirmed) that Hopkins, while a great hospital overall and especially for serious ailments, may not be the best place to stop in to the emergency room, much less with a baby. Not only are they known for being the closest ER to many a Wire worthy scenes, but they are known for handling some pretty intense trauma from all over the state. Needless to say, bringing in a little cut to the head was probably going to take many many hours that we did not want to spend in a waiting room.

Lucy while waiting in the ER
Note- upper right of her head (her upper left)

So we went to the University of MD medical center that had a pediatric ER. Dave dropped Lucy and I off. There was no one in the waiting room (at all). And we were still there for 2 hours:)
After it was all said and done, I was a little embarrassed sitting in there with such a little wound on my child (which ended up not needing stitches but a little patch that holds it together); but on the other hand- we weren't taking any chances!

On the bright side, we read numerous card board books, played Boggle (our travel Boggle shakes like a cool rattle; naturally she's super smart :) but I will not risk losing to an 11 month old!), and towards the end I was even reading my Maya Angelou book "Letters to My  Daughter" out loud in the exam room.

So now, both the girls have had their trip to the ER... let's hope I don't post anything in this category again for a long long time:)

Ginger and Strawberries

When I was pregnant, I was hoping that at least one of the girls would have red hair. Dave and his brother both had really red hair as kids and it is my family a little; well, we got lucky!

So I don't know when people started calling red-heads "gingers" but I hear it all the time out here! So I ponder... I eat ginger, and its not red! But then I realize well maybe it came from Gilligan's Island Ginger?

So with Google at my fingertips I decided I should find out a little more about the term "Ginger" as applied to red-heads and I found a lot of good info not only about the name Ginger, but about red-heads in general.

• Only 1-2% of all humans have natural red hair, making it the most rare
• It appears in people with 2 copies of the recessive gene (on Chromosome 16 in case you were wondering)
• Red heads are commonly fair-skinned, have light eyes, and are more likely to have freckles
• If they have fair skin, they are able to absorb Vitamin D at low light levels- which is why they burn when they get too much sun- they don't need it!
• In history, people with red hair were believed to have fiery tempers and sharp tongues
• People over time have been fascinated and frightened by it (women with red hair were thought to be witches)
• And finally Gingers: Ginger was first used to refer to someone with red hair in 1525 (according the the English Oxford Dictionary) and meant someone with reddish-yellow hair. So really referring to the Strawberry blonde end of the spectrum.

So there is a logical explanation after all, not only for the term ginger but how red-heads come to be: 2 recessive genes colliding creating a low incidence of the pigment eumelanin along with the presence of the pigment pheomelanin. (huh.... straight from Wikipedia btw)

And it's not because they are witches, fiery, temperamental, or possessed- as some myths portray... whew:)

So when people see them its:

"Ginger", "Strawberry Blonde", straight up "red"... and of course it's always "who did they get that from?!" Their Daddy of course!

The color is especially bright in the sunlight; I get more and more excited as their hair grows into their cute ginger locks- love it!

A Swingin' Good time

First camping trip and now first time on the playground!

They were in separate bucket swings first, but then we realized there was a bit too much room to slide out; they happened to fit perfectly together in one however!

First Camping trip with the Girls

So we haven't been camping since the girls were born and we decided to give it a shot for Father's Day weekend!

We stayed in Patapsco Valley State Park, which was our first time, which is kind of funny since it is only a 25-minute drive from our house. It is between Baltimore and DC. It is a beautiful park, and somewhat comical that it was a mere 5-minute excursion to a Starbucks (along with a host of other suburban supermarts) from our campsite. But lo and behold, while in our lovely site, you barely noticed that these things existed. We didn't even hear traffic, just the occasional train

.

We arrived late (after 8) on Friday evening and were able to get the tent up and fire going before

it got dark. All was going smoothly until we tried to get the girls to sleep. We only have one pack n' play so we figured that one of the girls would just sleep on a make-shift number next to us. It was not as easy as I had hoped and Dave ended up having to drive the girls around the campground loop a few times until they fell asleep. This is something that I have often heard of parents doing to get their little one asleep, and we haven't had to use this method until now! We had them in their car seats for a while and then transferred them to their sleeping quarters. Lucy only woke up once the first night; Stella was up several times. Then, thanks to the lack of blackout shades, she was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed

between 5AM and 7AM

(Dave and I were definitely not ready to be up yet considered our campfire was still burning at 2AM). Lucy woke up to eat at 7AM and that's when we decided we were going to have to relocate the girls back to their car seats and create some make-shift sun shades. This worked and they slept until 9AM.

I should also mention that we had a HUGE thunderstorm that started around 4AM with pouring rain and loud loud thunder (the girls surprisingly did NOT wake up during this). And we are happy to report that our tent continues to be fabulously waterproof!!

Saturday morning we drank homemade cold-press coffee and made a trip into suburbo for some hot breakfast sandwiches. We took a hike on the Ol Ranger trail through the Paw Paw trees. It

was beautiful and very shaded; it was fairly hilly terrain and we definitely got a work out dodging

rocks and roots, and climbing up and down- all with a baby attached to each one of us! The girls

still fit in their carriers (Baby Bjorn and a Fisher Price number) so we had them facing outward on the trek. I think its about time we look for the backpack kind however; dangling toes and strong legs tend to hit their parents in uncomfortable places!

We visited H Mart (which is an Asian specialty grocery store) to find food for dinner. From the selection of cow tongue, rabbit, and pigs feet- we ended up selecting a nice healthy portion of Halibut. We wrapped it in tin foil on the fire. One was marinated in a garlic/italian dressing for an hour and then other we cooked with butter and a lemon/ pepper/ salt mixture. Both of them turned out quite nice- the marinated one a bit better.

Shortly after dinner, I heard some rustling by the picnic table. Naturally I had to have Dave

check it out, since I was not going head-on with whatever it was.... We thought it was probably a squirrel, but it ended up being a big ol' raccoon digging in our trash that we had just lying around (oops). Fortunately, he wobbled out of there as soon as Dave shone the flashlight on his masked face.

Bed time, take two. This time Lucy was the non-sleeper. They had both fallen asleep in their car seats (it seemed to work well because we could rock them to sleep) .We couldn't let them cry it out in their beds because we had a couple new neighbors on both sides and the sound traveled a little too well. Lucy however, did not stay asleep- she was awake almost every hour. Then around 7AM Dave took her for a ride in the car so I could get a bit of sleep.

We left on Sunday after our morning fire.

After all was said and done, we had a good time, even though we were both quite sleep-deprived (a bit more than normal!). Since it was now Father's Day I knew who was going to get to take the nap when we got home:)