12/22/08
Christmas is creeping up on us. Here we are mere days away and I have much shopping to do. It's hard to buy for some people, their dismay and protestations notwithstanding. Clothes - best to have Janet present. Jewelry - always a winner, but kinda repetitive. Kitchen or other domestic tools - kind of insulting if they seem like work. Scrapbooking equipment - similar to clothes, needs Janet's input. Spa treatment/pedicure/facial - been there, done that (although she probly won't complain about receiving more). Maybe I'm just getting old, and it seems like it's all been done before. My need to be original is making this difficult. AJ would probably be fine with an empty wrapped box, or a box full of things he already has. He already has more toys than I think my whole family had during my entire youth, so I am hesitant to obtain yet more toys or books, or whatever else. He will always be in need of more clothes, however. Maybe that will work. (If you haven't noticed, I'm kind of thinking "out loud" here, and this is a bit stream-of-consciousness-y) I will persevere.
In other news, the weather here is holding up nicely. We may get some snow by Christmas, but I won't be holding my breath in anticipation. This, compared to the west coast, which is getting more snow than they've seen in 40 years. (My in-laws are, at this moment, stuck in an airport having had their flight cancelled, trying to see what options may exist despite forecast of snow there for the next 3 days.) Fun times. It will be unfortunate if they cannot make it, but we'd prefer they are safe and warm at home than stuck in an airport for Christmas.
Our ward's Christmas program was held yesterday. I must confess that this is the first ward choir I've been in that I woudl actually invite non-ward members to come hear. We did all the numbers a cappella, with great dynamics and diction. Truly a different type of ward-choir experience. For a non-choir number I arranged We Three Kings for a men's trio. somehow I don't think I've ever heard it sung as a men's trio, despite the obvious choice. It turned out okay - not great, but not horrible. Perhaps I'll record it and make it available here should anyone wish to check it out.
We've had some difficulties with car issues, etc. of late. Janet has been frantically preparing for the holiday and trying to get more things done for more people in less time than is really possible, and feeling bad that she isn't accomplishing all this at her self-imposed usual high standard. She is an amazing woman in my eyes, and I am truly amazed at her many talents and her ability to introspect and make changes in her life when she wants to. I certainly am blessed by her example.
Anyway, that is a brief catch-up. I'll have to get to pictures another day.

11/29/08
Thanksgiving Day was wonderful! We had quite a feast, and, in keeping with tradition, we ate til it hurt. I hope I can make it through the holidays without having to make too many New Year's resolutions regarding fitness. I AM going to start back into my workout schedule to help combat the extra calories. We had a couple of my single friends from work join us for dinner. I think they appreciated having somewhere to go, and we had stimulating conversation which all enjoyed. We have leftovers to last us a week! Not sure how, but we managed to fit them all in the refrigerator. Janet went all out, for sure. We all pitched in for making dinner. Among other things, Janet made these little "pumpkin bread twinkies" by baking tiny loaves of pumpkin bread and then injecting them with pumpkin jelly. Pretty tasty! And then she built a beautiful apple pie. I should have taken a photo. After AJ went to sleep and our guests departed we watched Disney/Pixar's "Wall-e", which was quite good, though maybe not up to the level of their past works. We slept quickly and relatively soundly. In reflecting on the day we noted how good it was to work together and accomplish something good.

Janet recently started part-time work at a nearby urgent care. So far she likes this one quite a bit. Friendly staff, not so much push to get patients seen as swiftly as possible, etc. It pays a bit less, but the atmosphere is more comfortable.

AJ is quite the monkey lately. I come home from work and he begins the exercises. He has been able at times to climb from the floor to sitting on my shoulders without any aid from me! Pretty athletic. Although he is still fairly unintelligible most of the time, he is getting more and more chatty, and if you are familiar with his code-language, you can generally figure out what he is trying to say. I love that he is such a happy kid. He seems to have a big grin on his face about 90% of the time. I love wrestling with him on the floor and giving horsey rides. He actually enjoys being tickled, which is good because I enjoy tickling and have been otherwise deprived for some time. Uncle Joe will be pleased to know that AJ is very into swords and posing in front of the mirror. Who would have thought these traits could be genetic? Also, AJ has learned to open doors. This is both frightening and worrisome, as he is a fairly independent child at times. We hope he learns to stay near a parent for now - unlike our neighbor kid who wanders blocks away unbeknownst to his parents. One of AJ's most adorable traits lately, however, is his politeness. He'll be sobbing in the middle of the night for reasons unknown, and as we try and guess what he wants he'll sob out "No, dee-do" (no, thank you). It's very endearing, trust me.

We have opted to stay in Virginia for Christmas this year. Airfare is high, and our finances are still tight. The economy is not well, and we're not sure what the future will bring. We are excited, however, that Janet's folks have offered to join us for the holiday. We'll have Robert here as well, so it will be really nice to have some family for the holidays, though we will miss seeing the rest of Janet's family.

We are so thankful for the love and support of great parents and siblings, for our association with good people, for the knowlege of the gospel and the opportunity to continue to learn it. We're thankful for living in a part of the world where it is possible to get a decent education regardless of social class, and where we can pursue education and employment that we want. We are thankful to have the most wonderful opportunity to be parents to our AJ. Our life was great before he joined us, but our past lives seem almost gray in comparison to the bright colorful world he shows us every day. (When I left for work yesterday morning he gave me the saddest most forlorn pouty face, crying "Da-ee". Just breaks your heart, no?) I am so grateful for a loving wonderful wife who is so much better than I deserve, and who somehow believes the same of me. We're (relatively) healthy and happy.

10/28/08

It has been a busy and interesting couple of months. Since my last post at the beginning of August, Janet and AJ spent a couple of weeks at Janet's parents' home whilst I bach'd it. Not long thereafter, Janet's brother moved in with us "for a few weeks" while he gets some things worked out, my parents and brother Joe visited for a week just before my parents went to Denmark to serve a mission, I flew to Utah for their farewell, etc, etc. Braden, Janet's brother, will now be with us until March at the latest.
AJ has enjoyed having someone else to climb on. I'm a little jealous of that, actually. Braden's son Robert came for a visit last weekend, and AJ was in heaven having someone to play with for a few days. (He plays with the neighbor boy, Tate, fairly regularly. But Tate isn't here all day for days in a row!) It happened that the ward Halloween party took place while Robert was here, so we all dressed up and went to the doings. Janet found a whole bunch of fun kid costumes at an awesome thrift store that AJ has LOVED to play in. So far as I know, he's been Batman, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Mr. Incredible, and 'Mater. For the party, however, Robert wanted to be Mr. Incredible, so AJ was Buzz, I dressed as Woody, and Janet finished off the Toy Story theme as Bo Peep. The party included a chili-cookoff, so I enjoyed several versions of chili. Cornbread was also on the menu. I had no idea you could make cornbread so many ways. One of the more unusual seemed to be yellow cake, with corn in it. It was better than it sounds, but probably the sweetest cornbread I've tasted.
Our house in Michigan has had no significant change. We had a (really low) offer that our lender considered for a short time, counteroffered, and the deal fell through. Ugh.
The economy is bad. Anyone reading this shortly after I write it will of course be painfully familiar with this sentiment, but for future generations who might read this (it is sort of my journal, after all), some are saying that we are on the cusp of a depression that will give the "great" depression a run for its money, so to speak. Jobs are being lost right and left, the stock market has dropped a LOT. People are upset at the president for "allowing" this to happen. Personally, I think things would not be much better no matter who the president was - there have been catastrophes, wars, etc that have taken their tolls on our economy, and the fact that the current recession isn't just in the U.S. seems to evidence that there is plenty of blame to go around. Mostly, I gather, there were some greedy and stupid decisions by those "leading" some pretty high-powered financial institutions. Shame on them. The government, however, is not blameless. As I understand it, congress was privy to many of the greedy decisions, and actually helped some of the "leaders" get their positions. More stupidity.
Anyway, speaking of stupidity, we're now a week or so away from an election. I'm not persuaded that either of the main candidates are likely to make any of the current mess "better". Barack Obama, the democratic candidate, has some decent ideas in a few areas, and seems to have taken advantage of the country's cry for change. But he wants to socialize quite a few things and raise taxes for those who have worked hard enough to get ahead (the "wealthy"). I don't quite fit into the "wealthy" category as yet, but I'm far from persuaded that the Robin Hood theory of wealth distribution is the best. On the other side we have John McCain, who, I'm sad to admit, makes me think of some slick weasel every time I hear him speak. His ideas aren't much different or better than Obama's in most regards. Sadly, I finally get what people mean about "politician" being synonymous with "liar". These guys are saying what they think the people want to hear, to the devil with actual intentions and real promises. Unfortunately, I think that is what the people have asked for.
Anyway, enough tirade. Here are some more pictures for the picture hungry:

The new boo-boo is right here. (Note the bandaid on the other foot. AJ is into bandaids lately.)

At the Iwo Jima Marine Memorial (Braden declined to be photographed, alas.)

He will probably believe this is blackmail material someday. Oh well.

Robert and AJ discuss the finer points of vegetable evisceration.

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

7/6/08
I always wondered (not eagerly) what it would be like to have a dog wake me up. I've come close, and it was very amusing. AJ climbed on all fours next to my face this morning, barked twice and began licking my face. I guess it was time to wake up! He gets more and more entertaining. I am really liking AJ's current age. He is certainly an imp, but he is fun. I've said it before, but there is nothing like coming home to one's child screaming in glee at your return. He's getting better at listening and understands an awful lot.
We had fun this weekend celebrating the 4th of July in the nation's capital. The fireworks show was pretty spectacular from the mall, with the Washington monument in the foreground. The view would have been somewhat better from the Lincoln memorial, we believe. Nevertheless, truly memorable. There must have been well over 100,000 people on the mall for the event, yet we managed to return the 15 miles home in less than an hour (via metro rail).

6/8/08
I was doing so well for awhile there. I can't believe it's already been a month. In that time, Janet has started working again a few days a week, I've been busy with a big project at work, AJ has grown a little more, we've had an anniversary, gone to the beach, and most recently, begun to swelter. It was 98 degrees today and about 70% humidity. May as well be in Florida! We decided today to sleep in the basement since the top floor is impossible to cool below about 85 degrees.
Oh yeah, we also decided to move next month. We're just moving down the street, so it's not that big a move, but the new place is much nicer than our current abode, and significantly less rent! We also decided to pursue a "short sale" on the home in Michigan. For those not familiar, a short sale means we sell it for less than we owe and pray the bank will accept such an offer and forgive the difference. I've never been comfortable with the idea of voluntarily hurting my credit rating, but if we don't sell the place soon there will be consequences more dire than a dip on my credit.
AJ is learning to be polite, sort of. He says "thank you" appropriately most of the time, but he's getting more possessive about his toys and such. I understand this is normal for a two year old. He's getting longer, it seems. I don't know how, since he doesn't want to eat much and he is still under 30 pounds. His arms and legs do seem to be getting longer though. He's fun. I don't know what we'd do without him. Gotta get him a sibling one of these days, however. For the time being, AJ has a great friend in the neighborhood named Tate. Tate's mom Rachel is great friends with Janet, and is a primary reason we decided to in the neighborhood when we move.
We love and miss our families. Janet and AJ will visit in Oregon in August, and the Larsen grandparents are planning a visit to see us some time before they head to Denmark on their mission in October. We're excited about that.
Well, its time for bed. 'nite.

5/4/08
All right, I finally posted the video from the Holocaust Museum trip. Click here to view (or here if that doesn't work). That will have to suffice for now.
The weather lately has been more or less pretty great. Thankfully. Last weekend I spent under our 4Runner replacing the exhaust system. A week or so earlier, some, uh, "neighbor" climbed under the truck in broad daylight while it was in the parking structure at my workplace, and cut off my catalytic converter. I was blown away that someone would do so, but apparently there is a wave of this particular crime lately. Toyota SUVs and trucks are particularly targeted for ease of access and high value of the parts. They don't want the converter so much as the platinum and/or rhodium in the converter. (Platinum currently selling for > $2000/oz, rhodium > $6000/oz). Anyway, to have someone else fix it would have cost nearly $1000. I opted to order the parts and fix it myself. This excercise was not without headaches, but it was a learning experience. Next time I'll probably just have someone else fix it, since insurance would cover all but our deductible. On the other hand, if AJ is old enough to learn from the experience, maybe I'll do it again.
Janet and AJ have taken advantage of the weather to spend some good outside time. AJ is especially enamored with being outside. He and his friend Tate find sticks to sword fight with and have all sorts of adventures. I've spent several evenings in the past little while pulling weeds, which apparently grow, eh, like weeds here. Having spent the bulk of my life in Wyoming and Utah, it is a revelation to me that there are places like this where people actually work to STOP things from growing. I think if you left things to themselves, nature would reclaim just about anything here in just a few years.
Some folks have recently expressed some interest in where we live. Here's a bird's eye view of the place. In the interest of maintaining some degree of privacy, the picture does not reveal much. However, you may note the high school to the east of us. Just north of that are the sports fields, which are lit up many a night, and from which we may hear the marching band practicing, etc. We delight, however, that we do not back up to someone else's unit. Just to the south, and hidden by the trees is a little playground with swings and a jungle gym of sorts. AJ and Janet spend many hours there. AJ likes to run off into the trees, and it is sometimes difficult to extract him, since he fits into places where mommy and daddy don't fit.
On a totally different not, I've been self-reflecting a bit today, and I don't think I'm gonna get a sunburn from such reflection. I'm becoming more of a curmudgeon. I apologize to all readers who have at some time observed my lack of trust, respect, etc for other people's opinions and feelings. It's not that I want to hurt people, but I guess I've depended on my own ideas and opinions more than they deserve. I don't know how to go about changing this, though I must. My wonderful wife is so patient and loving despite my impatience and incessant "helpful" suggestions. I recognize that there are other viable ways of doing things than those I espouse, but I have a hard time keeping tactfully, respectfully quiet - especially with those I am most familiar with. Please forgive me and know that I love and respect most (all?) of you readers. Although the first step to fixing any problem is recognizing it, there is a lot of work from that point. I just hope those dearest to me will last despite my "advice" and impatience.

4/20/08
Crazy weather. One day it is literally freezing. The next is a beautiful sunny 80 degree day. The next it rains. All day. I've always told people that in Wyoming, if you don't like the weather, just wait a minute. But I think that old proverb is more true in Northern Virginia.
We spent a beautiful Saturday in DC, checking out the Jefferson memorial and the nearby tidal basin. The cherry blossoms are, for the most part, gone now, but the cool breeze and such were quite nice. I hadn't realized there was such a thing, but on our way to the Jefferson memorial, we walked through a fairly substantial FDR memorial. AJ wanted very much to play in the fountains. He was a decent sport through the afternoon. We also took in the US Holocaust museum - at least, the part of it that didn't require tickets. (Timed entry tickets are free, but we didn't want to endure the long lines for the tickets. We, uh, enjoyed? the free part however. We felt kinda funny at the end, due to some antics by AJ. We had just heard the tragic story of "Daniel", who survived concentration camps, the loss of family, and other horrors. The exhibit was aimed at kids, so wasn't terribly graphic, but still thought-provoking. I'm guessing that people generally exit in a pretty sober state. Right at the exit is a bank of "phones" placed at kid level and intended to remind and fill-in the listener of the timeline and events just witnessed. AJ, of course, was somewhat less affected by the display, and took advantage of so many phones at his disposal. He would pick one up and say "Ha-oh? Bye," then move to the next phone and repeat. Without exaggerating, I am pretty sure he did this for about 15 minutes straight. It was at once adorable, entertaining, and maybe just a little in bad taste. Nevertheless, quite a few people coming out of the exhibit were amused. See movie clip (forthcoming).
In other AJ news, he has recently begun to talk a little more. Janet informs me that, after I leave for work, AJ calls out, "Da-ee, wu-ah-oo?" (translation: Daddy, where are you?) Is that adorable or what? He has also recently become quite attached to Winnie the Pooh. He falls asleep with him and carries him around quite a bit. Pretty cute.
I had my first annual performance review at work this past week. Not knowing quite what to expect, I was a little nervous about it. I was told by other more senior associates that it usually involved some constructive criticism and answering of questions. That's pretty much what happened. I was pleased to be told that the partners are happy with my work and progress and that they want to do whatever they can to keep me. I'm sure they tell everyone that, but I was glad to hear that I needn't fear loss of my job anytime soon. Things are still pretty tight financially for us. We contracted with a new real estate agent who will, we believe, work hard to sell our home in MI. We have no delusions about making money, and we've been told that since we're not destitute/insolvent, we are not likely candidates for more drastic measures (short sale/deed in lieu of foreclosure, etc). Well, I must to bed. Again I have failed to post pictures. Argh.

4/13/08
It's not that there hasn't been anything to write about. We've just been quite busy. Or lazy. Take your pick. Janet and AJ have been visiting lots of places with friends friends and neighbors, and having fun times. They've beeen to Mt. Vernon a few times, to the National Geographic museum to see a frog exhibit, to see the famous Cherry blossoms in DC, etc.
A few weeks ago we had the "pleasure" of visiting the White House for the annual "Easter Egg Roll". Janet and some friends camped overnight in front of the white house in order to get tickets. (Even camping all night, they only barely got tickets. Crazy.) I took some time from work and we went on Monday, March 24 to the event. What a zoo. There must have been three thousand people milling around the grounds, drawing bunny ears, rolling eggs, taking pictures, listening to Mickey Mouse carry on, etc. All the popular events had hour-long lines, which by this point we were unwilling to endure. (AJ wouldn't know the difference anyway.) But we got some pictures (which I will have to add later). Honestly, it was okay, but I think Janet had more fun camping out for the tickets. A friend who has connections through a Supreme Court justice got VIP tickets for his family; they had a widely differing experience.
While Janet was taking pictures for friends during the cherry blossom trip, AJ, who has become a pretty fast little guy, made his way to the nearest mud. A baseball field near the Jefferson memorial had knee-deep mud (2 a two-year old). As soon as AJ hit the mud he sank in and fell down. He was covered from head to foot. This would have been more humorous if it had been a bit warmer and the dirt had been less indelible. (I know, indelible dirt?) Quite a distance from the car, and not having a second set of clothes at hand for AJ, Janet stripped him to his diaper and wrapped him in jackets, etc. I imagine such an experience would leave a lasting impression on such a little guy. Poor thing - he apparently had a death-grip on Janet for the rest of the day.
I had the opportunity to sing with some others in church a few weeks ago during the Easter program. There are some fairly talented folks in our ward. It was wonderful to meet for the first time on a Saturday, run through a song a few times and perform the song the next day - and have it sound great. Our ward choir, which I have so far eluded, is one of the best I've heard. They perform a capella numbers with dynamics, they breathe in the right places, etc, etc. I actually WANT to be in the choir. Go figure.
We had a wonderful day yesterday. AFter driving around for an hour in search of parking (we had not anticipated the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade) and seeing a significant portion of the George Washington University campus, we arrived at the National Geographic museum. (I hadn't yet seen the frog exhibit, and AJ likes frogs enough to see them again). It was fascinating, honestly. They had frogs of all sizes, from all over the world. One exhibit had 15 or 20 "poison dart" frogs together in a terrarium of sorts. So-named because they excrete deadly toxins used for poison darts by South American tribes, the poison dart frogs are very colorful - beautiful even. I was surprised to learn that the golden poison dart frog is perhaps the most poisonous animal on the planet, holding enough poison to kill 10 men. (The frog is only an inch or so across!) After noting that most of the poisonous frogs, snakes, terrantulas, etc live in the Amazon area, I'm thinking maybe that won't be on my short list of places to go camping. Oh, and AJ made the NG cover.
We followed the National Geographic visit with a stroll around the nearby area, including the north lawn of the White House. AJ had fun running around chasing pigeons and making pigeon sounds. Somewhere along the way I ripped a major hole in the behind of my shorts. I know, maybe too much information, but it had the dual effect of extra air-conditioning and causing me to pull my shirt down every few seconds. I'm a little shy about letting it all hang out, I guess.
Well, although I have not entirely caught up with the events of the past two months, I must to bed. I may have to add a mid-week post.

2/17/08
In the past few weeks we've had quite the rollercoaster of emotions. For awhile there AJ was having some serious tantrums and none of us were getting any sleep. One day he was all upset because all he wanted was peanut butter. He eventually tired himself out over it. The photo was not set up, truthfully. Think JIF could use it in their ads? In the midst of the tantrums, we learned that we were expecting. In the middle of the night and in the middle of an AJ tantrum, this news was good, though not as exciting as it might have been if the circumstances had been otherwise. Over the course of the next few days (as AJ started settling down and we got some sleep) the prospect of the new little one was very exciting and we were very much looking forward to the prospects. Janet was especially excited about the fact that she was probably most of the way through 1st trimester with minimal morning sickness. Alas, it was not to be. On AJ's birthday we went in for an ultrasound to better pinpoint the gestational age. It was soon apparent that the fetus had not made it much past about six weeks, though the accompanying tissues had continued on (placenta, amniotic sac, etc). This was, of course rather heartbreaking after all the excitement. With a decidedly less celebratory mood, and since AJ isn't old enough to realize it was his birthday, we decided to put off the celebrations until a few days later.
AJ had a blast at the National Zoo. We've been a few times before, but he gets more out of it every time. He's been learning his animals at home, and it was fun to see the real thing. He was particularly entertained by the seals. Every time one of them came up from swimming AJ would burst into laughter. This repeated for fully 15 minutes. After a few hours we left the zoo and had dinner. Then the cake and presents. Strangely, AJ wouldn't touch the cake. I think, maybe because it was pink? (I coerced him into taking a few bites later.) Janet wants me to mention that she was not intentionally abusing her son by producing a pink cake. It just happened to seem appropriate to put cherry icing on cherry chip cake, and the color makes little difference in the consummabilaty of cake, after all.
We noticed in the last few days that AJ is starting to string sentences together. Of course, you'd have to be able to interpret his "words" to recognize this. As his parents we may be the only humans capable of noticing this right now. He's growing up!
We saw an interesting program last night on the Discovery channel about a condition called chimerism that reinforces my thinking that a spirit does not enter the body at conception. Some of my Catholic friends will take direct issue with this thinking (and probably a number of folks of my own faith). But it makes a lot of sense to me, even scripturally, that a spirit and body do not unite, at least permanently, until quite awhile after conception. (See 3 Nephi 1:13, for example; I realize this may be a special case.)
Anyway, the weather is getting nicer, the days are getting longer, work is great, AJ is being much better, and we're moving forward. We have inexpressible appreciation for the subtle gestures of love and support we've received in the last week. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

1/28/08
We learned this morning that President Gorden B. Hinckley passed away last night at about 7pm Mountain time. There are many reviewing the events of his life and his legacy. I wish only to say that I know he was a prophet of God. I remember fairly distinctly when I learned he was to be the prophet. It was spring of 1995, and I was on my way to St. George, UT with a carload of fellow students from USU - members of the Sunburst singers. I was driving someone's minivan, and we had stopped for gasoline somewhere along the way. While paying for the fuel inside the station, I heard the announcement over the radio that Pres. Howard Hunter had passed. One of the students, Teresa Nickle, was freaked because she had always thought Pres. Hinckley would be the prophet during the second coming. Anyway, in the 12 years since then my love and appreciation for Pres. Hinckley's way of doing things has multiplied. He has been a leader I sustained, and whose humble but strong leadership made a difference in my life. It is amazing to think that in the past 12 years 80+ temples have been dedicated, about 4 million people have joined the church, and so many major events in modern church history have taken place. I have mixed feelings about his passing. It was his time, certainly, and he is now back in the company of his sweet wife. But I, for one, will miss his talks in General Conference, which pulled no punches and yet seemed so genuine and spontaneous. Pres. Monson is a much stiffer speaker, though certainly entertaining.
We have had an interesting week. AJ has not been acting like himself lately, with major tantrums and inconsolable all-night screaming sessions. We were afraid the terrible twos were really going to be terrible. A few nights ago, however, he became very lethargic, had a 104 degree temperature, started breathing weird and shaking. He had refused to eat or drink most of the day, had not soiled his diapers all day, and had been dry-heaving. It was enough to concern even Janet, and we were soon on our way to the Emergency Room. After runnng some tests, it was determiend that he did not have flue or RSV but probably had some kind of infection that warranted antibiotices. We got only sporadic sleep after returning home, as he wanted to be held - upright - all night long. AJ has always been fair in his alternating requirements for either Mommy or Daddy, and that night was Mommy's night. When he gets like that, he doesn't even want the other parent to look at him. Very strange, but, as I said, he is pretty fair about it, and switches back and forth pretty evenly. When I awoke the next morning, Janet had had it. She was worn out from holding him all night (and the day before) and he was still being very fussy - not eaing/drinking, wanting something that he kept changing his mind about, etc. It was time for a blessing. (probably past time, but what can you do?) Within 5 minutes, AJ had stopped crying, drunk a cup of juice for the first time in over 12 hours, voluntarily climbed off of Janet's lap, and started happily playing with his cars. A miracle, truly.
In the days since, AJ has progressively gotten better. We discovered he has some nasty ulcers in the back of his throat, which explains his reluctance to ingest and his discomfort the rest of the time. As of tonight he is sleeping soundly in his own bed and doing MUCH better. We don't normally let him watch much TV, but he was somewhat less tempermental with a movie on the last couple of days. Unfortunately, he requires one movie and one movie only: Disney/Pixar's Cars is now burned into my brain forever. Happily, it is a fun show. We have "lost" the DVD a couple of times, only to have to dig it back out since nothing else will do. Silly kid.

1/20/08
What a week. AJ is either hitting "terrible twos" full strength, or he's sick. Probably both. I haven't had this few hours of sleep each night since just after he was born. In the past when he has been fussy, we could usually determine what was the problem. Now, he just screams bloody murder for no apparent reason. Sigh. If he wasn't so dang cute, it would be extremely frustrating. Last night we somehow thought we could all go see a movie. We haven't been to see a movie in a very, very long time. I think since AJ was born we've seen one movie in a theater. So, we loaded up and were all excited about seeing "National Treasure 2" at a second-run theater. Everything went swimmingly until the previews were over and the feature began. Then AJ wanted to wander all over, and if we tried to stop him he fussed such that other patrons couldn't enjoy the show. We were very fortunate that the theater was willing to refund our tickets 20 minutes into the show.
He actually sat comparatively still at the basketball game the night before. We saw the Washington Wizards defeat the New York Knicks. I think it was a good game, but I'm not sure. It was okay for AJ to make noise during a basketball game, of course, but we were somewhat embarrassed when he chewed up some apple and spewed it onto the family in front of us. They were very gracious, fortunately. I am so grateful that Janet is patient and loving with him. She is a great mommy. Although AJ's antics are often exasperating, he makes up for it at other times.
For instance, he has lately taken to donning one of his several helmets and then coming up to Janet or I with a big pucker on his face. The "kissing hat" is a hit with mommy and daddy, of course. AJ is also good for a great hug once in awhile. If we can get past the terrible twos, we'll be doing okay.
Say, if anyone that reads this (both of you) have some great ideas on helping little ones sit still during Sacrament Meeting, I'm all ears. Although I don't want to teach AJ that S.M. is about playing with toys, we have tried cars, books, etc. Nothing works for more than a few minutes. I see families with similarly aged kids who seem to have no problem - the kids actually sit in their chair through the meeting! How is this done, I wonder? I must relate something we saw today, however. One of the families I mentioned sat in front of us today. An older gentleman came in and sat in front of them as the meeting began. The gentleman had a big white beard, which clearly identified him to the little girl in front of me. To her parents' chagrin, the girl excitedly and loudly repeated "Santa! Santa! Santa!" for about 5 minutes. The man played his part, waving and winking. We had a very difficult time trying to keep our composure through that.
We got our first real snow of the season this past week. It has been quite chilly - in the single digits - for a few days. Still not as cold as Michigan - or Utah - to my recollection. But cold enough. I haven't seen the traffic come to a standstill like I'd been led to believe; but then, I don't drive all that far most days. I've heard stories of people stuck in traffic on the beltway just leaving their cars, opting to pay the impound fees rather than wait out the traffic. Crazy, eh?
We had fun this evening playing games with another family in our ward. They graciously invited us to come spend some time with them and get to know them better. It was good to socialize.

1/13/08
Here it is time for the first entry of 2008. It's true what they say about time seeming to get faster as you get older. I can't believe it's already 2008, and that AJ will be 2 years old in a few weeks. Wow. You may have noticed that I decided to try a little bit different format. I've been updating here, simply adding new entries, since mid-2004. It was time to break up the file a bit. To the right you should find links to each year in which we've written. In making this change it was fun to remember some of the experiences we've had since 2004. It seems we have done a lot. We moved to Michigan, I attended and graduated from law school, Janet got great experience at the UofM Family Practice Residency as faculty, our family was joined by Andrew James, we made lots of friends and colleagues, we moved to Virginia, and many, many other things.
In the year ahead we anticipate many more experiences. We hope to visit with family, take another bar exam, and Janet plans to begin work part time. We hope we may add to our family numbers, get in better shape, learn the gospel better, continue holding FHE and reading the scriptures. We plan to develop our talents and practice our hobbies, have family adventures, and further develop in many areas.
Already this year we have attended a professional basketball game (1/8/08 -Washington Wizards vs Houston Rockets - Washington lost). It was a fun time. My firm has season tickets, and if no one wants to take a client for a particular game, a drawing is held for the tickets. I happened to win this time. 8th row seats are great - and something I don't think I would ever pay full price for. However, AJ didn't watch so much of the game, and, consequently, neither did we. The neighboring fans were patient with AJ - luckily we had a couple of empty seats next to us so AJ could move around a bit. At one point in the game some parachutes dropped from the rafters with T-shirts. We caught one! It had a number "0" on it, and the name of the Wizards main star - Arenas, who has been benched for some time due to injury. We put it on AJ and got lots of smiles when we left the game as he walked around in this shirt that reached the ground! A good time, anyway.