Ripped from the headlines

This is a REAL headline from today's news:

Bumbo Seat recall announced after danger
of serious head injuries

Here's a portion of the article about the Bumbo Seat recall:

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of nearly a million Bumbo ‘Baby Sitter’ Seats made by Bumbo International. The voluntary recall comes after 28 reports of young children falling out of Bumbo seats that had been placed on an elevated surface. Three of the 28 children suffered skull fractures.

Yes, parents and parents-to-be of infants, Bumbo Seats ARE dangerous if a child is left unwatched on the kitchen counter top or on a steeply-slanted roof! Here's the warning as stated in the article:

The CPSC warns that the seats should only be placed on the ground, no elevated surfaces, and the child should never be left unattended.

Here's the solution:

Consumers can contact Bumbo to get a free warning label to put on their baby seat.

I'd say that's pretty helpful, wouldn't you? Maybe we should consult an expert--Hannah has been a Bumbo baby for quite some time now. I hope she has some words of wisdom for Baby G. Because warning stickers are typically written in two languages, English and Spanish, Hannah, here's where your Bumbo experience and your knowledge of Spanish will come in handy. Please teach Baby G the words WARNING and ADVERTENCIA so s/he is bilingually protected from the perils of Bumbo Seat failure.

Hannah, in disbelief over the announced product danger, quipped: "I'm only a baby. If the Bumbo people don't care enough about my safety to make a quality product, I have little hope for the rest of humankind. But let it be known that I'm not a wimp, and I'll sit in my Bumbo Seat until my tushy doesn't fit in it anymore."

Hannah, in peril

Bumbo info from: http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=26154&cat=10

New hair

I headed into the sun room a few minutes ago with the intention of taking Larry/Dad's picture to show his children and children-in-law that he no longer looks like John, Paul, George, and/or Ringo. After considerable nagging from several of us, Larry/Dad made the trek to his new barber in Mankato yesterday for a shearing. You can see results in the photo.
Why did I take a picture of Larry/Dad sleeping instead of waiting for him to pose in a wakeful state? For evidence, of course! Mr. I-Never-Sleep-for-More-Than-a-Few-Minutes has been snoring (in this exact position) for at least 45 minutes. Busted, buddy!

Plate returned to its rightful position

For those of you following the saga of the possibly purloined pumpkin plate, you can breathe a sigh of relief that Evan's "assman" skills were not required to remove it from the undisclosed location Larry/Dad so disgustingly made reference to in his response to my plate blog entry. Now THAT is a long sentence! Furthermore, a certain unnamed individual (my oldest child and the mother of my first grandchild) suggested that I was implying that Dave Grimmius was the culprit... you misconstrue my implications (to quote Dad/Larry). The plate simply had been moved to another location for the duration of Baby G's shower (by the same unnamed individual, no less!) so that the baskets-o-advice could rest on top of the bookcase.

If you've been wondering what the potentially pick-pocketed pumpkin plate looks like, here's a good shot of it. I put it on the carpet to provide background contrast so you'd see that it could not possibly have been mistaken for either of the pumpkin plates in a previous blog, even if I had pumpkin plates resembling either of them. Which I don't.

Plate in question

You might like to see the plate in its holiday setting, on the bookcase. Warning: this is going to get complicated. Here is the pumpkin plate grouped with a little orange pumpkin (ceramic), a little ghost (ceramic), and a sweet little pumpkin (human) in her famous Howler Monkey pose, on Uncle Charlie's arm. Hannah is older and bigger now, but still an adorable little pumpkin.

If anyone bothered to read this far, let me offer my apologies for the boring blog entry. I'm in procrastination mode as well as in complete denial about all the work I have to do tomorrow that I've avoided all weekend. Fall break was/is today and tomorrow, and I've frittered it away. Friggin' frittered it away. Not a good example for my impressionable children, is it?

Autumn light

Late yesterday afternoon Larry/Dad noticed a neighbor's tree, lit up from the west by the low sun. The leaves shimmered golden; one of those perfectly staged autumn moments. Capturing the gold and the contrast with the deeper colors of surrounding trees and shrubs was difficult because of the bright, pale-blue sky framing it, but you can get the idea. I was reminded of a lovely poem by Margaret Kirkland that paints the warm colors and gentle sounds of autumn.

Autumn Muse

Turquoise skies contrast
the gold gingko leaves clinging
to ancient branches, as they did
when druids hid behind their fans.

Appliqued quilts of leaves
warm chrysanthemums, bowed
by time and frost.
Green tomatoes hang.

A red bird and yellow leaves
float in silence
out and down.

Wind-chimes strike the knell
for harvest's end,
sounding the quiet of buried seeds
and hibernating roots,
to come forth
in the staggered timing of creation.

The mystery of the purloined pumpkin plate

Purloined. A deceptive word. Too much like pork loin. Let's try a different title, like “the mystery of the pilfered pumpkin”? Either word choice--pilfered or purloined-- plays to the ear when combined with “pumpkin”, but both overstate the situation. “The mystery of the missing pumpkin” is more realistic.

I suppose by now you are wondering if there is any substance to this entry. Yes, there is indeed substance, and here it is, right now, with no more waiting to get to the point. Over the weekend, a small ceramic pumpkin plate that had been sitting on a bookcase disappeared. Granted, there were numerous nefarious types coming in and out of the house all weekend, including our kids, Baby Hannah, my nephew Mike, several good friends (here for Annie’s Baby G shower) who are all moms and wouldn’t pilfer pumpkins of any kind, some Gustavus alums and their offspring in town for Gustie Homecoming, and Dave Grimmius. But realistically, none of those folks would have an interest in a small ceramic pumpkin plate…or would they?????

FYI: If you come across an orphan ceramic pumpkin plate, be aware that it doesn’t look like either of the plates below, so don’t bother reporting in if you find one like these in your car by mistake.

(left) This isn't even close.......(right) Better, but not much.

Proof that I exist

I'm adding one more photo to the collection from last weekend. After reading the previous blog entry, Annie commented to me via email that I didn't include a picture of myself with Hannah. Gee, how could I have overlooked that??? Ha ha. To ensure that little Hannah knows that one of her grandmas lives in Minnesota, here is proof. You can see we are in O-Town, wishing the weekend were beginning instead of ending. Isn’t Elisabeth an adorable mom? Isn’t Larry a smitten grandpa? Doesn’t Hannah look like a baby who knows the purpose of a camera? Don’t I look like a woman with a mission—to kidnap a baby and teach her to understand Minnesotan? End of story.

Back in the blogosphere again

I've been out of touch blog-wise for more than two weeks. Why? you ask. I have a job, I'm too tired at night, I don't have anything to say, laundry is waiting, my muse is on strike. However, because the past weekend provided a plethora of events to share, it's time to blog once again.

Hannah comes to Minnesota
Need I go on? Probably not, because most of the readers of this blog saw Hannah, held her and kissed her good-bye, and now miss her almost as much as I do. Hannah came on Thursday evening with her mom, but her daddy had professional responsibilities at a conference for the weekend and missed out on the fun. : o (

Annie, admiring Hannah's new hair look...near-baldness becomes her.

Play time started early in the morning each day. Elisabeth and Hannah appeared in our bedroom, listened to us snore, then greeted us with a sweet good morning of little cool hands and baby smooches. Grandpa's response was, "Hannah, go make some coffee and I'll get up later." He doesn't know what he was missing, and that's a good thing, or he'd have been out of bed in a flash. Hannah is a chatty, playful morning baby who jives to the theme song from "The A Team", "La Cucaracha", and turns up her tiny nose at "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Every girl has her favorites.

Hannah's vocalizations are in the realm of kitten purrs and puppy growls, which she uses to hold stimulating conversations with her family members. Charlie is especially adept at Hannah-communication. Add Spanish and English to the list, and you can understand what a multi-lingual chiquita she is becoming.

Hannah, giving Baby G's new baby gym a drooling workout

Before Elisabeth and Hannah arrived, Grandpa shopped for rice cereal and baby food peaches, his personal favorites. Hannah had tried rice cereal a couple of weeks ago, so was willing to take a bite or two. She wasn’t exactly peachy keen about the peaches, though, which didn’t bother Grandpa Larry a bit. He dug right in, at which point Hannah attempted to reclaim her rightful fruit.

Baby G's shower
The highlight of the weekend was a shower for Annie and Baby G, creatively planned by Baby G’s aunties, Elisabeth and Angie. The attendees were all moms, with the exception of Angie, but NO PRESSURE, Angie! Annie received wonderful gifts of all kinds…such generous guests! Angie compiled data sent in by guests to predict Baby G's arrival and vital statistics. The majority predict Baby BOY G. The guests brought cards with advice for Annie on being a mom, and for Baby G about how to handle being Annie's child. Oh dear...

Doreen, about to become Grandma Doreen, developed a cozy friendship with Hannah at the baby shower. As you can see by the expression on Doreen’s face, she is in a state of disbelief about how Evan can possibly mistake Hannah’s flat lambie toy for a bear. You can see by Hannah's expression that she's given up, and has decided to go along with her daddy's incorrect interpretation of her pet.

Everybody loves Hannah
Baby Girl reveled in attention from Auntie Annie, Uncle Tanner, Auntie Aunchie, and Uncle Charlie, and she entertained all of us with charm and sweetness. She shared some secrets with Baby G that we won't know about for a while, but we're fairly sure she included advice about being a newborn and how to make it work for everyone involved.

Here she is, waking up sleepy Uncle Charlie,

and snoozing with Auntie Aunchie.


Annie and Tanner practicing to be parents

Grandpa and the queen of polkadot fleece

Sisters, goofy as always

Hannah and Grandpa Charlie
On Sunday we moved the party from St. Peter to Owatonna. Grandpa Charlie drove over from Spring Valley to see Elisabeth and Hannah. G'pa and Hannah talked, watched football, and had a great time together. At four and a half months, Hannah knows how to charm her (nearly) 84 year-old great-grandpa! When Elisabeth, Charlie, and Annie were babies, Grandpa Charlie was the one who could calm their crying and distract them into laughter. He was a natural with babies, and still is.

All good things must come to an end, dang it!
We had to say good-bye before little Hannah figured out that being cold isn’t so much fun after all. Thank you, sweet kiddies, for a wonderful weekend.