Life in the Boonies

Storm Warning
by Jack Higgins

I picked up this book from my in-laws while vacationing with them in Mexico. It came recommended as a spy story set in WWII. At first I had a hard to getting into the book. There are several scenes each with a set of characters that have no relations to each other. The author also jumps from one scene to the next. It took some effort to follow who and what was happening. Since there wasn’t much else to do when Frank napped, I persevered and I’m really glad. Close to half way into the book, everything gets really exciting. At the end I couldn’t put it down. Anyways, I wouldn’t classify it as a spy story though. The focus is on the journey of a sail vessel trying to reach Germany towards the end of the war. They face the danger of being caught by their enemies, the extreme weather conditions, and each other under those circumstances. All the side scenes and characters come into play and are all tied into the story towards the end. Do they make it Germany? Who survives and who is sacrificed? I don’t want to give away anything for those who wants to read it. There is adventure, suspense, and even love.

Since returning from our vacation, Frank seems more grown up. When he is trying to do something or go somewhere and is being prevented, he demonstrates frustration. He wants more control and that is most obvious in the feeding part. He refused being spoon-fed. He is more willing to eat stuff he sees us eating. So, we have altered the schedule so Frank now eats dinner with us at 7pm. He goes to bed at 8:30 and wakes up at 7:30. Maybe this whole time we put him to bed too early. He wakes up happy and plays until it is breakfast time.

He loves bananas. Toast is good only when he feels like it. We gave him rice and it was hard to eat with his hand so he allowed mom to feed him with a chopstick. He also really wanted to grab the chopstick and play with it. Lots of food gets tossed on the floor. He likes to bite pieces off the apple. Spit it back out onto the tray. Look at it and then eat it. Oranges are a favorite. He will eat the entire orange without hesitation and still demand more. Grapes is another one. He really liked stir-fry bell pepper for one night. Baby carrots he will eat some when he feels like it. It has become much harder to feed Frank but we have been extremely lucky for a long time where he ate everything with enthusiasm.

Sleeping has been wonderful this week. Two solid naps, 9:30 to 11 and 3ish to 4ish. Bedtime at 8:30 and up around 7:30 with no wakings. He hasn’t fought any of the naps either so the days are going very smoothly. In playtime, Frank has learned to duck to get under the table. He use to get stuck and bang his head on the crisscross legs. Now he ducks really low and commando style crawls under it to surface on the other side. He loves the stairs. Daddy has invented a new game where we toss a toy up the stairs and Frank goes up to where it landed and throws it back down. When it doesn’t make it all the way down, he comes down the steps and continues until the toy is at the bottom. Then he remains where he is waiting for the next toss. Over and over again, giggling and laughing as he watches the toy roll down the stairs. After his falling, we decided to watch him more carefully rather than block off his access. He is showing extreme balance and skill as he turns, leans and reach for the toys on the stairs. Sometimes he can’t see it but when mom points to it and says “up, up” he goes up more to look for it. He also gets the balls that mom points at but doesn’t yet retrieve it back to her, just throws it to the side instead.

Frank has learned the exact button to press on his toy to start the balls from shooting out. When it stops, he goes the press it again and again. Sometimes he will go after the balls. We play toss the ball back and forth. Frank’s aim is random. So far we have visited the playground everyday. Frank goes down the slide, crawls around, tries to bother the ants, picks up all kinds of stuff and almost eats them. He stands with his butt leaning against the slide. He enjoyed watching several kids play basketball. He didn’t like the swing at all. We have just met a daddy with a 6-month old girl that lives close by. Although she will be going to daycare soon, we hope to find time on the weekends to play with them in the future.

• Jan 23 - Breakfast: handful of Cheerios, 1 banana, 1 whole wheat toast, 7oz milk; Lunch: 1/4 avocado, 3/4 toast, 1 orange, 2 baby carrots, 1/4 slice of cheese, 2oz milk; Snack: 1 cup grapes, 2 cookies; Dinner: some pork, 1/4 apple. Frank stopped eating his normal cereal mix. He now demands food he can examine, with his hand before putting into his mouth. Even avocados are becoming difficult, as he likes to squeeze them and mush them around everywhere.
  
• Jan 22 - He’s been sleepy and tired yesterday and today. Then fever last night but went away in the morning.
  
• Jan 20 - Cereal mush is no longer desirable to Frank. He doesn’t like to be spoon fed and fights to make a big mess. He is showing great interest in whatever we eat. Also now he lets his sippy cup sit on the tray and takes a drink in between his meal. We gave him pork and he loved it, until the spices caught on to him after eating a whole bunch. Then he got mad and was sticking his tongue out and trying to wipe stuff off with his hand. Some grapes helped clear his palette. Frank lost his balance and fell down the stairs today. He got too interested looking at stuff that he didn’t see he had no more space for his feet. Fast recover for Frank but mom is still worrying about damages.
  
• Jan 19 - Nursed alittle. Definitely no longer interested. We played by the slide and Frank tries to climb all the way up but gravity always wins. He liked standing there and throwing wood chips onto the slide and pounding on it.

Up early to catch our flight, Frank was alert and interested in his new surroundings on the Bart. Checkin and security was so smooth we had lots of time at the gate to play. Frank ate a banana while standing up and just chomping pieces off. Then he ate a English muffin. He crawled around and we met another baby on our flight. She was the same age but already walking. We breezed through customs and found grandpa waiting for us outside. First day we met all the other family members by the pool and Frank crawled in and out of the kid’s pool. He cruised along side the edge and found himself in the deeper end. When trying to crawl away, his face went into the water. Didn’t scare him, just some coughing to clear the water out.

We went out to dinner several nights and Frank ate his own dinner and then everyone gave him tastes of their entries. He never stopped eating, to everyone’s surprise (except mom and dad). Some of that includes, baked goat, quesedillas, huechinago, steak, chips and salsa, ribs, and lots of fish. Sometimes we forgot to pack his sippy cup so he drank from our cups. Lunch and Breakfast was always on the deck. Aside from his usual, Frank got an assortment of Mexican cookies, oranges, watermelon, apples. He even tried pop corn once and a lick of our ice cream cone. We all had to take turns feeding and eating. With all the extra new tastes, Frank stopped wanting to nurse mid week. With many more offerings and being turned down, Jan 16 morning marked the last nursing.

Frank took on a whole different sleeping schedule the entire time. He sleep through the night but always woke up around 5:30am. On several days mom took him out to the beach. We played in the sand and watched the sunrise and sometimes the cruise ships that came in. Other days grandma took him and he crawled up and down the stairs and helped with the landscaping. Frank likes to throw sand onto the chairs and then make them bounce by pounding on the chairs. He take a solid morning nap and then we go off to the pool to play. More pool or beach time after lunch and then a second nap. Lots of kids at the kid’s pool but Frank mostly played by himself. Not really interacted with any except to go after their toys that interested him. Frank loved watching the birds. Ones on the deck made him stop eating. He also yelled at them once cuz they were getting too close to his food. The pelicans on the beach was another favorite.

Frank started a gargling contest. He drinks some water, gargle it for a long time, then either let it run down his front or swallow it. Great uncle Eric took up the challenge but since he was gargling booze, he couldn’t keep up with Frank. As Frank got familiar with the pool, he would crawl to the edge, put his hand in as if to test the water, then slide his feet in to get down from the edge. On the beach, daddy and uncle Al found big rocks on the sea and offered them to Frank. Frank immediately tested them in his mouth and discovered how salty and yucky they taste. He played with sand and for the most part didn’t eat it. We played bury Frank’s legs. We left one toe sticking out in the sand and Frank looked at it with great curiosity.

Frank let go several times while cruising to get from the couch to the coffee table and back. He is also doing this thing where he locks his knees and sticks his butt in the air forming a upside-down V shape. Then he looks through his legs at us. Yoga down dog?

• Jan 8 - While mom was brushing her teeth this morning, Frank went downstairs by himself and played with his new musical table. Mom was later looking for him upstairs until she heard the songs playing. He must feel much more in control now that he can go up and down without other people’s help. For lunch Frank didn’t eat his usual bowl of cereal etc. He ate half of what mom was eating… eggplant and chicken stir-fry, saucy tofu and chicken, and steamed rice. There was vinegar, hot sauce, soy sauce, salt, sugar, and garlic cloves and Frank ate it all and wanted more when it was gone. This is the first time where Frank ate our food as a meal. Previously, he has tasted our food after he was done eating his usual.
• Jan 7 - Since we have returned from WA, Frank is not chewing on everything in site. He is showing more interest in flipping the pages of his books rather them eating it. We have decided to start reading to him again. Of course, he flips the pages back and forth so the stories are told not as printed. Some embellishments and additional parts involving characters such as Franklin always make it more entertaining to the other adult in the house. Frank likes Uncle Al’s presents (board books with flip flaps) the best. We are also giving him other board books to turn the pages and to teach him not to chew on them. Frank is also starting to take long morning naps. Some have lasted over 2 hours. His afternoon naps is at times a struggle and usually short. When he does miss that nap, he is not fussy and can still play nicely til bedtime. Maybe going to 1 nap soon?
  
• Jan 6 - Frank now climbs up and down the entire staircase unassisted. He was so excited in practicing, he refused to take his afternoon nap. He goes all the way up, then all the way down, then all the way up again. Sometimes he changes his mind midway and goes the other way.
  
• Jan 3 - Frank climbed down two steps while midway on the staircase. He went backwards and slided down his legs just like grandma showed him at the dock house. Then he went back up again. Later at the top of the stairs, he looked down, turned around, and came down the first step. Then back up again.

As daddy arrives on the 22nd, we officially starts the holiday celebrations that will last til Jan 1st. This week Frank had several new advances and new experiences. He quickly learned that to make the pan cover spin and wobble, he had to throw it while holding on to the rubber top. He is now expert in this art and does it continuously to everyone’s delight and earache. The wooden pegs that goes Thump is still a favorite activity but now Frank knows not all things can be spit out of his mouth that way. He has tried the yogurt cup, the measuring cup among others. As for signing, he might be doing some but maybe not intentionally yet. He does the cookie sign during feeding but is not looking at us. He puts both hands together and twists one hand back and forth. He definitely understands the milk sign (along with the words) but no signing it back to mom yet. He kicks with joy and smiles when asked “you want some milk milk?” Along that thought, Frank now takes food out of his mouth and either throws it on the floor or puts it back into his mouth. This is how we discovered he didn’t like broccoli. He also blew raspberries to indicate that he didn’t like it. He bites pieces of Cheerios off with his front teeth, takes it out, examines it, then eat the pieces one at a time. A lot more ends up on the floor now. Many dadadada sounds all week.

Christmas morning was exciting and fun. Frank had his own big pile of presents after the sorting elves were done. He wore his Chinese outfit hand imported by Grandma Siu Lan. Frank crawled around and pulled ribbons and tags off while we tried to put them back on to keep track who and what. He found Uncle Al’s CDs and threw them on the floor. He pulled on the tree and ornaments. The kitty hide from him the entire time. Frank got book and toys from relatives near and far. The immediate favorite was a jar of plastic interlocking beads. Frank tried to Thump with them but found he can make blowing sounds with one end of the bead. He even took a morning nap in yet another new house. We opened presents quietly and whispered happy noises until he woke up. Boxes, paper, tags, ribbons, packing material, and opened presents were everywhere and half of the day has passed.

Another trip to the dock house, but this time on Grandpa’s boat instead of the ferry. Frank crawled around inside and fell off a step in the blink of an eye. Good thing he has a hard head. He played on the steering wheel and posed nicely for all the photos. Frank knows this house now. He happily played and crawled and found the pan drawer. We had a laugh attack doing stand-up, fall down session on the mattress we put on the floor. Mom stands Frank up and lets go. He sits down or falls over and giggles. He hasn’t let go to stand since last time. Noticeably, he holds on to my leg with less force. On the way back, Frank took a nap with mom in the boat. He slept nicely until we docked again. When we ran over a log with a big noise, Frank opened his eyes for a second and then went back to sleep.

Back in Burlington, we discovered that Frank napped better when we tire him out. It was just a matter how how many people it took to do that. We played “where’s mommy?”, while mom peaks out at the end of the hallway. Frank scoots over to find her. Then grandma says “where’s grandma?”, and peaks out the other end of the hall. Frank scoots over there to find her. Back and forth, back and forth. Then he napped for 2 hours. The next two days we played in the pool. Frank was scared at first. His death grip on mom’s swimsuit lasted for 2 min. We showed him how to make splashes with his hand and that was the end of the scare. Frank splashed to no ends. When we finally removed him from the pool (because we had dinner guests coming soon) he screamed and kicked and was unhappy until he got rinsed off, newly clothed, and played with. He slept well that night so we did it again Sunday. This time daddy went in with him. They played motor boat (daddy holding him and moving him around with sound effects) from one end of the pool to the other. More splashes and fun.

The flight home was delayed due to delays of connecting passengers. Then delayed again due to mechanical problems. They let us deplane so Frank played in the waiting area and banged on windows and looked out at airplanes. Finally we took off and Frank got very hooty. He fussed and fussed but eventually fell asleep in mom’s arms. That nap lasted the rest of the flight so he was well rested when we landed. All those announcements didn’t even wake him. Some more waiting with luggage and then onto the bus and then onto the Bart. Finally we made it home and it was already Frank’s bedtime. First he needed some dinner. He definitely remembered home even though it has been 3 weeks. He crawled right in, found his familiar toys and was happy playing. When it was bedtime, he wanted to play more and resisted some. He was also tired from traveling so soon fell asleep. That marked the end of that adventure.