May2005

Sunday May 1: Jeff and Eiche explore Cascade Park in Mill Valley. There is a trail through the redwoods next to a stream. Eiche wants to trail fallen branches into the stream as fishing poles and insists that Daddy carry one too. We see a BlackCrownedNightHeron visit the stream. Up the trail a short way is a fork in the stream, a bridge, and a waterfall.

Monday May 2: Eiche looks at Melissa using the "Mozilla" browser, and asks, "Is Mozilla a monkey or a gorilla?"

Eiche helps distribute the laundry to the laundry rooms Monday evening using his red Radio Flyer push-wagon. It's an early walker toy that he's now using with great strength and speed. Often Daddy has to tell him to slow down. If he goes too fast over a bump, one of the wooden slat sides of the wagon falls off.

Melissa goes to visit her parents for a week. Jeff copes well with a week as a "single dad", with detailed instructions and people helping out to watch Eiche, especially PapaEd and Nonna. After a tearful first evening, Eiche does well too.

May 14-15: Eiche is playing with his two plastic milk crates. Sometimes they are a table and chair in his "house", the curtained alcove in his room next to the sliding glass door to a small patio. Sometimes they are stacked up into a tower, which is usually a store where he sells milk to Mommy and Daddy. He also used his bent-willow basket pram as a burrito delivery cart by stacking it full of wooden boxes from a nesting boxes set.

May 21-22: Finally the weather seems sunny, warm, and springlike. Time to get out the summer clothes!

May 23: Eiche's willow bike basket has arrived from GrandmaJune and GrandpaGeorge. He likes the box it came in, too, which is just the right size to curl up in. He visits Muir Beach to meet his friend Lucas and his mother. They do lots of splashing in the little stream that flows into the ocean next to the beach.

May 24: Another playdate, with Milo and his mom Jennifer.