BGFB

Something cheerful...here's Miles with "Big Giant Fluff Bear" that I got for him at Costco. As you can see, the bear is enormous, the tag says 53" which is 15" taller than Miles.

So, how is Miles? Hard to say...he cried when I told him that Ethan died. He has been asking "why do some people get sick and die?" which is a hard question to answer, even for grown-ups! And Miles says that he "misses Daddy" but it's hard to get a sense of what exactly he's feeling. I've done a ton of reading of how to help children grieve, and the most important messages are: (1) allow your child to be sad/mad/neutral/happy; (2) use age-appropriate language, and definitely don't say "Daddy's sleeping" and such; (3) allow for some regression in behavior. With that said, Miles has wet his pants four days in a row, thought he has been fully potty-trained since September, with very few accidents. But if that's the worst of it, I can live with it.

On a more fun note, I brought Miles to a local "All-Comer's" Track Meet sponsored by Bellingham Parks yesterday. In his first race ever, Miles placed third in the 50m hurdles! That kid can fly! It was so fun to watch, and Miles was SO proud of himself. I'll try to post video next time, but it's super entertaining. In case you're wondering, the hurdles are about 3" off the ground. Miles also competed in the "long jump" and jumped 3'7" (taller than him!). Yay Miles!

~Grace

Madison: Children's Museum & Ella's

This morning, I went to a session at the conference, then met Claudia and the kiddos at the Madison Children's Museum. In the afternoon, we met Seth's Grandpa Dave at Ella's for ice cream (and a carousel ride):

Thanks Grandpa Dave for a nice treat on a sweltering day.

Here's Miles climbing the rock wall:

Madison!

Miles and I are in Madison, WI. I am presenting a paper at my big interdisciplinary conference: the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management (ISSRM, "Izz-rim"). We flew into MSP, and stayed with Claudia for a day; and today we -- Claudia, Abby (her 5 y.o. daughter), Miles, and I -- drove to Madison. We met up with old friends and colleagues, and I present my paper at 8:00AM tomorrow!

A full set of photos can be found at: http://gracesadventures.shutterfly.com/221 but here's a sneak preview: