Benjamin Michael Singer -- 1.8 Years!

A Happy New Year 2006 to all!

My apologies that this website update took a while longer to get together. In mid-November we had (yet another) Major House Crisis: a large concrete block buried in our front yard shifted position during a big rainstorm and crushed our sewer drainage pipe, causing massive amounts of water to back up into our basement. While it's no hurricane damage, it has defnitely been a major inconvenience, as a whole bunch of stuff stored in the basement got ruined, the stuff that should be stored there is scattered in boxes in the garage and the rest of the house, and we're still dealing with companies to repair the damage. We've used our insurance coverage far more often in this house than I would want to. (See a few pictures at the end. The picture of the bookcases, where the water is a few inches deep, is the higher end of our basement...)

On a happier note, we've had great success in teaching Benjamin how to do some basic chores, such as raking leaves and sweeping the floor! ;) He's still enjoying his day care center, and recently has began repeating words we say, working hard on picking up language skills. Taking after his mother, he's decided that macaroni and cheese is the best food in the entire world and sometimes refuses to eat anything else; often, he puts unusual condiments on it, such as barbecue sauce, balsamic vinegar, and peach chutney. Benjamin is walking and running and trying to jump; he's a big climber, always trying to get on top of the furniture.

Jack and Lucia (Melissa's parents) came up from Austin for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and a good cooking time was had by all. The grandparents are most impressed with their grandson and can be talked into reading to him at any hour of the day or night. Over the holidays, Lucia helped Melissa stay focused on her dissertation work so she can defend this coming August (keep your fingers crossed!)and Jack was a great caregiver while Joel worked and Benjamin had no day care (after Christmas). For his second December holidays, Benjamin was still a bit overwhelmed with the lights, candles, and overall disruption of his routine. He really loves his new toys and board books, and his parents appreciate the new clothes he gets. (Uh-oh, another growth spurt. Time to get new shoes again!)

After Melissa submitted the latest draft of her dissertation proposal, we took a weeklong trip to San Jose to see friends and celebrate the new year. Pauline graciously hosted us for the first half, then we moved over to Jon & Beth's for the second half. Nad and Brian accompanied us to one of Melissa's favorite places, the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk, and Benjamin got to ride on his first merry-go-round! He liked it so much he demanded two more spins, despite being tired from the time change. It's a good thing that some Good Samaritan happened to give Melissa an 'unlimited ride' pass and Benjamin could ride for free with a paying adult!

Pauline threw us a wonderful party attended by several friends including two of Melissa's teaching friends: Kai Marks (eloquent wedding speaker) and a very pregnant Rachel Freed. Benjamin enjoyed running around with Griffin, who is just a few months older. Over the weekend, Benjamin loved playing with Ellie and Peter and Alex, who, combined, seriously outnumbered their tired parents! We attended a one-year-birthday party for Peter and Alex, and helped them open their presents, and also met beautiful baby Jason. Finally it was time to go back to the Midwest one more time -- hopefully 2006 will be a year of change, as Melissa finishes her Ph.D. and we search for new jobs and a new place to live, closer to friends and family!