A Little November Narcolepsy...

This is one of the funniest things that Coen has ever done. Today he fell asleep while eating. He had just taken a bite of his granola bar, took a sip of milk and then wham-o! Out like a light. I washed off his sticky hands and face with a rag and he didn't even budge, so I just put him down in his crib. It was pretty unusual.


For our birthdays last month (Conrad's and mine), we celebrated by having a few friends and neighbors over for a shed raising. They managed to get the floor done and the walls framed before it was too dark to see. Actually, they wanted to just drive a car into the backyard and keep working by the light of the headlights, but I was a party pooper and made them come in and eat. A couple more friends came by to help later in the week, and last weekend Conrad put the roof on, so it is starting to look pretty respectable. He even put shingles on it, even though "there ain't nobody lives in it!" as one of our sweet southern neighbors would say. I know I took pictures of our shed already, but I can't find them anywhere...I may have to look on Conrad's computer and then make an addendum to this post.

Coen loves to help build the shed, mostly by banging his spoon on the wall while his daddy hammers, and by taking the nails out of their boxes and spreading them around the yard. He is very good at walking now, and he loves his shoes because shoes mean that he gets to go outside. He likes to bring me my shoes and go bang on the door, as if to say, "You. Put on shoes. Take me out!" He can even say "shoe" now, though it sounds more like, "Tu! tu!" His other words include no, Jesus, dada, and mama (which refers to me and also to milk, although sometimes milk sounds more like "muhmuh" or he just communicates that he's thirsty by catching my eye and then running to the fridge and pulling on the door).



My friend Danielle helped me cut off all of his long hippy hair. Now maybe all of the sweet old ladies at the grocery store will stop calling him a pretty girl. This video shows Coen playing his new favorite game: cooking. He is always pulling out the pots and spoons and stirring us up something good.




Conrad has keeping busy at work. He is on a general medicine rotation now, and last I heard had written 73 notes in the past two months. That's a lot of writing--no wonder he gets home so late! He's still thinking seriously about doing anesthesia, but that may change when he starts his new rotations next semester. Mostly I think he's trying to pick out the best specialty to do in Alaska, so he can convince me that we should move up there.

I just started (and finished) reading Michael Pollan's Food Rules. It's a quick read, and very interesting. I'm also in the middle of Peter Pan. Besides that, I've been doing lots of working, cooking, and taking care of my menfolk. It's been a happy month.

Pumpkins and Persillade

Now that I have 20 more minutes of baby-free time I can put up the rest of our updates!

Conrad had intersession last week. That meant he only had to be at school from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. each day--pretty much a vacation! Seriously, it was so nice to be able to wake up together each day and for Conrad to be able to see Coen morning and night for a whole week. Conrad took some time to catch up on some important business, like watching some college football and digging in the dirt. Coen was very interested in helping with digging in the dirt, as you can see. We also were able to go on a couple of picnics last week and enjoy the lovely 60-70 degree weather we're having.



I spent most of the last month chasing after Coen and working for the Martha O'Bryan Center. I've really enjoyed my job there thus far because even though it's part-time and I get paid by the hour, I feel like (and am treated like) a competent professional. I've also started picking up a couple hours of physics tutoring a week, helping some Elementary College Physics students at Lipscomb.

Besides baking hundreds of cookies for Coen's birthday (most of which are now in our freezer), I've enjoyed cooking up some new recipes this month. If you ever get a chance, go to the NY Times website and look up Mark Bittman. We had a blast watching his cooking videos online the other day, and so far can attest that his homemade granola bars are scrumptious and his parsley persillade stuff is delicious in pork loin if you don't happen to have leg of lamb. Also, if you are ever puzzled over what to do with that eggplant you bought on sale at the farmers' market, I recommend you go to http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-eggplant-spread-recipe2/index.html. It's not very pretty, but trust me, it's delicious. :)

Here are a couple more pictures of Coen because I can't resist: one of his very mischievous face, and another one to show his new clapping skills. The pumpkins are from Grandma and Grandpa McKnight's garden. They came down for a couple days in early September and we had fun showing them all of our favorite parks and visiting the Carnton Plantation together.

C is for Coen

On his birthday a couple weeks ago we gave Coen a Cookie Monster theme party with some friends from Conrad's fellow VMS III-ers. On the way home Coen managed to take the lid off of a bowl of leftover chocolate chip cookies. He carefully took one out, ripped it in half, and stuffed it in his mouth. Conrad and I were laughing so hard we didn't even stop him as he took another one, shouting out some approving, "NUM YUM YUM!"'s.



Besides emulating Cookie Monster, Coen has been busy trying to toddle around. He also likes to play in the flower garden, swing long-handled spoons around like swords, and scream "Noooo!" when I change his diaper. We finally moved him into a front-facing carseat, and he seems fascinated with looking out the front windshield.

Baby (96 photos), by Rebekah Myler

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Conrad is in the full swing of his surgical rotation. Today he got up at 2:45 a.m. to go prep for rounds and it's 10:20 p.m. and he hasn't been home yet. On the plus side, his doctor clothes make him look quite handsome. Here is his first-day-of-school mugshot:

Coen and I have had lots of time together around the house this summer. He still loves to play with cooking utensils, and he has also discovered that the bathroom can be a magical place. So much toilet paper to pull off of the roll! He is also a Cheerio-eating machine. After battling with the picky-eater pouts and whines I decided that so long as he eats three veges a day, he can eat whatever else he wants. Usually the other things he wants are Cheerios and bread, but today he surprised me by wanting to eat the summer squash off of my plate.