Took the little one Saturday to get some shoes - his first tried on big boy shoes - and at first when we put shoes on him, he refused to stand up. He would just slump down like a sack of rice. The salesman tried everything, but nothing worked, until the salesman went to get some other shoes, then he was up and running around and around. The salesman had to chase him around the fish tank they had in the store, and I had to go after him five or six times when he darted off down the aisle into the main part of the store. But they gave him a balloon which he played with until I took it away because he tried to bite it, and a weird little stuffed animal which he threw out of the stroller when I wasn't looking, so it's gone, and they took a couple of polaroids of him in his new shoes to send to the grands. (Note: I went back to the store today at lunch to get another pair for hot weekends, and they very kindly gave me another little toy. Somehow they got the idea that he threw the original one out the car window and enjoyed that story so much, I didn't bother to correct them.)

 Hurricane Ike pictures people have sent in

Ike pictures from around us - minus the office and our family. These were intended for sharing.

Here are a couple of others a friend of mine took:

Meanwhile, this is what my little one and his sister were doing during the power outage:

 Took the munchkin to the ear doctor and sure enough, he needs tubes, so surgery is scheduled for Oct. 13.

First he had a hearing test, which was pretty cool, and basically he can hardly hear out of his right ear for all the fluid, and the left is muffled. They say it's like walking around with your fingers stuck in your ears. The test was neat: we sat in a sound booth, with him on my lap. I had a foam game in my hands to keep his attention where we needed it, the out of either the left or right speaker, the tester would first call his name at increasing levels until he turned his head at which time a toy bunny or bear in a glass case above the speaker would light up and start drumming a little drum or clashing cymbals together. Then the same was tried with a whistle and an electronic noise. Poor thing would turn his head to the left no matter which speaker was going. The doc is worried this might affect his speech development, too. So we are worried and hopeful at the same time.

The waiting room was great, tho:

 Whew! Made it through - got electricity back up day before yesterday. Expect for things to start getting back to normal on Monday. Will post more then. . . little bit is trying to steal my mousepad.

Anything big was a hit, giraffes, elephants, great big fish, but everything's new to a 1 year old! So the other kids were just as much fun for him to look at as the animals. And we got a little treat, a bunny came right up to us in the food court, until a piece of bread sparked off a mob scene of grackles and scared it away. He did love the little train, though, and waved to anything that we passed: people, birds, rose bushes. . .