Three

RRRRRRRING!!! – The big green gourd made a strange sound. Again – RRRIIINNGG!!!! Snowden turned and looked at the strange vegetable. It was about 12 inches long and a pleasing green color slashed with white and yellow stripes. It sat upright on the living room floor casting a duck shaped shadow against wall. Snowden looked curiously at the ducky gourd and crawled toward it. When she reached it she pushed herself into a sitting position and kicked at squash with her foot. It continued ringing until Snowden’s swift kicked knocked it over.
“Hello?” The gourd said. “Hello? Snowden?”
Snowden leaned toward the Gourd and yelled, “DOH DOH DOH!”
“Good, I was hoping you would answer. Snowden, this is Baby Beanstalk.”
Snowden’s eyes widened. She knew that Baby Beanstalk was an unusually accomplished infant, but she did not know that young Beanstalk had added speech to her retinue of powers. Snowden leaned in closer.
“Listen Snowden, I have something very important to tell you. You must listen carefully, OK?”
Snowden nodded vigorously.
“There is problem at the Pumpkin farm and you must help me fix it.” Snowden continued to nod even though she had no idea what pumpkin farm was. “There is a magic red gourd,” Beanstalk continued, “that must be brought to Seattle. This gourd is  very special Snowden. It is the beacon that calls the Great Pumpkin to the city. If the red gourd does not come to Seattle, there will be no Halloween.”
Snowden stopped nodding and looked very serious.
“If it does not get to Seattle, there will be no Halloween!”
Being a mere 9 month-old child Snowden had no real idea of what Beanstalk was saying. What was Halloween? Who was the great Pumpkin? Even without answers to these questions, Snowden could here the seriousness in Baby Beanstalk’s voice and leaned closer to the green gourd. “Snowden, you must go to Craven farms and bring the gourd back to Seattle!” Snowden look perplexed. “Do you understand? You must go to Craven farms and bring back the Red Gourd!”
“ma Ma MA!” Snowden responded.”
“Good idea, ask your mom!” There was a click and the gourd was silent.
It would be nice to think that Snowden considered the words of Beanstalk carefully and then, in her baby way, asked her mom what to do. But you must remember that Snowden is only 9 months old. All she did was prod the green gourd with her foot a couple of times and then crawl off in the direction of her bookshelf.

Thankfully, other events were in the works. Snowden’s mom had a friend named Jennifer who loved fall. At the same time that Snowden was on the gourd with Beanstalk, Snowden’s mom was on the phone with Jennifer planning a trip to the Pumpkin patch at Craven farms. Was this mere coincidence or had Baby Beanstalk mastered some dark art of mental persuasion and convinced these unwitting adults to conform to her will? Alas, we will never know. Regardless of the cause, Snowden, her Mom and her Dad were soon packing the car and heading out towards the spacious Pumpkin patches of Craven Farms.

On the drive to the farm Snowden began to put the story together in her head. Her mom and dad had shown her pictures of pumpkins a kept saying Pumpkin Farm. Snowden remembered that Baby Beanstalk had told her about a Pumpkin Farm and that there was something very important to do at the farm. The words “Red Gourd” echoed in Snowden’s head. She did not know what this meant, but she knew that it was important.

When the family finally arrived at the farm they parked and got out of the car. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day. Snowden was not happy to have to squint into the sun and was happy to turn her back to the brilliant October sun and settle into baby-bjorn to begin the walk to the Pumpkin patch. Snowden and her family walked around the back of a red barn and opened the gate to farm.

In the barnyard was a sight that would warm the heart of any true lover of the fall harvest. Children of all ages ran around the yard climbing on top of gigantic pumpkins that seemed to be melting under their own bulk. Some people were eating hotdogs and chili that they had purchased from a food stand in one of the farm outbuildings while others perused the overflowing bins of small gourds and pumpkins. The real action was to found in the pumpkin patch.

Spreading over several acres to south of the barnyard were fields of pumpkins. Children played tag while couples earnestly discussed which pumpkin to select. Solitary individuals pushing wheelbarrows laden with several orange pumpkins trailed after packs of excited children. It was a sight to behold.

Snowden was most concerned with finding the Red Squash. While her mom talked to Jennifer on the cell phone, Snowden strained to see if Baby Beanstalk was at the farm. Amongst the throngs happy children cavorting in the yard there was nary a sign of Baby Beanstalk or her flowerpot hat.

Having found Jennifer and her boyfriend Chris, Snowden headed out to Pumpkin patch. Snowden tolerated the usual taking of photos but begin to get ancy when the discussion over which Pumpkin to select ran too long.  “They all look the same!” she wanted to yell. “Besides, what we really need is a RED GOURD!!”  This was all rendered in her baby patios and her parents assumed she was hungry. They packed her back into bjorn and started walking back to the yard. On the way to some benches, where they planned to eat, they passed by a truck size bin marked RED GOURDs.
Snowden’s dad stopped. “Hey look at those! Red Gourds – those look cool.” At the mention of Red Gourds Snowden’s head turned to see what was being discussed. She saw a large pile of cartoonish looking reddish pumpkins. These were what Beanstalk was talking about.

Snowden got a close up view of the Red Gourds as her dad, who was wearing her in bjorn, leaned over the pile of squash, nearly bonking Snowden’s nose on one of the rosy orbs. Snowden’s mom and Jennifer arrived at the Red Gourd bin, followed by Chris who was pushing a wheelbarrow full of pumpkins. The adults poked and prodded the squashes talking about which ones to pick.

Snowden waved her arms and looked searchingly at the pile of Red Squash trying to figure out which one she needed to pick. She examined gourd after gourd by was unable to see any real difference amongst them. Snowden’s dad selected a Red Squash and carefully placed it on the wheelbarrow. The group moved onto the shade of some trees where Snowden and her mom  settled down to nurse.  Snowden did not want to nurse. She had more important things to do. She had to find Beanstalk. While her mom held her Snowden arched her back and squirmed about looking for Beanstalk. To her left – no Beanstalk. To her right – no Beanstalk. In front of her – NO BEANSTALK! In a last desperate move Snowden pulled herself up against her mom’s shoulder and peered hopefully across the farmyard. At the edge of yard, right where the corn maze started Snowden caught sight of a small child crawling along the wood chip path. On her head was a flowerpot hat. It was Beanstalk! Snowden waved her arms and made eye contact with Beanstalk.

Snowden soon found herself back in Baby Bjorn as her friends and family walked to a shady corner of the yard to eat some pumpkin muffins that her mom had made. Snowden was happy to see that Baby Beanstalk was hiding in the flower bed next the chosen lunch spot. As the adults talked about incomprehensible and boring things like jobs and movies, Snowden rolled near the flower bed.

“Snowden!”
Snowden turned and saw Beanstalk among the flower.
“Did you get the Red Squash?’
Snowden shrugged.
“You have to get it!!”
Snowden looked cross. How was she, a mere 9 month old, supposed to figure which of these mysterious gourds to select? Snowden gestured toward the wheelbarrow full of gourds. Baby Beanstalk carefully crawled toward the wheelbarrow. The adults, deep in conversation, paid no attention to wheelbarrow. They did not see Beanstalk rapidly climb onto the pile of gourds and inspect the Red Squash. They did not see her give Snowden a big thumbs up followed by broad toothless smile. They did, however, hear the joyful yelp that Snowden, who was by now sitting up and waving toward the wheelbarrow, let loose.

Her Dad had picked the right Red Squash. Snowden immediately relaxed and fell back into her normal pattern of eating and sleeping. She gave little thought the importance of the Red Squash. But, as Halloween approaches, she may once again get a desperate phone call from Baby Beanstalk, reminding her of the roll she played in bringing Halloween to Seattle.

If you’ve met Snowden, you’ve likely met Christmas Dog. Christmas Dog was a stocking gift to Sean last year, right before Snowden’s birth. His is a 6″ Jelly Cat stuffed animal officially named “Mutt Tot” by the company. Dog moved into Snowden’s future bassinet once we brought him home to make it look warm and welcoming. Mutt Tot had a companion in Monkey Tot, a shower gift. Once Snowden could pick up toys, these two were her interchangeable favorites. At about 7 months old though Snowden made clear her strong preference for Dog. In fact, she wanted Dog with her on walks, in the car, to go to sleep, while nursing, on the floor playing, during diaper changes . . . you get the picture. Soon Dog, weary from backpacking and camping came to us asking for a vacation. Sure, he’s had baths and all, he enjoys his time in the dryer fluffing his coat but more often than not, when Dog fell to the floor, he landed with one paw over his eyes, a clear sign of exhaustion. We lived in fear of Dog’s disappearance. A search of the local shops for a backup companion was futile, there were no Mutt Tots in the vicinity. If only there was a place to go where one could search all the toys in the country, and beyond, to find a Dog to adopt . . . and I searched online and found two right away. UPS delivered our new additions today. Snowden was delighted. She waved them each in turn over her head a few times, smiling and exclaiming and then sat up to examine each ones’ tags and silky ears very carefully. Christmas Dog is, at this moment, lounging in the dirty clothes hamper and one of her new dogs is wedged under her sleeping head in the crib, with a smile on his soft face. A big welcome to Mutt Tots 2 and 3!

Our weekend flew by and it was really nice. Snowden’s cold was a handful this weekend so I look back and think I didn’t get anything done, but we had a good couple of days off as a family. On Saturday, it was windy and rainy here, we went out to a Cyclocross Race at St. Edwards Park. It was a great course to watch (and fun for Sean to ride in) because St. Ed’s is our favorite park, we know it so well. I wore Snowden in the backpack with the rain canopy and it worked great. I took her out despite her cold because I figure the fresh air is better than anything really. She stayed warm and learned that having a runny nose outside on a dripping windy day is life in the NW. At the race there was even a beer garden. At 10:30am the race announcer said “Breakfast is Served! Beer garden is open!” Sean partook after his race, and I shared a few sips. It was so festive with the wind blowing and cyclists all muddy and racing around the upper grassy part of the course, going over the barriers right in front of us, Snowden practicing her waving. Once home we all took a nap and later walked down to Zoka for a cup of coffee. And I’ll admit, Sean and I shared a piece of peanut butter pie.

Sunday, Snowden woke up at 6am. It was a very gray morning threatening rain. We bundled the babe in her jogger, grabbed a coupon we had for the new Herkimer Coffee shop in the U-District, and walked up there for a latte. As you see, going out to coffee is a big part of the weekend in the city. We liked Herkimer, Sean plans to go back to use the big table to get some grading done this week.

After Snowden’s short morning nap we went into Ballard to do our farmer’s market shopping. We came home with bags full of fall veggies: squash, potatoes, kale, beets, turnips, and a sweet pumpkin.

In the evening we went to Vera’s house to celebrate my birthday. Patti made an amazing lasagna and fruit salads; she and Terry laid out chips and a Tuscan salsa and had a Whole Foods carrot cake for me! Dinner was delicious and I think I can speak for everyone that it was a very nice evening. Snowden and Indy played together pleasantly and Patti commented that the 11 month age gap is only going to get smaller and smaller. It’s true, I hope they become good friends. My Baughn/Stetter family got me amazing gifts! The Stetters gave me a beautiful knitting book, Hand Knits for the Home, and an incredible design book called Off the Wall-Wonderful Wall Coverings of the Twentieth Century. I’m completely enthralled with both! I’ve uploaded my two favorite patterns so far.

Patti, Terry and Vera gave me two, yes two, coats. They deserve their own blog, that will come soon with pictures. Needless to say, with two coats from Anthropologie I’m feeling like one stylish 31 year old mama!

It was a wonderful weekend even though I can hardly get to my desk, there are dirty dishes in the sink, the bathtub needs cleaning and Snowden’s potty is sitting on the living room floor needing attention. I need to relax my expectations and give Snowden the full time attention she needs, that, and bring in some reinforcements for a few hours this week so I can keep my business running smoothly without loosing my mind.