Happy St. Patricks Day

This shirt Bruce brought back from Ireland for Eliza describes her perfectly. How are you feeling today? Smiley, Happy, Lively, Cheeky, Funny, Giggles.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

My Laddie's last night before coming home

Dear Brittney,

I hope to bring you to Ireland one day. It is a beautiful, green country with a strong dairy industry and amazing castles. I spent 55 Euros on souvenirs. The rest I spent on food and tipping the bus driver.

We saw the Cork Butter Museum this morning. I thought it was fascinating; I was the only one. They talked about how Cork, Ireland at one time was the world's largest supply of butter. They decided to combine the butter making and provide a quality, consistent product. It was the first "brand" name. So Cork butter it not only dairy significant, but also historical marketing significant.

We visited the Ireland version of the USDA. They had a grazing research herd. I think it would have been good to visit our first day as we got a nice overview of the Irish Dairy industry, but it was very repetitive after having visited several dairies. On top of that, our students were out all night so they were kind of dead for the tour. Unfortunately our guide still talked a long time and we had several other small delays today and didn't have time to go see the Keenan company. We probably could have made it, but there would have been no time for lunch and I was outvoted for skipping lunch.

Tonight we are back in Dublin. We had dinner with live Irish music again tonight. It was a lot of fun. They served corned beef and cabbage.

I've had a great time on this trip. Ireland is a beautiful, historical country.

I look forward to seeing you and Eliza tomorrow. I love you.

As far as Bruce taking me to Ireland some day, YES Please!!

Sleeping Beauty

She zonked 3/4 of the way through her breakfast - the spoon was on the way to her mouth. I couldn't stop giggling. Look how sweet she looks.


Lately she wants me to hold and rock her until she falls asleep. I really don't mind - she rarely lets me do it. She buries her face into the crook of my arm and snuggles in close. I can't get enough of those Eliza loves.

Yikes! She's 8 months old today.

A Day in Cork

We're in Cork tonight. There are several churches and cathedrals here, and a couple of rivers. We saw another dairy farm today that uses a Keenan mixer wagon. We also saw the Blarney castle and kissed the stone. This morning some of the students went horseback riding. While they were riding, I walked down to a national park just outside the city. There was a beautiful lake at the base of a mountain with a couple of islands in it. I kept seeing signs for a castle, so I kept walking to try and see it. Finally I decided I better head back and started running part of the way. When I got back to the city I saw a tower clock that said it was 10:10 and I was supposed to be back to the hostel at 10:10, so I sprinted up to the hostel. Then the horse riding students were 15 minutes late anyway.

I used the credit card to buy souvenirs today. You might want to make sure there is money to cover it.

We had dinner in a pub last night. They had live Irish music. It was a lot fun.


I'll tell you more about the castle and lake when I get home. I miss you. I love you.


Can I say that I am totally jealous of the live Irish music. I totally would have gotten up to do a jig! Here's to hoping he's bringing back an Irish CD :)

Silliness

Have I mentioned that she is very ticklish?

Play Time

This post is LONG overdue. (If it makes you feel better, I started this post well over a month ago, but it has sat unfinished in my edits). Baby Cakes got a few new toys for Christmas that she loves playing with; an exersaucer and an Elefun.

Exersaucer:


The first time we put her in the exersaucer, she couldn't decide which toy she wanted to play with. Her attention kept moving from toy to toy. Although you don't see it in the videos, instead of jumping up and down, she tends to rock it back and forth. The rocking actually doesn't stop there. She rocks back and forth while sitting on your lap, while sitting on the floor, while sitting in her high chair, and while sitting on the couch. Sometimes I can't believe how forcefully she can throw herself back.


The pictures and videos were taken at 5.5 months.





Blocks:

Baby Cakes likes to play with these wooden blocks.

She bangs them together, puts them in her mouth, stacks them on top of each other, and smooths them out all over the carpet. She gets excited when Bruce or I sit down to play with her. She loves to destroy the towers we try to build, and often demolishes them before we can even get a good start.

She is picky about which blocks she wants to play with. She prefers red and green over orange and blue. As you can see from these pictures, she tips the container towards her, sorts through the blocks until she finds the one she wants, then tips the container upright again. Two minutes later, she is finished with that one, sets it aside, and starts the process all over again. It's so funny that Baby Cakes already has preferences, and makes choices based on those preferences.




Elefun:
She seems pretty advanced to me. This toy is designed for babies 9 months and older. She was 5 1/2 months when she first starting playing with it. At first she just "danced" (rocked back and forth) to the music while Bruce and I turned it on for her. By the third time, she learned how to turn it on by herself (and she does consistently). By the fifth time, she knew how to put the balls back in the elephants ear for them to pop out again. She doesn't always do that on her own, but she knows that is the correct way to play and can do it on her own.

These pictures were taken the first time she played with it (shortly after Christmas). It amazes me that she can pick those little balls up with one hand. She likes to cup them in both hands. She can also grab them out of the elephants stomach. When all the balls are in the stomach, they are hard to get a good grasp, but Baby Cakes can do it.




The video was taken about a month ago - 6.5 months of age.


Swings:
Baby Cakes loves the swings at the playground. She giggled herself silly the very first time we put her on the swings. Too bad we didn't have the camera then. This video was taken her second time on the swings; still cute, but not near as giggly!!

Warning: The video may make you dizzy - she is swinging after all.








What it all boils down to is: Cakesters is a VERY HAPPY BABY! She rarely cries, whines a little when she is ready to eat, and smiles all day long. She is a little bundle of FUN!! She loves to get her picture taken. When I pull out the camera, she looks straight at the lens and cheeses it up. Rarely do I catch her not looking at the camera and smiling.

An Irish update

Can't wait to see his pictures!! Sounds amazing! Another copied email - notice his limerick about Limerick, and you can't miss his excitement about all thing dairy. Got to love that boy!

Hi Brittney,

Poor connection tonight.

I went for a very nice run this morning up the Shannon River, I
stormed Prince John's castle, a bridge across the river led up to the
castle wall, so I felt like I was crossing the mote into his castle,
it was awesome! Then I saw a cathedral and took a wrong turn. The
river had a Y in it, I thought I was running back down river when
really I was running up the other branch of the river, so I got an
extra mile in. Limerick really is a beautiful city.

There was a laddie from Limerick
He went by the name of Nick
He liked to run for fun
And row in the sun
Of all the mates, he was the pick.

We went to an agriculture college. The students really liked it and
said they'd like to do a foreign exchange here. I asked one of the
professors if their students would be interested in coming to our
school. He said no. They would prefer to go to New Zealand where
they can learn about grass feeding. Maybe if Russell is serious about
grazing at the Roth Farm, he'll send me here for a sabbatical to learn
how to do grazing. They use concentrates and grass feeding, one of
the highest producing dairies in the country. The students did a
great job asking questions and made me proud. We drove to the college
dairy and beef and sheep facilities (about a mile from campus). Then
we noticed we had a flat tire on the bus. Matt (our tour guide and
bus driver) had it fixed while we watched a presentation one of the
professors had done about the college at a recent conference.

Then we went to DairyMaster. They make dairy parlors, competitors to
DeLaval. Everything from milking machines, milk lines, carousel
parlours, activity meters. They even make milk tanks and detectors on
your tank that can send you a text message if your tank isn't cooling.
They have amazing machines that cut all the intricate pieces, and
they have a demonstration and testing room with sample parlors set up,
and a laser to put numbers on all the cow IDs. It was very
interesting. Anyone who is foolish enough to think the dairy industry
is outdated and dying, needs to visit such a place. It was very
modern and cutting edge.

Tonight we are in Killharney, tomorrow we will see the Killharney
castle and kiss the Killharney stone.

I love you and I love Eliza!

Love,
Bruce

A note from Ireland

Bruce is vacationing in Ireland while Baby Cakes and I are hanging out at home. Although you will be seeing oodles of pictures when my handsome hubby returns, here's an update of some of the things he's been doing. I copied and pasted the emails he has sent me.

March 9
We made it to Ireland. it's been a busy, long day. I'm not getting a signal in my room now, so I'm down at the internet cafe. I'm probably going to bed soon. Ireland is very green. Dublin is like other big cities, crowded with narrow streets. Tomorrow we'll see more of the city.

I hope you and Eliza have a good day.


March 10 am
Imagine sleeping with neighbors on all sides of us like our neighbors to the south of us. That seems to be the type that Hostels cater to. I slept good for a couple hours, then kept getting woke up.

Sightseeing in Dublin today and then a Jersey farm

March 10 pm

We saw St. Patrick's cathedral today and Christ's church. We did a hop on hop off tour of Dublin. Then we went to the Jersey farm. They had very nice cows, only the low producers on pasture. Keenan balances their rations for them. Their nutritionist was there for the tour. He said Dr. Drackley had been at the Keenan company last week to talk to them.

March 11
We went on a walking tour of Galway this morning. We saw the old town square, a church from 1300, walked along a river, and visited a college that reminded me of Hogwarts. It had a quad in the middle surrounded by the castle like college.


We visited the cliffs of Mohor this morning. They were amazing! When we first got up to the top, all we could see were mists. Then as we got ready to take a group picture in front of a castle at the top, the mists cleared and we could see the cliffs. They were really neat. I took lots of pictures.

We visited a dairy this afternoon. He was proud of his grazing management. He did a good job raising his calves with his own unique method. He took us in his conference room a philosophized for a long time. Not a good idea for college students who have been out all night. He has 3 farms separated by a pretty good distance. We spent 40 minutes at one farm. 30 minutes he spent telling us his philosophies, and 10 minutes showing us the baby calves. I've never been on a dairy tour were we spent so little time looking at cows.

Tonight we are in Limerick. It's my favorite place we've stayed so far. It's right on a river, I can see two bridges from my window. I went for a walk down to them in the hour we had before dinner. I plan to go for a run in the morning. We are also in a Clarion hotel instead of a Hostel. Last night we were on bunk beds again. I don't mind the hostels, but some of the students have been really grumbling about them. I wish they'd be more grateful.

I love you. I hope to hear from you soon.


I did tell Bruce that he needs to compose a limerick about Limerick. We'll see what he comes up with.

If you brush them, they will come???

7 Months

I really can't believe my baby is over 7 months old. She gets more and more adorable every day. She is so fun to watch - especially her funny facial expressions. She comes up with new ones every day. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in her little brain. It's only a matter of time before I find out what she is thinking about. She is already such a chatter box. I'm sure she will tell me everything she is thinking when she knows how to use words. We've been going to a ward playgroup every week, and it's really fun to watch her "play" or interact with other children. She still finds little boys entertaining.

Favorite Game(s): Pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, and pulling daddy's glasses off his face.
and throwing them too.
Favorite toys: wooden blocks, dinosaurs, dad's cell phone, silicon bracelets, and everything that is not meant to be a toy.

Favorite past times: giving hugs, giving kisses, going for walks, swinging on the swings at the park,



Favorite Food: sweet potatoes, peaches, bananas, peas, mom
New Tricks: pats her knees, shakes her head no
Quirky things: She snorts a lot when she laughs. She holds her arms out and rotates her wrists in circles while opening and closing her hands like she is grabbing for something. She tries to grab the pictures out of the books we read - it cracks me up.



She loves to watch people - or stare at them really. I call it her "Bruce mode."
When she is in unfamiliar places, she is very reserved and wants to watch people and figure them out. At home, where she is comfortable, she is crazy - giggly, wiggly, and way too much fun! (This is the same way Bruce is).
When she sees new faces, she stares straight at them for minutes at a time without moving. It is almost like she is looking into their soul and wondering if she should trust them or not. If she decides they are trustworthy, then she will smile and talk to them. If not, she turns her head the other way and won't look at them again. She has always been very observant - she seems to notice everything!

She still loves baths - she'll play in the tub forever.

She loves to play the piano and sing - music captivates her attention.

She doesn't like people to touch or hold her hands, not even me. If you try to grab her hand, she pulls it away. She has always been like that, even as a newborn, I've just never mentioned it before. She has only wrapped her hand around my finger 2 or 3 times since she was born.

She eats paper. She grabbed an envelope out of my hand and started eating it. When I tried to fish the pieces of paper out of her mouth, she refused to open it. When I used my fingers to pry her mouth open, she locked her gums shut. I couldn't get the paper no matter how hard I tried. After she swallowed the paper, she opened her mouth really wide to show me it was gone. I felt like she was mocking me.

She likes to look at people upside down. She will throw her head back so all the blood rushes to her head, and then tries to look at the person next to her. I'm really not sure why she does this, but she does it all the time.

She likes to watch me cook. She prefers to help me by clinging to me, grabbing spoons out of my hand, and "opening" packages. Sometimes I just have to put her down and let her cry - babies shouldn't be hovering over a frying pan.

She is very ticklish. The bottom of her feet, her neck, and most definitely her belly. She giggles and giggles and giggles if you tickle her - oh so cute.


We sure do love you, Eliza!

NESA contest in Maine

After driving for nearly 20 hours round trip, Dr. Richards made it to and back safely from Maine. He drove one of three 15 passenger vans shuttling 32 (8 teams of 4)students to a livestock judging, quiz bowl, and oral presentation competition. The students took second place overall, falling behind Penn State by a mere 7 points. They took first place in livestock judging, and first place in oral presentation. If it weren't for that blasted quiz bowl (in which they did terrible), they would have taken first. On a positive note, no one has gotten that close to beating Penn State since who knows when.

They competed against big name schools like UCONN, UMASS, URI, UNH, Rutgers, and Penn State. You can read the article on the Delval homepage here.
I'm glad his team did well. Next year, they may even win. I'm also glad that he is home - Baby Cakes and I missed him.