Sunset on the Beach
Greetings friends and family,
I (Edmund) have just returned from a month of east coast travels. What an adventuresome month it was. My first trip took 
me to Holden Beach, one of the finer beaches in North Carolina if I do say so myself. I loved spending time in our beach house. There were so many Pattishall relatives to entertain. I do believe they found me to be quite the hit. I fell in love with my 8 year old cousin, Emma. I am told I met her last summer, but you'll have to excuse my 4 week old memory. Whatever Emma did, I wanted to do. I got my first taste of Congo Bar (a cookie/brownie dessert) because when I saw Emma eating one, I did a u-turn to follow her. I didn't know what she had. It could have been dirt, but I knew if she was eating it, it had to be good.
We spent the early mornings and late afternoons by the ocean. I spent a lot of my time in a kiddie pool right next to the water. This let me play in the water without getting crashed upon by rough waves. Several relatives took turns playing with me so mommy and daddy could catch some of those rough waves. Guess what! On one occasion mommy swam into the ocean past the breaking waves, when all of a sudden she saw a fin appear above the water about 5 feet away. She didn't know what it was. Her first thought was "shark." But then daddy and my cousin Ian confirmed it was a dolphin. Can you believe it? I'm not sure I do, as I wasn't able to witness the event with my own eyes. I was too busy sitting in my little beach chair figuring out how to replace the lid on a Parmesan cheese container (very important work).
When the sun was fiercest, mommy and daddy brought me in for lunch and a nap. I'm told a tradition at the beach is to eat lunch while watching "The Price is Right." Even though I'm not supposed to watch tv, I
did manage to catch a few minutes of the program while eating my lunch. I've become quite the Plinko fan. Often, during lunch however, I didn't let mommy or daddy watch "The Price is Right", for I discovered a large yellow broom in the pantry. I became quite enamored with the broom. As it was quite cumbersome, I required some assistance during my sweeping times (during my parents' lunchtime of course). I'm thinking a janitorial career may be in my future.
The week at the beach was filled with excitement but had to come to an end. I let mommy and daddy know I was none too thrilled with ending my vacation during the car ride back to Chapel Hill. I refused to take a nap and made myself heard from the back seat. They look back now and laugh, but wait until they make me leave next year.
After a week back in the routine at school, mommy and daddy again put me in the car and drove me to some unknown locale. I'm told it was an airport. I loved seeing the big planes up close. Sometimes I see and hear them overhead at school, but this was much more fun. But wait, it gets better. Mommy and daddy took me on several of these big planes. I slept for the majority of the plane rides, but when I was awake I was in awe of my view.
After arriving at the airport in Albany, NY, we rented a car and headed to Pleasant Hill (my great-uncles' place in NY). Mommy and daddy told me that Uncle Bill and Uncle Jared gave me my birthday balloons. That was all I needed to hear. 
We became fast friends. They had blueberries, ice cream, and a dog named Dale waiting and ready for me. "What more could a boy ask for?" you say. They also had stairs to climb, walked me around, and helped me climb a tree. I even found a broom lurking in a corner, but for some reason mommy and daddy steered me away from it. I guess they didn’t want me to help clean my uncles’ house. Oh well. It’s quite a feat that mommy and daddy got me to leave this wonderful place. They said we had to hit the road.We took a three hour drive to Grandma and Grandpa's cabin in Upper Saranac Lake (one of the lakes in Adirondack Park). When we arrived mommy put me straight to bed. The next day I got up bright and early. We took a walk down to the dock to look for boats. That afternoon they put me on a boat. I had to wear a life jacket. They told me it was to keep me safe, but I could barely turn my neck. Still, it was exhilarating to feel the wind in my hair as we sped through the water.Grandma brought lots of fun toys for me to play with at the cabin, since it often rains. She made a slit in the lid of an icing container and put several large toy coins inside. After showing me how to fit the coins through the slit, I found I couldn't get enough "banking practice. I spent a lot of my days saving up pennies.Throughout the week I took many more trips down to the dock to look for boats. I got very good at spotting them. I also took several more boat rides. Eventually Grandpa found a life jacket that gave me more freedom of motion, so I was much more comfortable in the boat. The big event of the week was our canoe ride to Winter Island for a picnic lunch. i was quite the baby explorer walking around the woods on the tiny island. During one of my expeditions I found Grandpa's canoe paddle. It seemed a little like a broom to me, so I decided to push it. After a while I discovered a fun fame -- push the paddle off the ledge. Each time I pushed the pad
dle off the ledge I said "uh oh" (the new word I learned in the Adirondacks). Mommy and daddy were suckers and retrieved the paddle for me. Eventually I started saying "uh oh" in anticipation of dropping the paddle. Mommy says it's not an "uh oh" if I do it on purpose, but I beg to disagree. The picnic lunch was delicious, but the wind on the island was getting very strong, so we packed up and headed back to the cabin in the canoe. Quite the commotion ensued when Grandpa dropped his camera in the lake. He was unable to retrieve the camera immediately, so we had no choice but to continue on our course to the cabin. I'm told that while I was napping that afternoon,
Grandpa, Daddy, and Aunt Alison went back to the approximate spot where Grandpa dropped the camera. They had excellent luck, as the water was clear enough to spot the camera, despite the 20 foot depth of the lake. Grandpa dived into the water and came back to the surface with a very wet camera. Unbelievably he was able to salvage the pictures, but the jury is still out on the camera.
The last few days in the Adirondacks were rather rainy. I spent most of my time "banking and reading my new favorite book, Doggies. Mommy also did quite a bit of reading, as she had no access to phone, tv, or internet. For the first time 
since I was born mommy was able to finish, not one, not two, but three books of fiction. Granted the books weren't academic reading, but she was happy to get lost in a book again.
All good things must come to an end, and so too did our trip to the Adirondacks and our summer vacations. Fortunately on the this return trip, I was quite the little gentlemen. At the airport, I spied one of the baby friends I made on our flight from Raleigh. It was fun to have familiar travel companions making the return trip with us. Late that night we pulled up to our house in Chapel Hill. Mommy and daddy tucked me into bed with my pal Puppers. That night I dreamed of all the adventures I have had and those yet to come.
Your Pal,
Edmund
P.S. I decided to give mommy a break from writing this entry, since she has been busy with her return to work. She'll be writing again in the future, but I may sneak an entry in here and there.
Edmund: Junior Zookeeper
chose to sit. For any other person it wouldn't be a problem, but seeing as I am not forceful and didn't want to lean over anyone I missed out on many a feeding opportunity. Edmund on the other hand had no problem getting to the animals as people bent over backwards to let him see. This led to a sloppy kiss from a very hungry camel. Edmund of course found this kiss hilarious. He also got to pet a bison, and view quite a few emu and ostriches. I was in heaven at the end of the ride when two of my favorite animal appeared. I got to see and pet a Highland Coo, something I hadn't been able to do since my trip to Scotland 12 years ago. For those of you who don't know, a Highland Coo is a type of cow that might as well be an oversized dog. I always likened them to my dog Shortstop. Edmund wasn't as amused as I was as nothing beats walking for him these days, but at least he got to see this curious creature in his young life.
After the wagon ride we took a walk through the rest of the park, which was more like a typical zoo. We passed one of the zookeep
ers who commented on Edmund's zookeeper outfit. She said she wished she had one like his. And who could blame her, as Edmund was too cute for words. Edmund enjoyed spending time watching the antics of goats and llamas in the petting zoo area. We also saw giraffes, kangaroos, and a tiger, but Edmund could take them or leave them. What's a tiger when there's walking to be had. After learning there were Highland Coos to be seen, I begged to do the safari ride again. I had saved quite a bit of feed from our wagon ride, since as you'll recall my seat prevented me from doing much feeding. Thus, we were able to travel the safari trail in our car. I think I enjoyed this even more as ostriches pecked inside the window for feed. As I turned back to Edmund to talk to him about the animals he was seeing, a Highland Coo put his head in my lap and ate all the feed. As the animal pulled his head out of the car, he left quite a bit of slobber. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little gro
ssed out. As we headed deeper into the safari, zebras began licking our windows. For reasons that weren't explained, we couldn't feed the zebras, so we considered zebra slobber on the car windows quite a prize. It's been two weeks and we have yet to wash the slobber from the car.
Safari Park was quite the adventure. Kay Kay, Steven, and I all had a blast. Edmund seemed to think this was just a typical day in the life. Because of course we have ostriches sticking their heads in our windows every day!
Five Generations of Naves
A week ago today, Kay Kay (my mom), Steven, Edmund, and I loaded up my parents' honkin' Nissan and headed west toward Kentucky. For those of you who don't know, the majority of my si
de of the family live in Owensboro, KY (a city on the western end of the state). According to Steven's research, Owensboro is the third largest city in KY. However, I should put "large" into perspective for you. Owensboro is essentially the same size as Chapel Hill in both population and area. However, whereas Chapel Hill is surrounded by several cities, Owensboro has no such cities on its borders. As far as Steven and I are concerned Owensboro is quite a small city, which made for easy navigation.
When we arrived in KY, Edmund was greeted by his Nannie and Great Aunt Zann. He was showered with hugs and kisses. So many in fact, our little boy didn't know what to do. The next day we headed out for what would be a very momentous occasion. We took Edmund to see his Grannie. Grannie is Edmund's great-great grandmother
. When we arrived at Grannie's room in the nursing home, I put Edmund on the bed with Grannie. Edmund began to cry. Though a little disheartening, I shouldn't have been surprised. Edmund has become quite the mama's boy. Grannie had the perfect solution. She handed Edmund his very own balloon complete with attached sippy cup (though Edmund was slightly disappointed the cup was empty). Once Edmund had his balloon, he and Grannie became fast friends. Nannie, Grannie, Kay Kay, Edmund, and I all posed for pictures. How amazing to be able to get five generations in one room! That visit is one I will always cherish, and be sure to tell Edmund about for the rest of his life (whether or not he wants to hear about it!).
After our visit with Grannie, Edmund took a nap to reenergize. He woke up raring to go. Nannie, Kay Kay, Aunt Zann, Steven, Edmund, and I made the trek to downtown Owensboro to visit the Owenboro Museum of Science. The main exhibit on the first floor was a look at How Things Go. Edmund and I 
worked on an assembly line to put together color coordinated Little Tikes cars. I think Edmund was asleep at the wheel because we only successfully put together one car. Actually we put together quite a bit more, but someone (ok it was me) forgot to press the button each time we completed a car. While the rest of the family was busying themselves with other displays, Steven, Edmund, and I went to work putting together a bridge. Were it not for some last minute assistance from Aunt Suzann our bridge may have collapsed, but instead we were able to erect it tall and strong--er a little wobbly.
Eventually Edmund became a little bored with How Things Go, so we took the elevator to the second floor. The exhibit on the second floor is old enough that I remember it, but it is a toddler's dream. The first thing we came to is called "The Toddler's Tunnel." On the outside of the tunnel Steven turned a wheel raising a ball to the top of a shoot. The ball then went back and forth across the wall until resting at the bottom. Edmund followed the ball by moving his entire head, which was quite a sight. Then came the most fun part of the tunnel. Inside were switches galore. There was abou
t every kind of light switch, doorbell, buzzer, you name it, imaginable. Not only could Edmund test out his fine motor skills, but the switches actually produced results. Lights went on and off, doorbells rang, buzzers dinged. What more could a toddler ask for? As Edmund is apt to do, he deliberately led us out of of the tunnel and walked us to the indoor playground. The playground wasn't foam like at Southpoint, but still gave Edmund a nice place to practice walking. He even learned to enjoy slides by going down one located on the play steam ship. Edmund also thought it was great fun to sit in the tunnel that slightly leaves the museum walls, dangling kids over the streets of downtown Owensboro. We about gave Edmund's relatives heart attacks, but Steven and I didn't let him go too far out. Edmund knew he was hot stuff. After letting Edmund get most of his walking out of his system, we decided to call it a day.
Edmund spent the next couple of days in Owensboro playing with Grandma Kay Kay, Nannie, Aunt Zann, and Daddy. I unfortunately came down with Steven's "allergies" which took me out of commision. During this time Edmund had fun meeting Aunt Mary and Uncle Carroll, Melinda, Aunt Joyce, Carol Ann, Kirtley, Cathy, Andrew and Linda Carol. Kirtley fast became one of Edmund's best friends as she walked him around outside. This gave me a chance to rest too. I felt bad I couldn't visit as much as I 
wanted due to my cold, but when I remembered I am now merely a second class citizen anyway, there were no worries.
Fortunately by Friday, Edmund (who also caught his daddy's "allergies") and I were well enough to travel to the country for the ultimate Kentucky experience. Our first stop was to Melinda's. Edmund came face to face with Blaze, a miniature horse. He also got to meet Charlotte, a pot-bellied pig. I was in heaven as I got to pick up some barn kittens. It brought back memories of playing with kittens at Granddaddy Johnny's barn. I am not a cat person, but I love kittens. Edmund clearly is a dog person, as he completely ignored the kittens in favor of the barn dog. He's a kid after my own heart. After our meeting with the animals came to a close, Uncle Carroll took us up to the lake in his golf cart. At the lake my cousins Steve, Gary Lynn, and Levi helped me bait and catch several fish. I caught two large bass, but the kicker was my 8 lb catfish. Edmund gave the fish a look of disgust, but perked up when he saw Maggie the do
g. After fishing there was nothing left to do, but enjoy Aunt Mary's homemade banana ice cream. The perfect ending to a day in the country.
Unfortunately, we had a rainy 4th of July. On the upside, Edmund got to spend some quality time with Nannie and Aunt Zann before we left Owensboro. Although our trip was short, Edmund got to meet some very special people while learning how to rough it away from the city.
Where Have You Been Hiding This Stuff?
y in the house. Steven and I thought it best to hold off all celebrating for the big party which would ensue the next day.
Based on the RSVPs we expected quite a turnout for our little man's first birthday. I know the old birthday rule, one guest for each year of age, but a boy only turns one once. Of course, the first birthday is more about celebrating survival of the parents anyway. Thus, I wanted the people who helped make Edmund's first year such a wonderful experience to be present for the occasion. Granddad and Grandma Kay Kay traveled from VA for the big day. Grandma Pattishall, Kay Kay, and Aunt Alison came over early to help set up for the party. I never could have thrown this party without them. Edmund had a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" party based upon the book. We crafted a caterpillar from cupcakes frosted with various shades of green and red frosting. We sliced fruits and cheese for the caterpillar (and hungry guests) to dine on. Observant guests discovered that the caterpillar had even eaten holes through some of their food.At the beginning of the party both sets of grandparents, Steven and I, and Aunt Alison all sat around watching Edmund. John and Sarah Jo, friends of ours from medical school, were the first guests to a
rrive. They have a three month old baby named John. Based on Edmund's reaction to Baby John, you would have thought he was Edmund's gift. Edmund kept going straight for his head. I'm hoping he was trying to give hugs, but nevertheless Edmund was told gentle hands several times. Other guests slowly trickled in. Edmund was greeted by friends from school and playgroup. As I've said before, one year old parties are playgroups with a theme. This party was no different, but fun all the same.
Eventually we decided we couldn't delay Edmund's inevitable first taste of cake any longer. We wheeled his high chair into the playroom. Edmund squirmed in the high chair wondering why he didn't see any food in front of him. Before Edmund went into meltdown mode, Steven entered the room with a cupcake topped with a lit candle. I quickly helped Edmund blow out the candle as he reached a hand out for the flame. Steven set the red frosted cupcake in front of Edmund. Edmund stuck one hand into the frosting and squished it between his fingers. He did the same with his other hand. Then he reached down, picked up the cupcake with both hands and tried to shove the whole thing in his mouth. I'm pretty sure Edmund was in heaven. He definitely likes cupcakes, but I think we'll reserve the next taste of sugar for a distant special occasion.
After cake, the children continued playing. Edmund was determined to walk where he wanted to. Unfortunately that meant Steven or I became his walking prisoners, as he is not steady enough on his own yet. My mom and dad had to leave early to drive back to VA, but we were able to wrangle Edmund back into the playroom to open gifts before they left. After posing for pictures with his very own Vanderbilt jersey from Granddad, Edmund was ready to call it a day.
The party was a big success. I heard it was the talk of the preschool the following morning. Again, thank you, thank you to all of you who helped with the party. And of course thank you all for being such an integral part of Edmund's 1st year.
Construction Worker Edmund
This post is coming nearly a month after the fact, but this particular adventure is too good not to document. The day after the far
m tour, Steven and I took Edmund to an event called Touch a Truck. Edmund's Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Ed heard about the event through friends of theirs who volunteer with the Boy Scout Troop sponsoring the event. The Touch a Truck in Chapel Hill was a fundraiser for the Children's Hospital and Boy Scout Troop. As fundraisers go, this is probably the most innovative I have seen.
I didn't know quite what to expect when we arrived, but even I was in awe. Almost every kind of big truck you could imagine was open for children and their parents to explore. The Boy Scouts were on hand to give stats about each and every truck. 
We toured a mobile veterinary hospital, the local news truck, a Fed Ex truck, and a Harris Teeter truck. Edmund sat in an army helicopter and piloted with the assistance of a 6 year old co-pilot. Both Edmund and I tried our hands at the backhoe. Edmund, always concerned with safety, sported a very fashionable bright, yellow hard hat. I think this year the event was more exciting for Steven and I than for Edmund, but next year Edmund will be pushing his way to the front of the line to drive some trucks.
For all of you who have inquired about how Edmund's physical therapy appointment went, here is a quick rundown. The PT said that given Edmund's extreme drive to walk, we will have to work backwards. She doesn't believe we will get him to crawl before he walks. The goal is to find alternative ways to strengthen the muscles he needs for walking balance, that most babies develop through crawling. Edmund also is a little stiff on his left side, so we are to encourage him to use his left arm for reaching whenever possible. The PT got to witness Edmund's extreme dislike of tummy time today. Wouldn't it be nice to know why he hates it so so so much? Oh well. We will continue to work with the PT weekly to help our little man strengthen his muscles. Based on what she saw today, she suspects that as soon as Edmund develops his back and tummy muscles he will be up and running. We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers during this time. Edmund (and his mommy) are both a little frustrated, but finally know the goal is attainable.
Daddy Can I Have a Pony?
Last Saturday Edmund, Steven, and I attended the 28th annual Piedmont Farm Tour. I planned on posting about this trek much sooner, but Edmund was diagnosed with his first ear infection this past Monday. Edmund was a very crabby baby for several days, though he had good reason. Edmund's crabbiness in turn made for a slightly crabby mommy. To avoid accidentally writing about being kicked by horses and chased by wild turkeys (this did not actually occur), I decided to wait to write until Edmund was on the mend. I am happy to report that Edmund has now returned to his regular, jovial self.
Now let's head to the farms. The Farm Tour is something I've had on my "ideas for outings" list for years. Something has always prevented us from going. This year I started searching for the tour early and marked the calendar. I was determined Edmund have some face time with animals. Since I spent the majority of my summers playing on my great-grandparents Kentucky farm, it is important to me Edmund have similar experiences. He may never get to walk a goat on a leash as I did, but at least this way he can do more than simply read about farm animals in picture books. There were forty farms to choose from. Steven and I decided to tour two nearby, kid-friendly farms. Any more farms and Edmund might have faced animal overload.
We began with Maple View Farm, known for their fabulous homemade ice cream. I confess, the previous week this "no sugar for my kid" mom let her baby have a small taste of vanilla ice cream. Edmund enjo
yed it, but was a bit taken aback by the cold. Maple View Farms recently opened an Agricultural Center. It is amazing. They have several rooms chock full of farm toys and games. It looks like a farm-themed preschool. Outside there is an area that houses several animals. This was my favorite part. We first stopped to show Edmund the miniature goats. I wondered if he would mistake them for dogs. They are the right size and have four legs. The goats had several ramps to climb, but as the weather approached 90 degrees the goats decided to head for the shade. We moved on to pigs, who to keep cool, rolled about in the mud, chickens, rabbits, and a llama. You read that correctly. A llama! If you know me well, you will know that I have an unexplainable fascination with llamas. I had no idea that I would have an opportunity to introduce Edmund to his very first llama. Edmund was not quite as interested as his mother. Edmund is fascinated with trucks, buses, and the like, and kept turning to see the tractor returning from its hayride. Maybe next year the llama will hold more appeal for Edmund. Edmund also took his third hay ride, but the first he stayed awake for. This was probably the longest hayride I have been on. Steven and I entertained ourselves making up stories about the cows we passed along the way. Edmund found hay to be his form of entertainment. After a sampling of some delicious chocolate milk, we decided to pack up the car and head to a new farm.
The next farm on our tour was Spence's Farm. This farm has an afterschool program for local elementary school children. The philosophy behind the farm is that children learn to be a member of a community by working the farm. The children grow a garden, ride horses, pull weeds, do pottery, collect eggs, feed animals, and even run their own farm st
ore. Several children were on hand that Saturday to show us around the farm. They offered us fresh eggs several times. It's quite hard to turn down kids, but since we had 3 cartons of unused eggs in our refrigerator we had to pass. Steven and I first took Edmund to see the horses. I knew we had to get a picture of Edmund encountering his first horse, as my Kentucky family are true horse people. After Edmund posed for his picture we moved on to the chicken enclosure. There we saw a rooster who frequently made himself known by "cock-a-doodle-dooing". Edmund thought this was hilarious. What could be more funny than a rooster you ask? Edmund would tell you, a silly turkey that goes "gobble gobble." The day grew hotter, and since we spent so much time at Maple View Farm, we quickly looked around Spence's Farm and decided to head home. Several children were offering pony rides to visitors. I had to ask if Edmund could simply sit on a pony. "Of course." Edmund concluded his farm tour with the ultimate up-close and personal animal experience. I couldn't have planned a better way to end the day.
I am attempting to post links to Edmund's Snapfish pictures in a link on the right sidebar. Please let me know if you are able to access the pictures by leaving a comment. By the way, Edmund, Steven, and I enjoy reading the comments you all leave. We do read them.
Sunset on the Beach
me to Holden Beach, one of the finer beaches in North Carolina if I do say so myself. I loved spending time in our beach house. There were so many Pattishall relatives to entertain. I do believe they found me to be quite the hit. I fell in love with my 8 year old cousin, Emma. I am told I met her last summer, but you'll have to excuse my 4 week old memory. Whatever Emma did, I wanted to do. I got my first taste of Congo Bar (a cookie/brownie dessert) because when I saw Emma eating one, I did a u-turn to follow her. I didn't know what she had. It could have been dirt, but I knew if she was eating it, it had to be good.
did manage to catch a few minutes of the program while eating my lunch. I've become quite the Plinko fan. Often, during lunch however, I didn't let mommy or daddy watch "The Price is Right", for I discovered a large yellow broom in the pantry. I became quite enamored with the broom. As it was quite cumbersome, I required some assistance during my sweeping times (during my parents' lunchtime of course). I'm thinking a janitorial career may be in my future.
We became fast friends. They had blueberries, ice cream, and a dog named Dale waiting and ready for me. "What more could a boy ask for?" you say. They also had stairs to climb, walked me around, and helped me climb a tree. I even found a broom lurking in a corner, but for some reason mommy and daddy steered me away from it. I guess they didn’t want me to help clean my uncles’ house. Oh well. It’s quite a feat that mommy and daddy got me to leave this wonderful place. They said we had to hit the road.
dle off the ledge I said "uh oh" (the new word I learned in the Adirondacks). Mommy and daddy were suckers and retrieved the paddle for me. Eventually I started saying "uh oh" in anticipation of dropping the paddle. Mommy says it's not an "uh oh" if I do it on purpose, but I beg to disagree. The picnic lunch was delicious, but the wind on the island was getting very strong, so we packed up and headed back to the cabin in the canoe. Quite the commotion ensued when Grandpa dropped his camera in the lake. He was unable to retrieve the camera immediately, so we had no choice but to continue on our course to the cabin. I'm told that while I was napping that afternoon, Grandpa, Daddy, and Aunt Alison went back to the approximate spot where Grandpa dropped the camera. They had excellent luck, as the water was clear enough to spot the camera, despite the 20 foot depth of the lake. Grandpa dived into the water and came back to the surface with a very wet camera. Unbelievably he was able to salvage the pictures, but the jury is still out on the camera.
since I was born mommy was able to finish, not one, not two, but three books of fiction. Granted the books weren't academic reading, but she was happy to get lost in a book again.
