Bean Anderson

Yesterday Kennedy went to the chiropractor for a ‘well-baby’ check up on her spine. Some babies have alignment problems so it’s better to catch them early before they establish themselves. Anyhow, we thought we’d take Kennedy in to make sure everything was all OK. We love our chiropractor – Dr. Surah Hirsch. She does a lot of work with babies and children so we were excited for her to meet Kennedy. (Kennedy took right to her when we arrived which is always a good sign.) While I was pregnant she did miracles for me when my back was giving me so many problems.



Dr. Hirsch says that Kennedy looks great. She did a minor adjustment (above) in her lower back and Kennedy didn't seem to mind one bit. Doc says to come back in about 6 months to make sure she continues to develop on track.



Another cool trick Dr. Hirsch showed us was to suspend Kennedy upside-down (above) to check that she holds her head straight. Pulling to one side or another would be an indication that something could be misaligned.

Mmmmmmmm. Fingers. So far, Kennedy has eaten rice cereal, sweet potatoes, peas, avocado, bannana, and most recently squash. Next up, pears. And more rice cereal because it's fortified with iron.

Today Sheryl and I went to Basic Rights' annual business luncheon where we heard many speakers including Governor Ted Kulongoski; you can read the transcript of his fantastic speech on Basic Rights' blog. We are eagerly anticipating the outcome of Oregon's SB1000 that would establish civil unions and implement anti-discrimination provisions for the GLBT community.

The weather today in Portland is gorgeous. The sun is out so Kennedy spent time exploring town and enjoying the park. Just a quick blog today; it's time to feed Kennedy her dinner; lately she's been 'eating' apples and zucchini squash. (I put eating in quotes because she's really just trying to learn the mechanics of moving the food to the back of her mouth and swallowing. Her mainstay is still momma's milk.)

She says 'Hey - quit looking at me so funny'.

Megan and Kennedy and I took a hike through the neighborhood down to the river last week. It was a beautiful day except when it started raining on the way home. We stopped at a bus shelter then caught the bus to New Season's for dinner.



Here's Kennedy in her stationary entertainer. We use this mostly for when one of us is cooking dinner or cleaning up the kitchen. Kennedy likes the toys that we put out on it too - watching mom wash the dishes can be a bit boring and all...



We had Kennedy's 6 month appointment today; she is 25-1/2 inches long and weighs in at 13 pounds 7 ounces. Doc says Kennedy is right on track with growth and progress - yeah, baby!

While we were in Colorado Kennedy was busy discovering new things. We learned that bubbles make a great distraction for a tired baby. Here she is with Sheryl trying to figure those things out…





Kennedy also discovered that dog noses are pretty fun toys too; here she is with my cousin’s dog – both were trying to break free of their respective holds to get a little closer to one another.



And finally, here is Kennedy exploring her new cousin – Justin. I can imagine their conversation going something like this: “Justin: What’s this thing around your neck? Kennedy: It’s to catch the wet stuff that falls out of this hole here…”

Kennedy's Aunt Shelly bought us these painter puppets a few years back. Normally they sit on the fridge (magnet heads that they are) and stare down at what's cooking on our stove. Today, they came out to play with Kennedy. "They" are Vincent Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Claude Monet and Salvador Dali. Claude made Kennedy laugh out loud when he told her about his style of art. None of the other puppets got a laugh from her.

We have been keeping young Kennedy busy these days. We have music class, walks through the neighborhood, swinging and sliding at the park, swimming lessons and just good old fashioned baby play time at home. I don't think we'll ever be one of those families that tries to cram in activities into every waking moment, but we do like to expose Kennedy to as much interesting and developmentally stimulating activities as possible.

Grandpa Anderson celebrates Kennedy's six month birthday (and his ?? birthday!) this week by taking Kennedy for a ride on the slide.



We went swimming again after having to sit out due to Kennedy's cold; it was fun to get her back into the pool this week.

Today’s blog is dedicated to family. Specifically, we have a plethora of photos of the Anderson family clan to choose from based on this past weekend’s visit to Colorado for my cousin’s wedding.

Here is my cousin, Nick, before his wedding. Nick just got back from Iraq and is in the Marines.



Here are my grandparents from Kansas – Andy and Darlene. It was fantastic to visit with these two again after a couple of years without seeing them.



All in all, Kennedy has eight – count ‘em – 8 strong women in her life that count as Grandmas! We figured we should cover our bases and wear this bib often.



The happy family! Sheryl, Susan and Little Kennedy at our regular family lunch earlier this month.



Kennedy with Grandma Anderson exploring this concept called ‘hair’ – she wants to know where she can get herself some of this stuff!



Here is Kennedy with Grandma and Grandpa Anderson. She likes hanging out with these two – as long as her mom’s stay in sight. We seem to be entering into that period where Kennedy gets really nervous with people other than her moms…

Last night I attended a meeting of my union, AFSCME Local 88, where a resolution was unanimously passed supporting equal rights for gay and lesbian citizens. The language mirrored the resolution from our national AFSCME which stands for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees but substitutes Local 88 where appropriate.

The language in the resolution is strong and powerful and I am proud to be a part of this Union.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME stand in opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment and continue to fight against its passage; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME continue to support laws and policies that will provide equal rights and protections to gays and lesbians; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME strongly oppose any law or constitutional amendment that will abridge the rights of gays and lesbians including ones that perpetuate unequal marriage treatment. To deny people the right to marry is to deny their humanity.

YEAH! Now that's what I'm talking about. -Sheryl

It's Grandpa Anderson's birthday. He and Grandma came over yesterday to visit and took Kennedy to the park. I can't find the chord to take the pictures off of the camera so I'm going to substitute a picture of Grandpa's brother, Uncle Ed and his grandson, Justin, from the wedding last weekend.



I hear stories from Grandpa that Kennedy (below) looks like Uncle Ed when he was a baby.

This last weekend, Sheryl and I loaded up Kennedy in the airplane and traveled to Colorado Springs to visit with family, to welcome my cousin Nick home from Iraq, and to watch him marry his sweetheart - Katrina. It was a fantastic - albeit very short - weekend. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents galore and they were all there to welcome us with open arms and fight for Kennedy's attention.

Here we have Kennedy meeting my Grandma & Grandpa Anderson. She thought they were pretty peachy...



On Saturday we traveled to the Garden of the Gods at the foothills of the Rockies for Nick and Katrina's wedding. The area was gorgeous with huge rocks that look like they were shot up from the ground from below. The mountains provided a wonderful backdrop for the nuptials.



Nick and Katrina made a lovely couple.

I want to take a quick moment to publicly thank those of you who have expressed their sadness over last week's court rulings that reversed our official marriage (see related post below from 4/14). We've had phone calls, letters and emails from so many of you; excerpts from a few messages:

From Tiffany in DC: "I know that your marriage is real, you and Sheryl sure do and Kennedy does as well... I love you and your family. For me, it's the very model of what a family should be."

From Sally and Dave: "I cannot imagine how tough that must be and how unfair it must feel. In our eyes, you are & remain an official married couple!"

From Gail: "I will always remember what a special day it was attending your wedding in the lobby. You and Susan, and now Kennedy, will always be a family in my heart no matter what a piece of paper says."

Thanks again for your continued support - it means so much to us.

We were in Colorado Springs for the weekend at Susan's cousin Nick's wedding. Nick and Katrina got married at the Garden of the Gods. Very nice! More pictures later. We just flew in last night and are trying to re-group for our week. Here's Kennedy in her travel outfit yesterday.

More bib shots. We've got a thousand more to go. Heh.



And here's a picture of Krystal hanging out at Granny Kay's last Sunday. Kennedy is sleeping in the sling.



Thanks to the Portland Communique for printing our Mayor, Tom Potter's, comments about the Oregon supreme court ruling today. Among his statements: "Today is a sad day not just for Oregonians, but for anyone who values individual dignity and the absolute right of two people to share their love with their families, their friends and their community."

It's a sad morning for Sheryl and me... The Oregon Supreme Court just invalidated our marriage from last year. While it's not a complete surprise it is sad nonetheless to realize that we are still viewed as second class by so many. Why can't "they" just let us live our lives in peace? More information at Basic Rights Oregon.

Here are Susan and Kennedy. Kennedy is reaching to pet Elle. Somehow I didn't get Elle in the picture, though.

One of Kennedy's new plastic bibs. For the past 2 days she's eaten organic green peas. Mmmmmmmm.

Last night we celebrated a milestone; Kennedy rolled over from back to front! She's had the tummy to back maneuver mastered since Christmas - but this is the first time we've seen her go from her back to tummy. In all fairness, Krystal says Kennedy has been doing this for a little while now, but this is the first time we've seen it. Go Kennedy Go!

Sheryl and I finally admitted to ourselves that we've become attached to Elle the Cat. In hindsight, I am so glad we had her when Jack passed away because she really did divert attention away from our loss. Last night, I took Jack's bowl out (which had been placed on a shelf) and put Elle's food into it. Although it is personalized with Jack's name, I just turned the name part to the back so Elle wouldn't have identity confusion - ha ha. It's a nice bit of reminder to see each day.

I think the lynch-pin for me in wanting to keep Elle was that Kennedy has really started to notice and interact with Elle. She pats Elle's fur and tugs on her whiskers; Elle is so mellow during these petting sessions that she just lets Kennedy do whatever and nudges her right back; it's too cute.

Sponsor Beckie's and Tim's MS Walk! See related post 4/8/2005.

2 months ago we thought we had way too many bibs and we were heard making statements like We'll never use this many bibs! This past weekend we bought about 15 more bibs. We now realize you can't have enough bibs on hand. Kennedy goes through 2 to 4 bibs each day with food and slobber. Anyway, she has an I love Grandpa bib so we thought we'd even things out a bit with this one.

We loaded up the car and went to Granny Kay's today for a family lunch. Kennedy wore a new dress--it was a gift. Thanks Aunt Shelly!

Here's Granny Kay in the kitchen before lunch. She really can put on a spread. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone.

Sheryl and Susan and Kennedy say Sponsor Beckie's and Tim's MS Walk! See related post earlier today.

Every one wants to throw out blurry photos for some reason. Maybe they should be thrown out some of the time. This blurry pic doesn't offer too much:

But some of the time, I think the blurry pictures are the best ones. It's all about perspective. Like this picture from the perspective of Kennedy's food bowl.

Sponsor Beckie's and Tim's MS Walk
Being sick is NO fun for Kennedy, I tell you. This may be a bad seqway, but I'm going to make it anyway. Neither is it fun getting diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) or knowing that there's no cure for MS and many other diseases. Thousands of people take medicine to keep MS in check or from progressing at a faster rate. I take weekly injections of Avonex.

Our friends Beckie and Tim are walking in the MS Walk here in Portland Oregon on Saturday, April 16th. Susan and Kennedy and I will be at a cousin's wedding. Beckie and Tim have a $250 goal. Susan and I ask our friends and family to contribute to help Beckie and Tim go way beyond that amount. What do you say?

I'll leave you with a picture of Kennedy playing with her block. She's really doing a lot of stretching and turning these days. Quite the bendy one.

It's 2:45am and Kennedy and I have been awake for a couple of hours; it seems I have passed on my cold to her. Her stuffy nose caused her to wake up - and wake up indeed. She's been a busy playtime girl for the last couple of hours so we gave up trying to go back to sleep and have been playing together since.

Lately Kennedy has started to really relate emotionally to people - she laughs at funny faces and makes funny faces right back. It's too hilarious.

Night-y night.

Dad reminds me that we didn't really share that much about Kennedy's first sweet potatoes. Last Tuesday, Sheryl cooked up a sweet potato, pureed it in the blender and then froze it into one ounce portions. Now we just heat up an ounce of it and Kennedy just loves to eat them. She hasn’t quite mastered all of the coordination involved with opening of the mouth and working the tongue, but she literally lunges for the spoon when it is offered. Yesterday, in fact, she was so upset that the feeding was over that she started to cry. (Nothing a little breastfeeding won’t solve…)

I got a cold on Sunday so I’ve been working from home these last two days. It’s nice because Krystal is here to take great care of Little Kennedy and I can still feed Kennedy when she’s hungry.

Krystal has been attending classes at Portland Community College; she likes her classes so far and we’re excited that she’s taking a wide variety of subjects.

Yesterday was Sheryl’s first day back at work after a 6 week hiatus. It was hard for her to go back and she missed Kennedy fiercely. Here she is taking a rest with Kennedy after her hard day at work.

By the Numbers

All in all our site has received over 207,000 hits since our first post February 1, 2004. (WOW!!!) In 2004 there were 127,916 hits and so far this year (through March in 2005) we've had 79,228 hits.

The number of visitors to our site has grown steadily; in our first month February, 2004 we had 4,510 hits. This past month, March 2005, we registered 32,318 hits.

I often find myself wondering who are these people that are visiting our site. I know we have a broad readership amongst family and friends - but surely that only accounts for a small fraction of the thirty-thousand plus hits per month. If you read our blog and we don't know you, (or even if we do!) feel free to drop us a line and introduce yourself. Our email address is in the upper right-hand corner.

Another fun thing we can do with statistics is see how people found us if they link from a search. Since January this year there have been over 600 search hits meaning someone googled or otherwise searched on a term that led them to our site. There are a lot of searches for “bean anderson” and “sanfordanderson” and variations thereof. There are also a lot of pregnancy related searches such as:

water breaking before labor starts
past due date protein in urine
pregnancy nausea in the evenings
trutol
when to take pregnancy test after insemination
swollen ankles after flying
hospital birthing classes
what causes stitch in your side

There are many bean related searches such as:

growing beans Portland Oregon
common bean photo
how much you water a freakin bean plant
how the bean curd is being prepared

And there are many searches that make no sense whatsoever, like:

advantages for having the eyes on the side of the head, and
pinky lamby


As Kennedy gets bigger we are having fun dressing her in her next size of clothes. Here she is sporting her sassy-self in blue jeans. They're our favorite so far!



Sheryl and I read to Kennedy often. Kennedy likes to help turn the pages - which is pretty funny. She even knows to look at the pictures on the left side of the page then moves on to the right hand side - she's too smart for words.

All I can say is Kennedy loves sweet potatoes! She ate an entire serving yesterday and was diving for more. Mmmmmm, mmmmmm.



Susan and I actually had a date last night. It's only the second one in the past 5 1/2 months. We went to Calendula for dinner and then to Whitebird's
Birdbrain dance performance by the Australian Dance Troupe. It was a modern take on the classic Swan Lake and it was spectacular.

Kennedy's favorite toys are still the segmented worm and the turtle. Here she is with the turtle we call myrtle. It's a lamaze toy and the feet make cool crinkly and rattle sounds.

Kennedy, in her 5 1/2 month old way, explores every thing she can with her fingers, especially the faces of those closest to her. Here's Kennedy exploring Stacey's face.



Susan and I looked through old digital photos last night. It was fun to see all the changes Kennedy has gone through as well as this house. It was sad to see so many pictures of Jack the cat. Here's a picture of us from this past Sunday. My mom doesn't like my spiky hair, but I told her that's okay, she doesn't have to like it. Heh.