Art flows through: Another time mine eye is my heart's guest

Technical note - this blog is very likely to be mostly pictures from here on out. We'll see.

One thing I've learned about life with a baby. Sleep is very important. Because babies don't let you get nearly enough of it.

I can't blame Jackson. It's not his fault that he gets hungry at 3 in the morning. But I can hardly wait until he sleeps all night instead of needing attention.

Fortunately, he's a good sleeper if his tummy is full so I could curl up next to Jared again.

Jared usually has to be up and out of the house fairly early, he has always had the early shift at the police station. Which is why I do most of the baby wrangling at night. Jared has to get his sleep in.

I do get a good reward though, Jared makes breakfast for us the moment he gets up. Usually with the minimum amount of clothing that he feels won't excite any peeping toms in the neighbourhood.

So I get both a show and a good breakfast.

This morning though, wasn't much fun. I was trying to do laundry when the machine decided to flood the entire kitchen.

I managed to rescue the clothes but it was a near thing. We both had to be extra cautious not to slip and not to electrocute ourselves.

"Cat, what do you mean by calling an electrician? I'm sure I can fix the washing machine."

"Jared, sweety, we're supposed to go to the summer festival today and I want it fixed before we go."

"I could do it after breakfast."

Truth be told, the real reason that I don't want Jared to try and fix the washing machine is that he's so clumsy. I've seen him trip over his own feet. Combine that with water everywhere and trying to fix something electric and - well, it just seems like a really bad idea to have him fix it. Still, I can't tell him that, it might hurt his feelings.

"Look, she promised she'd be right over. It will be done and fixed soon. She also guaranteed her price and we won't have to worry."

It was a good move. She came and finished the job while we were just finishing breakfast.

"See, honey? Now we can go straight to festival."

"I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Well, clothes would be a good start, yes?"

My darling husband did have a point. Getting dressed, getting the baby ready, we did have a few things to do before we went.

Still, we did those things and were on our way in 15 minutes. It would have been an hour or two if Jared had fixed the washing machine first.

And this is why I don't want Jared fixing things that might kill him.

He managed to trip and he hadn't even gotten to the bump yet!

He did step over the bump most carefully once he reached it.

I decided to try skating. The last time we'd been to the park, I'd been very pregnant and couldn't try. Now that I could try, it was fun.

(Author comment: what else do you do with a baby? Take it along and drop it somewhere. Hope no one steps on it.)

Jared had a long chat with Amelia Kane Grant.

Jared was pretty happy to make a new friend, then apparently he raved at her about logic at great length.

She's a musician and so she could care less about logic. In the end, I think she mainly agreed with him so he'd move on to another topic.

One thing about Summer Fest day, there were a lot of people around.

Clayton was looking very cheerful. I think things between he and his wife Cami are going well. I haven't heard any rumours about babies though. Pity, I think they'd have adorable babies.

"Honey, I'm going to enter the hot dog eating contest."

"Jared, seriously? We had breakfast just two hours ago."

"I love hot dogs. And you never let me have them at home."

True, we don't have them at home. Nasty things and I hate to think what they are made of.

Since his heart was set on it, I left Jared to eat.

His only opponent was Moe Pesce. I have no idea why he's dressed that way. Surely even if he were on call, he'd have to put on fresh things if he went to the hospital? I mean, I wouldn't want to have him attend me with hospital outfits that he's worn EVERYWHERE.

Jared won the contest easily. I'd hate to see how fast he could have eaten those dogs if he had been hungry.

It wasn't long before I had the urge to start making some music.

Dad was the first to join in, of course. He is, by far, my most reliable band member.

Merlot also joined in, as he frequently will.

I tried to get Ice to join but he's just impossible. I did have a fourth join though, Amelia might have been sick of hearing about logic but she is a musician through and through.

I'm still thinking about my career. I love playing music but I need to earn more money. And if I do keep the band going, I am dumping Ice. He's obviously not interested.

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Before we knew what happened, our baby was celebrating a birthday.

"Jared! Aren't you excited at all?"

"It's a birthday. Another year gone by. What's to celebrate?"

"Come on, honey. It's our son's birthday, not yours."

"Cat, our birthdays can't be far away, can they?"

Our little man, Jackson. Such a good looking little boy.

While Jared took care of Jackson, since it was the weekend.

I tried to improve some of the plumbing in the household.

At the rate I work, this is going to take some time though.

"Go to sleep, Jackson. We are going to have a lot to do tomorrow."

"Ga?"

"We'll work on that for one."

Once Jackson was safely tucked in, Jared was just the sweetest.

"Hey, gorgeous, care to dance?"

The last time we danced, Jared stepped on my feet three times. "Maybe?" was the best that I could do.

He laughed. "Don't worry, lovely Cat. I can't get this wrong."

He swung me around and then went in for a big smooch.

"Jared, that kind of dancing you can do any time that you like."

"You approve?"

"Anything that leads to a kiss like that? I do approve of very much." Not to mention having an excuse to hold that wonderful strong body.

I was pleased that Jackson was happy to start eating new foods.

He'll try anything we put in front of him once. If it doesn't meet his approval though, you have to be quick or there will be food all over the floor.

"What are you doing on the computer? More online chess?"

"Actually, Cat, I'm looking up tattoo designs."

"Tattoos?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't mind, would you?"

Is this some phase men go through? Daddy has tattoos, but I think he's had them forever. "I guess not. Try not to get anything too obnoxious or obscene though, okay?"

"I won't. Don't want to get kicked off the force."

Jared was gone for about an hour.

And when he came home, he had the new tattoos.

Neither obnoxious nor obscene. But now that he has them, it would be too late for me to complain anyway.

"Can you say nebneb? Say nebneb."

"Da da?"

"Can you say nooboo?"

"Ma ma?"

"Oh my, this is going to take forever."

Now one afternoon, I had an invitation to go down to city hall. They wanted me to play drums and were willing to pay handsomely.

I was surprised to see my cousins Picasso and Leonardo there. Picasso had brought his little boy. It's been some time since I'd last seen Picasso at all. Leonardo I did see once or twice after he'd moved in with Dad and Shannon.

Well, where ever I see people, I'm willing to play. And as it turned out, my cousins and some other random strangers were willing to pay.

That was a nice change, getting some money for my efforts.
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Bonus pics