You may recall that in a past incarnation of this blog I posted a few pictures of the house as we moved into it.  As a reminder:

Winter, 2005

Well, over the long term I’ve made some significant changes to the front yard (mostly taking out a bunch of plants, which sadly leaves us looking a bit bare), but more recently we’ve also had the house painted and replaced the roof.  For your consideration:

Winter, 2009

Yesterday Kim and I went out to see Avatar in 3D, but when we got to the theater all of the showings in the next few hours were sold out!  I tried to take it in stride, but I had really wanted to see that movie after everything I’d heard about it, and Kim told me I looked like a kid who had had the ice cream knocked out of his hands.

So, since that was a bust, we switched theaters and watched Sherlock Holmes instead.  What a terrific movie!  Admittedly, I don’t remember reading many Sherlock Holmes stories, but I don’t think the Robert Downey, Jr. portrayal is exactly in keeping with the way the character is described in the books.  I could be wrong.  In any case, Sherlock Holmes as an expert martial artist was great fun to watch in a Summer popcorn flick kind of way, and his hypernatural attention to detail and ability to discern scientific tricks shrouded by claims of magic (which I do think is in keeping with the character) were superb.  There is a significant difference between the eccentric genius billionaire of Tony Stark in Iron Man and the eccentric genius detective of Sherlock Holmes, but I think that Robert Downey Jr. plays them both very well without letting surface similarities cause the two to elide.  I’m really distracted by Rachel McAdams; I don’t know why.  I really don’t care for her as an actress.  But the movie was terrific anyway.  I highly recommend it.

Since I still was something of a kicked puppy, apparently, Chris and I went out and watched Avatar, and it’s everything people say it is.  We saw it in 3D, and the effects are very submersive and not gimmicky.  The animation is well matched to the live footage, so at the end when the 10-foot tall aliens and 6-foot tall humans finally interact, it’s not uncomfortable or unrealistic, even if it is surprising to finally see the size differences brought home.  The attention to detail in the background was just superb, and there’s no question in my mind that not only were the environments inspired by Roger Dean’s artworks, but that they were the perfect way to realize them in a semi-scientific context.  Admittedly, the storyline is not particularly original (it’s very similar to “Dances with Wolves” or “The Last Samurai” combined with a bit of “Final Fantasy: The Spirit’s Within”) and a little bit self-dating by the obvious metaphorical allusions to current American politics, but I didn’t find that to be significantly distracting from the movie.  I have high hopes to watch the movie again in the theater, even with how few movies we are seeing now.

Watching too much Law and Order leads to “Mean World Syndrome”

The second time around, Emerson got a little more into the spirit of being a dragon.

But I think he liked his regular Halloween clothes even more.

Remember how yellowjackets were stingy back in July?

Well, I ended up dowsing that chair with wasp poison in August, and finally cowboy’d up enough to clean out the deck chairs and make sure there weren’t any more nests anywhere. (And when I say “cowboy’d up”, I mean I was wearing gloves and long sleeves and a hat and using a long stick and waited until it was nearly dark and rainy. That kind of cowboy.)

What I found was a sad little graveyard:

If you look closely, you’ll see that their nestbuilding actually cut into the fabric of cushion, and the pulled out the stuffing to help make the nest. How interesting! Curiosity aside, we tossed the cushions and are starting our porch fresh, sans stingers.

One year? Already?

Sometimes it's hard to buy Emerson presents when the box is as fun as the toys.

Emerson's first night at Mom and Wood's cabin - he loved it up there!

He had so many smiles.

And he had lots of fun with Mom and Wood.

Petey wasn't so sure about Emerson.

Emerson did a lot of exploring.

And he watched TV

And he played with his new Legos.

But he didn't get to type.

Even if he reeeeeally wanted to.

Emerson had his first real excuse to wear his leather jacket, too.

We went out.

We went to a fair, but it was raining most of the time.

Still, there were fun things to do.

Especially at the petting zoo!

Plus, when we got back, there was a train for Emerson!

Trains are serious business.

But not everything has to be serious.

The next day we went pumpkin shopping.

And then it was time for Emerson's Birthday!

This is the card we made for him. Actually, one of two. The other one we sent to Sprout, but we messed up and it wasn't accepted.

Still, it was fun to make and it was cute.

I already posted the good pictures, but here's his cake!

It was tasty!

Very, very tasty.

Then we went home.

And Emerson had his first spaghetti!

And, sadly, turned into a pasta zombie. But just for a little while.

More recently, Emerson test-drove his Halloween costume.

Hmm… All of Emerson’s videos seem so good when I’m taking them, and so terrible when I go back to review them – they’re shakey and the audio is quiet and they’re flooded with light or too dark.

Still, here are a couple of my favorites from the last month:

Emerson eating birthday pizza.

Emerson test-driving his Halloween costume.

Emerson got to celebrate up at the cabin with Mom and Wood.

There was pizza...

Mmm... Pizza!

There were presents.

Though sometimes the bows and wrapping paper were more exciting.

Best of all, there was cake!

Cake!

CAKE!

Muahahaha!

There will be more pictures soon!

Here are a couple of videos from way back in May when we went to California:

And another of Emerson and one of his more recent obsessions:

And just a non-spectacular but pretty recent video so you can see how big he is!

Here are some pictures from the the last few months!

Hello!

Slam Dunks from an early age.

Mine!

The Emerson Wallpaper

As a matter of fact, officer, I haven't been drinking...

Really.

That flashlight's kinda bright though.

Oral fixations are cool, man.

This is daddy!

Pulling up!

Look at those arms!

At 5 Guys

Emerson likes it here.

Especially when he gets to visit Granmama Bopp

And Grandpa Wood

Guess who doesn't like surprise photos.

Hee hee hee

Gibbous Emerson

He's not sure he likes that.

Actually, he's sure he doesn't.

Another day, another smile.

Maybe.