tooth sighting

This weekend we caught the first sight of Garrett's very first tooth.  By Monday, there were two teeth in sight.
I tried to capture them on video for posterity.  It was a big-time fail. 

Adam was able to get a picture of the two little tooth nubs sticking out of his lower gums.  Baby Tylenol is our friend, as of late.

DeClercq Family Togetherness

This weekend proved to be one of the most loving in the history of the DeClercq weekends of Loving.

Here's the proof:

(I'm not sure what is going on with Laina's eyes here.  She is either thinking "I'm preggo and sexy and I'm turning on the supermodel flair" or "my feet are killing me and I will burn through your skull with my lazer eyes if you don't take that picture!")

And now for a few from the star of this blog:

And now you may leave your comments below to a) tell us what a beautiful, loving family we have or b) tell us what a beautiful son we have.   And yes, comments about his fat cheeks count.

Summer Reading Extravaganza: Graphic Novels

I know, summer is long over.  What can I say?  Between work and bath time (for Garrett, not me) I don't have much energy (or motivation) for blogging. 

Ah, but tonight, I have a small surge of energy and feel I can tackle yet another book review.  Perhaps it has something to do with my little brother being a published writer.  Regardless, I've got three books to tell you about. 

The first is Temperance by Cathy Malkasian.  All I can really say about this one is weird.  I didn't really get it.  The back cover suggests the story tackles lofty themes like how war and enemies interact with culture.  It even wonders if conflict helps hold culture together.  If these themes are in this story then they were unrecognizable to me.  Yes, there was a bad guy.  Yes, there was a secondary plot about lying to keep control but in the end neither plot added up to anything. 

The story started out with strong narrative promise.  A grumpy, violent man, known as Pa, is nearly done building a fortified castle.  He believes it is his job to protect his people from the enemies abroad.  Two of his people, two young girls, watch him from a distance.  It quickly becomes apparent that Peggy, one of these girls, has an ethereal quality.  When Pa tries to force himself on Peggy she floats away.  Then a few pages later Pa just walks off.  That's the last we hear from those characters for a long time. 

Instead, the plot focuses on Minerva, the other girl, and how she tries to save her people by taking Pa's place.  There was a lot of really good story to have mined here, but Malkasian meandered down stranger and stranger twists to the point that I didn't have a clue what anything really meant.  It became hard to differentiate between the real world set up for us and a dream world.  Which isn't always a bad thing when done well, but it was hard to get a clear picture of who the main character really were, what they were, and what motivated them.  And then the ending had transcendentalist qualities to it, images of nature being so much more than nature and the reality transforming into something so much more.  Blah, blah, blah, I'm even boring myself as I write about it.  Weird mumbo-jumbo. 

The art was impressive.  Clear, clean, detailed.  It has nice pencil-sketched tones of gray and brown.  But no matter how well illustrated a story is it still has to have a story.  I'll give this one a 2/5 stars and that feels a little generous. 

Up next is the detective noir You Have Killed Me.  On my visit to Powell's I was drawn to this book because a) I had read a positive review about it and b) it was an autographed copy! 
I enjoyed this book.  It is a bit cliche with its crusty, hard-edged private eye taking a job from a lovely young woman who saunters about his tiny, crusty, hard-edged office. 

But even with the tried and true story line, it is an fun, familiar ride.  The plots twists are simple (unlike many modern thrillers that twist and twist and twist until you can't see straight).  The bad guys are bad.  The good guys are tough.  The women are sultry, needy, and mysterious.  The band plays jazz and the backroom has gambling.  I'm not saying its original, though the story is interesting enough to keep you reading. 

But here is why you should read this: the art is perfect.  Done in immaculate black and white, the lines are as sharp as a razor, the shadows have depth, the people look real; this has a classic, reality based graphic form.  And it works.  The language is tough but clean and avoids any inappropriate use of the visual form in regards to the ladies.  If anything, this would garner a PG-13 rating for the mild violence.  It gets a 4, maybe a 4.5/5 stars from me. 

Then, rounding out my graphic novel reading for the summer is Bottomless Belly Button.  This one does all right in my opinion for all the opposite reasons of the previous book.  The art in this book is much less refined.  The author, Dash Shaw, has more artistic skill than I do, but that's not saying much.  I mean, his studies with lines and dots at the beginning and end are cool, but he doesn't pull off people very well.  Overall, the art is awkward but gets the point across.  Instead, this one has an interesting, surprisingly original plot.  Many graphic novels follow a memoir/narrative style, but this one shifts the focus from one family member to another as the grown children react to the news that their elderly parents are getting a divorce.  The emotions seem real, the reactions sincere, which is a commendation to the strong story telling abilities of the author.  This one read like a novel with interesting character motivations and conflicts.

Be warned, this is not a comic book and is not for children.  I give this a 3.5/5 stars.



Next time, I've got some advanced copies I want to tell you about.

green beans

Garrett is an amazing eater; he has been since day 1.  He has done exceedingly well with each of the solid foods we have introduced... except green beans.  Now, green beans don't exactly strike me as a "first food", but my internet source assures me that they are.  So, I steamed them, pureed them, and offered them.  Adam videotaped.  The green beans did not receive a warm welcome.

We have given Garrett a break from the green beans.  He is eating rice cereal, avocado, banana, and sweet potatoes with no problem.  Next up... butternut squash.  Then peas.  Then apples.  Maybe oatmeal or pears.  Oh the culinary choices.

As a side note... I love LOVE the kidco food mill my cousin handed down to me.  It is
amazing, a little messy, but in a fun play-doh sort of way.  If you are thinking of making your own baby food, this a much less expensive solution than a food processor.  Unless of course, you really want a food processor, than by all means, don't let me deter you from purchasing a kitchen gadget!

more of our favorite baby

Garrett wants to go straight to a big cup.  No sippy cups here...


here is our new game:

what we've been up to

When he wants to be, he is a true rolling machine...


This is his new toy...


Watermelon might not be on the list of foods to feed a 5-month old, but he sure does love it...

Hungry for good literature? Summer Reading Extravaganza continuted

At some point in the future the United States of America will cease to exist. In its place will be a unified North American government. That will eventually be ripped apart by rebellion which will destroy vast swaths of land and leave the people living in 13 districts.

As a reminder to the people that rebellion will never succeed, and a reminder that the Capitol has total power over its citizens, the Capitol has a game every year. The rules are simple—fight to the death.

 Such is the story of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. Each year two tributes are picked from each district; two children between the ages of 12-18 are randomly picked to play a gladiator style game where the last person alive is the winner. The Hunger Games is narrated by Katniss Everdeen, a 15 year old girl from district 12. Though she is a skilled hunter in the forest, she knows she will not have good odds of surviving, especially when the boy from her district, Peeta, is so much larger than she. She also knows that other districts have tributes who have trained for years to be killers.

Katniss is determined to survive, though. As she tells her story, she reveals that she is distant, emotionally cold, and very calculating. She carefully considers each and every action by how it will affect her survival. Still, she is very likeable and you will root for her survival, even though it means watching her kill other teenagers. The reader, like the characters, has to walk an intense, fine line between rooting for a winner, (while watching other children be murdered) feeling the excitement of battle, (while understanding that it is simply a tool used by the government to maintain power) and maintaining a human connection (even though it is clear that the game must be played).

Katniss is such an honest and engaging narrator that you can’t help but be drawn into her world. She tells you the events in the present tense (a remarkable stylistic device) which creates the sense of urgency and speed that will rush you along.
This book is amazing. So amazing, in fact, that I’ll give you a minute to rush out and get your own copy. (Costco now sells The Hunger Games in paperback, or you could click on the link below and purchase this book from Amazon!)













Okay, got your copy? Good, now read it because the story continues in book two of the trilogy, Catching Fire. This book is as good as the first. I must be careful, however, about how much I say because I don’t want to give away anything about how the first book ends. Just know that as soon as Laura finished the first she jumped into the second. So did I. So did my mother-in-law. So did my mother. So will you too. Just know that it will not disappoint.

Finished book two? Well, I’ve got more good news for you. Book three, Mockingjay, is going to be released this week so you won’t have to wait for the conclusion like the rest of us did.



Have I mentioned that this is a great series? It is. A pesky colleague recommended it. I hemmed, I hawed, she threatened my life, and so I read it. (Well, that's not really how it went but that's how I'm going to remember it.) As a high school reading teacher, I've read quite a bit of Young Adult literature. Some of it is enjoyable enough, but let's face it, it is written for 12-17 year olds. But The Hunger Games is a new force in the Young Adult genre. This is a book for mom, dad, and the kids. Everyone will enjoy it. (And there are no sparkling vampires-so it is a dozen times better than any other YA books on the market.) It was so good that Laura and I bought our own copies of these books. Our copy of Mockingjay has been preordered and should be delivered next week. We can’t wait.



Okay, your turn. Once you’ve read the series tell me what you think. Leave your comments below.