Bax-isms

I wanted to jot down some of the funny things Bax has said before I forget them.

(Me, trying to encourage decision-making by holding up two shirts and asking him to chose what he wants to wear.)
Me: Bax, which shirt do you want to wear today? This one (holds up Captain America shirt), or this one (holds up Old Navy flag shirt)?
Bax, pointing at the pajama shirt he was already wearing with a tiger on it: Thith. (This.)

Baxter, in the dead of night, sleeping between Mike and I in our bed and after having kicked off all his sheets, screaming: COLD! COLD, PLEASE! COLD, PLEASE!

He was wriggling around desperately trying to snuggle into one of us for warmth. After we realized what he was doing, we cracked up and put his blanket on him. Silly boy.

And lastly, after I caught him thing to walk across tall steps tool bases at my mom's house (where he almost fell), I walked over to him. Before I could open my mouth, he looked at me and said in a mocking voice, "Bax! What're doing?!"

Tch. Kids.

Captured Memories

I absolutely love these pictures that my dear friend/coworker Becka Brebner took of my little family.  She did a fantastic job!  Becka is a PACU nurse who is currently an SME (like me) for the electronic medical record project for our hospital system, but one of her passions is photography.  Her most recent work includes being the set photographer for some indie films in Seattle and engagement sessions -- you know, photographing people who actually listen to you, unlike a squirrelly 23-month old.  

We met up at the Museum of Glass in downtown Tacoma.  Becka got down on the floor, tromped around grass with dog poo landmines, and was quick with the shutter in order to capture these shots.  Baxter was quick to warm up to her after she encouraged him to jump around, splash in the fountain, and get his first big ice cream cone to himself to eat (which promptly fell over after a couple licks).  When we were done with the shoot and getting Bax in his carseat to go home, he was looking for his new best friend and said, "Becka, where aaaarrre yoouuuu?"

These are just a couple of the teaser pictures she sent me, and I can't wait to see the rest.  Thanks Becka!  You are fabulous.

Kansas City, MO

Hey, y'all!  Greetings from hot and muggy Kansas City. Check out that weather forecast.  Doesn't it look fabulous?  Well, maybe if you like living in sauna.

Ay yay yay!

 

 

 

 

Mike and Bax dropped me off at the Inn in Gig Harbor in the morning so I could take the airporter to Sea-Tac.  It was the first time I've ever traveled alone, and also the first time I've ever left Baxter or Mike since our happy family started.  While I was excited to start on a new adventure with business travel for work, I was also sad (and worried) about leaving my two boys.  Will they survive without me?  Will the house?  Will they eat?  Luckily for me, my mom is retired and enjoys watching Bax, so he's been staying with her since I left.  He even spent the night.  I skyped with them last night after we got back from dinner and was happy to see Bax so well-adjusted without me there (meaning: he didn't really care to Skype and was wiggling all over the place, running around the house and fighting sleep.)  I skyped with Mike afterwards and he was talking about he felt like a bachelor as he went to the grocery store to pick up frozen pizza, energy drinks, and chips for his dinner.

My flight to KC was uneventful, save for the fact that we were packed like sardines in the plane, and probably 90% of the people on the plane had some kind of respiratory gunk going on.  People were hacking and sneezing all over the place, and it sounded like they didn't even try to cover their projectiles.  I kept seeing visions of the snot monsters from the Mucinex commercials whenever I heard someone coughing.  I'm pretty sure that my first souvenir from Kansas City will be TB, the flu, or pertussis.

The humidity here wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but it's still pretty gross feeling after a while of standing outside in "business casual" attire.  The hotel we're staying at is older with modern decor and the smallest elevators I've ever seen.  Also, I'm on the 13th floor.  Are you kidding me?  I get visions of the Tower of Terror every time I step in the elevator.  I didn't think hotels labeled the 13th floor as such anymore.  One of my co-workers is staying in murder central, so named as it is the room farthest away from the elevators and closest to the stairs, which is often where the most murders occur because the perpetrator can get away easily.  (Thanks, CSI!)

One bed for me, one bed for my luggage.

This little guy was waiting for me in my room when I arrived.

The view from my room

CHI has been kind enough to provide us with a shuttle to and from everywhere we need to go, and also arranged for three-course group dinners at swanky places each night.  Yesterday we had dinner at Drunken Fish, a trendy sushi bar a few blocks away from our hotel in the Power and Lights District.  The whole upper floor was reserved for us.  

 

 

 

 

Glowing red tables at Drunken Fish

Today was the first big work day at Cerner.  We're working out of their Riverport Campus, which has an old casino inside of it.  It's pretty neat to walk around in.  I felt like I was in New York, New York Casino in Las Vegas.  Cerner caters our lunches, and we got to eat on a wraparound deck facing the Missouri River.  Apparently the water level is pretty high -- near flood level due to the thunderstorms they've been having these days.  I watched a whole tree float down the fast-moving river into a bog underneath the bridge while I ate my turkey wrap.  I've also discovered that coffee reeeeally perks me up.

Panoramic shot of Missouri River

I'm resting in my room after a long day's work.  It's been fun meeting new people and seeing new places, but I know I'll be even happier on Friday when I get to come back home to Mike and Bax.  I miss my guys!

Hooray for summer!

Sorry for the lack of updates (and lack of pictures) lately.  The sun actually decided to shine over Washington and end the extended winter we were having in May-vember and June-uary.  We've made the most of the sunshine by going out on family bike trips, visiting the zoo, going on a steam train ride in Elbe, and hanging out at local parks.  Baxter loves being outside and is always knocking on the door to be let out.

Riding the Cushman Trail in Gig Harbor.  There were waaaaay more hills than we expected. 

Bax enjoys being in the bike trailer.  He actually climbs in it himself when he wants us to pull him around the neighborhood.

Bax's new favorite thing to do each day is play outside with the hose.  He has a water table that my mom bought him in the backyard, but apparently that isn't messy or projectile enough.  He much prefers the hose with the wand attachment on it so he can drench the grass, our plants, the inside of our house when the sliding glass door is open, and most importantly, himself.  I've been having to pick up a happy, soggy boy out of the yard each day and pull him out of sopping wet clothes.

We visited Portland early in June to visit Baxter's new cousins, Nash and Vonzaa.  Matt and Angie have a full household these days!  The twins were only a few days old when we came to visit and were sooo sweet to hold.  They were so small!  I can't believe Bax was that tiny once upon a time.  They were super cuddly and soft, and still in that sleepy stage.  I think Nash is Matt's mini-me and Vonzaa is Angie's.  Baxter kept saying "baby!" when he saw them and would give them kisses on their heads.  So sweet.

Nash Matthews

Vonzaa Angelina

Max and Chance have also been spending a lot of time in Poulsbo with Grandma and Grandpa Choo-Choo, and Bax has been over a couple of times to get some fun cousin time in.  Max has been a great older cousin and takes his time with Baxter, showing him how to play with things and helping him get around steps.  We spent the 4th of July over there and it was so sweet to see Max and Baxter walking around the backyard, hand in hand.  As far as Chance goes, we'll just say that he and Bax tolerated each other.  There may or may not have been dramatic fits of crying and pinching involved.

Max taught Bax how to play with bulldozers and steamrollers in the dirt.

Dirt + Boys = Smiles

We also have been lucky enough to have some days off to hang out with Mike's friend Dave, his wife Rachel, and their sons, Owen and Gavin.  Owen is a month older than Baxter.  We all rode the Tour de Pierce together, which was a 12-mile bike ride around Puyallup and Sumner, which was really fun and something I'd like to do annually.  The little boys did pretty well in their trailers for the most part, except Owen got antsy during the last couple miles.

Here are Bax and Owen at the Woodland Park Zoo playing on an old trailer in their Family Farm area.  Bax hopped on the trailer and then appeared to peer out over his crop, like an old farmer overlooking his acreage.  We all got to feed bamboo to Bamboo, one of the elephants at the zoo.  (The pictures of that are on the camera which aren't downloaded to the computer yet.)

We also got a chance to go on the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad in Elbe, WA.  Baxter has inherited his Grandpa Bob's love for trains.  He fell asleep during the ride down to Elbe and woke up when we pulled into the parking lot for the train ride.  As soon as he realized he was in the presence of a real "choo choo", he was literally shaking with excitement.  He couldn't stop signing "train" and saying "choo choo!  choo choo!" over and over again.  The train ride went to Mineral Lake, where we stopped for 15 minutes and examined the different cars of the old train.  It was a really fun family outing.

In the Clopen car, which doesn't have windows.  On the plus side, we got a lot of airflow through the cart.  On the downside, our allergies went crazy.

In other news, I have a new job at work.  It's more of a lateral move since no increase in pay is involved, but it is a big switch from bedside nursing.  I'm part of a nationwide team to design and build the electronic medical record (EMR) for Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), which Franciscan Health System (FHS) is a part of.  I'm working as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) and on a team focused on inpatient charting and medication administration.  It does involve monthly week-long business trips to exciting and exotic locales, such as Kansas City, MO and Denver, CO.  I'm excited to see another part of nursing that doesn't involve FlexiSeals or someone complaining about me not getting them their dilaudid/phenergan/ativan/sandwich combo fast enough.  If I like it enough, I might decide to get a degree in Nurse Informatics.  Or I could just win the lotto. 

Hope you are all having a fabulous summer!  Have fun, stay cool, and drink lots of chocolate milk like Baxter has been.  :)

Good doggy, Buttons.

Buttons a few years ago

Today we faced the hard task of putting Buttons, our 17-year old family dog, to sleep.  We have had Buttons since he was 3-months old and he had proven himself to be a loyal and sweet family dog through the years.  He's gone with us through several moves and road trips, stayed by my mom's side when she was going through radiation treatment for breast cancer, waited for me by the front door every time I would leave the house for the three-hour drive back to Seattle or Bellingham when I was in college, and would always position himself somewhere in the house where he could keep an eye on the most people.


Even when his position as Top Dog was displaced when Mango came around 10 years ago, Buttons never failed to impress.  He proved that old dogs could learn new tricks when we taught him all the things Mango was learning in obedience school.  He was always happy and eager to be pet and cuddle with anyone who wanted some doggy love.


In the past few years, Buttons had slowed down quite a bit, but would sometimes still have a burst of energy to spaz around the house or backyard.  He preferred croissants and pan de sal to dog food, and favored long naps in sunny spots in the house.  His hips seemed to be giving him more and more problems, his eyes developed some haziness, he started acting like an old man who forgot where he was half the time and developed some incontinence.  


He'd been living in my parents house this whole time, but for the past week he'd been staying at our house since my parents are in the Philippines.  When I brought him to our house, it really struck me how old he was, and how hard it was for him to get in any kind of comfortable position.  He'd circle a spot for five minutes, like he was waiting for his trick hip to pop so that he could finally collapse.  I caught him trying to sleep while standing up, maybe because it hurt to much to move.  He would yelp sometimes when we tried to pet him, and he was so skinny now.


Baxter has loved having Buttons at our house, both as a playmate, a soft thing to pet, and as someone to share his food with when he doesn't want to eat it. He liked playing with his leash and walking him around the house. He got so excited seeing the dog, he even knows how to say "Buddy" now.  I hope he doesn't get too affected by all of us crying about Buttons.  When we got home today and I saw his food dish, I started crying.  Bax gave me a big hug and ran to get some tissue to dab my cheeks with.


We brought Buddy to Dr. Irwin's office today and stayed with him until the end.  I felt all the tension in his body leave as he melted into my arms after getting the sedative.  It was me, Billie, Mike, and Baxter in the exam room, huddled around Buttons as he lay there, telling him how much we loved him and that he was going to a better place without pain.  Dr. Irwin was very kind and said that this was probably the last act of kindness we could give to our 17-year old dog, and that we could probably eke out a couple more weeks or months with pain medications but I didn't want to risk seeing him decline even more than he had already and having to wrangle with this decision again.  I'm still trying to convince myself that we made the humane decision to do this, and of course Buttons was acting spry and happy all morning.  The  past couple days have been rough.  I didn't want to have to do this.  He was such a loyal and loving dog, really the best dog ever.


Sleep well, Buttons, now and forever.  We will always love you.

Buttons - May 6, 2011

Sassy Boy

This video pretty much sums up what we've been dealing with lately: Senor Sass.  At 17-months, Bax is starting to shift from babbling to saying words, which still sounds like babbling to the untrained ear.  He can say "Mommy" and "Daddy", but will prefer to use Swahili lipsmacks instead.  He can also say "peas" (for "please") but will usually opt to sign vs. saying it.  And everything ends with dancing or finger snapping.



Bax had a high fever for three days (since last Friday), followed by a roseola rash on his trunk.  The rash hasn't bothered him really, and the only way you can tell he's sick (or perhaps going through a growth spurt) is that he has been taking some long naps lately and has been kind of clingy.  Today, he slept on me for three hours.  We were on the couch playing when he started giving me repeated hugs.  The last hug was an extra long one, and when I heard him breathing heavily, I realized Little Man was fast asleep.  I took advantage of his super long nap to catch up on the first season of Glee.

We've been spending a lot of time hanging out with my mom and my Uncle Teng's family who were evacuated from Japan.  They've been staying at my mom's house since mid-March after the nuclear issues forced them out of Yokosuka.  My three cousins, Kate (8), Axel (4), and Eliana (2) have been good practice for Baxter in terms of playing with others and sharing.  For the most part, he does a great job...unless they don't want to play with him because they're playing Wii (the case with Kate and Axel) or they don't want to play with him because they're scared of everyone that comes near them (Eliana).  In those cases, Bax the Crab surfaces and people get poked or pinched (and he pinches hard!)  Occasionally the younger two are in a good mood and tolerate Bax force feeding them goldfish crackers and tearing down their blocks Godzilla-style and Bax claps to himself about what a great time he's having.  I'm hoping he learns how to play nice with others before his four new baby cousins arrive (three out of four sister-in-laws are pregnant, and one is having twins).

Lenten Reflections

Like many other people in the world, I'm a little addicted to Facebook.  After throwing around ideas of what to give up for Lent, I finally decided on not visiting the world's most popular social network until Easter.  (Runner up ideas were using cash instead of the debit card, fried food, and doing the dishes.)  I deleted the app from my iPhone, and have been doing surprisingly better than I thought I would be.  I only really noticed my desire to check Facebook after Bax had gone down to sleep.

Interestingly enough, one of my friends from high school also gave up using Facebook for Lent after being "inspired" by my decision to do so, and even had this to say about it for those unfamiliar with the religious tradition: 

"Why give things up for Lent? "The purpose of Lent is to be a season of fasting, self-denial, Christian growth, penitence, conversion, and simplicity. Lent, which comes from the Teutonic (Germanic) word for springtime, can be viewed as a spiritual spring cleaning: a time for taking spiritual inventory and then cleaning out those things which hinder our corporate and personal relationships with Jesus Christ and our service to him. Thus it is fitting that the season of Lent begin with a symbol of repentance: placing ashes mixed with oil on one's head or forehead. However, we must remember that our Lenten disciplines are supposed to ultimately transform our entire person: body, soul, and spirit. Our Lenten disciplines are supposed to help us become more like Christ. Eastern Christians call this process theosis, which St. Athanasius aptly describes as 'becoming by grace what God is by nature'."

Mike was even throwing around ideas of what to give up for Lent as a show of support, even though he's not Catholic.  He says he will pack a lunch for work instead of buying a hot lunch.  Easy for him to say, since I'm the one who usually makes (or doesn't make) his lunch.  He and his co-workers also tried being nice to difficult patients they encounter at the pharmacy, but apparently that only lasted until 11 am.

So, the countdown to Easter begins.  I have been excited about Easter festivities ever since the Christmas season ended, mainly because Bax can walk now and I think he would really love going on an egg hunt.  He's been playing with his Easter basket from last year and having fun opening up the eggs and filling them with whatever fits -- felt food, little cars, or raisins.  I've been collecting little goodies and making fun crafts for his Easter basket, only to discover tonight that I work all Easter weekend.  (Insert sad trombone sound.)

Speaking of crafts, I've been on a kick lately.  I've been successfully making one craft a day, primarily felt crafts.  I've made Bax some felt food (a chocolate roll, farfalle pasta, and strawberries), some fish magnets, and tonight I tried making an applique robot shirt.  I say "tried" because after three hours, multiple uses of the seam ripper, tangled thread and cursing, I gave up.  I think I'll be more successful if I get some double sided fusible interfacing.  I don't really know how to use my sewing machine or have any proper sewing technique; I more or less wing it and cross my fingers that my stitches are flat.

What have you (or would you) give up for Lent?  I always found it interesting to see what people sacrifice.  I know a couple of people who are attempting vegetarianism, giving up coffee, etc.  I really wish I could give up housework.

Baxter's New Tricks: 15-months old

One thing is for sure: Baxter is never boring.  It seems like he picks up a new skill everyday, and it's amazing to me how fast he's learning things.  He enjoys mischief and has inherited our sense of humor.  In other words, Mighty Mouse has turned into Jokey Smurf.

Here are some new things Bax has been doing:

He's learned how to "smile".  Sometime he'll do it on command, sometimes he won't.  But when he starts doing this cheesy smile, there's no stopping him!  He'll bust it out at random times at home and at the store, expecting a big round of applause afterwards.

He has a Zoolander face.  We like to put random things on him (hats, glasses, toys) and tell him to "go show mommy/daddy!" to which he'll walk over to the aforementioned person and pose for a bit.

The half-smile.  This isn't really a "trick", this is more or less the look he gives us all the time.  To me, it's a look that says "I tolerate you.  Now give me some raisins/a straw to chew on/cheddar bunnies!"

Remember when Baxter was 6-months old and I made a video of him signing for "more"?  All the progress with signing stopped when he learned that he could get his point across by pounding the table (thanks, mom).  I tried signing again with him, and lo and behold this week he started signing for "more" again, usually followed by a point toward the bag of raisins.  Today, however, he signed for "more" after I gave him some cuddly kisses, which made me feel like the World's Best Mommy.

Bax has also developed an ear for music and dancing.  Every morning he points to the Vers (our iPod dock) and starts dancing.  Baxter's version of dancing is bouncing up and down with his knees, snapping his fingers, and sometimes swaying side to side or shaking his head.  I'm trying to get him to incorporate more b-boy moves, or at least the Robot.  Here's a clip of him dancing with a burp cloth for a cape that my mom put on him.

At 15-months, Bax has learned how to blow snot rockets, flush the toilets, pick up food with his play tweezers, successfully bring a spoon or fork ladled with food to his mouth (but hasn't quite mastered getting the food on the utensil), take his diaper off, take his shirt off, and knows that his socks and shoes go on his feet.  He can point to his eyes, ears, nose, tummy, belly button, knee, feet, titi, and "boobs".  (No comment.)  His favorite games are playing chase, sliding into the almost-splits on the kitchen floor in his socks, hiding in the curtains, and getting tickled by Mike.  His favorite toys are anything he can fill up and dump (like blocks and a bucket), Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl from Toy Story (he has Woody and Bullseye, but will almost always grab Jessie first), and sorting shapes into holes, such as with puzzles or his wooden tool set.  He still loves his lovey blanket(s), and thinks it's funny to give people pulsatile squeezes with hugs.

Where has the time gone?  He's grown up so fast!

Turning a new leaf

We are pleased to announce the newest addition to our family of kitchen appliances . . . the Vitamix 5200.  We've been wishing for a new blender since our current one (Kitchen Aid) was a piece of junk that could hardly crush ice or smelled like it was about to explode whenever we used it.  We used it primarily to make smoothies, and when we started drinking Odwalla's Superfood everyday, we thought it would probably be a good investment to get a better blender and make them at home.  My friend Hillary got one a while ago and posted her recipe for her Green Drink, which we are excited to try.  Matt and Angie brought their Vitamix over during Christmas and made everyone Shrek Juice, and we were amazed at how creamy and smooth the drinks were.  Enter the traveling Vitamix road show at our local Costco, and BAM! Proud new parents.

I've also been obsessed with reading this particular blog called Young House Love for a while.  I was initially drawn to their blog because of their DIY design ideas, some of which we incorporated into our office decor last weekend with hanging frames on the wall.  After reading through more of their blog entries, I realized they were a lot like Mike and I -- a young(ish) couple with a young baby, similar design aesthetics, and have an interest in being green.  It reignited our desire to be more earth friendly and leave less of a carbon footprint, so I've started switching out even more of our products to greener alternatives, such as soaps, toothpaste, and making our own housecleaning solutions.  Part of this was also because of articles about triclosan, which is common in antibacterial soaps and toothpaste, as altering hormone regulation in animals.  (My Sensodyne toothpaste didn't contain triclosan, but all my handsoaps in the house did.)

The whole organic overhaul in the kitchen is a work in process, but the big thing is that we're more aware of things we buy before we bring it home.  I've put things back on the shelf at stores because the packaging wasn't recyclable.  I've also started to become more wary about handling BPA-laced receipts, which researchers are finding have waaaaaay more BPA in them than the ol' Nalgene and plastic baby bottles that prompted a big recall last year.  We also got rid of all our Tupperware and replaced them with Snapware Glasslock container sets we purchased at Costco.  I'm also getting rid of my BPA-free Nalgene bottles and getting these Lifefactory glass water bottles instead since sometimes my water tastes like plastic and I think the glass would clean better in the dishwasher.  Mike uses Sigg stainless steel water bottles, but I have an absolute hatred the sound of scratching metal (putting silverware away always makes my ears cringe), so I think the glass would be a better option for me.

So that's just some of the green renovation being done in our happy little abode these days.  I'm hoping to get our crappy composter back in working order soon and either get Baxter potty trained or successfully strip his cloth diapers so we can further reduce trash waste.  And do P90X.  And put more money away for college/new house/retirement.  And have another baby and not sacrifice my kidneys.  And save the world.  Easy enough, right?

Workin' on our fitness

Mike and I gave into the hype and bought something off an infomercial.  We are tired of being fat, jiggly, weak, fat, and tired (did I mention fat?) and are the proud new owners of . . . wait for it . . . P90X and a doorway pull up bar.  The pull up bar is in the door between the kitchen and the pantry so we can look at all the junk food we shouldn't eat while burning calories and building muscle (or giving yourself a back cramp, depending on who's doing the pull up).  Just in the past week of having it in the kitchen, Mike has gone from doing three sad pull ups to five in a row.  I, on the other hand, can only pull myself up a mere inch or two before I feel like my biceps are going to explode.  We haven't officially started the P90X workouts yet, although we watched the introduction DVD last night while eating frozen yogurt.  :)

Baxter has been especially intrigued by our sudden feats of athleticism and tries to copy what we're doing.  I took a video of him tonight "working out" with Mike,  I dubbed it "P90Bax".

Holiday picture recap

Here are those pictures that I said I would upload many posts ago.  Let's go through them, shall we?  I'm honestly not even sure if these are good pictures because they were too small to tell in thumbnail form when I selected them.  Hey, it's better than nothing, right?

These are from our trip to Maris Farms in October.  I'd heard stories about how great of a pumpkin patch it was, and after stepping into the gates, I told Michael it was like the Disneyland of pumpkin farms.  They had rides, animals, corn mazes, pumpkins, and a whole lot more.

Here's Mike going down the bumpiest slide ever.  Although he's smiling in this picture, he was a little numb in the butt  after going down the slide.  Baxter wanted to go again, but Daddy couldn't handle another trip down the PVC pipes.

How tall this fall?  If you count the garden gnome hat,  2'10".

Obligatory hay and pumpkin shot.

Playing in chicken feed or something like that.

These next few shots are from Baxter's first birthday party.  We had a small gathering at our house with family.  Baxter even walked his first couple steps at the party!

Yummy strawberry cream cake from Susanne's Bakery in downtown Gig Harbor.

It was a big hit with all the guests, and the guest of honor.  He ate his whole huge slice!

Bax looooves his ballpit!

He loves dumping all the balls out and flipping it on it's side even more.  And mommy loves picking up all 150 balls every. single. day.

 Christmas was spent with the Baloghs this year, and Bax had fun playing with his cousins from Portland and San Marcos.  We spent some time at Discovery Village in Gig Harbor and all the kids had a blast.

Kate and Quinn got Bax this cool crash cart! It has clicking defib pads and everything!

The younger Baloghs at Discovery Village.

And the Oscar goes to...

Someone has learned how to throw temper tantrums.  Before, when Sir Baxter was displeased, he let his servants (me and Mike) know by putting on his pouty face.  These days, the pouty face is accompanied by a sudden flop to the ground and hysterical crying.  Sir Baxter usually doesn't pay any attention to any furniture around him when he goes into status dramaticus, which can sometimes lead to a bonked head/lip/whatever, resulting in real crying.  Probably the only thing he makes note of before collapsing is whether or not he's on carpet.  We've seen him start to fuss, look down and see he's on the kitchen floor, then walk over to the edge where the carpet starts and then fall over.