thirtysomething...

Well, actually only thirty. We had a few people over a couple of weeks ago to celebrate a new decade of life for me (!) and our fabulous friend Daniel whipped out his fancy, 50-pound behemoth of a camera and got some great shots - thanks, D!

Future rocket scientist here loves the rind far better than the actual melon.


Wow do I see this face ALL the time - I'm glad to have it on film, thanks to Daniel's discerning eye.


Me and Colleen admiring the size of the butternut squash plant (aka JUNGLE).

Also, little naked boo is definitely a walking machine these days. She started taking a step here and there about a week ago and took off pretty immediately thereafter. She gets a little top heavy when she starts trucking but is highly skilled at catching the brunt of the falls on her padded diaper-bum. Such a talented girl. Shamefully, our camera got left at Patricia & Evan's house so we have yet to capture any video of the ambulatory queen, but rest assured, bloggable proof coming soon!

Naked Baby Alert!!!

Seems like when I'm on a bloggin' roll, I am on fire! And speaking of fire, it was in the high 90s in Chicago over the weekend (after a very cool past few months) and while Kyle and I were busy gardening on Saturday, Lucy got hot and started experimenting with the hose nozzle. The easiest thing to do was just to strip her down and let her get as wet as she liked, which of course warranted a capture on film. And a posting to the world wide web - do you think she'll ever forgive us when she's 16? But the video of her shrieking and chattering is too great not to share. The sound is a little crazy (our neighbor's air conditioning is ear splitting) but you can still catch the gist of the abounding joy!





Wet, naked and EXCITED about life!


And this one of Lucy at the pool with our friend Yoalix is just to prove that we do put her in a swimsuit on occasion!

Dirty laundry...

Here's attempt number 2 at the scampering laundry basket video... for explanation, see post below!

Manic Monday

Hey peeps! Just another manic Monday around here and we are woefully woefully behind on our blogging skills. But have no fear, there are a plethora of backlogged videos, photos and tales just waiting to be aired out here in the public sphere. First up is the video that prompted me to bust out my typing fingers and document some daily hilarity. Seems like so many days at home with Luce are a battle to get her to eat, a battle to get her to play by herself some of the time, a battle to get out the door to go anywhere. So it's always exceptionally pleasant and enjoyable when she discovers some new skill that is fascinating (to her) and delightful (to me!). Behold - the almost walker! Almost runner seems more like it - she found an immense amount of joy this morning in traipsing all around downstairs while pushing the laundry basket. The first time, she freaked herself out with her extreme speed, but after a brief respite, she decided to embrace the energy and toddled around for such a long time. The best moments of this are the first 10 seconds or so, but since Kyle, my video splicer/editor/documentarian is busy earning a paycheck, you are stuck with the whole thing and no fancy music running behind it.

Well NUTS, blogger is saying that this video is so deliciously yummy, they can't seem to upload it. Hold that thought, will try to post in another hour or so!

In the meantime, a selection of action & adventure photos from our last month or so of summertime fun...

YUM! A green pepper from Papa's garden, all for me???


At Millenium Park with Aunt Katy & Uncle Bryan (rocking out to Black Moth Super Rainbow!!!). Also, giving the stink-eye to the camera!


My first ever official soccer game (we went to see the Chicago Red Stars, the new pro women's team). It was HOT.


Reading with Dad. Breaking news - we now love books! Finally, after much gnashing of teeth (mostly gnashing of teeth ON the books).


And finally, modeling my roller derby gear. We have a feeling a rock star roller derby career just might be in this child's future after seeing her mow down (or climb on!) several other small children recently.