New photos...

... for all those disgruntled blog readers out there! Sorry we're lame and update this thing only every once in a while.

Snack time at the coffee shop:


Sorting corn kernels:


Swinging on the way to the park:

Halloween Photo

Hi all,

I think Melissa has some more Halloween pics on her phone, but for now, this one from Lucia's Uncle Evan is all I have with me at work:


Yes, that is the same costume from last year, but it was so cute, we couldn't resist putting her in it again this year!

Pix from Melissa's new phone!

Melissa's new phone has a camera AND internet access. So I get occasional real-time updates and photos from her adventures with Lucia. Here are a few recent pictures:

At the zoo with her friend Aubrey:


Swinging at the park:


At Lake Michigan with Dad:

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Hi all,

Lucia turns two tomorrow (Wednesday)! Hard to believe. Here are some recent photos of Lucia and Dad at the awesome fountain at Millennium Park downtown:

Hens or roosters?

Hens or roosters?


Hard to tell, right? Well, let me tell you: those are ROOSTERS. That's right, COCK-A-DOODLE-DOODLING roosters. We thought all was going well in our backyard chicken experiment until those guys started making more and more and more noise. By the time we got back from our two-week southern sojourn to visit family, the neighbors let us know very clearly that we, in fact, had roosters that were waking up at dawn to let the whole neighborhood know it was time to get up.

So what to do? To make a long (and funny to us at this point, but not a few weeks ago while it was all happening) story short, we took the roosters back to the store where we had bought them and exchanged them for six week-old hens (the store is SURE this time that they are, in fact, hens). Has anyone ever tried to wrangle a full-grown and MAD rooster into a cardboard box? How about three of them?

So now we have to wait a couple more months for eggs, but, as you can see from these photos, Lucia is enjoying our new backyard friends.

Feast/Famine

Well, folks, around here we either leave you with months and months of dry spell or we decide to bring in the big guns and hit you with posts upon posts upon posts. Welcome back! Since we are inundating you, we're going all out. Straight from the i-phone of our friend Kristina, here is Lu checking out the big bean (officially the "Cloud Gate" sculpture in Millenium park):

And playing with Aubrey in the most awesome city disovery we have made this summer so far - the FREE family fun tent downtown (music, blocks, books, coloring, hula hoops - ALL summer long. yes, we've been twice in the past 9 days!):
And lastly, while I'm at work earning big fat dollars, Lucy is at Aubrey's house (where she apparently had an epic meltdown, thus the binky that is usually reserved solely for bedtime/cartime). Lu and Aub look so intellectual!

Summer fun, part III

For the first two installments of summer fun, click on down the page... One more thing that Lucia loves - singing and dancing! Click on the picture below for a video:

From My Pictures

Summer fun, part II

Things Lucia loves:

Stomping in puddles...


Coloring...


Blueberries...


... and cake batter!

Summer fun, part I

Hi all,

Sorry it's been so long since our last post! We have been having lots of adventures lately - trips to see family in Atlanta and South Carolina, festivals and museums and parks in Chicago, and fun in the sandbox, pool and garden in the backyard... Here are some recent photos - and another couple updates should be coming today too.

At the zoo in Atlanta:


Helping Grammy water the plants:


Swimming with Gramps:


At the park with Mom:


Eating animal crackers with Great Grandmama:

showdown at the OK Corral?

That kitty looks fierce and I think she may be having a stink-eye staredown with Lucia? In which Lucy just might suffer a humiliating defeat!

park park park park and park

Going to the park seems to occupy a humongous portion of our time these days. We just returned from a fabulous trip to Washington DC to visit family and friends and this picture is just one of many outings to various parks in various DC spots. This one had a sandbox filled with toys free for the using by anyone - um, nice idea that I don't think would fly in our Chicago neighborhood!

more monday madness...

Park fun while Mom's at work, part two... Lucy with her famous scrunch face which we see ALL the time. Also known as "I am being a ridiculous ham, please laugh with me". Generally, successful at getting onlookers to revel in her merry mood.

Don't know how well you can see in this pic, but we're also starting to rock the ponytail-on-the-top-o-the-ole-head look because I was tired of hearing "eyes! eyes! eyes!" when her bangs were flopping around and blocking her vision. Cindy-Lou Who is getting some competition for the awesomest Who in Whoville!

the best thing about having a hip, i-phone toting babysitter...

is getting pictures like this in real time. This is Lucy and her friend Aubrey (our neighbor). Aubrey shares her awesome babysitter, Kristina, with us on Monday mornings and I go to work where I get delicious emails and texts updating me on what they are doing. Which I love, of course!!!

Chicken-fest

OK blog-land, it's time to admit a piece of Garrett awesomeness that's been hiding in our mud room for the last week or so. Meet the three newest Garretts, chickens number 1, 2 & 3! Kyle has been talking about getting chickens for a long, long time - our goal is to have fresh, delicious eggs on a regular basis for our family and to share with all our Chicago peeps (heh, heh). With EXTENSIVE help from a very handy friend, Kyle built a coop for our little fluffy friends under our deck. When they get a little bigger, we'll have an official moving party into their new digs! For now, they are living in a cardboard box where they get lots and love and affection from Lucia, our visiting cousins Gracie & Annie (that's Gracie above holding Chicken #1 - whom Gracie & Annie named Popcorn), and our neighbors.

Gracie & Annie hold Cici & Gloria

Lucy says, "I'm not touching those crazy birds!". Smart girl.

We'll keep you all posted as to the progress of the great Garrett chicken project, but as for now, it feels very springlike what with all the peeping and the yellow fluff!

Sliding Queen

The following video is for seriously committed Lucy lovers only - it's a bit long and slow at times, but I absolutely love it because this is really and truly how we spend hours and hours and hours of time these days. Doing slide circuits. Up the stairs, down the slide, around the playground, up the stairs, repeat ad nauseum. You get the idea. See for yourself!




Furthermore, just to prove the crazy insanity of Chicago weather, I think this video was taken on Monday. Note the coat, hat, scarf and red nose. Tomorrow's weather? 82 whopping degrees! Hooray for spring in the air!

st valentine and his cadillac dream

Hey blog-o-friends. We've been on a never-ending carousel of colds and stomach flus and winter blerghs around here BUT it's past the middle of February! Spring is in sight! Lucy's hacking cough is gone, gone with the wind! And I finally got the root canal that I've been putting off for the better part of a year (because who wants a root canal???).

Bottom line, we still have a delectably scrumptious ball of fun who loves to assert her opinion about clothing ("No! No! No! No!" unless the clothing involves pandas, flowers, or cherries) and just about anything else. Indulge me for a moment, I don't want to forget some of the charming (and less charming) things that she's doing now at 17 months, so here's what makes Lucia ridiculously, deliriously happy at the moment:

• Raisins. We have never seen her voluntarily stop eating these things.
• Her hippo ("Hippo? Hippo? Hippo?" is a frequent mantra)
• Climbing onto a step stool and proclaiming "TALL!!!!!!!!!"
• Bagels with cream cheese.
• Her giant orange bouncy ball
• Dance parties involving the Arcade Fire (or Neko Case. or the Jackson Five.)
• Reading books. Over and over and over and over. Exhibit A:
  

• 
• Playing in the snow:
• Fingerpainting. Or gluing. Or playing with play dough. Or eating crayons.
• These pants (MADE ESPECIALLY BY ME!!!! MY SEWING SKILLS ARE OUTTA CONTROL!!!!). Truthfully, she doesn't really care about them one way or the other, but they are still making the blog. Please enjoy her catwalk skills:
• Playing ring around the rosy.
• Unloading the dishwasher/grocery bag/laundry basket.
• LOADING the dishwasher/groceries/laundry.
• Pretending to feed various stuffed animals.
  
• About a million more things.
  

There are also many things that bring wailing, gnashing of teeth, tantrums galore, and battles of will... to name a few: getting her diaper changed, eating anything she doesn't FEEL like eating at any given moment, sun in her eyes, sharing. That last one is a killer!

Also, being sick. None of us are big fans of that. Here's a sad sick face (that we have seen too much of over the last few weeks):

Big love from all of us in the Garrett house! And hasten the coming spring!

The promised video...

Here is a video of Lucia giving the stink eye to Mom and Dad one night at dinner (you have to click on the picture, and it will take you to the video):

From stink eye

Lucia at 17 Months Old!

We've had some sickness moving around the Garrett household for the past week or so, but hopefully we'll be in the clear soon! Lucia had the worst of it - a really bad cough for a few days and a nose that kept on running... But we wanted to share some recent photos of Lucia - she just keeps getting bigger and more talkative (and more assertive!). Here are some photos, and in a bit, I'm going to post a video - stay tuned!

I love to finger paint!


Hanging out with Aunt Tricia:



At the Field Museum with my new friend Aubrey who lives around the corner from us:

Xmas in Txas

We had a good time visiting family in Texas for the holidays, so we thought we'd share several pictures from our time there.

"Wow"


Hanging out with my cousin (and new best friend!) Emily:



Walking with Grammy and Papi:



With Mom by the river:




Static electricity!!



And if you're dying for more photos, you can click here and it will take you to a Shutterfly album... Enjoy!