Organic Hair Products

Mommy says I'm sporting a faux-hawk in this picture:


Smashing bananas and then running your hands through your hair makes a great organic styling gel, let me tell you. Mommy and Daddy made me go take a bath and wash it out, but I'll just do it again tomorrow.

My Friend Michael

Michael is my friend. I like to talk to him and play with him and give him love pats. And sometimes pinch him. But he likes to pinch me too, and sometimes he likes to bite. He has more teeth than I do. Someday I'll catch up. He can move faster than me too. When we play together I like to do whatever Michael is doing. And he likes to follow me sometimes too. He makes me giggle when he makes growly noises or when he tries to climb over me.

Last weekend I got to play with Michael two days in a row. On Saturday his mommy and daddy went to a movie, so he came over to my house. He showed me how to pull myself up on the couch, then we spent some time exploring his car seat and played with my toys together.




Then on Sunday Michael and his mommy and daddy came over to help my daddy install some baby gates. Our daddies couldn't put the gates up because the walls are hollow (mommy says they suck) and we need to get some more parts. But that's okay, because that means Michael can come over and play again next time they try. While he was here we played the piano together. He is really good at it, and I like to play too, but sometimes I'd rather just lick the pedals.


I can't wait until the next time we get to play together. Mommy said maybe when the weather cools down (she doesn't like summertime here) we can go to a park with Michael and his mommy!

His Dark Materials

Today I finished Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. I finished The Golden Compass on July 20th, The Subtle Knife a week later - with a break to read Deathly Hallows - then had to wait while for my hold at the library to get processed before I could read The Amber Spyglass. In between I read The Historian.

So when I returned to the trilogy, I had forgotten a few elements, but was interested to know how the story would wind up.

Someone, whose taste in books I admire, shared with me his feelings that the trilogy started out strong then steadily went downhill. I felt like Pullman did stretch the story a little thin at points in the third book, but that he generally held it together for all three books. I don't feel like any one stands out above the others. Nor do I feel that the work was as amazing as all the quotes on the back covers suggest. They are good juvenile fantasy that could use with a little more "break you into this other world more gently" writing, and a little less self importance. I felt like the guy was trying a little too hard to be the next-great-thing.

The story is highly inventive, the Christian overtones delightfully wanton (made all the more interesting given that fact that he is an atheist), the description of various worlds engaging, and the characters quite likable. The cast of characters was a little large, and the character development spotty on a few notable instances. One character, Mrs. Coulter, seemed to have a come-to-Jesus moment between books two and three, but you were never quite sure if she really changed or if she was always scheming. Her character was a little too complex, given that she was a secondary character, albeit an important one.

A movie is scheduled for release this fall. Nicole Kidman is set to start as Mrs. Coulter. Though I think she is a PERFECT cast for the part, I hope they don't spend too much time on her story. Though she is important, especially in the first book, the story is about Lyra. Here's to hoping it's not a glorify-the-big-star project.

As I've talked to people about the books I've had all types of reactions. Would I recommend them? Yes. Do I think they are as good as C.S. Lewis or Tolkien? No. They are probably ruined for many people by the expectation being set too high. So go in with moderate expectations, and you'll have a great time.

Oh, and they did make me more and more curious about what the post-mortality experience will be like. I feel like I have a general sense, but the details of it. Will be fun to experience some day.

Eight Months Ago...

...we had just celebrated our first Christmas with Clara, we were only sleeping in two or three hour stretches around the clock, and our little one was content to sleep in our arms for as many as twenty hours a day.

Oh, how times have changed.

I know Oliver has some more Minneapolis posts to add, but I wanted to fill you all in on Clara's latest happenings. She was eight months old a week ago, and in true Clara form, she decided to celebrate by cutting her first two teeth. Now we have to be very wary about what she's about to bite when that open mouth looms near; she loves to bite toes and it's a tad uncomfortable now. She has also learned to pinch and likes to do so repeatedly to my arms while I'm feeding her.

She's still commando-crawling everywhere, even though she did figure out how to bring her knees up under her. But the use of her knees has brought about another major leap forward; she can now pull herself up to stand. It's still a little frightening for me, since she seems to believe that she can stand without holding on to anything for balance and support. Invariably she lets go, and invariably the end result is a bump and a wail. And boy can she wail.

She's also babbling and experimenting with sounds more and more; for a couple of days she just crawled around and growled, and right now her favorite noise makes her sound like a bird of prey. Sometimes she'll lay on the floor on her back playing with a mirror and having full conversations with the baby looking back at her...I really wonder what she's saying sometimes, especially when she breaks into gales of laughter.

Clara is proving to be a daddy's girl at the moment; it's very cute to see her crawl for the stairs when she hears Oliver arrive home from work, and if he stops to do anything (drop his bag, wash his hands, etc.) before he comes to pick her up, she starts crying and chases after him. Mom definitely becomes second-rate when Dad is around. Well, until it's time for bed...she would rather play with Dad and then cuddle down for a bottle with me. I do have to say I'm going to miss that when she no longer has a bottle; she's not a very cuddly baby any other time of the day. Too much to see, too much to do. She's a very, very, very busy baby - I don't think people completely believe us until they actually hold her and see for themselves just how non-stop she really is.

As tradition demands, I'll end with a few pictures, all depicting another newfound skill: climbing into and onto whatever she can. (She's trying to climb up onto the couch now as well, but hopefully that's still a couple of months off.)






And just a cute picture taken while we were in Minnesota:

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

A few weeks ago the talks in Sacrament Meeting were on keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Today I did a terrible job of keeping the Sabbath Day holy.

At church today a friend mentioned that they might stop by that afternoon to visit. The first two stories of the house were in shambles, groceries still in the car from yesterday, areas that hadn't been picked up in weeks, the dishes in desperate need of cleaning, the family room "Clara-ed". When Kristin went upstairs to give Clara a nap around 12:30pm I set to work.

For half an hour I tackled the first floor. Dusting, straightening up all the unused baby items we've regaled to the "baby stuff graveyard", cleaning up shoes, and taking CostCo-sized boxes of diapers, boxes of wipes, and pallets of water bottles upstairs. Then came half an hour of Zelda. One must not overdo it.

Then two hours of dishes, cleaning the kitchen counters by removing everything from them (hello items lurking behind the toaster), dusting, cleaning up the family room. Cleaning is such a wonderful activity because you get to see the results of your labor. The only thing that could have made it better would be to have perpendicular lines in the carpet. Alas, Clara was sleeping.

After the two-hour stretch, I settled down for a half hour of Zelda. As I was turning off the game, my girls came downstairs. I was so proud of my work that I forced Kristin to tour the first two levels with me. I'm so glad I found someone who is willing to humor me.

"Did you know a girl named...?"

This morning, before sacrament meeting started, Michael and I were over visiting Kristen and Jared. (Michael told me he wanted to walk around. So I obliged.) While chatting, Kristen asked me if I knew a girl at GMU named Helena. "Hellie?" I replied. "Of course I remember Hellie."

I attended a single semester at George Mason University in the fall of 1994. I hung out with a group of people who were also commuter students. Our weekly tradition was to gather at Dave's house, who often made excellent cookies for the group, and watch The X-Files. Dave had an awesome sound system and at least once per episode I'd yell at a quiet moment and make everyone jump. It was highly entertaining.

One weekend during that semester I had the group out to my house for a get-away. We did something crazy Friday night, crashed for the night at the house, in the morning I cooked breakfast for everyone, and we went hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Here is a photo as we set out hiking.


Hellie is the blond in the middle row, standing in front of me. She is standing next to Stacey, who threw a Hannukah party for the group a few weeks after this event. I'd lost touch with everyone in this picture, but look forward to seeing Hellie in the near future.

The Historian

I finished it. The 642 page book that I thought I would never be able to get through. Elizabeth Kostova's freshman novel, The Historian. Not a vampire novel, but about Dracula. (If you want a vampire novel, try Bloodsucking Fiends.)

I've talked about the book here and here. I had a hard time getting into the book, and almost gave up on it. However, I couldn't bring myself to commit what my good friend Julie adeptly labeled biblio hanky-panky, so I stuck it out. And guess what happened? Around page 250 I realized that I really liked the book.

The novel took Kostova ten years to complete, and it is evident in the rich descriptions that she uses as the characters travel all over northern and eastern Europe. Each city she describes takes on its own flavor, exudes an individual scent, that draws you in and sets aflame the desire to visit Travelocity and start buying a ticket. Istanbul felt hot and exotic; France, old and stately; Romania, romantic and mysterious. Her language is what made me fall in love with the book.

That's not to say the book was without it's problems. Chief complaint #1 was the structure. Large portions of the novel are flashbacks communicated via letters or other writings of people related to the protagonist, to the point that there is almost no single protagonist, but rather a cast of protagoni. At one point, Character A is reading a letter written by Character B who is quoting Character C. So you have two whole chapters where each paragraph starts with double quotes (to signify that you are quoting Character B) then with a single quote (Character B is quoting Character C). There had to be a better way to structure the book, rather than quoting a quoting of a quoting of a quoting ...

Also, the title was a little misleading. It should have been called The Historians. But that is forgiven in the last fifty pages.

One thing that did take some getting used to was the story's strict adherance to the dramatic structure. (Thanks to Wikipedia for the image.) The exposition opens the novel, then for the next 500 pages you have rising action. Somewhere around page 250 to 300 I suddenly realized that, though the slope was constant, and therefore it felt like the story wasn't going anywhere, the story steadily built in intensity. And I was captivated. It worked up to climax around page 600, with the falling action and denouement (love that word) in the last fifty pages.

Would I recommend it? Heartily. Do you need to be willing to commit? Yes. Is it worth it? Definitely.

Redefining the Warm Welcome

As if picking us up from the airport, taking us to lunch, and giving us a place to stay wasn't enough, Uncle Paul and Aunt Ann outdid themselves with what awaited us in our room:
More than a warm welcome, we got a delightfully warm welcome.

P.S. Click here for a cute Clara picture.

Over the river and through the air

Cleared for takeoff, our little family headed to Minneapolis for a week of vacation visiting family, friends, and more family. Now that Clara is mobile, she isn't as content being contained in a small space like she was when we flew to Portland earlier this year. We made it through the first two-thirds of the flight before we started having problems. I was able to pace the aisle for a while, but eventually had to sit down for our descent. Luckily we had a very kind and understanding gentleman sharing the row with us. It was a full flight. Our luck could have been much worse.

This post was brought to you by David, who woke up at 6am to drive us to the airport.

Welcome Lisa & Randy

On the eve of our trip to Minnesota to visit family it is only fitting that I post a "Welcome To" post for my cousin Lisa. I just stumbled across her blog today, and couldn't believe there was a cousin's blog I didn't link to.

So go, visit their blog. Enjoy the family pictures, the pregnant woman pictures, and whatever other pictures they have up today.

Gone for now

My parents were in town almost a week and yet, due to two days of wedding and my having to work a few days, we didn't get a ton of time to just sit down and talk. To remedy this, I asked my Mom to ride with me as we drove into the city to drop my uncle’s car off at his house, then to head to Union Station to drop my parents off for their train ride up to Philly.

It ended up being a delightful forty-five minute drive up to my uncle's house, and Mom and I chatted about recent news items, newspapers (she lamented the poor state of journalism where they are now living and requested that we stop and pick up a Sunday Post on our way out), and a little of this and that. It was fun to have some one-on-one time. It reminded me of quiet afternoons in our house growing up. Mom loved playing board and card games with us, the children, from Quinto to Skip-Bo to Tri-Ominos to Rook to Mille Borne. She never went easy on us; on the contrary she is always a fierce competitor. I can proudly say that I've trounced her in Quinto many, many times. It helps her develop humility.

The drive from my uncle's house to Union Station took us through parts of the city I'd never visited. Dad joined in our conversation and quickly we were at Union Station, with construction going on, causing us to have to do an abbreviated drop and farewell. As I drove away I was sad that the good-bye was so short, that I didn't get a chance to give them a little more grief before sending them on their way.

At least I know that they will return. With a little one as cute as Clara those grandparents just can't keep away.

Wedding Weekend Photos

MEANT TO POST 4:31 PM 8/11/07

Wanted to post a few photos from the wedding weekend. These first five are from downtime spent at the hotel. In order, Rachel & Becky, Peggy & Dick, my mother & Jennifer, Andy & Joe, and Clara.

These three are from lunch with Clara.

Two Weddings. No funerals.

Today was the day of multiple weddings. As I mentioned here, thanks to family reunions, I know a fair number of my second and third cousins. Today was the wedding of Charles, my third cousin, who also grew up in Northern Virginia. Over the years our families have come together for dinners to celebrate such things as births, baptisms, and graduations, and other random occasions. It's been nice having family nearby, and Charles' parents and siblings are a group of witty, entertaining, cerebral people who keep any gathering hopping. I've been looking forward to Charles’ wedding as a chance to visit not only with Charles and his family, but also with the extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Today’s service was a full Mass at a Catholic church in Fredericksburg. The church was simply decorated, with a soaring ceiling lined in a rich brown wood. The bride wore a dress with a long train, the veil’s train longer than the dress'. The line of the dress was clean, and it had a simple, elegant look.

I've never been to a full Mass before. The church had a great organ, which the organist played beautifully. There was a cantor, which I alternately liked and hated. For those not familiar, a cantor stands at the front of the sanctuary, is mic-ed, and sings any time there is congregational singing. Sometimes everyone sings along, and other times only that cantor sings, with the congregation joining at specific points. The cantor had a good voice, with a very folksy sound that was easy to sing along with. The issue I had was less with this specific cantor and more with the concept of a cantor. Singing is one of the few ways that the congregation can participate in the service. I missed not being able to participate during all the songs.

One amazing note on music: Charles' aunt is a professional opera singer and sang Caccini’s Ave Maria to close the Mass. It was beautifully sung, with a restraint that matched the tone and mood set by the accompaniment. She was positioned next to the organ, near the back of the sanctuary, and her voice alternately soared and quietly crept through the large, open space. As the last notes of the piece died, I leapt from my seat and ran out the front door, barely beating the Maid of Honor and Best Man, so Kristin and I could drive back to Northern Virginia for our second wedding of the day. As we rounded the corner of the parking lot, people burst out the front doors of the church. How we wish we could have stayed to see Charles and Jessie off.

But traffic called. We had to get back to Northern Virginia, drop Clara off with her betrothed, and get over to a country club nearby for Ron and Jen’s wedding. There was a moment there where, due to traffic on I-95, we were drawing up contingency plans – Kristin drops me off at the wedding so I can see the service, Kristin takes Clara to her betrothed's, Kristin comes back to join me for the reception – but the traffic gods looked down on us, smiled, and we made it with moments to spare.

The country club was beautifully appointed among tall hardwood trees, with simple decorations for the wedding. Rather than over-do the scene, Ron and Jen ... okay Jen ... opted for an elegant look without any over-the-topping. I've been to a wedding or two that sacrificed the former at the altar of the latter. They had pictures of themselves throughout the space, pictures together, with family, with friends, and it was fun to see these different moments in their individual lives and in their new, joint life. We pulled into a parking space next to another coworker and his wife, and quickly saw two other coworkers and their spouses, so we headed in en masse. WPNI was representing.

The actual wedding took place on a deck overlooking the golf course. The afternoon was clear and warm, with a blue sky and puffy, white clouds. As Jen walked in, the crowd stood and did a collectively intake of breathe. She looked amazing in a strapless gown, with white on white detailing, and a dark red trim along the bust line and down the train. On the back, the dress laced up with ribbon in the same red. The red trim also included some embroidery. The contrast between the red and white, as well as the detailing on the red, made an amazing visual impact. It was a singular dress, making her look spectacular on her wedding day.

The minister, an older gentleman who was performing – easily – his 500th wedding, was delightful and adeptly intermingled humor with the more serious parts of the service. Afterwards, the family and wedding party gathered for photos while the guests enjoyed hors d'ouvres and cocktails. The reception then began with the presentation of the wedding party and the new couple.

The reception was a blast, with good food, excellent dining companions (thanks for the great time John & Joe, James & Darcy, Jeff, and Scott & Gretchen), and dancing. Kristin was even a good sport and danced along with me. You may not know this, dear blog-reader, but I love to dance. Kristin is lukewarm on the subject, but humors me at weddings and every once in a while when I ask her to dance around our kitchen as music blares from my computer. She's a good dancer. It helps when you have such a wonderful person leading. (Oh, the humility….)

We knew the Boo would be a little cranky, so we cut our evening a little short, thanked the hosts, congratulated the newly-married couple, bid adieu to our friends, and picked up Clara.

What a fun day.
What a busy day.
What an a-lot-of-driving day.
I hope we never have one quite like this again.

A Good Morning: Let’s go jump in the pool.

I've been jonesing to get Clara in a swimming pool for a few months now. She so loves her bath that I thought it would be fun to see how she reacted to almost-full submersion in a pool. Our hotel in Fredericksburg had a pool, and we're not meeting family for breakfast until 9am, so why not?

We fell out of bed, grabbed some breakfast, and headed to the pool. No one else was there – you should have seen the place the night before, packed! – so we broke out the camera, got a few shots before the lens steamed over, and jumped in the pool.

Clara loved it! She and I went all over the pool, splashing, giggling, and kicking. One of my favorite things to do was to spin around with her until mommy told us it was enough. Dizzy Baby Clara is quite entertaining. Of the pictures below, my favorite is the one with the three of us, where I am holding Kristin and Kristin is holding Clara. I think I can safely say that was only time thus far, and will probably be the only time, that I have had/will have complete control over those two.

A Trip to Fredericksburg

(Diana, guess where I am?)

Today, Kristin, Clara, and I piled in the car for a quick drive down south to Fredericksburg to attend my third cousin's wedding. What should have been a 70-90 minute drive ended up taking 2+ hours, thanks to some wonderful traffic on 95 south. At one point we went 8 miles in an hour. Pretty impressive, eh?

Charles is marrying a delightful girl named Jessie. We had the opportunity to meet her at a dinner for the family and wedding party at her parent's home. Before we get to that, though, we check into our hotel and ran into some family members. Michael, Charles' brother, might well be the tallest in the group, Evan, Charles' other brother, is rightfully bitter about this (he's only got you by an inch, don't sweat it), and Jeanne Marie, sister, is perfectly poised, tall, and striking. They are quite the bunch. We also ran into Charles' grandmother, dear Auntie Frances, see at right with Clara.

Jessie's parents had a nice pavilion area where they had tables and chairs set up. We had a great time meeting and talking with Jessie's Aunt Judy, as well as visiting with Rachel & Joe, last mentioned on this blog here, and talking to Charles' father, Uncle George, and his sister Mary and their mother. There weren't too many bugs and we endured the humidity with good humor. It's been quite some time since we've seen this crowd, and it was great to be able to catch up with them.

We arrived back at our hotel safely and gave Clara a head-to-toe inspection. Nary a bug bite, tick or other strange mark in sight. Got to be careful in the woods, which surrounded Jessie's parents' lovely home. First time parents, nervous, yeah.

Oh, one more thing. Though Fredericksburg is now commonly considered part of Northern Virginia, I must take issue with the sign as we entered Jessie's parents' community. In my mind, any sign like this, is Part II to this post.

Can I get an "Amen!"?

The true news source has an article about Metro's efforts to get tourists to stand to the right.

Click here to read.

Now maybe I won't have to yell, "Walk left, stand right!" down the escalator as much. Oh, that tourists would learn.

Welcome Aaron & Tiffany, Timerly & Kyle

This Friday we have two new blogs to add to our list o' links. First is Little Blonde Monkeys, the blog of our new friends Aaron & Tiffany. To understand why Aaron is one of the coolest people I know, listen to the sound track on this post. To understand why Tiffany is one of the coolest people Kristin knows, see this post.

The second is the blog of Kristin's college roommate, and our mutual friend, Timberly. She and her husband, Kyle, live in California and have two adorable little boys. Timberly was Kristin's roommate when we first met. The story goes that after eight months of Kristin and I being friends, with obvious overtones of something more, that Timberly, fed up with Kristin not knowing where our relationship stood, cornered my roommate, Craig, and asked him if Kristin and I were "dating". Craig, in turn, asked me. I replied, "I need to ask Kristin." So, one evening in March or April 1999 I turned to Kristin, as we sat in my apartment, and asked Kristin, "Are we dating?" After a moment's contemplation, she looked at me and firmly answered, "Yes."

So now you know why Timberly is such an important person in our lives. Without her, who knows where we'd be. So go. Generate pageviews. Welcome our the new blogs with your browser traffic. And enjoy the weekend.

Thursday at the Aquarium

Today my parents and I headed up to the National Aquarium at the Baltimore Inner Harbor to rendez-vous with Honor & Children. Matt had to work, Kristin was up all night with Clara, and Clara doesn't travel well without Kristin, so we missed out on having them with us, but hope that next time we go they can join us.

All four of Matthew & Honor's children have grown. Andrew is really shooting up, and Delainey gets cuter by the day. Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but Delainey is the only person that Clara will hug. Delainey was sad when Clara didn't show up.

A few quick highlights from the aquarium: hearing the electrical pulses of the electric eel as he moved, see a nautilus move around and Braden's excitement relating to it, and holding Delainey as she talked about the 'Nemo fish,' the 'Dori fish', and the colored frogs.

A Visit

Monday night I went to the airport to collect two travelers looking for a place to stay before the wedding and the real reason they came to the East Coast: Philly & Boston. So, we readied the spare bedroom and said welcome to my parents.

All kidding aside, we're delighted to have The Big D and SJ to visit for a few days. Clara has really warmed up to my mom, and is slowly warming up to my dad. She's hesitant around men - she's with Kristin all day long - but enjoys playing with Grandpa on the floor. He's a very good sport and likes to pull out toys for her to play with.

During one of our chats, the idea of having Clara call my mom "Mammy" and my dad "Pappy" came up. I'm a huge fan of the idea. Shockingly, my parents are not. What do you think? Should Mammy and Pappy be how Clara refers to her grandparents Dale and Sally?

We've also taken the time to introduce them to the Wii and to Killer Bunnies. Dad and I played all the Wii Play games. He won at pool and boxing, from Wii Sports. Here's a little known fact for you: my dad grew up a pool-hall rat and is quite good at pool. He hit some amazing shots, banking all over the place. He even chided me for missing a few 'easy' (to him) shots. And in boxing, he schooled me. I have no defense.

I think Mom likes Killer Bunnies, though she keeps referring to it as "that bunny game". We played twice on Tuesday night, and Dad won once and Kristin won the other time. Maybe if we play a few more times Mom and I can win.

So, the 'rents are in town. Please comment and let me know if you think we should adopt the monikers 'Mammy' and 'Pappy'.

Digging on Google (Updated)

A few months ago, I became curious about two of my best friends from high school. I dropped one of their names into Google and immediately found pictures on Flickr, posts to technology blogs, info about his jobs, etc. I tried the other, but he proved a little more elusive.

Today, I decided to give the second friend another try. I tried his name. No luck. A bunch of articles about a native Georgian who is now the head of the state's Democratic party showed in the results. Definitely not my friend. So I added "-democratic" to the end of my search string. Now all I got are a bunch of links to a PENN state hockey player. "-democratic -penn". First result, bingo. My friend.

I found an e-mail address, dropped him a line, and am waiting to see if he writes back. I hope he does. We met in 7th grade and quickly became friends, helping each other with our paper routes and playing ridiculous amounts of Nintendo. We stayed friends through high school and into college. We lost touch during my mission. I'd always wondered where he ended up.

I'll let you if I hear back.

Update: He wrote me back. My sleuthing on Google was successful!

A Baby Gift

Last Friday night we received a phone call from a couple in our ward asking if they could bring a baby gift by. "Baby gift?" I thought, "But Clara is seven months old." I told them now was as good a time as any, so over they came.

We were upstairs getting Clara ready for bed when the doorbell rang. I came down, shortly followed by Kristin and Clara. I was going to wait for Kristin and Clara to open the gift, but couldn't quell my curiosity. Lifting a layer of tissue paper out of the bag, I found a beautiful white dress with pink trim. "I had to make sure it would be tall enough for Clara, so I measured it against a little girl I know. I hope it fits."

To say that the dress is beautiful is an understatement. It was hand knitted with crocheted trim. Both yarns used have an iridescent single thread that lends a refinement to the dress. The skirt is lined with a nice white linen.

Kristin and I were beyond words and attempted to express our gratitude for such a beautiful, heart-felt gift. We later found out that it took seven months to make.

How do you say "Thank You" for such a gift?

Clara & Michael

This evening our good friends David & Bonnie had us over for dinner. This was fun for two reasons:

1. Clara and Michael are betrothed. Any chance to strengthen the relationship must be taken advantage of.
2. David & Bonnie recently moved into a new house and it was the first time going to the new house for dinner!

We arrived a little early, so Clara and Michael made nuisances of themselves, attempting to interrupt Bonnie & David as they finished the meal. At one point I set up the tripod and took a few pictures. I joined them into the animated gif below. (Thanks to this post for the trick on posting animated gifs to blogger.)From five days after Clara's birth, any sequence of pictures of these two features Michael calmly sitting and Clara constantly moving. In a way it's nice. Her high energy complements his tranquility.

The dinner was delicious. Bonnie made a chicken pasta dish with pine nuts and lemon. (Something I never knew about David: he loves pine nuts.) The tang of the citrus provided a nice contrast to the simpler flavors of chicken and pasta. The pine nuts were toasted and added another level of flavor to the dish. It really worked, both the combination of flavors as well as the dish as the main course. On the side we had butterdips - I think that's the name. They are bread sticks cooked in a bunch of melted butter. So bad for you, but oh! so tasty.

Oh, and I have to include my two favorite pictures from the night. I love the way Michael is regarding Clara in the first. And the second is just darn cute. They are going to have ADORABLE children.

Do I get ahead of myself?

Sunday Afternoon Crawling Around

Playing with Daddy


Inspecting the piano


Can I have the camera, please?

As you may have gathered, the dear little one is now mobile. She is pulling herself around in a commando crawl. She can make good time, getting from one part of the house to another in short order. It is cute to see her get excited, come crawling to my feet, kicking her feet wanting me to pick her up. Drives home the point that she knows who I am, which is pretty cool.

After church today, we spent some time playing in the family room together. First we played with her light/noise/music-making activity center. I had endless fun switching the language from English to Spanish and back again. She is fond of turn the book page in the center of the toy. Afterwards, she moved over to the piano to make sure the pedals were still there. They were. I decided I needed a few pictures.

Clara is fascinated by the camera. It's not too hard to understand why, considering the number of pictures we've taken of her. At one point I set the camera on the carpet. Clara immediately started crawling over, ready to attack. It was so cute that I had Kristin move her back under the piano and I started the camera rolling, video this time. Not only does the video demonstrate her love of the camera, but also her budding crawling skills.



Oh, and as a result of this new mobility, we purchased a baby gate and have rearranged our computers to get all the cables off the ground. And so it begins.

Bath-Time

One of my favorite parts of my day is when Mommy and Daddy give me a bath. Here are a few pictures of me in the bathtub that should help you understand why I love my bath so much.

This is my washcloth. I loved to dip it in the water then cram it in my mouth and suck all the water off of it. Mommy says this is disgusting - something about gross bath water - but any liquid tastes better than my formula, so I get that thing as wet as possible and go to town.

And here we have my cup. I have five colored cups for playing in the bath, but I only like the purple and blue ones. If you look closely, you can see the drops of water from my splashes, another one of my favorite things to do. I started sitting up in the tub about a month ago, and ever since them I've been splashing like crazy. Mommy and Daddy always get really wet when they bathe me. I wonder why they don't join me in the tub. I always have a good time.

Towards the end of my bath, Mommy and Daddy let the water out and turn on the shower to rinse me off. I love the feeling of water on my head. If I'm really careful, I can catch the water in my mouth - remember what I said about liquids that taste better than my yucky formula - without getting too much in my eyes. I also try to grab at the water, but can't grab hold of it. Once the tub is empty I crawl around to explore. Here I am trying to get to my soap and shampoo and inspecting the drain.

Once I'm out of the tub, I get in my towel to dry off. Daddy always drys me off and puts on my pajamas while Mommy makes my bottle. Sometimes we read a book, most of the time I'm crying by the time I'm dressed, and after few quick hugs I settle down for my bottle and a good night's sleep.

From Daddy: From time to time we catch Clara in a certain position - on her side, propped up on one hand, a leg still in front of her - and we joke that she is doing her Venus Reclining. Well, in the tub tonight we captured Clara Reclining. Enjoy.

Good Fare & Fare Thee Well

One of the hazards of attending family reunions that reach back four generations is that you get to know a lot of your extended family. Second and third cousins can become as familiar as firsts. As the number of relatives you meet increases, so does the chance that a few of them will be pretty cool. In my case, a lot of them.

That is why I will be attending the wedding of a third cousin next Saturday and why I spent this afternoon hanging out with a bunch of second cousins and one first cousin at a Cousins' Dinner. Cousins' Dinners originated when my older brothers were at BYU and would get together once a month with the family. The tradition has continued at BYU and now in the DC area. While we aren't as regular as the BYU crowd, we get together pretty regularly, cook an over-abundance of food, and enjoy in each others' company.

Today our dinner had a purpose and a theme. The later was southern food; the former, to bid farewell to Bryce, Lisa & Sophie (pictured at right). Bryce is starting graduate school in a few weeks and they will be moving from the area. We are so sad to see them go, especially as Clara loves playing with Sophie, I love swapping tales of Scouts with Bryce, and Lisa is so easy and so much fun to talk to. I wish they could stay.

Menu assignments were made by Chris and he and Kate hosted. It was the first time we'd been to their new townhouse (baby on the way, need more room, say what?). They are in a great location (I wish I lived there) and have done an amazing job decorating. The menu for the night included: BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, baked beans, cornbread, coleslaw, watermelon, and apple crisp a la mode. As always, we had food for a crowd three times the size and gorged ourselves. It was fun to see Baby Luke, he's now six weeks old, and to remember that Clara used to be that little. It seems so long ago. I miss it.

I took the camera to document the event, but none of the pictures of Steve, Kate, or Kristin turned out. Sorry, guys! Check out the ones I got.

Mary and Nicoli enjoying the corn

Jane

Bryce, Sophie, and I sharing the big chair

Sophie trying on Dad's shoes

The only picture of Luke, being held by his Uncle Bryce

Chris cleaning up