Scarlett's West Coast Debut, part Deux.

I'll have a bowl of the minestrone, and can we get some more bread here?

Anyone curious about what the worlds crookedest street looks like on a GPS?

A few more snaps. I wish I could have gotten some of the ceremony itself, but my hands were full of baby. And her hands were full of binky and zwieback.

Hey! I made my own blog.

Jet lag is tough. Thank Goodness for shoulders.

I've decided I'd like to upgrade to the king sized bed. You all can sleep in the pack-n-play.

Do not remove the binky. I repeat, do not remove the binky.

It's ok if dad does, though.

Can you spot the relatives?

More pictures to follow - our camera is not making me happy. It died about halfway through the reception, and is now not easily giving up it's contents. Perhaps I'll have to get the Nikon D40.

Kevin's mom was married on Saturday, and it was a lovely affair. Lots of little tots running around, and at least one case of underage drinking. Waaaaaaaay underage. Apparently there were TWO bowls of punch, and someone gave Charlie the wrong one. That was one dancin' 2 year old. Hope he slept it off!

It's like Christmas lights, only stinkier!

Yesterday morning, Kevin took Alice out for a walk. He was back a few minutes later. He told me that she had gone right away in our neighbors yard, and he didn't want to carry the bag on the rest of her walk, so:

"Long story short, there's a bag of poo in our tree."

Should I have blogged about this? Abso-freakin'-lutely. I'm still laughing. He apparently turned to toss the bag back by our driveway, so he could throw it in the trash can on the way back in.

He missed. It left his hand and he said he immediately thought "Ooo - too high."

We are off to California in the morning for Marcy and Hygi's wedding. Scarlett can't wait to meet all of her California cousins. She's been talking about it for weeks. Honestly, you can't shut her up about it.

Wish us luck! We'll take lots of pictures of Baby's first trip to the West Coast.

Jon's Birthday

Nina loves holding babies. Of course, when the baby in question is almost as big as you are, sometimes you need a little assistance.

Mrs. Lippert - aka - the Baby Whisperer.

That last picture is of Madeline, with her dad Jon, and her cousin Harris.

This week, Madeline was at the grocery store with her mom, Sara, when they were approached by a woman who, under the guise of christian charity and good will, was rude and condescending.

I'm proud to say that Madeline took care of this by throwing up on her. Good baby.

The weather this weekend was indescribable.

Which means I shall try to describe it. It was stunning. Upper 70's, low 80's, no humidity. It even smelled a little like fall, which is among the top 5 smells in the world. Others include driving through Hyde Park when Buskens is pulling the cinnamon buns out of the oven, and the smell of fresh Goetta [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goetta ] in the morning.

But I digress. We walked up to the park with the girls and Scarlett hung out on the swing for a while, then tried her hand at dog walking. Or rather, dog sitting in the grass. But whatever, she ruled.

Come on. Give me a REAL challenge.

The other side has spinning alphabet blocks. She spelled out "Too Easy, Suckers".

The Bagelman Cometh.

We took Scarlett out for Baby's First Schmear today. Raging success.

Even though her heritage is a little watered down, I think we'll have no problem with the further introduction of brisket, and matzoh ball soup. Gefilte fish? That's another story.

It's true. He does.

Tom left an extra ticket at his hotel for Kevin to attend the Pitchfork Festival last Sunday.

I'm pretty sure this only happens with the first kid.

Scarlett is a big fan of the binky. And Thank God, we finally learned how to get the binky back in our own mouth at 3am, because boy was THAT getting old.

We do keep an collection of binkies in the crib to facilitate this, so when we put Scarlett down to sleep, we pop one in to start her off. The rest are there as back up.

Today I realized [after the fact, natch] that I grabbed the one that matched her outfit. Because Mr. Blackwell might stop by her room while she's napping.

You don't want to see the picture that would have accompanied this post.

Kevin went to Chicago for the Pitchfork Festival.

Actually, Jamie, Matt, Ed, Dave, and Tom went for the Pitchfork Festival. Kevin went for the baseball.

I stayed home with Miss Scarlett and Alice, which would have been fine, except they both decided to go on a poop strike. Which sounds like something you shouldn't talk about in polite society, and it is, until you have a child and a dog. And it disappears on the same day. Then it's ALL you can talk about.

So Crabby Baby, Bloated Puppy. Maybe Ang Lee will direct.

As I said to my sister, the baby has developed a personality, and that personality is pissed.

I'm desperately hoping that this latest development will resolve with a whole lot of fruit, and a change in schedule.

As for the dog, all it took was the threat of having her temperature taken.

A Gentle Observation

Dear Scarlett:

Your father and I have noticed a change in the last two weeks. You've gone from a very compliant baby, to one who seems to have formed opinions. Not wanting to stifle your urge toward human-hood, I do have one minor bit of constructive criticism. Do you think perhaps this latest personality development would have been better served AFTER the 5 hour plane ride to and from California? Particularly since babies are getting kicked off planes left and right.

Anywho, just something to teethe on.

Your loving mother, who will never be a burden,

Mommy.

Mind if I make a call? I mean, when you're done.

Larry is moving to Memphis soon. We hope he finds a nice southern belle to feed him bar-b-que, or take him to Graceland or something. Whatever it is southern belles do with Yankee boys.

We wish him luck, but will miss him terribly. And his big TV has nothing to do with that.

No offense, but...

Is this really something one should brag about?

La Revoluçion!!!!

Psst! 11am at Target. Baby uprising. Pass it on.

Manna from heaven.

Scarlett now eats Zwieback toast.

Unfortunately, so does Alice.

Oh, the things you can waste time doing on the internet.

Meet the Franks, if we lived in Springfield. And had 4 fingers.

Kevin and I both look exhausted [check] and I am in desperate need of an eyebrow shaping. [check, check.]

Because there were no baby Simpson avatars to choose from, I had to portray Scarlett as a surly pre-teen.

If you'd like to see what you'd look like as a Simpson Character, go to http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/ and click on Create Avatar. You can even give yourself Willy's eyebrows, or Sideshow Bob's dreads.

Someday, she'll love the salsa as much as the rest of us.

Anne, in case you are curious, this is what you would look like with twins.

Lunch at Cactus Pear with Anne, Wendy, Ellery [other baby], Kate and Ketch. [not pictured. But in his defence, Ketch slept through lunch.]

Also, Anne does a little sympathy teething with Scarlett.

After lunch I ended up sitting next to Wendy at Studio Blue, getting our frumpy mom looks updated. I threatened to take a picture of her with color on her head, and post it, but considering the foil that was covering my own head, AND the fact that Wendy has a much better camera than me, AND a larger blog reader base, I thought better of it.

Wha' Happened?

Considering there was "nothing going on" this weekend, the collective members of this house certainly are exhausted.

Ketch, like his father, doesn't smile for the camera. Also, like his father, he has a rather high opinion of himself.

Alice went to the local pug meet up. I know. It's odd. But funny, and because it leaves her comatose the rest of the day, totally worth the mild embarrassment of telling your friends you are "going to the pug meet up".

Today, Scarlett went to visit her future BFF, Sophie. When the girls grow up, Jennie and I will tell them we met in church. Or volunteering at a soup kitchen.

And finally, Alice was just too tired to keep up chewing her bone. But damned if someone else was going to get it.

Welcome to our Ool.

Baby's First Processed Cheese Food.

Today has been one of those days where you are convinced someone shorted you a few hours. Like you got 21, instead of 24.

I ran out of the house without my trusty Xacti, and darned if we didn't have a few cute moments. Thank God for camera phones. I mean, I couldn't leave you all out of the first time my kid eats mac-n-cheese. [By the way, she can pick it up all day long - but hasn't figured out how, exactly, to get it in her mouth. As she is my daughter, I'm sure that part is just around the corner.]

Baby Jail

It's tough doing time in the pokey. At least you are allowed the occasional visitor.

Happy Fourth of July!

I supposed I should be leaving this space for stunning pictures of fireworks.

But it's really hot out, and the baby is just. too. tired. to drag out of bed and head up to the park. I think we'll just sit on our front steps and watch our neighbors try to burn down their house with illegal fireworks. Same effect, less sweating.

Instead, we went to the zoo today. Every animal that had access to water was in it. Those that didn't napped in the shade. We found every indoor exhibit and took Scarlett on her first train ride. She wasn't overly impressed.

Tuesday

Last night, the good guys played the bad guys, and due to a break in the oppressive heat, we braved the game. Bonds hit 751, but Brandon Phillips stole the show with a grand slam. I don't think I've ever actually seen one. I know I was in the bathroom once, and another time, I think I was just talking to Sara and not paying attention.

As you can see, Barry Zito joined us on the party deck.

I'd like to thank everyone who wished me a happy 22nd Birthday.

Kevin gave me a pug Webkinz for my birthday. Alice is not sure what to make of this interloper. Neither do I - did you know that everything in Webkin-land costs money? And to earn this faux money, you have to preform seemingly easy jobs which are actually thinly disguised conflict meters for husband and wife.

Or you can answer quiz questions based on your age. I am not smarter than a 5th grader.

Honestly, I don't think my Webkinz is long for this world.

Then off to dinner with friends - One of these days we'll get a picture of Jason smiling.