Uncle

Development

P loves her changing table, we have dubbed it her 'Happy Place'. After she eats she loves to lay there and chat with me or the Mr. During her witching hour the Mister will lay her there to calm her. (sometimes it works) The light is great, it is soft and cozy, and she gets a good view of our faces, or the fan. And now it is our place for baby brain development. We don't actually spend much time doing this, she much prefers looking at our faces but this was a rare moment when P was enjoying the high contrast picture book.

Another of her new favorites (or maybe it is my new favorite) is reading Shel Silverstein poems. I have forgotten how cleaver and ridiculous they are! P will listen to these for a good long time and watch my facial expressions. She responds with smiles and coos, and she is beginning to imitate me as she watches my face. It has been a great way to interact.

Here is one for you...from Where the Sidewalk Ends.

The Acrobats

I'll swing
By my ankles,
She'll cling
To your knees
As you hang
By your nose
From a high -up
Trapeze.
But just one thing, please,
As we float through the breeze --
Don't sneeze.

-Shel Silverstein

8 Weeks

8 Week Stats:
9 lb. 14 oz. . 22 in.

We are vacationing this week...and are without *convenient* internet access...so posting might be slow this week. Of course posting last week was a little slow as well. Just and FYI for those curious, she handled her 2 month shots like a CHAMP!!

7 Weeks

Ok, maybe sometime soon we will stop counting in weeks...but for now here is week 7 (with a yawn)

and a smile...

and a surprise...

Dancing King

This is stinking HILARIOUS! Very clever and entertaining. Enjoy the show.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

4th in DC

This weekend I spent a lot of time reminiscing about past Independence Days...mostly thankful for where I was this year and that I wasn't on the Mall. I have spent 3 amazing yet miserable 4ths on the Mall. It doesn't get much better than fireworks draped behind the Washington Monument in what seems like a touchable distance. But it certainly does get better than 100 degrees, 99% humidity, and not a cloud in the sky for cover.

My first mall experience was when I was a summer intern, my parents and younger brothers were visiting for the week, and we ventured out to the Mall with a bunch of other interns I was living with. We staked out our share of green space at about 10 am and stayed there for the next 12 hours and basically sweated, we didn't have energy to do much else. Of course we took a number of breaks touring the museums which provided great relief from the sweltering heat.

The next time I watched from the Ellipse and it rained on and off all day. What I remember most about that year was the walk from 17th Street NW to 8th Street NE in the pouring rain. JWM and I ran for a little bit but then we decided just to take it slow, a nice summer walk in the rain for 25 blocks.

The last (and perhaps final, unless our kids can get us out there someday) time on the mall was under the direction of the going out committee headed by Benanna, though I don't think Ben was part of the team yet. We packed a serious picnic...two maybe three coolers full of food...including juice spiked with rum and jello shots, both were very illegal and probably didn't help much as we were losing lots of water to the heat anyway. We staked our green space right at the base of the Washington Monument with 3 or 4 blankets, a Volleyball court, and a croquet field, as the crowds filled around us we just continued with our games and our group grew all afternoon as our friends joined the party.

BUT...

This year it was really nice to spend the afternoon by the pool with drinks and a great spread. Then the evening at the FRB watching the fireworks from an air conditioned dining room with the Mister and PAL. Pal loved (sleeping through) the fireworks. And we enjoyed a nice relaxing, cool Fourth of July.

Dad, Mom, and Little Firecracker

Growing

PAL has grown an inch and a half and picked up 2+ pounds now. Seems like half a pound or so has gone directly into her cheeks.

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I waited to change my first diaper until I had my own kid. I've had quite the learning curve. One lesson is that diapers apparently come in an array of sizes, and there are a ton of companies that make them. PAL has now graduated from the "N" diapers to the "1" diapers. We've settle in on Pampers Swaddlers. Each one has a nice colorful Sesame Street character on the front who provides a bright smiley face. If they can smile doing the job they do, anybody can smile!


While PAL seems to be growing quickly, our sunflowers are definitely out-pacing her. Mrs. planted them as seeds the day she went into labor. In the last six weeks they have grown 47 inches. According to the label, they are only 1/3 of their mature height. Of course, at 21.5 inches, PAL is almost exactly one third of the height of Mrs. Sounds like an algebra question in the making: How much taller than Mrs. will the sunflowers be?

boy?

Just remember; Girls wear Green too!