Friday Cute- In the Yard

I have no great commentary to add to this first set, as I think they're pretty great on their own. This is my parents' yard, the dog (Mika) is my brother's, and the pig is my Dad's, despite the fact that it showed up on my graduation or some such and he used to claim it was mine (he seems to have given up). (Perhaps I should not have mentioned that. However, it is his, and thus not an issue.)

The second set from my parents' cracks me up, because sometimes it's just a bit difficult to be small. As in small enough to be foiled by an abundant garden, and perhaps eaten by a large plant. Ray laughed when he saw them, so either they're funny or we're a bit cruel:



Have a good weekend, and watch out for baby-eating plants!

Hawaii, Day 4

To see the rest of our Hawaii trip to this point, click here.

Everyone had a pretty full day on Day 3 (the rest of the group checked out a lavender farm), so we all stayed pretty near the boat on Day 4 and skipped seeing much more of Maui.

Eamon hung out with his great-grandfather and his father. Aunt Laura got a lot of great pictures.

Hello, peasants!

Here is the pose I use as an Abercrombie model.

Laura also got this shot of her husband, Brad, which invariably causes Ray or I to start into "I don't smoke often, but when I do..." or some variation of the Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man..." ads.

After our relative failure convincing Eamon that beaches were fun, we spent some time dialing it back a bit- all the way back to the kiddie pool on the boat, which was kept at about 70 degrees, but at least stayed put. Ray's Minnesota blood came in handy here, as did his patience. Eventually, he got Eamon to splash about a bit.

After that and a nap, Eamon was pretty much content to work on his walking skills on the windy upper decks. Ray and the boys did run down to check out the beach that we could see from dock. Apparently, they got to see sea turtles, but no one got a picture for me to share (this would happen again!). They did get to play around a bit, though.

If you want to see the whole Picasa album to this point, click the picture below:

hawaii2010

18 months.

Eamon turned a year and a half old today.
Yes, yes I did!
(Look familiar?) (and for more chair, click here)

He's increasingly verbal - "bye", "'nana", all cats are "Mo!" with a grabby hand motion (which, in cat, translates as "RUN"). Hi, yeah, out, shoe, ball, bubble, mine, no... the list is getting longer by the day. He picked up the arms akimbo shoulder shrug that goes with "Where's the..____?", and that cracks me up. But mostly:
BALL.

Eamon is more adventurous by the day. He's still not sure about bodies of water, but he's sure about anything he can climb or jump off of - to the point of questionable judgement. He climbs anything at the playground including ladders that are really a bit big for him, he's learning to slide, he wants to jump off everything (but doesn't yet know how to land), and this weekend he surprised Ray with his ability to grab a bar and swing off (in this case, off the top of a stepstool in Home Depot). He can't quite run yet, and I'm thankful for that!
Just wait, Mom...


He does have his calm moments. He likes putting the rings on his stacker, although he has no love for blocks. He loves books, and he's starting to point out things in the books (cats, dogs, balls). He just discovered the next step up in Dr. Seuss (Go Dog Go!) and it's now an addiction. Daycare lets him paint and scribble and he loves both, although he seems to paint himself as much as the paper. He'll also stop for a few short moments to eat, preferably noodles, bread, or dairy (that's my child!)

Above all else, though, he'd like to have his "shooz" on and be "out" - for a walk, preferably to locate all the unloved balls in the neighborhood. Squirrels, leaves, bunnies, birds, dogs, other kids, and ants are good, too.
Ohhh, good idea, let's go!


In the interest of record keeping, this is the first photo session where he (safely) got himself out of the chair, and was off and running... interesting times keep coming.

Thanks for an exciting 18 months, little man. We love you!