Chicago's Magnificent Mile(stones)

We took Hannah back to Chicago for some summertime fun, and fun it was! We added prunes and apples to her diet, which she seemed to enjoy quite a bit after the first round, when she was a tad skeptical (but that's how she always is with first tastes - skeptical til proven worthy!). She started rolling from front to back, so now she's VERY roly poly - which is great for her (no more whining at night when she wants to get off her tummy...), but scary for us (hello baby-proofing)!

Hannah also took her first bath in a BIG bathtub, which provided her with plenty of room to splash around. Thanks Memaw for making that happen! She got to spend a bunch of time with cousins Jack & Kate, and Uncle Eric and Auntie Joy. And took her first trip to the Chicago Botanical Gardens (click on picture above).


But perhaps the greatest milestone occurred when we took my 7-year old nephew Jack to his first Cubs game this year. Cubbies were down against the Marlins 6 to 5 as the game entered the seventh inning stretch. So Jon put on his rally cap, so to speak, and the Cubbies scored 4 runs, winning the game 9 to 6! I'm pretty sure his inspired actions during the seventh inning stretch were what led the Cubs to kick it into high gear. It was a magnificent moment I will never forget -- which makes it the second most unforgettable ballgame in our lifetime together.

Hooray for Fish!

One of the best parts of fatherhood is no longer getting strange looks when I discuss my favorite literature at dinner parties. I love the artwork and the message in Hooray for Fish! by Lucy Cousins, and I felt compelled to share a couple pages on the blog.

Do or do not, there is no try

“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.” ~ Yoda

Kayla "Dolly" Strand

Hannah is wildly jealous of her BFF Kayla's significant hair growth since their outing together last month.

Here they were at the beach in the Marina, before the Propecia apparently kicked in!

Hey Kayla, check out those waves...








Yep - bald as Britney, just like me!

Awwww, life's a beach!

Fun on the 4th with the Dexter Twins

Ashlynn and Coe Dexter are looking fine in their red, white & blue (with a bit of green thrown in for good measure). At four+ months, they are rapidly catching up to Hannah on size! Here they are basking on the lawn at Casa Sonoma on the 4th of July. Hannah on the other hand took her first swim. Not sure if she loved it quite as much as splashing around in the warm bath, but she figured out she could kick and splash pretty good in here too, especially in Dad's trusted hands.

Please No Peas

Food Checklist: So far Hannah likes rice, oats, butternut squash and acorn squash. Hannah does not have a taste for wheat, barley, and as of tonight: peas. The acorn squash takes gold medal prize for favorite vegetable... (we baked the squash in water, scooped it into a blender, and froze it into an ice-cube tray)... As part of the evening routine, we get Hannah in her high chair and do dinner between 5 and 5:30 pm. We are feeding Hannah one or two "cubes" of squash before she settles into a mixture of 2 tablespoons rice cereal and 1 tablespoon oats cereal... So far we haven't tried any funky mixtures of sweet and savory, but after her rejection of peas this evening, we may have to try some unlikely mixtures to see if she will eat the foods she does not like if they are served in disguise... For now, though, it looks like mom & dad are gonna be eating some pea soup. Next up: potatoes.... stay tuned...

Depths of Perception

Hannah, in case you ever have the chance to read this, I wanted to tell you that we (Mom & Dad) are having so much fun with you. I'll save the real "cheesy sentiments" for something like a birthday card or a moment together when you are older and want to know what you were like as a baby, but I have to share just one of my favorite things about you now. You have always smiled at the faces staring back at you in mirrors - but recently you have learned that you can see things from different angles, and this has brought on the mirror game! It is truly the best! You love to angle the foil-backed page of your little teething book and make eye contact with mom or myself... when your eyes meet ours, a big, drooly grin immediately follows, and then you go back to pay attention to your other toys for a moment, only to repeat the process seconds later and peer into the mirror from a new vantage point.... It is by far my favorite game to watch you play, as I think it shows just how much about your surroundings you have come to understand....

Bear Market Friday

The Dow fell to 11,346.51, is down 19.9% from its record high close of 14,164.53 in October, but is not yet a "bear market." The market apparently needs an official decline of exactly 20% to be considered a bear market - this, as stated by the very same people who had the "visual acuity" to coin the phrase "hindsight is 20/20." Gee, Thanks.