Monday, July 18, 2011

Hooray for Cousins!

For Nanny-sippi's 70th birthday, Rob's brothers and their families came from the East and West coasts to celebrate with us at our house last week. I didn't get many pictures due to the chaos, but wanted to share a few....

Cousin Cecilia from California (say that three times fast) and Tate instantly bonded and had a blast together. They also got in lots of book reading with Nanny-sippi:  



On the actual birthday, we had a party at our house and the grandkids all wore matching "R" shirts (in a bandana print in honor of the Texas visit!)  with their names monogrammed on them just for the occasion.  Pictured with Tate below are Caroline (9, almost 10, yrs old), Cecilia (2.5 yrs) and Beck (7 yrs). Caroline and Beck live in Silver Spring, MD and Cecilia lives in Fairfax, CA.
Surely another aunt or uncle got a better shot?!? Anyone? Anyone? 

Then it was cake time....



And what party is complete without a little dancing? In this picture, Tate may be teaching everyone the "bottom dance."  Or this may have been during "Baby Got Back." Both occurred.


Then it was off to Legoland, where Tate tried to distract Dirk Nowitzki with his balloon sword in order to steal away the basketball. He's been watching too many thug Lakers and Heat players: 

There were a lot of Legos.


There was also much water park visiting, movie watching, food eating, birthday shopping and, well, just baby chilling:



Sunday, July 17, 2011

Two Months

Lily Jane turned two months on July 2...


I picked the picture above because it best symbolized how she started her second month of life: very fussy, but still cute as a bug. By the end of the month, though, she was all smiles: 



Luckily, we made it through the colicky period, and she is now a happy and content baby. 

Her measurements: 

Height: 24 inches (75-90 percentile)
Weight: 14.2 pounds (above 95%)

She's a chunk! People can't believe when I tell them old she is. 

This month she started lifting her head during tummy time:  

 And started clearly demonstrating that she's a daddy's girl. She smiles every time she sees Rob and  adores him...and the feeling is mutual:

She also likes to "talk" a lot, which the doctor even noticed. She makes a lot of very cute sounds and apparently has a lot to say. The doctor also noticed that her head seems to be a little lopsided toward the right, and he suggested we vary her sleeping positions, switch her car seat position with Tate's, read the New York Times and Mother Jones to her, etc in order to give her a more well-rounded brain before a baby helmet would be necessary. We'll keep you posted on "Operation We Can't Have a Right Wing Baby!"

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Fourth of July

We had a great July 4th weekend, the highlight of which was our Hometown neighborhood parade and festival.

Such a quaint, wholesome little neighborhood...just ignore the man on the curb with his kids drinking a beer at 8 a.m.

We decked out the sit & stand stroller for the parade, but sadly lost the "most patriotic toddler" contest to some stinkin identical twin girls wearing giant red white and blue bows. Next year we are taking Uncle Todd's suggestion and sending the kids on a tour of Iraq and bringing them back wearing purple hearts. Eat that you star-spangled twinnies.  (Plan B is to adopt some triplets in time for next year's contest.)

After the parade we had a festival and they asked all of the veterans in the neighborhood to come forward. Rob went up there even though he missed the memo that all veterans should wear goofy hats. 
Tate played on the water slides and then had some shaved ice. 
Lily Jane observed from her patriotic chariot and plotted her  "most patriotic toddler" getup for next year.  That new tricycle WILL be ours!
Happy Fourth! 

Friday, July 1, 2011

Splitting Hairs

Tate has always been known for his signature haircut which has been described as "anchorman hair" or "church hair." We get his hair cut at Cool Cuts 4 Kids because it has a train table and he can sit in a fire engine and watch Dora and not scream bloody murder like he does at any other salon that does not have the above-mentioned amenities.

The problem with Cool Cuts is that the turnover is high and we always have a different stylist. But I always give the same instructions: "clippers set to '4' on the sides and scissor cut on the top, leaving it long enough for me to brush the bangs to the side." (aka: anchorman hair)

The result has been decent, usually:



But EVERY SINGLE TIME I go to get his haircut right before a visit to Mississippi -- where he will be seeing relatives he only sees maybe once per year -- the result has been consistently off. Mississippi is the land of shaggy frat-boy haircuts and yet Tate has been there sporting...


The Bowl Cut
Mississippi 2009

The Army Cut
Mississippi 2010


 The Hairstylist Was Drunk or Standing On A Rocking Boat When She Cut The Front Cut
Mississippi 2011